Dakota Beacon

Picking the right word for manmade climate change (the new term for global warming) is not tough. Fraud. Sham. Bogus. Phony. Hoax will do. Believing that infinitesimally insignificant man can significantly change global weather is the height of conceit.

Every drop of rain that falls, every gust of wind that blows is the fault of mankind, or so the narrative implies. There is no longer a “normal” state of weather in the politicized world of climate change. Mother Nature has become a victim of humanity!

And the drumbeat of silliness goes on.

In today’s politically correct schools, all types of divisive expression are equal, but some are more equal than others. A case in point is Wiregrass Ranch High School in Wesley Chapel, FL, where showing disrespect for the National Anthem is supposedly a “First Amendment right.” Wearing a Confederate Flag cape, however, is a violation.

Don’t hide behind the “First Amendment,” you hypocrites. For it’s easy to uphold and justify unjust standards when you posture, engage in moral preening and lie to yourself about what you’re doing. Just acknowledge that, to you, showing disrespect for our nation is palatable, but politically incorrect expression (i.e., wearing a Confederate Flag) is not. Don’t kid yourselves. 

LET THEM EAT SANDBAGS; TAXABLE SALES; THE LARGEST WIND FARM; THEIR HANDS ARE TIED?; INTERVENTION; DUMB IDEA OF THE WEEK; HOT DOG!; YES, HE WAS A BIT LOUTISH; THE HECKLER; DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS; UNLAWFUL; THE PROFESSOR BLEW HIMSELF UP; A UND PhD CANDIDATE; NODAKS DON’T WHINE; LITTLE MOGADISHU; MAKE THEM MORE ACCOUNTABLE

Later today, thousands of people will attend a memorial service at the basilica on the Saint Vincent College campus to remember golf legend Arnold Palmer. Jack Nicklaus, another golf great, will be among the many distinguished speakers who will remember Palmer for his impact on the course and in the community. In this article, Dr. Mark Hendrickson offers his own tribute to Palmer along with two other sports legends who died in 2016.  

If Trump doesn’t know how Congress works we should not be surprised – we know he is ignorant of our Constitution and our form of government.  He thinks it is a dictatorship he’s running for.  It could also be that as a Democrat plant he is doing exactly what Hillary hopes.  He certainly is doing that, whatever is motivating him.

The question of Russian expansion in Syria brought out probably the worst moment of the night for Trump.

I recall trying to talk to committeemen in two states in an effort to get them to see this man for what he is.  I got uniform treatment from all of them.  I even got a phone call from one of them who was beyond rude.  None of them wanted to hear that Trump wasn’t the best idea since the Revolution.  I suppose they still think so.  I won’t be calling them again.  I think, on the contrary, that the Republican Party, of which I considered myself a member for 50 years, has exactly the right candidate to represent what they have become.

When asked, they tell us that they don’t like their “integrity” called into question.  Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich hated this also. 

Do you live to eat, or eat to live? With Holidays approaching this is a fitting question. Poor eating habits may reflect unrestrained indulgence or lack of self-discipline.

There are reasonable ways to modify eating habits leading to healthy weight. Whether dieting or maintaining, regressing to poor eating habits is a fast way to sabotage healthy weight.

Over the next month, presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will be facing tough questions about plans to deal with ISIS. But should Clinton or Trump even have a plan? How helpful will a plan be? In this article, the Center’s military scholar—Dr. Earl Tilford—argues that the candidates need to show a detailed national security policy and leave the planning to generals and admirals. Tilford writes, “To compete globally an effective president must understand strategic threats, available American resources, and correctly assess national will.” 

Sir Neville himself opened the door.  He was in a white turtleneck shirt and a navy blazer with a school emblem on the pocket – the very model of an English gentleman.

How do we choose to view our individual existence? Are we a creature within the natural world? If so, are we a predator, are we prey, or are we a scavenger who joins the feast without participating in the hunt?

The capitalist seeks individual opportunity to take calculated risks in expectation of rewards that are often proportional to such risks. Work and courage are required but intellect and skill ease the load.

The socialist seeks safety, security, comfort and above all, equality, in place of the risks that accompany individual opportunity.

Just as the scavenger enjoys the fruits of the predator without participating in the hunt, the socialist feels entitled to a portion of the rewards of participation in the marketplace that the capitalist has secured.

PIPELINES; THE DOWNTURN IN THE OIL INDUSTRY; CARSON WENTZ; A TRAVEL TIP; UNFUNDED MANDATE; NUCLEAR; BUNKY WAS A GOOD COWBOY; FROM SECTION GANG TO THE BOARD ROOM; “HAMBONE” IS BURIED; FOR MOORHEAD TO SUCCEED; DAKTOIDS
THE MR. SPINDLE FACTORY; 

Just because she is disrespecting Americans does not mean that WE are okay with Trump disrespecting us.  And it is arguable that Trump’s tax returns are actually more pertinent to deciding on our vote than Hillary’s emails.

For the most part, my folks were great planners. They had a plan for everything. If we took a trip, they had a plan. During the holidays they had a plan. It seems that for any occasion they had a plan.

Like most kids, I followed the example my folks set as I grew through adolescence into adulthood. Have a plan and follow it. You can always adjust, but you must start with a plan.

I watched my parents struggle with aging bereft of a “plan.” Slowly, they became less capable of managing their own affairs, making rational decisions, providing basic care for themselves.

My folks taught me from their unspoken example. Finish the plan and deal with the inevitable now while there is time. For this I am grateful and am resolved to avoid falling into the same deception that snared them.

