December 17th, 2015
Can God Overthrow the National Rifle Association?
So what have we heard after daily mass killings for over a decade from politicians and candidates for office when they attempt to console families? Something about “our thoughts and prayers are with you?” That phrase is as powerful as the automatic salute to the military: “Thank you for your service,” which translated means: “Thank God I didn’t have to go.”
Of course, we do not have any atheists in Congress. An atheist could…
December 10th, 2015
It came to me after reading Michael Gunter’s “Out of Nowhere: The Kurds of Syria in Peace and War,” his attempt at explaining what was happening in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and two dozen other Arab and Muslim countries. Remember when we were trying to find some Syrian moderates to train and arm so they could fight Assad in Syria’s totally uncivil war? The CIA estimated there were about 1,200 “moderate” tribes or groups in Syria alone that…
December 4th, 2015
Of Toilets, Planned Parenthood, and Life-Saving Cell Research
Neil deGrasse Tyson, perhaps our most articulate spokesman of what science is, outlines what it is in two relatively short sentences in his Huffington Post blog: “Science distinguishes itself from all other branches of human pursuit by its power to probe and understand the behavior of nature on a level that allows us to predict with accuracy, if not control, the outcomes of events in the natural world. Science especially…
November 24th, 2015
What Happens When a Woman “Sculpts Her Universe?”
Roman Catholic Sister Joan Chittister of the Benedictine Order should have been called by Pope Francis to lecture the recent Vatican synod, composed of about 400 bachelor bishops and cardinals and seven married couples, on what role women should play in the church. She is a graduate of Notre Dame, has a Ph.D from Penn State University, served as the prioress of her order for 12 years, leads a worldwide organization for peace, has…
November 20th, 2015
T.S. Eliot in his poem “The Hollow Men” muses about “This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms,” describing how men and politicians react to the end of empires. At the end of the poem he signs off: “This is the way the world ends/ Not with a bang but a whimper.” changed it a little to emphasize our empire.
We will soon enter the 227th year of the American empire, about the average length of the major empires in the…
November 11th, 2015
The Personal Question At 6 p.m.: “Are You Healthy Enough For Sex?”
I’ve been writing so much about religion and sex lately I really wanted to take a break for a week, but so much has happened to the subject in the last couple of weeks, I might spend the next four hours writing about it. It’s the most important subject in the commercials around network news at supper time. The beautiful mature women lolling on beds in breezy diaphanous gowns or football jerseys, ask if erections…
November 5th, 2015
14th Century Bishops Could Have Learned Something From the Wife Of Bath
Population experts estimate that about 100 billion people have been born during Homo Sapiens time—with just seven billion still alive and exercising free will. One would think that the 93 billion dead might have studied the species and come up with some answers to help us in our very short lives on this planet.
Many answers are still in the “pending” office boxes at the Vatican, Mecca, and other religious…
October 30th, 2015
Bachelor Bishops And Misogynistic Muslim Clerics Conjure Up A Sex And Marriage Manual
Pope Francis and his cardinals and bishops have concluded a Vatican synod on whether the Roman Catholic Church should modify teachings regarding sex and marriage while their religious cousins, the Muslim Taliban, are busy treating women as chattel in countries they dominate. Both of these conservative, militant religions ignore and often denigrate the wisdom, experience and natural ability and brains of…
October 22nd, 2015
Thomas Browne: “But Man Is a Noble Animal, Splendid in Ashes, and Pompous in the Grave”
Some scientists think there is water on Mars, although temperatures say it would be ice anyway. It might be wishful thinking. There seems to be a crowd wanting to leave Earth for safer climes.
The Uppermost Animals are back to killing, torturing, raping, and starving each other at the rate established by the First Crusade between Muslims and Christians, the Mongol invasion of Europe of Genghis…
October 15th, 2015
Having Everything—Having Nothing
In his novel “A Tale of Two Cities,” Charles Dickens writes of life in Paris and London just before and during the French Revolution of 1789. His first paragraph may be instructive about the differences between the rich and poor in the United States in 2015: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of…
__293px-wide.jpg)
__293px-wide.jpg)
By Maddie Robinsonmaddierobi.mr@gmail.com This article discusses topics related to mental health and suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org. …
The life of a jockey straight from the horse's mouthBy Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comFor George Pineda, jockeying is a family tradition. But that legacy includes loss. “My uncles, Alvaro and Robert Pineda — one got killed in a…
Thursday, August 8, gates 5 p.m., show starts at 7 p.m.Bluestem Amphitheater, 801 50th Avenue S., MoorheadFormed by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer, upright bass player Lee Rocker and drummer Slim Jim Phantom, The Stray Cats…
Recovering from PennsylvaniaBy John Strandjas@hpr1.com Holy shit, America! Is this a path we want to stay on? Is this the tipping point or brink we’re at? Is it a sign of more to come, or a come to Jesus moment where we decide…
By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comHow can anyone be lonely with eight billion homo sapiens on Earth?The world seems to be in the throes of a PTSD pandemic. Even the price of happiness is going way up. Back in 2010 two Nobel Prize…
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 In this land of hotdish and ham, the knoephla soup of German-Russian heritage seems to reign supreme. In my opinion though, the French have the superior soup. With a cheesy top layer, toasted baguette…
HPR chats with Slug of the hip-hop duo AtmosphereBy Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comWhen Sean Daley, also known as Slug, the voice of Twin Cities-based hip hop duo Atmosphere and co-founder of rap label Rhymesayers was growing up,…
By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com Writer-director Nicole Riegel’s sophomore feature “Dandelion” is now playing in theaters following a world premiere at South by Southwest in March. The movie stars KiKi Layne as the…
New Minnesota sculptures include artist’s largest trollBy Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com According to Danish artist and environmental activist Thomas Dambo, “All trash is treasure.” So far, he and his team have built 138…
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 John Showalter john.d.showalter@gmail.comThey sell fentanyl test strips and kits to harm-reduction organizations and…
JANUARY 19, 1967– MARCH 8, 2023 Brittney Leigh Goodman, 56, of Fargo, N.D., passed away unexpectedly at her home on March 8, 2023. Brittney was born January 19, 1967, to Ruth Wilson Pollock and Donald Ray Goodman, in Hardinsburg,…
By Madeline Lukemzlnd@yahoo.com About 100 years ago the state of agriculture in North Dakota was pretty dire. Minnesota banks, grain mills, and railroads treated ND as a colony; they extracted our labor and natural resources for…
