I attended the District meeting this Tuesday and had it videotaped. It was a standing-room-only affair because the senior class perceives the new curriculum as a challenge to graduation.

For the first time in the 25 years that the Gazette has been covering the Fillmore Unified School District School Board, the Board calendar has been inexplicably changed. Instead of being scheduled on alternate Tuesdays, to avoid conflicting with the Fillmore City Council, the District now holds its meetings on the same days that the Council is in session. This makes it impossible for residents to attend both meetings, and very difficult for the Gazette to report on both as we have done for decades. We have asked the District to explain this curious change which inconveniences everyone. (Just in: it’s rumored that the change-back is done.)

I left the meeting after about 2 hours and missed the very informative comments made by Karen Ashem. She also criticized the Board meeting schedule change.

The elephant in the room last night, however, was the effect of the recent adoption of something called the Common Core State Standards Initiative. I have to learn more about this highly controversial government initiative. I pulled this off the web at the last minute: “The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a U.S. education initiative that seeks to bring diverse state curricula into alignment with each other by following the principles of standards-based education reform. The initiative is sponsored by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).” Conservatives are fighting this idea because they fear it’s just another government power grab.

The District chose to begin this curriculum change with this year’s Junior-Senior classes, which mandates the unexpected addition of Algebra II.

According to Mrs. Ashem, our District had a choice of when to adopt this Core curriculum. Their choice of starting with this year’s Junior and Senior classes, a complete surprise for them, has caused alarm. It would be more reasonable to begin with the Freshman class. Algebra II is the real fear among upperclassmen who see this as a last minute stumbling block to graduation. For complete coverage of these issues, please view the entire Board meeting video on fillmoregazette.com, soon.

* * *

I watch with horror President Obama’s recent foreign policy moves. Among the other world leaders he is a laughingstock, an obvious amateur masquerading as some sort of political genius, a high-minded diplomatic prodigy destined to lead the world to peace and prosperity. The truth is, as David Horowitz states, “The President of the United States may be the most brazen and compulsive liar to ever occupy the White House...” And, he continues, “Obama has set the Middle East on fire and run down American power and prestige to the point where no enemy fears us and no ally trusts us. While Obama claims the terrorists have been defeated, America is closer to being the victim of terrorist attacks than at any time since 9/11.” Trusting Syria and Iran is simply insane. Duck and cover!

 


 

My deepest sympathies go out to the Marmont family for the truly tragic death of Astrid Marmont and the serious injuries suffered by her husband Lindsey. The incident was caused by an explosion of a propane bottle which overheated during a backyard barbecue. The prayers of many are with you.

***

Another mass shooting has taken place at a military base in Washington, D.C. And again, the liberal-left media immediately blindly seized upon the opportunity to condemn that most popular American firearm, the AR-15. This has been the default option for the liberal press and leftist politicians for years. The usual irrational, hysterical firearms phobics, like Senators Feinstein, Boxer, and that wussy British talk show host, Piers Morgan, all opened their mouths before their brains were engaged – all for anti-gun political purposes. I’m waiting for apologies.

Had they waited even an hour they would have learned that it was not that notorious AR-15 that was used in this outrageous killing spree – it happened to be a shotgun.

But, once again, it was not the weapon that mattered most here. It was the fact that this perpetrator was known to have a dangerous, longstanding mental condition which was negligently overlooked. He was, as news commentator Charles Krauthammer (also a psychiatrist) has stated, a classic paranoid schizophrenic. The perpetrator had a long history of serious problems with the law including shooting incidents. But, he was able to obtain a secret clearance just the same, provided by the government, which gave him access to the naval base.

The shooter's profile here mimics the profiles of other mass shooters of the past several years. Once again, the problem is not the mechanical device used to kill people. The central problem is mental disorder which liberals refuse to admit is the proximate cause. Other problems include turning areas into “gun free zones”, especially at military bases (Clinton’s decision). This case also shares features with the Fort Hood masacre where political correctness promoted that killer in rank providing access and opportunity even though his problems were also clearly known, but ignored by his Politically Correct superiors. Both cases were caused more by gross criminal negligence than firearms.

I no longer have any confidence in our nation’s present ability to protect us against enemies foreign and domestic, on the border or battlefiels (if there's a difference) because of liberal incompetence and naivete. Liberals have rotted-away even our common sense defensive provisions. And liberals don't understand why hundreds of millions of Americans seek to arm themselves as a matter of right under our Second Amendment?

P.S. Navy Yard murderer Aaron Alexis created webpage with name "Mohammed Salem"
Sep 19, 2013 08:35 am | Robert Spencer, Jihad Watch.

 


 

Frankly, I’m so disgusted and angered at the sight of our Sad Sack Commander in Chief’s surrender to Putin and Assad that it’s going to take me a week to cool down.

The world can now see that all of Obama’s repeated red line threats and tough talk was sheer bluster, empty words. His pathetic inability to follow-up on military punishment in Syria shows the emperor has no clothes, and, for all her power, Obama has shown America is impotent in a show-down. Our enemy Russia has snookered the U.S. into a ridiculous plan to remove thousands of tons of nerve gas from Syria to someplace else; an impossible task given that security can never be satisfactorily provided. These weapons have been dispersed all over the country and will certainly fall into the hands of psychopathic Jihadists.

Most important here is the fact that Obama has sold the farm for a handful of beans. He has sold-out America’s reputation as a serious shield for the free world against the sworn enemies of peace, justice, and freedom. Now North Korea, Iran, China, Russia and of course Syria know they have little to fear in carrying-out their criminal activities. Now every throat-cutting Muslim Jihadist is energized to build that Caliphate. Look what’s happening across the Middle East today – particularly in Egypt.

