Of birds, and bags, and bumble bees.

I guess I'll just wander around a few issues this week. I'm not too focused.

Well, I'm sad to report that my mockingbird friends have been chased away from their favorite nest in the fruitless Mulberry tree overlooking the garage. They had been greeting me with a burst of enthusiastic music as soon as I stepped from the car when arriving home late. They seem to need an audience. "Northern Mockingbirds continue to add new sounds to their repertoires throughout their lives. A male may learn around 200 songs throughout its life. A male may have two distinct repertoires of songs: one for spring and another for fall."

I regret that I neglected to record this couple when I could; they had an especially elaborate repertoire, and plenty of volume. I guess it was the power of their song that persuaded light-sleepers to chase them away. After evenings writing so many gloomy columns it was always a refreshing moment to hear them sing - even at midnight. I miss them!

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I guess it's time for me to once again dabble in the ugly realities of the human world. I'll start with the smaller issues, like why did California prohibit those small, cheap plastic bags at supermarkets? The reason given was that they ended up clogging waterways by being carelessly disposed of.

Now that the free, thin plastic bags have been replaced by new heaver bags at 10-cents apiece, what has happened? Well, personal cloth bags are also discouraged due to unsanitary conditions from repeated use. So, the grocery stores have created a necessary new market in these 10-cent bags which they sell to their customers - tens-of-millions of dollars-worth of new revenue. Makes me wonder where all these millions of new 10-cent bags end up. Do they end up "clogging waterways by being incorrectly disposed of" like the old free bags? Show me that they are not. I'm sure that more than 100 of the new bags recently retrieved from my office closet went into city trash collection - just like the old free ones. These 100 new (now used) bags cost me $10.00. Hmm - how many millions of shoppers using the new bags have been coerced into paying how many millions of dollars? And, to what purpose other than giving tens of millions of dollars to the markets. What alleged environmental purpose was served? Another government scam? Question of the day for Democrat Party leaders: Was this Trumps fault?

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A new California court ruling says that "if it looks like a bee, buzzes like a bee, and stings like a bee - it's a fish." ordinarily, this would require some explanation. But, seeing that this is California, where biological men can be determined women, and women men, I'll just leave it at that. "American Bumblebee Takes Step Toward Endangered Species Act Protection. “Bumblebee Once Found Across Country Has Nearly Vanished From 16 States". This item caught my eye recently. And, I have to say, as a kid I often saw bumblebees on the ranch and in garden areas but haven't seen one in years. Sad to hear that. On a quick search I discovered one species, Crotch's bumblebee, "an endangered species that was last evaluated by IUCN in April 2014. In 2019, the species' global status was listed as imperiled.” Keep an eye on that one! And that's all I have to say about that.

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At a time when our country is threatened by true national defense catastrophes from multiple directions, I don't know why I ended up with such a frivolous beginning to Realities this week. Maybe it's because it is so frustrating to find half of America oblivious to the threats created by current "leaders".

China, in particular, as our main enemy, is daring us to take action in support of Taiwan. Our House Leader, Nancy Pelosi, has announced an official visit to Taiwan, which has China's Communist Leader Xi Jinping behaving like Rumlpelstiltskin, once upon a time. He has the insolence to forbid the U.S. to visit Taiwan! I would take pleasure reminding Xi that all of his illegally armed artificial South China Sea islands could be destroyed by a single U.S. Arleigh Burke class destroyer in a few minutes, as Trump did in Syria against 50 targets.

Xi is looking for America to kowtow - the greatest insult in Far East culture. No - Xi should kowtow to his free Western adversaries. The U.S. should continue to arm Taiwan with every missile, plane and submarine available. Taiwan must have in place thousands of missiles prepositioned, targeting key enemy sites. If China intends to attack the free, autonomous, sovereign nation of Taiwan, to enslave its citizens, as they have done to the Uighurs, let them pay the ultimate price for their pyrrhic victory, and cease all commerce with the United States.

Recently self-described "Woman" (champion of the Trans) Nancy Pelosi, needs to go to Taiwan and flaunt that new Trans testiculrity in defense of America's honor.

Say hello to Xi for me. Was in Taiwan in 1961. Freedom was great!

A response to Kelly Scoles letter.

Hi Kelly.
Allow this conservative (non politician) to answer some of your questions.

We rail against government interference because it is so often unconstitutional. We defend freedom against communism and other totalitarianism forces because we love our democratic Republic.

We endorse government intrusion into "a woman's healthcare (in this case abortion) because our constitution guarantees life in the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits the states from depriving “any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law" (and babies in utero are very live persons. The Fifth Amendment repeats the same 11 words. The Declaration of Independence, while not law per se, describes the primary purpose of the Constitution as protecting life. Both the Declaration and Constitution are imbued with the Founder's "personal Christian beliefs" and all of them believed that our system could not work without the moral guidance of religion.

Conservatives "insist it is the government’s job to be a partner in a pregnancy" to assure that life is not destroyed by abortion, which in every case brutally kills a baby waiting to be born. Democrats shamefully use the outrageous case of this 10-year-old girl who was impregnated, for political purposes. The doctor was legally bound to report the case to Ohio police authorities and have the rapist arrested, and reportedly did not, though I'm not up to date here.

"He Gym [sic] Jordan (R-OH) smugly declared that Science has “changed in the last years" and suggested that it has settled the question of when the body is “ensouled.” It hasn’t." Wrong - it has! Without returning to several earlier columns discussing the question of "ensoulement" (an ancient term), I affirm my conclusions based entirely on modern science. At the moment when the zygote includes both XX chromosomes (female) and XY chromosomes (male) human life has begun, not before. What's a Zygote? "Fertilization is a process that usually happens within a few hours of ovulation. It's that critical point in reproduction when the sperm meets the newly released egg. At this meeting, 23 male (XY) and 23 female (XX) chromosomes mix together to create a single cell embryo called a zygote" - male or female. The ancient Greeks understood embryonic human life in 500BC and outlawed abortion by a mandatory ethical oath.

You say: "Science can detect the presence of life but not of the human soul." That's because we will never have a microscope capable of scanning spiritual things, the spirit itself not being visible. But its effects are.

Though the Church of the 13th century (Aquinas) could not understand the precision of this statement, it certainly taught that human life began with "ensoulement" - and we now know exactly when that happens. However nothing much can be done today to persuade most of the scientific community of this, being atheistic, they mock the existence of the human soul and the reality of life after death. This is the greatest threat to our civilization today.

Lastly, you complain of "these political [pro life] atrocities." "A grown man pontificates about a female child (rape victim)." Why should that shock you Kelly? Men, especially fathers, have an equal duty to provide for the safety of their children. They should be as vigilant as present day St. Josephs.

When it comes to American military security there is little good news. I guess I've made myself somewhat notorious for delivering bad news over the years. But, somebody has to take out the trash, even if the dumpster is overflowing.

First, very bad news that former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated Friday by a gunman who shot him from behind as he delivered a campaign speech. He was a true friend of America and adversary of Communist China. May he rest in peace.

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More trash, as Washington reveals Iran is set to deliver armed drones to Russia to assist in the Ukraine war. (By ZEKE MILLER and JOSH BOAK today.)

