BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

From a consistently great & illuminating blogger -- Rabble Rouser Rev. Amy : There has been a great deal of talk and debate about health care in the country recently as the Democrats push Heath Care Reform. A lot of animosity has been directed at the Health Insurance Industry as a whole. As it turns out, some is justified, but some is not. I was surprised by what is NOT justified, and I think you might be, too But first, another reason to be angry at insurers, especially if you are female, and living in one of thirty-nine states in the union, as this article highlights, Women Pay Up To 50% More For Health Insurance Premiums . Now, maybe I was just naive to not realize this was happening, but happening it is. This article focuses on the state of Colorado: Checking the “female” box when buying health insurance is likely to cost extra — perhaps up to 50 percent more than a man would pay for the same coverage. Gender-rating — or what some term as flat-out sexual discrimination — is li

by Ed Morrissey Concerned Women for America has a series of humorous videos highlighting their objections to ObamaCare. They cleverly use one of the most annoying inventions of the modern age, the voice-mail menu system, to underscore their specific points as well as an unsubtle reminder of the bureaucracy to come after the government-forced overhaul of the American medical system. The first video actually has a human being pick up the phone, although the caller may not be terribly happy that she did in the end: Next, CWA depicts what elder care will be like once the government-imposed overhaul fails to control costs and top-down rationing has to be implemented instead. It’s, ah, considerably shorter: CWA has more of these videos at their site, and more to come as well.

Going public about any abuse you have endured can be a very healing and empowering experience. But it takes caution, thought and courage. Before I went public about some of the abuse I experienced in my life I agonized about it. My main reason for doing it was to help others. To validate them so they'd know weren't alone . I did this remembering how alone I felt for many, many years with what went on my life. How isolated I felt and how it had destroyed most of my self-esteem. I realized I would be laughed at, those who exploited me would deny it or call me names, I might look weak, stupid, vulnerable or all three. And my family would be affected. I made very careful choices about what information I wanted to put out and what I didn't. I didn't want my family or anyone else's family hurt. I am adamantly against the concept of revenge. It's immature and silly. And that's not a good reason to do it because its just wrong. As far as my family was

For goodness sake, Rush! I am not a fan of Obambi's (and I am certainly not a fan of yours) but can you just PRETEND to have some journalistic integrity and check things before you bloviate about them? Oh wait! I forgot - you don't have to - you're Rush! It must have seemed so perfect. An obscure blogger unearths some pages of President Obama's college thesis. The report supposedly comes from big-time journalist Joe Klein of Time magazine. And the thesis has some real gems: like Obama's disdain for the Constitution. The whole thing was nothing more than a satirical post on a humor blog. But Rush Limbaugh, who quoted from the supposed thesis on his radio show, sure wasn't laughing. Here's how it went down. An unknown blogger picked up on a made-up post meant as a joke, which claimed that Joe Klein had gotten his hands on 10 pages of student Obama's college thesis. Rush Limbaugh jumped on it, which immediately sparked Web searches on "obama thesis.&q

This article is another gem from Kathy Krajco on Narcissism. It is part of my blogging about emotional, verbal or mental abuse this month on this as well as my other blog to raise awareness about non-physical Domestic Violence. "Where were you when I was burned and broken? While the days slipped by from my window watching Where were you when I was hurt and helpless? Because the things you say and the things you do surround me While you were hanging yourself on someone else's words Dying to believe in what you heard I was staring straight into the shining sun" Coming Back to Life - PINK FLOYD/ The Division Bell But just a note: Apply this to the current political correctness and denial of the DANGER of the Islamofascist tide in the U.S. - and you may just get the big wakeup call you needed. FACING FACTS by Kathy Krajco One reason why the victims don't face facts about a narcissist is because we don't want to face the fact that we mean nothing to them. The ego d

FROM: NO QUARTER: MSNBC carried a blip of President Obama speaking in New York at a fundraiser. Sadly, the President is up to his old tricks. Remember when he was at a hoity-toity fundraiser in San Francisco and complained of Pennsylvania voters “clinging to God and guns”? That didn’t go over so well. Remember Gates-gate where Obama declared that “the police acted stupidly” before he knew all the facts? Here, in the name of passing health care he says that “Democrats are an opinionated bunch” likely referring to the trouble he’s been having with the Blue Dogs. He said “y’all thinking for yourselves.” Then he says that Republicans basically “do what they’re told.” His robotic arm movements to make fun of “the other party” are really a sight to behold. When is a President supposed to make fun of American citizens — some of whom actually voted the man into office. See for yourselves… Interesting however, is that while he pretends to praise the fact that Democrats are “thinking for themsel

