12/08/2022 Weirs Times

A skier on the snowy Range View Trail at Bretton Woods. Bretton Woods was the first ski resort to open in New Hampshire this season on November 18th! On the cold nights the snowmakers are hard at work to get skiers and snowboarders on the slopes. By this weekend most ski areas will be open for the season. Be sure to check snow conditions on-line at your favorite resort’s website, SkiNH.com/conditions or NewEnglandSkiConditions.com. It’s Snowtime!

It’s snowtIme! the LIfts Are open!

“Santa’s Slates” At The Galleries At 30 Main

Local artists have temporarily put their canvases aside and took to the challenge of painting on roof slates. The Galleries at 30 Main in Meredith is hosting the event which opens on Saturday, December 3rd and runs through December 23rd.

Bring in some non perishable food items for the food pantry and take $5.00 off of the purchase of any slate. All slates are priced at $60; an affordable Christmas Gift, locally hand crafted and for a great cause.

All food items and a percentage of slate sales will go to the Food Pantry located at the Calvary Bible Church in Meredith.

“The slates have a special mean ing. They came from and were do nated to the gallery by the Meredith Library during their renovations. We decided to use them to “Give back” to the community. When buy ing a slate you are also purchasing a piece of Meredith’s history” explains Vynnie Hale, co-owner of The Gal leries at 30 Main.

To fond out more about the Gal leries visit thegalleriesat30main. com

We flipped the last page of the calen dar and it is now December. Skiers and snowboarders want to hit the slopes as soon as the first frost covers the windshield in the morn ing. Thanks to the snowmakers the ski areas are able to cover the

by Amy Patenaude Outdoor/Ski Columnist

trails with man-made snow as soon as the temperature drops below freezing. Now we wait for the first big snowstorm to be delivered by Mother Nature. We all want our yards to be covered white before Christmas too.

Bretton Woods was the first resort in New Hampshire to open on Sat

urday November 18th.

My first day skiing this season was at Bretton Woods on their third day open, Monday morning.

It was a brisk cold morning, no wind and with only a few clouds that capped the summit of Mount Washington.

See PATENAUDE on 30

THE WEIRS, LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE, N.H., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2022

Thanks From Altrusa

To The Editor: Altrusa International of Mer edith would like to sincerely thank our sponsors-business and friends alike whose finan cial support during our recent fundraiser in partnership with Temple B’nai Israel and the very successful We Care Concert. As the recipient of the net proceeds from this event, your support enables us to continue our work in the communities we serve. Thank you also to our Ticket Donor Friends whose generosity allowed us to provide free tickets to our local Fire Department, Veterans, and area nursing homes to come and enjoy the show.

Winnipesaukee level: Heart and Hands Thrift Shop, Meredith Bay Colony Club, Winnisquam level: Hayward and Company, Waukewan Level: Cackleberries Garden and Gift Shop, Hart’s Turkey Farm, Lovering Volvo Cars, Meredith, Overhead Door Options, The Leighton Family, Verizon of Meredith, Mark Title baum, Winona level: Ambrose Bros., Inc., Auto Haus of Mer edith, LLC, Cerutti Contract ing, LLC, Harborside Dental, Inter-Lakes Builders, Inc., Loon Rustics, LLC Lincoln, NH, Mer edith Landing Real Estate, LLC, Meredith Station, Minute-Man Plumbing and Heating, North way Bank, Paquette Signs, Ste phen’s Landscaping, The Plati num Group at RE/MAX Bay side-Chris Kelly, Scott Knowles and Chris Adams, Wicwas level: Anonymous, Bonner Builders, LLC, Bryant Paving, Marsha

and Rick Courtney, Dow Realty Group/ Keller Williams, Hermit Woods, NH DIRT PROS, Christo pher P Williams Architects, LLC. Ticket Donor Friends: Anony mous, DAK Financial Group, LLC, Jeff and Marilyn Elsmore, Don and Martha Hodgeman, Gina Galasso, Keller Williams/ Starr Realty, Lake Homes Realty, LLC, Connie Van Dam, Ruth and Brian Neidhardt, Charles and Camille Northrup, Chuck and Karen Thorndike, Wamesit Fire Companies Relief Associa tion, Wescott Law, PA, Tim, and Sue Yeaton. Special Recognition: Scott Burns Landscaping, LLC.

Altrusa Club of Meredith MaryAnne Skawinski President

Respect For Marriage Act

To The Editor: Abe Lincoln’s insightful ob servation, “Without the Bible Americans would not know the difference between right and wrong” again hits a target, 62 Senators all at once who voted for the deceptively named Re spect For Marriage Act, HR 8404 and S 4556 that passed the Senate with a vote that denies filibuster .

How have we arrived at this place of tolerance that rules su perior against righteous living in 2022 that 50 years ago our society drew a “line in the dust” between a culture known for “moral purity,” as opposed to to day’s shamed sexual deviance? First, the moral force for righ

teousness has gradually back peddled from this line of moral safety. Steps of moral decline were advanced by our society that licensed promiscuous sex, no-fault divorce and “same sex marriage”.

Yesterday’s line in the dust now shows signs of being totally surrendered to the sexual revo lution. A driving force that even now has captured the minds of those we have elected to office.

Moreover, traditional morality backed down intimidated by the marketing experts for homosex uality who changed their pub lic image. We now have moral outrage painted with words as long suffering and victimized. Powerful words cover LBGQT+ anything goes lifestyle. Such behavior should not be licensed to become a law to redefine mar riage. It also forces “same sex laws” from one state on other states. If these blatant violation of the 10th Amendment are not stopped, this law has the po tential to destroy God-ordained marriage. And it is a major step toward tyranny with power, wealth, and willing politicians behind it.

But the question is, will this usurpation of law by unlaw ful servants wake up citizens enough to motivate them to take action to stop it. Constitutional law will only limit government when enough people have a sufficient understanding to hold their leaders accountable. We cannot continue to take comfort in the fact that such legal au thority that threatens

Our StOry

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.

Published year round on Thursdays, we distribute 24,000 copies of the Weirs Times every week to the Lakes Region/Concord/ Seacoast area and the mountains and have an estimated 60,000 people reading this newspaper.

To find out how your business or service can benefit from advertising with us please call 1-888-308-8463.

PO Box 5458 Weirs, NH 03247 Weirs.com info@weirs.com facebook.com/weirstimes 603-366-8463

Not So LoNg Ago

...

Exploring ThE lEgEnd & lorE of our graniTE STaTE

pAst presentGIft IdeAs from A Century AGo

by Robert Hanaford Smith, Sr. Contributing Writer

How about a black board for Christmas?

The giving of gifts at Christmas time is a long lasting tradition, but the choice of gifts to give has changed with the passing years. What did the child of a hundred years or more in the past receive for Christmas?

The December 8, 1928 issue of the New England Homestead magazine offered some gift ideas for rural New England shoppers of that year.

According to writer Mrs. L.H. Funk, “chil dren are easily made happy. To shower a child with all sorts of expensive toys is only to confuse him...

Children have simple tastes in all things and their taste should be considered when it comes to choosing their gifts.” In today’s world some might question how simple the tastes of today’s children are, but there can be no question that the gift choices, while not the same,

are sometimes similar to those of years past.

And, yes, Mrs. Funk, based on her knowl edge of children and the opinion that many people waste money on worthless gifts, de clared in her 1928 ar ticle that “Blackboards make excellent gifts for children. There was never a child that did not enjoy writing on a board.” She explained that the black boards came in many different shapes and sizes and that the inexpensive ones could be tacked to kitchen walls. With the availability of dustless “crayons,”

meaning chalk, and the fact that they were available in different colors, the boards of fered an “inexhaust ible ” supply of good times.

Blocks, which one could argue are still popular close to a hundred years later, perhaps proving Mrs. Funk’s statement that blocks never grow old, were also suggested as a good Christmas gift in 1928. Numerous things could be con structed with blocks which involved plan ning on the part of the child. Of course, See SMITH on 28

1920s Blackboard was a popular gift.

EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

Tapply-Thompson Community Center Celebrates 68 Years Of Santa’s Village

Join the Tapply-Thompson Community Center in Bristol for its 68th year of its Santa’s Village You will be amazed at the many sights that greet you as you enter the enchanted Santa’s Village. It begins on Friday, December 9th from 6 – 8 pm and continues on Sat urday, 12/10 & Sunday, 12/11 from 2 – 5 pm.

This event is free to all individu als. We are asking you to bring in one canned good item when you visit the Village, if possible, to be donated to the local Food Pantry.

Visitors to Santa’s Village should also be aware that there is a Christmas Craft Fair on the main floor during the three days. The Craft Fair begins one half hour prior to the Village and ends one half hour after the Village closes. There will be over 25 craft booths to help you find that ‘special’ gift.

Some of the exciting cast of characters you and your children will encounter this year will be Cadderly the Bear, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, the Elves, and of course Santa & Mrs. Claus. All children will have the opportunity to receive a cookie from Mrs. Claus and to visit with Santa and receive a small Christmas gift to take home for their tree. There will be photos available with Santa for a small fee. Cameras are allowed. For more info call the TTCC at 744-2713 or check our website at www.ttccrec.org.

Soft Plastics Collection In Laconia

On Saturday, December 10, from 11am to 1pm, the Laconia-Gilford Lions Club along with the Green Sanctuary and Social Justice Committees of the Uni tarian Universalist Society of Laconia are holding their next soft plastics col lection. They will also be collecting pop top canned goods for distribution to local food pantries. Volunteers will be out front of the little white church at 172 Pleasant St. in Laconia for curbside pickup. They are collecting plastic grocery bags, vegetable bags, bubble wrap, newspa per sleeves, bread bags, air packing bags, dry cleaning bags, ice bags, cereal box liners, and plastic films labeled with a #2 or #4 recycling symbol. Blue and white Amazon bags are accepted, as are pellet bags and brand new from factory mattress plastic coverings. No crunchy snack bags, no pet food bags, no boat storage covers. Any attached paper on bags must be removed. No hard plastics. All plastics are sent via the Gilford Hannaford’s to a Maine company to be safely recycled into decking and deck furniture. Consider organizing group collection efforts as have the Taylor and Wesley Woods retirement communities, Prescott Farms, the Interact Club at LHS and others. Our food drive focuses on pop top canned goods because of their easy access for people in difficult circumstances. So, when you pop in with plastics, don’t forget our pop up pop top food collection!

