Happy
Year! & Healthy & Healthy
The World Cup returns to Waterville Valley Resort on January 24th & 25th for the Toyota Waterville Freestyle Cup. You don’t have to be a skier to come catch the excitement watching the skiers attack the bumps and perform aerial feats off the jumps. Spectator tickets are now available on-line at Waterville.com click events. The event is held on Lower Bobby’s Run and the arena is accessible by the Valley Run Quad or a hike from the main lodge. Waterville Valley is recognized as the birthplace of Freestyle, the first to offer freestyle instruction and the first to host a freestyle competition the “National Championships of Exhibition Skiing” way back in 1971.
Waterville valley resort ski
Freestyle World Cup Coming soon
by Amy Patenaude
On The Trails & Summits Columnist
Hooray! A very White Christmas arrived for all winter sports enthusiasts. Snow blanketed New Hampshire anywhere between a
dusting to 8 inches just in time. Cold temperatures were welcome by the ski areas and Nordic centers so they could continue to make lots of snow and open more trails every day.
The day before the snowstorm
I met Bria at noon at Waterville Valley and it was 12 degrees at the base. Thankfully It had warmed up from the minus nine I had woken up to that morning. The clouds were high above the mountains
looking ahead at 2025!!
In the swirling whirligig of world events, the past year 2024 was nearly like no other. Extraordinary but often jarring occurrences mixed in a hodgepodge of hope, joy and despair as crucial elections were won and lost, regional conflicts exploded and humanitarian crises boiled over with a sickening predictability.
I’m again prepared to say; if the news cycle of 2024 were the outline for a thriller novel or movie, most agents would scoff and say the plot and storyline it simply too far fetched to believe!
Well, we lived it! But now some of the dust may slowly begin to settle. Here’s why.
First off aggressor states like Putin’s Russia have worn down Ukraine but also themselves.
This does not mean the fight is over, but everybody may be looking for a military and political off ramp after the exhausting fighting now for nearly three bloody years.
Second, President-elect Donald Trump’s pro-active American foreign policy, while safe guarding U.S. interests will also focus on stopping ongoing
See METZLER on 17
by John J. Metzler Syndicated Columnist
PHOTO OF LOWER BOBBY’S RUN COURTESY OF WATERVILLE VALLEY.
APACHE Tax Preparation
The FBI And January 6th
To The Editor:
The Dept. of Justice Office of Inspector General finally released their report about the FBI’s involvement in the protests over the 2020 Presidential election. “...of the 26 cfs (confidential human sources) who were in DC on January 6 ...4 entered the Capitol during the riot; an additional 13 entered the restricted area around the Capitol.” Here is how ABC News headlined the story - “Probe finds no evidence feds were involved in inciting Jan. 6 attack. The findings undercut baseless claims that the FBI played a significant role.” Other media sites offered similar balderdash. Leave it to the legacy media, Democrat Party water carriers to perform yet one more performance of linguistic gymnastics as if readying themselves for the next Maoist infused wordsmith Olympics. Kerri Urbahn explains these misleading, silly semantics“No undercover agents...but 26 spies (yes, a confidential human source is a fancy term for spy.”) Under oath at a Nov. 15, 2022, congressional hearing, FBI director Wray would not deny that there were cfs people there who reported back to the FBI. Yes, paid informants, but no undercover agents. In other words, you will get big bucks for intelligence that we can use against Donald Trump or else! “Conspiracy theories” the
leftist media propogandists screamed, declaring it was not an inside job. Speaker Pelosi and Baltimore mayor Muriel Bowser declined requests for national guard assistance even though they knew via intelligence reports of potential danger.
According to Dan Bongino, the FBI knows who is responsible for the pipe bomb threat on that day, but their lips are sealed. I wonder why?
15 hundred arrests, but none of the cfs folks were arrested which is very concerning asserts Jonathan Turley. This resulted in the MAGA movement being targeted and Trump got indicted over this despite his request for everyone to march to the Capitol and protest peacefully and patriotically. They tried to throw Trump in prison. The FBI covered up this report and Christopher Wray decided he would step down the day before this report came out. Apparently, in the Biden/Harris administration, you can commit crimes while spying for the FBI and not get charged with anything.” An insurrection” by a few thousand unarmed, cell phone carriers, the Democrats and the media bellowed.
Worse than 911. Go get em Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard. Fight, fight, fight!
Russ Wiles Tilton, NH.
The Comeback Kid
To The Editor:
With the remarkable political success of of DJT winning his third Presidential election and preparing to serve his second non- consecutive term, only the second person in American to accomplish that, everyone has apparently forgotten another amazing presidential comeback : The Richard “ Never Say Die” Nixon ( RMN) story.
RMN and JFK entered the US Senate in 1948 and , according to some, became friendly. In an ironic twist of history , Ike chose RMN as his VP, rather than accepting President Truman’ s offer to be Ike’s VP. Ike seriously considered dumping Nixon in 1956, but after Nixon’s famous “ “Checkers” speech kept RMN on the ticket. In 1960 Nixon lost one of the closest POTUS elections in American history when Chicago mayor Richard Daley delivered Ilinois for JFK. Many thought there were political shenanigans, but RMN , for the good of the country, conceded and returned to California where he again lost the California governor’s race to Pat Brown. RMN famously announced “ You won’t have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore.”
RMN , proving his resilience if not his prophetic abilities, amazingly won the Presidency in 1968, defeating the HapSee MAILBOAT on 20
This newspaper was first published in 1883 by Mathew H. Calvert as Calvert’s Weirs Times and Tourists’ Gazette and continued until Mr. Calvert’s death in 1902. The new Weirs Times was reestablished in 1992 and strives to maintain the patriotic spirit of its predecessor as well as his devotion to the interests of Lake Winnipesaukee. Our newspaper’s masthead and the map of Lake Winnipesaukee in the center spread are elements in today’s paper which are taken from Calvert’s historic publication. Locally owned for 30 years, this publication is devoted to printing the stories of the people
and places that make New Hampshire the best place in the world to live. No, none of the daily grind news will be found in these pages, just the good stuff.
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Not So LoNg Ago ...
Exploring ThE lEgEnd & lorE of our graniTE STaTE
development oF the ForWard pass By the greatest team in the east
by Robert Hanaford Smith, Sr.
Contributing Writer
The 1925 Cornell football coach, Gil Dobie, was quoted as saying, after competing against New Hampshire’s Dartmouth College, “We won the game 13-0, passing is not football.” The truth was that the Dartmouth team defeated Cornell by a score of 62 -13, and used a passing game to do so.
I recently discovered an article in the December, 1925 issue of The Youth’s Companion magazine by a Dartmouth Assistant Football Coach in 1925, Jackson L. Cannell, in which he reviewed the 1925 football season in the Eastern United States. I immediately thought, even though I only occasionally write about sports, and the 1925 football season was shorter than our 2025 season will be, that I had to share this story with our readers.
Coach Cannell wrote that “The outstanding feature of the Eastern
football season of 1925 was the development of the forward pass. Dartmouth, the best team in the East, proved that the pass can be used successfully as a vital part of the attack.”
The quarterback of the Dartmouth Green, McPhail, was said to have chosen plays half of the time, that were “in direct violation of orthodox selection.”
I thought back to the days of my youth in the 1940’s and 1950’s when, without television by which football games could be brought into our living rooms, and without actually attending many, if any, actual live football games until high school days, my sib -
lings and I developed enough of a liking for football that we had our own games in the field of the old homestead.
