RichCC's Profile

Bread Preference

RichCC comments on Jun 29, 2018:

I have been off white bread for a while. These days I usually go with a olive oil, honey and whole wheat recipe. I do put 1/2 cup of white flour and 2 tbsp of milk powder in to make the bread lighter and give more texture (I think from the added protein).

"They" are demanding civility...really?

RichCC comments on Jun 27, 2018:

I posted this link yesterday. Godwin's law not withstanding... From PZ Myers at Pharyngula: Hindsight is 20/20: https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2018/06/26/hindsight-is-2020/ It's amazing how we repeat ourselves time after time.

Anyone want to take a crack at the question??

RichCC comments on Jun 25, 2018:

I won't try to answer it but i like it too and I hope to steal it also. Thank you.

Do you edit?

RichCC comments on Jun 23, 2018:

I don't change content but I do obsessively correct spelling, grammar and punctuation (to my limited ability) when I first put things up. I fight the autocorrect on various devices constantly. Ha, ha. If I decide to change content I go ahead and announce it. I figure mind changing should be allowed.

Who has/had the best singing voice of all-time? My vote goes to Whitney Houston.

RichCC comments on Jun 16, 2018:

My two cents worth. Julie Covington. She's the one who did the definitive *Don't Cry For Me Argentina*. And I loved her as Beth in Jeff Wayne's musical version of *The War of the Worlds*. Karen Carpenter. Too tragic a story. Billie Holiday. Another tragic story and I wish there were better recordings of her voice.

I seem to run into a number of atheists who believe that while theism is an irrational belief in the...

RichCC comments on Jun 8, 2018:

If you want to follow their morals, you can. Everyone has to make their own choices. A couple of thoughts: 1. As the Rush song says. *If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice*. 2. *No one ever sees themselves as evil*. If you'd ask any personality you could think of -- Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Genkis Khan, Vlad the Impaler, Pol Pot, whoever, knock yourself out -- they'd answer that they were doing what they needed to to make their situation/country successful. I think it's up to each of us to do the best we can given what we have. I see no benefit in behaving any other way.

I do not believe the actual person named Jesus in the Christian religion ever existed.

RichCC comments on Jun 8, 2018:

I agree. I keep coming back to all the things that were written about him within at least 60 or so years of when he supposedly lived -- that is to say exactly *nothing*. This guy was supposed to be the son of God and was supposed to be going around performing miracles but no one (in or out of the wholly babble) documented it. All we have is very questionable *memories* that were written decades or centuries after the events they try to describe in a time before printing presses let alone cameras. And it all happened when people were far more ignorant than they are today (if that's possible).

Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth | Environment | ...

RichCC comments on Jun 3, 2018:

I'm still trying to understand the real implications of this but it's a disturbing set of information. https://www.ecowatch.com/biomass-humans-animals-2571413930.html Humans and Big Ag Livestock Now Account for 96 Percent of Mammal Biomass

How long does it take for the general public to know things that seem to be common knowledge?

RichCC comments on May 29, 2018:

I worked two summers on a marina as a teen in the 70s and saw several tangled birds. This is the kind of knowledge everyone should have. Plastic is one of the effects we're having on our planet that will take far too long to repair -- if we manage to fix it at all.

Do you keep an active journal?

RichCC comments on May 28, 2018:

In a previous post reply I described the weather journal format I use. Below is copied from my entry. I've kept a journal since the late 90s. A weather journal is a book with a page for each day of the year with space for several notes. As each day happens, the user writes down the year and the temperature/weather. Then when that day comes around next year you automatically get to compare the current weather with the that day on the previous however many years. That's how I have my note journal set up. I have 12 text files -- Jan, Feb, etc. -- with day numbers. Whenever something notable happens (not every day), I put it with the weekday and year at the date in the file. That way as the dates cycle around I get reminded of previous years' accumulated memories. Since they're simple text files, they're not too large and they're easy to save and back up. For example: May.txt might have 1 2017, Monday -- I did something today. 2018, Tuesday -- Something else happened today. 10 2018, Thursday -- Woo, hoo. 28 2018, Monday -- This boring month finally ended.

So why is it that as an atheist, I wouldn't have a problem dating a religious woman (Muslim, ...

