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…
September 15th, 2020
The New Normal: The Senate Of The Living Dead
In the 1968 film classic The Night Of The Living Dead, the dead have come back to life and are marching through forests and farms looking for food. They look just like us except for the eyes, the drooling, and the rotten tattered clothes they wore in their caskets. Driven by instinct and ravenous appetites, they are carriers of an infection that turns the people they bite into more zombies. Reminds me of the Trumplicans in the House and…
September 7th, 2020
How Many People Can Retire For Forty Years?
King Donald got a lot of votes in coal country stretching from West Virginia to North Dakota in 2016 by lying that he would bring coal back. He is a good salesman as most narcissistic psychopaths are. But it never happened—and it is never going to happen. Coal mining has collapsed to the point that the life expectancy of coal miners and the people who supported them in small towns in many states is decreasing. Butcher Holler, West Virginia is…
August 30th, 2020
Yes, America Is Truly Exceptional In The Healthcare Business!
In 1833 conservative German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck created the first universal healthcare system in the world because he recognized it was the job of government to protect all Germans. In addition to the Insurance Bill of 1883, he passed the Accident Insurance Bill of 1884, and the Old Age and Disability Bill 0f 1889. Imagine that, a German conservative passing all that socialistic crap! In fact, over the years, many…
August 23rd, 2020
Joe: Use These Points To Tell Americans What You Are Going To Do
First, a little story of how my French brothers and sisters run a civilized country. Maurice was a happy rooster in his backyard on the island of Oleron off the French coast. He guarded the three hens that lived with him, even if he was getting a bit cantankerous and doddering in his sixth year. He still woke everybody up in his neighborhood with a puffed-up chest early in the morning, crowing his trills. But the rich…
August 19th, 2020
Will Thoughts And Prayers By The Violent Gun Culture Save The NRA?
The National Rifle Association was chartered in the state of New York in 1871 as a non-profit organization with a social welfare mission. In the good old days it taught hunters, marksmen, and young boys and girls the proper use of firearms with safety as one of its major “missions.” Over the years it has gradually turned itself into a juggernaut providing billions of profits to firearm manufacturers, million-dollar…
August 9th, 2020
Will We Ever Recover From The Trump Pandemic Sweeping The Divided States?
Some foreigners are terribly concerned about the future of the Divided States of America. They say we are committing mass suicide. We are in the middle of a number of national pandemics we need to fight. The 400 million firearms flooding the country are now appearing on both sides in our current racial civil war. Protesters supporting Black Lives Matter protests in hundreds of cities have been killed and wounded…
August 2nd, 2020
Please, Democrats, Socialists, and Never-Trumpers, don’t pay too much attention to the political polls this time. You have to understand that Donald J. Trump is a psychopathic nutcase who has no ideology or moral base in his baseness. Baseness is defined as being corrupt, treacherous, and contemptible with low moral standards. One of the greatest horror movies ever made was “Nosferatu” in 1922, the first film of the “Dracula” series. The sequels have frightened and horrified…
July 26th, 2020
Why We Need a Wealth Tax
In one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in one of the wealthiest cities on Planet Earth, a homeless woman named Rosa lives her life a nickel at a time. The New York City 5-cent deposit system provides her some income because she sorts through bags of trash for cans and bottles from the elite apartments surrounding Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s residence. When she counts out 200 bottles and cans, she puts them in blue bags given her by a sanitation company. The…
July 19th, 2020
A Liberal Education vs. Student Debt
In April of 2019 the chewed-on leather boots, belt buckles, and rifles of three rhino poachers were found in an African national park, evidently eaten by a pride of angry, hungry lions that surprised them. In another incident the partially-eaten body of a rhinopoacher was found by a police patrol. This poor fellow had been crushed by an elephant but was not on the elephant’s menu so was later digested by a neighborhood lion. And so the world goes.…
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By Bryce HaugenNot everyone detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is an undocumented immigrant. After a Jan. 12 scuffle at a local Walmart, Tim Catlett, a resident of St. Cloud, Minn., was held at the Bishop…
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 There is a great scene in the middle of Kelly Reichardt’s excellent movie “The Mastermind” when protagonist James Blaine Mooney (Josh O’Connor) is chastised by criminally-connected wheelman Jerry (the…
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…
