Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
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Context matters. Take this simple statement: Nearly 10 percent of the world’s people live in extreme poverty. This is true. And standing alone, without context, this statement would lead many to think the world has a huge poverty problem. They'd be right. But they'd also be missing a big part of the story: Just twenty-five years ago nearly 30 percent of people lived in extreme poverty. So the world’s extreme poverty problem is actually getting much better. The prospects for the future would be very different if, instead of steadily imp...
Whatever you think about the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial, 5-4 midnight ruling on the Texas statute forbidding most abortions in the state, one thing is clear: the Court bears, in the name of accountability, the great responsibility of explaining its reasoning to the American people. The Court’s reliance on the “shadow docket,” a historic practice of ruling on emergency petitions, to uphold a novel law that greatly diminishes Roe v. Wade, and converts every Texan into a law enforcement official, constituted a sharp departure from the usua...
Early on the morning of September 11, 2001, I was a newly minted warehouse supervisor for a farmers cooperative. I can remember almost exactly where a customer’s truck was parked when I overheard him telling one of my co-workers something or another about a plane crash up north. A few minutes later, I received an urgent (landline) phone call from my wife. She had been watching NBC’s “Today” show and saw breaking coverage of the suicide attacks on the Twin Towers (and other targets). In my firs...
We just celebrated Labor Day. No, we didn't. Labor was forgotten while most of us only noticed that we had a holiday and spent it lounging, fishing, swimming, sunning, camping, playing – everything but recognizing the reason for the holiday. One thing is for sure, we took no time to honor labor. Modern unions first appeared in the 1870s when working people had to fight, starve and die to organize. The idea of unions was repulsive to the growing corporate community where no fringe benefits w...
Cramer pens letter to Senate leaders about energy policies U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the Senate Budget Committee, wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Wednesday, expressing his opposition to Democrats’ proposed $4 trillion spending package and the energy policies contained in it. “I write to you to express my opposition to your pursuit of passing another massive spending package filled with partisan wish-list...
Our botched withdrawal from Afghanistan is hard to witness, but hearing the reports of Taliban brutality is even worse. The U.S. Sun reports that “women face having ‘fingers cut off for using nail varnish,’” and that the Taliban “reportedly shot a woman dead in the street for not wearing a burqa…” My heart aches for all Afghanis. It especially aches for the young women who’ve flourished during the last 20 years by freely developing their minds and talents in school, but who now must submit to...
To avoid the partisan recrimination that now permeates discussions, perhaps we need to go to a paradigm that gives us neutrality while stripping away the unreasonable passions of the day. In our policymaking system, our nonpartisan dialogue can consider the endless debate between the common good and the private good. The common good is policy that accrues well-being to society; the private good is the reservation of everything in the Bill of Rights (first Ten Amendments), plus the economic...
Americans typically consider questions about the meaning of the Constitution through the prism of their own political views and values. As a consequence, they tend to defend as constitutional the acts of officials whom they support, and criticize as unconstitutional the acts of those representatives whom they oppose. This approach implies that the meaning of the Constitution turns on whose ox is being gored. Politics, partisanship and party affiliation are the controlling levers of constitutional understandings. This method of constitutional...
Dear Editor, As religious leaders in the New Rockford and Sheyenne communities, we recognize and appreciate what a great place this is to raise children. Our small-town culture helps our kids succeed and grow into engaged, resilient, well-rounded adults. A key element of this culture is our shared value of, and commitment to, family, faith and community. A large indication of that commitment is guarding Wednesdays after school and Sundays as “church time.” Research shows that young people who are engaged in youth programs and faith com...
According to CNN, pandemic fears and enhanced unemployment benefits have left the nation facing a serious shortage of qualified school bus drivers. The problem is acute, despite districts implementing recruitment campaigns, offering sign-up bonuses, and even fudging on the standards. ("Question one. Fill in the blank: The wheels on the bus go round and..." "Wait, wait. Don't tell me. I got this. Round and ... covered with sprinkles!") I hope the shortage will make society stop taking bus...
How many more Americans would have to die before the United States made the inevitable decision to withdraw from war in Afghanistan, after 20 years of war, at the cost of more than $2 trillion, and the loss of 2,500 lives? That was the illuminating question that guided President Joe Biden’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of “the graveyard of empires.” Indeed, how many more? The decision to withdraw was inevitable, as every president ensnared by the war — Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden — knew painfully well. The putative Afghan governmen...
To the Editor: The 2021 legislative districting process is in motion, and North Dakota Voters First is urging fellow North Dakotans to get involved. Together, we can help prevent gerrymandering in our state. As a matter of fact, the first meeting of the 2021 North Dakota Redistricting Committee is coming up soon, on Thursday, Aug. 26, at the state capitol in Bismarck. Please consider attending this and following meetings in-person or virtually. Testimony will be accepted at all the committee meetings. Go to legis.nd.gov to find committee dates...
