Good morning!

Okay this came across my plate. And I don’t really believe in coincidences, so perhaps there are a few of you out there that might need to watch and read this. If so, this is a long video, so please take or make the time if you are one in need, or pass it along to someone who may find this info beneficial. Thanks!

Dr. John Lowe is a skilled clinician, recognized as one of the leading experts on treating thyroid disease with natural medicine. In this interview, he discusses hypothyroidism and the lesser known thyroid hormone resistance, and how thyroid disease is connected to fibromyalgia.

The Simple Fibromyalgia Treatment that’s Nearly Always Overlooked…

Thyroid disease, or inadequate thyroid hormone regulation, is extremely common. According to estimates, anywhere from 10 to 40 percent of Americans have suboptimal thyroid function.

The Difference between Hypothyroidism and Thyroid Hormone Resistance

Hypothyroidism occurs when you  produce insufficient amounts of thyroid hormone or when you have thyroid hormone resistance. As a result, your body cannot maintain normal metabolism, and your ability to convert tyrosine to dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine is impaired. This can cause a ripple effect of symptoms, including cognitive dysfunction.

A common give-away that you may be hypothyroid is feeling cold most of the time. This is because your body cannot generate enough ATP molecules to keep the core temperature of your body high enough.

Thyroid hormone resistance began being investigated in the 1950s, yet many endocrinologists still have never heard of it, or believe it’s a rare condition.

“The difference between hypothyroidism where there is a deficiency of thyroid hormone, and thyroid hormone resistance, is that the same amount of thyroid hormone-within the laboratories’ reference range-that would maintain normal metabolism in cells don’t do so adequately.

Those people [with thyroid hormone resistance] need a much higher dosage of hormones-a dosage that would cause most endocrinologists to scream, “You’re going to die of heart attack if you don’t get off that,” Dr. Lowe explains.

Why Lab Testing is NOT the Most Useful Tool for Diagnosing Thyroid Disease

Unfortunately, many if not most conventional doctors do nothing but look at lab test data when diagnosing thyroid disease, and typically ignore signs and symptoms revealed by the patient, such as dry skin or hair loss. Dr. Lowe and I often refer to these as extremist medical technocrats.

However, Dr. Lowe says he’s noticed a revival of sorts of the practice to listen to the patient; getting a list of the symptoms; looking at the patient and touching them.

This can be particularly valuable in the case of diseases like thyroid disease, which is littered with clinical symptoms.

The exclusive reliance on lab tests is actually NOT advisable in this case. In fact, Dr. Lowe discusses why these tests may at times be completely useless for diagnosis. For example, based on three decades worth of work in this area, and two rigorous studies, Dr. Lowe has concluded that the traditional testing used does not correlate with the far more powerful assessment of thyroid hormone in your body, which is your basal metabolic rate.

For more information about that, please listen to the interview, or read through the transcript.

A Forgotten Sign of Thyroid Disease

Dr. Lowe’s interest in the thyroid was ignited about 25 years ago. At the time he used myofascial trigger point therapy to treat pain, taught by Dr. Travell who used it on John Kennedy. Most patients responded favorable to this treatment, but some did not get the typical relief and he started wondering why.

“I went to Travell and Simon’s textbooks and found a huge section on perpetuating factors,” Dr. Lowe says.

“What can make a patient resistant to usually effective myofascial therapy? Among those were nutritional deficiencies. If patients don’t take enough B complex vitamins, various ones can cause neuromuscular hyper-excitability that has to be dealt with. I would give injections of B complex vitamins and would immediately get them on megadoses…

[R]ather than three treatments it might take eight or 10, but I was able to release them as ‘recovered’. But there were some patients for whom none of those usual tactics worked. They kept coming back. The reprieve from pain might be only six hours.”

He finally discovered information that linked myofascial pain and trigger points to hypometabolism, especially due to inadequate thyroid hormone regulation.

The standard tests used today to diagnose inadequate thyroid hormone regulation due to hypothyroidism are the free T3, free T4 and TSH. There’s also a test called TRH (thyroid releasing hormone) stimulation test. Using these tests, Dr. Lowe was able to determine that many of those patients could be diagnosed with central hypothyroidism.

