Gadfly

Cruising to Cataclysm

July 22nd, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadly@gmail.com

Sliding to Hot Maelstroms on a Cool Six Waterslides Aboard an Icon Reality Show

Las Vegas, Nevada, and its suburbs is the largest metro area in the Mojave Desert in the United States at 2.3 million residents and loves to call itself THE ENTERTAINMENT CAPITAL OF THE WORLD—which it probably is.

It averages more than three million visitors a year, probably because “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” It is always in the top three destinations for…

Read more...


​One Morsel, Then the Whole World

July 19th, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

“We Are Swamped in the Wake of Yachts and Chopped Up by Propeller Blades”

In the final episode of the TV series “Succession,” which is all about the desire for power, the power theme is based on this truism: “Human nature yearns for one morsel, and then one more, and then eventually wants the whole world.”

Too often the spirit of the common good of Aristotle turns rapidly to excessive greed, egomania, and abuse of political power. Think of…

Read more...


​Aristotle Was Right

July 17th, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

The Supreme Court Is the Only Political Party in a Time Machine in Reverse Gear

In his Book 1 of Politics more than 2,300 years ago,Greek philosopher Aristotle claimed – correctly – that man is political by nature. And to achieve “common good,” citizens had to participate in a political community to achieve community safety. The citizen must also actively engage in politics, whether as a soldier or ordinary citizen, if a society is going to serve…

Read more...


​A Tale of Contrasts and Similarities

July 1st, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

Maybe Someday Orcas Will Be Able to Tell Us Why They Attacked Our Boats

In the first two weeks of June, each of the continents of America and Europe had maritime disasters in deep seas, one at 12,500 feet in the Atlantic Ocean and the other at 17,000 feet in the Mediterranean Sea.

A submersible on a sightseeing trip filled with one captain and two billionaire fathers and sons imploded near the wreck of the Titanic, an “unsinkable” ship carrying…

Read more...


Living in Arrogant Valley

June 24th, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

In the DSA of Traumatized Homo Sapiens an Illiterate Sociopath was President

According to experts, the Bible contains several versions of an old proverb (Luke and Matthew) that resembles an old English proverb written by John Ray in 1678 that states: “A man be better half blind than have both eyes out.”

Germans have a proverb that says: “Those that rule and be deaf, must see and be blind.” My French ancestors came up with “When a blind man…

Read more...


Dystopia or Utopia?

June 18th, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

Modern Rastafarianism, Ancient Ultra-Orthodox Jewry, and Today’s Protopia

According to Donald Trump’s current “Big Lie,” we once lived in Utopia. He is the man with policies that will return our current life in Dystopia back to Utopia--where we were great. The Donald pledges to “Make America Great Again,” better known on bumper stickers as MAGA.

He stole the phrase from Ronald Reagan. Futurist and co-founder of “Wired” magazine Kevin…

Read more...


Dead Poets Mean Live Fascists

June 12th, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

Why Is the Divided States of America the Most Unequal Society in the World?

I have hundreds of favorite poems that mean much more to me than long-winded prose. My absolute favorite is T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” It contains the most depressing line about the human condition: “I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across the floor of silent seas.”

My top short poem is by Ogden Nash in “Reflections on…

Read more...


​Sneakers for Sale

June 4th, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

Can Someone Tell Me Why Sneakers Sell for $1.5 to $2.2 Million a Pair?

It has to be something other than quality. I shop for used books in thrift stores because I have discovered thick books given as gifts usually have not been read. Last week I picked up a new Microsoft ENCARTA Dictionary—the first dictionary for the Internet age--for $2.50. It was priced at $24.95 U.S. and $36.95 Canada. It’s the first dictionary published in about 30 years, so it…

Read more...


​An All-American Virus

May 27th, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

Question for 2024: Will a Billion Guns and a Quadrillion Bullets Make DSA Safer?

Ever since Lucy fell out of an African tree 3.2 million years ago, animals have been designing new ways to kill each other. For the last 300,000 of those years, Homo sapiens have been inventing more efficient methods.

If we are still around in a few years, one can predict that nuclear weapons will be obsolete. The machine gun probably won the trench warfare of World War I,…

Read more...


​American Zombies as Legislators

May 21st, 2023

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

Fargo Superintendent and School Board Know Right from Wrong

Back in the 1950s when Corky and I lived under Jim Crow laws in Virginia and North Carolina, we were angered to see our Black Marines and neighbors forced by law to walk in the streets of Jacksonville and Parkfairfax instead of on sidewalks.

By that time the southern slave states had passed more than 200 racist laws known as Jim Crow. Southern states passed laws making it a crime to teach Blacks…

Read more...


Tracker Pixel for Entry Gruff Tracker Pixel for Entry Farrms1 Tracker Pixel for Entry Bismarck Tracker Pixel for Entry FPL Tracker Pixel for Entry Seven Tracker Pixel for Entry Empire

Recently in:

By Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.com Ten North Dakota communities will participate in the nationwide No Kings Day of Peaceful Action on October 18. The grassroots movement is a nonviolent protest against President Trump’s…

By Michael M. Millermichael.miller@ndsu.edu I would like to recognize some of the scholarly Germans from Russia from Canada and USA shared on the GRHC website. There are additional names not included here. If you have suggestions…

Friday, October 31, doors 8 p.m. show starts at 8:30 p.m.The Aquarium above Dempey’s, 226 N. Broadway, FargoThe annual Aquarium Halloween Cover Show is back and it is stacked. And this time there are a limited amount of presale…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com At the end of September, downtown Fargo said goodbye to another old friend; the Spirit Room closed its doors, marking the end of an era. The Spirit Room room has been a fixture downtown for the…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comThat old time religion, filled with love, is no longer good enough In the first “Inherit the Wind” movie about religion and evolution starring Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, and Gene Kelly, 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 Gion and Nichole Hensenrickgion@gmail.com The wait is finally over. Those who have visited Nichole’s Fine Pastry & Cafe lately know about the recent major additions and renovations that have taken place over the past…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com Dakotah Faye is a hip-hop artist from Minot, North Dakota, and he’s had a busy year. He’s released two albums. This summer he opened for Tech N9ne in Sturgis and will be opening for Bone…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com Now available on Amazon Prime following its world premiere last month as the opening night selection of the Toronto International Film Festival’s golden anniversary, “John Candy: I Like…

By HPR staffsubmit@hpr1.com Mark the first weekend of October on your calendar. It’s the weekend of the Studio Crawl, which takes us all on a wonderful, metro-wide tour of our talented (and often wacky) arts community. On October…

Press release“Shakespeare with a sharpened edge.” To launch its 2025 – 2026 season, Theatre NDSU is thrilled to team up with Moorhead-based organization Theatre B to perform a co-production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and…

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 Ellie Liveranieli.liverani.ra@gmail.com When we are sick, all we want is a cure. You go to the doctor, they give you a pill, you take it for a bit, then you are cured. It happens. But unfortunately, it is not always the case. …

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.comMoral accountability and the crisis of leadership  As a recovering person living one day at a time for the last 35 years, I have learned not to judge others because I have not walked in…