WE VOTE OUR OWN TERRORISTS INTO OFFICE

Making a blog about Palin is my idea of 'uselessly redundant' but I feel like a moth to a flame. It boggles my mind that there are ANY people who still believe she could/should become President of the United States. Not only does she spurn the modern digital Palm Pilot, but works with the original Palm surrounded by five of her fingers at the end of her wrist! In my 'You might be a Redneck if...." calendar, that was one of the jokes of the day...you might be a redneck if your Palm Pilot is your hand!

While she is, for whatever reason, the darling of the news media at the moment, there are others who are equally unfit for their jobs. Michelle Bachmann has been called the Joe McCarthy of 2010, by many. It seems we have to have a Chicken Little with us all the time. Being frightened is bad enough when you're hysterical, but it is frightening to the rest of us when our world is being ruled by paranoia. It seems that campaign managers use that paranoid card quite adeptly. For a lovely example of it, just pay attention to that which the Republicans are lying about regarding HealthCare.

We also have the Republican Congresswoman, Virginia Foxx, who believes that Matthew Shepard's death was a hoax. Appropriately, she made it on Keith Olbermann's "worst person in the world' list. 4/29/09 - Countdown's Worst Person : Keith covers Bachmann's continual factual gaffes, but more incendiary are Republican Congresswoman Virginia Foxx's comments that a well known brutal hate crime was a hoax. Unbelievable!

TOO BAD, WHERE DID THEY GO?

For all you 'old folk' who may still remember the Peter Principle, Sarah Palin has just reached her final level...incompetency. She was pretty, a good speaker, and was governor of Alaska for a part if her elected term. Today she in nearing mid-40s,is no longer the gorgeous pageant winner, nor the governor of Alaska. Her following cannot possibly compare her abilities in the past as in any way proof that she could handle the presidency. She can perhaps do as poorly as Bush 43, but that would really allow Al Qaeda their win...to financially destroy the USA.

Politicians really should be redesigning of the whole nomination and election process for all three branches of the government. Politics should not be the choice; competency, training and experience should be the criteria just as any CEO of a large company is chosen. We can no longer afford to choose by what the devious marketers say about a person. It should not be based on what someone says but, rather, what they have proven themselves to be before a panel of experts in the knowledge of just what a President is called on to know and do.

Are some of the 'real' Republicans beginning to see how foolish their party is looking right now...split, full of obstructionists with no constructive ideas other than to threaten filibuster and say "no" to everything even if it is bill they originally sponsored. Countrymen, please smarten up and stop listening to the people who are dragging you under.

TAKING THE ' I ' POSITION TO BE AN INDIVIDUAL

Too many people are caught up in what others think or want.  Witness the many who ask "What would Jesus do?"  If you need to ask that question, you have not set your own value system nor matured sufficiently to make your own judgments.  You must, in order to survive in our present society, be your own advocate in whatever you do.  Too many people confuse assertiveness with aggressiveness.  These two are very different.  Aggressiveness puts other people in a defensive stance and tends to move them away.  Assertiveness need not be at all aggressive.  It is simply being tenacious and holding onto your own beliefs and choices.  It means you don't allow anyone to breach your boundaries, physical, emotional or otherwise.

Doctors see so many patients today; you cannot assume they remember you and your medical problems accurately, if at all.  Had I not insisted on having an MRI on my knee, confirming my own lay diagnosis from my symptoms, I would not have had the benefit I subsequently gained from the arthroscopic surgery I underwent.  My doctor gave his reason for not having ordered the MRI (aside from insurance screaming at unnecessary costs) that I had not indicated sufficient pain!  I'm not given to loud complaints and also have a fairly high pain threshold.. It turned out I was correct and he had not gone far enough.

If you take an ' I ' position, you will  think, feel,  believe,  will do,  will not do.  Following this position, you take command of your own life.  You should not need to triangle others in with the "even my co-workers think you are unfair."  Always state your own position only as, ' I'  think you are being unfair and these are the reasons why I think that."   Too often the pronoun "we" is used.  To be an independent person (that does not mean you are not in relationships), you do not lose who you are in togetherness.  You must learn to live in your own skin. When a menopausal mother is having hot flashes, she should not be taking off the sweaters and jackets of her children.   That, also, does not mean that you cannot be emotionally connected to others. It just means you know where you begin and end.  The nonsense in old marriage ceremonies about being of one flesh is inaccurate and downright bizarre!, nor criticism of  the beliefs or feelings of others.  It simply includes the idea of individual freedom as opposed to isolation.  For years I have heard . "First you must love yourself before you can feel loved."  In fact, one might reframe that to: "first you must define yourself before you can respect who you are and believe you are lovable."

Those who fight your individual right to your own values, feelings, and right to think your own thoughts will resist the process.  I do not know what the position of the Vatican is on this today, but I clearly remember patients telling me they were not supposed to allow themselves impure thoughts.  How one can keep thoughts out of their brain before they feel and know them, I will never accept!  It seems the church never learned that it is not what you think or feel that is important as what you do about those thoughts.  A  murderous rage that remains a fantasy and not an action will not land one in prison.  Taking the position that you have the right to think whatever you wish...to dream, to fantasy, to sublimate...is healthy.  It is the basis for setting your life goals.  However, it should be moderated by the ' I ' position which then replies with, "Am I being the kind of person I wish myself to be?"  "Will I reach my life goals if I submit to these impulsive, unconscionable behaviors?'

