No matter what words are used to express grief, sorrow, and anger at the criminal slaughter of innocents as happened in Las Vegas this week, they are empty. How difficult it is to try to understand such evil, and the person who patiently plotted to assure its success.

After the screech "why?" - we thunder for an answer to "How?" - how can this be stopped? How wretched can a human soul become to do a thing like this? Unfortunately we can take little comfort, and find few answers when we look to human history. Evil is as old as creation, and Good has always been absent, too slow, or too cowardly to stop it.

Whether it's a "religion" that exalts in the crucifixion of children, sex slaves, mutilation of women, and the burning alive of its adversaries (Sharia law) or the demented individual who sheds his conscience in exchange for animal status, it shakes normalcy to its core. Someone tell us why these affronts to God happened: The Nazi Genocide, The Rwandan Genocide, The War in Darfur, The Zunghar Genocide, The Armenian Genocide, The Bangladesh Atrocities, The Communist Holodomor (Soviet famine-Ukraine), The Great Leap Forward.

And tell us why so many continue to deny this phenomenon of evil.

I can tell the world one thing for certain: The tools of these extraordinary mass murders were not responsible. It was not the knives, swords, blunt instruments, stones, or guns that caused these murderous events - it was the men who held them, and the ideas that drove them to do such horrendous things to other human beings.

Only a fool can fail to understand the difference between an inanimate object and a criminal act, between the tool and the criminal. It is the action of the criminal, not the existence of an object, that is the responsible cause. What should worry sensible people here is the fact that this difference has to be explained to half the populace - over and over again. If I had the authority I would demand that the subject of LOGIC be taught at all levels of high school. It may be too late for most at the college level, their professors have already convinced them of their omniscience.

With the rest of the nation, I grieve over, and pray for, the victims of the Los Vegas attack. But I also brace myself for another coming war against firearms by the well-funded (and ill intentioned) armies of radical Democrat anarchists who haven't yet learned to think correctly.

Our Second Amendment is nearly at the top of the list because the Founders knew radicals would always try to disarm the people. The Second Amendment is absolutely necessary for the defense of the other nine in our Bill of Rights. James Madison understood this and so do those who think logically and love freedom.

Former FBI Director Robert Mueller's most important mission is to destroy President Trump and as many associates as possible. Former Director James Comey has been a close friend of Mueller's for more than 25 years, yet Mueller is tasked with investigating Comey. This conflict of interest is both incredibly improbable and obviously unlawful. But nothing is done about it.

Trump should fire Mueller, another dirty cop, despite the uproar that will follow.

The President is in serious danger from the radical Left and those several billionaires, like George Soros, Michael Bloomberg, Warren Buffett, Pierre Omidyar, Tom Steyer and George Soros’s own son, Jonathan, who fund many powerful anarchist groups.

It's hard to understand why Trump doesn't clean-out the liberal Leftists who are undermining his administration.

****

The NFL, and all professional sports leagues who have chosen to disrespect our flag, our national anthem, and therefore our great nation, should be boycotted. The only thing most of the members of these teams respect is money (averaging $2.4million per year) so it's time to cost them a few dollars. Don't buy team colors, stay away from the games, and be verbal in our disrespect for them. I may not have graduated from high school without my love of football.

I don't watch football games for their political messages; I watch to get away from politics for a short time. Colin Kaepernick wants to be a free agent - let him float away.

Direct TV will refund the cost of its football package if done in protest. Check it out.

And all the coaches who have encouraged our youth to "take the knee" during the playing of our national anthem (including 3rd graders!) should be publically identified, and fired.

****

Mr. Ratus horribilis Un of North Korea says he will begin to shoot down U.S. military aircraft after being insulted by President Trump by being called Little Rocket Man. Well, nations have gone to war for less (see the War of Jenkin's Ear). China has always had the unique ability to take negotiations to the very edge before giving-in, and China is in full control over North Korea, despite appearances. So if North Korea does in fact shoot down a U.S. bomber, or set-off a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific, we will know for sure the tether to China has been broken. Still unlikely.

But North Korea's nuclear factories must be destroyed. They are assembling many atomic bombs, and now, so-called hydrogen bombs. The latter can be 1,000-times more powerful than a traditional "atom bomb" and can be smaller, which facilitates the construction of nuclear missiles, and their greater range.

Just as dangerous, or even more, is North Korea's traffic in nuclear bomb technology (hello internet) and fissile material - uranium and plutonium, to other eager bomb makers like Iran.

Let's also not forget that fissile materials North Korea (and Iran) have been making are deadly in themselves as "dirty bombs". They can render huge areas uninhabitable for hundreds of years.

Then, shall we think about Electro Magnetic Pulse threat? This could wipe out our entire electric grid, especially as wobbly as it is. No computers, phones, cars, planes, etc. Then, the man with the mechanical typewriter, plenty of paper and a bicycle would be king. Ironically, the federal EMP commission is ENDING its work this September 30. I guess they see no danger in this greatest threat.

I don't mean to be cynical here, just want to emphasize the importance of destroying Mr. Un's bomb and missile works.

After more than 30-years-worth of negotiations, it should be clear to reasonably intelligent humans that further negotiations with North Korea on this issue are just dangerously foolish.

Time, once wasted, can't be retrieved. The time that the free world has wasted negotiating with intransigent communist North Korea has strengthened its hand to the point where there is nothing more to negotiate.

If we don't initiate a preemptive strike on North Korea soon, Mr. Un, under the auspices of communist China, will call Check Mate - and Iran will follow suit.

That scenario would prove to be the greatest loss to the free world, ever.

The nuclear missile fashion rage these days, among friend and foe alike, tends towards the smaller,W54 warhead variety, in bunches. It takes us back to the 1960s when the 1-man Davy Crockett atomic mortar was deployed to 2000 locations in Europe. One of the smallest nuclear weapon systems ever built, with a yield between 10 and 20 tons TNT, and highly mobile.

Would the hit-and-run driver, who rammed into that flatbed truck yesterday near Olive Street, please claim your front bumper and license plate which you left at the scene.
Thank you.

*****

As always, the Gazette aims to be ahead of the news curve, so I thought I would tell everyone that our country will soon be engaged in a war. Remember, you heard it first at the Fillmore Gazette.

While this report may seem a little flippant, I'm deadly serious. War is more probable than not.

My recent research meanderings in the area of American military defense, particularly nuclear and naval, leave me wanting to construct a bomb shelter and stow away some water and grub, just like the 1950s. Our enemies are ready; in my opinion we are not.

America has abandoned the practice of civil defense. Unlike the Cold War years (some may recall the duck and cover days) the government has neglected to notify us of available public shelters against nuclear fallout. It no longer designates private or government-owned buildings to which the public could find safety in such an emergency. Emergency water sources, for example, don't exist as they should, as well as accessible food supplies. Sufficient medical resources are just as lacking. All because we don't believe an attack will happen.

Emergency water could be efficiently supplied with a little thought, even after an atomic attack. Immediately after such attack finding water will be critically important for drinking and flushing away fallout particles. I don't know why Homeland Security doesn't construct multiple, simple gravity-fed water sources around the city, since it has said, eventually an attack is inevitable. Recent events make it now highly probable.

Build water sources with concrete-encased, earthen-covered,100,000 gallon tanks, every 5 miles or so away from the expected target area, near main highways. Survivors will more likely die without a source of water. This is a simple, inexpensive preparation, guaranteed to work.

Food sources must also be available for millions of people. They must be as available as water, and secure as possible from theft and riotous looting - which will require armed guards.

Like it or not, America's feckless government during the past 30-years has facilitated North Korea's ability to strike our homeland with multiple nuclear missiles, from land and sea. We have waited too long.

