To the Editor:
It saddened me to read Pat Collins’ letter in Friday’s paper. I am sure Pat is aware that the US Army, on June 14, 2025,
will be celebrating its 250th birthday. So why would Pat say that President Trump was spending $100 million for a military
parade to celebrate his birthday? Evidently Trump Derangement Syndrome has overwhelmed Pat’s sense of honesty.
I know this is a bit long, but I would like you to read what President Trump said regarding Holy Week leading up to Easter:
“This Holy Week Melania and I join in prayer with Christians celebrating the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ--- the living Son of God who conquered death, freed us from sin, and unlocked the gates of Heaven for
all of humanity.
It begins with Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and culminating in the Paschal Triduum, which begins
on Holy Thursday with the Mass of the Lords Supper, following by Good Friday , and reaching its pinnacle in the Easter
Vigil on Holy Saturday night. This week is a time of reflection for Christians to memorialize Jesus’ crucifixion--- and to
prepare their hearts, minds, and souls for His miraculous Resurrection from the dead.
During this sacred week, we acknowledge that the glory of Easter Sunday cannot come without the sacrifice Jesus Christ made
on the cross. In His final hours on Earth, Christ willingly endured excruciating pain, torture, and execution of the cross
out of a deep and abiding love for His creation. Through His suffering, we have redemption. Through His death, we are
forgiven of our sins. Through His resurrection we have hope of eternal life.
On Easter morning, the stone is rolled away, the tomb is empty, and light prevails over darkness—signaling that death does
not have the final word.
This Holy Week my administration renews its promise to defend the Christian faith in our schools, military, workplaces,
hospitals, and halls of government. We will never waver in safeguarding the right to religious liberty, upholding the
dignity of life, and protecting God in our public square.
As we focus on Christ’s redeeming sacrifice, we look to His love, humility, and obedience—-even in life’s most difficult
and uncertain moments. This week we pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our beloved nation. We pray that
America will remain a beacon of faith, hope, and freedom for the entire world, and we pray to achieve a future that
reflects the truth, beauty, and goodness of Christ’s eternal kingdom in Heaven
May God bless you and your family during this special time of year and may He continue to bless the United States of
America.”
I hope President Trump’s message with dispel some of the doom and gloom we are so used to from the mainstream media.
Dave Johnson,
Fillmore, Ca.
To the Editor:
You keep saying you forgive Trump for Ukraine because you are so supportive of his domestic agenda.
I’m puzzled.
Is it because he fired thousands of hard-working, dedicated federal workers? The ones who keep our food safe? Who protect
against disease? Who support our seniors when they need help with their social security? Who support our local schools? Who
track weather?
Is it because he’s exposed our private data—tax information, social security information—to an unvetted, foreign-born man
with strong ties to China? A man who has given access to known hackers?
Is it because he thumbs his nose at the courts? Disregards our laws? Because he’s shredding the protections of our
constitution?
Is it because he sends aliens, 75% of whom have broken no laws, to a prison so brutal that it would be illegal in the US?
Without due process? Even when he admits a man was deported in error, he has no intention of returning him to his wife and
children? And now he’s done that, he’s looking to send our own citizens there?
Is it because foreign students who come to our universities are now afraid to be here? Whose home counties are issuing
travel alerts to their citizens who might be thinking of vacationing here?
Is it because he’s so destabilized the world economy that other countries no longer look to us as the gold standard?
Because he’s thrown our markets into chaos?
Please explain what he’s doing that makes you so dedicated to him. I am puzzled.
Pat Collins,
Fillmore, Ca.
To the Editor:
In only 80-days under Trump II, America, once the bedrock of the global financial system, has morphed into an unpredictable
and unreliable economic partner. Trump declared false “emergency” tariff policies then retreated, cratered and only partly
restored the pandemonium of the stock market and, most concerning, weakened the Treasury bond market, signaling that
investors around the world no longer trust Trump, the US, or its economy.
Trump claims he wants to advance American manufacturing, but his lurching tariff policies/reversals are creating chaos and
uncertainty, making it much more difficult for US companies to grow, make, and sell their products. The convulsive policies
created turmoil in the financial markets and the recession risk rises.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant said that the rollercoaster ride “was the plan all along.” Trump declared that national
and international concerns over the trade wars are “stupid and weak,” and that he “doesn’t care if prices go up.” (But
under Biden, a traitorous calamity.) Commerce Secretary Lutnick said that the seniors who complain about delayed SSA checks
are “fraudsters.
