81

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Was the sandy hook shooting a hoax

« on: January 16, 2018, 08:36:12 PM »

Perhaps, like me, he didn't think you could be serious, that for once you were showing a modicum of humour.

Especially as following the Sandy Hook school shooting, there was a significant spike in sales -- 3 million additional guns sold from December 2012 to April 2013, according to calculations based on FBI criminal background check data. Whether this was a reaction to the perceived threat to the 2nd amendment is moot, as a potential method of curbing guns it would have been a fail.

82

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Was the sandy hook shooting a hoax

« on: January 16, 2018, 09:37:14 AM »

This individual does not follow the masses, other than the masses of other cognitively challenged, Infowar swallowing, tedious ranters.

83

Arts & Entertainment / Re: Now Playing

« on: January 16, 2018, 08:33:09 AM »

Another one! Mad Irish babe dead at 46, bugger.

84

Flat Earth Theory / Re: Ehy haven't round earthers gone to the South pole to prove flat earth wrong?

« on: January 15, 2018, 02:41:53 PM »

If flat earth theorists are wrong about Antarctica, why don't round earthers PROVE it by going to the "south pole" to debunk us?

Well, it seems simple enough to me. Right? Most flat earth theorists (myself included) believe traveling to the "south pole" is off limits to people. I get that there was amundsen who THOUGHT he made it to the south pole, but why haven't round earthers in modern times with more advance technology gone to the "south pole" to prove us wrong in a more precise way?

Round earthers have no excuse. They have the funding and do not believe they would be denied entry to the south pole. So, why have they never gone to the south pole to debunk us? Maybe because flat earth theorists are correct and the round earthers know it? They demand us with our little support, funding, and backing to perform such an elaborate and expensive endeavor. How ludicrous! We're literally incapable of doing such due to our status in society. But what exactly is stopping the round earthers?

Since when did ignorance become an accepted opinion?
You “believe” that travelling to the south pole is prohibited? Just as an exercise, give us some evidence, other than another poorly educated “theorist’s” say so.
Who polices this vast area? And why do they never break ranks. Are all the scientists (McMurdo station, the British Antarctic survey) liars? Greenpeace too? (https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/greenpeace-and-the-antarctic/)

AATW found a list of trips, just a quick peruse gives us the Kaspersky expedition, 7 women from 6 countries who skied there in 2009 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspersky_Commonwealth_Antarctic_Expedition). Ben Saunders who retraced Scott’s route from Ross Island in 2014 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Saunders_(explorer)).

Your lack of knowledge and ability to use a search engine is stupefying.

85

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Trump

« on: January 15, 2018, 08:41:47 AM »

Trump cancels planned visits to open new London embassy, stock prices for British eggs hits low(?)

86

Arts & Entertainment / Re: Now Playing

« on: January 12, 2018, 08:26:45 AM »

The reason I can't hear what you are saying.

87

Arts & Entertainment / Re: Now Playing

« on: January 12, 2018, 08:15:49 AM »

All gone, RIP Motorhead

88

Science & Alternative Science / Re: blackhole created the big bang.

« on: January 03, 2018, 03:34:43 PM »

And Terry Prachett knew a thing or two about earth's shape. 

And was a notable atheist.

On religious objections to euthanasia: "The problem with the God argument is that it works only if you believe in God, which I do not." T.P.

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Science & Alternative Science / Re: blackhole created the big bang.

« on: January 03, 2018, 11:50:56 AM »

There’s things I believe and things I’d like to believe.

I’d like to believe there was a greater presence who cared for me, that there is a reason for my being here, then again, I’d like to believe that Thork had gone away and come back a better person, but I am reconciled to the fact that these things are not so.

Are “spiritual” people better than atheists, or vice versa? No, some people are better than others, I have met bitter and twisted individuals from both persuasions, and lovely ones with biases that were as unshakable as they were inexplicable.
Bigotry is as endemic in the human psyche as awe and the need to look for answers. That this searching and wonder, allied to innate systems of pattern recognition/apophenia, generate religions is hardly a revelation. The variety of these and their shifts in emphasis as societies morph (think the change from warlike Norse pantheon to monotheist Christianity to wishy-washy Deism in Europe), attest to their essential inaccuracy and our ability to switch one set of inviolable imaginary super beings for another as expediency demands.