North Korea has the ability to launch these weapons from submarines, any one of which could approach the U.S. from points in the Pacific. I don't think Kim Un would waste his missiles on Guam, or even Hawaii. He would try for Seattle, Los Angeles, or San Diego. Even a near-miss, or a complete miss anywhere, would change America forever, and entice Russia, China, and Iran to join the fray, overtly or covertly.

I have always taken pride in America's defensive strength, going back to the Reagan years and the so-called "missile gap." Today we have some remarkably capable weapons, but so do our many nuclear-armed enemies - Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. Include in this enemy's list our pretend friends like Turkey and Pakistan who would likely turn on us - because they are Sharia devotees - which a good 80-percent of Islam is today. Think of 80-percent of a billion-plus. All reports to the contrary are dangerously false.

Most recently I have admired our navy's Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear aircraft carrier. That's the one with no urinals.

This is a super carrier which travels with a heavily armed escort of missile-destroyers, at least one submarine, and the latest in radar-sonar and other counter-defensive electronics. Its nuclear "engine" produces huge quantities of electrical power which runs the entire ship. No more steam generation like all earlier super carriers.

It has $13-billion worth of armament, is a 1,100-foot long floating airport manned by 3000 sailors, and billions of dollars worth of jet fighters, bombers, helicopters, and intelligence planes. It is indeed a fierce behemoth.

What worries me about this great ship, and the next couple now under construction, is the fact that our enemies now demonstrate contempt for its capabilities. Russia boasts it can destroy our whole Navy. " US General Frank Gorenc [quoted] as saying: “Russian electronic weapons [can] completely paralyze the functioning of American electronic equipment installed on missiles, aircraft and ships.” And satellites. Russia proved this a few years ago when "a single Russian war plane flew several times around American destroyer the USS Donald Cook in the Black Sea several years ago, disabling its systems and leaving it helpless."

This is a fact. Do we have a counter-measure to protect our ships, or are they just sitting ducks on the pond?

Other serious problems exist regarding the safety of our ships. During many so-called war games, with allied countries attempting to destroy our carriers with their submarines, they have been successful. Our carriers are vulnerable to enemy atomic submarine tactics.

The weapons themselves are hyper-sophisticated as well. We are now dealing with torpedoes that travel over 200-miles per hour, thanks to special supercavitating torpedoes developed several years ago by Russia, like the VA-111 Shkval.

Another sword of Damocles hanging over the carrier projects is the anti-ship missile. These are plentiful and accurate. Even that little rat Un claims to have a few. They can be launched by sea, air, or land. And, I'm not worried about the many that can be handled by our Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. I'm worried about showers of missiles intended to overwhelm the entire carrier force. Systems on land, air, and sea can deliver far more firepower than even a well-armed carrier force, continuously.

So, I'm glad we have impressive super carriers, I really am. But even with substantial air and anti-missile defensive support, they are very vulnerable. This is why, Mr. Ratus Horabilus Un, is so confident. He has China, Russia, and Iran in his corner, grinning like Cheshire Cats, in anticipation of the show.

Prayer, my friends, prayer is the best shelter.

I haven't given up on our Sespe Creek access. It's a crime as well as a shame that one butthead homeowner has halted entry to this federally protected, and state constitutionally mandated, open public navigable river.

The legal remedy is clear and absolutely available. But I'm only one person with many challenges of my own. It is our RIGHT to enter the southern point of Sespe Creek and to travel and recreate up the entire 31-mile area. But rights mean nothing at all unless they are exercised.

Any obstruction, threat or physical impediments keeping the public out of Sespe Creek are (by state and federal law) patently unlawful, with both civil and criminal penalties available. The threats by the homeowner (falsely threatening trespass prosecution) and the County's steel fence obstructing safe parking, are both unlawful.

Who wants to help tie the bell around the cat's neck?

*****

Ants! They're all over the place. It does no good to ignore them. I have them in my office, on my chair, on my arm. They even ride on my fingers while I type - I guess they like to go for the ride.

Oh well. I guess we need the small problems to be distracted from the big ones.

****

I hate to think I've become so redundant in my old age, but it's apparently true. I just can't get the image of the USN Gerald R. Ford, atomic supercarrier and largest warship in the world, with a male crew of 3000, sailing away without urinals. Reminds me of a cartoon I saw a long time ago, with a construction manager talking to the architect, staring up at a very high-rise apartment building. The caption read, "Elevators? What elevators?"

Our newest $13-billion-dollar, 1,100 foot long carrier has the very latest radar and sonar systems and a new electromagnetic catapult for launching her planes. But, "Every bathroom on the Ford is, for the first time, gender-neutral, equipped with flush toilets and stalls, according to Navy Times." "Bathroom-design experts have said sit-down toilets are less sanitary and take up more space, and most of the Ford's crew members are men."

Sailors will no longer refer to the "head". Now they will have to say "Excuse me sir, I have to go to the toilet". Isn't that special? And about being "less sanitary" - just ask any mom in America with males in the house. It's just all unimaginable. The tradition of the urinal must be respected. Feminizing our ships-of-the-line will prove to be a dangerous innovation. I can hear the mutinous push-back now, written on small post-its throughout the lower decks - "Leave the seats up". And the feminist counter attack - "We aim to please. You aim too please."

It's going to get ugly.

To say that today's scientific achievements are extraordinary is an understatement. At the same time, too many scientific claims are ludicrously overstated, often contradictory when stated as fact. A physicist-spokesman for a popular TV science program recently told his audience that evolution is no longer a theory but a fact. Ah, the arrogance of genius.

Several times during the past year I've read reports alleging that science may achieve a sort of immortality for mankind - just requiring some clever gene adjustments. Today the Drudge Report tells us that the maximum age for humans is about 114-115 years. I suspect that the gene-adjustment guys are looking for a little research money, and are probably liberals. On the other hand I would guess that the life-limiting data comes from a conservative research group. Shame on both camps for any bias - where is that vaunted scientific method?

Our satellite, Voyager 1, has traveled about 13 billion miles from earth since being launched in the 1970s and is still going strong. Science programs tell our kids, and kid-like-thinkers, that it has reached the very edge of space. I've often wondered what that edge looks like and where it would stop. Can we kneel down and peek underneath? Will Voyager come to a screeching halt before falling off the edge? What lies beyond the "edge" of space? Or, if no edge exists, and Voyager is into some sort of an incomprehensible, universal, infinite orbital course, or just a straight course, might this mean that God has created his universe to mystify and humble His human creations? That something could exist beyond man's ability to comprehend would prove to be hugely embarrassing for folks like Stephen Hawking who believe everything can be known because there is no God to limit man's understanding.

Well, whether it's quantum mechanics or automobile mechanics, if man is as smart as many scientists claim, we should know what's at the edge of space, or beyond. Or, do we have to wait until we get there? Where is there? If Voyager is able to travel another 13 billion miles from home will we then be able to know how big God's universe is? Will we then be smart enough to know that there is indeed a God, and that we are operating in His infinite universe?

I really wonder, since our best engineers and technicians don't understand the need for urinals on the world's largest supercarrier (Gerald R Ford) manned by a crew of 3,000 men.

The new carrier has cost the nation $13 billion and will travel on God's finite oceans without urinals. The Voyager has traveled 13 billion miles into God's infinite space and doesn't need them. Kudos to the space engineers for getting things right.

