Opinion
HPR Staff Opinion
Anonymous: Taking a Byte out of Crime
Recently HPR blacked out its cover to make people aware of the losses of Internet freedom looming from proposed censorship laws like SOPA and PIPA. We have since learned that these laws that would curtail our freedoms of information and free speech were patterned after an international treaty that many countries, including the U.S., have already singed on to. The real threat, an international treaty called ACTA, has become more well known because of an online activist group of famous (or infamous, depending on who you talk to) hackers.
The Gadfly
Pros and Regs
Progressives Versus Regressives
My daughter bought several grocery bags full of “discarded” books at the Moorhead Public Library the other day for three bucks a bag. What a bargain! She picked out a couple she thought I would be interested in. I have long been an admirer of Garrison Keillor, his fictional hometown of “Lake Wobegon,” and his radio show “The Prairie Home Companion.”
Guest Editorial
When Boom Turns to Bust
To those of you in the eastern half of this state, consider this both a plea for help and a wake up call to the politicians who have colluded in the creation of the destructive oil “boom” which is obliterating the land, the wildlife, and the longtime inhabitants of the western North Dakota. And considering that we westerners are, in general, a sturdy and resourceful bunch, it is no small thing for us to essentially swallow our pride and ask for help from the more “cosmopolitan” end of our fair state. Not only do we out West feel abandoned by our so-called “leaders,” but we also feel that we are under major assault by the oil industry and the outsiders they bring along.
Guest Editorial
The North Dakota Way, Or Is It?
North Dakota surfaced twice in GOP debates earlier this week.
The sugar program surfaced as a topic addressed by front-runners Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich in Tuesday night’s presidential debates in Florida. While presented in the context of sugar cane sugar versus beet sugar, what was clear is that there is a growing movement to let the sugar subsidy program die in lieu of a free market approach.
The Gadfly
What Would Chesty Do?
Let’s see. We send our young “volunteers” to war from poor small towns in poor counties. They choose to get out of a dull town and make something of themselves. They can’t afford to go to college, so they will risk limb and life because the GI Bill may be the ticket to their idea of Nirvana. So at first they are willing to participate in an overseas war in “romantic” places completely different from their own experiences.
Guest Editorial
Traditional Corruption of North Dakota Media
On the night of August 28-29, 1889, a “mob” destroyed the offices of the Valley City Times-Record. It was speculated that local anti-prohibitionist businessmen were involved, since the stance of the Times-Record was prohibitionist.
When Don C. Matchan was the owner and editor of the Times-Record (1944 to 1947), his somewhat left-of-center editorials went against the grain of some local businessmen. They forced Matchan out against the will of the community. The Matchan Affair was reported in Time magaz
