Today's Hike: Golden Northern Larch and a personal record.

p-nullifidian comments on Nov 4, 2020:

I love hiking ... was hooked by my grandfather as a little kid, growing up in northern California. Alas, I could never keep up with you today ... you are a hiking 'minor deity!' Love these reports, except the part about the owl--my favorite raptor!

It’s a relationship?!? Not a religion?

p-nullifidian comments on Nov 4, 2020:

Anger can be a destructive emotion, but it can also be in-structive. I'm no longer seething at the religion I was brought up in, or for that matter, the religion I left it for, but I can't help but feel a twinge of anger and resentment when I see little kids who don't know any better being taught the same damn bullshit and being brainwashed with guilt-tripping, lack of self-worth messaging. But I have a plan to properly channel my anger ... one that involves intellectual and psychological inoculation against religious faith through the joyous and loving embrace of secular humanism and critical thinking, and my test subjects will be my grandchildren! ;-)

Any US constitutional experts out there?

p-nullifidian comments on Nov 4, 2020:

If I understand the 20th Amendment, the job goes to the Vice President elect, however the Electoral College is supposed to cast its votes on December 14th, so it would be an intriguing hypothetical. If the President elect died before the 14th of December, who would the Electoral College vote for? Electors have been known to jump ranks, and in a close election, only a few electoral votes would be needed to change everything. Of course, the Electoral College votes must also be ratified in January by a Joint Session of Congress, presided over by the current Vice President--more opportunity for mischief! If the President elect can hang on until after the January 6 ratification of the electoral votes, then it would seem clear that, in the case of the death of the President elect, the Vice President elect is to be inaugurated on January 20th. But I'm just a poli-sci guy with no constitutional law training, so what do I know? ;-)

I just came here count the liberal tears.

p-nullifidian comments on Nov 4, 2020:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=345uegSj-zQ

Flat earthers [youtu.be]

p-nullifidian comments on Nov 2, 2020:

Having spent more than two decades in satellite operations, I find the entire notion of flat earth science beyond stupid--it is insanely stupid! These brain dead idiots should all be placed on the rockets I once worked with and launched into space. But before opening the air lock, give them one final chance to recant their stupidity before expelling their useless bodies into the vacuum of space.

Youth is fleeting. Stupidity is forever.

p-nullifidian comments on Nov 2, 2020:

As Ron White said, 'You can't fix stupid.'

Pastor Rick Joyner, Who Said the U.

p-nullifidian comments on Nov 2, 2020:

"Nothing fails like prayer." Dan Barker

Defending secularism is now “divisive?

p-nullifidian comments on Nov 2, 2020:

“I will always defend in my country the freedom to speak, to write, to think, to draw.” Such divisive rhetoric indeed! ROFL

Maryland Officials Punish Library After Event Ruined by Christian Protester | Hemant Mehta | ...

p-nullifidian comments on Nov 2, 2020:

The library should either sue the protester for damages or press charges and seek full remuneration in court, or both!

I sometime walk with a woman who is a churcher.

p-nullifidian comments on Nov 2, 2020:

The scourge of the "middle man" is at the core of most religions. Seems this deity they're pushing can't speak directly to the individual without an interpreter--one who insists on being paid!

I'm an atheist who loves cats....

p-nullifidian comments on Nov 2, 2020:

On the other hand, Erwin Schrödinger was an atheist who evidently did not! ;-)

A little from Column A, and a little from Column B.

p-nullifidian comments on Nov 2, 2020:

Like Neil Postman I fear that Huxley got it right!

Ask Richard: Atheist Struggles with Lingering Anxiety and Guilt after Deconverting | Richard Wade | ...

p-nullifidian comments on Nov 2, 2020:

My path toward non-belief started by converting God. God simply had to change, so I changed him! I made him an "it" or "he/she" who would never harm, and whose nature has never been accurately depicted in any religion or writings of any kind. I sought to bring God into the 21st century. But if no one has ever accurately depicted God, much less interacted with him/her, then it seemed likely that God was unknowable and undefinable--God was a guess. And at this point what *was* the point? What would it matter whether or not I believed in God? And so I basically forgot about him/her, much as one forgets an old classmate who never made much of an impact. The irrelevance of God, once realized and understood, is the best antidote for any pang of guilt.

