Just think! The radical left is now in charge of everything. It’s the ‘lefts’ turn in this game, which I don’t mind so much~it’s the “radical” part that I detest. Of course they wouldn’t be able to get away with much if the rest of the clowns in our government would find the kahunas God gave them and SPEAK UP! A few are barking out here and there, but why isn’t there outright RAGE at these recent decisions regarding our safety, even very existence as a nation?

This government has such a long history of screwing up a good thing like the banking system, now the private sector business world, our postal system, not to mention the US Mint~Does anyone know the actual cost of producing a nickle? Look it up, it won’t make any sense what-so-ever. None of the business moves they’ve made make any real sense to real people.

Emperor B.O. appears to be a figure-head to large group of self serving, bitter, unreasonable ‘Hippies-gone-bad’. Only these Hippies aren’t swaying, singing, handing out flowers. . . Is their ego and attitude of revenge so great that they cannot see the consequences of their recent sweeping changes?

Now, the very ones who think the world has too many people being born every day are in control of treating a possible pandemic. Terrific. I feel safe. . .not.

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

Why, indeed? If it is torture, why would we do it to our best and brightest?After all, that is the heart of the ridiculous question people should be asking. It’s a fact that “Waterboarding” is used in training  some of our own military troops. None of them have died, or (to my knowledge) had a change of heart about their desire to finish the training & move on with their military career in protecting this great nation.

The clear definition of what “Waterboarding” is can be found in this (formerly) “TOP SECRET” 2002  CIA memorandum: “In this procedure, the individual is bound securely to an inclined bench, which is approximately four feet by seven feet. The individual’s feet are generally elevated. A cloth is placed over the forehead and eyes. Water is then applied to the cloth in a controlled manner. As this is done, the cloth is lowered until it covers both the nose and mouth. Once the cloth is saturated and completely covers the mouth and nose, air flow is slightly restricted for 20 to 40 seconds due to the presence of the cloth… During those 20 to 40 seconds, water is continuously applied from a height of twelve to twenty-four inches. After this period, the cloth is lifted, and the individual is allowed to breathe unimpeded for three or four full breaths… The procedure may then be repeated. The water is usually applied from a canteen cup or small watering can with a spout… You have… informed us that it is likely that this procedure would not last more than twenty minutes in any one application”

Even the left-leaning Wikipedia states in their definition: “The technique does not inevitably cause lasting physical damage.”

Now, imagine your son or daughter is being held in an undisclosed location, or is a target of  ’secret’ planned danger unknown to them. Imagine that you, along with a group of sane, intelligent adults have in your custody a couple of individuals who have knowledge about the kidnapping or planned danger, but refuse to give you any information. One of the sane adults in your group is a physician. Some of the other adults are trained in the intelligence technique we hear about called “Waterboarding”, and have even had it done to them in their training.  Time is of the essence in saving the life of your child.

In the scenario described above, would you agree for the trained, sane adults to implement with a Dr. standing by, the procedure known as “Waterboarding” to get information?

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

i take baby maybelline on daily walks in our yard to look at all the lovely flowers, herbs, and veggies that abdul, our gardener, grows for us.  having a gardener in africa is a necessity.  plants here grow faster than weeds and the grass grows a six o’clock shadow by ten a.m., i swear.  anyway, last week i had baby m on our morning garden survey when a massive, hairy, ghastly monster of an african bug targeted my nose and dive bombed it.  before my lungs could attempt a gasping breath my face stole all the air and never let it out, every cell swelling larger than it’s neighbor until i looked more like ted kennedy than ted kennedy does.  i ran inside to bury my head in the icebox like a frightened ostrich and i scoured the house for my bottle of dog benadryl- the only kind we have- which is twice as strong as the human stuff.  this next move didn’t pass my that-don’t-sound-like-a-good-idea test but i downed three full strength dog benadryls while my nose burned with the intensity of a thousand flaming suns.

oblivious little maybelline cooed and deposited her nonstop slobbery spittle on my shoulder while i stared into the mirror, willing my face to reverse its course and slim back down.  after ten minutes of wasted longing, my right eye closed up shop on account of the upper lid fusing with the lower one.  it was disastrous.  thankfully the benadryls kicked in just before the panic did so i wasn’t as mortified as i normally would be if my face blew up like a puffer fish while totally sober.

three double-dose benadryls are like magic mushrooms for nursing babies so after the next feed baby maybelline and i fell into a three day slumber.  one would assume, wrongly, that seventy-two hours of rest and antihistamines would return a grossly inflated face to normal.  instead, the next few days were devoted to fretting over my whale of a nose, my pores stretched to a size that could hide battleships, and a taut itchiness that a rough scrub from a brillo pad couldn’t fix.

