the alberton papers

Name:
Location: alberton, mt., United States

I am a retired steamfitter and vocational instructor, Current member, alberton town council, having served two terms previously, several years ago. Resident of alberton almost 28 years. I am fiscally conservative and socially progressive, a free thinker and an advocate of good, responsive, honest government.

Monday, January 28, 2008

The Z-man

The Alberton Papers, Vol V, #XIV
By Dick Darne 1-28-08
This may well be the hardest article I’ve ever written. The news of Mark Zylawy’s death was like a sledgehammer to the gut. I have known him since his school days here in Alberton. He was one of the few that I had high expectations for and he not only never let me down, but he exceeded them. One of Alberton’s finest became one of Portland’s finest, providing the standard by which all true "community-based" law enforcement should be measured. He patrolled close by where his friend and my son Kevin and my daughter Meghann lived in northeast Portland. Over the years I would get to see him and chat about his work. I now wish that I had taken his offer for a "ride along". Mark was born to be polite and respectful, I can’t even imagine him behaving any other way. This earned him the respect of his fellow officer’s, the people he had sworn to protect and serve and even the respect of the ones he had to arrest.
This has been a bad year for Alberton, with lots of illness and death. It’s sad enough for the passing of those who have had a full life but it’s easier knowing that it must happen eventually. We can accept the natural order of things, but to lose one in the prime of life hits much harder. Most of us who have lived much longer will never accomplish as much as "Z-man had already done.
Mark, you may have had more verses to sing, but you already sang more than most of us. Farewell to one of the finest men I have ever known. dd

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

musings from beautiful downtown Alberton

The Alberton Papers, Vol. V, #XIII
By Dick Darne 1-22-08
Musings from beautiful downtown Alberton
After all the hoopla and blather associated with the football games, is there anyone else that has noticed the fount of football knowledge and rather high level of discourse both from the talking heads and the general populace? Just imagine for a moment that this was all applied to politics, the workings of government, the Constitution and the intent of our founding fathers, World history, American history, civics, how to make this world a better place, community, tolerance and so on. When I went to high school, we were taught civics, American history and American government. Don’t they do this anymore? An appropriate question would be "is our children learning?". Maybe the function of schools has morphed into a "compliant consumer factory", and heaven forbid any of our little consumer trainees should question any authority but should be content with the nice circus provided for them.
As for myself, after a bout of illness that kept me in the hospital for eight days spanning xmas day, new medicines with side effects and a very low sodium diet allowance (this means I will kill you to get your potato chips, so beware), I feel like I have earned a good deep depression but my problems pale to those of others. My best friend is in the hospital in Seattle far more ill than I was. I also am sad for all the people with inadequate health care, who may never get care until it’s too late. Maybe some of the discourse dreamed of above would apply here.
It’s still a great day to be alive in good old Alberton. I wish my friend Tom was here to enjoy it as we have almost every morning since retirement. Heal and get back here Tommy me lad. dd

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

histories i have known and loved

The Alberton Papers, Vol. V, #XII
By Dick Darne 1-14-08
This week I will reflect on some history books that have impressed me. It surely is not the drivel that passes for textbooks in history class, but ones that stimulated thinking and made me want more. Most were found by a serendipitous moment in the used bookstore rather than on the shelf in the big retailers or even the library.
One of the first was a well worn, dog eared copy of "The Story of Mankind" by Van Loon. That dog eared tome had me search out Van Loon’s other books, " Van Loon’s Geography", "The Story of The Bible", "The Story of America" and others.
Van Loon was a Dutchman, who was on Hitler’s hit list and fled to America just ahead of the gestapo. His books were written for his grandchildren, including his hand drawn maps and charts that he used when he was a teacher.
The next was H.G. Wells (yes the same man who wrote and is best remembered for "The War of The Worlds") who produced a two volume "Outline of History". Very complete and best of all, easy reading. I read volume two while on an eight hour delay in the Minneapolis airport. Made me hungry for more.
While the above was from the 20's and 30's, a more recent one becomes my all time favorite, Howard Zinn’s "A People’s History of The United states". It begins when Columbus landed on an island in the Carribean and literally slaughtered it’s inhabitants. Old Cris had a priest on board who documented what happened as an eye witness. Zinn tries to tell the stories from the point of view of the subjugated peoples. Zinn also wrote other books speaking for the powerless. Another book that begins at the same time and speaks for the subjugated is Chomsky"s "Year 501, the Conquest Continues". For plain old folks just speaking their minds, that old master of the tape recorder and just let them tell it like it is, Studs Terkel has several collections of stories from these plain old folks.
Out there hidden among the clutter on the hard to reach shelves in dimly lit semi organized used book stores are volumes of labor and local histories, most long out of print. "Labor’s Untold Story" is by far the best. Always take a flashlight and don’t wear a white shirt. There are tons of treasures waiting to be found. Keep searching for the truth, speak truth to power and think for yourself. dd
P.s., if you can’t find any of the aforementioned books, I will be happy to loan one out from my private collection.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

historical novels

The Alberton Papers, Vol. V, #XI
By Dick Darne 1-6-08
Let’s ruminate on the historical novel for a while. There are some that weave a fictional story into real history and the reader can not only be entertained, but his interest in the actual history can be piqued leading to further study and understanding. Of course there are the "trashy" historical novels, characterized by the cover picture, usually a beautiful blond white woman held in the arms of the handsome native, complete with heaving bosom and pulsing manhood. While appealing to the baser instincts of some, there is no real history to be learned here.
There are some authors, however who manage to combine a good story with historical accuracy. At the top of my list is James Michner. His books are all far better than the movie versions. My all time favorite is "The Source", I have read it 3 times and learned from it each time. Other authors of the same caliber are: Gore Vidal, Larry McMurtry and Louis L’Amour. At the very least, they will get you thinking.
Way back in the early 70's, I was headed home after a job way out of town. While dialing the radio, looking for something to keep me awake, I heard Howard Cossell’s voice. I had always thought of him as a loudmouth sports commentator, but this was different. He was interviewing Gore Vidal and they were discussing his new book, "Burr". As the discussion went on, the focus was on the founding of our country. They both agreed that at the beginning the best collection of brains wrote our Constitution and now days, at best, second and third rate brains are in politics. Where are the best now? Why going to Harvard business and law school, the better to pillage our country.
These authors, along with my old high school history teacher convinced me that there is always other versions of history and what is taught was written by whoever won. Next week we will explore some history books that tell the other side of the story. Until then, dd.