BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

One of my problems with the Annapolis Summit was personal. Too personal. So my view of the summit was skewed because of this. The biggest one being that Annapolis, MD does not hold a good memories for me. I have been down in the D.C. area many times in the last couple years, because of my advocacy work for domestic violence victims and disability parity. I know the Hill well and have met with a few politicos or their assistants. It's not brain surgery, just makes me a concerned citizen. I also have a very dear friend in Virginia who I wish lived closer. But Annapolis. No. The year was 1977 and I was a sophomore in college (so now you all know I'm in my 50s... yeah I'm old.). In high school I had dated a boy for a while. The relationship had a very traumatic, and in retrospect - truly criminal ending.  In retrospect I should have been in therapy and on medication for the severe effects it had on me - effects that huge on me mentally & physically for yea...

SEVEN LEVEL WIPE When I was a new mother, I had a huge 'diaper bag' packed with formula, bottles, diapers and loads of baby wipes. For years after I had a packet of baby wipes in my purse too. After I heard about this 7-Level Wipe I thought perhaps it was a new product for those really messy moments . It's not but it sure IS a REALLY MESSY MOMENT! The Bush Administration really needed classes in Ass-Covering 101. And how to cover your own while you are covering someone elses. This guy called GEEK SQUAD rather than his own I.T. people and then had the temerity AND stupidity to pay for the 7-level wipe with an agency credit card (traceable). And now he tries to say it was for a "virus"? SCOTT BLOCH YOU WIN MY GOLDEN (B.S.) SHOVEL OF THE WEEK AWARD! Head of Rove Inquiry in Hot Seat Himself Bloch Used Private Company, Geeks on Call, to Delete Files On His Office Computer By JOHN R. WILKE The head of the federal agency investigating Karl Rove's White House p...

OSAMA SAYS: "QUIT AFGHAN WAR", BARBARA SAYS: "SCREW YOU, OSAMA!" You know what I would take away from this? That the U.S. and our allies should not only get out of Iraq, but go BACK to Afghanistan and start STRAFING THE PLACE 24/7!! Whine away, Bin Laden. Bush may have forgotten but the people of NYC have NOT! Afghanistan, if you know what's good for you - drive this piece of pond scum out of your country before we do it for you! Europe - help us get rid of this sick **** once and for all. And his 'flying monkeys' too. And make sure there's a big ole' Magen David on the bombs you drop too. (Pardon my very unladylike talk as well. - Barbara) Al-Qaida chief: Nation shouldn't be punished for sheltering me after 9/11 Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden called on the Europeans to stop helping the United States in the war in Afghanistan, according to excerpts of a new audiotape broadcast Thursday on Al-Jazeera television. Bin Laden said it was unj...

Giant Israeli flag breaks world record By REGAN E. DOHERTY The record for the world's largest flag now belongs to an Israeli banner produced by a Filipino evangelical Christian. The huge blue and white flag, measuring 2,165 feet long and 330 feet wide and weighing 5.7 tons, breaks the record for the world's largest, according to the Israeli Ministry of Tourism. The flag was unfurled Sunday beneath the ancient Jewish desert fortress of Masada. Representatives of the Guinness Book of Records measured the flag and later confirmed the record. Filipino entrepreneur Grace Galindez-Gupana said she decided two years ago to produce a giant Israeli flag as a testament to her love for Israel and the Jewish people and as a celebration of 50 years of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Israel. "God spoke to me in thunder and lightning," Galindez-Gupana said. "The Lord said, 'Make the flag of Israel, the standard of my people.'" "This is a tall o...

WHAT BUSH IS THIS? I am going to profusely apologize to my right wing friends before I start this post. I have a lot of respect for some of what they believe in and say and I will fight to the death their right to say it. You've taught me a lot. And my liberal friends, same with you - sorry I had to leave you all - you were just making me sick. But I am getting so tired of hearing "what happened to 'Bring it on, Bush' or ' What Happened to Dead or Alive Bush' . There's the mounting disenchanment with Bush's policies, his lack of honesty, his spinelessness. So many of my friends are disappointed. I tried to tell you in 2000. I tried to tell you again in 2002, 2003... ad naseum. That guy? was an ACT! a FARCE! Bush was the PNAC Puppetboy to put forward their world & oil domination agenda. His handlers told him how to act & what to say. Cheney had his hand up Bush's poopshute like he was Charlie McCarthy. Now the party is coming to an...