"Why Johnny Came Marching Home. A Fighter Pilot's History of Why We Lost the Clandestine Air Wars in Southeast Asia." The author, Russ Goodenough, Combat Fighter Pilot USAF, flew 148 combat missions throughout North and South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
Enlarge Photo

Following my column this week is an introduction to a truly extraordinary book by Air Force Captain Russ Goodenough (ret), entitled: "Why Johnny Came Marching Home - A fighter Pilot's History of Why We Lost the Clandestine Air Wars in Southeast Asia". A look at the endorsements tells us how important this book really is. During the following weeks the Gazette will be posting excerpts from the text online. What I have read of the book so far verifies many stunning revelations of political corruption and incompetence throughout the maintenance of that long war. This is a must read for anyone who cares about "real facts".

****

Pray for the people in Texas and Louisiana struggling with the greatest rainstorm in American history.
Giving credit where it's due, President Trump is handling the rescue efforts superbly, with the great help of many federal, state, county, and volunteer assistance. It's good to see America coming together again.

****

Why Johnny Came Marching Home
A Fighter Pilot's History of Why We Lost the Clandestine Air Wars in Southeast Asia
By Russ Goodenough, Combat Fighter Pilot, USAF Capt. (ret).
Captain Goodenough flew 148 combat missions throughout North and South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

It's my distinct honor to introduce this extraordinary new book by one of Fillmore's native sons, Russ Goodenough. Among the many books written about the Vietnam War, the air war over South East Asia in particular, this book is unique in its detailed documentation of the political corruption and incompetence which caused us to lose that war.

The name Goodenough Road is familiar to every Fillmore resident. It's named after the author's grandfather, who was an early farmer-homesteader here. Russ was born in Los Angeles, but grew up in Fillmore, graduating from Fillmore High School in 1958.

The preface to his book states: "His introduction to writing started early. While in high school, he wrote weekly stories for the local newspaper, the Fillmore Herald, relating to what had transpired at the high school football games. He would quarterback the team and write about it afterwards." "My personal preparations for war and connection to Southeast Asia began as a young boy in a Southern California ranching and oil town. It started in a movie theater in the little town of Fillmore, California. In 1949, at the age of nine, I paid my 10-cent ticket fee to see a movie called "Fighter Squadron" at the tiny Fillmore Theater. I still remember my seat, which was on the left side of the balcony in the "loge" section.

The endorsements of this book speak to its authenticity and distinct revelation of the "real facts"
about the air war in Southeast Asia. Russ Goodenough is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy.

"This is a serious document about war, its history, its conduct, its folly, with lessons learned for soldiers, sailors, airmen and politicians. Russ Goodenough writes with passion. He knows of which he speaks. He has been there, done that. Feel the G's, smell the cordite. Strap in with Russ for a wild and dangerous ride through aerial combat in the Vietnam War."

Air Force Major General (ret.) Don Sheppard, former CNN Military Analyst and co-author of "Bury Us Upside Down".

"Using his personal combat logs and correspondence, Russ Goodenough creates and unparalleled account of the air wars in Vietnam and Laos during the mid-1960s,which beyond providing pinpoint details of combat operations, convincingly conveys the terror, exhaustion, and frustration experienced by American fighter pilots. His work goes far beyond the war story and stands as a damning condemnation of the political decisions that exposed aircrews to totally unnecessary levels of risk and the appalling loss of airplanes and lives."

"Although the knowledge I gained during a 1965 Pentagon assignment directed toward assessing the potential for escalation left me with serious doubts about the conduct of the war, I never understood the magnitude of the consequences until I read Russ' book. This is a landmark piece of literature that should be read by anyone concerned with the politics of war."

Robert F. Davey, MBA, PhD, USAF Instructor Pilot (F-5) during time of SSEA Air Wars; Author of "Moon War"; Professor Emeritus, Aerospace Engineering, California State Polytechnic University.

Purchase on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Why-Johnny-Came-Marching-Home/dp/1544902336

The Gazette will have a special photo treat about the recent eclipse next week. Stay tuned.

****

So Mr. Un from North Korea didn't attack Guam after all, and Japan, South Korea and Los Angeles seem safe for the time being. That doesn't change a thing. More diplomatic words will accomplish nothing. Ultimately North Korea will deploy a multiplicity of nuclear weapons. Our archenemies, Russia, China, and Iran will continue to encourage and supply North Korea with more of the same.

We should worry, in particular, about small nuclear weapons. Doing a little research on historic US efforts to miniaturize these things I came up with one of the smallest of these devices, what was called the Davy Crockett. It was a recoilless spigot gun (much like a mortar, with a 1.7-mile trajectory) that was developed in the late 1950s for use against Soviet and North Korean armor and troops in case war broke out in Europe or the Korean peninsula. It weighed about 50 pounds. I can't see why any interested military power today should have any trouble hammering one of these things together. Something so small needs no large missile to launch, from land, sea, or air.

Ultimately, Mr. Un will have to be destroyed. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but this just a fact of life if we wish to continue living freely.

****

While I'm worrying about American freedom, so closely bound to our superior military might, how about that newest of multi-billion-dollar aircraft carriers? By golly, the Navy has done it again (I don't mean crashing another multi-billion-dollar super destroyer into another commercial tanker or cargo ship). I mean it has made a supreme, unprecedented contribution to sexual equality. Our newest and greatest aircraft, the USS Ford, has been built without urinals.

"Amid all its upgrades and advances, the US Navy's newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is lacking one feature: urinals.” Every bathroom on the Ford is, for the first time, gender-neutral, equipped with flush toilets and stalls, according to Navy Times.

Isn't that just special? I hope the men who man this behemoth will leave the seats up! I'm going to do a little more research on this remarkable design feature. I'm wondering if the naval architects and engineers were sufficiently gender conscious to provide bedets and vanities as well.

What in the hell has happened to our Navy?! The Navy was first to waffle under gender neutral pressure. The Obama White House led the way by appointing flakey top brass and cabinet appointees. It's time for America to re-activate some male testosterone. Our military services are built and trained to kill people and blow things up. That's what it's all about.

Obama's weak military and civilian "leaders" have made us a laughingstock within the ranks of our enemies.
It's time to clear the decks of so-called transgender troops. Let's see if Trump continues to be a man of his word.

www.apnews.com/2c7387e3138d4fa9b5a2b560a58a2c40/North-Korea-photos-sugge...

www.forbes.com/sites/katevinton/2017/08/23/100-richest-tech-billionaire

www.wral.com/thousands-protest-at-unc-chapel-hill-silent-sam-2-protester...

I've had too many distractions during the past couple of months to pay sufficient attention to the threat presented to Fillmore by a “beach nourishment project” sought by the City of Malibu.

I will research what I can of the construction contract terms, involving the City of Moorpark, Malibu, and the quarry involved. The City of Fillmore has joined the County of Ventura in a lawsuit to halt the proposed project. The project itself is so environmentally absurd that I have to draw a deep breath before describing it. It involves dumping fresh sand onto Malibu's mile-long Broad Beach, which a storm took away a number of years ago. Rocks, and a make-shift sea wall, keep the sea from wiping-out a string of houses along the beach today.

CORRECTION: The Grimes Canyon quarry has no part in this bizarre plan. My apologies for any such inference in my previous reports. I understand that, under this particular proposal, any sand would be transferred from a quarry near Happy Camp, NOT GRIMES CANYON. It is proposed, however, to truck the 500 belly-dump trucks (per day) down Grimes Canyon -approximately one per minute (according to reports in the Malibu Times). The Ventura County proposal "included 22,000 round-trip truckloads of sand being brought in from quarries in Ventura County over local roads, including PCH, and then being dumped into the Zuma Beach parking lot and picked up by earth-moving equipment." Then, of course, there is the return trip.

This work is expected to be repeated about every 5 years. Polaris Materials Corporation, wants to provide the sand.

