June 24th, 2025
By Ed Raymond
We 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 a tropical Asian country delivering some exotic lumber used in furniture. This ant loves warm temperatures and rotten wood, in which it nests. They have discovered that climate change in the Divided States of America is not a hoax. The biting ants have rather…
June 19th, 2025
By Ed Raymond
Why did Trump run for the White House? That’s where the money is!
Remember the story about the robber who, when asked why he robbed banks, responded: “That’s where the money is!?” Well, now we have the story of the 45th president of the United States who, when running for another term in 2024 after being convicted of 34 felonies associated with property and income taxes and illegal business practices, became the world’s champion grifter and…
June 9th, 2025
By Ed Raymond
The Fiddler on the roof was taking a big chance after two thousand years of hate
Cal Thomas, who seems to hate a lot in a journalistic and broadcasting career where he expresses his conservative views, wrote in a column that “you have to be taught to hate.” He has had a lot of terrific teachers.
He has been a political analyst and contributor on Fox Lies. He was a panelist on Fox Lies Watch, a Fox Lies Channel that critiqued media news coverage. He…
June 9th, 2025
By Ed Raymond
Our brave new world is now composed of Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia
Somebody in the Trump administration has read and liked the results in George Orwell’s “1984.” I suspect one is Stephen Miller, the Trump “policy advisor” who has a black cloud over his head and is always at the ultra-right shoulder of his Great Leader. Miller is very much like Joe Btfsplk, the guy in the comic strip “Lil Abner” who always had a black cloud over his head,…
May 28th, 2025
By Ed Raymond
For sale: White House in D.C. housing dung beetles and giant leeches
I suspect someone close to Donald Trump has read “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,”because the Trump administration is following the guidelines developed by the Hitler administration from about 1932 through the spring of 1945. The developers of Project 2025 have simply “translated’ the work of Hitler’s and his minions to fit the American political system.
There are two…
May 28th, 2025
By Ed Raymond
fargogadfly@gmail.com
Three major religions — a trifecta of good and bad trouble for Earth
“Out of guilt or amnesia, we tend to treat wars, in retrospect, as natural disasters, terrible but somehow inevitable beyond anyone’s control,” is the opening sentence in Adam Gopnik’s New Yorker article “A Time To Kill.” At the present time, we have two major wars and a dozen minor ones supporting Gopnik’s point dominating the news. The wars between Russia and Ukraine,…
May 19th, 2025
By Ed Raymond
How many cardinals in red look at Michelangelo’s sexy ceiling?
Michelangelo finished painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in 1512. It is examined and admired by millions every year. The first conclave to elect a pope in the chapel took place in 1492, and since 1878, every conclave to elect a new pope has been held in its beautiful confines. He returned in 1536 to paint the altar wall and finished it in 1541. Michelangelo painted his famous Last…
May 15th, 2025
By Ed Raymond
Perhaps it was by IVF — the Know-Nothings are “concepting” notzees
In the middle of the 19th century the Republican Party morphed to the Know-Nothing Party for a short time. Members quickly threw off STUPID and were “born-again” to the Republican Party. It remained so until the rise of the second Trump, which is an attempt to emulate the rise of the Third Reich by Hitler. In a very short time, Trumusklicans are morphing to the Notzee Party,…
May 12th, 2025
By Ed Raymond
In which century would you love to live, the 14th or the 22nd?
History tells me we are in a period where Americans are fighting for their choice. Just 48 hours after Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany in 1933, several trade agreements were about to expire. With large lumber imports from Austria and a 200 million Reichsmark trade deal with Russia pending, Hitler’s finance minister Count Johann Ludwig Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, was told an…
May 5th, 2025
By Ed Raymond
What age has been determined to be the worst in world history?
Historians have estimated about one third of the population of Europe died of the bubonic plague, also known as the black plague, from the fifth century through the 15th century of the Middle Ages. The early years of this era are also often called the Dark Ages by historians. During this disastrous time, the Roman Catholic Church (with its denizens and popes in the Vatican) burned thousands…
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By Bryce Vincent HaugenOn Palm Sunday two thousand years ago, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a donkey to directly take on the authoritarian Roman rulers of the region, according to Christian scripture. It was an overtly political…
By Michael M. Miller Rev. Salomon Joachim, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Beulah, North Dakota., delivered an address to the Western Conference of the Dakota District of the American Lutheran Church in 1939. His presentation was…
Thursday, April 16, 6:30-8:30pmFargo Air Museum, 19th Ave. N., FargoNancy Earhart Burt of Hastings, Minn. will be presenting a special multimedia program on the life of Amelia Earhart. Burt also happens to be the famous aviator’s…
By John StrandDisclaimer: This editorial is the work of someone who’s spent most of his adult life working in the media — most of those years co-owning this very entity, the High Plains Reader, since 1996. The notion that folks…
By Ed RaymondDo Christians represent diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) people?Perhaps the “rapture” is on its way. A critic of Project 2025 which Donald Trump “knew nothing about” prior to the 2024 election is moving…
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 Sabrina Hornung There’s a Bosnian saying that states simply, “It’s a sin to throw away bread,” which really resonates with me — especially growing up with grandparents who lived through the Second World War and the Great…
The Slow Death at The AquariumSaturday, March 21, 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…
By Alicia Underlee Nelson Prairie Public and Indie Lens Pop-Up will host free screenings of “The Librarians” — a documentary from Oscar-nominated Director and Producer Kim A. Snyder and Executive Producer Sarah Jessica Parker —…
By Bryce Vincent Haugen Deep in the basement of artist Lana Suomala’s 100-year-old house in downtown Moorhead, there’s a pantry with utility shelves filled with jars. But instead of containing pickles, beets or green beans,…
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 Liverani In November 2025, the FDA initiated the removal of the “black box” warning from Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). The “black box” warning is a FAD safety warning for healthcare providers and patients…
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 HPR StaffI'm a Gen Xer who landed in Fargo in the late '90s, a small town kid who didn't know a soul. By sheer dumb luck I ended up at Ralph's, and that place gave me my people. Lifelong friends, the kind you don't find twice.…
