Why I Am Disappointed In Sadie Robertson, Even Though I Do Not Have An Eating Disorder

Sadie Robertson, one of the "Duck Dynasty" kids, struggled with (based on the way that it sounds) Bulimia, given that even her mother had no idea that she had an eating disorder (and especially those with paternal and maternal eyes can notice significant weight losses). Per "Frequently Asked Questions About Eating Disorders" per Johns Hopkins Medicine:

"Both anorexia nervosa and bulimia are characterized by an overvalued drive for thinness and a disturbance in eating behavior. The main difference between diagnoses is that anorexia nervosa is a syndrome of self-starvation involving significant weight loss of 15 percent or more of ideal body weight, whereas patients with bulimia nervosa are, by definition, at normal weight or above."

 Why I am disappointed in Sadie Robertson, then, is her attitude re "tak[ing] authority over [her thoughts]":

"'The day I prayed for the Lord to enlighten my eyes to see His standard of beauty, is the day my whole life changed," she said. "Do these old thoughts come back from time to time? Absolutely, but it is my job to take authority over them.'"

For many fellow self-identifying Christians of Sadie Robertson with eating disorders and other mental illnessesⁱ, it's not as simple as the "Duck Dynasty" star makes it—and people like her whom use religion falsely give many a "Just pray and it'll mostly go away" idea to consider.

In fact, quite a few Christians and people in other religious groups with eating disorders and other mental illnesses think, "If only it were that easy!" and may even become antithetical toward religion as a result. Faith communities are supposed to be there to help those with eating disorders and other mental illnesses, not have an "Oh, ye of little faith; that's why you have a mental illness!"

Also, not everyone has the resources (e.g., money, groups of social networks, significant social status) that Sadie Robertson has. I even go as far as to add that Sadie Robertson may as well have kept her struggle with her eating disorder private instead of having talked about it in such a thoughtless and cavalier way.

As a Biblical proverb goes¹, "Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; [w]hen he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive." There is only foolishness in using religion to make light of serious problems, especially when the person whom makes light of the problem assumes at some level that she or he is the only one struggling with the problem.

One's making light of her or his her given mental illness (whether it is an eating disorder or another type of mental illness) with a "Pray for it to go away" attitude may even have a deadly affect on others, since "[d]eath and life are in the power of the tongue."

After all, people who feel like "I just don't have enough faith. I can't do this, anyway" may even commit suicide as a result²; and for people with eating disorders, suicide may come in the form of deliberately starving themselves to death. Sadie Robertson needs to remember that every time that she begins to assume that it's as simple as "Pray for it to go away" for everyone with eating disorders.

ⁱ Including myself—and I myself have OCD/Anxiety, Depression, and ADD

¹ I quote the New King James Version, via Bible Gateway, here.

² I don't know whether this was a motive in the suicides of Great-Granddad Czarnecki, Great-Great-Grandma Rusnak's brothers Ferencz "Frank" and Andrȧs "Alexander" Foczko, and 

Great-Great-Grandma Rusnak's father (Istvȧn Foczko; also "Focko"). My family's case was and is different, as we are Anusim and B'nei Anusim whose ancestors became and lived as Anusim due to Anti Semitism in Eastern Europe and the United States, and mental illness set offs and flareups in our family indeed have been affected by the dynamics of being Anusim and B'nei Anusim—including the dynamics of family secrecies.

Excerpt From My Upcoming Book (Language Warning): "The Summary Of the Case For Saving The Old Farmhouse..."

Firstly, how the case to save the late Katherine Ushinsky Gajdos’ house is related to shit that I can’t make up:

1.    With my grandaunt Helen Gaydos Wojnar (z”l)—my paternal grandmother’s oldest sibling—being long deceased, her widower and children had decided to tear down her (and my grandmother’s) paternal grandmother’s old farmhouse down without even considering the historical ramifications of tearing down the farmhouse.

2.    Grandaunt Helen’s (and Grandma’s) sister MaryAnn once again told a classic bubbe meise that—I’m sure that—she still hasn’t told anybody: after all, the historical significance of the farmhouse begins with the fact that Anna née Jaszová was not “Maria Anna Yzchinski” by birth. As I mentioned in a telephone conversation and further explained to my father in a text message—since, as I type (on September 6-7, 2017/Elul 15-16, 5777), he’s visited one of Grandaunt Helen’s sons three times while he’s been down in Florida—I understandably wondered if Grandaunt Helen’s widower and descendants left up the farmhouse, which I’d seen the times that we were up on the former Gaydos farmstead (where the Gaydos-Wojnar cabin is).

3.     Bugs, rotting wood, excursions of wildlife within the farmhouse, apparently-common-across-Pennsylvania houses like that, and other given excuses for tearing down the Gaydos Farmhouse are no excuses at all.

4.    Until I brought up the possibilities of renovation or replica building, nobody even considered leaving up the farmhouse.

