BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

If there was ever a good reason to get a plan together to get the U.S. out of Iraq in due time, the assault & rape of our women in uniform is a very good one. I am all for equality. I was born with a couple genetic problems that would have precluded me from joining the military. But my father, of blessed memory, was in the Army. My uncle, of blessed memory, was a Navy War Hero who was on a ship sunk by the Germans and spent some time in a military hospital after rescuing a number of men. My father in law, also of blessed memory, was in the Canadian Army and served in the U.K. during World War II, having done hand to hand combat with German soldier. There's a graveyard in Oxford, Mass. with gravestones with my last name on them - many of them fought as infantry and naval men during the Revolutionary War. I believe that while war is profane, defense is compulsory. And if you're an able bodied woman, who wants to serve their country via the military - I say - go for

As a sufferer of chronic pain myself, I know that getting adequate pain relief is a huge problem. Abusers like Pumpkin-head Limbaugh have made it hard on all of us. I am going to my second pain clinic in 11 years and I have just about given up hope. In the last 5 years my pain issues have gotten so bad I can barely function some days. Chronic pain colors my thinking and causes profound depression and hopelessness in people like me. I refuse to take anything too strong or sedating. I am single mother and refuse to be drugged up around my children. I already take an SSRI for my PTSD and valium only when my PTSD is triggered. I take my Vicodin or Robaxin only on weekends when I can and must sleep.  4 years ago, after a traumatic incident, I was hospitalized twice with a tube down my throat to stop vomitting and esophageal spasms. The choice was - do we give her something for the PTSD or the spasms? Thank goodness that stopped though it was a long, hard road. Pain often keep

I will say, upfront, I have a connection to the Santora family. And yes, I think this is a bad idea. Insensitive, rude and inviting trouble for all parties concerned. NYers wage jihad vs. WTC mosque By Tom Topousis and Joe Mollica Angry relatives of 9/11 victims last night clashed with supporters of a planned mosque near Ground Zero at a raucous community-board hearing in Manhattan. After four hours of public debate, members of Community Board 1 finally voted 29-1 in support of the project. Nine members abstained, arguing that they wanted to table the issue and vote at a later date. The board has no official say over whether the estimated $100 million mosque and community center gets built. But the panel's support, or lack of it, is considered important in influencing public opinion. Holding up photos of loved ones killed in the Twin Towers and carrying signs such as, "Honor 3,000, 9/11 -- No mosque!" opponents of the proposed Cordoba House on Park Place called th

While approval from the 50-member board is  not needed to build the center, the vote may indicate how residents of lower Manhattan feel about the idea. "The community board is a good barometer of the sentiment of the people in that neighborhood," said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. "Many of the people on the Community Board are people who stayed in the neighborhood after 9/11, who had to rebuild this area," he said. "These are good people with good instincts." The board's 12-member Financial District committee unanimously voted in favor of the project earlier this month. "From my perspective, there's not a lot to dislike about the project," said Ro Scheffe, 59, a member of the committee who runs a communications firm and lives three blocks from Wall St. Foes - including some members of the board - argue an Islamic community center so close to Ground Zero is insensitive to the families of people who died on 9/11. T

First, a warning! Any of you who find this subject triggering or upsetting, or have a problem with personal posts of a highly-charged nature - please scroll on by for the usual blog fare. However, its my blog and I'll post if I want to. In 7th grade my English teacher, Mrs. Fisher, asked us to write an Op-Ed piece on a current issue in the news. I'm giving away my age but I chose Roe v. Wade. Mrs. Fisher called my mother when I turned it in and told my mother that what I had written was A++ material but the subject might be too controversial for the small, right-wing town we lived in. My mother, in a moment of clarity, told her to "grade the paper on the English merits, not the subject." She did. I got my A++. Foreshadowing. I've had 2 abortions. I am not counting the clinical D&Cs I had to have because of my PCOS; which sometimes only let me have 2 - 3 periods a year. I had the latter to avoid cervical and uterine cancer. No these were abort

I was here in NYC for 9/11. My ex is a 9/11 survivor. I vividly remember what this City was like in the week following this horror. I have been following this mosque story and I am horrified. Stunned & horrified. Religious Tolerance in the U.S. is a TWO-WAY street! Have we forgotten that too? Short on Allah dollars By ISABEL VINCENT, MELISSA KLEIN and TOM TOPOUSIS Last Updated: 2:22 PM, May 16, 2010 Dreams by a Muslim group to build a mosque near Ground Zero may not match its means. The ambitious and immediately controversial proposal to create the $100 million religious and cultural center does not seem to be backed by any cash. The American Society for Muslim Advancement, which proposed the center, has assets of less than $1 million, according to its most recent audited financial statement. A sister organization, the Cordoba Initiative, listed assets of less than $20,000 in 2008. Its tax filings do not disclose at least $60,000 in private contributions, a Post anal

An interesting article on good vs. bad, the value of pain and suffering and our constant need for the support and love of Hashem in our lives. Article is a good reminder to make meaning of pain, both emotional & physical, in our lives - B. by Rabbi Yitzchok Kirzner When "bad things happen to good people," by what standard does one define "bad"? J udaism begins with the belief in a Creator of the entire universe. The history of our people commences with Avraham's question, "Who created the world?" (cf. Bereishis Rabbah 39:1). That question led him to the recognition of God as the Creator. God existed prior to Creation, and that Creation remains dependent upon Him. Creation came into being as an expression of His will and is dependent on Him; it continues to exist only by virtue of a continued infusion of His creative energy. This is stated in the first of the Thirteen Principles of Faith based on Maimonides: "The Creator, Blessed is

"Get over it", "It can't be that bad", "move on", "its all in your head", "you're nuts", "I would hope you've gotten past this by now", "just don't think about it", "you're like a broken record"... I've heard it all. Most chronically, invisibly disabled people have heard it. As if we could just make it all go away with willpower. Unfortunately for some of us, being Type A Personalities and using force of will helped put us in the positions we are now. People like me spend a lion's share of their day dealing with their symptoms and managing pain. Aside from the enormous amount of time I owe & dedicate to my children, my disability demands to be next on my list and won't take "NO" for any answer. I used to have a wonderful social life - but disability isolated me. Most of my friends now are people I have met online with whom I have a common bond. Thos