Day: 04/15/2015

One Man’s Life With 5 Identities

http://www.everydayhealth.com/news/one-mans-life-with-five-identities/?xid=aol_rss

“When I was very young, I didn’t have any friends, so Dawn helped me and guarded me,” Lee says. Among the other personalities are tough guy Danny, who helped Lee get through his days in the U.S. Army, and Patty, who taught Lee how to speak with girls.

Lee’s journey is somewhat typical for people with DID, according to his therapist, David Baker-Hargrove, PhD, a psychotherapist in Orlando. Most have experienced severe trauma before the age of 6. “Young children, through magical thinking, can create people to come and help them,” Dr. Baker-Hargrove says. “Once the brain does this once, it becomes easier to do it again and again.”

Adult brains don’t fragment like a child’s brain does, which is why the disease has its roots in childhood, according to NAMI. People with DID may have as few as two alters or as many as 100, but the average number is about 10, the organization notes…

NY groups test toys, find toxins

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/ny-groups-test-toys-find-toxins-041515.html

But according to a report by the New York League of Conservation Voters Education fund. and Clean and Healthy New York, some big-name brand stores are still selling toxic products. Stores like Target, TJ Maxx, Dollar General, 99 Cent City and Children’s Place stores in Onondaga County are all selling children’s toys with dangerous levels of toxic chemicals in them…

Quotes from Robert F. Kennedy

http://robertmgoldstein.com/2015/04/15/all-praises-unto-the-most-high-iam-god-%f0%9f%99%8f%f0%9f%99-goodnight-facts-amen/

I believe that, as long as there is plenty, poverty is evil.

The Irish were not wanted there [when his grandfather came to Boston]. Now an Irish Catholic is president of the United States … There is no question about it. In the next 40 years a Negro can achieve the same position that my brother has.

The problem of power is how to achieve its responsible use rather than its irresponsible and indulgent use — of how to get men of power to live for the public rather than off the public.

Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts Whitman’s rifle and Speck’s knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.

Something about the fact that I made some contribution to either my country, or those who were less well off. I think back to what Camus wrote about the fact that perhaps this world is a world in which children suffer, but we can lessen the number of suffering children, and if you do not do this, then who will do this? I’d like to feel that I’d done something to lessen that suffering. [In an interview shortly before he was killed, responding to a question by David Frost about how his obituary should read.]

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy

America, shame on you

http://robertmgoldstein.com/2015/04/15/a-nations-shame-trillions-in-new-wealth-millions-of-children-in-poverty/

America’s wealth grew by 60 percent in the past six years, by over $30 trillion. In approximately the same time, the number of homeless children has also grown by 60 percent…

I don’t think shame is a good thing, but I wonder if politicians even know the meaning of the word.  To quote Pink:

“How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?”

https://painkills2.wordpress.com/2015/02/23/how-do-you-sleep-while-the-rest-of-us-cry/

I Want to Show What Depression Looks Like So No One Else Suffers in Silence

http://iamnotsickboy.com/2015/04/15/i-want-to-show-what-depression-looks-like-so-no-one-else-suffers-in-silence/

http://themighty.com/2015/04/i-want-to-show-what-depression-looks-like-so-no-one-else-suffers-in-silence1/

I found that all of that energy used to hide, to wear that mask, was draining me, but now I hide no more…

April is National Prevent Child Abuse Month

Just like with Black History Month, we should not confine learning about the prevention of child abuse to just one month out of the year.

http://iamnotsickboy.com/2015/04/15/april-is-national-prevent-child-abuse-month/

http://www.safehorizon.org/page/10-signs-of-child-abuse-58.html

If you suspect a child has been abused….

Keep calm.
Tell the child you believe them.
Show interest and concern.
Reassure and support the child.
Take action – it could save a child’s life. Report child abuse to your local or state child protective service agency, or to your neighborhood police precinct.

