BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

from the must-read RBO : Former New York Mayor Ed Koch, a Democrat who campaigned for President Obama in 2008, yesterday slammed the U.S. leader’s recent treatment of Israel as “outrageous” and “hostile,” declaring he is “close” to “getting off the Obama train.” Koch’s sentiments are significant. The former politician has long been an indicator of American Jewish sentiment regarding U.S. presidents and Israel. His statements may serve as a signal that some American Jews are moving away from the Obama administration. Koch was speaking in a radio interview with WND senior reporter Aaron Klein, who hosts an investigative program on New York’s WABC 770 AM. The former mayor took issue with the Obama administration’s diplomatic row with Israel last month after a Jerusalem municipality announced the construction of 1,600 new homes in the neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo, an already existing Jerusalem Jewish community. That announcement came during a visit to the region by Vice President Joe Biden...

From my friend, Anna at Narcissists Suck : The NPD illusion of superiority is a facet of a generalized disdain for reality. These individuals feel unconstrained by rules, customs, limits, and discipline. Their world is filled with self-fiction in which conflicts are dismissed, failures redeemed, and self-pride is effortlessly maintained. They easily devise plausible reasons to justify self-centered and inconsiderate behavior. Their memories of past relationships are often illusory and changing. If rationalizations and self-deception fail, individuals with NPD are vulnerable to dejection, shame, and a sense of emptiness. Then they have little recourse other than fantasy. They have an uninhibited imagination and engage in self-glorifying fantasies. What is unmanageable through fantasy is repressed and kept from awareness. As they consistently devalue others, they do not question the correctness of their own beliefs; they assume that others are wrong. The characteristic difficulties of in...

Any of my readers know I am against blanket forgiveness. Forgiveness without the repentance of the person who hurt you - or you repenting to those you've hurt - is nothing. It's a "get out of jail free" card that will do nothing to heal the emotional, spiritual and psychological rift. It's bullpocky that I reject completely. Though your anger at someone else - does start to eat at your very soul. When I am completely disgusted & disappointed in someone - eventually I feel nothing. They become dead to me. Or, like my ex, his abuse numbed me to the point of feeling nothing but cordiality towards him. And a desire to work with him as politely as I could for the welfare of our children. But nothing else. No desire for revenge. Not hate or anger... just indifference. I abhor any ahavah ha-t'luyah b'davar : "love that is conditional." This is love that treats the other person or you, as an object. True love is unconditional because the oth...

from: Michele Toomey, PhD Violating Anger Has a twist Manipulates the truth Has a hidden agenda Attacks to hurt Blames and proves "guilt" Is a weapon Seeks to discredit the other as a person Has no accountability Hides behind innocence Is righteously superior Assumes another's motives Needs a villain Refuses to claim anything Seeks to punish Uses information to make a case against the other Fears exposure Leads to abuse Alienates and violates Liberating Anger Is straight Seeks the relief of honest self-expression Wants to discover the truth Expresses the hurt and anger Confronts Is a tool Seeks to expose Demands accountability Chooses not to hide Is adamant Never assumes motives Rejects villains Claims its part Determines consequences for itself Uses information for clarity/understanding Values exposure Leads to intimacy Liberates Because anger has such force and potential for violence, it needs to be treated with great discipline and respect. Uncontrolled anger is danger...

In light of the many dog & pony shows going on with the Obama Camp, and the player's behavior in this show; as well as the words and attitudes of some of the bloggers, bots and MSM I read, I felt this post was very timely. It's from my friend Anna 's blog. Anna , like myself, suffered from being raised by a destructive narcissistic parent. I have yet to read any of her posts that I would even take exception with. I hope you get as much out of it as I do. Good Liars? Or Just Practiced Diversion Artists? Dr. Robert Hare tells us that psychopaths are not the good liars they are generally acclaimed as being. In his book " Without Conscience " in the chapter titled Words from an Overcoat Pocket he outlines the anomalies of the way psychopaths use language. More accurately, how they misuse language. And some really interesting reasons as to why. Please don't be distracted by my referring to Hare's work with psychopaths. The character-disordered have on...

Efforts to Fight Violence Against Women are Missing the Target by krerucha Domestic policies for prostitution perpetuate violence against women. Unless we are willing to address the root cause of society's acceptance of violence against women, efforts to decrease it will continue to be done in vain. According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), prostitution is an epidemic . Reports from the DOJ indicate that the average age of entry for prostitution is 12 years. Again, let me repeat that due to absolute absurdity, the average age of entry into prostitution in the United States is 12 years young. Young girls, much like the women who enter prostitution come from broken families, live in poverty and are vulnerable to exploitation for many of the same reasons. They tend to be runaways from both families and the juvenile justice system or are ‘throwaways’ where parents have kicked their children out of their homes and into the streets. More than 90% of prostitutes have been b...