Trump brayed that “hundreds of countries are calling to ‘kiss my ass’” and beg, “please sir, may we deal?” As he happily
anticipates his bum-polishing, we and the rest of the world look on with anxiety and distrust for what many economists fear
is “economic suicide.”
Economists know that the best conductor of a healthy economy is stability, but Trump has defied that maxim nationally and
internationally. The American Economic Institute, a right-leaning think tank, discovered that the WH made a “bush-league”
math error and used the wrong factor to determine tariffs that quadrupled the new rates, e.g., Cambodia should have had a
12.5% tariff, not the 46% imposed by Trump, and McDonald Island, inhabited only by penguins and seals, should probably have
been 0%. This WH is so imperious, nobody checks for possible math or intelligence errors.
World trade is undergoing transformation as third-world countries become “contenders” and we are not automatically top of
the food chain. Rather than negotiating tariffs first, Trump said, “if a country thinks our tariffs are too high, they can
stop dealing with the US”, an arrogant and economically unviable solution. This is not wizard economics. This is not
negotiation. He treats our allies and trade partners as if they were expendable and inconsequential. Just as he is treating
Congress and the Courts.
The EU, Japan, India, etc., disgusted, alarmed, and recognizing that America is unreliable, is looking toward China for the
stability it needs. The tariff debacle, the autocratic, ego-driven “America First” policy with which the Trump II
administration has confronted a world which requires alliances, the way Trump has treated Ukraine and Zelensky and excused
Russia’s false promises and aggression, have deeply wounded the once respected status of our country. In 80-days.
Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) admitted, “The [Trump] administration has not given one clear rationale for its tariffs.” And
neither Trump nor the Republican Congress thinks he has to.
Kelly Scoles,
Fillmore, Ca.
To the Editor:
Perhaps it’s just a distraction from the crashing markets, his profit-making golf tournament paid for by the Saudi’s, and
his thumbing his nose at the soldiers who died in Lithuania, but Trump now proposes a grand military parade for his
birthday. To the tune of $100mil, paid for by us. (Where is DOGE when we need it?)
If he follows through with this, he will be the first president in US history to pull this nonsense.
Even Dwight Eisenhower, an actual war hero, with deep ties to the military, never even considered a military parade in his
honor.
But it’s been in Trump’s dreams ever since seeing France’s Bastille Day parade in 2017. He’s like a little boy playing with
toy soldiers. No emotional awareness that people actually die in wars. So, Captain Bone Spurs wants to be honored while
completely blowing off the real soldiers who paid the ultimate price. You know, as he boasted after last weekend’s golf
tournament, he likes to win.
It’s consistent with what he said when he cancelled his visit to Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, in France, “Why should I go
to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.”
Now he wants soldiers who are ready to put their lives on the line—who risk becoming losers in his eyes—he wants them to
salute him on his birthday.
How old is he, 6? Or is he just kidding, to get your mind off how much money you’re losing in the market? If you have any.
Pat Collins,
Fillmore, Ca
To the Editor:
Last weekend, Trump ignored the economic fiasco he created and instead celebrated with golf and a $million/plate fundraiser. On Sunday he took a break to tell America, “Don’t be weak,” and that we have to take our “medicine” as the markets faced historic sell-offs due to his tariff decisions.
Trump is serially declaring “emergencies” (the El Salvador deportations, the need for immediate tariffs, the destruction of public health and other federal departments, and dismissal of key scientists whom Europe is welcoming, etc.). I fear he’s warming us up for more “emergencies,” and I wouldn’t outright dismiss martial law if the protests grow. The Republican Congress just now is starting to get the picture, but their reputation for speaking truth to Trump is nearly non-existent.
On “Liberation Day,” April 2, Trump invoked “International Emergency Economic Powers Act” and announced tariff impositions of 10% on all nations, beginning April 5, and much more to some nations on April 9, despite no imminent emergency. There is no question that we experience a trade deficit with many countries. But where were the negotiations we would expect with trading partners, unless bullying was the preferred “negotiation”? The sledgehammer fell, and chaos ensued. And that’s the way Trump likes it. “In confusion there is profit.”
When Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, who knows that tariffs are taxes on the importer of foreign goods (TVs, fruits, vegetables, coffee, etc., costs passed on to the customer), made a pathetic plea to the trade world, begging them not to retaliate. “Sit back, take it in, let’s see how it goes. Because if you retaliate, there will be escalation. If you don’t retaliate, this is the high-water mark.” Translated, “the wild boar may let you live if you play dead.” We already know that Trump is chaotically torching our own government with predictable human cost (what other excuse for Elon Musk?). But today, the “top of the world” requires international conquest.