Football knowledge was gained by listening to games on the radio and from reading newspaper reports.
What stands out in my memory of those days are that the school
“pep songs” were played and sung on the radio. “On Wisconsin, On Wisconsin, Plunge right through that line,” were some of the words included in one of those school songs. I had four brothers, so our “football games” usually involved two players against two or three
See SMITH on 16
COZY NEW YEARCOUPONS!
The 1925 Dartmouth Football Team.
BIRDS For The
New England’s Wild Birds & Their Habitats
the Christmas Bird Count
by Chris Bosak Contributing Writer
The Christmas Bird Count is typically one of my birding highlights of the year. This year was no exception.
The Christmas Bird Count is a bird census conducted by volunteers each winter to track bird populations and trends. Keene was one of the original 25 locations in 1900. Now there are well more than 2,000 counts held throughout the United States and beyond.
I did my usual area along a coastal region of southwestern Connecticut. It is a good area to cover as there is a nice variety of habitats, including Long Island Sound, marshes, freshwater ponds, wooded areas and even some patches of open field.
We started, as usual, at a park that has a river on one side and a marina on the other.
Long Island Sound is a mile or so to the south, so the river and marina often get winter ducks normally associated with larger bodies of water.
We stepped out of our cars in the parking lot at sunrise to a 13-degree day. Luckily, the wind was surprisingly calm, and the windchill did not make it even worse. But still, 13 degrees is 13 degrees, and it was not pleasant trying to count birds.
I wear contact lenses and had to keep blinking to keep them from freezing. I’m not sure if they actually would have frozen, but it certainly felt that way.
Right away, we spotted peregrine falcons and a bald eagle along with the ducks one would expect to see at the park. Greater scaup, hooded mergansers, long-tailed ducks and bufflehead were the highlight fowl.
The small pond across the street, which usually yields birds such as black-crowned night heron and American wigeon – and the very occasional Eurasian wigeon – was frozen solid and did not hold any ducks or waders.
We moved onto a bigger park/beach on Long
Island Sound. The wind that was so calm at the first park was whipping at the new park and not only made conditions almost unbearable, but also stirred up the water to make spotting ducks in the distance nearly impossible. We did get several brant and red-breasted mergansers, as well as a few common loons, but the park was not as fruitful as it has been in past years.
The next stop was an esplanade where warblers have been known to brave the New England winter chill. The path runs adjacent to a water treatment plant and the huge tubs of open water apparently is a draw for the warblers. A row of evergreens separates the path from the treatment plant and we found pine warblers and yellow-rumped warblers among the branches.
A large dog park with a small wooded area and several expanses of grass was the next stop. The freezing temperatures and biting wind kept most of the birds hidden, but there were a few mixed flocks of whitethroated sparrows and song sparrows scattered throughout the grassy areas. As I was counting the sparrows at one spot, suddenly all the small birds flushed into the nearby brush. Within seconds I discovered why they had left in such a hurry, as a mer-
A merlin perches at the top of a tree in New England last week.
by Brendan Smith Weirs Times Editor
OOL
NEW HAMPSHIRE
prediCtions For 2025
It’s that time of the year again where I make my predictions for the coming year. Lat year I was correct with all of my predictions except for the ones where I was wrong.
Thousands will march on Washington to protest marches on Washington and they will have a run-in by thousands who support more marches on Washington.
The once famous Nigerian Prince Whatshisname, who for years sent folks emails asking them to help him in transferring large sums of money and in return promising a large share of the funds, will make a comeback as he has run out of funds and needs to replenish his bank accounts. Look for many emails in your inbox by this spring.
Due to a near terrorist attack on an airplane by a radical Islamic fundamentalist who secretly dreamed of being a ballerina, everyone boarding an airline will now be made to attempt to perform a pirouette at the TSA checkpoint.
RFK Jr, in his first act as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services will ban Twinkies.
A new study will prove that most other studies are ridiculous. Some other studies, funded by millions of taxpayer dollars, will question that study.
Life will be discovered on Mars. Anonymous marketing calls will soon follow.
Kamala Harris will get a lucrative contract to do the background laugh track for television sitcoms. In 2026 she will receive an Emmy for her work and get a ten-minute standing ovation at the Emmy awards.
There will be a once-in a lifetime meteorological event in New Hampshire in July but it will be overcast that day.
Environmental scientists, thrown into turmoil by the recent “Global Warming” hoax implications, will concede that the earth is really only “lukewarming” and that it is caused by French Fries. (Also, Al Gore will wake up one morning to find he has turned into a giant tree stump.)
The FDA will approve the new drug “Whataboutmebotrol” for people who feel left out because they don’t suffer from any of the ailments advertised on television drug commercials. The biggest selling point will be a bonanza of side effects.
The newest iphone will hit the market. The designers will have installed hundreds of new Applications but then will have a massive recall when they realize the one thing you can’t do with it is actually make a phone call.
A new cable network will premiere - The “Read A Book” network. As soon as you turn it on your TV will shut off for one hour.
A resurgence of “Whine Flu” will hit. Otherwise known as “Yme2” this contagious disease spreads quickly and is passed from person to person through depressing verbal interaction. There is no known cure for those who have it but can best be avoided by wearing earplugs
in public.
A new species of aquatic life will be discovered. It will taste delicious lightly broiled with lemon, parsley and just a hint of turmeric.
Time travel will be perfected, and thousands will sign up to use its services.
CBS will premiere their newest Reality Show “I Want To Be On A Reality Show” where contestants will compete against each other to win a place on an as yet-to-be named reality show.
The New Hampshire Lottery will release their new $1,000 scratch ticket called “Cold Sweat”. Each ticket will come with its own hand towel for wiping down sweaty palms and forehead while scratching the ticket. Please Play Responsibly.
The newest online social network “InYourFace” will appear. Social network enthusiasts will applaud this new venue for people to once again share mundane and boring parts of their day-to-day existence.
Time Travel will be taxed.
A famous celebrity will do something stupid, and we will all pay far too much attention to it.
Well, that’s about it. Have a safe and Happy New Year!
Brendan Smith welcomes your comments ar brendan@ weirs.com
“I Really Only Did It For The SocksStories & Thoughts On Aging”
Order your autographed copy today for $16.99 plus $3 shipping. (Please include any inscription you would like.) Make out checks or money orders for $19.99 to Brendan Smith and mail to: Socks Book c/o Weirs Times, PO Box 5458, Weirs, NH 03247 Or order online at BrendanTSmith.com (Autographed copies also avail. at the Weirs Times)
“I Really Only Did It For The SocksStories & Thoughts On Aging”
Order your autographed copy today for $16.99 plus $3 shipping. (Please include any inscription you would like.) Make out checks or money orders for $19.99 to Brendan Smith and mail to: Socks Book c/o Weirs Times, PO Box 5458, Weirs, NH 03247 Or order online at BrendanTSmith.com
(Autographed copies also avail. at the Weirs Times)
Letters From God
QUESTION
What Are Your Thoughts On The President’s Pardons?
Your President has a right to pardon since he has been given that right in your Constitution. It, however, isn’t an unlimited power and does have restrictions. Presidential pardons must further “the public welfare.” Pardons can only be made for “offenses against the United States,” meaning state criminal offenses and civil liabilities are not pardonable. They also cannot be granted for cases of Impeachment.” Your Constitution limits the president in other ways as well, most notably, that a Presidential pardon cannot place the president above the law. This restricts the president from self-pardoning or self-protective pardoning. The latter is a pardon that may impede an investigation of a president or their interests.
