THE "DEAD FISH" HANDSHAKE

My Daddy was an Korean War vet who served in the United States Army.  Born in Ireland, he came to this country, became a U.S. citizen, and then did the honorable thing, signing up for the military.  There are a million plus reasons why I admired my Daddy, but his willingness to serve in the Armed Forces is right up at the top of the list.

He taught his children many, many valuable lessons during his life.  I have them stored and cataloged, sans the Dewey decimal system, in my heart and head, so that on any given day, as a crisis arises before me, or I am struggling with some problem, I can scan my brain and, instantaneously,  the answer is there.

Every parent tells their  kids, "Don't run with a pencil, scissors, or sharp objects", "Don't tease your sister", "Don't tell your mom I caved in and bought sugared cereal". All wise craic coming from the Irishman, who was my Daddy.  He died in 1995, and left his family with a wealth of information, little bits of fine, devious and clever anecdotes, hidden treasures of  Irish craic, that to this day, we use in good humor.

The one lesson that Daddy bestowed upon us was the proper way to shake a hand.  "Hold onto to it like you mean it - otherwise it's waste of time, and you've got no character left."

How fitting a statement given last night's revelations regarding the attack on Benghazi that took place on September 11, 2012, where AMERICA lost 4 heroes. We now know that President Obama's current administration failed to act upon calls for more help from the now deceased, Tyrone Woods.(U.S. Navy Seal, Ret.), and  instead, gave orders to stand down.  Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty had a creed that they were living by.  You never leave a man behind.  Never.  Had they obeyed the fishy, smelly, mess of a President's indecisive attitude, there may have been more U.S. citizens slaughtered in our Embassy's attack,  What we do know is that Ambassador Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods did not die in vain.  They are heroes.  What we also know is that the Obama Administration has been covering up the "spontaneous act" of terrorism. To quote the President , "this is not optimal".

Cowards in the White House, that's what Charles Woods has described to the American People in last night's interview with Sean Hannity.  I implore my readers to click on the provided link and hear the words of Mr. Woods as he describes what his son and the 3 others endured in their final moments, and how the Obama Dog and Pony Show responded to the U.S. murders of our Ambassador on U.S. Soil, via our Embassy.  These were acts of terror.  It wasn't, as we are probably now all sick of hearing, a response to some obscure video.  Higher ups in the White House can't even gets their stories straight.

A firm handshake, goes along way in conveying your character. Since it is painfully evident, given Mr. Woods' recount of the "dead fish" handshake he received from Obama, there's a great deal of qualities lacking from Obama in the honesty category.  "There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers." - Proverbs 6:16-19 

As a church going gal,  I have to believe that GOD has some wisdom.  Apparently, by reading the above Proverb, Obama is on his way to a fiery future.  I am not judging the guy; maybe he was dropped on his head as baby.  Maybe he fell into a load of donkey crap as a baby, in Kenya.  I don't know; I wasn't there, and quite frankly, I don't care.

However, there are events occurring right now that we, as FREE AMERICANS, should start to consider.  An ever growing deficit, topping over $16 trillion,  a country on the precipice of socialism, an empty headed moron sitting high on our tax dollars in the White House, a moral compass that is crumbling before our very eyes, and the loss of the firm, heart felt handshake.

Foreign Policy vs. Blood Clots

My "Summer of George" has not exactly been as I would have wished. After successful back surgery (I'm an expert at herniated discs at this point) performed by Dr. Henry Fabian of Steamboat Springs, relief seemed to be just around the corner. And relief did come, as it related to the herniated disc. If ever you want professionalism and expertise, Dr. Fabian is your man.

Then came the wonderful word, DVT.  Well shit!  For the non-medical readers, DVT stands for Deep Vein Thrombosis, aka blood clot.  These pesty little buggers usually settle in for a good time after surgery. They are not the result of the surgeon, but rather surgery itself.  Not everyone will be on the blood clot fan club list.  They find homes within your veins, and there they sit until one day they either lose their guts and go away, or, in my case, break free from their uninvited presence, and make their move into your lungs.  Then they cause PEs.  This is not to be confused with physical education.  Pulmonary Embolisms.  No fun, and often times lethal.

The luck of my family's  Irish-ness was shining upon me, and I had enough sense to realize that the shortness of breath I felt on a Friday evening, in September was not the result of viewing 72 hours straight of news on the shitcan disaster of Libya, but a true medical emergency.  "No way", I thought to myself as I struggled to make sense of my cell phone and the realization that 911 was the call I needed to make.

