Last night’s meeting of the Fillmore school board proved to be extraordinary. Nearly 100 teachers and parents gathered in the auditorium to admonish the board and, particularly, board member Tony Prado for his letter which appeared in the Gazette the previous week.

Among the few positive agenda items was the introduction of Fillmore’s new Superintendent, Dr. Adrian E. Palazuelos. Dr. Palazuelos addressed the audience briefly. He is a man with a positive personality, eager to take on the challenging responsibilities as head of our school community. Welcome Dr. Palazuelos. We wish you well!

***

I had a flurry of focus problems with my camera last night. Many the photos were unusable.

A video of the entire school board meeting will be uploaded as soon as possible. I regret that I left at the break, missing Mr. Prado’s rebuttal to a virtual avalanche of bitter criticism over his letter last week attacking recently retired teacher-counselor, Karen Ashim. Mrs. Ashim’s reputation as an outstanding teacher and counselor was vigorously defended by a dozen members in the audience.

Mr. Prado’s remarks can be heard towards the end of the video to be added soon to the story on the front page.

 


 

I was happy to see that, at last night’s city council meeting, our city manager’s suggestion that a plaque honoring America’s motto, In God We Trust, was approved to be placed in city hall. In a unanimous vote, Mayor Minjares, Council members Diane McCall, Rick Neal, and Doug Tucker agreed that such a plaque should be installed. Councilman Steve Conaway was absent.

There are some Americans, such as ex-Katzenjammer Bob Stroh (who sauntered into the short meeting to express his angst at any reference to God in a public building) who object, but the vast majority approve of our motto. After all, our Founding Fathers reverenced God enough to base our Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and struggle for independence upon His authority.

Atheists and agnostics are quick to parrot their objections to all references to God on their mistaken understanding of the original meaning of our Constitution, in particular the so-called “separation of church and state”. They fail to understand that this statement refers to a prohibition against the “establishment” of a national church, like that in England, from which our “Puritans” fled. This new radical Leftist-liberal interpretation which seeks to deny and remove every vestige of God from government will prove fatal in our future.

It is true that America does not have a Judeo-Christian government; that would be unconstitutional. It is also equally true that we ARE a Judeo-Christian NATION.

Some of our most influential Founders were Deists, etc., but ALL subscribed to basic traditional Judeo-Christian morals and philosophy. Our law is thoroughly informed by Judeo-Christian ethics and principles – most of it Biblical.

To say that In God We Trust is also to logically admit that in un-godly works and beliefs we do NOT trust. Our Founders chose to DISCRIMINATE AGAINST un-godly ideas in government as apposed to Judeo-Christian mores. Some knowledge of George Washington’s life-long religious beliefs, as well as Abraham Lincoln’s, and nearly every president down to Bush II, tells the same story. America is a nation saturated from birth in the truths of Judeo-Christian beliefs – while defending freedom of thought for all beliefs, even though tragically mistaken in practice at times.

Taking Bob Stroh’s argument to its logical extreme (keeping God out of government and all government works) gnaws away at our country’s vital strength. This extreme, false interpretation is the cause of the obvious disintegration of government schools, our military forces, and pervasive corruption of our government.

I read that a Los Angeles police officer is suing (with his wife) the city, claiming discrimination because of his Wiccan Religion. Wiccan is witchcraft, “The Craft” in short.

Our military chaplains are now forced to perform same-sex “marriages” in military chapels. So, 95 percent of our military Judeo-Christian believers are, for the first time, forced to respect practices traditionally deemed blasphemous in “the house of God.” All of this notoriously disruptive anti-Christian regulation just to appease a tiny minority through Political Correctness.

These are life-and-death issues. The overall atmosphere created by anti-Judeo-Christian regulation, such as permitting and defending openly homosexual practices in our military, will ultimately destroy trust and cohesiveness in the ranks.

I am utterly dumbfounded by the near absence of any strong defense of traditional moral values in today’s armed forces. It must be due to those who have successfully convinced our “leaders”, from the president down through the general staff and the Department of Defense, that God and traditional morals are no longer needed to defend America.

What a dreadful future we are creating.

 


 

The long-standing feud between the Fillmore School District Board and Fillmore High School teachers has begun to boil over.