Breonna Taylor grand jurors say police actions were 'negligent' and 'criminal' but were NOT given ...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 28, 2020:

Good info here, thanks! A major part of the problem in this country is the deference judges give to the police when obtaining warrants, including the type used when bursting into Breonna Taylor's apartment. In my opinion, no-knock warrants should be used in only the most extreme situations where a lethal crime has been committed or is being planned. Not for drug busts! And only after an extended period of surveillance of the premises with positive ID on all occupants. It's a 'no go' if there's someone inside who is not a suspect. No allowances made for 'collateral damage.' The cops bursting into people's homes like this should almost never happen in this country. We're becoming a police state if we continue to allow this.

Watching Trump talk in Lansing, I see bird shit all over the front of the podium.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 27, 2020:

"Watching Trump talk in Lansing" Why? A glutton for punishment perhaps? Watching Trump speak is at the bottom of my list, just above hearing him talk. When I hear his voice I have the same reaction as the time I tried to remove a cat from the hood of my car, but her claws scratched across the entire metal surface--what a sound!

When you find NO solution to a PROBLEM.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 27, 2020:

I tend to see problems similarly to @EyesThatSmile. Undiscovered solutions vice unsolvable problems. Answers are out there, awaiting our discovery. I am inspired by the story of George Bernard Dantzig who, as a frequently-tardy Berkeley grad student in mathematics, showed up 20 mintues late for his math class, copied two problems from the chalkboard that he assumed were homework assignments, went home and eventually solved them, only to later be told by the instructor that he had put them on the chalkboard at the beginning of class as examples of 'unsolvable problems.' This feat launched his career, but likely wouldn't have happened had he not been late to class and therefore open to his supposed homework assignment being solvable.

I had in interesting session with my therapist.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 27, 2020:

So your therapist is opening up to you, is she? Who's the real therapist in this scenario?

Republicans use this

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 27, 2020:

Great quote! Voltaire was referring to religion, of course, but nowadays it's difficult to distinguish the followers of Trump from your ordinary run-of-the-mill cult!

Biden still has issues with stuttering.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 23, 2020:

A stuttering, stammering Biden is preferable to the verbal vomit spewing forth from the mouth of this president, wouldn't you agree?

Couldn't take it anymore.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 23, 2020:

Ah, the indispensable Post-it note ... the folks at 3M should be proud of your aesthetically beneficial application of their invention!

Editorial: Barrett's moral relativism is cause for rejection from the bench | National Catholic ...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 22, 2020:

Catholics, like many other religions, come in many flavors from the far left to the ultra conservative. I've found the NCR to be left of center, by Catholic standards, which is why my brother-in-law hates it. But then he's not a fan of Pope Francis either. Any religious rag that gets criticized by conservatives is worth a peek, just to see what they're saying. ;-)

The Amazing Randi, Famed Magician and Escapologist, Dies at 92 | Hollywood Reporter

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 21, 2020:

I loved this guy! He was an original. Long before Penn Jilette there was the Amazing Randi. I never knew about Deyvi Peña, so much to learn. RIP, James.

In the U.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 21, 2020:

Seven people? Omar Mateen, who was an American-born Muslim, shot and killed 49 people, and wounded another 53 in the Orlando Pulse night club in 2016, while stating in 9-1-1 calls during his attack that he was retaliating against U.S. air strikes in Syria and Iraq against ISIS, to whom he had sworn allegiance. Guess they sort of forgot that one! Also, this statement is flat out incorrect: "...attention on racially motivated attacks by white supremacists has increased since President Donald Trump took office in 2016." Trump was elected in 2016, but didn't take office until January 20, 2017.

A Quebecer town called Asbestos changes its name.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 21, 2020:

The report begins with an unusual description: "A town where a giant pit still towers over the landscape."

My husband passed away in July, 20, just five months, to the day, of coming down, literally ...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 20, 2020:

I am so sorry. Next year will be our 40th and I don't know what I would do without my companion, heart's desire and closest friend. Give yourself extra time to wear those rings and use that stamp, especially this year! 2020 has been, IMO, like a twisted time loop film, filled with emotions that have been suspended in time. My wife has lost an aunt, a brother and an uncle this year, and our daughter was married, all socially distant--none of it even feels real.

