Dakota Beacon

CALIFORNIA TRAGEDY HAS ROOTS IN SD; FIRST TIP CAME IN MINNESOTA; ND REPUBLICANS; “THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING”; JOB OPENINGS SPIKED; ND STUDENTS ARE WEAK READERS; $15 MINIMUM WAGE; BE CAREFUL; STATE FLOUR MILL; MASCOT CONSULTANT; NITWITS; SHD A SMALL TEAR; EASTERN ND NUKES; DAKTOIDS

A close family member (no, not my son) actually has a coffee niche in his home. There in the corner of his family room is something of a sanctuary resembling an altar. No kidding. Arranged on a coffee stand is an elegant coffee pot, an espresso maker, a coffee grinder, and an assortment of utensils, cups and filters.

No, he doesn’t worship Goddess Java. Perish the thought. Only as a joke do I refer to his niche as an altar. The clock on the wall over the coffee stand testifies otherwise. He has displayed a gaudy, eye-catching neon clock with a 1950s logo “Coffee 5 cents a cup.”

More to the point, his passion for coffee has made him something of a coffee aficionado.

I usually take a moment to bait him a little when we get together. He takes the bait like a good sport. For both our sakes, he possesses a healthy sense of humor unlike the grouchy demeanor of some other family members. He can take a ribbing and come back kidding.

“So, coffee is a food group, right?” He can see my tease coming a mile off.

“Well, not exactly,” he responds. “But it should be.” I threw down the gauntlet and he accepted my challenge. That his response is even half-serious eggs me on. From here on it is tit for tat.

“Now be honest,” I chide him, “does the coffee industry target children in order to expand their market share? Sorta like the tobacco industry? They had their Joe Camel. Does the coffee industry have their burrow named Juan Pepito? That would hook the kids, wouldn’t it?”

THE OIL PATCH LEADS; IS'S NOT SO GREAT THERE; FELONY LEVEL CRIMES; UND PRESIDEN MARKD KENNEDY; UNFILLED WISH; ND FARM ORGANIZAGIONS; FOOL ME ONCE; THE DAKOTA TERRITORY RETURNS; AWW SHUCKS!; WHERE IS THE SIMPLE LIFE GOINIG?; SURPRISING GROWNTH; WESTMORELNAD COAL CO; INNOVATION IN EDUCATION; DAKTOIDS

This spending bill makes it almost impossible for President Trump to implement his agenda, particularly the campaign promises that got him elected, i.e., dealing with illegal immigration and border security. This bill was the purposeful sabotage of the Trump agenda designed to separate Trump from his base.

When signing the bill President Trump said he will not sign another omnibus bill. When this bill expires on September 30, just prior to the midterm elections, are we to expect a government shutdown? Why not? Let’s rumble!

T. ROOSEVELT LIBRARY; NOW, THEY NEED MONEY; NO GROWTH ND; STEADY GROWTH; PILOTS NEEDED; THE FARGO-MOORHEAD DIVERSION; POWER ON THE PRAIRIE; HOW DO THEY VOTE?; WELCOME CHANGE; POVERTY RATES; THE OTTO BREMMER TRUST; CARSON WENTZ; GUN LAWS; THINK IT WILL WORK?; DAKTOIDS

All of this is bad enough, but this bill represents $1.3 trillion in spending.  Do any of these people remember that we already are collapsing under $20 trillion-plus?  Just a few short years ago there were those who had viable plans which could have begun to significantly reduce this burden on American taxpayers.  We are rocketing away from this possibility every time Congress meets.

On the basis of the improbable miracle of the resurrection it is no wonder non-believers reject Jesus Christ. Any notion of the resurrection is foolishness to non-believers. This has been the story of the ages and it is no different story today.

What is not so foolish are results born of true believers who embraced the resurrection of Jesus in the face of trial, tribulation, and death. It is encouraging to reflect on the benefits bestowed upon cultures of this world through Christian influence. Here are a few of those benefits.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders' rhetoric identifying his candidacy as a “revolution” and his fixation on “class warfare” reveal his passion for a Utopian “equality for all”. His proposals for free higher education, guaranteed annual income, fixed-payer (government directed) healthcare, and other “equal outcomes” further reveal his support for cradle-to-grave government control of society and almost guaranteed, if not intended, human dependence.

Conservatives understand that it is our continual societal quest for “equality of opportunity” that has made the United States of America the most successful governmental experiment in world history and caused others to emulate our constitution and capitalist economical model. Conservatives have both a right and a duty to teach those around us, especially our children, about the threat to our way of life that socialism (the equality that is poverty itself) and its successor, self-immolating communism, represent.

THEY HAVE THEIR MOMENTS; DEMOCRATIC POLICIES; NOSTALGIA & OPTIMISM; YOU SAID WHAT!; DISPUTE OVER GOVERNANCE; OIL BOOM HANGOVER; AN ANTIQUATED 1909 UND STEAM PLANT; HARD TO PLEASE; A GINI COEFFICIENT; IT'S DIFFERENT THIS TIME; MASS EXODUS; MINNESOTA GREOWS MORE URBAN; DAKTOIDS

March 1968. Fifty years ago this month, President Lyndon Baines Johnson made two announcements that shocked a divided nation. In this article, Grove City College senior Benjamin V. Allison examines LBJ’s “Withdrawal Speech” and argues that although he was unable to end the war, Johnson “acted in what he deemed to be the best interest of the country.”