For any questions, email theandrews@verizon.net, call church office at 603-524-6488 or check their Facebook page.

Canterbury Shaker Singers Sing Holiday Songs

On Sunday, December 11 from 4-5pm, the Canterbury Singers will sing holiday Shaker songs at Canterbury Village.

Before the performance from 12-4pm, visitors can make pomanders and cinnamon tree ornaments in the Village’s Hubbard Gallery.

Additional activities at the Village during this time of year include “Shaker Stories” tours, of fered at 11am and 2pm on Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 18.

Featuring 694 acres of forests, fields, gardens, nature trails, and mill ponds under permanent conservation easement, the Village is designated as a National Historic Landmark with 25 restored original Shaker buildings and 4 reconstructed Shaker buildings. Canterbury Shaker Village is a member of the NH Heritage Museum Trail, which connects the public with cultur ally rich heritage institutions in New Hampshire.

For more information about The Trail, visit nhmuseumtrail.org.

Wolfeboro Festival Of Trees Wraps Up This Weekend

The Wolfeboro Festival of Trees wraps up its twenty-third season this weekend Saturday, December 10th from 10-4 and Sunday, December 11th from 12-3.

The Festival, held at the Wright Museum in Wolfeboro features a record-breaking 74 trees uniquely decorated by local businesses, non-profits organizations and individuals plus a full schedule of entertainment.

Entertainment on Saturday, December 10th features lots of family fun including a visit from Santa from 12-3. Taking the stage at 10am. is Expressions Dance Academy followed at noon by popular local puppeteers, “Just Bob and Marla” with their puppet friends. At 1pm Bobby Bear (Tuttle) will entertain the crowd followed by Monadnock Mavericks and completing the Saturday line-up is the Shake It Up Dance Center at 3pm..

The Festival will close out the season on Sunday, De cember 11th, from 12-3pm with a fantastic entertainment schedule sure to send you off with lots of holiday spirit.

Taking the stage at noon is Plymouth singer, songwriter, and musician David Lockwood, playing Christmas tunes from his newly released album, Comfort & Joy from noon-1:15. The festival closer is local favorite, vocalist Gary McGloin singing holiday and show tunes from 1:30-3:00. Be sure to check out the Festival website for the complete schedule of entertainment and all Festival details, at our new website www. wolfeboroholidayfestivaloftrees.com.

Tickets are available at the door and are $8 for individuals, $2 for children and $20 for families of 4. Cash and credit cards accepted. Proceeds from this event will support the important work of the Friends of the Wolfeboro Public Library, The Carpenter Elementary School PTO and the ACTS Assistance Canine Training Services.

David Lockwood

F OOL

NEW HAMPSHIRE

I am told they still use in some voting places. It takes a steady hand to fill in the box without the ink running outside of the box or, if doing that success fully, then writing in a name without the letters all mushed together in one indecipherable mess making the reading of it near impossible.

it before, but it does seem like something that needs to be ad dressed. Possibly even more im portant than deciding what the state carbohydrate should be.

by Brendan Smith Weirs Times Editor

It has taken me this long to finally catch my breath. It was a long hard-fought battle for gov ernor and now it’s finally over. All of the mud-slinging and name call ing has slowed down to a less offensive pitch (or none at all if you stay off so cial media and don’t watch the “news”).

All the bogus promises and impossible pledges to please each and every person are now put to rest, and we can get back to the realities of not much ever getting done.

Or politics as usual as we say in the business.

It is also the end of people running for office, myself in cluded, walking around with giant, inhuman smiles while shaking hands with people we don’t know while pretending to listen to their worries and fears and doing our best not to look at our watches as we feign interest.

It is now time to put all of that aside, dust ourselves off and spend some quality time with family and friends for Christmas before we get back to work in January planning our attack for the next election.

First off, I would like to thank all of you (and you know who you are) who wrote my name in for governor this last election as I know it may have been difficult for some of you.

I am not talking about the moral dilemma you may have had in the voting booth in some towns, agonizing over whether you may have been taking away votes from one of the other can didates by voting for me thus, single-handedly determining the fate of New Hampshire politics for the next two years.

No, I am talking about those obnoxious felt tip marking pens

For those of you who took the time to carefully write in my name, I thank you again. To those of you who tried, but failed miserably, only to have com pleted your ballot with nothing but an ugly blob under the gov ernor write-in section, thanks for trying.

I have not heard back how many write-in votes I received. The last I heard they were still going over some ballots as re quested by the Secretary of State and should be done by January 2nd, by then too late as Sununu will already have been sworn in. They say it has nothing to do with trying to de cipher who some of the write-in votes were cast for, but I have my doubts.

I realize that I hadn’t made enough campaign promises I couldn’t keep in this last elec tion, so this one will be a good start.

If I do decide to run for gov ernor again, I promise to make it a priority to push through new legislation that will see to it that all writing materials in vot ing booths are appropriate for clearly writing in a name.

There is another crucial issue, brought up to me by a fellow citizen while we waited on-line to vote. (Seems there was a de lay at my polling place as all the voting booths were filled and people were having a hard time using their markers.) He wanted me to look into having legisla tion that would give New Hamp shire residents a say in whether or not we should permanently be a “Falling Back” or “Springing Ahead” state.

I had never thought about

This gentleman told me a story of a friend of his, a main tenance man for a large event hall. It seems every time the clocks changed, he would have to get out his twenty-foot lad der to reach the old clocks that towered high up on the walls of the facility.

Often, it would be a week or more until he got around to changing the darn things, confusing the people coming to the events because they always thought they were arriving too early (or late, as the case may be).

He also told me of how his friend had nearly fallen off the ladder a few times but was for tunate not to have. His point be ing that such accidents could be avoided permanently by simply keeping the time the same all year long.

“I always wondered,” he fin ished, stroking his beard. “If no one had ever changed their clocks back or ahead in the first place, what time would it really be, and would anyone re ally care?”

So, it seems, I already have one great issue for my next platform. It might be all I need. Maybe that old song by the group Chicago could be my theme song.

But I am getting a little ahead of myself. People don’t want any politics in their lives right now. It’s time for being with loved ones and celebrating the holiday.

Politics can wait a few weeks.

Brendan is the author of “The Flatlander Chronicles”,“Best Of A F.O.O.L. In New Hampshire” and “I Only Did It For The Socks Stories & Thoughts On Aging” All are available at Brenda nTSmith.com.

in Live Free or Die.

*A FLATLANDER’S OBSERVATIONS ON LIFE

musk’s BAttLe for free speeCh

ChInA Is usInG BIG teCh - so why Is the west tArGetInG musk’s twItter?

Elon Musk is a modern-day gladiator fighting to protect free speech -- the bed rock of liberty. Yet instead of combatting a tiger or vio lent swordsman at the Colosseum in an cient Rome, the battle royal is happening at Twitter’s headquarters in Silicon Valley, where he’s up against a myriad of tyran nical forces that want to control speech and public discourse to advance a political agenda and sway elections in Democrats’ favor by censoring the truth.

by Adriana Cohen Syndicated Columnist

Musk is up against the Democrat Machine and its devious allies in the Deep State and politicized FBI who pressured so cial media companies during the 2020 election to censor socalled misinformation on Twitter and other online platforms. This stealth censorship campaign by the highest echelons of the almighty government included spiking the New York Post’s accurate reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop to help Joe Biden get elected.

Evidence of Deep State election interference emerged when 51 former U.S. intelligence “experts” signed a letter asserting the scandalous laptop was “Russian Disinformation,” which was a lie to dupe voters. Of course, months later, The New York Times and other media outlets finally confirmed the laptop was legit long after Biden won the election. Embar rassingly, CBS News confirmed the laptop is authentic this month --769 days -- after the New York Post broke the story. How convenient...

And if that’s not enough headwind Musk is facing from the vast censorship cartel here in the States, he’s also combatting left-wing activist groups and other powerful forces who are demanding corporations yank its Twitter advertising to pun ish its new independent-minded CEO for not toeing the line on mass censorship of conservatives and free thinkers. To day, thuggish political operatives and Democratic politicians are effectively enforcing a “if you don’t play, you pay” type of operation not unlike protection rackets the mafia employed during its heyday.

If all that’s not alarming enough, Apple, the monopolistic tech giant, is escalating threats against Twitter to cripple the platform. “Apple has also threatened to withhold Twit ter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why,” Musk tweeted this week. “Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in

by Ben Shapiro Syndicated Columnist

This week, the Chi nese government ac tivated its vast cen sorship apparatus to prevent dissemination of news regarding thou sands of citizens taking to the streets to protest the CCP’s zero-COVID lockdowns. China has developed the world’s most sophisticated and invasive surveillance scheme: According to The Wall Street Journal, police have been dispersing to the site of protests ahead of time thanks to their monitoring of internet traffic, cell phone data and messaging apps. China also has access to data from hundreds of millions of cameras, “some equipped with facial-recognition software... The govern ment has enhanced these capabilities over the past two years as part of contacttracing efforts to control the spread of the virus.”

Such compulsion becomes necessary when a tyrannical government presides over an increasingly unhappy population. Chinese dictator Xi Jinping despises capi talism -- in fact, he despises it so much that he has undercut the durability of his own economy in a bizarre quest to pursue a form of authoritarian mercantilism. The result has been slower economic growth, shoddy product innovation and extraordi nary levels of debt, all piled atop an aging demographic time bomb. He has sought to make up for this through higher levels of compulsion domestically, combined with stealing technology from the West and utilizing military power to simply take over areas like Hong Kong. Chinese tech com panies have been brought to heel: as The New York Times reported in July 2021, Chinese “companies and entrepreneurs are effectively telling the government that they know who the master is.” But Xi hasn’t stopped there.