“They didn’t have a thyroid gland problem per se where the thyroid gland wasn’t producing a thyroid hormone, but they had either a problem with the hypothalamus or with the pituitary,” he explains.

Some of the clinical symptoms presented by these patients were primarily pain, such as headaches and cervical- or back pain. One such patient became pain-free once she started taking thyroid hormone. That’s what got Dr. Lowe started on the path of treating thyroid disease.

Signs and Symptoms of Thyroid Disease

So, if the conventional lab tests are unreliable, what are the signs and symptoms to look for?  As stated earlier, there are some 60 different symptoms (including many that correspond to symptoms of fibromyalgia) that are indicative of thyroid disease-although, remarkably, you won’t find these in the newer endocrinology books.

Dr. Lowe’s web site, www.DrLowe.com, contains a full list of all the signs and symptoms. Here are a few of the most common:

• Fatigue-If you don’t have enough dopamine or have too few dopamine receptors due to inadequate thyroid hormone regulation, you end up with extreme fatigue, which is also a common complaint in fibromyalgia patients
• Hair loss
  
• Weight gain–Thyroid hormone controls gene transcription for lipolytic enzymes, which lower cholesterol and break down triglycerides and fatty tissues. If you have enough of these enzymes, they will reduce fat tissues in your body even if you do not diet and exercise
• Dry skin, hair, eyes and other mucous membranes
  
• Excess muscle tension and trigger points-For muscles to completely relax, filaments must lengthen and separate, which requires energy (ATP molecules). Low thyroid hormone reduces ATP
• Delayed deep tendon reflexes (slow relaxation phase of the Achilles reflex)-Thyroid hormone controls gene transcription for calcium ATPase. When you hit the Achilles tendon and your foot goes down rapidly and then raises back slowly, it’s a sign of hypothyroidism or thyroid hormone resistance. This is due to lack of ATP molecules to provide the energy for the contractual filaments to separate and relax, hence you get a visibly slow relaxation phase of the Achilles reflex.Here again is a classic thyroid indication that does not correlate with high TSH values. Unfortunately, this test (which used to be an established gold standard in thyroid testing) is no longer used because endocrinologists assume high TSH values must be present for hypothyroidism, which is not the case-but lab testing, like drugs, is big business, brining in billions of dollars

Thyroid Disease and Fibromyalgia, and the Treatments that Work for Both

Interestingly, inadequate thyroid hormone regulation may be one of the primary underlying factors in many patients with fibromyalgia.

Dr. Lowe explains:

“I had prior training as a research psychologist and was able to pull forth that training and enlist physicians on the research team. It was a loose net research team until it eventually became a non-profit organization called the Fibromyalgia Research Foundation.

Seven or eight years ago, I gave a presentation at the Fibromyalgia Coalition International based in Kansas City… I got there late and heard none of the other presentations.

When I gave my presentation, people began saying, “Dr. Lowe, you’ve used the word “integrative metabolic therapies” for getting patients free from chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. It just so happens, every single one of the — at that point, considered alternative doctors — have said exactly the same things.”

Through their personal, clinical experiences they had come to the same conclusions we had. If they used metabolic integrative therapies, nutritional deficiencies, anti-inflammatory diet, exercise, getting off medications that impede metabolism, and possibly treating cortisol deficiency, possibly balancing sex hormones, and treating the patients with effective thyroid hormone therapy… They got the patients well.

I said the same thing they had said, but my experience was based on rigorous scientific testing. Their experience was based on intuition and the wisdom that comes from listening to patients and working with them.”

This is yet another potent testimony to the truthfulness of the theory that health is based on a few fundamental principles, and although you will typically address specific aspects of a disease, the bulk of the therapy is the same for ALL diseases:

• Eating a nutritious diet (a low-sugar, low-grain, mainly raw organic diet is optimally nutritious and anti-inflammatory)
• Exercising
• Normalizing hormones
• Avoiding medications (virtually all medications create further imbalances, hence the side effects and deterioration of health)

Creating health really isn’t rocket science. It’s just “returning to basics,” and although it may not be easy, it’s rather simple.

