The Abuse Can Continue - washingtonpost.com

This is excruciatingly painful for an American to read. I am so ashamed of our leaders that I would like to remove myself from this country altogether; I am afraid for our electoral system as I do not feel we have had equitable elections for several years and our representation of morality and opinion are being short-shrifted if not totally ignored.

Somehow, by allowing the Pretender (I refuse to call him President, he never won an election here) to continue his program (ie pogram) of abuse and torture, Congress has made a move that is even worse than if they had actually passed a law changing the standards. By letting him make "exectutive orders" to effect whatever he likes without protest, and endorsing his own interpretations of SCOTUS and Geneva Conventions, Congress is making an error in judgement of monumental and far reaching proportions. I personally hope that it comes back to bite them on the nethers in this election year, but as I said, I am not at all sure that the outcomes of our American elections have not already been tainted and preordained at this point.

Yes, I'm paranoid. This administration has a way of instilling that in you.

The Abuse Can Continue - washingtonpost.com

U.S. Woman Discovers She’s African Princess - Newsweek Periscope - MSNBC.com

U.S. Woman Discovers She’s African Princess - Newsweek Periscope - MSNBC.com

What an amazing story! I not only want to contribute to the cause of these people in Sierra Leone, I want to purchase a copy of the documentary and share it with my friends, particularly a dear friend of mine who has gone to Africa in order to teach and share healing work.

There has to be a wonderful karma involved in Sarah Culberson's discovery, as an adopted child, that her surprising origins as a biracial baby in West Virginia would lead her to a future as a princess, and an advocate for a people who have suffered greatly from political torture in the land of her father.

Worth not only a read but a share. Pass it along.

U.S. Woman Discovers She’s African Princess - Newsweek Periscope - MSNBC.com

U.S. Woman Discovers She’s African Princess - Newsweek Periscope - MSNBC.com

What an amazing story! I not only want to contribute to the cause of these people in Sierra Leone, I want to purchase a copy of the documentary and share it with my friends, particularly a dear friend of mine who has gone to Africa in order to teach and share healing work.

There has to be a wonderful karma involved in Sarah Culberson's discovery, as an adopted child, that her surprising origins as a biracial baby in West Virginia would lead her to a future as a princess, and an advocate for a people who have suffered greatly from political torture in the land of her father.

Worth not only a read but a share. Pass it along.

Disowning Conservative Politics, Evangelical Pastor Rattles Flock - New York Times

Disowning Conservative Politics, Evangelical Pastor Rattles Flock - New York Times: "�America wasn�t founded as a theocracy,� he said. �America was founded by people trying to escape theocracies. Never in history have we had a Christian theocracy where it wasn�t bloody and barbaric. That�s why our Constitution wisely put in a separation of church and state. "

I'm really impressed that the minister of a Christian mega-church, in the current atmosphere, has sought to pull his congregation back more fully into the teachings of Christ and away from the dogma of politics and jingoism/patriotism that endorses a military complex and social suppression.

He further remarks "... America is not the light of the world and the hope of the world. The light of the world and hope of the world is Jesus Christ."

Amen, Brother. Tell it like it is.

I firmly believe that it is the close association of church and state in our current environment that is preventing people from behaving in a conscious and compassionate way with each other and the world, and instead of promoting love and brotherhood it is denying the path of peace that Jesus stood for. In refusing to acknowledge his willingness to become a martyr rather than indulge in political power games, the conservative fundamentalist has lost the strength of Jesus in favor of dogmatic, wrong-headed human leadership.

The term evangelist refers to a person who arrives, like an angel, with a message from God. If more of them actually did listen to the Big Boss and not Middle Management, the Church might become what its founder intended it to be 2000 years ago.

Eve Ensler: The Face of 21st Century Feminism

Eve Ensler, the Original 'Vagina Warrior,' Organizes Arts Festival - New York Times: "'People think you're crazy when you have dreams. Who cares if people think you're crazy? So what. Because you know what, I've seen changes.'"

I've long bemoaned the loss of the feminist in American society. After years of struggle and determination by women who were reviled as "ball busters" and "bull dykes" (and sometimes that is the most complimentary thing they were called) it seems a younger generation of women were reluctant to even be seen as feminists, shying away from the "feminazi" image in a Seinfeldian way ("Not that there's anything wrong with women's rights," they sniff, "but I enjoy being treated like a lady.") So, maybe some of the feminists in the 70s swung the pendulum hard in the direction of construction workers and lesbianism. But I don't think they meant it to stay there; they knew that every pendulum swings back naturally, and the best they could expect would be a compromise. Unfortunately, too many dropped off the pendulum and the current atmosphere of ultraconservatism has eroded a lot of the forward movement that women had worked hard to achieve in this country. What's at risk? Well, we still don't have equal pay for equal work, and our abilities to control our reproductive functions are actually diminishing in some arenas. In a backhanded way, refusing to allow gay marriage is bad for all women, because marital choice is another right women should protect and cherish. Most of the major mainstream religions continue to refuse women the ability to serve as shepherds to their flocks; some do not even allow them to speak in service, only allowing them secondary and service roles (does that sound familiar? It should... it makes women brides not only at home but to their spirituality, instead of partners or leaders).