“The Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters have began forcing the roughly 15,000 Christian Copts of Dalga village in Egypt to pay a jizya tax as indicated in Koran 9:29, author and translator Raymond Ibrahim reported on Sunday. In some cases, families not able to pay have been attacked. As many as 40 Christian families have now fled Dalga, Mr. Ibrahim reported. Just over the weekend Syrian rebels went into a Christian man’s “shop and gave him three options: become Muslim; pay $70,000 as a tax levied on non-Muslims, known as jizya; or be killed along with his family,” Christian Science Monitor reported.”

Obama has undercut our military to an extreme degree, just as the Muslim Jihad terrorist movement is spreading across the world. Welcome to the wacky world of the Leftist-liberal Democratic mindset.

And, oh – did you hear that Putin is sailing some “carrier-killing” war ships into Syria? Run, Barry, run!

 

The Gazette is dealing with some extra challenges this morning. I regret I don’t have more time for this column. I’ll try to summarize some thoughts about Syria and how we are dealing with the conflict.

I don’t know when I have had to disagree with so many prominent conservatives whose opinions I usually agree with. The issue is whether or not America should use its military power to attack Syria for “alleged” poison gas attacks by President Bashar al-Assad on his own people, multiple times. The attacks are reported to have killed thousands including nearly 500 children.

For more than 12 years America has expended its gold ($trillions) and blood (tens of thousands) in wars to free and assist Islamic nations of the Near East from killing themselves in their civil and religious wars. For all of the hundreds of billions of dollars America has given (of our taxpayer’s money) to hate factories like Pakistan, we are hated all the more.

What America has to get into its head is the fact that ALL of this incessant bloodletting is due to one thing, religion. More particularly, it’s all due to the fundamental Koranic command of perpetual war (Jihad) against all unbelievers of Islam. We should emphasize the word “perpetual” which is war without end, until the world is subdued by Islam.

Who are the “unbelievers”? They are those who, for any reason do not believe in Islam or its Prophet; that’s more than 5 billion human beings. This is problematic for many reasons because Muslim believers have violently disagreed about who the true believers are for 1,400 years. Ask any Sunni Muslim if Shi’ite Muslims are true believers and see what happens. Ask any Shi’ite believer the same for Sunni Muslims and get an opposite answer. These two groups, for whom we have shed our blood and treasure to bring the blessings of peace and justice all these years, remain the primary targets of their own murderous hatred. After leaving Iraq and Afghanistan behind America can take little comfort in what its Christian beneficence has facilitated there. This is why, by Koranic command, Muslim nations will never know peace without complete Muslim homogeneity.

I’ve come a long way from the issue of whether to attack the Assad government in Syria. Assad is a criminal, as was his father and most of his immediate family. Syria has been accurately described as the Assad family business. But most Middle East dictators are thugs and criminals; nothing new there.

What is new, however, is the fact that the “family” has decided to inflict a different kind of terror on its Syrian people by the use of poison gas. This particular weapon has been banned since shortly after WWI as intolerably inhumane. It is designated a weapon of mass destruction, like atomic, biological, and radiological weapons. Would we act so reluctantly after the use of smallpox?

America has a profound moral duty to respond militarily to such an outrage, despite the fact that we are war-weary as a nation with self-inflicted military emasculations. Doing nothing to retaliate, or doing minimal damage to the enemy, invites more of the same crimes. Iran’s Muslim Jihadists are salivating for conflict. Western weakness energizes their bomb-making activity. Imagine the consequences of a weak military response, or no response, to Assad’s gas attacks on the Iranian government. Imagine Iran dispensing atomic weapons to all its terrorist friends. How could America control that proliferation? Miniature A-bombs have been produced since the 1950s (check-out the “Davy Crockett” atomic mortar). A few weeks ago Turkey arrested some terrorists at the Syrian-Turkey border. They were caught with a 2kg canister of sarin gas. Where might others be? They are apparently very transportable. But, maybe our strong southern border protections will prevent gas attacks in America.

Reluctant as America may be to engage in more Muslim conflicts, a strong retaliation is the only moral choice.

 

We’re about to go to war again, I guess. It all depends upon whether our fearless Commander in Chief can make up his mind. The problem is, among many others with Obama, that he has no experience at all with foreign policy or military affairs – or just about anything else other than organizing communities.

As hard to believe as it may be, an equally serious problem regarding America’s relations with Syria (and all other Islamic countries and communities) is an astounding official ignorance of the main enemy, Islam.

I’m certainly no expert on the history of Islam but I have made a concerted effort to learn about it during the past decade or so. I’ve read the best of the best on the subject and believe me when I say that we remain ignorant of Islam at our peril. The entire western world, America in particular, remains stunningly naive on the subject; we have been duped by Islamic Jihadists into thinking Islam is a religion of peace, as they gobble-up the remnants of Western and Middle Eastern Christian civilization. Before the extraordinary, bloody Arab invasions of the seventh century virtually all of what today is considered Muslim territory was Christian. Historians call this period of history “late antiquity” and even today this history is usually being taught erroneously.

But new, much more accurate information on this hazy period of late antiquity is now available. For example, Christians have no reason to apologize for the Crusades, though several bloody excesses did happen during that violent time. Though several particular Crusades failed, some miserably, in the end these defensive efforts were largely responsible for saving all of Western Europe from being overrun by Islamic armies and vicious nomadic tribes warring for booty and slaves.

What continues to be utterly unique about Islam is the fact that it is infused with religious fanaticism. The sole reason for Islam’s existence, according to the Quran, is to convert the world. The 1.3 billion Muslims in the world demand that the 5-plus billion non-believers convert to Islam; three options are provided. The first is conversion to Islam. The second is to pay the tax and become a “protected” person. The third option is to reject Islam and die, preferably by the sword. This is the core of Islam as found in the Quran and Hadith. Though there are several factions in the faith, believers are bound by Sharia law.

