BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

(for D., gone but not forgotten) (March 8, 1957 - January 1, 2000) Introduced by another sociopath I had the misfortune to know in November 1975, D. wielded svengali -like control over me for some time. After a while it was control by fear.  There was physical, emotional, psychological and sexual abuse.  But I covered it up - knowing no one back them would believe me thanks to D.'s smear campaigns.  Back then I knew nothing about sociopaths, brainwashing or trauma bonding. When we first met and he took me out he was very charming and came on VERY strong.  I found out later he didn't believe I had a boyfriend in high school. When he found out I did (t he boyfriend wrote me all the time and came to our college to visit me.  D ran into us in the college dining hall ) he freaked out. I later learned that D. had taken off with his parent's credit card for a motel in town (off-campus) and holed up there getting high and railing about me for 2 days when...

8th Yartzheit Ay'el malei rachamim shochayn bameromim ham'tzay menucha nechona al kanfay ha-sh'cheena be'maalot kedoshim ut'ho'rim k'zohar harakia mazhee'rim et nishmat Robert James C., Sr. sh'halach le'olamo b'Gan-Eayden tehay menuchato. Ana ba'al harachamim hastirayhu be'sayter kenafecha le'olamim ve'titzror bitz'ror hachayim et nishmato, Ado-noy Hu'nachalato ve'yaunach b'shalom al mishkavo v'nomar Amein. When you left, Dad - all the oxygen went out of the room. You filled up a place like no one else I have met, or may meet. You made mistakes just like we all do. But I am still very proud to be your daughter. Thank you for validating me, when no one else had the courage to. Thank you for understanding me or making the effort to, unconditionally, when no one else did. Until we see each other again. - Barbara

Lately, Obambi's really been into screwing - Israel, now women - again... This from the wonderful, insightful and must-read Uppity Woman: Hey NOW, NARAL, Ms. Magazine, Emily! Sorry, no free pen for you from this signing! I can’t find any publicity shots of the signing either, but I’ll bet Bart Stupak was there. If I find a photo of this sexist pig event, I’ll update. I’m sure it was a lovely occasion in honor of all those women who will die thanks to Barack Obama. Well, it’s done. Hey—! Maybe you could all write another scary press release or something. Ooooooooohhhhh, you are all sooooooooo powerful! The women who got their heads bashed in so you could throw away all of your rights bit by bit would be so proud. Go back to sleep now. Atta girlz! Hey Ms.! Maybe you could do a cover called This Is What A Coat Hanger Looks Like. There ya go! SOURCE

I hadn't lived in NYC a full year when Mark David Chapman ended the life of one of my Upper West Side neighbors - John Lennon. This year I celebrated living in NYC 30 years... more than 1/2 my adult life. This year, Lennon is gone 29 years. My Favorite Lennon Song: by Kyle Anderson Today is the anniversary of the murder of rock legend John Lennon, who was killed outside his apartment building just before 11 p.m. via five gun shots. The killer, Mark David Chapman, had been stalking Lennon for months and even had contact with him earlier in the day (Lennon signed a copy of Double Fantasy for the guy who would take his life only hours later). Chapman's motives remain unclear to this day (the film Chapter 27, starring 30 Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto as Chapman, didn't offer many suggestions), but he remains incarcerated in a state prison in New York and has been denied parole five times, often because of campaigns lead by Lennon's widow Yoko Ono. Lennon's legacy ...

A lot of food for thought here. Comments welcome!: Are we nearing a tipping point as rapacious elites push a heavily armed populace too far? Edited excerpt from the Amped Status report, "The Critical Unraveling of U.S. Society." The economic elite have launched an attack on the U.S. public and society is unraveling at an increased rate. You may have missed it in the mainstream news media, but statistical societal indicators are reading red across the board. Let's look at the top 15 statistics that prove we are under attack. 1) The inequality of wealth in the United States is soaring to an unprecedented level. The U.S. already had the highest inequality of wealth in the industrialized world prior to the financial crisis. Since the crisis, which has hit the middle class and poor much harder than the top 1 percent, the gap between the top 1 percent and the remaining 99 percent of the U.S. population has grown to a record high. 2) As the stock market went over the 10,000 mar...