An alternative to this dusty, dangerous, and road-busting idea has been suggested. That would be to mine the sand off British Columbia and ship it to Malibu where it would be pumped onto the beach as a slurry. I'm not kidding.

I can think of a couple of other alternatives. Why not consult the Chinese? They have become expert at creating islands and beaches in the South China Sea, and they work fast and cheap. Or, maybe a sea wall is more practical - consult 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. There's a guy there who knows a thing or two about walls. But, really, there's one common sense method which has apparently been ignored. Why not dredge-up the same sand which was washed away. It's still down there! This method is used regularly to clear-out harbor entrances. Dredging equipment is not particularly attractive, but a little camouflage and a few plastic palm trees and, voilà!

Congratulations are in order to our City Council members for their unanimous vote, at last night's meeting, to keep medical marijuana cultivation out of Fillmore.

Several members struggled to overcome the temptation of easy money from pot. The money can be huge, and Fillmore sure could use some of it to lower our water bills, pave roads, and support our swimming pool. Money usually wins out over morals. The construction of that sort of plantation would have stained Fillmore's reputation forever, and our children would have seen us, likewise forever, as hypocrites.

For those of us who care about such things, this vote is evidence of good character.

Again, congratulations, Council.

****

Our world is growing more dangerous day by day, as never before.

I would be less concerned about America's safety if Obama had not squandered our defense system for 8 long years. Combine his near criminal negligence with his foolish diplomacy and extraordinary naiveté about the atomic nature of our evil enemies (Iran, Russia, China, North Korea and ubiquitous Islamic terrorism) and we are on the cusp of all-out war.

While North Korea seems most immediately dangerous, each of these aggressive enemies will not hesitate to join the fray with the U.S. once the inevitable match is struck. What then?

Thanks to our recent history of unpreparedness, it's largely too late for us to circle the wagons. I sometimes think I'm the only person in the US who has voiced some concern about what we use to call civil defense. The clear and present danger of atomic attack from North Korea is real. I've listened with dismay over the past 10 years or so as our "experts" kept saying, "North Korea may have an intercontinental missile in 8 or 10 years". Well they now have it.

They haven't produced their new weapons through native ingenuity. The launchers are identified as made in China. Most of this deadly stuff has been given to North Korea by China, and Russia, while a open source in atomic information is traded with Iran as well. This is why North Korea has been so astonishingly quick to acquire the technology.

China is the main enemy. They are using North Korea as a franchise. China has no fear that North Korea would ever dare to attack it. The same holds true of Russia, and Iran. They all stand amused at the prospect of Kim Jong-un throwing his next atomic tantrum. Kim has always been immune to the West's sanctions. He needs nothing - China provides everything. He has many and various missiles, capable of ship, sea, and ground launch to chose from.

We have done nothing to create an effective civil defense system. Where would we go; what would we be expected to do, in the event of an atomic attack? Sounds like a question from a 1950's comic book. Who has an answer at this late date? I sure don't.

"Get Over It! We Are Not All Created Equal"
Captain Katie Petronio

The LGBT organization, now a well established sub-culture in America, has come to prominence during the past 15 years or so as a distinct group. Among its beliefs is equal treatment under law in every facet of national life. If this were possible, and attempted, women would suffer unequally. Our Judeo-Christian ethics, the infrastructure of American life and tradition, demand that LGBT culture be rejected by our military organizations. More specifically, women in combat units. I have nothing to say about members of this culture participating in any other organizations, and women are especially required and welcomed in most all other elements of the American work force.

Radical LGBT members have pushed for decades to place women in ground combat units. This is a direct threat by fostering "conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline" which destroys unit cohesion.

This rule of exclusion (from combat) is not new. The rule is thousands of years old, for good and obvious reasons. First is the ancient natural law protecting women from harm. Second, the related common sense understanding that women are special, exhaulted members of society, responsible for bearing and nurturing new human life. They have been “by the laws of nature and of nature's God” designed for that highest, unique and most invaluable role. Men, by that same law, because of their superior physical strength, are designed to protect women and children from harm, while holding them in the highest respect and acknowledging their absolute equality in dignity.

This is why no army in human history has been composed exclusively of women. Let's forget the myth of Amazonian culture. This is why the men are expected to defend women against harm and treat them with special respect; why the husband defends his wife, the father his daughter, the brother his sister. This is why women and children were first in lifeboats on the Titanic. This is what the obligation of manhood means. This is the natural order of human experience, while not ignoring the failures of this natural tradition. This is also a fundamental Judeo-Christian commandment, which demands special protection for the widow and orphan.

These rules, brutally sabotaged in the 20th Century, are still under attack in the 21st Century by the Liberal Left anarchists and socialists (see Venezuela for a current socialist example).

A main concern is the preservation of our high Judeo-Christian military traditions, which are greatly threatened by pressure from feminists, LGBT culture, and weak military leadership. Destroy this moral ethos and America will begin losing her wars. So the first issue is the moral imperative that women should not participate in infantry combat.

Women in combat? Let's hear from Marine Capt Katie Petronio, who "led a combat engineer platoon in direct support of Regimental Combat Team 8, specifically operating out of the Upper Sangin Valley. My platoon operated for months at a time, constructing patrol bases (PBs) in support of 3d Battalion, 5th Marines; 1st Battalion, 5th Marines; 2d Reconnaissance Battalion; and 3d Battalion, 4th Marines." Captain Petronio was a special woman even before her combat experience. She is a patriot and a hero, and she is honest about women in combat. Her statement to her beloved Marines, "Get Over It! We Are Not All Created Equal"

"...my main concern is a question of longevity. Can women endure the physical and physiological rigors of sustained combat operations, and are we willing to accept the attrition and medical issues that go along with integration?

As a young lieutenant, I fit the mold of a female who would have had a shot at completing IOC, and I am sure there was a time in my life where I would have volunteered to be an infantryman. I was a star ice hockey player at Bowdoin College, a small elite college in Maine, with a major in government and law. At 5 feet 3 inches I was squatting 200 pounds and benching 145 pounds when I graduated in 2007. I completed Officer Candidates School (OCS) ranked 4 of 52 candidates, graduated 48 of 261 from TBS, and finished second at MOS school. I also repeatedly scored far above average in all female-based physical fitness tests (for example, earning a 292 out of 300 on the Marine physical fitness test). Five years later, I am physically not the woman I once was and my views have greatly changed on the possibility of women having successful long careers while serving in the infantry."

" I was a motivated, resilient second lieutenant when I deployed to Iraq for 10 months, traveling across the Marine area of operations (AO) and participating in numerous combat operations. Yet, due to the excessive amount of time I spent in full combat load, I was diagnosed with a severe case of restless leg syndrome. My spine had compressed on nerves in my lower back causing neuropathy which compounded the symptoms of restless leg syndrome. While this injury has certainly not been enjoyable, Iraq was a pleasant experience compared to the experiences I endured during my deployment to Afghanistan."

Captain Capt Petronio soldiered on: "... the rate of my deterioration was noticeably faster than that of male Marines and further compounded by gender-specific medical conditions. At the end of the 7-month deployment, and the construction of 18 PBs later, I had lost 17 pounds and was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (which personally resulted in infertility,...”

"Regardless of my deteriorating physical stature, I was extremely successful during both of my combat tours, serving beside my infantry brethren and gaining the respect of every unit I supported. " "I was the senior Marine making the final decisions on construction concerns, along with 24-hour base defense and leading 30 Marines at any given time."

By Capt Katie Petronio, Originally posted in the July 2012 issue of the Marine Corps Gazette. "Compiled by Marine Corps Gazette staff" "Get Over It! We Are Not All Created Equal."

