In the Bible where Jesus says "He who is without sin the first stone" Two questions come to ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 16, 2019:

The story is a very late addition to the bible, possibly only added in the middle ages, and even if the bible is not total fiction, this story almost certainly is. And in any case the woman is not the point of the story but only exists to show up the falsehood of her accusers, it would work just as well if she were a man or a thief or a murderer the details are trivial. There is a very common hypothesis among historians that most of the more liberal of the Jesus teachings are the later additions, and that the hard line old testament preachings were the only ones in the earliest lost copies.

[ancient-origins.net] Wow...what are the creationist/young earthers going to make of this?

Fernapple comments on Feb 16, 2019:

They already have bristle cone pines that are older than their earth, and they wriggle round that. (Big trees, you don't need a microscope to see.)

When did you first realize that religion made no sense?

Fernapple comments on Feb 16, 2019:

No one time, I was not raised in religion, and any interest I grew in youth just faded away. I was however one of those toddlers who like to ask logical questions, so I soon learned that the price of logic is being hit a lot. Fortunately I survived and managed to hold on to a little of the logic, though I don't think I am as good at it now as I was then.

Black Snow Is Falling from the Skies in Siberia, and It Is Toxic [livescience.com]

Fernapple comments on Feb 16, 2019:

The video about the cancer forming effects of deodorant was interesting too.

.

Fernapple comments on Feb 16, 2019:

Yes perhaps. But does the bliss last ?

Before digital cameras I shot primarily black and white and developed my own film, printed my own ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 16, 2019:

Yes I did hand tinting too but never came close to this. Very beautiful.

I’ve been saved

Fernapple comments on Feb 15, 2019:

I can here that gravelly voice say it.

Ooooooooooooooooooklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain.....

Fernapple comments on Feb 15, 2019:

Wow, that is the most frightening photo I have ever seen!

It’s subjective.

Fernapple comments on Feb 15, 2019:

An old one I like is. A persons worth is measured by the size of the hole they will leave in the lives of others when they are not there.

My compost heap is underperforming lately, and I want to add a starter/booster.

Fernapple comments on Feb 15, 2019:

Fresh grass mowings in a bunch mixed in the center work well, if you don't have them at this time, then urine. I see several others have said that already, but I will add that it is best watered in the center with three/four times as much water, so do it in a bucket first.

Whoop a bottle of gin and a red rose...oh this man gets me ;)

Fernapple comments on Feb 14, 2019:

Roses need to be in a vase of water they will die if you put them in gin. The idea is you drink the gin until he looks like he is the most hansom desirable man in the world. Then the following morning drink plenty of orange juice until you can smell the rose again.

Science is a journey toward truth, religion is pretending you have already arrived there.

Fernapple comments on Feb 14, 2019:

Yes that gets it in a nutshell. Science will of course never have a final truth about everything, the universe is just too complex for that. Yet that is exactly what makes it a lot better than simply, taking your personal prejudices, declaring them to be THE truth because you are a special person chosen by divinity, and therefore entitled to despise anyone who disagrees.

Astronomy's awesome!

Fernapple comments on Feb 14, 2019:

U lattle spilling messtook mikes aul der deference.

One more from the forest...

Fernapple comments on Feb 14, 2019:

That took some work.

HELP! A woman in her 50s is convinced humans can get pregnant by cats/dogs! What should I do?

Fernapple comments on Feb 13, 2019:

This is a world where many people believe that there is an invisible man in the sky who made the universe. The only difference is that there is only one of her.

oh sorry i forgot that am new here how on earth do people text on here can someone put my fat ass ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 13, 2019:

You need to fill in your Bio first, then when you have earned a few points/trust it will all start to open up.

Texas butterfly sanctuary files emergency restraining order to stop Trump's border wall construction...

Fernapple comments on Feb 13, 2019:

Good for them, in all the debate this is the first time I have heard an environmental issue raised.

Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. George Santayana

Fernapple comments on Feb 13, 2019:

And even if you only know a little history , you will see that people keep doing the same old mistakes over and over.

Damn Android TV.

Fernapple comments on Feb 13, 2019:

You are so lucky, it could be far worse. Imagine if you had to watch some of the rubbish programs.

Richard Feynman is supposed to have said that “Philosophy of science is about as useful to ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 13, 2019:

In the day to day working life of scientists perhaps. But to the ordinary person in the street, the basic philosophy of science, without getting too deep into the detail, is priceless! Because it is nearly the same thing as learning to think, especially understanding the idea that it is good to recognize you can be in error, and being able to change is wisdom.