Kazantzakis searched for many years through religion and psychoanalysis before reaching a state in which he could think of the letters carved later on his gravestone.  It reads: " I want nothing, I fear no one, I am free.?  Please note his ' I ' position

WHOM SHALL I BELIEVE?

Lately there have been some real whoppers on radio and TV. Bill Nye, (the Science guy and creator of the xeriscape) was on the Rachel Maddow show. He explained the science involved in global warming and said scientists know it is real but it also brings severe weather. The Fox News liars laughed because Washington had a snow storm and denigrated Gore for his belief in global warming because of it.

He clearly thinks out of the box in a refreshing way. His opinion of those that laughed at Gore because it snowed in Washington, D.C. were that they ridiculed proven science and that, because they were doing this, it made them unpatriotic because we depend so much on science. That may sound like a serious leap, but it really isn't. We have one planet and his hope is that people will understand what is happening to Earth in that we have had record breaking warmer years and that global change rather than global warming would have been a better term to use.

Those who deny that there is climate change are in the class with all the other deniers, like those who believe there was no Holocaust, Obama is not an American citizen, evolution can't be proven because it is only a theory, etc. I would like to see the FCC or some other governmental regulatory agency fine TV stations, who purport to be newscasters, for every lie (not mistake) they tell on air. It is far more damaging to our children that off-color language which is prohibited. Dirty words and concepts are picked up by kids everywhere and most parents can correct their children; but lies about people the parents don't know, spread by people they 'trust' like Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Pat Robertson, and too many others, aren't going to be straightened out because the parents don't know enough to do it.

GOOGLE'S NEW 'BUZZ'

Googie is said to be 'taking on' Facebook. In our culture of competition it should keep prices down and add new features to compete with old models. I wish we could describe new ventures in less than pugilistic terms. If we truly have free enterprise, why does our media only imply unpleasant interaction and competition. I look at it all as another learning curve, yet another time consuming project for which I will not have enough time to do justice, and know that all the friends on these things, looking for replies from me, will figure I've died off, as many of my friends have, when they get no response for a month.

Buzz, the new social network service - integrated directly with Google's e-mail service Gmail - allows users to post status updates, share content and read and comment on friends' posts.

The site offers a similar way of contacting friends and staying socially connected as Facebook, which has amassed nearly 400 million users since its start in 2004.

Buzz will try to capitalize on the number of regular Gmail users, which is currently around 170 million people. Having an already huge base from which to entice new takers to Buzz is a real plus in today's budding new market. Users will be able to
post private or public status updates - known as a buzz - and share content from other sites such as Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and Picassa.

George Orwell (in 1984) gave us Big Brother.
We have surpassed the lack of privacy and paranoia of Big Brother and reached a higher plane. Excitement comes from seeing a friend write on the wall, "I just ate a big dish of ice cream." or, "Now I have to do the dishes!" and the thrill of receiving all this wonderful information from your friends is that it it FREE!. (Of your not getting it on your iPhone, anyway_

Measuring how many minutes are left to this old life, I marvel at how little of mine will be spent in this 'togetherness' contact. I fantasy what life might be like for all these participants in a few years. I am blessed with complete confidence that my adult children will never call me to tell me that they are about to eat supper, or, equally similar contacts that waste my and their time when life is too short anyway!. And if my friends do it, I will wonder what they are doing to lack a life.

Nevertheless, I will look into Buzz as I have many of other products out there. I will undoubtedly, if for no more reason than to be able to understand what everyone is talking about, use it just enough to annoy people when they connect with me but I don't answer them. I have no desire to stay velcroed to anyone alive who needs to text, tweet, chat, Facebook, find all their classmates whhom they had no interest in while in school, join all the Forums, or prevent me from finding time just to live.

For more on Buzz, read Rafe Needleman and Josh Lowensohn: Rafe and John Debate Google's Buzz.

WHO SPILLED ALL THE MILK OF HUMAN KINDNESS DOWN THE DRAIN?

As the years roll by, I have noticed that people get lazier, more selfish, and project more of their sadness and pain onto others. It is like an adolescent patient told me years ago (when she slashed her arms requiring a great many stitches), "I hurt so much inside I figured I might just as well hurt on the outside, too." Naively, I thought she was saying no one could see her pain otherwise, but I realized that her actions were far more complicated than that.

There are few whom I hear in favor of war,though the Legislature and last Administration certainly sent us to Iraq and Afghanistan with no concern about the commodity known as 'the military'. Well, the 'military' is composed of people who have parents, spouses, children, loved ones, friends and all these others are touched by what happens to their military person. Today I saw a horrible story. Too many details were left out but, simply, a soldier (living with his girlfriend in Tacoma, Washington) was awarded custody of his 4 year old daughter, taken away from her natural mother who lives in Kansas, just a month ago. The father 'waterboarded' the child because she couldn't recite the alphabet, (let alone give any terrorist secrets...this author's addition). This article said nothing about the natural mother nor about the Judge's thinking to take the child away and give her to this very sick man.