Trump will deal. This was a macho power move, the assault on our economy is mere medicinal collateral damage. He doesn’t care if the market sinks to the detriment of millions of people, or that, for instance, many farmers cannot collect on promised contracts and face bankruptcy. He wants to employ the same shock and awe he forged in the Musk destruction of federal government services. He knows that many countries will come begging for exemption from the draconian tariffs, one at a time, to plead and bend the knee. He lives for it.
I don’t know the long-term results of the tariffs, but the potential for damage to pensions supported by the stock market, 401(k)s, and quality of life, portends misery. I fear that one day, other countries will reject Trump’s bullying and threats against allies, and oppressive imposition of “America First, Last and Always.” Last Monday, the WH proudly revealed plans to celebrate Trump’s 79th birthday and Flag Day, June 14, with a four-mile military parade, paid for by us. What was that about fraud, waste, and abuse?
Kelly Scoles,
Fillmore, Ca.
To the Editor:
But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.
Don’t bothеr.
They’re herе.
Art Sandford Sr.
Fillmore, Ca.
To the Editor:
Martin, I’m confused by your comment about the Dem’s role in the shameful internment of the Japanese. You forgot to mention their role in slavery. Does what they did then make what Trump is doing now, right? Pointing to someone else’s bad behavior to distract from your own is a child’s game.
Be that as it may. I’m writing to address an issue at the intersection of the Department of Education (DOE) and technology. I want to bring it home, to Fillmore schools.
For those who may not be aware, DOE, through Title I, provides supplemental funding to K-12 school districts, and helps districts serve students with disabilities—speech and hearing issues, autism spectrum, etc. In California, DOE distributes funds to support programs that close the achievement gap and help students meet state academic standards. Or should I say, did?
Parents and children who rely on those funds, as well as teachers, aides, and the administration will be impacted. Is Fillmore ready to raise property taxes to fill in for the shortfall, or will our students lose out? Is this what we want for Fillmore’s children and young families? Aren’t they our future?
Musk aka Trump suggests our students could be taught by the “best teachers,” en masse, online, with “personal attention” from AI. Remember how delightful it was during Covid? They envision local staff supervising students during the online presentation. Of course, unspoken, is that we won’t need credentialed teachers anymore. Aides could do it, for way less money. What a boon for the corporations creating one-size-fits-all online courses—for sale from Maine to California. Local teachers might want to lower salary expectations. Or brush off resumes. What do we need humans for anyway?
The administration could also tightly control what is taught. Only thoughts approved by the executive branch to be discussed. What happened to the need for schools to be responsive to local communities? Where did that go?
Is this what you want for our kids? Is this what you mean by getting rid of waste and fraud? To solve a deficit created by tax breaks for the richest people in the world. Really?
Pat Collins,
Fillmore, Ca.
Editor of The Fillmore Gazette:
Several times each year a commanding officer in the United States Military is relieved from duty because of a “loss of confidence” in his or her ability to command. The implication is those that are under his or her command are running their own agendas creating the impression they are operating on a rudderless ship!
President Trump seems to be aware of this standard language when a military commanding officer is removed from his or her command. President Trump has tried to distance himself from being culpable for the actions of his high level cabinet members utilizing an unsecured, vulnerable and not approved “Signal” communications method to discuss secret classified military operations!
By repeatedly saying, “I know nothing about that!” Or, “I wasn’t a part of that!” Or, “This is the first I have heard of this!” does not relieve the POTUS of, as Commander in Chief, that “he knew, or should have known” what high level hand picked appointees, under the command of the POTUS were doing.
Because of this failure to command, the POTUS should resign from office due to a “loss of confidence” by the American people in his ability to command those the POTUS himself has appointed and he continues to support, puts all Americans, especially those who have answered the call to serve in the military, in grave danger!
Richard A. Diaz,
Fillmore, Ca.
To the Editor:
Martin, Due Process protects everyone in this country, innocent and guilty. Suspicion, innuendo, or cultural differences, are not adequate to punish. The individuals “grabbed” off the street to an infamously cruel El Salvador prison, were selected because they had tattoos and looked Hispanic or Middle Eastern. One guy had “Autism Awareness,” in Spanish in honor of his brother, but was deported anyway, because “quotas.” The Trump administration defied a court order to return the illegally deported men and provide Probable Cause for arrests, and Due Process before punishment. Trump has refused, claiming he answers to no one, not even the Courts.
