April 24th, 2019
There is more work in Congress than just getting re-elected
While doing our state and federal income taxes last week, I took a break to read the New York Times article, “Congress Doesn’t Seem To Care If Tax Season Is Miserable For You.” One could have a quick thought--or illusion-- that your elected representatives in state legislatures and Congress might care enough for your vote to listen to you just a little. If you think that, you haven’t been paying attention to today’s…
April 17th, 2019
The Nordic Model
Dr. Thea Hunter, a graduate of Columbia University and an adjunct professor of history at a number of elite colleges and universities, recently died at age 63 of extreme capitalism—and asthma—because of lack of health insurance and health care. She started her career at Western Connecticut State University in 2004 which required a two-hour commute from New York City. She was beloved by her students, but colleagues and other university workers often asked her if she was a…
April 10th, 2019
An Orgy Of Business, Politics, Religion, And Sex
On March 4, 2019, the New York Times reported that President Donald Trump had lied 9,014 times since his inauguration. He must be close to 10,000 by now. Having followed the career of The Donald for about 35 years, I wrote in 2015 that he was unfit for any office because his mental condition is fully described in the American Association of Psychiatry’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders. Psychiatrists label him…
April 3rd, 2019
Are Modern Religions Straying Away From God?
When Christians were challenging the teaching of the “new” science of evolution in the 1925 Scopes trial, the hymn that probably best described the position of most Christians contained the following lines:
“Give me that old time religion, it’s good enough for me.
Makes me love everybody, it’s good enough for me.
It will do when I’m dying, it’s good enough for me.
It can take us all to heaven, it’s good enough for me.”
…
March 27th, 2019
After All, With A 20 Pound Brain, What Does A Sperm Whale Know?
Perhaps because I was a farm kid surrounded by spiders, horses, geese, maggots, pigs, rats, chickens, cats, bullheads, cows, rabbits, squirrels, snakes, dogs, honey bees, crows, and hundreds of other things with brains and nerves, I have been fascinated enough to keep files on what animals, insects, birds, and other creepy-crawlies do.
For an English literature class in college, I read T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J.…
March 13th, 2019
The Battle Between Extreme Capitalism And Democratic Socialism
After Vice-President Mike Pence representing racial and extreme capitalism ended his scathing rant about democratic socialism at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), he went back to the dressing room, peed into a capitalistic toilet and flushed his waste into a socialistic sewer. Then he washed his hands at a capitalistic faucet of clean tap water from a socialistic water treatment facility-- then again ran…
March 6th, 2019
Let’s Study The Difference Between Monosexual And Plurisexual
If we are interested at all in the science of genetics we are running into the terms “gender identity” and “gender fluidity” more and more. The difference between criminal and civil law becomes important. If a judge or jury finds a defendant guilty, that generally means there is “no doubt.” But in civil litigation there may be some doubt, but the person can be determined guilty by “a preponderance of…
February 27th, 2019
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How Many People Have To Die For The Second Amendment?
There are no licensed federal gun dealers in our capital of Washington D.C., but 29-year-old resident Bobby Perkins Jr. recently went to prison for selling guns and drugs on the streets of D.C. A district court found him guilty of selling 224 guns bought in surrounding states on the street in just five months in 2015, with 94 of them being traced to homicides and crime scenes from Virginia to New York. But Bobby had spent much of his…
February 20th, 2019
The Monsters Of The Midway
Back in college eons ago I and a fellow footballer spent half a summer employed by a concessions company that worked county and state fairs in the region. We sold foot-long hotdogs and ice cream bars on the carnival midway at night. It was a great job for people-watching, both the people riding the death-defying machines and the carnival barkers in front of the tent walls advertising the freak shows. Carnies are fascinating people whether they are disabled,…
February 13th, 2019
All The Evidence Points To An Anti-Life Political Party
After observing and experiencing the machinations and voting records of the Republican Party from Nixon to Reagan To Bush To Trump, one can arrive at only one conclusion: It is anti-life. The Trump-White-Republican (Trumwhiticans) Party calls itself pro-life when it comes to abortion. But when we examine political platforms and voting records, the only period the Trumwhitican Party is actually pro-life for is the nine-months from…
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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…