RichCC comments on May 25, 2018:

Well, you know what they say about the crazy ones. Looking the other way maybe you're not so much. Lol.

Against my personal preferences, I tried a brand of chips, Pacqui, because they make a flavor of ...

RichCC comments on May 18, 2018:

I'm not that fond of Ghost peppers. They don't seem to be very flavorful -- just hot. I like Habanero and Sriracha and Tabasco sauces for their flavors but I don't slop them on until the food's inedible. Even spicy food should be for the taste. Lol.

I'm not sure I'd be classified as a skeptic.

RichCC comments on May 15, 2018:

I think we'll both fit in to this group -- good to see you. I also think I agree with your position. Being a skeptic doesn't mean taking a position that everything unproven is by definition *False*. Being a skeptic means that everything is conditional pending the acquisition of supporting evidence. Likewise proving anything *True* in an absolute sense is impossible. Things can just be well supported. We can accumulate evidence that indicates things are likely or unlikely -- sometimes very likely or unlikely. We also must go through life deciding which questions are worthy of our energy. One of my favorite quotes says: *"Do not believe anything, but question only what is worth questioning". -- George Polya*

One of my favorite political philosophers was a man named John Stewart Mill.

RichCC comments on May 14, 2018:

Mill is the source of one of my favorite quotes although I realize that *conservative* was a political party in his context. *I did not mean that Conservatives are generally stupid; I meant, that stupid persons are generally Conservative. I believe that to be so obvious and undeniable a fact that I hardly think any hon. Gentleman will question it. --- John Stuart Mill* My biggest concern with *Utilitarianism* (and understand this is a statement from a lot of ignorance) is that I'm unaware of any human society that is both aware and altruistic enough to make it work. I'm afraid that our species won't be mature enough to operate at that level (maybe for all our allotted time?)

At which level would you be willing to date someone?

RichCC comments on May 12, 2018:

If she's level 3 or below she's not serious. If she's above level 7 she may be obsessed with this site. Lol.

Has anything ever happened in your life that challenged your atheism and made you consider going ...

RichCC comments on May 11, 2018:

Nope. I've been lucky -- never even tempted.

Journal, anyone?

RichCC comments on May 11, 2018:

Is anyone familiar with a Weather Journal? It's a book with a page for each day of the year with space for several notes. As each day happens, the user writes down the year and the temperature/weather. Then when that day comes around next year you automatically get to compare the current weather with the that day on the previous however many years. That's how I have my note journal set up. I have 12 text files -- Jan, Feb, etc. -- with day numbers. Whenever something notable happens (not every day), I put it with the weekday and year at the date in the file. That way as the dates cycle around I get reminded of previous years' accumulated memories. Since they're simple text files, they're not too large and they're easy to save and back up. For example: May.txt might have 1 2017, Monday -- I did something today. 2018, Tuesday -- Something else happened today. 10 2018, Thursday -- Woo, hoo. 28 2018, Monday -- This boring month finally ended.

How do you feel about hunting for sport?

RichCC comments on May 10, 2018:

Hunting is not sport for the animals. The next time you see a bird hiding in a bush realize that the bird is in desperate fear for its life. It knows that it could die in great pain at any moment. Population control hunting isn't sport either. It may have become necessary in some cases because of animal populations -- situations sometimes caused by humans as with many invasive species. We should manage situations intelligently as needed. Full disclosure: I grew up near the northern border of Arizona and did some hunting as an adolescent but gave up my guns for cameras as a teen. All my immediate family are avid hunters but I'm pretty sure that I'm long past that part of my life.

Chile or chili?

RichCC comments on May 3, 2018:

One of my earlier memories from the late 60s and early 70s was joyriding with my cousin near his home in Albuquerque with a bushel of jalapenos in the back seat. Ah those were the days.

I got a new blender.

RichCC comments on May 2, 2018:

This is also not soup but I got it from the back of a blender instruction manual 40 years ago. It's great fun especially if you have kids. Personally i modify it heavily because i stopped eating meat almost that long ago but it's still a good recipe. Pizza Fondue: Fondue 1/2 lbs hamburger 2 cans pizza sauce 1 onion, chopped 1 tbsp fennel seed 1 tsp oregano 1 cup cubed cheddar cheese 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese For dipping 1/2 cup assorted cubed cheese 1/2 cup assorted cubed sausage 2 cups cubed french or italian bread Brown hamburger and drain off liquid. Add pizza sauce, onion, fennel seed and oregano. Add cubed cheddar cheese and grated mozzarella. Heat mixture at medium heat until melted. Serve as fondue with bread, cheese & sausage for dipping. Serves 4-6.

