Disqus - Latest Comments for lacourt

Re: ‘Prepare to impeach Trump’: Michael Moore reveals his plan to take down the GOP

lacourt — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 16:53:28 -0000

Be careful what you wish for. Things could get even worse. Impeach Trump and we will be stuck with a president Pence.

Re: Watch the Dallas police chief obliterate the myth of ‘a good guy with a gun stopping a bad guy with a gun’

lacourt — Mon, 11 Jul 2016 22:25:41 -0000

He said nothing of any substance.

Re: Move aside, Christmas! Conservatives now losing it over a non-existent war on Independence Day

lacourt — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 21:22:17 -0000

Read this
http://www.alternet.org/cul...

Re: Revealed: Orlando gunman drank at Pulse nightclub dozens of times before shooting

lacourt — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 22:31:12 -0000

My GUESS. He was homosexual and he couldn't cope with it.

Re: The most popular book of all-time is not the Bible

lacourt — Sat, 21 May 2016 21:54:21 -0000

Perhaps there is still hope for our species to get sane.

Re: Male KTLA anchor forces meteorologist to cover her dress: ‘We’re getting a lot of emails’

lacourt — Sun, 15 May 2016 13:13:19 -0000

Funny world we live in. Men fight for their right to bear arms, and women are required to bare their arms.

Re: Bernie Sanders wins Rhode Island Democratic primary

lacourt — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 22:46:43 -0000

I'm really glad Bernie won in Rhode Island. But I must say I am dissapointed in Democrats in other primaries who seem to be voting for who they think can win as opposed to who they really wish would win. I think that's a cop out.

Re: Radical Politics in the Age of American Authoritarianism: Connecting the Dots

lacourt — Sun, 10 Apr 2016 23:02:13 -0000

Our right to death with dignity outht to be right up there with woman's right to choose.

Re: GOP debate crowd boos ‘the majority of Americans’ for supporting background checks

lacourt — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 21:19:35 -0000

Why don't we treat guns like cars and owners like drivers????
Guns and their owners should be treated like cars and their owners.
Anyone care to comment on this plan????

Re: ‘You ain’t no Muslim, bruv’ is not enough | Religion and atheism | Terrorism | spiked

lacourt — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 22:15:01 -0000

I'm sooo tired of religious wars, never ending wars that have been going on for ever.
Atheists reject ALL religions, and HUMANINSTS attempt to create a new all inclusive humanitarianism as a way for all of us humans to cooperate with each other.

Re: How San Bernardino shooters killed 14 people after Christmas party ‘dispute’

lacourt — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 22:23:36 -0000

At an office Christmas party?????
Oh my, let the Christmas wars begin.

Re: An atheist Thanksgiving: Yes, the godless can ‘give thanks’ — and here is how they do it

lacourt — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 18:49:02 -0000

Thankful RitualLast year I had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at my friend's house. I arrived just as we were being invited to take our places at the table and I felt a little awkward because I didn't know a number of the other guests. I looked toward the kitchen expecting someone to bring on the food. It sure smelled good, and I was hungry.

Imagine my confusion when my host looked around the table at each of his guests and asked, "Who wants to start?"

I knew there was supposed to be food, but I still didn't see any, not even a relish dish or a breadbasket to pass. What were we supposed to do? Pass imaginary bowls filled with imaginary mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey and cranberry sauce? No one spoke.

Finally my host's eyes settled on his seven-year-old niece.

Cindy stood up, cleared her throat and smiled at her brother. "Thank you, Jimmy, for teaching me to play games on your computer."

Jimmy blushed and said, "You're welcome."

Eric, a nice looking young man with bright blue eyes was next. He thanked his parents for giving him his first telescope when he was ten, and for the many hours they spent encouraging his appreciation for the wonders of the universe. I learned later that Eric had been accepted into a post graduate program to study Astronomy.

My friend, Ron, the host, said thank you to his wife. "I really appreciate the way you put up with my complaining, your understanding and patience with my cause fighting. I love the wonderful meals you prepare for me everyday, your companionship and your sense of humor. Thank you for being my wife."

Liz smiled and answered, "You're welcome."

I was beginning to get the picture. I had some thank you's of my own and I was getting heady with the whole idea but I decided to watch and listen a bit longer.

