Dakota Beacon

As the current conflict in Israel reaches the second week, Hamas has fired nearly 3,500 rockets into Israel. In this article, military historian Dr. Earl Tilford examines the strategies of Hamas and Israel in this long-standing conflict. He writes, “The current fighting in Gaza rapidly approaches total war intensity. Strategy for Hamas has always involved the total war objective of annihilating Israel. For Israel, fighting Hamas and Hezbollah involves a long, protracted but limited war of attrition. This may be changing.”

Three quarters of a century ago, the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union joined forces to put on trial the doctors of Nazi Germany who had used captive human beings in horrific medical experiments under the reign of Adolf Hitler.  We were on somewhat shaky ground, by the way, in view of the unethical and cruel Tuskeegee experiments in which innocent black men were duped and killed by the medical "researchers".  However, we were right when we took on this evil with allies following the war.  It was another example of the "never again" spirit of the victors - we were going to see that from now on the world would be a better place.  Only we are now witnessing that we are really no better than the people we put on trial.  The fruit of that war and that trial was a document which set forth a code of ethics, a set of values which acknowledged the worth and dignity of human life.  "Due to Covid-19" those values, that dignity, are gone in America.  Apparently lessons last only about two generations and then must be learned all over again.  

Should we hate to lose? What happens when we do lose at something? In this article, Dr. James Thrasher examines the theology of losing through a God-centered worldview that is opposite of the cultural norm to despise losing. He argues that individuals, teams, and coaches who embrace the theology of losing will, “eliminate wasted time and distractions and will experience liberating freedom, unshakable on-task focus, governed passion, and a soul-satisfying, inspiring trust that all things work together for good.”

America is endowed with mineral riches, but we do not know their extent because we are not permitted to explore, map, and evaluate deposits. Even if we knew the precise location and composition of deposits, manmade mining prohibitions preclude extraction from these deposits. How sweet the irony. The anti-mining position denies to solar and wind power the very things needed for production – REE! We cavalierly declared off limits REE extraction for high-tech equipment alternatives to fossil fuel energy.

It is not a matter of not having resources. It is a matter of having excessive laws, land set-asides, federal withdrawal of land from use, and an interminable environmental permitting process that impose severe constraints on US production.

If we have a shortage of anything, it is not because it is missing within the US. It is because of lousy and inept political decision-making.

We became energy independent through exploration and technological innovation such as fracking (fracturing) to retrieve petroleum assets. Not only could we become REE independent if we follow the same course, we could make the US an REE exporting superpower!

The elderly in America are under assault.  This is not new.  It has been a feature of American life for some time now.  Some think that they became irrelevant to the "family" when they went into retirement homes and children were relegated to day care, Head Start and public schools as their parents pursued careers more important to them than the future generation.  Now they are seen by some as "useless eaters" - people who no longer contribute as much as they take from society.  It seems their investment in the future was a waste, at least if we are to believe those who think they can engineer society and the world better than God.

UNQUALIFIED ENTHUSIASM; TIME FOR CIRCUMSPCTION; ROB AND MELANI WALTON; DAPL NOT GOING TO SHUT DOWN; OMDAHL DOESN'T BUY IT; MARK KENNEDY; GET UP AND GO TO WORK; A DANGEROUS  PLACE TO WORK; JAMESTOWN; AG OUTLOOK IMPROVES; LOW-VALUE MEDICAL PROCEDURES; DAKTOIDS

In just six short years, Christian church attendance has dramatically dropped for Americans ages 18 to 44 years old. This decline has implications on the survival of many churches as well as the overall health of American society. In this article, sociologist Dr. David Ayers looks at the data and argues that the end is not here for Christian churches but that something must be done immediately.

Once your sheriff is an Antifa/BLM-sympathizing ideologue installed by D.C. (District of Communism) and hailing from 1,000 miles away — with no local community ties — he’ll happily “discipline” the white supremacists lurking around every corner.

If the Left can co-opt the military and police, it will have seized our country’s last two remaining (relatively) “conservative” institutions. It will also have what’s necessary to quash that impediment to total coast-to-coast hegemony: America’s framework and tradition of state and local control.

 Last week, in his National Day of Prayer proclamation President Joe Biden omitted the word God. Many media outlets were quick to criticize the president. In this article, presidential scholar Dr. Gary Scott Smith looks at the proclamation and the backlash and argues that there may be more to the story. Smith writes, “These issues and developments remind us that we should evaluate Biden by all his statements, actions, and political policies.”

Many people own stock in corporations. Every publicly traded company must host an annual shareholder meeting. At these meetings, investors cast votes for board members, their compensation package, and management proposals, -- and shareholder proposals. This last category the left has been especially adept at influencing. Unfortunately, conservative investors don’t bothered to show up in person, or by proxy, to vote. Everyone is busy. Kids, grandkids, work, pandemic – all consume time. Corporate proxy voting slides out of mind.