Questions: Do you take offense at turns of phrase, such as.

RichCC comments on May 1, 2018:

Take offense is too strong wording but I do notice. One you didn't mention is *Special*. I was told of a bumper sticker that was apparently popular at BYU -- *I'd rather be dead than Special*. I do notice such things a little. I have to admit.

Last night was a full moon.

RichCC comments on May 1, 2018:

We are in an almost unimaginably lucky situation. We live in a delicate yet surprisingly long lasting (by our individual perceptions) balance of confluences between the gravitation and radiation, etc. of the sun, the moon and the rest of the universe. I suppose it could be argued that with the huge number of stars and planets that seem to be there, it had to happen somewhere. But even given that, we have been incredibly lucky so far I highly recommend a book by Eric D. Schneider & Dorian Sagan -- *Into the Cool: Energy Flow, Thermodynamics, and Life* although it's probably a bit high level for your grandson. But it talks about our situation with respect to several of the energy gradients in which we happen to reside.

Why do people believe in ghosts?

RichCC comments on Apr 30, 2018:

I can't remember where I saw it. But when you think about it, ghosts would have to be perpetual motion machines. If they aren't alive in the classic sense -- don't eat, etc. -- where do they get the energy to do anything? They wouldn't be able to make a sound or even be seen without getting energy from somewhere. If they're solar powered, I agree with you. Why do they tend to hang out in the dark?

Mr. Deity and the Role Model [youtube.com]

RichCC comments on Apr 30, 2018:

Thanks for reminding me of Mr. Deity. That's a good show.?

Do dogs get moody like people?

RichCC comments on Apr 30, 2018:

I remember reading a story about testing animals' intelligence where the thing that most struck the researchers was that *spite* was unique to humans. Humans might say 'if my reward is too small, then I'll stop all the rewards including mine'. Animals take life more as it comes. They take what rewards are there. Dogs are by nature social. Is it possible their apparent moodiness is a reflection of the state of others around them?

Do you believe in the butterfly effect?

RichCC comments on Apr 30, 2018:

It's like when NOAA does daily weather forecasts. Even with their massive data collection and computer mode!ing efforts they can't make completely detailed predictions. So what they do is run multiple tries dithering the starting states slightly and choose the results that come up the most. They've found that the butterfly effect makes it so that even the tiniest variations in the starting conditions can have dramatic effects on the results. The simple truth is that there are a lot of (I'd argue most) systems in our world that we don't understand well enough to predict except in the coarsest way.

Just wondering

RichCC comments on Apr 29, 2018:

I tell people a newspaper story I read years ago -- no idea if any of it is true. A man carefully kept a secret box in his house and wouldn't tell anyone what it contained. When he died his will specified that all his family gather and burn the box unopened so they wouldn't know what was there. It turned out to be full of fireworks. Funerals are for the living. Surviving family can do what they want. And my family have been told that.

"Imagine that super neuroscientists have created a machine that can simulate pleasurable experiences...

RichCC comments on Apr 27, 2018:

You said simulate. But how about about stimulate? I tutored a guy in college that had an electrode in his brain that would (he said) reduce pain when he pushed a button. (It was for an injury he got in the military). At one point they had to turn it down for him because he was using it too much -- bummer.

Should I get rid of my Xtian bed?

RichCC comments on Apr 27, 2018:

I like the uncurse choice. Who knows. The priestess might be someone good to meet.

Does anyone else enjoy classic movies? I'm a huge fan of Turner Classic Movie

RichCC comments on Apr 27, 2018:

Very much so. i started to put in some examples but the list immediately got out of control. I'll start with "Roman Holiday", "To Sir, With Love", "Bell, Book and Candle" and "Father Goose".

What saying represents the way you see your world?

RichCC comments on Apr 27, 2018:

"Do not believe anything, but question only what is worth questioning." -- George Polya

Watching bird intelligence on NOVA.

