Three years in preparation, a new book is now available on Amazon, Dayton Minnesota Reflections of French-Canadian Roots. This is a major family history production, 483 pages in English, about over 100 Dayton area families identified with French-Canada antecedents beginning in the early 1850s. More information about the book is accessible at the above link. […]
Rotten Tomatoes just appeared in my in-box with a review and trailer about the new Superman movie. I think I’ll take this one in. Previous posts in the past week: July 4, 6 and 8, 2025. * By my count, today, July 12, 2025, is 173 days since the inauguration of the President. 2025 is […]
July 2 came one of those e-mails we all have seen. Sender Terry Burke’s subject line to the mailing list of the Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers: “Sad News”. The content brief: “We learned tonight that Melvin Giles passed away yesterday.” Terry’s e-mail continued: “We were very fortunate to know and work with Melvin for many […]
My blog post for July 4 is here. * Today ends 4th of July weekend. We’ll soon begin to see what it means to be in the trump era. This is Sunday, and I like to go to Church and I did, this morning. Today’s readings from scripture seemed to focus on evangelizing, and Fr. […]
Two items for this 4th: The flag at Ft. McHenry MD, summer of 1999. Keys original handwritten text of the Star Spangled Banner can be viewed here.. I visited the Fort, which is at the entrance to the Baltimore harbor. Here is the National Park Service brochure: Ft. McHenry MD. Here is a […]
This post is being written Thursday morning July 3, 2025, before I’ve watched, read or listened to any news from or about Congress and the Budget. The last data I have is from before evening of July 2. As a July 4 weekend suggestion, I’d like to recommend a long article in “The Weekly Sift” […]
Today is Canada Day. Here’s the Canadian national anthem in English. And in French. A piece of intriguing “junk mail” is worth a quick look if you have interest in some aspect of Canada genealogy, HERE. Access is free through July 2, presumably at indicated cost thereafter. At minimum you can see some potential sources […]
The week now passed has not been easy, and the weeks to come do not seem to be promising. At home in Minnesota the week was dominated by the political assassination of a Minnesota political leader, Melissa Hortman, and her husband Mark; and the severe injuries of another legislator, John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette. […]
POSTNOTE June 24, 2025: a summary of Iran-U.S. political history up to today, here. * To help orient you: pdf of the below: Iran Lebanon Israel area Tehran Iran to Jerusalem Israel: here (about 1,150 road miles). That’s about the same distance as from St. Paul to New York City. This is also a good […]
Today is Juneteenth, nationally observed. I can’t say I know much about Juneteenth, and this mornings Heather Cox Richardson Letters to An American gives a good brief historical seminar. Here’s a history from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Scroll down at this site for more links. It appears that the […]