Brainy quotes on Purpose

https://theonehandedclap.wordpress.com/2015/04/14/paramhansa-yogananda-yogi-wise-man-of-india/comment-page-1/#comment-73

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”  Pablo Picasso

“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.”  Dalai Lama

“The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.”  Sydney J. Harris

“The purpose of torture is not getting information. It’s spreading fear.”  Eduardo Galeano

“The main purpose of the stock market is to make fools of as many men as possible.”  Bernard Baruch

“Vegetables are interesting but lack a sense of purpose when unaccompanied by a good cut of meat.”  Fran Lebowitz

“If by chance some day you’re not feeling well and you should remember some silly thing I’ve said or done and it brings back a smile to your face or a chuckle to your heart, then my purpose as your clown has been fulfilled.”  Red Skelton

How Does Cannabis Affect Men and Women Differently?

http://www.leafly.com

How Cannabis Can Affect Men:  Men tend to consume cannabis in greater amounts and at higher rates than women do. Male cannabis consumers also tend to have higher rates of delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta9-THC) in their bloodstream, are less likely to be cannabis-only consumers, and, quite curiously, have a higher prevalence of reported panic disorders and personality disorders. Men have also been documented as having a higher susceptibility to appetite stimulation and food intake (hey fellas, the next time you get the munchies and end up eating half the Taco Bell menu, your gender just might be the reason!).

How Cannabis Can Affect Women:  Women tend to experience more dizziness when using cannabis. Females also report using cannabis mainly when feeling anxious, and also may experience weaker effects due to a difference in body weight distribution. Additionally, women are more susceptible to visuospatial memory impairment after consuming cannabis (hey ladies, the next time you walk out the door without your wallet/cell phone/keys, your gender may have actually played a role in your forgetfulness!).

How Cannabis Can Affect Your Gender’s Sexual Appetite…

For those of you who are transgender, instead of looking at this as a male/female thing, maybe you could look at your hormone levels to determine which of these applies to you.

Thousands Dead, Few Prosecuted

http://joemonahansnewmexico.blogspot.com/

So what of the Boyd case? Not many expect the APD officers to be convicted of murder charges and with good reason. The WaPo reports:

Of the 54 officers who were charged for fatally shooting someone while on duty over the past decade, 35 have had their cases resolved. Of those, a majority–21 officers–were acquitted or saw their charges dropped. Jurors usually see the officer as “the good party in the fight,” said David Harris, a University of Pittsburgh law professor and expert in police use of force.

“To get them to buy into a story where the officer is the bad guy goes fundamentally against everything they believe.” Most jurors, experts say, view officers as those who enforce laws, not break them. And unlike civilians, police officers are allowed, even expected, to use force.

And now for some good news…

http://guff.com/glt-employer-raises-employees-minimum-wage/20?ts_pid=2

The idea began percolating, said Dan Price, the founder of Gravity Payments, after he read an article on happiness. It showed that, for people who earn less than about $70,000, extra money makes a big difference in their lives.  His idea bubbled into reality on Monday afternoon, when Mr. Price surprised his 120-person staff by announcing that he planned over the next three years to raise the salary of even the lowest-paid clerk, customer service representative and salesman to a minimum of $70,000…

A Transgender Teen’s Tragic Suicide Leads To Call For A Ban On Conversion Therapy

http://www.queerty.com/

The statement was prompted specifically by the suicide of Leelah Alcorn, a 17-year old transgender teen who threw herself in front of a truck during the Christmas holidays last year. Alcorn left a heartbreaking note on Facebook, in which she recounted how her parents turned against her and forced her to go to Christian therapists in an attempt to “cure” her.

Leelah wrote that when she was 14, she told her mom she was transgender. “She reacted extremely negatively, telling me that it was a phase, that I would never truly be a girl, that God doesn’t make mistakes, that I am wrong,” Leelah said. “If you are reading this, parents, please don’t tell this to your kids. Even if you are Christian or are against transgender people don’t ever say that to someone, especially your kid. That won’t do anything but make them hate them self. That’s exactly what it did to me.” …