The case of your president pardoning his son pre-emptively, for any crimes from years past until the present, screams of a violation of the intent of the privilege of pardoning. A massive investigation was underway with substantial mounting evidence, that the practices of the son who was being investigated for illegal and possibly treasonous crimes, may have involved the father, who is the president. Further, the president repeatedly said he would not grant a pardon to his son but broke that promise, seemingly at ease. Finally, the president’s explanation for the pardon was a “father’s love.” In using this justification, as a basis
for potentially violating his legal power to pardon, he has missed an opportunity to show real love. Love for the country, whose security may have been jeopardized, love for the law and upholding the intent of the law, love for his son, whose behavior requires painful consequences to dissuade him from future aberrant behaviors.
Letters From God
When I wrote in my book, the Bible, in the 89th chapter of Psalms I reminded my servant, David, that I would never take my love from him or his sons who would follow (Psalm 89:28-20). I also included, as a vital aspect of my love, the proper use of punishment to afflict the lives of his children if they disobeyed my laws. I said, “I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging;” (:32). I continued by saying, “but I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.” Discipline and punishment for crimes committed, isn’t the absence of love but the presence of love. Painful consequences are the greatest deterrent to continued sinful behavior that, if left unchecked, will lead to your demise.
With respect to pardoning the 37 criminals facing capital punishment, I cannot speak positively. First, he has unilaterally, changed not only the laws of the land but also my laws. When he said, “America must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level, except in cases of terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder,” he by fiat, changed the rules. Hypocritically, some of those whose sentences were com -
muted had killed multiple people. One pardon was for a drug lord who killed 12 people, including children. How does this not meet the criteria of “hate-motivated mass murder?” At the same time a “terrorist” doesn’t have to be a foreigner. Every murder terrorized the victims before they died and leaves lasting memories of terror for the family members as well. Many, whose sentences were commuted committed vile and violent crimes involving rapes and tortures. In fact, no one should be called a terrorist, who murders others indiscriminately, whether one or many, but what they are and should be called is a “murderer,” and punished accordingly.
With respect to my laws he has brazenly changed my command to take the life of any who take the life of another. In my book, the Bible, I wrote, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man.” (Genesis 9:6). May I remind you that as your creator God, I always gave commands designed to enhance your life. In Deuteronomy 32:47 , with respect to my commands, I said, “For it is not an idle word for you; indeed, it is your life.” Since mankind is made in my image, unlike any animal, I made killing another person a capital offense punishable with death to show its seriousness. Capital punishment enhances life in several ways. The killer will never kill again, protecting others who might die at their hands, in prison or outside, if they are released. Recently,
2 prison guards have been killed by inmates. It can also enhance the life of the murderer. With death looming, they have the greatest motivation to confess their sins and seek forgiveness from me. If they choose this, like the thief on the cross, they could actually know life eternally after death. Capital punishment also enhances life when it is carried out properly. If it is witnessed by others who can observe the deadly consequences, it becomes a powerful deterrent. Sadly, your country over the years through liberal policies, like commuting sentences for such capital crimes, life sentences instead of the death penalty, and hiding the executions from the public, has taken the “teeth” out of the process and lost most of the value of following my will. This foolish policy encourages evil and death. “When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong.” (Ecclesiastes 8:11). Your problem is “pleasing men” instead of pleasing me, your Creator God. Pleasing your liberal base instead of pleasing me, the one who “gives all men life and breath and everything else.” (Acts 17:25) Your foolish wisdom is literally killing you. “Return to me and I will return to you.” (Malachi 3:7). Follow my will and choose life instead of death (Deuteronomy 30:19).
I love you, God
These letters are written by Rev.
Dr. Sam Hollo of Alton, NH
the international Criminal Court pretends to Be aBout JustiCe
It is proof of the power of our faith that the spirit of Christmas prevails over all the reasons for cynicism.
I’m thinking now of Psalm 40:4 where we read: Fortunate is the man who has puts his trust in God and has not turned to the arrogant and to those who stray after falsehood.
Regarding “the arrogant and those who stray after falsehood,” take the case of the International Criminal Court, established in 2002 and located in the Hague, Netherlands. Its mission sounds so essential and lofty -- “Trying individuals for genocide, war crimes, crimes against
humanity, and aggression.”
But I am proud of our country that chose to not be part of it. The clear-thinking American leaders who kept our country out of this arrangement understood it would violate our sacred national sovereignty and American citizens could be called to so-called justice by international bureaucrats.
Consider the current scourge in our country known as “lawfare.” Lawfare is politicization of the law, use of the law by those with power to go after political enemies. President-elect Donald Trump can testify to the personal and financial costs that being on the wrong side of this can extract. But if this can happen in our own country, where we have a Constitution and Bill of Rights, just think of
by John Stossel Syndicated Columnist
give or take
‘Tis the season for giving.
For me, that mostly means supporting charities.
One organization I donate to is SSP, Student Sponsor Partners, a nonprofit that gives scholarships to kids from low-income families. SSP helps children escape bad public schools by providing grants to students so they can pay the cheaper tuition at mostly Catholic schools.
I’m not Catholic, but I give to SSP because their schools are better than the dreary ones run by the bureaucratic unionized government monopoly. They do better for half the cost.
It feels good to give.
But wait.
Government already gives out more than a trillion dollars in welfare programs.
State governments add another $744 billion.
In total, we’ve spent $25 trillion on poverty programs since America declared “War on Poverty.”
Yet 1 in 10 Americans still live in poverty.
Some say the solution is simple: Spend more! Throw more money at the problem, and surely it’ll go away.
The World Institute for Development Economics says, “Welfare policies, such as cash transfers to the poor, unemployment benefits, child subsidies and universal health care ... can break cycles of poverty.”
But $25 trillion later, why haven’t they?!
Because government handouts erode self-reliance.
10 neW ideas to make eConomy great again in 2025
by Stephen Moore Syndicated Columnist
Here’s my wish list for the incoming Trump administration to make America healthy and prosperous and great again in 2025.
1. Slash JobKilling Regulations
The regulatory state is a $2 trillion tax on the American economy. We all want worker safety, a clean environment and consumer protections, but in too many cases the costs of regulations far outweigh the societal benefits. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to slash 10 rules for every new rule. Just do it, Mr. President.
2. Make the Trump Tax Cuts Permanent
As JFK, Ronald Reagan and others have proven throughout history, lower tax rates lead to more growth, more investment and more jobs. The Trump tax cuts meant that a typical family of four earning $75,000 a year saw their tax bill fall by half -- a benefit valued at more than $2,000. And the corporate tax rate fell from 35% -- the highest in the world -- to 21%, bringing jobs and capital to America. Trump has promised to make all these tax cuts permanent. Why? Because they worked almost exactly as we anticipated they would.
3. Replace Welfare With Work
Growth will require more able-bodied Americans getting off welfare and into jobs. Welfare -- which includes cash assistance, public housing, food stamps, disability payments, unemployment benefits and Medicaid --
needs to be a hand up, not a handout.
4. Use America’s Abundant Natural Resources
America has well more than $50 trillion of natural resources that are accessible with existing drilling and mining technologies. This is a vast storehouse of wealth that far surpasses what any other nation is endowed with. We can use the royalty payments and leases to reduce our national debt while creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.
