Dakota Beacon

At the close of FY 2023, only the Marine Corps -- the smallest Defense Department service except for the Space Force -- met both active-duty and reserve recruiting goals. The Army, the largest of the services, performed the worst falling short by 15,319 (24%) of its active-duty goal even after lowering its target by 9,000. Just 9% of Americans aged 16-21 expressed a willingness to consider a military career down from the pre-pandemic norm of 13%.

However, finding enough young people qualified to serve will be a moot point if they are not willing to serve in the first place. But this reveals only half of the problem. The other half constitutes retaining good people on active duty and stopping the hemorrhaging.

(Bismarck, ND) – In its continued commitment to bring new, exciting programming to viewers, BEK TV is thrilled to announce the upcoming premiere of "Open Range," a compelling weekday program hosted by North Dakota native Gary Emineth. “Open Range” will focus on a wide variety of issues affecting North Dakotans.  Viewers can watch the premiere episode on Monday, January 22, 2024, at 9pm CT, live over-the-air on the BEK TV channel, online BEK News or on the BEK TV+ streaming app.

This week the months of speculation on the famous Iowa Caucus were settled and Trump won with results as follows:  Trump - 51%, DeSantis - 21.2%, Haley - 19.1%, Ramaswamy - 9.7(+/-)%.  In most analyses Trump did as expected while DeSantis over-performed and Haley under-performed.  Ramaswamy seriously lost.  Now it’s time to sit back and figure out what it all means at this point.

A book review by Lynn Bergman

Honorable Treason – The Declaration of Independence and the Men Who Signed It

I stumbled into this book by David Freeman Hawke in a thrift store and had no idea as to the wealth of information it contained. It came out in 1976, the year of our country’s bi-centennial.

What has so often struck me, and irked me, about the embrace of “diversity” dogma is how profoundly unintellectual it is. A wiseguy might say it’s really a simple IQ test, though a wise guy understands it’s a soul and sagacity test. To wit:

To the extent that a person accepts as imperative diversity, DEI, CRT, wokeness in general — or whatever the latest shiny anti-Truth thing is — he is a vacuous know-nothing, not just unqualified, but dangerously ignorant.

When playing with words, the rich English language lends itself to great versatility. Appropriate use of the language can be fun and rewarding ranging all the way to the serious – and ridiculous. Its flexibility inevitably enhances its value.

Take acronyms for example. “Acronym” defined: A word formed from the initial letter or letters of each successive part or major parts of a compound term. (See https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acronym). The word “acronym” typically applies when the resulting entity can be read as a word.

For decades, the federal administrative and regulatory sector has grown substantially. Has it overstepped its bounds in the fishing industry? In this article, Constitutional scholar Dr. John Sparks discusses a case that will appear before the Supreme Court this week: Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo. Sparks looks at a 1984 case that has given years of bad precedence and argues, “This case and others being heard this term have to do with what is often referred to as the growth of the administrative or regulatory sector. Chevron has been a large part of the reason for that growth. After Chevron, reliance of the courts upon this doctrine of judicial deference naturally has encouraged greater regulatory boldness.”

There are a lot of agendas being served in the national and state Republican party. As you listen/read the news, social media, blogs, and radio, it is difficult to know what to think. It can be difficult to filter through the noise and bias to know what is true.

One of the establishment narratives is that the state GOP is out of control and being run by a bunch right wing nuts . I happen to disagree. I believe the party is under solid leadership. They know what they believe and actually invite serious debate, and they support the platform and ideals of the party.

I must admit my generation (including me) has not done an adequate job of translating the foundational message of freedom to our children. In fact, we have contributed to attitudes of complacency, indifference and put them in danger of “falling for the narrative.”

Recently, former South Carolina governor and presidential candidate Nikki Haley was criticized for her answer to a question about the Civil War. President Joe Biden even joined in on the criticism. In this article, historian and author Dr. Gary Scott Smith argues the answer is not simply one word. He writes, “The causes of the war, however, are much more complex than Biden and many other of Haley’s critics maintain. Historians have long argued that political, psychological, economic, social, political, moral, and religious factors all contributed to the outbreak of war.”

Is there American blood on the hands of Speaker Mike Johnson?  We could say so.  I would say so. 

Ambitious Germans of Jewish descent, Hermann Einstein and his brother Jacob ran a small company involved in electrifying southern Germany. A son. Albert, was born to Hermann and Pauline Einstein on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Germany. Shortly, they moved to Munich.

Prague was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. When Einstein took an oath of allegiance, he was first required to declare a religious denomination. He tried to say none but that being unacceptable, he formally identified as a Jew. He liked to joke that the Emperor had made him Jewish. So ultimately, blood ran thicker than water for Albert, despite his Catholic school upbringing.