Alright.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 20, 2020:

Captain Nemo said "okay" Then I raised my hand and waved Captain Nemo went away https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3vAUtmAbus

Once I said to a dear Christian friend: “Suppose there really is no God, and suppose I had it ...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 20, 2020:

Since religion is not inherently evidence-based I'm curious as to how one would go about demonstrating conclusively the non-existence of something it requires faith to believe in. In other words, what additional power beyond what you possess today would you need? It sounds to me like your friend may have already considered that she could be wrong and would prefer to remain ignorant--she doesn't want her spell to be lifted.

Space-station crew members just found an elusive air leak by watching tea leaves float in ...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 20, 2020:

Gives a whole new meaning to reading the tea leaves, doesn't it. ;-)

A Polish Gym Rebranded as a Church to Avoid Coronavirus Restrictions

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 20, 2020:

Their bodies truly are their temples! ;-)

VOTE! I couldn’t have said any of this better, my thoughts exactly. [youtu.be]

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 20, 2020:

Hilarious, yet poignant ... awesome share, thanks!

GIF vs GIF [youtube.com]

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 20, 2020:

Old school here ... soft 'g' for me. Goes better with my gin & tonic while I search Giphy (pronounced jiffy) for animated GIFs! ;-)

“A Little Bit of Logic” Who is Donald Trump?

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 20, 2020:

Not a salesman, but a showman, huckster and charlatan. He is a self-promoting vainglorious bastard whose incompetence is surpassed only by his narcissism. He lives for the sound of MAGA applause and the opportunity to catch his reflection in a mirror. Those who admire Trump have made a pact. They've chosen to ignore all that is patently obvious--his treatment of women, blatant lies, race-bating, self-dealing, taxpayer funded nepotism, etc.--and to instead believe QAnon conspiracies about Democrats who kidnap children and Trump's own outlandish claims of his performance and being a stable genius. In this way, Trumpism is very much like a religion.

Where is the weirdest place you have seen religious propaganda?

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 19, 2020:

"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." 2 Corinthians 3:17 The masthead of the Indianapolis Star newspaper!

My childhood religion was Jehovah's Witness, how dumb was your religion?

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 19, 2020:

In a contest such as this, there are no winners.

To be the messiah, Jesus had to have descended from israel, right?

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 19, 2020:

There are actually two New Testament genealogies, Matthew and Luke, with Luke getting in Mr. Peabody's wayback machine and taking us all the way to Adam and God. A whopper of a tale, indeed! Since people still believe that Jesus was, in effect, the bastard half-breed product of a deity having carnal knowledge with a human teenage maiden, the best that Joseph could do was to not object to the statutory rape of his fiancé and adopt the lad. Incidentally, ever wonder what the genetic constituents of God's sperm are? Something tells me ol' Joseph couldn't wait, and blame shifted his dirty deed into an immaculate deception. Oh for a rape kit and Mr. Peabody's blasted machine!

Maybe.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 19, 2020:

Unfortunately, such wisdom is in short supply and appears unlikely to ever be heeded, beginning from the highest office in the nation.

Christian Rapper Walks Out of “The Addams Family” Movie Due to Demonic Elements | Hemant Mehta |...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 19, 2020:

What was he even doing in a movie house in the first place? Didn't he realize that his guardian angel wouldn't accompany him into this dark palace of sin, and was waiting at the door? ;-)

I keep running across people who are strangely under the impression that the Nazis were socialists.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 19, 2020:

Similarly, the Chinese may call themselves communists, but are about as communist as the Ferengi!

Watched, A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 18, 2020:

Great film! IMHO the story was as much about journalist Lloyd Vogel who was filled with repressed rage and was a total cynic, but underwent a transformation through meeting and getting to know Fred Rogers.

FCC Acts as Trump Intensifies Call to Dilute Social Media Shield Agency chief says it will ...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 16, 2020:

In Trumplandia, all media, including social media, must speak with one voice--the voice of a Fox.

2020 as a math problem

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 16, 2020:

African or European hamster?

I cease being a wildlife lover when I chase a 'possum around my garage three nights in a row, think ...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 16, 2020:

I love wildlife, just not in the house please. Our German shepherd wouldn't tolerate other critters on the property ... how we miss her.

Monty Python's Galaxy Song [youtube] I was prompted to post this when I heard Dr.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 16, 2020:

"There's bugger all down here on Earth," indeed!

