Dakota Beacon

I am as amused as anyone by the creative ways people are finding to occupy themselves during this quarantine.  But in fact, we need to be thinking in terms of action.  It's also no time to give in to feelings of despair.  Yes, it's dark out there.  We feel threatened in many ways.  But let's do what we can in the meantime.  Above all, start thinking about how we can equip ourselves to pick up the pieces when this is over and put it all behind us.  And if possible, just remain grateful - for those we still have with us, for the freedom we still have to think out loud and express our views and ideas.  Our ideas are what will give us a chance to survive.  And gratidude for the help of those whose talents are put to good use rather than evil.  We have seen what evil does.  Now here's the good news - Israel is donating life-saving drugs to combat what the Communist Chinese have forced on us.  Let's thank them.

ND COVID; DISTURBING DEMOCRAT FRACKING AGREEMENT; THE BIG FARMERS GET BIGGER; THE STATE TREASURER; LIVESTREAMING AT ND CAPITOL; THE ND LIBERTARIAN PARTY CONVENTION; LEGACY FUND FOUNDERS; SMOOTH THE ND UNIVERSITY BUMPS; THE DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE; THE DEM-NPL CAUCUSES; ND DEMOS CONCENTRATED IN TWO CITIES; THE NORSK HOSTFEST; AN ENDLESS BELT OF GRAIN

This isn't the first time Americans have had to fight off the blues.  They knew all about it in the 1930s.  The Great Depression was a bummer but it yielded some wonderful moments on the silver screen as the people sought to banish their own depression with light-hearted and uplifting movies!  Join The Beacon on a trip to the Hollywood musicals of the 30s.

Today I'm asking all of you who read this to consider its benefits and the genius of the market to accomplish what government cannot and protect what a bioweapon would have destroyed.  I think this plan serves the interests of all Americans.  Other ideas which have been floated have inherent problems which are inherent in any government-directed program.  They pick winners and losers and they divide America.  We should resist this kind of thing now above all.

The conversation about coronavirus has turned to political correcvtness.  Trump is being attacked by the press for referring to the illness as the "Chinese virus" because it sounds 'racist".  We have to call it something.  "Chinese" or "Wuhan" would seem perfect.  The virus originated in China under questionable circumstances, the government hushed it up, silencing those who tried to warn the public, they allowed people to fly all over the planet, knowing that this illness was going to get out of control and thousands of people would die, millions would become ill, that the odds were in favor of everyone's economy sinking, they refused help when it was offered and denied access to international organizations to investigate it and they destroyed all evidence which could have revealed the truth.  Then they blamed others.  Strangely, there are always cute young things ready to jump on the "Blame Trump" bandwagon, no matter how illogical it is.  

In 2018, just under 10,000 cases of Legionnaires' disease were reported by health departments in the United States. However, because it is highly under diagnosed, this number may underestimate the true incidence. It also occurs regularly throughout the rest of the world.

This disease is on a nearly exponential rise during the last few years despite the efforts of state public health officials to prevent it. The death rate is around 10% or about 1,000 deaths per year. According to the CDC, no vaccine is available fir Legionella. My real purpose, however, in presenting this material is to place in perspective the Covid-19 pandemic.

As members of Congress and the President and his advisors mull over the various possible ways to deal with the fallout from the economic shutdown caused by the Chinese virus pandemic, I have another suggestion to add to yesterday's post.  I think it could help millions of people weather this storm and come out prepared to overcome the loss of income.  Yesterday I proposed one idea.  Perhaps everyone should think of an idea that would help people like them to survive this basically intact.  I also want to say a word or two about the terminology we are using.  This is important in the longer view.

When tempted to view news reports at face value, always remember, “Things are not as they appear.” Over time, the real story behind the story comes out as truth. But, by then people are so sick and tired of the whole mess they no longer pay attention. The truth falls on deaf ears.

An excellent example appears as the Russia collusion hoax. In retrospect, the “Russia, Russia, Russia” hoax turned out to be one of the biggest, most outrageous political scandals. It was a phony, useless, two-year investigation costing taxpayers in excess of $35 million. The popular media never dug into the story but could have if they weren’t blinded by their hatred for President Trump.

As more states vote today, Senator Bernie Sanders continues to make a strong push for the Democratic nomination and with him comes his plan to nationalize the American healthcare system. What is the Senator’s plan? And can it work? In this article, Richard Kocur examines Sanders’ plan, Medicare for All, and argues that it “goes farther than any mainstream proposal ever made to address the ills of the healthcare system and carries with it serious consequences for providers, payers, and patients, not to mention the free market.”

As we consider how to survive the shut-down of our whole economy and our lawmakers and president mull over possible measures to help, I propose a plan here which could go a long way toward ameliorating the misery and restoring some stability and sense of security to an anxious and seriously impacted public.

