Gadfly

​Robbing Peter, Paul – and Mary

November 18th, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

The Purpose of a College Education: Do We Work to Live or Live to Work?

Because of the increasing costs of college, the staggering $1.7 trillion of student debt owed by 45 million American students and parents ages 18 to 95, and the failure of states to support with taxes vocational, community, and two-year colleges, and public colleges and universities, undergraduate college enrollment in the DSA dropped eight percent between 2019 and 2022---and is…

Read more...


Thugs, Thieves, and Theocrats

November 11th, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

“Trump Cabinet Member: ‘If a Document Has a Staple in It, Don’t Give It to Trump.’”

Among the most fascinating papers in the world would be the transcripts of Donald Trump from the elite universities he attended. What courses did he take? What were his major studies? His speech is free from literary allusions, classical images, historical facts, and intellectual musings.

When George W. Bush was president, I never really thought he was dumb, he…

Read more...


Back-to-Back Barbarians

November 4th, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

Well, Whaddaya Know! Barbarians Have the Same Life Expectancy!

A barbarian is defined as one belonging to a people or tribe considered to be a primitive civilization filled with fierce, brutal, and cruel persons who are uncultured and insensitive. If there has been a century in the history of Homo sapiens when we didn’t have any barbarians acting up, please let me know.

The Roman Empire conquered half the known earth, but expired when barbarians…

Read more...


Of Pitchforks and Penthouses

October 28th, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

Everybody Needs to Understand Critical Economic and Racial Facts

Once in a great while one runs across an innocent-looking article that is like a combined X-ray, sonogram, and MRI examining your country. Daniel Immerwahr in the October 23 New Yorker in “The Pitchfork of History: Beyond the myth of rural America” covers some facts that are not often covered by the media in its struggles to never stop presses, turn out lights, or shut off cameras.

Did…

Read more...


Eyes for Eyes and Babies for Babies

October 21st, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

How many centuries have religions been fighting each other in the Middle East?

In the early foggy, frosty morning of December 25, 1914, before cannons roared and bullets whizzed, songs of Christmas were heard by German troops in the trenches on the Western Front. It was “all quiet on the front.” The music came from English troops in trenches a few hundred yards across No Man’s Land.

As the singing continued, troops left trenches without weapons…

Read more...


Billionaires and Bidenomics

October 17th, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

Remember When “Mission Impossible” Instructions Self-Destructed in Five Seconds?

Some Democrats, including a few of his closest advisors, are forgetting what got Joe Biden elected in 2020. He never had a personal political platform to run on except for the fact he had 44 years of experience getting elected senator and vice-president. He had one skill: cozying up to those who voted for the majority in Delaware.

He strapped on Senator Bernie Sanders’…

Read more...


Asexual Avocados

October 7th, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

Were the Mushrooms You Ate With Your Steak Asexual or Bisexual?

British plant scientists made a discovery while investigating why an extremely rare green shrub formally called Ruizia mauririana was not doing well in an old Victoria formal garden called Temperate House, in London’s Kew Gardens.

Examples of this specimen are extremely rare, but several were found in the Mauritian highlands. They also made a remarkable genetic discovery. The plant was…

Read more...


Cruelty and Human Nature

September 29th, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

Is Cruelty a Part of Nature—or Is It Just Part of Human Nature?

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman has been my economics guru for many years for his pithy columns in The New York Times. In his September 14 column he used a word that I believe he has never used before when discussing economic issues. That word is “cruel.”

His statement: “I’ve been writing about economics and politics for many years, and have learned to keep my temper.…

Read more...


Biden and the Second Coming

September 23rd, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

Eighty Million Eligible Voters Did Not Vote in the DSA in 2020. Why Not?

In the first week of February, 2023, Deborah Daub, 59, shot and killed her husband James Daub, 62, Morgan Daub, their daughter, then killed her mother Deborah, and then killed herself. Pennsylvania township police said the murders and suicide “appeared to be a joint decision from notes left behind.”

The fundamentalist Christian family was considered by neighbors to be…

Read more...


Everybody’s Going to Be ‘Hot’

September 22nd, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

If Homo Sapiens Do Nothing About Climate-Change, We Will Be Dead Saps Soon

Animals started to develop from plants 1.8 billion years ago, so that’s when our brains began to develop. The world’s politicians are currently experiencing climate change on every continent but haven’t come up with answers to control it so Homo sapiens can survive on Planet Earth. Our current three pounds of gray matter will not evolve enough to solve it in time. The…

Read more...


Tracker Pixel for Entry Empire Tracker Pixel for Entry Bismarck Tracker Pixel for Entry 7Clans Tracker Pixel for Entry Concordia1 Tracker Pixel for Entry MidwestRoadTripAdventures Tracker Pixel for Entry 7Clans

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…