Dakota Beacon

I believe in representative government, not one epitomized by the flippancy made famous by Pelosi. For example, when leading the Obama Administration's nationalization of health care, she told us that we would know what was in the law when it was passed; and when asked if the proposed law was constitutional, she blithely retorted, "Are you kidding?"

But as to his actual war experiences, we heard almost nothing.  In my dad’s later years, my younger brother had many conversations with him and some of this came out over the occasional glass of beer or in long evenings with little other diversion.  My father was a paratrooper.  I did know that he “cheated” to be allowed to serve as a paratrooper because of his defective vision.  He wanted to jump out of airplanes into jungles under fire because it carried extra pay with it. 

. . . a new greeting for Minnesotans; The culprit is not a billboard; an ugly picture of quarrels; Touro is an online college; scandalous conditions in the office of the dean of the UND College of Nursing; Is western ND becoming an armed camp? traffic should be light, right? Ten years after her death and millions of dollars of legal costs later; The availability of Bakken natural gas makes both plants feasible; The house was built by high school carpentry students; “The more chins the merrier!!” 2013 Chautauqua “Bird Talk”; Fargo’s “original hippie”; Tollie Schaumberg (106) lived a grand life; The Pembina County town of Cavalier (1,500) was evacuated; DAKTOIDS . . . .

John’s final resting place is quintessentially American. It sits aside a tombstone awaiting his beloved wife and across from the baseball field in small-town America where he played and coached his children for years.

In America we are busily constructing the identical scenario. . . hope Rubio and Toomey and McCain are watching this drama in London. 

The IRS agent claimed there was a special unit and that unit was in D.C. Why? It is simply because the organization engaged in “activities [that] contradict the administration’s public policies.” The IRS cited case law to support their actions. The link to Bob Jones is explicit in court documents.

"Every country has the right to define its own borders," he continues, "and to develop laws to defend them." In his view, amnesty for illegal aliens would reward those who have defied the rule of law, thus weakening the respect for law not only among immigrants, but among all Americans.

Most people do not sense a loss of freedom. Maybe it's because the erosion of freedom over time is imperceptible. Or, maybe certain things  offer an illusion of freedom.

Ineptitude and lack of ability to respond resulted from a policy mindset unwilling to acknowledge words like “war or terror” or “Islamic terrorism,” despite the reality of the continuing war with al Qaeda and its affiliates. Our armed forces had appropriate capabilities but couldn’t use them. Why?

ND won the sweepstakes; What about the neighbors? one of the greatest, if not the greatest session, in our state history; No other state has such a fortunate combination of circumstances; it has no common enemy and fights among itself; Bob develops slogans; “It felt good to be ‘suffering for science.’” “North Dakota has reached a ‘takeoff’ point that changes the basic equation of who we are and what we do.” people trying to escape their pasts; the self-centered world of Beverly Hills; half confessional and almost uncomfortably personal; A difference in style; you should not use a red Cadillac getaway car; DAKTOIDS

Yet there are many other GOP voters — and they may be in the majority — who take another position. And it’s one that well illustrates a profound difference between liberals and conservatives.

So, now, the phone that has been stolen all taken care of, what other reason could any law enforcement or government agency possibly want with a “kill switch” that could disable any phone at any time, anywhere? 

None of this would have been possible fifty years ago, but not for the obvious reason. The changes in the world around us have not brought this about. Those we've elected to lead our country have brought it about. We no longer hold our leaders to being truthful or even care when they lie to us.

The point is that our constitution is the contract the American people have with one another. But when a party subject to a contract repeatedly violates its terms for the purposes of benefitting itself and disadvantaging the other parties, that contract is rendered null and void. For it has then become a suicide pact — especially for those who insist on fighting fair with barbarians

For the almost complete abdication of black responsibility and commensurately  total dependence on government engendered by so obsessive and exclusive a  fixation on white racism as the root of all racial evils has been nothing  short of calamitous.

For more than 50 years, the people we have elected and sent to Congress have been borrowing heavily to hide the truth of their irresponsible spending.

. . . editorial calling for the resignation of Hamid Shirvani; Easy to get in, but not easy to get out; It was a weekend of big names; Let’s connect the dots; "Whiter and brighter in the winter, cleaner and greener in the summer”; a long list of grievances against Dean Denise Korniewicz; the #1 (worst) drunk driving state; you may earn $20 million net profit; to support an expansion by Mayo Clinic; We've got some people who can be fairly destructive; Petty annoyance; Here they come again! DAKTOIDS . . . .

