Gadfly

The Chain of Being

January 13th, 2021



By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

Where Do We Belong in God’s Universe?

In the 16th century the dominant religious “theory” was that everything on the planet from God down to minerals and rocks were links in the Elizabethan Chain of Being. The earth that came from the disintegration of rocks was at the bottom of the chain. At the top of the chain was God. It progressed downward to angels, demons (fallen angels), stars, moon, kings and queens, princes, nobles, men, wild animals,…

Read more...


Ancestors: Anamensis to Afarensis to Thomas

January 11th, 2021

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

The Scientific Method, Darwin, and Religious Erosion

People who study us and our surroundings use the five following methods to come to a conclusion, basing it on this scientific method: hypothesis, observation, prediction, experiment, and confirmation.

As an example, the experts in past pandemics used this scientific method to determine that a vaccine will work against COVID-19. They observed what the virus did to people. They predicted it was similar…

Read more...


The Gadfly: Autopsy of a Dying Party

December 27th, 2020

The Gadfly: Autopsy of a Political Party

Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

Why did Trump win Robeson County?

The southeastern corner of North Carolina is a low-lying area in one of the poorest sections of the state. It is the home of the Lumbee Indians, the largest Indian tribe east of the Mississippi River. The town of Lumberton is near the center of the county. It is poor farming country, and is heavily wooded yet rather swampy.

I became rather familiar with the area when our battalion…

Read more...


A Microcosm—Wyoming

December 17th, 2020

The Love Of Dogs--And The Super Rich And Superpoor Of Teton County

President Harry Truman is a favorite of mine. He read a lot of history books, threatened to punch a music columnist criticizing his daughter Margaret’s singing, kept a sign on his Oval Office desk: “The Buck Stops Here,” and insisted: “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.” Almost all presidents had dogs. Research at Duke University on dog intelligence points out that over thousands of years dogs…

Read more...


America on Hospice

December 4th, 2020

fargogadfly@gmail.com

Mission Possible

President Joe: your first important mission, if you choose to accept it, is to ask 90 million American registered voters why they didn’t vote in 2020. Then tell Chairman Tom Perez and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to wake up from political dementia and call each non-voter for an exclusive interview. Why didn’t we have 50 million more voters? We had an election that really didn’t move us on the arc to FDR’s “Four Freedoms”:…

Read more...


Freedom or Free-For-All?

November 14th, 2020


Is There Personal Liberty? When Does It Begin And End?

It was bound to happen to an inquiring mind. Scientists around the world are monitoring sewage for outbreaks of COVID-19 because victims of the virus have had the very infectious virus in their feces. At least 65 universities in this country are taking samples of sewage daily from dormitories and campus sites to see if the virus is present. When tests prove their existence, the residents of that sewage system are tested to see who…

Read more...


A Two Minute Political Fly-By

October 21st, 2020

PQ: “With this COVID-19 pandemic, we are already in another Great Depression. Soon we will have millions of citizens living in ‘Trumpvillas’ when they are evicted or foreclosed on.”

by Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

Where Was That Messenger From?

During the vice-presidential debate, there were three beings on stage who tried to obey the established rules that responses to questions must be limited to two minutes: two were moderator Susan Page and candidate Kamala Harris, the other…

Read more...


Politics and Religion 2

October 7th, 2020

by Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

What Century Are The Catholic Supreme Court Judges Living In?

If Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed there will be six Catholics, two Jews, and one former Catholic on the Supreme Court making monumental decisions about how Americans are going to live out our lives. What centuries will they represent? The Roman Catholic Church, of which I was a member for 27 years, has been bedeviled by sex, politics, and power grabs for 2,000 years. It is suffering the death…

Read more...


Results of the 2016 Roundup

September 29th, 2020


The Trump Knives and Branding Irons Have Done their Work
Poor “Moscow” Mitch. Absolute power does corrupt. Chimps, bonobos, and Homo Sapiens share over 99% of DNA. The Senate Majority Leader could not even wait for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s body to reach room temperature before he announced the Senate would vote for Trump’s nomination to the Supreme Court as soon as possible. Bonobos love each other and use sex to pacify relationships. Chimps and humans love…

Read more...


America on the Downhill Slope

September 20th, 2020

The Death of Empire by A Thousand Cuts
Some empires last longer than others. Rome was one. The Chinese empire died the death of a thousand cuts they made famous a thousand years ago. But the Chinese heart that was sliced centuries ago evidently was put on life support, because it is beating strong after getting shocked back to life about 300 years ago. Lingchi, the death of a thousand cuts, was applied for three reasons: public humiliation, for treason and other serious crimes, and for…

Read more...


Tracker Pixel for Entry Bismarck Tracker Pixel for Entry WurstWF2 Tracker Pixel for Entry AARP1 Tracker Pixel for Entry Empire Tracker Pixel for Entry FPL1 Tracker Pixel for Entry seven

Recently in:

By Bryce Vincent Haugenbrycevincenthaugen@gmail.com Audra Maurer never used marijuana until Minnesota businesses started to sell low-dose hemp-derived THC products. “The first time I was pain free was using legalized hemp…

By Michael MillerAs the holiday season approaches, I extend Yuletide Best Wishes and a special “Weihnachten” greeting to you and your family. I would like to share with you Christmas memories from our Germans from Russia…

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 Darrell Dorganddorgan695@aol.com I’ve been digging around for information on a company called High Plains Acres. High Plains, which has a presence in Jamestown, Bismarck and five North Dakota counties, owned thousands of acres…

By Ed RaymondWe have millions of candidates from 108 Billion people on EarthWith population experts estimating that at least 100 billion Homo sapiens have lived and died on earth, that means we have had millions of blessed and…

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 Mandy Dolneymandy@ksbsyndicate.com This cake will be on the menu at Nova Eatery through Thanksgiving served with maple crème anglaise Ice cream. It uses pumpkin pie pumpkins grown locally at Ladybug Acres and local apples grown…

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 Available on Netflix, Marshall Curry’s “The New Yorker at 100” takes the measure of the venerable publication as a compact primer aiming to please longtime readers and potential new…

The holidays are fast approaching. If you’re on the lookout for finding your loved ones something truly special and unique, we sought out some of the area’s independent and creative hotspots.VINTAGE AND ANTIQUESMoorhead Antique…

Press release“Shakespeare with a sharpened edge.” To launch its 2025 – 2026 season, Theatre NDSU is thrilled to team up with Moorhead-based organization Theatre B to perform a co-production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and…

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…

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 Chandler Esslinger Across North Dakota right now, a familiar conversation is resurfacing. We hear the argument that harm reduction “enables” people, that syringe access encourages drug use, that naloxone keeps people…