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France and Germany are failing to keep their promises of ammo, artillery and heavy armor assistance to Ukraine. As usual, the help is slow in coming due to Western timidity in the face of repeated threats of Russian nuclear retaliation. Billions have been spent but Ukraine awaits delivery of munitions. This fear has stymied the deployment of the most effective weapons, including jet fighters. "The U.S. weapons package announced on July 8 will include four High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, known as HIMARS, bringing to 12 the total number of these systems sent to Ukraine." Ten times that many are needed for Ukraine to beat-down the Russians.

Ukraine must have a reliable, continuous flow of the best munitions from NATO nations to avoid defeat. This must include our best High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). Putin's threats of nuclear attack should not change our determination to defend Ukraine. Weakness only invites continued aggression. Appeasement is a crazy, suicidal notion propagated by cowardly Western leaders afraid to take the initiative - and it INVITES continued aggression. It demonstrates weakness to the enemy and teases them to attack.

In a truth-in-advertising moment, I confess my complete disagreement with the usual conservative FOX News opinion against military and financial support for Ukraine in this Russian slaughter fest. Outnumbered 10-1 by the Russians, Ukraine is holding its own by sheer guts and tactical tenacity of its people. The entire West must help Ukraine because it is fighting valiantly for Western freedom and democracy. It is fighting our war. In fighting Russia, Ukraine is fighting China, Iran, and North Korea as well. Putin, the lowest of serial killers, must be stopped. Today, he and the others boast of our destruction. Putin is designing the game board for the hungry Communist wolf pack to study, while they proudly boast of overtaking us commercially, financially, and militarily.

By this time we should understand that Communism, and all totalitarian systems of government are not just bad - they are evil, infectious. They deny God, and reject freedom, eternity and the human soul. Faithful belief in our Judeo-Christian God is what has sustained America for 246-years. Without this faith we will fail. This is more than a religious belief, it is an historic fact.

America has always been late to the fight, and though we have had the best warriors, today we lack the best leaders. Our military has been sabotaged by the liberal, Woke "progressive" fifth column, forcing traditional Judeo-Christian men and women to co-habit the ranks with every sort of sexual-psychological deviant. Political leaders say "to Hell with religious traditionalists let the freaks have control." Traditionalists no longer determine with whom they go to war. No normal male soldier wants female military members to participate in combat, though we're running a little short of "normal" these days. This is a moral mandate before it is a clear practical necessity. This shouldn't need much explanation, but see (CO-ED COMBAT, Kingsley Browne, 2007), and "Get Over It! We’re Not All Created Equal" – "Controversial Editorial Written By Female Marine Argues Women Are Not Fit for Combat".

America is awesomely unprepared for the oncoming war. This time things will happen quickly, too fast to think of retooling our industries for guns, missiles, and planes and parts, or properly positioning defensive positions. If Taiwan is swept by Communist China, it will prove to be an unimaginable

catastrophe. Taiwan should be armed defensively to the teeth. It is a sovereign country, as is Ukraine. Taiwan was never conquered during the Chinese Communist Revolution.

Will war come, some say no. "I shall say it again and again and again. Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign war." Franklin D. Roosevelt, October, 1940.

Battle of the Philippines - MacArthur unprepared. "Half of the aircraft of MacArthur's Far East Air Force were destroyed on the ground on the first day of the Japanese attack." Dec. 8, 1941. "We are not about to send American boys 9 or 10 thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves." Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965.

But never fear, Joe Biden is leading us now, with Kamala as back-up. "Because of the negligence, the hasty and incompetent withdrawal led by this commander in chief, all of the $85 billion dollar’s worth of equipment has been..." given to the Taliban. (Jim Banks.) We no longer have "Freedom's Forge" (Arthur Herman, 2012). Read it and weep for today's America.

Examples: Current supply of Stinger (missiles). "US allies want to restock". "Pentagon searching for Stinger missiles." "DOD hasn't purchased a Stinger in 18 years." "Parts no longer commercially available (seeker head). "Stinger production line closed in 2020." Same scarcity throughout arms inventory. In time of war we will be missile, ship, and plane naked in months. "Demand for weapons such as artillery shells reveals low stockpiles and strategic complacency about threats."

The United States has relied almost entirely on China — and to a lesser extent Russia — in recent years to procure a critical mineral that is vital to producing ammunition." "The mineral antimony is critical to the defense-industrial supply chain and is needed to produce everything from armor-piercing bullets and explosives to nuclear weapons...." "FBI Director Christopher Wray called China the 'biggest long-term threat' to both the U.S. and the U.K."

America is unprepared for the coming war.

Response to Kelly Scoles letter:
Kelly, we have been over the facts and allegations concerning that 1/6/2021 (4-hour) riot too many times. I watched a few minutes of the Committee scam on a couple of days. The issue is closed for me. Your talk of "projection" is of course precisely what Republicans have accused Democrats of doing since the Biden election fraud erupted. The slick, Soviet style House Committee telecast investigating the riot, without due process (no longer called an "insurrection" by trustworthy sources), was gaslighted by Cassidy Hutchinson.

Do you recognize "hearsay" when you hear it? It's not admissible. Her testimony was a casebook example. Worse, it was a creepy replay of Christine Blasey Ford's defamatory fantasy attack on Brett Kavanaugh during his nomination hearings. That performance stained forever my opinion of the Democratic Party and its poisonous power agenda.

For the last time: You say Hutchinson said, "Trump knew his crowd was armed, and mag check [?] revealed that many weapons, including guns, knives and truncheons, were confiscated from many in the crowd." Every alleged "fact" here has been repeatedly denied by FBI, Capitol Police, and others since the event. I've published the official reports stating no weapons, particularly firearms, were found in the Capitol. If recent reports contradict original reports someone is lying, and the FBI has admitted it's lying (see Othello, "I've lost my reputation, the longest-living and truest part of myself! Everything else in me is just animal-like..."). I won't waste time talking about the Capitol Police Officer who negligently shot and killed the female US Air Force veteran in the Capitol - the only shot fired - scarcely investigated.

Official federal reports have been repeatedly filed since the riot; any new reports contradicting those findings (very thorough reports) I have to conclude are false. This conclusion also exactly agrees with my considered opinion of today's FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies, that they are corrupt.

The scheme here is to convict Trump on criminal charges to keep him out of the next presidential election. The tragedy here is that the Democratic Party, BLM, Antifa, WOKE, inc., "Progressive" institutions (Big Tech, Big Media, Big Banks and Industry) are facilitating the demise of the American Republic. It has confused our traditional Judeo-Christian culture and weakened our resolve to defend against massive atheistic totalitarian aggression. Yes, all of these bad things are manifesting within this treacherous, all-never-Trump Committee, as America teeters on the cusp of a world war against which it is poorly prepared.

This enormous cabal gave us the Joe Biden crime family policies to trigger the collapse of key government agencies, and a Harris Vice Presidency to guarantee its ultimate stupefaction. I'll bet you never suspected all of this activity, did you Kelly? Watch Ukraine closely and see how unprepared our defense industries are. Think of the deliberate calamity our surrender in Afghanistan was and its aftermath will continue to be. Think of the deliberate catastrophe the open border policy is (more than 3-million unidentified aliens so far) all needing food, employment, shelter, education-languages, and medical attention - immediately.

Think of the ruinous inflation (soon $10/gallon gas?), waves of crime, food scarcity, energy dependence again, etc. Think also of the destruction of traditional military esprit de corps, solidarity; the sense of pride, and honor among normal men and women. The forced inclusion of every sort of abnormal, anti-Christian anathema is heralded by weak, amoral "leaders”.

