applepansy

I have an "invisible" disease.  Mitochondrial disease is another invisible disease.  What that means is some doctors believe and some don't.  Those who don't believe diagnose a psych disorder and then all symptoms are ignored.  I was lucky.  I had good doctors who understood a patient could be in pain without a visible cause.  I have been active in online chronic pain communities for over 15 years.  I found the communities while looking for anything and everything I could about what I'm dealing with.  I have talked to scores of men and women who suffer for years with no relief because their doctor/s has decided he doesn't believe them.  Needless suffering.  
 
Twenty years ago JACHO (accreditation for hospitals) came out with new rules regarding the treatment of pain.  Attitudes started to change.  Pain is now considered a separate illness when it becomes chronic, but some doctors still don't believe.  If they can't see it, if they can't run a test, if they can't change it, then of course its all in the patient's head.
 
The fact that Justina's condition has deteriorated so significantly since being in State custody says a lot about the naysaying doctors and hospital.  
 
Its wrong to take a sick child from their parents.  Even if its the parents making the child sick.  I say that because the correct course of treatment is Education.  IF there really is neglect or abuse time will show it.  Medical abuse is rare because doctors usually don't buy into the diagnoses used to abuse.  In Justina's case the State and Hospital have been the abusers.
 
P.S. what bothers me most about psychiatric care is how much its grown in the last 30 years.  We now have ICD-9 codes for behaviors that aren't really a psychiatric illness.  Creating the ICD-9 codes is how psychiatrist and psychologists get paid when they can't find anything to get paid for.  This growth in psychiatric disorders (some of which aren't disorders) is a result of greed.   I realize that some of the "progress" is psychiatric care was needed, but in my opinion, we've swung too far the other way.

I\\\'ve been following this story. I have an invisible chronic illness. I\\\'m appalled at Boston Children\\\'s Hospital. They would have served the child\\\'s best interests to work with her parents. That her health has deteriorated so drastically in the last 14 months while under the care of DCF says a lot about who was right about the diagnosis. She walked into Boston Children\\\'s and now she can\\\'t move her legs and is in a wheelchair. Then lets look at the other obvious physical systems, like the hair loss. Anyone with half a brain can see she is so much sicker now than she was when her parents had custody.
This whole thing just makes me sick.
DCF (in my experience) takes children from loving parents and leaves children at risk with abusive parents. My grandson was born with drugs in his system and DCF IGNORED that and let him go home with a mother on drugs. It took 17 months to get him out of there.
I agree with the articles author opinion that child abuse was not epidemic in the past.

Started with Peri-Memopause In my late 30s-ish and now at age 56 I a long way past done.   :)
 
I'm a grandmaMom raising a 6yo.  Mood swings abound at my house.  LOL

Also Stay-At-Home-Dads!!!
Q

I dunno, this is a very sensitive and intimate topic, might be closed. I'll just say, there is NEVER a valid reason to engage in infidelity, period. Don't care if you're married or otherwise in a long term committed relationship, it is WRONG.

Not me. I gave hormones up for lent about 11 years ago and never went back.

I just started writing......if I remember something from my childhood or whatever I go ahead and record it in my journal. Just want to make sure I have as much info down as I can get.

I have several journals for different reasons.  Sometimes I journal daily sometimes only when something significant happens.
 
Some of my journals:  personal, one for my grandson and what is happening in his life and regarding custody or behavior issues, blessings journal, pain journal, etc.
 
How do you start?  just start writing or typing.

But as you well know, states don't have the right to deny a freedom guaranteed by the bill of rights--in this case, Huguenin's right to practice her religion by abstaining from an activity she found abhorrent.  SCOTUS' refusal to grant certiorari here is troubling.  I can only hope that they denied cert because, had they granted it, this case would have made it to them before the Utah same-sex marriage case that's currently before the 10th Circuit; and that they're hoping to pin down the constitutional role of same-sex marriage before they determine the relationship between whatever "rights" get established in that case versus the freedom of religion.  Thankfully, mere denial of cert doesn't set national precedent; so New Mexico's harebrained activities only subjugates New Mexico at the present time.
 
I've seen a couple of interesting hypotheticals recently in online discussions regarding whether the New Mexico precedent requires a black photographer, if asked, to do a promotional shoot for a KKK rally; or a gay photographer to produce a series of sympathetic shots for a Westboro Baptist Church activity.  Because the KKK could easily claim racial discrimination; and WBC could claim religious discrimination, against photographers who refused to cover these kinds of events.
 
 
I agree with you; but since we're going all free-market here we should probably ask why it's OK for a consumer to boycott a producer for offensive activities, but not OK for an employer to "boycott" an employee for those exact same activities.  Why should the loss of one's livelihood due to socially unacceptable speech be a natural result of repugnant behavior in the one case; but unlawful discrimination that should be remedied at law in the other case? 
 