How is it, Martin, that you vilify Trump for his international offences, but you think some completely different president is making decisions at home? The guy who is betraying Ukraine, slow dancing with Putin, and insulting our international allies, is the very same guy plotting against every agency of the federal government upon which Americans rely, excepting the military, and defying the Judiciary. We went from 250 years of “Beacon of Freedom” to “Slipping into Totalitarianism” in 70 days.
Martin, you are apparently unaware that Trump is following Viktor Orban’s plan for his despotic takeover of Hungary, upon which the Heritage Foundation admittedly modeled Project 2025. Google it. It is a blueprint of how a despot builds his power base to supplant a democracy, and you “admire” it?
The conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board recently observed that Trump’s rollercoaster handling of tariffs will have, ironically, the most brutal effect on red states that most strongly supported his reelection. “Tariffs are taxes….Mr. Trump’s tariff spree is the triumph of ideology over, well, common sense. Let’s hope the President soon comes to his senses.” It only took two months to drive Japan and India to band together with China against the Trump tariffs.
The Hegseth “Signalgate” debacle is appalling dangerous. Beyond the security breach, the Commander-in-Chief “didn’t know” about the “Yemen chat”, yet he and Hegseth vigorously asserted that the reporting was a “hoax,” the innocent, mistakenly-included journalist deemed “scum,” and the lies just keep coming. AG Bondi refuses to investigate. One particularly notable thing about Hegseth is that he has brought his wife to security meetings and his little brother travels with him as a Pentagon employee, like chaperones. Presumably, his mother is unavailable.
Our Constitution’s ”balance of powers” is under siege from within, international alliances are crumbling, our economy is trembling with uncertainty, and world stability is threatened (as you noted) because of one elected guy who idolizes money and despots, disdains ordinary people, and admits that he is already, less than 90 days in, discussing an unconstitutional third term (“there are methods”). He free-reined a hatchet man-child who thinks he purchased America in the last election for a quarter-billion dollars, and he may well have. Trump and Musk: “Made it Ma! To the Top of the World!” (Apropos. James Cagney, “White Heat”, 1949).
Kelly Scoles,
Fillmore, Ca.
To the Editor:
Technology disrupts. It always has. It was a significant factor in both the Civil War and the collapse of the Rust Belt.
Technology gives with one hand and takes away with the other. We’re there again—facing radical change to our economy and
culture. With AI, companies are already increasing profits by reducing human labor.
The people profiting from this change don’t want you to notice. They’re playing a modern version of three card monte. This
game, like the card game, uses misdirection. They get you to pay attention to the thing over there, while they do something
entirely different here.
Trump excels at this game. He points you to the thing you most fear. Immigrants. The cost of eggs. The welfare recipient.
Pronouns. The thing he wanted was your vote. Now that he has it, what’s he doing with it? Betraying Ukraine. Destabilizing
the economy. Threatening to make Canada the 51st state. Firing government workers. Closing national parks. Handing out more
tax breaks to the uber wealthy on the backs of the middle class. Killing the Education Department. Getting rid of the watch
dogs who protect us from the big bad wolves out there who would literally take the food from your grandmother’s plate. How’s
that helping the price of eggs?
While you were working overtime, feeding and raising good kids, trying to get your piece of the American Dream—too busy to
pay much attention to politics—the corporate titans were getting tax breaks, growing the national debt. Blaming
“entitlements.” Tearing apart the services people need. And Trump was practicing his craft. Cheating landscapers. Builders.
Contractors. Forcing them into court to get paid what he promised when he hired them. Playing the business wizard on TV
while his bankruptcies piled up. And here we are.
Stop listening to what he’s saying. Watch what he’s doing. While he tells you what to fear. What’s the plan when jobs
disappear? Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a technophobe. Good comes from AI. But jobs are still going away. What’s the plan?
Pat Collins,
Fillmore, Ca
To the Editor:
Martin, it surprises me that, after Trump’s first 60 days, you still don’t recognize that his true motives are not to serve
the People, but rather to create - with shock, awe, and resulting chaos - an oligarchy, to enforce unitary power as outlined
in P2025, and to seek revenge on people who disagree with him. Trump has said, “I alone can fix it,” and he meant without
any Constitutional “balance of power” from the Legislative or Judicial Branches, as he is demonstrating in the deportation
case before US District Judge Boasberg and on appeal in that court.
