Dakota Beacon

Triumph of Science: Abby Johnson, former director of the Planned Parenthood clinic in Bryan, Texas saw an ultrasound video of a child being abborted, quit her job and became a pro-life activist.

Few things I've encountered in my 25-plus years in the insurance business are as outrageous as the prosecution of Sandy Blunt, the former head of the North Dakota work comp fund.

I have no idea what in the hell is going on up in North Dakota, but I do know this. Sandy Blunt is a decent, honest, very capable guy who has been absolutely screwed, apparently in no small part by a prosecutor who broke the law.

For all Obama’s eloquence, he is indecisive. Has no set strategy, yet he demurs on General McChrystal’s recommendations. Victory, he told the nation recently on national TV in an allusion to the surrender of Japan, is not something with which he is comfortable. The ongoing conflict in Afghanistan is rapidly devolving into a protracted conflict by political fiat

We all need to get active in politics before it is too late! Each of us can start today by joining a political party and then by participating this coming January in the caucuses that nominate candidates for public office. A coming issue of the Dakota Beacon will reveal those in the North Dakota legislature that beg retirement…then it will be up to you, the voters, to hand them their pink slip in January at the caucuses!

At some point the Caesar cult has to manifest itself in an achievement – I mean a real achievement, not merely some dud prize handed out by Norwegian lefties. Afghanistan is his now: Notwithstanding “years of drift”, whether it winds up as victory or defeat or is his call. It’s Obama’s war. It’s Obama’s economy. The stimulus bill is his stimulus, and for $787 billion it created 30,000 new jobs (according to the government) or (according to the Associated Press) 25,000. Either way, you do the math. It’s Obama’s unemployment rate, Obama’s dollar, Obama’s  debt. Pace Valerie Jarrett, the truth is you are the power. And those on the receiving end of it are going to be speaking a lot louder in the months ahead.

THE GREAT BADLANDS BREAKUP HAS BEGUN, NOKOTA HORSE, CRUDE AND VULGAR BEHAVIOR, BRAVOS AND BUFFALO CHIPS, CHILDREN ARE IGNORED, BURPING NATURAL GAS, IRONIC DEVELOPMENT, ANOTHER SURPRISING DEVELOPMENT, THREE AFFILIATED TRIBES, 100 YEARS AGO, SPACIOUS SKIES AND WAVE OF GOLDEN GRAIN, DAKTOIDS

All of which leaves some with the feeling that what we are witnessing in our nation’s capital today simply cannot go on indefinitely; it is not “sustainable,” to use currently fashionable gibberish. A day of reckoning awaits us; or an apocalypse, call it what you will. Time and repetition have attenuated the shock value of facile comparisons to the Great Depression or banana republic economics. Something more profound is at work here, more disturbing.

The people of Afghanistan have a unique opportunity to choose the path that the Honduran people (through their institutions of representative democracy) have courageously chosen in ousting a corrupt and dishonest leader in hopes of something better. And WE HERE IN AMERICA HAD BETTER WAKE UP, because we are only a few procedural votes, some closed door dealings, and a Presidential signature away from losing much of what so many have fought and died for… this right of the individual to act responsibly and choose for himself what is in his own best interest, this constitutional guarantee that we have TAKEN FOR GRANTED for so long… what we call “FREEDOM”. We must all take action… NOW!

The bad news is that, in spite of the strategic retreat of scientists unable to deny earth’s present cooling trend and the dim prospects for a strong international agreement in December, Congress may still pass C&T legislation. The progressive/environmentalist power base of the Democratic Party will rally behind such a bill. It will be joined by some odd bedfellows, e.g., powerful corporations like Goldman Sachs eager to make fortunes by establishing a market for buying and selling CO2 permits.

Today special interests, not reasonable or rational decision makers and leaders, write the laws and direct the spending at all levels of government. These interests ply us with heartbreaking stories of the “good intentions” motivating them. Everyone knows what road is paved by “good intentions”.

The motivation for tolerance from the Left is clear.  Democrats see carloads of illicit votes.  They use their dupes’ maudlin sentiment to insist on providing free medical care, “education”, shelter, food and whatever else would encourage the bolt for the border.  The cold calculation of a corrupt political machine and hanky-wringing do-gooders are behind this on one side.

It may have been Obama’s talk of ‘hope’ that won over the Nobel Committee. But hope cannot be the strategic underpinning of U.S. foreign policy, any more than it should have been the lynchpin of Neville Chamberlain’s approach to dealing with Hitler or of successive U.S. administrations in handling Pyongyang. Today, as then, the stakes are far too high.