"Thank you for taking care of me when I had such a bad case of flu last winter, Rose. I know how terribly unpleasant that must have been for you, and you were so kind to put your own life aside for a few days to stay with me." Gina's eyes were damp when she looked at her daughter. "You were such a comfort." Then she turned to her son-in-law. "Thank you too, Karl, for fending for yourself and the kids while she was taking care of me."

"You're welcome." "You're welcome."

Then Rose stood up and walked over to where her husband was sitting. She bent down and gave him a kiss. "Thank you, honey, for working so hard and supporting us and giving me the opportunity to be the stay at home mom I'd always hoped I could be."

Chuck thanked his friend Bob for all the wonderful tomatoes and other produce Bob gave him during harvest time. He also thanked Jerry and Judy for teaching him how to make the world's greatest apple sauce. Jean thanked Patty for listening when she needed a sympathetic ear. Juan thanked his grandmother for the loan and told her he had put the money to good use. Sonja thanked her neighbor, Dorene, for the wonderful homemade mayonnaise and other goodies. And on it went.

I was thinking about all the wonderful people I wanted to thank. I guess I was drifting off in some sort of a trance when I heard the next person mention my name.

"Thank you, Marilyn." She said, "You helped my daughter and son-in-law through some rough spots in their marriage."

I waved my hand in a never mind gesture. "I was just doing my job."

Ron nearly knocked over his water glass as he stood to interrupt me. "No, no, no. That's not allowed." He shook his pointer at me. "These are the rules. You only get to say 'you're welcome'. If you explain it away you discredit the message and invalidate the sincerity of the person saying thanks. You just got a sincere 'thank you', Marilyn. Now, say 'you're welcome'." He sat down and fiddled with his napkin.

"Oops. I'm sorry. I mean…" I looked at the woman who'd thanked me and said, "You're welcome." Then I smiled at my host and hostess. "And thank you, Ron and Liz, for inviting me to share in such a beautiful tradition."

Ron grinned. "You're welcome." Liz nodded, "You're welcome."

It took a full thirty minutes to get around the table and all the thanks-giving's. When we finished Liz excused herself to put the finishing touches on the food and Ron poured the wine.
—M. LaCourt

Please send your comments to:

Marilyn LaCourt
lacourt@wi.rr.com

Re: GOP women’s group leader: ‘Male violence against women’ is really the fault of ‘oversexualized’ girls

lacourt — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 12:25:10 -0000

It's interesting that men fight for the right to bear arms while women are almost required to bare arms. :)

Re: Atheism and its discontents | Dhaka Tribune

lacourt — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 22:02:36 -0000

There is this thing called scientism, the hope that science will eventually be able to explain everything. That won't happen in my lifetime.

However religions claim to have all the answers right now.

Religions search for the meaning of life, as though there is one.

Scientists search for the how of life.
Religions, all of them, attribute the meaning of life, that is the meanings they attribute to that which they do not, and cannot know.

Re: Atheistophobia: It’s time to talk about the most persecuted minority in the world

lacourt — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 21:38:17 -0000

Remember the first commandment, "Love me or go to hell".

Re: Atheistophobia: It’s time to talk about the most persecuted minority in the world

lacourt — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 21:35:33 -0000

Atheists dare to break the 11th commandment, "Thou shalt not dare to criticize religion".

Re: Sterilization Denial for Woman with Brain Tumor Highlights Religious Liberty Conflict

lacourt — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 13:07:52 -0000

YES! Why are bishops allowed to run our hospitals???

Re: Why Scientists Should Be Agnostic: Or, Why Lawrence Krauss Is Still a Windbag

lacourt — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 13:00:00 -0000

I agree with Krauss. We need "militant" atheists to constrntly point out the folly of religions.

Re: Right Wing's False Narrative on Scott Walker Probe Fueling Attack on Election Watchdog

lacourt — Sat, 12 Sep 2015 22:36:54 -0000

Oh, please, do we have to continue to put up with him in Wisconsin. :(

Re: The Silent Crisis of Aging

lacourt — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 10:41:56 -0000

Greed has most certainly contributed to the rape of our
earth. And even the most unsuspecting members of our species are guilty, or are we victims?
The good news is that the earth will survive without us, us
ants upon its surface. This I believe. The earth will cough and belch and sweat and shiver, and vomit, and it will heal itself even if it has to evict us to do so. It’s we who need the earth. The earth doesn’t need us. But even the earth will become a victim of a greedy and hungry black hole that will suck it in sometime in a far distant future.