I gave my father the short version of the historical significance of the Gaydos Farmhouse:

“Mickey Haslin was Great-Granddad Gaydos' maternal cousin. They had the common grandparent of Anna (Szuszanna?) née Jaszová (Yashová), divorced from Jan Haszlinsky and remarried to Jan Uszinsky (Ushinsky). Her parents were Jan and Eva Polinová Jasz (Yash). She was Jewish as were her parents, and as was Jan Uszinsky.

“That is why Great-Granddad identified as "Russian"—his mom, Mickey Haslin's only parental aunt, was born as Katarina Szuszanna Uszinskyová to Slovakian-Jewish parents of Russian-Jewish descent in Gaboltov, Slovakian-Austrian Hungary. Mickey Haslin seems to have done the same—his father was George Hazlinsky, and not a single one of his kids was a "Mary" (even for the traditional Jewish usage for "Miriam". His kids were named Mercedes, Kathleen, and Michael.

“They used a mix of Ashkenazi and Sephardi naming customs, by the way—quite a few Ashkenazim overall, irrespective of beliefs re Jesus or amounts of Sephardi heritage, seem to have done this. "MaryAnn", BTW, could be used for "Miriam Chanah".) That alone makes the farmhouse significant if you ask me—i.e., the Crypto-Jewish paternal aunt of Mickey Haslin and widow of a Crypto Jew (a son of Jan and Anna Hommová Gajdosz) owned that farmhouse as a widow whom posthumously became the paternal grandmother-in-law to one of the three IRS agents whom would help bring Nixon down.

“Also, BTW, Ashkenazi Crypto Jews and their descendants (Anusim Ashkenazim v'B'nei Anusim Ashkenazim) are probably as numerous as Sephardi ones—even John Kerry would be John Kohn and Madeline Albright was born Madeline Korbelová, e.g.. Cameron Kerry is whom is called a "ba'al teshuvah", meanwhile, whereas John Kerry and Joan Kerry identify as Jewish Catholics; and Madeline Albright is a Jewish Episcopalian.”

In other words, the seven following simple words sum up any tearing down of the farmhouse of Katherine Susan Ushinsky Gaydos: a big mistake of literally-historical proportions!

So, At Least One Elderly Person Died In Her House During Hurricane Harvey's First Days In Houston...

Whatever language you speak:

1. No, people! Check on your neighbors!
2. ¡No, pueblo! ¡Cuidan a tus vecinos!
3. לא, אנשים! ואהבת לרעך כמוך!

As I recall, the woman was 83 years old and couldn't just leave Houston! Thus, everybody in Hurricane Irma's path whom can help others needs to help those whom can't just evacuate from their homes and whom otherwise can't help themselves! 

Generalized(!) Anesthesia, And How Reilly & Camille Are Doing

So, a worried "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" called Banfield this morning after "Mom-Mom" dropped off Reilly and Camille, and just got an update from "Mo. From what "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" heard:

1. Reilly and Camille were under generalized (not local) anesthesia.
2.  The surgery went on for 15 minutes, and occurred at about 10:30 or 11:30 ("Momma" heard at 9:22 that Reilly and Camille had to wait for one to two hours while the vet spayed two com-pup-triots of theirs.).
3. This morning and as of now, both Reilly and Camille were and are fine. They were and are generally well behaved—they only barked when "Mom-Mom left".
4. They're getting a normal heartrate and other normal vital signs back—their heartrate was low while they were under anesthesia(!).

Anesthesia? One Had Better Believe That....

Despite that Reilly's and Camille's previous teeth-cleaning surgery went well, "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" is scared for Reilly and Camille (as is "Auntie Michelle"/"Mimi"). Besides:

1. Reilly and Camille are going to be dropped off at the vet at 7:00-7:30 in the morning.
2. They will not have had treats since 7:30 tonight or their morning "num nums" at 7:00.
3. They already don't understand why they can't have treats for "good peedies".
4. Despite that Reilly is getting localized anesthesia and even did well with generalized anesthesia when she was spayed, Reilly is a 14.5-pound adult puppy whom could be easily adversely affected by anesthesia—and "Momma" as a 5'0"-5'1" human whom weighs about 124 pounds had an awful experience with anesthesia when she had an ITB Pump put into her (though it was mostly caffeine withdrawal that affected her to not hold even water down by the fourth day of recovery—although having to have the oxygen tubes put back in once after she woke up from the anesthesia was enough of a sign that the anesthesia affected her somewhat and made the caffeine withdrawal worse).

Scared-for-Reilly "Momma"? Scared-for-Camille "Auntie Nicole"? You bet, and both "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" and "Auntie Michelle"/"Mimi" ask people to pray on Reilly's and Camille's behalves.        

Happy Labor Day From Reilly And Camille!

