BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

When I was still a devout Catholic (which I was until my late-30s) the one practice I hated and never could get the "hang" of was the Sacrament of Confession. Why should have to tell my 'sins' to some priest?, I thought. I always felt I had an intimate relationship with God, so why tell some guy with a collar? And the hypocrisy of behavior I saw in the priests I knew was enough to send me running. Besides, that dark booth - where the little screen slides open and then you pour your heart out? No way. When I got older and little more worldly it reminded me of some disgusting peep-show booth on the old 42nd Street. Creepy. But now you can CONFESS online. Sorry, but in the first place I don't think confession clears anyone. The person you should be dialoging with is the person you harmed. Not projection, not smearing and certainly not telling asking a priest to give you absolution -- but the person you used, abused, crapped all over or lied to. Yes, THAT pers...

from: STALKING THE SOUL Perverse abusiveness fascinates, seduces, and terrifies. We sometimes envy abusive individuals because we imagine them to be endowed with a superior strength that will always make them winners. They do, in fact, know how to naturally manipulate, and this appears to give them the upper hand, whether in business or in politics. Fear makes us instinctively gravitate toward them rather than away from them: survival of the fittest. The most admired individuals are those who enjoy themselves the most and suffer the least. In any case, we don't take their victims, who seem weak and dense, seriously, and under the guise of respecting another's freedom, we become blind to destructive situations. In fact, this "tolerance" prevents us from interfering in the actions and opinions of others, even when these actions and opinions are out of line or morally reprehensible. We also weirdly indulge the lies and "spin" of those in power. The end justifie...

Take a second and check out the PROMOTIONAL CLOTHING of some of the people arrested in the Chicago area alone. They'll be watching... from jail. FOR THOSE ON AN AGGREGATOR, CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS GREAT VIDEO From THE CONFLUENCE Since many of us would rather pull our lips up over our heads and secure them in place with vice grips than watch a minute of the travesty of the overlong, overblown, overindulgent, overpriced installation of the Mass Marketed Messiah as president of our country, I’ve decided to offer some fun alternative activities to fill the next few interminable days (or, put another way, the next excruciatingly long, infinitely numbered seconds, minutes and hours) without access to television or any other normal news sources. All are welcome to share their own suggestions with a sure-to-be grateful PUMAsphere. First, many PUMAs, especially those of us who are of a particular age, could benefit from a good wax. Shaving, depilitating, arching, and/or plucking unwanted...

by Adele Ryan McDowell Do you know those moments when you are driving in the car and you find yourself knee-deep in reverie? These are moments when, out of nowhere, you find yourself long in thought; it's as if you have made a U-turn into the underground waters of your psyche. Maybe it's the constancy of the rhythmic motion that lulls you into a semi-trance state, or, perhaps, it's the sound of wheels in a circular song that rests your overactive mind. Or would you consider that it's the very act of traveling from one place to another, the movement of transition from Point A to Point B, these intersections of destination and duty, that often offers a window where pieces of the self can surface? This kind of reverie reminds me of being on the train that travels from London to Paris. You chug along taking in the jumble of the cityscape — buildings, signs and the chaotic colors of populated lives. The busy scenery morphs into the peacefulness of the passing gre...