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  • tanaka123tanaka123
    Posts: 4,325
    patb wrote: »
    Religion can offer hope, comfort, positivity etc etc ....but so can Father Christmas or the tooth fairy.
    The fact that it offers these things and more is the very explanation as to why it exists. It fills a hole that science cant and refuses to fill.

    Father Christmas, the tooth fairy and science can't offer the same hope that Jesus Christ does.
  • patbpatb
    Posts: 4,617
    QED
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    patb wrote: »
    QED

    Chortle.
  • tanaka123tanaka123
    Posts: 4,325
    TheWizardOfIce wrote: »
    patb wrote: »
    QED

    Chortle.

    What's funny?
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    tanaka123 wrote: »
    TheWizardOfIce wrote: »
    patb wrote: »
    QED

    Chortle.

    What's funny?

    A talking snake, perhaps?
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited May 2017 Posts: 23,883
    tanaka123 wrote: »
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    I agree as well. Religion can do that. However, religion isn't the only source of spirituality. And sadly, too many people assume it is.

    What is religion? And what is spirituality?
    I would say I'm spiritual. I would say nearly everyone is, if they dig deep. We all have a conscience and should know when we are doing right and wrong, if we are in tune with the universe and our insignificant place within it. When in a bind or when the chips are down we all realize that we are helpless in this world and essentially alone (we all go out alone anyway, unless we are in a tragic event). I'm quite certain that if any of us were caught up in a catastrophe we would subconsciously call for help. It's part of the human condition and part of being intelligent to hope, like we'd call on a parent as a child.

    That's different in my view from putting answers to the unknown and trying to explain it conclusively without evidence.

    I don't have any answers. Just questions. I'm ok with that.
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    bondjames wrote: »
    tanaka123 wrote: »
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    I agree as well. Religion can do that. However, religion isn't the only source of spirituality. And sadly, too many people assume it is.

    What is religion? And what is spirituality?
    I would say I'm spiritual. I would say nearly everyone is, if they dig deep. We all have a conscience and should know when we are doing right and wrong, if we are in tune with the universe and our insignificant place within it. When in a bind or when the chips are down we all realize that we are helpless in this world and essentially alone (we all go out alone anyway, unless we are in a tragic event). I'm quite certain that if any of us were caught up in a catastrophe we would subconsciously call for help. It's part of the human condition and part of being intelligent to hope, like we'd call on a parent as a child.

    That's different in my view from putting answers to the unknown and trying to explain it conclusively without evidence.

    I don't have any answers. Just questions. I'm ok with that.

    Spot on. Particularly that last line, I completely agree.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,250
    @bondjames explains it best!

    Spirituality is possible without deities and their dogmatic rules. I am "in tune" with the universe--well put, bondjames--when I learn new things about quantum physics, astronomy, biochemistry... or simply when I gaze at the stars. I deduce my moral principles from sources things than the bible.

    It's different for all though.
  • patbpatb
    edited May 2017 Posts: 4,617
    Organised religion likes to claim a monopoly re spiritualism. The last thing they want is for "spititual atheists" to make any more progress than they are doping at the moment, Their agenda paints atheists as cold hearted scientists and that only religion can put you in touch with your spiritual side.
  • tanaka123tanaka123
    Posts: 4,325
    patb wrote: »
    Orgianised religion likes to claim a monopoly re spiritualism. The last thing they want is for "spititual atheists" to make any more progress than they are doping at the moment, Their agenda paints atheists as cold hearted scientists and that only religion can put you in touch with your spiritual side.

    Everyone believes in something.
  • patbpatb
    edited May 2017 Posts: 4,617
    so? justifying personal beliefs on the basis that other humans also have personal beliefs makes little sense, belief (or faith) in themselves are NOT things that should be admired, its what you have faith in that counts and its that that should be questioned and scrutinised.

    Misguided faith is a very dangerous thing, we should never fall into the trap that faith, in itself, is a good thing.
  • tanaka123tanaka123
    Posts: 4,325
    patb wrote: »
    so? justifying personal beliefs on the basis that other humans also have personal beliefs makes little sense, belief (or faith) in themselves are NOT things that should be admired, its what you have faith in that counts and its that that should be questioned and scrutinised.

    Misguided faith is a very dangerous thing, we should never fall into the trap that faith, in itself, is a good thing.

    I agree.
  • barryt007barryt007
    edited May 2017 Posts: 19,339
    And this weeks pain in the arse is ? :

    NHS England hit by 'cyber attack'

    NHS services across England have been hit by IT failure, believed to be caused by a large-scale cyber attack.

    Trusts and hospitals in London, Blackburn, Nottingham, Cumbria and Hertfordshire have been affected.

    GPs are resorting to using pen and paper, according to newspaper the Blackpool Gazette, and phone and IT systems have been shut down.

    Among those affected is the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust which says it is experiencing problems with computers and phone systems.