I strongly encourage young women to learn and protect their freedoms, and to strive for more freedoms all the time. Equality is a beginning. We are not men, and do not want to be men. We want to be all that we can be as women. What Eve Ensler is doing now in combating violence towards women and girls around the world is an important part of that... but there are more forms of abuse than the obvious physical, sexual and emotional ones.... there are social abuses of women that continue to suppress us from being all that we can be. By doing that, society is prevented from being all it can be, too.

For Want of a Nurse - New York Times

Nursing. How can I explain the ways that nursing has affected my life and the lives of my family. I am a third generation nurse; my Grandmother, who just passed away at 94, was an LPN. My Mother, who is 74, was an AD prepared RN. I am a BS prepared RN, though I'm not working now due to health reasons. But, I have put in twenty years in the field, and understand it as a person who has done one thing their entire adult life does.

It is a calling, it is an art, it is a science, it is a job. It is all of those things. It requires you to be healthy, smart, strong, coordinated, flexible, sane, friendly, cooperative, inventive, quick, prompt and tolerant. It often asks long hours of you, difficult situations working with difficult people. You wear out physically and burn out mentally. You see a lot of inequity, pain, confusion and death. If you are lucky, you also see healing happen, see life pulled from the jaws of terminal illness or trauma, see birth and know that you helped a person mend, sleep, find comfort and learn. Some days, all those things happen. Some days you just go home with sore feet and ringing ears, wondering why you didn't become a CPA. Nursing is not glamorous, and many times it is not even well paid. You get awful things splashed on your clothes that sometimes stay like badges of organic courage. You miss meals and skip going to the bathroom. You get heartburn from snacking while you chart and from advocating for patients.

Somehow, it is worth it. Would I recommend it to a daughter of mine if I had one? I might try to dissuade her, as my Grandmother did, by offering her options such as medical school or veterinary medicine instead... but if she wanted to wear the whites, I'd stand behind her, beside her, the whole way. It may not be the prettiest thing to do, and some of the tasks you're asked to do are lowly, but it is a noble profession, and one you'll always be proud to have participated in.

For Want of a Nurse - New York Times: "The average age of registered nurses now is estimated at 47 and climbing."

Fibromyalgia Awareness Day

I strongly encourage everyone to read this info on Fibromyalgia and related conditions. I have Fibromyalgia and associated chronic pain and fatigue, in addition to a litany of symptoms. One of the most frustrating and poorly understood syndromes, it is not easily diagnosed or treated and causes a great deal of frustration in not only the people with the disorder but also their loved ones and caregivers.

There are methods to work with the symptoms, which is the best we have right now; but research is finding at least a link to brain chemistry for the chronic pain aspect, and hopefully a cause, and a cure, will be found for this debilitating illness. Today is national awareness day, a good time to learn about something that may not be visible but is sadly very real.

Fibromyalgia Awareness Day: "This year's theme is 'But You Don't Look Sick! The Invisible Pain Of Fibromyalgia'"

Basics, Not Luxuries, Blamed for High Debt

This is a validating study that shows what we have been noticing over time is true; people are not getting into debt by wasting money on frivolous spending any longer, as was the problem during the 90's, but rather it is the cost of daily living, in particular health care, housing and education, that are driving people to spend and borrow beyond their means.

As the housing market flattens and more jobs are eliminated and outsourced, and as federal regulations regarding bankruptcy become more stringent, look to see more empty houses and condos as people are foreclosed upon, small businesses suffering as people try to cut costs even further, and the Fed wringing their hands as our trading deficit widens.

Basics, Not Luxuries, Blamed for High Debt: "'The average American family is walking a high wire and hoping there won't be a high wind,' Warren said."

Contra-Contraception - New York Times

A long read, but one I'd recommend to all young people today; it appears that not only is abortion and Roe v. Wade (1973) at risk, but also Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), a landmark decision for access to contraception.

If the conservatives have their way, in other words, not only will reproductive choices be eliminated in the after conception arena, but also in the preconception arena. Women will be firmly pushed all the way back into the 50's and its draconian limits for female behavior that are so idealized by modern conservatives (an oxymoron if there ever was one).

Contra-Contraception - New York Times It may be news to many people that contraception as a matter of right and public health is no longer a given, but politicians and those in the public health profession know it well.