Chief Justice Roberts rebuked Trump’s AG and DOJ lawyers for their “inappropriate” and ahistorical remarks about impeaching
Judge Boasberg, originally appointed to a lower court by GW Bush and elevated by Obama (confirmation vote 96-0), and a
former Chief Judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. When Boasberg asked very basic questions of the AG and
WH attorneys about their failure to comply with his temporary restraining order (TRO) against the deportation, their answer
was essentially, ”We’re not going to tell you, Judge.” “It’s a national security secret.” AG Pam Bondi then arrogantly and
unwisely instructed the Judge how he should have handled the case.
In a ruling last week, Boasberg noted that the law upon which the WH relies, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 “AEA”), last used
in the shameful internment of Japanese following Pearl Harbor, was only meant to be used when there was a “declared war or
when there was an invasion or predatory incursion by a hostile nation or government”, i.e., an imminent emergency. No
declared war, no individualized fact-finding hearings, no Due Process though each plaintiff vehemently denied being a member
of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.
US Circuit Judge Patricia Millett, who heard the appeal of the WH to dismiss Judge Boasberg’s TRO against the deportation
said that, “Nazis got better treatment under the AEA than has happened here.”
This case is the first to determine whether “our flag is still there.” Trump insists that only he has authority over his own
presidential actions, a claim which is clearly denied by the Constitution. FYI: both Presidents GW Bush and Barack Obama
were overruled by District Court Judges several times and complied, but then they didn’t lust to be tyrants.
Sorry, Martin. There is no cable host I respect less than Mark Levin, with the possible exceptions of Fox’s Jesse Watters
and Greg Gutfeld, and the disgraced Tucker Carlson. Levin scored the highest level of “outrage” in a study measuring
incendiary discourse on talk radio. Of the 10 contestants, Levin was deemed the host who “most helped to legitimize the use
of uncivil discourse” in American politics, with his “penchant for hysteria.” There’s already enough poo flowing without
bathing in that clown’s dirty water.
Kelly Scoles,
Fillmore, Ca
To the Editor:
Regarding AI. AI’s useful—even fun sometimes. It’s not going away. AND it’s a significant threat to the way we live our lives. We’d do well to think about the potential impacts and how to mitigate them. While many are legitimately concerned about privacy issues with DOGE, there’s another issue that no one talks about.
Early in my career, I wrote procedures for employees in academic and technical environments. My first priority was to identify employees and their job titles. Then I identified their roles, and finally their tasks. To identify tasks, I asked employees to tell me five things they did last week. That data went into a manual to clarify roles and responsibilities and to train new hires.
The data I collected back then is what DOGE is collecting now. But Musk isn’t doing it to create manuals. That’s old tech. He’s gathering this data to build his AI venture. So he can automate the work. And he’s getting all that data for free. A nice competitive edge, wouldn’t you say? Once he does that for the feds, he can easily expand into the private sector. No humans need apply.
We need to prepare. Where’s the plan? How will we reorganize our economy to accommodate massive unemployment? I’m not saying we can’t find other ways to fill our lives. The question is, how will we transition economically?
Ask yourself, how will it affect me, my children, my neighbors, my community? What do we do when machines take our jobs? During the transition, should we weaken or strengthen our social safety nets? We can’t afford to get distracted by the chaos. There’s a reason why this looks more like a smash and grab than an orderly process.
They aren’t getting rid of waste. They’re getting rid of humans. Then they’re coming for more. Because—for men like Musk and Trump—there’s never enough.
Pat Collins,
Fillmore, Ca.
To the Editor:
Unfortunately, there is no sunlight between President Trump’s foreign and national actions. They all arise from his gilded view of Himself in His World.
The Republican Legislature is at his command. Any judge issuing an order against Trump’s actions means that the judge is “corrupt”, incompetent, and can be defied or replaced. For Trump, there is no “separation of powers”; all powers reside in him as the Unitary Executive (per P2025).
The WH issued a statement Sunday, conceding that Trump invoked wartime powers, and ignored a US District Judge’s order that two planes in the air with illegally deported alleged criminal immigrants be “turned around” and brought back, the excuse being that the planes were over “international waters”, and the order therefore did not apply. We are going to be a country of laws, or not. Trump chose “not.”
Last week, Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt (with no legal background or, apparently, an American History class in her past), haughtily insisted that, “for anybody who has a basic understanding of the law, you cannot have a low-level district court judge filing [ordering] an injunction to usurp the executive authority of the president of the United States.” The president, with his executive authority, is still subject to the law, though Trump has asserted that he and the AG will inform the Judiciary what the law is if/when it challenges presidential acts. It’s an unconstitutional claim.