Those politicians sitting at that House Committee table are an integral part of attempting to kill-off Trump, the man who had fixed all of the above problems during his incredibly successful term in office. EVERY major Biden policy change was designed to destroy a beneficial Trump policy, with disastrous results. Every one! Biden and his incompetent minions are disasters on the rampage.

We are being consumed by what Barak Obama promised to be his "fundamental transformation" of the United States of America. That's why America is dying.

"If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

Still true. No apologies for scripture.

The year 2022 is turning out to be what has been called in Latin "annus mīrābilis" or "miracle year", a year in which great strides have been made in advancing our understanding of important things. 1666 was one of those years, when "Isaac Newton, aged 23, made revolutionary inventions and discoveries in calculus, motion, optics and gravitation" all in that single year.

Conservatives, "originalists" and structural constitutionalists will shout Huzzah! reflecting upon this year for the watershed advancements our Supreme Court has made in deciding three cases (one after a 50-year struggle) and affirming our Constitutional truths.

First, on a 6-3 decision, the Court ruled that it has no standing to decide issues of abortion. "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, [here abortion] nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people". (10th Amendment) The late S.C. Justice Antonin Scalia is surely smiling on this decision. He believed our Constitution should be interpreted from its words alone, not by what judges believe those words should say. That court has now held there is no longer a federal constitutional right to abortion.

The second "mirabilis" case affirmed our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms outside the home. Again, the Court affirms the plain language of the Amendment.

The Supreme Court ruled the Constitution establishes a right to carry a gun outside the home, issuing a major decision on the meaning of the Second Amendment of our Constitution. New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. The Court said the authority of the Second Amendment is in no way inferior to that of the First Amendment. It establishes a RIGHT of the people to keep and bear Arms, [which]shall not be infringed.

The third "mirabilis" Supreme Court decision of the year pertains to prayer in school. "Joe Kennedy, a high school football coach from Washington and a Christian, was fired for refusing to stop kneeling in prayer after games. Today, I applaud the U.S. Supreme Court for affirming our First Amendment right to freely practice religion. Today's judicious ruling is a great victory for Americans of all faiths." (Texas, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R).

Pro-Life believers fought for 50 years to correct the bastard decision of Roe v. Wade, now recognized as one of the worst decisions in American judicial history - right down there with Dred Scott (1857). Why? Primarily because during the time between Roe (1973) and this year when the majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, stated: "the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey [Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 1992] are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives," - SIXTY MILLION (60,000,000) innocent, defenseless babies waiting to be born have been butchered alive. Actually, this is only a small part of this super Holocaust, with abortion drugs killing untold millions more. The ancient Greeks understood the evil of this practice and obliged physicians to swear an oath of ethics (Hippocratic Oath) "... Nor shall any man’s entreaty prevail upon me to administer poison to anyone; neither will I counsel any man to do so. Moreover, I will give no sort of medicine to any pregnant woman, with a view to destroy the child."

I've run over my time and space.

Donald Trump gave us Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, who have given new life to millions of children now serenely awaiting birth into our world. This is truly a Miracle Year.

Welcome back, Kelly (letter to editor):
I hate to begin by saying that your Select Committee "facts" are extreme aberrations from reality because that's true. That's because the "committee" itself is a shameful farce. Masquerading as either "bipartisan" or as a constitutional investigative committee qualifies it for Soviet Show Trial status.

The committee denies Trump an impartial jury (it really is a trial), and the defendant is denied his right to cross-examine witnesses. The Committee is loaded with never-Trump members and Hillary financial backers; the only conservatives would have been Reps. Jim Jordan (Ohio) and Jim Banks (Ind.) but were kicked off by Pelosi, making the proceeding a Star Chamber trial, a sick joke.

Committee member Adam Schiff, is perhaps the most prolific, flamboyant, and shameless liar in all of Congress. For years he lied to everyone, especially the media, pushing false allegations about Trump colluding with the Russians. For years Schiff assured America he had the "smoking gun," "direct evidence, of collusion between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia." His pantaloons will be forever aflame. Then, there is the lady with the malignant heart, Liz Cheney, a pathological hater of Donald Trump. Will Trump ever get his reputation back? Not if the Committee has its way.

Official FBI and Capital Police reported "NO CENTRAL PLANNING" for this (4-hour) RIOT, which was not an "insurrection," though it became the largest investigated incident in our history undertaken by our (corrupt) FBI - to what purpose?

By what metric do you call this Committee proceeding "...an exercise in democracy"? By what measure do you call the 1/6 (4-hour) incident an "insurrection”? The non-stop arson, murder, and assault which occurred during 2020 was the great Democratic Party-BLM-ANTIFA, insurrection; hundreds cops and civilians killed, billions in property damage. "Of the 633 incidents coded as riots, 88 percent are recorded as involving Black Lives Matter activists." (The Federalist, 2020).

Jul 3, 2020 - "The recent Black Lives Matter protests peaked on June 6, (2020) when half a million people turned out in nearly 550 places across the United States ..." (NYT).

Tell me Kelly, how many House Select Committee Hearings can you show me about this circus of 2020 Dem. Party insurrections?

We should be "celebrating" when the Democratic Party-ANTIFA-BLM (and all other communist influences) are exposed, dismembered and destroyed during the next two elections. Freedom will then have another chance – God is still generous with His time.

I fear I've wasted my time on this issue. The nation is in such danger. Biden has given us bookends of historical corruption and incompetence to overcome. This Committee reflects that reality.

My deepest condolences to Richard and Carolyn Diaz upon learning of the death of their beloved daughter Arron Renee Diaz, 1966-2022. "She was born with Down Syndrome. At the time of her birth, doctors said Arron would not live past 12 years of age and placing in an institution should be considered as an option. Aaron defied those odds and remained at home all of her life enjoying camping, eating out, family road trips and an active life." She competed in many activities.

It's a hopeless job for me to try and summarize the bonds of love in the Diaz family, and presumptuous as well. I encourage everyone to read about Arron's life (Gazette, May 5, 2022).

In a world so captivated by envy, hatred, and violence, the story the Arron Renee Diaz family provides relief, filled with truth, beauty and healing love.

"God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." 1 John 4:16

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Rest in Peace Lin Thomas

"He was a teacher by trade, a preacher of the Word by purpose, and an old car enthusiast by passion." I will remember Lin as a compassionate man who leaves a powerful example of Christian life.

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After re-reading Arron's family story It's hard to transfer my attention to that world of "hatred, envy, and violence" we deal with every day. I keep asking myself if it's worthwhile to keep harping away on the condition of the American Republic. I certainly have an historical bias here. As a conservative, Judeo-Christian citizen, I find myself at nearly complete disagreement with the new American status quo, largely due to the simple-mindedness of those self-proclaimed "progressive" geniuses who teach men can become women and mathematics is racist. This is, of course, crazy talk designed to infect weak minds.

I regret I am unable expand on this opinion due to time restraints and technical challenges. I hope, next week.

Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas
A Time of Infamous Failure

Expressing sympathy for the families who lost children on May 24, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas is just so inadequate it hurts. When I review the scene of the massacre and read about all of the protections that failed to protect 21 people from being slaughtered, I'm left without words.