I’d like to get members opinions and thoughts and feelings about agnostic theists; of which I am ...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 15, 2020:

The Epicurean dilemma was a prime motivating factor in my eventual dismissal of a personal, albeit capricious god, who, it is said, occasionally interferes with the natural chain of cause and effect. Having abandoned the notion of a personal, interactive deity, I retreated to the god of my avatar. Deism advances the idea that an all-powerful being created the universe and its laws, then moved on to other more pressing matters, never to be heard from or seen. To the Deist, by the time human beings evolved, this supreme being had been completely absent for the better part of 13.7 billion years! But even this idea is unsatisfying. Prior to the creation of the universe, what was this deity doing? How long had it existed in the nothingness of a non-existent universe? And what possible benefit do we gain by believing in something that can in no way be proven to exist and has zero impact on our own existence?

Why a lack of empathy is the root of all evil | The Independent

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 15, 2020:

I disagree with the tenor of the article--too binary. One doesn't either have / lack empathy. Lucy Adeniji clearly did not suffer from a lack of empathy, as she appears to have provided and cared for her own children even while enslaving non family members from her home country. Empathy can be 'situationally calibrated,' and this ability often begins with seeing people as different. Different race or ethnicity, different religion, different tribe / clan / family, different nationality, different sexual orientation, whatever the difference, it is used to turn people into "others." This "othering" leads to the creation of enemies, and is the first step toward demonization and dehumanization. Having categorized a person or group of individuals as 'less than human,' one is able to selectively 'shut down' their empathy. The SS officer can therefore go home to his loving family and read bedtime stories to his children after a hard day's work hunting and killing Jews. The key here, IMO, is not whether one possesses empathy, rather, whether or not one views negatively the differences between individuals or groups. Once we allow ourselves the luxury of an attitude of superiority over a 'different' group, we have taken the first step toward 'othering,' and as a consequence, selective empathy reduction.

[youtu.be] China is using camps to turn muslims "obedient"

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 15, 2020:

Leave it to China to engineer a human rights atrocity. Tibet, Hong Kong and now the Uighurs of Xinjiang province. To those who dare differ with Beijing, you will be assimilated into the collective... resistance is futile.

My October thus far: 10/6 Eddie Van Halen dies.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 14, 2020:

And fuck 2020! My condolences.

Kenneth Copeland: “Lazy Christians” Are Why Michele Bachmann Isn’t President | Hemant Mehta | ...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 14, 2020:

According to this insane man, "God wanted her to be president." Clearly then, God didn't get his way. Based on this logic (that God doesn't always get what he wants), the success of his entire plan is thrown into doubt. I mean, if he couldn't even arrange a simple thing like an election, who on Earth can see the old dotard successfully executing his plan for humanity. Of course, all of this represents silly magical thinking.

AZ Teacher Fired After Repeated Acts of Bigotry Against LGBTQ, Atheist Students | Hemant Mehta | ...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 14, 2020:

"She handed out bibles in class." And the district still allowed her to teach? One wonders, would they have been so tolerant if she were handing out Korans? Most public school systems have prohibitions against proselytizing. The district seems to have bent over backwards (so to speak) for her.

"If faith is truth without proof, how does anyone come to any conclusion when every conceivable ...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 14, 2020:

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1 (KJV) Even the New Testament provides a definition of faith that is amorphous, if not entirely incoherent. The substance of hope and evidence of the unseen are underlying conditions in the minds of the credulous.

Throughout my life, I've had to slowly learn that Perfection doesn't exist.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 14, 2020:

Was any god ever in advance of the people who worshiped him? Perhaps the best evidence for there being no god is that the 'knowledge' of the god reflected the ignorance of his people, not to mention the glacial pace of progress and the relatively limited growth of enlightened behavior in the community of believers. External forces such as found in philosophy, science and ethics, not divine command, have resulted in people of faith being forced to ignore more and more of the questionable passages their gods supposedly inspired self-proclaimed prophets to write.

why does all religion want your hard earned cash when they don't do anything to deserve it....

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 14, 2020:

Religion is little more than a profligate beggar. If their god is so damn powerful, why does he need our money to do 'his work' in the first place?

Christian Atrocities: Three centuries of pagan persecution- [churchandstate.org.uk]

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 14, 2020:

Atrocity, oppression and brutality are very often the product of religion with unchecked political power.

“Basically, more unequal societies have worse quality of life.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 13, 2020:

An excellent article. Thank you for posting it. Further evidence in support of UBI, universal access to health care and a more progressive tax system.