At issue are the disputed circumstances concerning the hiring of our high school Principal, Russom Mesfun, and his leadership methods. Numerous complaints have been directed to the Board and to District Superintendent Dr. Alan Nishino during the past several years. To date, teachers claim nothing has been done to rectify allegations of Mesfun’s incompetence and alleged improper hiring.

For me, Four issues stand out in this dispute: First, the appearance of serious cronyism in Mesfun’s hiring; Second, negligence by the Board in failing to properly consider serious legal problems in Mesfun’s professional history; Third, serious impropriety in calling candidates to apply and interview for the position of Fillmore High School principal when they clearly had little chance of being appointed – a serious ethical failure. And Fourth, the Board took Nishino’s personal recommendation of Mesfun, without due diligence, diminishing the seriousness of Mesfun’s lawsuit, which cost Lodi and Mesfun approximately $250,000 in settlement.

Here are some salient facts: Mr. Mesfun has been a personal and professional friend of Superintendent Nishino for more than a decade in the field of education. Mesfun was sued, and lost, in an action for sexual harassment in Lodi, CA. (Teachers sue Lodi Unified, former McAuliffe principal - Lodinews ...Lodi News Sentinel: Mar 21, 2008 - Three former Christa McAuliffe Middle School teachers have filed a lawsuit against the school's former principal, Russom Mesfun, and Lodi ... Please refer to “They Should Have Known”, fillmoregazette.com, Wednesday, March 12th, 2014 for official document.

As individuals I have great respect for each of our school Board members; I have known most of them for many years. But I have to say, as a Board, in this case at least, they have failed, seriously. I think Mr. Mesfun should step down.

***

I see that President Obama seeks to hand over our Internet to other world powers, like Russia, China, maybe even Iran; who knows.

This is not insanity; it is a deliberate act of treachery. Though we know nothing about his school grades, he is not stupid. He knows (as Ronald Reagan insisted about the Panama Canal, another insane giveaway by another Democrat president, “We built it, we paid for it, it’s ours”.

Someone should remind the Commander in Chief that America’s entire defense and civilian communications networks depend completely upon our internet, which our many enemies constantly seek to destroy. Put Russia in charge of our Internet and see what happens to our power grid.

Only an enemy of America would even suggest such a thing. NASA has to keep a closer eye of Barack Obama!

 

Our prayers go out for the victims and the families who have suffered such horrendous losses in the Washington state mudslide. It seems more than odd to me that such an extraordinary amount of TV time has been spent (wasted) on the airliner mystery crash and so much less on the mudslide story. As important as the airliner story is, it didn’t need to have almost all major cable news stations reporting (it seemed) 24-hours a day with repetitious speculation. The number of fatalities in the Washington disaster may finally exceed those of the airliner disaster. What a horrible way to die.

Rest in peace all victims of these disasters.

***

Congratulations to our City Manager David Rowlands and our city council for beginning the much awaited street paving program. It’s great to see Fillmore surging back with such strength.

***

I have a hard time understanding how quickly America’s military strength has dissipated. From our previous position as the world’s only super power the Obama administration has reduced our status as defender of the free world to a shameful false friend of betrayed allies, Poland and the Baltic States. Who can trust us now?

Obama’s Leftist ideology and naïve national security policies amount to a nuclear Trojan horse. Informed, rational people must recognize the mindset of our Commander in Chief to be more than mere naïveté. Obama is deliberately deconstructing America’s national defense. How else can his conduct towards our armed forces be understood?

At a time when the world’s geopolitical situation mirrors pre World War 11 Obama decimates America’s armed forces. At that time Mussolini invaded and annexed Ethiopia, with Emperor Haile Selassie’s pleas to the League of Nations for help, rejected. The Spanish Civil War broke out. Hitler, as the Furer of Germany began picking-off smaller parts of Europe like the Sudetenland districts (because they had many German-speaking people there - ring a bell?) He was named Time magazine's Man of the Year for 1938.

Then he moved on Poland and started the world war.

Today, we have Putin, Mussolini’s megalomania twin, and (as former KGB leader) Hitler’s and Stalin’s evil progeny.

Our present American government is utterly ignorant of today’s military realities. Our State Department is a hollow joke; its comments on Russia’s recent aggression displaying frightening ignorance and stupidity. These fools disparage Putin as someone living in the 19th Century rather than the 21st. Maybe, but 19th Century strategy is working just fine for Putin, and will continue to do so as long as he and his cohorts (China, Iran, North Korea, etc) see that America is weak and has laid down its arms in the face of its enemies.