RichCC comments on Apr 26, 2018:

I wonder what raptor Jesus would have been like. There's maybe a story idea there i guess for a talented writer (as opposed to me).

Debating Atheism

RichCC comments on Apr 21, 2018:

I used to have that bone in my head that said I always had to be right (especially if I could show other people wrong). Maybe I'm just getting old but for a long time now I haven't cared enough to confront people. I'll kibbitz with info (often in the wisecracking sense) but I'd just as soon let other people spend their energy arguing rather than spending my own energy.

Do you agree that if wasn't for the Dark Ages and religious prosecution, our civilization would so ...

RichCC comments on Apr 13, 2018:

I recommend: *Lest Darkness Fall* by L. Sprague de Camp and *Against the Fall Of Darkness* by Arthur C. Clarke. Truth to tell, it's been so long since I read them that I don't remember many details but I do remember enjoying the 'alternate history' concept very much.

Best daily multi-vitamin for a man 65+ or waste of money?

RichCC comments on Apr 12, 2018:

What's that old saying? -- *Americans have the most expensive urine in the world*. My wife and I have been vegetarians for many years so just to try to avoid any should-have-been-avoided deficiencies, we take ten or so tablets and/or capsules each day. We feel more comfortable that way -- we don't take enough of anything to be toxic.

So there are 9 churches between my house and town; anyone else think they are trying just a bit too ...

RichCC comments on Apr 7, 2018:

The town where I grew up -- Page, AZ -- was mentioned in 1975 in *The Monkey Wrench Gang* by Edward Abbey. It's amazing how religion can distort the culture of a small town. It seems to be obvious to everyone but the theists. *** From the book: Page, Arizona: thirteen churches, four bars. Any town with more churches than bars, that town's got a problem. That town is *asking* for trouble. And they're even trying to make Christians out of the Indians. As if the Indians weren't bad enough already. *** I started to include more from the book but the tone is more racist than I care for.

Favorite podcasts?

RichCC comments on Mar 28, 2018:

I've listened to *The Infinite Monkey Cage* from BBC Radio 4 for many years with physicist Brian Cox and comedian Robin Ince. There's so many episodes that now I can go back and rehear shows without feeling slighted.

Show us your desktop! What do you have as your desktop background?

RichCC comments on Mar 28, 2018:

Back when computers were just getting started I picked up some scans of a painter named Tim Jacobus -- an illustrator of various novel covers.

Defying Theories, This Ghostly Galaxy Has Almost No Dark Matter

RichCC comments on Mar 28, 2018:

Thanks. That's an interesting link even if it mostly says 'we don't know yet'. I love their inference that the absence of dark matter implies its existence.

SPICY!!?

RichCC comments on Mar 28, 2018:

I miss the *Galvanized Gullet Society*. Their motto was 'No food is properly spiced unless it is painful to eat'. To be honest, I do like to taste my food. But my favorite pizza topping is a few drizzles of Sriracha sauce even if I usually end up with hiccups.

When you have dinner at a new restaurant, do you order something that you are familiar with or try ...

RichCC comments on Mar 27, 2018:

We are vegetarian. But we always ask the staff what they are most proud of. We tend to try what they think they do well. We usually aren't disappointed.

Archaeologists discover 81 ancient settlements in the Amazon - The Washington Post

RichCC comments on Mar 27, 2018:

Thank you. I'd seen headlines but hadn't read any background yet.

Study tackles neuroscience claims to have disproved 'free will'

RichCC comments on Mar 12, 2018:

I've said it before -- including here on Agnostic.com: The ancient Greek Stoics had it right. *If you can't tell if you have free will or not you might as well assume that you have it.* Take responsibility -- and credit -- for your own decisions. I don't see any gain in behaving any other way.

Does anyone enjoy a hot cup of tea? What is your favorite kind?

RichCC comments on Feb 28, 2018:

I enjoy Sencha.

Is there anyone here who has ever seen a UFO? And, if so, what do you believe you were witnessing?

RichCC comments on Feb 27, 2018:

When I was a child riding across southern New Mexico with my family there were several cars parked by the side of the road while the people stood and watched a moving non-airplane UFO light in the sky. We didn't try to explain that White Sands missile base was only a few miles away. We just drove away shaking our heads. Who knows? Maybe it was an alien flying saucer and we just didn't realize it. Lol.