It seems impossible today that cowardice and incompetence on such a large scale could cause such carnage. It stuns credibility.
I grieve with everyone else, and demand justice for these innocent souls.

Secure our schools in every practical way, including trained, armed, on-site personnel - people who know how to handle a front sight. Expel and segregate students who exhibit uncivilized behavior. Place cameras in all classrooms to provide evidence of dangerous or grossly disrespectful student behavior, and to cover vulnerable exterior areas.

Make all adult members of school staff criminally responsible for discovered breaches of clearly stipulated security laws, rules, and regulations.

Today's social and educational environment facilitates the growth of abnormal criminal mentalities. This is due to the absence of traditional Judeo-Christian virtues which create a normal, healthy conscience, and the now predominant demands of anti-Christian-anti-scientific programs, such as fallaciously alleged genders: "Female, Male, Intersex, Trans, Non-Conforming, Personal, and Eunuch".

The education system today is heavy with all sorts of false and dangerous racial theories which antagonize Americans, and nurture hatred, envy, and violence. It's not the gun that needs to be eliminated, it's the vile curriculum that forms the brain that incites to murder by any means.

It's 10:30 p.m. and I still can't get a grip on my ideas. The death of two of my brothers within this month has caused a lot of contradiction and confusion. Brother James was eldest, brother John was fifth in line. I told my father once that he had really raised two families, the first four siblings raised on the ranch, the other three in the city until after he passed. There was a 5-year gap between the fourth and fifth sibling, and I think a little more liberality. Our memories must be distinctly different.

With such an abrupt change I was drawn to reread the extraordinary family history authored by Cousin Tom and Arlene Leonard titled "The Legacy of James Leonard." It is filled with happy memories and extended family photos. I have to recognize the wonderful, talented, and happy group of people Great Grandfather James Leonard (1815-1893) eventually gathered together. As I look at these photos of six generations, particularly mine, until about 1959 when Grandmother Sara Ellen "Nellie" Leonard passed away, it seems almost too peaceful. The memories are colorful and sharp, far cry from my day-to-day efforts to recall names today!

The passing of the things of this world jumps out at me; how truly brief life is, even for the longest-lived. The goal is of course life eternal which shouldn't frighten us. Though cousin Tom is rightly proud of the remarkable Leonard family accomplishments, and our extended family companionship, I keep returning to the fact that most worldly events, and things of my childhood are forever gone, some to the better, some for the worst. To the best, faith and hope prevail. I see six generations have played their roll in a little more than a century, a speck in time.

Grandma's house is a great demonstration of that second law of thermodynamics. (No pretention here, I'm ignorant of physics). Nature continually falls apart. The two places on earth that anchor my memories are the ranch I grew-up on, and my grandmother’s beautiful home, built in 1909 on the Home Ranch by Grandfather James Leonard Jr. in Oxnard, on Gonzales Road. It was the most extraordinary house of its kind I have ever known, without exception.

Following my grandmother's death in 1959 the house received many new lives, at great esthetic cost and final architectural degradation. Not to get too gloomy, but the condition of the great house today reminds me of William Butler Yeats's poem “The Second Coming,” " Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;...". So, for me the great house is a metaphor for all things quietly passing in time. For the oldest of us life is short-lived, sometimes fortunately well-lived as my Grandfather James Leonard Jr. did with his angelic spouse Nellie, in the big house, with large family, on the ranch.

The house was built state-of-the-art. Today only a ramshackle remnant of memories remains on site, although it still evokes Christmas and Easter past, and Grandma's "Butter Sponge Cake with Lemon Frosting."

Recalling these things, I can't escape remembering how time consumes all things, even beautiful homes and bygone inhabitants.
The second law of thermodynamics feasts relentlessly on our democratic Republic as well, but faster even than on an old house. Its foundational Judeo-Christian structure has been abandoned and the center cannot hold much longer. The ravage of moral neglect is taking its toll. Will we also soon be left with only the skeletal remains of the greatest nation in human history?

O.K. - I'm done with personal history.

James Leonard Farrell

My brother James Leonard Farrell passed away May 18, 2022. He was 88-years old.

This must be more a reminiscence of the life of my eldest brother than an obituary. A typical obituary would be too short in recalling a few events and accomplishments. I knew him well before he graduated from high school but heard from him less after he entered military service. When I compare his life to that of any other member of the Farrell family, I find my brother Jim to be most admirable, but least recognized. He was first of all a humble, devout member of his Catholic Church, from his earliest days to the day he died. No one who knew him could doubt that. In my lifetime I never heard Jim utter a curse or swear word. Few recognized his accomplishments because of his quiet, retiring personality, never asking for anything, always generous with what he had to give.

He was, ironically, the greatest man I have known during my life. I say "ironically" because of all the Farrell family members, Jim's talents were always unnoted and unappreciated. The irony is due to the fact that despite doing everything right he grew up in a hyper-critical family atmosphere, leaving him to think everything he did was somehow flawed. This finally sacked his self-confidence. In my childhood I could see unjustified parental criticism fall upon him relentlessly and couldn't understand why. In most important endeavors Jim surpassed his six siblings, unacknowledged.

He did well in school, attending academically challenging Loyola High School in Los Angeles as a boarder. His grades were excellent. He shuttled back and forth over the old Conejo Grade between school and the ranch in a rattly Model-A our father bought for him.

Later, Jim graduated from Cal Poly with a degree in Horticulture. He always had a love of growing things, like his pioneering namesakes, great-grandfather James Leonard Sr. and grandfather James Leonard Jr., who first began farming in 1859, before there was an Oxnard or a Ventura County.

Following college, Jim joined the US Marines. After a 4-year hitch he was honorably discharged with the rank of Sergeant E-5, difficult to achieve in the 1950s, and far superior to any rank achieved by his four siblings who served as well in the Army, Air Force, and Marines.

But Jim could not find a niche in the regular business world that suited him. Instead, he favored propagating various species of palms, berries, etc. The joy of his life was always to visit with old friends, relatives and their families, many from his grade school years. As friends and relatives faded in time, or moved away, Jim found himself somewhat isolated. Remaining single without children, his own family saw less of him. For many years he lived alone near a desert area continuing to propagate fruit and various specialties for market.

Jim visited me in Fillmore a few times over the years when in town on business. He lived an undeserved life of solitude but found great comfort in his Savior, Jesus Christ. As a member of a large family of plenty, he deserved significantly more than he received.

But I know he was received with great joy in eternity by all of his many true friends and relatives who awaited him, because "The last shall be first, and the first last” - Matthew 20:16
A Funeral Mass will be held on June 8, 2022 at 11 a.m. at Padre Serra 5205 Upland Rd., Camarillo, Ca. 93010, with reception to follow.

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord.

With two critically ill brothers in mind tonight, and another recently passed, it's a confusing time for me to focus on other issues. Growing up in a family of 7 siblings (6 boys and a girl), and now treading time in my eighties, I'm left with a cumbrous array of memories to examine. It's like looking through an old kaleidoscope's geometrical shapes of bright colored crystal. The view changes with the slightest turn in time.

These views show many very good, and some very dark pictures, no different from human faults from time immemorial. Though I think trust is a fickle virtue, when my time arrives, I hope to leave this earth in an abiding trust in Divine Mercy and His close friends. For me that is life's shining reality.

