Beth

I think the C T shield is composed of neurons.

I got 19/20. I made up an excuse for myself that I did it too quickly!

Re the Sunscreen tip….yes, that is good advice. I put a layer of it on at the weekend as summer in Ireland was on a Saturday this year….40F at the moment

@Reg

Wear sunscreen.

Some “rules” to be happy as you age.  All suggestions welcome!!

@_Robert_ I understand the sentiment. I find it increasing difficult to keep friendships with religiously minded people. It is not their faith that is the problem. I can generally ignore it. But it is how the magical thinking entwines itself into their view of the world.  Once they have fallen for the “Great Overarching Delusion” (GOD)* they end…[Read more]

Thanks, Reg!!

“Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence.” – Christopher Hitchens, born April 13th.

The first sentence if my prior post was a run on disaster, so I thank you—especially Enco—for giving it the intended reading not the literal meaning opposite to my intention.

To wit:

Not many of the people who are asking for the normal rules of warfare to be adhered to by Israel in Gaza so as to stop what seems to be a genocidal campaign are not…[Read more]

Authoritarianism goes so well with the religious societies. A belief in a god or ‘superior’ entity and a belief in Dear Leader are really not all that far apart. If you’re already worshipping a god, it’s not a huge pivot to worshipping a leader.

@Reg

Not many of the people who are asking for the normal rules of warfare to be adhered to by Israel in Gaza so as to stop what seems to be a genocidal campaign are not pro-Hamas. They are not pro-rape or pro-torture. Don’t be absurd.

Israel has become a right-wing authoritarian country which keeps friendlier company with other authoritarian…[Read more]

With respect to the regime without any rights, I am hard pressed to see that as something different than that which the current administration aims for.

Trump’s lies are not ordinary lies. He lies like Big Brother in 1984. “Don’t believe your lying eyes.” He does not lie to deceive. His lies are a loyalty test.

A guy I used to count as a friend (we were both photographers) is a MAGAhead now. He’s actually a successful attorney, so he’s no idiot. Still, he will not concede that Trump ever…[Read more]

TheEncogitationer wrote:
That is possible, although Religious and Crunchy people, both Left and Right, have messed up the word by calling perfectly natural things in the Natural Universe “unnatural”, e.g. “unnatural food” or “unnatural acts.”

If something happens or manages to exist or to be manufactured, it satisfies the laws of nature and is …[Read more]

Wow……

She: I am not really religious but I am very spiritual.

Me: But is that enough? Really, is it? Just how not religious are you? How much more is very spiritual to just being regular spiritual? Is there training involved?

She: Huh??