Mary showed me this picture a couple of days ago and reminded me that I took it last summer. The reason she showed it is that she can't wait to get out and start digging in the dirt, and this reminded her of all those good things. Spring just doesn't come! The Bismarck high schools received permission from their board to start playing spring sports on Sunday, as long as it is after 2:30 pm so as not to conflict too badly with church activities. An agriculture news report lamented that pastures can't handle any spring grazing yet, and in some cases, hay is becoming in short supply because of it. Spring temperatures are forecast for the coming weekend, but the water is really going to run like rivers.
...
One of the Boston bomber's name was Tamerlan. No one in the media seems to have caught the irony in that. A Mongolian chieftain by the name of Tamerlane probably accounted for killing more people than anyone in history. His reputation is that of a cruel conqueror. After capturing certain
cities he slaughtered thousands of the defenders (perhaps 80,000 at
Delhi) and built pyramids of their skulls. Although a Muslim, he was
scarcely more merciful to those of his own faith than to those he
considered infidels. His positive achievements were the encouragement of
art, literature, and science and the construction of vast public works.
He had little hope that his vast conquests would remain intact, and
before his death he arranged for them to be divided among his sons.
...
Apparently the Fargo Forum recently ran a series of articles about the Ku Klux Klan in North Dakota. I never read them, but recently someone asked me if I knew that the KKK had a presence in my hometown of Sheldon. It even went so far as to ignite a cross to intimidate somebody, probably a local Catholic church member. During this period the group expressed anti-catholic sentiments, and said Catholics owed their allegiance to the Pope in Rome. A long, informative article about KKK activity in North Dakota can be found by Googling the "KKK in North Dakota." A state historian, Dr. Jerome Tweton, wrote an eye-opener. A Presbyterian minister in Grand Forks apparently whipped up lots of anti-sentiment against blacks, Catholics, Jews, and liberals. As many as a thousand members attended a convention in Grand Forks.
This all rose to interest again after the three high school kids dressed up in KKK garb to cheer in a sporting event their school participated in. Crazy! I doubt if the kids knew what they were doing, but it sure got everyone's attention.
...
Last Saturday Mary and I attended the North Dakota Archaeology Society's spring meeting. I never went intending to do this, but I ended up selling a half dozen books. The president of the group is a friend and he gave me a plug. So my thanks went to him. I did a third printing of the book by ordering one last 50 copies of the book. When they are gone, I think I will call it quits on that one. You see, I've started a new project and my attention goes that direction now.
We're still waiting to see if William Wade will get inducted into the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame. I've got my fingers crossed. I've done all I can do. The new book deals with a similar time period. A livery stable owner in Sheldon at one time worked as a freighter for Major Reno and accompanied him on the road to the Little Big Horn battle.
...
Train after train of coal cars still go through here every day, and I always thought it was quite a sight. Now, in addition, new trains go through made up of shiny black oil cars. They are so new that the graffiti artists haven't yet started painting pictures on them.
...
Just as I was about to post this blog, I looked up at the Today Show and there sitting beside Matt Lauer was the man who KFYR in Bismarck had just fired for uttering an obscenity. I heard the live remark, but my ears couldn't quite believe what I heard. Then there was a fluttering of action on the station with him giving an apology for what he had said and then his boss Monica Hannan coming on all flustered and making her apologies as well as covering her rear by saying that isn't the way she trained him. Now there he is sitting beside Matt Lauer. He will be on Dave Letterman tonight. What a ride! Notoriety because the first two words he ever uttered on a live tv show were obscenties.
Thought for the day: If you think you've got it tough, read a history book.
...
Apparently the Fargo Forum recently ran a series of articles about the Ku Klux Klan in North Dakota. I never read them, but recently someone asked me if I knew that the KKK had a presence in my hometown of Sheldon. It even went so far as to ignite a cross to intimidate somebody, probably a local Catholic church member. During this period the group expressed anti-catholic sentiments, and said Catholics owed their allegiance to the Pope in Rome. A long, informative article about KKK activity in North Dakota can be found by Googling the "KKK in North Dakota." A state historian, Dr. Jerome Tweton, wrote an eye-opener. A Presbyterian minister in Grand Forks apparently whipped up lots of anti-sentiment against blacks, Catholics, Jews, and liberals. As many as a thousand members attended a convention in Grand Forks.
This all rose to interest again after the three high school kids dressed up in KKK garb to cheer in a sporting event their school participated in. Crazy! I doubt if the kids knew what they were doing, but it sure got everyone's attention.
...
Last Saturday Mary and I attended the North Dakota Archaeology Society's spring meeting. I never went intending to do this, but I ended up selling a half dozen books. The president of the group is a friend and he gave me a plug. So my thanks went to him. I did a third printing of the book by ordering one last 50 copies of the book. When they are gone, I think I will call it quits on that one. You see, I've started a new project and my attention goes that direction now.
We're still waiting to see if William Wade will get inducted into the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame. I've got my fingers crossed. I've done all I can do. The new book deals with a similar time period. A livery stable owner in Sheldon at one time worked as a freighter for Major Reno and accompanied him on the road to the Little Big Horn battle.
...
Train after train of coal cars still go through here every day, and I always thought it was quite a sight. Now, in addition, new trains go through made up of shiny black oil cars. They are so new that the graffiti artists haven't yet started painting pictures on them.
...
Just as I was about to post this blog, I looked up at the Today Show and there sitting beside Matt Lauer was the man who KFYR in Bismarck had just fired for uttering an obscenity. I heard the live remark, but my ears couldn't quite believe what I heard. Then there was a fluttering of action on the station with him giving an apology for what he had said and then his boss Monica Hannan coming on all flustered and making her apologies as well as covering her rear by saying that isn't the way she trained him. Now there he is sitting beside Matt Lauer. He will be on Dave Letterman tonight. What a ride! Notoriety because the first two words he ever uttered on a live tv show were obscenties.
Thought for the day: If you think you've got it tough, read a history book.
