Dakota Beacon

We must not lose sight of our good and noble purpose as we help people find the blessings of freedom. As many have said, the United States is the last great hope of freedom for millions of oppressed people everywhere. I firmly believe that. As we see events in Egypt today we see the struggle play out before our eyes how people desperate for freedom will put their lives before
the battle tanks of tyrants.

The commitment to religious tolerance is the result of a struggle from the earliest days of English colonization between the followers of a broad-minded ideal of English America and a narrow-minded view. Although few will be surprised that the roots of American religious liberty go back this far, many may be surprised to learn that four kings of England -- two Protestant and two Catholic -- rather than the people or Parliament were the champions of religious tolerance during this struggle.

The time is now for the state to get out of the retirement planning business, normalize salaries to where interest groups claim those levels should be, empower state workers to control over their own finances, and do so without breaking the bank or creating a never ending bailout.

So people can choose to believe the heart strings-tugging but false argument of spread-the-wealth zealots like Barack Obama and the Economics Policy Institute. But putting policies into action based on that belief would mainly serve to discourage the efforts of the people who create the jobs that funnel the income to people who need the jobs. Without jobs, the poor are unable to buy things. And they have been buying more and more things for some time now. America's lowest earners are far wealthier than their low-earning predecessors.

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So then, in the ditzy liberal quest for a "renewable future," the ditzy French government pulled a typically ditzy liberal stunt: reduce your carbon footprint by increasing your carbon footprint.

There go those darned unintended consequences again. You know, the ones that come from ditzy liberal panaceas?

As Secretary of Education Bill Bennett knew, Ronald Reagan’s memory was not only good but exceptional. In fact, several of Reagan’s closest advisers, two of whom dated back to the gubernatorial days in Sacramento, have told me that they believe Reagan had a photographic memory. Knowing that Reagan’s 75-year-old brain remained sharp, Bennett confidently put Reagan on the spot in front of a group of educators in the East Room of the White House…. This exchange doesn’t strike me as evidence of an addled brain. This clip needs to be watched to be appreciated. Reagan had no notes, no TelePrompter—and no onset of Alzheimer’s.

Calling the U.S. Constitution "The Commandments" may seem like something that an overly enthusiastic, strict interpretationist might do. And that's exactly what Harvard history professor Jill Lepore implies in an article in The New Yorker, titled "The Commandments."

Obama proclaimed “this is our generation's Sputnik moment” which was puzzling to say the least. Anyone less than a half century old probably did not get the connection. His was a clumsy metaphor.

To be sure, the SOTUS avoided depth and appealed more to people's feelings with flowing rhetoric and smooth platitudes. In that case, one may wonder if there is any difference between the SOTUS and Superbowl beer commercials.

SOTUS 2011 quickly fades. Words. Just words. Does anyone even remember them now?

The news from Egypt has thrust President Obama’s State of the Union off the front pages. While that news is critical, so is further analysis of the State of the Union, especially from an economic perspective. My previous column focused on the political dimensions of the State of the Union address, about how Barack Obama has already entered full campaign mode in an attempt to woo the 5 or 10 percent of the swing vote that he needs for re-election. Today, let’s look at the economic aspects of the speech. One would hope that, after two years of failed policies and economic stagnation, President Obama would have seen the need for a changed economic strategy. Alas, beyond a few cosmetic touches, Obama’s approach to economics remains substantially unchanged.

Would Republicans nominate a presidential candidate who pushes thoroughly-debunked biofuel nonsense? Were the party to select Newt Gingrich, it will have nominated, in the Wall Street Journal's words, "Professor Cornpone."

Professor Cornpone hasn't yet officially announced, but he is running for President.

If Republicans stand up for freedom, they will be despised by the ruling class. They will miss the cocktail parties.  They will be demonized by the media. They will be loved by the people.

We sent Republicans back to Washington to represent the people, not the ruling class minority.  They are on probation. We can always vote third party next time.

Increasingly, our government reminds me of a certain old Star Trek episode.  It was titled “I, Mudd,” and in it the Enterprise explorers found themselves in the grip of seemingly perfect androids determined to serve man.  The automatons informed the crew that humans were “self-destructive,” needed their “help” and couldn’t be trusted with freedom.  One of the mechanical masters concluded by telling Captain Kirk, “we shall serve them [humans] and you will be happy…and controlled.”

After Barack Obama delivered his January 12 speech scolding the American left for politicizing the Loughner shootings, one of my readers warned that Obama was leveraging the occasion to draw attention from the presidential destruction of "an entire culture's hard earned lifestyle."  The reader added, "Barry learned in basketball, fake a goal shot with the right hand and score with the left one."