Muslim believers are commanded to fight all non-believers to the end of the world. This means PERPETUAL WAR, and this is the essential fact that even our military leaders (certainly our president) don’t understand. The concept of democracy is anathema to Islam, as are the basic tenets of Christianity and Judaism.

What about the hundreds of millions of Muslim believers who do not want war? They don’t understand Islam, but hundreds of millions of others do. The true believers are burning down thousands of Christian churches today, and murdering innocent Christians and Jews.

Because of these facts there will never be a natural peace in the Middle East or in any Muslim country. Islam exists to bring the world into submission to its beliefs.

The Muslim concept of peace is a carefully constructed mirage to advance Islam against all non-believers – forever.

 

Another brutal, senseless murder has taken place, this time in Duncan, Oklahoma.

Two boys, 16-year-old and 15-year-old, have been charged with first-degree murder for fatally shooting 22-year-old Chris Lane, an Australian citizen visiting the U.S.

A third juvenile, Michael Jones, 17, was charged as an accessory to first-degree murder after the fact for driving the car from which Edwards is alleged to have shot Lane in the back while he was jogging.

Edwards is also alleged to have “danced and laughed” as he was taken into custody. District Attorney Jason Hicks told the press that Edwards displayed "an attitude of total disregard for law enforcement" when he was being charged over Lane's death. Hicks added that the accused, James Edwards, 15, was treating the murder as a joke. "He thinks it's funny, and it's all a joke," Hicks said.

This is another example of the massive number of (gang-inspired crimes – mostly black, check the stats) which has plagued America for the past 50 years. This sort of attitude towards crime and law enforcement is nothing new. The alleged perpetrators are described as "troublemakers" and "bullies" who had "no parental supervision." These troublemakers and bullies (and murderers) come from crime incubators, homes where there are no fathers, places where children grow-up without consciences, where life truly has no meaning beyond acquiring money by any means.

There are well more than one million gang members in America. They are anarchy’s Fifth Column, lying in wait for the collapse of our civilization. And, they are growing, fast.

I think of Chancey Allen Luna, 16, and James Francis Edwards Jr., 15, the accused killers, as zombies awaiting gang membership. Zombies because they are sufficiently indoctrinated in every manifestation of crime to the point of having destroyed their consciences. They have lost their God-given sense of right and wrong. They are empty husks of humanity, zombies, having snuffed-out their souls. They have grown outside the influence of natural law – and there are millions of them around us. In Edwards’ case it took only 15 years to morph from normalcy to psychopathy. Where was dad?

Many Americans are asking if this grotesque racist killing will receive the same explosive national coverage that the infamous Trayvon Martin case received. “Racist killing?” you might ask. By the “standards” of American media I am certainly entitled to make that judgment. Let’s see if our media (as well as state and federal government) charge to the sound of the liberal talking heads once again, or ignore this case to dampen racial rage and satisfy their need for Political Correctness.

Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, let’s hear your excuses this time. Piers Morgan barks again: “When an innocent Australian student is shot dead in Oklahoma for 'fun' - America's gun crisis becomes the world's problem.”
Piers, go home to your Islamo-England. You and your countrymen don’t understand America any better today than you did in 1775.

 

Fillmore is full of champions these days! Congratulations to our Fillmore Girls Softball team, now Western National Champions! That’s tremendous.

And this week, Fillmore walks away with ELEVEN 4-H, FFA County Champion ribbons!

Breanna Berrington raised a 1,342 lb market steer that won FFA Grand Champion and overall Grand Champion got $25/lb for $33,550. Macie Wokal raised a 274 lb market swine that was awarded FFA Grand Champion. Auction results: $40/lb for $10,960. What a year for our 4-H FFA!

Please see fillmoregazette.com for larger photos. There were so many winners this year that the Gazette had to publish them in two sections. Next week we will publish stories and photos of the remaining winners.
Thanks once again to Bob Crum who covers the fair for us every year.

***

Now, for some world class losers.

Thanks to California’s radical leftist-liberal Democrat disease (super majority) we have an amoral madman sailing the ship of state into the perfect storm. Though we are teetering on the verge of bankruptcy this clown managed to snooker ignorant residents of the Golden State into going (a hundred billion dollars?) into debt to build a bullet train to nowhere, which will never be built. Most of the state has finally awakened (too late) to the fact that this is a scam, a wholly fraudulent scheme to enrich unions, which will destroy our economic future.

However, at a more fundamental level, Governor Moonbeam (I remember the day) has inflicted the product of his debauched intellect upon California’s vulnerable school children. This latest legislative assault on traditional moral values should have the populous charging into the street, pitchforks in hand.

San Francisco (surprise!)Assemblyman Tom Ammiano has persuaded our illustrious state senate and assembly to pass into law a bill (AB 1266) permitting students of either gender to use bathroom facilities of the opposite gender. For example if a boy should one day “feel” like a girl he is entitled to use the girl’s bathroom, or locker room. Girls may also use the boy’s bathrooms. You know, sometimes you feel like a nut – sometimes you don’t. He can come to school dressed as a girl, without notification to parents. The next day he can revert to his “normal” gender. Also, boys may choose to play on any girl’s sports team. Tennis anyone? This law was sponsored by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Equality California, Transgender Law Center and Gay Straight Alliance Network. They believe they are protecting the civil rights of transgender people. Traditionally, the bathroom has been protected by an expectation of privacy and simple decency. Those who cling to traditional notions of civil rights are just out of luck.

Problems arose in Washington State, 2006 when its legislature implemented a similar law. “Parents in Washington state became outraged last year when their young daughters, who participate in their local swim club, discovered a male sitting naked in the sauna ‘displaying male genitalia,’” the Christian News Net reported last fall. However, police and school representatives of Evergreen State College alike said there wasn’t anything they could do about the situation because of state law. The transgender “student” is 45 years old.” - See more at: http://calwatchdog.com/2013/05/16/bill-advances-civil-rights-claims-on-g...