How many of us here in the Senate have read the phrase, "I came here to find love, and stayed for ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 13, 2019:

I try to post and comment only when I think I have something interesting to add, so that the few other dull, boring and mindless ones on the site will not feel there is nothing here for them. I try to do it in the groups mainly, staying away from the US political content on the front page, if I can, because I do not think that the mainly US members need lectures from ill informed foreigners about how to run their country. But sometimes the mischief gene just gets the better of me.

Not sure if I should educate Christians.... Just joking....

Fernapple comments on Feb 12, 2019:

The second is a whole lot easier.

Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?

Fernapple comments on Feb 12, 2019:

So it seems Nate does not like him then.

Why is it so hard for my to put a picture on here?

Fernapple comments on Feb 12, 2019:

I keep a file which is easy to find on my desktop and drag or paste my photos for sharing to that, and then it is easy to find when on the site.

One for the Scam crew, Raven, Stinkeye et al to pay attention to: [news.com.au]

Fernapple comments on Feb 12, 2019:

How long does the net have to exist before people understand that you can not assume that anything on it is real. Very sad, but if this was a church taking money from people, for having a date with an none existent lover in the sky, would the authorities be concerned ?

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.

Fernapple comments on Feb 12, 2019:

Given that she had endured the violent occupation of her homeland, gained her education illegally through the hidden underground movement, lost her family and been forced into exile, and then lost both a baby and a husband, and by the end, possibly reach an age when the dangers of radiation were finally understood, I guess that she knew more than most about what there is to fear in life.

The contiguous United States just lost its last wild caribou | Science | AAAS

Fernapple comments on Feb 11, 2019:

Sad but true, I heard an apologist saying that over population is not an important issue compared with environmental concerns like. "Plastic and CO2 pollution." Who does he suppose causes plastic and CO2 pollution, if not the excess humans. Could it be the fairies ?

Can't make fun of tree-huggers.....

Fernapple comments on Feb 11, 2019:

And if I make nature an offering of a few seeds, I get back, barrow loads of vegetables. If I go to church, (I don't) I make an offering of large sums of money, and all I get is a rubbish cracker and some fake wine.

Underwater Archaeologists Find Surprising Artifacts from Major Roman Naval Battle [livescience.com]

Fernapple comments on Feb 11, 2019:

I did not know that such artifacts as rams had ever been recovered, that is news to me. It speculates though that they threw cargo over the side when at the end of the battle. But of course lightening the ship may have been a standard thing to do before the battle, not likely but possible.

“Laura Macdonald, a Carleton University professor and former director of the school's Institute ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 11, 2019:

It says, faith in the role of the state. The trouble with that is, that in many nations placing faith in the state means placing your faith in an institution far more cruel, ruthless and exploitive than the worst of capitalist corporations.. Socialism only works well in states which are well educated and highly democratic, where people have real control over the state in which they invest their hopes and wealth. The more education and democracy you have the more socialism you can enjoy, and the democracy has to be maintained, especially since there is another form of economics like socialism, in which both the political and economic establishments are one and the same, and it is called feudalism, into which socialism automatic degenerates in counties which have weak democracies.

First transplant of Canna & Calla lilies from seed.

Fernapple comments on Feb 10, 2019:

Good way to look forward to summer.

I love my camera.

Fernapple comments on Feb 10, 2019:

Great shots, I like the last best too.

Share your art! I like to draw animals as distinct individuals, through the lens of scientific and ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 10, 2019:

Wow. those are very beautiful. I garden and grow plants and teach others to do so.

Out of the mouths of babes

Fernapple comments on Feb 10, 2019:

Poor kid fancy loosing your grandparents like that. You know what they say. "The grandparent, so easy to use even a child can do it."

I’m an atheist.

Fernapple comments on Feb 10, 2019:

Point out that you are an atheist, then ask her to choose.

This is why religion is so messed up

Fernapple comments on Feb 10, 2019:

You also have to ask yourself how many translators and editors are lost in the past before the earliest version we have.

A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence....David Hume (1711-1776)

Fernapple comments on Feb 10, 2019:

Seems such a modern idea for such a long time ago, you have to wonder at the worlds painfully slow uptake.

Watershed maps, in brilliant color [bigthink.com]

Fernapple comments on Feb 10, 2019:

Really wonderful. A original new and worthwhile idea in maps, which is rare in such an old technology, and beautiful too.

Another from Germany

Fernapple comments on Feb 10, 2019:

Where in Germany please ?

