BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

I have had experienced this four times in the eight plus years I have been blogging. I had my computer hacked twice since 2004 and my IP address misused.  I was phished in 2010 -- twice and also had my IP address spoofed.  I (and a number of other people) had my hotmail account hacked by Nigerian Scammers and then sold for people to use for spam or proxies. (I've gotten emails from people I don't know and have never heard of - all of which I have reported to the proper outlets) It's frustrating. Like someone scrawling "for a good time call [your name or phone number]" on the bathroom wall back in school. (I will not count comment spam, etc.) Also, like many disabled bloggers, I am able to keep my sanity and learn new things by blogging. It puts me in touch with other 'adults' ( since I have long periods where I can't go out or very far ) as well as putting the news and fresh ideas right in my living room. I was lucky enough to have a coupl...

A Relationship in Numbers As some of you who have read previous posts may know, I have been thinking a lot about numbers and statistics lately — what they mean, how they define us, and, more importantly, how they fail to capture what cannot be so easily quantified. In digging through research for my book proposal, I unwittingly came across the following statistic: The divorce rate in marriages where chronic illness is present is over 75 percent. (see http://www.mychronicillness.com/invisibleillness/statistics.htm. ) Now, I am not here to debate the accuracy of these statistics or discuss the methodology behind them, but they did make me stop and think. I was told recently I had a 75 percent chance of not having children on my own, so I approached this statistic with the same question: How do you know if you’ll be in that lucky 25 percent? Seventy-five percent of marriages where chronic illness is present do not last. That is an overwhelming number to me, and it might be misleading. Peo...

But WHY Are Dem Leaders Such Timid Wimps? Since I was one, and in many ways agree with some of what Dems now have to say, I feel comfortable criticizing those who are political wet-noodles. GROW A SPINE!!! by Bernard Weiner When I was in Germany recently, addressing the Democrats Abroad chapter in Munich, most of us in the meeting hall were perplexed by the behavior of Democratic Party officials in Washington, D.C. What is behind those leaders' ongoing timidity that in some cases is making them enablers of the worst of CheneyBush policies, especially with regard to the Iraq Occupation, excessive presidential powers, and the trashing of the Constitution? With those topics in mind, let's spend a bit of time here trying to figure out the possible genesis of this Democratic wimpiness, and what can be done about it. Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid appear to be saying: "Given our relatively slim margins in both the House and Senate, and Bush's newfound desire to us...

DEFENSIVE DISPLACEMENT The psychiatric term displacement describes an unconscious psychological compromise in which one expresses negative emotions about another person or thing, while the actual source of rage or disappointment remains obscure. For example, a man who is actually angry with his domineering wife focuses his unhappiness on his boss's shortcomings. Two forms of protection result: the accuser finds some relief by venting his feelings without consciously recognizing the real source of his frustration -- which might cause even more anxiety -- and the genuine object of his fury remains unaware that these feelings are actually aimed at her. It strikes me that what Maureen Dowd calls "the Rummy Mutiny" is not exactly what it seems -- to her, to the rest of the press, to Bush, or to the generals themselves. The generals want Donald Rumsfeld, Bush's Secretary of Defense, to resign because of arrogance and incompetence. It is too dangerous emotionally -- not just...