I currently became unemployed because my construction company I work for has no projects at this ...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 13, 2020:

Wait, something doesn't add up here. "I currently became unemployed because my construction company I work for has no projects at this time. So now, on top of having no electricity because of the hurricane Friday..." What kind of construction company would have no work following a hurricane? Maybe it's time to find another construction company?

Two interesting charts on Covid-19 from the BBC web site.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 13, 2020:

This trend is grim, as we head toward winter when people typically spend even more time in enclosed spaces.

What is the value of your beauty, or all this beauty around us in this terrible harmonious universe...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 13, 2020:

Not by coincidence, but by evolution.

Ethics in a pandemic.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 13, 2020:

"Forced" immunization? Perhaps not, but we already have coerced vaccination in many quarters, as schools won't allow children to attend who haven't been vaccinated against a number of diseases not nearly as deadly as the Coronavirus. Parents whose child is able to receive the vaccine are left with the choice to home school or get their kids inoculated. Natural (without vaccines) herd immunity may be a pipe dream. Smallpox existed for thousands of years killing hundreds of millions before a vaccine was discovered centuries ago. But it took a vast, WHO sponsored effort to inoculate the planet and eradicate this scourge. COVID's just getting started, as we're already seeing signs of a second wave. The Spanish flu had 4 waves. Ethics are inevitably situational but often come down to numbers. Here it seems to me that the needs of the many [compromised individuals who are unable to be vaccinated] outweigh the needs of the one [who, on some principle, refuses to be vaccinated]. Once a vaccine is widely available, until this disease is eradicated, those who refuse it should live like the Amish, isolated from the rest of society.

I am not a religious person, I don't give a damn about religions but .

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 12, 2020:

Sir Elton Hercules John ... an enduring icon! "Holy Moses, let us live in peace Let us strive to find a way to make all hatred cease There's a man over there, what's his color? I don't care He's my brother, let us live in peace, oh He's my brother, let us live in peace, oh He's my brother, let us, let us live in peace" Wore out my Yellow Brick Road LP in my youth. Great share ... thank you!

This is what happens when you have a country where most of the population is poorly educated, and ...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 12, 2020:

Lest we be accused of finger pointing, our rape culture is a much greater problem than that of Bangladesh. "According to Ain o Salish Kendra, a Bangladeshi human rights organization, 907 women or girls were raped in just the first nine months of 2020." That awful number equates to 3.3 sexual assaults every day. But in the U.S., a country with roughly twice the population of Bangladesh, a staggering 98,213 rapes were reported in 2019, or 269 per day! Both countries need to do more, to be sure. I imagine that the physical (not chemical) castration of rapists on a broad scale would be more effective than even the death penalty--there's nothing quite so sensitive to a man than the thought of losing his balls and having to live that way. https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/10/09/bangladesh-protests-erupt-over-rape-case https://www.statista.com/statistics/191137/reported-forcible-rape-cases-in-the-usa-since-1990/

Every so often, when I bite into a perfectly ripe fresh fig, I start to believe there might be a ...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 12, 2020:

I love both, and at the same time! Fortunately, we have a pizzeria nearby that perfectly accommodates my palate with a Fig-Prosciutto Pie! With mozzarella, gorgonzola, balsamic, onions & black pepper. https://www.instagram.com/p/CF7ncCohwTI/

Do you think religious trauma gets taken seriously?

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 12, 2020:

If you were raised in a faith that worships an omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient being--the denial of whom would result in your burning in a lake of fire--you likely experienced a degree of tension, if not genuine stress, as you fought your way out of the brambles of superstition into the open meadow of free thought. The fear of punishment at the hands of an immense personality who supposedly knows you better than you do yourself has led many to seek counseling. And in all-too-many religious settings, leaving the faith is easier than the backlash often experienced at the hands of family and friends--such rejection may be the most traumatic aspect of becoming a nonbeliever.

Extremist ideology as a complex contagion: the spread of far-right radicalization in the United ...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 11, 2020:

Interesting read. That said, the admittedly narrow focus on the PIRUS database ignores what is clearly a more immediate problem: those who may not act, but support the action. When a group calling themselves a militia plan and rehearse the kidnapping of a governor and the potential use of lethal force against law enforcement, they are not conspiring in a vacuum. Material support and psychological encouragement coalesce with fervent political justification (from talk shows to the White House) to give credence to such action. In this regard, there is little difference between the radicalized domestic terrorist in this or just about any other country. The so-called extremists and lone wolves have their pack of backers, whether they be located locally or virtually, and it is they who should be the object of our deepest concern.

