Dakota Beacon

In our society we hear a lot of claptrap about the “political class” or the “political elite”.  I submit that we have always had this, that we will always have this.  Those who want a more “egalitarian” political atmosphere need to simply get off their duffs and become the political “elite”.  They can do this by reading, by learning about their Constitution, by following our history, by researching just what our candidates for office have been up to, by not depending upon Fox News, their local newspapers or Time Magazine, but look for themselves.  Our political class can be as sound and good as we demand.  They can be as base and corrupt as we allow. 

Our Constitution was designed to protect these “busy” citizens from their own sloth by restraining the more-or-less permanent “political class” and allowing access to it for anyone devoted enough to apply.  A return to a strict reading and adherence to our Constitution is the guarantee we are all searching for to solve our financial crisis and ensure our liberty.

A Barron’s Magazine (Oct 24, 11) summary with emphasis on North Dakota’s role.

This article is a must read for anyone unsure of the expected extent of the ongoing oil boom in North Dakota.

Vaclav Havel was not just a man of politics and intellect, but a man of the arts, theater, literature—and, yes, of God. He exhorted the West and the wider post-modern world to seek ‘transcendence.’ Hitchens might have figured God ‘the ultimate totalitarian,’ but Havel saw God as the solution to totalitarianism, as tyranny’s antidote, as the fountainhead of freedom. This was something Havel deeply admired about America and its roots—its fusion of faith and freedom and the recognition that the latter cannot genuinely exist without the former.

Havel had a lot to teach to Hitchens. Hitchens would have listened to Havel. Indeed, of all people on this planet who God might have chosen to counsel a stunned Hitchens as he sits outside the Pearly Gates shaken in awed confusion, Havel would have been perfect, the one intellectual to merit Hitchens’ intellect and respect.

    So certain were those disciples that countless early Christians bore witness to the truth of the Gospels by suffering the most excruciating martyrdoms imaginable. They set off a huge chain reaction of martyrdom, converting even many of their torturers, who were immensely moved and impressed by this superhuman courage.

   The resistance to Christ's ideas, which got him crucified, has continued ever since. Jesus remains the most hated as well as the best-loved man in human history. And as he predicted, his followers have been hated and persecuted too.

     Secularists use the mantra of "separation of church and state" as an excuse for keeping God's word out of our public life. We are allowed to worship privately, but we mustn't act collectively as if God has spoken to us. We are to act as agnostics, which means as virtual atheists.

CP Holiday Train, Marvin Windows is a family-owned company, poverty there is rising, school district reports 91 “homeless” students, Raising the road effectively shortened the runwa, Amtrak service in ND doesn’t make sense, What does a county due when it’s desperate?, repeating “Fighting Sioux” seven times, He apparently sees Nodaks as Lilliputians, the Legislature has devised a maze, a family alleged to have taken three cows with calves, Humorist, cowboy and legislator Ryan Taylor

Ideology can be and often is a terrible thing. Emotionally-invested dogmatists of all stripes share at least one common behavioral flaw, the propensity to be absolutely sure that whatever the ideology deems true must be true.

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After reading my article, “The Latest Education Fad Inverts Justice” (June 21, 2011), a government employee with a city’s “restorative justice” program sent me an email which started off cordially, giving the impression that the discussion might proceed in a levelheaded manner.

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Wrapping up with a threat seems to be a cherished tactic of dogmatists. With some religious fundamentalists it’s the threat of eternal damnation and suffering if you don’t toe the dogma line. With certain other zealots, the threat of public abuse seems to be a favorite punishment for opposing the respective doctrines.

The EPA is going to continue to act politically, despite what they told Senator Hoeven.  As we pointed out early on, North Dakota's out-of-control state budget growth simply cannot withstand a crackdown on oil production.  With the growth in state spending over the last decade, we simply cannot allow for these revenues to disappear because of an over-zealous federal agency.

Consider Roman civilization and the early Christian church. All the false gods combined could not give Rome sufficient basis for life, morals, values and ultimate decisions. Building upon people’s opinions does not provide an adequate base. Roman gods depended upon the society which made them. They were amplified humanity, not divinity. When Roman society collapsed, the gods went with it. During the chaos of the Roman decline, in desperation, people eventually accepted authoritarian government.