Thanks to Obama’s complete lack of experience in foreign policy, and his lack of common sense, expect to see a Middle East atomic arms race very soon. Iran will get the bomb, and Israel will have no choice but to attack.

America has never been so vulnerable, not even in the pre-WWII era. Barack Obama and his team of sissies could be the death of our nation as it works to take our military strength back to pre-WWII levels, while Russia and China build their forces with unprecedented speed.

 

My Aunt, Letitia Leonard "Tisha" Harz, passed away this week. She was about one month short of her 106th birthday. Tisha was a wonderful woman who I will always remember as cheerful, energetic, with a positive outlook on life.
Rest in peace, Tisha.

***

Congratulations to Nick Johnson, Fillmore High School’s Student of the Year. Nick is a truly great young man, who also happens to be the Gazette’s cartoonist, and has been for the past four years. We are very proud of his accomplishments.

***
[This editorial was edited on 3-20-14]

How Far We Have Fallen

On every front America and her culture is in a state of collapse. The evidence is obvious; we are in deep trouble and even the most invincible cheerleaders of the Leftist Obama administration will not escape the inevitable conflagration. Liberal Political Correctness is the immediate tool of destruction. It has undermined all of America’s traditional Judeo-Christian principles.

Our motto, “e pluribus unum” (from many, one) no longer holds true. Diversity, rather than unity is what the liberal mind seeks. “In God We Trust” is now the exception rather than the rule – and that fact sets us adrift from our first principles as set forth in our Constitution. How can we possibly seek help from a God whose laws we now revile?

As a political entity America has altogether abandoned traditional ethics and social mores. What has been declared anathema for 5,000 years is now embraced instead. Our new political authorities demand that we provide special respect for ideas and practices which directly attack Judeo-Christian sexual morals; these affronts are now mandated in our military and in all official public works. What is profoundly evil is now pronounced good, what is abnormal, normal.

This new ethic is now mandated in all government educational facilities (e.g. male use of female bathrooms) despite protests from Christian parents who must use these schools. Strong official punishments are applied to those refusing to comply.

Our armed forces have been forced to accommodate activities of gay-lesbian members. Promoting homosexual events in the military ("US military sees first ever DRAG SHOW for gay and lesbian troops" [link: http://theweek.com/article/index/257285/speedreads-gay-and-lesbian-troop... ) This activity, which is growing, contributes strongly to the destruction of troop cohesiveness, especially in combat units.

Government always rules from the top down. A military private soldier, sailor, Marine, Air Force member, etc. has no authority. A probable result of this policy effecting troops who hold traditional Judeo-Christian moral standards (90 percent) is that eventually a cabal of gay superiors forms which severely undermines unit cohesion – like the lesbian General and her live-in Colonel girlfriend Obama bragged about in a recent speech.

This unprecedented change was deliberately instigated by generals and other high command individuals, like former Chief of Staff, Admiral Mullen, Dick Cheney, former Defense Secretry Robert Gates, etc. These people have betrayed the trust of our troops. Troops holding traditional religious beliefs are forced to tollerate activity which they recognize as sinful. Mullen, et al, have forced the 90 percent to respect the moral abberations of the 5 percent. Why? And why so little resistance? Military authority alone.

Why should any of America’s enemies now have anything but contempt for our armed forces? You see this contempt world-wide today as our craven commander in chief bows, maybe courtsies, to our most deadly enemies. America has become a laughingstock in the face of Russia, China, Iran, Iraq, etc.

Obama pledged to change America fundamentally in his first campaign. He is succeeding, in ways that only a determined enemy of this nation could appreciate.

Christian men and women thinking of joining America's armed forces today, as redesigned by Barak Obama, should closely consider the environment they would be entering.

 

For several months I’ve been prodded by many people to look into the alleged improper hiring of Fillmore High School Principal Russom Mesfun. I’m giving up my usual Realities space to provide space for the remainder of Karen Ashem’s letter to the Fillmore Unified School Board, see page one. The more I read the documentation the more outrageous Mr. Mesfun’s hiring appears to me. Mesfun was hired primarily on the recommendation of his old friend, FUSD Superintendent, Dr. Alan Nishino. It is unclear if the Board did any significant vetting of Mesfun prior to hiring him. I have a sense of outrage about this, considering his long negative employment history as documented by teachers and legal actions. The central question is whether Mesfun should have been the preferred hire before other applicants on the basis of personal friendship. This is a question that the entire Board must answer in order to maintain Fillmore’s confidence. And, there’s another question -- should the Board grant Mesfun tenure?

