Archive

Don’t judge yourself by what others did to you. C. Kennedy, Ómorphi It’s a sad commentary on a 63 year (so far) life that I can finally report that I have no abusers in my life. It’s the first time I can recall being able...
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What Are Little Boys Made of? What are little boys made of? Snips and snails, And puppy-dogs’ tails; That’s what little boys are made of. What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice, And all that’s nice; That’s what little girls are made of....
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They set a low bar for Donald Trump, and he banged his head on it. Austan Goolsbee By now, Mr. Trump, you have been hearing that you are the worst president in U.S. history from an abundance of people. You’ve heard it from ordinary people....
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So it’s all rolled around again — quicker now as I’ve aged. Earlier, too, but that’s not my fault. Blame capitalism. I saw Christmas stuff out before Thanksgiving hadn’t even happened yet. I was not alone in my irritation — people around me nodded in...
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In situations of captivity the perpetrator becomes the most powerful person in the life of the victim, and the psychology of the victim is shaped by the actions and beliefs of the perpetrator. Judith Lewis Herman, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence – From...
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Dear Steve, Fifty-five years ago tomorrow, plus two weeks, they sat me down on a comfy chair (upholstered in plaid – why do I remember that?) and gently laid your warm, soft, surprisingly heavy little body onto my lap and said, “Martha, this is your...
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Mama tied a blindfold over my eyes. The next thing I felt my flesh was being cut away. I heard the blade sawing back and forth through my skin. The pain between my legs was so intense I wished I would die. Waris Dirie, UNFPA...
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Few things a doctor does are more important than relieving pain. . . pain is soul destroying. No patient should have to endure intense pain unnecessarily. The quality of mercy is essential to the practice of medicine; here, of all places, it should not be...
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I wrote this in 2015, before the #MeToo movement. It’s all the more relevant now as voice after voice — of both women and men — sound out in the lingering anguish of having been used as a thing. Like so many young college women,...
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