Dakota Beacon

Problem solving need not be difficult. Some people refer to a deliberate way of thinking as “thinking ahead.” My mom called it “thinking past the end of your nose.” I always thought “thinking ahead” was the norm for everyone and not merely an exception for the few. I have since discovered otherwise. The larger world does not think this way. Lack of application in the arena of government policymaking is so striking as to be bizarre. Too many people do not think past the end of their noses.

Think of a problem. Then, think of a solution to that problem. Pause. By way of consequence, now ask, “What happens next?” The answer to that question may determine the viability of your solution. In other words, what are the further implications of your choice?

So far most of the accusationos of election fraud and rigging of the process have come fdrom Republicans and especially those who believe that Trump won a majority of votes ins 2020.  Now, the accusation - and it is more than just an accusation - comes from one of the Democrat Party's most iconic scions - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.  Well, we are all pretty well aware that this party eats its own for breakfast.  We saw what they did twice in a row with Bernie Sanders.  We would have to be marooned on a desert isle not to be aware of the blatant shenanigans where are part and parcel of every single Democrat campaign.  It is even arguable that they attempt to participate in the Republican processes as well.  We know they contrive to manage news.  So, what is in store for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.?  How will this end?

For the last 22 years, Sept. 11 has become a somber day to memorialize the thousands of victims killed that day in 2001 by the homicidal bombers of Osama Bin Laden. The total dead numbered nearly 3,000.

More recently, the anniversary of Sept. 11 brought still more bad news, as the Taliban that the U.S. ousted after Sept. 11, 2001, somehow managed to return to power courtesy of the Biden administration’s disastrously managed pullout of U.S. troops in August 2021.

For purely political reasons, what began a splendid process of peace that continues to bear fruit has not gotten the attention it deserves.

George Orwell’s novel "1984" has caused many to consider what is happening in today’s world as a fulfilled prophecy. Others would call it mere science fiction.

Originally written as a warning about the dangers of a totalitarianism, government surveillance and the abuse of power, it should be a wake-up call for those on either side. Though perhaps not intentional, we find ourselves on one side or the other and there seems to be no room for middle ground. It’s time we openly discuss what is happening in this country and not be hypersensitive to someone with a difference of opinion.

The emergence of existentialism as a philosophy in the 19th and 20th centuries attempted to accommodate advances in science, technology, and man’s power over the material world. The Renaissance and the Enlightenment uprooted traditional religious beliefs and replaced them with science, rationalism, and materialism. Existential philosophy grew up within the void left by the decline of Christianity. With this decline, people lost contact with a transcendent realm of being. They were set free to confront the material world in all its fierce objectivity.

Existentialism, the “Johnny-come-lately” of the philosophical world, comes burdened with baggage because of its nebulous nature. It has always been difficult to define due to its diverse reaction to the challenges emerging in history. Existentialism has been viewed by the philosophical establishment as illegitimate and unworthy of being called philosophy. It was thus not a true heir to the philosophical tradition.

On a recent visit to the Reagan Presidential Library in California, I took a step back in time and experienced a reacquaintance with the man and his message. As I came face to face with him casually leaning on a column in the portico the White House, I remembered his words about being a “here today and gone tomorrow” servant of the people of America. The presidency for him was about the people; America the only place on earth where the Constitution reads: “We the people…” The following Reagan quote stopped me in my tracks as I considered the path we’ve taken since then.

If there is such a thing as “good ol’ days” then there must have been some point of reference. Surely there must be more to a perception of change than mere nostalgia. To my old eyes we have morphed culturally into something unrecognizable. When wrong becomes right and evil becomes good; when standards evaporate and everyone does that which is right in their own eyes; we have degenerated into a moral vacuum.

A clarion call was sounded many decades ago by the likes of Schaeffer, Whitehead, and others. Many people heeded but the generations that followed did not. As a result we are experiencing today a cultural rot of our own making.

When Lorie Smith, owner of a Colorado website design business, thought about expanding her business to include websites for those planning traditional weddings (one man and one woman), she was understandably concerned that such a business expansion could put her in legal jeopardy under Colorado’s “public accommodations” law. The law called for penalties to be imposed upon any business open to the general public which refused to provide goods or services to persons based on, among other things, their sexual orientation.

