Dakota Beacon

Men Without Women

This is the title of a reasonable essay published in 1978 by Michael Novak wrestling with the appraisal of homosexuality in society. I came across the essay in a volume of quaint and forgotten lore.

Novak passed away 02/17/2017. He led an active life serving as a diplomat, American Catholic philosopher, journalist, and novelist. His book The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism offered a reasoned defense of capitalism as an ideal.

Novak wrote with a gentle heart the considerate essay “Men Without Women: Meditations on the Half-Life of the Homosexual.” His essay is straight forward and says nothing about the LGBT activism which would come later with the politicizing of the homosexual life style.

Tomorrow, all 30 Major League Baseball teams will participate in the long-standing tradition of Opening Day. To help celebrate this occasion, we share an article by our presidential scholar Dr. Gary S. Smith. In this book review that first appeared at Claremont Review of Books, Smith discusses Curt Smith’s “The Presidents and the Pastime: The History of Baseball and the White House” which details how many of America’s leaders were big fans of the game.

FACING MIGHTY DUKE; IT'S SANDBAGGING TIME AGAIN IN FARGO; F-M FLOOD DIVERSION - LOTS AT RISK; FOODING IS SEVERE; OPERATION PRAIRIE DOG; PRAIREI DOG SPENDING IN JAMESTOWN; FELLONS ON SCHOOL BOARDS IN ND; GF HERALD - AOC GRANDSTANDING; WHAT KEEP MINOT GOING?; STICKY STATES; WELL-BEING STATES; CLUSTER OF MN DEATHES; DAKTOIDS

In 1913 Congress believed that the Constitutional limits on what the federal government was permitted to do actually had meaning.

Fast forward to 2019. In the intervening 106 years, public education succeeded in dumbing down the vast majority of citizens. Today’s citizens have no idea there ever were any limits on government. This, together with our courts being filled with blueblood progressives (i.e. socialists), has effectively created a citizenry that believes there are few, if any, limits on government. And government is responding by acknowledging there are no limits.

It’s time our current political leaders reform or leave. Government must be put on a short leash at all levels. The income government can tax must be limited to no more than 10% of anyone’s earnings; the Federal government must be limited to its original constitutional tasks.

Free people can’t exist when government isn’t strictly limited. Today Americans are no longer free. America is being destroyed from within by excessive bureaucracy, leaders with a socialist mentality, and de facto bankruptcy.

March 26, 2019 marks the 40^th anniversary of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty. Many historians consider the Egyptian-Israeli peace brokered by President Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s to be an important and impressive diplomatic achievement. To commemorate the anniversary, Benjamin V. Allison recounts the historic meetings and argues that the treaty was a remarkable accomplishment by any measure. Allison writes that the treaty, “showed that even the bitterest of enemies can put their differences aside for the greater good, but only if they are willing to put forth the effort.”

Between 1789 and 1907 US presidents issued a total of 2,400 EOs. Since 1908 more than 13,700 Executive Orders (EOs) have been issued – Bill Clinton 364, George W. Bush 291, Barack Obama 276, and Donald Trump 92. Compare this with FDR’s 3,721 (from The American Presidency Project). Some very notable EOs were used for better or for worse. They promulgated Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. They were used by FDR to inter Japanese Americans in camps during WWII. EOs were used by Harry Truman to integrate the US Armed Forces and by Eisenhower to desegregate public schools.

If Congress does not act in a national emergency, and the Justice Department takes no action, the president could correctly address that emergency through EOs. Control over the US borders preserving America’s integrity as a sovereign nation free from a variety of threats may well be within President Trump’s purview. It can be easily argued that an endless tide of illegal immigrants flowing into the US across non-secured borders presents a national emergency. Perceived EO abuse can always be challenged in court. In the end, the courts may yet have to sort this out.

The Founding Fathers did not craft the US Constitution designating an executive with the power of a king. By the same token, they had every intension of securing America’s destiny through sound executive management.