I propose we start a new game on Agnostic.

Fernapple comments on Feb 10, 2019:

The one good thing is that there is a lot more interest is in the groups, and perhaps the front page helps to filter out the banalities, and displays them clearly for those who want them.

Why does it seem that people who never had an interest in religion or were atheist suddenly hit a ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 9, 2019:

I never had an interest in religion, but it was only when I reached a certain age that I truly became an atheist. Maybe it is just that you don't have time for thinking about your world view, when you are young and busy with all the usual trash.

Photos !!.

Fernapple comments on Feb 9, 2019:

Even if they wish to hide, and they may have good reasons for that, they can still find an amusing picture surely. I think it is just can't be bothered. Either that, or they want people to know in advance that it is a boring banal post they copied from the web, the two seem to go together.

Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable!......Mark Twain.

Fernapple comments on Feb 9, 2019:

He also would quote B. Disraeli. "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." Which is very similar. Obviously he did not like statistics. And the word in those days, was probably used in something closer to its original meaning which was something akin to, "measurements by the state".

Ok, this is supposed to be the serious group and I have made several wisecrack comments.

Fernapple comments on Feb 9, 2019:

I think that some of the groups could do with more support, so more members would help there, and I generally tend to find that there is more interest in the groups than the mainstream postings, where it often seems that you see the same issues being aired in much the same ways time after time. I know that some members have left or become inactive because of that . Maybe the groups could grow into sub-sites with time.

Now that my hard work has put me in office, we're going to have some changes around here.

Fernapple comments on Feb 8, 2019:

I am more than happy to support your claim to dictatorship, which I am sure will bring nothing but the greatest benefit to everyone. (Please leave the envelope with the money under the doorstep.)

Stuck an onion and some dirt in a can last week...

Fernapple comments on Feb 8, 2019:

Something lives !

Primary school pulls Darwin show after Christian parents complain Couldn't believe this was in ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 8, 2019:

Preach a little hellfire and the snowflakes melt.

Are you a conspiracy theorist?

Fernapple comments on Feb 8, 2019:

I think that there is certainly a lot of truth in this, and it is useful and worthwhile. But, the mischief maker in me wants to point out, that these people may also be indulging in teleological thinking, when they connect conspiracy theory with creationism via teleological thinking, since it may just be that if you are naive enough to believe one you may be naive enough to swallow the other.

This sometimes happens to me.

Fernapple comments on Feb 8, 2019:

Happens to me all the time, even the stamp collectors don't want to talk to you.

Hi.whats up here?

Fernapple comments on Feb 7, 2019:

Hello and welcome, Lots happens here just look through the groups to get a taste of whats on offer.

Cravings -- these are very challenging for me to deal with.

Fernapple comments on Feb 7, 2019:

I know it is especially hard if you live alone and there is no one else to distract you. Having said that other people trying to treat you can be just as bad.

Are truth and objectivity the same thing?

Fernapple comments on Feb 7, 2019:

Yes I agree with that, especially if it is with pedrobds qualification below.

I'd love to experiment with plastic casing to grow and shape fruit within! Seems like the most ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 7, 2019:

Some pictures would be nice.

(In response to the closed group thread, same subject) If you're worried that teachers will turn ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 7, 2019:

The great mistake is not to realize that capitalism and socialism can 'both' be failed systems neither of which work.

Hello Question: does anyone know what is happening to my Roses?

Fernapple comments on Feb 7, 2019:

I was going to say lack of drainage/ too much water, perhaps, but I see some others have got there before me, but I add another vote for that.

The Decline of Historical Thinking | The New Yorker

Fernapple comments on Feb 6, 2019:

The only comfort I can offer, is to tell you that it is just as bad here in the UK.

The Island of Shrinking Mammoths - PBS Eons [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Feb 6, 2019:

Size in most animals is said to be controlled by whole groups of genes, and I have heard it is therefore a very easy thing for natural selection to change. Even human breeding can do it very easily as with dogs for example.

I really, really need to play in the dirt.

Fernapple comments on Feb 5, 2019:

Winter lasts while April with us. 20 March may be the official spring but it is still early for some.

Can there be anything sadder that work left unfinished?

Fernapple comments on Feb 5, 2019:

Pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure.

Just to use a second today: "The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 5, 2019:

The opportunist thinks; I will build a windmill; the pedant thinks we should measure its speed before we decide if it is wind or breeze.

Just saw this on FB; I know you'll love this! How to create a simple hanging plant with common - but...

Fernapple comments on Feb 4, 2019:

Very neat and pretty, and not just the string trick !

