November 16th, 2022
By Ed Raymond
fargogadfly@gmail.com
A Trivia Question: How Many Horses Have Been Elected Senator?
There is ample critical historical evidence that horses, or their varying parts thereof, have played important roles in the governing of nations for over 2,000 years. Emperor Caligula, who ruled Rome from year 37 to 41, had the qualities of Donald J. Trump as presently listed in the latest Manual of Mental Disabilities---except for one. He trusted someone.
Caligula determined that his…
November 5th, 2022
By Ed Raymond
fargogadfly@gmail.com
This Country Is Going to Hell While Politicians of Both Parties Are Dancing
It’s been many years since Corky and I did the Hokey Pokey, that dance where you forced your extremities, including your head, to flail and shake to a musical Caribbean-like beat furnished by various instruments. The common lines were similar, only substituting body parts: “Put your right arm in, take your right hand out. Put your right arm in, and you shake it all…
October 31st, 2022
By Ed Raymond
Free Speech Costs Billions and Contains Billions of Expensive Lies
Our politicians lied from the very beginning with that infamous phrase: “all men are created equal.” That is, only if you were White and owned property could you vote. Many signers of that declaration owned Black property. The big lie continued for almost a century until 675,000 Americans died in battles over freeing Black slaves and allowing Black men to vote. But then the White…
October 24th, 2022
By Ed Raymond
fargogadfly@gmail.com
Why Did One of the Most Civilized Countries Commit Crimes Against Humanity?
At the end of World War II I was thirteen and enthralled by aircraft carriers, 70-ton tanks, B-29s, and uniforms. Since then, I have read a dozen books and hundreds of articles about the Holocaust, and Corky and I have spent many hours in the Holocaust Museum in Washington. I have always wondered why human beings from one of the most civilized countries in the world could commit…
October 20th, 2022
By Ed Raymond
There Are Many Reasons Why Our Middle Class Is Disappearing
English novelist Charles Dickens, who experienced both poverty and wealth in his lifetime, included both poor and rich in his novels, particularly in Bleak House, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and A Tale of Two Cities. Remember Scrooge and Tiny Tim in Christmas Carol?
Raised in London in a family of eight, Charles went to work in a shoe-black factory when he was twelve because his father was…
October 1st, 2022
By Ed Raymond
fargogadfly@gmail.com
A Rich Caveman Had Extra Skins While Today a Super Rich Man Has Two Yachts
The Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch’s daily recipe for the rich and infamous, publishes a section called “Mansions” every Friday. In the September 16th edition, the section bragged shamelessly that a developer was asking $250 million for a penthouse on the 129th through 131st floors of a New York skyscraper 1,400 feet tall. It had 17,500 sq. ft. of livable space, seven…
September 25th, 2022
By Ed Raymond
fargogadfly@gmail.com
From Mansion or Hovel, We All End Up Dead
We are now living in the Divided States of America, which has been developing for more than 240 years. Economist Frederic Bastiat has come up with the main reason for the division: “When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.”
English poet Thomas Gray captured the…
September 18th, 2022
By Ed Raymond
fargogadfly@gmail.com
Double Jeopardy: Being a Member of the LBGTQ+ Community and College Debt
In the 16th Century, King Henry VIII told the Roman Catholic Church in England to go back to Rome after Pope Clement VII refused to give him an annulment or divorce from his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon, because she did not give him a male heir to the throne—plus other reasons. Besides, he wanted to marry the beautiful Anne Boleyn, the sister of one of his mistresses.…
September 17th, 2022
By Ed Raymond
fargogadfly@gmail.com
Our Society is Facing Several Nuclear Options in These Critical Times
I always had my senior English students at Fargo Central High School read and discuss “The Strange Death of Louis Slotin,” because for the rest of our human history we were going to live or die with atoms.
It had little to do with literature, but a great deal to do with life. Canadian physicist Louis Slotin at the Los Alamos nuclear facility in New Mexico, in 1946, was showing his…
September 14th, 2022
By Ed Raymond
fargogadfly@gmail.com
I Pledge to Maintain a Good Constitution as I Pray to Liberal Gods and Goddesses
During the Pledge of Allegiance mess in Fargo a couple of weeks ago I suggested as a former member of the Fargo School Board that, as Homo Sapiens have been around for 300,000 years, we have pledged allegiance to thousands of gods. Why not name a different god for each daily pledge? In five minutes of googling I discovered thousands of gods created by Homo sapiens over that…
__293px-wide.jpg)
_(1)__293px-wide.jpg)
__293px-wide.jpg)
_(1)__293px-wide.jpg)
By Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.comDairy Queen restaurants across the country will raise funds for Children’s Miracle Network hospitals during Miracle Treat Day on Thursday, July 31. At least one dollar from every Blizzard…
By Michael M. Millermichael.miller@ndsu.edu The Northwest Blade, from Eureka, South Dakota, published a wonderful story in August 2020. It’s called “Granddaughter keeps Grandmother’s precious chamomile seeds,” by Cindy…
October 3-5, 2025Memorial Union at NDSU, 1401 Administrative Ave., Fargo With the theme of “Existence is Resistance: Healing Through Unity,” this year’s summit will kick off with a professional development day followed by a…
By John Strandjas@hpr1.com Yes, we know, everywhere you look, the world situation is mental. It’s almost inescapable just how tenuous life’s circumstances are. And how they are mostly — pretty much entirely — out of our…
By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comWhat are the four freedoms of Donald John Trump? Nearly a century ago, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said every citizen in the United States of America should have four freedoms: Freedom from…
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 Gion and Nichole Hensenrickgion@gmail.com The wait is finally over. Those who have visited Nichole’s Fine Pastry & Cafe lately know about the recent major additions and renovations that have taken place over the past…
By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com Dakotah Faye is a hip-hop artist from Minot, North Dakota, and he’s had a busy year. He’s released two albums. This summer he opened for Tech N9ne in Sturgis and will be opening for Bone…
By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com As a follow-up to “The Whale,” a raucous adaptation of the first novel in Charlie Huston’s Henry Thompson series was a good choice for eclectic auteur Darren Aronofksy, whose bold visions…
By HPR staffsubmit@hpr1.com Mark the first weekend of October on your calendar. It’s the weekend of the Studio Crawl, which takes us all on a wonderful, metro-wide tour of our talented (and often wacky) arts community. On October…
Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.comPenn & Teller are returning to their roots. The legendary magic and comedy duo will appear on the Crown Stage at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival in Shakopee, Minnesota, where they first…
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 Ellie Liveranieli.liverani.ra@gmail.com Loneliness is on the rise in North Dakota, where there is one of the highest rates of people living alone. The challenging winter can be a major contributor, yet North Dakota is not alone.…
By Alicia Underlee NelsonProtests against President Trump’s policies and the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are planned across North Dakota and western Minnesota Friday, April 4 and…
By Vern Thompsonvern.thompson@rocketmail.com Working in the Bakken oil fields of the Williston Basin is so different from my home in Fargo. I'm not judging, because the people working and living in western North Dakota are very…
