Dakota Beacon

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, died yesterday at the age of 91. This morning, the media is covering his passing with tributes to his political career and his involvement in ending the Cold War. In this article that first appeared at The American Spectator, Ronald Reagan scholar Dr. Paul Kengor discusses something often overlooked: Gorbachev’s faith. Kengor writes, “I have written so much about Gorbachev, in so many articles and books, that it’s just impossible to try to sum up the man’s life and legacy. Where to begin? It’s a daunting task, but I think I can add two worthwhile things that others will ignore or get wrong in their tributes to Gorbachev.”

When does political bias become bigotry and racism? And how do we recognize it? In this article, Dr. Luke Conway discusses recent political attacks that appear to have crossed the political bias line. To illustrate what is going on, Conway details two recent studies that shed light on the alarming trend.

President Biden’s administration with its Open Borders policy solidified its partnership with Mexican cartels. Cartels are the Democrat Party’s new best friend making billions of dollars from drugs and human trafficking while Biden’s administration grooms new voters by not enforcing the law.

Indeed, the US faces a crisis of unprecedented proportions at the southern border. Overwhelmed by adult and underage migrants, cabinet-level Democrat officials knowingly forfeit control of the border. Illegals from 160 different countries are released into the US with a “promise” to return some day for a court hearing. US officials cannot track the illegals once released. But cartels in the US can. They regularly extract payment from illegals’ wages for unpaid transit debts. Meanwhile, deadly drugs flow across the border in a deluge killing over 100,000 Americans last year alone.

Are Christians too nice? Is being nice just a cloak for cowardice? Many popular Christian pastors, professors, and writers have recently been debating these questions in the public square. In this article, author Lewis Waha outlines the debate and argues that all Christians share common ground: kindness. He writes, “Kindness always admits of speaking hard truths in love. At the same time, not every effort to avoid offending others is cowardice. As the proverb goes, discretion is the better part of valor.”

Recently, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has brokered a “compromise” on one of the most controversial issues of the day: which sexual expressions the churches in the Anglican Communion should allow. In this article, Dr. Joseph Horton asks, “How does one compromise irreconcilably different positions?” Horton examines the solution proposed by Archbishop Welby and argues that Biblical teaching is the only standard by which any doctrine should be judged.

Americans (and probably most Europeans) are finding themselves dependent upon a medical establishment that does not have their health and well-being as a primary focus anymore.  The medical  business has morphed from a humanitarian, service-oriented profession of skilled practitioners who truly sought solutions and cures into a money-grasping colludor with giant pharmaceutical companies and their partners in government, to fleece the public while skipping the health-care part.  I have run into some argument from people when I have said this, but just like the evidence that the vaccines* are not safe or effective, the evidence is mounting that the medical establishemtn couldn't care less - as long as they stay on the right side of government and Big Pharma.  It is a tragedy, to be sure.  But where once doctors consulted the science and sought remedies and cures for people's ills, now they evaluate them on a political expediency scale.  If they are complaining about after-effects of COVID vaccines* they will more likely be shamed and cast out than helped.  When hospitalized for COVID, patients are generally denied helpful and proven drugs like Ivermectin, but forced onto ventilators and given Remdesivir, which many experts are now claaiming is killing the patients who take it.  Doctors who take excpetion to these protocols are very likely to be severely punished.  

How should Americans regard the January 6 so-called “insurrection” and the hearings conducted by the very, very select members of the US House of Representatives? The official committee title comes pejoratively billed as “United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.” Of the nine committee members, Nancy Pelosi selected seven Democrats and two Republicans. She nimbly stacked the deck selecting Republicans Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger who had voted to impeach Donald Trump. Watch this investigation vainly search for a crime.

This hearing is not the first hoax. Context helps. What follows takes us down memory lane.

You know the old joke: How can you tell when a politician is lying? When his/her lips are moving. That extreme cynicism about politicians is reinforced by the recent passage of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). In addition to being the most egregiously misnamed act in memory (more on that below), the dishonest statements made by its supporters have been breathtaking in their brazenness.

Question: Do federal departments or agencies exist to support the citizens? Or is it the other way around?

From the number of federal agencies operating within our constitutional government there has emerged a crossbreed or amalgamation of sorts called the administrative state. This hybrid combines the legislative, judicial, and executive functions within individual entities in opposition to the principle of separation of powers.

I have been reading Alexis De Tocqueville “Democracy in America”.  I have a confession to make, “I am distressed because the America Tocqueville writes about is on the verge of extinction”.

Why, you might, ask? When he wrote about America in the early 1830-40’s he compared the result of America’s revolution to that of France.  Democracy in America was built on everyday people’s involvement and decision making (bottom up), while France was monarchial/king (top down).

Bottom line: A corporation can’t be all things to all people. To survive and to prosper, corporations need to focus on satisfying their customers and those to whom they have fiduciary and moral responsibilities, i.e., their shareholders and employees. To get swept up in the latest CSR or ESG fad is bad business. By pursuing partisan political goals instead of traditional business goals, business leaders offend some consumers, demoralize or anger some employees, and poorly serve their shareholders. Since consumers, employees, and shareholders are the members of society that a business affects most directly, it follows that sacrificing their welfare in the name of certain activists’ cause hurts society. In practice, ESG can be very antisocial.

