Breaking the News - Week 50, Year 2009

Kathy Landin's "I'm an Idiot" Show breaking the news for week 50 of the year 2009. It's obvious I've already begun my holly jolly holidays, but that's no reason to leave the news unbroken. Happy happy to you and yours! kathysidiotshow.com



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqg5fP5dGLU&hl=en

The Other Side of Mother's Day

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Mother's Day! The words conjure a picture of a loving mother surrounded by her children and loving family, receiving flowers, gifts, and mushy cards from her progeny, celebrating the sacrifice and love of motherhood.

This Mother's Day the above scenario will take place again, all over the country. It will be a wonderful day for so many, a chance to say Thank You Mom for always being there for me, for loving me even during times when I wasn't so lovable.

Mothers will be filled with pride and gratitude and all past transgressions will be forgotten, at least for the day. Tomorrow will bring everyone back to reality, but for this one day, it will be a time to unabashedly proclaim our love for the woman who gave us life.

As we go about our daily activities interacting with others, we'll hear the inevitable Happy Mother's Day greetings, from friends and even strangers, the cashier at the supermarket. This innocuous greeting, a kind pleasantry for many, is like a knife to the heart for the Other Mothers.

Who are the Other Mothers? We are the ones who won't be celebrating this Mother's Day in sync with the rest of the country. We are the ones who people tend to shy away from, especially on holidays and most especially on this one day set aside to celebrate us! Who are we? We are the mothers of a deceased child. To compound matters, we are not only the mothers of a deceased child, but we are the mothers of a child who is deceased from drugs! I can almost feel you recoil as you read these words. I know. I used to be of the same mindset until I became an Other Mother.

We may have other children, children whom we absolutely love and adore and would give our life for. That is a given. Because we mourn our deceased child, that does not diminish the love that we have for our other child or children. However, on Mother's Day the heartbreak of the loss of that child is more acutely felt, although we feel this heartbreak every day. From the time we lift our head off the pillow in the morning, until we lay it down again at night, no matter what activity is going on around us, our minds and hearts are consumed with thoughts of our child who is no longer with us. Our child who died from the disease of addiction.

There are 365 days in a year and each one of them has a special dedication, whether it be a nationally known holiday such as Mother's Day, Christmas, Hannukah, Veterans' Day or some obscure day such as National Blame It On Somebody Else Day. Whatever the day, there is a national something or other attached to it, quite often more than one. How about a National Mother's Day for Mothers Who Have Lost a Child to the Disease of Addiction? Why not? Is it any stranger than National Don't Go To Work Unless It's Fun Day or any of a host of other national faux holidays?

I'm certainly not ashamed that my child died of addiction. I'm far too busy being heartbroken every day to worry about shame. I am deeply saddened and tortured by the loss of my beloved child but never ever ashamed. He had a disease.

Addiction is a brain disease. The addicted person has no more control over their disease than someone suffering from diabetes or cancer does. Their struggle is just as painful and difficult for them.

Most addicted people start down their destructive path when they are children. Children don't consider the consequences of their actions and they think they're invincible. Ultimately they discover that it is the drugs that are invincible.

So on this Mother's Day while everyone is celebrating the joys of motherhood, whether you're already a mother or about to become one, I hope you will take a moment to ponder the Other Mothers. The Other Mothers who will be smiling on the outside while trying to quell the raging volcano of grief that is erupting on the inside as we fight with all of our being to prevent it from spewing forth and demoralizing everyone around us. We don't want that. We don't want to deny other mothers their well-deserved day of recognition. We also do not want you to join our ranks. What we do want is to have our child acknowledged, and remembered. We want them remembered for the kind, caring, loving children that they were, not for the disease that ravaged their minds and bodies.

Our children lived and were loved and are still loved. They abound in our thoughts and hearts every moment of our lives. If we happen to meet on this Mother's Day, please don't be afraid to acknowledge the day. You don't even have to utter those words "Happy Mother's Day." If you will just acknowledge our child, say his or her name and if you have any remembrances of them, this would be a nice time to say so. You can't hurt us by talking about them. In fact, you can bet if you do talk about our child, you will see a genuine smile envelop our face and I know that will make us both feel good.

Sheryl Letzgus McGinnis is the author of the book "I Am Your Disease (The Many Faces of Addiction)" published by Outskirts Press. You can read about, and purchase the book at http://www.iamyourdisease.com

I am a retired medical transcriptionist and radio DJ who also did voiceovers for TV. Married, with one living son, having lost my youngest son Scott, who was a paramedic and an RN to the disease of addiction. Happily married for 40 years to Jack, 8th grade science teacher. My oldest son Dale is soon to be a graduate student in Ecology and Environmental Biology.

We live in Palm Bay, Florida. I am originally from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and am a citizen of both Australia and the US. We are owned by one dog and two cats!

New Treatments For PTSD - Natural Remedies May Help

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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a serious and often debilitating condition that affects many people. It is especially prevalent in the military. The current theory is that PTSD results from the effects of adrenaline that are released when one experiences a traumatic event. Adrenaline is a set of hormones released by the adrenal gland in the body. Adrenaline is one of the so called 'Fight or Flight' stress hormones the body releases to enable us to effectively survive the traumatic experience.

Adrenaline also affects our brain and how we remember the event. This was a good thing back in our natural environment. When we had a traumatic event, like being attacked by a predator such as a lion, the release of adrenaline imprinted that event very intensely in our minds. This meant we did not forget it. In fact, we now would have a vivid memory of the lion attack and in the future would strongly associate lions with danger. This enabled our ancestors to not only survive, but to vividly remember what bad things to avoid in the natural world.

