My warmest congratulations to Fillmore High School's champion swimmer, Katrionna Furness.

"Kat" recently took first place in the CIF 100 Backstroke, and third place in the CIF 100 Freestyle. She is new to FHS, in her junior year, and is very happy with the school, her classmates and teammates.

Go Kat go!

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Congratulations also to our Fillmore Rotary Club for initiating the "Baby Otter Water Safety Awareness Program". School Superintendent, Dr.Adrian Palazuelo is so impressed with the children's illustrated book about a baby otter and how its family taught it to float, then how to swim, that he read it to the those in attendance at Tuesday's School Board meeting.

The idea is to get parents to teach very young children how to float first in an attempt to avoid the tragedies of drowning in unattended swimming pools, as happens too frequently. The Rotary Club will distribute the books throughout Fillmore schools. This is truly an effective, life-saving effort.

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I was delighted to watch Benjamin Netanyahu lead the ceremony establishing America's embassy in Jerusalem. It was inspiring to say the least. Finally, after 3,000 years, Israel's capital is recognized by its strongest friend, to be established in the area where the promise was first made to Abraham (Genesis 15:18-21), then confirmed to his son Isaac (Genesis 26:3), and then to Isaac's son Jacob (Genesis 28:13) that this land was theirs in perpetuity.

God bless Israel, keep her strong and free as the only democratic nation in that troubled part of the world. It is comforting to know that this great nation has our back, a true friend among so many deadly enemies, and treacherous pretenders, like Turkey's President Erdogan.

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North Korea's leader now threatens to cancel the summit because he feels threatened by joint US and South Korean military drills. Well, as much as the West appears thrilled by the prospect of a non-nuclear Korean peninsula, trust has no rational place in this attempt. We are dealing with a treacherous monster in Kim Jong-un, perhaps the worst of the top 10.

He and China's Xi Jinping, remind me of a huge anaconda I once observed at a zoo. It was absolutely still, until a zoo keeper tossed a rabbit into its cage. It struck with incredible speed to grab the rabbit, which quickly disappeared into the snake's belly. The scene was startling.

Neither leader should inspire trust. As much as I can hope Kim would rid himself of all the nuclear playthings in his little house of horrors, I can't convince myself that he will. Trying to bribe him with the rabbit of peace and prosperity will prove disappointing. This sort of tactic is what got him where he is today, with plenty of atomic trinkets. Acknowledging the historic treatment of his own people by him and his family, from a Christian perspective, we should characterize Kim as being in need of exorcism.

So, let's keep the pressure on and avoid rabbit habits.