I’ve pretty much had it with this gender confusion. Many people sympathize with these gender issues; My sympathy is on death watch. For those dreadfully confused students who can’t figure whether they are boys or girls (a small part of one percent of the population) seek a chromosome determination. If you still are unable to figure it out, get a chromosome change. Why should 99.9 percent of the normal population suffer because of the confusion of the tiny minority? These transgender groups have become a threat to our society, a potent enemy of Christianity in particular. They have accrued great political power by infiltrating our government. This Politically Correct issue of gender identity is turning our civilization on its head.

Traditional Judeo-Christian morals and the protections they have enjoyed for thousands of years are being destroyed. What about OUR civil rights? Normalcy and Natural Law have rights too.

 

Gee whiz. President Obama’s claim to have set al-Qaida back on its heels is apparently untrue. Just the internet “chatter” from this terrorist group has caused the US to shut down scores of our embassies around the world and actually evacuate many of them. Think of the expense involved in these precautions – all from the mere chatter of al-Qaida. Why didn’t Hillary Clinton (alleged to be the smartest woman in the world) take any precautions before the Benghazi attack, after repeated requests for assistance? Why didn’t she, as our brilliant Secretary of State, send help when those in Benghazi pleaded for assistance while under attack?

I hope someday the White House begins to understand that we are at war (not with terrorism, which is just a tactic) but with Islam (not radical Islam) but Islam as it has existed and acted since the seventh century. Islam’s entire reason for existence, according to the Quran and Hadith (which must be believed under penalty of death) is to conquer the world by reducing unbelievers to submission (dimitude) or death. Any Muslim who rejects this mission statement is either a heretic or apostate, which, again, deserves death under Sharia law.

Anyone who reads the history of Islam understands these facts and the facts are there for everyone to read. There is only one thing the traditional Muslim mind respects outside its own religious faith and that is force, overwhelming, credible military might – like America once had.

America’s pathetic lack of leadership and weakened state of moral and military readiness is why the dogs of war are once again salivating. Islam has always demanded perpetual war. This is why America must be perpetually strong and alert, and obviously so in the face of our enemies.

So, this latest threat to our embassies is just another example of Islam doing what it has been doing for a thousand years and more. It is, however, past time for our president to call it as it is, Islamic terror, not any form of “workplace violence”, which insults the intelligence of all thinking Americans, and makes us the laughingstock of the modern world.

Our very real bloodthirsty enemies are more inclined to react with contempt for America’s military as they observe some Cavalry units riding sidesaddle waving silken rainbow flags.

America still has the finest fighting force in the world. It’s the sworn moral duty of our Commander in Chief and the entire officer corps, to preserve the honor and integrity of that force, earned by the valor and bloody sacrifice of so many heroes. Anything less dishonors their sacrifice.

 

This week, after 10 years of outstanding assistance to the Gazette, I regret to announce that Susan Golson will be leaving us. We are lucky to be able to train a promising new replacement for Susan, but there’s no way she can really be replaced.

It’s very hard for me to believe that 10 years have passed since Susan came on board. She has been a key person whom we have relied upon to keep things going smoothly, and it’s difficult to imagine life at the Gazette without her cheerful, competent presence. We are thankful that Pebbles the Wonder Dog will remain with us as executive mascot.

So, thank you Susan for your friendship, loyalty and hard work; you will remain a true friend and it seems trite to say that we will miss you.

We wish you the best of luck in the future and hope you stay in touch with the Gazette.

 

Well, here I am again, 90 minutes till deadline without a clue about what to write. Not that there’s a shortage of flammable issues out there. There’s former Congressman Anthony D. Weiner’s run to be New York City’s mayor. He’s trying a bold new campaign strategy of projecting online images of his private parts to win friends and influence people. I think the people of New York City deserve this sort of shock treatment after inflicting Nanny Bloomberg on the masses.

Then there are the disciples of the Reverends Jackson and Sharpton. They want to inflict great bodily harm on George Zimmerman for his alleged premeditated killing of the innocent “child”, Trayvon Martin (almost 18-years-old). This group claims Zimmerman is a racist who “profiled” Martin in order to kill him, though at no time in the entire investigation (including the FBI) and trial of Mr. Zimmerman was race ever determined to be an issue. The world can see how innocent Trayvon was by viewing his angelic photos (as a 12-year-old) constantly posted by the Leftist press. Trayvon’s authentically menacing, and most recent photo tells a different story. 911 tapes were also edited by the media to falsely impute racism to Zimmerman.

Every effort was made by the press, other race-baiting activists, and the prosecution itself, to frame Zimmerman. Trayvon had been suspended three times from school (in one year) and sent to live with his step-father. He was a habitual marijuana user and of other drugs, and was involved in fighting. The prosecution did its best to cover up the facts about Trayvon and to heap hot coals on Zimmerman. Even the president of the United States and his co-conspirator attorney general urged the prosecution of Zimmerman, after the verdict of not guilty was delivered by a jury of his peers. This should be recognized as the truly monumental scandal that it is.

