Dakota Beacon

“The post-American world”? Well, look at it as if you’re sitting in the presidential palace of some or other Third World basket-case. Iran is going nuclear in full view of the world, and with huge implications for everything, not least the price of oil. Meanwhile, Nato’s only Muslim member has decided it would rather be friends with Iran, Sudan and Syria. And all this in the first decade of the 21^st century. So much for stability.

A picture explains it all. Note the amount of Gulf (i.e. U.S.) offshore oil production now coming from Deepwater and Ultra

Deepwater production. The trend clearly shows a decline in Shallow water production (not allowed to drill near shore) and

an uptrend in Deep/Ultra-Deep production. Take away new Deepwater exploration/production, and….yikes!

Last September, Mayor John Warford of Bismarck proposed to double the city sales tax.  At the time, the North Dakota Taxpayers' Association went on the record as saying this was nothing more than a shell-game to confuse voters.

While the issue has been put off and swept under the rug by many, it is the view of the Taxpayers' Association that this tax increase plan is still the works, just waiting for the election to be over.

 As a result, we have launched an awareness campaign in the Bismarck area.  Voters in the Bismarck city elections deserve to know what and who they are supporting.

President Obama announced a moratorium on all deep-water drilling projects. The ban, as you might imagine, is not only a dollar short and a day late… but also bad policy.

Considering what the Air Force needs now and for the future, American jobs, the economy and national security, Boeing’s NewGen tanker is the right choice. Political chicanery and closed-door diplomatic deals must be put aside in the best interests of the country—along with any politician who would sell out America for foreign interests.

We are now approaching the high point of wedding season. It is well known that half of all new marriages will end in divorce and that some couples who stay together will not be happy. Bookstores abound with books by well-meaning, sometimes credentialed people who promise to help couples have successful marriages. Nevertheless, those of us who want to improve marriage need to ask whether there is good data showing that these programs work. A marriage improvement program can be worse than unhelpful; it could make many couples’ problems worse, even if many people say it was helpful to them personally,

Most of the self-help marriage books that are available promote approaches that have not been rigorously tested. One of my primary goals as a teacher, is to help students understand that good intentions and common sense are not enough to help people. Indeed, common sense and good intentions can be harmful.

Behold the textbook, all-knowing, big government-loving progressive by the name of Donald Berwick. Behold a man who can examine evidence and then imagine conclusions in utter opposition to said evidence. Behold the man whom President Obama has nominated to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Recent legislation and court decisions in a handful of states across our country are now allowing the “marriage” of same sex couples that is simply an abomination and an affront to the common sense of tradition and the beauty of biblical wisdom; and is just another example of a society that has abandoned any and all authority other than itself. Once again, mere man trying to play God.

It was an embarrassing display, men to plant onions, new president for NDSU, feasibility of a new oil refinery, man camp, large families that disburse across the country, Too many churches, Coffee time!, elderly drivers, Indians and oil, Mo and Jo, Name That Buffalo, THIS AND THAT, DAKTOIDS

Hundreds of studies and extensive research conclusively show the link between CO2 levels and plant growth. Using a conservative estimate for the range of the recent atmosphere, for every 10 ppm(parts per million) that CO2 increases, plant growth increases roughly 1%. This varies from species to species and with other conditions/nutrients needed for growth. With CO2 levels rising from 280 ppm to 390 ppm (+110 ppm) since the Industrial Revolution, this equates to an 11% increase in plant growth.

The Tea Party movement is not about racism or hate.  It’s about love of and pride in country.  It is about love of our children and hopes for their future.  It is about honesty and solvency in government.  It is about independence of Americans and about American sovereignty and security.  It is about reverence for the Constitution which defines us and is an integral part of America becoming the greatest nation on earth; it’s about our desire to preserve our laws and our culture.  It is about the sweet scent of freedom and opportunity; it’s about honor for our fallen heroes.  It is about America.  Freedom is in our blood.  This is why you can’t stop it or destroy it.

No "global warming" in a decade-and-a-half and cooling for seven to nine years? Oh, and CO2 increases only after the atmosphere warms? Yes, in six studies covering 650,000 years of data, CO2 was found to rise only after temperatures rose. So unless we can say with a straight face that the dead terrorist on the ground caused Jack Bauer to appear with a .45 caliber Glock, warmists are given pause, but not for long. Reality briefly stuns but never terribly influences warmists.

The deaths of 11 workers drilling for oil—less than three weeks after the deaths of 29 West Virginia coal miners—serve as a vivid reminder of the dangers faced by those who toil to supply the raw energy upon which our society depends. Most of us take for granted these vital contributors to our economic life. As one who never knew his father due to an oil-field accident long ago, I tend to view these folks as unrecognized heroes. Thank you to all who are doing this essential, dangerous work; may God comfort all who have lost loved ones in this endeavor.