And since a consumer can boycott a producer on "moral" grounds, why can't a producer (like Huguenin) be equally free to boycott a consumer on "moral" grounds?

Happiness is like a buitterfly.
If you chase it, it will elude you
But turn your thoughts to other things
And . . . it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.
 
--Unknown

Yes, I'm happy... happy in all its nuances.
 
I have struggles but they don't affect my happiness.  I know that my faith is what helps me stay happy.  Without my faith my struggles would get the best of me and did for awhile to the point that I questioned my faith and beliefs.  But I got over it.
 
When we have faith and act on that faith its really easy to be happy.  Laying my burdens at the feet of my Savior makes life so much easier.

If its a meal for someone sick I usually make homemade chicken noodle soup (with homemade noodles).  And homemade bread.

I wouldn't respond.  Sometimes I give a "why" and sometimes I don't.  If someone demanded a reason I would probably not give one and ignore the FB post.  I definitely wouldn't say why on facebook.

I have an "invisible" disease.  Mitochondrial disease is another invisible disease.  What that means is some doctors believe and some don't.  Those who don't believe diagnose a psych disorder and then all symptoms are ignored.  I was lucky.  I had good doctors who understood a patient could be in pain without a visible cause.  I have been active in online chronic pain communities for over 15 years.  I found the communities while looking for anything and everything I could about what I'm dealing with.  I have talked to scores of men and women who suffer for years with no relief because their doctor/s has decided he doesn't believe them.  Needless suffering.  
 
Twenty years ago JACHO (accreditation for hospitals) came out with new rules regarding the treatment of pain.  Attitudes started to change.  Pain is now considered a separate illness when it becomes chronic, but some doctors still don't believe.  If they can't see it, if they can't run a test, if they can't change it, then of course its all in the patient's head.
 
The fact that Justina's condition has deteriorated so significantly since being in State custody says a lot about the naysaying doctors and hospital.  
 
Its wrong to take a sick child from their parents.  Even if its the parents making the child sick.  I say that because the correct course of treatment is Education.  IF there really is neglect or abuse time will show it.  Medical abuse is rare because doctors usually don't buy into the diagnoses used to abuse.  In Justina's case the State and Hospital have been the abusers.
 
P.S. what bothers me most about psychiatric care is how much its grown in the last 30 years.  We now have ICD-9 codes for behaviors that aren't really a psychiatric illness.  Creating the ICD-9 codes is how psychiatrist and psychologists get paid when they can't find anything to get paid for.  This growth in psychiatric disorders (some of which aren't disorders) is a result of greed.   I realize that some of the "progress" is psychiatric care was needed, but in my opinion, we've swung too far the other way.

Boycott is different from taking someone to court.
 
Our country was founded on the principle of freedom OF religion.  Setting out to destroy businesses because their owners don't agree with your lifestyle is just as wrong as real discrimination based on rase.

Bottom of the page. All the way down there. A little to the left there is a tiny change theme button.

It isn't about my happiness making anyone happy. My happiness is just as contingent on the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ as anyone elses. Being happy is not a relative thing. Lakumi, I am not talking down to you, I am trying to teach you and anyone else who will listen, true principles. That is all that I can ever do. I don't suppose for a second that I am better than you. I can guarantee you that I am not. You and I are equal. You are just as valuable and loved by Heavenly Father as I am. Heavenly Father is just as involved in your life as He is in mine. His love is perfect and it doesn't stop, ever. But, there is a Plan of Happiness which has been created by our God. I'm telling you and anyone who will listen that such a thing exist. God has created a plan that if we follow it, we will find true joy in life. We are here so that we might have joy. Furthermore, I am not even say that I got it all figured out and I'm just this awesome dude. I don't have it all figured out. I'm not this super awesome dude. I'm a weak man but there are things that I am certain about because I have experienced them in my life and I possess some truth that I can profess. But in the end I am in constant need of the atonement of Jesus Christ.
 
Being uncomfortable with large groups of people is not a detriment to you. God accepts you. But, He invites you to follow Him and see if His plan will do as it has promised. He will sustain us and give us strength to overcome our weaknesses. He will make our weak things strong. I am no socialite. I don't have to be. I don't love being around a bunch of folks. I'd rather stay home and do my thing. I would be perfectly fine with just being at home and doing my thing. Our Father knows us and He knows all of these things and He is willing and able to work with us. If we put our trust in Him and strive to live our life according to His plan then miracles can and do happen and we can be changed for the better.
 
-Finrock

Only one who has experienced true joy can understand true joy. Those who have not experienced it may wallow there in the mire claiming they know what makes them happy. But they cannot possibly know this unless they have experienced something beyond the mud.  All mankind is in this state, to an extent, as we are all, relatively, wallowing. Only God truly understands joy.
 