Davis remembers this well, as she does the vicious accusation that her father was a nuclear warmonger. To say that liberals were unhinged in their nastiness to Reagan is insufficient. Now, in his death, they'd like to remold him in their own image, crowning him a poster boy for same-sex marriage.

The truth is that, increasingly, Americans are using the state to exact vengeance on people who rub them the wrong way. And we’ve seen this before.

But only one reason fully explains why Wie was so ridiculously over-hyped and overrated: cultural affirmative action.

. . . “Everyone is forewarned”; a city overrun with criminals; the state’s most widely read columnist; Heidi Heitkamp’s first speech; “The tribe is still talking about those needs”; He had the courage and foresight to create USA Today; the university lost a “significant amount” of donor money; ABA threatened to pull the school’s accreditation; property tax assessments; about 100,000 bags will be needed; The Minnesota Wood Choppers; DAKTOIDS . . . .

Academic freedom does not give the instructor the right to ridicule a student’s faith. However, this exercise is larger than academic freedom. It is better discussed as an issue of civility.

It is that last accomplishment—being elected without opposition to the presidency—that is most remarkable. After the bruising election campaign we recently passed through, we may wonder how it was possible that nobody bothered to run against Monroe. Yes, he was an exceptional man, but even great men have enemies.

Trembling with fear of the terrifying conditions which drove them from home, they happily and frequently return thence.  Why?  What, after all, does Chechnya offer when it is no longer considered safe enough to be “home”?  Well, it is a great center of education . . . er, training.  For what?  Well, the main talent on offer in those regions is terror.  They are experts in terror. 

. . . “Blizzard brings North Dakota to a standstill”; “It was my first time driving in snow”; a new record flood; a nationally syndicated loudmouth; “The people are fed up” ; We are being neglected as a tribe; 7 of 10 American Indians now live in metro areas; McKenzie County is a demolition derby; There is no official report about the murders; bittersweet resolution; the nation’s third highest state income tax rate; Let the Buyer Beware; sounded like a herd of horses; Leona was one of 16 children . . . .

How 'bout something light. Here's a "good news" -- "bad news"  joke. The good news is juncos and robins have arrived. The bad news is that  the Redpolls have not yet flown north to the arctic for the summer.

As I waited at what was later revealed to me as the most dangerous bus station in Chicago for my pickup from the dealer, I could not help but remember Benjamin Pryor and Richard E. Browne Jr. from my basic training outfit in Fort Ord, California. Richard was a well spoken black man from an upper middle class neighborhood in Los Angeles, and Benny was a street-smart survivor from the south side of Chicago.

. . . a period of growth and greater economic diversity; Don’t make promises you cannot afford to keep; a critical shortage of affordable housing in the Bakken region counties; The “short sale” was scrutinized by the Modesto Bee; The word is rigor. That’s what the North Dakota system lacks; Rough Rider Hall of Fame in the ND Capitol; the state is vulnerable to corruption; 90 percent of the county’s social services clients are Indian; But the bad guys are increasing faster; the obituaries of interesting Nodaks; he farmed until the time of his death . . . .

In 1913, when the progressive income tax began (and the first 1040 form, with instructions, was only four pages long), the top rate was a mere 7 percent, applied only to the fabulously wealthy (incomes above $500,000). By the time Woodrow Wilson left office in 1921, the great progressive had hiked the upper rate to 73 percent. World War I (for America, 1917-18) had given Wilson a short-term justification, but so did Wilson’s passion for a robust “administrative state.”

Disagreeing with Wilson were the Republication administrations of Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, his immediate successors. Along with their Treasury secretary, Andrew Mellon, they reduced the upper rate, eventually bringing it down to 25 percent by 1925. In response, the total revenue to the federal Treasury increased significantly, from $700 million to $1 billion, and the budget was repeatedly in surplus.

"A dignified climb-down." Well, Black has written books on both FDR and Nixon, so it's not surprising that he is willing to condemn the "reprehensible" but manages to avoid altogether the mention of "truth" and "sin" - outrages which would cause the world to react with "scorn and incredulity." After all, the Church's teaching on sexual morality merely "assists the Church's numerous and influential enemies in discounting its moral influence" because, remember, "billions" reject the notion of sexual morality, don't they?