As for Deism, it is of course possible that god made the universe to run itself, and then fucked off to make a better one or have a siesta or a cosmic aneurysm, why that then means we have a spirit/soul so you can be both happy clappy proud of yourself and conversely vitriolic towards those who took it one step further is a mystery.

Do I believe in the Big Bang? On balance yes, over many years of reading science magazines and articles, the distribution, movement and composition (of stars/galaxies) are indicative of an expanding universe that had an inflationary event, that we will never know the whole tale is a shame but as the scientific methods that underpin the theory has given us tangible results in so many fields, I am inclined to value its contribution to the image I have of life more than the Mullah’s, Priests and Shamans with their certainties and contradictions, that this means I repel Thork, and am unlikely to be courted as a friend is just a bonus.         

90

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Soliloquies

« on: December 21, 2017, 10:51:04 PM »

Damn it Junker! Ramblings? I thought I had “concise” nailed there.

91

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Soliloquies

« on: December 21, 2017, 09:29:34 PM »

Within the confines of this rant you have to be, the words came unbidden as I channeled my inner bitch (the child, having got right on my tits).  Roll with it.

Outside of here I am willing to grant you all the status of Adonis and promise to go for Jedi next time.

92

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Soliloquies

« on: December 21, 2017, 04:29:23 PM »

Edit; Kindly moved by Junker when I strayed into serious land,   https://forum.tfes.org/index.php?topic=8206.msg136103#msg136103


To say that the questionnaire is trying to pigeon-hole FE’ers as stupid when the range of options Has three degree levels and an option to add whatever else you like is disingenuous, rather it smacks of Thork thinking this is what the survey will reveal, against I might add superficial evidence to the contrary. Those of us who have any history here will be fully aware of the prodigious brain power and educational accomplishments of Pete/sexpest, as at one time there was barely a post where he didn’t mention it. Parsifal (our leader) has a back to school thread that lists his proposed schedule, which so impressed me, as I had no better idea after reading it, what he was to study than before. Thork himself is no shrinking violet in enlightening us as to his achievements since his return either, so why the negativity?

I deduce your honour, that this site is a sham! I furthermore propose, that when this place was conceived, it was so, as an ironical send up of what was at that time an extreme marginal belief, that it has burgeoned since to include a proportion of the general population that is almost measurable, has not only come as a surprise to its creators but presented them with a dilemma. That being, if they turn their backs on the current crop of devotees, they abandon not only their satirical high ground, where they can look down on both sides of the dispute and say, “we’ve had you all” but also risk losing a community they are integral to and thrive in, something they are unlikely to achieve in the real world due to its proclivity for social skills and facial symmetry.
 
Hence, Thork’s denouncement of the education question makes sense, as it is apparent that those who do truly believe have to band together in large numbers to form an idiot, should they manage to complete the survey it would be glaringly obvious that those above, are leaders of a crusade of fools, fatally undermining the pseudo-scientific foundations of the wiki and everything that Tom says.           

93

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Soliloquies

« on: December 18, 2017, 09:32:32 PM »

So, Christmas is upon us and I love it. Not from any religious understanding, I mean happy birthday to baby Jesus if he exists and goodwill to all men/women and all that.
For me it's more a festival of the turning sun, the 25th being the date that if you set up indicators (I do permanent marker dots on my window at work with my chair at a particular position on the patterned carpet), that it is apparent the Sun is heading south again, I actually miss the day but extrapolation and all that suffices, as the solstice is the 21st.
The days (sunlight) will now lengthen (less than 8 hrs here now, Gayer & Beardo can do shorter, I know). Family will gather, and I will get a week off work, drink and eat too much and attempt to work it off by walking the dogs further.