In the mean time, however, we can, “yes we can” survive as a species for quite a few more millennia. We will, however, need to find a way to create a better, kinder, fit between we ants and our environment. We’re working on it. Energy efficiency, renewable resources, you know the shtick. Actually, difficult as that may be, that’s the easy part.

Here’s the hard part. We will also need to find a way to fit not just with our physical environment, but with others, that is cooperate,with other humans, and stop the mindless killing of each other. We will need to
find a way to limit our population, a way that doesn’t require bombs and rockets that give our earth more ouches. To do that, it will be more than greed we will have to overcome. It’s hubris.

It’s mind-numbing self-righteousness, and a tribal mentality of us against them we will have to overcome. For example, what is it the people in the Middle East are fighting over? It’s way more complicated than fighting over land and resources, even more insidious than power and greed. It’s the archaic self-righteous belief system of each tribe that it is their god given right to be self-righteous. Each tribe believes the other tribes have no right to exist. The Jews believe god gave them a right to the land, and with that right comes the right to defend it. The Palestinians believe it is their god given right, and the Jews stole it from them. Fundamental Christians believe the Jews must be in total control of Israel before their savior will come again and take the true believers to heaven while sending all those who have not
converted to burn in everlasting hell. We will have to outgrow the
superstitions and myths that tell us god is on our side, the myths and
superstitions we use to justify killing those with whom we disagree.

Now that’s a tall order.

But even more devastating is how do we keep sociopathic politicians from using our religious differences to control us.

Let’s talk about communism/socialism. Native Americans were essentially socialistic/communistic. They did not embrace an ownership society. What if white Europeans had not taken over North America? Do you think that if white people had not taken over the country, Native Americans would have continued to practice a non-ownership culture? Do you think they would have kept industrialization, over-population, farming with pesticides, over mining and drilling, selling the country’s products to the highest bidders, and developing a culture of more is better from happening? Do you think they would have avoided the pitfalls of greed?
Would they have created the perfect socialistic society, one capable of forestalling the onslaught of Capitalism, the so-called free enterprise system, and the corruption of that system?

There is no system that is immune to the greed of power

hungry people and how they will use any ideology to control the
masses.

Re: The Silent Crisis of Aging

lacourt — Mon, 07 Sep 2015 22:11:59 -0000

There are already to manny human animals for our planet to support.
Let's not get greedy.

Re: The Silent Crisis of Aging

lacourt — Mon, 07 Sep 2015 22:07:24 -0000

Now I lay me down to sleep
I hope to die before I wake
Cause I already ate my cake
No pie in the sky from which to partake.

Re: Scientific problems for atheists

lacourt — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 21:47:09 -0000

I am so very tired of the "first cause" discussion. I say, so what. The real problem is religions! Men, yes men claim to have a hot line to that "first cause". They created religions. Religions conflicting with one another have placed humanity in a position of ongoing percistent wars with each other. Who's god is the right god? Who's misogonistic god will control the earth's current inhabitants?
Whether or not there is a god - first cause is irrevant.
Oh, and by the way if there IS a first cause, god, who or what caused this god?

Re: How understanding the prisoner’s dilemma can help bridge liberal and conservative differences

lacourt — Sat, 29 Aug 2015 21:14:17 -0000

There is no "good", "bad" kind of reciprocity.

It simply means you return a good deed with a good deed, and you retalliate a bad deed with a response of like kind. NOT AN ESCALATION, NOT REVENGE.

There is the turn the other cheek philosophy that is promoted by some well meaning Christians.

I said to a Lutheran minister friend of mine, well tell that to the Jews as they are being marched into the ovens.

Oh and you said, "And the quote about eye for an eye is a GENUINE Gandhi quote, so you'll have to take up the "gee, no, that only means ONE eye!" argument up with him!" I can't, you see he's dead.

Re: How understanding the prisoner’s dilemma can help bridge liberal and conservative differences

lacourt — Sat, 29 Aug 2015 16:12:09 -0000

Oh no. Reciprocity means to respond in like kind - one eye for one eye. In other words do not escalate. There is no place for revenge in this method of cooperation. It also requires that a good deed be reciprocated with a good deed.