5. Cut Medical Costs by Demanding Health Care Price Transparency
One of many ways to bring health care costs down to consumers (and taxpayers, who pay half the costs) is to require hospitals, pharmacies, doctors and health clinics to list prices for what they are charging. The Committee to Unleash Prosperity estimates
that $1 trillion to $2 trillion could be reduced from health care costs, with no reduction in the quality of care, by allowing consumers to shop around on the internet for the best price -just as we do when we buy groceries, a home or a car. This will foster free market competition and lower prices.
6. Allow School Choice for All Families
Test scores in America have been plummeting. Kids are graduating from high school -- if at all -- without even being able to read the diploma. America no longer ranks in the top 10 in many academic achievement ratings. A child can get a better education at HALF the cost in the Catholic school system and in many charters.
Trump has endorsed universal
See
See STOSSEL on 21
See PARKER on 18
by Star Parker Syndicated Columnist
A breakthrough in Ear-Brain Technology™:
Intrigue AI mimics the cerebral cortex of the human brain to quickly and more accurately ‘fill in’ the gaps produced when our hearing system falters.
• Replicates how our “normal” auditory system works.
• Distinguish words and speech more intuitively and naturally.
• Hear soft sounds without distracting noise.
• Reduce the effort it takes to listen and hear.
Happy New Year! & Healthy & Healthy
5 strategies to ensure you aChieve your neW year’s resolutions in 2025
Me on December 31st: “This year, I’m going to write a book, lose these twenty pounds, get fit and run a 5K, pay off my debt and start an emergency fund, get a new job, quit smoking, learn to speak Spanish, make some new friends, and volunteer.”
Me on January 15th: “Well…. there’s always next year.” Does that sound familiar? How many New Year’s Resolutions have you kept? If you’re like 40% of Americans, you’ve made a New Year’s resolution, only to abandon it by midJanuary. In fact, giving up on resolutions is so common that there is even a day for it—Quit ter’s Day—celebrated (or dreaded) on the second Friday in Janu ary. This is the date by which more than half of us give up on the goals we were so excit ed about just a couple of weeks ago. But why does this happen? And more im portantly, what can we do differently to
make this year we follow through on our resolutions?
Human beings have been making New Year’s resolutions for thousands of years. In fact, the tradition dates back 4000 years ago to the Babylonians, who, during their twelve-day Akitu festival, promised their gods that they would pay back their debts and return borrowed items, hoping to earn divine favor for the coming year. I wonder how many of those people upheld their commitments or did they also fall victim to the tendency to give up?
Fast-forward to today, and the challenges of sticking to resolutions remain challenging. Kelly McGonigal, author of The Willpower Instinct , explains why: setting goals gives us a sense of hope and optimism
about our future and about our future selves. And, she says, setting goals can backfire because it can sometimes create an illusion of progress, which tricks our brains into feeling like we’ve already accomplished the goal. This phenomenon happens because merely
deciding on a goal or visualizing the desired outcome activates the brain’s reward system, releasing dopamine and giving us a sense of satisfaction. While that sense of satisfaction may sound great, the downside is that it can reduce the urgency
by Rebecca Shubert
MS, RDN, NBC Owner, One Step Nutrition Coaching
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by Mike Moffett Contributing Writer
There’s a sports documentary out there that’s a “must see” for basketballers. And it’s not from ESPN, or Netflix, or HBO.
It’s from PBS—our Public Broadcasting System. Yes. The same network that gave us Ken Burns’ Baseball It’s a basketball documentary entitled Playing Like a Girl: The House that Rob Built. Completed in 2020, this Emmy Awardwinning production chronicles how University of Montana basketball alum Rob Selvig took over that school’s women’s hoop team in 1978 when there wasn’t even an NCAA women’s tournament. Selvig turned the Lady Griz program into a national power, compiling a lifetime coaching record of 865-286 before retiring in 2016. The program won 18 Big Sky Conference regular season titles and Selvig won 15 (fifteen!) Coach-of-the-Year awards.
Part of the story involves how Selvig stayed put, when he could have gone many other places. His Montana male hoop team counterpart, Jud Heathcote, went from Montana to Michigan State, where he won a national championship
the house that roB Built (and montana hoops vs. nh)
with Magic Johnson. But the biggest part of the story involves the unique women’s basketball culture that developed in Missoula.
The Lady Griz family was special, and over the decades its members indeed became “sisters.” That Selvig recruited indigenous Native American players from Montana Indian reservations only made the story more compelling.
The Lady Griz saga was “Hoosier-like” in that a remote, small-
school basketball program somehow became a champion. Eventually Montana hosted national women’s powers like Stanford and Tennessee in NCAA post-season action, games where every inch of the arena was filled with screaming Griz fans. Which brings us to the Granite State.
Consider that the population of Montana is only 1.1 million, to New Hampshire’s 1.4 million. So why can’t we have nice things
here, hoop-wise? We do have a wonderful high school basketball tradition.
The University of New Hampshire women’s hoop team has NEVER been to the NCAAs. And, as was recently pointed out in this space, neither has the UNH men’s team. The UNH’s men’s hoop program is arguably the nation’s worst Division I program historically. UNH had some winning seasons in the 1920s but since then it’s largely been a cumulative embarrassment.
One supposes that any program can have a bad century.
What’s especially galling is that our neighbors from the University of Vermont (the Catamounts) and the University of Maine (the Black Bears) occasionally have great teams. Both Maine and Vermont have been to the NCAAs multiple times and have even had some successes there. Vermont once upset powerhouse Syracuse at the big dance. And Maine once beat Stanford.
Consider that Vermont knocked the UNH men out of the conference playoffs (again!) last season. Vermont usually kicks our butts. And Vermont is a socialist state (kind of) with half our population! Galling indeed! Between the UNH men’s and women’s
University of Montana women’s basketball coach Rob Selvig and The Lady Griz.
The Simple Feast
by Eric N Gibson Contributing Writer
The
It was the Monday before Christmas. With less than 48 hours to “D Day” or “C Day” the phone rang.
Simple Baked tater tot Casserole
The Simple Feast Simple
“Hi Daddy!” It was… “The Other One.”
I had nearly finished saying hello when the voice on the other end of the line asked, “What are you making for Christmas morning?”
With barely a week left before Christmas we had decided to do Christmas morning with the immediate family: me, my better half, the kids, and their respective other halfs. The inlaws were welcome if they wanted a meal and a hot cup of coffee. The extended family would get together for Christmas at a later date that was, at that time, yet to be determined.
Getting older means making concessions. While some people enjoy the “Twelve Days of Christmas” I have always secretly preferred the “One and Done” approach. And as I get older my preferences are becoming less of a secret. Now don’t get me wrong, I do like Christmas, in fact it is my favorite holiday both for its secular and religious aspects. I enjoy getting
and giving gifts. And I cannot help but be filled with a true sense of wonder and awe when I stop to think about the greatest gift that has ever been bestowed upon mankind over two thousand years ago. The true reason for the season.
And who doesn’t enjoy a Christmas party or two? Not to mention a good old Yankee Swap is always a great way to unburden some of Santa’s unwanted plunder on the unsuspecting while spreading holiday mirth and good cheer. But, without sounding like old Ebanezer, I do believe that there are some among us who view Christmas as just one big party: past, present, and the party yet to be. But that just is not for me. No. Just give me a Christmas
with my family and I will be happy. Save the Yankee Swaps for the winter doldrums.