I've wanted to write a memoir of my family's life for quite a while. It would recall life on the ranch from 1939 to about 1960, just a snapshot of some 20-years in Oxnard and Camarillo, of my brothers and I building tree forts, slingshots, day-long "hunts" with our .22s, and numerous clod fights; a time of great freedom, adventure, and more than a few bruises.

How drastically things have changed in such a short time, how truly beautiful things were. Also, how the character of our society has been cheapened is woeful.

I hope to begin before the memory of those 7 siblings is reduced, and life in the best of times is forgotten.

So, my recollections are a little agitated tonight, distracting me from the job of writing something.

I take hope in the prayer of St. Teresa of Avila:

"Let nothing disturb you,
Nothing frighten you,
All things are passing,
God is unchanging.
Patience gains all;
Nothing is lacking
To those who have God:
God alone is sufficient"
St. Teresa of Avila

Well, I hate to begin this column by having to admit a careless mistake in last week's Realities. But, my last line purports to quote the Prophet Jeremiah - and the chapter and verse are incorrect. It should have been: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you...". Jeremiah 1:4-5. I don't have a clue to how this happened, but since I'm here, I should include another beautiful verse: "And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb."

****

The wretchedness of the progressive, woke, Democratic Party pro-abortionists is showing it's face again by stalking Supreme Court Justices to their homes and threatening their families. Schumer made “direct & dangerous threats to U.S. Supreme Court" justices by name.

Once again, the Democratic Party is lying, to convince people that any overturning of Roe means the end of legal abortions in the U.S. Though perhaps half of Americans would like to see this outrageous decision overturned, that could not end the practice. If Roe falls, the future of all abortion law would be placed in the hands of individual states. The states would decide whether mothers should kill their children or not. The killing of children after the infant is born would also be up for debate. Civilized societies do, of course, recognize this practice ("late term abortion") as murder. Every recognized legal authority since the founding of the Republic calls this murder by definition. Only recently have Ogres like former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (a pediatric neurologist) called for the killing of born-live infants:

"So in this particular example, if a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired [otherwise suffocated], and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother" as to whether to sever the spinal cord of that infant and offer his or her body parts to a Planned Parenthood market.

It's also instructive to return to a video of Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, ranting at an abortion rights rally, on the Court's steps, physically threatening Supreme Court Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch. "I want to tell you Gorsuch; I want to tell you Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions." YouTube · CNN · Mar 4, 2020, youtube.com ›. (This activity taking place today!)

Democrats - this is your leadership - these are your members, and your Molotov cocktails! "May 9, 2022 in Madison, Wisconsin, a pair of Molotov cocktails shattered the windows at the Wisconsin Family Action office, an-anti abortion rights group."

This is Democratic Party Wokeness, as vivid as their 2020 BLM-Antifa billion-dollar, murderous, months-long insurrection.

God save us, and our children, from Democratic Party "leadership."

An infamous Supreme Court insider (Justice or clerk) has betrayed the sanctity of that chamber's confidentiality by leaking a draft of a Supreme Court decision in the equally infamous case of Roe v. Wade. A search for the miscreant is under way. It appears that this notorious 1973 abortion case is about to be overturned - after facilitating 62 million gruesome deaths in the last 46 years - including so-called partial birth abortions.

In memoriam of those millions who should be with us today, some statistics:

According to WHO, every year in the world there are an estimated 40-50 million abortions. This corresponds to approximately 125,000 abortions per day.

The Holocaust
By Paul Murano • ChurchMilitant.com • January 22, 2021

"Abortion has become the No.1 killer of human beings on the planet.

This is according to The Worldometer, a website monitoring international births, deaths and other vital information. Its abortion stats come directly from the World Health Organization.

In the year 2020, surgical abortion killed more than 40-million preborn children. That accounts for 43% of all deaths worldwide, notes the American Center for Law and Justice.

Comparatively, 1.9 million people are dying annually from the China virus. That's less than 1/20 the rate (5%) of prenatal homicide.

In just the United States, more human beings die each year from abortion than from heart disease, stroke and accidents combined.

And these deaths are only from surgical abortions.

Chemical abortions kill 10 times the number of preborns. This includes not only the abortion pill RU-486, but also injections, the IUD and so-called birth control pills.

Human Life International reports around four times as many preborn children are killed by the common birth control pill than by surgical abortion. The secondary mechanism in the pill makes the mother's uterine lining impossible for the tiny child to attach to when conception does occur, flushing the tiny child out without even the mother's knowledge.

Dr. Bogomir Kuhar of Pharmacists for Life estimates between 8 and 13-million preborn children are killed annually in the United States alone — only some 10% percent of these are surgical abortions.

Between surgical and chemical means of killing the unborn, abortion has become, by far, the world's No. 1 killer."

As a nation founded upon (and blessed by) Judeo-Christian principles, we are not absolved from this monstrous activity by recognizing that the pagan nations of this world are guilty of even greater numbers of killings.

If Roe is overturned, the 50 individual states can decide for themselves whether the continued killing of the smallest, most defenseless of human beings is something they can live with. It will be a challenge to the individual conscience, no longer a federal mandate to hide behind.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; ..."Jeremiah 11:11

The Enigmatic 'Russian Soul' By Sergey Maidukov (American Thinker, March 28, 2014).

"Ranked at number 155 according to the Global Peace Index, Russia is one of the most dangerous countries in the whole world. It is notorious as the lawless land, where people are assassinated every 18 minutes, averaging 84 murders per day in a nation of 143 million." " A number of ... myths exist. For example, the common legend of an ancient Slavic culture. There never was, and could not be, such a concept because the term “Slavs” in all Western European languages always referred simply to “slaves” -- the pagan people who survived under the oppressive regimes of one conqueror after another." "A new poll, conducted by the independent Levada Center in Moscow, found that nearly 60 percent of Russians “deeply regret” the collapse of the Soviet Union."

I begin this REALITIES with reference to Maidukov's informative column in my search to find an explanation for the notorious Russian barbarity seen in Ukraine. In a nutshell, that's been the Russian way for a thousand years. Russia, and all of the Far East, missed out on the civilizing Hellenistic influence of Greece and Rome. They retained the savage gene of their forebears, Vikings, Mongols through tsarist regimes (guys like Ivan the Terrible, died 1584, aged 53, first Tsar of all Russia). Some of his handiwork may seem familiar:

The destruction of Novgorod: [Mariupol?] "Novgorod was Moscow’s main rival. When Ivan took the city, he burned it to the ground. About 12,000 people were mercilessly executed. Children and women were thrown into rivers. Famines followed the killings, which took as many lives. It would take centuries for the once-bustling city of Novgorod to fully recover from the famines and mass killings." (History about Tomorrow).

Russia, like China, having never been a free country, is accustomed to brutal government treatment. Russians have always lived in fear, with fear their stock-in-trade, and neighbors their commodity. During, and in the aftermath of, WWII the communist Russian Army under Stalin was notorious for raping every female person they encountered regardless of age. That historical attitude has not changed under Putin - witness Ukraine.

The West has finally come to a red line (survival of Ukraine) which, if it fails to defend, will spell its downfall. America, though late and slow to the game, is finally providing the fighting tools which can permit the small Ukrainian military to actually defeat mighty Russia. In Putin's mind, this cannot happen. Such an outcome is simply unimaginable, and the consequences would be catastrophic for world peace.

