In exactly one month, America will observe the 10th anniversary of that dreadful day when our country, in so many ways, lost her innocence. Between now and then we will read many thoughtful writings and see many poignant programs reminding us of what we probably will never forget. I just received an e-mail from a lady who last year, on Memorial Day, told us about how a casual encounter with a World War II veteran...

No, not “mad” as in Tea Party anger. Instead, we’re talking “mad” as in A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness. Stephen Colbert did an excellent interview with its author, Dr. Nassir Ghaemi, professor of psychiatry and director of the Mood Disorders program at Tufts University Medical Center. Ghaemi says strong conviction, enormous creativity...

My anxiety abides within my gut, within my skin, within countless compromises and desperate attempts to be accepted.  My anxiety abides. My anxiety abides within my biology, within my earliest memories, within restless sleep and twisted dreams, within racing thoughts, shifting eyes, fidgeting legs, and perpetual foreboding anticipations. My anxiety abides. My anxiety is a tide ebbing and flowing or maybe it’s...

In an interesting mailing I just received from a political group—Democratic, I believe—I find some points that I think merit some discussion by the experts among you. (I was going to say “among us,” but I will readily admit I am not one when it comes to economic issues.) So, let me just “throw it out there,” after deleting or modifying some of the more partisan words and claims. First,...

FOR THOSE WHO CAME, BUT COULD NOT STAY While you and I were being born, growing “in the little bread oven”… as it was often said back then… there were other little babies across the world, suddenly thrust into real ovens, and they were not allowed to grow any more. Don’t tell me that that is the past and none of our concern. This is in cellular memory, and we are here to make certain that we speak for...

ABC News offers this facscinating report on whether stress ages us faster — focusing on how President Barack Obama and other Presidents have aged in office:

it’s not like in the film Amadeus, wherein the dunderheaded Emperor pettishly snaps to Mozart about his newest composition, “Too many notes, too many notes.” The Emporerr didnt know what he was talking about. But, a sizeable group of people in the USA do know when there are Too many laws, Too many laws! I have been thinking for some time when our local congressman asked us to help find docs...

While one reader here at TMV reflected that Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford’s last night’s courageous and emotional appearance on the House floor to vote on the debt limit bill may have been “ political theatre and showmanship, maybe even a little arm-twisting to drum up support for the bill,” others are speculating that it may be the start of her run for re-election in 2012. According to the Washington...

UPDATE: I happened to be watching the vote on the debt ceiling bill, when the delightful images appeared of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on the floor of the House surrounded by applauding and smiling Representatives. Below, in my original post, are my impressions of this wonderful moment—albeit rather short. The Huffington Post, however, has more background and reaction on the event along with photos...

A giant sigh of relief will emanate from the White House once the budget deficit crisis passes. This presumes that the Republicans will have again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory — or reasonable compromise — as they have been in the habit of doing. This however will not be a victory for President Obama and the Democrats as much as a train wreck averted, but there are still plenty of cows...

by WALTER BRASCH “Pssst.” I walked straight ahead, looking neither right nor left in a darkened alley illuminated by a half-moon. “Pssst.” I quickened my pace, but there was no avoiding the shadowy figure. “Ain’t gonna harm ya. Jus’ wanna sell ya somethin’.” I hesitated, shaking. Stepping in front of me, he shoved a hotdog under my nose. “Ten bucks each,” he whispered ominously through...

Tensions have been growing at the Jones family for quite a while now. Recently, it has been getting downright ugly. A couple of years ago, Mrs. Jones met an attractive, silver-tongued man—we’ll call him simply T.P. —who at first wooed her with compliments and lured her with pied piper tunes. But as their romance grew, so did T.P.’s influence on and demands from Mrs. Jones, including that she...

The federal fiscal year runs from October 1st through September 30th. The current fiscal year 2010-2011 was a product of congressional compromise four months ago that was passed with Tea Party support. Congress already approved federal borrowing that would exceed the current debt limit. There are only two months left before this fiscal year ends and another fiscal year begins for which there is no budget in...

