May 22nd, 2019
Guns, Lockdowns, and Panic Buttons
The girl is now a seventh grader at Sandy Hook Elementary. In 2012 she was the only survivor of her first grade class of 21 in a mass school shooting. Among the first words by this six-year-old to her parents after the mass shooting: “I’m OK, but all of my friends are dead.” Why do some children have to go through this while others are put in caskets? Because the federal government does nothing about controlling the gun culture.
As early as 1970…
May 15th, 2019
Human Life Is More Interesting Than Ever
Life is so much more fascinating than just 25 years ago. There’s something that tantalizes me every day. We don’t know whether the operation was considered to be successful in 2017 when a Chinese doctor claimed he had transplanted a head of a corpse onto a cadaver in an 18-hour operation. Actually Italian Dr. Sergio Canavero has been planning a live head transplant of a head for a number of years. He thinks it will take about 50 specialists…
May 8th, 2019
Will we ever be done with religious bullies?
Unless the scientists are terribly wrong, life on Planet Earth started about 3.8 million years ago. At 2.59 million years ago, glaciers and ice sheets covered 30% 0f the earth’s surface. The future sites of three major European cities, London, Paris, and Berlin, were in the middle of a huge polar desert where nothing grew. Where there was some warmth, mammals, reptiles, and other life forms were wiped out by the cold and replaced by…
May 1st, 2019
The rising tide of Kardashian philosophy
I have followed the life of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar since he was 18-year-old Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor covering black civil rights protests for his school newspaper, as a senior at a New York City high school.
At 7’2”, he helped his high school team win 71 straight basketball games, led UCLA to NCAA championships, and played for 22 years in the National Basketball Association. At one time he held most of the individual records in the NBA.
After his…
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…
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By Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.comNorth Dakota communities will join a “nationwide day of defiance” against authoritarianism and President Donald Trump’s policies on Saturday, June 14. A range of "No Kings" events…
Back-to-school season is on the horizon, but there's still plenty of summer left. Check out our favorite August attractions and events in North Dakota and western Minnesota. And if if you missed them, here are a few excellent May…
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…
Fighting the good fightBy Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com Over two thousand rallies took place nationwide June 14 as part of the “No Kings" protest. Ten of those protests were held in North Dakota, with thousands in attendance.…
By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comWe need Paul Revere on a Harley: “ants and autocrats are coming!”The Asian needle ant has been nesting in the American South since at least 1932. It probably hitched a ride on a freighter from…
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 The weather warmed up quickly here in the upper Midwest this spring, sparking prime eating season. This means burger battles, food trucks and lake-season food travel. The 2025 Downtown Fargo Burger…
By Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.comThe Moorhead Public Library will offer three free, all-ages outdoor concerts featuring regional bands this summer. The series begins on June 12 with the Meat Rabbits, a group that blends…
By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com The June 9 death of musician Sylvester Stewart, known much better by stage name Sly Stone, saw an outpouring of tributes, memorials and appreciations from some who knew him personally and many…
By Deb Wallworkdwallwork@icloud.comI first met Catherine Mulligan at a party at her house. It was a small gathering, spontaneous, just a few people over for dinner. Directed toward a stack of plates and bowls and a big pot warming…
By Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.comAct Up Theatre, in partnership with Minnesota State University Moorhead, will present “The Sound of Music” on June 10-14. All shows are at 7:30 p.m. at the Minnesota State Moorhead’s…
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…
The drug that keeps re-purposing itselfBy Ellie Liveranieli.liverani.ra@gmail.com There is a drug that is getting a lot of attention nowadays all over the world. It has various commercial names (Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus), but…
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@rocketmail.com Working in the Bakken oil fields of the Williston Basin is so different from my home in Fargo. I'm not judging, because the people working and living in western North Dakota are very…