Having been a EMT since 2001, I knew what was going on.  What I wasn't looking forward to was seeing my friends OR THEM SEEING ME, in my very own medical drama.  Age has a way of creeping in slowly, when the paramedic is a young kid you went to EMT school with.  I was one of the "older" students in my EMT class. So, to see a youngster at my bedside just set the tone for evening.  I thought maybe the fact that I had a scented candle burning next to the Lysol can was going to be my thrill.

The ride of a lifetime in the "big red box" would have been just enough for this old granny, but then my medic realized that the only way to properly affix the 12 leads was to slice open my nightgown.  All dignity and vanity flew right out the window.  And there they were, the "sisters" for this poor young medic to have to look at.  I wonder now if he has recovered?  If seeing the sisters wasn't enough of a thrill, the "secret stealth blood clot pantyhose" would be the topper of the most miserable and humiliating event of my lifetime.

Once at the emergency room, lots of familiar faces, and a CT Scan, the diagnosis was easy.  I was the proud owner of my first and hopefully last PE.  I earned myself months of coumadin, and the latest fashion trend of secret, sexy blood clot pantyhose.  Arrrrgh, a huge grimace is upon my face with the slightest mention of these shockingly white, tight and impossible to get on, medical pantyhose that help alleviate more blood clots.

So, what does my "Summer of George" medical history have to do with Foreign Policy?  Have any of you ever tried to put on blood clot hose?  I know a few tricks of the trade; plastic bags on your feet to help slip the hose on. And of course, after having back surgery, one can only imagine how difficult it is to attempt to bend over to apply the clot hose, hereinafter referred to as "TED hose".   

TED hose are the enemy, just as the ever present Al Qaeda are!  Cut off one pair of  TED hose, and another appears.  If you listen to the POTUS babble, he claims that Al Qaeda are no more, and that he has defeated them with his omnipotence and killer instinct.  Oh poor silly man, Obama!  Al Qadea is like a lizard.  You grab the lizard by his tail, and another tail grows.  Cut the head of Al Qaeda or the Taliban, and this enemy multiplies by 100 more.

The mentality of these vicious cowards is that they will achieve their eternal rewards in the hereafter with dozens of vaginas, oops, I meant to say virgins and martyrdom.  Since not one Taliban bad man has returned from his den of virgins in the next world, I will take the words of Our Lord and know that these bastards are headed on a one way trip to the bowels of hell.  I'm sure Lucifer and his minions are getting their jollies with a full house right about now.

On the eve of  what is to be last Presidential Debate in 2012, Foreign Policy is the topic.  How far have we come as a nation when it boils down to relationships with the evils of this world?  Chavez, Castro, Putin, Al Qadea, North Korea, Syria, Libya, Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood - the evils that proliferate in alarming numbers; are these criminals under control? Oddly enough, our current POTUS seems disinterested in these very, very present and perilous warriors of evil.  Their mission is to seek out the infidels (The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) and murder us and democracy.

I look at the Muslim Terrorists, Extremists or whatever politically correct term they wish to have branded upon them as the nemesis I faced earlier this summer - a nasty blood clot that needs to be sent packing, whether its coumadin or a scud missile.  

"I believe with all my heart that our first priority must be world peace, and that use of force is always and only a last resort, when everything else has failed, and then only with regard to our national security."  President Ronald Reagan, Presidential Debates with President Jimmy Carter.

So, what defines a "last resort" as President Reagan stated on October 28, 1980?  One would think that any number of recent events coming out of the Middle East could easily be defined as a threat to our national security.  Al Qaeda hasn't gone away, or been quelled, even though President Obama claims it has in the last debate.  bin Laden may be dead, courtesy of the UNITED STATES NAVY SEALs, but there are more of these crazy terrorists that will rise up and take bin Laden's place.  Are we to sweep Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods and Sean Smith under the rug?  Do we look the other way at 2996 souls who died on 9/11/01 and the four brave men mentioned above who died on 9/11/12?  Do we discount the thousands of men and women who have fought for our freedoms while under President Obama's reign?

Why do we, America, continue to play poker with opponents who cheat, lie, steal, kill and destroy like Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other factions of terrorists throughout the world?  At what point will Obama decide that a LAST RESORT isn't an Eagles song, or some catch phrase and that this great nation is still in the cross hairs of  evil, and the time for playing cards or golf  is over.  