See Karen's letter and documents here http://www.fillmoregazette.com/front-page/%E2%80%9Cthey-should-have-know...

 

Just got back to the office after a photo shoot with the US Navy SEALS who are visiting Fillmore High School, so I don’t have much space for my usual rant.

I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with a few of the guys after their video presentation in the Memorial Building. Special thanks to SEAL Captain Duncan Smith for his participation with the half-dozen other SEALS.

Some senior and junior students later tested individual swimming endurance. Then, they were off to the football field to test physical endurance with push-ups, pull-ups and sit-ups, before the timed track run.

Many thanks to all the SEALs and Navy men who put the program on, and to Superintendent Alan Nishino for arranging the meet.

 

I regret that the Gazette’s city reporter was ill during Tuesday’s city council meeting. I wasn’t able to cover the agenda.

I would, however, like to thank former Police Chief Monica McGrath for her outstanding work during the past three years. Among her many accomplishments was the recent $750,000 grant for city law enforcement. She will be missed as she moves up to the position of Commander in charge of eastern Ventura County. I regret the Gazette did not receive a press release providing more detail on her promotion.

Thanks very much Monica.

Welcome to our new Police Chief, Dave Wareham, long time Fillmore resident and friend to many!

***

I hesitated to begin writing about Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's reported plan to cut back the Army to its smallest numbers since BEFORE World War II. I don’t want to have a stroke.

This is such insanely outrageous foolishness I can hardly believe it. If not insanely outrageous, it is the activity of traitors, or just dangerously stupid people.

Don’t we understand yet that America has never before faced such a probable catastrophic threat to its existence? We are still fighting wars. More implacable nuclear enemies are preparing to attack the West, especially America, by multiple tactics, than ever before. And our Leftist president, friend to all of our Islamic Jihadist enemies, and enemy of our long-time friends and allies (Israel), stimulates the white hot contempt of Iran, Libya, Syria, North Korea, Russia, etc. These deadly enemies publically mock Obama and America and challenge us to fight. Look at Putin dealing with Ukraine! PUTIN RATTLES SABER; TROOPS ON ALERT... No doubt they await more Obama red lines (or red carpets)to tread across.

Around the world the USA is no longer taken seriously by our enemies after witnessing Obama’s craven performance as Commander in Chief of the United States of America. They know he's an empty suit, a coward.

And this guy Chuck Hagel is telling the American people to “get real” as he seeks to emasculate what was once the greatest military power in the world! Hagel and Obama, by this action, are INVITING Jihadists, Communists, Leftist anarchists, and just plain Satanic mad dogs (like North Korea’s Kim Jong-un) to attack us. How can they resist the temptation when our Commander fills our combat forces with women and welcomes openly homosexual conduct in the ranks? Under these circumstances America must be bigger and stronger than any enemy determined to kill us off. This should be obvious to reasonable people. Another thing: hands off the Warthog!!

We are going to spend critically needed defense money on food stamps, instead?

This cost-cutting is so utterly suicidal that I fear to look more deeply into the details.

Obama and his flying monkey minions will be the death of America during his three remaining years in office. Impeachment cannot happen quickly enough.

 

Next month, on the fifth, Fillmore will be privileged to host our US Navy SEALs. Fillmore’s School District Superintendent Alan Nishino has arranged to have a SEAL group give a talk to Fillmore High School seniors at the gym. The SEALS will also set-up a training course on the football field and demonstrate underwater training techniques at the community swimming pool.

Dr. Nishino with others attended on-going SEAL training at Coronado, CA a few months ago. He thereafter arranged for this special visit. More details will be available next week.

I have the greatest respect for all members of our armed forces. Anyone willing to take up arms in defense of our nation deserves that respect. I’ve read a great deal about our US Navy SEAL teams, especially since they destroyed Osama. They are unquestionably the elite among the elite. It is not the boxer, Olympic athlete, or cage fighter who makes that team. It is, above all, the men with extraordinary heart, a determination never to quit.