A tragedy of this magnitude puts things in perspective. Why do we waste our scarce and precious time on earth with trivial concerns and petty quarrels? I went to visit Jake and Nancy two days after the funeral,” recalls Dr. Hendrickson. “They reported that Levi was trying to buoy up everyone’s spirits. The next day, I spent a half-hour with Levi, and found that to be the case. Though still trying to come to grips with this inexplicable calamity, he continues to be a loving soul, caring deeply for those around him. He has already learned the secret discovered by Job in the Bible, that the key to recovery and renewal from grievous affliction is to pray for one’s friends.

Government control of our health care has nothing to do with health and nothing to do with care. As long as liberals control government, government will control our lives and our prosperity will be handicapped by control-obsessed fools.

The Reality of 4.27% Growth in Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) - 1928 to 2010

For those AARP people who still read their Bible, please note that when Christ was being condemned by the Hebrew lawyers and priests, even they, in that day, were afraid to destroy “the Truth” because they “feared the people.”  Have “the people” changed? NO!  The “power’ of “WE” the people, is still our hope to day!  For those in AARP, I’ll adjust the truths of Animal Farm to your situation, since you are no longer graded, but you are still governed by what you tolerate.

The Obama administration and the Democrat-controlled Congress have already erased much of the power of the Constitution by passing a law that will lead to government takeover of citizens' health care. Should any clear-thinking American believe that the same big government ideologues would shy away from Soviet style speech control?

 The new America: If you don’t agree with Democrats, shut up or get shut down!

We must never postpone the inevitable battles for a peaceful world, but face them, as one nation, united by God. We must forever strive to leave the people of our world in peace, safety and freedom. Another patriot, Thomas Paine, gave us our legacy when he wrote, “If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.”

A government without selfless leadership can be likened to a ship without a rudder, blown about by every wind of doctrine and politically expedient policies designed to maintain control, rather than serve the people.

The evidence of this is represented in North Dakota by the absence of a common sense energy policy that would address the current oilfield development impact problems while capitalizing on the potential oil and gas revenue for our state and its citizens. We have the opportunity at this time in history to implement common sense legislation that would effect long term wealth for the state and therefore enable the elimination of property and income taxation in addition to a reduction of state sales tax rates.

I have long believed that America is the crucible of freedom…. Let us be the crucible of learning. Let us continue to speak out in the marketplace of ideas through all avenues, including The Center for Vision & Values, about what is right about this country and the lessons we have learned from the past—good and bad—so that we might avoid those past mistakes that we have made as a nation. Let us educate young men and women to be the moral and ethical leaders of tomorrow who can go out and stand on the strong foundation this institution is built on, who share those beliefs and ideals and help return this nation to the country envisioned by our Founding Fathers—men of God who embraced freedom and what we used to call the Presbyterian work ethic. They didn’t expect others to take care of them, and certainly least of all the government. -- Address to the Grove City College Trustee-Faculty Luncheon

Federal Obese Police want to collect data, that's all....yeah, that's it, just collect data......

“My name is Daniel Pearl. I am a Jewish American from Encino, California USA...”

He didn’t have a prompter. But he spoke the truth. That’s all President Obama owed him – to do the same.

I mentioned last week the Attorney-General’s peculiar insistence that “radical Islam” was nothing to do with the Times Square bomber, the Pantybomber, the Fort Hood killer. Just a lot of moments “capturing the world’s imagination”. For now, the jihadists seem to have ceased cutting our heads off. Listening to Obama and Eric Holder, perhaps they’ve figured out there’s nothing much up there anyway.        

The left is utterly wedded to thought control.  Like all sibling totalitarianisms, the left in America is addicted to power and repelled by truth.  The creation of officially defined oppressors and officially defined victims determines who has rights and who does not.  The totalitarian narcotic of “Social Justice,” the drug of choice for Hitler, Stalin, Father Coughlin, and Sir Oswald Moseley, dulls the people into a twilight land in which “Freedom is Slavery” and free speech too. 

President Obama has nominated Harvard professor Donald Berwick to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In 2008, Berwick said, "Cynics beware, I am romantic about the National Health Service; I love it. All I need to do to rediscover the romance is to look at health care in my own country."

Imagine being in the same room with Berwick. The guy's love affair with the horrific U.K. healthcare system betrays the "thinking" of a smug, glassy-eyed pseudo-intellectual. Because of his "romance" with the rationing and lousy care delivered in the U.K. system, Berwick wants to inflict a similar plague on Americans.

All of the wonderfulness of the British system soon coming to you, compliments of Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, a host of other congressional Democrat ideologues, and of course, compliments of Harvard elitist Donald Berwick.