As Submitted To "The Atlantic": My Great-Grandfather Czarnecki Was a DREAMer Of His Day

Without Donald Trump flagrantly attempting to end "DACA", many DREAMers could live lives comparable to what my great-grandfather—given his circumstances—lived. With Donald Trump attempting to end "DACA", many DREAMers are figuratively—and in some cases, literally—facing down barrels of guns. In my great-grandfather's case, it was literal—his parents and he became Anusim to survive the pogroms, and this effectively caused my family (including his paternal grandmother, whom returned to Judaism as soon as she could return to Judaism) to disown them.

    Great-Granddad was born a Czerniecki (Chernetski) in Tsuman, Ukraine (then Cumań, Wołyń in the Russian Pale) when his mother went to visit a cousin in Buzhanka in the Zvenyhorodka (Zvenigorodka) vicinity; and the only reason that his mother could travel back and forth between Zvenyhorodka and Lipsk nad Biebrzą (where they lived) is because Lipsk nad Biebrzą was in the Congress Poland part of Suwałki Gubernia. How his maternal grandparents left Stakliškės for Bosse, by the way, I'll never know: all I know is that a Morgovich relative of his maternal grandmother (a Margiewicz) died of tuberculosis on April 4, 1882, and they already had relatives (including ones whom were Anusim) in Suwałki Gubernia when his mother was born on June 26, 1882.

    Speaking of "June 26, 1882", that was one of the very-few pieces of information that checked out on his father's naturalization applications—and he gave quite a bit of false information on them and other records, including . Finding the record for that Morgovich cousin (Shmuil Morgovich, z"l) and other records (and by having to use methods such as to reconciling any contradictory information on the various records) was what helped me figure out what information did check out and what information didn't check out. As for the information that didn't check out, Great-Granddad would've been deported back to Lipsk with his parents because of it had it been found out to be information that didn't check out—and Great-Great-Granddad knew fully well what he was doing in the instances when he lied—and despite being a Jewish farmer-turned-Crypto-Jewish-coal miner whom didn't have much of what we'd call schooling, he was smart enough to know that lying on official records and lying to compilers of official records (e.g., enumerators of Census records) was (and is) a felony that could (and can) get even a naturalized citizen considered to be a deportable illegal immigrant (and he had already tried to enter the country as "Julian Laczinsky" whom was headed to New Jersey. He was lucky that he as "Julian Zernetzky" whom was headed to Sugar Notch was not caught as being an illegal immigrant).

    What helped save my great-grandfather (and subsequently his descendants) is that my great-grandmother was born here (technically as what one would call an "anchor baby", since her parents weren't fully honest on their records, either). Had he not married my great-grandmother, he would've been deported even if his father (whom died in 1922) was posthumously caught (and if his mother, whom wasn't always honest on her records, either, was even posthumously caught); and he married Great-Grandma Czarnecki (supposedly) on May 10, 1934 (even though the marriage license was never signed. I'm pretty sure that they probably had a secret Jewish wedding somewhere.), and this was after "United States v. Wong Kim Ark (and she was born to parents whom were Anusim and B'nei Anusim, and each of them had immigrated from Austria Hungary to New Jersey and then Ashley, Pennsylvania, where she was born).

    As a descendant of a DREAMer equivalent and as a Fourth- and Fifth-Generation Pogrom Survivor, then, I'm speaking out for the DREAMers whom face figurative death and may face literal death if Trump fully gets his way—and by the way, both Great-Granddad and Great-Grandma subsequently lost relatives in the German part of the Holocaust (1933-1945) and the Russian part of the Holocaust (1922-1960; and some of the relatives in Russia died at the Augustow Resistance on July 5, 1945 and in the gulags—also by the way, that Stalin had his own "Final Solution" plan is now known, and the gulags did not close until seven years after Stalin's death. 

PS As for after the Holocaust in Europe:

1. One of Great-Grandma's uncles, Ǎǔgǔstinǔs Samuel Mǔnka, died in 1949 as a result of the Holocaust affecting him—by the way, "Munk", "Munka", and variants thereof are exclusively Jewish in Eastern Europe.
2. One of Great-Granddad's relatives died in 1970 as a result of his health being affected by his constantly having to flee the Nazis and the Soviets in Lithuania.

    Thus, my DREAMer and Non-DREAMer [family] (as the saying goes) saw it and [have] seen it before, and we know what "Never again" means for anybody and everybody—including DREAMers, at least quite a few of whom (I'm sure) are Sephardic Anusim and B'nei Anusim whom can trace their ancestry back to Anusim and B'nei Anusim in Colonial Spain and Colonial Portugal, and Ashkenazi Anusim and B'nei Anusim like my family whom aren't Jewish enough in the eyes of the Haredim to be allowed to make aliyah

PS Eric Trump's recent comments about his father's "depression" insult those like my great-grandfather—whom really did have Depression and committed suicide as a result of having Depression—and me, since I inherited the Depression partly from my paternal grandfather, whom was one of the ancestors whom passed it on to my father (and at least one other ancestor from whom we inherit Depression also committed suicide)