I recently got into a somewhat heated discussion with a close friend. It wasn’t meant to be heated – I’d asked a pretty simple question, “Do you think you care more about what happens to an American vs. what happens to, say, a Canadian?” Cue fireworks! Okay, so maybe the question wasn’t so innocuous.

Schadenfreude–nounsatisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else’s misfortune. I once had a boss so mean I woke up in dread each morning, and lay awake every night fearfully, fantasizing about what terrors lay ahead for me the next day. She belittled me, berated me, treated me with contempt–even called me stupid to my face. She…

Today I took the coward’s way out.  Two days ago, I had an appointment with an acupuncturist–someone I hadn’t been to before. I’d been suffering from migraines, and was told the treatment might be a good holistic alternative to some heavy-duty drugs I was afraid to take. (For some other ideas, see Beliefnet’s Holistic Living…

By way of introduction, I’d like to share a little about myself. (I’d promise not to do it again, but I undoubtedly will.) I was raised by a family who assumed I’d always instinctively understand the difference between right and wrong. Though I’m of Jewish descent, we didn’t subscribe to a particular belief system, so…

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