Logic and Deductive Reasoning in Medicine-A Novel Idea

Dr. Lowe’s research team came to the conclusion that the thyroid was involved with fibromyalgia through the use of a method called “deductively formulated theory,” which he calls the “ultimate logic of problem solving.” Unfortunately, this method is virtually never used in medicine, and it’s a rare scientist who truly understands it.

Dr. Lowe explains it as follows:

“[Y]ou take competitive theories or hypotheses about what causes something, then use the methods of mathematical physicists to show which hypothesis tops them all out.

Well, there simply is no competitor to inadequate thyroid hormone regulation that accounts for about 43 of the 46 subjectively verified findings in fibromyalgia — reduced brain blood flow, inhibitory alpha-2 adrenergic receptors, platelets that cause constriction of arterials and cold fingers… The list goes on.

If anybody looks at the method of deductively formulated theory and compare the inane serotonin deficiency hypothesis, which has been thoroughly refuted, there are no competitive theories.

… Hippocrates wrote about people with these symptoms and said, if these people will get a reasonable amount of physical activity, stop eating the trash the aristocrats eat and start eating vegetables and fruits, they’ll recover. Nothing has really changed there.

What we learned about fibromyalgia patients is that one set of symptoms: chronic aching and pain that lasts for three months or longer, and abnormal tenderness with associated symptoms (there are 12 of them), are all classic hypothyroid symptoms. It’s just another of what we call a clinical phenotype…

[M]ost [fibromyalgia] patients are either hypothyroid or thyroid hormone resistant.”

Thyroid Hormone-The Missing Ingredient in Fibromyalgia Treatment

Dr. Lowe’s extensive experience with treating patients with both thyroid disease and fibromyalgia has led him to come to some startling conclusions. One, that thyroid dysfunction is a component of fibromyalgia, and second, that the conventional thyroid test is typically useless in making a diagnosis.

Instead, he recommends simply treating fibromyalgia with thyroid hormone until the symptoms improve.

“We give patients monitoring forms. One of those forms is the 20 most common symptoms of thyroid hormone over-stimulation,” he explains.

… [P]atients record their basal body temperature and their basal pulse rate. The pulse rate in most of these patients is too low for their levels of cardiovascular conditioning. It’s under-regulation of the thyroid. Some of them are bradycardic (less than 50-60 beats per minute).

If weight is an issue, they measure their weight after getting out of bed before consuming any liquid or solid, along with temperature and pulse rate. We have a lot of symptom severity scales where they estimate the intensity of their symptoms. They fill out this form at least three times a week.

Then, it’s easy for us to chart the data on line graphs. We can see, as the dosage increases, are the data points moving in the right direction? Is the temperature rising properly? Is the pulse rate coming up so that it’s more appropriate to that person’s level of cardiovascular conditioning?”

A one-line summary of Dr. Lowe’s research would be that thyroid hormone is the missing ingredient in the treatment of fibromyalgia that is nearly universally overlooked.

*********

Robert: This news that you posted is so sickening. But you’re right on. The racism and greed is getting the best of them, now not just at the expense of the American people, but at the expense of their own children. If one can will let racism and greed rule over their own, there is no holding back on what they will do to others.

Emily: It does take time, but the connection to my readers is just as important to me, and warrants the time needed too. :)

Anonymous #4: Hey S.  ”T” is a firecracker, which is what I loved about her. We had some fun and that part I really miss. I HOPE all is well with you.

Zen Lill: Thanks for your opinion. Interested in that book that Anonz suggested to read – what was the title? Anyway, I have a solid booked week, which I am very pleased about, so chitchatting will be challenging. If I get a free moment to breathe in between appointments, I’ll give you a try. HOPEfully we’ll connect.

Ruth: I just wanted to say hello and send big hugs and kisses to you and yours.

Lea: Love your new title. Please do tell when you discover something. Hafa Adai.

Readers: I’m checking out – how about you check in and blog me something interesting? Looking forward to your writes.

Peace out….

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2011

“ Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox“

Good morning!

So….wha’ats up?

It’s Friday and there is lots to flap your lips about. Obviously flappin’ has been happenin’ here, and I am still catchin’ up. I can tell you what’s been on my mind…one thing: Wisconsin. Even in light of Walker’s prank, it didn’t prevent him from getting this far. But did we think that it would? Did we think that protesting would stop him from achieving his agenda? The Wisconsin assembly passed the bill this morning.