We finally learn why Trayvon chose to purchase the Skittles and “ice tea” that evening. From A Call to Reason, By James H. Lilley, July 22, 2013: “Let's pause on the Skittles issue and look at what they are really used for by drug users nationwide, but especially in the South. A mixture of soda, Robitussin DM (which has the ingredient Dextromethorpha or DXM), or similar brand of cough syrup and Skittles produce a concocted high. One of the street names for this high causing concoction is "Lean." Found at the scene of Trayvon's shooting were two thirds of the mixture, Arizona Watermelon Fruit Cocktail and Skittles. Martin's autopsy showed liver damage from long-term use of "Lean," which can also cause psychosis and aggression.” For those interested in learning the facts about the Zimmerman shooting I suggest reading Mr. Lilley’s column. After the local police investigated this case professionally and determined that no probable cause existed to arrest Mr. Zimmerman, a conspiracy set in at once to convict Zimmerman. This conspiracy involved state and federal departments. Mr. Lilley once again: “Certainly there was no impartiality shown [sarcasm] by the Department of Justice when they sent their Community Relations Section to Sanford, Florida to help organize the Pro-Trayvon/Anti-Zimmerman rallies. In violation of Federal Law, taxpayer money was spent, though not hundreds of thousands of dollars, to plan and support these hate rallies. Members of the Community Relations Service also took part in the demonstrations and drove additional protesters to the events.” These actions are outrageous and should be a cause for alarm among all law-abiding citizens of good will in our republic. This is what “justice” has come to in Obama’s America. There surely is racial prejudice in our country, but it is becoming increasingly clear that most of it is fomented by racial minorities.

 

The George Zimmerman case should live in prosecutorial infamy. It has only one salutary reason for being remembered. That is the fact that it has exposed the enormity of governmental corruption in the judicial branch of our republic down to the lowest level.

For nearly five years now we’ve witnessed Attorney General Holder’s poisonous political influence on the conduct of our legal system, in what it pursues and what it ignores. With his partner in crime, Barack Obama, he refuses to prosecute two Black Panther thugs threatening would-be voters with blackjacks, releases terrorists, provides firearms to drug cartels, and the list of outrageous conduct goes unabated.

Among other things, the Zimmerman case is extraordinary for the public (world-wide) hostility it has sparked. This was not, as continuously characterized, a complex case. The facts are these: Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain, aware of numerous robberies, burglaries, and home invasions in his area, spotted someone acting suspiciously. The weather was rainy and dark. He reported to 911 in an effort to fix the suspect’s position. He lost the subject and was returning to his car. Out of the darkness he was suddenly confronted and attacked by the subject who came close enough to smash Zimmerman in the face numerous times and break his nose. Zimmerman was knocked backwards to the grass with his head above the sidewalk. The subject began to “ground and pound” him with his fists and then began slamming Zimmerman’s head on the concrete. Zimmerman felt the subject reaching for his gun. Zimmerman, believing the beating could not be stopped without deadly force, drew his pistol and shot one time, killing the subject.

Anyone who has had his nose broken by a fist in the face knows how painful and destabilizing it is. The rest of the beating would seriously aggravate the physical and mental condition of the victim. A reasonable person should conclude that repeatedly slamming Zimmerman’s head against the concrete, with no end in sight, would cause the victim to believe he was suffering serious bodily harm, possibly life-threatening injuries. The facts show beyond reasonable doubt that Trayvon Martin was the aggressor. This was a simple case of self-defense.
According to the local police, after thorough investigation of facts, this incident was determined to be a clear case of self-defense, and they found no probable cause to arrest Zimmerman.

What followed was entirely driven by political pressure, which was itself driven by outside racial hatred. When it comes to promoting racial hatred few racists can compete with Al Sharpton (of the infamous Tawana Brawley case) and Jesse Jackson (just as infamous); they’re professionals who have made millions at the game. Sharpton, now a MSNBC host, is paid well for his infamy. Both of these race-baiting clowns stirred the pot in the Zimmerman case. Co conspirators in the get-Zimmerman plot are President Obama and his lap dog Attorney General Eric Holder. Also, the Florida prosecutor Angela Corey’s participation in this malicious prosecution should result in her disbarment. I find it incredible that I should agree with two flaming liberals, Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz, and radio commentator Leo Terrell. Both find the prosecution of this case outrageous. Dershowitz calls for Angela Corey’s disbarment. Among the get-Zimmerman zealots is the clueless attorney Jasmine Rand who calls for consideration of social engineering issues in this case.

The Zimmerman case should never have been brought to trial!

The general public should study the Zimmerman case thoroughly. It tells a startling story of a legal system completely out of control, forcing its agenda of social engineering into constitutional law.

It is reported that two or three citizens have been murdered over the verdict of acquittal in the Zimmerman case. Riots are deliberately provoked by Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. Zimmerman is faced with serious death threats, both against himself and his family members. From the president on down the Leftist-liberal line “justice” has become just another tool for social engineering, as are other government departments like the IRS, Justice Department itself, and numerous other sub-departments. It’s no wonder the Left wants to snuff-out our Second Amendment and the most ancient laws like self-defense. It all facilitates the liberal agenda.

Keep your powder dry.

 

Conway Spitler (twice) Citizen of the Year, passed away this week. He was a pillar of our Fillmore community for many decades, and a friend to the Fillmore Gazette for 25 years. He was a thoughtful man of strong, patriotic opinions.
Rest in peace, Conway.

***

For those interested in learning how quickly Fillmore is recovering from the last six years of city council mismanagement, take a look on Channel 10. Finally, we have a council that works thoughtfully and professionally together. It’s a pleasure to attend the meetings these days.
Welcome our new City Manager, David Wayne Rowlands. He comes to Fillmore with the highest recommendations for his solid experience and great success as a city manager. The bad old days will soon be just an uncomfortable memory. Our city is really coming back to life!

***

Like many people, I worry about the health and welfare of our armed forces laboring under a charlatan masquerading as Commander in Chief. Here’s a recent report on how the troops are doing under Obama’s new policy of welcoming openly gay service men and women:
http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/sharp-increase-in-man-...