ROGUE CPA; LIGHT SENTENCE; A LITTLE BUDGET SUNSHINE; HAPPINESS TIME IN FARGO & BISMARCK; REPRISAL?; PRAIRIE FRAUD ARTISTS; IT'S LIKE SPITTING INTO THE WIND; NO RIOT BOOSTING; JOIN THE PARTY; NDSU NEWS;USAF MAJ. GENERAL DARROL SCHROEDER; LIBERIANS IN F-M AREA; DAKTOIDS

Many critics of President Donald Trump are quick to call him a nationalist. But what does that term mean? And is America a nationalist nation? In this article, Dr. Daniel Spanjer examines what it means to be a nationalist and argues that neither Trump nor America should be labeled as such. Spanjer writes, “Some of the liberal criticism of President Donald Trump since his election stems from an intellectual tradition that gained tremendous influence in the West during the 1960s, especially in American universities.”

 If you are a Tea Party kind of person you need to know that you have been shielded from her words of wisdom.  This is because the Tea Party movement was hijacked a long time ago.  The pro-"con-con" lobby is powerful.  This should tell you something.  Find out who is really behind it.  It was strong enough to shut down my discussion back in the days of the "New Americana" website. 

It will never happen to me. But it did. Twice. Identity (ID) theft is real, ongoing, and knows no bounds.

Thieves stole my name, social security number, and birth date.

The following may be concluded. First, my identity will never be retrieved. It’s gone forever. Second, my identity is being bought and sold as would be any commodity.

Ways to minimize the risk of ID theft include opening an account with the three credit bureaus. Order a credit report and check your information. Use passwords liberally. Secure personal information at home and work. Guard mail and trash. Limit access to your SSN. Scan bills for fraud.

The age of innocence has passed and vigilance is key. For safety’s sake, be aware.

STALLED GF; MINOT, ME TOO; WALLETHUB NEVER SLEEPS; AN AWSOME LIFE; THE NOWEGIAN WAY; HEY, THERE'S A PATTERN; STUNG AGAIN; WEAK GOVERNANCE; HOCKEY; WILL THESE ISSUES MOVE WEST?; DAKTOIDS

Let’s turn it around. With such expository insanity, why would anyone view, abide, support, or vote for any looney leftist journalist, entertainer, or candidate? Better still, why not reject the leftist premise, and not have the conversation at all?

Let’s stop kidding ourselves. The real issue with the left is that they believe America was illegitimately founded and needs to be restructured or replaced.

This one should give these “conservatives” something else to think about besides throwing pies at Ocasio-Cortez.

EXPECT MORE TULIPS; NOT OUT OF THE WOODS; SUBTLE LOGO; A NOTE OF CAUTION; LAT BLOOME; I-29 TECH CORRIDOR; LEGACY FUND; OIL AND CRIME; TIME HAS RUN OUT; NO SURPRISE; OVERREACH?; DAKTOIDS

To the readers of the Dakota Beacon:  I originally submitted the following article to American Thinker, for the sole reason that it is actually a national issue of some importance which I feel has been more or less shoved in the closet in a feeding frenzy of criticism on a national level of the feckless Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.  True, this woman has not said much that makes sense. However, attacking her because of the recent decision of Amazon not to locate in New York, whether it actually had anything to do with her leadership on the matter or not, merely because it is AOC, make less sense.   The basic principle seemed to have been lost in the flurry. Following is the response from J.R. Dunn of American Thinker.  I was really quite shocked.  One would be led to believe that the readers are “thinkers”, not mindless knee-jerk reactionaries   Perhaps they are, but because of the assumption of Mr. Dunn they won’t get the chance to think about my point on this issue.  So because I do know the kind of thinkers who read the Dakota Beacon, here it is, along with Mr. Dunn’s comment.

Sally:

I'm afraid we'll have to pass on this one. AT readers will not tolerate a piece expressing agreement with Sandy O on anything at all. They will get that far and no farther, and they will then crucify you. Sorry, but that's how it goes.

Best,

JR Dunn

Forty years ago I made the virtual acquaintance of Francis A. Schaeffer through his 1977 film series “How Should We Then Live?” It was based on his book of the same title and the production was given at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL. I was struck by how little I knew about the influence Christianity had on our culture -- education, science, economics, the arts, and our very form of government.

Schaeffer’s perspective may be summed up briefly. “I believe people are as they think. The choices we make…will mold irrevocably the direction of our culture…and the lives of our children.” He pursued the analysis of secular worldviews and how their secular presuppositions color the interpretation of the facts. Over an historical span of 200 years he illustrated how our supposedly neutral society ridicules, ignores, and rejects the Christian point of view about morality, truth, science, the arts, and most other areas of life. He effectively demonstrated the hollowness and modernism and postmodernism.

