When I picked up my photography habit, I also subscribed to National Geographic. I love the pictures and thought I could get some inspiration from the pages of the familiar magazine, but sadly it was drowned out by a few recurring themes: secular humanism, the rampant destruction wreaked by the colonizing White Man, the worship of the planet, and tireless devotion to Global Warming. Whee. The first time my subscription came up for renewal, I let it lapse.

Now they’ve picked up another in an endless stream of cliches: the desolate prairie states. You can read this tripe by clicking here. It’s got the usual ingredients: we’re all but driven mad by the incessant wind; people here have always committed suicide because it’s so bleak; and we’re trying to change the name to Dakota to shake the state’s image.

While I have probably taken far more “fallen farm” photos than these jokers have, I’ve never done it to fit an agenda. I’m pretty sure they came out here simply to portray North Dakota the way they see it, and quite frankly I believe they’re wrong. Heck, they couldn’t even remember Minot in their list of cities…how much attention could they have paid to writing an objective piece?

I won’t even go into a lengthy rant about their attempted hit job on our state. No, I think Julie Neidlinger has done a far better job than anyone else could. I encourage you to read her take on the matter. In my opinion, she carries a lot more weight as a writer than any National Geographic hack ever could.