11 Mormon employees quit after first female mayor elected in Utah town - --

RichCC comments on Feb 12, 2018:

Having grown up ~100 mi. east of the strip country... and as much as I detest the LDS(Mormon) church... I would seriously avoid using the term Mormon for the people of Hildale and Colorado City. They are a strange isolated cult all their own.

The Human Connectome Project

RichCC comments on Feb 8, 2018:

Many years ago I worked with intraocular lenses for cataract patients. One of our scientists in a previous life had done work trying to figure out how eyes encoded information. They were very surprised to discover that the images weren't just digital or analog in the brain but the signals were frequency modulated somehow. They were stopped there -- they could not even begin to decode the information. I wish I weren't so pessimistic but I'm seriously afraid that there are many levels of complexity that we haven't even begun to imagine -- that evolved dynamically over eons.

Digitizing Human Consciousness

RichCC comments on Feb 8, 2018:

Of course,this isn't a new thought. But suppose you could copy yourself. How would you know that changes weren't introduced in the copy process? I suppose you could say that if you can't tell the difference then it doesn't matter. As the mice said when they were about to replace Arthur's brain with a simple electronic one -- *You won't know the difference. You'll be programmed not to*. IMO... I suspect that attempting to digitally copy oneself will turn out to be pretty much an exercise in arrogance and selfishness. One of my first science fiction reads was *Rogue Moon* by Algis Budrys. The last line had little to do with the main story but it was *Remember me to her*.

What pets do you have? Show pictures!

RichCC comments on Feb 8, 2018:

Chai, Odie, Sikku, Mecka

There are actually people in this country that think climate scientists worldwide are full of shit ...

RichCC comments on Feb 2, 2018:

Hey. Phil is talking weather, not climate. The viewpoints only marginally overlap. So there. Years ago I heard of a statistics professor in Boston that thought it would be a good idea to ask their class each day if it would rain or not then help them keep track. It turned out that the class was more accurate than the local news. But then they thought *Wait a minute, this is Boston. What if we just said rain every day?* It turned out that assumption beat both the class and the news for accuracy. Lol.

Have you ever been told you look like someone famous?

RichCC comments on Jan 31, 2018:

I don't know about famous but many years ago in Tucson I was told by more than one person that there was someone else in town who could have been my twin. I never happened to meet them and I never figured out if my 'twin' should have felt insulted by the idea or I should. HaHa.

What kind of bad manners does your pet have?

RichCC comments on Jan 31, 2018:

We have a relatively new rescue dog that is 11 years old and has arthritis to the point that it is a significant effort for him to go outside for his duty. He wants to be a good boy but especially when it's cold outside, life is difficult for him. The way we look at it, this is one of those things we all go through -- our turns will come. Lol.

Who is your favorite villain?

RichCC comments on Jan 30, 2018:

Cthulhu. No question. The greatest (and sickest) vanity plate I ever heard of:

Are atheists in general, more intelligent than religious people?

RichCC comments on Jan 30, 2018:

I know I am brilliant. You can ask me. I thought I was wrong about something once but it turned out later I was mistaken. So there.

I get the sense agnostics/atheists are thought of as amoral nihilists, but I want to believe that's ...

RichCC comments on Jan 30, 2018:

I admit that I am pretty much a nihilist. I see no ultimate future for our human race. But given that... so what? 1) It wouldn't be the first time I was wrong -- even about big things. 2) What benefit is there in behaving negatively about anything or anyone? I suppose the argument could be made that short term selfish gratification could be a goal but my mind doesn't happen to work that way for whatever reason. 3) I do get a kick out of seeing myself or others succeed. So I enjoy helping various people towards their goals -- short or long term.

Dear Grouchy Feminists (Not all feminists.

RichCC comments on Jan 29, 2018:

IMHO... I don't see many people going around with a chip on their shoulder ready to get offended. When it's convenient both men and women seem to enjoy having doors opened or whatever and doing the same for me when it works out that way. Maybe I'm just getting older and less firm. I heard a comment years ago that a man can tell when he's 'past it' when women start being nice to him again. When he's too young to be a threat, women will be pleasant. When he's at a potentially aggressive age, they keep their distance. When he's too old again they start being nice again. Part of problem is likely the way men are -- when they are most able, they are often by nature a threat.

