Paul4747's Profile

This is how I feel lately bouncing around between 1st, 2nd and 3rd shifts.

Paul4747 comments on Aug 31, 2018:

I'm trying to cut down on caffeine personally, I feel like I'm very slow getting up in the morning. Then again you have to expect that on a Monday I suppose...

Why are so many people pleased at other people's misfortune?

Paul4747 comments on Aug 30, 2018:

Personally, I like to see an underdog win, and I like to see a horrible person get what's coming to them. Probably because I've been more of an underdog than an overdog most of the time. So when I have a modicum of power, I use it to help out those who don't have any. (Union steward.) But I've also noticed that a lot of people, given a tiny, nay almost insignificant, amount of power, become horrible little tyrants, using their power to inconvenience and abuse those who have even less power. Those are the kind of people I like to see get a comeuppance. Unfortunately, since they're the kind who grease up to authority, they usually don't. I also like to see annoying people get theirs. This is why Monty Python et.al. are favorites of mine; they go after acceptable targets (politicians, bureaucrats, stuffy people... nuns... what was that?)

?

Paul4747 comments on Aug 30, 2018:

I apparently have lived in cities I've never visited... who knows. Good luck to people trying to track me down.

Can someone explain golfing to me?

Paul4747 comments on Aug 29, 2018:

I always have a great time, provided I can get around the windmill in less than 2 strokes. Some courses have a giant turtle or something, those are always nice to look at.

Are you in favour of a revolution?

Paul4747 comments on Aug 28, 2018:

Although, upon reflection, I accept your nomination for the post of Nearly-Benevolent Dictator. Technically, I will run the nation as a democracy- one man, one vote. I will be The Man, and I will have The Vote. (Yes, I stole that whole cloth from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. In a fantasy world, it works.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGLGzRXY5Bw

Are you in favour of a revolution?

Paul4747 comments on Aug 28, 2018:

Certainly not. Revolutions are messy and unpredictable. Revolutions generally are the longest and most destructive road back to the status quo. It's nice to imagine that you could have some sort of bloodless reconstruction where nobody is going to get upset and want to splinter off into a whole new country, or start looting the Best Buy, but that's unrealistic. The Nation of Islam, for one, has spent the last 50 years with the stated goal of splitting off to form a nation within a nation specifically for blacks. The Alt-Right sympathizers want a nation specifically for whites. There's two opposed forces that would turn any revolution violent very soon. I *would* like to see the criminal codes revised along the lines of the Code Hubbard (see Robert Anton Wilson's *Schrodinger's Cat Trilogy*), where "morals crimes" like drug crimes and prostitution, etc., are redefined as "crimes against convention" and are only prosecuted after 100 complaints from the "offender's" neighbors- the result most often being that the neighbors are instructed to mind their own damn business- "property crimes" in which the criminal is made to repay the damages, and if unable to pay is put to work on some socially useful project, with a percent of their pay going to repay their victim for the loss- and finally "crimes of violence" which are the only ones which result in prison time, accompanied by psychological treatment to try and correct the cause of the violent impulses. Idealistic? Yes. But it would certainly cut down on what we spend on prisons and allow us to pump money into community policing instead, as well as community mental health and jobs programs. No drug crimes means no drug violence (at least a huge reduction). More jobs and better jobs would very probably reduce property crimes as well. As to your overall point- as flawed as our current system might be, I believe I'm correctly quoting (or at least paraphrasing) Churchill when he said, "Democracy is the absolute worst form of government, except for all the rest."

Many Libertarians point to 19th-century laissez-faire America as the supreme example of how well a ...