Donald Trump's behavior has been puzzling to many of us, as has that of his adherents.  What, we wonder, as the indictments mount, are they thinking?  It's not that there is any merit in these indictments, of course.  Trump is being prosecuted for protected free speech under the First Amendment.  It is an honored American tradition for citizens as well as candidates to question election results and call for recounts.  There is never any excuse in indicting anyone for any statements, whether we agree or not - and, just for the record, a whole lot of us do question the 2020 election.  But it seems that no one anywhere is actually doing anything about any of this injustice.  Why not?  Is Trump running a different kind of campaign from what we have all assumed?  It's worth thinking about.

Ask any American what they value most about the US and they would likely reply with one word: “freedom.” This would be the freedom to live as one pleases without being monitored, persecuted, or manipulated. It is the freedom to express oneself without fear of retaliation and the freedom to earn a living based on one’s own merits.

This brings to mind the antithesis of freedom, namely totalitarianism. How does American culture today measure up to freedom versus totalitarianism? Here are a few instances to think about.

Much is being said right now about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb. The reason, of course, is the new film on Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan. The film has opened old debates and wounds about Oppenheimer’s communist sympathies and loyalties. That’s something that I know a good deal about and should write about separately. But for now, I thought I could relate something altogether more unique and perhaps more historically valuable. It involves a man who was very critical and suspicious of Oppenheimer’s politics, and for daring to voice those concerns, has been vilified by leftists in a way that Oppenheimer never was. This man, too, was a brilliant physicist and likewise a founder of the bomb, a fusion rather than fission bomb; that is, the hydrogen bomb.

Of the nearly 80 people since Alexander Hamilton to hold the office of secretary of the treasury of the United States, my choice for the best of them is Andrew Mellon of Pittsburgh (1855–1937). From 1921 to 1932, Andrew William Mellon served Presidents Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover as treasury secretary. Only two other individuals in American history held the office longer than his 10 years and 11 months. Mellon’s business prowess before that was legendary.

Earlier this month the King’s College in New York City announced it was canceling classes for the fall semester, laying off most of its faculty and staff, and struggling to recover its recently revoked academic accreditation. The fate of Manhattan’s most prominent Christian Evangelical college — a school rooted in the political and literary canon of Western civilization — is uncertain.

Old school civility has expired. What better place to observe societal rancor than from the top down. Starting with our political leaders in their decision-making schemes and amplified through the media, their contemptuous behavior bodes ill for society in particular and culture in general. Everyday life at ground level smells of wokesterism. With the upsurge of social justice warriors and climate change activists, who needs good manners and civility? Who needs decorum and propriety when Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and assorted race baiters hold sway? No need. To be sure, the growing lack of self-control and blurred moral convictions combined with a greater polarization and secularization of society reflects a culture in regression.

On Aug. 2, 1923, President Warren Harding unexpectedly fell ill and died while visiting San Francisco. Five hours later, America had a new president: Calvin Coolidge, a man driven by humility, respect, civility, and compassion. At 2:47 a.m. on Aug. 3, 1923, Coolidge was sworn into the highest office by the light of a kerosene lamp in the humble sitting room of the Coolidge Homestead in Plymouth Notch, Vermont. A Bible belonging to his late mother, who took her final breath in a room just steps away, sat on the small table as his father, Col. John Coolidge, read from a copy of the Constitution and administered the oath of office.

The Dobbs decision striking down Roe v. Wade has led to shrill outcries by providers of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and surrogacy. Both are lucrative, high-growth commercial industries enjoying increasing demand, thanks in part to rising infertility and late pregnancy among folk in income brackets able to pay for these services. Many of those involved in this industry are alarmed that their “market growth” and profitability are threatened by abortion restrictions and are willing to publicly say so. Others have argued that state bans will likely exclude abortion restrictions that will significantly impact these industries.

For casual reading on long summer days, here are some pithy quotes from familiar folks. They recall old-school values aligned to the traditional way of thinking.

The following selection of axioms bears reconsideration in light of today’s cultural environment. Humorous or serious, they offer wisdom gleaned from experience. With a little effort, anyone can find similar aphorisms by noodling around the internet. Suggested sites include brainyquote.com, rightwingnews.com, and refseek.com to name a few.

