Simon Paynton

Thanks for the comment Jake. I was also thinking that old age is wasted on the not-so-young, to twist G.B. Shaw’s line for when people mistake religiosity for wisdom. Needing a comfort blanket against existential fear doesn’t make you wise; it just means you’re still afraid.

Real wisdom comes from remembering what it felt like to be young — cur…[Read more]

Re the second long read post above; The word “emergence,” when used uncritically, inherits the same intellectual vice as theism. It offers comfort where explanation is difficult. It sounds plausible, even scientific, but it doesn’t predict, measure, or model anything. It stops being a descriptor and starts being a substitute for under…[Read more]

Thanks Reg!

Have a great week!!

I was jogging in the park recently. I passed an older man on a bench for the 3rd time in a row (I do 6 laps – 5k). He quipped….’you are in 4th place’. No, I replied, “I am winning because I am still in the race”. On the next pass he was still grinning. It got me thinking……

Atheism, when treated not as mere disbelief but…[Read more]

was414x736 = viewed on an iphone.

@Jakelafort – the ‘stopped clock’  cartoon in the current edition of the satirical Private Eye would agree with you 🙂

I am not great at website dev. but I did a little digging.

To include a thumbnail, you have to use the embed code instead of the standard YouTube link, since only the HTML embed triggers the thumbnail preview. Unfortunately, WordPress restricts HTML for non-moderators, so only moderators can post embeds that actually render the video.

For…[Read more]

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Following this post are several posts discussing the confusion with posting shorts successfully, that will include a copy of the thumbnail. I finally discovered that, after one pastes the short’s URL, all you have to do is change the word “shorts” in the URL to the letter “v”!

I also put this tip in the TIPS group, so if youtube…[Read more]

Simon and Unseen – I can view the link without any problems. I am viewing on a Windows 11 laptop (Winver 25H2) and using Firefox. The Frog protest against ICE in Portland.

was414x736

IMPORTANT NOTE: Following this post are several posts discussing the confusion with posting shorts successfully, that will include a copy of the thumbnail. I finally discovered that, after one pastes the short’s URL, all you have to do is change the word “shorts” in the URL to the letter “v”!

I also put this tip in the TIPS group, so if youtube…[Read more]

Ah yes, of course Jake, how could I have been so blind? The benevolent freedom fighters of Hamas, guardians of justice, protectors of women’s rights, LGBTQ+ citizens, and interfaith harmony everywhere. Their tireless work in turning Gaza into a beacon of pluralism and technological innovation over the last 20 years with no help from Israel c…[Read more]

Ceasefires depend on both sides believing the other will abide by what they agreed to. The  track record isn’t great here. If Hamas remains in power and still armed, that undermines the logic of the ceasefire. They still don’t accept Israel’s right to exist. The Hamas Covenant of 1988 endorses an armed struggle until Israel is obliterated. It sof…[Read more]

Yes, they always do it publicly. How else can they win a free and fair election every 20 years.  Their god is great and their fan clubs in the West will continue to justify their support for them.

I am trying to explain to an Irish-American MAGA supporter that it is not the fault of the Democrats that there is a government shutdown. I explained it along the lines of the following:

“That’s not how it works. The House — which the Republicans control — is where all spending bills start. If the House GOP can’t agree among themselves on a budg…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
Bondi managed to get through her hearing without answering any substantive question, the list being detailed by Adam Schiff:

These combative non-answers remind me of a taught and practiced, primary tactic of LRH’s (inventor of Scientology), when cult members argue with wogs (non cult members): “The best defense is an…[Read more]

(if on AZ front page, click on the timestamp, above, to watch)

PopeBeanie wrote:
Y’all heard Kennedy now blaming autism on Tylenol, linked directly to it being taken right after circumcisions, right?

My favorite comedian, recently. He’s brilliant. He has some “tells” on his face when he’s about to say something funny, and is trying not to s…[Read more]

Simon, with the introduction of ‘a personal relationship with Jesus’ concept, no two Christians have the same set of strongly held views  – your post seems to imply that it’s a set based on the religion, rather than on the individual’s pick-and-choose approach to what God wants 🙂

Re the AI video, it is not possible to jailbreak ChatGPT or any LLM either. The presenter is being disingenuous. At best he has modified the way the “voice” reacts to him, which anyone can do in settings.

Most commercial AI systems like OpenAI, Anthropic (Claude), Google (Gemini), Microsoft (Copilot), Perplexity, etc.  all work the same way: the…[Read more]