Caregiver Syndrome: Reality for many caregivers dealing with Dementia

August 23, 2007 |

“Some days I just wanted to crawl into a closet and scream… ”

“One morning I found I simply could not get out of bed. The simple action of pushing back the sheet was too hard. I had nothing left…”

“My mother’s brain is gone, but her body is like the energizer bunny. Keeps on going and going and going … and I can’t keep up. I’m so tired I am getting sick all the time…”

“Dad keeps sneaking out. How can someone who remembers nothing be so clever … he’s an escape artist…”

For the millions of caregivers tackling the challenge of caring for someone with Dementia, most commonly in the form of Alzheimer’s disease affecting a parent, spouse or sibling, things like exhaustion, stress, declining health (their own), anger, rage, guilt and other emotions and issues are “normal.” It’s what happens when otherwise healthy people are suddenly confronted with the 24/7 reality of care-giving. A kind of care-giving measured not in days, weeks, or months, but years.

As Alzheimer’s reaches near epidemic proportions and is affecting ever increasing millions of people who are living longer (if not always better), and the pool of available caregivers shrinks, the pressures are mounting. And caregivers are crumbling under the weight of their complex responsibilities. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure | 1 Comment »

Sci-Fi weather gets a bit too real

August 23, 2007 |

Massive flooding in north central states and parts of the Midwest. Broiling heat and extreme drought in the South. Category five hurricanes. Earthquakes devastating Peru, Indonesia and points all over the world. People make movies about weather like this.

The problem is, what looks like a series of made for TV sci-fi disaster flicks has become all too real in too many places. And it’s not over yet.

Heavy rain, severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings litter the northern half of the country, while the sun continues to charbroil the southern landscape, cooking crops and drying out lakes and riverbeds.

Triple digit heat returned to middle Tennessee yesterday after a spate of high 90s, and that blistering heat will stick around through Friday, with high approaching 105 in many locations, with even higher heat indexes, the “real feel” weather gauge. It’s a dangerous heat, responsible for at least 49 deaths in the past month.

Wet weather and post-hurricane moisture swept north from the Gulf, over Texas and arcing well north of our own Middle Tennessee landscape, deluging some northern communities with up to ten inches of relentless rain in a matter of days. It overflowed rivers, flooded communities, and eroded shoreline to the point that houses crumbled and washed away. Over a 1000 families have been displaced, and 11 lives lost.The worst flooding in almost a century forced hundreds of people from their homes in the upper Midwest, with more rain and high temperatures expected to add to their misery Thursday. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure, News | No Comments

Roxy to celebrate 25th year with blockbuster season of plays, musicals

August 22, 2007 |

The Roxy Regional Theater in downtown Clarksville celebrates its 25th year as it launches the 2007-08 season with a new production of the rock and roll musical, Grease, the movie-turned Broadway musical, on September 21.

Many of us remember Grease as a movie with John Travolta as the bad boy Danny Zucko and Olivia Newton John as the sweet young Sandy, a classic case of opposites attracting in the hallowed halls of Rydell High, complete with a jazzed up car, the leather jacketed T-birds and the Pink Ladies living on the edge. This rollicking musical which opens Sept. 21 and runs through October 6, featuring such hits as We Go Together, Look at Me I’m Sandra Dee, Summer Nights, Greased Lightnin’, and more.

The season continues with a staging of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oct. 12-27), drawn from the classic novel. Dorian Gray is obsessed with a belief that beauty and youth are at the center of life, and makes a bargain that keep his outward appearance young while his portrait continues to age.

Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (Nov. 9-24) introduces us to Nora, pampered, cared for, sheltered from life, a doll-like plaything to the world and her husband. She puts her life and her honor on the line to save her husband, only to find that he is unwilling to sacrifice anything for her. At this crossroad in her life, Nora is faced with a choice that will affect her very survival. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure, Business | No Comments

Get ready: More 100+ heat on the way

August 21, 2007 |

Excessive heat and extreme drought conditions have forced Fort Campbell to impose water use restrictions on base, and many local residents are wondering just how long it will be before similar restrictions are imposed citywide.

Unrelenting, record-breaking heat has baked Middle Tennessee and most of the South and Midwest since July, with daytime highs in the mid to upper 90s and often 100+. Heat indexes can add another 5-8 degrees to that even as humidity makes the air feel thicker than a hearty soup in winter. And it’s not over yet.

Forecasts indicate that starting Wednesday, the area is in for another three days of 100+ temps, dangerously high heat that to date has cost the lives of at least 49 people across South and Midwestern states. Overnight cool downs to the low 70s do little to abate the warmth, and usually by 10 a.m., the burn is back. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure | No Comments

Passport “pay up” policy a windfall for families owed child support

August 21, 2007 |

Thirty years ago I resigned myself to the fact that court-ordered child support payments were just not going to happen. I worked multiple jobs days, nights, weekends, jobs with plenty of flexibility that allowed me, as a single parent with a chronically ill child, to care for my daughter and make a living for us — at least enough to keep a roof over our heads, put food on the table, keep us warm in the frigid New England winters, and keep up with the ongoing medical bills.

