October 21st, 2024
By Ed Raymond
Citizens United Turned Billionaires Into Oligarchs, Dictators, and Kings
We have reached a stage in Divided States of America politics where if the Democratic Party decreed that zebras have black stripes imprinted on white bodies, the Trumplican Party would object by yelling “No!”: white stripes are strategically placed on black bodies. Then, after hearings and a filibuster or two, they would kill zebras to prove their case.
We have reached that…
September 19th, 2024
By Ed Raymond
Where 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 humor. But with the planet heating up and devastating windstorms, floods, hurricanes, tornados, and fires of many descriptions constantly harassing the earth’s humans, animals, and plants, they understand what will happen.
In 2019 Icelanders decided to…
August 15th, 2024
By Ed Raymond
Men have made a real mess of the world. We should try estrogen.
I didn’t bother to count the countries involved in wars because this column won’t be published for a week. But I don’t think any of the participating countries are led by a woman at this moment.
There are wars and revolutions on five of the seven continents. Not much is happening on Antarctica, although there may be an encounter or three on Oceania, the continent of thousands of…
July 18th, 2024
By Ed Raymond
How 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 laureates studied the complexities of happiness and determined that in most cases $75,000 a year would buy some of it. But this figure applied only to day-to-day moods. The two experts said happiness “plateaus” at some figure depending upon the individual.…
June 20th, 2024
By Ed Raymond
Should ‘The Chosen One’ be Sentenced to Spend Months at each Level?
It’s not unusual on this planet, we have had hundreds of men and a couple of women who have used religion to become dictators and gods in countries and empires when the only god they believed in was themselves.
Think Nero, Caligula -- and his horse, Qin Shi Huang Di, Hirohito, Genghis Khan, Joe Stalin, Catherine the Great, Adolf Hitler, Kim Sung-un, and Donald Trump – I love the…
May 16th, 2024
By Ed Raymond
Is It Possible to Move from a Tent on a Sidewalk to a Garage in the Sky?
There have been wealthy people who added a car elevator to the mansion for their Bentleys so they could unload groceries close to the kitchen, but I have never seen a high-rise apartment building advertise a sky garage for each of the 62 apartments in a high-rise—including the 62nd floor penthouse. On a barrier island called Sunny Isles Beach 30 miles from Miami, a developer is…
April 16th, 2024
by Ed Raymond
According to my great-grandfather many years ago, my French ancestors migrated from Normandy to Quebec to Manitoba to Wisconsin to Minnesota over the spread of more than two centuries, finally settling in or near Little Falls and then spreading to the Twin Cities. People left Europe for two major reasons: economics and freedom of religion and freedom from religion. France had been involved in many big and small religious conflicts between religions and…
March 21st, 2024
By Ed Raymond
The Catacombs under Paris Contain the Bones of Millions of Feudalists
Sixty-five feet below the Paris streets are about 170 miles of tunnels that go through stone quarries, galleries, and ossuaries that contain the bones of six million French who died between the 9th and 18th centuries. Along the tunnel walls are ossuaries where human bones are stacked in the form of crosses, hearts, and even a structure called the Eiffel Tower. The entrance is in the…
March 21st, 2024
by Ed Raymond
Why Jerry Lee Lewis Sang: "There’s a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on"
For the last couple of months, the “Star Spangled Banner'' was not the national anthem. It was Jerry Lee Lewis’s song about sex titled “Whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on.” At the same time there was a whole lot of sex going on the continents and in the great depths of the oceans. Pope Francis even got into the act by proclaiming in St. Peter’s Square at a general audience…
March 21st, 2024
By Ed Raymond
Two Super Bowl Seats at a 60 Minute Game would Pay a Year’s College Tuition
The final seat price is in. The average seat price for the 2024 Super Bowl is $9,850, figuring in scalpers, grifters, and the like. The super rich paid as much as $66,000 for an executive skybox seat. Meanwhile, back on earth, we have 45 million American adults from 18 to 95 who owe $1.7 trillion in college student debt. The average annual tuition for public universities in…
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Summer is a tough time for families who depend on free or reduced-price school meals, so YMCA of the Northern Sky will provide nutritious, no-cost meals to kids 18 and under through August 26. Breakfast and lunch are available…
By Jeff Armstrong Despite a history dating back many centuries and a reputation as fierce resistance fighters, the Kurds remain the largest stateless nation in the world. Divided by colonial post-WWI borders and subsumed into four…
June 6-7StatewideYou grab a line and I’ll grab a pole — and if you’re a North Dakota resident, you can head on down to your favorite fishing hole, no license needed (for this weekend, anyway). All other rules still apply…
By John Strand It took us over 30 years for us to reach out and ask for your help. The High Plains Reader has always been subscription free and paywall free. Our content has — and always will be — free to access for all of our…
By Ed RaymondCongratulations! A world record held by Trumplican Party and NRA!During the Minnesota Legislature’s discussion of gun controls, Republican State Senator Drew Roach of Farmington said he would never ban assault…
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…
July 8th, 5:30-8 p.m.Viking Ship Park, 202 1st Ave. N., Moorhead We’re celebrating America’s 250th birthday, Minnesota style. Moorhead Parks and Recreation and HCSCC are hosting the ultimate potluck. Whether you’re bringing…
Tuesday, June 30, 7 p.m.Parachigo, 14 8th St. S., Fargo Inspired by folk and rock influences, Bielanski's upbeat catchy tunes have gone worldwide — literally. He’s played 2,500 shows, 311 of which were performed last year alone.…
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By Greg Carlson The feature directorial debut of established internet phenomenon and entertainment hyphenate Hayley Kiyoko — known unironically to her fans as “Lesbian Jesus” — carries with it a curious backstory becoming more…
By Jacinta Zens I recently sat down for a chat with ceramicist Louie Albertson, Clay and Studio Program Manager at the Plains Art Museum. Before the interview, I had the pleasure of getting to know him a bit as a colleague when I…
Saturday, January 31, 6:30-9 p.m.Transfiguration Fitness, 764 34th St. N., Unit P, FargoAn enchanting evening celebrating movement and creativity in a staff-student showcase. This is a family-friendly event showcasing pole, aerial…
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 Eli Liverani It was in the mid-90s when I heard of homeopathy for the first time. I was at university, and it was through word of mouth. Some friends were seeking homeopathy to solve minor health issues, such as weight gain,…
January 31, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.Viking Ship Park, 202 1st Ave. N., Moorhead2026 marks 10 years of frosty fun! Enjoy sauna sessions with Log the Sauna, try Snowga (yoga in the snow), take a guided snowshoe nature hike, listen to live…
Chris M. Stoner I was recently dismissed from my role as drag show director and emcee for Dakota OutRight, a role I had been fulfilling for more than two decades. The reason given? My political commentary during shows, while…