Read her inspiring story.
The reason women cannot be found in the ranks of men's professional sports leagues is the fact that women biologically are not able to perform physically to the same level as men. The reason men cannot be found in birthing centers is because they cannot give birth. No one but the most virulent of feminists continues to challenge these facts. This is not discrimination of the evil sort. The problem is - the more obvious the facts, the greater the feminist resistance. We have to stop listening to the radical Leftist lies if we want the strongest military possible. Military service is not a right - it's a privilege.

The feminist-Left and LGBT agenda has churned American military affairs to an astonishing degree. They have undermined traditional military discipline and order for more than 30 years. Everything pertaining to military readiness is now unbelievably compromised.

I don't count myself a veteran because there was no combat between the Korean War and Vietnam War. I served 3 years, training for a war that wasn't there yet, as millions of others. That experience was in the old Army. It was an all male regular army, with some draftees. When the shooting started 2 years after my discharge, women came into their own as indispensible heroic doctors and nurses in Vietnam.

Everything was simple in that time. Permission to get married was needed. The Fort Bragg division was completely independent. We had our own kitchens, cooked our own food, kept the barracks hospital clean, and policed the grounds before chow. We slept in 4-squad barracks, double-decker bunks. Only NCOs had rooms. Each company platoon had its own rifle racks in barracks. We enjoyed numerous inspections.

We were extremely cohesive as squads, platoons, companies, and a battalion. We ate together, worked together, and partied together in Fayetteville. It was rock-and-chisel simple, but nowhere near as sophisticated as today's Special Forces. We could, and did, move out to Fort Kobe, Canal Zone, Hon River, Korea, and Luzon, Philippines, on short notice. The absence of a war made it easier. The absence of women made it possible. We could do this because the organization was simple; we had no thought, for example, about sending pregnant troopers home, or treating feminine issues. I can only imagine the unit chaos if a female trooper occupied one of those bunks, or latrines, or showers. But all that was a very long time ago.

Today, the combat unit is not a simple organization, largely due to the influx of women and the LGBT influence upon weak military leaders. Only Special Forces and SEAL-type groups have so far escaped the distraction of women in their units.

It's time to simplify our ground combat units again, and the circumstances under which they deploy and fight. Resistance to President's Trump's orders banning women from ground combat began instantly. The extent that LGBT influence has impressed even flag officer levels has just been revealed by a Coast Guard Admiral Paul Zukunft's recent statement. He publically rejected the Commander in Chief's order to end LGBT members from military service.

”Adm. Paul Zukunft said his first action upon becoming aware of Trump's tweets [to ban LGBT service personnel] was to have his office reach out to all 13 members of the Coast Guard who have self-identified as transgender." "... the commandant of the Coast Guard is speaking out, saying he has no intention of leaving transgender Coast Guardsmen out in the cold." This is precisely what combat soldiers fear, focusing on protecting an individual female when tactics demand otherwise for the survival of the group. Zukunft has sold out his thousands of sailors for 13 "special" sailors. I wonder what General George Patton would say.

Just in: "...two other four-stars and former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- retired Army Gen. Martin Dempsey and retired Navy Adm. Mike Mullen -- have publicly supported transgender service members." This is an unprecedented military crisis.

This is Trump's acid test moment. If General Kelly also rejects Trump's command, we are in real trouble.

President Trump has taken another major step towards strengthening our armed forces by banning all so-called transgender people from serving. This is evidence of his determination to drain the military swamp which Obama stocked with many disordered individuals.

The presence of these individuals within the ranks of traditional Judeo-Christian troops causes distraction and division. All traditionally oriented Christians know this, only those in support of transgender inclusion reject this reality. The whole LGBT agenda is fundamentally anathema to traditional Christian religion. No amount of political or financial bullying by this group or movement can ever change that fact. While individuals belonging to this group should never be wrongfully treated, they in turn have no right to inflict their beliefs upon those who practice Christian ethics and morals. The two can never accommodate each other. True freedom of choice and conscience demand a permanent distinction.

During Obama's 8 years in office, he forced his liberal will on weak leaders, including military leaders. He exposed his true colors when he showed that his most important campaign promises were unveiled to be bold lies. From his Obamacare promises to his feigned opposition to same-sex marriage, all were lies, intended for consumption by fools. Otherwise he would not have been elected. The electorate was fooled - twice. During his time he released a moral wrecking ball into traditional American government ; it will take years to recover.

His choice for Secretary of Defense, Ashton B. Carter, also opened all combat roles to women and appointed the first openly gay Army secretary. These are fundamentally corrosive to good order and military cohesion. Carter did some beneficial things for the military, but his decisions promoted "conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline" an idea recognized as damaging to military success for hundreds of years. This is also a prime example of political correctness championed by the radical Liberal Left which has demoralized Christian military men and women.

Obama fantasized over the moral infection he injected in our military, and weak military leaders cheered him on. I recall him praising an Army general living with her lesbian colonel friend on base. How many service men could salute that situation? Does anyone have any sympathy for the average, normal Christian service man or woman these days?

I have no ill will towards any LGBT followers; I do have a duty to "resist" any attacks they launch against traditional American military morals and good order. That deserves a good fight. Normal Christian service men and women deserve respect as well. They also have the right to defend the Christian culture into which they were born, raised, and now serve their country in our military. Say that in Obama's military and you would have been court martialed and dismissed from service.

Even the discussion of these issues incites a hate storm. People lacking factual convictions will always seek to disrupt a truthful dialogue, or, more frequently, employ violence to stop the conversation altogether. We see this, I'm ashamed to say, most frequently in our colleges and universities. This is evidence of the fact that most of these institutions have been infiltrated by the Left. Most of these places no longer see themselves a marketplace of ideas, formal argument and peaceful debate. Instead they have become pools of ignorant, hard Left ideologues, "useful idiots", and anti-Christian neo-socialist anarchists. They are proud of their status.

So, I salute President Trump for being a man of his word. He is quickly restoring America's governmental morals and military pride.

God bless him for that.

It's sad to see a major business like Burger King leave town. The sign on the door says that the lease is over. I would like to see an Italian restaurant come in.

****

He's back! Al Gore says there's still time. For a man who has made millions promoting the greatest scam in world history, I have to ask why he needs another book. AL GORE: 'There'$ $till time to avoid cata$trophe'http://pagesix.com/2017/07/18/al-gore-theres-still-time-to-avoid-catastrophe/?_ga=2.66087403.4104357.1500470272-1243360469.1500470272

When I think of the sheer scale of this monstrous climate deception it boggles the mind. Is Global Warming Science Just A Fraud? https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahU...

No other hoax in history has had the power that human-generated climate change has. Climate has always been changing; that's just nature doing it's thing. Extreme changes, from desert climate to Ice Age freezing is normal over time. To attribute an alleged disastrous change in climate to purely human activity has not been proven, especially by the use of fraudulent "scientific" calculations.

Trillions of dollars (U.S. tax dollars) are at stake. Honest scientists have refuted the claims of climate change globalists. China and India, the world's two dirtiest carbonizers, are too smart to cooperate with Al Gore's game plan in any significant way, i.e. beyond mere words.

****

I listened to a few minutes of Rush Limbaugh's program yesterday. He believes that the "establishment" including a significant number of the president's own party, together with the media and virtually all Democrats, compose the opposition to Trump's agenda. That's a formidable army to fight. Most bothersome are the Fifth-Columnists within the Republican Party.

I agree with Rush when he says none of these people want to close-out Obama care. They all support the idea of a single-payer plan, that is national health care, which means the take-over of up to a fifth of the nation's business. They are all, at heart, big government supporters - they love the Leviathan.

The politicians and talking heads continually speak of the complexity of our health care system. But it doesn't have to be complicated. Dr. Josh Umbehr, MD, has initiated a system he calls “direct medicine” or “direct primary care.” The savings can be extraordinary.

