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…
November 7th, 2018
Do Muslims and Christians have to wear gloves to play football?
Gene and Matthew were both young teenagers when they realized they were gay. They finally met in the hallowed halls of Washington’s National Cathedral where leading American citizens are celebrated and buried. Gene was raised by Kentucky tobacco sharecroppers in a very conservative Disciples of Christ church. No dancing, no card-playing, no drinking, no movies—and the teachings of Leviticus were the order of the day.…
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By Bryce Vincent HaugenFor the first nine months, the dysfunction of the Trump administration and Congress was a four-time-zone-away abstraction for a Moorhead native living in Alaska’s interior. But it became all too real when…
By Michael M. Millermichael.miller@ndsu.edu I would like to recognize some of the scholarly Germans from Russia from Canada and USA shared on the GRHC website. There are additional names not included here. If you have suggestions…
Friday, October 31, doors 8 p.m. show starts at 8:30 p.m.The Aquarium above Dempey’s, 226 N. Broadway, FargoThe annual Aquarium Halloween Cover Show is back and it is stacked. And this time there are a limited amount of presale…
By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com At the end of September, downtown Fargo said goodbye to another old friend; the Spirit Room closed its doors, marking the end of an era. The Spirit Room room has been a fixture downtown for the…
By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comWho will write “The Rise and Fall of the Third Trumpidiotocracy?” Chicago-born William L. Shirer was 30 when he covered a major Nazi Party Rally in Nuremberg, Germany in 1934 for theNew York…
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 Gion and Andrea Baumgardnerrickgion@gmail.com Many of us food fans miss our local favorite Nordic-Jewish deli in downtown Fargo. Yes, that means BernBaum’s, which unfortunately closed last fall. Specifically, missed goods…
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 Scottish moviemaker Lynne Ramsay adds the fifth feature to her filmography with “Die My Love,” an adaptation of Argentine writer Ariana Harwicz’s 2012 novel. Co-written by Ramsay, Enda…
By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com Gallery 4 downtown recently celebrated its 50 year anniversary, making it one of the longest consecutively running galleries in the country. With different membership tiers, there are 17 primary…
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 When we are sick, all we want is a cure. You go to the doctor, they give you a pill, you take it for a bit, then you are cured. It happens. But unfortunately, it is not always the case. …
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.comMoral accountability and the crisis of leadership As a recovering person living one day at a time for the last 35 years, I have learned not to judge others because I have not walked in…