Give me a good old fashioned Christmas. Christmas Eve spent all day preparing for the day ahead. You know, up early to do the last minute shopping thinking you’ve skimped on someone. Then there’s the wrapping of all the presents because heaven forbid you actually pace yourself and do some wrapping each night every night from the week after Thanksgiving leading up to Christmas. Then, before you know it, it is time to clean up and run around like the Mad Hatter as you search for the perfect Christmas Eve ensemble so you can head off to Christmas Eve services.
I have always en -
joyed Christmas Eve service in a small New England church, especially those services filled with traditional Christmas hymns. And having gone deaf has its advantages. Now I just take out the hearing aids and belt out the hymnal tunes from memory, keeping tempo and harmony (or not) has become less of a concern over the years. Entering a church at night is a wholly different experience when compared with during the day. It seems more quaint, comforting, warming to both body and soul. There is just something nostalgic about a church decorated in evergreen swag laced with ribbon and bow. And candles in every window just adds to the glow. I have to admit I find even electric candles enchanting as they flicker with purpose.
And who doesn’t like standing shoulder to shoulder with friends and neighbors you haven’t seen since last Christmas Eve? It is truly reminiscent of that first Christmas so long ago when Mary and Joseph made the journey to Bethlehem for the census, everyone coming from hither and yon to stand and be counted. Great Uncle Vern, voted Most Eligible Bachelor Class of ‘47, and still is. The Jones family, right off the farm fresh from calving, no time to change. I wasn’t sure they were going to make it, but they did. There’s old Granny Bing, such a sweet little old lady. At 102 she
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of success:
to take action, making us less likely to follow through.
So where does that leave us? Is our biology predisposing us to failure or are there things we can do to increase our probability of success? It’s not all doom and gloom. There is hope and here are five steps we can take to increase our likelihood
1) Tie our goals to our values: Align your resolutions with what truly matters to you. For instance, if you see yourself as a person who values integrity and your goal is to be more physically fit, when you find yourself thinking, “I don’t feel like it today” or “I can just skip this one time”, ask yourself
what a person of integrity would do. Would she skip the workout or would she follow through on her commitment to herself?
check in your savings account.
2) Focus on progress goals instead of outcomes goals: In most cases we don’t have control over the outcome, but we do have control over our behavior. Instead of focusing on winning your age group for the 5K, focus on achieving consistent actions, like walking a certain number of steps each day or attending a specific number of fitness classes each week.
3) Set an implementation intention: Henry Ford said, “Fail to plan, plan to fail.” Lack of preparation leads to poor outcomes, while thoughtful planning increases the chances of success. Set yourself up for success by planning when you will do the activity to which you have committed. Instead of saying, “I’ll put some money in my savings account in my account, go past the point of no return and set up a direct deposit to put 5% of your pay-
4) Monitor your progress: We have all heard the saying, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” Keep track of your efforts through journaling, apps, or habit trackers. Not only will this help you to stay accountable, but success breeds success. When you see the momentum, you are building, your motivation will soar.
5) Celebrate your small wins: Recognize and celebrate your small victories. Reflect back on your day and give yourself a pat the back for following through on taking that walk or eating that salad or spending a half hour on your Spanish lessons. Giving yourself credit for the work you’re doing will build your confidence, keep the excitement alive and help you crush your goals like a boss. By tying your resolutions to your values, focusing on progress, making a plan, monitoring your progress and celebrating small wins, you can turn your good intentions into lasting habits. This year let’s turn Quitter’s Day into a celebration of persistence instead of a point of failure. Because you are not just setting goals—you are creating a better version of yourself, one step at a time.
SHUBERT from 9
from 10
basketball programs
we have around 200 years of collective basketball postseason futility.
So, watching The House that Rob Built was concurrently inspiring and infuriating.
Why can’t we have nice things in New Hampshire? Who ticked off the basketball gods? Why are we so cursed? We’ll probably see men on Mars before we see UNH hoopsters in the NCAAs.
Maybe someday our Wildcats will get an invite to the Big Dance. And if some of us oldsters live to see it, then, yes, we’ll unashamedly jump on the UNH bandwagon. Of course.
In the meantime, check out The House that Rob Built
Sports Quiz
Who was the first NCAA Division I women’s basketball champion? (Answer follows)
Born Today
That is to say, sports standouts born on January 2 include legendary running back Calvin Hill (1947) and MLB pitching star David Cone (1963).
Sports Quote
“My favorite state has not yet been invented. It will be called Montana, and it will be perfect.” –Abraham Lincoln
Sports Quiz Answer
Louisiana Tech won the 1982 NCAAs with a record of 35-1
State Representative
Mike Moffett was a Sports Management Professor for Plymouth State University and NHTI-Concord. He co-authored the award-winning “Fahim Speaks: Between Two Worlds: A Hollywood Actor’s Journey as a U.S. Marine Translator through Afghanistan” which is available on Amazon.com. His email address is mchlmoffett@yahoo.com.
The snow guns are blowing lots of snow at Waterville Valley Resort. Yours Truly and Bria admiring the large “whales” of snow piles made by the
and dark looking like perhaps it would snow.
We bundled up to keep warm. I am still trying to get used to the cold weather. Bria wore a puffy underneath her ski jacket and I wore a down vest under mine for added insulation.
Neck gaiters and a band
to cover my ears under my helmet worked well to keep me comfortable.
The joke is that there is no bad weather, just unsuitable clothing! We were dressed right so we enjoyed the splendid winter day.
Waterville Valley’s Tecumseh Express six person high-speed bub-
ble chairlift is especially nice on a chilly day. When we pulled the bubble down it really blocked the wind and the chair’s seats were very comfortable too.
When we glided off the lift we could see that the High Country T-bar was running and that the Schwendi
Yours truly skiing on Waterville Valley’s slopes skiing right at Mount Osceola. Waterville Valley Resort’s slopes are on the shoulder of Mount Tecumseh and offers views of the White Mountains far and wide.
At the top of the Tecumseh Express 6-person high-speed bubble chairlift is the Schwendi Hut, a great place for a hot beverage and lunch. The slopes of High Country are above and are serviced by a T-bar.
Hutte was open. The view to the south we saw the sun’s beautiful bright orange glow but the nearby 4,000 footer peaks stood out starkly in the cold darker conditions. Tecumseh, Osceola and Tripyramids summits looked so close and near.
A lot of people were out skiing and snowboarding but the liftline never got longer
than a minute or two and the trails never felt crowded. Youngsters were race training up on High Country. Parents with their children were on the gentler Valley Run. Bria and I really enjoyed skiing Upper Bobby’s Run; the trail’s steep terrain and loose snow made for fun fast turning.
We were impressed how good the snow
conditions were and how they held up the whole day. Over half the mountain’s terrain was open. We could see and hear the snow guns blasting away on soon to be open trails. One snow gun sounded like a Tuba when ice had formed on the gun’s head. Later we saw men hitting the ice off with a hand tool.
Yahoo!
snow guns
PATENAUDE from 1
ODDNEWS
Bria headed down Upper Bobby’s Run and a straight shot view of Mount Tripyramid. Snow’s Mountains’ slopes are straight across lower, these were Waterville Valley’s first ski trails built in the 1930’s.
