March 18th, 2020
by Waylon Hedegaard
retiringwithcats@gmail.com
There is nothing quite like a major crisis to put ideologies and government into stark relief. Enter the Trump administration and our current pandemic. I doubt there has been a time with more bumbling incompetence than what we are currently witnessing. Is this a comedy? A tragedy? Is there a difference? Is this Twilight Zone episode ever going to end?
We’ve known about the Coronavirus for more than two and a half months, and we’ve known…
March 11th, 2020
by Caitlin McDonald
mcdonald555@gmail.com
One of my favorite feminist ‘YEAH!’ stories is one that Tina Fey tells, about when Amy Poehler first joined Saturday Night Live. Everyone was writing and bantering ideas in a room together, and Amy acted out one that was kind of gross, a fart sketch or something. Jimmy Fallon said ‘Ew, that’s not cute!’ and Amy snapped back, ‘I’m not here to be f*cking cute for you.’ Now that sets a tone.
You painted a naked woman because you…
March 11th, 2020
by Waylon Hedegaard
retiringwithcats@gmail.com>
As we all can see, battles are raging for the soul of the Democrat party. Who are we? Who are we becoming? Who do we want to be?
Many want a return to the elegance and decency of the Obama years, and that option certainly has its attractions. Who wouldn’t want a highly educated, thoughtful president who constantly reads and improves himself?
Unfortunately, judging by this primary season? About half of us. These progressives do not view a…
March 11th, 2020
Step #3. Beware the One-Party State
“The parties that remade states and suppressed rivals were not omnipotent from the start. They exploited a historic moment to make political life impossible for their opponents. So support the multi-party system and defend the rules of democratic elections. Vote in local and state elections while you can. Consider running for office.” – Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny
“…Hitler’s originality lay in his realization that effective revolutions,…
February 26th, 2020
Step #8. Stand Out
“Someone has to. It is easy to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. Remember Rosa Parks. The moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.” - Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny
“It is a mistake - as events since September 11 have shown - to suppose that a government can promote and participate in a global economy and at the same time act…
February 26th, 2020
by Zach Nerpel
zachnerpel@gmail.com
The battle against contentment rages in 2020. The acts of caring for one’s health and finding peace in doom seem to sap the mind of interesting motivations. You find your days melding into each other, not in the fugue of depression, but in hapless uneventfulness. Looking forward to cooking dinner and plans for dinner, become the most engaging thoughts you have left. You think about it while driving and your fried rice is the highlight of the…
February 12th, 2020
“Donald Trump sits on a wall;
But Donald Trump fears a great fall.
All would-be king’s horsemen, and would-be king’s men;
Still keep him propped up there, again and again.” - Chicago Dog, 2/2/20
Step #5. Remember Professional Ethics
“When political leaders set a negative example, professional commitments to just practice become more important. It is hard to subvert a rule-of-law state without lawyers, or to hold show trials without judges. Authoritarians need obedient…
February 5th, 2020
The Little Missouri State Scenic River valley north of Medora. photo by Bill Kingsbury
I have written before about this stupid, harebrained, boneheaded, senseless, vacuous, selfish, destructive, egomaniacal, (insert your own adjective here), idea of the Billings County Commissioners to put a bridge over the Little Missouri State Scenic River a dozen or so miles north of Medora. I’m going to keep writing about it until it goes away.
Six months ago, it looked like the bridge was just a…
January 29th, 2020
“On January 16, 1979, the self-styled ‘King of Kings’ (the Shah of Iran) was…forced to seek exile abroad. To understand the reason for this unexpected dénouement, it is necessary to note that the Shah was essentially a western creation. Once before he had been forced into exile, in 1953, when he tried to oppose a popular (democratically elected and anti-Communist) Prime Minister, Dr. Mohammad Mossadeq, who had nationalized the oilfields at the expense of (the) Anglo-Iranian Oil…
January 15th, 2020
by Karen Anderson
kartcone@gmail.com
Congratulations to the Fargo School District for opening up a discussion regarding today’s students as covered in the January 7, Barry Amundson article “Social, emotional learning a forefront of Fargo's State of the Schools.” I am a twenty year educator of students ranging in age PreK-16; I have seen a change in how students learn and an increase in their non-academic needs. Contemporaneously within the last decade schools have addedto their…
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Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.com A midnight wedding ceremony at the Clay County Courthouse in Moorhead on August 1, 2013 was more than a romantic gesture. Eighteen couples made history on that day by exchanging vows in the…
By Michael M. Millermichael.miller@ndsu.edu On March 11, 2024, we celebrated the 121st birthday of bandleader Lawrence Welk. He was born March 11, 1903 in a sod house near Strasburg, North Dakota, and died on May 17,1992. The…
Saturday, May 117 p.m., gates at 5 p.m.Outdoors at Fargo Brewing Company610 University Dr. N, FargoWisconsin’s finest export, The Violent Femmes, started out in Milwaukee in 1981 as an acoustic punk band, and they’ve been…
Is this a repeating pattern?By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comThere’s a quote circulating around the world wide web, misattributed to Sinclair Lewis: "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a…
by Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comAccording to my great-grandfather many years ago, my French ancestors migrated from Normandy to Quebec to Manitoba to Wisconsin to Minnesota over the spread of more than two centuries, finally…
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…
By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.com It is not unheard of for bands to go on hiatus. However, as the old saying goes, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” That is why when a local group like STILL comes back to…
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…
By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com There’s no exaggeration when we say that this year’s Plains Art Gala is going to be out of this world, with a sci-fi theme inspired by a painting housed in the Plains Art Museum’s permanent…
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,…
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Dismissing the value of small towns for the future of our nation is a mistakeBy Bill Oberlanderarcandburn@gmail.comAccording to U.S. Census projections, by the middle of this century, roughly 90% of the total population will live…