To meat or not to meat

RichCC comments on Jan 29, 2018:

I'm as concerned about the environmental cost of meat production as I am the ethical considerations. It takes a lot more energy to produce a given amount of animal protein than plant protein. And I don't even want to talk about the damage we're doing to things like the ocean. So far we're still in, but nearing the end of, the period where the earth will support our indulgences like meat eating. As the size of our population gets more and more out of control I don't know how much longer that period will last.

Senate Confirms Anti-LGBTQ Gov. Sam Brownback to Ambassadorship | Human Rights Campaign

RichCC comments on Jan 28, 2018:

From what I've heard, his austerity economy in Kansas was/is tanking so bad that he was about to be turned out on his ear anyway. I suspect that Trump is fulfilling a Republican welfare role for him.

Where do you find community?

RichCC comments on Jan 28, 2018:

Through my Big Brothers/Big Sisters match (I don't like the term they use). I ended up tutoring and starting a chess club at his school and even served a couple of terms on their board after he went on to high school.

Anyone Have An Exotic Animal As A Pet?

RichCC comments on Jan 28, 2018:

We raised ferrets in Seattle for many years but it got frustrating losing them so often -- six is old for a ferret. We took a child's playpen and covered the sides with sort of chicken wire. It made a good small animal environment. Ferrets aren't very social -- they won't come when you call them. But they are great fun as pets. If you do need to call them, a squeaky balloon will work every time. They love to crawl around inside clothes, especially when you're wearing them.

Optimistic Nihilism

RichCC comments on Jan 28, 2018:

Thank you. I very much enjoyed that.

Free choice is a myth. Life has its own destiny. Apart from man.

RichCC comments on Jan 28, 2018:

I've never heard of a test as to whether we have free choice or not. How do we test it? By what conditions do we tell if the test is successful or not? If A happens, we know the world is preordained -- else the world is not preordained. You know what. Since I can't tell one way or the other, I've decided that I get to choose - at least to the limit of my sphere of control. (pretty limiting, I know). I see no benefit to acting any other way. BTW, if it is outside my sphere, I don't worry about it. It's not my fault or concern.

I grew up eating red meat.

RichCC comments on Jan 27, 2018:

We're not vegan but my wife and I have been vegetarian for 15 or so years -- we started because we had a vegan close friend staying with us and it was easier to just not have meat in the house. Both of us stayed with it after she left. We both found food tastes better without the fat taste in your mouth all the time and we stopped worrying about our weight years ago. Now we just make sure our diets include enough vitamins and stuff. Lol. I recommend the lifestyle for various reasons -- first it's an easy way to feel good about yourself.

In a new study, 6 out of 10 racists, when asked, denied that they were such.

RichCC comments on Jan 19, 2018:

My question is how they chose racists to ask. Do they have a blood test? That would be cool.

Gerrymandering! How fucked-up is that shit?

RichCC comments on Jan 14, 2018:

For years I've thought we need a new popular definition of the term 'voter fraud'.

There has been a lot of comments about Trump and his fitness for the office of President.

RichCC comments on Jan 14, 2018:

I've read that Pence is a subject of Mueller's investigation too. But it would (will?) take time. Then there's Paul Ryan, Orrin Hatch then Rex Tillerson. We need to vote in a new Congress.

Does the weather effect your emotions or your mode?

RichCC comments on Jan 12, 2018:

I grew up in Arizona USA. All my life rain or snow has cheered me up -- even when I lived in Seattle. Lol.

Do any of you know the old jokes about how many people it takes to change a light bulb?

RichCC comments on Jan 10, 2018:

An old one: How many Microsoft Engineers does it take to change a light bulb? None. Bill Gates will have darkness declared the new standard.

Anyone else a Charles Howard Hinton (the 1800s mathemetician/sci fi writer) fan?

RichCC comments on Jan 6, 2018:

Thank you very much. I'm not familiar with Hinton but I am a fan of literature from that general period. I'll look it up shortly. Update: I just read your bio and I agree with you. I think the Golden Rule is a little naive and a little selfish. I've heard it called the Platinum Rule where you treat people the way they want to be treated. Lol.

