Dakota Beacon

Recently, leaders of the United Methodist Church have agreed in principle to an amicable parting of liberal and conservative factions. What does this mean for the future of the UMC? In this article, Dr. Joseph Horton examines the agreement and writes: “There are three key elements to the emerging agreement: pensions, local church property, and start-up money for a conservative denomination.”

The guitar is a truly amazing instrument - its six strings can be made to play complete, beautiful and often very complex, multi-voice music.  Here are a few examples of some fine guitarists playing a wide variety of music on the classical guitar!  Enjoy your Sunday escape!

In the Red River Valley we find the home of the Metis - a colorful and unique North American culture bringing together the traditions of Europe and the indigenous peoples of Canada and the United States.   Here is an all-too-brief look at this fascinating culture and its history.

In the early morning hours of Christmas Day 1979, Soviet forces began invading Afghanistan. The international community was shocked by the intervention. For American President Jimmy Carter, the invasion was the latest and most troubling in a series of foreign policy crises. In this article, Benjamin V. Allison revisits the events from 40 years ago and argues that even today the world is still dealing with the results.

Everyone's a critic.  Well, to be honest, I've been a critic myself, but not on the matter of killing a terrorist who has been responsible for hudreds of deaths of others, many of them American soldiers.  Today among Democrats (who we expect will raise a stink) are a couple of otherwise reasonable Republicans.  Senators Lee and Paul have taken exception to the reasoning of the Defense Department and the miltary.  It is true that no president has the right to declare war or enter into war without a declaration.  But this is not what happened in Iraq the other day.  What happened there was the termination of two terrible people, the top terrorist of Iran but also the Hezbollah authority who had conducted the attack on our embassy there two days before.

WEATHER SWAMPS FARM ECONOMY; IF IT WERE NOT FOR OIL?; TALE OF TWO CITIES; SAGA OF ROOSEVELT LIBRARY; LEGACY FUND; TALLEST AND MOST EXPENSIVE; KENNEDY ROLLER COASTER; NEW UND PRESIDENT; FOOTBALL DYNASTY; BUY HIGH, SELL LOW

Our Second Amendment has been coming under attack as has our First Amendment.  If our First Amendment is essential to freddom itself, our Second Amendment is essential to that First Amendment and all of the others.  It is the "business end" of our Constitution.

There is an old adage that helps us understand political jockeying – “Follow the money.”

How is it that politicians of modest means are elected to office, enter the Washington, DC’s culture, and become wealthy? In most instances the practice is quite legal and not due to loopholes. When in office long enough many politicians learn to game the system and parlay their position to their financial advantage. Term limits anyone?

Two recent books are a must read for anyone intent on understanding money, politics, and corruption. Both are authored by Peter Schweizer.

Antonio Brown, a talented NFL player, has been in the headlines quite often this season. In fact, he was Google’s “Most Searched Athlete of 2019.” In this article, Dr. James Thrasher examines a recent YouTube video that Brown posted to share his life in which the wide receiver states, “That the only thing that makes my mom and dad happy is going to the field—and only thing that makes people love me.” Is this a truly fulfilling testimony?

THE ND POPULATION; GRAND SKY; FIGHTING SIOUX; LOSS OF FARM INCOME HITS BUSINESS; A DISPIRITING DECADE; SANFORD FLUNKED; SHORT ON SOLUTIONS; HOCKEY STAR TRUNED PHILANTHROPIST; LEFT WITHOUT A LADDER; JOCELYN BURDICK (97); SHE WAS IN ON IT!; SD TRIBES & LGBTQ; ACTIVIST AG KEITH ELLISON; DAKTOIDS

For liberalism, God himself is a tyrant, the only tyrant. This explains liberalism’s utter indifference to (and secret approval of) the persecution of Christianity, the untold story of the twentieth century.

First, a simple contrast between two young girls whom we have seen in the spotlight.  There are two ways of using our lives, one which will enrich the world with their gifts and another which will create misery.  We have the free will to choose and we can influence our children and others to choose one path or the other.  It is true that one of these young girls is extremely gifted while the other has some mental difficulties, but each of us has the capacity to choose how we will use and improve what we were born with.  There is light and there is dark - we must choose whether our lives will shed one or the other and what will be the consequence.    "Part Two" of today's post is a requested look at our Bill of Rights.  No American should be ignorant of this important canon of rights.