Xi has taken advantage of the weak underbelly of capitalism -- the reality that profit-seeking enterprises will allow them selves to be co-opted by malevolent actors in order to maintain their profitability, that corporations are not predominantly concerned with American national secu rity but with economic efficiency. This is why Apple is now reportedly doing the bid ding of the Chinese government.

Apple, which bases its manufacture of the iPhone, among other devices, in China -- to the point where 25% of the value of the iPhone apparently comes from Chi nese companies -- is completely subject to Chinese whim, and they know it. That’s undoubtedly why Apple cut off its Airdrop feature in its latest Chinese update, just before the anti-lockdown protests broke out: Airdrop allows users to transfer data using wireless connections rather than the internet, which avoids governmental scrutiny.

Apple isn’t a rarity. Multiple major com panies have had to make the choice be tween access to China’s markets and labor resources and standing against Chinese autocracy. Some companies have with stood the test -- but not enough of them.

Meanwhile, the West is focused, laser like, on Elon Musk’s Twitter as the sup posed threat to democracy. This week, the EU announced that Twitter could be in violation of the Digital Services Act, which forces social media platforms to police “hate speech.” The White House has also announced that it has its eye on Musk’s Twitter, which it says has now become a font of “misinformation.” Musk has dedi cated Twitter to opening up standards of speech, allowing those with non-lawbreak ing activity to tweet.

This has raised the hackles of our thought leaders -- not Apple actively doing the work of suppressing sharing of infor mation in authoritarian China.

All of this bodes ill for the future of the digital age in

BIAs, enVy And hAtred

Today, big me dia has an agen da. Fox and most talk radio push right; most other media spin left.

but my ABC peers wouldn’t even read it.

Soon after, annoyed by my wish to cover failures of big government, ABC dropped me as “20/20” coanchor.

she made it clear she found some leftist opinion just silly. That’s when the envy and hatred came out.

As her friend, it was ugly watch ing it happen.

viewed her this week is that there was also blowback from our Fox boss, Roger Ailes. He told Kelly not to be so hard on Trump.

by John Stossel Syndicated Columnist

For a long time, leftists pretended this wasn’t hap pening. In 36 years at CBS and ABC, none of my colleagues admit ted leaning left. There were only “facts” versus “narrow-minded conservatives.”

Then Bernie Goldberg’s book “Bias” came out. The book is deadon accurate, and a huge bestseller,

My new Fox News bosses didn’t like my libertarian arguments ei ther, but they never stopped me from making them. They let me argue that America should allow more legal immigration, stop polic ing the world, end the drug war, etc. Conservatives were still nice to me the hall.

There I befriended Megyn Kelly. She seemed neutral politically. But when she got a prime-time show,

First, Donald Trump fans at tacked her. She had done the pro fessional thing, confronting Trump about his calling women “fat pigs,” etc.

Trump then took to the media -including Fox -- to say, “I have zero respect for Megyn Kelly” and, “She had blood coming out of ... “ Trump fans then threatened Kelly. What I didn’t know until I inter

“He was scared,” she says in my new video. “He was losing a por tion of the Fox News base to people who felt Fox wasn’t being fair to Trump.”

Then, when Ailes got embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal and Kelly didn’t leap to his defense, Fox’s nasty “media relations” de partment came after her.

“They would cut you,” says Kelly, meaning they would spread dirt on their own reporters.

See STOSSEL on 35

why does BIden wAnt to Buy VenezueLAn oIL ?

The fix is in.

played for political turkeys.

So why the quiet but significant policy change? And moreover, why does the Biden Administration wish to resume petroleum purchases from one of Latin America’s most brutal and corrupt dictatorships?

by John J. Metzler Syndicated Columnist

During the Thanksgiv ing holiday, the Biden Admin istration an nounced it was quietly reversing policy and allow ing limited petro leum imports from Venezuela.

The Treasury Department lifted restrictions permitting a six month deal to ease sanctions so that Chevron petroleum may buy and then ship Venezuelan crude oil to American refineries.

So while Americans were cel ebrating with Thanksgiving tur key, and distracted from political events, the people were being

Well much of this is about, you guessed it, Russia. Since the U.S. stopped buying Russian oil earlier this year, there have been consid erable shortfalls in the American energy supply. Why? Quite sim ply because the USA is foolishly and willfully reducing its domestic petroleum production while at the same time seeking new foreign sources. Venezuela has one of the world’s largest petroleum reserves and used to pump up to three mil lion barrels per day, so logically why not go there? In the past,

Venezuela was a major U.S. petro leum supplier. But naturally the political cards first have to be reshuffled; the United States, most of Europe and many Latin American states had supported opposition leader Juan Guaido’s “interim government” since Nicolas Maduro’s socialists won a rigged election in 2018. Now with the parties of the Venezuelan democratic opposition faltering and willing to negotiate with the Maduro regime, there’s an opening for “dialogue” and a “third way” as they used to say.

At the same time, Colombia, the country which borders Venezuela has become a major destination for over two million Venezuelan refugees. Yet with the election of a leftist leader President Gustavo

Petro political ties warmed between Bogota and Caracas. President Petro visited Venezuela recently and was feted by Maduro. In recent months key regional states includ ing Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru re-embraced the once ostracized Venezuelan regime.

For Washington, since regime change to topple Maduro failed to work, its let’s go back to business in Caracas and get the oil flowing again.

Buying into the myth that Ven ezuela has changed reflects myopic political rationalization which fails to see the unchanging character and corruption of the Maduro dic tatorship, the millions of refugees which have fled the once prosper ous country because of his misrule,

See METZLER on 35

Letters From God

This series of Letters From God is an attempt to put the thoughts of God as revealed in the Scriptures as they re late to individuals and the nation of the USA.

Letters From God

QUESTION: Why Should You Have A Special Day Of Celebration At Christmas?

I would say for two reasons.

The first is to recog nize me for who I am and what I have done. I don’t need that recog nition, but it is always good to hear thanks and as you shall see, giving thanks is good for you as well.

Let me remind you of who I am, as many on earth have forgot ten, because they have turned away from me, and as you know, “out of sight, out of mind.”

I did create you, along with the world and the entire universe. If you were to read my book, the Bible, in the begin ning chapters of Gen esis, I detailed how I created everything. I will also remind you that I created it out of nothing. I simply spoke and you and all that you see as well as all that is beyond your ability to see were cre ated (Genesis 1 & 2). I think that should call for some recognition and celebration.

In case you haven’t heard, since Mr. Ein stein discovered the theory of General Rela tivity in 1915 and ev ery scientific discovery since has overwhelm ingly affirmed that the earth and universe had a beginning. The Law of Causality that is ac cepted as an absolute

in the scientific com munity, demands that every effect must have a cause. Science’s task is to makes observa tions of existing phe nomena and then seek to discover the cause. General Relativity leads to the conclusion that something came from nothing. I, your Cre ator, with my super natural power, brought it into existence.

My creation of you reinforces why you should consider cel ebrating Christmas. It remembers the day my son, Jesus, who him self was God, stepped into creation to live among you (John 1:114). When you con sider that God visited your planet, it should call forth some sort of celebration. You celebrate other “im portant” people and events as a recognition of their contribution to your country or world, how much more should you consider doing the same for my son, who as God, walked among you.

But this begs the question, why did he come?

This leads me to the second reason why you should celebrate Christmas. It is to re member and celebrate the gift you received from me when my son, Jesus, came. You must understand that to walk among you as a man was deeply hum bling for Jesus. He enjoyed all the bless ings of heaven yet was touched by all the pain and suffering of human existence. More than that, he would die a most humiliating death on a cross as a result of deceitful, evil men who

were threatened by his claim to be God and by the supernatural power he demonstrated (Phi lippians 2:1-11). Why, you might ask? It was because of a promise I made to make a pro vision for you to live eternally.

You see, when I cre ated the first man and woman, they were cre ated without sin or evil.

I made them just like me. I have no evil and cannot sin. In this condition, they enjoyed a perfect environment free of evil and any con sequences of evil. I however, made it clear that if they chose to disobey me and became sinful, because I am without sin, I could not have relationship with them. When they did choose to disobey, they were separated from me forever. Humanity, my crowning creation, was in trouble. They would languish on earth dur ing their physical ex istence and when they die, they would be sep arated from me forever, because I can’t have relationship with evil. I say all of this to explain the “gift,” I offered to you on the first Christ mas day.

Since you can only have life now and for eternity through being in a relationship with me, and since even one act of disobedience made this impossible, the only possible hope you have is if somehow your acts of disobedi ence (sins) could be forgiven and not held against you.

I gave my son to be come a man, but be cause he was still God, being eternal and sin less, he was able to pay the penalty for all your

sins.

If you accept him as your Savior, he will for give all your sins and you can enter back into a relationship with me.

If you do, I will once again give you life now, during your physical existence, and when you die, bringing you into my eternal home where death is not known or experienced. You will live forever!!!

What do you think? Is that worth some sort of celebration and recog nition? I would say so and highly recommend that you recognize your need and come back to me through my son, by asking him to forgive your sins and restore you to me.

In light of who I am and what I have done for you, there is no more important day of the year to stop and honor me and my son, Jesus. Sadly, most won’t. When he came the first time even my chosen people, Isra el, rejected him (John 1:11). “But, as many as received him, to them he gave the right to be come children of God.” (John 1:12)

Will you let another Christmas pass, or will you humble yourself and receive my gift, through my son, Je sus? Your eternal life depends on your re sponse.

I love you, God

These letters are writ ten by a New Hamp shire pastor.

BIRDS For The

New England’s Wild Birds & Their Habitats

by Chris Bosak Contributing Writer

For one of the few times in this column’s history, the accompa nying photo will not match the content.

The reason for that is quite simple. I am yet to get a decent photo of the main sub ject. Even as I receive emails from readers across New England about evening gros beaks showing up at feeders, I have yet to host them at my feed ing station. I am also yet to see them in the “wild” closely enough to get a good photo.