What is the Deep State? The term describes a faction of mid to high level government officials that intentionally influences state policy and undermines the efforts of democratically elected leadership. In effect it becomes a shadow government working at odds to the elected government. The term is not conspiratorial as some would assert. Deep State captures the idea of a “government within a government” going as far back as the Ottoman Empire.

What is the best counter to the Deep State? Transparency. Holding federal agencies accountable to the American people will incur honesty and integrity.

Unfortunately, it is the Deep State, including the Mueller investigation, that is running the show and now obstructing the Trump administration at every turn. The Deep State is protecting its own. What has unfolded at the Department of Justice, FBI, IRS and Department of State since the 1990s would make the old Soviet KGB jealous.

In an incisive work on the evolution of feminism, Domestic Tranquility, F. Carolyn Graglia, tells us what should be obvious to those without vested professional interests. The work of Friedan and others who downgraded the traditional role of women as homemakers led inescapably to the more radical phase of the feminist movement that emerged about a decade later. The war against the real or imagined domestic life of the 1950s, begun by Friedan and her generation, fueled a crusade against gender distinctions that continues down to the present. What Sommers has condemned as “the war against boys” goes back to what was allegedly an early, nice form of feminism. But integral to feminism, as Friedan herself taught, was “busting the masculine mystique”.

A POLL BY SURVEY MONKEY; FLORIDA SAYS NO; CREDULITY; HAPPINESS ABOUNDS; PROFITABLE AND HAPPY; THE KILBOURNE GROUP; WEAK BUT STABLE; A TALE OF WOE; TOO MUCH, TOO SOON?"; WEAK BUT STABLE; A TALE OF WOE; IS COLD WEATHER THE CAUSE; IS COLD WEATHER THE CAUSE?; GEORGE SINNER (89); LET MIKEY DO IT; DAKTOIDS

Until the Constitution was amended in 1913 to allow a federal income tax, tariffs were the main source of support for the federal government.

ariffs on steel, aluminum, firearms, vehicles, uranium, and similar products for the protection of domestic producers of those products help to ensure the availability of these strategic products in time of war.

On St. Patrick’s Day there is a bit of Irish in all of us. If Irish can eat lutefisk at Norsk Hostfest, why, surely Norwegians can eat corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day.

Celebrations? My, how the Irish celebrate. Any excuse for a party. Corned beef and cabbage. Green beer and Irish coffee. Bagpipes and the Chieftains. What more could you ask for?

In early days this feast commemorated Ireland’s patron saint, St. Patrick. Born in Britain a Romanized Christian, Patrick was carried off by marauders at the age of 16 and sold to a local Irish chieftain. Patrick drew heavily upon his Christian faith during captivity. He escaped and returned to Britain after six years. Thereafter, Patrick returned to Ireland in 432 AD, this time as a missionary of Pope Celestine I. He founded his first church at Armagh. Before his death Christianity was firmly established in Ireland.

AAHAH!!; PRIDE IN GRAND FORKS; DID HE MISS ANYONE; A STEPPING STONE? BIG DECISION TODAY; THERE'S A SHORTGE OF JUDGES; BISMARCK STATE COLLEGE; THERE IS A RUMOR; GRAND FORKS; WHERE DO YOU FIND A RESAURANT?; SAY GOODBYE  TO A LONG TRADITION; BOUNDCE BACK UP; PICKUPS ARE UBIQUITOUS; DULM ND'S POPULATION; NORTHERN LIGHTS EXPRESS; BILLIONAIRES; DAKTOIDS

In an attempt to curtail carbon dioxide emissions the Environmental Protection Agency uses a metric called the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC). Three integrated assessment models are used to calculate the SCC. Are these models helpful? In this article, economist and author Dr. Shawn Ritenour offers examples of some of the assumptions and projections that go into these models and warns, “Because of their grave, if not fatal, weaknesses we should be very circumspect indeed.”

Last week, President Donald Trump announced that his administration will impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. It is expected that the president will offer more details on the plan as early as tomorrow or Friday. Are these tariffs a good thing for American workers? In this article, economist Dr. Mark Hendrickson looks at the geopolitical and economic implications of tariffs and argues that there may be “more effective and less disruptive ways to boost the fortunes of America’s workers.”

Who rules America? Our rulers are Democrats and Republicans followed by Independent wannabes. Our rulers encompass a wide array including the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government at the federal, state, and local levels. They include elected officials, political appointees, bureaucrats, planners, academicians, and assorted “credentialed experts.”

What defines those who rule over us? Fundamentally, the ruling order is a bipartisan fraternal order defined by shared ideas, similar educational guidance, the same tastes, and the same habits. This ruling fraternity distinguishes itself as the arbiter of wealth and power by taxing and distributing almost half of what “we the people” produce. 

