Dakota Beacon

Breaking down the Christmas decorations, I came across an ornament given by a friend years ago. Repacking the decorations one at a time symbolized different years in the progress of Christmases past. Handmade ornamented Christmas stockings given by my sister decades ago, candle sticks, a crèche, a music box -- each marked a different Christmas season and each held their own special memory.

Memories cascaded around me tweaking a recollection here, jogging reminiscence there. My rational nature gave way soon enough and emotions kicked in. They do serve a role when attitudes soften, time weighs more precious, good health holds value, friends and family grow more intimate, and children become more cherished. The temporary things that seemed so important yesterday pale in comparison to these realizations.

A CHRISTMAS TALE; CAUTION LIGHT; STILL GROWING; BISON AGAINST SPIDERS; YES, KELLEY HAS SUPPORTERS; MATT FERN; A UAS LEADER; HE HAD THE GOODS; ST. PAUL HIGH SCHOOLS: UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES; MINNEAPOLIS AS FLASHPOINT: DAKTOIDS

Washington journalist, Allan Brownfeld, hopes that we will contemplate the meaning of life during this Christmas season. "Christmas speaks to that spiritual vacuum in our lives -- but only if we will listen to its message," he writes.

Is the America of Hollywood’s Golden Age gone? Especially at Christmas? In this interesting article, Dr. Paul Kengor reflects: Hollywood once made major films with major stars celebrating Christmas and in each case, no matter how different the plot, there was always a common end-goal: marriage. But this certainly isn’t the case today. Why not? And can America survive this?

George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” crowns the message. The entire oratorio is based on Biblical texts and is divided into three parts: the Prophecies and Nativity; the Passion and the Resurrection; and mankind’s hope of his own resurrection. Accompanying the “Hallelujah Chorus” are these words:

  “The Kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ;

and He shall reign for ever and ever. Amen!”

 God could not have made it any plainer or any simpler. Traditional carols proclaim the glad tidings and Good News to everyone. A return to the daily grind can never be the same.

In a classic scene from “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” Linus van Pelt reminds us all of the true meaning of Christmas when he recites the Gospel of Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus Christ. Recently, a school district in Kentucky ordered all religious references to be removed from school productions—including Linus’ speech. In this must-read article, Dr. Mark Hendrickson examines the controversy and argues that the “censorship was colossally silly.” 

WE’RE A LITTLE SHORT; UNCERTAINTY; NOW, IT’S THEIR TURN; NOBODY’S TO BLAME; NOT A SMALL MISTAKE; ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD;  OPERATION NO SANCTUARY; BOB THE TRICERATOPS;  ON THE HORNS OF A DILEMMA; KEITH ELLISON; WHICH COMES FIRST?; LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON; ND’S RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM

The thing about principles is that they are firm and sturdy things.  They’re not flexible.  They don’t depend on which way the wind blows, who can do you the most good or get you the best poll numbers in tomorrow's headlines.  It means standing up and saying maybe it’s time to shut down a runaway government and bring it under control while we still can, rather than “getting along” or “getting things done”. 

Over the past few weeks many hours have been devoted to discussing the growing problem of ISIS—the radical Islamic terrorist group whose goal is to establish a world caliphate. In this thought-provoking article, Dr. L. John Van Til looks at the use of specific language and discusses two very important definitions. Van Til argues that “Until America’s leaders stop playing the semantics game, radical Islamic groups like ISIS will continue to use terrorism as a tool to reach their desired outcome.” 

As for No-Muslim-Jihadi John, Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch spoke about the surreal nature of his reaction, writing “The fact that this man [John] is a non-Muslim makes the whole scene grotesquely absurd. Here is a man lying on the ground bleeding from stab wounds, with his attacker standing right there with his bloody knife, and the first thing this onlooker can think to do is to say something to try to protect the image of Islam. As the last jihadi slits the last non-Muslim Briton’s throat, the victim will probably be gurgling out as his life slips away, “You ain’t no Muslim, bruv.”

The Republicans, including our own Senator and Congressman, are afraid of Democrats. They are afraid of the media. They are afraid of Hillary Clinton. They are afraid to lead. If their failure to lead is not enough, they are also indicted by their silence on outsider Donald Trump. The only person to give voice to America’s concerns in plain English is Trump. And conservative Senators Cruz and Rubio are anything but part of the establishment.

Next year, 2016, will not be routine on the political scene. Voters are irate.

