The City of Fargo made a big mistake when they agreed to FedEx $660,000 in tax incentives to move a facility to their community from Grand Forks. Not only was this a problematic move given that Fargo was essentially using economic development largess to poach a company from another North Dakota city (yes, that’s exactly…
John Oliver Is An Idiot, Or Why You Shouldn't Get Your News From A Comedian
I dislike John Oliver. In fact, I dislike the whole comedian-doing-news-and-analysis schtick, and not just because Oliver was fantastically unfair to North Dakota recently. If it were just comedy, then fine. We all like to laugh, and people like Oliver and Jon Stewart are hugely talented, and sometimes they even get it right (I’ll admit…
Democrat Lawmakers Accuse Me Of Playing Games With Statistics
Democrat state Senators George Sinner (Fargo) and Phil Murphy (Portland) have a letter to the editor in the Dickinson Press today calling me out for my rebuttal of John Oliver’s commentary on worker deaths in North Dakota. First, let me say that I think it’s odd when people like Sinner and Murphy criticize me by writing letters…
White Earth Spill Shows Why "Be Angry" Is Stupid Advice For North Dakota
Oil development is an emotionally charged issue, mostly because certain political interests are exhorting the public to be emotional about it. After all, wasn’t that the punch line to HBO comedian John Oliver’s polemic against North Dakota’s handling of the oil boom? One picked up by marginalized state Democrats, anxious for anything to give them…
North Dakotans To John Oliver: We Don't Much Care What You Think
HBO comedian John Oliver’s recent skit about North Dakota’s oil boom had some egregious factual flaws, which I detailed here, but perhaps the most provocative part of his rant was his admonition to North Dakotans to “be angry.” In fact, Oliver went so far as to buy a billboard outside of my hometown of Minot…
A Rebuttal For That John Oliver Skit About The North Dakota Oil Boom
As I mentioned last week, HBO comedian John Oliver took aim at North Dakotas oil boom. Not surprisingly, given that Oliver used as his sources a ridiculously biased New York Times series about the state, and a piece of advocacy journalism which was often wrong on the facts, the piece was spectacularly unfair to North…
HBO Comedian John Oliver Expected To Cover The Bakken Oil Boom Sunday
HBO comedian John Oliver is expected to talk about North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields on this Sunday’s edition of his Last Week Tonight show. Oliver is a smirking talking head in the Jon Stewart category where many poorly informed Americans get their news. You know the routine. The entertainer launches into a verbal polemic about some…
Civil Asset Forfeiture Is Evil
If you’ve been seeing headlines about something called “civil asset forfeiture” and wondered what all the fuss is about, you could do worse than John Oliver’s report above. It’s funny, and would be funnier if the subject matter weren’t so gob-smackingly vile. Basically, civil asset forfeiture is a process through which the police can seize…