Flat Stanley came to Lewistown

Flat Stanley was in Lewistown this past November and he even stopped by FHS. Flat enjoyed his time here and he even got to get some bird hunting in.

The Historians Dilemma

A decade and a half ago, when I was learning to be a "historian" at Radford University I took a class called Hist 295. Dr. Ferrari who did her best to show me how to use libraries, court house documents and other repositories to find the crucial and raw primary material that makes history work. Yet, I remember what she really emphasized was the need to find those personal documents, the letters or diaries, the notes in the margin of a book read long ago. That was the fodder that makes history alive, personal and real.

Last night while walking the dog around the frog ponds I had what I am sure is not a new Epiphany. In this digital world, where or how will the historians putting together the lives of Americans mine to construct that personal and private world. Where do we deposit our tweets, wall posts, emails, texts and the other dimensions of our lives to that others may glimpse into our world when we are gone? I can remember writing long and dramatic emails to friends during the whirlwind of love when I was a young man. How and where would I attempt to find those now. More importantly how would the historian of the future find them without the passwords and permissions required in this digital world?

Rehberg v Tester

News today that Dennis Rehberg intends to bring in Minnesota Republican and Tea Party aficionado Michele Bachmann to help him announce his entrance into the 2012 Montana Senate race. It is unknown how this will play out in the long run but on its face this appears as a very poor decision.

Jon Tester is a populist candidate with no strong ideological bent. For the strongly independent and libertarian Montana electorate his politics stand in sharp contrast to someone like Michele Bachmann. Time will tell but I feel this is a moment that will come back to haunt Rehberg.

The Honor of Egypt

Like millions I have been intently watching the situation in Egypt and that anxiety brewed over into desperation today as the all too familiar government repression began today. In what seems like a textbook repeat of the Green Revolution in Iran it appears as if the government is going to use sympathetic civilian actors (or plain clothed government agents to handle the dirty work).

I suppose that for a brief moment on Monday or Tuesday it appeared as if a non-violent transfer of power was possible. I wanted to believe that the proud Egyptian people has voted with their bodies and encouraged Mubarek to give up control. As always those thoughts seem idealistic and naive just a few hours after I was thinking them.

One has to wonder what the end game is here. The international community has lost whatever long standing loyalty for Mubarek. A loyalty that perhaps he deserves for so long standing as a pro western voice against extremism. Certainly today's events will convince the world that the government of Egypt is the fraud that Egyptians have been protesting all week.

The Spring Classics

From the 2nd to last week in March to the last weekend in April is a special time of year. Sure, American fans are supposed to flock exclusively to the Tour in July. In 1988 I stumbled upon a CBS broadcast of Paris-Roubaix and I was captivated. The classics are one day races staring with Milan San Remo in Italy and ending this weekend with Liege Bastogne Liege in Belgium. These are not races for the weak, usually the strongest win and the conditions the races are held under, cold rain in Belgium, cobblestone climbs in Flanders and dirt roads in Northern France all create some of the best bike racing in the world. Here's a look at this year's Paris Roubaix.