Last Word

​If You’re Going To Talk Like Teddy, You Better Act Like Teddy

January 16th, 2019

An oil well pad just yards from the bank of the Little Missouri State Scenic River - photograph provided by Jim Fuglie

I’ve listened to a few State of the State speeches by North Dakota Governors–probably somewhere between 15 and 20—and even had a hand in writing a few of them, so I think I’m qualified to offer a few comments on the one Doug Burgum gave the other week to the North Dakota Legislature.

As they go, his was a pretty good one. I thought his speechwriters (likely Mike Nowatzki and Jodi Uecker) did a pretty good job. It was hopeful and optimistic, as is Burgum’s nature, and he threw…

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A Child’s Christmas in Fargo

December 19th, 2018


by Gary Olson
olsong@moravian.edu

It’s mid-December and as wintery conditions and the Christmas holidays approach, I’m reminded of a story my mother told me about my Norwegian grandmother. In December 1882, as a sixteen-year-old, my Grandma Emma traveled a considerable distance on XC skis from her rural village to the port city of Bergen. Alone and with only a backpack, she had to leave her new Christmas gift skis at the dock before boarding ship for the perilous transatlantic…

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What Left Wing Conspiracy? What Left Wing?

November 28th, 2018

“(Søren) Kierkegaard…has opened our eyes to the shallowness of much of our pseudo-Christian life, and to the outright deception in politics which Christianity has been made to serve.” - William Hubben

“The people starve because their superiors eat too much in taxes. The more laws there are, the more thieves and bandits will multiply.” – Lao Tzu

“I thought it went without saying that when the Soviet Union collapsed and the eastern states opened up, we would be plagued by a…

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RIP, North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party

November 14th, 2018

For all intents and purposes, the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party is bankrupt. North Dakota is now a one-party state. That’s sad. Because it wasn’t so long ago that we had an active two-party state government. Now the Democratic-NPL Party has ceased to exist. It is no longer competitive in elections. It no longer plays a role in governing North Dakota.

This is the party created by some visionaries and patriots when North Dakota’s Democrats merged with the Nonpartisan League in…

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2018 Election Notes

November 14th, 2018

With Senator Heidi Heitkamp’s loss in last week’s election, Republicans now hold every statewide elected office. Democrats have none. I don’t know if there’s ever been a time when one party held every state office. I doubt it. So what happened to Heidi?

Well, as the Beatles sang in their 1964 hit, “Money Can’t Buy Me Love,” Heidi’s millions of dollars collected in the wake of her vote against Trump Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh weren’t enough to sway North…

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Senator Heitkamp? Congressman Schneider? Maybe . . .

October 31st, 2018


Fuglie - lastword - Heidi Heitkamp Tax Commissioner,1986

Okay, against my better judgment, again, I'm going to weigh in on the 2018 election, just a week hence. Here goes.

I told Democratic-NPL Congressional candidate Mac Schneider last week that if Heidi Heitkamp wins re-election to the U.S. Senate on November 6, he can expect to head to Washington with her, as our next U.S. Congressman.

I think that might just happen. History and instinct tell me that Heitkamp will eke out a win over Kevin Cramer. And if she does, her coattails could carry…

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An Open Letter to North Dakota Students

October 24th, 2018

Dear Students,

I’ll get right to the point. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp supports your voice, your expression. Regardless if you support her. Regardless if you vote for her. Heidi has stood up for you and your right to express your views.

In 2015, a group of North Dakota students, educators like myself, professionals, concerned citizens, and supportive legislators championed the John Wall New Voices Act of North Dakota. The bill protected your ability to write and talk about the issues that were…

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Which Way will The PSC Go On The Refinery?

October 3rd, 2018


Photo caption: They’re moving dirt at the proposed refinery site just east of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Can we stop them? It’s going to take leadership and guts in state government.

There are two ways to look at the recommendation of Administrative Law Judge Patrick Ward that the North Dakota Public Service Commission dismiss the complaint against that (expletive deleted) Meridian Energy for failing to get a site review from the PSC for its proposed refinery near Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

First, If you believe that two or maybe all three of the PSC members would really like to conduct a site review because they are nervous that this might be a bad place for…

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​The Cultural Cringe has come to North Dakota

September 5th, 2018

UND - photograph provide by UND

by Andrew Alexis Varvel
mr.a.alexis.varvel@gmail.com

“If a piece of equipment purchased in the 1920s is kept up and can guarantee, at present, an operable rate close to 100 percent and if it can bear the production burden placed on it, the machine's value has not declined a bit. On the other hand, if a machine purchased last year has been poorly maintained and produces at only half its operable rate, we should regard its value as having declined 50 percent."

"A machine's value is not…

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​Scenic River Commission Turns Out to Be A Rubber Stamp For Industry

August 29th, 2018

Little Missouri River Bridge and Other Unauthorized Developments - United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Montana-Dakotas

In the halcyon days of the 1970s in North Dakota, when the state was a quieter, kinder, friendlier, more thoughtful place, the Legislature passed a bill, and the Governor signed it, designating the Little Missouri as our state’s only official State Scenic River, and creating a commission to look out for it.

The Little Missouri Scenic River Commission did its job through the administrations of four governors who cared about the Bad Lands and its river—Art Link, Allen Olson, George…

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