Wel've heard from just about everyone on the left about how the President reacted "disproportionately" to the attack on our embassy in Baghdad.  I hope he continues to react disproportionately.  Only if the consequences are out of scale with the perceived fun of bullying America by these terror regimes will it ever end.  The one thing these terrorists understand is a "disproportionate" response.  That is why they amputate the hands of thieves, why they stone women who have been victimized by rapists, why they strangle little girls who take off their hijab - or throw a teenager into prison for the same.  The Islamic sensibilities are only reached with a disproportionate response.  It's too bad.  It would be nice if they would just sit down and reason, but they don't.  They are not quite civilized.  

When the year flips over a lot of us feel "older".  Well, as they say, what's the alternative?  So to cheer you all up, watch what I found for you today.  There is a lot to watch.  If you are tempted to stop before the end just go to the end and watch the grand finale.  It might just make you want to back up and see them all!  

We might consider Nostradamus as a hoax and his followers dupes.  Or we might take a critical look at the many factors which should be weighed in attempting to understand or interpret his works and perhaps see more behind the phenomenon of his predictions.  Much must be conditioned upon our own definitions of such basic concepts as "war".  He and St. Malachy both predicted the upheaval we see and the timing (as gauged by the numbers of popes) within the Catholic Church.  His wild guess about a simple Corsican soldier becoming the First Emperor of France and meeting his match in Russia could have been just that.  His prediction of a third world war has been taken within the context of the last World War - which ended with two atomic blasts - as obviously a nuclear war.  But there is no reason to define war as "nuclear".  There is an argument to be made that we are already at war and have been for quite some time.  Much relies upon our interpretation.  In this spirit, People Places and Things brings you Nostradamus.

With the old year spent and the new year pending, idleness gives way to speculation, and then to curiosity. “Imagine living with the cartoon characters in BC,” one quipped. “What would we read in the archives of ‘The Tablet’?” Indeed, if there were newspapers a few millennia ago, we would find some astonishing headlines. Now THAT is an understatement.

Browsing through an old copy of “The People’s Chronology” revealed some real eye-openers. This volume comprises in excess of 1200 pages listing significant events by date beginning with 3 million BC and progressing to the modern era.

The future is unknowable, but the past is quite recognizable. How illuminating it is to observe how people adjusted to their environment and adapted to their circumstances over the millennia.

We have witnessed another tragedy.  Innocent people were killed at a church service in Texas.  The event bore a strange resemblance to a similar event two years ago, but with a vastly different outcome.

Here I make a case for why Islam cannot interface with our Constitution and our way of life and our values as free people. Sharia cannot be admitted into our country.  Many come here to be free - we cannot also bring in the instrument of their enslavement.

In a crass political pay-back, or maybe just out of revenge, Kentucky's former Governor Matt Bevin gives us a lesson in the evils of the lame duck status.  Anything which impinges on accountability in elected officials is a blow to accountability and the people's self-government.  When there are no consequences we can expect the worst behavior.

What will the new year bring?  Welcome the ‘20s in style - the Beacon has it all covered for for you.   Our Sunday Special is your New Year's Eve Party and your New Year's Day celebration - all right here

Shakepeare:  "How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank! Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music Creep in our ears: soft stillness and the night Become the touches of sweet harmony." (The Merchant of Venice)  It is no accident that Shakespeare, like so many poets, referred again and again to music.  It is necessary to our very mental and physical health.  

The more modest sort of agnostic should ask not whether someone called “God” exists at all, but whether he has revealed himself to us, and whether we’ve been paying enough attention to hear him. Are our souls open to him, or are we tuning him out?

The deepest questions must be answered by each of us personally, not by scholars or even journalists. Our minds can save us from errors, but in the end only our hearts can recognize the Truth.