Tricia from Alstread wrote in the day after Thanksgiving to say she had evening gros beaks at her feeder. She was hopeful there may be an irruption of the birds this winter. I, too, am hopeful.

Norma from Spofford alerted me in early November that she had as many as 11 at her feeder. It was the first time she had seen them in many years.

Deb from Royalston, Massachusetts, had four pairs of grosbeaks later in November. She has had luck in the past attracting them as well.

Evening grosbeaks are songbirds about the size of a cardinal, but with a more finchlike body. They have thick bills and bril liant yellow, black and white plumage − kind

Purple finches, similar to evening grosbeaks, are an irruptive species in New England, meaning they may show up in higher-than-usual numbers during certain winters.

of like oversized gold finches. Females are duller in color.

They are boreal birds and have a short mi gration south in the winter. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, or COA, they have been being seen less frequently in the East since the 1980s. They are listed as a bird of “least con cern,” but COA also warns that the popu lation is declining and will require “constant care and long-term assessment to pre vent further declines.”

According to studies, their population has dropped about 74 per

cent between 1966 and 2019.

Potential reasons for the decline, accord ing to COA, include logging and develop ment of the of boreal forest, bird diseases, and spraying of trees that are killing their food. COA warns that changing climate may alter their habitat to the point in which they may “completely disappear” from New England. I certainly hope that’s not the case.

I did see a lone eve ning grosbeak a few years ago during a late fall trip to northern New Hampshire. The

beautiful yellow, black and white bird landed in a tall spruce tree. It was not at the top of the tree, but certainly it was well above eye level. I watched the bird for a minute or two, and then walked a few steps back to the car to retrieve the camera. As you can probably guess, by the time I took off the lens cap and twisted out the zoom lens, the bird was gone. It wasn’t elsewhere in the tree or in a nearby tree. It was gone.

Coincidentally, an evening grosbeak was the subject of one of

funspot GIft CArd promotIon to BenefIt mIx CAsh & CAns

Today’s Hit Music Mix 94.1fm presents its 36th annual Cashand-Cans money and food drive for the holi days now through De cember 16. The fund raiser, started by Mix 94.1fm’s Fred Caruso in 1987, raises food and money for a num ber of central New Hampshire charitable organizations, from food pantries to soup kitchens to toys-fortots programs.

Saturday December 10th will be a unique way to benefit Mix Cash & Cans. It’s a Funspot Gift Card Fundraiser at Funspot from Noon-3pm. “Once again, Funspot and the Lawton family have stepped up to the plate to help our those in need here in our cen tral New Hampshire community. We’re very excited to have them involved once again with year’s Cash

& Cans campaign,” Caruso said. “For a minimum ten-dollar donation to Cash & Cans, you’ll receive a ten-dollar Funspot gift card; donate twenty dollars, get a twenty dollar gift card; donate fifty, get fifty. It’s re ally is a win-win for everyone. Funspot gift

cards make great gifts and stocking stuffers and Mix Cash & Cans gets the donation.”

Last year the Funspot Gift Card Fundraiser raised over $1,800 for Mix Cash & Cans.

During Mix Cash & Cans week, Caruso and morning co-host Amy Bates will be ac

cepting monetary and non-perishable food donations with 100% of the pro ceeds right here in our central New Hampshire com munity. “We live in a wonderful area, neighbors helping neighbors, friends helping friends, people helping peo ple they’ve never met. That’s what Cash-and-Cans is all about,” said Ca ruso.

A complete Cash and Cans broad cast schedule is available at www. mix941fm.com. Do nations can also be made through the mail. Please make checks payable to Mix Cash-andCans and mail to Mix 94.1fm, PO Box 99, Franklin, NH 03235. And Venmo, @Mixcashandcans. For more information about the Cash & Cans program email Caruso at fred@mix941fm. com. Mix Cash & Cans is a public service of Mix 94.1fm, a locally owned and operated Northeast Communi cations radio station.

by Mike Moffett Contributing Writer

My friend State Sena tor Tim Lang was the prime mover behind legalizing sports bet ting in New Hampshire in 2019. As his party was then in the leg islative minority, the “odds” were against his success, but he skill fully shepherded his bill forward in a bipar tisan way and Governor Chris Sununu signed it into law that fall. His Excellency then made the first legal sports bet on January 1, 2020, at Shoppers Pub and Eat ery in Manchester.

I was there for the his toric moment.

Governor Sununu placed the bet via his phone after lauding Tim, N.H. Lottery Ex ecutive Director Char lie McIntyre, and the Draft Kings gaming op eration. As N.H.’s 82nd Governor, Sununu bet $82 on the Patriots to win the Super Bowl. He got decent odds, as the Pats were not exactly favored to go all the way. But politically-speaking, could the Guv bet on any other team?

(Sadly, New England would be eliminated in a wild card game by the Tennessee Titans in Tom Brady’s last game as a Patriot.)

Since 1/1/2020 around $30 million bet ting dollars have made their way to the Granite State’s public education fund—including a few of my dollars.

footBALL BettInG And Beth

2020.

Senator Lang is now working on legislation to broaden the distribution of these dollars within the greater Granite State education community. I would not bet against him succeeding.

Sports betting is not everyone’s cup of tea, but for me a modest investment (wager) can make an otherwise bor ing game between the Broncos and the Pan thers utterly compelling. Which brings us to the traditional Thanksgiving Day NFL fare. This year found the Bills playing the Lions in Detroit, the Giants playing the Cow

boys in Dallas, and the Pats playing the Vikings in Minnesota.

I put in my teasers, parlays and more and asked my spouse if she’d like to make some picks. Beth had zero interest in doing so but I told her it would be fun and that I’d pay $10 so she could do a three-way parlay.

“So who’s playing?”

I told her and she quickly said she’d take the Lions, Giants and Vikings and then went back to watching a BBC drama on her I-Pad while I put football on the big screen. Buffalo, Dallas, and Minnesota

were favored by 9, 10, and 2 points respec tively.

Much of my action was ruined when Buf falo won but didn’t cov er. However, the Lions did beat the spread. I explained to Beth that even though the Lions lost, she won because they only lost by three.

The second game saw Dallas leading the Gi ants 28-13 with time running out.

“I guess I made a bad pick,” said Beth, looking away from her murder mystery.

“Actually, if the Giants

Legislative Beer Caucus founders Tim Lang, Mike Moffett, Howard Pearl, and Reed Panasiti with Governor Chris Sununu right after the Governor made the first-ever legal on-line sports bet in New Hampshire on Jan. 1.

Passing Assets Through A Trust: What To Know

As the year winds down, your thoughts might drift to the future. And, as part of that future, you may be thinking of where your financial assets will end up. You’ve worked hard to accumulate them, and you’ll certainly need some of them to support your retirement, but what about the rest? What’s the best way to pass them on to your loved ones?

There’s no single path for everyone to follow. But you might consider establishing a trust, which offers some key benefits. For example, your estate can avoid the time-consuming, and highly public, process of probate. Plus, you can be highly specific about how your assets will be distributed.

To establish a trust, you will need to work with a qualified estate-planning attorney. And while you’ll discuss many issues, here are three key questions that will certainly need to be addressed:

Who will serve as trustee of the trust? As the grantor, or creator, of your trust, you will pick the trustee – the individual or corporate entity that will manage the trust’s assets and carry out the purpose of the trust. You could choose a trusted loved one, but this individual might not have the knowledge or experience to manage the responsibilities of a trustee. As an alternative, you could choose a corporate fiduciary, such as a bank or trust company. These entities are typically regulated by outside agencies and provide significant public matter expertise. Of course, they charge for their services and often have account minimums.

When are distributions made? As the grantor, you can choose when assets will be distributed to the beneficiaries you’ve named. You could

This article was

decide to keep the assets in the trust until a beneficiary reaches the age of majority; note that the age of majority is not the same in all states. Or you could choose to “phase in” the distributions at particular ages – e.g., 30, 35, 40 – or after a certain number of years. You could even hold assets in the trust for the lifetimes of the beneficiaries. These types of choices will depend on several factors, such as your feelings for how responsible a beneficiary might be in managing money.

For what purposes can the trust assets be used? In addition to choosing when your trust should make distributions, you can decide how these assets should be used. You could designate some broad categories, such as health, education, maintenance and support. A beneficiary’s request for distributions in these areas is usually granted. But you could also structure the trust to provide mandatory income, perhaps once a year, or include a provision that provides incentives, such as distributing certain amounts of money once the beneficiary has achieved a milestone, such as finishing a degree or purchasing a first home.

One final note: Although you clearly have great control over what your trust can accomplish, its effectiveness will also depend, to a great extent, on its asset level. With this in mind, you’ll want to pay close attention to your investment decisions throughout your life and your withdrawal strategy during retirement. The better your choices in these areas, the more options you’ll have with your trust –and the greater the potential benefits for your beneficiaries.

GILFORD

NICK TRUDEL, AAMS® , CRPC®

FINANCIAL ADVISOR (603) 293-0055

nicholas.trudel@edwardjones.com 28 Weirs Rd., Suite 1 Gilford, NH

LACONIA

BENJAMIN J WILSON, AAMS®

FINANCIAL ADVISOR (603) 524-4533

benjamin.wilson@edwardjones.com 386 Union Avenue Laconia, NH

LACONIA

JASON R POCHILY

FINANCIAL ADVISOR (603) 524-4533 jason.pochily@edwardjones.com 386 Union Avenue Laconia, NH

MEREDITH

DEVON SULLIVAN, CRPC®

FINANCIAL ADVISOR (603) 279-3284 devon.sullivan@edwardjones.com 164 NH Route 25, Unit 1A Meredith, NH

MOULTONBOROUGH

KEITH A BRITTON

FINANCIAL ADVISOR (603) 253-3328 keith.britton@edwardjones.com

512 Whittier Highway, Suite 1 Moultonborough, NH

WOLFEBORO FALLS

BRIAN H LAING , AAMS®

FINANCIAL ADVISOR (603) 515-1074 brian.laing@edwardjones.com 35 Center Street, Suite 3 Wolfeboro Falls, NH

At Edward Jones, we stop to ask you the question: “What’s important to you?” Without that insight and a real understanding of your goals, investing holds little meaning. Contact your Edward Jones financial advisor for a one-on-one appointment to discuss what’s really important: your goals.

written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor. Edward Jones, Member SIPC.