There’s more to growing old than acquiring long term care insurance. There are real issues each person must contend with. Questions present the beginning of a checklist.

Last week, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton announced a plan that would increase the top rate of the estate tax by 62.5 percent. Why such a large increase? In this article, Dr. Mark Hendrickson looks at the proposal and writes, “Going after inheritances and estates is textbook Marxism. That is not an exaggeration. The third plank in Karl Marx’s 10-point platform for achieving socialism through democratic means … was the abolition of inheritances.” 

All false accusations made by a real coward, like all such accusations are.  But it might have been of some practical use to Trump after all

WENTZMANIA; ND’S DREAM FOOTBALL WEEKEND; IT’S NOT ALL BAD; I'M EXCITED AS AN OPERATING LEADER; THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION; THE STATE EMERGENCY COMMISSION; ND PETROLEUM COUNCIL; CLOSE TO HOME; THE FBI WILL INVESTIGAT; THAT MAKES IT PERFECTLY CLEAR; SO GOES THE STATE; A KILLER; DAKTOIDS

Today’s gridlock in Washington, between the Republican-controlled Congress and the Democratic administration, has frustrated both the right and the left. In this article, Dr. Gary Welton shares how a novel series by author C. J. Box has helped to shed light on some of the current political frustrations. Welton writes, “I am still undecided on how to vote in November, but I have learned more about the conservative American experience from reading C. J. Box than I have from listening to any debates or watching any commercials.” 

The stabbing jihad attack at the Crossroads Mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota, presents a number of issues worthy of discussion.

Yesterday, the CEO of a pharmaceutical company appeared before a House committee to answer questions about price increases on a product—the EpiPen, an auto-injection device used to treat potentially fatal allergic reactions. In Congress, a recent bill seeks to force drug manufactures to rationalize any price increase over 10 percent to the federal government. But is legislation the best solution? Is this a bill that could bring the entire industry dangerously close to government price controls? In this article, Dr. Richard D. Kocur argues that there is an easier fix. He writes, “As any businessperson knows, if you price a product too far above the cost of production you’re inviting competition to enter the market, thereby offering consumers a potentially lower-priced alternative.” 

“Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink.” So reads a line in Coleridge’s poem “The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner.” The mariner who shot an albatross (a symbol of good fortune) brought misfortune to his ship and crew.

            A contemporary Chicken Little version might be, “Fossil fuels; man-made global warming.”

            Not so fast. What might be other rational explanations for climate variations?

            One well-established weather cycle is the El Nino - La Nina pattern.

One of the characteristics of our declining civilization is that, more and more, reality seems like satire. A good example is a recent New York Times article titled “From He to She in First Grade.” Yeah, you guessed it, this is about another boy allowed to masquerade as a girl, aided and abetted by parents and teachers who belong in rubber rooms. 

“Transgenderism” is not a scientifically determined designation but an ideologically determined one, as I explain in-depth here. It is the Lysenkoism of our time, and it will likely be discarded in two or three decades. Until then, sadly, children will continue to be irreparably scarred by what is nothing but a severe form of child abuse. 

Something other than common sense or public interest is driving development of Arbor Park in Grand Forks.

. . . Except he’s a Democrat.  That means that he doesn’t believe in any of the things that has made us an economic powerhouse over the years.  He likes the big government that has been an albatross around the neck of industry.  He’d like it even bigger.

A recently released literature review has created a buzz. Among the issues attracting attention in the paper is the claim that genetics is not the sole determinant of sexual orientation. Does this make the “born that way” hypothesis false? In this article, Dr. Joseph J. Horton details the study and examines how the “born that way hypothesis is important to people on all sides.” 

In the baseball world, Ty Cobb is perhaps the most controversial player in history. On the field he was a tenacious player and fierce competitor. Cobb’s actions off the field, however, have been reported as less than admirable. But are all of the tales about his antics true? In this book review that first appeared at the Claremont Review of Books, Dr. Mark Hendrickson dives into the new book by Charles Leerhsen (“Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty”)—a book that possibly rehabilitates the reputation of a baseball icon. Hendrickson argues that Leerhsen’s book, “may be the most important baseball book in decades

The rapidly increasing power of bureaucrats controlling our lives should scare the dickens out of Americans. The good news is that more people are coming to recognize the assault by government on their liberty. The bad news is that some of these same people keep looking to government to solve their problems. They keep electing the same congressmen, senators and president that perpetuate the abuse. Apparently some voters don’t have a problem with expansive government programs. Nor do they have a problem with government confiscating wealth for bureaucrats to redistribute.

WHO HAS A TEST CENTER?; THE BEST LAID PLANS OF . . .; VIKING FANS ARE ABOAR; BIG IRON NEEDS YOU; STANDOFF; IT’S NOT PEACEFUL; THE ND PETROLEUM COUNCIL; PROTESTS ATTRACT POLITICAL FIGURES; PROCESS IS NOT ENOUGH; THE MDEWAKANTON SIOUX; LITTLE SOMALIA; TIME OUT; ARNOLD ANDERSON; FRIEDA NEUMILLER WATSON; DAKTOIDS

In the current issue of Time magazine an essay highlights the individual story of a transgender male who recently gave birth to a child. Should Time magazine depict the birthing and nursing experience of a transgender male as a new normal for American families? In this article, Dr. David J. Ayers argues that Time left out many important questions readers may have and subsequently framed the discussion inaccurately. He writes, “Journalists are supposed to ask the questions we cannot or are afraid to. The ones we know reasonable people think about. Can’t we do better than this fawning essay in Time magazine when we are dealing with something of this much consequence to so many people?”