Went to Harris Beach today it was very chilly.

Fernapple comments on Feb 4, 2019:

Great photos.

Looking for a little advice.

Fernapple comments on Feb 4, 2019:

Try Photoscape it is like Photoshop but is a free download which you can get of the net, and it should do everything and more that you sound like you want. Plus if you don't like it, since its free you just delete it.

What if there really is a God?

Fernapple comments on Feb 3, 2019:

Even if there is a god, why would it care what we believe ?

My response when I'm told I can't understand the Bible.

Fernapple comments on Feb 3, 2019:

Great video thanks.

The Mango Pendejo... obviously he thinks we're all idiots. [thehill.com]

Fernapple comments on Feb 3, 2019:

No sun bed then, that proves it. I was sure it was a paint on job.

For a religious person, the universe is alive, with created things, with the presence of God.

Fernapple comments on Feb 3, 2019:

Life is only relevant if it interacts with you anyway, since the living universe, which I am sure does not exist anyway, has not spoken to me, it has less relevance than a bacterium in the mud at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Sundays are such poo, laundry, work prep and shopping.

Fernapple comments on Feb 3, 2019:

Never mind it will soon be Monday.

As I scroll through endless dating profiles I see a trend; 1.

Fernapple comments on Feb 3, 2019:

If they are Christians and they are on this site they must be desperate, enough said.

Sundays are such poo, laundry, work prep and shopping.

Fernapple comments on Feb 3, 2019:

Try Morrisons.

Was this some sort of candle holder, gambling dice, astronomical device or maybe just an ancient ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 3, 2019:

The glove theory seem nice but like a lot of the ideas listed, it seems to be a difficult way to do something easy, which still leaves a really strange mystery.

I'm happy to have found this site.. my new Facebook replacement:)

Fernapple comments on Feb 3, 2019:

Enjoy its much better here and they do not have any world domination plans (so far). And please ensure that you wash twice in several changes of water and burn all the clothing you wore while on the FB site.

I have no facebook, twitter nor any other social media account.

Fernapple comments on Feb 2, 2019:

Welcome, and check out the groups there will be something for you.

At what age did you learn about evolution?

Fernapple comments on Feb 2, 2019:

I the UK there was/is a long standing system of education , in which biology was taught with evolution being one of the last things taught, so that many, except those who took the advanced options, never reached it. Yet as R. Dawkins often points out, evolution by natural selection is very easy to understand, child's play in fact, since it is logical and children do not find logic hard. Yet they are given the hard details of biology to rote learn first, which is off putting for many, especially without the underlying system which explains it. There is no doubt that the church which is very powerful in our education system originated much of this.

“We live life by looking forward. We understand life by looking backward.” Soren Kierkegaard

Fernapple comments on Feb 2, 2019:

So many seem not to understand that, so many try to live life by looking backwards; and so many blunder blindly forwards making the same old mistakes without any attempt to learn from history.

Pembrokeshire chariot burial finds ruled as treasure [bbc.co.uk]

Fernapple comments on Feb 2, 2019:

Lovely find. You wonder if the inlaid red glass was meant to be seen against the green verdigris, or if they intended to polish the bronze to brassy yellow, either way it would be beautiful.

It has been too long since I have seen these.

Fernapple comments on Feb 2, 2019:

Wow, not just the trees but a great photograph, well taken.

This Painting Proves God (Allah) Exists - Debunked - Rationality Rules [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Feb 2, 2019:

We have heard all the arguments and most of the counters before, but his careful systematic style is so refreshing it is great to watch.

Has anyone grown a THUJA GREEN GIANT tree?

Fernapple comments on Feb 2, 2019:

Grows quick and the foliage is scented a bit like oranges, but not everyone likes the smell so sniff one before you buy.

Haven't made many posts lately.

Fernapple comments on Feb 1, 2019:

Frozen hard and snow here, very envious.

Just a thought.

Fernapple comments on Feb 1, 2019:

How is it west of the watershed we are still free here in Lincolnshire ? I think the worst is in the south.

I just read that the two largest components of climate change is meat consumption and air ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 1, 2019:

Huge amounts of the food grown is fed to animals for eating; so we could also revert vast areas of farmland to forest and wilderness, and still produce more food to feed the hungry in the third world. And you don't even need to go vegan just reduce meat eating by nine tenths, which would also make us all a lot healthier. The extra trees would soak up carbon. And well you can just go on listing......

We are about to have a tsunami of "Fake News" comments from Americans.