We're all staying home and hopefully, staying well.  But we still need to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.  Here is your solution.  A great Irish supper, the story of the beloved saint himself and a grand ceilidh worthy of the man who fell in love with the Irish and their love of music and dance.  Here we have the best of traditional Irish musicians, dancers and poets for your party.  Remember, though, you have to do your part at a ceilidh - take yor turn to tell a story, play your guitar or sing a song.  Sláinte!

Irresponsible behavior here and abroad has given coronavirus a foothold.  We now will see businesses closed, crippling financial loss for many, long-term health damage to those who "recover", many, many premature and unnecessary deaths, all because of a combination of rudderless leadership, especially among world leaders and governments, lack of imagination on the part of leaders and a failure to learn from history, poor value judgments and a general spoiled-brat mentality which insists upon instant gratification.  When it was "up to us" we failed.  Insufficient response at the very beginning will result it devastating losses in the end.

“THERE’S SOMETHING GOING ON”;  WARD COUNTY; HWY 2 TWINS; BISMARCK STATE COLLOEGE; SELECTIVE TOLERANCE; TO LITTLE, TOO LATE?; WOMEN'S HOCKY AT UND; HARVESTING CORN IN THE SPRING; MISSOURI RIVER; WAR ON PREDATORS; THE PINE RIDGE RESERBVATION; DAKTOIDS

The Democratic Party is now confronted with a dilemma. Its two possible presidential nominees are perhaps equally unpalatable, though for different reasons. Socialist Bernie Sanders is, the establishment believes from a practical standpoint, ideologically unfit; Joe Biden is a garrulous gaffe machine who is mentally unfit. Yet what if, contrary to popular belief, neither man ends up being the nominee? There are other possibilities.

It was 101 years ago that Zorro first appeared in American pop fiction.  Wildly popular in almost every genre from animation to live action to comic books, radio drama, ballet and musical theater, this durable classic was the creation of a pulp writer, Johnston McCulley in 1919.  It's the perfect antidote to boredom if you like swashbuckling heroes, swordplay, gallant gentlemen, nasty villains and damsels in distress!  Take yourself on a vacation to Spanish California of the early 19th Century!  You'll find a couple of movie versions for your weekend entertainment.  It's one way to spend a Saturday at home!

Europe is under assault not only by a crippling epidemic and attendant economic devastation, but more importantly at the moment, by an invasion underway led by Turkey.  I say "led by" in that Turkey is supplying the immediate accommodation of it and intends to dominate the Islamic movement in Europe.  How is it doing this?  Well, it's leader, Recep Erdogan, was first given a green light by our own President Trump.  Not only did he pull a token U.S. force out from under the Kurdish allies who had been helping to push back against Turkey's aggression, but he put the maraschino cherry on top by making one of his perfect phone calls to Erdogan to more or less give him the go-ahead for his plans.  So that was at least moral support from us for this outrage.  Then the E. U. had already committed itself to an extortion racket, paying juiceman Erdogan billions of dollars for protection  which he turned around and invested in the equipment and armament he is now using to invade Greece.  The E.U.'s answer?  Another large payment to Erdogan.  Why should he ever stop?

Last year President Trump made a point of telling the nations of Europe that they have not pulled their weight with regard to the costs of maintaining NATO.  A lot of Americans agreed.  Some of us questioned whether NATO was still relevant.  It might be argued that Russia is no less a potential aggressor than the old Soviet Union which NATO was formed to contain, but NATO's standards for membership seem to have dropped.  When we admit Turkey to membership in a "non-aggression pact" are we just a little ridiculous?

The headlines are full of threats to our existence.  It is almost impossible to imagine what life was like for us in the West a mere ten years ago.  Even as we try to prepare for the onslaught of a mystery virus that has already killed thousands and shut down entire nations, we are seeing headlines which sound like a reenactment of the Turkish wars on Europe in 1683 - at the gates of Vienna.  A 9th Century culture is poised to overrun and destroy that of Europe.  They have a powerful weapon - the sensitivity of the West to the cries of children.

AN ANNOYING POSSIBILITY; HAWKS ARE SAFE AT GFAFB; JAMESTOWN FIRE DEPARTMENT'S LADDER TRUCK; SECOND CHANCE ND SUPT. OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION; SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR; DAPL REDUX?; MANNA FROM USDA; AMERICAN CRYSTAL SUGAR; THE COAL CREEK POWER PLANT; GREAT RIVER CHARGES COAL CREEK LOSSES; GET IT RIGHT THIS TIME; BEST OF THE WORST COLLEGES; NO PITY FOR COMPETITION; THOSE WERE THE DAYS; ROY OTTINGERAND SON; DAKTOIDS

To better comprehend the level of Christian martyrdom in Nazi Germany, may I suggest reading Chapter 6, “The Nazi Juggernaut” of Robert Royal's book “The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century” copyrighted in year 2000, available at Catholic.com for a modest donation.