As you may know, Christmas as the birth of Christ was pasted over existing festivals (Saturnalia, Yule etc) in the 4th century, presumably as they saw people having a bit of fun and there is nothing a Christian likes more, than fucking up a good party.
Fortunately, most of the good bits survived;

Mid-winter, you could look at your stock and think, bloody hell I am going to make it, slaughter some of your livestock as hay & chicken food would be running out, drag out the autumn beers and ciders which would be fermented and ready, have a feast and get bladdered, wake up to a longer day, job done.
Presumably if you didn't think you would make it, you slaughtered all your animals, as they were either competing for food with you or their feed would be gone anyhow, and you would possibly be able to freeze them, the beers were ready anyway, so you gorged, got pissed and hoped it all looked a bit rosier when you woke up to the longer day, if it didn't, you doubtless had a new best mate and/or had gotten laid. Job done.

Trees, Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe, have precious little to do with Jesus-land, but are celebrated pagan symbols of winter life. I have read that Xmas baubles signify the apples in the garden of Eden, that has got to be the most shoe-horned piece of Christian codswallop ever, they clearly represent the testicles of defeated enemy's, garnered through the year and hung as talisman to ward off fimbulwinter.

Watching "Zulu" whilst feasting on peanuts and port however, is the one of Gods 11 commandments I do religiously follow, unfortunately it is only in the UK versions of the bible.

Father Christmas is a bit of a strange one, how a Turkish saint famous for chucking bags of gold through young girls' windows, ends up as a white bearded chortling imbecile, living in Lapland, spying on children, breaking into houses and eating my mince pies, is beyond me. Other than they both sound a bit suspect and in need of a background check. Something to do with coke-a-cola, apparently.

Finally, there was a curious custom in Tudor England of nominating a “Lord of Misrule” a lot was drawn, and the winner was appointed as a master of the ceremonies for the Christmas period, these revelries were oftentimes called the Feast of fools and frequently degenerated into drunkenness and anarchy, it was abolished by the puritans (who else) but has now apparently been revived and adopted by the US as a system of government.

Anyhow, however you intend to spend your Christmas I hope it is a success.

Love to all, Jura.   

94

Flat Earth Theory / Re: Sunshine on bottom of clouds

« on: December 14, 2017, 11:01:58 PM »

And also here;

https://forum.tfes.org/index.php?topic=5225.msg102411#msg102411

95

Arts & Entertainment / Re: Just Watched

« on: December 09, 2017, 09:05:54 PM »

I, too, don't understand humour.

I can be a dumbass at times, sorry Parse.

96

Arts & Entertainment / Re: Just Watched

« on: December 07, 2017, 04:15:30 PM »

The Martian (Ridley Scott, 2015)


The only thing I found difficult to believe was that the protagonist had to look up a table of ASCII characters when trying to communicate with Earth. I mean, who doesn't know ASCII off the top of their head?

People who get girlfriends, I would have to look up ASCII before I even knew I needed a table of ASCII characters

97

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Soliloquies

« on: December 02, 2017, 09:58:04 PM »

There are a few trends that are emerging regarding, new arrivals to "The Frankly Eccentric Swarm" of late that have caught my interest, amongst the angry and the lost we have an increasing number of "I am a student of such and such seat of learning, considering so and so aspect of FE, which of you mad bastards will indulge me" type of enquiry.

I actually responded to the first (I saw) of these and answered queries from an American youngster who seemed genuine, in that he rang me with a list of pseudo-sociological, why, when & what are you doing on this site kind of questions, his methodology was a bit suspect, no attempt to ascertain my demographic (antediluvian evacuee, if he had asked), and between the apparent cultural and linguistic divide there was a bit of confusion, but we got there, I just don't think, (even though I'd warned him) that I was what he wanted. Ideally, I think he desired a frothing rant about the lizard conspiracy through a voice distorter, instead he got me, who interspersed archaic English with an awful lot (I realised in retrospect) of fucks and fucking, poor boy I probably sounded like Stannis Baratheon with tourette's.

He was supposed to send me a draft for me to okay or amend before it was finished, that never surfaced,I was a bit piqued, and sat alone brooding, drinking and plotting revenge until I figured, being American he likely was shot by one of his peers, and got over it.

The thing is, as zombies are always attracted to Wall-Mart, so TFES is the siren-call to the inter-webs equivalent, as the neuron count drops below the critical level needed to distinguish between amusing fruit-loopery and genuine free thought, destroyed by bible reading, whatever they add to big Macs and masturbating over gun catalogs, they look for the simple and outrageous, and they are arriving here in greater numbers, mostly as groaning lurkers beyond the ice-wall but some inevitably break through, and this phenomenon has been noticed. We are being studied, are you prepared TFES, not for your beliefs to be questioned but your very existence to be couched in terms of a retrogressive cultural phenomenon?


