Last Word

​Trump’s Mirror to America: Our Insanity of Racism, Misogyny and Religious Bigotry

August 28th, 2019


“Tell me the company that you keep, and I will tell you who you are.”
Cervantes (Sancho Panza), 1605

“Rocinante (broken down horse; nag) is Don Quixote’s horse in the novel by Miguel de Cervantes. In many ways, Rocinante is not only Don Quixote's horse, but also his double: like Don Quixote, he is awkward, past his prime, and engaged in a task beyond his capacities.”
Wikipedia

“All Animals Are Equal – But Some Animals Are More…

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​Mitch McConnell’s Russian Interpreters: Jim Crow and Joseph Goebbels

June 26th, 2019

Woman is born free and lives equal to man in her rights…The purpose of any political association is the conservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of woman and man; these rights are liberty, property, security, and especially resistance to oppression.
 Olympe de Gouges, Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen, 1791
Our constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.
– From the dissenting opinion of Justice John…

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The ten year reunion

June 19th, 2019

Ten year reunion - photograph provided by Zach Nerpel

By Zach Nerpel
zachnerpel@gmail.com

I was going by “Zach” on this particular evening. Not like I’d go by anything else in any other situation, but tonight it was determined I’d wear a nametag. I showed up to the Fargo Brewing Company shaky, not from any lack of booze (I don’t think), but out of sheer nervousness. Many of the people I was to engage in conversation with, I hadn’t seen in ten years. It was a reunion, after all.

I arrived alone and apprehensive, doubting that the…

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Of Politics and ‘Star Wars’

June 5th, 2019

By Zach Nerpel
zachnerpel@gmail.com

Sometimes there is no compromise to be made, especially when those who you presume to level with are those who would lock you up for even questioning their authority. There is no "middle ground" in what has been shown to be an inherently flawed system, completely derelict of moral well-being with regard to The People as a whole. And make no mistake, this is not a Democrat vs. Republican stance. It is not even a Liberal vs. Conservative stance. It is a…

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Meritocracy is a lie

May 8th, 2019

By Gary Olson
olsong@moravian.edu

In 2017, Sociology Professor Rachel Sherman wrote “Uneasy Street: The Anxiety of Affluence,” a book which drew from 50 in-depth interviews with uber-wealthy New Yorkers in order to obtain a picture of just how they perceived their status.

Sherman found that her interviewees, all in the top 1-2 percent of income or wealth or both, had thoroughly imbibed the narrative of meritocracy to rationalize their affluence and immense privileges. That is, they…

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​The chain restaurant: A pillar of Americana?

May 8th, 2019

Chain restaurants - photograph by Zach Nerpel

By Zach Nerpel
zachnerpel@gmail.com

Something’s amiss. 

There is a general uneasiness in the air and the scent comes from too many directions to find the source; a waft in every wind. The same dread one receives when waiting in the principal's office permeates nearly every living being I encounter, especially those included in my Millennial Generation. A sense that something very dire is about to occur but we are too powerless to prevent. Is it me? Us? What have we done wrong to deserve…

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​ND Democratic-NPL lawmakers put families first

May 8th, 2019

Representative Joshua Boschee during 2018 campaign - photograph by C.S. Hagen

By Rep. Joshua Boschee and Sen. Joan Heckaman
jboschee@nd.gov

During the 66th Legislative Assembly, Democratic-NPL legislators successfully advanced a legislative agenda that puts the needs of working families first and supports the values of North Dakotans.

Strong state investments in these four areas help the people of our state. They also reduce the burden on local property taxes levied by counties, cities and schools, providing you with property tax relief.

Good Public Service When…

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​Cowards Who Would Rule the Brave and the Craven

May 1st, 2019

"Dostoevsky’s nightmare vision of the surrender of inner freedom for untroubled security was…a predecessor of the literary genre of dystopia, represented by such works as…Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, and George Orwell’s 1984. The motif of deception—the Grand Inquisitor’s pretense to speak in the name of the true Christ—is closer to the Communist model (than to the Fascist version of 20th Century totalitarianism)". – Joseph Frank
"Narcissists love being loved. Or hated.…

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Obituary: ​Glen William Hornung, 86

May 1st, 2019

Glen William Hornung - photograph by Sabrina Hornung

Glen Hornung passed away peacefully at Ave Maria Village in Jamestown with family by his side on Sunday, April 28.

He was born in Woodworth, North Dakota on May 15, 1932 to Joe and Esther (Gaub) Hornung, the first of six children. He attended Gerber No. 2, a one-room schoolhouse in Woodworth and was baptised at Woodworth Lutheran Church. He spent his formative years helping out on the farm and exploring the surrounding prairie.

In November of 1951, Glen enlisted in the army as a…

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Alex White Plume: the ‘hemperer’ and the governor

May 1st, 2019

Alex White Plume and Winona LaDuke - photograph by Kristen Tharaldson

By Winona LaDuke
winonaladuke1@gmail.com

It’s twenty years since Alex White Plume planted his first hemp crop on Wounded Knee Creek, here on the Pine Ridge reservation. Spring’s come after a winter buried in epic snow storms, and the grass is greener than ever. It’s time to plant.

It’s 2019, and the Oglala Lakota are revisiting a plan to grow hemp on the reservation. Hemp has been a longstanding interest of the Nation. That’s because it’s an incredibly versatile plant. It…

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