When I read these sorts of things I have to ask why – why did the president and some of his top brass think it necessary to go beyond “Don’t ask-Don’t Tell”? After all, that policy didn’t exclude anyone, and it preserved the dignity of the vast majority of our armed forces who respect traditional Judeo-Christian mores. Whose business is it to know just what anyone else’s sexual proclivities might be? And, why would any normal person feel compelled to announce to his/her (Judeo-Christian) teammates that he/she celebrates the sacrament of sodomy. Those responsible for forcing this new policy on the captive, unsuspecting 99 percent deserve close scrutiny. What could their payoff possibly have been – promotion and retirement? How could this policy possibly contribute to military cohesiveness? Up to the present day, such a policy would have led to confusion, deep resentment, disorder, even bloodshed. “Be all you can be” is picking-up a loathsome connotation among millions of veterans who served their country with valor and sacred honor without the need to reveal their sexual values.

Check out the photo in this link and ask yourself if a determined enemy would feel terror or aggravated contempt when confronting these guys.

Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mullen (against the unanimous condemnation of his fellow Chiefs, and thousands of flag officers throughout the American military) insisted on this policy. American defense is weaker for it. His name, with his co-conspirators, will live in infamy.

 

Just a short note to explain why I’m substituting an opinion piece from the Washington Times for my usual scribbling this week. First, Mr. Whitehead accurately sums-up the fears of most U.S. citizens today in his first paragraph, and I share those concerns. With the election of Barack Obama to the office of chief executive and Commander in Chief our fundamental constitutional rights are disintegrating as never before. I agree we have now become a nation of men instead of laws. Government agencies ignore the demands of Congress, Congress ignores the demands of “we the people”, and the Supreme Court, ignoring the clearest Constitutional demands, does whatever it pleases by rewriting the Constitution. Certainly, Obama will appoint two new justices to the Supreme Court during the next three years. The traditional moral norms of the nation are disappearing. America’s very identity is up for grabs. As never before, we are a nation of special interests, unions, financial institutions, and radical Leftists. The conservative will of the people is forgotten.

We are among the lucky few in feeling secure in our county and city. Beyond this, I worry for the less fortunate others.

Our enemies smile at the sight of the Political Correctness which has destabilized military organization and preparedness. Our military has been utterly corrupted from the top down (the only possible way). Only catastrophic military defeat will correct this deviance, if we survive it.

With those happy thoughts, here’s Mr. Whitehead:

OPINION: From a Nation of Laws to a Nation of Men
How a cozy police state tempts a distracted republic

Written By John W. Whitehead

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” — Abraham Lincoln

With each passing day, America is inching further down the slippery slope toward a police state. While police clashes with protesters, small farmers and other so-called “lawbreakers” vividly illustrate the limits placed on our freedoms, the boundaries of a police state extend far beyond the actions of law enforcement. In fact, a police state is characterized by bureaucracy, secrecy, perpetual wars, a nation of suspects, militarization, surveillance, widespread police presence, and a citizenry with little recourse against government actions, to name just a few.

Sound familiar? If it does it is only because the signs of an emerging police state are all around us. In Orwellian fashion, it has infiltrated all aspects of our lives, from the mundane to reality-television shows to the downright oppressive.

We were once... http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jul/3/from-a-nation-of-laws-to-...

 

The good news due from the Fillmore City Council that I spoke of last week has begun to appear. At Tuesday’s meeting the council announced that the bitterly controversial Sales Tax Revenue Sharing Agreement (from 2003)) has finally been settled. It is anticipated to bring in from $700,000 to $ l million to the general fund, until the year 2023. As former City Attorney Ted Schneider had informed us all along, the contract with Owens & Miner was valid and legally enforceable. The rancorous, unjust criticism of Mr. Schneider, which most of the former council engaged in for years, has now been shown to be the raw political slander it was from the beginning. Kudos to Councilman Steve Conaway for having the guts and stamina to stick up for Schneider, and for publically exposing the malice spewed by Patti Walker, Gayle Washburn, Jamey Brooks, Gary Creagle, and Bob Stroh against Schneider for so many years. For the record (and not to diminish by any means the great work done by present City Attorney Tiffany Israel to conclude this victory) Schneider had won every case on this issue. He was removed from his job by an extraordinary act of Machiavellian treachery, thanks to Gayle Washburn and (I’ll say it for the last time) the Katzenjammers (forgot how to spell it).
Thanks to Tiffany Israel for her tremendous work, and to our great new council which never lost faith.
*******
The national news is so bad today I will skip my comments until next week. I’m anything but a defeatist, but I truly believe that Obama and friends have done terminal damage to America, American culture, American defense, and, in particular, American religion. These are evil people.

We will, very soon, pay a horrendous price for this collapse of the American moral tradition. The key to the conclusion of the final act is held by our Supreme Court; those nine will bury the traditional “American Way” in a Leftist avalanche.

For those of us who continue to believe in the Judeo-Christian God — it’s time to pray, with enthusiasm.

 

Attending Tuesday’s Special Budget Workshop was a positive experience.

Financial Advisor Frank Catania has been doing a splendid job of organizing the budget, and making sense of so-called budgets from the recent past. The new council is making substantial progress in its work to stabilize the city’s finances and secure new sources of revenue. It’s still a little too early to announce particular achievements but they are right around the corner. I would urge residents to view the Channel 10 video of that meeting; it’s very informative. The General Fund items were discussed in detail.

***

I recently challenged a friend to identify some major piece of state or national good news. I’m trying to counter my growing sense of massive pessimism. All I have to do to fan the flames of that personal pessimism is scan the latest DRUGE links. Clearly, the Western World (once recognized as the “free world”) is in a free-falling tailspin. It appears we have a cultural death wish. We have a fool for Commander in Chief. Not surprising since he has no military experience.

President Obama threatened to change America forever and I now believe he will accomplish that goal. With his ordering the recruitment of openly gay men and women into all military services he has defiled more than two centuries of American Judeo-Christian tradition. The reasonable “Don’t ask, don’t tell” rule (which was reluctantly approved by our Joint Chiefs of Staff) opened the path of enlistment to “openly” gay enlistment, bringing with it conduct intolerable to traditional Christians.

