I'm still here!

Well, I'm still alive. The FBI says I was a victim of a scam they so imaginatively call "The Hit Man Scam," and the local police couldn't even find out that much. Apparently, the scam started in Russia in 2006 targeting people in the Pacific Northwest, and by now it can come from anywhere and find you all over the United States. So many people in countries less rich than ours think that each individual American is rich, so we make their favorite marks. Thanks for all of you who emailed me or commented and expressed your concern.

A bigger problem is my pancreas. Test results are ambiguous. The biopsy could only obtain fluid from the cyst, no tissue, because of the difficult location of the pancreas. My doctor wants to watch and wait and repeat the test in 3 months. He has decided my pain doesn't come from the pancreas. There's no evidence of this, he just decided it. The pain is right where the tests showed the cyst to be. My MRI indicated a mucinous cystadenoma, which the Mayo clinic website says is precancerous or cancer. I'm thinking of going to another doctor for a second opinion. I know the pancreas is very hard to get to, and that is why most cancers are so advanced by the time they are found. As a result, pancreatic cancer is almost always terminal. Here's a chance to catch one early, but the guy's doing nothing. But it's still early. Thanks for asking.

I want to write soon about Mitt Romney and other topics, but for today let me just share with you this morning a photo of the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, one of the most beautiful places on earth.

The Blue Ridge

The Blue Ridge

And when I turn homeward
My heart breaks in song,
For the high hills and mountains
Are where I belong.

"The High Hills and Mountains," a song by Jean Ritchie

Sarah Palin and Paul Revere

Statue of Paul Revere in front of the Old North Church in Boston.

I can't believe it. Sarah Palin visited Paul Revere's House and the Old North Church in Boston last week and said this:

He warned the the British that they weren't going to be taking away our arms by ringing those bells and um making sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were gonna be secure and we were gonna be free.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo! We just went through this in mid-March with Michele Bachmann, who thought the Shot Heard 'Round the World at Lexington and Concord took place in New Hampshire, not Massachusetts. I wrote a blog post based on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Paul Revere's Ride" on March 15 to inform Michele that Paul Revere set out late on the 18th of April in 1775 when the lamps appeared in the belfry of the Old North Church in Boston. It was in the wee hours of the morning of April 19, 1775, when Revere arrived in Lexington, then Concord an hour later, warning the militias that the British were coming. It was in the battle that ensued at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, that the Shot Heard 'Round the world was fired. It's a great post. Click on the link below, and read it and enjoy!

Michele Bachmann and What?

And now we have Sarah Palin mangling the beginning of Paul Revere's ride. And what amazes me most about both women is that it is clear that Bachmann has no idea the Lexington and Concord have anything to do with Paul Revere's ride and it is clear that Palin has no idea that Paul Revere's ride has anything to do with Lexington and Concord. Forget the bells. That's just nuts. They should have known the link between the beginning and end of Paul Revere's ride, the link between Paul Revere and Lexington and Concord, the link between Paul Revere and the Shot Heard 'Round the World since they were nine years old. And they are considered serious contenders for Commander in Chief. Oh, God help us.

I don't have the energy to write a whole new blog post for Palin when everything I said about Bachmann on March 15 works for her, too. It's a fun post. I had a blast writing it, and I hope you will click on the link and give it a read.