Long before the human race embarked on its sin-ridden path, the three persons of the Trinity entered into a compact whose purpose was the redemption of sinful men. The Son would be incarnated in a human body in which he would absorb the penalty of men's sins. The Father would administer the dreadful punishment and the Holy Spirit would then work faith in the hearts of people through which they could appropriate Christ's redeeming sacrifice.

Christ did not have to undergo the agonizing ordeal. He agreed to it voluntarily long before he entered human history. The Bible tells us he was the “Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.”

Lewis was alarmed by another development we now take for granted: state control of education. He wrote: "I believe a man is happier, and happy in a richer way, if he has 'the free-born mind.' But I doubt whether he can have this without economic independence, which the new society is abolishing. For economic independence allows an education not controlled by Government; and in adult life it is the man who needs, and asks, nothing of government who can criticize its acts and snap his fingers at its ideology. Read Montaigne; that's the voice of a man with his legs under his own table, eating the mutton and turnips raised on his own land. Who will talk like that when the State is everyone's schoolmaster and employer?"

Before we jump to the conclusion that China’s economic model is the way of the future, we should remember that we have heard similar projections before. In the late 1980s, commentators raved about the Japanese economic model. Predictions abounded that the Japanese economy was so powerful and unstoppable that it would soon surpass our own and be the wealthiest in the world. Like the Chinese state today, the Japanese government worked closely with businesses to forge an industrial policy that (allegedly) would prove far superior to a free-market model. Then the wheels fell off and the bubble burst. Since then, Japan has struggled with economic stagnation and malaise.

China runs the risk of ending up like every other country (including our own) that has squelched free markets—broke and stagnant.

“SAD” (seasonal affective disorder), Need a little kindness?  Go to Jamestown, agriculture and energy will continue to push North Dakota's economy, “North Dakota is on the move", American Crystal Sugar workers, more Global Hawks will go to Grand Forks AFB, “Lee Enterprises moves to refinance”, procedures to make the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo disappear, Tex Hall, chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes, Lady Bravehearts, trusted source of information for women, "they’re going to pick on you”, "She was not being properly medicated"

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men” 

                                                                                     - Frederick Douglass

Douglass was a Republican in the days when that affiliation was new, radical and untried.  The following are a few of his thoughts about what that association meant to him:

“I am a black dyed in the wool Republican and I never intend to belong to any party other than the party of freedom and progress.”

“I recognize the Republican Party as the sheet anchor of all the political hopes of a colored person, and as the ark of his safety.”

Logical syllogisms have their value, but their utility is ultimately limited. They can satisfy the mind, but they do not quench the deepest yearnings of the soul. They bring little hope or consolation, and they certainly cannot save.

God, on the other hand, can save. He offers salvation through His Son, for “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.”

So “evangelical” voters will either sit out next November or vote for Obama or another candidate should a publicly-unrepentant Gingrich become the GOP nominee? Land’s sanctimoniousness is a sight to behold. What’s more, Land’s warning exudes recklessness. Would any clear-headed person reject an Obama opponent on the basis of that opponent’s lack of ideological purity? Would evangelicals really return Obama to office by not supporting the most viable opposition candidate?

Daily the MSM treat us to the allegations of sexual improprieties supposedly committed by Republican Herman Cain. No allegations are substantiated, accusers never filed charges and accusers are unknown except one. On the other hand, darling Democrat John Edwards’ adultery remained quiet until after the National Enquirer broke the story. The MSM had to respond lest their poor journalism become an embarrassment.

After a busy day, who wants to slog through MSM propaganda? As the MSM loses revenue paralleling their loss of readers and viewers it falls to the hard left moneyed patrons like George Soros to fund their distortions.

Adult entertainment star Jenna Jameson will appear at two nightclubs this Saturday

 Attention Red River Females: You could get your own free publicity if you play your cards right.

This is nothing but a free promotion by the Fargo Forum. Since when did porn stars, showing up for paid entrance into gentleman's club constitute news? Apparently a slow newsday for the publication of record in Fargo.