If we are looking for someone to blame for the murder of our Constitutional government, we should not stop with the chiefs.  We need to look further.  We need to understand that without the complicity of the so-called "little guys" there would be no tyranny.  It is just the same as it was in Soviet Russia, in the France of Louis XVI and the same as it is in China today.  If the big shots can't get the complicity of the bottom feeding plebians, in other words, the FBI agents, the IRS agents and their ilk, who do the door-kicking, they are out of business.  It really is that simple.  And that complex.

Well, it's not your Granny's Elliot Ness anymore.  The FBI, now infamous for its part as agent provocateur in the January 6 protest in Washington, it's abuse of prominent conservatives and Trump supporters like Peter Navarro - whom they put in leg irons at an airport, raided former president Donald Trump's home in Florida this week, kicking out him and his family and his attorneys, presumably so they could plant "evidence" and have fun fondling Melania's underwear.  How long are we going to tolerate this?  We have a KGB organization ranging about now, terrorizing American citizens in their own homes.  Domestic terrorism, it turns out actually is our most urgent threat, but the terrorists are our government.  Time to put an end to this.  Our so-called "three-letter agencies" are creating havoc wherever they light - the CIA is stirring up World War III while our EPA is shutting down our industry.  Our FBI is now front stage center with its Gestapo tactics.  If we don't stop them they will be on our own doorsteps - depending upon whom we support, of course.  The Clinton, Biden, Pelosi and Obama crime families are untouched, of course.  That's what is meant by "weaponizing" our government.

As stated previously, we owe it to ourselves to value good reasoning, spot bad reasoning, and avoid being taken in by those who would use us for their personal gain. Last week we looked at two major categories of logical fallacies: 1) avoiding the question and 2) making assumptions. Each had their respective variations.

Two additional categories of logical fallacies require consideration: 3) statistical fallacies and 4) the broad category of ordinary, everyday propaganda.

Upset and disappointed, many felt betrayed when Senator Joe Manchin cut a deal with ultra-left-wing colleague Chuck Schumer and created the laughably named "Inflation Reduction Act." Yet anyone thus aggrieved should consider a simple fact: As of June 2 of last year, Manchin had voted with Joe Biden 100 percent of the time.

That’s 100 percent — as in voting with Nancy Pelosi every time.

And he has voted with the Democrats over his career’s course approximately 80 percent of the time.

Oh, don’t be surprised. Here’s the reality: No matter how conservative or liberal a politician seems on the campaign trail, no matter compelling his rhetoric, no matter how outside-the-box he appears, he’ll virtually always vote with his party the vast majority of the time. (This is especially true of Democrats.)

In the land of the mainstream media, conservative and Republican positions on so-called “culture war” issues are always “extreme,” while they rarely raise such concerns about liberal and Democrat positions. They then “helpfully” suggest ways that Republicans could attract more voters by modifying their stances to, well, something pretty similar to Nancy Pelosi’s.

 That kind of biased coverage has been on full display since the Dobbs ruling overturning Roe and Casey. And all that even though the Republicans, at least at the level of the U.S. House and Senate, have exhibited far more viewpoint diversity on abortion. By a long shot.

We have had enough of "emergency powers".   It is long past time to end this practice.  

Today CATL, a Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, producer of batteries for our cars - specifically Teslas and Fords - announced it was putting a $5 billion plant plan on hold, punishment for perceived disobedience by the US to its Chinese masters.  Will FuFeng eventually become another casualty of the hostile international relations climate?  Or perhaps not . . . which might indicate that there is more to FuFeng than has been admitted.

Daily we meet people persuading us to believe as they believe. Are their arguments valid? Can we discern valid arguments from fallacies?

Often our skill at distinguishing fact from fiction fails us. That’s why advertisers make big bucks from consumers and why we keep electing politicians long on bull and short on brains. Lacking the skill to recognize fallacies from people seeking our allegiance, we are at the mercy of charlatans. Alas, we end up making bad choices by accepting fallacious arguments.

Thinking takes work. Physical work builds strong muscles; mental work builds strong minds.

As of the moment, we don't know the minds of the leaders of China.  Will they want a "hot" war with us?  A military engagement?  Or will they just continue to win the war they are already engaged in - the "unrestricted warfare" of controlling our economy and our politics from abroad?  So far that has been a great success for them, given the weakness of our own nation's leadership.  We do know the mindset of the members of the Grand Forks City Council and the Mayor, though.  Today's headlines proclaim that they are proceeding apace with the installation of a Chinese "wet corn mill" operation on the doorstep of the Grand Forks air base.  No reasoning seems to persuade them to even disucss this or entertain any objection.  There is one way to protect our economy and our military assets from these rogue council members, however.  North Dakota needs to enact very strict regulations on sale or leasing of property - foreign investment needs to be stopped in North Dakota.  Not that many years ago I recall a big push to influence the Pentagon to retain the Grand Forks Air Force Base (albeit for all the wrong reasons).  Today the idea of the air base seems to have been jilted in favor of this infatuation with a "wet corn mill".  We can't leave these matters to various city councils, apparently.  In the case of Grand Forks, they arrogantly refused to consult with their constituents, say nothing of brook argument from concerned individuals.

