BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

by theabilitytolove A friend of mine wrote to me this morning and presented a video link to a Dr. Oz episode that discusses Fibromyalgia and the disabling and life threatening effects it has on those who suffer from it. Ironically, it’s not that the illness isn’t real, that makes it life threatening or extremely difficult to cope with by itself, it is invalidation by many physician’s who do not believe in the existence of Fibromyalgia as a true medical illness at all, or it is perceived as a mental illness- a somatic disorder.  The invalidation that patients experience on a regular basis is overwhelming and is a reflection of a serious and devastating picture of what is going on in our country, but also within our medical community, which is a lack of empathy and compassion for those who are truly suffering. Who are truly sick. The consequence of this is that we now live in a country of victimization. My friend was so frustrated that no one in the Fibro community was ...

Today for my birthday - my friends were quite wonderful. But best of all was my children - who made and decorated a cake for me, did a magic show for me and got me thoughtful and lovely gifts that showed they have a tremendous amount of empathy and insight into their mother's character. I always worry that since my divorce as well as being disabled (and the disability is getting worse) I am not able to give my children what they want or be with them as much as they'd like. Of course those are my fears, not theirs. One of my children wrote this for me... it will be one of those MUST SAVE items every Mother has. After 12 years of infertility treatment, and then this particular child having severe 24 hr a day colic for 7 months - proved how worth it every single step of the way was.  And this child, after years of dreaming a big dream and very hard work - was accepted to Bronx Science . And what wonderful people my children are turning out to be. From my child, for my b...

by Gene Messick On 11 December I wrote an Article for OEN about this: Opportunities to deal with sociopaths in American politics. Since then, I've been collecting examples to prove my point. Just recently I discovered one of the most egregious examples to date, described in a recent Mother Jones blog by Jonathan Stine in which he wrote this: "Alberto Gonzales: Pathetic? Deluded? Crazy? Short fiction writer Alberto Gonzales is confused, asking in a recent interview, "What is it that I did that is so fundamentally wrong, that deserves this kind of response to my service?" If Gonzales is trying this unctuous nonsense in an attempt at image-rehabilitation, he needs to hire a professional PR company. If he's asking this question in earnest, he is demonstrably insane. As Think Progress points out, the answer to Gonzales' question includes: corrupting the DOJ by insiting on ideological purity tests in hiring; firing US Attorneys that refused to toe the Bu...

by Gene Messick Frequent arrest of Senators and Congressmen forces a question that has been far too long ignored: How do we deal with sociopaths in our government? Most Americans have a mistaken belief that sociopaths in America are a rare breed, that they are wild eyed, murderous lunatics who are regularly recognized, put away or executed. Most unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. What's a sociopath? Why do we not recognize them for what they are? How do we protect ourselves from them? Reading early FBI descriptions of the crime spree of Illinois Governor Blagojevich and other accomplices is like reading a 3rd rate piece of horror pulp fiction: surely, this did not actually happen! How could this go on and the many people involved NOT know that what they were doing was wrong? How could anyone believe that such cynical behavior as trying to sell a Senatorial Seat is acceptable in America today? To understand this fully, we must first understand what a sociopath i...