Investing is about more than money.

The Simple Feast

BroCCoLI CAsseroLe: A thAnksGIVInG trAdItIon

by Eric N Gibson Contributing Writer

The Simple Feast Simple The Simple

The Casserole dish itself is an actual type of cooking vessel whereas a casserole is usually a composite sketch of ingredients designed to comple ment one another. Of ten it is a one pot meal that makes good use of a leftover protein, a starch, a binder, and miscellaneous vegeta bles. Usually the cre ator of which is using the starch to stretch the protein while the veggies are there for eye appeal.

Not so with Broccoli Casserole for, as the name implies, the star of this show is Broc coli surrounded by a supporting cast of sour cream, cream of chicken soup, carrot, onion, and a few com mon seasonings, all topped with buttered stuffing mix. Without a doubt, this is a deli cious dish. It is sim ple comfort food at its best. And, it is just as comfortable at a jeans and flannel Fall pot luck as it is dressed up for the holidays. Broc coli Casserole truly has the unique ability to be served at any table setting from fine bone china and silver

service to paper plates and plastic forks.

Contrary to the opin ions of my son and a past president or two, Broccoli Casserole is a great dish anytime it is served, but in our house it has been elevated to a Thanks giving tradition. I am not really sure where this recipe came from originally; the back of a box of stuffing mix? Or maybe the back of a soup can label? Regardless of where Broccoli Cas serole originated, I do know that this par ticular recipe I write of has been around for nearly 50 years or lon ger because this recipe (in our family at least) was passed down from my mother-in-law to my wife. My motherin-law knew it was a

keeper when both of her girls liked it. Now what would a Simple Feast article be without some back story? Well, here it is. According to an ar ticle written by Mary Ramsey published on November 26, 2020 in the Louisville Cou rier Journal, Kentucky holds the honor for be ing the state who most likes Broccoli Casse role as a Thanksgiv ing side dish. This conclusion to the au thor’s “highly scientific study” is based on the most researched food related topic on Google for their state in No vember of 2019, dur ing the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.

However, according to a post on the web site from University Bariatrics of Thou

sand Oaks, CA on September 28, 2018, “the modern¨ Broc coli Casserole (Broc coli Cheese Casserole) was actually invent ed / created here in New Hampshire by a French-Canadian named Elmire Joli coeur back in 1866.” However, the funny thing about Mrs. Jol icoeur’s “recipe” as posted on the website is that it requires the use of a microwave oven and plastic wrap to, in effect, “steam” the broccoli before combining with the rest of the ingredients. I guess the lab rats at the “U” took some liberties with Elmire’s original recipe. History aside, the recipe post ed did sound rather appealing with all of

WEIRS TIMES’ BEER FINDER

ACKERLY’S

Grill & Galley 83 Main Street, Alton 603.875.3383 Akerlysgrillandgalleyrestaurant.com

Woodstock - Dbl Pig’s Ear Stoneface - IPA Baxter - Coastal Haze Tuckerman - Pale Ale Sierra Nevada - Celebration

COPPER KETTLE TAVERN

At Hart’s Turkey Farm Restaurant 233 D.W. Hwy, Meredith 603.279.6212 hartsturkeyfarm.com Henniker - Working Man’s Porter Concord Craft - Safe Space Stoneface - IPA Moat Mtn - Blueberry 603 - Winni Amber Ale ...+6 More On Tap

D.A. LONG TAVERN

At Funspot 579 Endicott St N., Weirs 603.366.4377 funspotnh.com

Founders - Canadian Breakfast Stout (2018) Mayflower - Thanksgiving Ale Foley Bros. - Big Bang Litherman’s - No Other Place Threes Brewing - Vliet Throwback - Heavy Stone ...+6 More On Tap

FOSTER’S

Jack Abby -Red Tape Muddy Road -1762 Porter Northwoods -Autumn Buzz ...+30 More On Tap

MORRISSEYS’

Porch & Pub 286 S. Main St., Wolfeboro 603.569-3662 Morrisseysfrontporch.com

Smithwick’s

Guinness Harp

Concord Craft Safe Space

Concord Craft Coffee Stout

Stella Artois

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OVER THE MOON FARMSTEAD

1253 Upper City Rd., Pittsfield overthemoonfarmstead.com

A Little Fling - Strawberry Rhubarb mead 6.5%

IPA 7.8%

Scotch Ale 5.4% Octoberfest 5.7%

Chili Lime Ale 4.5% White Knight Wit 5.1% ...+8 More On Tap

PATRICK’S PUB

18 Weirs Rd., Gilford 603.293.0841 Patrickspub.com

Patrick’s Slainte House Ale

Great North - Moose Juice

Guinness Clown Shoes - Bubble Head 603 - Winni Amber Ale

TAVERN

403 Main Street Alton Bay, NH 603-875-1234 fosterstavernbythebay.com

Tuckerman - Pale Ale

Sam Adams - Seasonal Sam Adams - Wicked Hazy Maine Beer Co - Lunch Lord Hobo - Boomsauce ...+2 More On Tap

JOHNSON’S TAPHOUSE

At Johnson’s Seafood & Steak 69 Rt 11, New Durham 603.859.7500 eatatjohnsons.com/ newdurham

Lone Pine -Brightside Widowmaker -Blue Comet Shipyard -Smashed Pumpkin

Tuckerman - Pale Ale ...+9 More On Tap

THE WITCHES BREW PUB

At The Craft Beer Xchange 59 Doe Ave., Weirs Beach 603.409.9344

FB @craftbeerxchange

Kettlehead – 101.1 Quad IPA

Oskar Blues – Mama’s Little Yella Pils

1911 – Cider Donut Cider

Able Ebenezer – Veterans Blend IPA

Cigar City – Maduro Brown Ale

Left Hand – Peanut Butter Milk Stout ...+30 More On Tap

** Tap listings subject to change!

here’s A tIp

by JoAnn Derson Syndicated Columnist

* Burned rice? No problem. While it’s still hot, carefully remove to a new pot any rice not browned or blackened. Then top it with a single slice of white bread. Al low it to sit for several minutes under a tightly fitted lid. The burned smell is absorbed by the bread, and the rice is fit to eat. -- M.U. in Michigan

* Plastic holiday table cloths can be a festive addition to any family celebration. But what to

do if you unpack yours and it’s wrinkled? Get those wrinkles out in a hurry with a hair dryer. Set the hair dryer to a low setting, and gently run the warm air over the wrinkles. Smooth and set the table.

* Freshen rugs with out the heavy perfume smell of store-bought brands; Simply sprinkle a little baking soda on your carpet and let it sit for about 10 minutes before vacuuming.

* Wrap the lint from your dryer in 6-inch

strips of wax paper. Roll it up, twist both ends and you have a perfect firestarter.

* For light and unbe lievably fluffy pancakes, try subbing the water in your recipe with club soda. Yummo. -- E.S. in Florida

* Add a few drops of water to votive cups before adding a candle. The wax will float on the water, and when the candle burns down, it won’t get stuck in the votive glass. -- O.J. in Wyoming

* “During the holi days, our schedules change so much, it’s hard to keep track. I used to write and rewrite our family cal endar, but now I just make a grid for the days/weeks, and I use Post-it notes to enter parties, school obliga tions and anything that is a ‘maybe.’ It’s much easier to move around, and to add or delete events as needed.” -- via email

* “Fasten all buttons, snaps, fasteners and zippers on your clothes before washing and dry ing. It will help them keep their shape. Turn socks inside out, too. It will help prevent them from getting fuzzballs.” -- M.W. from Saskatch ewan, Canada

Send your tips to Now Here’s a Tip, 628 Vir ginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803. (c) 2022 King Features Synd., Inc.

Free Pancake Breakfast

To First Responders And Families

Belknap County Sportsmen’s Club is hosting a pancake breakfast free to all Belknap County First Responders And Their families on Sunday December 11th from 9am to 11am

This is to include Policemen, Firemen, Ambulance/EMT’s Fish and Game, State Police, Dot, and Pub lic Works. The club wishes to honor the men and women who unselfishly go out to

serve and protect us every day as well as the families that sup port them. The BCSA will be serving pan cakes, bacon, sau sage, orange juice, coffee, buffet style at our clubhouse on Lily Pond Road. The entire Belknap Community is also invited to attend in order to meet and thank our dedicated First Responders.

unhAppy hoLIdAys And how to AVoId them

(NAPSI)—Below are some common mis takes people make during the holiday season. These mis takes lead to a lot of frustration for you and pure delight for the bad guys:

1. Get swindled. Scammers use bo gus charities and underhanded tactics to fraudulently take money from you and away from legitimate charities, especial ly at the holidays. Before you donate,

check out the char ity and look carefully at the name. Be sure to make your check payable to the organi zation and not to an individual. And don’t let them pressure you to give money on the spot.

2. Advertise your vacation . A visible pile of delivered mail and packages in front of your home is an invitation for the bad guys to help them selves. If you will be out of town or away for an extended pe riod, have your mail held at your local Post Office. Use the HOLD MAIL feature on the USPS.com website or choose the HOLD FOR PICKUP option when

shipping.

3. Give away cash Cash is untraceable. It’s easy to steal, mak ing it a tempting tar get for thieves. Send money another way, such as with a check or USPS money order.

4. Start a fire Sending hazardous items can spark a fire in the mail system or cause someone harm. Check to see if your items are prohibited or restricted before going to your local Post Office location.

5. Neighborhood (un)watch . Large volumes of mail and packages make postal employees tempting targets for crooks. Keep an eye out for the safety of your mail

carriers. If you see something suspicious or someone following your carrier, call the police immediately.

