Dakota Beacon

America celebrated Independence Day in fine fashion this year. Of course, 1776 made up an entire year and not just a single day. The ebb and flow of America’s revolutionary fervor occurred throughout 1776 both before and after the Declaration of Independence was signed. At the risk of being a contrarian, however, one might ask, “Did anything else happen in 1776 besides the American Revolution?” As will be shown, much more was taking place around the globe. The late eighteenth century gave rise to the ideological, technological, economic, and philosophical developments taking place beyond America’s shores. Historians see the period as the beginning of the post-Christian era.

But first, here are some American actions during 1776. The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge was a minor conflict of the American Revolution fought near Wilmington, North Carolina, on February 27, 1776. However, the victory of the North Carolina militia over British governor Josiah Martin's reinforcements at Moore's was a turning point in the war. American independence was declared less than five months later.

I don’t always vote my philosophy. Sometimes I go with my instincts—my “gut” you might say. That I was the first delegate from North Dakota in 2016 to come out in support of Donald Trump for president is a recent example.

I chose Trump because his rhetoric and his actions flew in the face of the political correctness sanctimoniously wielded by the left. And as fate would have it, the unbound delegates in ND were instrumental in putting him ‘’over the top” with their votes while Trump was in Bismarck as the keynote for the ND Petroleum Conference.

I believe North Dakota could have a significant impact on Trump’s bid for election in 2024. Part of that is because of Sen. Kevin Cramer’s close relationship with Trump.

Another reason for North Dakota’s impact in this election is the possibility of Gov. Doug Burgum as Trump’s running mate.

Two hundred forty-eight years following the signing of the Declaration of Independence folks still think about our nation’s ostensible quest for freedom and liberty. A contradiction has arisen in the minds of the citizenry. If the ideas of freedom and liberty are so dear to us, then how do we account for an ever-expanding federal government extending more and more authority and control over our lives and property?

Our Founders were not stupid. They certainly understood the difference between freedom and liberty. “Don’t they mean the same thing,” one might ask? In a general sense, yes. They could be used as synonyms. Today the terms are used interchangeably. But the Founders were struck with a special respect for the concept of liberty. They understood the decisive and delicate distinction between freedom and liberty and were not ignorant of the history of the terms.

As a civil engineer who worked in city government for 4 different cities, Grand Forks (5 years) and Bismarck (5 years), ND, Yuma (1 1/2 years), AZ, and Colorado Springs (5 1/2 years) CO… and as an employee of a private coal mining firm (15 years), a private engineering and surveying firm (10 years), and an environmental firm (2008 -present), I have extensive engineering experience in municipal government engineering, the coal mining industry, airport planning, design & construction, and environmental compliance (Writing Oil Spill Prevention,. These experiences have provided me with extensive knowledge of the differences between private enterprise and government. There are few commonalities between the two, save the cherished relationships with co-workers. As government grows it becomes less efficient while as private enterprise grows, it becomes more efficient.

It’s not hard to understand why Caitlin Clark, the record-setting white ex-NCAA women’s basketball standout, is enjoying attention and endorsements like no WNBA player before her. And, no, it’s not because of (mythical) “white privilege.”

It’s just as how Tiger Woods — who brought legions of new fans to golf the way Clark is doing for women’s hoops — was treated like royalty in the late ’90s for being the first dominant “black” (he calls himself “Cablinansian”) golfer. It’s just as how Danica Patrick became the golden girl of auto racing, even though she was perhaps best known for crashing, because she was a woman in a man’s arena. It’s just as how Gerry Cooney was much ballyhooed in the early ’80s for being a “great white hope” in heavyweight boxing, a category where for decades the champion had almost always been black.

It’s called novelty.

America’s political elites, with the help from the Pentagon, are destroying America’s military. Such a warm thought as we approach the 248^th Independence Day celebration!

America’s military cannot survive the intentional dispelling of good order and discipline in the name of “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” Today’s military endures mandatory training in Critical Race Theory, gender policy, and “domestic extremism.” Whether the population mocks the military, or the government derides it, the effect is the same. Those who once loathed the military now hold power and are hellbent with neutering our armed forces.

My Response to the outcome of the 2024 Primary: I’m doubling down.  

Doubling-down is commonly known as a strategy in a card game.  

Practically, it means to strengthen one's commitment to a particular strategy or course of action, typically one that is potentially risky. 

He betrayed us all back in 2020 with his "Operation Warp Speed".  It should not surprise us that he is dangling Bill Gates cohort Doug Burgum as a possible running mate in 2024.