"The affordability comes from eliminating the red tape; standardizing revenue with a membership model; using wholesale cost for medications, lab tests, and supplies; and reducing the number of employees needed to run a practice. Once you do this, health care becomes incredibly affordable.

In a standard model, a doctor would have seven to ten employees per physician—largely to process the insurance claims. With our model, we’re able to reach an efficiency that allows us to have one staff member—one registered nurse—per three physicians. So right there we’re able to pass along enormous savings to the patient."

Dr. Josh Umbehr on the Concierge Medicine Revolution https://www.theobjectivestandard.com/author/aarmstrong/

Ari Armstrong https://www.theobjectivestandard.com/journal-topic/interviews/

Interviews https://www.theobjectivestandard.com/journal-topic/interviews/

Science and Technology https://www.theobjectivestandard.com/journal-topic/science-and-technolog...

From The Objective Standard, Vol. 8, No. 3. https://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2013-fall/

This type of medical health plan is truly revolutionary. Everyone should view this video and read this interview by Ari Armstrong.

Congress should throw out the entire idea of Obama Care, and all other similar health care ideas being proffered by our politicians.

Again, I urge everyone who wants to find the best sort of health care (efficient and affordable) to read about " Concierge Medicine". It's truly the American way to get the job done.

Then, it's time for the Republican Party to purge itself of its RINOs. The Democrat Party is too far gone for anything but major surgery.

I have to apologize for having missed last night's council meeting. I cannot lie, it was my fault. I was watching a program on Alaska and just forgot.

****

The DRUDGE REPORT headlined a story about a man who mailed his severed finger into the IRS. I didn't read the whole thing, but the question remains, which finger was it?

****

A satanic monument is planned for a veterans memorial cemetery in Minnesota. "The monument going up for The Satanic Temple — features an upturned helmet atop a black cube — will soon be at the site of the Veterans Memorial Park in Belle Plaine.”

This is another example of just how thoroughly Liberal-Leftist action has infected our country. Last week I published an obituary in memory of a high school classmate who served 5 tours in Vietnam, earning a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star, and rank of Master Sergeant. I think of the millions of American heroes who gave their lives in the service of their country - not in service to Satan.

How could we explain this sort of vile blasphemy to our Founding Fathers? Was this sort of outrage ever contemplated by them when our First Amendment was conceived? Does such an infamous use relate in any logical way to freedom of religion?

Satanism must be recognized as the antithesis of religion, which is the worship God. Satanism can never have a part in religion as historically understood, and has never been protected under our First Amendment since Ratified in 1791. Satanism is a formal rejection of God, and therefore a rejection of religion. This idea was essential to the Founder's original intent. They had no idea that more than two centuries later radical Liberal anarchists would try to justify Satan worship by imbuing it with First Amendment protection. It's not that the Founders were naive, they just lived in a time of much higher Christian moral standards.

Satanism's rejection of religion could never have been more widely broadcast than at the moment Satan was damned for eternity with all his cohorts. That moment made the "big bang" look small by comparison. Satan became eternity's biggest loser, and the exclusive worship of God was reaffirmed. So religion and non-religion became forever distinguished, and was understood as such by our Founders when they penned that special freedom into our First Amendment to the Constitution. Religion was understood to be the exclusive worship of God. Satanism was recognized as an anti-religious, eternal black hole.

Put another way, as should be expected, God acted to define "religion" perfectly as a reflection of His sovereignty (First Commandment). That, at least, was what the Founders understood and believed. They knew their Christian Bible and saw to it that the themes of American law agreed with distinct fidelity. Peruse the pages of that great book, Blackstone's Commentaries, to rid any doubt about the extent to which American law firmly includes Christian Biblical thought.

I have wondered too far... This is what happens when I read of infamous attempts to project Satanism onto sacred ground, especially after learning of so many attacks against Christian monuments.

If America has fallen so low that it must, by law, accommodate every bastard, infernal Leftist desire, contrary to our sacred traditions, it's time for a massive institutional revolution.

I think, and hope, this is what President Trump with his fresh Supreme Court plans, will accomplish.

I have reached the age when the names of high school classmates who have passed away are brought to my attention more often. It all seems a little surreal to me. Since my graduation year, 1958, the world has become a significantly different place. America has largely exchanged its traditional moral base for materialistic satisfaction. Our Founding Fathers would not recognize us today. Most of the high Christian principles they fought to the death to establish seem to have become an embarrassment to the American establishment. Liberal Progressives sitting on our Supreme Court today reject anything resembling a strict construction of our Constitution; it's a living document they claim, constantly in need of expansion and reinterpretation.
Except for formal amendment, that's not what our Founders intended, and they very carefully crafted the wording. Thank God for Americans who still set strong examples for our youth.

The memory of one particular 1958 classmate has just been refreshed, that of Alberto Antonio Sanchez, whose friends knew him as "Beto". I played football with Beto for 4 years. I remember him as a friendly, well-mannered student, serious, with a good sense of humor. We received our diplomas on the same day; I was hugely relieved that mine was actually signed.

We both entered the military that year but, as with most of my classmates, we lost touch after that. Nothing was heard of Beto over the years. Even our alumni association could not find him. Rumors spread during reunions that perhaps he was killed in Vietnam; but no one was certain. An email from our alumni association recently informed me that "Sadly, he died in September, 2015."

As I read the obituary, a flood of memories rushed back. I am in awe of Beto's accomplishments. He had become a true American hero, someone whose life should be celebrated on this Fourth of July. I only wish I had had the opportunity to meet with him before he passed. In every respect Alberto Sanchez worked through a life of heroic accomplishments. I could not find a photo of Beto to publish with this memorial, but in reading his obituary his image stands out clear and bright. What better day to celebrate his life than the Fourth of July, America's birthday!

Rest in peace Beto. Thank you for leading such an exemplary life.

Obituary for Alberto Antonio Sanchez
Albert A. Sanchez, 75 of Carthage passed away at his home on Wednesday, September 30th. A service of military honors will be performed upon the Sandhills Horticulture Gardens on Airport Road in Pinehurst on Saturday, October 10th at 1pm. He was born in Oxnard, California on January 8th, 1940 to parents Albert S. Sanchez and Ramona Sanchez. Master Sergeant Sanchez was raised in Southern California and graduated from Santa Clara High School in Oxnard. After graduating, Albert joined the United States Marine Corps where he began his 20 year career in the military. He soon transferred to the US Army where he became part of the 82nd Airborne, 5th Group Special Forces. During his lengthy career he completed 5 tours in Vietnam, earning accommodations including the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star, as well as being stationed in Germany and Panama. While stationed at Fort Bragg, NC he met and married Alice P. McCaskill in 1972 and retired from the Army at the rank of Master Sergeant in January, 1980. He then went on to pursue degrees at NC State, UNC Pembroke and received a Masters in Public Administration from Webster University at Fort Bragg. Albert then continued his service to his country through civil service at Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) where he was based in Fort Bragg, and the Central Intelligence Agency where he was based in Washington, DC. During his marriage to Alice he lived in Carthage and was a member of St Anthony's Church in Southern Pines as well as a 4th Degree member of the Knights of Columbus. Master Sergeant Sanchez is survived by his wife of 43 years, Alice Sanchez; his daughter, Angela Sanchez and her husband, Chris Abbey; his stepson, John Frye and wife Tamera, and his three grandchildren Curtis, Colby and Danielle Frye.

This morning, Wednesday, the Ventura County Sheriff's Department arrested suspects on Fourth Street near A Street for possession of illegal fireworks. The quantity of gift-wrapped boxes was substantial, filling the bed of a mid-sized pickup. More details will be available later today, but too late to make press time. Full details will be available on our website, fillmoregazette.com.

