Recession-Depression

How To Get Through The Recession With Less Depression
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eli-davidson/how-to-get-through-the-re_b_128971.html

Recession Depression Quiz

Does your stomach churn when you read the latest news?
Did you have trouble sleeping last night?
Are you obsessively checking your news sources throughout the day?
Are you angrier or more fearful than normal?

* If your answer is yes to any of these questions, you are experiencing the emotional effects of the recession.

Many people have been laid off from their jobs, lost a substantial percentage of their assets and countless families have lost the opportunity to own homes.

Even if you're one of the lucky ones, and your home, job and bank account are intact; you may still be feeling emotional trauma, fear or anxiety. The emotional trauma and paralyzing fear we experience may leave us unable to make wise decisions, block us from seeing things clearly, or hold us back as we try to move forward.

Many people have been laid off from their jobs, lost a substantial percentage of their assets and countless families have lost the opportunity to own homes.

Even if you're one of the lucky ones, and your home, job and bank account are intact; you may still be feeling emotional trauma, fear or anxiety. The emotional trauma and paralyzing fear we experience may leave us unable to make wise decisions, block us from seeing things clearly, or hold us back as we try to move forward.

The threat of recession, and the hardships that usually accompany one, can put us in our own psychological recession, an emotional state in which we feel extremely vulnerable to economic hardship, leading to a grim view of the present, and an even more depressing view of the future. This gloomy mindset causes anxiety, depression, and a sense of being powerless. When we're anxious and depressed, our fear and despair replaces any optimism and faith that we had.

Use these tips to break out of this cycle and survive through the rough times... TO READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eli-davidson/how-to-get-through-the-re_b_128971.html

Funny Money?

Anybody think this mortgage and money business is kinda scary? Banks have loaned money they basically don’t have to people and corporations that are marginally qualified to receive it. Chase buys Bear, Stearns, the third largest US bank, for $240 million dollars—which is a lot of money in our world, but the Bear, Stearns headquarters in Manhattan is valued at a billion dollars. Their stock closed at $30 on Friday and had been as much as $152 per share last year. And the Federal government has guaranteed $30billion to Chase to do the deal. On the weekend. It was so bad it couldn’t wait until Monday? What the hell does that mean?

Whether we own stocks directly for investments, IRA’s or 401K’s, or work for publicly traded companies, or have pension funds that invest in stocks, this has got to seem pretty freaky. The dollar is falling like lead against other currency. Oil is trading at $105 a gallon. So, are you freaked out? Is it time to start hiding money in the mattress?

Mother Monday Part 6: MU-DEAREST

We spent this past weekend in Chicago at the National Book Club Conference, presented by Black Issues Book Review. Not only did we get to hang out with readers from around the country, we also got to spend time with fellow authors—Kimberla Lawson Roby, ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Mary Morrison, Terrie Williams, Eisa Nefertari Ulen and Tina McElroy Ansa. You all think we author types hang together all the time, but most of us live in different cities and see each other only at book events—and that’s usually in passing because our schedules are always different. This weekend we had some quality socializing time which was definitely a bonus! (We’ll post new pictures and more about the weekend on Thursday’s blog.)

All of the authors talked about their new books—either just out or coming in the next few months. Tina McElroy Ansa, (Baby of the Family, Ugly Ways, The Hand I Fan With, You Know Better) our morning keynote speaker, had special news—she has founded her own publishing company, DownSouth Press. And her first featured book drops in October—Taking After Mudear—a sequel to the bestselling Ugly Ways. If you are familiar with the Lovejoy sisters and their mother, the late Ester Lovejoy, the self titled Mudear (say it right—MUH-dear—not to be confused with Tyler Perry’s Madea—ma-DEA) you are aware that taking after her is the one thing in this life the sisters swore they would never do. (Whether you’re new to the saga or waiting to hear more, check out the first two chapters online at http://www.tinamcelroyansa.com/.)

Thinking about Mudear reminds us that in the few weeks we have been doing Mother Mondays, we have had comments and emails from many of you (we appreciate your feedback) about your relationships with your mothers. Happily, the majority of our respondees have had healthy, positive relationships with mom and have let us know that you don’t mind becoming more like your mothers.