Fillmore welcomes the SEALS. I know they will inspire those seniors who are lucky enough to see what makes winners.

 

The long awaited decision by Administrative Judge Joseph D. Montoya in the Egedi case was published last week for two particular reasons. First, it’s necessary to establish fault. The case had dragged on (unnecessarily in my opinion) for many years, at great expense to the county and the City of Fillmore. Second, much false information (hearsay) and many false allegations had been directed against those seeking to bring criminal charges and a dismissal from employment. The record had to be established to question the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of tax dollars, even though no trial was ever set and no reimbursement made to the city or county.

Publication has put an end to approximately six years of the public being unable to discover information as the case was “under investigation.” The public can make up its own mind as to how well this matter was handled. In the end, Judge Joseph D. Montoya rendered a fair and precise decision.

* * *

I read that the Seahawks had “cracked the code” used by Broncos quarterback, Peyton Manning. If true, the Seahawks knew in advance every play the Broncos took. Surprisingly, I haven’t heard much about this. Again, if true, hundreds of millions of fans would have seen an entirely different game, and possible outcome. I hope it wasn’t true.

* * *

Bill Clinton – again? Why don’t these two (or three, etc.) lovebirds just fade into the sunset?

 

We have fought last minute computer problems this week to publish the final results in the Egedi case. I don’t have time to write a more complete column on this, the greatest scandal in Fillmore history. After 6 long years, one dismissal, and two investigative hearings, justice has been done. Administrative Judge Joseph D. Montoya’s meticulous discernment of the facts in this case restores much of my faith in the law. This is a truly outrageous case that should have been tried years ago. Thank you Judge Montoya!

 

This week, I am providing space in this little paper to acknowledge the biggest crime the world faces today, the cruelest tragedy imaginable, abortion.

Since the 1973 Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade, which loosed this engine of slaughter, 55 million innocent American souls have been lost to us by abortion.

Life is the first and greatest gift of God, a gift which is immediately shared by all of us. Regardless of our education or state in life, natural law, the conscience of every human being, informs each of us that abortion is absolutely evil, an utter injustice.

I know Ms. Kristan Hawkins, the author of this fine article, will forgive me for reprinting it without permission.
***

"I Am Overwhelmed by 55 Million Babies Killed Since Roe v. Wade, by Kristan Hawkins | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 1/22/13 11:40 AM

"What can I say that hasn’t already been said about today?

Yesterday evening, I was sitting in my living room working while watching my sons play. I began to think about what my life would have been without them. How different I would be. How their lives have already made this world a different place since they were born. How much I would hurt if I had chosen abortion.

Then, I thought of the more than 55,000,000 lives that have been taken in the U.S. since 1973, and I became overwhelmed at the tragedy. Tragedy for the babies, their mothers, their fathers, families, and us.

Who is our nation missing? What price is our society paying for the ultimate deceit of abortion?

40 years ago today, seven men on the Supreme Court decided in favor of a case presented to them from a 27 year-old, unknown, post-abortive lawyer, Sarah Weddington. That case was Roe v. Wade and, along with its companion Doe v. Bolton, it legalized abortion in all 9 months of pregnancy, for any reason, in the United States.

Today, this 27 year-old is writing to you as a survivor of that decision. The undeniable fact is that nearly a third of my generation is missing. We are missing brothers, sisters, cousins, friends, husbands and wives.

You see, Miss Weddington’s generation got it wrong. In attempting to correct gender inequality in the workplace and in our society, they set into motion the ultimate act of discrimination – abortion. Instead of glorifying motherhood, they pitted the mother against her child, creating an endless cycle of selfishness, pain, and deceit.

But this generation is determined to set it right. We’ve seen the ultrasounds of our siblings, googled “abortion” and seen the bloody images, and sat with a friend as she cried about her abortion. This youth generation is the most pro-life generation of young people since 1973; we’re even more pro-life than even our parents’ generation. And this week our presence will be known as this generation will be the predominant participants in Wednesday’s March for Life in Washington, D.C. and pro-life rallies across the nation.

This week, we will be proudly carrying our “I am the Pro-Life Generation” signs, and Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry will watch their target audience slip away.

In fact, we already have. When Nancy Keenan, the former president of NARAL/Pro-Choice America, announced her resignation last year, she cited the lack of young pro-abortion leaders as the reason she wanted to step down. This month’s Time magazine headline story dealt with the same problem, claiming that the pro-abortion movement has been losing since 1973.