I strongly recommend this book for a deep dive into the most famous physicist in world history; you will be amazed, astounded and best of all, educated as to his life’s work.

There will always be a Far Right.  All of the Left needs there to be one, hence there is one somewhere out there.  We’ve all heard of them - the White Supremacists, Q-Anon.

The only thing new about the invasion of illegal immigrants are the vastly increased numbers flowing into the United States unimpeded with no end in sight. In total, there were more than 3.2 million illegal border crossings in FY2023 alone. And of course, that number only accounts for those who were apprehended. Some estimates run as high as 5 million “gotaways” since Joe Biden took office. That number includes untold numbers of terrorists, drug dealers, and human traffickers.

Like many of you, the days between Christmas and New Years are for me days spent in rehearsal and reflection. Rehearsal as I think about what’s to come in 2024 and reflection as I think of what has passed in 2023.

Both are part of an exercise I’ve developed from the thoughts and musings of others much more intellectual than I.

One is a quote from Adlai Stevenson: “We can chart our course for the future clearly and wisely only when we know the path which has led to the present.”

Human interest stories always sell. Often, at the transition of the year, local newspapers carry stories recounting events from times past. Retrieved from dusty archives are scraps and tidbits of inconsequential happenings. They might read something like this. “Ten years ago today the Little Town football team beat the City Slickers in an overtime game.” Or “Twenty-five years ago today the old shed near the corner of 5th and Elm burned down. Cause was unknown.”

With the old year spent and the new year pending, it is like that around our house. “Subdued” would be a good word to describe the changing of the years. We keep it simple. A quiet atmosphere prevails after the Holiday hubbub. Inevitably the conversation evolves to events of the past year. The good times, the bad, and the ugly all qualify for review.

“Why is Harvard giving Claudine Gay ‘plagiarism privilege’?” asked the New York Post editorial board Saturday.

It must be a rhetorical question. Professor Carol Swain, who was ripped off by Gay and complains “I feel like her whole research agenda, her whole career, was based on my work,” has some idea.

“A white male would probably already be gone,” Swain, a black woman herself, told journalist Christopher Rufo recently.

Instead, Gay, who assumed Harvard’s presidency just this July, is being retained and defended by her Ivy League school. Never mind that investigation has thus far “left four of her 11 peer-reviewed papers flagged for possible plagiarism, plus her thesis,” relates the Post. Never mind that Swain isn’t the only academic upset about Gay’s appropriation of their writings. Never mind that Harvard has frequently expelled students for plagiarism. The accountability Gay must endure is that she’s being allowed to  “correct” her work so she can continue enjoying a position obtained via academic fraud.

In the very tiresome battles over whether one religious element can be in the public realm without being accompanied by other “religious” elements that someone, somewhere claims to value, a simple point is missed:

We do have the right to freedom of religion.

But this does not equate to the right to equal government showcasing of religion.

The issue at hand is that cultural devolutionaries have for years now applied a religion-focused Cloward-Piven strategy, through which they seek to eliminate all public-square religious expression by inundating the system with equal-time requests for “religious” expression ranging from the evil to the asinine.

At the closing of the year families and friends tie together the loose ends of time in a spirit of camaraderie. Many people around the world bid farewell to the old year by singing “Auld Lang Syne”. This traditional celebration acknowledges the past, buries the hatchet, and anticipates a better future. What is done is done. One cannot unscramble scrambled eggs. Let bygones be bygones and turn over a new leaf with the New Year.

Most people know, or are familiar with, the tune to “Auld Lang Syne.” Some may even be familiar with the verses in their entirety. But only a fraction would know the verses in the Scottish laced with Celtic words. The original words are attributed to Robert Burns (1759-1796). However, he did not write the melody.

Literal translation: “auld lang syne” means “old long since” or “old long ago.” Idiomatically, the words could be rendered “long ago” or “days gone by.”

As we wind down 2023, we wanted to share a remarkable achievement that occurred on the campus of Grove City College. This fall, the College football team accomplished something it had never done before: it reached the NCAA National Championship Sweet 16. In this article, Dr. James Thrasher chronicles the journey from a 33-game losing streak to the feats of this season.

Democrats have no intention of losing the presidency in 2024.  They have a plan and it is well-orgnized.  It has many components:  courts, juries tilted toward conviction of Trump, managed polls and an over-arching game plan which will incorporate a large number of Republicans and populists, most especially the followers of Donald Trump.  And it will almost certainly succeed.

A book report on “Lost in Trans Nation - A Child Psychiatrist’s Guide Out of the Madness” by Miriam Grossman, MD

If you have children up to age 21, you need to read every single sentence and paragraph of this book. To do otherwise I would call child neglect.

Are you hopeful? Have you lost all hope? What is the source of the hope you live on?

