Gadfly

After 232 Years, Are We Equal Yet?

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,…

Read more...


Crystal Night And The Wolves Of Hate

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…

Read more...


Gay Followers Of Christ Finally Meet

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.…

Read more...


Faces In The Trump Crowds

October 31st, 2018

Raymond - Gadfly - comic by Daily Trump Cartoon

When anarchy is loosed upon the world

A poem by William Butler Yeats perfectly catches the divisiveness of American politics in the Age of Trump. From the Second Coming:

“Turning and turning in the widening gyre, the falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of…

Read more...


Anti-science politicians

October 24th, 2018


TRUMP “HOAX” DESTROYS MEXICO BEACH, FLORIDA AT 157 MILES PER HOUR!
This headline could have appeared in The Donald’s favorite publication, his revered source of truth, the “National Enquirer.” But this is not “fake news” from “the enemy of the people,” the national press. How many billions Hurricane Michael is going to cost us will take months or years to determine. The mayor of Mexico Beach has told the residents not to come “home” for 12 to 18 months because there…

Read more...


Goodbye Democracy!

October 17th, 2018

Raymond-Gadfly-cartoon courtesy of Daily Trump Cartoon

How today’s “christians” hammered the nails into the hands and feet of christ

Historian Christopher Browning, who has spent a lifetime studying the Holocaust, Nazi Germany, and the World War II era of Europe, has expressed concerns about fascist leanings appearing in Europe and the White House. Over the years it is axiomatic that great civilizations support literature, art, and music. Even Adolf Hitler who approved the Holocaust had two favorite musicians, Ludwig van Beethoven and…

Read more...


Are Our Ponies Blind?

October 10th, 2018


Is Life Just Keeping House On The Deck Of The Titanic?

As a lifetime reader of thousands of books and a collector of thousands, I have had good reads and terrible reads. My Morrison County (District 54) of 25 students in grades 1-8 had a 300-book library. I read them all, regardless of topic. I majored in English, Journalism, and Creative Writing in college, and my Master’s Degree is in English literature. I just finished a great read I couldn’t put down—except I did once in awhile…

Read more...


Free Speech Is Very Expensive

October 3rd, 2018


Brett Kavanaugh

The modern KKK and Kochkopus are choking American democracy

Kavanaugh lost his Kool and Kracked under pressure. I can spell. His rant before the Senate Judiciary Committee revealed he should not be a judge judging other people. He reminded me of the fanatic KKKers defending their racism.With his volatile temperament he should not even be a municipal traffic judge.He doesn’t need to be drunk to be aggressive, belligerent, and in a rage. Here he was before 11 Republicans and 10…

Read more...


Amazon’s Bezos Ain’t Hamlet

September 26th, 2018

To pee or not to pee—that is a question a worker needs to answer

The fact that the richest man in the world is screwing his workers around the world out of living wages while he makes $277 million a day is “Shakespearian” in drama and brings to mind the most revealing soliloquy ever written, Prince Hamlet’s ruminations about what kind of life he should lead and live: “To be or not to be—that is the question.” Jeff Bezos’s employees at Amazon and the Washington Post,…

Read more...


Angry black cattle on the white ranch

September 19th, 2018

We failed to educate the players of “flag” football
I passed all of the American history courses in Morrison County District 54, Little Falls High School, and Moorhead State Teachers College, but I’m often appalled about what I don’t know about the history of race relationships in this “shining city on a hill.” I had never heard of the 1873 Colfax, Louisiana Massacre of blacks that took place eight years after our American Civil War killed 750,000 until I read a September 4,…

Read more...


Tracker Pixel for Entry 7Clans Tracker Pixel for Entry UND

Recently in:

By Bryce Vincent Haugen By his own account, Edwin Chinchilla is lucky to still be in the United States. As a 12-year-old Salvadoran, he and his brother were packed into a semi with a couple dozen other people and given fake…

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…

Wednesday, March 25, Group lesson 7 p.m., Dance 9 p.m.Sons of Norway, 722 2nd Avenue North, FargoCare to dance? If you don’t already know how to dance, the Northern Lights Dance Club can show you a thing or two about social…

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 RaymondThe bells are ringing for everybody on the planet As ICE, the worst of the worst law enforcement agencies in the Divided States of America, continues to use unconstitutional procedures to find the worst of the worst…

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 Sabrina HornungJD Provorse is a horror movie enthusiast and Fargo-based podcast host. Both he and cohost Michelle Roller have a comedy background and started the wildly entertaining podcast “We Watch Shudder” in 2022 as an…

By Jacinta ZensGraffiti is something we all see routinely on trains as they pass through the metro. If you pay attention even a little bit, you will notice that some graffiti pieces on train cars look much better than others in…

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 Jim FuglieI’m feeling a little mean right now. It doesn’t happen often, but I tend to pay attention to politics and politicians and I’m pretty disappointed in one of our politicians right now. So I’m going to be mean to…