And last week’s new Planned Parenthood video and talking points on abortion confirm this fact. They don’t want to use the term “pro-choice” anymore because it’s too negatively associated with abortion. You see, they know when abortion is mentioned, their favorability falls. Their goal? Never bring it up.

So, what should be our goal? To bring up abortion in every conversation we can – in church, the grocery store, at school, and at the neighborhood party. To never forget about abortion, no matter how busy our lives may get or how sad or immobilized we become by this immense, overwhelming tragedy.

Friend, it’s time to rise up. Rise up off of your couch, out of your dorm room, or pew. Rise up and dedicate your life to something bigger than yourself."

 

Good grief! Just after I’ve learned that our N.S.A. is videotaping me through my computer screen, revealing me sleeping at my desk, I now learn that the “N.S.A. has increasingly made use of a secret technology that enables it to enter and alter data in computers even if they are not connected to the Internet”. “The technology, which the agency has used since at least 2008, relies on a covert channel of radio waves that can be transmitted from tiny circuit boards and USB cards inserted surreptitiously into the computers. In some cases, they are sent to a briefcase-size relay station that intelligence agencies can set up miles away from the target.” Now they can hear me snoring! Is it time for paranoiacs to toss out the tinfoil hats and walk triumphantly in the sunshine again. Maybe they ARE trying to “get us”. They sure want something.

In a strange way maybe these revelations will bring some solace to the morbidly paranoid. This information may comfort them by justifying their fears, providing them with an “I told you so” defense. The rest of us, well, may begin to appreciate some value in a touch of paranoia.

No matter what you might think about all of this super-tech privacy deprivation, it’s past time for reasonable Americans to acknowledge the fact that we have lost virtually all rights to privacy. We are now cooperating victims of unrestrained governmental and civilian spying. Snooping abilities attack us with nearly infinite variety, from dragonfly-sized drones to large, high-flying predators and dirigibles. Cameras in every street seek us out.

Corporations of historically unprecedented size and power, like Google, having more technical ability than government, have videotaped every street in the world and tapped every communications line. There is no shelter from the prying eyes of our overseers, no protection from those seeking personal information, from those seeking to reduce our liberties. Sounds a little paranoid, doesn’t it?

“They” want to know everything possible about us, from facial recognition to DNA, to fingerprints. They want to know what we buy, where we pray, our attitudes, predispositions, and IQs. Ultimately this acquisitiveness will involve more than simple commercial interests.

This is why our Constitution is so vitally important to us and why it must be protected from “Them”. This is also why President Obama must be outed as the serial liar he is, and the clear and present danger he represents to traditional American freedoms. Our nation has never before been entrusted to such untrustworthy hands – charlatan to American citizens, obsequious to most heads of state, craven before our Iranian enemies. With three years to go in his second term, Obama will go down in history as the infamous despoiler of the greatest nation in human history.

 

Former defense secretary Robert Gates has just released his book which slams Obama’s leadership ability, particularly as it relates to the American war effort in Afghanistan and Iraq.

His assessment of Obama’s failings is no surprise to those of us who recognized Obama as a charlatan from his first year in office. I am only surprised that this revelation has been revealed before the end of his term. For that we owe a debt of thanks to Secretary Gates. Taking into account Obama’s utter cynicism about our military, his ignorance of foreign policy, and his extreme Leftist ideology, I’m surprised Gates did not quit as he so often wanted to.

This book (of which I’ve read only excerpts) exposes Obama’s fatal flaws – fatal at least to the young men and women he sent to the fight without a conviction of winning the war. This attitude is also reflected in Hillary Clinton’s shocking outburst “What difference does it make...?” whether we responded to the calls for military assistance in Benghazi. With this Leftist crowd the only thing that matters is politics and getting elected. They are more than a stain on America’s moral history (lives forfeited for nothing) they are the corrosive stuff that is eating away morale and unit cohesiveness.

It does not take great knowledge of military history; it just takes a little common sense to understand the end game here. Obama, contrary to the opinions of his best military strategists, pulled our troops out of Afghanistan far too quickly and completely. This guaranteed that the Taliban, streaming in from Pakistan, would simply fill the vacuum and once again take over the country. Even after 10 years of training, the Afghan military is unable to defend against the Taliban.