Consistent with Trump’s determination to destroy the Christian concepts of DEI, the National Arlington Cemetery has removed key information from its website about prominent Black, Hispanic, and female service members, including Army Maj. Gen. CC Rogers, a Black Medal of Honor winner (the site now refers to his as a “DEI Medal”), as well as historical topics like the Civil War. Recall that Trump has called war dead “suckers and losers.”
Thousands of American scientists and researchers have been fired and solicited by other countries as “the best science brains in the business.” Demolishing USAID while anti-tuberculosis vaccines sit on docks in Africa, withdrawing from WHO and CDC, increase the chances of the widespread advance of diseases on a small but populous planet. Your 401k’s not going to help you if you are drowning in your own blood with untreatable TB.
Trump’s DOGE fired significant numbers of USDA employees who worked in food inspection. NSA staff has been severely reduced, as has the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But, who needs them when the president has a stack of black Sharpies?
“Trump just closed Voice of America (VoA). Autocrats worldwide are rejoicing.” “VoA and [Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] were the beacons of hope…they gave people hope to persist and eventually bring down the communist regimes that many thought would last forever.” Trump deems VoA inessential to the free world’s future. I haven’t even mentioned the economy.
How “American” are we if we will voluntarily succumb to unprecedented exercises of mutant, manic presidential power?
Kelly Scoles
Fillmore, Ca.
To the Editor:
I must have struck a nerve with my summation of where we stand regarding the waste and fraud in our government and
entitlement system. First I will address Pat Collins’ question of “Whose fault.....the person using the EBT?” And then
suggesting “How about corporate responsibility.” I did notice that Pat merely glossed over the Cloward/Piven Strategy and
the factual receipts given.
Twenty states have bills addressing SNAP/EBT purchases of junk food. Friday, March 14th, Texas Health and Human Services
held a hearing on SB 75. An American Heart Association (AHA) representative testified against the bill, stating those who
receive SNAP should receive MORE of the entitlement to enable the purchase of both the junk food and fresh vegetables and
fruit. Texas State Senator Lois Kolkhorst responded “I’m shocked at what was said” amazed that AMA would promote a main
cause of obesity which contributes to heart complications. Grace Price, an advocate for SB75, testified “The data shows that
sweet soda is the number one commodity purchased with SNAP throughout the country”. Add to that all the unhealthy snacks and
over processed food that’s also bought. A later investigation reported that Coca-cola, Pepsico and the pharmaceutical
industry are the largest donors to AHA. Follow the money!!! Pepsico has 63 product lines, 30% (cookies, chips, sweet cereal)
and Coca-cola has 35 product lines, the majority sweet drinks and each company lobbies Wash DC with donations to both
parties that influence the FDA, Dept of AG, School Nutrition and SNAP.
California saw two lawsuits (2003 & 2010) against Kraft’s products’ use of GMO and trans fat. The 2010 Class action (trans
fat) is still ongoing with the claim trans fat contributes to type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some forms of cancer. But,
AMA, at that time, stated there were “no safe levels” of trans fat and Kraft used a deceptive message of healthfulness. A
completely different attitude, what a change!!! Then in 2012 Kraft contributed almost $2million to a political campaign to
oppose Prop 37 which would mandate labels inform buyers when GMOs ingredients are used. .
Products are strategically placed on shelves to target the eyes of both children and adults for impulsive buys. It’s called
slotting/listing. Large national and international market retailers receive the highest fees from manufactures for end aisle
shelves. When original fees expire, manufacturers offer discounts or free items to keep its placement. Wonder why so much
junk food is “on sale”? Just look at the ad flyers you get in the mail: chips, cookies and soda. It’s a money game, with our
health the loser.
Globalist conglomerates like Mondelez international, Kraft/Heinz. Philip Morris, Nabisco, Nestilies, Kellogg etc. have
practically taken over the food industry. Without their extremely processed foods and snacks, large supermarkets would be
half empty. Markets only sell what makes the most profit, not what’s best for you and today we have far fewer choices of
where to shop. Basically it is five conglomerates. Kroger with 19 food chains, over 2,750 stores, Albertsons 2,093 stores
1,300 US and Canada. Aldi and Walmart with the most locations, Cosco pulls in 9%.. These five conglomerates own over 1/3 of
US food markets and control 1/2 the trillion dollar food industry. You think they don’t have an impact on how SNAP is spent?
