Thoughts From The Middle of Nowhere

Category: Montana Life

  • Unsettling Times

    Today's Unsettling Times stories are from my neck of the woods. The first one that caught my eye was <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com//index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/05/30/build/state/32-the-life.inc">'I loved the life'</a>. <br />n<br />n<blockquote>Claribel was one of the first non-native children born on land south of the Yellowstone River that was part of the reservation. This strip was opened to white settlers…

  • Neighboring

    <blockquote>Jerry Johnson, a political scientist at Montana State University, has studied what he calls "the out-of-stater-newcomer thing" for more than a decade.<br />n <br />n"It's really easy to blame the out-of-staters for putting up 'No Trespassing' signs and wanting privacy, which is why they buy the big holdings here," Johnson said.<br />n <br />nBut he…

  • Ohmmmm Ohmmmm Ohmmmm

    I have been meditating all day on Ed's article about <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com//index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/05/09/build/state/32-where-is-emt.inc" target="_new">where Eastern (note the capital) Montana</a> lies. The Gazette has a <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com/elements/EASTWEST.pdf" target="_new">map</a> (I hate web pages that are PDF) that shows where different people think Eastern Montana divides from the rest of the state. <br />n<br />nI don't know that you…

  • Truth

    <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com//index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/05/09/build/state/30-elbo-room_x.inc: target="_new">So True</a>.<br />n<br />n<blockquote>Thomas Power, chairman of the Economics Department at the University of Montana, doesn't see a massive movement of permanent residents to these remote areas of the Great Plains, no matter how many people want to escape the trials of city living. <br />n<br />n<br />n"We're talking about frontier levels of…

  • Unsettling Times

    I see this morning a new multimedia item on the Gazette sidebar called <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com/modules/flash/20050408eastmt/20050408eastmt.html" target="_new">Unsettling Times</a>. It's about a new series the paper is putting together about Eastern Montana and the ever shrinking population. The pictures alone in the intro are wonderful and the first part of the series is supposed to be out…

  • Mystery

    One of the enduring mysteries about living in Montana is why the national media doesn't recognize we exist. Parts of southern Montana just received a fairly large storm which included much snow but I didn't see a thing about it in the national media until <b>the exact same system</b> started dumping snow on the <a…

  • Screwing Us Over

    As the Legislative session in Montana winds down I would like to thank Rep. Wayne Stahl for <a href="http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050417/NEWS01/504170311/1002" target="_new">selling out and screwing over</a> the people of Montana. His price, $500,000. Hope you can sleep well at night, I wouldn't be able to.<br />n<br />n<b>Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are,…

  • The Way Things Are

    I thought about talking about how upset I was that the consumers of Montana are <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com//index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/04/15/build/state/68-energy-plan.inc" target="_new">getting</a> <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com//index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/04/15/build/state/64-ethanol-bill.inc" target="_new">screwed</a> <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?display=rednews/2005/04/14/build/state/66-meat-labels.inc" target="_new">over</a> but decided it just isn't worth it. I've said my piece many times and nobody cares but me. So onto what I can control, until the politicians of both stripes take…

  • A New Plan

    I see Ed of <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com/blog/citylights/index.php" target="_new">City Lights</a> fame is talking about how <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com//index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/04/03/build/local/45-city-lights.inc" target="_new">"Licenses can easily verify competency."</a> The article is Ed's usual tounge in cheek look at things on a Sunday morning but I do find his proposal at the end interesting.<br />n<br />n<blockquote>While we're at it, why not require a license…

  • It Don’t Figure

    Heard around the area.<br />n<br />n"The piece I need costs $5.00 in Hardin but I can get it for $2.50 at Wal-Mart in Billings so I have to run to Billings today to save some money."<br />n<br />nFact: Billings is 50 miles from Hardin, so it is a 100 mile round trip in a vehicle…