Iraq will also probably fall to the Jihadists. Then Syria will fall. After this, Libya will follow suit.

Then, Jordan, Egypt, etc.

Knowing that Iran will soon have the bomb to share with its Jihadist friends, what should the average reasonable man expect Israel to do in order to protect its existence?

 

Happy New Year everyone. May it prove to be happier than last year (nationally)!

One particularly bright spot stands out for the City of Fillmore. That is the election of our new city council and the seating of our new City Manager, David Rowlands.

When I recall the dismal situation the city was in before the 2012 election it seems remarkable we have made so much progress since that time. Most of the worst problems we faced back then have been resolved to our benefit. Other fiscal challenges are well on the way to being fixed. I’ll try to include a summary of Fillmore’s achievements since 2012 in next week’s Gazette; they are impressive!

* * *

One challenge on the city’s front burner for the New Year is the completion of the Business Park. This is the key to Fillmore’s economic future. It will provide the new jobs and cash flow needed to spark healthy growth for Fillmore. No other project comes close in importance for the city’s fiscal health. I know the city is working very hard to promote a successful outcome.

* * *

NEW PRICE FOR THE GAZETTE.
Beginning January, 2014, the new retail price of the Fillmore Gazette will be set at 75 cents. Also be alert for the new paywall for our online edition, www.fillmoregazette.com.

* * *

I wish I could be as optimistic concerning America’s future, but common sense and experience won’t permit it. When I consider the gross incompetence, corruption, and invincible political correctness imbedded in what pretends to be American leadership today, I want to shout duck and cover!

This is an alarming time for traditional Judeo-Christian conservatives. The Leftists seem to have a death grip on American culture. Our Constitution, at every level, is under deconstruction. Our republic has become deeply Orwellian. We have little personal defense remaining against Big Brother. Probable cause amounts to little more than the Leftist inclinations of a corrupt legal system. Otherwise, why would the District Attorney of Los Angeles County, in September of 2010 have been authorized to wiretap my office (Wiretap NO. 10-108)?

Why would Target capture my photo on its facial recognition apparatus? I wondered how anyone such as the pharmacy lady could welcome me by name as I approached the counter a year ago, as I had not been in the store for three weeks. I congratulated her on her superior memory, but on my way out it dawned on me that the store must be using that much vaunted secretive identity snatching software. That image, of course, is shared within the ever growing commercial network (shades of our NSA). After verifying that Target does use this system, I’ve never been back. Why bother asking why it was done?

America has abandoned its innocence. There is no longer a place for private life, to think, to act, to pray. Cameras search out the quietest corners, busiest streets, offices, bedrooms. No chance to foil or defend. We learn of these invasions only after they are revealed by equally secretive hackers. We now know that strangers can videotape us as we tap out our computer work. I especially resent this particular type of voyeurism because I don’t wish to have the rest of the world see me sleeping at my desk!

But, I think most of all, my hope for America ebbs when I remind myself that we Americans have consciously inflicted our rapid demise on ourselves. We elected (twice) the most radical Leftist in Congress to lead this nation as its Chief Executive Officer and Commander in Chief. He has neither the experience nor the ability to succeed at either job. Until he was elected president I didn’t know a profession entitled “community organizer” existed. But every aspect of Obama’s life is clouded with strangeness and uncertainty. He is not a leader and stands outside traditional American character and culture. In foreign policy, especially, he is bringing the country to catastrophe, and has plenty of time to succeed during the next three years.

 

Merry Christmas everyone. God bless all men of good will as America celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace.

For those who do not celebrate Christmas, or who may even object to the celebration of Christmas, I wish you the peace and happiness of this day as well.

We’re enjoying incredible December weather this year, something else to be thankful for.

* * *

In September of this year the Gazette celebrated its 25th anniversary. It’s hard for me to believe it. Fillmore has changed so much during that period of time. We started-up on September 15, 1989. Recalling all of the issues and events we have reported during the past 25 years seems surreal to me. Millions of stories and photos, even more struggles overcome.

The Gazette will make some changes beginning the New Year. We want more readers to discover what’s going on in our town, so we will make it less expensive to purchase the paper. Starting January 1, 2014 the cost of a single issue of the Gazette will drop to 75 cents.