Too bad. But do I feel bad?

As much as I supported the protesters in standing up for their rights, because I think society as a whole, we are complacent and lazy, the people of Wisconsin made their decision when the voters voted in a conservative Republican Governor Walker to win, in this past election. Whatever their reason was.

So in answer to my question: Yes and no. I feel bad for those that got their butts to the polls last November, and voted Democrat, and lost. But only a little. And I’ll explain why later. But to those who were lazy and stayed home…to those that didn’t exercise their rights, and even those who did but decided to vote Republican (Why – when you knew this was their agenda!)…No, I don’t feel bad for you.

Why would you vote for someone knowing their agenda…knowing that this was his plan?

You will now have to lie in the bed you made. Unfortunately those who voted Democratic will have no choice but to lie in it also. It’s not fair but that is how it works.

We are all responsible for the ways things turn out even if we voted for what we wanted and didn’t get what we wanted. We can’t just go to the poll,  vote, and call it a day anymore. When our livelihood is on the line and we know a certain party is fighting to take away our rights, casting your vote at the polls is the last thing one does. The first thing one does is to go out for weeks and months prior, informing and inspiring, and partaking in ways that encourages others to cast their vote with you…to do the right thing for all.

Like Robert, when it comes to racism:

It is not the ones that propose that sick s**t. It is the atmosphere that allows them to feel that there will be no repercussion form the rest of the white race for doing so.

So I say,  and I will borrow Robert’s words: It isn’t enough to say, “I’m not a racist” white boy. And then look the other way when his fellow bigot buddy is ranting and spewing racial hatreds.

And it is not enough to just go to the polls and vote Democrat, knowing that some of your neighbors and friends are voting Republican. One must stop standing on the sidelines, and partake in life…get involved. Fight for what you want – don’t just check-mark a box and go on with your day.

And now with Obama as our president one has to get involved even more so because we’re dealing with “racism”. The Republicans want to make sure that Obama not only doesn’t succeed, but looks bad all along the way, so that they can attain their main goal, which is to take over the White House and ensure they have long flowing Republican coattails. And let me remind you, at whatever expense of the American people. Racism is strong.

And in my opinion there is some racism added into the mix when it comes to Wisconsin. Did some of the Republican voters vote in a conservative Republican because they wanted to see Obama and his administration fail, and for their party to be charge? Walker became the first Republican governor in Wisconsin since Scott McCallum in 2002. So there was a Democratic Governor all throughout the Bush years, and now when a Black man is our president, the voters vote Republican.  Hmm…

Another thing to ponder: Do you think that whites would be protesting so much if this bill was only affecting OTWs? Somehow I think not.

Harry made the comment in reference to Cox, but I think it pertains to here as well:

This is what OTWs complain about that we whites don’t do that when the negative attack is made upon them. Here we did it because [sic]I’m afraid) it involved stuff that could hurt white people as well as OTWs.

As Harry pointed out, whites responded this way because hey, guess what? This change is going to affect white people too. Would we ever for a moment think that white people would be protesting over union rights,  if the rights were only going to affect OTWs? We all know the answer is “no”.

But my question is: Knowing Walker is a Republican, and knowing his agenda, people of Wisconsin: Why did you vote for him?

Whether the people of Wisconsin were just lazy and didn’t show up at the polls, or stupid because they were aware of Walker’s agenda and voted him in anyway to support the Republican party, or they are racists, who would to do anything to ensure that Obama failed, I’m sorry to say, they’re getting what they deserve. Or maybe I should say what they voted for. Sometimes we have to learn the hard way.

And it will not be the last time we see the Republicans trying to carry out their agenda. But hey, you guys (Republicans) voted them in and we (Democrats) didn’t do enough to stop them, so we all get to experience the results.

People need to not only be responsible for their decisions whatever they are, but in my opinion, we need to start caring about each other, support each other, and most importantly dump this racist BS. We are all Americans.

But yes, a few bad eggs can ruin everything for everybody.

……….