We took a ride up the T-bar to the top of High Country and enjoyed the grand mountain views before we jumped into the boardercross course. It is cool that the course is open for all who dare experience the thrill of riding the high banked corners and the fun rolling wave terrain. Bria really liked going high up the berm and zooming around the turns.
The youngsters were wrapping up their GS training too and we watched the coaches remove the race gates as we rode the lift up a second time. From there we skied all the way to the base, that’s 2,000 feet of vertical! We skied past the terrain park on Lower Periphery; those
jumps and rails are too much for us but a dozen or so were happy to play in the park.
Waterville Valley is the birthplace of Freestyle Skiing when in 1970 it hosted the first ariels, moguls and ballet competitions. The World Cup returns for the second year in a row with the 2025 Toyota Waterville Freestyle Cup. The event will be held on Lower Bobby’s Run–January 24th & 25th. The best skiers from all over the world will compete in the duel mogul competition–racing down the bumps and flying off jumps. This is an exciting sport to watch.
Spectator tickets are available now on-line at Waterville.com/2025world-cup or you can
(NYT) — On a cold and snowy night in November 1978, the members of Randy Brooks’ country band, Young Country, found themselves stranded after a gig at the Hyatt hotel on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe. The brakes on their van were frozen. With nowhere to go, Brooks and his bandmates went back inside to watch the next act, a bluegrass group fronted by the husband-and-wife duo of Elmo Shropshire and Patsy Trigg. That simple twist of fate would change the fortunes of Brooks, Shropshire and Trigg and give the world one of the most enduring — and polarizing — Christmas songs ever recorded.
just google Waterville Freestyle World Cup and it will pop right up. Friday qualifying rounds are held for Saturday’s competition. Friday night is a chance to meet athletes for autographs, enjoy live music and watch the Bib Draw followed by fireworks at 7:30pm. Saturday’s World Cup preliminary rounds
Elmo & Patsy invited Brooks, then a 30-year-old aspiring songwriter from
Waterville’s Adventure Center’s Nordic Trails are open and groomed for skate and classic techniques. The Adventure Center offers cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and fat biking. The Adventure Center is in Waterville Valley’s Town Square.
start at 10:30 am and the final round of 16 is scheduled to be held at 2 pm.
On-Snow Volunteers positions are still being filled, ski/snowboarder ability must be intermediate to expert, sign-up on-line if you’re interested in helping out. Happy New Year and Have Fun.
to prepare for the season and put yourself in the holiday spirit? To reply, visit laconiadailysun.com/ questionoftheweek Netanyahu tells Trump Israel must ‘complete victory’
By Matthew Mpoke Bigg
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said he had told President-elect Donald Trump in a
Amy Patenaude is an avid skier/outdoor enthusiast from Henniker, N.H. Readers are welcome to send comments or suggestions to her at: amy@weirs.com
Jake McDonough caught an image of someone tuning up their ice boat on Pemigewasset Lake on Dec. 14. If you have a great local photo you’ve taken recently, send it to readerpics@ laconiadailysun.com for consideration. You can check out previous Reader Pics – and bonus pics not chosen for print – by going to our website, following The Laconia Daily Sun’s Instagram page and liking our Facebook page.
, Tuesday, December 17, 2024
against two, though the numbers on each team might increase slightly if we could persuade one or more of the neighbor youth to join us, or if our games took place during recess time at school. Being some time after 1925 we utilized the passing game often along with the run. The sidelines were marked with natural items such as rocks and bushes and imagined lines between them. A plum tree sometimes served as the goal post for kicking the extra point after a touch down. We were our own referees and somehow managed to settle disputed calls. It seems to me that both on the college level and on the professional scene that football has become huge as a spectator sport since my youth and particularly since 1925, but in 1925 there was concern that the game had taken on an importance that was not good. When December came in 1925 the football season was about over, but talk about football was not. On another topic, but of interest, the 69th Congress of the United States was in session
with a new Speaker of the House, a popular congressman from Ohio named Nicholas Longworth, who was also the son-in-law of President Theodore Roosevelt. The new speaker was said to have to put up with a “sturdy group of ‘irreconcilables’” in Congress. But according to The Youth’s Companion colleges were trying to
throw some cold water on college football enthusiasts. The magazine reported, with these words. “ ...the student newspaper at Harvard University is out with a proposal to reduce what it considers the undesirable publicity given to college football and the undue importance it has assumed in college life. It suggests that
the Harvard team play only three games in a season, that it be not selected until after a month’s play among class teams organized at the beginning of the fall term...” Ninetynine years later we can see how great a failure the effort to reduce the importance given to sports teams on college campuses has been, and how successful the increased use of the forward pass has been for football.
Much of Dartmouth College’s success under football coach Jesse Hawley seems to involve the coach’s use and development of the forward pass. From November of 1923 until October of 1926 the Dartmouth Green team went on a 22 game unbeaten streak. Their 1925 season resulted in eight wins and 0 defeats. The 1925 team outscored its opponents by a combined score of 340 to 29, and was declared by some to be the national champion. In the game against rival Cornell the score was tied at the end of the first quarter, after which it was said that “footballs filled the air,” and when the game was over Dartmouth
We’ve got Rustic
Cedar or Exposed Bark
had won, 62 - 13.
Andy Oberlander was credited with a total of 477 offensive yards for Dartmouth, which included six passes for touchdowns. Dartmouth Assistant Coach Cannell gave credit to the skills of Oberlander and his receivers, Tully, Lane, and Sage, for the great success of the 1925 Dartmouth football team, but particularly gave praise to Coach Hawley’s development of the use of the pass against teams that, in those times, concentrated on running defense in their game preparation.
In his review of Eastern college football in 1925, Coach Cannell indicated that the emphasis was on offense, with teams trying out new formations and plays that were not considered to be in line with sound football practices, but were successful in scoring points. Defenses were portrayed as being unprepared for these new, though unorthodox offensive tactics, particularly the emphasis on the forward pass. The Big Green’s quarterback, Bob McPhail from Somerville, Mass., went to prep school in Exeter and was singled out for his leadership skills, but it was Right
Half-back Andy Oberlander who threw the passes.
The defense of Dartmouth has to be given credit for their outstanding record in the year 1925. They shut out their opponents in five of the eight games they played, and Cornell’s thirteen points were the most any team scored against them. By the time my brothers and I were playing our traditional Thanksgiving day game passing the ball was no longer a novelty in college football or football in general and was a major part of our games. But when Fall ended and Winter came our attention shifted from football to basketball and our “court” in the only available space in the barn that we called “the barn floor.” It was there we put up our old woven baskets missing their bottoms and, with teams of two or three, or sometimes even one against one, we attempted to throw the “basketballs” into the baskets.
Jesse Hawley - 1925 Dartmouth Football Coach
Andy Oberlander, Dartmouth’s Halfback and record holder.
conflicts from Ukraine to the Middle East. During the past year in the twilight of the Biden/ Harris Administration, and the tumultuous American elections, the global power vacuum expanded dangerously.
The electoral triumph by Donald Trump will most likely reestablish overdue political equilibrium in key regions. Washington must now shift from managing chaos to Solving Crises amid still rising geopolitical tensions.
Ukraine: After a massive transfusion of over $183 billion in American military and economic aid, Ukraine has not won the war but could certainly lose it. The Russians have ground down the outnumbered Ukrainian military. Moscow hasn’t won either but they could. Donald
Trump has promised to end the Ukraine war, not easy, but the new American President can help bring about a ceasefire and a truce.