The “Leave Us Alone” coalition (1/5 to 1/4 of voters) competes with the “Takings” coalition (1/4 to 1/3 of voters) for the hearts and minds of the “Disinterested” coalition (near 1/2 of voters). In the extreme, we are referring here to antisocial right wing libertarians, guilt-ridden left wing socialists, and self-indulgent, if patriotic, independents; from these extremes, the exaggerated stereotypes are formed that make for today’s rabid political discourse. The proof of this description of the “political competition” is obvious; the “Leave Us Alone” and “Takings” coalitions rarely engage in direct attacks on “Independents”. Why? Because they desperately need Independents come Election Day…

Language in general, and English in particular, is fascinating and engaging. Its construction, usage and evolution offer hours for investigation. So why truncate the language when it’s possible to express one’s self precisely? Good question. Listen carefully to conversations around you. Better still, listen to the greatest perpetuators of all, the media pundits, and see how many clichés you can identify.

This one is a little different… . Two Different Versions…. ......... ....  Two Different Morals

“In the four years we have been giving these awards, we’ve never been more proud of anyone than we’ve been with the accomplishments of Tom Freier and the North Dakota Family Alliance,” said Tom Minnery, senior vice president of Focus on the Family Action. “They represent the very essence of grassroots involvement.”

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LIST OF DEFERRED GRIEVANCES, CHAPMAN UNJUSTLY REVILED, THE BEST COLLEGE HOCKEY RINK, WHAT IS BEHIND THE RANKINGS?, THE MYTH OF SUPERIOR ND SCHOOLS, CHANGING ND LANDSCAPE, ND WINTER DRIVING LESSONS, SCATTERED TO THE WIND ONLY TO BE REUNITED BY A FUNERAL, THIS AND THAT, DAKTOIDS

To be sure, this was indeed Mao Tse-tung’s philosophy: Right and wrong is not left to a single, universal authority—to a Supreme Being—but to oneself. Each and every human being is his or her own moral arbiter. This explains how Mao killed so many people without bothering his conscience. The Marxist-atheist created his own definitions. He decided it was right to let all those people die in order for him to follow his own path, according to his own definitions.

A famously fair-minded centrist told me the other day that he’d been taken aback by some of the near parodic examples of leftie radicalism discovered in the White House in recent weeks. I don’t know why he’d be surprised. When a man has spent his entire adult life in the “community organized” precincts of Chicago, it should hardly be news that much of his Rolodex is made up of either loons or thugs. The trick is identifying who falls into which category.

President Obama has wrongly sided with the majority of the international community in attempting to return Zelaya to office in Honduras as if Zelaya had done nothing wrong! We must ask ourselves WHY?

The print edition of The Dakota Beacon magazine will be in the mail and on the streets of North Dakota starting today!

This economist doesn’t know the future, and this article isn’t giving investment advice. Gold prices may continue to soar or they may get caught in a deflationary downdraft. I will, however, make one categorical assertion: Gold is warning us that our country is on the wrong track

One day, I could see the eyes straying from me while talking about Napoleon, and how smart a general he was. I moved over and pulled down a map of Shakespearian England, and there was a Playboy Centerfold staring me in the face.

America has, for far too long, acted contrary to our national interests.  As a consequence the weakened fabric of America is weakening world peace and safety.  We must put our house in order.  America must be, first and foremost, the land of Americans and American values.  If we fail in this, American will no longer be the beacon of light which has beckoned the hard-working, forward-looking, courageous pioneers who have powered this great nation.

There is a frightening comparison between the Health Care Plans proposed by Democrats and the Holocaust. However, it isn’t the one Representative Alan Grayson (D-Florida) has made in his drive to have the Democratic plan imposed on Americans. The proposed Democratic Health Care Plans contain many of the same elements the Nazi’s plan to eliminate Europe’s Jews (i.e. the Holocaust) in the 1930’s and 40’s.

It would seem that nothing could be more important to America’s and the world’s future than the education of our young people.  They will inherit our country with all its problems and they must solve them.  They must carry on the work of freedom.  It is shocking that we are allowing the NEA and AFT to shortchange them.  How cynical!  How soulless.  How sad.

With Islam so prevalent in today’s news, this topic warrants scrutiny. The fact is that the Muslim population worldwide is expanding and shifting. It is prudent to familiarize ourselves with the reality of Islam. Consulting resources discussing the Islamic phenomenon would extend our comprehension. Here are a few suggestions.

Rush Limbaugh’s remarks are “divisive”; Anita Dunn’s are entirely
normal. But don’t worry, the new Fairness Doctrine will take care of the
problem.

Democracy cannot function when truth is routinely ignored and nothing can be believed by the voters.  The preservation of rules for determining who is lying deliberately, who is merely sloppy with facts, and who is telling the truth is important – critical, really – to a healthy federal republic.  Who could object to demanding honesty in the media or from our elected officials?  Only those who profit by lies.