If readers, especially the youthful among them, come to understand that totalitarian monsters gravitate to whatever political vehicle is available to them, efforts to expose the truth will go a long way toward preventing history from repeating itself in this contentious 21^st century. The old saying “Believe nothing you read and only half of what you see” is very good advice. Totalitarians of every stripe have a way of twisting the meaning of words in the dictionary as well as the teachings of the Bible. Beware of false witness.

The Coronavirus will have a tremendous impact not only on people's health and social lives, but on the world economy and on political careers as well.  A crisis of this sort and magnitude could have some terrible consequences for those whose decisions have been flawed by poor judgment.  We may see some changes in leadership in South Korea as well as other countries.  It didn't have to be this way.   The South Koreans have a characteristically poetical way of expressing this moment of decision:  the "golden time".

I don't know about you, but I can hardly listen to any more clever Trump tweets about the dismal Democrat candidates.  He has more important things to do and he's not doing them.  It is too late now to contain the deadly flu virus and this is, despite his protests, largely his fault.  He did NOT seal the borders.  He has not ensured that people are quarantined when they return from outside the country.  The Canadian border is wide open, for one thing.  And he's bragging that we have something less than 200 miles of some kind of "wall" on the Mexican border.  And all the while planes are landing and sick people dispersing throughout the nation.  This man and his government have learned nothing from history.  It's too bad.  Lucky thing he's so damn funny.

Even as our attention has been on the big "what if's " of the coronavirus, the world keeps turning, or churning.  The people of the Greek Isles barely have time to waste on coronavirus - they are dealing with an invasion by Turkey.

As the winter winds down everyone's attention is divided between the winnowing process of the Democrat primaries and caucuses and ominous sounding news of the spread of the dreaded Coronavirus.  Schools in Japan are closed, doctors in China and government elites in Iran are dying, filming is halted in northern Italy as actors and crew are sick, the streets and shops are empty.  Up until very recently it was a far away kind of problem, our fears sitting on the back burner as we entertained ourselves watching the field of Democrat presidential hopefuls dwindle.  Now, thanks to sloppy management, our State Department ushered in over a thousand sick people from China (why were they even there?) and Japan.  Now there are those who are urging the shutting down of crowded events.  Some commercial ones are canceled, but the political ones are going on as though nothing were wrong and it's 1950 all over again.  President Trump says not to worry, brags that he's kept America safe (from his rally in New Delhi).  Everyone's go-to for the truth, Rush Limbaugh, irresponsibly called the whole epidemic a "hoax" by Democrats just to make Trump look bad.  Meanwhile, those who study these things are beginning to be alarmed.  

Today’s hot topic again is “global warming.” Or is it “manmade climate change?” Whatever.

News flash: “World to End Tomorrow: Women and Minorities Hardest Hit.” Washington Post? New York Times? CNN? Could be any of them. That headline would be laughable if it weren’t so stupid. Yet, the left portrays the gloom and doom of “manmade climate change” in just this way. They peddle fear above a functioning intellect.

We owe our Creator a deep debt of gratitude. We can show that gratitude by practicing good stewardship, managing the resources we were given, and adapting to our environment – not changing it.

Here’s a question to ponder: If people think the male-female athletics performance gap is very slight, will they be more or less likely to oppose having men claiming womanhood enter women’s sports? Remember when answering that such men generally have treatments (e.g., testosterone-suppressing drugs) that partially eliminate their biological advantages.

It’s ironic that female athletes are now increasingly being challenged by men in dresses (figuratively if not literally) and no longer can demur. You’ve come a long way, baby.

We need to speak up and clear the air.  We can no longer afford political correctness.  The ancient tale of Aesop, wherein the Squirrel declined to enter the Lion's cage because he had seen other animals go in but none come out.  He was smart enough to profit by the experience of others rather than find out first-hand.  The Squirrel got away.  Will we?

Whose fault is Coronavirus?  Some in the media are quick to blame Trump.  Perhaps he is at fault.  He's doing a lot of things wrong.  He should not have traveled to India at the same time he was bragging about halting incoming flights from areas infected with the virus.  He should, above all, have put down his tweeter and started reviewing the personnel files of people who are making the key decisions - decisions contravening his own.  And we need to quit running to rallies and give serious thought to the core problem in our government - the fact that it has outgrown its britches.  

From the Land of Song, we celebrate St. David. Learn a little bit about the patron saint of Wales and celebrate.   With a lot of soul-stirring music.  Listen.  It is unforgettable.

On this last day of Black History month, we look at one of the great American writers of the 20th Century, Ralph Waldo Ellison.  Ellison's life and character were complex.  At one time a Communist believer, he found that Communism was, in the end, a betrayal, specifically of Black people.  His own life took a circuitous path to literature - he was a student of music and then of sculpture first, finding his way to writing later.  Once he found his pollitical bearings, he was forthright in renouncing Communism.  He was totally opposed to "Black Power" or anything which he saw as promoting racial division.  For this he was bitterly criticized by other Black leaders and writers.  He viewed people rather as part of the human race rather than subdivisions thereof.