Obama crows about his lesbian General and her female “spouse”, herself a colonel. The military is particularly vulnerable to corruption because of its command structure. Orders come from the top on down. As they say, a fish rots from the head first. This facilitates the growth of “special” groups and affiliations within the command structure and in the ranks. This profound rejection of traditional Christian moral conduct happened suddenly (following 30 years of scheming by the radical Left) and was facilitated by people like Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Adm. Mike Mullen. This massive change was created just to placate 2 percent of the public.

I once stated, to the chagrin of a number of distinguished veterans, that I would refuse to serve in any openly gay military unit, and would discourage my children from joining as well. I would explain my stance by paraphrasing a great hero of mine, whose biography was filmed in “A Man For All Seasons” back in 1966. Sir Thomas More, in refusing to recognize the marriage of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn, had his head chopped off. Before the axe came down he is quoted as saying (paraphrase) “I die my King’s true servant – but God’s First.” My convictions about our military are equally strong.

 

My deepest sympathies go out to the family of Ramon Alvarez of Piru upon hearing of the drowning death of Ramon and his son Nelson Alvarez.
Rest in peace Ramon and Nelson.

***

The entire city council and city staff are anxious to welcome our newly hired City Manager, David Wayne Rowlands. Mr. Rowlands will be taking over his new duties on August 12. From all reports, without exception and from many sources, Mr. Rowlands is an outstanding city manager. We wish him a warm welcome to Fillmore and every success.

***

On a less auspicious theme, it’s hard to sort through President Obama’s growing stack of critical foreign and domestic failures to determine which is most serious. All of them betray the trust and confidence of the American people and jeopardize our health, safety, and traditional moral ideals. From selling guns to drug cartels, causing the death of our ambassador and three other Americans in Libya, the IRS scandal, the info-data tapping, double cost of Obamacare, and on, and on.

Expect more because Obama has no idea what the consequences of his foolish policies will be.

I do have a contrary take on the data sweeps, however. I agree with some conservatives about the necessity and legality of this massive federal undertaking.

Information tapping may be of questionable value (according to some new reports) but if they are providing significant intel in the war against worldwide Islamist-Jihadist butchery (let’s call it as it is) I think we have to tolerate the loss of privacy. If it turns out that serious abuses arise from this program then those should be addressed with harsh punishment. But we all should understand our vulnerability to insidious global Jihadist terrorism.

Just recently, reports are addressing the alarming news that thousands of Soviet era SA-7 surface-to-air missiles are in terrorist hands. The threat was known early on in the Lybia rebellion. This weapon alone would seriously challenge our defense against Islamist terrorism because it can take down an airliner from about a mile-and-a-half distance.

Obama refuses to identify Islamist anti-infidel terrorism as the problem. Since he is our commander in chief this places America at great risk for any number of attacks. I have to hope that the NSA’s PRISM system is at least targeting China, our prime enemy, as well as the murderous Islamic terrorist states seeking to kill-off Judeo-Christian civilization. We have to choose between privacy and an effective terrorist defense. I would choose survival, with as much control as possible over outfits like the NSA.

 

How great it is to see our new Fillmore City Council membership! I think this will prove to be one of the best functioning councils in decades.

It’s gratifying to anticipate that justice and common sense will once again prevail over the bitter personal politics which nearly destroyed our town a short time ago. The fragments of our formerly fractured city government are being mended.

Diane McCall, mysteriously removed from our Planning Commission without cause has returned as a council member. “Manny” Minjares, laid off as Assistant Planner, is back also as council member. Doug Tucker, former Planning Commissioner, won a seat on the council as well; Former Senior City Planner, Kevin McSweeney, is back as Planning Service Consultant. And last but for sure not least, former long-time councilman Steve Conaway was recently appointed to replace Brian Sipes on the council. With our new Mayor Rick Neal leading the way Fillmore is solidly back on track.

As Jackie Gleason used to say, “How sweet it is!”

* * *

Much controversy was caused these past several weeks over an alleged incident of American flag disrespect by a teacher at Fillmore Middle School. The teacher claims it was part of a lesson plan on the First Amendment, others strongly disagree. I see no resolution here without the teacher’s public explanation. Incidentally, the small photo used with the letter about the flag being stepped upon was a stock photo from the internet, unrelated to the incident in question.

 

My congratulations to all of the award-winners recognized at Tuesday’s school board meeting. I was really impressed with the accomplishments of our students. It’s great to hear such good news about our hard-working students after having to report on so much delinquency elsewhere.

* * *

I left at the break before I had the chance to hear Charles Richardson’s remarks condemning English teacher Jennifer Fitzpatrick for dishonoring the American Flag during one of her classes several weeks ago. Asked by a student why the flag was rolled-up on her desk, Ms. Fitzpatrick picked it up, waved it at her class, told the students that it was “only a piece of cloth”, threw it on the floor and stomped on it. She is alleged to have said that she had a legal right to do so, and challenged the class to take her to court, where, she assured students that she would win. Pastor Leslie R. Lanier also wished to make a face-to-face statement regarding this infamous incident but Ms. Fitzpatrick left during the break.

I’ve been under the weather these past several weeks and am, once again, short of time and space. Mr. Richardson’s statement can be found at fillmoregazette.com and page 2, Letters to the Editor. So much is happening these days at the local, state, and national level, I hope to have more opportunity to comment next week.

 

This was a challenging week to cover. Adding to the number of accidents, Middle School troubles, flag stomping discussion, and Teacher of the Year (one bright thing), was the fact that the school district chose to schedule its regular meeting on the same day as the regular city council meeting.