My ex-husband died at 53, having never paid a dime of the tens of thousands he owed in outstanding child support and medical costs assigned to him, the latter arising when he allowed court-ordered health insurance to lapse.

Which is how, in this new era for single parents, I came to cheer the increasingly frequent reports of families getting windfalls in the thousands and thousands of dollars in back child support as deadbeat dads who want to travel now have to cough up cash to get out of the country. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Politics | 1 Comment »

Corporations responsible for over -promoting Gangster Rap

By Terry McMoore | August 19, 2007 |

Rap music is the most popular music in the world, influencing every aspect of American life. Starting out as an instrument of outlet in the poor urban areas of America, rap music has risen to the height of nation and international acclaim. Rap’s influence embodies our everyday lives in the form of TV, sports, education, religion, engineering, the clothing we wear, and is recorded in more than 500 languages around the world.

So why is this form of musical expression suddenly under attack by some of the same people who profit from it?

Let’s take gangster rap, for instance. Some people believe that gangster rappers control the distribution and air play of their music and videos, but that is not true. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Opinion | 1 Comment »

The Leaf Chronicle: Get the facts before discussing Iraq

By Bill Larson | August 19, 2007 |

The Leaf Chronicle has a checkered history, especially when you look their statements in reference to our military misadventures in Iraq. As recently as June, they suggested that those who oppose the war should just shut up. Today they attacked those who are still calling for our troops to be brought home out of harms way.

The Leaf Chronicle statements demonstrate that they are sadly ignorant of the true situation on the ground in Iraq.

President Bush frequently defers questions about the surge by explaining that we must wait for that progress report from Petraeus.

Many Senate Republicans also have said they are waiting on the report before making any decisions regarding withdrawals..

…Such a strategy would make sense. The United States cannot simply pull up and leave Iraq overnight. Anyone who thinks that is hopelessly naive. – The Leaf Chronicle, Don’t reverse Iraq surge too quickly

Embarrassing things like this can happen when you drink the kool-aid served to you by the Bush administration and their lackeys in the corporate media. Lets take this editorial and break it down piece by piece and see what the facts really show. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Opinion, Politics | 4 Comments

Breaking down myths of the Matthew Shepard bill

August 19, 2007 |

The Matthew Shepard bill, also known as H.R. 1592, the “Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007″ and S. 1105, “A Bill to Provide Federal Assistance to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes to prosecute hate crimes, and for other purposes” has been the topic of much debate in among pundits and pastors over the last year.

One of the most die-hard myths surrounding these much-needed bills is the absurd notion that they would jeopardize the free speech and religious expressions of pastors who wish to preach (and often do preach) that homosexuality is sin.

Of all of the hate-crime bills (that include sexual orientation and gender identity language) that has come down the pike in recent years, this is the first that was endorsed by the American Civil Liberties Union. That’s an immediate red flag to many conservatives, but it shouldn’t be. The ACLU endorsed this bill precisely because it would not interfere with guaranteed first amendment rights, specifically free speech and freedom of religion.

A colleague and fellow activist pointed out to me that there was a member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee that the bill could infringe on free speech. When asked about his source, he then provided a link to the transcript of the meeting in question which included that quote. After searching through all 319 pages of the transcript, I came to understand the bill even more. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Politics | 2 Comments

Military wife speaks out against the war

By Debbie Boen | August 18, 2007 |

“My husband doesn’t have the ability to voice his opinion. He’s controlled. I am controlled in that I don’t want to get him in trouble, so I am nervous about what I say to people.” — Leslie

I recently spoke with the woman who made this statement, a military wife, Leslie (her name changed to protect the innocent), at a local restaurant, and asked her what she feels about the ongoing war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I’m very upset about the war,” Leslie said. “The more I read the more I know it was a big screw up from the start. I never supported it when Bush wanted to go. Bush knew what he was going to do and did it and he didn’t care about facts.”

The following is a transcript of my questions (CO) and Leslie’s answers:

CO: Where do you get your facts?

Leslie: “I’m always looking on the internet for what’s going on. And I read a lot of books.”

CO: Do you trust mainstream media?

Leslie: “No, not at all. There’s so much information out there, but the media doesn’t want to look for it, and doesn’t want to tell it.” «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Politics | No Comments

Heat, drought close Farmer’s Market

August 18, 2007 |

“Due to lack of rain and high temperatures, we are going to close this market for the season.”

Several of these hand-printed signs hung from vendor tables at Clarksville Farmer’s Market Saturday morning, a grim testament to the impact the current heat wave and the long-standing regional drought are having on farmers and the availability of fresh local produce.

A handful of vendors stood under the railroad station canopy on Tenth Street, offering a selection of summer squash and zucchini, red and green peppers, okra, red and sweet potatoes, baked good, preserves and homemade pickles, and plenty of fresh peaches and ripe red tomatoes. At 10:30 a.m., it was already about 90 degrees in the parking lot, in the sun.

Paulette Peterson, market organizer, said it is the first time the market has ever had to close this early. “It’s sad. But everything is drying up and dying. There’s not much left to sell.” «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure, Business | 3 Comments

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