I’m sure the “goldfish” markings on the one cat toward the end are fake (and another one looks like a stuffed animal), but the rest seem real. Some are really unusual, beautiful, or funny.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
The golden child and scapegoat in the Trump family.
Because I am fascinated with child roles in narcissistic families, this video was interesting to me. I’ve suspected for awhile that Tiffany (the daughter of Trump and Marla Maples, his only American-born wife) is the scapegoat among Trump’s children. He never talks about her, seems distant from her, and doesn’t seem to idealize her the way he does his other children, particularly Ivanka, who is obviously the golden child.
This video explains more. Trump admits himself that physical appearance is extremely important to him, and he’s disappointed in Tiffany’s appearance. Tiffany also isn’t a successful businessperson like the rest of his adult children. She tried to make it as a singer instead, but things didn’t go well for her and she didn’t get a recording contract.
What I find extremely disturbing is the way he sexualizes his daughters. In this video, Trump is shown being interviewed about the infant Tiffany, and he talks about her legs in a suggestive way, and later jokes about her “inner beauty” not being as important as what’s on the outside. Even Tiffany’s siblings admit that Ivanka is obviously Trump’s favorite child. I don’t think that’s news to anyone, but could Tiffany actually be the scapegoat? Most families like this have one. I think she could be it.
Ironically, of all the children, Tiffany seems the most normal acting, humble, and well adjusted. She looks and speaks like a down to earth girl who just got out of college. So, even though she may be Donald’s scapegoat or at least his least favorite child, Tiffany wasn’t raised by him, like the others. She was raised by her mother instead, so she probably wasn’t exposed to Donald’s malignant narcissism as much as the others were. So she’s probably the most emotionally healthy.
Is Donald Trump Abusing His Wife Melania?
What we’re all thinking. That poor woman looks terrified whenever she’s with him. She probably has C-PTSD.
The Current Political Situation (reblogged from Nyssa’s Hobbit Hole)
I’m sure my friend Nyssa from the Hobbit Hole won’t mind me reblogging this post she wrote today. I think politics is dominating many of our minds these days, especially for those of us who are survivors of abusive families or marriages and are triggered to the point of hypervigilance and paranoia by the constitutional chaos and hatred that seems to have suddenly taken over ever since Trump came into office. It’s as if the world has gone mad.
Every day since this president took office is more WTF than the last. Staying glued to the legitimate media (oh wait, I mean ‘fake news’) is almost an unconscious reflex that has its roots in our C-PTSD. But our morbid fascination and vigilance doesn’t have to be in vain. It can and should be a call to take action and (peacefully) protest and expose the truth, instead of listening to the shitstorm of hatred, lies (oops, I mean alternative facts), and national-level gaslighting and projection this Hitlerian president and his army of brainwashed ‘deplorables’ is engaging in, while they gleefully gut democracy in their attempts to turn us into a banana republic with a cruel and dictatorial ruler who wants to silence the free press, dismantle all regulations, build walls, shut down the EPA, and run our nation as if it’s a religious cult.
All I know is this: If I have to die under this new regime (and many probably will, either through acts of internal terrorism and violence, natural disasters due to unregulated plundering of our natural resources, disease caused by “mythical” global warming, or because they lost their health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, or social security – those are all next on the table to be axed under this administration), I don’t want to die as a victim. I almost did already and I’m never going there again. I’d rather die fighting for truth and justice, whatever that might mean. I’m not going to succumb and die as one of the scared sheep who did nothing.
So, here is Nyssa’s article.
The Current Political Situation.
So much is going on that I can barely keep up. My friend Lucky Otter calls it hypervigilance, says that the abuse is now happening on a national scale…. We have the flying monkeys in large numbers….
I’m starting to burn out on news from the White House. It’s nonstop crapstorm every day. I spend hours just checking news feeds on Twitter. But I keep hearing that we should all be vigilant so we can protest through various channels and keep our voices heard. But I do have other things to do….
Then I watch movies of the White Rose Society, and hear how Germans didn’t do enough to stop the Nazis, for various reasons. We can keep the same thing from happening here, and it looks like we just might do so–but not if we stop watching. But what about the other things I need to do?
I’m following not just American newspapers, but German and British ones as well, to get more global perspectives. Der Spiegel is about to publish the English version of a scathing series on Trump. That’s the magazine which also put a controversial picture on the front cover, of Trump beheading the Statue of Liberty.
It’s all maddening. Those of us who have experienced narc abuse and other kinds of abuse, we can recognize what’s going on, but the flying monkeys call us “libtards” and laugh at us.
*****
Read the rest of Nyssa’s article here.
Psychology should be required for middle and high-school students.
Psychology, when it’s offered at the high school level, is offered as an elective course — which means it’s not required to graduate. Many, if not most, high schools, don’t even offer Psychology as an option. It’s only offered at the larger high schools, and not usually until Junior or Senior year, after required courses in math, English, languages and history are fulfilled. Abnormal psychology, which goes into more depth about mental disorders and includes personality disorders, isn’t usually offered until the college level, and only to those students who have chosen a psychology or sociology major.