Yes Pat, corporations are responsible for alot! But a savior Robinhood fixation of “Republican mission to rob from the
middle class to feed the rich while blaming the poor” is so missguided. Globalists who took the jobs offshore while
donations greased the hands of both parties to ignore it. How did the Clintons, Obamas, Bidens, Congress/Senate members
ect. become multi-millionaires on a government salary? Consider; have we been part of a Color Revolution for a decade or
longer supported by the CIA, Five Eyes (UK), DOJ, FBI, DOE, MSM ect? BLM, Antifa, proHamas, China Confucius Institute etc in
schools? Why need so many pardons or use Bleachbit on your phone? Where did all the billions of dollars disappear to? Are
the rented protester phony riots, BLM, Antifa, proHamas. funded through nonprofits NGOs, USAID? Is that just a tinfoil hat
conspiracy?
To address Kelly Scoles comment “distaste for all things Democratic Party”. Kelly, I was a straight line Democrat for almost
30 years. But changes in society, especially our schools, exposed the Dem’s real goals. Social Security, Medicare, welfare,
etc. began with good intentions, but the corruption, waste, mismanagement and failures need big fixes. Civil Rights? Kelly,
did you forget the Civil War where Democrats/Dixiecrats killed thousands of citizens in an effort to keep Blacks in slavery?
Are we to pretend real history didn’t happen? Has the Cloward/Piven Strategy put them and others in a modern day Government
Plantation? People are not feral animals to be fed, petted and used for votes/power. When the majority of students can’t
read, who’s responsible for that? Big fixes are needed and the Dem’s need to get out of the way.
Jean McLeod
Fillmore, Ca
To the Editor:
Martin, renaming Mt. McKinley? For this you cheer? Alaskans like the name Denali. It’s their mountain. Shouldn’t they have a say?
Gulf of America? Lordy, someone take that man’s Sharpie away. Why stop there? How about renaming Earth, planet Donaldo? Donnie’s brain dump last week was a spectacle of lies and resentments. On the heels of knifing Zelenskyy in the back. Republicans mute. Shame on them.
Ms. McLeod, I’d like to respond to a few of your questions.
“Does it make sense the more EBT given, the less … nutritional food is available at large corporate markets …?” Whose fault is that? The person using EBT? Your solution is to take away benefits? How about corporate responsibility?
Maybe Clowerd/Piven were prescient. Let’s talk AI. It’s not going to take jobs. It’s taking them, right now. Jobs from talented, skilled, educated, middle class people. Leaving them using EBT. Applying for welfare. Some even homeless. This genie is not going back in the bottle. Maybe we ought to figure out how we’re going to organize the economy when humans need not apply.
Dems completely agree on the debt. “Everyone needs to take responsibility.” Abso-freakin’lootly. The wealthy seem to have an unquenchable thirst for tax breaks. Let’s end the Republican mission to rob from the middle class to feed the rich while blaming the poor.
A modest 2% tax on billionaires could generate nearly a quarter-trillion dollars annually, offering relief to the middle class. 2%. All while enabling us to do what Jesus commanded.
Pat Collins,
Fillmore, Ca.
To the Editor:
Briefly, to Jean McLeod. Your distaste for all things Democratic Party is clear, though it gave you Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the 40-hour work week, FEMA, worker safety protections, the right of labor to organize, Family & Medical Leave Act, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Americans with Disabilities Act, Freedom of Information Act, bank fraud protection, etc. All designed to help people, financially and otherwise. The evil bastards.
True, Lyndon Johnson was a crude, profane, brilliant, and racist legislator but he also shepherded the passage of the Civil Rights Act (“CRA”), convincing many Republicans, like Everett Dirksen, to encourage his caucus to join the legislative fight for racial equality.
I had planned to detail the path of our present gross economic imbalance, but at a recent Foreign Relations Committee hearing for “advise and consent” of various Trump ambassadorship nominees, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) asked a direct question on behalf of his constituents. Did any nominee believe that that President Trump’s recent actions indicate he may be a “Russian asset?” All nominees evaded the question, but did go into defensive reveries of flattery for the president. It is a question that many free nations are now asking themselves.
Merkley cited 5 instances where the possibility became a legitimate question:
1. In the WH Oval Office, Trump repeated several Russian talking points, including falsely claiming that Ukraine had started the war, Zelensky is a dictator, WWIII will be Zelensky’s fault, etc.
2. Gave away key negotiating points to the Russians, including excluding Ukraine from NATO in the future, thereby advancing Putin’s decades-old objective to weaken free nations. Russian land occupied by Ukraine will be returned, and Ukrainian-occupied Russian land will also be returned to Russia. Trump has left Zelensky out of peace negotiations and demanded that he resign before any treaty is effective.
