Last Word

A new watchdog group for the Badlands

June 27th, 2018

Theodore Roosevelt in the Badlands

North Dakota has more than a million acres of public land, most of it in western North Dakota, our Little Missouri National Grasslands, managed by the United States Forest Service.

Most of it is grazing land, although it’s grazed by more than cattle. Pretty much every creature that lives in North Dakota has a presence there. For some—mule deer, sharp-tailed grouse, sage grouse, prairie dogs, coyotes, bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, and countless species of birds, including our state…

Keeping FM C.L.E.A.N

June 20th, 2018

By Paul Jensen

Fargo, as the most populous city in the state with 120,000 inhabitants, added nearly 6,000 20-to-34-year-olds in 2015, just over five percent of the total population. Fargo is attracting well-educated young professionals due to its clean air, strong economy, low unemployment, safe environment and affordable real estate.

Sustainable growth is only possible if we don’t cut corners on our infrastructure, energy use and other forms of sustainability. We have unfortunately…

Paper Towels for Puerto Rico; Family Separations for Refugees of Color:

June 20th, 2018

Daily Trump Cartoon

Negligent Homicide - the term that describes a killing without any intent to kill but occurs when a person is acting in negligence.
– Black’s Law Dictionary

"In the [19] twenties and [19] thirties denaturalization and denationalization were increasingly used by governments as ways of getting rid of citizens they deemed undesirable…As the stateless refugees entered the countries of the West…it was soon discovered that these were people who could neither be repatriated nor granted…

Ending Poverty Is A Moral Imperative

June 6th, 2018

Gary Olson
olsong@moravian.edu

“Rev. William Barber is the closest thing to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that we have in our midst.”
- Prof. Cornell West on the Poor People’s Campaign Co-Founder, Rev. William Barber

Recently, I was privileged to be among the thirteen people arrested for civil disobedience at the first Poor People’s Campaign (PPC) rally at our state capitol building in Harrisburg, PA. The campaign, modeled on Dr. Martin Luther King’s original movement from 50 years…

Sinclair promotes propaganda with mandatory message threatening democracy as we know it

May 30th, 2018

By Ty Danks
ty.danks@ndsu.edu

With “Fake News” and “Alternative Facts” becoming a large and influential topic since the 2016 Presidential election, many people have become more aware and concerned with the spread of misinformation. The spread of “Fake News” and “Alternative Facts” has impacted all news organizations, but recently, Sinclair Broadcasting Company has come under scrutiny involving a broadcast message.

Sinclair and their Message
Sinclair Broadcasting Company…

Gateways to history are best kept open

May 23rd, 2018

By Ken Smith
kelandsmith@gmail.com

When the State of North Dakota decided to sell the campus of the Ellendale Branch of the University of North Dakota following the disastrous January 1970 fire that destroyed the two main buildings, the town prepared a big color glossy brochure to attract potential buyers of the campus. That brochure listed every single building, and evaluated their condition. The Armory (built in 1905) ranked lowest on the list in terms of its condition. It was the only…

Sinclair promotes propaganda with mandatory message threatening democracy as we know it

May 16th, 2018

By Ty Danks
ty.danks@ndsu.edu

With “Fake News” and “Alternative Facts” becoming a large and influential topic since the 2016 presidential election, many people have become more aware and concerned with the spread of misinformation. The spread of “Fake News” and “Alternative Facts” has impacted all news organizations, but recently, Sinclair Broadcasting Company has come under scrutiny involving a broadcast message.

Sinclair and their Message
Sinclair Broadcasting Company…

Of Swamps, Sewers, “Deep States” and Mixed Metaphors

May 16th, 2018

“Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater private security group and a close campaign adviser to Donald Trump, met a Russian financier with direct ties to Vladimir Putin's family in the weeks leading up to Mr Trump's inauguration, according to multiple people briefed on the talks.”
- The Financial Times, 04/01/18

“On Tuesday, Michael Avenatti, the attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels, released a report claiming that Viktor Vekselberg—a Putin-friendly Russian tycoon—and an American…

The University of North Dakota is not exempt from the rules of architecture

May 2nd, 2018

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

“This stuff? Oh, okay, I see. You think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select, I don't know, that lumpy blue sweater, for instance, because you're trying to tell the world you take yourself too seriously to care what you put on your back. But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise, it's not lapis, it's actually cerulean. And you're also blithely unaware of the fact…

Memories Of A Darn Good Governor

April 4th, 2018

The late Governor George Sinner Calm was the day in late July

And bright was the sun across the sky

But inside his chest the calm had broken

Governor Sinner had started croakin’.

I laughed the first time I read that, and I’m still laughing every time I think about it. It’s a poem written by a sixth grader from Turtle Lake about Governor George Sinner’s heart attack in 1991.

Well, Bud Sinner has finished croakin’. There. I said it. Bud Sinner. That’s the first time I’ve called him anything but “Governor”…