Liberal shareholders advance their agenda through proxy voting – an agenda they could not achieve through government legislation. Think of reactions by Jack Dorsey at Twitter, Tim Cook at Apple, and Brian Moynihan at Bank of America if enough conservatives voted to oust board members, disapprove the executive compensation packages, and turn down proposals.

Three years ago, two babies in China were born with a gene-edited trait for HIV resistance. It was done with relatively new technology—CRISPR gene-editing—to genetically program the embryos by altering the gene CCR5. The new genetic condition became part of their genetic identity and will be passed on in some measure to their offspring. In this article, Dr. Jan Dudt discusses the new technology and warns that misuse could be dangerous to humanity.

ND 2021 LEGISLATURE ENDS; THE ND LEGACY FUND; A NOTE OF DISSENT; HELP FOR COAL; ADVANTAGE DAPL; OMDAHL'S MINORTIY VIEW; T.R. LIBRARY BECOMING A REALITY; MAYVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY; THE MID-AMERICA BUSINESS CONDITIONS INDEX; COOL-DOWN IN FARGO; SITTNG BULL INITIATED; PROBLEMS PILING UP FOR SD AG; DAKTOIDS

Many of us remember the Canada we used to visit - Winnipeg's English Gardes, ballet in the park, charming restaurants, world class music, festivals, sports, shopping - a vibrant and varied cultural world.  Today, under the leaden boot of its government this is all destroyed.  You see, where freedom dies, culture really cannot flourish.  Canada has succumbed to the Covid death cult.  Covid has been, more than anything, a pretext to destroy our freedom, impoverish our people and kill our culture.  It is a hoax in the sense that it has been used for this.  Sure - you may know someone who fell ill or even died allegedly of Covid.  But we all know people who have died of cancer, of heart disease, of organ failure, bacterial pneumonia and other things.  But we are allowing the possibility of death deprive us of life.  Canada, our twin up north, with whom we share so much of our heritage and culture - has become a fascist tyranny.  We need to learn from this - we need to fight back hard NOW.  The longer we allow bullies and tyrants to pursue their ends, the longer we go along to get along, the stronger they beome.  The harder it will be to win back what we have lost, the more we will have lost.  We need to start now.  Say no to masks, stop "social distancing", say no to forced vaccines, get together again with friends.  Stop trying to get along with people who would steal your freedom.

Some are telling us that the covid vaccines are "experimental".  The people who take these vaccines are the "subjects".  I disagree.

Wokeism is a full-on attack on Western Society. It is everywhere and is now threatening to end freedom of speech and thought. It has become impossible to speak out without fear of damaging a career or incurring physical harm.

The objective of this piece is to encourage the reader to put the brakes on the stupidity and false narrative of wokeism. Second, the background offered here should provide some ammunition with which to confront wokeism in conversation. Third, this piece should encourage the reader to undertake some research of their own. Keep notes, observe inconsistencies, and identify lies.

Our culture and country are at stake.

ND SCHOOLS STILL IN THE RACE; TREY LANCE DRAFTED; ND POPULATION LARGER THAN THOUGHT; OIL PATCH DRIVES GROWTH; NOT A JAMESTOWN SLAM DUNK; RUDE RECEPTION OF BUFFALOW CITY PARK; OTHER PARK CRITICS; ND STUBBORNLY OBSTINATE; DAPL KICKED TO CORPS; CORONAVIRUS DEATHS IN ND LEVELING OFF; LOW RETIREMENT SAVINGS; RELIEF IS IN SIGHT; DAKTOIDS

Before being elected to the U.S. Senate, Rev. Raphael Warnock told Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, “The early church was a socialist church.” In this article that first appeared in Crisis Magazine, Dr. Paul Kengor examines Warnock’s statement and argues that the early church was not socialist. Kengor writes, “Let’s start with indeed the most basic principle, which is this: this passage from Acts is not socialism. Socialism/communism does not bear witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, or to belief of God.”

Can the United States Congress constitutionally change the size of the Supreme Court? Or, better yet, should the United States Congress constitutionally change the size of the Supreme Court? Proposed legislation argues for an increase of four new justices. In this article, legal scholar Dr. John Sparks looks at the debate and offers a compelling argument why court packing could be a dangerous endeavor.

Science has provided many benefits for humanity: health, nutrition, and technology. In fact, science has driven many responses to the COVID-19 crisis. But are there other variables and definitions that we are missing? In this article, Dr. Jan Dudt explores this question and challenges Christians to wisely balance what we have discovered about the natural world with what we know to be true from Biblical definitions. Dudt writes, “when considering the equation of life, Christians are wise when we realize there are other variables in life’s equation in addition to science. Biblical definitions and variables must also be brought to bear along with the science.”

As of April 1, 2021, 47 states have entered 361 bills in their respective legislatures. A review of voting laws has been long overdue. Having found enough fraud to warrant concern, these legislatures are taking corrective action to reform election laws. As of December 2020 the Heritage Foundation’s Election Fraud Database topped 1300 cases collected over years and is growing.