Point being: No one knows what would or could truly make them happy.
 
And discomfort is not the antithesis to happiness. Most things that really bring happiness in life require some level of discomfort. If everyone took upon themselves the attitude that being uncomfortable was indicative of continued misery then not much would ever be accomplished in life...not the least of which is the creation of life itself, a decidedly uncomfortable thing, and yet one well known to bring, perhaps, one of the greatest joys known in life. 

Well sure, not everyone is an extremist.  However, this view--that tradtional marriage activists are haters and bigots who should be astrocized--is gaining traction.  It's becoming less extreme. 
 
Nobody has said that most LBGT folk want to bankrupt us.  Yet, this statement puts us on the defense--as if we had made that accusation.  Even Bill Maher, who is much more sympathetic to the LBGT cause than to that of religious folk, states that there is a 'gay mafia.' 

Good Afternoon Lakumi! I hope you're having a fine day. Finally we are enjoying some warmer weather here in Michigan.
 
 
Your post is propagating a lie. When I say that your post is propagating a lie I feel no animosity, ill will, or anger towards you. I am not even judging you. I am simply trying to tell you the truth even though I have very little hope that you will accept the truth. The notion that homosexuals are a repressed minority is a lie. It is this ideology, this lie, that is being propagated and accepted by society to the detriment of all.
 
There are men and women who refuse to ignore the truth that gender matters. It is a truth that cannot be changed that only sex between a man and a woman produces a union that can result in creating life. There is only one biological system where each gender has only half of what is needed to produce the final product. Only sex between a man and a woman produces this essential union. The principle of heterosexual sex is the only way that humanity propagates and it is this truth that differentiates marriage from all other relationships. There is nothing wrong with people recognizing and wanting to uphold this eternal, unalterable truth. People who support true marriage are not bigots. Supporting true marriage and denouncing the lies of the same-sex ideology does not equate to bigotry or to a majority repressing a minority group. The same-sex movement is the not same, in any way, to the equal rights movement.
 
Gender matters. Governments and humanity have supported true marriage institutionally because of its unique and vital position in sustaining society. Because God has blessed us with an abundance of knowledge and technologies, wealth, and power our society has the luxury, but not moral right, to institutionally sustain non-heterosexual unions.
 
If a principle is true and right then it should be able to sustain itself no matter what. If our society did not have the wealth, technology, and power that we have now then society would quickly find out how foolish it is to institutionally support non-heterosexual marriages. If our species were on the brink of extinction would society still call those who support true marriage between a man and woman bigots and repressors of the minority? I doubt it very much. Societal support for non-heterosexual marriages would cease to exist because they would realize that society, humanity, cannot survive any other way.
 
I am not a bigot because I am against same-sex marriages. I am not hate filled. I am not narrow minded. In fact my whole motivation for speaking out against same-sex marriages is because I know where true happiness and joy is to be found. They are to be found in the principles of gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no other way for mankind to find true joy, true peace, and true fulfillment. I love God and I love my brothers and sisters in the world. I desire for them to know who they truly are and what their purpose here on life is. We are children of Heavenly Father. We, all of us, have come to this earth because we wanted to become like Heavenly Father. All of these things are distractions and they are pulling us away from our true purpose. These issues are blinding us to what we ought to be doing. I am an advocate for people coming unto Christ and becoming like Him in all things.
 
I don't care whether I am popular. I don't care what others think of me on this forum. I'm not here to be liked or to have my ego stroked. I simply want to stand for what is true and what is right. I am motivated by my love of God and of all men.
 
-Finrock

Yes, boycotts/patronizing businesses is a form of speech.  I just see their tactics (boycott all the suppliers, too and keep a running list, etc) as bullying which I have a problem with.  They expect tolerance but don't show it in return which is quite hypocritical in my book!  So ya, I find it 'unbelievable' that anyone would find this level of behavior acceptable.

Just came across this:

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/gay-activists-aim-to-shut-down-oregon-health-food-store-over-owners-support/

Unbelievable!

"Genocidal" may be too strong.  However, their litany of alleged crimes against them is lengthy.  The article I read lamented that government leaders regularly compare them (LBGT) with pedophiles.  That same writer said he fears that even a meaningless glance he might make could be misconstrued, leading to an angry--possibly violent--encounter. Additionaly, they are quick to tie the rhetoric of some ministers with acts of violence and murder committed against them.  Bottom-line:  traditional marriage advocates are like the KKK to them.  We are in the wrong and must be re-educated. 
 
My concern then--what is the agenda now?

Happiness is like a buitterfly.
If you chase it, it will elude you
But turn your thoughts to other things
And . . . it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.
 
--Unknown