Also, the Gazette has faced a challenge as never before, the most ironic challenge in our history. This is the same challenge that every newspaper in the nation is dealing with, from the Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times to the smallest community weekly. That is how to maintain both the printed edition of the paper and our online website, www.fillmoregazette.com.

The question is, how can we compete with ourselves? The online edition cannot exist without the print edition, yet the online edition, being part of the internet, reaches round the world while the print edition specializes in coverage of Fillmore, Bardsdale, and Piru in Ventura County.

The crux of the dilemma we face is while the print edition supplies the online edition, the online edition has been published to hundreds of thousands of readers free of charge while the print edition picks up most of the cost.

The online edition, about 8 years old, has been extremely costly over the years in production, and maintenance, and has been phenomenally successful, averaging 25,000 to 32,000 unique hits per month. In a city of 14,000 this is a very significant attraction.

Therefore, the online edition must start to carry its own weight or it must disappear. In order to make the website more viable we will be creating what we call a pay wall. This arrangement has already been designed. It is hoped that it will be launched in January of 2014. We have worked diligently to make the transition as quick and simple as possible.

Our loyal Gazette subscribers will not be adversely affected by the move.

It’s our hope that the new website arrangement will enable the Gazette to double its news coverage and add many exciting new features.

Following 25 years of serving Fillmore as its Newspaper of Record we are confident that this change will assure an even brighter future.

Thank all of our faithful readers for their support all of these years.

Again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

Well, I’ve been given 130 words this week. So, I’ll just concentrate on two topics.

First, I want to wish all Gazette readers a very Merry Christmas, and a happy and holy celebration. I would also like to encourage everyone to boycott stores who refuse to recognize Christmas; after all, it is a national holiday as well as a celebration of Christ’s birth.

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Secondly, we should think about recent remarks from Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai. He no longer trusts the US and has entered into negotiations with the Taliban. America has spent more than a decade lavishing our blood and treasure (one trillion?) to clean out the Taliban and enable girls to attend school and bring Afghanistan into the modern world. We have sacrificed much to help this Muslim country. I hope America has finally learned that we have no friends in any Islamic country and that Israel is our only trustworthy friend.

 

The staff at the Fillmore Gazette wishes all of our readers a very happy Thanksgiving.

I regret that this holiday is going the way of Christmas, with commercial interests coming before the day’s traditional purpose, which is to thank God for his bountiful blessings.

Everything is commercial today. Money has become our god. Christmas, in particular, is under attack, in our schools, government, and businesses. I refuse to shop in any store that refuses to acknowledge “Christmas”, and I won’t be shopping on Thanksgiving Day. If more people ignored the sales and respected the meaning of these special holidays our nation and families would be stronger.

So, have a safe, happy and blessed Thanksgiving.

 

It’s great to see the town coming together again after so many years of financial challenges. I have to attribute that to an excellent, professional city council and our new city manager. I see nothing but progress going forward at city council meetings these days, without the need for extra Sheriff’s deputies to keep the peace. Congratulations to the council and to City Manager David Rowlands for your excellent work.

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Now for a little less-than-positive from the DRUDGE REPORT:

“US May Have Let 'Dozens' of Terrorists Into Country As Refugees...” Check out this FBI surveillance video from 2010. Remember, this is a 3-year-old incident we’re being shown. Tens of thousands of Iraqi nationals have been brought to the US as “refugees”. (Why not help them find refuge elsewhere?) As it turns out, some are active Muslim Jihadist terrorists. This should not surprise us because our government has never taken border security seriously, north, south, east, or west.

“UPDATE: North Texas Drivers Stopped at Roadblock Asked for Saliva, Blood...” This also bothers me very much. Note the authorities here are federal government “contractors”.
It’s not the particular, coercive incident conducted by our government that bothers me. It’s now all far-beyond the Orwellian 1984 nightmare; the only thing lacking now is broad, simultaneous government implementation. We already have hyper-surveillance and well-armed, multiple government agency mini-armies. Imagine what the picture will look like with two more Leftist Supreme Court justices snuffing-out traditional Constitutional rights. When this happens all the hard-fought legal battles to preserve our Bill of Rights will have been for naught.
As we know, we get the government we vote for – well, at least what 51 percent votes for.

 

I regret that after covering a crime scene this a.m.—see FillmoreGazette.com. I have no time left for my column.
Just one observation: The word around Washington these days is that the Obama care website crash is Bush’s fault!