A Little Cutting

An observant barber is a good thing to have. When I was getting a haircut a few weeks ago, my barber commented on a new spot in my hairline on my temple. It was not easy to see in the mirror, but he had a good view from his vantage point and after 30 years of cutting my hair, he knew what my head looked like and called it to my attention.

So I made an appointment with the dermatologist. He said it looked suspicious and took a biopsy of that one and another similar spot on the other side of my head. The short story is that it came back as basal cell - not particularly dangerous, but cancer none the less. I returned to have them both cut out last Friday. I now sport a 2" incision with a ladder of stitches on each temple. I look like I just got de-horned.

So, be sure to tip your barber well.

New Hampshire Free Staters

It is with some pride that I claim New Hampshire as my state of birth and my youth. (although I am a little disappointed by the way she voted in the last election) NH has always been known as a place for rugged individualists and makes that known by the State Motto, "Live Free or Die." There is also a grass roots movement called "The Free State Project" which is inviting 20,000 people who yearn for personal freedom to move to, and live in New Hampshire.

But it turns out that not all citizens of the state are so welcoming. State Representative Cynthia Chase, a Democrat representing District 8, has been quoted as saying the following:

"In the opinion of this Democrat, Free Staters are the single biggest threat the state is facing today. There is, legally, nothing we can do to prevent them from moving here to take over the state, which is their openly stated goal. In this country you can move anywhere you choose and they have that same right. What we can do is to make the environment here so unwelcoming that some will choose not to come, and some may actually leave. One way is to pass measures that will restrict the “freedoms” that they think they will find here."

Argumentum ad Baculum

This is one of the logical fallacies. The list of fallacies is one of the few things I retained from a one semester liberal arts elective named "Logic". Fallacies are, however, something everyone should be aware of because almost every argument the Left makes is full of them. Ad Baculum was recently demonstrated by the union thugs in Michigan. Other favorites are Appeal to Emotion or Argumentum ad Hominem. Here's a good summary.

You could even start a drinking game - chug a beer every time you recognize a fallacy in one of Obama's speeches.

Obama Bonus

I've had a few shares of stock in a small oil company that I got years ago in an ESOP plan. They send me a few bucks in dividends every 3 months. I just got my latest dividend. In addition to the normal amount, there was a check for the equivalent of 2 years of dividends. They wanted to send it to the stock holders before Obama raised the tax rates. I'll enjoy spending it and thumbing my nose at him.

Head Count

Saudi Arabia tried to make up for slow progress and sent 10 heads rolling in November. This brings their year to date total to 66.

Peter's Cranberries

My wife whips up a cranberry relish every holiday season. The youngest grandson took a liking to it. He will eat it by the bowlful. Every fall, he watches for cranberries in the grocery store and then alerts my wife that it's cranberry season. Here's the recipe.

2 - 1lb bags of fresh cranberries,
3 oranges,
1 Tbs. fresh minced ginger,
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon,
1/12 - 2 cups Splenda

wash cranberries and pick out any bad ones, wash oranges and cut into sections leaving the skin on. Put cranberries and oranges in a food processor with the rest of the ingredients and process.

Easy peasy and it's guaranteed to get you away from the jellied stuff in a can.