Fernapple comments on Feb 1, 2019:

The ones who took the free courses, would be the ones who did not need them, and the ones who did need them would not go. Spend the money on cold fusion research and at least it may stop them setting fire to the planet.

Science Saved My Soul. - YouTube

Fernapple comments on Feb 1, 2019:

Very good, I know that some here will not go for it because it is lyrical, but I liked it a lot. And I am sorry to say that if you do not recognize the power of the romantic then you are not a realist.

Happiness

Fernapple comments on Feb 1, 2019:

Feeling that I am making a contribution. Not because I am an especially good person but just because you get too old for personal wants to mater much anymore.

All creationist scientists from the four corners of the globe agree the Earth is SQUARE.

Fernapple comments on Feb 1, 2019:

"By their fruits shall you know them." Springs to mind.

I'm sad to hear of the passing away of comedian Jeremy Hardy.

Fernapple comments on Feb 1, 2019:

The one I like is. "A useful life well lived."

New to this, anyone wanna show me around this interesting new world?

Fernapple comments on Jan 31, 2019:

Welcome and enjoy, Don't just stay on the front page check out the groups there really is something for everyone there.

Officials in Iran BAN dog walking amid fears keeping 'un-Islamic' pets creates 'fear and anxiety' | ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 31, 2019:

The aim is to make life as bleak as possible, so that everyone is grateful to the imam for allowing the tiniest bit of pleasure.

Zeus The Almighty.

Fernapple comments on Jan 31, 2019:

Nice review of history but I do not think that it goes anywhere much. However here is something to think about. Which is that, the monotheist religion arose in the desert areas of the middle east. In those desert areas nature is at its harshest and survival therefore means more than anything, having the support of the group in those areas. That gave much more powers to strong violent males who could bully and control groups. Because in the desert there was nowhere else for dissidents to go, no river to voyage down, no forest to hide in and most of all no food except the social group's flocks of animals, nor any natural diversity to encourage different ways of life such as fishing or forestry. And of course Religion reflects the societies which make it, therefore among desert pastoral nomads intolerant male monotheism is almost certain.

Just off teaching in an amazing new part of the university.

Fernapple comments on Jan 31, 2019:

Welcome back, not much seen the last week or two. You have been working too hard again ! Good luck in the new venture.

Today I would like to submit “Let Me Go”, which is a poem by Christina Rossetti which was read ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 31, 2019:

Glad to see you back but deeply sorry for your loss. Regards.

Darwin Day Ideas

Fernapple comments on Jan 31, 2019:

Replicate one of his experiments. A good one; because it is ongoing and is not what many people would expect, is the rock on the lawn one. He placed a large rock on his lawn to see how long it would take the worms to bury it in the soil, it is still there but much lower. And it was part of his proof that worms create soil, it is also interesting to archaeology and history enthusiasts.

The picture is not upside down.

Fernapple comments on Jan 31, 2019:

Beautiful, where taken?

Attacus Atlas. Biggest I have ever seen was a Redwood Moth, at about half this size.

Fernapple comments on Jan 31, 2019:

That's beautiful, was it in the wild or inside ?

I do this

Fernapple comments on Jan 30, 2019:

I love the way you can watch the drama of the elements play out from the warm haven of your car, wind, rain, snow, as long as you are careful you can enjoy them all.

And for today we have...

Fernapple comments on Jan 30, 2019:

Florida looks OK. But I should not smerk my grandmother always used to say. "What the US gets today , the UK will get in two weeks."

The Humans That Lived Before Us - PBS Eons [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Jan 30, 2019:

Interesting video I love the speculative misty edges of history. It could easily be true however, since lot of classification is subjective, that when dealing with our own family we have to be wary of hubris, it is very easy for every new discovery to be given important status just because our ancestors are so important to us, where we would not see much difference if dealing with fossils of other genera.

Flat Earth CRUSHED by Discovery Channel [youtu.be]

Fernapple comments on Jan 29, 2019:

However painful they may be now and again, I just can't take flat earthers seriously. But that was fun anyway.

The Simulation Hypothesis and the Bible.

Fernapple comments on Jan 29, 2019:

I like it and it is fun and safe to use that sort of hypothesis on this site. But you have to beware beyond these confines, since this is not quite new, it is a regular with religious apologists who like to point the finger at Atheists/ Agnostics and say this is the sort of silly stuff they believe. In order to claim that an A/A world view is even less supported by evidence than theirs. It is very dangerous to use an hypothesis like this without making it plain that you are only proposing it as one of many.