BIG BIRD vs. LIBYA

Facebook once had a section where one could write "notes", that you could then publish.  It was sort of a cheat sheet so that a "status" would not turn into some sort of manifesto, with no ending in sight.  Apparently, the notes section no longer exists, or I am simply too old to find it.  Thus, I return to my blog site, a week sooner than expected, to blog about BIG BIRD.

When I was younger, my parents banned quite a bit from us when it came to television viewing.  On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say my folks were a well meaning 50!  Of course, there were only three channels to make a selection from.  CBS, ABC, NBC.  Oh and let's not forget PBS.  As time passed, there were more channels, which my mother was convinced were going to corrupt us; becoming delinquents in society.  If watching "Happy Days" could turn a youngster into a gangster, well that might explain the rise of crime in modern day America.  Go Fonzi!

I'd say the constant viewing of the leftist CBS and Walter Cronkite were some sort of brainwashing experiment my Democratic parents were conducting.  Sadly, God love them, the experiment failed, and out of 4 children, all voting adults now, 3 of us saw beyond the tactics and cast our votes to the right side, while my youngest brother has fallen into a hole of no return.  A giant bunny hole, where Obama and Nancy Pelosi sit at a little table, grinning at each other like Cheshire cats.  They're are both despicable.

A recent stint in our local hospital, after a unexplained syncope episode, gave me the opportunity to watch the Presidential Debates.  Okay, so I was stoned out of my gourd on valium, oxycodone and other treats, but I recognize and appreciate a good ass whooping when I see it.  The first showing was somewhat vague as I had nurses and my doctor coming into the room, taking those pesty vital signs, and making sure my cardiac functions were normal.  However, after all the fuss was over, I sat in a state of glory watching Chris Matthews have a mental, head spinning meltdown, and even more entertaining, hearing Al Gore try to explain that high altitude must have melted Obama's brain.  BIG MYSTERY HERE.  I LIVE AT 6,800 FT, STEAMBOAT, COLORADO, AND AS OF YET, MY BRAIN HAS NOT MELTED DUE TO ALTITUDE.  Thank God, FOX News replayed the entire debate at midnight, thus I was able to view it, without interruption.

So, what's with the Big Bird remark?  I like Big Bird.  He's a funny Muppet, although not quite as entertaining as those two curmudgeons who would sit up in the eaves, giving their own satirical take on the Muppet Show.  Jim Henson was an incredibly gifted man, creative, funny and most likely helped raise quite a large number of latch key kids, who sat at home for hours alone.  I just can't find myself having that much malice to go after a deceased icon such as Jim Henson.  Who doesn't love Kermit?

Recent television commercials put forth out of Camp Obama are now replaying the PBS/Big Bird comment made by Mitt Romney, who by the way, handed the POTUS his ass during the debate.  Has anyone ever noticed that Obama can't give a straight answer?  This country is faced with one of the most important elections of modern times.  Our country sits in an ever ticking $16+ trillion debt, the Muslim Brotherhood hates our guts, Libya and Egypt are countries out of control, Sandra Fluke is some sort of modern day Joan of Arc because she feels WE, AMERICA, should pay for her birth control, and that there is some mysterious war on women.  Hmm, I'm a woman, and do not feel even the slightest breath of war against me coming from the Republican Party.  Unless Obama somehow flips his mind, shows us a Muslim side, which we all really know exists within him, I feel pretty content in holding on to my clitoris, and its safety from being hacked off.  (a delightful practice, still commonplace for thousands of Muslim women...).  Why aren't these gals like Sandra Fluke, Eva Longoria, Roseanne Barr, or Nancy Pelosi getting on their soap boxes and trying to make women worldwide aware of this inhumane Muslim ritual?

Back to the PBS/Sesame Street tragedy.  My kids are grown and gone now, but they did learn their ABCs, in part, from the public station.  Of course, things were much more mundane then.  Now things are more subversive. As a mom, I'd like to offer the more adult version of the ABCs since Obama seems to fixated on Big Bird.