A word to the wise - selling, possessing, or using unauthorized fireworks brings criminal penalties. If it explodes or shoots up in the air it's illegal. Only those fireworks bought at Fillmore's booths are legal.

Please remember that we are at high risk for brush fires at this time.

****

President Trump is in the news now for criticizing the Washington Post's fake news. The Post's owner, Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, is set to become the richest man in the world. At a net worth of some $80 Billion, Bezos can well afford to ignore the President of the United States.

He has created a business plan that seems to defy the law of perpetual motion. Nothing seems able to slow his cash flow. Who else could receive a notice telling him that his holdings have just increased by $5 billion - in one day? Maybe a half-dozen others. Only a few things could bring these wannabe trillionaires down; utter collapse of the dollar, collapse of the internet/electrical grid, a thermonuclear world war, or the ever present unknown (natural catastrophe - asteroid). Until such things should happen Bezos and his buddies will luxuriate as happily as Scrooge McDuck in his money bin.

The world's financial infrastructure has been turned on its head since the digital revolution. This situation with mega-wealth, together with artificial intelligence, is consuming us all. Big business, like big government, wants to control everything. Amazon is a good example. It recently consumed Whole Foods, in order to implement robotic management, which will exclude human workers to make it more competitive.

The nineteenth century Luddites worried about the same thing, devaluing human labor by introducing the machine (robots today). They ended up destroying the machines. When I think about the growing population today and its need to find work to sustain themselves in the future, while industry strives to eliminate as much human labor as possible, I have to ask, what's going to happen? Will government just take over in 1984 Orwellian fashion? I don't hear the Titans of industry saying anything about creating more jobs for the average person lacking technical skills. Nor do I foresee the Titans spending some of their billions on schools to produce practical technicians for the future.

Most important, however, is to create new, high quality, trade schools to educate millions of young Americans to fill the millions of high paying jobs desperately needed in industry. Skilled workers in steel, mechanics, plumbing, welding, carpentry, masonry, electronics, etc. are needed now. These schools require highly qualified, experienced teachers and instructors. President Trump agrees with this idea as well. Ask what underwater welding pays, or aircraft mechanics, and much more. They all pay well and the jobs are begging to be filled.

Well, I'm a little off the subject. I guess my basic thought here is to encourage these mega-billionaires to spend some time building-up the practical skills of our youth, especially those who have little interest in typical college education. They might find far more value, and satisfaction, in spending a couple of years at a new, high end, trade school, where they would come out with the ability to immediately support themselves and their families, instead of paying off a heavy debt.

I have wondered afar today. But, I've always thought about the creation a first class, high end vocations center for the young men and women who find greater satisfaction working with their hands. Everyone admires a skilled tradesman, or woman. There has always been powerful gratification in creating, building, fixing, or restoring things. And, these occupations usually pay very well, a living wage.

Two weeks ago I wrote a column in support of Fillmore School District Superintendent, Adrian Palazuelos. He is criticized by the teacher's union on several counts, including this year's school calendar, and salary issues now in negotiations.

After the meeting I met with one of the distinguished teachers whom I have known for many years. We discussed the issue of our Superintendent's handling of teacher's affairs and his relationship with the union. The complaints voiced to me were clear. I promised to look into the whole situation (District-teacher-union-student) and return with another editorial in as fair and equitable way possible.

This would be a large undertaking, dealing also with student conduct and discipline. It could not be done in one week with my schedule and small staff, and has not begun as yet.

That was before psychotic Democrat activists began assassination attempts against Republican federal officeholders. Tiny as the Gazette is, I thought it more important to comment on the possible suicide of the Democratic Party (activated by surreal hatred of Republicans) than local school fisticuffs.

That said, I was given to understand the displeasure of that teacher and her union cohorts with my failure to address this important issue. Let the world know that I still intend to spout my opinion on the state of Fillmore school challenges. But, to be fair, let the world also know that the District is undertaking many projects to improve and reclaim school assets this summer - including resurfacing the football field.

****

THE SESPE

I'm concerned about the continuing unlawful restrictions being placed upon entry to the southern Sespe Creek access. The newly erected Ventura County fence and decades long belligerent resistance of the resident in the first house at the entry point, are keeping the public out of the famous Creek.

I have personally called on the Sheriff's Department to have that house owner cease and desist his unlawful halting of Sespe Creek public entry, without success, due to his hiding tactics. This year I intend to see legal action taken, by County, State, and Federal agencies to open the Sespe to the public.

Despite years of drought, especially effecting the southern end of the 30-plus mile long Creek, it is still designated a "navigable river" by state and federal authority. This blockage of access is unlawful, with criminal consequences. Public access to the Sespe is a State Constitutional Right. The homeowner and County (see http://www.fillmoregazette.com/front-page/supervisor-long-responds-gazet...) are informed of this fact but choose to ignore notices.

Less than a dozen people living within the first mile of the southern access way enjoy special protection by the practical cut-off at the entry. Those, whose homes and trailers are privileged to enjoy this enclave, have access, and a special suspension footbridge. Everyone else is kept out.

This is an outrage the rest of us do not have to tolerate if our public authorities will do their jobs.
Let's make the summer of 2017 the time when access to our famous Sespe Creek is opened to everyone as the law demands. Federal and state law permits all normal recreational activities within the high-water level of all navigable bodies of water in the United States. This includes "camping, swimming, hunting, rafting,..." within the high-water mark of Sespe Creek. This also includes tubing down Piru Creek, as some land owners have had to learn the hard way.

Next week I will publish state and federal law showing that obstruction to Sespe Creek public access is unlawful, with criminal consequences. I challenge any state, federal, or private legal authority to show my statements concerning Sespe Creek to be false.

It's time to tear down this Sespe Creek access wall. It's time to prosecute those who refuse to conform to the law.

See you at the Swallows Nest.

The Democratic Party fighting cocks have come home to roost, with their spurs covered with fresh blood.

Today, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was shot by a staunch Bernie Sanders supporter who was out to kill Republicans. I'm sick of the Liberal media blaming conservatives for the violence taking place all over America. I'm waiting for the Liberals to launch their typical attack on lawful gun owners now, and firearms in general. It's all a vicious lie to cover Liberal naiveté.

Trump's unprecedented electoral win has caused the Democrat Left to slip into pathological instability, and a state of political civil war now exists.

This description is not hyperbolic. One has only to review the thousands of psychotic expressions of searing personal hatred of Donald Trump to understand this. Trump's win has set off an emotional tectonic movement within the ranks of the Liberal-Left. This is an historic demonstration of Liberal-Left cerebral rot, an intense Antisocial Personality Disorder. This explains Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Kathy Griffin, all of the cable news programs excepting FOX, nearly all of Hollywood, nearly all of academia, and Never-Trumpers.

This is a snapshot of reality today in the United States. It's a picture of free-floating, irrational, self-sustaining hate, the core of a radical Liberal-Democrat. Its only justification - to destroy the product of American Constitutional democracy.

This white hot Liberal political degeneracy will very soon morph into an in-your-face, bloody conflagration. We are headed from a true political civil war to a physical civil war.

Just think of the huge amount of time and expense wasted on false news reports of alleged Russian collusion with the Trump camp. Nothing whatever has been uncovered. But watch the Liberal cable stations to see this determination to get Trump thrown out of office, or completely interfere with his agenda. Nothing on this scale has ever happened in American politics before.

Former FBI Director Comey should have been fired long ago. Actually, he should never have been allowed to come into the Trump administration from the Obama team. When he refused to indict Hillary Clinton on any of the numerous felonies she committed his status as a dirty cop became obvious.