NATO, and America herself, will live in the shadow of perpetual Russian blackmail if we do not help Ukraine win this war A.S.A.P. Russia, and China as well, should be reminded that the West has ample nuclear firepower, on land, sea, and air, to destroy both of them.

Let's hope that Putin has enough logic brain cells remaining to understand this fact.

This was one of those days when I had a hard time cranking-up the column. Putin's war leaves me angry with the slow pace of our president's actions to arm our Ukrainian friends. They fight for their lives, defending against another holocaust. I witness mothers, babies, and old people being systematically slaughtered. I also watch what is shown to be one of the toughest armies in the world, trouncing the Russian Orcs, though outgunned ten-to-one. Reminiscent of Leonidas and the 300 Spartans - but with a victorious outcome.

Putin threatens to ignite WWIII, which America may not avoid without abject capitulation. That fuse might likely be the use of "tactical" (small) nukes capable of immediately annihilating inhabited areas of a few miles. An even more "unthinkable" event would be the use of "strategic" (hydrogen) nuclear weapons which could rattle our tectonic plates.

We are dealing with atheistic enemies in Russia and China, those who not only deny God, but deny as well the reality of immortal human souls and eternal life, which makes the above scenarios actually "thinkable". This is also why for a hundred years communist inspired dictatorships have sponsored the slavery and murders of hundreds of millions of innocent human beings. This is why we see systems such as forced confinement of millions of Uighurs in China today, and millions of ghosts from the Gulag Archipelago of the recent past. An excellent column appeared in the April 19, 2022 edition of American Thinker (www.americanthinker.com) "Farewell to America's military meritocracy" by James Poplar.

I have to ask, as Mr. Poplar does, what kind of military will we have when the time to fight jumps up again. Sadly, I wholeheartedly agree with his somber closing thought:

"So it appears America's ultimate meritocracy, the force that rose from like a phoenix from the ashes of Vietnam and won Desert Storm, will be no more — sadly, another victim to wokeness. Equality is the principle proclaimed in our Declaration of Independence, not equity. The U.S. military, which was once a model meritocracy and model of combat effectiveness, where all were treated equally, is now embarking on the ever-slippery slope. Where will it end?"

"...last week the Pentagon rolled out its own "equity" plan. The Department of Defense is now aiming to "equalize outcomes for employees" and partners across racial and sex-based lines. In the text, the DOD explained a series of procedural changes to better align with the White House's demands for "equity." I believe this is an example of what the so-called "woke" disease has done to the entire U.S. military structure and purpose. From our beginnings, the idea of "troop individualism" has been anathema. The goal has always been cohesion, to break down the individual and reconstitute the single-minded combat unit acting together.

Our military services have gone the way of the Catholic hierarchy (I'm a Catholic), rotting from the top down. Hierarchies seem to suffer similar vulnerabilities - in following leaders even when they have lost legitimate moral authority, and compass of common sense, by abandoning foundational Judeo-Christian laws - our historical Constitutional gravity.

The report (Department of Defense Equity Action Plan April 2022) continued, "This included a focus on how extremist or dissident ideologies violate the fundamental principles of the Department" and went on to note its increased tolerance for military service by transgender soldiers. "DOD took steps to ensure transgender individuals who wished to serve in the military and could meet the appropriate standards were able to do so openly and free from discrimination."

What is completely rejected by the Dept. of Defense’s 240-years of American military and social tradition, as seen in our founding documents: the teaching of Judeo-Christian virtues and values, which has never included anti-Judeo-Christian values, until now. America's bedrock, founding values are based entirely upon Biblical Judeo-Christian principles - uniquely so. Our traditionally religious military men and women compose 95 percent of our fighting troops. It's far past time to recognize our responsibility to defend their professional expectations as members of our armed forces.

All of this novel "woke" philosophical trash is sabotaging our nation's military strength and cohesion.

Like most people, I love dogs, also cats, birds and most other of God's creatures, domestic and wild. I emphatically include in that list Crackers the Surfing Dog, Pebbles the Wonder Dog, as well as Forrest and Dahlia, the service dogs. Many of us have enjoyed them as part of our Fillmore experience.

A couple of these companions need a little help these days, a little understanding. A few people have expressed exasperation at their presence. Although their owner, Birch Greyloch, says neither Dahlia nor Forrest (Irish Wolf Hounds) have bitten, or threatened anyone, they at times have barked and complaints have surfaced, with requests to remove the dogs.

They are very large dogs, often seen carrying a saddle-bagged Chihuahua, Violet, but as I've observed, are gentle and friendly. Maybe their size alone frightens some folks. Ms. Greyloch's letter can be found in today's Gazette.

For the sake of Dahlia, Forrest and Violet, and Ms. Greyloch, can we all get along? Without getting too maudlin about the issue, I should cite the title of a book I received when I was about 5-years old: Be Kind to Animals, They Have Feelings Too. I've remembered that message ever since.

****

I have to say I'm tired of writing so many "gloom and doom-type" columns. I would much rather write about the beautiful (if rainless) weather, COVID-19 seeming to fade away - or about the two Mockingbirds that ambushed me last week with their extraordinary repertoire as soon as I got out of my truck at 10:00 p.m. I stood there spellbound for about 5 minutes. They were perched in a fruitless Mulberry tree overhanging the garage. This happened the following night as well, about the same time - 10 p.m.! On the next night I came in much later - nothing.

I don't think any other bird can compare with the Mockingbird for complex song; they are the Mozarts of the bird world. They combine and repeat all of the sounds they hear in nature, i.e. crickets, frogs, and any other bird song. And, yeah, I like trees as well. This was a refreshing break from hearing screams and explosions from Ukrainian war reports.

****

Unless someone (probably in the Russian Army) stops Putin by assassination or a coup, I think the use of nuclear weapons is probable. (Note: I am NOT a military expert, just my opinion - most of us have one.) I worry about the "small" nukes, those that can be fired from two or three miles on an otherwise conventional field of combat. We've made them suitcase small and have had them for decades. So, if the Russians fire a couple and take out a few brigades, or a small town with one shot, what choice does this leave NATO? Western nations can either run away, surrender - or respond in kind.

Putin is an unstable leader. His vanity has already been affronted by his failure to take Ukraine's capitol after weeks of fighting. He has "lost face" - of critical importance especially in the East. Putin now has no way to offer a truce, because his narcissism and arrogance compels him to fight to the death regardless of consequences (unless taken out). His paranoia was on full display recently when he flaunted to the media his nuclear code suitcase in detail - his nuclear "football." After the carnage and destruction Putin has inflicted on Ukraine, even a truce is not an option; Ukraine will resist to the last man, the classic dilemma of an immovable object against an irresistible force - almost.

Those conservatives who say America should not get involved with Ukraine are wrong. Short of using U.S. forces in the fighting, we need to immediately provide every weapon we can to help Ukraine win this war, including MiG fighters, tanks, long distance artillery and missiles. We should assume and prepare for the worst from Russia - and China. The world's order is threatened by totalitarianism. Absent a miracle, without strong leadership, we could lose our country - as we are now by inviting foreign millions through our abandoned, unprotected borders. Unlike the valiant Ukrainians, we are giving our country away - without a fight. Our enemies are prepared to pounce at this distinctive whiff of weakness.

I think America is set for epochal change of an uncertain nature.

I also think I would rather go back to talking about birds and service dogs.

