January 14th, 2016
The Donald: On The March For God, Country, And The American Sheeple
Perhaps some of you will remember a great performance by the very likable Mayberry hero-sheriff Andy Griffith in the 1957 film “A Face In The Crowd” where he played Lonesome Rhodes, a poor Arkansas hobo who becomes a big TV sensation. It was a very different role for Griffith as he became drunk with the power of his voice. He said: “You gotta be a saint to stand all the power that little box can give you. I’m not…
December 25th, 2015
Some of these economic sinners have many coats
Always fans of Dolly Parton, Corky and I watched the TV movie “A Coat of Many Colors” the other night, a story about her early life as a member of a poor Tennessee family that in many ways was much richer than many in the One Percent.
About 35 years ago we motor-homed through Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, a one-street town running through a valley in the Smoky Mountains for about five miles. Almost everybody was dirt poor, and Dolly was the…
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…
By Winona LaDukewinona@winonaladuke.com The business of Indian Hating is a lucrative one. It’s historically been designed to dehumanize Native people so that it’s easier to take their land. ‘Kill the Indian, save the man,”…
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By Michael M. Millermichael.miller@ndsu.eduI was pleased to visit with many colleagues and at the Germans from Russia Heritage Society Convention in Mandan in July, and at the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia…
October 4-20, Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.Theatre B, 210 10th St. N in MoorheadThis funny, earnest and hopeful play is a breath of fresh air heading into election season. Playwright Heidi Schreck paid for her…
Happy 30th Birthday HPRBy John Strandjas@hpr1.comThirty years ago some gutsy UND student journalists hanging at Whitey’s in East Grand Forks got enough liquid courage to create their own damn newspaper. Then with drinks raised,…
By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comWhere will the homeless go when billionaires go to their bunkers?Icelanders are living almost on top of volcanos but are cooled by ice, snow, and placid attitudes while hiding a keen sense of…
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…
By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.com Like any metropolitan area, Fargo-Moorhead has a plethora of radio stations representing a variety of musical genres and other content. And like any other playing field in the world of…
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…
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By HPR Contributorssubmit@hpr1.com They are the inventive, passionate, adaptable, resourceful, sometimes over-enthusiastic, wack-tacular people who create art in our community, and they’re opening their studio doors to you for…
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 Jim Fugliejimfuglie920@gmail.com“The first thing we do is, let’s kill all the lawyers.”You might recall that memorable line, uttered by Dick the Butcher, from perhaps the least memorable of Shakespeare’s plays, “Henry…