Readers: I am feeling a tad frustrated. It is getting late and I have been having a helluva time trying to articulate what is on my mind and to do it responsibly so that my words are chosen correctly to convey exactly what I am trying to say. I am done editing.  So I HOPE that I have made some sense.

Blog me your thoughts.

Fran: Thanks for your sweet card. It was such a pleasure to meet and work with such a cool woman. And I am so delighted that you like my blog. I HOPE you’ll continue reading.

Janet: Yeah, so make sure it is not in your toothpaste either.

Emily: Thank you :) I really enjoy all of my readers, but yes, when some readers chime in all of the time, and build a presence here, I get hooked on them, and I start to miss them when they’re not around. Liked the Dress-up?

Speaking of regulars that haven’t chimed in…Helena? Mike? It’s been awhile. Are you still out there reading? Miss seeing your comments here. Even Peter - where’ve you been? – wha’ats up?

Anonymous #12 2/24: Thanks for posting the info about wi-fi. I rarely take my computer out of my house – I prefer to blog in bed. I am not one of those who could study at the beach when I was younger,  nor can I blog at Starbucks or any other place. I love my quiet warm sanctuary at home. And forget banking on-line – no way. Never do it where ever I am, and never will. I’m a tactile girl – love the power of the hand. I pay for things the old fashioned way: one check at a time.

Al: Hi. Rachel is my fave too. Is it okay to call her by her first name? I mean, I had a dream about her the other night –  we were in love and planning on getting married. Funny huh? On another note, I too am so sorry to hear about your brother-in-law. I’m sure you’re giving your sis lots of love and support. I wish her well.

Doug: What a sweet reminder. :)

Zen Lill: Yes, sorry we didn’t connect. I had to shop some stores in SF and decided to do that yesterday. Today I am busy, but let’s try again. If I find that recipe (I thought I had it, but it was a different one) I’ll either post it here or e-mail it to you.

Anna of Guam: That is the question…”When will I come to Guam?” Answer: “I really don’t know but I do know I would love to visit.” Hafa Adai.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2011

“ Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox“

Good morning!

I was curious yesterday how my blog has changed from a few years ago to today. Strictly speaking I was only curious about my writing. Not my writing style but the actual length and content of my writing.  My big question was this: “Was I personally writing more back then?” I was nervous that I wasn’t giving enough of myself to this blog as I used to.

I thought that I was writing a lot more years ago, but when I went back and looked, what I found I didn’t expect. Yes, I did personally write more but most of my writing was blog comments to my readers, with very little writing in the form of “topic content”. (And I rarely re-posted articles) Only a few paragraphs there. That surprised me. I had envisioned that I was writing long, flowing, content full writes. Nope, I wasn’t.

No wonder I have felt that writing my blog takes me so much more time than it used to. It actually does. I am actually spending more time reading and doing research than I used to, and I am writing a lot more.

But wait a minute, let me correct myself. What I should really say is that the daily write is longer because I am not only doing my monologue (most of the time. {Or is it sometimes now?} ), but there is more content to copy and paste, and more readers to respond to, than let’s say 3 years ago, or even 2.

My writing also changed when I turned into a political animal during the 2008 elections. I became involved in the election, and turned into a major news junkie who just couldn’t get enough. And because I began to include more writes from other authors, I of course had to link back and give credit.

And I began to write more about the happenings in the world and less about the happenings in my life. And that itself is more difficult, in more ways than I need to say. Let’s just say that it takes more focus and brain power.

And even now, logistically I do more. It takes quite some time to link all of my comments in response, back to your original comments. I like doing this though because it helps my readers be able to stay easily connected with whatever is said between me and my readers. The reality is I am giving more…a different kind of more, than I used to.

It may look like it is easy to pull it all together and post every morning but I can tell you it isn’t. Some days are easier than others and some days the format just wants to do it’s own thing, and I’m constantly adjusting. It can be a bitch, especially when I am on a time constraint. But I deal as best as I can. But hey, the bottom line is, I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t love it.

So why am I telling you all of this? I really have no idea. I guess I just found it interesting to go back, way back, and read. And I wanted to share with you what I discovered. And then well…my fingers just kept tapping every other thought that came after, so I HOPE you don’t mind.