That was my introduction to the clash of worldviews. I became aware that this clash, over the past century, has had an exceedingly detrimental effect on Western Civilization, certainly in the short term.

Many recent polls show that Millennials prefer socialism over capitalism. One poll prior to 2016 showed that 69% of Millennials said they would vote for a socialist as president. In his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump said “Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country. Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.” Many Democrats applauded this statement, but some did not—and some media outlets criticized the president. In this article that first appeared at The American Spectator, Dr. Paul Kengor examines the left’s reactions and argues that all Americans should renounce socialism. He writes, “The undeniable reality is that Donald Trump called out the ‘alarming’ trend toward socialism—with the apparent approval of some very top Democrats—because America is indeed, without question, facing an alarming trend toward socialism.”

HAND IN THE TILL; OILL WILL RUN OUT; "THE DEFICIENCIES OF THE WOMEN'S PRISON"; THERE'S GOLD IN THEM THERE HILLS; OUT OF SITE OUT OF MIND; HUNG UP; SOCIALIST PAST; DO SPORTS MATTER?; NO BULL; MONDAK PULSE DAY; SORRY FELLAS; MINNESOTA SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR; YOU TOO CAN LIVE LIKE JERRY HENNESSY; TURKEYS GOING SOUTH; TOLERANT OF DUI?; DAKTOIDS

Enter Judicial Watch (JW), one of the premiere public service law firms in the nation (501c3). JW has filed four Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits against the US State Department and USAID. JW is seeking the facts concerning allegations that George Soros’ radical groups in Colombia, Romania, Macedonia, and Albania are being funded by US taxpayers.

It works like this. Evidence indicates collusion between officials from the Obama State Department who are still in position (Deep State) in the Trump administration and George Soros to destabilize democratic governments. JW has already forced some documents from the State Department that substantiate this collusion in Albania and Romania. There are further allegations of collusion between State Department officials and Soros to move US taxpayers dollars through Soros’ organizations to undermine democratically elected conservative governments by supporting far-left groups

UAS SYNERGY; HANDS OFF THE LEGACY FUND; WHY DO THEY THINK THAT?; A NOTE OF DESPERATION; WEAK ARGUMENT; BE WATCHFUL; LIFE ON ANOTHER PLANET; MINOT IS A NUCLEAR POWER; HIS HALO IS SLIPPING; SINGER BOBBY VEE; MONEY IS NOT THE BE ALL; WHAT ARE DRUNKEN FRIENDS FOR?; CONSIDER THIS!; HE'S VERY REMORSFUL, REALLY!; DAKTOIDS

Did you see the Microsoft commercial during the Super Bowl? It featured six children who love to play video games with their friends. Each of these kids has a physical limitation that makes using standard video-game controllers quite difficult—until an adaptive controller brought change. In this article, Dr. Joseph Horton looks at the inspiring commercial and draws a stark contrast between it and recent abortion legislation in New York and Virginia.

Human Life Review, Spring 1982 — If most people retain anything of their first philosophy course, it is likely to be the convenient distinction between "facts" and "values" that was fashionable during the heyday of logical positivism. According to this still popular doctrine, we cannot derive "ought" from "is." An impassible gulf separates them. On one side are provable, objective realities; on the other, merely subjective preferences. Or: on one side science, on the other religion, esthetics, ethics.

In these terms, a notable change has occurred in the abortion debate. The advocates of legal abortion used to claim the facts. While their cause was in the ascendant, their constant theme was that "the question when life begins is essentially a moral and religious question, not a scientific one." Nobody could say, they held, when, as a matter of fact, life begins.

Neither men nor women have a clear sense of identity, unless they manage to achieve it more or less on their own; at any rate society can't tell them what they are. And now it even transpires that the abortion debate isn't really about facts at all. It turns out that we can agree that a human fetus is a human being. But unhappily, we can't agree on what a human being is.