In the modern world, the release of adrenaline means we will tend to remember events we would prefer to forget. This is what leads to PTSD. The drug propranolol can help as it inhibits the release of adrenaline following the event. But of course, timing is critical.

Fortunately there are other options. A more holistic approach can offer relief from PTSD. This would include several modalities to address the condition on different levels. Some form of therapy, such as Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) can help us to rewire the brain. The brain does have plasticity in how it makes neural connections to areas such as memory, and NLP can help shift those connections.

A healthy diet and lifestyle including regular exercise can help shift brain chemistry favorably, allowing us to cope with life better. Dietary changes include shifting to whole foods and away from packaged and fast/convenient foods. Eliminating fried foods and instead consuming healthy fats like avocado, soft egg yolks, coconut and olive oil, flax and sesame seeds, raw almonds and walnuts can in the long term make subtle but significant improvements in brain function.

Try to eliminate soda and sweet drinks of any kind, as the sugar in these is very detrimental to brain health. Sugar in general is best kept to a minimum. Flour is also to be avoided - bread, pizza, pasta, cookies and cake are off the menu if you want to see improvements in how you look and feel.

For immediate relief, natural remedies may provide some help. Gabatrol for example, is a safe, all natural and non-addictive formula that can help in a wide variety of emotional conditions. It's mainly comprised of amino-acids, which are the same nutrients found in protein foods like chicken, fish and eggs. Users report the calming effects of Gabatrol are very noticeable within 15-30 minutes, and it can last for several hours.

It's all connected, and often an emotional trauma like PTSD can lead us to behaviors that destroy our health and well being. All it takes is a small step in the right direction and day by day the cumulative effects of your efforts can make big changes in your life. If you need immediate help to get you going, all natural Gabatrol may give you the edge to start changing your life in more positive ways.

Brian Cunningham, MS, Founder and President of Pure Life: Brian has a Master of Science in Epidemiology from New York Medical College, and is a writer for two magazines; CORE Performance and RxMuscle. Brian has over 20 years of experience as a personal trainer, health counselor and researcher in health, nutrition and fitness. Brian currently trains clients at Equinox. Pure Life has a special military discount for veterans and active duty for Gabatrol at http://ptsd.gabatrol.com

Opposition urging Musharraf to end emergency rule

Hello on this Monday, the 12 day of November 2007. I'm Kristin Volk with a UPI Headline Update. Pakistan's opposition parties are calling on President Pervez Musharraf to end a state of emergency rule. They say upcoming parliamentary elections in January will be meaningless if held under emergency laws. Musharraf has said the rule will continue to ensure free and fair elections. Former prime minister Benazier Bhutto says such laws will make campaigning difficult. Bhutto is planning to lead a protest march tomorrow against the state of emergency. At least seven Palestinians are dead after Hamas security forces and Fatah gunman clashed today at a Gaza City rally. Another 55 are reportedly wounded. The rally was meant to commemorate the third anniversary of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's death. It's unclear how the incident began and who's to blame for it. Vice President Dick Cheney paid tribute to Iraq veterans in Arlington cemetery over the weekend for Veterans Day. In a speech, Cheney praised troops in Iraq for doing quote a magnificent job. He added that soldiers from past wars and today's fight against terrorism have served their country valiantly and kept Americans free in the US Several hundred people watched as the vice president also placed a wreath on the Tomb of the Unkowns. And former President George HW Bush celebrated the grand reopening of his presidential museum by skydiving. It was his first jump yesterday since he celebrated his 80 birthday with a jump ...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okDqFAH3MBI&hl=en

Veterans Day Video from PatriotFlagStore.com

Veterans Day Video featuring famous quotes from some of America's founding fathers, former Presidents and leaders.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvXtetNbxZY&hl=en

President Obama Presents Medals in Arts and Humanities

The President presents the National Medal of Arts and the National Humanities Medal for 2009 in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. February 25, 2010.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPmStlZ1HnY&hl=en

Respect the Military Like They Deserve

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Throughout American history our military has been an integral part in our well being and the well being of the entire world. Many people tend to think that we have put our nose where it does not belong, or that we have started wars with countries for no apparent reason. However many of the wars that we have been involved in has either protected someone that could not protect themselves, or protect the future well being of our country.

No matter how you feel about a particular war, or the reason that we are fighting in that war, you should always show respect to our military that is fighting there. I can remember quite a few times in our history where respect was not shown to our military. The men and women of the military that go to fight in the war do not have a choice about whether they want to fight or not. They are fighting so you and I do not have to. They signed up to risk their life so that our country can remain free and prosperous.

After the Vietnam War was over our soldiers came back to disdain and disgust from the American people. I know that the way the war was handled by our government was not done very well. I also know that many people protested the war, which was their right, but they should not disrespect the men and women who fought because they were just following orders. When the soldiers came back from the war we should have had parades and showed gratitude to them. However the soldiers from the Vietnam War received none of this.

The reason I am bringing this up is that we are in a very unpopular war now in Iraq, and I do not want us to allow our dislike of a war to cause us to forget about the people who are actually fighting in it. Remember when this war is over and our soldiers come back from the fight to tell them thank you and show the military the respect that they deserve.

Show your respect for the military with a Ka-Bar 7 inch 100th Anniversary USMC Fighting Knife made by Kabar Knives, the official knife maker for the U.S. Marines!