A pastor I know in Scottsdale says, “You can live 3 weeks without food, 3 days without water, 11 days without sleep, but not a single minute without hope.” I happen to agree with him!

Especially since Christmas is upon us, I’d like to elaborate on what brings me hope. My hope lies not in religion, ideology, or deliverance from evil forces. My hope lies in a person and his work. “In Him was life and His life was the light of men.”

Christmas! The season marches on with an unrelenting cadence. Please, back away from the hubbub and take time, make time, to reflect on the Life of the celebration. A story, a poem, a song will inspire the Christmas spirit.

In our post-modern era, as Christianity slowly wanes, a Biblical meaning of Christmas pleads to be told. One old Christmas sermon caught my eye expressing a time past when people embraced their Christianity far more seriously than they do today. Or so it seems. A volume (1903) titled “Holy-days and Holidays” contained a succinct sermon written in the late 1800s by David Gregg, DD.

His quest? Where was Christ before Christmas? My interpretation? Well, read on.

“What is truth?,” Pilate asked of Jesus. That question has haunted mankind for thousands of years. In this age of exponential knowledge, accelerating at a breakneck pace, it becomes difficult to discern what’s true and what is fake.

It seems in wake of this increase of knowledge coupled with the internet connecting people to so much information, we are approaching overload. We may already be there.

Alcohol consumption during the Holiday Season climbs precipitously from Thanksgiving through New Years. Office parties, house parties, bars, and lounges afford ample opportunity to imbibe. At the risk of being a stodgy old curmudgeon, allow me to speak from experience.

Consequently, Christmas and New Years bring the best of times -- and the worst of times. Family and friends gather for fun and to socialize -- and drink. People visit and exchange gifts -- and drink. Folks ring out the old year and ring in the new -- and drink. Throughout mankind’s history, consuming alcohol became integral to social and religious celebrations. If a substance could be fermented it has probably been distilled and consumed for its exhilarating effect.

Whether celebrating events, enhancing the warmth of fellowship, or just escaping the daily routine, the net effect is the same. A drink or two instills euphoria and release, a sense of soft giddiness and exhilaration. More alcohol eventually gives way to lowered inhibitions which, in turn, affect good judgment and prudent behavior.

The historical norm has been to keep balkanization-breeding, often unassimilable foreign elements out of your lands, not invite them in. This attitude, still the norm in Japan and elsewhere, must be resurrected in the West. Immigrationism must be discredited and stigmatized, become viscerally distasteful and be completely and unsparingly eradicated as a political force.

The alternative is perpetuating the double standard with regard to foreign inundation. That is, were it visited on a primitive tribe, anthropologists would warn, “This is demographic and cultural genocide!” But when it happens to the West? That’s “diversity.”

 For the West to live, immigrationism must die.

FBI Director Christopher Wray recently suggested that threats of terrorist attacks in the United States have been raised to a new high.

Wray spoke before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on Tuesday, October 31. He said, "The reality is that the terrorism threat has been elevated throughout 2023, but the ongoing war in the Middle East has raised the threat of an attack against Americans in the United States to a whole other level." He added, "The greatest terrorism threat to our homeland is posed by lone actors or small cells of individuals who typically radicalize violence online."

Startling news, of course. Yet, I hold today’s FBI in low esteem as I do other departments of the Executive Branch. These departments’ idea of protecting America resides in prosecuting Donald Trump and defending Biden’s alleged criminal activities. Again, my opinion.

Good parents do everything in their power to protect their children. But what happens when the government takes that power away?

Once again, the United Kingdom has given us the answer.

Dean Gregory and Claire Staniforth, a British couple from the Derbyshire region, are grieving the death of their infant daughter Indi, who passed away on Nov. 13 after suffering from a mitochondrial disease. But baby Indi’s illness isn’t what killed her. The blames lies at the feet of the U.K. government.

An offering from the past reflects the challenge of today.

Thanksgiving proposes a time to reflect with a heart full of gratitude on the blessings given by the Almighty. A time of gathering embraces conviviality, warmth, and memory-making. “Thanksgiving Day,” a poem by Lydia Maria Child, invokes a spirit of happy memories. A few stanzas follow.

The year 2024 is coming fast and that means one thing. A presidential election is on the horizon, and it promises to be like none other. 

The Democrats have a dilemma on their hands. Do they tempt fate with another Biden/Trump match-up or do they pull the plug on Biden and take a risk on Newsom or someone else? 

The Republicans are held hostage by Trump and his massive lead over any other candidate from a shrinking number of contenders for the nomination.

North Dakotas own Doug Burgum, born and raised in a small town, jumping through all the hoops to appeal to his constituents in the state, has managed to secure only a third-place status behind DeSantis and Trump.

Which begs the question, “What’s up with that?”