A - Well, that's easy.  A is for Ann
B - Barack, Joy Behar,  Biden, Burt, Big Bird, BENGHAZI
C - corruption Chicago style, Chris Matthews, cookie monster
D - Democrat (I like corruption and Democrat together)
E - Egypt, or excuses Obama uses, Ernie
F - Fatwah
G - GOD is GOOD
H - Haiti (millions of dollars sent, but to whom) HAWAII, are we sure he was born there?
I - Islam, Iran (Bless ISRAEL, DEAR GOD)
J - Jihad or worse Valerie Jarrett
K- Killing of American Soldiers, KENYA, Kermit the Frog
L -Lincoln's Bedroom for Rent, Las Vegas...where Obama goes after Benghazi murders
M-Moochelle, Muslim Brotherhood, MSNBC, Miss Piggy
N- never working, always on the golf course, thus no time for Netanyahu
O - JUST VOTE NO FOR "O", OBAMACARE, Oscar the Grouch
P - Pelosi(she should also have a sub category as the CLOWN from "IT")
Q - Qouran (one of many spellings)
R - Regulations
S - SOCIALISM, AMBASSADOR STEVENS
T- Tehran, Taxes
U - Unemployment in the UNITED STATES
V - VOLT cars, veto, The VIEW
W - world power according to Rev. Wright
X - xanax needed to endure Obama speech
Y - Yemen, another Muslim hot spot
Z - ZERO HOPE & CHANGE SINCE 2008.

There is no need to do the 1-10 numbers lesson as each and every number is contained in the $16+ trillion debt.

What Would Columbus Think Of America Today?

Imagine, if you can, 1492.  Wow, it's not as though it was just the other day, or even a 4 hour cruise with Gilligan.  The Santa Maria,  Nina and Pinta, must have been some cruise liners.  Picture it - No running water, buckets for human waste, rough seas, rats, cholera, disease,  and slabs of salted meat that could give Paul Bunyon high cholesterol.  No where during Columbus' journeys, were there fictional LOVE BOATS, complete with a Captain Stubbing, or a cruise director, friendly steward and over eager bartender going by the name of Issac.  Oh, there may have been booze on the journey but I doubt John Jameson would have any part of this.  Maybe Johnny Depp as the crazy, compass challenged Jack and the Black Pearl just  may have been upon the seven seas.  Alas, no one can say.  Disney Corporation has made the Black Pearl almost real.  MGM made sure that Mutiny on the Bounty had the eye candy of Clark Gable to go up against the staunch, sea crazed Capt Bligh, portrayed so perfectly by Charles Laughton.

Sailing the open Atlantic in 1492, towards the New World was not a 3 day journey, and many before Christopher Columbus tried, meeting their final fate like those on the ill fated, virgin journey of the Titanic in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic in the wee hours of 1912. Big clue here as well, Kate Winslett and Leonardo DiCaprio were not on the only journey of the Titanic. 

Nope, Christopher Columbus was the brave one, not to mention the smart one, making his first port of call in the Bahamas.  Geez, right about now, the Bahamas sounds really good.  But you have to hand it to a man who had ships supplied for his expeditions via a Queen, and then is lucky enough to navigate his ships in to the Bahamas.  Hey, maybe Barack Obama was really born there, instead of Kenya, Hawaii or outer space.

So, looking around this country, what would Columbus think?  Better yet, what would the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower think about America in 2012.

Native Americans, the true first people on this land, suffer from severe levels of alcoholism, obesity and often times live in true poverty.  During my drives to my beloved Utah, California and Arizona, I am continuously dismayed at the outer limits where reservations are located.  Usually, they can be found in desolate locations where nothing grows but the dust storms, desperation and plans on how to escape the treatment they have received at the hands of the United States government.  Take a drive through Cayenta, Mexican Hat or Tuba City and place yourself in that scenario, if only for a day.  It's not pretty.

These same people greeted the Pilgrims with curiosity, and thus the fairy tale of Thanksgiving began.  What would Columbus think about that?  His vision was for a new world, and to prove the world to be round.  To embark on such a journey must have taken courage and conviction.  Sadly, those qualities seem lacking in today's society, where people believe that the Government OWES them something.

If you watch the news...preferably FOX NEWS, the most accurate, non biased news outlet on television, you will hear the arguments for and against entitlements.  What's this catch phrase, "entitlement"  really all about?  Republicans are against it, Democrats love it.  Lines are drawn in big bold colors of Red and Blue.  You bloody well never step across enemy lines.  It's like a turkey shoot...with innocent little elephants and donkeys just trying to meek out some sort of existence.