6. Ignore your doors. If you don’t keep an eye on your door and porch, you can be sure the bad guys will. If you have a camera system, make sure it’s focused on capturing activity at your front door or mailbox.

7. Keep secrets. When you do not re port a mail theft or fraud, the crook gets away with a crime. Report it! Call 1-877876-2455. You can also report mail crime by visiting USPIS.gov/ Report.

8. Mess with the mail. Mess with the mail and you could go to jail.

For more great tips you can use not just during the holidays, but all year long, visit the website at uspis. gov/holiday-2022.

“the

On Sunday Decem ber 18th at 2:30 PM a special holiday concert will be presented by the Joyful Noise Mu sic Series at FCCM. A cantata, The Voices of Christmas, will be performed by a large ensemble of voices from area church choirs, conducted by Nancy Narducci.

Composer, Joseph Martin, uses beloved carols and new an thems, to tell the story of Christmas. Conduc tor, Nancy Narducci, is currently the mu sic director/organist at Meredith First Con gregational Church. In her work with liturgical music she also cantors at St. Charles Borro meo, Meredith and as sists music ministries

at St. Andre Bessette Church, Laconia.

A delightful work to be enjoyed by all ages to celebrate the Christ mas season.

The concert venue is

St Charles Borromeo Church in Meredith at 300 NH Route 25.

Admission is free. Donations suggested and welcomed.

To learn more about /

this event and The Joy ful Noise 2022 music series at FCCM please see www.fccmeredith. com or phone 603279-6271.

sAntA CLAus to ArrIVe By heLICopter At AVIAtIon museum of nh

Santa Claus is com ing to town, and he’s arriving by chopper.

On Saturday, Dec. 10, Saint Nick will land via helicopter at the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire, 27 Navigator Road in Lon donderry.

Touchdown is sched uled for 11am outside the Aviation Museum. All are welcome to at tend and join in wel coming the jolly old elf.

Families wishing to welcome the arrival of Santa’s helicopter should be at the mu seum no later than

10:45am to park and then make their way to the landing obser vation area.

After arriving, Santa will enter the muse um, where he’ll visit

with children one-onone.

Santa will be avail able until 1pm, when he’ll depart by fire truck courtesy the Manchester Airport

Fire Department, which will whisk him off to his next appear ance.

Children who speak to Santa will be re warded with goodie bags given out by San ta’s helpers.

“It’s become an an nual tradition for Santa to visit us by helicopter, and we’re pleased to continue it this year,” said Jeff Rapsis, executive di rector of the aviation Museum.

“This close to Christ mas Eve, Santa pre fers to travel by chop per because the flying reindeer are resting up for the big night on Dec. 24,” Rapsis said.

Santa’s visit will take place rain or shine on Saturday, Dec. 10 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. If the weather prevents Santa’s chopper from flying, he’ll arrive by

portsmouth hIstorICAL soCIety to host GInGerBreAd house Contest

32nd Annual Gingerbread House Contest and Exhibi tion is now open at the Portsmouth Histori cal Society on the New Hampshire Heritage Museum Trail.

In addition to the ex hibition at the Ports mouth Historical So ciety Galleries at 10 Middle Street, Ports mouth through Friday, December 22, ginger bread houses will be on display at downtown Portsmouth businesses that are participating in a Gingerbread Scaven ger Hunt. Portsmouth Historical Society is also hosting a Vintage Christmas Kickoff Par ty on Friday, December 2 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

“We are thrilled to once again ring in the holiday season with these special events,” said Sabina Ion, mar keting manager.

This year’s theme of fictional places and characters was inspired by two exhibitions in 2022 at Portsmouth Historical Society that featured children’s book illustrations. “En tries in this year’s Con test and Exhibition will include classic charac ters near and dear to many, magical castles, and favorite fantasy landscapes that are sure to put people in the holiday spirit,” add ed Ion.

According to Jeff Barraclough, president of the New Hampshire Heritage Museum Trail, the events at Ports mouth Historical So ciety represent just “a

small sampling” of hol iday-themed events on The Trail this season. “From Portsmouth up to the Lakes Region and down to Manches ter, there is plenty to do on The Trail that cel ebrates the holidays,” he said.

In addition to the Portsmouth Historical Society in Portsmouth, member institutions

on the New Hampshire Heritage Museum Trail are located in New Hampshire’s Lakes Re gion, Merrimack Valley, and Seacoast. To learn more about The Trail, visit nhmuseumtrail. org.

Founded in 1917, Portsmouth Historical Society is devoted to championing the histo ry, arts, and culture of

the Portsmouth region through acquisitions, preservation, museum exhibitions, programs, and publications. To learn more about the Portsmouth Histori cal Society, visit ports mouthhistory.org.

hoLIdAy GIft IdeAs for those who LoVe fIshInG

(BPT) - Are you searching for holiday gift ideas for a friend, co-worker or loved one who loves fishing and

being in the outdoors? If so, here are 10 in credible gift ideas and stocking stuffers that are sure to bring a

smile to their face:

* Cold-Weather Gear - Some anglers love fishing all year long - even when it’s icy cold outside. Get them jackets, bibs and gloves designed spe cifically for ice fishing anglers who want to brave the cold. Strike Master is one of the most well-known and trusted names for ice fishing augers and ice fishing gear.

* Fillet KnivesSometimes you want to keep and cook the fish you’ve caught. As fun as that sounds, it’s the filleting the fish part that few truly enjoy. But no more. High-quality electric fillet knives make fil leting fish a breeze, and they also can be used to carve up tur

key, chicken, beef and pork, too!

* Fishing LuresFor the angler who has practically ev ery fishing lure ever made, there’s only one lure that you can’t have too many of - a Rapala lure. This legendary lure is made with balsa wood and accounts for more world record fish than any other fishing lure ever made. The X-Rap is considered one of the best mul tispecies fishing lures ever made. It catches everything.

* Hoodies With UV Protection - When the temperatures start to rise, the best way to stay cool and comfortable on and off the water is with

FISHING from 24 design, UPF 50+ UV sun protection, and moisture-wicking per formance.

a high-performance hooded long-sleeve shirt. It offers style combined with func tion, a trend-forward

* Rain Gear - When

the rain is falling, the wind picks up and water gets choppy, there’s nothing more miserable than getting wet while fishing. If you really care about your favorite angler, get them a high-qual ity rain suit (jacket and bibs) designed by professional anglers and guides.

* Fishing LineLooking for a perfect stocking stuffer idea? Drop a spool of really high-quality fishing line in with the treats and the obligatory orange. Sufix makes fishing lines for nearly every type of fishing situation - freshwater, saltwater and hardwa ter (ice fishing). If you want to really surprise your favorite angler, give them Sufix 832 Advanced Superline, a fishing line often used by many of the top fishing pros in the U.S.

* Weigh Scales - Be lieve it or not, some

anglers really do want to know exactly how much their catch weighs. A weigh scale with Touch Screen ca pabilities is easy to use and can help an angler track their catches all day long.

* Essential Outdoor Tools - Some fish have really sharp teeth and need to be carefully handled. Keep your favorite angler safe with high-quality tools designed specifical ly to help anglers re move hooks, tie knots, cut line, store hooks and lures, and much, much more. Fishing gloves are essential in protecting hands while removing fish, too.

* Giant Fishing Lure - For those who eat, sleep and breathe fishing, consider a giant replica fishing lure. It’s the perfect decoration for a home office, fishing cabin or a man cave.

* Stocking Stuffer Ideas - Looking for some more fun ideas? Consider giving your favorite angler a new fishing lure key chain, a deck of cards and cribbage board, a trav eling coffee mug, a fishing lure-inspired bottle opener, a fishing line remover or even a fish counter, all of which can easily fit in a stocking. Many of these items cost $25 or less.

SANTA from 22

fire truck instead.

The Aviation Muse um will be open free to visitors on Satur day, Dec. 10 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Follow ing Santa’s departure, regular admission prices will be charged from 1 to 4 p.m.

The Aviation Muse um’s store will be open throughout the day so visitors can enjoy holi day shopping.

Besides Santa’s ar rival, Saturday, Dec. 10 also marks the debut of this year’s “Holiday Festival of Toy Planes and Model Aircraft” inside the museum.

The exhibit, which runs through Sunday, Jan. 22, includes more than 2,000 aviationrelated toys, games, and other items that celebrate the enduring childhood fascination with flight.

This year’s holiday exhibit will be high lighted by a “12 Planes of Christmas” scaven ger hunt for the young (and young at heart) as well as a pair of custom-made mo biles hung with model planes that will fly in formation overhead.

“Many aviation ca reers started with a special model or toy plane under a tree or given as a birthday present,” said Jeff Rapsis, the museum’s executive director.

“Each year, we cel ebrate that connection by displaying aviation toys from our collec tion, some of which back to the days of Charles Lindbergh.”

The exhibit will also include a special cus tom display of collect

ible and newly created aviation-themed pos able dolls supplied by Underground Legion Custom Creations of Hollis, N.H.

The Aviation Muse um is open Fridays and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays 1 to 4 p.m. Admission is $10 age 13 and up; $5 age 6-12, seniors 65 and over, and vet erans/active military; kids 5 and under free.

Santa’s appearance at the Aviation Mu seum is made pos sible by generous supporters including Manchester-Boston Regional Airport; CR Helicopters of Nashua; Signature Flight Ser vices; and the Man chester Airport Fire Department.

The Aviation Muse um of N.H., located at 27 Navigator Road, Londonderry, N.H., is a non-profit 501(c)3 tax-exempt organiza tion dedicated to cel ebrating New Hamp shire’s role in aviation history and inspiring tomorrow’s aerospace professionals.

Named “Best Place to Take Kids” in south ern New Hampshire in the 2022 HippoPress Readers Poll, the Avia tion Museum of N.H. was recently awarded the prestigious ‘NonProfit Impact Award’ by the Center for N.H. Non-Profits.