The latest abysmally low birth rates from North America, Europe, and Asia continue to alarm business leaders and policy makers, as well they should. Yet for decades, many of these same hand-wringing elites and policy wonks have been pushing contraception and abortion with the intensity of engineers shoveling coal into speeding trains. And not just to help married folk space, delay, or limit childbearing. No, they want every adult to be able to have sex with as many people as they want, as often as they wish, regardless of marital status, without having any babies they don’t choose.

One of the several reasons for writing The Passing Scene includes exercising my brain as I age. Medical literature encourages older folks to exercise their brain to help to stave off mental decline such as dementia. Solving puzzles, learning a language, reading, and writing all fit the category of mental exercise.

That said, many of you know I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I accepted Christ as a college freshman in 1962. Blessed with a curious and questioning mind, I soon asked, “What now? Is that all there is?” In retrospect I thought I had joined the “White Knuckle Club” – be good, go to church, hang on until I die, then go to heaven, and that is all there is. Boy, did I have a lot to learn!

There is no question that Donald Trump was a popular president.  He was going to be a breath of fresh air.  He was going to "drain the swamp".  That the election of 2020 was rigged is really not even a question.  We know it was.  We also know that Trump has been targeted - both by the Biden administration and by his own bureaucracy - politically.  Could it be that it's the one sure way to get him nominated?  One has to wonder, knowing what we do about backlash.  It's a possibility, at least.  He would be very unlikely, if elected again to do any draining.  The bureaucrats and the people who don't want the bureaucracy disturbed, but want to see it grow out of our reach, have nothing to fear from Trump.  It is DeSantis they really fear, not Trump.  Trump is their "good guy".  He proved himself the first time around.  If you doubt it, just take an objective, hard look at exactly what he did.

Should a serious candidate for the presidency really be required to know anything about the Constitution?  If he doesn't, why would he not go about violating it if elected?  This might be a good question to mull over as the 2024 campaign season begins to unfold.  Republicans have an opportunity.  The only real challenger at this point to the juggernaut of the Trump Resurrection Campaign is Ron DeSantis.  He has been roundly criticized by Trump supportes, and Trump himself, as being "disloyal".  After all, he supposedly owes his whole political career to one Donald Trump.  It seems that if Trump ever endorses anyone he believes he has bought them, like a new toy.  He is angered if for any reason the person does not become his vassal.  He displayed this when he told the world he would no longer support Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, not because she has not been a great governor overall, in Iowa, but because she did not endorse him before the campaign even started.  She dared to reserve her support for a candidate this early.  In the case of DeSantis, sure, he was endorsed.  He won by less than 7 points in that race.  But after a term in office, building upon his own success in that office, he was re-elected with a 20 point margin.  That 13 points belong to him alone.  You cannot buy a person by endorsing him.  In North Dakota, especially, we should be aware of that.  Conservatives who supported Kevin Cramer found that they had elected just one more neocon RINO.  It happens.  So Trump's feelings are crushed by DeSantis.  He must have some deep insecurities to attach such importance to this kind of "loyalty".  He must assume that these people owe loyalty to him, not to those who voted them into office.  Oh, well.  That is Trump.  Because he has no over-arching political philosophy.

Undoubtedly you heard that several days in early July were the “hottest days ever” for good old Planet Earth. The source of that story was an entity called Climate Reanalyzer, affiliated with the University of Maine. It is worth noting that even the federal government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which usually supports the global warming narrative, hastened to point out that the figures cited by Climate Reanalyzer were unofficial and based on computer climate programs, not actual measurements. Hmmm…

Liberals have little sense of humor when it comes to their pet issues. They simply cannot and will not tolerate any criticism. Liberals typically go berserk when anyone mocks, ridicules, or satirizes their cherished ideological treasures. Their gems range from climate change to animal rights to equal opportunity to government giveaways and much more.

That said, the Left should know better than anyone else the effects of ridicule and satire. One of their own codified ridicule. Saul Alinksy's Rules for Radicals encouraged the use of ridicule against one's enemies. Rule #5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.” For my discussion, however, “ridicule” might be too strong. Try synonyms such as parody, mock, or make fun of.