It seems that all logic and common sense has left many of those who purport to be our leaders. Glenn Beck says we are all being led to slaughter, Roger Ayles says he is only interested in ratings, dire predictions are being made, the courts act funny (not just the family courts but the Supreme Court as well), and the tea baggers and fringe people talk revolution. Is it any wonder that humor isn't as funny as it used to be and that sick humor is used more? Hence the 'tards and retards labels are laughed at and more profanity are seen by most as the stuff to laugh at. I want the world to follow the bumper sticker that reads Commit a Random Act of Kindness. I think that beats out In God We Trust any time.

WHAT'S NEXT IN THE QUEST FOR THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH?

Our society has fallen for companies that make products to make us look or smell better. Romance novels never have a woman tasting anything less than like honey and smelling anything less than roses...even when they write about 11th C Scotland and 19th C England. I've heard men talk about fishy smells in a woman though they seem not to know that musk, artificially applied, smells offensive to some.

We all lived through Michael Jackson's many plastic surgeries to the point he no longer had a nose. We have seen Joan Rivers joke that her face will crack if she laughs. Now we are into smells and appearance in parts the average public will never have in full view of anyone in this lifetime.

On January 30th, Andy Wright wrote an article titled: The 6 Weirdest Things Women Do to Their Vaginas.
He talks about the strangest demands the beauty industry makes for vaginal rejuvenation. Among the other things you do for yourself for ablutions, your feminine treasure box smells bad and needs a deodorant. Secondly, it is dirty. From Turkey: Douching is a common habit among Turkish women. Many women are not aware of the harmful effects of douching. Public health and health professionals should monitor more closely this traditional habit in Turkey. There are indications that it will lessen fertility but will not qualify as a contraceptive. Many doctors advise against it as it upsets the vaginal flora balance.

Next comes the complaint that plastic surgery is necessary because your vagina has become too loose. Do with that one what you will, ladies. Doctors in Atlanta decide whether your labia are "unequal," "elongated," "large," "irregular," "floppy," and "unfeminine." Goodness, how could Nature have given women unfeminine labia? Are there masculine labia or is the option neuter? Exactly what ARE unfeminine labia? Do they stick out like ears? That can't be, there is no cartilage there. What are the feminine features of labia? Whatever, these doctors will tell you if you need labiaplasty. Imagine them on "What's My Line"..."We make an ugly labia and make it beautiful."

The next problem is that your vagina tastes bad. (Guys parts don't because they don't touch them, only shake them off.) The solution is vagina mints. If you partner has fruit flavored condoms you might want to make sure your vagina mints will not clash with his condom flavor, right?

Lastly, "Your Vagina is the Wrong Color" Solution: Vaginal Bleaching and Dying. I guess that vagina color is bad. It must be hot pink. Wright writes: "Accomoclitic Laser and Wax Studio in Lakewood, Colorado, purveyors of an anal bleaching product called "Pink Wink," also sell something called Bleach Babe, a cream that promises to do away with the "natural discoloration surrounding the exterior of the vagina."

Do Cougars have to dye their public hair to match the dye on their head? These very critical questions clearly have not been given sufficient consideration by some of us of the feminine persuasion...that is we have not been persuaded enough to fork over good dollars for this nonsense. If you want to see Wright's whole article, click here. Considering that men may have their favorite blow-up doll, or a masturbator toy, one might guess that 'viewing' is not their favorite past time of choice over 'doing'. Ladies, keep in mind, even if you 'rejuvenate' you can still be replaced by a do-it-your-self hand-held.

WHAT WE SHOULD ALL BE ASKING OURSELVES

Harriet Fraad wrote for Tikkun Magaazine, asking "Why Are Americans Passive as Millions Lose Their Homes, Jobs, Families and the American Dream?" One might also ask, why are they so heartless and selfish to think of themselves only. The other day, in the drugstore, an 86 year old man gave me all the reasons he was against HealthCare. He was happy with Medicare and the added insurance his company (from which he was either retired or owned a bit)and said he was very happy with it. When I asked about the other 3o million without insurance he said there were only 10 million and he didn't see why he should have to spend taxes to get insurance for them, not in those words. You can read the whole article written by Ms. Fraad who is a psychotherapist/hypnotist. Click here.

The entire article is rather long and I disagree with much of the position she has taken. She feels the disintegration of family is because of the new family units our society has in great part accepted as acceptable though non-traditional. Many of these families are more cohesive and offer a more stable and loving environment than the so-called traditional homes. Even in the traditional homes, incest, abuse both emotional and physical takes place. Parents selfishly neglect their children and all the ills they place on the non-traditional families I have seen in those families in my many long years of doing psychotherapy and treating families.

It would be good to see people actually take a look at what they are railing against and see that the problem is usually not the new family definitions at all. The problem lies in the inability of people stuck in a rigid definition who is unable to change with the societal needs of the times.