When we talk about taking drastic means to save lives and everything is on the table, if we’re serious  let’s not hold back.

THE GOAL; A LOST QUALITY; SLICKEST EVER; GRAND FORKS AND UND; THE BEST HONOR; THE BEST STATES; WILD WEST; GOLD SEAL WAX; ND HAS A FLARING PROBLEM; MINOT AFB; CANNABIS CRIME; SUSAN BALA; NEW FBI BOSS, DAKTOIDS

According to many gun-control advocates, 18-year-olds are too immature to handle guns — but are mature enough to advise us on gun policy. Thus we’re told we must “listen to the voices” of the young Parkland shooting survivors. Not only that, we’re not to question or oppose them because they’re young, they’re survivors and, by golly, because it’s absolutely devastating to the anti-gun agenda!

There’s something truly reprehensible about this situation, and it’s not conservatives criticizing the positions of activist Parkland students such as David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez. It’s that liberals are using the students as human props and human shields, letting them throw the punches and then condemning the assailed if they dare defend themselves.

Well, sorry, but as I wrote years ago in “The Grieving Activist,” if you want to grieve, grieve.  If you want to play politics, play politics.

Not long after Mitt Romney announced his bid for the U.S. Senate media pundits began criticizing him. Some writers began taking shots at his personality—suggesting that his “excellent character” is not fit for the American political system. In this article, Lewis Waha examines the dig against Romney and argues, “Perhaps at some point, a critical mass of the vulgar really did lose interest in being virtuous. But from the standpoint of the Constitution and democracy, that would be nothing to celebrate.”

As Jared Kushner is stripped of his security clearance, Donald Trump prepares to instigate a tariff war and suggests a life term for American presidents in emulation of Red China’s example, we continue to focus on gun control.  

The record of America as a Christian nation resides in the documented history of her founding. Unfortunately, this record has been deliberately obscured under the rubric of separation of church and state thus depriving individuals of their Christian heritage of individual liberty. Christianity has increasingly been excluded from the public square including public schools.

Many internal government concepts have been lost as Christianity is driven from the public square. The question becomes, “What is to inform the individual of the notion of internal self-governance?” All too often the answer lies in external governance. So many laws, regulations, and ordinances beset us now that undoubtedly we are in violation of some rule unknown to us on any given day. Every time some crisis besets us there are many who call for new laws and regulations even when older ones are not enforced.

External government knows no bounds when attempting to control human nature

In Germany, during the Weimar era citizens agreed to "sensible gun laws" which effectively disarmed them. It made it very easy for a rogue government to take advantage of short-sighted and panicked citizens. In the case of the Weimar example, in one of these emotional knee-jerk responses ("In Touch" would approve), this time to an attempted attack by the German Communist Party to take over in Berlin and elsewhere, the German people agreed to a sensible law which made ownership of firearms or ammunition punishable by death. This law made Hitler's takeover and ascent of his violent regime a slam-dunk. History repeats itself over and over.

The cowardice of the armed “resource officer”/sheriff’s deputy at Parkland demonstrates that an “armed guard” at the door or down the hall is not the answer, so what is?  Clearly someone armed and prepared to stop a killer at his destination before he is:  the teacher.

JOYCELYNE & MONIQUE; LONGSTANDING PARANOIA; KEEPING A PROMISE; LIPSTICK ON A PIG; POOCHIGIAN; RURAL POPULATION IS NOT DYING; MISMATCH; MINOT FACES GRIM REALITY; EMBRACE THE COLD; BOLD NORTH; MINNESOTA GOV. MARK DAYTON; ANOTHER VIEW; DAKTOIDS

Recently, Warren Buffett (leader of Berkshire Hathaway), Jeff Bezos (founder and CEO of Amazon), and Jamie Dimon (chairman of JPMorgan Chase) formed a new company in order to develop innovative solutions to the pressing problems facing healthcare in the United States. Could this new enterprise offer a solution to healthcare in America? In this article, Richard D. Kocur reviews the company and argues that the success or failure of the venture rests on three key pillars.

The media believes everything they say about Trump and they believe that all of America does, too. Highlighting their own blindness they conduct poll after poll reinforcing their own misbegotten belief that America hates Trump not understanding their own disconnectedness from reality and the rest of America. CNN says that 6 in 10 people believe Trump should stop tweeting. Furthermore, more Republicans thought he should stop tweeting than believe he should keep it up. Then there was the NPR poll. Only 1 out of 5 thought Trump’s tweets were effective.

This begs the obvious question: If these polls, and others, were at all accurate about Trump’s tweeting, then why is the media trying so hard to thwart him?

The truth is that the President of the United States is leading the media by the nose every time he tweets. He tweets and they reflexively react. They do not understand that the Trump movement transcends Trump. And for the great American public that is saddled with a biased, partisan, and corrupt media, that is a great and vindicating thing. Trump thumbing his nose at the mainstream media is freedom personified.