That, however, is not always the case. For instance, last week Virginia was in a drugstore and listened to a mother loudly nag, berate, criticize and embarrass her daughter, who looked to be 14 or so. Her crimes—indecision about a blow dryer and some toothpaste—hardly major offenses. The longer it continued, the further the girl retreated into her own blank-faced fortress of solitude, slinking down the aisles like she just wanted to disappear. Mom’s tirade and general sourness, although aimed squarely at the teenager, also spilled over to the younger brother and sister, and the cashier. Yes, we all have bad days, and kids can try your top, middle and bottom nerves, but from the children’s reactions, or more accurately, lack of reaction, it seemed this display was more the rule than an exception. When Virginia left the store, hoping and praying these children would indeed fall far from the tree, Mom was still screeching at her brood.

We’ve all been in this position, wanting to plead with somebody to lighten up on their kid. More than likely we shake our heads, exchange disturbed looks with those nearby and walk away. But what is the long-term effect of a mother’s routine, casual meanness? How many of us have been crippled from the crib because we have been subject to regular verbal backhands? The mom effect may be the most powerful force in the universe! We must use it carefully.

So for good or otherwise here are 10 more ways you just might be Taking After Mudear!

59) Other people in your family expect you to know where their stuff is--and you do.

60) Other people in your family expect you to know where their stuff is--and you tell them to keep up with their own stuff.

61) You hear a little voice call "Mommy" and you immediately turn around.

62) You hear a little voice call "Grandma" and you immediately turn around.

63) You hear a little voice scream "Ma-aa!" for the seventeenth time and you say, "She changed her name and moved to another city!"

64) A night in makes you as happy as a night out used to.

65) A night out no longer concludes with breakfast.

66) You're happy when your bedtime comes and you can really go to bed.

67) New recipes are fine, but you know that nothing cooks like an old pot.

68) Your bust is keeping company with your waist. Your waist measures what your bust used to, and your butt resembles a relief map of the moon. You can hear your mother say, "sure, you can eat like that now, but it's gonna catch up with you," and you know you've been caught.

YOU CAN BANK ON IT

All of a sudden there are banks opening on every corner, mall, even in the supermarket—Bank of America, NorthFork, PNC, Wachovia, Chase, WAMU, Citi, HSBC. . . (We assume this is happening in your town too.) They’re as bad as Starbucks. First the big banks ate the little banks. We were both at different banks and each of them changed names three times in five years and voila! we’re now at the same bank. Do you know how many checks that is to shred?

So what’s the deal? Is there all of a sudden more money floating around so we need more places to put it? Who actually uses money anyway. There are electronic transfers, ATM transactions, debit cards, direct deposits—bank 24 hours a day, in your PJ’s. So what do we need the buildings for? Are they handing out samples, ‘cause if they are, nobody told us. We’d be happy to take a few crispy tens and twenties on a test run, even the new sepia-toned funny money (can you tell the bills apart without careful examination? We can’t.)

Or is the opposite true—there’s no more money, but we’re supposed to think there is? Does it make us feel comfy-cozy about the economic state of the country when we see banks blooming like dandelions? No recession here! Unemployment is down—no mention of the disappearing middle class or the fact that millions of those with jobs are “working poor” who can’t live or support their families on what they earn. To quote Business Week, as of 2004 twenty eight million people earned less than $18,800 a year, below the federal poverty line for a family of four—but who’s counting (Click here: BW Online May 31, 2004 Working...And Poor And for those who need their cash immediately, there’s always your handy dandy 24 hour check cashing and payday loan emporium—convenience with 300% interest rates.)So it’s all OK! More than OK—it’s swell! Just look at all the banks! Brick and mortar testament to the stability of our economy. AND you can get free checking. Oh, and do you want to take some equity out of your house? You got it—the larger the bill, the harder it is to pay, the easier it is to foreclose, my dear.

And let’s not forget that while we’re breaking out in a rash of banks, we’re also breaking out in a rash of bank robberies. According to a report on NBC Nightly News, (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19996325/) the increase has now reached the equivalent of a bank heist every hour and fifteen minutes. That’s a lot of sticking up. Now way, way back in the 1940’s bank robber Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks. His reply, ’Cause that’s where the money is.”

Are more people more desperate—amateurs with names like the Grandma Bandit, the BandAid Bandit, The Wig Bandit, The Cell Phone Bandit, The Hat Bandit—trying to get through tough times? Are they just your run of the mill crooks? Or are they crazed junkies trying to support a habit—which is what some officials are telling us?

What’s the bottom line then?

Asked why they think there are so many bank robberies, police say one factor may be the increased number of branch banks around the country. According to Maj. Harold Winsett, head of the Criminal Investigations Division of the Hillsborough County, Florida Sheriff’s Office, "Banks are on every corner to be a convenience for the people that deposit their money there. Well, it makes it just as convenient for the bank robber."

Duh.