So now you have it; the backside of a blog view in a nutshell :) I’m done.

so what about today’s topic?

I’m going to be brief and just blog a few sentences on “kindness”.

I am still so impressed with the Wisconsin protestors for sticking with their beliefs by fighting for their rights. And evidently so is the pizza man. Ian’s Pizza in Madison, got bombarded the other day with over 40 phone calls from supporters who wanted to buy pizza for the protestors who were demonstrating a block away at Wisconsin Capital.

I am guessing the Owner Ian Gurfield, was inspired by the local and country wide hospitality that he decided to join in on the fun and support the protestors himself, by giving out free pizza to those walking into his pizza parlor.  Gurfield gave out the next 600 slices free to the protestors who packed his parlor.

Kudos to the supporters and Gurfield for their kindness and generosity!

…….

Josie: Thanks for posting the article. The other day Shawn posted about the poisonous vaccines that have been given to humans. So of course our four-legged furry friends would not be treated any better. The Rabies vaccine is the only one that we give Lucy every three years. And I’m hesitant to do that but like for cats it is the law. Do you have anything that you can post about vaccines for dogs? I would appreciate it! Thanks.

Emily: This one was cute. How are you? You have been posting these little funnies for me and my readers for quite some time now but I have no idea who you are as a person.

Tiffany: I think your “feeling” is correct. My gut was more like me in my haste yesterday morning. What can I say..this girl is not always right on. :)

Readers: What’s on your mind today? Care to share? Blog me.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2011

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Good morning!

I find it interesting that people, including my mother, view me as a “strong woman”. Although I think when my mother says that I am a “strong woman” she pretty much thinks this: “Michelle is strong. She is a woman who is in control of her life and knows what she wants.”

Well….that is one definition and definitely can be part of it, but it is not the totality of what being a “strong woman” is all about. It is so much more.

I perused the net looking for the definition of a “strong Woman”, and found several. But they never quite said enough…they never quite lived up to what I thought a definition of a “strong woman” should be. Until I found this:

how to be a strong woman

Being a strong woman is not about physical strength, rather mental strength. In today’s society, the weak are prayed upon and often targeted for emotional abuse in different ways. While life is full of crisis that will eat up and prey on the weak, it is important to find your inner warrior. When you become a strong woman from the inside out, it gives you a fighting chance to survive any crisis that may come your way.

Instructions:                                                                                                      Difficulty: Challenging

• Believe In Who You Are -Believe what you have learned throughout your life, and have found to be true. As long as the foundation in strong, then those shall not be able to tear it down easily. Never allow others to tell you who you are, believe in yourself and who are you as a person.

• Know You’re A Beautiful Person -No matter what anyone else thinks or says, know that you are beautiful. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and what is beautiful to one may not be so to others. As long as you know you are a good person from the inside out, then that is what truly matters.

• Stay True To Yourself -You should always stay true to what you believe and to who you are as a person. You are who you have to look at every morning and night, so make sure it is a reflection you want looking back at you. If you can honestly look at yourself and be proud of it, never allow anyone to make you feel bad for it.

• Become One Who Overcomes Obstacles -This one is very important, you do not want to be the victim all the time, so rise above the obstacles in your way. Become someone who can see the good in your battle over anything. Whatever comes your way be sure you can see your way out of the situation and make yourself better because of it.

• Be Brave -You have to stand guard for what you believe in, no matter who disagrees with it. Some people may see things in a totally different light then yours, and respect them for it, but don’t allow them to pursway you from your beliefs.

• Take Control -Be the one who guide others in the right direction. Never allow yourself to fall behind the cracks, be the voice others listen to. Make sure you stand up straight for what you believe in and can back it up with the knowledge needed.

• Don’t Let Anyone Define Who You Are -You should never allow anyone to define who you are as a person. When you allow someone to define you as a person, then it leaves you at their mercy. You must be able to stand as strong woman on your own and never rely on others to tell you what a great person you are. As long as you feel it from the inside it will show on the outside.