ABSOLUTELY CRIMINAL FOR THE U.S.! Uninsured patients with traumatic injuries, such as car crashes, falls and gunshot wounds, were almost twice as likely to die in the hospital as similarly injured patients with health insurance, according to a troubling new study. The findings by Harvard University researchers surprised doctors and health experts who have believed emergency room care was equitable. "This is another drop in a sea of evidence that the uninsured fare much worse in their health in the United States," said senior author Dr. Atul Gawande, a Harvard surgeon and medical journalist. The study, appearing in the November issue of Archives of Surgery, comes as Congress is debating the expansion of health insurance coverage to millions more Americans. It could add fodder to that debate. The researchers couldn't pin down the reasons behind the differences they found. The uninsured might experience more delays being transferred from hospital to hospital. Or they might g...

JUST CLICK HERE ASK THE OBAMA-MAGIC 8-BALL! O.K. So it's the Onion... still closer to the truth than MSNBC or Fox. Obama: Health Care Plan Would Give Seniors Right To Choose How They Are Killed President Barack Obama held a nationally televised address Tuesday to "clarify any misunderstandings" about his health care proposal, assuring Americans that under the new bill senior citizens—and not the federal government—will have the right to choose how they are executed. Enlarge Image Obama The president vows to systematically eliminate all American seniors in a manner of their choosing by 2011. "Let me dispel these ridiculous rumors once and for all and set the record straight: Under my plan, seniors are going to be killed the way they want to be killed, end of story," said the president, who acknowledged that "wiping out" the nation's elderly population has always been his No. 1 priority. "If your grandmother would rather be euthanized in the pri...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy I have a hard time figuring out what to say about Ted Kennedy and his passing. On the one hand, my like my own Dad of blessed memory - he was all about his family. He proved to be a supportive father to his children and friend to other family members. His funeral Mass in Boston was very reminiscent of things about my own Father's Funeral in April 2003. But like my Dad, Ted had his problems. But Ted Kennedy's were much worse. I don't think there is any forgiveness for a man who leaves someone in a car to drown off a Chappaquidick bridge. Mary Jo is said to have lived for 2 hours in that car - enough time to get help. Yet Ted went to bed and didn't report it until morning. I am grateful for the bills he helped pass for Mental Healthcare Parity and helping the disabled. But his personal conduct? One could say he was "just a human being" - but I don't know too many human beings...

In Germany they first came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me — and by that time no one was left to speak up. - Pastor Martin Niemöller I am a disabled - woman - over 50. Three strikes? Are they coming for me? then you? Why everyone in the heath care fight—including Obama—plays on the anxieties of the elderly. By Christopher Beam First came the "birthers." Now, as President Obama makes a final push for health care reform, we have the deathers. Many senior citizens are concerned that health care reform would mean cuts to Medicare. That much was clear at a town-hall meeting hosted Tuesday by the American Association of Retired Persons at wh...

About a week ago a friend of mine told me she was diagnosed with cancer. In my shock, with my brain going 1000mph - I did the all-to-human thing of putting my foot in my mouth. I tried three times to apologize. She told me never to speak to her again. I didn't feel like hearing any more verbal assaults dissecting my 'motives' for putting my foot in my mouth, so it was mutual. She and I had been through a very traumatic experience together at one time so that was always hanging between us. She crossed over today. I hope wherever she is - she knows how deeply sad I am and that I will always care about her. I hope she knows peace, fulfillment and joy of Hashem's presence. The 17th day in the Jewish month of Tammuz, Jews the world over fast and lament to commemorate the many calamities that have befallen our people on this ominous day. The purpose of such fasts in the Jewish calendar is, according to Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov's Book of Our Heritage, "to awaken hearts...

In light of the D.C. Holocaust Museum shooting, it seemed appropriate to re-post this one: By Joe Conason If right-wing broadcasters don't want to be blamed when someone murders a person they have demonized repeatedly -- as in the case of George Tiller, the doctor shot dead in his Wichita, Kan., church last Sunday by an anti-abortion zealot -- then they ought to moderate their rhetoric. No doubt they will choose their words more carefully for a while, and they will whine piteously about anyone who calls attention to their screaming extremism. This familiar cycle of shaming and blaming, which often follows incidents like the Tiller killing, may well be pointless. By now, it should be obvious that nothing, not even a murder in a church, will mute the most aggressive and irrational voices in politics and the media, as they attract high ratings and consistent donations. Yet there is one response to this crime that might make a difference in the future. Although an overwhelming majority...