Should non-member teachers be forced to financially underwrite negotiating positions taken by a union? Especially during contract deliberations that are political and ideological in nature and are contrary to their interests and views? These questions are set to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. In this interesting article, Dr. John Sparks examines the case and details what is at stake for both unions and non-members. 

Foreigners have no inherent right to immigrate to our country.  And an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If in future we determine that Muslim immigration offers unparalleled benefits, it can always be resumed. But once an alien nation within your nation is established, only desperate measures can provide remedy, if the matter is remediable at all. Trump has been called an unserious candidate given to name-calling by the very people now hurling names, as they throw tantrums and react to a most serious issue in a most unserious way. They claim to not want another Fort Hood or San Bernardino, but then propose that the desired different result can be achieved by doing the same thing over and over again.

They’re not just radical. They’re radically insane.

STILL A WINNER; SLUMPING N.D. REVENUE; FORMER ND GOV. ED SCHAFER; OVERPAID?; THE TIDE HAS TURNED; IF IT WERE A CITY; LET’S NOT GO WITH HO-HUM AND MEDIOCRE; LEG UP; SOMALIS; DIPPING; MARILYN HAGERTY; GROWING APART; GM FEELS LEFT BEHIND; SMALL CHANGE; IT WAS HORRIBLE; DAKTOIDS

This essay, along with 116 others, is part of a new collection of Sobran columns titled Subtracting Christianity: Essays on American Culture and Society (fgfBooks, 2015). It was published originally by Griffin Internet Syndicate on February 19, 2002.

On Monday, Donald Trump called for a shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. For the past two days, hours upon hours have been dedicated to discussing the presidential candidate’s remarks. In this must-read article, Dr. Marvin Folkertsma asks: What are we supposed to make of all this? Folkertsma discusses two key points and argues that some Americans (especially Trump supporters) may be “enraged about America’s elite endlessly spouting their irrelevant and scolding pieties.”  

Reach for the stars, and, even falling short, we may at least get to the moon. The current crop of GOP_e no-can-do nattering nabobs won’t even shoot for the treetops, and they should hear only one thing from the voters. As Donald Trump would say, “You’re fired!” 

After considerable delay, the House of Representatives finally passed a highway funding bill. But is this another case of the federal government kicking the can down the road using unsustainable gimmicks? In this must-read article, economist Dr. Tracy Miller examines the bill and warns, “Congress has found a sneaky way to borrow and escape full accountability to the voters. It is time for Americans to wake up.”  

The so-called mainstream media (MSM) is not what it used to be. It is failing. Once upon a time the American public relied exclusively on the MSM for its news. Then along came the alternative media.

A very recent Gallup Poll dispels all doubts. Only seven percent of Americans state that they have a “great deal” of trust in the MSM. Only 55 percent of Democrats say they have a great deal or a fair amount of trust in the MSM. Among 18-to-49 year-olds the percent of trust is down to 36 percent. The people who said they have no trust in the MSM was 24 percent or one quarter of all respondents.

The mainstream media is failing, Americans know it and that is good for America.

Frankly, I couldn’t care less what hurts Tashfeen Malik’s feelings.  Tell Loretta Lynch to stuff it.  Tell Barack Obama to go lay another egg.  Let’s use our First Amendment to save ourselves and defy the Thought Police.  After all, if we don’t use it now, what use can it ever be? 

We could catalog the misconceptions surrounding the efficacy of wind farms and discuss their fatal flaws and hopeless inadequacies, but setting this aside for now, let’s look at Trump’s own history with wind power generation issues.

REALLY!; NO TRACTOR DRIVERS NEEDED; LOST OPPORTUNITY; ND STICKS OUT; CRUEL AND UNUSUAL; ONE MORE TIME; “HEITKAMP is a Democrat of another generation. You might think of her as ‘Your Daddy's Democrat.’"; MANSION MONEY; IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT A MEETING, INTROSPECTION

There was a tragic incident of climate change Wednesday, or so Barack Obama might say. As I was driving home that evening listening to the still sparse details on the San Bernardino shooting, the news report informed that there were two dead suspects, a man and woman. So I already knew more than the authorities were telling: I figured the two assailants were non-white, almost certainly Muslim. After all, if the police knew their sexes, they knew what they looked like. And if they’d been white, it would have been announced right away.

You see, I know the drill. When the suspects are non-white, politically correct authorities will never mention it for fear of condemnation. “Why are you calling attention to their race or ethnicity?!” they’ll be asked. Of course, they didn’t mind calling attention to their sex. In the leftist upside-down world, all characteristics are equal, but some are more equal than others. Really, the more consistently PC way of describing the terrorists would have been as “two sentient bipeds.” Because, you know, four legs good, two legs bad.

