From The Left: Traveling Tidbits About Civil Rights, Guns, And Old Highway 81

I am traveling a bit for work this week, so I thought I would discuss a few tidbits in my weekly blog I feel are interesting, but are not necessarily long enough for a full out posts.

1) First off, during the debate over SB2279, the bill to add GLBT to the list of protected classes in North Dakota, I was intrigued to see many opponents of the bill openly admit they do not support any persons being protected by Civil Rights laws in North Dakota. Frequently those of us on the left are accused of being irrational when we say the right does not support using the power of law to protect the civil rights of people of color, women, and people with disabilities, age, religion, national origin, or marital status.  You have helped remind us that we are correct.

Now all I ask of you is to be more public with your stand on this issue, and to come out and call for repealing all Civil and Human Rights protections in North Dakota and Nationally.

2) I made a bet with a dear friend of mine on election night in 2008. He was convinced that the election of Barack Obama meant that within a year, the Government was going to be knocking on his door to take his guns. We made a bet that the Government would not take away any of his Guns, or pass any policies that actually made it harder for him to get or keep a gun.

[mks_pullquote align=”right” width=”300″ size=”24″ bg_color=”#000000″ txt_color=”#ffffff”]For those of you that don’t know, Old HWY 81 is now a frontage road of I-29 in North Dakota; however, many old-timers have always called I-29 “New HWY 81”. This shows you of the staying power of a name, but also is an example of why UND must choose a new nickname. As long as they attempt to go without a name, they will always be primarily known as the “Fighting Sioux”.[/mks_pullquote]

Since that point, he has bought multiple new guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition with no problems other than overpaying as a result of the “Obama is Going to Take all Your Guns Sale”.

So when I collect my bottle of Dewar’s White Label in a year and a half, should I send a thank you note to the NRA for being completely wrong on this issue and allowing me to profit from their incompetence?

4) I am currently undecided on the new MARC (Minot Area Recreation Center). In general, I am a huge believer in the public park system, and I think the MARC has the ability to ensure that we have “Parks” that can be used even in the colder months, really revolutionizing the concept of a public park.

However, I really am not impressed with the job the Park Board has done in developing and selling the project. We don’t currently know where it is going to be held, we don’t know for sure how much it is going to cost, and we are not sure how long it is going to take to complete.

In short, I am really disappointed with the supporters of this proposal not working harder to work out the details.

5) Finally a few weeks ago, I was in the Northeastern part of the state to visit some relatives. As we were driving around looking at the town of Pembina (where my in-laws homesteaded) one of my relatives pointed out the dirt road we were on was “Old HWY 81”

For those of you that don’t know, Old HWY 81 is now a frontage road of I-29 in North Dakota; however, many old-timers have always called I-29 “New HWY 81”.

This shows you of the staying power of a name, but also is an example of why UND must choose a new nickname. As long as they attempt to go without a name, they will always be primarily known as the “Fighting Sioux”.

The no nickname option is nothing more than a poorly veiled effort to keep the old name.

When they pick a new name, without a doubt, a large number of fans will continue to call them the Sioux. However, with time, like “New HWY 81”, the Sioux name will be replaced.