June 13th, 2021
by Ed Raymond
17 June 2021
Why Cooks Are Yelling “Flip Your Own Damn Burgers!”
A June 3 headline in The Wall Street Journal caught my eye because it raved: “U.S. Economy’s Rebound is Without Historical Parallel.” I was shocked because I remembered a news story in The Guardian a few months ago that stated one in four Americans, or a quarter of the entire population, did not have enough money to have access to “nutritious food needed for a healthy life.”…
June 7th, 2021
by Ed Raymond
10 June 2021
When Lampreys and Humans Ate Each Other
Some of my musical favorites are on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s CD containing Phantom of the Opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, and Cats. He loves to rehabilitate old stuff. He just bought the oldest continuously running theater in London, the Royal Drury Lane which opened in 1663. It’s ironic the Divided States of America is already falling apart in a little more than two centuries. The theater burned…
May 31st, 2021
by Ed Raymond
fargogadfly@gmail.com
03 June 2021
Eternal Fact: Homo Sapiens Can’t Stop Having Sex or Abortions
Bible thumpers proclaim God commanded us to “Be fruitful and multiply!” Homo sapiens have done a good job for about 300,000 years, particularly after migrating out of Africa 60,000 years ago. Population statisticians estimate about 100 billion Homo sapiens have lived and died on earth to this point. As about one in four pregnancies end in miscarriages, it means that it took…
May 24th, 2021
By Ed Raymond
27 May 2021
The Pillow Guy Thinks Trump Could Be Back in the Oval Office by August
After listening to Republican representatives at a Congressional hearing insist there was no insurrection at the capitol on January 6, 2021, I believe The Divided States of America is on hospice and will require heavenly resurrection to recover from insurrection.
They testified it was just a bunch of patriotic tourists on a tour of the halls displaying their faith in…
May 16th, 2021
by Ed Raymond
What Hath Trump Wrought?
Dan Rather at 89 has been directly involved with the history of the United -- now Divided -- United States of America for one-third of its life. He spoke truth to power at all levels of government. He asked penetrating questions to dog catchers and presidents alike. He took on the paranoid Tricky Dick Nixon with both humor and wrath—while increasing Nixon’s paranoia.
Dan got into trouble when “Big Daddy” President George…
May 10th, 2021
By Ed Raymond
What Are Our Biophysical and Religious Limits?
Scientists are studying the effects of the world’s ever-expanding economic growth, increases in population, consumption of our natural resources, and our limited ability to decrease or store our waste. To describe the studies they use the inclusive term “collapseology.”
A report from Future Earth emphasizes that “extreme weather events, food insecurity, freshwater shortages, and degradation of…
May 3rd, 2021
By Ed Raymond
30 April 2021
Oliver, David, and Madame Defarge Knew About Economic Inequality
Charles Dickens wrote about real history, not fake, in his novels. In Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Bleak House, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities and ten others,he wrote about debtor’s prisons, workhouses for the young, poor houses for the old, and the perversions of economic inequality illustrated by the estates and the magnificent mansions of the rich. Think of…
April 25th, 2021
By Ed Raymond
24 April 2021
The Longest Civil War in History: Yankees vs. Planters
The American Civil War actually started in 1619 when 20 slaves were brought to the shores of New England. By 1860 there were four million slaving in our economy. Our first eight presidents were slave owners and many signers of the Declaration of Independence that declared “all men are created equal” owned slaves. George and Martha at Mount Vernon owned 125. George declared he…
April 19th, 2021
By Ed Raymond
18 April 2021
What Are Our National Goals?
I imagine that every person who has lived as long as I have feels that they have lived in transformational times that may change the world. At 89, I get up each morning eager to get to the TV and computer to see what has happened in the 24-hour news cycle.
Sometimes I like what I see, sometimes I curse. Yesterday, in an article about aging, I saw that the odds I will not reach 90 is one in six. So today I hope I…
April 12th, 2021
By Ed Raymond
Sam Harris: “At Some Point It’s Going to Be Too Embarrassing to Believe in God”
After the 9/11 attacks in 2001, Jerry Falwell, Sr., the leader of the Christian Right “Moral Majority,” blamed the attack on “the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and lesbians who tried to secularize America.”
Such an attack aroused the interest of atheist intellectual Sam Harris, perhaps the leading critic of religions in the DSA,…
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By Bryce Vincent Haugen More than 300 people gathered at Trinity Lutheran Church in central Moorhead on Jan. 27 for “constitutional observer” training. Led by the Immigrant Defense Network and supported locally by the West Area…
By Kooper Shagena Just off of I-94 and Highway 83 on State Street in Bismarck, an abandoned Kmart sits behind an empty parking lot, watching the cars roll on and off the interstate exchange. It has been standing there quietly since…
Saturday, January 31, mingling at 6:15 p.m. and program at 7 p.m.Fine Arts Club, 601 4th St. S., FargoThe FM Symphony is getting intimate by launching a “Small Stages” chamber music series and it's bringing folks together via…
By John Strand If you are reading this editorial and you too are worried sick about the state of our country, keep reading. Maybe we can inspire each other. It was near closing time. We were discussing our values crisis. So this…
By Ed RaymondA mind that snapped, cracked, and popped at one hundredI wasn’t going to read a long column called “Centenarian: A Diary of a Hundredth Year” by Calvin Tomkins celebrating his birthday on December 17 of 2025…
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 GionSince the much-dreaded Covid years, there has been much ebb and flow in the Fargo-Moorhead restaurant scene. In 2025, that trend continued with some major additions and closings. Let’s start the New Year on a positive…
Saturday, January 17, doors at 7:30 p.m.The Aquarium above Dempsey’s, 226 N. Broadway, FargoThe Slow Death is a punk supergroup led by Jesse Thorson, with members and collaborators that include members of The Ergs!, Dillinger…
By Greg Carlson The versatile Nia DaCosta follows her underseen and underappreciated “Hedda” (one of my 2025 favorites) with the first female-helmed entry in the 28 Days/Weeks/Years Later series, a fascinating and grisly…
By Jacinta ZensThe Guerrilla Girls, an internationally renowned anonymous feminist art collective, have been bringing attention to the gender and racial imbalances in contemporary art institutions for the last 40 years. They have…
Saturday, January 31, 6:30-9 p.m.Transfiguration Fitness, 764 34th St. N., Unit P, FargoAn enchanting evening celebrating movement and creativity in a staff-student showcase. This is a family-friendly event showcasing pole, aerial…
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 At the beginning of the movie “How the Grinch Stole Christmas," the Grinch is introduced as having a smaller than average heart, but as the movie progresses, his heart increases three…
January 31, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.Viking Ship Park, 202 1st Ave. N., Moorhead2026 marks 10 years of frosty fun! Enjoy sauna sessions with Log the Sauna, try Snowga (yoga in the snow), take a guided snowshoe nature hike, listen to live…
By Vern Thompson Benjamin Franklin offered one of the most sobering warnings in American history. When asked what kind of government the framers had created in 1787, he replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.” Few words…