First, congratulations of our Teacher of the Year, Laura Todis. Ms. Todis teaches science at Sierra High School.
With so many serious disciplinary problems erupting these days it’s a happy relief to report this kind of teaching excellence. Thank you Ms. Todis for the great work you do.

* * *

Another positive event took place during this week’s city council meeting. Mayor Rick Neal and Councilmen Doug Tucker and Manuel Minjares chose to appoint Diane McCall as replacement for former councilman A. Eduardo Gonzalez who recently resigned for health reasons.

Diane was chosen from a group of three, among whom were two other excellent applicants, Dante Diaz and Kendall Hancock. Diane, veteran of 6 years on our Planning Commission, and active in several other civic works, will be a valuable asset on the council. Our new council is doing great things.

Councilperson Brian Sipes was absent as he was for the previous council meeting.

Again, congratulations Diane!

* * *

Middle School miseries
I was approached by a parent of another Middle School student just before Tuesday’s school board meeting. Like two other students mentioned last week, her daughter is being bullied and was assaulted by another girl at school recently.

I have asked parents who may have children attending Fillmore Middle School to contact the Gazette in the event their kids are being bullied, threatened, or assaulted by other students. So far three have cooperated. Letters have also been received alleging serious threats of bodily harm, assaults, and classroom disruption which goes unpunished. These complaints are serious. I hear of legal action if these allegations are not quickly corrected. Getting someone to take action is the problem.

Here is how one concerned resident describes the atmosphere at the Middle School: “...You have a student body who has taken on a Lord of the Flies type mentality as even the good kids have seen that hard work and a positive attitude do nothing to advance their cause at the school.” The actions of some students are truly outrageous. One teacher was “struck by a purposely thrown burrito for the second time in 5 days.” The student responsible for this assault was not suspended; he just had to pick-up trash for a couple of days. “This type of “’discipline’” is the norm ... at FMS.” “Neither the AP [assistant principal] nor the Principal seem to have any grasp of how to handle students of this age group.”

This complaint continues: “There is such a high level of disrespect from students towards all staff that we will be lucky if no other staff members are attacked by students. Defiance towards authority is where it all begins and students routinely defy everyone from the Principal on down. This stems from one of the weakest efforts towards discipline ever put forth at the middle school.”

“New kids routinely get beat up because they are new, look different, talk differently, are a different race, or come from a rival place.” This situation is outrageous and intolerable.

I am convinced that our Fillmore Middle School is out of control and presents a threat to the safety and wellbeing of students, teachers, and staff alike.

* * *

Time and space prevent me from commenting on Pastor Leslie R. Lanier’s comments at yesterday’s school board meeting. I support him in this effort and will say more about this later. Our flag is a sacred symbol to be honored.

 

BLACKBOARD JUNGLE?

To date, the Gazette created and has maintained its website for about 7 years. It has been a notably expensive undertaking. It has also been a valuable resource provided free of charge to our readers during that time.

As a way of providing news of Fillmore and the rest of the world it has been a remarkable success. In a town of about 14,000 residents the website welcomes from 25,000 to 32,000 “unique” visitors per month.

Those many photos, videos, stories, legal notices, and reports require time and expense to produce. As another example of that old saying (tongue-in-cheek) “No good deed goes unpunished” this internet expansion is hurting the print version of the Gazette. This is simply because many readers say “Why should I pay for the paper when I can get all of that information at fillmoregazette.com free of charge?”

Why indeed. From the mightiest daily newspapers (Wall Street Journal) to the most humble community weeklies, if the online products were to survive without eating away at the traditional printed product, a way had to be found to pay for the website version.

For this reason the Gazette has been diligently searching for a workable solution in the form of what is called a “pay wall”. Most recently, the Ventura Star has chosen a similar solution for its website.

So, in its 25 years of bringing news and information to the residents of Fillmore the Gazette will soon introduce a new format for accessing its website, fillmoregazette.com. It is hoped that this will facilitate another 25 years of service for the City of Fillmore. We will do our best to make the transition as quick and easy as possible.

***

As we approach that happy time of graduation I regret to have to revisit some extremely important issues regarding delinquent behavior in our schools, our Middle School in particular.

I have received several thoughtful letters from parents and friends of Middle School students complaining about ongoing bullying, violence, and schoolyard intimidation. Reports continue to cite numerous fights on school grounds, threats of doing serious bodily harm, as well as documented death threats.

It would be no exaggeration to say that the repeated violent conduct of certain students have created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation on the Middle School grounds and in the classroom. School discipline is lacking and the situation appears to be out of control. This can only be attributed to administrative incompetence.

For one example, one female student was threatened and beaten (bloodied) by another female student several weeks ago. That aggressor later threatened to cut the throat of the victim as she returned home from school. This was reported, investigated, and the aggressor student is alleged to have been suspended for 5 days, returned to school where she quickly re-offended.

Chaos is alleged to reign in several classrooms, with foul language common, students disconnecting electrical equipment, students refusing to do their work, etc. Disrupting students are said to be sent to the principal’s office and routinely returned to the classroom. Fights in the school yard are said to be frequent.

The mother of the girl who was beaten and received a death threat, has referred these issues to the school board and reported these problems to every level of school administration without, it’s alleged, receiving necessary assistance. Although she asked to be on the agenda for the next board meeting this is presently uncertain. She also alleges that, although the girl who assaulted her daughter was arrested, and a “no contact order” was issued, the offending girl was merely cited and released, and the “order” is being ignored.

It seems clear that a lack of student discipline at our Middle School continues to create a state of disorder. As I’ve said before, who can be expected to teach anything under these circumstances – and who can expect normal students to learn anything.

For those who may care, very serious legal issues are arising from this Middle School chaos, especially for the alleged gross absence of due diligence. The repeat offender students must be removed for the sake of those students who are striving to educate themselves.

Hello! Is anybody there?