You’re holding in your hand something akin to a miracle in an increasingly authoritarian world, a reflection of incredible foresight on the parts of the Founding Fathers. They understood that democracy couldn’t exist if the voice of the governed was stifled. Free speech wasn’t an afterthought, it wasn’t the Second Amendment, it was the First. It’s enshrined in the U.S. …
Seriously, I didn’t think it would ever come to this, although in the past few months it seems like the writing has been on the proverbial wall. Over the past two years, I’ve gone back and forth, back and forth, looking at the irritations and aggravations that I have experienced in the dozens of times we have either had no …
To put it in a nutshell. No Gutenberg, no Luther. No Luther, no Reformation. At one point, Luther (1483-1546) was publishing a book (more like a pamphlet) every three or four weeks. The advent of moveable type and the printing press (ca. 1440) made it possible for an obscure monk’s critique of late medieval Catholicism to travel all over Europe. The …
You’re not helping. I know, you heard from a friend of a friend of a friend whose dad knows a guy, but let me tell you what reporting is like from the professional side of things. We can’t print it, or broadcast it, or blog it, if we can’t document it. Why? Because it would be irresponsible. After you’ve worked …
From this: To this, in just one week: I’m pretty sure that is the biggest headline ever in the Adams County Record. And well it should be. Just a week after the paper announced Nov. 29, “This is the final issue of the Adams County Record” because its corporate owner was shutting it down, a local neighboring publisher picked it …
“It’s been a nice warm week with a high of 57 degrees on Sunday, Looks like more cold winter weather is headed this way, so we better enjoy the balmy days. “There were more replacement surgeries this week. Ron Jenson and Kelly Britton got new hips on Monday and Ron Floyd got a new knee. Thankfully, it sounds like everything …
A year or so ago, someone approached me at a party and said, “So how about this fake news?” By her tone and facial expression, I knew she was really saying something to the effect of, “If the president is saying it, it must be true.” This person, of course, knew that I had spent most of my career as …
I’m about to break two rules. Never argue with someone who buys ink by the barrel. Never get in a pissing match with a skunk. This one’s a two’fer because it’s the skunk that buys ink by the barrel. The skunk is The Bismarck Tribune, which has just pulled off the slickest “bait-and-switch” gambit I’ve seen in a long, long …
I’ve been thinking lately about what I really want for Christmas … especially this year, when “peace on earth, good will to all” seems in such short supply. My family tells me I’m tough to shop for. I like what I have; I certainly don’t need more. So in the interest of making life easy for anyone who’s thinking of …
Americans have lost confidence in just about everything The USA, Americans say, basically sucks right now. The latest Gallup Poll says Americans over the past two years have lost confidence in, well — name it: Congress (8 percent); the presidency (33 percent); Supreme Court (32 percent); big friggin banks (“institutions” that made $4 billion charging customers for money transactions … 28 …