A bomb threat at Fillmore High School went out to Fillmore PD, Ventura Sheriffs, and Simi Valley PD at 11:10am today, Wednesday, April 6th. Fillmore Engine 91, VC Engine 27 and an AMR ambulance were also called in. Reports of students being released to emergency contacts. More information was not available at press time. Pictures and an update will be in next week’s Gazette, April 14th edition.

****

A response to Kelly Scoles' Second Opinion:

Hi Kelly,
You have painted with a very broad brush this week. But of those accusations you make concerning political and business activities of Justice Clarence Thomas' wife, Ginni Thomas, President Trump and his children, I am satisfied with your ending paragraph which reads, "I am not sure that any of the instances cited here are illegal, but they are sordid and have the appearance of wrong doing."

Of course, I emphatically disagree that the actions of Mrs. Clarence Thomas (you accuse of "participation in sedition"!), Trump or family members have been in any way "sordid." But I surely do believe in your last sentence: "If someone wants to serve in high office, their families need to know that their activities are limited" and I believe it is the height of hypocrisy to equate the Biden family's criminal "international activities" with the normal activities of Justice Thomas' wife or Trump family members. As the inflow of evidence now clearly shows, Joe Biden, the "Big Guy," Jill Biden, brother James Biden and others, have for decades, been trading with the enemy (in $Billions) using Joe's offices as Senator, Vice President, and President for bait. This scam is so well ensconced in the American political system, for so long, it seems like a perfect crime. Like the Hunter Biden laptop revelations, it's almost too big for normal citizens to understand. It (the money laundering) is the greatest crime, the greatest betrayal of American trust in our history. Yet some Americans still doubt it. This all corroborates the adage "The first victim of war is truth" and we are at war within ourselves, a nation divided.

The facts are now quickly tumbling out of the Biden family closet, despite surreptitious attempts to hide the truth since the 2020 election. These Biden family secrets (only recently admitted as factual by the Washington Post, and New York Times) also tepidly, by the usual suspects, "CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC - ignore NYT bombshell report on Hunter Biden's business deal with Chinese company". Of course, Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft continue to coordinate the cover-up (laptops) as a fifth column in our Republic. But, as another Merchant once said, "...truth will out," even if sometimes too late.

Luxurious gifts from (our greatest enemies) Russia, China et. al., a wild history of extravagant drug abuse (meth destroyed his teeth) money laundering-squandering, and perhaps worst of all, child molestation and pornography, highlight Hunter Biden's "international activities" for years, documented in living color by the thousands on his laptops. How utterly corrupt must our intelligence services, Justice Department, FBI and others be to have covered-up so long, while President Joe Biden flatly, repeatedly, on all public media DENIES knowing anything of Hunter's "international activities" or of receiving millions in dark money. FDR's Vice President John Nance "Cactus Jack" Garner, once described the vice-presidency as being "not worth a bucket of warm [!@#$]." Joe Biden certainly knew better. He profited hugely from all his high offices, including Senator, V.P. and Presidency.

I don't have a hard time understanding why the Biden family betrayal of our Republic is so hard for honest citizens to believe - nothing on this scale of treason has happened before in our history.

No wonder Joe Biden has such a hard time dealing firmly with Russia and China. They have him utterly compromised. If Russia or China spilled the beans, The Family Biden would be behind bars for life. But, like Hillary Clinton and her swarm of iniquitous minions, once at the highest levels of government and politics, justice will never be done, which is a harbinger for a collapse
of the Republic. At the present time, as for the most critical issues of criminal justice, our Constitution has been captured by the radical Left, and our Republic is in jeopardy. Equal justice under law is now only a hopeful, historical theory.

Response to Kelly Scoles' "Second Opinion"

Hi Kelly,
"Theater" has always been part of political debate. The challenge is always to separate phony grandstanding from attempts to highlight critical issues. Theater can be overdone, witness Senator Cory Booker's tearful acknowledgement of Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson's virtue. But the treatment of the last couple of SCOTUS nominees (Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett) was so outrageously disgraceful that I finally lost all respect for the Judiciary Committee and the process itself. This disgusting proceeding has been a Democratic "lynching" party since the 1987 rejection of the distinguished (Reagan nominated) Judge Robert Bork.

Then, there was more excruciating theater at the expense of Justice Clarence Thomas, made infamous by one Anita Hill, where Thomas accused the Committee of "judicial lynching". Remember that? But the Kavanaugh hearing was the worst, with those utterly defamatory sexual assault allegations (gang rape). Or maybe it was that Hawaiian pig, Senator Mazie Hirono, who had the insolence to ask SCOTUS nominee Amy Coney Barrett, "Since you became a legal adult, have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors or committed any verbal or physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature?" This swinish inquiry, of course, was Hirono's attempt to humiliate Judge Barrett. Makes me wonder whether Hirono was speaking from personal experience.

Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson will certainly be approved by this Committee because she's a ringer, a radical progressive judge who is deeply prejudiced towards criminal tolerance - in particular, tolerance of child molesters and pornographers. Most medical experts on this subject claim these felons can never be normalized, and my strong concern centers on Judge Brown's lenient sentencing for pedophiles, well under official sentencing guidelines. It's a core concern. Incidentally, Kelly, do you really doubt the existence and deadly nature of "pedophile rings"? If so, educate yourself by spending some time at our southern border where little girls are most at risk from traffickers. You think that Josh Hawley (R-MO) "showed an unusually keen interest in the details of rapes and molestations..."? "Unusually keen"? His JOB is to protect against the crimes of pedophiles and all other sex predators who aggressively ply their trade on our border.

Judge Brown really couldn't define "woman"? How difficult should that be? How about, a human being who has XX chromosomes? A quick fact check: "...also known as the sex chromosomes, determine the biological sex of an individual: females inherit an X chromosome from the father for a XX genotype, while males inherit a Y chromosome from the father for a XY genotype (mothers only pass on X chromosomes)." Brown's decisions in these cases land well below suggested judgment norms. Could her refusal to tell us what a woman is possibly hide a personal ideological conviction which rejects the scientific fact that there are only two sexes? If so, I wonder what group would benefit from such a bias.

As for the difference between the Declaration and the Constitution, the former states the reasons for seeking independence, while the latter expresses the law, the rules we follow to maintain that ideal. Together they express the foundation of our successful independence. You mock Senator Marsha Blackburn's (R-TN) education and state. I applaud her intelligence, patriotism and common sense. Much better than Jill Biden's humorous scholastic endeavors: Dec 15, 2020 Dr. Jill Biden WSJ op-ed by Joseph Epstein. This column much more authoritative than Twitter.
Lastly, you say, "We will see whether Republicans want a two-Party democratic political system..." "What you get with a one-Party system is a dictatorship. Check out Putin to see what that means." I don't have to look at Russia. I live in California! Dem. supermajority forever. Just take a look at Governor Gavin Newsom - that hair, those hands, those snappy teeth; they reek dictatorship!

Responding to Kelly Scoles’ Second Opinion
The Russian-Ukrainian war grinds on. Ukraine is winning on points despite being outgunned 10-1. The victory Putin bragged would take a couple of days is into its fourth week with soaring causalities and enormous loss of equipment.

Biden, the ever-reluctant Commander in Chief, handicaps Ukraine's progress by slow-walking the critical supplies of arms and ammunition, while the Russians decimate civilian targets. Reported a week ago, Russia has destroyed 15 hospitals, several of them children's hospitals.