I don’t understand this. Knowledge about psychology is necessary for us to understand our own behaviors and those of our fellow humans. It can help kids be able to detect red flags or signs of mental illness in others, including in our leaders. In my way of thinking, psychology is a life skill and is so much more useful in our daily lives than things like algebra or trigonometry, which are rarely thought of again once a student graduates and only have practical use in the scientific or technical fields. Do any of us in our 40s, 50s, or 60s actually remember how to do a proof in Geometry? Do any of us actually remember some of the dates we had to memorize in History or can reproduce the Table of the Elements without having to refer to outside sources? Not that such knowledge doesn’t have value — it makes you seem smart or at least educated. But really, how are these things relevant to living a successful adult life unless you work in these fields or teach them yourself?
If Psychology were offered at the high school, or even at the middle school level, I think kids would be making better choices in their friendships, relationships, and even in their voting practices as they grow older. They would know better what they are dealing with among the people they wind up going to school with, working with, and having to deal with day to day.
I think anti-bullying education should also be a part of a psychology program, especially for young middle school students, where bullying is at its most vicious and where kids are more vulnerable to the trauma caused by bullying than they are at the high school or college level when their sense of self is more developed. Practical lessons in mindfulness or anger management could be adapted into a middle- or high-school curriculum as well. I think all kids — not just kids with impulse or emotional problems — would benefit from such classes. It would help them develop their emotional — not just their cognitive — intelligence.
We are now saddled with a president who is a diagnosed malignant narcissist (remotely diagnosed by actual psychiatrists, but it’s common knowledge now) and whose rash and impulsive actions are showing that he’s a greater threat than anyone could have imagined. His cabinet picks aren’t much better. I think if psychology (including abnormal psychology) had been a required course for kids, starting at the middle school level, as they reached voting age, they would reach adulthood with more emotional intelligence, and take into account the personality traits of the candidates and choose those who seemed more in touch with reality and more mentally sound, regardless of their political beliefs.
Life beyond Trump.
Credit: Me
Meet and Greet: 2/4/17
That one annoying commenter you can’t get rid of.
“Tiny Yapper” — Artwork by Mike Reed
We bloggers probably all have at least one of them. You know, that one annoying person who seems to disagree with all your opinions and just wants to argue but can’t seem to stay away from your blog no matter how often they are shot down or ignored.
I’m not talking about trolls. Trolls are abusive and nasty and sadistic. They seem to get their jollies from angering and upsetting site owners and their readers with abusive, ad-hominem attacks and name-calling. They can never back up their arguments. They seem to exist just to upset others.
No, I’m talking about people who have vastly different opinions and beliefs than the prevailing opinions and beliefs on the blogs they read. They don’t actually abuse, though they can be very sanctimonious and self-righteous. They waste their breath arguing with you and your like-minded commenters, and act as if we’re all wrong and only their belief system is the right one.
I have a commenter like this right now. This individual is extremely annoying to me. It’s not even because we have vastly different opinions about most things; it’s that this individual is so self-righteous and smug about it. I could just delete their comments, but this person does have a right to their opinion, so I approve them anyway, as much as dislike most of them. I don’t like this person though, so after posting one useless counter-argument, I refuse to engage this person further. Now I just let the comments stand as they are, without further comment or engagement. I think that’s more effective than arguing with someone whose mind probably can’t be changed because they’re so sure you’re wrong and they’re just trying to “save” you from your wrong thinking. I just don’t feel like wasting my time. I have better things to do.
I thought my freezing them out might have made this person disappear, but no such luck. They are still posting comments that seem intended to make me ragey, although I don’t express my annoyance. This person seems completely oblivious that I’m giving them the cold shoulder by not Liking or commenting on any of their comments.
I don’t understand people like that. Fine, I can understand a troll’s motives. Sort of. They are usually sociopaths and like to stir up trouble. Upsetting people is entertainment to them. They get off on it. But “that one commenter” isn’t a troll. They believe what they are saying. They are right. You are wrong. Period. They don’t name call or use ad hominem attacks. They are just insufferably smug and self righteous about your wrongness and their rightness.
I don’t understand why someone like that would spend time writing comments on a blog whose prevailing views are so different than theirs. Why not read blogs where most of the people there will agree with you? It just seems like a huge waste of time to me.
If you blog, how do YOU handle these kinds of commenters?
Small city in Macedonia churned out pro-Trump propaganda during his campaign.
Credit: BBC News
I stumbled on this story and was just gobsmacked. Donald Trump seems to have some mysterious and bizarre connections with both Russia and Eastern Europe, but nothing surprises me anymore about this corrupt president and his administration. The fact that this story comes from the BBC gives it credibility, in my book. They don’t churn out “fake news.” I’m surprised this story didn’t get more traction and I’m only hearing about it now.
Macedonia is a small landlocked country in southeast Europe. It split off from the former Yugoslavia and established its independence in 1991, so it’s a fairly new country with a struggling economy. Macedonia is one of the poorest European countries, but in the past few years its economy has been improving. Still, there are young people seeking to get rich quick in a place that seems to offer them few opportunities. Why not write fake news stories and disseminate them on right-wing websites to earn a fortune? Most of these “fake news” stories have been traced to Veles, a small city in that country. Most of the articles are written by kids looking to make a buck.
I wonder if someone in the Trump administration–or even Trump himself–might have paid off these Macedonian kids to write pro-Trump “news” stories? Who knows? I wouldn’t put anything past him. Here is the BBC article.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-38168281?post_id=10212631627813467_10212631633893619#_=_
Why people get upset when you challenge their beliefs.
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Lucky Otters Haven 