What is authoritarianism? Authoritarianism is a form of government characterized by the curtailment of political plurality; the application of strong central power; and restricting the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic voting. Forcing compliance through edict rather than law smacks of authoritarianism.

The message from the authoritarians? Do not ever, ever transgress their power or edicts. To do so brings down on the head of the transgressor, the “little guy,” the selective application of the law.

Is Vladimir Putin being wrongfully accused of being the cause for the war in Ukraine? Did other powers lay the framework for an inevitable conflict? According to one academic theorist, maybe. Recently, John Mearsheimer has gained attention on international relations and on the Ukrainian crisis. But is Mearsheimer correct? In this article, Dr. R.B.A. Di Muccio examines Mearsheimer’s theory and argues there is a deeper underlying cause to the crisis. He writes, “Mearsheimer is obviously outraged that the Western powers challenged Putin in the ways that they did. But his attempt to use realist IR theory to give Putin mostly a pass on the causes of the Ukrainian crisis doesn’t quite stand up to scrutiny.”

Mike Pence has guts, if nothing else.   Last weekend he suggested that the only way forward for the Republican Party would be to simply forget all about the apparent corruption and the apparently false conduct of the 2020 election  -  "nothing to see here, folks, move on . . . " - and put him at the top of the 2024 ticket.   This would seem a hard sell with the millions of voters who not only went to the polls for Trump but attended rallies all summer and fall, and to those who remain incarcerated for attending the rally on January 6.   How would a guy like Pence define "justice"?  

How many people criticize the legacy media and their news coverage for distortion, misinformation, omission, or outright lying? Better still, why do we continue to ingest this stuff?

These are good reasons to unplug the television. The dominant media no longer presents “news you can use” expecting the public to reason through the “facts” and draw their own conclusions. The media in general has become another form of entertainment, a business venture, advocating one line of thought. By extension, “media” now includes all varieties of electronic media, social media in all its forms, blogs, and news apps. True journalism is dead.

The following resurrected piece is republished from The Passing Scene by popular demand. Several readers commented in the past and a few have asked for reprints. Here goes.

A friend recently contacted me knowing that I had experienced identity theft a few years ago. He sought my counsel and I was only too happy to oblige by relating my familiarity.

As with most folks, I thought it would never happen to me. But it did. Perpetrators stole my identity and used it to commit fraud.

What is it to be human? Google’s latest artificial intelligence (AI) program offers in-character conversion. If an AI robot can hold a sophisticated conversation, is it a sentient person? In this article, Dr. Brian Dellinger reviews the latest AI technology and the debate currently taking place. Dellinger argues that “Christianity may be well-positioned to offer a better answer. Most Christians have historically understood personhood to depend on more than physical traits or conversational capabilities; unborn infants, then, are persons, while artificial intelligences are not.”

Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization holds that both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey must be overturned. The predicted impact on elective abortions has been well-rehearsed in the print and electronic press and on social media. In the case before the court, Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act was upheld, making abortion in that state illegal after 15 weeks. Furthermore, the effect of the ruling makes the abortion laws of other states—some virtually banning abortions and others allowing them with few limits—govern the availability of abortion to their citizenry. Finally, there will no longer be a recognized federal constitutional “right” to abortion. As Alito summarizes: “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

If a person can’t travel, at least they can dream. Which segues into the question, “What are you reading?”

Travel literature, like mystery, history, or science fiction, comprises a genre all its own. The travelogue is a form of nonfiction prose written by, needless to say, someone wishing to share their travel adventures. Travelogues sustain their own identity. Success of a travelogue depends more upon the traveler’s wit and powers of observation than on their skill as a writer. Such a traveler may be described as an adventurer or a connoisseur of art, architecture, scenery, or strange and wonderful customs in faraway lands. As such, travel literature finds its roots as far back as the ancient Greek geographers.

The Environmental Protection Agency will require American motor-fuel refiners to increase the amount of corn-based ethanol that must be blended into motor fuels this year. Is this a good thing? Will it help lower the cost of fuel? In this article, economist Dr. Mark Hendrickson looks at the new regulations and argues that the policy may cause more harm than good. He writes, “Environmentally, using millions of acres of land to grow corn for fuel reduces wildlife habitat, accelerates the depletion of water tables, and increases pollution due to extra use of fertilizers.”

 Happy Independence Day! To celebrate, we invite you to read this article by Dr. Paul Kengor as he explores the views of the founders and the early republic. Kengor writes, “Americans should look back at their founding as based on the principles of 1776—that uniquely great achievement for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that was the Declaration of Independence. These were principles for all of humanity, though they would indeed take decades to fully implement for all Americans, both black and white. Their full achievement would lead to nothing less than a Civil War.”