************

So…do I view myself as a “strong woman”? At times I feel I am some of these and more, but certainly not all, all of the time. At times I am a babbling baby. But can’t that be a part of it too? “Strong women” cry too. And when they pull themselves out of it, at least for me, I feel that all of the toxic thoughts, and feel-sorry-for-me feelings get washed away, and I am left with clear (albeit red:) eyes and a pristine positive perspective.

I actually sometimes feel like I was born again. And I attach that feeling not to any sort of religious experience at all. It is just a feeling of “Ahh…I feel cleansed and clear. I made it through; I can deal with this.”  And I literally feel stronger. If you ask me, crying is a great release that is underrated. I partake in it quite often. :)

“A strong woman is one who feels deeply and loves fiercely. Her tears flow abundantly as her laughter.”

Readers: So…what do you think? Do you agree? Do you have any additions? Love the instructions – pretty clear on how to get there. And yes, and the level of difficulty definitely can be challenging. But we women are strong.

We have to be strong.

“A strong woman is in essence a gift to all the world”

I’ll end my write with this poem that I found that I liked too:

woman of strength

Blog me.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2011

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Thank you all for the Valentine wishes – I HOPE that everyone enjoyed themselves!

Nawzad, Lashkar Gah, Shulgareh, Kushka, Mazar-E-Shaif, Chaghcharan: My concern is always for women and especially women when it concerns their rights, or should I say lack of rights. And I am being gentle here. Perhaps I should be blunt and say that I am especially concerned for women who are treated with less respect than animals, less rights than animals, women who are abused, raped and murdered, simply because they are women.

I perused the net reading the latest articles about Egypt hopeing that I would read something that broached the subject of women and their future now that Mubarak has resigned as president. Nothing was mentioned. It’s all about the men, their quest, their needs.

It wasn’t until I googled “How will Egypt’s revolution affect women?”, that I found anything. And even then, it was slim pickings. It seems there is much talk about everything else, and very little on how women will fare in this country’s fight for democracy. Just whose fight is it?

Will It Get Worse for Women in Egypt After the Protests?

“I’d rather have Mubarak than an Islamic government,” a woman in the street wearing a full black niqab told NOS, a Dutch news service yesterday. Seeing the fear in her eyes makes it hard for me to feel excited for the revolution. Though there has been footage of women in the streets, looking through most recent photos from Cairo, I see an ocean of men. (Read more on women in the Egyptian protests in Slate.) Women appear to be almost completely absent from any wide-angle shot you see of the protests at this point, and those I do see are often in Western clothes, speaking to the cameras with American and English accents. They are not representative of the majority of Egypt’s women, who are working class and in hijab.

Though Mubarak has been in power for too long, and violated the human rights of his people, for the average Egyptian woman, there is the potential for things to get far worse. The position of women in Egypt has already declined in the past two decades.

You could blame it on the stagnant economy, which could of course be blamed on Mubarak’s bad policies. On even a normal day, thousands of men loiter in the streets of downtown Cairo. Young and unemployed, most have never had a normal sexual partner. This kind of young, male frustration manifests itself in religious devotion, aggressive sexual harassment, or both. The Egyptian streets have become increasingly conservative, and women, in turn, have covered up.

Look at photos from 20 years ago and you’ll see women in skirts that show their calves, their hair and make-up done. These days, the women’s car (I dare you to ride in the men’s section during rush hour) on the Cairo subway smells from the sweat trapped by layers of black polyester. Subway reading material of choice is the Koran, held open and aloft by black-gloved hands, read through eye-obscuring lenses. And 85 percent of Egyptian women have had their clitorises removed, a practice that Suzanne Mubarak campaigned to end, citing its African, rather than Islamic origins.

Once Mubarak is gone, the climate of the country will still be frustrated and devout. The real will of the common Egyptian could be dangerous to women. A recent public opinion survey in Egypt showed that 80 percent of men think it is OK for a husband to beat his wife for speaking to another man, one-third of men and women believe that it is OK to resort to violence if a woman refuses sex. Acid attacks and honor killings are already far too commonplace, but they have been condemned by the current administration. A new government could turn a blind eye to domestic abuse or even worse. The new government will have to actively engage women in the political process in the increasingly hard-line country to keep their oppression from seeming democratically sanctioned. Revolutions have begun like this in other countries—Iranian women certainly thought they were getting something far different for themselves when they took to the streets to depose the corrupt Shah—only to leave women suffering and invisible behind metaphorical and literal curtains when the dust settled.