Here's my follow-up article to the priest having a threesome in the church.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 11, 2020:

Pity the DA who has to decide whether to prosecute and face the additional 'exposure' a trial would bring--the videos should make fascinating evidence--or drop it and face the potential backlash from the community. Although this is Louisiana, and I've been to New Orleans during carnival and seen some interesting things, so one would hope the (local) political pressure is minimal. Seems a waste to take the extravagant step of 'burning' the altar to rid the church of sex cooties when a simple bleaching might do! And what of the priest? All believers know, or should remember, what their God does to those who 'defile the temple.' Is their God so weak as to require an elected prosecutor to do his bidding? The Catholic church will deal with him as any employer might do to an employee who breaks the terms of their employment, but to press charges of criminal behavior is absurd.

Self-Described “Pro Science” Rapper MC Hammer Embraces Intelligent Design | Val Wilde | Friendly...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 9, 2020:

Hammer tweets, "Pro Science Pro Creation Pro God" Well, as the song goes... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsRjQDrDnY8

Confused.com😂🤷🏻‍♂️😂

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 9, 2020:

"No one needs a relationship?" We are all social animals, are we not?

Leaving out the 'god stuff", why indeed...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 9, 2020:

Jesus had an unfair advantage--he could do real cool stuff like turning water into wine (what a guy) or feeding 5,000 people with a kid's lunch basket of 5 loaves and 2 fishes. To accomplish similar ends, Socialism usually involves a government redistribution of private resources, a practice viewed by many as theft.

Communism seeks control through central banking and central communication. Sound familiar?

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 9, 2020:

"Communism seeks control through central banking and central communication. Sound familiar?" Actually, no, not at all. Strong central banks are a feature of capitalist economic systems. "The federal reserve was created ... in order to create central banking and ... promote a communist agenda." Central banking has its origins in the founding of this country. Was Alexander Hamilton a communist? Where ever did this notion come from? Bankers, including those who serve on the board of governors or work at one of the regional banks, are among the most capitalist (i.e., least communist) people on the planet! "Free ideas and speech and an open mind promotes learning and discussion." Agree 100%! "The question is, which side will agnostic.com be on?" This site is comparable to the commons. Can a location or virtual space where people gather to share views 'take a side?' And are there but two sides to take?

New Tinnitus Treatment Alleviates Annoying Ringing in the Ears A noninvasive device designed to ...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 8, 2020:

Now this will be most welcome as I've attended too many rock concerts without hearing protection.

Trump Says Getting The Coronavirus Was A ‘Blessing From God’ Was it a blessing from god that ...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 8, 2020:

Since many (if not most) of Trump's ardent supporters believe that God is in control and all that happens is according to his plan, their inescapable answer to both of your questions would be "Yes." Now I must have an antacid.

Can anyone relate?

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 8, 2020:

A "higher power that is good" and "powers that are evil[?]" Why is one singular, and the other plural? And just what form might these 'higher powers' assume? Are they beyond nature, able to 'miraculously' disrupt the steady chain of causes and effects? In other words, are they supernatural? So far as we can determine, there are no powers or intelligences superior to our own--not reassuring, perhaps, but a dose of reality is sometimes necessary to dispel flights of fancy, a common source of which is religion.

Another reason why fanatical religious zealots are dangerous to society and just so there is no ...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 8, 2020:

Fundamentalist religion of any stripe is abhorrent, but it's a shame that you had to put it out there to deter the anti-Semites. Alas, such is the world we're living in today. We seem to have lost our ability to make distinctions. The capacity for nuance is a vanishing art. One can loathe Judaism as a faith while deeply appreciating the Jewish ethnos. Similarly, one ought to be free to despise the Islamic faith without being labeled a racist Islamophobe.

Tempted to get this shirt, but not sure if I'd be allowed to wear it outside the house: ...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 7, 2020:

...and a mom. Weird threesome!

Hi everyone, I’m actually from the Modesto/Turlock area, but I’m on the peninsula often.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 7, 2020:

Welcome!