For more informa tion, visit www.avia tionmuseumofnh.org or call (603) 669-4820.

today, the different kinds of blocks made of different materials far surpass those early in the past century.

For boys, a suggest ed present of 1928 was a tool chest with which a boy could “make anything he chooses.” I’m not at all sure that the mental picture of the boy using his tool chest tools to make doll toys for his sis

ter or a dog house for a new puppy would materialize, or that he would be so happy with the tools that he would keep them clean and sharp. The advice in 1928 was to pur chase or make gifts that the children could enjoy but would also be educational.

Other suggested Christmas gifts in cluded ones meant to appeal to the artistic

talents or interests of both boys and girls such as paint and brushes, along with paper and drawing

books, crayons, and coloring books. Mod eling clay, magnifying glasses, field glasses, and games (I assume board games) were suggested as other gift selections.

In 1928, as in 2022, the “useful gift” for one’s child was list ed as a good gift but only when given in addition to something that is “bright, color ful, and amusing.” A useful gift would be something that the child needs but would not necessarily ask for his/her Christmas gift. Clothing of dif ferent types would be included in this cat egory.

In the same early December 1928 issue of the New England Homestead Mrs. E.M.

Anderson encouraged parents to consider deciding on one ar ticle for each child that they, meaning the par ent, would make.

Mrs. Anderson wrote: “I am making a list of all the people to be remembered and giving special atten tion to discovering or recalling the personal preferences of each so that my gift, however cheap, may carry with it more loving thought and solicitude than would be possible with the wholesale choice.”

So there you have it, whether then or now, it’s the thought that counts. So, according to Mrs, Anderson, the Christmas gift might be a handkerchief, apron, or sachet bag, but it shouldn’t be the

same gift every Christ mas that the person who receives the gift has had enough of. Even if it “overtaxed” the brain one was encouraged to make something that the recipient would genu inely like.

Another writer, Bess Kay Wilhelmus, said “the ideal gift is one we can make ourselves in our own kitchens.” The kitchen gift prod uct that seemed to take first place in the gift category was the fruit cake. She points to the tradition of one housewife who began making fruit cakes weeks before Christ mas. The cakes were said to have improved with age, were easy to pack, and were not as fragile in the mail as lighter cakes were. This housewife’s rela tives and friends were represented as being thankful at receiving the same present year after year and “would not appreciate any other gift one-half so much as this delicious holiday fruit cake.”

City folk were said to appreciate gifts from the farm that were thought as common to the farmer’s family, but a special treat to the city folk. So the suggested list of things from the farm kitch en and the farm itself included home-made candy for bachelor relationships, box es containing things like cakes, cookies, apples, home-made bread, and golden but ter for the college stu dents, a glass jar of jelly wrapped in tissue

paper with a red and green ribbon for any one, and a dozen eggs, a bag of popcorn, a basket of apples, a jar of honey, or a can of whipped cream for the old people. Readers of the farm magazine were encouraged to try giving this type of present.

Going back a little further in time, the December 11, 1909 New England Home stead magazine offered some Christmas gift ideas to give to inva lids or home-bound people or “shut-ins” as they were called hen as well as now. A Christmas present for such as these in 1909 might be a light tray, and with the tray some

small pieces of china like an individual tea pot, sugar bowl, and creamer. Bed socks and chamber shoes with the former being made from eiderdown were suggested as possible presents for the shut-in, Reading material represents another choice, but caution was urged in the selection of the reading material lest it tax the nerves of the reader. Flowers were considered good, though potted plants were considered to be a better choice, partic ularly blooming plants like cyclamen, prim roses, and cineraria. Other choices includ ed a water bottle, air pillows, cold cream, soap, cough drops, ‘

Shaker ‘ orange peel, a pot of preserved gin ger, and lily-root, gum drops, marshmallows, grape juice, crackers, jelly, marmalade, and handkerchiefs which were always consid ered to be an appropri ate gift for the invalid.

Many of the Christ mas presents given in 1928 and 1909 could still be bought and giv en today in some form or other, though prob ably no one will receive a blackboard. It might be less expensive this year, though, if you decide to replicate the year 1928.

In 1909 Christmas brought with it a sur prise blizzard that we don’t want replicated.

An expensive Christmas gift in the 1900’s from the Brackett & Shaw Co. of Somersworth, NH.

I was warm and comfortable bundled up in my ski clothes. Only the tip of my nose poked out between my goggles and my neck gaiter.

From the Zeph yr high-speed quad chairlift the only way down was the Range View Trail. The snow was nice and the trail was covered edge to edge. That morning I

made ten runs–a good fun effort for my first time out for the sea son.

They also had opened the Learning Center chairlift and the Meadow was cov ered with groomed snow for novices.

There weren’t that many people there, it was the first Mon

day of the new season. While I was leaving mid-day more peo ple were showing up. There appeared to be a good number of local high school ski team members arriving.

Bretton Woods is now skiing top to bot tom and the Skyway Gondola is a great way to ride up the moun tain and enjoy the view of Mount Washing ton and the Presiden tial Range. You don’t have to be a skier or a snowboarder to ride the gondola. Scenic gondola rides are $28 per person and at the top everyone is wel come to go into the Rosebrook Lodge for good food and drink.

Congratulations are in order to everyone at Bretton Woods for be ing highly ranked by Ski Magazine’s Read ers’ Choice Survey as one of the top 50 ski resorts in North America, #1 ski re sort in New Hampshire

Good snow, lots of snow, on top of Bretton Woods’ Zephyr high-speed quad chairlift. Check out their snow report at BrettonWoods.com.

PATENAUDE from 1

Kris is happy to enjoy opening day at Pats Peak on December 2nd. Pats Peak is celebrating its 60th year this season.

and #1 in the East for Grooming and Lifts.

Last Friday Pats Peak opened for their 60th Anniversary for season pass holders only and the next day they opened for every one. I didn’t make it for the very first chair but almost. We rode the fourth chair. The snow was good and fun. The sky was so clear we could see snow capped Mount Washington far in the distance from the top of the lift.

I asked a few kids if they were skipping school. They told me they lucked out,there was no school because of teacher conferenc es. What good luck indeed.

We skied 12 runs down the Cyclone Trail and a couple more in the Valley. We did take a break mid-morning. We bought hot choco late and we split a gi ant Pats Peak cookie. The cookie was still warm. The melted chocolate inside the

cookie tasted so good. The cookie is so big that I took home a piece of it to share with my husband. There is a long ski

season ahead of us. It is best not to over do it the first day out. Tak ing breaks and skiing half a day was plenty to start to get our ski legs back.

Please do a snow dance, help make it snow.

I am ready for winter and I hope you are too. Have fun.

Amy Patenaude is an avid skier/outdoor en thusiast from Henniker, N.H. Readers are wel come to send comments or suggestions to her at: amy@weirs.com

The world famous Pats Peak cookie is as big as your head! It is so yummy.

MOFFETT from 13 between “one man and one woman” does not exists.

American God-or dained families must get involved and edu cate these Senators and Representatives why their votes are uncon stitutional . Freedom is not free! Be prepared. Ask at jbs.org about their seminar called “The Constitution Is The Solution.” Inform your legislators that obeying the Constitu tion will keep them from mischief. And point out the lies within HR 8404/S4556 by study ing this link.

https://thenewamer ican.com/respect-formarriage-act-uncon stitutional-and-unen forceable-a-constitu tional-analysis/

It is tragic that during this week of celebration of Thanksgiving our elected officials cannot be trusted. For while our people are giving thanks to almighty God for the abundance of freedoms we are blessed with, the “enemies of God” within Congress are pushing this das tardly act of betrayal to destroy our liber ties. American voters, your leaders require constant watching.

Look at them as em ployees that you hire when you elect them to office. We fire people who fail to do their job. But most citizens don’t know the job write up of their elected officials. Ignorance of our Con stitution allows enemies of liberty to pass laws such as The Disrespect For Marriage Act. And if we continue to be a nation ignorant of the biblical foundation of morality, the bible the source of our law, our public servants will continue to become “fearful masters.”

Russell Payne Merrimack,

can get a touchdown you can still win. Dallas is favored by 10.”

And so the closing mo ments became intensely interesting—thanks to legal sports betting. A Giant touchdown with seconds to play made the final score 28-20. Beth was 2 for 2. Such fun!

“So you’re telling me that even though the teams I picked lost, that I still won?” queried Dr. B.

I explained the con cept of point spreads and reminded her that I’d put the ten bucks up on her behalf.

“So if Minnesota wins the last game I win ten bucks?” asked my spouse.

“They have to win by three, but then you’ll win $60,” I responded, before explaining how a parlay paid 6-1.

I, of course, had the Patriots, but with $60 riding on the outcome Dr. B was all in. She watched the whole game with me. BBC crime dra mas could wait.

Final score: Vikings 33, Patriots 26.

“So you’ll probably buy me a little some thing from your win nings?” I asked.

“No way,” replied Beth. “You blew your chances with your bad picks. But maybe I’ll buy something for your friend Tim.”

I laughed. I suppose that after getting $30 million for education Tim deserves a little “vigorish!”

Sports Quiz

When did Nevada legalize gambling and sports betting? (Answer follows)

Born Today

quarterback Jeff George (1967) and NFL line backer Ron George (1967).

Sports Quote

“In gambling, the many must lose in order that the few may win.” – George Bernard Shaw

Sports Quiz Answer 1931.

State Representa tive Mike Moffett was a Sports Management Professor for Plymouth State University and NHTI-Concord. He coauthored the award-win ning “FAHIM SPEAKS: A Warrior-Actor’s Odyssey from Afghanistan to Hol lywood and Back” which is available on Amazon. com. His e-mail address is mimoffett@comcast. net.

NH.

That is to say, sports standouts born on De cember 8 include Heis man Trophy-winning running back George Rogers (1958), NFL

its cheese laden Broc coli goodness. So, at this point I figured I was already wading in the inter net pool so why not swim into deeper wa ters and there is where I found a great little piece dated May 4, 2018 by Erika Janik at the NHPR website.