With blistering summer weather in full force and shiny new COVID-19 variants emerging like another season of "The Bachelor," many Americans have taken to the great outdoors–despite recently reported attacks by grizzly bears, alligators, and President Joe Biden's surviving German shepherd, Major (R.I.P. Champ). And speaking of cantankerous canines, I normally limit my own experiences with nature to mowing my yard and taking evening walks with my wife around our subdivision–where we sometimes enc...
The founders believed, as James Madison wrote, that Americans possessed sufficient virtue to summon the courage and conviction to do the right thing in the face of the most trying circumstances. This might mean that citizens would find it necessary to set aside their personal interests and ambitions in pursuit of the common good. At this critical juncture in American history, when COVID-19, especially the virulent Delta variant, is menacing our nation’s public health and threatening our economic recovery, the return of children to school, a...
Seven years ago, Lucy Flowers died. It's taken a while for me to write those words in exactly that way – "Lucy Flowers died." I've written about it on frequent occasion, but usually turn to euphemisms: "Left us." I also employed "passed away," "rejoined my father," "passed on," "shed this mortal coil," "went to a better place," "found peace," "greeted the angels" and other Hallmark card turns of language. The clinical finality of "Lucy Flowers died" was something I avoided because it sounded har...
The U.S. Senate’s constitutional role in the appointment process for federal judges empowers it to thwart presidential nominations to the bench, including those nominated to the Supreme Court. More than one president in our history has felt the stinging rejection of a prospective member of the High Court. Article II, section of the Constitution provides that the president “shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of Senate,” shall appoint “Judges of the supreme court.” The “appointment power” is a shared power, jointly exerc...
It was 73 years ago this month that my dad, Allen Funt, brought “Candid Camera” to television. Remarkably, between his career and mine, we hold a record as the only entertainment show to have produced new episodes in eight different decades. I still don’t have all the answers, but I’ve heard most of the questions. Are people harder to fool these days? No! Folks are easier to fool. That may seem counterintuitive, but I’m certain it’s true. Much of it has to do with multitasking. When my father d...
The other day, someone reminded me that I had a public Facebook page entitled "Christine Flowers, Columnist and Radio Host." I rarely post there, which is why I'd almost forgotten about it. My old editor had suggested I create a public page, after stalkers and people who didn't like what I wrote (almost exclusively readers and agitators from the left), had done some very unsavory things. She thought that setting up a "public" space would protect me and my loved ones from the usual abuses of...
The framers of the Constitution inserted the Advice and Consent Clause to insure joint decision making between the president and the Senate in the exercise of the treaty making and appointment powers. What happens when the aims, purposes and spirit of that clause are abused or circumvented by either one of the joint decision makers? We focus this week on the ability of presidents to thwart the constitutional blueprint for advice and consent of the Senate. Presidents possess considerable means to abuse and circumvent the Advice and Consent...
Dear Editor: With the acceleration of online shopping, and widespread use of contactless cards and mobile payments in stores during the coronavirus pandemic, almost every retail purchase made today is paid for with a credit card or debit card. That’s a change that may be here to stay, but it’s bad news for merchants and consumers alike, especially those still struggling to recover from the economic impact of COVID-19. The reason is that credit card networks and the big banks charge merchants a “swipe” fee, averaging about two percent of the...
Maybe croquet could improve the ratings for the 2021 Summer Olympics? Please allow me to explain. The COVID-delayed 2020 Olympics are on track to be the lowest watched games of the 21st century, according to marketing research firm Zeta Global. The company has found that "More than 60 percent of Americans were unable to express excitement or interest in the summer games, and at least 45 percent of Americans confirmed they are NOT looking forward to the Games in any capacity." That's a shame, to...
A committee of petitioners is proposing a constitutional amendment that would limit future North Dakota legislators to eight years of service. The proposal would “grandfather” in all legislators now serving, meaning that all of the alleged evils of the present body could be preserved over the next 30 years. Because the Republicans have overwhelming majorities in both houses, they would eventually suffer the greatest impact of term limits. Since one-party states are always on the verge of fra...
Some readers may remember that their introduction to this ancient phrase came when they picked up a copy of Allen Drury’s 1959 Pulitzer-Prize winning novel, “Advise and Consent,” which described a passionate and energetic U.S. Senate engulfed in a controversial confirmation hearing for a nominee to be Secretary of State. Others will recall its invocation in the setting of a government class, newspaper article or the nightly news broadcast. Familiarity aside, “advice and consent” was drawn by the framers of the Constitution from the deep well...
Transcript publisher Amy Wobbema has been following a recent proposal in Congress that would expand the Durbin Amendment, which set a cap on the "swipe fees" retailers pay when a debit card is used in their stores. The Durbin Amendment was a last minute addition to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, passed by Congress in 2010. Now, Senator Dick Durbin and other lawmakers are pushing for an expansion of the amendment, which would apply the same pricing caps to credit...
Ask any grocer, and you will learn competition is at the heart of our business. Consumers cross the street every day to find a lower price, wider selection, or better customer service. Americans will drive an extra mile to save on a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread. Competition is what pushes our industry to keep food prices as low as possible. Grocers who do not compete, do not last. Behind the scenes, our manufacturers, wholesalers, and vendors compete fiercely to get grocers’ business whether it is to supply product, maintain r...