BORN ON THE LOWEST RUNG I've been called a feminist since high school. I never ever considered myself one. I have never raised my fist or burned a bra. I find those things trite, actually. I don't dislike the term. I just considered equality common sense. As I got older I found it wasn't so common at all. I still get very annoyed at those who treat women as "less than." Or objects and a collection of parts. In my volunteer advocacy I have a few ex-escorts as clients now. I have learned a lot from them about the sickness of the sex trade and the serious mental and class problems of the people who hire them. Being reduced to ones parts is one of the more demeaning experiences. I know what its like to be used like that. It's awful. I hate myself and feel sick when I even think about it. That I even was so silly to allow some guy to coerce me by playing with my emotions. Not just when I was younger but even more recently... the attitude of "boys...

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVILS Why do we continue to have pity on these animals? I don't see Jews rioting in the streets over anti-semitism. Maybe we should! Having been in the U.K. not so long ago, I wonder why the British haven't taken to the street over being terrorized by this crew? All they are doing is having VIOLENT TANTRUMS to scare us all into capitulating. And its working! UGH! This week's riots are reminiscent of the 2005 youth violence outside Paris and other cities against unemployment, living conditions, and what the rioters call discrimination against young Muslims and those of North African descent. SOURCE Cry me a river. Their way of dealing with their pain is to hurt others? That speaks VOLUMES! ~~~~ Arab and black “children of immigrants” are rioting in France, and the AP Newswire seems to be sympathizing with the rioters, noting , “Youths, many of them Arab and black children of immigrants, again appeared to be lashing out at police and other targets ...

CAN WE 'LABEL' THE INDIVIDUAL PSYCHE? When I was an actor I found human behavior fascinating. I still do. Sometimes I will watch television or a movie and really work on trying to 'get into the head' of one of the characters. Like Tony Soprano - a sociopath with a conscience. A study in opposites. I used to do this when I worked and I found many of the people around me terribly distrubing. I still do. The people I meet in my advocacy work often intrigue me. Unfortunately, I am so empathetic I feel far too deeply in many cases. I have been in and out of some sort of therapy since about 1980. I know, I'm a stereotype. It was a huge stigma in my family to go. I never told my parents I was going. Besides, my narcissistic parent would have thought I was talking about them all the time. I have been with my current main therapist for over 10 years. I like her and she 'grows' along with me in a very non-judgmental sort of way. I have had other therapist...

"REEK OF HELL" Pissed off Liberal Jew had this post about Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu : So Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu said Reform and Conservative synagogues "reek of hell." I kid you not: Reform and Conservative synagogues reek of hell [Gehinom] and a Jew should not even come near their entrance, former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel Mordechai Eliyahu said last week. "Once I was invited to be the sandak (godfather) at a brit in a three-story building," recounted Eliyahu in his weekly flyer called Kol Tzofayich, which discusses various halachic issues. "On the first story was a Reform temple, on the second floor was a Conservative synagogue and on the third floor was an Orthodox synagogue where I was invited. "I wondered how I would manage to pass by those two synagogues that reek of hell. I asked if there was a way of detouring those two entrances and I was told that there was a kitchen through which it was possible to reach the third flo...

WOMEN'S PANTIES THE KEY TO PEACE? I loved this! No, its not about Annapolis (though I am sure the plebes at the Naval Academy would love some of these under their beds...) , nor am I having a Monty Python-moment. Just read on... it's a cheeky but effective way to make a point, ladies! Could Panties Be the Key to Peace? Women all over the planet have found a unique tool to protest the brutal military regime in Myanmar (formerly Burma). Their secret weapon? Underwear. Thongs, polka-dots, or Granny panties, with tags from Target or Victoria's Secret – the style and brand don't matter one bit. According to the UK's Daily Mail, the superstitious leaders of the military junta in Myanmar believe that any physical contact with a pair of women's panties will "rob them of their power." So, a protest group called Lanna Action for Burma has banded together with the aim of getting women from every nation to send some of their unmentionables to the Myanmar embassi...

ONE OF THESE THINGS IS JUST LIKE THE OTHER I gotta do it again... I know its monotonous and I sound like "Barbara-One-Note." However, repetition does help my ADD child so, maybe, just maybe - someone who stumbles onto my humble blog will read this and GET IT!! Yes, I do believe in negotiation, peace when possible and talking & openness. Yes, even with people who have hurt you or you hurt - in fact - ESPECIALLY. HOWEVER - in the case of the current Annapolis Conference with the Clown Car from Middle East now open and the clowns running amok around the stage - TALKING IS NOT GOING TO WORK. BECAUSE ITS ALL AN ACT. WE HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE and as my friend, Chaim said, the players are the same and the script has not altered . Except maybe Olmert the Jellyfish might help the snake pit of Arabs take apart Israel (something he has NO BIBLICAL RIGHT TO DO!) And why does it seem like I have done a 180-degree turn here? First, read why I relate personally to the plight of Is...