Among the principle opponents leading the naysayers over voter integrity measures is the liberal Brennan Center for Justice. The Brennan Center is one of the loudest opponents of measures to curb election fraud. Voter “suppression” and “discrimination” they squeal. And, oh, by the way, the center received millions in funding from George Soros.

There is hope for the Republic. With updated election laws and states controlling their implementation, the 2024 Presidential election should be a lot cleaner, more transparent, and less disorganized than the 2020 election – as long as the feds keep their hands off.

Is corporate activism the new normal in America? Recently, corporations such as Delta Airlines and Coca-Cola made public statements against legislation in Georgia. In this article, Richard D. Kocur examines the current events and argues that, “Today’s corporate activism takes the role of business in society to an entirely new and troubling level.”

ND WELL-REPRESENTED; JAMESTOWN SHOWS IT'S SERIOUS; GRAND FORKS AFB; JN JOINS NEIGHBORS; REGRETTABLE PRECEDENT?; MINNESOTA NICE?; A DISSENT; EXTREME DROUGHT; "IT ISN'S OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER"; DEL TIEDMAN; RETURNING HOME; GREEN ALCHEMY; DAKTOIDS

Many Americans are still asleep, dreaming blissfully that they are free and live in a constitutional republic.  Those who have awakened to the smell of smoke - their country, constitution and freedom smouldering in the counch downstairs are trying desperaately to awaken the rest to put out the fire and save their home and their lives.  It isn't easy.  Even otherwise intelligent people tell us how they are "fully vaccinated" as if this were a good thing, while we knowthat this only means that the fire has reached the box of matches on the buffet.  Will America wake up before it is too late?  Or will our grandchildren rightly curse us for our stupidity and faithlessness?  

Earlier this year, the social media application Parler was removed from all major app stores rendering the app unfunctional. Quickly, debate began about big tech censorship and calls to repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act—an act that protects websites for deleting content, even where that content is protected by the First Amendment. In this article, Dr. Brian Dellinger examines the situation and argues there may be a better solution than repealing Section 230. He writes, “Perhaps the best of a set of bad options is to reconsider the role of antitrust laws. At issue in all the cases above is the ubiquity of the big tech firms: that decisions by a small group of companies can render information meaningfully unreachable or invisible.”

Yesterday we finally heard the verdict of the jury in the case of Derek Chauvin, who allegedly killed George Floyd.  Yesterday we also learned of another unfortunate killing of an individual in Columbus, Ohio.  The latter was also a case of a white police officer acting, this time to save the life of an intended stabbing victim.  The question - which should not even be a question at all - is whether we want to discontinue the custom of "innocent until proven guilty" - the backbone of our system of justice and a pillar of our society.  

Rules governing the conduct of elections, which are constitutionally entrusted to the various state legislatures, should remain the prerogative of the states.

H.R. 1 would micromanage the election process at the federal level imposing unnecessary, unwise, and unconstitutional mandates on the states. It would reverse the decentralization of the American election process essential to our liberty and freedom. It would implement nationwide the worst changes in election rules that occurred in 2020 and further damage or eliminate basic security protocols. Given the vulnerabilities and security weaknesses in the U.S. registration system, HR 1’s automatic registration threatens to make this problem much, much worse.

THE CHESS GAME CONTINUES; A YEAR TO AN ANSWER; CAUTION; LOTS OF MONEY SEEKING A HOME; VACCINE SHY; STAND YOUR GROUND; SOUTH DAKOTA HOMICIDES; CHRIS MAGNUS; NATIONAL OFFICE FOR MAGNUS; CRYPTO CURRENCIES; DAKTOIDS

Pinocchio’s nose grew long when he lied, a telltale sign. So does the collective nose of the legacy media. Mainstream media (MSM), left wing media, corporate media, big media – whatever you wish to dub the elitist press -- regards itself as the fourth estate but acts like a fifth column. CBS, NBC, ABC, CNBC, CNN, NPR, PBS, New York Times, LA Times, Chicago Times. Add Vox, Axios, Slate, and Huffington Post to the list as wannabes.

We once had a president who was not afraid of the media. He called them out when they misrepresented, when they omitted, and when they conjured. He did not cower before the press as do some “moderate” Republican toadies who are scared to death of news stories critical of themselves.

More and more people are seeing the truth. Many have known it for decades – the media and their elected Democrat sycophants are not to be trusted.

Recently, yet another hedge fund, Archegos Capital, was forced to liquidate huge amounts of blue-chip stock holdings. The damage was severe: causing several large stocks to plummet and leaving at least three banks with financial hardships. In this article, economist Dr. Mark Hendrickson asks: Are hedge funds rogue institutions that should be banned? He writes, “Hedge funds have an enormous image problem. We only seem to hear about them when one blows up or when a headline trumpets that a hedge fund manager paid a record-breaking price for some property.”