Exploration and production of Marcellus Shale is certainly a sign of the times in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, exhibited by the boom towns that have been revived from drilling activity. These times are producing the creation of real jobs and money infused into local communities, and this is just the start. No doubt, Marcellus drilling also provides distinct challenges, which are being hotly debated, and which indeed need to be carefully considered. For now, though, the economic benefits in these dire economic times are undeniable.

An important effect of natural gas production in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia is simple: jobs. In contrast to America’s chronically high unemployment rate, the Marcellus-generated job activity within these regions can only be described as a gold rush.”

Spiritwood Energy, the plant is on standby, “fracking”, near catastrophe for the ND economy if the EPA, Tiny town allows tiny man camp, Happy Hunting Grounds, They came well-equipped for Black Friday, the bedlam and antics, ND’s largest farm advocacy organization, Newcomers will be the big political unknown, seven of the names can be traced to one man, UND plans to buy large quantities of refined glycerin, UND officials are warily eyeing the elves, The Kleinsasser scholarship?, ND was picked the #3 best-run state

Berg rightly rejects Senator Hoeven's backing of EPA's assurances

Congressman Rick Berg has justifiably come out in disagreement with Senator John Hoeven's support of "assurances" the EPA has made to not over-regulate the practice of "fracking" in the Bakken oil play.

Once a year, “the place was flooded with people. That time of year was Deer Season, when out-of-town hunters arrived like an incoming Army, loaded with rifles and bullets. ‘Army’ is a good metaphor, given that a large portion of the hunters were World War II vets. They came from the mills and mines of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania. They came to shoot a deer.

This week hunters across America storm the woods loaded for deer. For yet another indication of how times have changed, consider this account of Deer Season a half century ago: …. My grandmother always took in boarders during Deer Season. In fact, the whole town did. Up and down every street, hunters knocked on doors asking if the home was taking boarders. Bear in mind, these were complete strangers carrying guns and lots of ammunition. And yet, there was never any fear that they were a threat to a household…. It was very different. There was also a general trust of hunters, a trust I believe is still merited and shared in those areas.

As early as October 2009 columnist and commentator Charles Krauthammer charged President Obama with embracing America’s decline. Writing in the Weekly Standard, he said, “For America today, decline is not a condition. Decline is a choice.”

“In Mr. Obama, America gained a President with ambivalence, if not some antipathy, toward the singular greatness of the nation he had been elected to lead.” So said Dr. Shelby Steele, black writer and Senior Fellow from Stanford University’s Hoover Institute in a September 1, 2011 column he wrote for The Wall Street Journal.

Is President Obama intentionally presiding over the decline of America? Is he actively dismantling the America you and I once knew? Does anyone really want him to succeed?

“Jerry, Are you crying?”, "M-P stands for “many possibilities”, Steele is a Red River Valley county, ND was desperate for the current oil boom, a flood of people, Roads on the Fort Berthold Reservation, Another billion dollar baby, Spiritwood Energy Park, highest earmark dollars per  capita, Fargo Forum obituary page changed abruptly, An invaluable record is being lost, Did they think it through?, Clyfford Still is relatively unknown, UND and NDSU finished

It is not enough to be “thankful” and then to ignore the gift for which we give thanks.  This is hypocrisy.  If we do not use this gift we disparage it.  Recently a man told me that the only way to change things for the better is through prayer.  I submit that the venerable Pilgrims prayed while they cut wood, fed their chickens or planted their corn.  They did not just pray and then sit back and wait for results. 

ND Legislature did just that, full bag of negative labels, All of the students here are Fighting Sioux, a place for heavy drinking and crude behavior, we're basically playing catch-up, 5,000 to 8,000 trucks a day, little public planning and oversight, urgent care and emergency room visits have doubled, huge women’s purses, The North Dakota way! , Devils Lake swallowed most of his family’s farm, the state has a special shipping advantage

Despite attempts in recent years to debunk the Pilgrim Thanksgiving story, at least one vital historical event gives evidence of a bed rock foundation for the Thanksgiving spirit. This evidence won’t be taught in the classroom.

At this time of year it is appropriate to again read George Washington’s Thanksgiving proclamation. He declared “...a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”