After Barack Obama delivered his January 12 speech scolding the American left for politicizing the Loughner shootings, one of my readers warned that Obama was leveraging the occasion to draw attention from the presidential destruction of "an entire culture's hard earned lifestyle."  The reader added, "Barry learned in basketball, fake a goal shot with the right hand and score with the left one."

In his State of the Union address, Obama played to the middle, paying lip service to free enterprise while making the case that it’s up to government to ensure future prosperity. His call for a five-year freeze on ‘discretionary spending’ was brilliant. While wooing independents and moderates with his talk of fiscal restraint, he must have delighted his leftist allies with his proposal to make the Pentagon bear the lion’s share of spending cuts.”

Obama’s strategy is masterfully conceived. It is a classic ‘two steps forward, one step back’ tactic for advancing his larger progressive goal of increasing the federal government’s power over the distribution of wealth in our society…. Democrats should take heart and Republicans had better watch out. This man means business, and he is already doing what he does best: campaigning. The ‘new Obama’ that some people see is really just the old Obama—a clever, driven politician committed to a permanent expansion of government power.

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What is the remedy?  It isn’t enough to merely ensure that 50 percent of reporters and pundits are Republicans.  Remember that while 40 percent of Americans describe themselves as conservative, only 21 percent self-identify as liberal.  Moreover, leftists have long emphasized the principle of “proportionality” (such as when they want to apply it to Title IX).  Thus, I’m sure they will agree that our media contingents should reflect the ideological composition of the wider population. And this wouldn’t be hard to achieve, either.  For instance, all a paper such as The New York Times would have to do is fire columnists such as Paul Krugman and Nicholas Kristof in favor of Selwyn Duke and S.L. Duke. 

The scientific method is just that--a method. And methods can be corrupted by people.

Today's most notorious illustration of junk science is the human-caused global warming hoax. However, even scientists who genuinely want to perform objective research are capable of practicing flawed science.

Scientists, mere Homo sapiens after all, instinctively see what they want to see. Schooler wanted to debunk the "describing improves memory" axiom. In his early experiments, Schooler probably inadvertently made it comparatively easy for test subjects who were not required to describe faces to recall those faces. Then after the work became repetitive and interest waned, his subsequent experiments were designed and conducted in a detached manner--in other words, objectively. Schooler has therefore never duplicated his early "success."

Last night, Republican Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin delivered the official ‘Republican Response’ to the State of the Union (SOTU). I wish there were no official response, and that’s not because I didn’t want to hear from a Republican. I’m a Republican, and I’m even interested in some of Ryan’s ideas for controlling spending. I’d have the same position if the roles were reversed; that is, if a Republican were in the White House and a Democrat were responding. An official response to the SOTU is a recent invention that seems to have no positive effect.

Since 1982 neither party could resist the urge to respond to the SOTU. Even with various formats … the official responses have produced nothing but a string of forgotten events with no discernible influence on policy development.

"Faith opens reason and liberates it, without faith, reason would stop short,” said Caldecott  “Those who pursue a technocratic logic look at man as only a biological machine where the sum on his parts are to be used, developed and marketed”.

Wedged between Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday and Black History Month, but far in advance of St. Patrick’s Day, resides an almost-forgotten celebration of a very famous Celtic poet.Robert Burns was born January 25, 1759, in Ayrshire, Scotland. Two hundred fifty-two years later, Scotland’s immortal bard is still remembered on Burns Night around the world, particularly in British Commonwealth countries.

For me, the life issue is my starting point, of far greater value than where a politician stands on social security or the minimum wage. Obviously, other issues matter. The right to life, however, is the first and most fundamental of rights, without which other rights are impossible. And if you, personally, are unsure when life begins, consider Reagan’s recommendation: ‘If there’s even a question about when human life begins, isn’t it our duty to err on the side of life?’

The North Dakota University System is out of control.  Most legislators, of both parties, will agree with that to some extent (Sometimes publicly, more often privately.)  

“Clear Thinking” blog reader and business owner Don Ross recently received an email complaint from a customer. Don’s reply comprises a solid condemnation of Washington’s explosive invasion into our private lives. Don graciously granted me permission to post that reply following a summary of the customer’s concerns.

As I've often observed, the U.S. Constitution poses no serious threat to our form of government; it now bears roughly the same relation to that government that the Book of Revelation bears to the Unitarian Church. And liberals aim to keep it that way.

Which is what, at one level, the fight over Roe is all about. And some liberals are honest enough to admit this. You will find some advocates of legal abortion who agree that Roe was badly reasoned; but you won't find any opponents of legal abortion who think it was well reasoned.