Last week, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced a plan that would dramatically increase the legal minimum wage in the state. Some are cheering his announcement and others have concerns. In this article, economist Dr. Mark Hendrickson looks at Governor Wolf’s proposal and argues this announcement may hurt residents of Pennsylvania. He writes, “I am all in favor of higher wages. However, ill-conceived, counterproductive, and ultimately unfair government intervention like Wolf’s proposal is not the way to accomplish that desirable goal.”

We, the people, trusting those we elected to congress, have been led over the cliff like lemmings. We were led by those we elected to believe theirs was “good government.” In fact, it was nothing less than a chimera. No wonder people have lost confidence in the elite who rule us.

The representatives we elected -- and re-elected -- have played us for fools all the while convincing us they would “get things done.” Maybe that was the last thing we needed was to “get things done.” How many laws do we need to live under?

Somewhere, hidden in the details, there is a lesson to be learned. Maybe that lesson is this. Our Founding Fathers had the wisdom and vision to advocate against an overarching centralized government. Their contention for limited government was well conceived.

It’s a sad commentary but true. America is most safe when congress is in recess.

Coach Chuck Noll repeatedly insisted that pro football was a stepping stone to players’ life calling. Tony Dungy, who played for the Steelers in 1977 and 1978, recalls that Noll told rookies that “you have to find your life’s work, while you’re working at this.” This phrase became closely associated with Noll and served as the title for Michael MacCambridge’s 2016 biography, Chuck Noll: His Life’s Work, and for Gary Pomerantz’s Their Life’s Work: The Brotherhood of the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers (2014), which describes how a remarkable group of Steelers, motivated by their coach’s philosophy, excelled on the field and contributed substantially to society after their playing days ended. Noll set an example for his players; he was devoted to his family and was a licensed pilot, a sailor, and a scuba diver, spoke French, and loved to cook, garden, and do home repairs.

ENOUGH COLD!; FOREIGN EXPERIENCE; NOW OR NEVER?; SUPPORT TEDDY; GET IN GEAR; BULGING CLASSROOMS; STATE HELP FOR SCHOOLS; ND INFRASTRUCTURE; CIRRUS AIRCRAFT; OVER 15 YEARS; GO FIGURE; TURKEY TALK; THE WOMEN'S PRISON; JUST A MIXUMP AT THE OFFICE; DAKTOIDS

On this date in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court issued the landmark legal decision in Roe v. Wade. The court struck down a Texas statute banning the procedure of abortion. Forty-six years later, more than 60,000,000 babies have been aborted in America. In this article, Dr. Gary Welton explores data that indicates abortions in America are exploiting minorities. Welton writes, “There is no social justice when racial and ethnic minorities are being aborted at a rate more than 200% higher than white Americans. The liberal support of abortion is the ultimate evidence of racial and ethnic inequality in America.”

The leftist Thought Police couldn’t care less about prejudice and equality. They’re simply informed by and are acting upon their own particular vile prejudices and discriminatory standards, which their institutional power gives them the capacity to enforce. This results in whites being demeaned, demoted, derailed and taken down while leftists elevate and exalt their preferred bigots, as their cultural revolution continues apace. So forget about getting woke — just wake up.

There is a new liberal hit-job technique afoot. The idea is to weaponize business to accomplish gun control. Since the libs are having little success using the federal government to control the private citizen’s legitimate acquisition and use of firearms, the anti-gun crowd has found a workaround.

The point in this technique is to use liberals who run large corporations, banks, and any other major businesses to hurt the gun industry and demonize gun owners. They aim to obstruct or restrict advertising, marketing, distribution, and capital in any way possible. Participating companies agree that they have “a responsibility to lessen gun violence.”

The world’s Talking Bulls don’t really want their ancestors’ ways, just their image. They live in modern homes (presumably with walls), drive cars, shop at supermarkets, visit doctors and use high-tech recording devices to frame unsuspecting youths. Dispense with Western civilization’s fruits? Never! They just want their own ethnic dominance while gorging on them. They don’t love what’s behind them as much as they hate what’s in front of them.

It also should be said that — contrary to common misconceptions — the Indians were not the first Americans. Ernie LaPointe, great-grandson of Sitting Bull, made this point in 2010 when responding to Barack Obama’s inclusion of the famed Indian in a “great Americans” children’s book. He said that Sitting Bull “never was an American” but “a Lakota.”