US election: Do you need Jesus to win the White House? [bbc.com]

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 7, 2020:

The question being asked is, Can a candidate for the White House win without the public backing of Christian churches?

Where are you on the issue of abortion?

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 6, 2020:

I've long felt that men should have no say in this issue. Were the roles reversed, men would not tolerate women having a say in the disposition of our reproductive organs.

Aww hell. I offended someone today. I guess my job is done. Until tomorrow...

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 6, 2020:

No one has the right *not* to be offended, even though some silly people think this should be the case!

Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 6, 2020:

Just look what can happen when a German spends long periods of time in Italy! Next thing you know, he'll be saying something like 'God is dead.'

Question: How is holy water made? Answer: Boil the hell out of it!

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 5, 2020:

My favorite holy water joke involves 3 coeds going to confession...

Now they’ve No Platformed Richard Dawkins

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 3, 2020:

Ironic that the man who gave us the word 'meme' is the target of one himself: Islamophobe.

The Gay Horse | Jimmy Carr: Comedian - YouTube

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 3, 2020:

Great improvisational reply to the New Yorker who said, "If it weren't for us, you'd be speaking German."

What do you all think of Pascal's Wager?

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 3, 2020:

Hell is something you have to accept exists in order to be terrorized by it. I was raised in a Christian faith that doesn't believe in hell. But the problems with Pascal's Wager are many, and here's my primary issue with it: Having realized that faith is an invalid construct upon which to base one's understanding of the universe, I cannot summon a belief in something that logic and reason scorn. Even if I tried, I could not believe in God at this point--my 'faith chip' has been fried! Pascal encourages 'faking it until you make it,' but not only is this disgraceful behavior disingenuous, it ignores the simple fact that some of us are simply incapable of being convinced of something without evidence, or, as is the case with religion, evidence to the contrary.

Now they’ve No Platformed Richard Dawkins

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 3, 2020:

Spiked? Seriously? A paragon of objective journalism.

How are you distracting yourself from the news and election worries?

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 2, 2020:

By worrying about the all the fires, especially the Glass Fire menacing the town in which I grew up and the purple AQI threatening to turn people purple around here as a result!

This convinced me:

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 2, 2020:

Just look at those perky athetits!

Just saw it on CNN and 3 others.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 2, 2020:

Almost made me think there's a God ... almost. ;-)

What can an atheist say to a Christian to convince him.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 2, 2020:

I was raised in a Christian faith that doesn't believe in the existence of hell, so that part at least wasn't an issue. But the notion that God and my guardian angel were constantly watching me, constantly judging me, took a long time to fade away. My recommendation is to *not* try to convince anyone, rather, try to plant seeds of critical thinking through Socratic questions and measured discourse. Allow these time bombs of good sense to countdown in the mind of your friend or loved one for as long as it takes, the ticking becoming as loud as the stopwatch on 60 Minutes. Hopefully there will come a time when that incessant ticking can no longer be ignored and it stops just prior to an explosion of realization. I was once told that the 'still small voice' in my head was my conscience. But my conscience became a voice of reason, its roots originating from unanswered or unanswerable questions that created tiny seedlings of cognitive dissonance which blossomed into that marvelous feeling and cradle of understanding: doubt.

The Truth About Modern day Atheism: They Hate Christianity! - YouTube

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 1, 2020:

I don't hate Christians (as I once was one) but I actually do hate Christianity. I despise it from my very core! It's a religion that's based on at least 4 entirely immoral fundamentals. First, that guilt (through Adam's original sin) is transferable to all of humankind; Second, that this 'inherited guilt' can be off-loaded; Third, that the only satisfactory (to God) method of complete removal of this guilt was through the execution of an innocent person; and Fourth, that this innocent person was the half-man / half-god product of a divine debauchery of an innocent teenage girl! And it's all downhill from there--straight to hell for those who dare to deny this depraved faith. Any system of belief that is grounded in immorality is necessarily an inherently immoral system, worthy of nothing more than our contempt.

I do not consider myself an Atheist, but an Agnostic.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 1, 2020:

There is a fourth separator which is responsible for significant societal tension: class. The pandemic has revealed, more than just about anything else before it, the impact of social strata on health.

I just installed Linux in a laptop that brought it back to life after almost two years of gathering ...

p-nullifidian comments on Sep 30, 2020:

I believe it's spelled Ubuntu, and you're right, it's an ideal word for an open source OS. I will look into it for my old laptop ... sure beats Red Hat!