Paul4747 comments on Aug 26, 2018:

Cash money having no value on a desert island, of course there was no income tax. The economy became one of labor and goods in kind. Yours is a false analogy of the most extreme sort. Furthermore, many Left libertarians would suggest that the Howells should distribute their wealth back to the people who helped them get that way, e.g. the employees of Howell Amalgamated. But you're clearly a Right libertarian who believes the rich get rich purely by their own virtue. 19th Century America was a time of great robber barons. I don't feel that was an exemplar of how to run an economy for anyone except those in the 1/2% at the very top. But I'm sure the Current Occupant and his cronies would love to return to those policies of governmental non-oversight. (Must be why they're doing their best to do just that through dismantling all oversight of the private sector.)

Weed. For or against? Why? And where? How much? Just kidding. Thoughts on the subject?

Paul4747 comments on Aug 26, 2018:

Don't care that much about marijuana per se. It would be great to see *all* drugs legalized, regulated and taxed. Then the money we waste on the "War on Some Drugs" could be put to good use, non-violent drug offenders with good records inside prison (meaning no assault or drug offenses behind bars) could be released and we would save a crapload of money that way, gangs would lose a lot of power since currently they have a lot of influence based on the drug trade.... the pass-along effects would be incalculable.

What else do you feel money can't buy?

Paul4747 comments on Aug 26, 2018:

Really really sincere oral sex. (I've heard.)

So here's an interesting thing.

Paul4747 comments on Aug 26, 2018:

I may have misunderstood how the points are displayed when I asked the question, I guess it's a total, not a progress to the next level. So I'm not as close as I thought.

˙ʎɐqә uo pɹɐoqʎәʞ ɐ ʎnq ɹәʌәu

Paul4747 comments on Aug 26, 2018:

At first glance, that looks oddly like Cyrillic characters. I nearly reported you as one of Trump Jr.'s hacker friends...

yesterday and today everytime I post, it pops into the group as duplicate! is problem on my end?

Paul4747 comments on Aug 26, 2018:

One day I had the same issue when I was typing a conversation on my phone... it double posted... I deleted the duplicate, and a minute later the whole thing was gone. I blame Russian hackers.

He had the good sense and the decency to resign.

Paul4747 comments on Aug 26, 2018:

Well, yeah, when it was clear they were going to kick him out...

Are we all basically selfish apes?

Paul4747 comments on Aug 26, 2018:

Von Neumann and Morgenstern's *Theory of Games and Economic Behavior* https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.215284 suggests that behavior is much more subtle than the either/or model you propose... as does Richard Dawkins' *The Selfish Gene*. There are times when it pays to be altruistic (or selfless, if you prefer). There are times when it pays to be selfish. Most of the time it pays to be a little of each. We strike a balance between looking out for personal interest and looking out for the interest of our gene pool. In many cases this is our extended gene pool, and sometimes even merely a gene pool that is similar to our own gene pool. We risk our own life to save that of a stranger. Sometimes, we risk our life to save a member of another species- a being that cannot conceivably be of our gene pool or a related gene pool. That is the epitome of selflessness. This is not the norm, which is why we call those people "heroes"- and yet it's a model most of us aspire to and hope we would live up to when the time came. Most of the time, we unconsciously (or subconsciously) calculate a risk/reward equation constantly in our interactions with others; what will be the result of our actions? Very rarely do these calculations intrude on the thought process of most people... they just go through life on autopilot, acting and reacting and then being terribly surprised when things don't go as they expected.

Beware Humans.

Paul4747 comments on Aug 24, 2018:

I knew I never trusted cats... dang...

Did anyone see how Trump used this incident to justify his immigration policy?

Paul4747 comments on Aug 22, 2018:

Well of course. And blacks commit all the drug crimes and shoot at police in the cities, and all Asians do is steal intellectual property. But wealthy white guys are very good people, even if they commit tax fraud and bank fraud. Because they're supporters of Trump's.

˙ʎɐqә uo pɹɐoqʎәʞ ɐ ʎnq ɹәʌәu

Paul4747 comments on Aug 22, 2018:

Cnt cmment kybard brken

Jeff Sessions Argues That American Christians Are Facing Persecution - The Intellectualist

Paul4747 comments on Aug 22, 2018:

"Our great tradition of religious freedom" is freedom *from* religion as well. The Xian Right forgot that (or pretended to forget it) decades ago.