Abuse changes the brain. Thank you modern science for proving correct what I have been saying for years. And the more I work with other abuse victims, the more I see proof that this is so. Abuse victims are not stupid, nutjobs, obsessive, crazy, scorned or naive . Suicide victims or contemplaters are not insane, cowardly or crying for attention. As someone who contemplated suicide a few times for a variety of reasons ( none of which had to do with attention-getting or cowardice ) and who attempted it once (to get away from the 2 sociopaths in my life who had pushed me to the edge) I am grateful to my late therapist and those who made me see my life still had value. I was stuck in cognitive loops from which I couldn't escape through shear strength of will. At the bottom of this article is a link to my friend Iddybud 's recent post on the PTSD related suicides of Iraq War soldiers/ survivors. Please read and pass on. Don't pass judgment on those of us whose lives have

Why is every style magazine, fashion website and now health initiative citing this downright ugly woman who looks like she FELL into her closet and then got PUSHED by out as some sort of ultimate female icon? Disgusting really. Trim? yes. Attractive? NO! By Geoff Earle Chicago may not be getting the Olympics, but Michelle Obama is looking fit enough to compete in the Games. The first lady took part in a triathlon of high-energy exercises on the White House lawn yesterday, showing off her skills -- and her thin new look -- at the Healthy Kids Fair. Mrs. Obama put her flattening stomach and still-curvy hips to good use when she took a turn with a Hula-Hoop. She managed a challenging 142 hula swivels, hiking up her fashionable wide belt above her diminishing waistline. She even ditched her shoes and ran barefoot through the grass on an obstacle course set up on the South Lawn. The first lady continued her heart-pounding workout by jumping rope, although her effort at double Dutch -- whi

From this site: Yes, indeedy - another videotape courtesy of James O’Keefe, the “pimp,” and his “prostitute girlfriend,” Hannah Giles, in a Philadelphia ACORN office. Only this time, O’Keefe is firing back at the ACORN employee who claimed she showed them the door tout de suite. But first, a round-up about this latest video at the National Press Club: Here is the expanded version of the video O’Keefe mentioned: Why is it people don’t understand the concept of videotape?? Unlike the introductions to “Mission Impossible,” it does NOT self-destruct after being played just once! So when someone goes on camera to make a claim, they might want to make sure there isn’t a recording somewhere refuting their claims. I’m just sayin’. You may recall that these videos raised the issues of funding for ACORN and investigations into their practices. Rep. John Conyers decided to, once again, investigate this organization. As a result of this expose, both the House and the Senate voted to cut their fund

By Larry Johnson Last night’s arrest of a U.S. citizen who thought he was spying for Israel is going to unleash a fascinating dynamic. The Washington Post reported this morning : Stewart D. Nozette, 52, was arrested on a charge of attempted espionage and is being held pending an initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, authorities said. Authorities said the charges stemmed an undercover sting operation in which an FBI agent posed as an Israeli spy. Nozette allegedly passed the agent sensitive information through a “dead drop” at a D.C. post office in recent weeks, authorities said. Nozette worked for the Energy Department’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 1990 through 1999, prosecutors said. He was credited with helping develop a radar in 1994 that suggested ice on the south pole of the moon. He was president of the Alliance for Competitive Technology, a nonprofit group he founded in 1990. He has held security clearances as high as top secret and

(a powerful piece for and about women... everywhere) by Michele Toomey, PhD They said not a word, yet their deafening silence blocked out any sound. They did not stir, but their immobility stopped all movement. They were invisible, but in their view, nothing could be seen. They were the shamed. Piled each on top of each. They lay there face to face. A fitting way for shamed and shame to meet. Across the continents they reached. They covered all the earth. Their suffocating presence sucking out all the air. No one could breathe. No one could move. Life stopped and time stood still. Only their mind's eye could look. Only their inner voice could speak. But what to see or what to say? Better to stay asleep. For years they slept and never moved, frozen in time and space. For years their blank forgetfulness hid them from the shame. Exposure could not catch them as long as they weren't awake. Who would desire to know such shame? Better to stay asleep. Years passed and buried them in t

(Remember: October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month) I will keep saying as long as I can type and have breath in my body. Victims need to tell. Victims need to talk about it. The only way they move forward, heal and get validation is to tell. Not 'get over it' or 'just forget about it' or "move on" but to tell and be heard. I have yet to meet a victim that was only interested in revenge. Yes, the thought crosses their minds but I talk them out of it easily. Why? Because for the most part - they want some sort of closure. Closure they won't get from their abuser(s). Usually because the abuser is too busy projecting , blame-shifting and trying to paint themselves (and sometimes their families) as the 'injured party. ' And abusers see themselves as entitled and above reproach. No, the overriding reason I hear for victims to tell - is the hope that the abuser will GET HELP. While the chances of a person who sees nothing wrong with usin