Gadfly

​Another Annual World Series

September 6th, 2021

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

In the Annual Battle of Virus and Bacteria vs. Brain, the Score Is Probably 8-3

Medical researchers have just determined that the average adult human body has four pounds of bacteria clinging to the outside and invading the inside of the body. The brain in the average adult weighs in at an inadequate three pounds.

Bacteria are free-living cells that can live inside or outside the body. Viruses such as COVID-19 and Delta are a non-living collection of…

Read more...


​Elements of a Decent Life

August 28th, 2021

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

Should We Care if a Woolly Mammoth Walked 43,500 Miles 17,100 Years Ago?

And by the way, Kik died of starvation when he was 28 years old. This intimate knowledge of this huge, hairy beast was learned from examining his nearly six-foot tusks, that added a level of exotic and plain material almost every day of his life.

It’s something about strontium isotopes in plants and soils, the teeth of rodents wherever he strolled, volcanic deposits, ancient…

Read more...


​Science vs. Stupor, Stupified, and Stupid

August 21st, 2021

By Ed Raymond

farggadfly@gmail.com

Why Does the Sign by the Tallahatchie Bridge Have to Be Bulletproof?

I had Ben Eveslage for chemistry and physics at Little Falls High School. With his wild gray hair and on-tip-nose glasses, he looked like the mad scientist, and if you didn’t answer his questions precisely, he would give that “Don’t be so damn stupid” look -- and then grin. Science was very important to him and he passed science on.

Nobel Prize for Science winner Swiss Henrich…

Read more...


​Births, Bills, Bankruptcies

August 17th, 2021

By Ed Raymond fargogadfly@gmail.com

19 August 2021

Health Care Is a Right, Not a Privilege

Shubham Chandra’s father, a New York City cardiologist, died of COVID-19 in his hospital after spending seven months in one of its beds.

Shubham quit his well-paying job in a media startup to manage the insurance coverage and the hundreds of medical bills. He spent his mornings analyzing the charges on new bills…

Read more...


​Some Are More Equal Than Others

August 8th, 2021

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

There’s Nothing but Trouble in the City on the Potomac

When “The Chosen One,” Donald “Jesus” Trump, arrived at the city on the Potomac River in 2017 to swindle the “losers” for at least for four years and maybe forever, his ascent to attack and loot the treasury of the United States was sure to cause trouble. When trouble is around, I always think of the lines “Ya Got Trouble” in that great musical The Music Man:

Except in this case…

Read more...


​Going Critical With Race Facts

August 2nd, 2021

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

05 August 2021

Sometimes Facts Lead to Theories. Sometimes They Lead to More Facts.

On 21 May 1946, veteran Canadian physicist and chemist Louis Slotin, working in our Manhattan Project in New York, was experimenting with uranium and plutonium cores to determine their critical mass values. Pushing the cores together with a screwdriver in one hand, it slipped in his hand and started a fission nuclear reaction, releasing a burst of hard radiation. He died…

Read more...


​A Cult for All Time

July 26th, 2021

Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

29 July 2021

This Is About the Religious-Rich-QAnon-White Supremacist-Trumplican Cult

There are hundreds of thousands of cults in countries and societies around the world that have played or are playing a role in the formation or disintegration of a group or government. Therefore, the definition of a cult has to be quite broad: A cult is a group of people with extreme dedication to a certain leader or sets of beliefs that are often viewed as odd by others,…

Read more...


​The Longest Pony Postal Route

July 18th, 2021

Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

22 July 2021

Bosom Buddies: Genghis and Bernie

In the 13th Century Genghis Khan of Mongolia ruled the largest empire the world has ever seen: from the Pacific Ocean to the borders of Europe and from Northern Siberia to Southern Persia. His government, known as The Golden Horde, took in many countries, including present-day China, Mongolia, Russia, Afghanistan, Persia, Hungary, Turkey, and all of Central Asia.

To govern it well, Genghis established the…

Read more...