    It has postponed all non-urgent activity today and is asking people not to come to A&E at the Lister Hospital in Stevenage.

    IT specialists are working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible, a statement from the Trust says.

    Also affected is Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Trust which says it has shut down all of its IT systems following a "secure system attack".


    NHS England says they are aware of the issue and are looking into it.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,250
    Truly one of the more frightening downsides of modern day's technological indulgences.
  • barryt007barryt007
    edited May 2017 Posts: 19,339
    _96029477_nhswebsitedown.jpg

    Software called ransomware is thought to be behind the cyber-attack.

    Among those affected is the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust which says it is experiencing problems with computers and phone systems.

    It has postponed all non-urgent activity and is asking people not to come to A&E at the Lister Hospital in Stevenage.

    IT specialists are working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible, a statement from the trust says.

    Also affected is Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Trust which says it has shut down all of its IT systems following a "secure system attack".

    A GP from a surgery in York said: "We received a call from York CCG [Clinical Commissioning Group] around an hour ago telling us to switch off all of our computers immediately.

    "We have since remained open, and are dealing with things that can be dealt with in the meanwhile."

    Meanwhile, Blackpool Hospitals NHS Trust has asked people not to attend A&E unless it was an emergency because of computer issues.

    But the NHS in Wales said it had a separate IT system and had not been affected by the cyber-attack.


    Analysis: Chris Baraniuk, technology reporter

    "Software that locks a computer and demands payment before allowing access again - ransomware - is one of the world's biggest growing cyber-threats.

    It certainly looks like that is what has hit the NHS in this case - and one IT firm says 11 of its NHS customers have been affected.

    Screenshots shared online, purportedly from NHS staff, show a program demanding $300 (£230) in Bitcoin that looks similar to ransomware known as WannaCryptor or WCry.

    There's no indication of who is behind the attack yet, nor do we know exactly how it infected NHS systems.

    But hospitals have been targeted with similar software before - it struck three US hospitals last year"    .
  • fanbond123fanbond123
    Posts: 1,661
    Breaking news - new cyber attacks in Portugal and other countries!
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,324
    Yes, it's a big one this weekend. And instead of targeting banks..... they target the weakest victims. People can die because of these attacks.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    99 countries so far. Russia, Ukraine and Thailand have been hit the hardest.
  • stagstag In the thick of it!
    Posts: 1,053
    I wonder if ISIS or its affiliates are behind this? In the case of the UK, our security services and specialist police departments will be hard at work tracking down the culprits, and I'm sure similar operations will be in full swing in other countries.
    I worked in police intelligence for a while and it never ceased to amaze me how quickly information can be gathered from a variety of sources on target individuals and/or organisations. Nowadays, those same intelligence gathering operations will be much quicker to execute. I guess that the country of origin will already be known, backtracking via various clues the attackers will have been forced to leave behind will soon allow triangulation.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,250
    I think this is the work of hackers without an ISIS affiliation, attempting to purloin some quick loot from people succumbing to their ransom demands.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited May 2017 Posts: 23,883
    stag wrote: »
    Nowadays, those same intelligence gathering operations will be much quicker to execute. I guess that the country of origin will already be known, backtracking via various clues the attackers will have been forced to leave behind will soon allow triangulation.
    Can it truly though? There were recent reports that the CIA has the ability to change the trail of breadcrumbs to mislead investigators about the source of a hack. I'm not suggesting such misdirection is afoot here, but I think some skepticism about law enforcement's ability to source the threat may be in order.
  • RogueAgentRogueAgent
    Posts: 12,526
    Just goes to show how over reliant we are on technology! We create it? Yet destroy it too like so many other things throughout human history.
  • patbpatb
    Posts: 4,617
    ISIS would love the idea that they are being considered as the possible hackers. It shows what a wonderful job they have done of creating fear and paranonia. Hacking existed way before ISIS and will after.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Let s not forget who created this tool.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,722
    Major explosion at a concert in Manchester. Reports of many casualties.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2017/may/22/manchester-arena-ariana-grande-concert-explosion-england
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    edited May 2017 Posts: 41,008
    Reports are saying at least 19 dead, roughly 50 injured, and that it was the work of a suicide bomber. The bomb was apparently packed with nuts and bolts.
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    Too close to home and at a child friendly gig. Scum.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,250
    Indeed. Scum.
  • JohnHammond73JohnHammond73 Lancashire, UK
    Posts: 4,151
    Disgusting act from cowards. Too close to home for me. An hour from where I live. My daughter had asked about going to this concert but changed her mind to go watch something different earlier in the month.

    My heart goes out to all those affected by this.

    As said above, Scum.
  • JohnHammond73JohnHammond73 Lancashire, UK
    Posts: 4,151
    22 people now confirmed dead, children among them. Absolutely awful.
This discussion has been closed.