I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the nonsense written about North Dakota by John Hoff. He’s a guy who came to Grand Forks, somehow won a local government seat, then proceeded to act like such a jackass that they threw him out. He landed back in Minnesota, where he now puts his pen to work making North Dakota seem like a vast wasteland of despair. You can read this stupidity here.

Now we’ve got this, a post on rakemag.com that sums up North Dakota as a place where only the trapped remain, attempts at productivity and happiness are futile, and the wise escape to Minnesota. Drivel.

I would agree that small towns and outmigration are a problem, but I have yet to personally talk to anyone genuinely unhappy about living in North Dakota. Making feigned complaints about the winters are almost a sport here. Sure, our high school kids want to attend a “big city” college after graduation, but what about the numbers that return back once it’s time to raise a family?

I don’t know why some Minnesotans seem to have a chip on their shoulder about our state. It seems to be a dandy place to hunt and fish, though, because they’re sure screaming about having to pay non-resident fees for that. But it’s not even the sportsmen writing articles like this. It’s just another sort of elitist, looking for perceived angst somewhere that they can use in order to spew nonsense in the name of insight.

So, go ahead and read the article here. After that, if you still want to live in “hell with the fires out,” I’ll see you out on the streets sometime. I’ll be the one with a smile on my face. I love North Dakota.

I couldn’t resist the term “hate speech.” I know, it’s a liberal term for anything that might imply a sense of right and wrong, or just something they don’t like or declare as “intolerant.” I, unlike liberals, still recognize the right of people in this country to say whatever they’d like. It shows us who the writer is, and where they come from. In this case, it also illustrates that they have no idea what they’re talking about. –Thanks to my friend Shari G for the heads-up on the Rake Mag article.

And perhaps it’s just the theme of the day…while shoveling generic Cap’n Crunch into my head this morning, it occurred to me that there are millions, perhaps billions, of people out there who are so undernourished that their teeth probably couldn’t even handle Cap’n Crunch.

I think of Philippians 4:11 in the Bible: “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” Or Titus 6:8 as well: “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.” We as Americans are very prosperous. I don’t consider that an accident, either. But it should occur to us daily to be thankful for, and good stewards of, all that we have. In today’s society, and with technology advancing as fast as it is, it’s very difficult to be content. But we should always be thankful…and not to Chef Boy Ar Dee.

Wake up, people! You’re putting a picture of someone URINATING on your vehicle for all to see. Hasn’t that occurred to you? Are you really too crass to care? How do you suppose the world sees you? It makes me wonder what kind of person would put something like this on their car. Does it just not sink in? Do they think this kind of humor is funny? Do they show their own kids and laugh?

I couldn’t agree more with this guy’s sentiment towards Fords. But there’s such a thing as common decency, and I think a depiction of someone peeing is far over the line as far as decency’s concerned.