Trump Mocks Religious Believers Behind Closed Doors, Say His Former Aides | Hemant Mehta | Friendly ...

p-nullifidian comments on Sep 30, 2020:

Most evangelicals readily admit that Trump's no altar boy--even a crude 'tool' like Trump may be used by God, so they believe. And from his court appointments of conservatives they have been getting just what they wanted. The courts have been changed for decades to come, and in a direction that does not bode well for individual liberties. This is something that more Americans needed to be cognizant of in 2016, no matter how they regarded Hillary Clinton!

A Flat Earther Tried Convincing Her School Board to Teach the Controversy | Hemant Mehta | Friendly ...

p-nullifidian comments on Sep 30, 2020:

As someone who spent decades in satellite operations, one can only imagine how yahoos like her make my blood boil! I would have thought these insane people would have gone the way of the dinosaur by now. But in our Trumpian anti-science dystopia, not only have they regained a place at the table, they fit right in.

So where do you get your morality from if you’re an atheist?

p-nullifidian comments on Sep 30, 2020:

From nature. We can see the foundations of moral behavior in other animals. Empathy and reciprocity are evident in the behavior of primates, for example. Long before God was invented, early hominids that empathized and cooperated with one another fared better than those who did not. Had the inclination to feel empathy and to engage in altruistic and cooperative behaviors not evolved in early pre-human species, we probably wouldn't be here. All so-called divine codes of fundamental behavior were a little late to the party. We assert that it is better that we should not lie, cheat, steal or commit adultery not because some God said we shouldn't, but because we don't like it when somebody lies, cheats, steals or commits adultery at our expense!

Yesterday was an interesting day.

p-nullifidian comments on Sep 28, 2020:

Time for a White Russian!

Chastised for wearing a mask at church: My brother has a friend who went to church wearing a ...

p-nullifidian comments on Sep 27, 2020:

The irony here is that nearly 1 in 5 (18.5%) of the hospitals in the US is religiously affiliated. If one of these churchgoers contracts a bad case of COVID 19, or any other malady requiring hospitalization, they had better hope that if they are admitted to a religiously-affiliated hospital, the care they receive is not a matter of faith.

Personal Experience of God Through Meditation | Ram - New Delhi, India | Atheist Experience 22.

p-nullifidian comments on Sep 27, 2020:

Altered states of consciousness are, well, just that, no matter the source.

It seems that religion evolved to justify hatred and disbelief of human differences.

p-nullifidian comments on Sep 26, 2020:

I agree with @Willow_Wisp, religion likely evolved from a desire to understand nature. Ignorance of things like diseases, seizures, violent storms, earthquakes, volcanoes, eclipses and especially where does one go when one dies and the meaning of dreams, opened the door to religion. First came the shaman and the pantheistic or polytheistic folklore, followed much later by organized religion with a clergy or priesthood and dogma. At this point, ritual sacrifice was quite well entrenched, so demanding offerings was an easy step. The all-encompassing purpose of organized religion became manifest: to enrich itself.

This is a video about the possibility of us finding sentient, advanced alien life out there (highly ...

p-nullifidian comments on Sep 26, 2020:

I was raised in a faith that accepted, even taught, that there are 'unfallen worlds' whose inhabitants never sinned. These residents of other worlds never needed the plan of salvation and Christianity because they had never broken communion with God, so I was told. That there could be diversity of opinion, of religion, or diversity of any kind actually, on distant planets probably never occurred to the elders of the religion in which I was instructed. So you'd like to see something like the robot Gort show up to announce the arrival of our new religious leader, Klaatu, who in this scenario has superior technology and disarms the planet and then demands our worship? If that were the case, I'd find myself fighting alongside the religionist against these oppressors.

Destroyed by the truth

p-nullifidian comments on Sep 26, 2020:

Another excellent life lesson from the mind of Charles Schulz. As a kid I'd go ice skating on Saturday nights, and we'd see him working in his drawing studio overlooking the rink he owned in Santa Rosa, near where I grew up. To me Charles Schulz was like a god.

Michigan Man Pleads Guilty After Threatening to Shoot Black Family at Church | Val Wilde | Friendly ...

p-nullifidian comments on Sep 26, 2020:

One aspect of the Trump effect is that these racist bigots feel emboldened to crawl out from under their rocks and self-identify.