The Democrat Party is bringing our nation down, at a time of maximum military peril. I believe our political system is falling apart. Our courts, and most of our judicial system is corrupt, particularly the Circuit Courts of Appeal - which handles most of our trials.

America may be distracted at the present time, but Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran are focused like lasers. The Bard would describe them as having lean and hungry looks.

I attended the regular Fillmore School District meeting last night. I think I have one black shirt to my name, which I wore to that meeting. Unbeknownst to me at the time, the plan by the teachers attending the meeting en mass was to wear black, signifying solidarity.

I mention this not to criticize others wearing black to the meeting, only to explain that I had no part to play in the confrontation between teachers, the teacher's union, and the school board.

That said, confrontation it was. As usual, the issue centered on money, salaries. The school calendar, tentatively approved at the meeting, was attacked by teachers for eliminating the October break. A full week off during Thanksgiving is up for negotiation instead.

I confess that I've gotten behind in my understanding of current school politics. I'm trying to catch up.

Frankly, I left the meeting after 45 minutes due to what I deemed as overkill in abusive attacks on our Superintendent, Dr. Adrian Palazuelos. I want to hear both sides fairly and clearly. Excessive, quasi-disorderly expressions of disagreement only fog my vision. Teachers attending the meeting (about 50) made their disapproval of the Superintendent loud and clear by reading a letter of no confidence, which followed a vote of the teachers reaching the same conclusion.

The problem I face, entering this confrontation so late, is a lack of recent historical information. I've been dealing with some serious distractions which I hope to correct starting this week.

Having witnessed past years of serious scandal in both school district operations and teacher's union activities (well documented) for objectivity's sake I enter the fray cautiously.

I know how hard our teachers work to educate our children; I am also aware of the diligence with which our Superintendent pursues his job, and the many improvements he continually achieves.

In the midst of the "no confidence" beat-down Dr. Palazuelos endured at last night's meeting, I have to note that Board Member Virginia de la Piedra made it very clear that the entire Board has strong confidence in the Superintendent. I wish meetings like this could provide an organized pro and con format to avoid such a one-sided avalanche of opinion.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that following Dr. Palazuelos' work ethic, accomplishments, and vision for our District, I also hold him in high esteem. His integrity is obvious. He expressed true happiness when he purchased a home in Fillmore and moved his family here. His intentions have always been to improve District functions by reforming them. District functions have been in need of reformation for a long time - but such action always brings pain to those who cling to the status quo. I heard a loud "ouch!" from teachers last night.

I don't for a moment wish to ignore the honest concerns of our teachers as expressed at last night's meeting. What would be most welcome, however, is a little more formal respect in voicing those demands. I think teachers, parents, and students alike would be much better served by more civility. Let's have a clear expression of specific demands and a clear response to the same - with a little more patience, a little more reciprocity.

A SPECIAL BIRTHDAY!

I want to wish Happy Birthday to one of the most beautiful persons I have known - Floreine Data, who will be celebrating her 100th birthday on June 8. Floreine's husband, Henry James "Hank" Data, passed away in 2012. Hank and Floreine were married for 72 years.

I first met Floreine and Hank in 1989 when the Gazette was first published. I think Floreine and Hank were the kindest, most thoughtful couple it has ever been my pleasure to know.

Happy Birthday and God bless you Floreine. I know Hank is smiling down upon you on this very special day.

****

I thoroughly enjoyed attending the Special City Council and Board of Education Joint meeting Tuesday at the Fillmore High School Farm. My thanks to all those responsible for serving that delicious BBQ meal. Many thanks also to the Future Farmers of America members who did such a great job as servers. These occasional joint meetings give these two groups a chance to discuss important issues relating to both while having a little fun.

****

On to less pleasant issues from the DRUDGE REPORT.

CNN has fired Kathy Griffin from their annual New Year’s Eve program, which she co-hosted with anchor Anderson Cooper. Griffin is among the several foul-mouthed radical liberals who populate the liberal left media. I'm surprised that CNN did the right thing by firing her for appearing in a video where she pretends to present the president's bloody, severed head to the public. Griffin is vile and disgusting, like so much of the Never Trump media.

****

" LA law enforcement high alert after gangs threaten officers..."
It's time to deal with this country's criminal gangs the way we treat foreign and domestic terrorists - directly and violently. They constitute a clear and present threat to American safety. They are violent predators who have no respect for human life and property. They share the absence of human conscience that Islamic terrorist groups exhibit.

It will take large, cooperating units of police and military, specially trained for urban warfare to get the job done effectively. Our police forces have enough crime to tackle without taking on large-scale anti-gang movements. After all, gangs like the metastasizing MS-13 are no different from ISIS, except in scale. They need to be exterminated.

Chicago, and elsewhere, report an increase in the use of long guns in gang activity. This escalates the danger to such an extent that new, harsher laws are needed mandating extremely long sentences even for possession of long guns. Where anyone is killed with such weapons, the death penalty should also be mandated. Law-abiding citizens of sound mind should not have their Constitutional right to keep and bear such arms "infringed".

The clear language of our Constitution declares "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

The Founding Fathers also declared this, and all other rights announced by our Constitution, to be God-given, not merely government-sanctioned privileges. Criminal gangs steal our freedoms. The Second Amendment defends American citizens against such crimes.

Our professional defenders of freedom are American police and military organizations, whom we must always strongly support. Inextricable with this honorable group, and the primary recipients of this protection, are American citizens themselves, standing ready to assure that their God-given rights do not become mere privileges. These are the fundamental issues of the American way of life, which make us truly exceptional in this world.

I might as well start out with some happy news - our Swimming Pool Opens Monday, May 29 at 6:30 AM. Join in the fun!

Dog lovers will also be happy to learn that Fillmore will soon have that long-awaited DOG PARK.

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Our city has made incredible progress, which can be seen in our new 2017-18 budget. See it in full at fillmoregazette.com. Our City Council and City Manager, David Rowlands, can be proud of their work.

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Like him or not, much credit has to be given to President Trump for his successful trip to the Middle East and Europe. The Arabs show great respect for him and have a new commitment to work with him to defeat radical Islamic terror. One of the largest trade deals ever made can be attributed to Trump's influence. The world has come to know Donald Trump as a true, strong leader - everything that Barack Obama never was. The Arabs feel stronger and more confident facing the likes of Iran.

Let's give credit where it's due!

Now, it's time to tone-down the politics and pass a health bill and a new federal budget. It's also time to catch those, Republicans and Democrats, who are committing felonies by leaking national secrets. I'm astonished by the most recent leaking of private conversations by the President. We may just run out of secrets to leak. DOJ, FBI - get moving!

North Korea's missile and atomic weapons capabilities must, soon, be destroyed. It would be a horrendous undertaking, placing South Korea and Japan in tremendous jeopardy, but it must be done to defend the U.S. as well as our allies.

Iran should also be on the front sight. Since North Korea and Iran have shared atomic secrets for years, it's naive to think North Korea has not shared its atomic bomb technology with Iran. Therefore we should assume Iran has the same bomb know-how as North Korea, i.e. has the bomb. Both countries have advanced missiles.

Russia and China have both contributed to Iran's and North Korea's nuclear capabilities, for years. So, with this nest of vipers frantically developing their ability to make war, we should expect to be in a new war very soon.
Will the Senate and House see to it that our military is prepared? Our military is so dangerously depleted of men, ships, aircraft and necessary defensive technology, we are extraordinarily vulnerable. One quick example: We have no mobile electromagnetic pulse weapon to counter Russia's, and probably China's. Do a search - this is huge. Again, I'm sorry to be in such a hurry this week.