Dear Souls of Norway: I looked for a picture of something of Norway and her people that might represent this time. I found this picture of a beautiful Norway Pine, one who is limber and leans to the side, and yet remains strong. Like you. This tree belonging to you, is literally called “weeping Norway spruce,” like our “weeping willow” trees here in the USA are named too, for their green...

Polish-born, four-star general Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, the first immigrant to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs, died yesterday at age 75 in Tacoma, Washington, of complications from a stroke. I always liked the general—the Noble General—with the “unpronounceable” name who Mindful of his history of living through World War II in Poland… was particularly sensitive to the plight of people...

Are Cigars Endangered? by Tom Purcell Are premium cigars next on the federal government’s hit list? You see, as part of the 2010 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has the authority “to regulate marketing and promotion of tobacco products and to set performance standards for tobacco products to protect the public health.” Though the law...

For a nation recovering from one of the greatest series of cataclysms in recorded history, the victory of the Japan women’s national football team over Team USA in the FIFA World Cup was an invaluable elixir. According to this editorial from Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun, what made Japan proudest was when Japan’s national team circled the stadium with a huge banner thanking the world for its backing...

Do Mexicans have a right to feel intruded upon, now that the United States has admitted allowing high-powered weapons to be sold to representatives of the Mexican drug cartels? Excelsior columnist Jesus Ortega Martinez writes that the recent U.S. sting operation ‘Fast and Furious’ undermines the Mexican state, violates international law and endangers innocent people on both sides of the border. For...

What is it with women like Sheila Bair, former head of the FDIC, who is just soooo difficult, and Elizabeth Warren, creator and designer of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, who is just soooo controversial and now U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D, FL-20) who is just soooo not acting like a lady? I mean, really. Who do we think we are when we use our voice – a voice that was selected and in many...

Politics and psychiatry converge as a conservative website reveals that the surging Republican candidate “frequently suffers from stress-induced medical episodes that…occur once a week on average and can ‘incapacitate’ her for days at time. On at least three occasions, Bachmann has landed in the hospital as a result.” Doubts about her state of mind keep multiplying after stories of her fervent...

Is it time that a law be passed rewarding or punishing politicians based on their performance in office? The idea, suggested by American comedian Andy Borowitz, sounds appealing. Unfortunately, as columnist Patrik Etschmayer of Switzerland’s News laments, who would pass it? For Switzerland’s News, Patrik Etschmayer writes in part: In one of the very amusing articles on his Web site The Borowitz...

Is the last shoe in the global debt crisis about to drop? Folha columnist Patricia Campos Mello writes that with a possible slowdown on the horizon and a municipal debt crisis that may amount to 30 percent of China’s GDP, the ‘bond buyer of last resort’ for both America and struggling E.U. countries may no longer be capable of coming to the rescue. For Folha, Patricia Campos Mello writes in...

There is no denying that too many of our troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are having a very difficult time coping with their lives back home—emotionally, financially, medically, mentally and in so many other ways. Homelessness, suicide, domestic violence, divorce, drug and alcohol addiction and even serious crime are some of the symptoms and consequences. We have read, seen and heard such stories...

They Call Him ‘Chainsaw’ by David Goodloe When I was a child, my parents took my brother and me on several summer road trips through the eastern United States. I think that statement requires a little context. In the years before my brother and I came along, my parents were missionaries in Africa. While they were there, they became close friends with their colleagues. I don’t know if their...

As the capitol shows signs of awakening from the debt-ceiling fever dream with face-saving aspirin for both sides, onlookers try to understand the pathology of it all. Like the final scene of “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” after crazed loyalties and pride have created carnage, a dazed survivor is left to wander through the wreckage, mumbling, “Madness, madness.” As the Chairman of the Fed describes...