Not much in this about Britain though. So for any of you who are interested in our royals (and god knows I am not). The Archbishop has stated that it would be good for diversity if young George grew up gay, the Palace has countered that they are way ahead and propose to remove all his limbs and rear him as a Dolphin.

98

Arts & Entertainment / Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General

« on: November 30, 2017, 08:47:25 AM »

So, against my better judgement, (one of my offspring is home from a place that hasn’t got a cinema), I agreed to go see Ragnarök, and to be honest I enjoyed it, mainly as they have done it as an out and out comedy, Thor and Hulk “bouncing” off each other quite well and a couple of the visual gags made me laugh out loud.
Which is just as well as the story is appalling, I know it shouldn’t bother me that a kid’s film plays fast and loose with myths,  but Hela is Loki’s daughter FFS and Odin doesn’t just fade away he dies fighting, he’s a Viking god not a fucking Buddhist!

But it still made me laugh.

99

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Another mass shooting...

« on: November 29, 2017, 10:56:43 PM »

Anyway going to Lundy Island for a break, they have one bolt action rifle for putting down injured deer, but it is locked away and hasn't been used in living memory, i think I will be safe.

Lundy Island in the UK? I've always fancied going there, you can see it from the north coast of Devon. It's one of the many little British islands that fascinate me. Let us know what it's like.

Done, see (https://forum.tfes.org/index.php?topic=6553.msg133242#msg133242)

100

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Soliloquies

« on: November 29, 2017, 10:23:32 PM »

The Ghostly one asked (elsewhere) if I would recommend Lundy Island as a destination and here seems the best place to answer.

Yes! With certain caveats, do not go on a summer day-trip, the MS Oldenburg is a 2nd world war German shallow drafted sick bucket that takes 2 and a half hours to cross from either Bideford or Ilfracombe, you get about 3 hours on the island, 3 hours isn't nearly enough time before you have to go back down for the trip back with 25% of the passengers seeming to have no racial memory of being part of a maritime nation. On the plus side it is the cheapest and only method of travel in the summer when the Puffins and Shearwaters are nesting, but stay there for at least a few days.
The other warning I would hazard is, if you want comfort and modernity it's the wrong destination for you, the lights go out at 12.30 and the accommodation is comfortable but sparse.

With that out of the way, it's beautiful, a 400ft granite outcrop 12 miles from north Devon, 3 miles by 0.5 doesn't seem much but it will take you the whole day to walk to the north light and back via the coastal paths and you will still have missed stuff.



History wise (condensed), Neolithic settlements, owned at times by the Nights Templar’s, the Marisco family, pirates who were implicated in an assassination attempt on Henry III and built the castle, Barbary Pirates who captured Europeans and sold them in Algiers, a member of parliament who was entrusted with the shipping of convicts over to Virginia to take up the slack when the slaves were freed, but who took the money and dumped them on Lundy as his personal slaves  while he did insurance swindles with his other boats, the Heaven family who renamed it the Kingdom of Heaven, built a church that doesn't have the usual east-west alignment but instead points to the summer solstice and according to one of the stonemasons currently doing it up has strange carvings on the back of some of the blocks they have reset, which (because they are are stonemasons and weird) they have just returned without documenting.

It is surrounded by at least 200 wrecked ships, a selection of lifebuoys off many of these grace the walls of the Marisco tavern (the only nightlife), including a battleship HMS Montegu grounded there in 1906.

There is a plethora of wildlife, mountain goats, Soay sheep, Atlantic Grey seals, fishing, climbing and scuba diving (too fucking cold).

I go mainly in winter, as because I went to school with the Island manager I get concessionary tickets on the Helicopter that stands in for the sick-bucket during the winter season, which only takes 7 minutes and is fun, also I get free or cheap accommodation.
That aside, the bleakness and totally dark skies at night suit me, the tavern stocks some fine whiskey, good ales and a selection of rums and has a big roaring fire and closes only when you can't function anymore.


(My picture of some bendy light shit going on)

Go.