online today!FargoFan Blog Comments (1,859)

RE: Who made god?

@hoo Heard of Occam's razor have you? Or William of Ockham
He proposed that as a general principal we should discard the unnecessary, and choose the system with the least assumptions. A god-based system is one such, the god is an unnecessary assumption. Atheism is not so much a belief but rejection of the unnecessary postulate of a god. Logically 'god' is not useful, we don't need them. As a friar William probably would not have wished to apply his principle to the existence of god, but I surely do. Here, from WIKI about Ockham:

RE: Before January 6th 2021

In a follow-up I re-watched the Bob Woodward tape. 'Truth and Trump: An Evening with Bob Woodward ' Truly a mystery that Trump volunteered this. 2.5m views

Woodward: Why does the CIA say 'Trump is stupid'
Trump: Only I know!

RE: Before January 6th 2021

I assume the purpose is two-fold: Firstly to stand up, as one short sequence mentions. To speak out.
Secondly to influence the fraternity, their colleagues (how come we continue to use 'fraternity'?).
The audience for this youtube has so far been small but it has been released to youtube only recently.
The public assumption is that the they, the voters, are qualified to discriminate and choose, although that assumption is palpably wrong, witness 2016 and now the third attempt polls.
As to formal assessment of suitability, surely there is not a single country now or ever which required certification.
Hopefully a silent majority will at last emerge and sweep this demon away, as they did with Goldwater. The Trump story resonates with The Emperor's New Clothes on many levels.

RE: Before January 6th 2021

I remember the Goldwater candidacy, which (although I was only 19 then) I viewed with great alarm (LBJ hands down victor, but then he gave rise to Vietnam conscription in Australia the following year when I was turning 20 and was potential cannon fodder). I certainly knew nothing of the APA and their Goldwater rule, so that and the Tarasoff Rule were news to me.
The diagnosis I felt probably true, but so what? It can have no legal consequence, and does not serve to sway opinion. I certainly admire those who stand up and expose themselves to the backlash, possibly from the APA too as in the original Goldwater case. As you said, those that embrace Trump will disregard it, and others like me have long been aware of it. The film has been around for three years, yet Trump remains a strong favourite to be re-elected. Go figure.

RE: Before January 6th 2021

What did I think of it? Well it was preaching to the converted in my case, since I had held such opinions a long long way back. It was blatant propaganda, of course, a litany of his lies, absurdities, stupidity, but it doesn't hurt to do a reprise of it all. Here in the media that I listen to, it was a case of 5 years of incredulous laughter/horror.
I still cannot believe that his stupid blunder on tape (Access Across America tour) 'You can do anything, grab them...' actually seems to have won him votes, whereas Clinton's 'deplorables' assuredly lost her many, and probably lost her the election. Why didn't American women reject him outright at that point? So many Americans actually admire such daring, and so many simply don't care? There really is something about the American electorate, isn't there.

There is a quote at the end dated June 2020, and there was a Vallalodid Film Festival Award nomination dated 2020 according to Imdb. RottenTomatoes says : In Theaters: Aug 28, 2020, Streaming: Sep 1, 2020. You can disregard the Youtube release date.

RE: Before January 6th 2021

@op I did indeed watch it, but as you say those entrenched on one side will and on the other side surely will not.

RE: Before January 6th 2021

@hooha - distraction is a Trump strategy which you seem to wish to emulate, while this blog is about the video on Trump's fitness or otherwise. Why drag Biden in here - it is you as Americans who have chosen successive unsuitable heads of state, and some of you seem to gloat in the idea of doing it for a third time.

RE: September 11, 2001

I was online in the Asiafriendfinder Chatroom at the time, and somebody announced the first building was afire. Lots of chatters there then, but the room emptied as we went a-googling/yahooing.

RE: NYC Mayor whines when his wish is granted (sky news, not a CNN)

Rita with the nasal Ocker Aussie accent. I occasionally watch a fleeting moment of SKY when I need a dose of rage. Reminds me of the Benzedrine inhaler my parents used for clearing the stuffy nose or blocked sinus int the early 50s.

RE: Who made god?

@hpy I quoted him back at the beginning. These are my words, not his ...

RE: Who made god?

@hpy I was wondering about his comment on ...except for ... and some citizens of Delaware.

From the Works of Robert G Ingersoll
From Tom Shipka, WYSU Radio:

RE: Who made god?

Refer back to my Ingersoll quote: Man made God, lots of them, all kinds, benevolent and malevolent, loving and murderous. Many of them are not so kind though, are they? Exacting divine retribution, demanding sacrifice...

RE: Spin Cycle...

Level laundry floor? Really. Sounds like the Chinese plumbing I have seen - there is always a pool of water. Surely it has a runoff towards the drain hole?

As to those pegs - yes I remember having to hang out the washing on the Hill's Hoist with just such pegs.

The pegs in the photo look spring loaded.
The hills hoist featured in the Sydney 2000 Olympic opening and closing ceremonies, along with the Victa lawnmower

RE: Who made god?

@OPKeep in mind, on the contrary, that not few are convinced to seek death as a way of attaining 'heavenly rewards'. Sacrifice with guaranteed reward, whooo, I'd buy that (not). Radical Islam seems to promote that in the form of suicide terrorism, and you can bet the Christians have often resorted to it.