only one thing could lessen the shame of such a mess and that’s chick-fil-a but in the absense of high quality american grease and salt, meryl streep runs a close second.  i parked it on the couch on that first day of my sabbatical from the public and watched the devil wears prada.  i felt much better after a ninety minute escape to hollywood’s calculated dialogue and size zero wardrobes.  oh meryl, you always know how to throw a subtle, well timed wink at the camera to keep us believing in the lies of the movies.

six days of hermit-living later my face finally relented and shrunk back to a presentable size.  i know how shallow i was to hide out, avoiding my vain hang-ups about appearances but i’m thankful that i had. i looked awful.  thank goodness that whatever attacked my face had a bark much bigger than it’s bite.  i had nightmares of the flesh eating insects i’d learned about in vet school but the good lord spared me.  all that swelling and disfigurement on the one body part you can’t conceal will anhialate your resolve to be above such things, i guarantee it.

dang this continent and dang it’s dreadful, stinging bugs.  this is all too dramatic, i know, but six days of five pounds of water weight that won’t leave your face will do that do you.

 What is up with American Idol? Do they owe lots of ‘crime family’ debts, and so agree to put on the oldest, nearest death, botox laden artists from days gone by, or ELSE? Are the present contestants supposed to see these dinosaurs and think “OOO, I wanna be like them someday!”??? I know I’m being harsh, and I really don’t mean cruelty but. . . come on! Harry Wayne “KC” Casey (KC and the Sunshine Band) looked like a cross between Wayne Newton and Tony Soprano, Thelma Houston and Freda Payne were good, but I was terrified one of them would need oxygen and a wheelchair before they were done. I’m sorry, but there are very few ‘big stars’ that can pull off what they did in their youth, again in their senior years. Very few. My list would be short: Tony Bennett (he could be on life support, wheeled out on a stage & could still sell out a house), Frank Sinatra, Lena Horn, Tina Turner. But for real, that’s about it. They have/had class enough to pull it off and to know when enough is enough. The others tonight just looked ridiculously like they were DESPERATE to resuscitate their careers, or regain their youth, or channel Elvis, or something.

OKAY, America got this one right. Lil, you had too many chances and blew them! Girl, I know you can sing, but you should have shown us your heart! And Anoopy-doop, I think you like yourself a little too much in the wrong way. Betcha 50 bucks he checks his look in every window reflection he passes.

Okay, I’m grumpy ’cause I’m on pain meds from ankle surgery last week, and thought I’d be bounced back already, and I’m NOT. I don’t like this pain, and I HATE pain medicine, so I’m grumpy. I’ll try to be better next time.

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

You can now listen to Just Talking It Up 32 in the player on the left sidebar of the blog, or on iTunes! For those that are subscribed, it will automatically download next time you open iTunes.

Are We A Christian Nation?

President Obama made it clear to Turkey that the U.S. is NOT a Christian nation. . .but are we? Can firm government and committed Christianity co-exist in the same society? Crash pointedly explains his views on the difference in a “good” president and/or a “Christian” president. Is Obama either of these?

Janet believes that we have evolved to a 3 party system, but that only 2 have representation. Find out the opinionated details in this episode. Thanks for listening, and please send your opinion to feedback@justalkingitup.com!!

Being the ‘fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants’ person that I am, this has been a particularly hard decision. One that has been brewing for more than ten years. One of my best friends for the last 30 years (I can’t BELIEVE it’s been that long) used to do everything in her power ~when my kids were just babies~ to convince me to do what I am about to submerge myself into . . . to no avail. However, I am older now, and seeing the unmitigated success she and her husband have had at it, coupled with the fact that I’m angry at the alternative, I’m forced to ‘cave’. . . My real (with good reason) fear is that we might mold ‘misfits’ rather than ‘blend-able’ kids. It’s easy to do, apparently. Hold onto your seat . . .We’ve, or rather I’ve, decided to . . . home-school. 

Before getting tons of advice from well meaning friends and family, please let me give a broad-stroke ‘thanks, but no thanks’. The REASON , even though I need all the encouragement possible, is I’ve seen kids come out on the other side FOREVER misfits, unable to hold real jobs or be completely independent from their parents. All the while boasting gargantuan IQ’s and ‘early graduations’.  Some have decided to just stay in ‘some form of school’, forever. I am not brave  or rude enough to let you parents know who you are, so I’ll just lump everybody together and say ‘don’t call me, I’ll call you’ for advice . . .

 I don’t get it. While higher learning is noble,  . . . it ain’t all THAT, and while we would be proud of them, we certainly don’t care if our kids get their PHD, or Doctorate or even a plain old diploma. The only thing we really care about at this stage is if they receive a well rounded education and are ACCEPTED to the University of THEIR choice. We don’t even care if they GO, as long as they are accepted. What they choose to do with that opportunity in their lives is up to them, with our gentle direction and very possibly, early financial help.