I wonder if the site policy of not allowing new members to send message or to be SEEN by other ...

Paul4747 comments on Aug 22, 2018:

It doesn't take long at all to reach- what is it, level 2? Just comment intelligently on a couple topics, even hitting the Like button a few dozen times will do it. But it takes a minimal investment of time. You have to show some commitment. For my money, if you're just here for messaging, you'll be happier elsewhere anyway.

Hahaha!!!! Ok so I finally took the leap & put my humble self on Bumble.

Paul4747 comments on Aug 22, 2018:

Gee. I haven't been swiped on in a while now. I don't think so anyway. I may not know what that means....

The Evil God Hypothesis

Paul4747 comments on Aug 22, 2018:

There doesn't need to be a god to explain the universe. Beauty doesn't exist as the opposite of ugly, just as a human perception. There's no "reason" for the existence of anything other than the fact that it does exist.

This is exactly how I feel about my new friends at Agnostics.

Paul4747 comments on Aug 22, 2018:

There's a Michigan event? I'm in Michigan! Tell me more...

Rejecting Progress in the Name of "Cultural Appropriation"

Paul4747 comments on Aug 22, 2018:

Dammit. Apparently, if I want to be "authentic", the only thing I can eat is plain, unseasoned meat & veg, since all the spices and all the recipes ( except maybe salt?) came to America via somewhere else. And far be it for me to appropriate anybody else's culture. Wait- the McDonald's hamburger. I can always fall back on the McDonald's hamburger as an authentic piece of white American food, not stolen from anybody else. And probably Kentucky Fried Chicken, too. But I was really looking forward to trying the Panera Bread place that just opened up locally... crap, that's probably not part of my local culture. (This reply was all satire, for anyone who couldn't tell straightaway.)

Fuck.

Paul4747 comments on Aug 22, 2018:

Dating hard. The thing I can't figure out about women (no offense intended to anyone) is why people hit the button that says they "like" me or are "interested" in me, but then don't follow that up when I respond with a message or interest of my own. Are all those accidental? Some even have messages of their own. They couldn't all be fishing me, could they? I'm pretty good at spotting the signs... Any guesses? Do men do the same thing to you?

Walk on Water....

Paul4747 comments on Aug 22, 2018:

I'm currently seeking a fallen woman to hang out with. Any takers?

Are there things you want to change about yourself?

Paul4747 comments on Aug 21, 2018:

Anyone who doesn't think they could improve is an egomaniac of some degree, because they think they're perfect already. That said, it's important to accept your own imperfections as part of yourself and part of being human, or you'll never be happy. It's a fine line. Striving to improve and accepting that you'll never be perfect are the two sides of the coin to being human.

Some humor needed for a rough Monday. religions spaghettimonster

Paul4747 comments on Aug 21, 2018:

Apropos of this, it was H. P. Lovecraft's birthday. I suppose you could say he brought spaghetti monsters into the mainstream.

I have posted here about the need to curb our exuberance in condemning as stupid every believer on ...

Paul4747 comments on Aug 19, 2018:

Many believers have great intelligence. I just wish they would use it for something other than justifying how Genesis might be true, and other such hogwash.

There were some rough days this last week.

Paul4747 comments on Aug 19, 2018:

You mean, checking for a pulse? I generally use my wrist... When my life seems meaningless, I open the bills. That always gets me back to work in a hurry. Nothing like a rent demand to put a spring in your step.

In your name.