So, the question is - What would Columbus think of all of this?  He's got himself a National Holiday.  Banks, schools, the post office all close in his honor.  What would he think of that?  Since history  shows us as somewhat of an adventurous spirit, I get the feeling that a day off might rub him the wrong way.  We have managed to destroy the once pristine America that Columbus came upon or that the Pilgrims later made peace with.

I believe Columbus would be disappointed.  I know I am.

Menopause, Politics and High School Reunions

Recently I accepted an invitation to my 30th high school reunion.  At first, sudden shock waves ran through my entire body like a bolt of electro shock therapy applied to McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  The shock therapy, for better or worse with regards to the delinquent case of Jack Nicholson's crazy man act, caused more of a stir of entertainment  than any sense of therapy for the wayward character McMurphy.  Of course, it was the lobotomy, in the end of the movie that finally tranquillized McMurphy into a puddle of nothing, before Big Chief gave him a reprieve with the pillow treatment.

At the 20 year reunion, you could notice the difference in fellow cast mates, otherwise disguised as former class mates.  Boys with a head full of hair suddenly had none, or the rail thin gals were suddenly either pregnant, recovering from pregnancies or entering the throws of peri-menopause.  I was one of those poor gals who was constantly battling the last 30 lbs of baby weight, from my 2 children who were in their senior year of high school, and entering college as a freshman.

Here is sit, approaching the 30th reunion, and somehow the intentions of defeating the now permanent fixture of baby weight still hangs around reminding me that I am no longer 17, and my body has betrayed me. Such are the cruel acts of mother nature.  Why be referred to as Mother Nature, when she seems to attack females more than men?  Isn't there such a thing as camaraderie in the estrogen world?  Nope.  Once again, women seem to be their own worst enemies.  I feel like Erma Bombeck and her book about life being a bowl of cherries, but now some how squatting in a bowl of cast off pits.

Nearing 50 seems to turn both men and women into the world of the mid life crisis.  I'm not sure which carries more scars.  The middle east crisis or the middle age one. You become a battle ground for hormones that wage war on your body. A sex drive isn't sure if you are living in a Penthouse Magazine or an out of date Ladies Home Journal.  I suppose I'd take a little of both, just to know I am on an even keel. At least at this age, I've learned that making sex tapes are unwise, unless you are Kim Kardashian or Pamela Anderson & Tommy Lee and strange sounds coming from my husband during his sleep cycles are a normal part of life.  Even more is the fact that a tattoo at 21 no longer appears as it did before estrogen zapped all the collagen out of your body.  Whew, I escaped that one, along with the sex tape.

A reunion gives you the opportunity to cruise backwards to days where daydreaming at the beach was all you needed and that suntanning should have been a sport. Summer vacations never seemed to end, and the return to school, fresh from summer keg parties and the often smoked joint, were seldom admitted to.  I started to realize that those days were some of the best.  Not the smoking joints (yes, I smoked a few in my time, and keg parties were a blast) - but days where you shouldn't have a worry in the world.  The most troubling event might be a geometry exam that you failed to study for.  Truth be told, I never understood that bloody quadrangle crap.

Upon meeting classmates, there are the proverbial meet and greet hugs, and "wow, you look great" and then bellying up to the bar to get the nervous, trying to fit in cocktail to loosen you up.  My drinking days are long gone, but somehow holding a glass in my hand makes the nerves less jumpy.  Gone are the red solo cup days, (please insert Toby Keith here) being replaced by the sophisticated martini to look good, hard liquor on the rocks, to proclaim you are the victor of the bar (my fave was the Jameson, rocks and water on the side) and dainty chards or Zinfandels for the puss who isn't sure of themselves.  No one wishes to admit that they drank a Mickey's Big Mouth or Lowenbrau at the drive ins or at infamous all night ragers, while some one's parents were out of town.

Then come the questions of "what do you do for a living".  Recently, a friend said to me..."wouldn't it be wonderful if someone approached you with questions more along the lines of, what interests you, or what are your passions", rather than questions that are intended to somewhat validate your success in life.  If after 30 years, all you have to say is, I have worked hard, yet never camped overnight in the rain with my kids, or crashed and burned on a ski slope, or took my wife on a second honeymoon, then in my opinion, you really haven't experienced life yet.  Success comes in many forms.  Sometimes it is 5 o'clock somewhere.