What drove me to this insanity? Certainly the prodding of my lifelong friend has had an effect. Then there are the success stories that I see every day around me. Thank GOD the success stories far outweigh the weird ones. . . [Just a side note~my best friend has family members that are home-schooled and at family gatherings the homeschooler's never utter a sound or participate in normal family activities, and so unbeknownst to them are referred to as 'The Mutes'. That side note is the perfect example of what we fear most in this whole process.] I suppose what brought us here is in taking a close look at what our society, and the current administration call ‘education’, we’re dumbfounded to say the least. It’s not so much what the public school system teaches our children, but what they DON’T teach. It seems to be changing for the worse by the day, and we just want out. If teachers have no power in the classroom, I’ll be the teacher~~~since I still have the power to snatch up their little narrow behinds for some good old fashioned discipline when they misbehave. I’ll also have the power to help them discover what their real gifts/strengths are within the confines of structured learning.

Plus, they can stay home and help do chores.

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

What are all these “Tea Party’s” people are talking about? Even though it’s nearing April 15th, taxes seem to be way down the list (OK not WAY down but, you know) of priorities in the big picture. I had in my head that these events were mainly about proposed tax changes, but I was dead wrong. It’s about liberty, freedom, and this great Republic we call America. If  the current climate of how things are changing regarding responsibilities, bailouts, handouts, and criminalizing capitalism are not to your liking, listen up!

Admittedly, this is a subject I know little about, but along with you, will try to learn. All the hoopla I’ve heard about these planned events is from the big name talking heads~all the fire starters, so I’m not sure yet if it’s mostly hype, or if there is enough serious interest to be noticed.  In a recent show with Crash, I expressed that this country is no longer a two party system with Republicans/Democrats. Yes, there are Libertarians, Independents etc, but they aren’t large enough to be considered the “Third” party. Please don’t chastise me about the Republican party now folks, they are luke warm on their very best day. This country is so screwy right now, that there are a lot of people (like me) that realize that the real third party, NOT represented by any of the aforementioned are Constitutionalists. That’s the category I fall into, and my party has no real representation . . .yet. However it used to, so it’s possible that some of our current politicians will get the message, but how? How can we let them really see that we’re not just complaining around the water-cooler about what’s happening? How can we be seen and more importantly, HEARD? 

Not being much of an activist, this is somewhat hard for me. I’m not exactly a sign carrying protestor, even on issues I feel strongly about. I only like to be a trouble-maker here at JTIU. . . so I feel your pain . . .as it were. But . . . do we really feel conviction about this? Do we want Washington to know we’re mad as hell and not going to take it anymore? Or, are we going to hide at our offices and work places and sooth ourselves by thinking ‘I’ve got a job that I can’t get away from, enough other people will show up and speak for me.’ ???  Will we be willing to bow to this administration as the clench of socialism squeezes the very life from our free market system? Make no mistake, this frog (see Crash’s post below) is jumping out of the pot while she still can! The groundswell is gaining on us people, let’s ride it, not STOP it! 

Here’s a brief explanation to what this movement is about. This is lifted directly from the main website:

“The Tea Party effort is just a small piece of a much larger movement aimed at restoring the basic free-market principles our country was built on. The Constitution, for the most part, is being ignored by our current government and we intend on working together to correct the problem.

The Tea Party effort is a grassroots, collaborative volunteer organization made up of every day American citizens from across the country. We take pride in the fact that we’ve built a 50 state network of leaders and activists using nothing more than the internet, a few websites and a burning desire to restore freedom.”

Please visit the main_website  to find one in your area. Every state is represented in the upper right section of their front page. Click on your state and find out HOW/WHERE you can be heard. Let’s put our money where our mouth is and actually have so MANY people show up that we get in big trouble! Come on, let’s pretend we’re back in high school with all the passion we had then! If your a waitress, or a CEO, or a ditch digger, LET’S GO!!! . . . otherwise, when we end up standing in long lines to get our ration of wax paper to wipe our bums with, don’t come crying to me . . .

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

Oops! There he goes again! Doing something COMPLETELY uncalled for as a representative of this great nation. Bowing to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is more befitting one of Abdullah’s subordinates, but CERTAINLY not a coequal. Hmmm. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs (aka Peter Griffin) made it clear that the White House has no intention of clearing the record here . . . .Mr. Gibbs, don’t hand me a bag of sand and tell me it’s really  magic dust from the planet Fipple. I’m not as stupid as I look! I’m not one of the zombies that voted for him. . . I saw the bow from several different angles, video and still images. . . and it was a bow. What is the big hairy deal?