RE: Who made god?

^^ N2O

RE: Who made god?

@lou about 50 years ago in a NZ dentist's chair I was told he was going to use N2O and that I'd enjoy it.
I found myself in an endless spiral of universes, cosmoses, descending level after level, trying to struggle to the surface, and a voice (deep and male of course ) telling me 'you dont exist, its all a joke' - I didn't enjoy NO2 at all, couldn't sleep for days. Later I read the P J Farmer Riverworld books, and the Matrix scenes brought it back to mind. Believe me, there were no gods there, or thoughts thereof, in those cosmoses, in my dream.

RE: Atheist VS Believer

@lou: so if I suggest he doesn't play Russian roulette with a Makarov - would that be funny?

RE: Atheist VS Believer

@luke yet another snide and defamatory comment from you. Alcohol and Crack? Ad hominem is your standard approach to discussion is it? Seems to be Irrelevant too, but that goes without saying.

@OP the OP of the article which I think gave rise to your thread was not arguing, simply presenting a thoughtful Richard Dawkins youtube presentation in which Dawkins raises valid questions. Do you think that is a waste of time? The idea is to consider them and reach your own conclusion.

RE: Who made god?

@OP the title is Who made god, but the focus seems to be intended to be on the words of Dawkins. Quite a lot of his presentation relates to the education of children, to indoctrination, and to an extent the suppression of scientific education.
I come from a country and a time when there was really only one religion - but in two disjoint segregated flavours: Catholic or CofE. Having attended my primary school centenary recently I noted in the Register of Students 29/1/1952, my name at the top of the page - age 6yrs 6mths and according to the Religious Denomination column, E-C. Yet at that age I had never been inside a church or heard a sermon. My father did not wish to single me out, I guess by writing NIL. Yet within a year I found that during 'Scripture Class' I was wandering the playground alone, and did not have to 'learn' the frankly silly bible stories.
However a large and lusciously illustrated Time Life book on the World's Great Religions (1957 I see) lay prominently on the coffee table, and I read within frequently.

Around 1987, my daughter's mother (semi-catholic) wished to have our daughter baptised, and I did not object. Consequently I had to attend a priest's instruction on Limbo and the Unbaptised child. Concern, alarm, about the religious education of children bloomed. Without any effort at all, my children have evaded the religious fables and beliefs. Neither their mother nor I set out to influence their beliefs.

So where then do you wish to take this thread?

RE: Who made god?

@bcjenny you really turn out to be a nasty racist piece of work, don't you!The word Jew is never mentioned in any form in the profile, so it is you in fact who lies. What gives with your obsession with Jew, Jews, Jewry, Jewishness? Truly creepy.
I have Jewish Chinese Polish Russian Irish English ancestry ... take your pic. I am none of those, just cocktail bitser and Aussie.

RE: Who made god?

Well let's have a little abstract random walk, shall we. Is mathematics invariant in 'all universes' and in that sense, is 'a god' predetermined by the mathematics, or would goddites assert it is the other way around? You like a dabbling god playfully pondering the inverse square law perhaps? Rectangular planet motion? But then I can't have first derivative continuity, can I? Have to toss Newton and Leibniz ...Hmmmm! Can we postulate universes in which totally different truths apply - surely we can, because the discovery of mathematics is pretty arbitrary and random, and if there is no one to discover it what does it mean? Yet it surely exists and signifies something amazing (doesn't it?).
All in all I have no big deal with maths as a creator of some kind of god thing, but no resurrection of the child or assumption of the mum please!

RE: Who made god?

@luke I have quoted Robert Ingersoll's famous words here. I have not said anything at all about Christianity. People with an ounce of reason should listen and think about Dawkin's words.
You persist with the LIE about my insulting Islam. It is an outright lie, it never happened, and you cannot find any post whatsoever to back it up.

RE: Who made god?

@gone I have yet to see you making such comments on the canuck jesus blog that has been self-posted daily for years, ad nauseum, by the Canuck blogger - there are a few other tedious bible fanatics - and rare rare atheist blogs. Dawkins balances things up with a good dose of reason. Atheists tend not to proselytise canonise or evangelise.

RE: Who made god?

Robert Ingersoll: THE GODS
AN HONEST GOD IS THE NOBLEST WORK OF MAN.

RE: 3's...

... jabbed with the 'Not die in August' vaccine? A rejected early Covid vaccine. Everyone knows about that, I'm sure.

RE: The humans are fading out.

Yet unemployment is at its lowest point in decades. 1991-2 it rose above 10%. Now it is more or less steady at 3.6-7%. That definitely does not accord with your prediction.

RE: Cracked Software...

CP/M MP/M

RE: Cracked Software...

Ah - eprom programming for the PET! How the joys of life have faded. Gone too are C/PM and M/PM, and who can forget PIP!

RE: Cracked Software...

1975? Nah, Commodore was about 1982 - I wrote the early commercial programs for Hanimex/Commodore CBM-64 around 1982. Also in Basic for Compucolor around 1979, and using Microsoft MBasic 1979 CP/M 52kb Zilogs. Commodore was 1982

RE: Ok, So . . .

Autism you say!? Well that is a broad spectrum indeed, and I think nothing that can be overcome, depending on how it is manifested.