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Political landscape prompts announcement of non-candidacy

I will not be running for governor, or any other public office, this year of 2024. I have carefully considered this option. I’m reasonably sure that I could do a very good job serving as our state’s governor, and have fun doing it. With mounting dissatisfaction with North Dakota’s status quo, winning the governorship looks like a realistic possibility. At least on paper. Yet, I have decided against it. My motives are mixed. Some are personal. Some are political. And part of it is that I’m just flat-out disgusted with a crab mentality in our state’s political culture. It ...

Why elections result in little change

It seems that we go through the same liturgy every two years requiring us to believe in the democratic process. As the candidates orate, our hopes of change are magnified until our expectations outrun their performance. To restrain our disgust, we need to take a realistic look at the nature of our government and accept the consequences. As stated before, Alexander Hamilton, writing in the Federalist Papers, warned the country about the inertia built in the system so that most campaign rhetoric is meaningless. It’s a big spuff. Hamilton’s insights Hamilton was a man of ...

Legislature lacks concern for ND children

The issue of homeless students in North Dakota has come to the fore in the last couple of weeks. Homeless in North Dakota? Even though a variety of public and private entities offer services, kids are still falling in the cracks. We shouldn’t be surprised because a global look at our neglect of children in this state reflects our “bootstraps” orientation to life is one of private sector capitalism and not compassion for the needy. Right now, the state is reaping millions of dollars more than expected from the energy sector. The first act of the legislature is not to check the ...

US mental health crisis often dismissed

Writing in FOCUS, a Pew publication, Dr. Thomas Insel, former director of National Institute of Mental Health, says that “feelings of anxiety and depression have grown to levels where virtually no one can ignore what is happening.” He noted that a recent CNN/Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that “90% of Americans feel we are in a mental health crisis.” Even though more people in the United States are prospering in an era of incredible wealth, anxiety is prevalent at all levels of society. The country is in the grips of a mental illness pandemic. Nothing has brought ...

Age will eventually get you

January finds me marking another notch in the time belt, meaning that someone needs to tell the following generation about the hazards of living up where the air is thin. Most old people don’t want to admit that they have become the antiques in the museum of life. In fact, you can actually hear the spirit of one being carried to the cemetery saying “But I’m not old. … Really, I’m not old.” With age comes wisdom, something that can be shared with those in need of solace. Wisdom is not learned in books but from life experiences that go awry and remind you that you don’t ...

History says 2024 does not look good

As we sit on the fringe of hate and fear, 2024 promises to be the test of our grit. In fact, the future is so grim that you may want to consider getting off before the earth scientists discover that earth warming will accelerate as the world’s leaders promise to turn down the heat. Earth warming will continue through 2024 and require responses from America’s water edge populations. Canoes are selling great in New York; Mar-a-Logo is sandbagged for 32 feet; water wings are hot in Houston. In New Jersey, ice cubes will hit a market high. 55-gallon oil barrels are being pilfered and ...