Pandemic or no, put others first. There’s a strip of green grass along the east- and west-running 20th Avenue South in Fargo, N.D., where I live. It parallels Interstate 94, and its 25-or-so-foot width runs about six city blocks. Trees border its north edge, and along the south edge a chain-link fence with tall shrubs and…

Forgive my language, but the denials of bigotry are B.S. Watching the North Dakota Republican Party’s leadership twist its fingers in knots pointing at… well… no one… for the disgusting, bigoted, anti-human language in its 2020 platform has been almost amusing. …

Trump declares war on U.S. cities — The similarities are too much to ignore. Too dangerous to disregard. “Officers have been using unmarked vehicles… driving up to people, detaining individuals with no explanation about why they are being arrested, and driving off. “A car, or sometimes a disguised commercial van, would park in the street in front…

Reopening shouldn’t even be part of school planning right now. — The only plan governors, school administrators or boards in the United States should be developing right now are “Keep Kids Safe” plans. Period. Make that the absolute, irrevocable guiding priority, and all the questions being bandied about related to mask wearing, classroom distancing, quarantining in the event of a positive…

Federal Judge Orders Halt to Pipeline Operation — Every now and again, the good people win. On Monday, a federal judge’s order to halt operation of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) reinforced that belief. The good people are the members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North and South Dakota, other tribes that joined them in their…

Sorry, conciliators, there is no middle here. — The world needs conciliators, people who try to bring two sides together to find common ground. These are the consensus-builders and compromise-finders. …

Don’t try to tell me otherwise — I am a patriotic American. BECAUSE I AM – I believe life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are unalienable rights. For everyone. I believe all people are created equal, regardless of country of origin or citizenship, race, gender, color or creed. I honor the American flag and what it…

The flag and the Union: up, down or out? — If ever there was a nation in distress, it is the United States of America in 2020. If ever there was a time when the U.S. flag should be displayed upside down as a signal of that distress, the time is now. Over the next couple of days, my family…

A singular “love-irritate” relationship — My mother made THE BEST sugar cookies. Everyone says that, I know. Or that they found the most delicious cookies at such-and-such a cafe in such-and-such a little town, or that so-and-so’s aunt’s are to die for. I’ll not argue. Mom’s were the best. I stand pat. She made them…