February 6th, 2019
The World Economic Forum Meets Two Caravans
As 2,000 private jets carrying the world’s oligarchs, plutocrats, CEOS, millionaires and billionaires to Davos, Switzerland where they would decide in January how they were going to screw the bottom 99 Percent out of their last dollar, two caravans were slowly moving to the United States-Mexico border. One was from the south from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and other Latin American countries; the other from the United States and Canada.…
January 30th, 2019
A Formula for Trouble: Sex and Religion
Humankind has had two major vexations for thousands of years: sex and religion. Sex has caused wars between individuals and among groups since Lucy decided to go to the back of the cave with another relative of Homo Erectus. Religion has caused more wars between tribes and among countries more than any other vexation, including economics. If there is a problem in River City, it’s probably sex or religion. Ever since Leviticus declared that…
January 23rd, 2019
Should Washington Evaluate Policies With Guts Or Brains?
A Republican state senator the other day said; “I depend on my gut to make major decisions.” He evidently is following the decision-making practices of his Great leader, King Donald Trump, who claims; “I’ve got a gut. And it thinks better than some brains.” I wonder if the Manhattan village idiot got this idea from his primary doctor—who happens be a gastroenterologist. In challenging the action of the Federal Reserve…
January 16th, 2019
The Epic Battle Between Milk And Water
I didn’t realize our neighbor state Wisconsin had over 15,000 lakes until I Googled. Well, it might depend on how you count them according to size and acreage. We know that Minnesota has about 10,000 but whether Wisconsin actually has more water in its lakes and rivers is an argument we don’t need right now.I do know that “water” has changed a great deal since I was a kid who went swimming in our farm ponds loaded with a foot of muck and…
January 9th, 2019
Lots Of Guesses About The “Undiscovered Country”
As a child I remember hearing a few things about Hell in Catholic catechism class. It was hot with rivers of fire and one would live there forever for not behaving. It was the opposite of Heaven with the gold streets. Over the years we get snippets and sonnets about Hell in church and literature so we have some knowledge about the place no one wants to visit. Shakespeare’s Hamlet makes us think about Hell and Heaven in his famous…
December 19th, 2018
Living Paycheck To Paycheck
The French “yellow vest” is required for each driver in case of an accident. It is now the symbol of income-inequality protest in France and may represent the beginning of World War III and the battle between the haves and have-nots. Caravans of the poor are assaulting borders on five continents while half of the populace in developed countries is living paycheck to paycheck. The smart phone and the Internet have brought fantastic wealth and crippling…
December 12th, 2018
What happens if conspicuous consumption becomes global?
The latest National Geographic has an editorial “The Global Peril of Inequality” by UCLA Professor Jared Diamond which the entire world should read. The author of many books on science, he is ranked ninth in a poll naming the world’s top 100 public intellectuals. He has won too many scientific awards to mention, but it’s very important to recognize he is considered an expert in a variety of scientific fields: particularly…
December 5th, 2018
What Is The Fastest Growing Religion?
Recent surveys by the Pew Research Center and the Hartford Institute for Religious Research indicate that one in four Americans do not belong to any religion. In fact, the largest “religious” group in the United States now is made up of ex-Catholics. At last count, there were about 385,000 churches belonging to more than 60 denominations, down about 30,000 from just five years ago. Over half of these churches have only 100 worshippers on…
November 28th, 2018
Will Knowledge Ever Win The Political Sweepstakes?
One might assume that when slave owner Thomas Jefferson thought of the proposition that “all men are created equal” 232 years ago a civilized society over the next ten generations might have figured out how to accomplish the task. Evidently, it is way too short a time for the four horses of Ignorance, Bigotry, Race, and Economic Inequality to be defeated by a crippled old warhorse named Knowledge. Evidently, the arc of history,…
November 14th, 2018
The Third Reich—And Making A Country Great Again
I was in first grade in country school on November 9, 1938 when the Nazis, in avenging the assassination of a German embassy official in Paris by a 17-year-old Jewish youth, committed the “Night of Broken Glass” (Kristallnacht), destroying 1,400 synagogues, 7,000 Jewish businesses, and killing about 100 Jews. The Nazis then arrested 30,000 Jews, sending them to labor and death camps. Our farm was close to Pierz, Minnesota, a little…
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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…