Paul4747 comments on Aug 18, 2018:

We know the bomb (singular) hit a school bus. We don't know that it was aimed at the bus when it was dropped. The bus is a moving object. It may have come between the aircraft that dropped it and the intended target. Until we have full details, we won't know and may never know. Civilians are killed in war. It is tragic. This bomb is said to have been aimed at a specific person who was responsible for launching a ballistic missile into a civilian area in Saudi territory the day before. Again, we don't know and may never know the full details. It depends on whether you believe the coalition forces. Just because we had stopped supplying the coalition with precision ordinance doesn't mean we stopped supplying them with weapons, period. The US is a leading supplier of weapons and vehicles to most nations in the Middle East. If it's not us, it's the Russians, if it's not the Russians it's the Chinese. As a matter of our security it's better that it be us making allies via friendly dealings with the nations of the region. This is a harsh point of view, but it's the one we have to take as a matter of realpolitik. It doesn't lessen my being disturbed by the needless death of civilians on either side. However, I think the coalition's story may have something to it. I don't think they deliberately aimed at a school bus. I think it unexpectedly drove into the path.

Don't date robots. [youtube.com]

Paul4747 comments on Aug 17, 2018:

But the robot seems a more attractive option, given my dating history for the past... I'm just gonna say "entire life"

What are some things you just can't say out loud? Lay it down....no judgement here.

Paul4747 comments on Aug 17, 2018:

Your kids are really, really a *lot* less attractive than you think. (Most of my acquaintances and colleagues who *won't fucking quit with their kids pictures*)

Is there anyone out there who doesn't understand that when someone says, "I'm the least racist ...

Paul4747 comments on Aug 16, 2018:

I'm not sure that follows. The very statement "I'm not prejudiced", you say is an admission of prejudice? What if it's a true statement, though? For instance, I myself am not prejudiced. I do get tired of being accused of it because I'm white and some people play that card where I work; because I'm white, I must be racist. So by your logic, if I defend myself against that, I'm admitting it, and if I stay silent, I'm acquiescing to the charge by my silence?

[cnn.

Paul4747 comments on Aug 16, 2018:

It's not religion that made the priests abuse children. People in all fields have committed this horrific crime. But the structure of the "infallible" church led to cover-ups and collusion, doubtless for the entire history of the church. And I have no doubt that the sexual repression built into Catholicism played a role as well.

ONLY IN SOUTH AFRICA , An Indian businessman opened a zoo and made the entry fee R50, nobody ...

Paul4747 comments on Aug 16, 2018:

I think I might know that guy...

Why would any minority trust a white person after this screwed up President?

Paul4747 comments on Aug 16, 2018:

Wait a second... Way too overgeneralized. First off, you assume every white person voted for Trump? Is every white person descended from a Confederate General, too? Does every pale person listen to country music in the cab of a pickup truck while deer hunting? Second thing, 60% voted against. So the odds are in your favor. Last, a lot of the Trump vote was not a "for" Trump, it was an "against" Clinton. So, there's that to consider too. Probably only like 20% really voted "for" Trump. I pulled that number directly out of my nether regions. Hey, once again I'm up way too late. Goodnight.

Are we living in an era of "post-truth" ?

Paul4747 comments on Aug 16, 2018:

"Truth" is the way something is, no matter how you feel about it. Obama is a born American citizen. Trump actually won the election. Russian intelligence did interfere in the election by spreading propaganda. All those things are true. It doesn't matter if the person hearing it doesn't want to hear it. Oh yeah; the Earth is round.

I deeply believe that there is no guiding Force or Purpose in life -- only what you make out of it.

Paul4747 comments on Aug 16, 2018:

I have come across theories based on the multiverse interpretation of quantum physics that, since everything that can happen must happen, thus forming different universes to accommodate all the possible events... (deep breath)... it might be possible to consciously or unconsciously steer oneself to the universe of one's choice. Prayers, affirmations, and magic are just ways of programming our trip through the multiverse and causing ourselves to go where we desire. I'm not saying there's a particle of evidence or veracity to any of this, but it would be groovy to discover some way of steering into a different eigenstate. The one where I'm a college professor, let's try that one for a start.