The English language moves and lives and has its being as a fascinating and engaging language. Its construction, usage, and evolution offer hours for etiological investigation. So why abuse our language when it is possible to express oneself quite precisely in fine nuanced English? Good question. The answer (drumroll please…) to follow.

Consider clichés. A good dictionary definition of a cliché is a trite stereotyped phrase or term that attempts to express a popular thought or idea, but which has lost its originality through overuse. Such phrases and terms are reduced to mere bromides and platitudes.

Just a few thoughts on the puzzle of why Putin has not decimated all of Ukraine.  It has been observed that Russia (Putin) does not want to overrun and occupy Ukraine.  This is not a territorial war at all.  Otherwise Putin would have been swift and sure and it would have been over with long ago.

For those not already familiar with the term, a “putsch” describes a revolt or a sudden and decisive change of government, a coup. Now, hold that thought.

Set the scene by identifying the players. In the crassest scenario think of the protagonist as the president of the US. Then, think of the antagonists or perpetrators of direct action. Different names apply, some more descriptive than others: deep state, administrative state, shadow state, bureaucracy, civil servants. Think in terms of unelected government employees. Imagine this loose alliance regarding themselves as anointed custodians of power.

To better grasp this entity, think of more than 450 federal agencies staffed by 2.7 million bureaucrats consuming billions of tax dollars. Making matters more problematic, the incestuous relation between these bureaucrats, the media, lobbyists, and leading universities create a focus of power feared by our Founders.

We should by now be aware that our campaign to antagonize Russia to the point of open warfare with the West is beginning to bear its deadly fruit.

There is a fracture in the Republican Party; it is real and about to split the party into pieces. It is no more apparent than watching the primary battles play out June 11. The main factions fall into a variety of categories, but it can be best identified by the candidates. John Hoeven, Doug Burgum, Kelly Armstrong, Rick Becker, and Kevin Cramer are where most of the battle lines have been drawn.

Shakespeare said, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” This line appears in “Hamlet” (Act I, Scene IV). Specifically, this refers to political corruption and uncertainty. Curious? Let readers check the context for themselves.

See what reputable authors are writing about the state of America’s cultural decline.

Shakespeare again: “’Tis time to fear when tyrants seem to kiss.” “Pericles” (Act I, Scene II). He gives fair warning about deceptive appearances and hidden threats from those in power.

Learning to be Grandpa is like reviving old tricks with an old dog. Fortunately for the grandkids, my tricks are easy to learn. They are tailored for an age group on both ends of the spectrum.

Then a segue in time and topic sneaks up almost unnoticed. The first grandkid graduates from high school. Then another. Wait a minute! Weren’t we just playing with toys in the back yard? Unbelievable! I could say something trite like, “My, how time flies.” But what’s the use? I am slowly being surrounded by young adults I once knew as kids.

“Grandpa, what was it like when you were…?” the grandkids ask. And we drift off into a bit of reverie as I reminisce. They’re amazed at my tales! I’m amazed at my memory! Happily, this Grandpa has found another niche.

Only Grandpas can be Grandpas, and a wise Grandpa will find his niche whatever his age.

I’ve often wondered over the years if Cleo Nordquist realized the impact she had on me (and many of her other students in her fifth and sixth grade classes) with her tireless work as an American Legion Auxiliary member during the annual poppy drive and poster contest.

Through her commitment to the memory of those who served in WWI, WWII, and Korea, she taught me the significance and importance of acts of commemoration in the service of memory.  

Let’s face it. We humans have short memories that need reminding.

It is no secret that technology changes rapidly. When changes occur, who is helping to develop the new tech? In this article, Dr. Jan Dudt examines the swift rise of artificial intelligence and writes, “It is reasonable to ask questions concerning where AI can go. Major players in the field, typically non-Christians, cast a troubling mission for the technology. Christians need to beware.”

Things take time. They do not happen overnight. I speak of the gradual decay within higher education. Rankness in academia began long ago and progresses year by year.

Consider the following tiny, but typical, group of like-minded professors. Generation X, Millennials, and continuing through the NextGen generation might be too young and naive to perceive what Baby Boomers understand intuitively. Consequently, they would have little basis for recognizing tenured radical professors for who they really are. Instead, they probably view the contemporary university environment as “normal” and their professors as speaking “truth.”

Comparing the behavior of some political candidates and members of the North Dakota media to mockingbirds.

Show trials are orchestrated for political purposes, often resulting in predetermined guilty verdicts and severe punishments. They serve as tools of propaganda, intimidation, and control.

Thank goodness in the “Land of the Free and Home of the Brave” where the US Constitution rules, and the Rule of Law prevails nothing like a politically driven show trial could possibly occur!

