Gadfly

​CUBAN DEFECTOR

April 13th, 2016

None of us made it on our own

In 1949 a poor, tall, gangly black sophomore kid in Oakland, California was cut from his junior varsity basketball team by the coach after just one tryout. After the cut, one of the coaches told him he should try for the varsity team when he was a junior. The coach then drove him to the local Boys & Girls Club, told him he wanted him to play basketball every day at the club, and then paid his membership fee.

The tall kid played every day, and later he was…

Read more...


​HOW TO KEEP PEOPLE FROM VOTING? LET ME COUNT THE WAYS!

April 6th, 2016

Voter fraud in Texas and Wisconsin

In the last ten years over 20 million votes have been cast in Texas state elections. Only two cases of voter fraud in that span of time have been prosecuted to conviction.

Because of a lawsuit in Wisconsin, a district judge and aides prepared a 90-page study on 2004 voter fraud in Wisconsin and determined that there were only seven invalid votes made by individuals. Those ballots represented 0.0002 percent of the total votes cast in the state, and all of…

Read more...


​DOES MONEY UNITE CITIZENS? SOME SAY NO

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…

Read more...


​America: A land of warts

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!”…

Read more...


​Do You Live In An Iceberg?

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…

Read more...


​Ignorance Still Plagues Us

March 10th, 2016

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…

Read more...


​A Case of Confirmationus Interruptus

March 3rd, 2016

The Supreme Court and Gitmo

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…

Read more...


​Remembering Army Sergeant Kristoffer Domeij

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…

Read more...


​Gladiators in the Colosseum

February 18th, 2016

Is the NFL Football Deflating?

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…

Read more...


​Of elephants and men

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…

Read more...


Tracker Pixel for Entry 7Clans Tracker Pixel for Entry hjemkomst Tracker Pixel for Entry Empire Tracker Pixel for Entry Blackbird Tracker Pixel for Entry FPL Tracker Pixel for Entry Bismarck

Recently in:

By Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.comDairy Queen restaurants across the country will raise funds for Children’s Miracle Network hospitals during Miracle Treat Day on Thursday, July 31. At least one dollar from every Blizzard…

By Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.comFM Pride Week returns to the Fargo-Moorhead metro August 3-10. A snapshot of events are listed below. Discover event descriptions and locations as well as volunteer opportunities online at…

September 12-13Brewhalla, 1666 1st Ave N, Fargo Hold onto your hats and step right up to the main event! DrekkerFest 11 kicks off with Timebomb Pro Wrestling on Friday night from 8-10 p.m. Enjoy an evening of suplexes, steel kegs,…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com I’m going to go ahead and say it. I have trust issues with a lot of things and artificial intelligence (AI) is one of them. Yes, it’s a tool that can sit shotgun and make your everyday tasks…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comIf a child is drowning in a ditch, will you get your shoes muddy? “Big Moma” Leah Drumwright was a Black slave in the 19th century who had one of her numerous babies and was nursing an infant.…

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 There seems to be a renaissance in Italian restaurants in the Fargo-Moorhead metro area. It’s a welcome change from just sporting an Olive Garden as a lone option. No offense to Marilyn Hagerty’s…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.com Bluegrass is a genre of music that is often associated with the American South. Many people would express incredulity at being told there is a thriving bluegrass and folk music community…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com Now available on HBO after a theatrical debut earlier this year at Tribeca in the Spotlight Documentary section, “Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print” considers the groundbreaking impact of the…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com 2025 marks three years of the Annual Vergas Area Backroads Art Crawl. The art crawl is sponsored by the Vergas Arts Club. The Arts Club also happens to be part of the Vegas Community Club and both…

Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.comPenn & Teller are returning to their roots. The legendary magic and comedy duo will appear on the Crown Stage at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival in Shakopee, Minnesota, where they first…

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 Dr. Marc Sapir, MD, MPHjessica@pellienpublicrelations.com Across America, families are quietly struggling with a rising challenge: how to care for aging parents, siblings, grandparents, neighbors and friends. Most seniors want…

By Alicia Underlee NelsonProtests against President Trump’s policies and the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are planned across North Dakota and western Minnesota Friday, April 4 and…

By Vern Thompsonvern.thompson@rocketmail.com Working in the Bakken oil fields of the Williston Basin is so different from my home in Fargo. I'm not judging, because the people working and living in western North Dakota are very…