One advantage of getting older is I get less self conscious of sounding stupid.

RichCC comments on Jan 6, 2018:

The moon does spin but it's *tidally locked* to the Earth. It's a common situation when one of a close gravitational pair is much larger than the other. Mercury is tidally locked to the Sun for instance. BTW.. I wouldn't call not knowing that dumb. It's a pretty esoteric detail of astronomy.

In his latest tweets - Trump said he was a "Stable Genius".

RichCC comments on Jan 6, 2018:

Insert many asses live in stables comment here.

Cool video [facebook.com] and do you agree?

RichCC comments on Jan 6, 2018:

Thanks. I enjoyed that.

I love the term Flattards for people who believe in a flat earth.

RichCC comments on Jan 6, 2018:

The curvature of a sphere about the size of the earth only differs from flat by 0.000126 per mile. So they're not wrong all that much. They're wrong socially more than scientifically. Lol. Read Asimov's *The Relativity of Wrong*. It's not like the earth is a sphere either. Ha, ha. http://chem.tufts.edu/answersinscience/relativityofwrong.htm

After you became a non believer, did you also go back through all the other supernatural claims out...

RichCC comments on Jan 5, 2018:

Who me? I've never believed in any supernatural -- knock on wood.

I know of no wars started by anyone to impose lack of religion on someone else.

RichCC comments on Jan 4, 2018:

It might have been here on Agnostic.com that I saw someone comment that no known suicide bomber had ever shouted *All hail the scientific method!* before detonating.

Answered prayers

RichCC comments on Jan 4, 2018:

When you think about it, the fact that you and I are here at all is unimaginably unlikely whether there was some outside agent involved or not. Just to start, what were the chances that your parents got together -- and their parents and so on back through the depths of time? Wow. BTW... That improbability applies whether god or someone decided things or not. A while back there was a comic *Bloom County* where I think it was Bill the Cat who just fell into a numb stupor at the overwhelming wonder of the very idea of it all.

What if the world's worst person said the smartest thing ever said?

RichCC comments on Jan 4, 2018:

It seems to me that Good/Bad and Smart/Dumb are two different dimensions. Why must they be related -- if you'll allow me to conflate *worst* with *Bad*? In our culture we tend to assume there is a correlation between Smart and Good but there's really no requirement.

Do you believe in “free will”? Why or why not?

RichCC comments on Jan 4, 2018:

Maybe we have free will and maybe we don't. You have no way to tell so you might as well act as if you do . Or assume that you don't. It's not like your assumption will have any real world effect either way.

Well, I was glad Clinton lost, and cautiously optimistic that Trump wouldn't be too much of a ...

RichCC comments on Jan 3, 2018:

Sorry if I offend anyone but I never understood why people hated HC so much. On the face of it she must be the most honest politician ever. She went through a 30-year hatchet job from the right including the media and they never found more than rumors and innuendo. I doubt any other politician in American history could have come close to enduring what she did.

Have you ever thought about ( this is paraphrasing a Lily Tomlin routine, but it's a valid question)...

RichCC comments on Jan 3, 2018:

My standard response when someone tells me 'God told them' something is: 'Really? What did their voice sound like? Was it deep? Do they have an accent? Was it a man or a woman?'. *LOL -- honest, I usually do.*

Do you believe in Divination?

RichCC comments on Jan 3, 2018:

40 years ago I used to dowse to choose hiking destinations in the SW USA desert. There were lots of buried treasure stories and I figured what the heck, maybe I'd get lucky. It never worked for me -- I never struck it rich. I guess I didn't believe hard enough. I did get in the good walks I really wanted though. LOL.

Valentine's Day (my birthday) is on Ash Wednesday this year. As well as Easter on April Fool's Day.

RichCC comments on Jan 3, 2018:

When did you post this? I looked for it in my main comment list but didn't see it. Are you glad it isn't the other way round -- that your birthday isn't on April Fool's Day?

Does evolution occur in leaps or slowly, both?

RichCC comments on Jan 2, 2018:

I think 'leaps' is pretty good word. It's been years since I looked at it closely so I hope I'm not speaking too awfully out of date here. But I used to be a big fan of Stephen J. Gould's 'punctuated equilibrium'.