We can profile people based on sex, age, the car they drive, dress and even race. For instance, police may stop a white man driving through a bad inner-city neighborhood in an expensive car, figuring the probability is relatively high that he’s there to buy drugs. But this willingness to “racially profile” goes out the window when the matter is politically favored groups. That, my friends, is unjust discrimination. That is prejudice.

And it’s dangerous.

Maybe the real trouble is that modern culture simply refuses to face the fact of evil. "If God does not exist," as Dostoyevsky wrote, "everything is permitted." As if to underline his words, one of the killers fatally shot a girl when she said she believed in God. 

If God does not exist, right and wrong are reduced to subjective preferences; even human life loses its dignity. "Thou shalt not kill" means no more than "I hope I won't get shot." Laws become the amoral collective preferences of the majority. 

With Thanksgiving past and Christmas three weeks away, it is not too soon to open the Christmas conversation. Despite the drift toward secularizing the Season, Christmas is uniquely a Christian Holy Day.

The Christmas traditions and customs we observe today grew from simple beginnings two millennia ago in Roman-occupied Palestine. Since then, every conceivable style of celebrating Christmas occurred somewhere in the world. Millions of people in dozens of countries kept Christmas for centuries in countless ways.

None of the peculiar or bizarre customs encountered through the centuries dispel the truth of the Biblical account of Christ’s arrival. Cutting through the fog of superstition and staying true to the Biblical text keeps the Christmas celebration in perspective. All the traditions, all the customs, all the superstitions and legends began with the advent of the Christ child two thousand years ago. We would do well to re-read the ancient text before immersing ourselves in the hodgepodge and residue of custom and tradition.

The following is in response to an article by Elliot Glassheim in the Grand Forks Herald (December 2, 2015), entitled, “By what name should we call our enemies?”,  in which we were admonished that Syrian “refugees” are subject to rigorous vetting, that if we reject them we are encouraging radicals, and also that ISIS does not exist - there is no such thing as an “Islamic State”.  We beg to differ . . .

A Book Review of "A History of Strategy: From Sun Tzu to William S. Lind by Martin van Creveld"

Lind argues that America should change from offensive to defensive warfare and containment, as we did with communism. Offensive war is bankrupting us and only creating more enemies wanting vengeance and instigating terrorism. Instead we should try to contain, not inflame, Islamist fanaticism and let it burn itself out just as did the religious wars in Europe during the 17th century. Current American strategy, Lind argues, results in losing wars against enemies wearing bathrobes and flip flops. Lind argues that we should work with nations which are sources of order and stability. (Think China.)

From being a lonely voice of dissent from Washington's losing strategy, Lind's concepts are now becoming accepted (see Newsweek's "Can America Win a War?"). If one thinks of America's wars as a business, then they become more understandable as profit centers and career enhancement opportunities. I've delved into this subject with a study, "12 Reasons America Doesn't Win its Wars." Or, as one bitter joke put it, "Most nations waged wars to loot their enemies, America wages war to loot the American treasury."

Under pressure from liberal naysayers and fringe groups, the notion of giving thanks has slowly morphed into a puddle of muddled feelings. Thanksgiving has digressed into a one-size-fits-all four-day weekend.

Despite attempts in recent years to debunk the Thanksgiving story, a certain historical truth offers evidence of a bed rock foundation for the Thanksgiving Spirit. Unfortunately, this evidence cannot be transmitted through the classroom.

A new documentary, “3801 Lancaster: An American Tragedy,” chronicles the horror of a late-term abortion clinic in Philadelphia and is playing in select theaters across the country. In 2010, law enforcement raided the offices of Dr. Kermit Gosnell and what they found inside shocked the nation. Recently, Dr. Joseph Horton screened the film and was brought to tears. Horton discusses the documentary and reminds us that, “Healing and forgiveness can be found, even with tragedies like 3801 Lancaster.”  

SQUAWK, SQUAWK!; DIEHARDS; DEJA VU?; IT MAY BE DIFFERENT; UNAUTHORIZED KELLY DOCUMENTARY; WHO IS THE BOSS?; GOOD JOB AND NO COLLEGE DEBT; MDU RESOURCES; NO COMMENT; SELLER’S MARKET; A LONG HISTORY; DAKTOIDS