​And the Billionaires Are Jumping Over the Moon

July 11th, 2021

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.con

15 July 2021

Looking Backward: 1887 to Brave New World, 632 After Ford

We currently have three billionaires spending billions to leave planet Earth.

Jeff Bezos of Amazon, the richest man in the world, will soon take a ride on his Blue Origin New Shepherd rocket with a passenger who paid $28 million to sit beside him. Jeff is working on putting huge cylindrical rings in space where millions of Earthians will live after escaping grilling on a hot planet.…

Read more...


​What a Thoughtful Birthday Gift!

July 4th, 2021

by Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

08 July 2021

Miranda Was Wrong: We Are Terribly Short Of ‘Goodly Creatures’

Before I attack God, Catholics, evangelical Christians, and Trumplicans, I’ve got to attack the Supreme Court. The Court voted 8-1 that a foul-mouthed bratty teenaged cheerleader, with parents who want be “friends” instead of parents, had had her First Amendment rights violated.

She had been suspended from school for using Trumpian profane language against teachers,…

Read more...


Tracker Pixel for Entry Bismarck1 Tracker Pixel for Entry FargoFilmFestivalTeaser2 Tracker Pixel for Entry MidwestRoadTripAdventures Tracker Pixel for Entry NorthernNarratives Tracker Pixel for Entry FargoFilmFestivalTeaser1 Tracker Pixel for Entry Aquarium

Recently in:

By Laura Simmonslaurasimmons2025@u.northwestern.edu Gerald Briggs, the Warren County Mississippi Fire/EMS chief, was at a festival in February 2020 when a local law enforcement officer asked him if he had heard about the explosion…

By Michael M. Millermichael.miller@ndsu.edu Dwight Herr interviewed his father, Julius E. Herr of Wishek, North Dakota, in June 1979. Dwight provided a transcription and donated the “Life Story of Julius E. Herr” to the Germans…

Saturday, March 1611 a.m.Downtown FargoWear something green and celebrate spring during Fargo-Moorhead’s premier parade. Thousands of spectators line the streets, so arrive early to snag a prime spot. This community celebration…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com When one googles “What traits are desirable in a new employee,” some of the first words that pop up “from sources around the web” include “communication,” “team player,”…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comPoliticians could learn a lot by watching dung beetles work for a livingThe 400,000 species of beetles is the largest order of insects discovered on Planet Earth, so far. Insect researchers believe…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com In this land of hotdish and ham, the knoephla soup of German-Russian heritage seems to reign supreme. In my opinion though, the French have the superior soup. With a cheesy top layer, toasted baguette…

The Aquarium, 226 Broadway North upstairs, Downtown FargoFriday, December 8, 7:30-11pmDoors 7:30 pm // Music 8 pm21+ // $10 advance // $12 DOSOver two decades, Christmas songs have appeared throughout Owen Ashworth’s recorded…

Now playing at the Fargo Theatre.By Greg Carlson gregcarlson1@gmail.comPalme d’Or recipient “Anatomy of a Fall” is now enjoying an award-season victory tour, recently picking up Golden Globe wins for both screenplay and…

In the 20th and 21st centuries, the pursuit of knowledge has directed humankind to new horizons – the ocean depths, the infinite reach of space, and the hidden secrets of cells and microbes…or to Artificial Intelligence, which…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.comHigh Plains Reader had the opportunity to interview two mysterious new game show hosts named Milt and Bradley Barker about an upcoming event they will be putting on at Brewhalla. What…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By John Showalter  john.d.showalter@gmail.comThey sell fentanyl test strips and kits to harm-reduction organizations and…

JANUARY 19, 1967– MARCH 8, 2023 Brittney Leigh Goodman, 56, of Fargo, N.D., passed away unexpectedly at her home on March 8, 2023. Brittney was born January 19, 1967, to Ruth Wilson Pollock and Donald Ray Goodman, in Hardinsburg,…

By Faye Seidlerfayeseidler@gmail.com On the first day of the month I ask people to thank a journalist they know or someone who contributes to papers in some meaningful way. When I grew up, my best friend's father was a journalist…