With both the Russia and Ukraine hoaxes having fizzled and the “legal” means for President Trump’s removal perhaps exhausted, at least for now, the Left appears to have moved on to a “moral” argument designed to influence the 2020 election. Initiated by Christianity Today and advanced by figures such as CNN’s Chris Cuomo, the idea is that Evangelicals — and by implication all Christians — should be ashamed to support Trump because he makes a “mockery” of their faith.

It’s an interesting argument not because it’s anything but a demagogic one, but because it relates to interesting issues completely eluding the very uninteresting people making the argument. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to hear them treated adequately.

Today is the second day of Kwanzaa - Kajichagulia ("self-determination").  Not very many celebrate the festival.  It was invented by an operative/dupe of the rotten ("misguided"?) FBI of the 1960s, a violent man capable of some heinous deeds.  About 2% of Americans today celebrate their heritage through Kwanzaa, so I wish them a happy week of celebration, but it is worth knowing something of the violent and remorseless man behind the festival at least - Ron ("Maulana") Karenga.

A plea to those deciding on acceptance of refugees in our communities - let all those involved actually research this issue before making commitments which are irreversible.  Once we commit to acceptance of a particular group of immigrants we will have this forever.  Young immigrants will have children here who will be deemed to be citizens of our country.  We cannot enter into these agreements with the idea that we can change our minds.  For this reason it is incumbent upon the deciding bodies that they fully understand the difference between a "migrant" and a "refugee".  We can do others (and our communities) a great deal of good by offering asylum, safety and freedom to genuine refugees.  These people are those who have been mercilessly persecuted by Islam in their homelands.  Muslims are not persecuted by Christians anywhere, nor by Jews.  Yet the latter are being driven to extinction through terror, threats and slaughter.  Here is an open letter to those responsible for this decision.

Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer greet shoppers. Excitement of the season builds to a crescendo. After Christmas the commotion subsides. Then what? There must be more to Christmas than the superficial.

This story, spoken before, must be told again.

The true and ancient roots of the Christmas celebration lie embodied in the music of the Nativity. Regrettably, less often we hear strains of the traditional carols in public places. Traditional carols, if played at all, are usually the instrumental versions devoid of the words and the profound message of Christmas. The purging of the Christian message in our culture continues.

IT WASN'T EASY FOR NDSU; OVERCONFIDENT?; DESTINANTION HOCKEY GAMES; GOOD SAMARITANS; SPOOF ME NOT; HEATED DEBATES; THE GREAT PLAINS FOOD BANK; FOOD DESERT; FEMAILE COMMODITY WIZARDS; GET-BIG-ORGET-OUT; BERNIE PICKS ON MAYO CLINIC; CUSTER - GOOD OR BAD?; DAKTOIDS

Anyone who thinks today’s “woke,” Ocasio-Cortez Democrats won’t embrace some combination of the measures explained here, but will instead obediently abide by Trump judges’ inconvenient rulings, doesn’t know today’s Left. It’s Machiavellian, and it plays for keeps. Besides, having convinced themselves Trump is an illegitimate president and despising him viscerally, the Demo-socialists have their rationalization at the ready. They’ll feel righteous erasing his legacy.

If court-reshaping does come to pass, traditionalists’ only recourse may be state-level nullification, which Thomas Jefferson called the “rightful remedy” for all federal overreach. It would be bold action, too, and thus may some find it uncomfortably radical and revolutionary (like the Founders?). But what else are they going to do? Keep filing more lawsuits?

Yeah, exactly.

Last night, Democratic presidential hopefuls debated many things—including the economy. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have proposed an annual wealth tax on billionaires. Are these proposals problematical? In this article, economist Dr. Mark Hendrickson examines the plans and argues that there are technical and ethical issues in the proposals. He writes, “The three most egregious flaws with proposed ‘billionaire wealth taxes’ are that they are ungrateful, unfair, and un-American.”

Even as our civilization struggles with losing a thousand years of culture to enemies both within and without, one of its greatest pillars - the Catholic Church - is struggling with an internal demon, abuse of the vulnerable.  It's not the demon of "scandal", because scandal is what has been covered up.  It is rather the evil itself, which continues and we can name some of the evil-doers.  And their accomplices.  Now what will happen?