Just like President Clinton (another doozy of a D-President), . . .it’s not so much the subject matter, as it is the LIE itself! I would rather he hadn’t bowed like a servant to a Muslim leader, but I don’t think it has big, global consequences. Why can’t the President just release a statement that says something like. ‘I bowed. It may not have been exactly right, but I went by my gut, maybe a mistake. I’m sure I’ll make mistakes, I’m only human, but let’s just move on to other stuff.’ ??? I just don’t get it. Why is the truth so hard for so many public officials?

Dodging the truth at all costs seems the motto of the day. After all, it saved Bill Clinton’s smarmy, lecherous @$&. “It’s not a bow” sounds a lot like, “I did not have sex with that woman” and “It depends on what the definition of IS, is”. . . P-u-u-h-lease!  Again, it’s not the subject matter nearly as much as the lie itself. If he can’t get the little things right, what in heavens name makes people think he can get the big things right?

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

My wife reminded me at dinner that gay marriage is now legal in Iowa!  Iowa!  The heartland of the U. S.! Iowa!  Whooda thunk it?  Friday April 3, 2009 the Iowa Supreme Court ruled  the ban on same sex marriage unconstitutional.  They said it violated equal protection under the law.

How did we get to this point and what’s next?  These are questions worth pondering seriously because our Judeo Christian ethic and the fabric of our society is at stake over these issues.  We get to the point of major change in collective worldview, not in a revolutionary manner in an instant but evolutionary over time.   The oft heard adage of boiling a frog gives a verbal picture of the process.  Put a frog in a pan of boiling water and it will hop out.  Put it in a pan of comfy warm water and turn up the heat and it will acclimate to the increasing temperature and ultimately boil.  Will this work?  I don’t know, but you get the picture.

As if you didn’t know,  I am four square against the acceptance of same sex marriage for many societal, economic, familial and yes spiritual and biblical reasons.  We can debate the right and wrong of the issue at another time.  This discussion is about how we have been pedestrian observers of a cultural change promoted by a significant minority but lethargically allowed by a fearful majority.  Think back to your teen years, regardless of how far that may be.   Would you have believed at that time that states would be voting on whether or not to permit same sex marriages.  It has happened slowly but surely.  Unless reversed, this will continue to confuse the psyche of youth and destroy our society.  It helped in the downfall of the Roman empire.

Michael Vick may be about to get out of jail after serving two years for cruelty to animals.  I have heard the things this gifted athlete did to the dogs he and his henchmen controlled and it defies description.  He should have been put away.  Five years for cruelty to animals and twenty five years for stupidity would have been a just sentence.  But what about abortion?  How does 2-5 years for animal cruelty square with the elevated societal position of a doctor who performs abortions and society’s acceptance of the murder of the unborn and in some cases the just born child.  The same group that fights the “pro death” battle for abortion invariably is a member of the save the whale movement.  How’d we get here?  We accommodated without a fight because of political correctness and personal freedoms.  Consequently,  the steady strident march of abortionists to alter our collective worldview and, therefore, normative law has worked.  The frog has been boiled again.

There are numerous areas where we are being boiled as a nation and as a society today, but let’s focus on two.

First, the rise of socialism, or some would say fascism,  in the government’s conduct of business and the slow but sure sale of our sovereignty is paramount in the frog boiling process today.  We see our government giving away trillions of dollars, taking over private business, passing legislation that gives away our freedoms without reading the content of the legislation and protecting egregious legacy costs in a car industry instead of permitting the bankruptcy process to take its re-organizational course simply to protect an antiquated labor union system.  Socialism is coming more rapidly than most evolutionary changes and it has intensity beyond belief.

Secondly is the pervasive global movement of Islam.  Europe is struggling under what began as a passive aggressive movement of Islam.  The movement has grown to a significantly more aggressive and intrusive challenge to society there.  It has its beginnings in the U.S.  although it is not yet as pervasive here as in Europe.  Because of our culture of “tolerance” and our adoption of the distorted definition of the word which defines truth as relative, aggressive positioning of Islam and its acceptance in our culture is not far behind.  With the financial problems being front and center today, Islamofascism is being given short shrift by America.   Mark my word, it is a problem with substantially more potential impact than our current financial woes.

If the current political, financial and social mess we are in has any redeeming value it may be that it awakens the sleeping lion that is our national will.  If it does, maybe we will avert the frog boiling that is taking place.  If not, our troubles will only get worse.

You can now listen to Just Talking It Up 31 in the player on the left sidebar of the blog, or on iTunes! For those that are subscribed, it will automatically download next time you open iTunes.

Recently Saddleback Church Pastor, Rick Warren was interviewed on CNN’s “Larry King Live”. The website “realclearpolitics” spins that interview one way, while the far left (careful if you go there . . .) website “advocate” spins it yet another. Listen to the audio of that interview and hear our hosts Janet and Crash give their own brand of spin on this apparently controversial figure. And please let them know your thoughts by sending an email to them at feedback@justalkingitup.com!!