What are views on nationalism? Do you think it is as dangerous as religion and god?

RichCC comments on Jan 2, 2018:

My definition of *nationalism* maps almost directly to *selfishness* and *bigotry/racism* follow closely. So yes, I think it is even more dangerous than *religion and god*.

Did the Trump administration collude with Russia?

RichCC comments on Jan 2, 2018:

Frankly as much as conspiracy and collusion bother me, money laundering and racketeering bother me more. As I watch the players I become more and more convinced that they are a bunch of incompetent, wannabe, mob bosses. Now that the debt killing tax 'overhaul' has passed, Hatch announced this morning that he won't run for Senate reelection in Utah this year.

Does anyone still make new year's resolutions?

RichCC comments on Jan 1, 2018:

Why should New Year's be special? When you want to change, do it. Especially if it is good (for you and/or others).

Please Believe You Are A Valuable Person

RichCC comments on Dec 31, 2017:

Thank you. I enjoyed that.

Life on other Planets? Yes or No?

RichCC comments on Dec 31, 2017:

I've mentioned the *Drake equation* (whichever incarnation you want to choose) and the *Fermi paradox* elsewhere on Agnostic.com. The numbers make very compelling arguments. Now the question seems to be *Why is there no evidence of ET life yet?*. It is becoming apparent that believing we are alone is a step beyond arrogance.

Are there any classical music buffs out there?

RichCC comments on Dec 30, 2017:

I've never taken classes and I can't carry a tune in a bucket but my music player has maybe 20% classical. My favorite composers are Respighi and Debussy. Also I like more modern instrumentals. I'm a big fan of Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre.

I have been a Christian and I wonder how we reconcile the truly loving and life-changing good ...

RichCC comments on Dec 29, 2017:

This is just my personal perspective -- for what it's worth. In my experience Christian charity always comes with a price. For instance after the Haiti earthquake a few years ago, a devout Christian from my office went with a group from his church to do relief work in Haiti. On the one hand that was very laudable. But from the pictures and stories he brought back a couple of weeks later well over half the effort they spent was towards building a church and converting new Christians. Every Church I'm familiar with (a limited sample, I know) seems to be successful because they follow a practice of 'church first' rather than 'do good first'.

Ok, another couple weeks and another list of improvements (hopefully) to the site.

RichCC comments on Dec 29, 2017:

I have a 2nd level request. When I edit a comment then preview it, if I go back to edit from the preview it goes back to the posted text. The only way I can keep my edits is to copy everything to the clipboard before I preview. I have to say though, if that's my biggest complaint, this is an extremely well done package. The look and feel are outstanding and I have yet to come across any bugs. Thank you muchly and thank the other patrons here.

I do envy the community participation and fellowship that Churches provide.

RichCC comments on Dec 29, 2017:

I find it more rewarding to go out and do good -- volunteer. I frustrate myself because I don't move well these days but I highly recommend Big Brothers Big Sisters. One of the things that impressed me about them is that they don't push any belief system -- it's all about the individual. I personally also served on a local school board (I met through BBBS). I think our rampant capitalist extraction economy discourages people from helping each other but I've found if you look there are good folks who will help you help -- including helping yourself.

Does the bible have any ethical principles other than the 'golden rule'?

RichCC comments on Dec 28, 2017:

I don't follow the wholly babble. The golden rule is naive and selfish. The platinum rule is better - 'treat others the way they want to be treated' -- rather than 'the way I want to be treated'. I see no reason others should have to endure my preferences (this comment not withstanding, sorry).

Do you believe in the existence of an historical Jesus?

RichCC comments on Dec 28, 2017:

I keep coming back to all the stuff that was written about him while he was 'alive' or within 80-90 or so years 'following' -- that is to say, nothing. Even the New Testament was written much later. Jesus was a Roman political creation centuries later (think emperor Constantine) to manipulate their population. I'd say it's unfortunate that the world has had to live with it since. But it's clear from the massive proliferation of other gods and superstitions that it's been inevitable because we're cursed with ignorance.

A few years ago a dude wrote a book detailing his child's trip to heaven that the brat supposedly ...