Last month, Congress passed a bipartisan bill that gave a Chinese business, ByteDance, an ultimatum: Sell the popular app TikTok or it will be banned in the U.S. President Joe Biden signed the bill on April 24. Will this action stop the Chinese Communist Party from gaining personal information about Americans? Or is there more to be done? In this article, Dr. Brian Dellinger examines the issue and writes, “Any fix, however, must begin somewhere — and as first steps go, an app explicitly beholden to hostile foreign powers seems a good place to begin.”

The liberal left progressively uses mobs for leverage. Interestingly, there is no equivalent tool on the right. When was the last time the media gave scrupulous attention to tens of thousands of white supremacists rioting, looting, and burning in cities? Mayhem of 2020 incited by Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Antifa were duplicitously classified by some media as “peaceful demonstrations.”

What we recently saw on university campuses were not revolutionaries in action. We saw tantrum-throwing, angry adult children of middle-class and upper middle-class “boomers” still living off their parents. They were poorly educated but well indoctrinated to hate America as persuaded by the likes of Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, George Soros, and an abundance of academics.

Words matter. When you are a mischievous ten-year-old you discover that when your father says “no” he means it.  Why? Because he said so. How did I know he meant it? The black leather strap. When he spoke about other things and gave people his word on something and they shook hands on it, I would have been more than willing to let the other party in on what those hands of my dad’s (that looked to me like Paul Bunyan’s hands) could do!

What are our responsibilities to the future and more distant generations? Are we doing enough for them? In this article, Dr. Gary Welton examines how our current decisions impact those of future generations. He writes, “Without a doubt, the most serious way in which we are not protecting our descendants is with regard to financial irresponsibility. Our national debt is approaching 35 trillion dollars, representing a personal debt of $105,000 for every individual (adult, teen, child, toddler, and newborn) living in America.”

Election reform cannot happen in a one-party system. Oligarchs and plutocrats will not tolerate their own removal from power. Without reform elections become meaningless.

President Ronald Reagan warned, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction... It must be fought for, protected, and handed on… to our children…or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children…what it was once like in the United States where people were free.”

We must salvage both the “knowledgeable” and those that “know so much that is not so” toward individually building for the future and collectively paying off the debt we are leaving to our heirs; not through higher taxes… but through fully private development of our national potential…where government returns to its “punishment only” role, as envisioned by our founders and proven by our history. Only then will private “Society” return to its rightful role as “benefactor” of those in dire straights through no fault of their own. As we look around us, is it not obvious, however, that most of the problems individuals are experiencing at this time in history, are due to their own life choices?

Most recently, I sat down and watched the debate between the Republican candidates for U.S. Congress. I was not disappointed. I thought they handled the questions well. For all their differences, they seemed to follow a standard Republican position on most issues, albeit conservative might be pushing it in a few places.

This primary season in North Dakota will go a long way to begin defining who the Republican Party will for the foreseeable future. Stay tuned, June 11 is right around the corner.

Friday, April 12, 2024, The Washington Times reported the following, “The House voted Friday to renew the government’s most important spying tool without any major change, giving the country’s intelligence community the powers it wanted.

Lawmakers shot down an attempt to add a new warrant requirement before the FBI can scour the data looking for American citizens’ identities, with a majority of the House agreeing with intelligence officials that it would be too dangerous to make the government have to take that step.”

Whatever happened to the Fourth Amendment? “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated…”

A myriad of additional human reproductive issues have not been included in this questionnaire.

Are you beginning to understand why “Abortion” is rightly a state issue? …Even if a particularly evil state decided to make it an individual issue by allowing all abortions with no exceptions.

If we could be assured that every individual was morally perfect (i.e. if this was Heaven on Earth) we would have no need for laws in general, much less laws concerning human reproduction. And Karl Marx (the Atheist-Communist) would have been “pleased as punch.” And next time you hear a federal office-holder continuously spewing opinions on abortion, know it is worthless drivel. $34.5 Trillion National Debt!

Consider a bit of history. Some readers are old enough to remember the following. In 1992 Ross Perot (Reform Party, TX) threw his hat in the presidential campaign running against incumbent President George Bush (R) and newcomer William Jefferson Clinton (D). Perot effectively siphoned votes from Bush and we ended up with Clinton.

Four years earlier, at the 1988 Republican Presidential Convention, George Bush gave his famous pledge – “Read my lips. No new taxes.” In 1990 he reneged on his pledge earning him the anger and distrust of the American voter. As a perfect product of “the swamp” he deserved the public’s ire.

Be careful how you vote.