That’s where the Babylon Bee comes in.

Everyone is searching for a calling but no one knows why they work. What is the purpose of work? How does one find true meaning, satisfaction & fulfillment through employment? In this article, Dr. James Thrasher helps to answer those questions and more.

Last week NATO leaders met in Vilnius to make their pronouncement as to Ukraine's application for membership.  The choice was clear to them - either admit Ukraine to NATO membership and then commence World War III . . . or just postpone the whole miserable thing and kick it all down the road.  They chose the latter, to the wrath of the little goblin, Volodymyr Zelinskyy, who threw a tantrum at the news.  A better idea for that Vilnius conference would have been to dissolve the so-called "defense pact" then and there.  It is obsolete and worse than that, it is now an instrument of war-making.  Much as we saw at the inception of World War I, a treaty is the root of a possibly catastrophic world war again.  As for America, we have other fish to fry.  We have no business in Ukraine and never have had.  If we do all in our power to provoke our perceived rival, equal or superior to us militarily at this point in time, should we expect a good outcome?  What we are practicing with regard to Russia right now is nothing less than abject xenophobia toward the Russian people and mindless hatred of their elected leader.  It's insane and it will bring us down as it is already bringing down Ukraine.

At a recent conference, Pope Francis and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni agreed that birth rates need to increase, but why do they ignore the need to increase marriage rates? In this article that first appeared at Crisis Magazine, Dr. David Ayers examines the data and argues that today is the perfect opportunity for the message to be heard and acted upon. He writes. “Now is the time for the Catholic Church to step forward to promote marriage and childbearing together, in the land of the Eternal City, while the momentum, the cultural and political winds, are favorable, and before the situation becomes hopeless.”

America’s all-volunteer military force is 50 years old as of July 1 accounting for five decades without a draft. Defense of the United States has relied on that small 1% of our citizens who choose to serve in the armed forces. This in the face of an increasingly hostile and unfriendly world, i.e., China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and others.

Attracting new recruits to fill the ranks has become much more challenging. Recruiters face the twin challenges of historically low eligibility and low interest among young Americans. Just 9% of Americans aged 16-21 expressed a willingness to consider a military career in 2022 down from the pre-pandemic norm of 13%. A whopping 77% of young people in the U.S. would not be able to join even if they wanted to. Obesity, lack of education, and criminal or drug abuse records are the principle disqualifiers according to data from both the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Is the Supreme Court reestablishing respect for property rights in America? Two recent cases before the court examined protecting property owners from governmental overreach. In this article that first appeared at The American Spectator, constitutional scholar Dr. John Sparks reviews the rulings handed down in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency and Tyler v. Hennepin County. Sparks writes, “Thirty years ago, James W. Ely hinted that perhaps the Supreme Court was ‘poised for a significant revival of interest in property rights.’ He was right to have reservations about that happening soon. These two new decisions, however, may be a foray intended to begin to restore property rights.”

Once again Independence Day brought picnics, parades, and fun for all. After the soda and beer and hot-dogs have been consumed and after the last fireworks crackled in the night, what remained? The Dog Days of summer stretch before us and history closes the books on another Independence Day. A question nags, “Is that all there is?”

After 247 years following the signing of the Declaration of Independence many folks of an earlier generation still reflect on our nation’s quest for freedom and liberty. Eventually a contradiction arises in the minds of settled citizens. If the idea of freedom and liberty is so dear to us, then how do we account for an ever-expanding federal government and its control over our lives and property?

Pointless massacre of innocent people has become the norm.  In America we have daily slaughter in our cities, in our streets.  It has become a standard item now to tally the shootings in Chicago over the weekends.  Our subway stations and fast-food emporia are settings for slaughter.  Perhaps this explains how killing for its own sake seems to have become institutionalized.  Our Senate and House and our White House seem to condone this in many ways.  Our foreign policy reflects the violence we seem to accept here at home, as we continue to pursue a bloody path through Ukraine, led by mad dogs like Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell.  That's right - a couple of entrenched Republicans.  Well, right alongside the Bidens and General Milley's military.   Now we know just how wicked this is . . . and how we've bee deceived.