When you have a long term (30ryr) friendship and it keeps becoming more work trying to figure out ...

Paul4747 comments on Aug 16, 2018:

Well.... I had a very similar friend who, while very funny and charming when he wanted to be, was also aggravating and off-putting, kept almost everyone at an emotional arm's length, and was increasingly difficult to be around. He resolved the issue for me by dying of complications from diabetes and heart disease, so, lucky escape there for me, eh? Although not so much for him. I do miss the old crock terribly and I'm still not done telling him off for not taking better care of himself. If he was right, as a Lutheran, then surely he can hear me cussing his ass out whenever I drink whiskey and remember him. Knowing how he lived, though, he's not hearing me from Heaven, he's plotting a rebellion in Hell. (Again, that's if his views were right. Otherwise I'm just still dealing with my own grief when I chew him out in absentia. Crotchety bastard he may have been, but still my friend for over 30 years. Dammit.) I don't know on what level if any this is helpful to you. Just realize whatever you decide, there will be some part of you that will miss the friendship, but you have to do what's best for you.

Whose the sexiest living woman that you can think of ?

Paul4747 comments on Aug 15, 2018:

Morena Baccarin, Zoe Saldana, Gina Torres, Summer Glau, Scarlett, Jewell Staite, Aya Cash, Kether Donahue... I'll stop now.

As Abraham led Issac back down off the rock, Issac looked up at Abraham and said "Now, you wanna ...

Paul4747 comments on Aug 15, 2018:

I've often thought about writing a Freethinker's Bible, in which I would have patriarchs who are told to sacrifice their kids and reply with "Are you out of your freakin' mind? You think I would do that? What kind of God would ask that of somebody? I'm gonna find a different god to worship!!!" and then be rewarded for showing some backbone and independent thought, because that's what a decent Deity would want in a follower.

I’ve been to heaven and there weren’t any banjos, I’ve been to hell and there weren’t any ...

Paul4747 comments on Aug 15, 2018:

I live right near Hell, and there are plenty of people with guitars there. Also boom boxes. Hell is very loud in the summer. https://www.gotohellmi.com/

Veterans for gun reform. [youtu.be]

Paul4747 comments on Aug 15, 2018:

But... but.... but..... *ALL* weapons are designed specifically to kill people, if you get right down to it. The first invention of firearms was for military purposes. Banning guns that look scary is not going to solve the problem. I don't know what's behind the recent increase in "mass shootings" (which is defined as 4 or more people, by the way... when did 4 become a "mass" of people? I had a mass of people to dinner last night... no, it doesn't ring true), but it isn't the availability of these rifles. People wanting to kill will find a way to do it. Colombine happened during the Brady period. We do need to find an answer, but banning a style of firearm is a panacea.

Atheists Are Brainwashed By The Scientific Method

Paul4747 comments on Aug 14, 2018:

Satire detected. Well done. I clearly passed the test, as so few failed to do.

Is "loss aversion" a Fallacy ? - Scientific American

Paul4747 comments on Aug 14, 2018:

Authors are seldom right to that extent.

I get that at 61 I am not making any fashion statements.

Paul4747 comments on Aug 13, 2018:

Those shoes tell me "I would not have survived as a hunter in the time of our ancestors, but I can pretend."

“There are two ways to be fooled.

Paul4747 comments on Aug 13, 2018:

The third is to do both at the same time....

Well the fencing isn't exactly going as well as I hoped! The walls uneven and the drill bit is too ...

Paul4747 comments on Aug 13, 2018:

Is there a guy named Inigo involved? I know what the problem is...

This is what healthy food looks like :-) From left to right: Organic berries, papaya with ...

Paul4747 comments on Aug 13, 2018:

And this is what good food looks like. Cheeseburger Mac... Patty melt and fries... Lasagna... Shrimp scampi Alfredo... Thai glazed salmon. Those are some nice appetizers you've got though.