Every American should understand that Russia must be defeated in this unprovoked war against an innocent, peaceful, democratic, sovereign country. If there is to be freedom for Ukraine when the war is ended, and security for the Eastern European nations, Russia must be stopped in its tracks. That means the West must stand up to Putin's threat to use nuclear weapons against us, otherwise nuclear blackmail will decide America's and NATO's future forever. We have many nuclear weapons as well. Putin should be constantly reminded of that fact (as should China, as it prepares to attack Taiwan).

Kelly, you approve of Sun Tzu's, advise, often admired as the oldest (500b.c.) and greatest military strategist, and there are many of them from before Alexander the Great to Machiavelli and Clausewitz. It should not be surprising that he advises that "it's not the hothead seeking vengeance" who wins, but the "calm, detached warrior who wins." Sun Tzu is the subtlest of tacticians. I have three editions of his "The Art of War." If he wrote that short book himself, he is truly a genius among geniuses.

But I think you misunderstand the Ukraine war situation. Any "Putin-watcher" with even modest knowledge of Russian-Soviet history would not be "stunned" to hear Putin's public statement i.e. "to crack down on internal dissent...and begin a necessary self-purification of society". Putin is a communist in the historical sense of that word. He is not a soldier, he's the protégé' of monsters like Lenin, Stalin, Feliks Dzerzhinsky, and Mao Zedong. Putin idolizes Stalin, who starved millions of Ukrainians to death.

I'm not a psychiatrist, so I can't determine Putin's mental state. But I don't have to. Any Christian paying attention to what Putin is doing to Ukraine's citizens knows he is pure evil, e.g. - destroyed 15 hospitals to date. I come closer to the truth of Putin's character by identifying him as being spiritually possessed, as were all of his communist predecessors. His pride might prevent him from deescalating the war; he has trapped himself by losing face in view of China (even India, Iran, and North Korea) and his collapsing military.

(Note) I'm running late and will have to cut this short. Not my fault. I blame it entirely on age.

A nuclear confrontation with Russia is now (in my very un-professional opinion) probable. We are beginning to hear the word "sub-kiloton nukes - tactical nukes". It's their smaller size that would tempt Putin to use them in Ukraine. The smallest U.S. nuclear bomb was the Davy Crockett, fired somewhat like a mortar, from a tripod set up in the field. The launcher systems were muzzle loading weapons.

"Although the Army had already deployed nuclear artillery systems, by the late 1950s U.S. generals wanted a battlefield system that combat units could use against Soviet troops at close range." "The initial Davy Crockett could be hand-carried and fired from its tripod by two or three soldiers. Since the Davy Crockett was meant for close-range use, the explosive power of the warhead was limited to 20 tons and 10 tons" [not kilotons] - a fraction of the explosive power of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki devices (15 kilotons) but enough for the blast to kill advancing Soviet or Chinese troops. "In the late 1960s, the Army began to remove the Davy Crockett from service." About 2,000 units had been disbursed throughout Western Europe.

I have to close. Putin must be stopped ASAP by conventional means before it will require nuclear means. The free world must provide all support Ukraine forces need, now.

A Davy Crockett at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, 1961.

Amidst the murderous slaughter of Ukrainian women, children, and elderly citizens by Putin's Russian army of Orcs, one practical thing bothers me. In the hundreds of hours I've watched video of the conflict I can't remember seeing a single bicycle.

Civilians have fled by the (three) millions to those adjacent NATO countries providing food and shelter. These millions, adults, young children, have trudged along seeking safety on bombed and strafed paved roads dragging fragments of their previous lives through sub-zero and rainy weather. Traditionally, bicycles have been highly effective emergency escape vehicles, often with attached baskets or small trailing carts. Under normal road and weather conditions a bicycle can average about 12-miles per hour. They proved extremely useful in WWI, WWII and many other wars.

The bicycle is more efficient than any other (non-motorized) method of travel - including walking. Even struggling against the Russian murder machine, in freezing weather, the bicycle can move more people and belongings to safety, cheaper and faster, especially at the onset of the fighting.

God grant victory to Ukrainians. It's time to crush Russia and Putin.

***

A response to Kelly Scoles' "Second Opinion":

Hi Kelly,
We rarely agree on essential political issues. I sometimes recall words attributed to several old philosophers: “It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.” Artemus Ward? This week you've made my job easier for that reason.

You worry about "...the very people [Republicans] who will formulate American policy" based upon some silly metaphors by Sen. Ted Cruz. When "they" were in office was America better off due to Trump's closure of our southern border (before the 3-million unvetted squatters began pouring in)? Are we now, under Biden, better off in Afghanistan after surrendering, handing the Taliban $85-billion in military arms, abandoning thousands of American citizens behind enemy lines? Do you like the inflation (soon possibly hyperinflation)? How about the Keystone XL pipeline, cancelled by Biden, because he maintains: "No matter how you look at it, Keystone XL would be bad for wildlife, especially endangered species.”? "If the pipeline were built, it would decimate habitat these species rely on." Just like the spotted owl controversy nearly shut down the Alaska Pipeline. This (Google produced) statement is a bold lie. You claim pipelines are "environmentally-risky delivery systems, ...that the "...oil will just have to find its way to market as it always has." (FACT) Pipelines are the safest, fastest, cleanest means of transporting oil and gas, by far. Would you rather use tank trucks or train? A 36-inch pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta, through Montana and South Dakota to Steele City, Nebraska, would "transport up to 830,000 barrels per day". Same diameter pipe used in Alaska. It's all 4-feet underground.

"Oil and gas companies do not want to drill more." (Pavel Molchanov). Mr. Molchanov must be a mouthpiece for Vlad the war engineer.

Following Biden's day-one cancellation of the permits, "The Keystone XL pipeline project was terminated in June 2021 and will not proceed." Why not continue to buy millions of barrels from Russia - even Iran? Is this more wise Democratic Party policy? Really? "Building the Keystone XL pipeline would create 10,000 good-paying American union jobs during construction. U.S. employment wages would exceed $2.2 billion under a Project Labor Agreement with four American labor unions. The pipeline's builder was ready to award over $3 billion in contracts awarded to U.S. contractors and suppliers in 2020, with all new steel pipe for Keystone XL, Made in America." “Alaska Pipeline pipe was made entirely in Japan - also delayed 5-years on…” (proven-to-be-false environmental warnings, e.g. caribou).

"Biden fulfilled a campaign promise" by denying [pipeline]construction permits...[and] "...did not close down oil, any gas drilling or delivery." But, "The Keystone XL pipeline project was terminated in June 2021 and will not proceed."

The "release of significant oil reserves " by Biden is worse than a farce. It affected NOTHING but the depletion of a critical war-emergency resource, which Trump had refilled (at a bargain price) after years of neglect!

What a waste! America's national security is at risk as never before due to the incomprehensible incompetence and corruption of Joe Biden and minions. I see the Biden-Harris administration as a harbinger of disaster. Weakness kills by inviting attack.

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P.S. - If Biden fails to assist Ukraine with everything it needs to break the Russian onslaught (including jet fighter-bombers) we tempt, and should expect, the same fate. If Russia uses poison gas, chemical, bio-weapons, or (real possibility) nuclear weapons, we should be ready to respond immediately. God help us if Kamala is holding the nuclear codes - it could be her last chortle.