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2023: The technobrats are in charge now

Due to the recent exit of Lt. Gov. Brent Sanford, Gov. Doug Burgum has yet another vacancy to fill to round out his administration before the local tech titan sets his sights on a third run in 2024. The governor had previously announced an aggressive agenda for the Legislature’s next session, which is bound to do nothing to change the testy dynamic between the two. On the whole, Gov. Burgum has proven to be a popular and capable leader for the state. He’s managed statewide disasters and cultivated new industries to broaden the state’s economy, namely in the realms of crypto and ...

How will you use your next 7,000 words?

Dear Minot: Research shows that the average adult speaks at least 7,000 words in a day. Obviously, depending on your personality and your job, you might speak far more than that, or considerably less. But for the sake of this column, I’ll use 7,000 as average for a day. Words matter – all of them. If I’m using at least 7,000 words in my average day, I want to make sure they’re all important and used for maximum effect. At the end of every year, countless organizations declare their Word of the Year. For instance, Merriam-Webster listed “gaslighting” as its word of the ...

2022: A year of lies

As we are a caught up in the churning currents of the Endless Present, it is healthy to grab ahold of the shore from time to time, to catch our breath and take stock of everything this force has left in its wake. If 2022 taught us anything, it’s that the house we’re all collectively in is on fire, and anyone grabbing a bucket of water or a fire extinguisher is castigated as crazy or even evil for even pointing out the flames. Some of the so-called “truths” we’ve been told in recent years were revealed to be lies, but no single person could possibly observe let alone retain ...

Rape no longer crime in North Dakota

Even though the laws relating to rape have not been repealed, victims are not getting justice in the present system. Administratively, rape gets no priority.  Right now, North Dakota has 271 rape cases – doubled since December 21, 2021 – gathering dust because the criminal justice machinery has shoved rape cases to the back burner where nothing happens for months. Gov. Doug Burgum could hardly wait for the legislature to meet so he could rush through funding for business development – even borrow the money from the Bank of North Dakota. But there was no dispatch to pursue ...

The ‘Death of Discourse’ is a real ‘whodunit’

There’s been mountains of hay made over the last few years diagnosing the causes behind the “death of discourse,” but it mostly devolves into people standing around the corpse casting blame around like a bad game of Clue. For some reason I’m compelled to join the throng and throw an “J’accuse” of my own out into the Aether, but first some further apologetics for Trumpism. There’s an awful lot that can be said about the role that the “rhetoric” of former President Donald Trump played in this murder. Back in 2016 when I would channel surf late at night, I’d ...

Christmas is what you make of it

Many have been rushing around buying Christmas gifts for family and friends, decorating their homes inside and some outside, and enjoying cookies, candies and all those special treats. It’s the Christmas season and a time when family and friends get together. But there are many who will not be going home for Christmas. They might have a job that requires them to continue working, can’t afford to make the trip or some other reason. There’s others who have no place to go. They might not have any family or friends to visit at this time of year. Everyone has a different ...