Jessica Olien is a Washington D.C. based writer.

Kushka and June: I can only imagine what happened to Lara Logan was devastating. And yet I know this is something that Muslim women deal with everyday. Thank you to the women who helped her. I too wish for a quick recovery for Lara Logan. Perhaps although her experience was incredibly horrific, she will pull out of it stronger, and something good will come from it in some manner. I wish her well.

In similar vein, I read this:

Still, in what is coming across to many as offensive, or even a sick joke, a journalist named Nir Rosen called Logan a “war monger” who would probably become a “martyr” for having been attacked.

Rosen, 33, Tweeted: “Lara Logan had to outdo Anderson [Cooper]. … Yes yes its wrong what happened to her. Of course. I don’t support that. But, it would have been funny if it happened to Anderson too.”

Although some of the comments subsequently were removed from Rosen’s Twitter page, Jeffrey Goldberg, a correspondent for The Atlantic wrote: “Rosen found humor in the fact that Logan was sexually assaulted in Cairo. Apparently, Rosen doesn’t understand much about violence against women; he also doesn’t seem to understand much about Twitter.”

Of course it is a man who finds humor in the brutal abuse of women. Sickening.

Readers: Not only are Egyptian men guilty of the above abuse, but Egypt also has a sexual harassment problem. In a 2008 study, 86 percent of women said they had been harassed on Egypt’s streets—any woman walking through a crowd of men in Egypt braces to get groped.

Men abuse women.

(Not “All” men. That’s for you men out there who are new to my blog; to my writing, and are maybe feeling a little defensive)

We see it happen. We talk about it, and hear about it, right here on my blog.

American women are not immune from the abuse. Yes, the abuse can be and is very brutal. And yes the abuse can be more subtle, more sly, more covert, than the abuse of Muslim women. But non the less, abuse is abuse in any form, and abuse is here too.

Physical abuse is obvious and hard to miss. The interesting thing is, so many American women don’t realize it, but on a daily basis we are dissed just because we are women, and men think of us not as equals. Things are said and done by men to women, that wouldn’t happen, if a man instead of a woman was in the equation. Even in humor, as I mentioned above, women are the brunt of jokes. We just have to pay attention and notice the nuance, or it will surely, slyly slip past us. And it does slip past many women.

While pondering the plight of women, while feeling once again frustrated and at a loss of what to do, I thought to myself yesterday, ”If men don’t give a shit about women here in our own country…if men don’t support and protect and honor and respect women right here in our own country, why  would they ever give a damn about women half way across the world in Egypt, or Iraq, or Iran or…that they have absolutely no connection to?” You already know what the answer is.

So when we talk about men standing up in support of women….when we talk about men taking a stance and refusing to buy oil in countries such as Iraq, unless they demanded that the men treated their women as equal, we can say almost without doubt, “I’m sorry, but it’s not going to happen. I’ll say it again,  ”If men don’t give a shit about women here in our own country…if men don’t support and protect and honor and respect women in our own country, why  would they ever give a damn about women half way across the world in Egypt, or Iraq, or Iran or…that they have absolutely no connection to?”

So your sentiment Lashkar Gah, “…Thus muslim world women are being oppressed by Western men equally as they are by muslim men”, I’m sad to say,  is right on.

Still in spite of it all, I have not lost HOPE.

Lisa: I am disgusted by how we treat animals, our meat that provides us nourishment (?) in big factory farms. And people eat way too much meat per week. If people just ate less meat per week, and purchased only good quality meat (organic/grassfed) demanding only the best quality, we could put these big farms to rest. But cheap is what people go for.  You are what you eat is something that not enough people take to heart. Thanks for posting.

Doug: This was such a disappointing article to read. I signed that petition and this morning I have been reading even more about the monster Monsanto. Maz is right when he says that we shit on our own range. And we’re eating all of the shit. This won’t be the last of my writes concerning Monsanto. Thanks.

Victor: Thanks for expressing your loving words in recognizing all that your sister and women do. You are a wonderful brother.

Peace out.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2011

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"