When Chickens Go Wild [nature.com]

Paul4747 comments on Aug 13, 2018:

Dinosaurs are among us.

To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before!

Paul4747 comments on Aug 13, 2018:

Exploring alien worlds, meeting alien women, boldly coming where no Earthman has come before... wait, was that the mission statement, or was it?

Bible-Thumping Democrats Should Be a Curiosity - TheHumanist.com

Paul4747 comments on Aug 13, 2018:

Use the enemy's tools against them. If they think they have a lock on the Bible, then prove them wrong. Doesn't mean I believe a word of it.

Today I was listening to ABC morning program and an interview with good old KellyAnn Conway.

Paul4747 comments on Aug 13, 2018:

Oh that poor woman. Lying for Trump really did a number on her.

Do you go through phases with stand-up comics?

Paul4747 comments on Aug 13, 2018:

I haven't seen a comic other than Seinfeld's bits during his series in years. Since Letterman left his show nobody is funny to me anymore.

Let the controversy begin!

Paul4747 comments on Aug 13, 2018:

Yep. The most useful thing a scientist could do would be, invent a time machine so I can travel back to 1999 (be on the safe side) and stuff Nader in a trunk for a year or two. Also the same for Karl Rove, because without him, McCain would have been nominated, and he would have made the first decent Republican since Ike. It could have been a whole new era of centrist politics. Or else Gore could have mopped the floor with him, either one would be acceptable. On second thought, the trunk is too good for Rove.

Thumbs up...yep...ha ha

Paul4747 comments on Aug 13, 2018:

Well, I'm actually not looking at my thumb anymore, but thank you... now I'm worried that I have a substandard penis.

Obama vs Trump written by 45.

Paul4747 comments on Aug 11, 2018:

Introspection and self-awareness are not major features of 45's presidency. On the other hand, huge batches of hypocrisy to make up for it.

US can afford ‘unlimited war’ but not Medicare for all, says Ocasio-Cortez [rt.com]

Paul4747 comments on Aug 11, 2018:

For a second there I thought you were quoting a Republican...

How did LSD impact your view of religion?

Paul4747 comments on Aug 11, 2018:

My best man was in the Latter-Day Saints. He was also gay. This fact being pretty much ignored by his family as "impossible" due to its incompatibility with their religion, was another factor in my growing disenchantment with religion and my search for understanding of this human phenomenon. Wait... did you say "LDS" or "LSD"? I've had a couple beers...

[yahoo.com] Fuhrer Trump Attack's LeBron James' Intelligence With Racism

Paul4747 comments on Aug 4, 2018:

Truthfully, reading James' posts, he doesn't strike me as incredibly intelligent either. Two highly conceited men flaming each other. Now, where in Trump's post did he refer to anyone's race?

He cant save us now. They fattened him up.

Paul4747 comments on Aug 4, 2018:

Lock him in the tool shed. That's the vital step. He's useless unless you lock him in a tool shed.

Christian reasoning.... sigh

Paul4747 comments on Aug 4, 2018:

Not to mention "Baby miraculously survives plane crash", which might as well be phrased as "God swats plane out of the air, killing everyone except 1 baby"

Oh...yes...I need this right now!

Paul4747 comments on Aug 4, 2018:

Are you sure that's "thirsty"? I'm getting a "sex predator" vibe. Or maybe just "ax murderer".

Straw support!

Paul4747 comments on Aug 4, 2018:

It's been so long, I can't remember which one was the Bandit... Didn't Dom Deluise come into it somehow, too?

I think yes..

Paul4747 comments on Aug 4, 2018:

Yep Another word is "rare" Also, "model"

Talk of blessings is taboo on this site. But sometimes, the crime is worth the pun-ishment.

Paul4747 comments on Aug 4, 2018:

Toto: Keeping Africa vampire-free since 1982

They Work To Manufacture Consent Because They Need It.