The Europeans want this to end too as they cannot afford to keep supporting Kyiv with unlimited weapons and aid.
Mideast: The churning crisis in Gaza, tragically triggered by Iran-backed Hamas terrorists, has spilled over elsewhere, as predicted, into neighboring Lebanon. Hezbollah fighters attacked the Israelis only to have the IDF teach them a tough lesson in southern Lebanon. Tragically this escalation has destabilized Lebanon a once reasonably pluralistic and prosperous place.
Following the fall of Syria’s Assad dictatorship, it’s naive to assume the Islamic rebels really plan to establish
a democracy. Watch carefully how this unfolds…not only for the Syrian refugee diaspora in Europe but for ancient Christian and Druze minorities inside Syria.
Iran: Tehran’s military proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Yemen’s Houthis have all taken a military battering from the Israelis. The collapse of Assad’s Syrian regime was the turning point. Moreover the domestic situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran has become dismal. Given a fortuitous constellation of events, at long last this may be the year that Iran’s brutal regime collapses under its own weight of incompetence and rash foreign military misadventures. For the sake of the long suffering Iranian people, and especially its talented and frustrated youth,
this would come not a moment too soon.
Elections: France had a swirl of three Prime Ministers in the past year, harkening the pre-war Third Republic. Germany’s unstable coalition government has teetered and fallen; Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats face new elections in late February. It’s very likely the Christian Democrats will return to power and revive lackluster economic growth. In Canada too, the mismanagement by the progressive/leftist Justin Trudeau government has sadly turned Canada into a laughingstock. Trudeau will likely lose Parliamentary elections later in the year to the conservatives.
East Asia: The status quo was rattled as South Korea’s tumultuous democracy took a turn for the unexpected
as a controversial martial law declaration by the sitting President Yoon Suk-yeol, triggered massive political pushback from the Opposition parties. These moves and antics by both sides now tarnish South Korea’s cherished brand of political and economic standing. Moreover instability in South Korea encourages communist North Korea to play more political/ military provocations. North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-un has moved closer to Russia and now supplies troops for Putin’s Ukraine war!
Taiwan’s vibrant democracy still faces a growing military threat from communist China. Beijing’s rulers have never renounced the use of force to conquer what they claim is part of the People’s Republic (but never was). Despite the mili-
tary standoff, Mainland China’s economy is lackluster and challenged by widespread corruption and demographic decline.
Areas to Watch Troubled geographic fault-lines which arc from Bosnia to Serbia, Georgia, Armenia and Moldova face Russian instigated subversion and political subterfuge. Watch these countries.
Amid these challenges ahead, have a Happy and Healthy New Year!!
John J. Metzler is a longtime United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is the author of Divided Dynamism
The Diplomacy of Separated Nations; Germany, Korea, China.
rest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister for alleged crimes associated with the war in Gaza.
This is a war Israel pursued in national defense after the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of Hamas terrorists who murdered, mutilated and sexually violated some 1,200 Israeli civilians and took hundreds hostage. Hamas, a terrorist organization, has elimination of the State of Israel as its defined mission.
Now more outrage.
Jan. 27, 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp in Poland, where some 1 million Jews were murdered.
However, Netanyahu cannot attend the ceremonies at Auschwitz because Polish deputy foreign minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski indicates he will be arrested
in accordance with Poland’s commitment to the ICC.
Per Israel’s national Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, “On the eve of the German occupation of Poland in 1939, 3.3 million Jews lived there. At the end of the war, approximately 380,000 Polish Jews remained alive, the rest having been murdered, mostly in the ghettos and the six death camps: Chelmo, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Majdanek and AuschwitzBirkenau.”
On June 7, 1979, the first Polish Pope, John Paul II, visited Auschwitz. He called it a “place built on hatred and on contempt for man in the name of a crazed ideology. A place built on cruelty.”
The Pope noted a plaque inscribed in Hebrew which “awakens the memory of the People whose sons and daughters were intended for total extermination. This People draws its origin from Abraham ... as was expressed by Paul of Tarsus. The very people that received from God the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ itself experienced in a special measure what is meant by killing.”
lin landed on the top of a dead tree almost right above my head. Merlins are small falcons that somewhat resemble sharp-shinned and Cooper’s hawks. So much for getting an accurate count of the sparrows with the merlin keeping watch overhead.
The merlin was one of the highlights for me during the count. It is the first time I could remember seeing a merlin on a Christmas bird count.
The other highlight came at my final stop, which was another park near the river. This park also has some open areas and has been known to attract birds such as warblers, larks, and pipits. There were no larks or warblers to be seen, but a small flock of about a dozen pipits scampered among the grass in search of seeds.
The State of Israel, the world’s only Jewish State, was born out of this horror. The U.N. voted in 1947 to create a Jewish state and an Arab state. The Jews said yes, the Arabs said no and have never given Israel a day of peace.
Now, politicized international bureaucrats want to arrest Israel’s prime minister for defending his country.
The good news is the spirit of Christmas, of John Paul II, persists, as we now hear the sound of “joy to the world” in Christian countries worldwide.
It was another successful count with more than 50 different species spotted in that area alone. I did not get a species total for the entire count area yet, but it typically nets out at about 120 species. Regardless of the weather – and I have done Christmas Bird Counts in everything from sun to rain to blizzards and in temperatures from single digits to the 50s – the count is always a great, albeit tiring, day of birding.
Happy new year, everyone. Here’s to 2025.
BAKED TATER TOT CASSEROLLE
SERVINGS:12-16 Time: Approx. 75 MINUTES
INGREDIENTS
Butter or Baking Spray (to grease the pan)
1.5 pound bag of Potato Tot style rounds
1 pound Precooked Sausage Links (thawed and chopped)
6 eggs
1 cup Milk
½ Cup ½ and ½
2 Cups Shredded Cheddar
Cheese
1 Cup Pepper Jack Cheese (shredded)
1 Medium Green Pepper (diced)
1 Medium Red Pepper (diced) 1 Small Onion (diced)
½ tsp. Old Bay Seasoning ½ tsp. Black Pepper (ground)
— PREPARATION—
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish on the bottom and sides.
- Spread the Potato Tots on the bottom of the pan
- Evenly distribute the cut pieces of sausage over the tots.
- Evenly spread the peppers and onions over the tots and sausage. Reserve some of the peppers and onion for “garnish” if desired.
- In a bowl combine with a whisk the eggs, milk, half and half, and seasonings as if making an omelette. Add two cups of shredded cheddar cheese and mix.
- Pour the egg combination over the tot, sausage, and veggies. Evenly spread the cheese if clumped.
- Spread the additional cup of shredded Pepper Jack (or Cheddar) Cheese over the entire top of the casserole. Cover with foil and place in the oven. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, garnish if peppers were reserved, and continue to bake for an additional 25 to 35 minutes. (Cheese should be browning and bubbly.