by Rabbi Michael Berg In this week’s portion, we read about the uprising led by Korach and his follwers against Moshe. They were, as the Torah makes extremely clear, committing a grievous mistake. One of their contentions was against the priests headed by Aharon. Korach, who was a member of the Levite family just as Aharon, questioned why it was Aharon, Moshe’s brother, and Aharon’s family who were chosen to be the priests. Moshe decides on a way to show the entire nation that Korach and his 250 followers are mistaken: All that Moshe had done was only by Hashem’s command. “Moshe said to Korach, ‘You and your entire assembly come before Hashem, you and them and Aharon, tomorrow. Each one of you should take a fire-pan, and place on it incense, and you should bring it before Hashem, each person his fire-pan and you and Aharon should each bring a fire-pan. They each took their fire-pan, placed incense on it, and they stood at the opening of the Tent of Meeting (the Tabernacle), with Moshe ...

by A. Valerious When we talk about someone who is in denial we believe what we are discussing is a psychological defense mechanism. To believe that a narcissist is using denial as a defense mechanism is to set yourself up to be manipulated and deceived. We need to examine the tactic of denial as something very different from the psychological defense of denial. Denial as a defense mechanism is how the mind copes emotionally in the fall-out of a catastrophic event, major loss, or with anxiety. The woman who finds herself suddenly widowed may deny for awhile that her husband is dead. Or she may simply feel numb and unable to cry for weeks or months. This is because she can't deal with all the emotions of loss and shock all at once. Denial as a defense is how our minds protect us from overwhelming situations that we aren't equipped at the time to deal with emotionally. This is something very different from denial as a tactic. George K. Simon, "In Sheep's Clothing", p...

Several new Passover seder rituals are being adopted by Jewish familes to honor the role of Miriam, Moses's sister and the Prophetess in the Exodus, and to highlight the contributions of women to Jewish culture, both past and present. A second cup, called Miriam's Cup, is being added to the Passover dinner table along with Elijah's Cup. Miriam's Cup is filled with water and symbolizes the miracle of Miriam's well, which sustained the Israelites during their long journey in the desert.

Seems Obama embraced it as part of his continued efforts to subjagate women. I think we need to impose a FINE on every politician that lands in a sex scandal. The deficit would be paid off in no time! (and for gosh sake, get rid of Nancy Pelosi!!) Please read this commentary from the inscrutable Uppity Woman , who - as always - says it better than I ever could! What day is the protest against the reinstated Abstinence Only program? Politics Daily noticed something interesting. The purpose of the program was to promote virginity among the ten remaining virgins in the USA, and discourage sex outside of marriage. It was a very Far Right Wing Whacko Chrstian-y thing, the kind of thing that sends the Far Left Wing Whackos into seizures of anger, complete with eyes rolling backwards into their sockets and uncontrollable body twitching. The 2010 Health Care Reform bill has a little noticed provision in it that provides $250 million for the reinstatement of the very same program. The Na...

I was raised staunchly Catholic. My father converted (much to the horror of his family) to marry the Polish Catholic girl he was in love with. And he embraced Catholicism with all his heart. It helped give him purpose, direction and a compass - something that had been lacking in his Protestant upbringing. When we moved to Central New York when I was 9, we went to the big Catholic Church in town. And there it started, the hypocrisy... the unnecessary meanness... the do as I say not as I do... Even corporal punishment. When I was 17 I was teaching Bible Studies to a Christian Youth group at the local Baptist Church's community center. The Church issued me a warning... for READING THE BIBLE! Then one day, my brother - who was coming down with the flu - forgot one of his books for his CCD class. The nun made him walk all the way back to his school (4 miles) in the driving snow - instead of putting him on the bus. When he got to school he had a 102F fever and went to the hos...

(Can I be sick now? - Barbara) In today's society lying is no longer an option, it is a skill that is absolutely necessary for survival . I’m not here to discuss the ethics of lying (that’s what philosophy websites are for), nor am I here to tell you to always be “good” (the world isn’t black and white by the way). Nope, I’m here to tell you how to lie and lie so well that no one (not even your own mother) will know. But this is only fair. The world can be a downright evil place and it’s totally reasonable that you have the tools to fight back. With that said I’m going to treat everyone like an adult, and ask that you use these abilities for good… mmmkay? A Sharp Double-Edged Sword Knowing when you should lie is a tricky skill all by itself. So before lying you should first evaluate both the potential benefits of a successful lie against the consequences of getting caught. If the benefits clearly outweigh the risks, then you are probably good to go. But remember that you may be ris...

...IT WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN By Ed Koch I consider the Obama administration's recent actions against the Israeli government to be outrageous and a breach of trust . I refer to the denunciations by Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other administration officials The world knows what happened; nevertheless, I will try to put it into context. Vice President Joe Biden was in Jerusalem to convey to the Israelis and the world that the United States government is committed to protecting and assuring the security of Israel from attack. While he was there, an Israeli government minister announced that the Israeli government had authorized the construction of 1,600 apartments in East Jerusalem to be occupied by Jews. Currently, 280,000 Jews live in East Jerusalem, and these apartments were to be added to an existing complex, built on land owned by Jews; about 250,000 Jews live on the West Bank outside of Jerusalem. The timing of the Israeli government...