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…
August 28th, 2021
By Ed Raymond
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…
August 21st, 2021
By Ed Raymond
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…
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…
August 8th, 2021
By Ed Raymond
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…
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…
July 26th, 2021
Ed Raymond
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,…
July 18th, 2021
Ed Raymond
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…
July 11th, 2021
By Ed Raymond
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.…
July 4th, 2021
by Ed Raymond
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,…
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By Alicia Underlee NelsonMore than 1,000 pro-worker events are planned for Thursday, May 1 across the country, including rallies in Fargo-Moorhead, Grand Forks, Minot and Jamestown. East Grand Forks and Bismarck will host protests…
From concerts and car shows to Japanese art and Juneteenth celebrations, there's so much going on around the region this summer. This year's High Plains Reader Summer Events Calendar is back and bigger than ever. It's packed with…
June 21, 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.Fargo Theatre, 314 Broadway N., Fargo“We Watch Shudder,” Fargo’s favorite horror podcasters, bring on the darkness during the longest day of the year. The Darkest Day of Horror Film Festival features…
By John Strandjas@hpr1.com One description that perhaps aptly describes the mental state of many lately is that they feel they are attached to a string. Or several strings. Call it the notion that people are played like puppets,…
By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comFor sale: White House in D.C. housing dung beetles and giant leechesI suspect someone close to Donald Trump has read “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,”because the Trump administration is…
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 After a very inspiring conversation with Kayla Houchin of Sonder Bakehouse a few weeks ago, I decided that it’s an appropriate time to write a column about some of the sweet people who are involved…
Mooncats and Pert Near Sandstone play Empire TheatreBy Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comThe MoonCats describe themselves as “Americonscious Campfire Folk.” They have a clear acoustic folk sound with a sense of whimsy — think…
By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com The writing/directing partnership of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck has to be one of the most curious cases of crazy connect-the-dots career moves in recent cinema. From short documentaries and…
By Raul Gomezraul@hpr1.com Minutes before Modern’s Celebration of Life opened its door at the Sons of Norway, I was fiddling with the bar computer, trying to pull up the playlists of Modern’s work I had set aside for the…
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 Ellie Liveranieli.liverani.ra@gmail.com There appear to be differences in the incidence of mental illnesses between men and women. For example, women are more likely to be diagnosed with depression, post-traumatic stress…
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.nd7@gmail.com Our trucking business has me driving almost daily from gas plants in western North Dakota's oil patch to Canada. I haul natural gas liquids (NGLs) products we used to see flared off at…