- Serve immediately with french toast, pancakes, or a strata.
still makes that killer chocolate peanut butter fudge and real Mince Meat Pies. Always full of smiles, with or without her teeth. And who can forget the time she and Uncle Vern shared a hymnal while singing Angels We Have Heard on High? By the second “Gloria” melisma two sets of choppers popped out onto the pages. Give credit where it is due, they both kept on singing unphased and toothless. Yep! Nothing quite says Merry Christmas like the scent of balsam fir highlighted with notes of stale Bay Rum, cow manure, and mothballs.
ing by the AM hours. Jalapeno cheese was off the menu! If you too might be sensitive to spicy food you too may want to substitute with another cup of cheddar. It works out fine. I honestly had my doubts about this dish, thinking it was almost too simple. But, it sur-
prised me. It was truly a “sleeper”. It didn’t look overly impressive in the pan, even with its holiday inspired green and red peppers. And, as the photo’s attest, served on a plate it would be a struggle for this beauty queen to even get picked as Runner Up in a two person contest.
Would it have looked better if a handful of red and green peppers were reserved for a garnish? It couldn’t hurt to toss some on when the foil comes off. Or perhaps the contrast of both a yellow and white cheddar may enhance its appeal? That said, the taste was what sold this dish. Really, what’s not to love about tots, sausage, eggs, and “breakfast veggies” smothered in cheddar cheese?
Served with Baked French Toast Casserole this Baked Tater Tot Casserole was the ideal accompaniment that had everyone coming back for seconds. It really is a dish perfect for Christmas Brunch with family or any Simple Feast.
Enjoy!
“I have no idea.”
“Well, how about if you make this Tater Tot Casserole?”
“I thought you were going to make it?”
“I found a Baked French Toast recipe I want to try.”
“Fine. Send it to me and I’ll make it.” I really hadn’t figured out anything yet so the tot thing sounded okay with me.
In retrospect, what a great decision that was. No joking, it was really REALLY good! And really REALLY simple! Especially after employing some short cuts. The original Baked Tater Tot Casserole recipe my daughter sent me calls for ground sausage
“Heee-looo? Dadio? What are you making for Christmas morning?” Again, the voice of my daughter speaking, brings me back to the present.
meat cooked and also sauteed onions. I opted for one of those precooked “heat and eat” sausage link brands you can buy by the bag full. Heated in the microwave oven to just “thawed tender” is fine so you can cut them up. And too, I opted to toss the onions and peppers into the casserole uncooked, figuring that the baking time would be ample to make the veggies tender. It was.
I also opted out of the Jalapeno Jack shredded cheese. My daughter and her husband treated us to Vietnamese food (Banh Mi Sandwiches) after Christmas Eve service and while they were delicious, the fresh jalapeno and cilantro lit a fire in me that was still smolder-
FEAST from 11
MAILBOAT from 2
school choice for ALL children regardless of income or ethnicity or race. This is the civil rights issue of our time.
7. Implement a ProAmerica Immigration Policy
Trump’s committed to securing our border, but we also need legal immigrants through a meritbased immigration system. This visa system would select immigrants based on their skills, talents, investment capital, English language ability and education level. These characteristics all presage success in America.
8. Revive America’s Great Cities
Trump wants to revitalize our cities and abandoned rural areas through deregulation, reduction in tax rates, changes in zoning policies and infrastructure investments.
9. Pull the U.S. Out of the Paris Climate Change Treaty and
Our once-great cities in America -- from New York to Chicago to Detroit to San Francisco to Seattle -- have come to look like war zones. Crime has run rampant. Businesses and people and capital are fleeing and leaving the poorest Americans -- mostly minorities -- stranded with tragically limited opportunities other than working at Walmart or McDonald’s for minimum wage. Since 2020, our major cities have lost nearly 1 million residents. And tens of thousands of businesses.
Other
Anti-America Agreements
We must end American participation in globalist treaties that hurt America most. This includes the Paris Climate Accords -- a treaty with which most other nations have failed to comply, yet which places huge burdens on American companies and workers. Trump also has pledged to end global taxation -- such as Treasury Secretary
Janet Yellen’s global minimum tax. Do we even need a United Nations?
10. Finally, Drain the Swamp
There is a reason why three of the five wealthiest counties in America are in or around Washington, D.C. Washington is getting rich at the
expense of the rest of us. Fewer than 10% of overpaid federal workers (of which there are more than 2 million) are working full time in the office even though COVID-19 ended three years ago. These are swamp employees that often get paid $150,000 or more a year. Fire them if they don’t show up. And relocate federal agencies in other cities.
These are admittedly bold aspirations for an economic transformation toward freedom and free enterprise. But the one person who can get it done is Trump.
Stephen Moore is a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation. He is also an economic advisor to the Trump campaign.
py Warrior , Hubert Humphrey, who was a victim of Lyndon Johnson’s disastrous Vietnam War policies. RMN won re-election in 1972 by a 49 state popular and electoral college landslide, the only inauguration I have ever attended. Although, being young and foolish, I cast my first vote for POTUS for George McGovern. I bought the the Washington Post ( Woodward and Bernstein) reporting hook, line and sinker at the time.
Then the Deep State struck and, in an historical irony, invented Watergate based on a disgruntled disclosure from an individual liv-
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id because RMN did not appoint him Director of the FBI. History rhymes again. While I have been an ardent supporter of Donald Trump from the minute Ted Cruz dropped out of the 2016 presidential race , just ask my radio confreres, RMN gives DJT a run for his money as the Greatest Comeback Kid in American political history. Let’s hope and pray for the future of our children and grandchildren that DJT’s Comeback is far more successful than RMN’s.
Charles Bradley Laconia, NH.
Government programs push the message: “You need a handout. You deserve a handout. It is no longer up to you to support your families, neighbors or even yourself. It’s up to government.”
As a result, welfare programs are no longer a bridge to independence but a ball and chain that weighs recipients down. Welfare doesn’t equip people with tools to become self-sufficient. It rewards dependency.
For the first time in history, America has a nearpermanent “underclass” -generation after generation that lives off government. Welfare discouraged selfimprovement.
People avoid marriage lest they lose benefits. Ablebodied people avoid work so monthly checks from Uncle Sam remain untouched. Fathers are often kept out of
the home, especially when welfare workers visit, to avoid cuts to benefits.
The solution? Giving ... but not by government. By people like you and me.
This holiday season, I will also support the Doe Fund, an organization that helps former addicts and prisoners rebuild their lives through meaningful work.
Unlike government welfare, their approach isn’t built around handouts. They say, “Work works.” They encourage self-sufficiency.
Most Doe Fund recipients don’t go back to jail.
Charities aren’t a perfect solution, but they’re better than government welfare.
Charities get to choose whom they help. They can focus resources on those who genuinely need a hand while saying no to those who just need “a kick in the butt.”
Government doesn’t. Its one-size-fits-all approach means money flows out, regardless of whether it helps or not.
It’s important to remember that in both cases, it’s your money being spent.
But when you give to charities, you have the power to decide where your dollars go. You can support causes where your donations make a real impact.
Government, on the other hand, forcibly takes your money and routinely wastes it on people who don’t deserve it.
In America’s welfare system, 70% of the money doesn’t even reach the people it’s supposed to help; it goes to bureaucrats who run the programs.
Charities actually deliver most of their money to those in need. If they don’t, donors stop giving.
Charity handouts also come with expiration dates, which is a good thing. Since recipients know handouts are not guaranteed forever, they have an incentive to take responsibility for their own lives, sooner rather than later.
Government handouts have no such urgency. The checks keep coming.
Charities do a better job. \
Every Tuesday at JohnStossel.com, Stossel posts a new video about the battle between government and freedom. He is the author of “Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media.”
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Answers on Page 21
The Winklman Aeffect by John Whitlock
