March 31st, 2016
Expensive “free speech” doesn’t mean anything
Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Earth Institute at Columbia University has surveyed 157 countries to find the “world’s happiest place” based on such facts as Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDP), social support, healthy life expectancy , freedom to make life choices, generosity, and income. All of the top ten “happiest” are countries that have some form of Democratic Socialism government, led by…
March 24th, 2016
The battle between Republican crony-casino capitalism and Democratic socialism
After listening to Republican candidates for the 2016 presidential nomination claim “America is going to hell” and other undesirable places, President Barack Obama in a recent magazine article counterclaimed: “For all of our warts, the United States has clearly been a force for good in the world.”
“Warts?” My God! “Treason!” Admitting we have warts before the entire world? “Un-American!”…
March 18th, 2016
A New Listing In The Real Estate Business
Because of the “new” world economy there’s an increasing gaggle of golden geese millionaires and billionaires building monster homes on exclusive streets in cities and country estates around the world. Many want to continue to live in London, Europe’s financial center. They want to live near other ultrarich in or near Kensington Palace Gardens, the most expensive property in all of Britain. But there’s a catch. There are…
March 10th, 2016
__750x250.jpg)
Killing Cats And Dogs, Selling Human Heads, And A Little Cannibalism
I got a severe case of the heebie-jeebies the other night during the Republican debate when Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz were in the middle of yelling at each other and exchanging insults and lies at warp speed. One of these guys might become leader of our temporary civilized “free” world?!! I thought of a few lines from Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” When Atticus Finch, the lawyer defending…
March 3rd, 2016
__250-wide.jpg)
Even before Justice Antonin Scalia’s body at that exclusive Texas ranch-resort had assumed room temperature, leaders of the American Taliban, the Republican Party, said it would be useless for President Barack Obama to nominate a replacement because Republicans would not allow an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor.
Other Republican right-wing nuts twitterized and facebooked that they were sure Democrats had killed him. Donald Trump, the savior of the white…
February 27th, 2016
Shouldn’t Everyone Carry Blood-Red Poppies?
Every time a soldier was shot and fell in the satiric movie “Oh What A Lovely War” the screen went red and a red poppy grew. The symbol of a red poppy for a death on the battlefield came out of the horrendous casualties in World War I.
In the most costly battle of the war for both sides, the battle of Somme, France, in 1916, Britain suffered 60,000 casualties on the first day. In the month following, the Allies advanced the front five…
February 18th, 2016
Humans have always had a thing about contact sports to take their minds off the real world when life gets heavy. They packed the Roman Colosseum to watch Christians and criminals eaten by lions and tigers. They used their thumbs to save a fallen gladiator because he had performed well or was a cute blond—or to kill a loser who showed temerity or cowardice in battle.
When New Guinea tribes got bored and wanted barbecue on their menu they raided other tribes…
February 11th, 2016
What makes billionaires think they know what’s best for society? Could it be lots of money?
When 2,500 billionaires and global leaders met in Davos, Switzerland, in January of 2016 to discuss who was going to get the largest slices of the economic pies baking in the ovens of capitalism, the dominant topic in both daily discussion panels and nightly bar rooms was TRANSITION, or the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The founder of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, described it as…
February 4th, 2016
How 62 people gathered as much wealth as the poorer half of the world’s population
Perhaps it all started when the U.S. Supreme Court decided that money is speech, corporations are people, and declared in the Citizens United case six years ago that politicians could not be corrupted by money.
Have you ever seen a formula like this: Dollars=Words? What are words worth today? Much more than yesterday. The world’s rich are having a daily word auction. The World Economic Forum Union of…
January 28th, 2016
The world is becoming a better place—but are we becoming a better people?
The other night I watched James Billington of the Library of Congress award 82-year-old Willie Nelson the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. I am not a fan of country music, Willie’s main talent, but he often crosses into jazz, blues, folk, rock, and Latin, is a guitar virtuoso in all those genres—and has the crackly, nasal voice of a tired cowboy or bartender. He has sold millions of records,…
__293px-wide.jpg)
__293px-wide.jpg)
__293px-wide.jpg)
__293px-wide.jpg)
By Winona LaDukewinona@winonaladuke.comIt’s been eight years since the Water Protectors were cleared off the banks of the Cannonball and Missouri Rivers. It was a bitter ending to a battle to protect the water; and for most of us…
By HPR Staff We’re all a part of building strong, healthy and inclusive communities. But the region’s non-profit organizations do a lot of the heavy lifting. Now it’s time for these organizations to step into the spotlight.…
Saturday, March 15, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County, Hjemkomst Center202 1st Avenue N., MoorheadLet’s be real, Irish culture is on everyone’s mind in mid-March, so why not expand your horizons and…
By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com 2025 marks us halfway through the roaring 2020s. Boy, am I glad I didn’t bob my hair for this go-around. It feels like we’re off to the wrong roar, opening Pandora’s box of what-the-Fox…
By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comLennon: “Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can!”On January 8, 2025, Timothy W. Rybeck of “The Atlantic" magazine published “How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy in 53 Days” with the…
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 As a food enthusiast, there’s nothing better than attending a local event featuring hotdish. And as far as hotdish events go, no place does it better than the fine folks at Brewhalla and Drekker…
Mooncats and Pert Near Sandstone play Empire TheatreBy Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comThe MoonCats describe themselves as “Americonscious Campfire Folk.” They have a clear acoustic folk sound with a sense of whimsy — think…
By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.comBong Joon-ho’s highly anticipated follow-up to the game-changing Oscar-winner “Parasite” was set to arrive in theaters last year, but the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike pushed the date. Was the…
By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.com Everyone has heard the adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” However, it is safe to say there are far more than a thousand in Mickey Smith’s photographs. When one hears…
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 Josette Ciceronunapologeticallyanxiousme@gmail.com What does it mean to truly live in a community —or should I say, among community? It’s a question I have been wrestling with since I moved to Fargo-Moorhead in February 2022.…
By Faye Seidlerfayeseidler@gmail.com On Dec 5, the Turning Point USA chapter at North Dakota State University hosted an event called BisonFest. This event featured Chloe Cole, a former trans kid, known for detransitioning and…
By Gilbert Kuipersgilbertkuipers@outlook.com I live in North Dakota District 24 and have been challenging the district Republicans about their understanding of climate science for years. There has been no serious response to my…