Bea Arthur was one of the reasons I became an actor. While I was in college, a couple people used to call me "Maude" because of my height, dry sense of humor and deep voice. (I am actually about 1.5 inches taller than Bea Arthur). I always admired Arthur and fellow actress Nancy Marchand - who turned their height and voice into assets for their careers. And both who played feminist-types when it wasn't terribly fashionable to do so. Arthur's acerbic wit and flawless timing is something that is unreplaceable. Arthur was born the same year as my own mother and still remained a class act to the end. Bea - where you are now - I hope you are still knocking 'em out! From UPPITYWOMAN: Bea was a successful stage and Broadway actress long before she entered the world of TV sitcoms at age 50. Among her awards were an Emmy for Maude and a Tony for her stage performance with Angela Lansbury in Mame. She also played “Bea Vecchio” in the movie Lovers and Other Strangers ....

By Julie Steenhuysen Anger and other strong emotions can trigger potentially deadly heart rhythms in certain vulnerable people, U.S. researchers said on Monday. Previous studies have shown that earthquakes, war or even the loss of a World Cup Soccer match can increase rates of death from sudden cardiac arrest, in which the heart stops circulating blood. CAN YOU BE SCARED TO DEATH? CLICK HERE "It's definitely been shown in all different ways that when you put a whole population under a stressor that sudden death will increase," said Dr. Rachel Lampert of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, whose study appears in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. "Our study starts to look at how does this really affect the electrical system of the heart," Lampert said. She and colleagues studied 62 patients with heart disease and implantable heart defibrillators or ICDs that can detect dangerous heart rhythms or arrhythmias and deliver an electrical shock t...

Salmonella found at Ga. plant as early as 2006 Owner Stewart Parnell refused to testify at hearing; 9 have now died See the jar, the congressman challenged Stewart Parnell, holding up a container of the peanut seller's products and asking if he'd dare eat them. Parnell pleaded the Fifth. The owner of the peanut company at the heart of the massive salmonella recall refused to answer the lawmaker's questions — or any others — Wednesday about the bacteria-tainted products he defiantly told employees to ship to some 50 manufacturers of cookies, crackers and ice cream. "Turn them loose," Parnell had told his plant manager in an internal e-mail disclosed at the House hearing. The e-mail referred to products that once were deemed contaminated but were cleared in a second test last year. Summoned by congressional subpoena, the owner of Peanut Corp. of America repeatedly invoked his right not to incriminate himself at the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on t...

I can't imagine the agony this is causing the family & friends of Dr. Faughey; whom I was priviledged to be a patient of for 15 years. Not being able to see justice brought against her killer is hard. Dr. Faughey, however, I know would have shown more compassion that I can muster. Not a day has gone by since this past February when her life was snatched away from her by this psycho, that I haven't thought about her and been grateful that she was part of my life and my support system for so long. I still haven't been able to write a decent note to her husband or anyone else about this; and for that I apologize. I really have not been the same since the funeral, though I have carried on with my life in the way she encouraged me to. Dr. Faughey saved my life at least twice. She helped me steer through some of the worst times of my life and never once did she judge, scold or minimize. She validated, agreed and "got" me. She supported, bolstered my self este...

by Susie Day On July 8, the resplendently Caucasian, flag-loving, fag-hating, five-term Senator Jesse Helms exited the political scene, stage right, to begin his long-awaited dirt nap. All the world being a stage, a host of players, including Dick Cheney and John and Cindy McCain, assembled sorrowfully near the starred-and-striped coffin containing the body of the hidebound conservative who never changed, never apologized. Seeming to take his cue from absurdist theater, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell eulogized Jesse Helms as one of the "kindest" men in Congress. No matter who you were, intoned McConnell, "he always had a kind word and a gentle smile." Strangely, there was nothing in McConnell's script about the time Jesse Helms, in an elevator with fellow senators – including Carole Moseley-Braun just after she'd spoken in the Senate, denouncing slavery and the Confederate flag – turned to his friend Orin Hatch and said, "I'm going to sing ...