New Hampshire Firsts: Did This Granite State Woman Invent Cas serole? delves into the background of Elmire Jolicoeur, a celebrated figure in the history and folklore of Berlin, NH. The author even tually comes to the same conclusion of her headlining ques tion that most of us already know; no, Mrs. Jolicoeur did not in vent casserole. Howev er, the article is worth the quick read as Jan

ik offers a closer look at Elmire Jolicoeur’s impact on that once thrivingly industrious town of upstate New Hampshire and the subject of casserole.

I have always been a big fan of casseroles. Let’s face it, I like any thing that has a toma to or cream soup base mixed with pasta or rice, cheese, and veg gies. Add to that chick en or ground beef and top it all off with but tered cracker crumbs or stuffing mix. Then cook it all together in a deep crockery dish until steaming hot to be served on a cold fall or winter night. Well, what’s not to like about that?

Broccoli Casserole may very well be a Thanksgiving tradi tion in our house, but I would encourage you

BROCCOLI CASSEROLE

TOPPING

not to wait another year before you too indulge in this truly delicious treat. Hav ing made this now for nearly as long as my wife and I have been together, over 26 years later, it has stood the test of time long before our time together started. And, I am happy to say, it will continue to be a part of our Thanksgiv ing and many another Simple Feast. Enjoy!

STOSSEL from

Still, she says, “They look like absolute ted dy bears compared to where else I’ve been.”

“Where else” she’s been is NBC, where she moved after Fox.

That’s when we saw how stupid and vi cious the leftist media can be.

Because Kelly was pretty and success ful, other reporters, especially women, hat ed her. Because she once worked at Fox, she was “evil” and fair game.

People attacked her simply for interviewing bad guys, like Vladi mir Putin and Alex Jones.

News shows like “60 Minutes” win awards for interviewing de spicable people, but now the media claimed that it was “horrible” for Kelly to interview Jones.

After Kelly inter viewed Putin, “The Daily Show’s” Michelle Wolf sneered, “Seeing someone so conniving trying to manipulate the American public was disgusting ... I’m not talking about Pu tin, I’m talking about (giggle) Megyn Kelly.”

Women even at tacked Kelly for ask ing Jane Fonda about plastic surgery.

“How much work have you had, b---?’” shrieked “The View’s” Joy Behar.

Then, shortly before Halloween, Kelly, af ter she asked a ques tion about dressing in blackface, said, “When I was a kid, that was OK.” Her NBC guests nodded in agreement.

But the media pounced on Kelly.

“Kelly has always been racist,” said Elle Magazine.

Her comment was “jaw-dropping,” said a column in The New York Times.

Lefties like Behar

and Jimmy Kimmel had actually worn blackface, but Kelly was vilified just for asking a question about it.

The next day, nearly in tears, she apolo gized.

The following day, NBC fired her.

Now she tells me: “The leftist media and the woke left are the most insufferable peo ple we have.”

She’s free to say things like that today because she’s her own boss. Kelly now has a popular podcast that runs on SiriusXM.

“I’m totally un-can celable,” says Kelly. “That was my only mission in coming back into our busi ness.”

She calls most of the media “stupid, unin formed ignoramuses” and is upset that they “are the ones driving our national discus sion.”

I agree. I’m glad that more people now can get another side of the story from indepen dent journalists like Kelly.

And ... me. At Stos sel TV, I bring many points of view together for civilized debate. I don’t shout anyone down. Even when I disagree, we let them have their say.

Every Tuesday at JohnStossel.com, Stos sel posts a new video about the battle be tween government and freedom.

METZLER from

and the reality that the Caracas regime remains a close ally of Cuba, China, Russia and Iran.

A little history. Pres ident Nicolas Maduro became the dull as ditchwater political heir to the charismatic but deceased Hugo Chavez who led a once pretty prosperous Venezuela into a so cialist morass where it now flounders in cor ruption. Contrary to the simple myth that Venezuela was a “typi cal” Latin American failed state, the coun try once had a reason ably strong democratic system, a prosperous economy fueled by oil exports and a reason able standard of living.

Part of the Venezu elan failed state anal ogy extends to the country’s once lucra tive and profitable pe troleum industry. Oil production has only slowly rebounded this year to 680,000 bar rels per day, far be low the 2.9 million barrels produced dai ly a decade ago. Oil output has dropped dramatically due to U.S. sanctions as well as mismanagement of the production fields and refineries. In the meantime the Venezu elan state petroleum producer PDVSA suf fers from corruption and dilapidated infra structure.

As recently as 2018, Venezuela exported about 500,000 barrels of crude oil daily to the United States; in 2019, sanctions halted Venezuelan imports to the U.S.

Tragically, Venezu ela’s biggest export are its people. Since 2015, something like a quarter of the entire population has fled Maduro’s Bolivarian socialist paradise. Ac cording to the UN High

Commissioner for Ref ugees (UNHCR) there are over over 6 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants world wide. The vast ma jority are in countries within Latin America such as Colombia and Brazil.

UNHCR states, “this has become the sec ond-largest external displacement crisis in the world.”

The agency has ear marked $1.8 billion for refugee and migrant relief this year.

Many flee through Mexico and cross the U.S. border illegally with the help of people traffickers.

It’s a slow process to get the oil flow ing again. Besides purchasing limited amounts of oil to ship to American refineries does the Biden plan wish to lend U.S. ex pertise to restart a rundown and ram shackle industry only to fill the Caracas banks with U.S. dol lars? Will America rehabilitate a failed socialist state so that we may be dependent on their oil?

John J. Metzler is a United Nations corre spondent covering dip lomatic and defense is sues. He is the author of Divided Dynamism The Diplomacy of Sep arated Nations; Ger many, Korea, China.

my very early attempts at nature photogra phy sometime in the mid 1990s. This was also in northern New Hampshire. It was back in the day of film when you had to load a roll into the camera, take your pictures, drop off the film at a drugstore or a photo shop, and wait three to four days to see the results.

In my early days, the results were often not pretty. In fact, usually they weren’t, and it was the rare photo that turned out pretty well. Those mostly included larger subjects, such as moose or herons. It took many years of photography to learn

that you have to get as close as possible to the smaller birds to have them fill the frame.

That photo of the evening grosbeak, tak en along the side of a dirt road, was not very good. The bird filled only a small fraction of the frame and it was probably fuzzy and not composed very well. I don’t think I even have the photo anymore, but I could still recol lect it fairly vividly.

Now In 5th Printing! The Flatlander Chronicles

Weirs Times F.O.O.L columnist, Brendan Smith’s first book with over 30 of the best of his original Flatlander Columns. From learning to Rake The Roof to Going To The Dump to Buying Firewood for the first time and everything in between, Brendan recounts the humorous tales of his learning to fit into New Hampshire life as a Flatlander from New York.

Order your autographed copy today for $13.99 plus $3 for shipping. (Please include any inscription you would like the author to personalize your copy with.) Make out checks or money orders for $16.99 to Brendan Smith and mail to: The Flatlander Chronicles, c/o The Weirs Times, PO Box 5458, Weirs, NH 03247.

Order online at www.BrendanTSmith.com (Pickup autographed copies at the Weirs Times)

America? What’s going on?” he asked Apple’s CEO Tim Cook.

If all this doesn’t send a chill up your spine, what will?

We’re living in an age of information war fare where whoever controls speech and the flow of information gets to shape public opinion as a means to control the masses, sway voters and obtain power. Censorship of the masses is one of many oppressive tools used by authoritarian regimes like China and Russia to advance that outcome.

But frighteningly, it’s becoming the “new normal” in America.

We’re witnessing a form of corporate tyr anny where business es are catering to the “woke” mob and acting at the behest of the ever-growing authori tarian government si lencing political oppo sition and dissent un der the opaque guise of “content moderation.”

Cancel culture is out of control, but thank fully for America, Musk is fighting the good fight and understands what’s at stake.

“This is a battle for the future of civiliza

tion,” he tweeted on Monday. “If free speech is lost even in America, tyranny is all that lies ahead.”

He’s correct. Freedom of speech is vital to a free nation and some thing our Founding Fa ther and first President George Washington warned about: “If the freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”

And abolitionist Fred erick Douglass wisely stated, “Equally clear is the right to hear. To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of

the hearer as well as those of the speaker. It is just as criminal to rob a man of his right to speak and hear as it would be to rob him of his money.”

The statesman also said, “Liberty is mean ingless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist. That, of all rights, is the dread of tyrants. It is the right which they first of all strike down. They know its power.”

Prophetic words in deed.

Bottom line: Ameri cans must stand tall and protect our God-

given rights or watch them taken away from us, one tweet at a time.

Adriana Cohen is a nationally syndicated columnist with Creators Syndicate. To find out more about Adriana Co hen and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.cre ators.com.

the West. If the West is perfectly sanguine about tyrannical re gimes weaponizing capitalism and tech nology while fretting over capitalists who own technology com panies broadening the use of their platforms, the West will be con tributing to its own de feat. And China will celebrate.

Ben Shapiro is a grad uate of UCLA and Har vard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+.

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Super Crossword

PUZZLE CLUE: WAX SHADES

B.C.

by Parker & Hart

Maze Sudoku

Caption Contest

Runners Up : “Look ma, I got you a turkey for thanksgiving. The man said it is already stuffed.”William Elwell, Rochester, NH.

“Can I keep him, Mom? PLEASE??!” - Karen Konicki, Rochester, NH.

PHOTO

Raised since an egg Tom and Tom were inseparable.

Bob Watson, Bristol, NH.

Little Emma didn’t know her pet turkey “Gobbles” would soon be on the Thanksgiving table!.

-Alan Doyon, Meredith, NH.

PHOTO #941

Send your best brief caption to us with your name and location within 2 weeks of publication date... Caption Contest, The Weirs Times, P.O. Box 5458, Weirs, NH 03247 email to contest@weirs.com

The Winklman Aeffect by John Whitlock