3. Effectively cut off all funding to Ukraine, terminated Ukraine’s receipt of all US intelligence-gathering and reinstating it under pressure, including of Russian troop movements, and cut their satellite capabilities. He has also “banned” the UK from sharing any US military intelligence with Ukraine.
4. Further undermined NATO by denigrating other free nations (a JD Vance specialty), such as Canada, UK, France, and Poland. Trump is essentially abandoning Europe to Putin. Trump refuses to consider that Putin may violate any peace-keeping terms, despite his history.
5. Given the world a taste of what happens if you disagree with him in his brutish treatment of Zelensky and consequent withholding of funding, materials, and intelligence from Ukraine, which can only benefit Russia and hurt Ukraine and other free nations.
Meanwhile, Putin wisely says nothing, letting Trump do his dirty work for him, with no corresponding advantage to the United States. Our allies have traditionally defended the US, often excusing our failures, because our powerful nation stood for democracy against despots, provided world-wide stability and security, and advocated free-market capitalism, all of which we appear to be abandoning.
Kelly Scoles,
Fillmore, Ca.
To the Editor:
Martin, I am surprised you found an act loathsome enough to register criticism of Trump. From allowing a manic stranger to upend our government before identifying problems, to Trump’s assertion of independence from the Judiciary and proclaiming himself king, to his salivating regard for the despot Putin, these revelations are not a surprise (except for empowering Musk). They were masked or lied about in the 2024 election. Now, Trump/Musk et al. are gutting our institutions and abandoning our allies in the Name of the American People.
The national scene under Trump II is proceeding as planned in Project 2025, no legislation required, unless the courts demand it and maybe not even then. Essential services, such as the FAA, Social Security, Medicaid, FEMA, National Weather Service, VA programs, WIC and SNAP, CDC and WHO when pandemics are threatened everywhere, are being capsized with no oversight or care for the damage to our society. And he asks us to “trust me.”
Internationally, last week, in a WH-planned ambush, we witnessed an historically unpresidential display in the brutish beratement of Ukraine President Zelensky. Trump threatened to abandon Ukraine completely if Zelensky did not agree to his peace terms. Itching for a conflict, Trump and Vance falsely chided Zelensky for a lack of gratitude toward the US, and for the clothes he was wearing (dignity, truth, statesmanship optional but clothing, vital. Except for Elon).
When Zelensky insisted that Ukraine needed security assurances from the US in case Putin reneged on the peace agreement (as he has done repeatedly), Trump wagged his finger and yelled at Ukraine’s president, “You’re gambling with WW III…with us you have the cards, but without us, you don’t have the cards. “This was public “negotiation” from a heavily made-up draft dodger to a leader whose very name conjures “courage.”
This was not “America the Great.” This was Trump auditioning for a Tony Soprano redux in his lust for the Nobel Peace Prize and an “atta-boy” from Putin. We all want the war to end, but not by sacrificing Ukraine to a murderous imperialist who started the war and wants to be rewarded for it. Ukraine is just the first step in Putin’s annexation efforts, and by supporting Russia in this demand for a forced peace, Trump is setting up a precedent. It is not supportive of the free world.
Tragically, Trump thinks he is manipulating Putin, but KBG-alum Putin was expertly trained to sniff out weaknesses and fatal flaws, including addiction to flatulent praise (a profound defect in anyone), willingness to shank a friend, and desire to be seen as another strongman. The WH has ordered the US Cyber Command to “stand down” from “all planning against Russia including offensive digital actions , and the AG has eliminated DOJ/FBI oversight of Russia. It is obvious that, in fact, Putin is dominating Trump, playing the long game, and he is smiling. For he is getting close to breaking 80-year-old free world alliances, and he’s getting help.
The ultimate irony is that when Trump lied, many people believed him but, when he told the truth, they laughed at it as entertaining hyperbole. This isn’t about the quarrels of Republican or Democrat neighbors. These actions nationally are bringing suffering to many of our fellow citizens in essential ways (take a look at the Republican House budget proposal), and internationally show us as weak but thuggish, who have switched to the side of authoritarians. And it is being done in our names. Google at will.
Kelly Scoles,
Fillmore, Ca.
To the Editor:
How many times do you wonder why poverty continues to expand and so few achieve a successful path out? Is there a plan to keep it that way? Some facts would point to yes. Who are the people who wanted more power, influence and/or financial gain both politically and in academia. In 1964 LBJ bagan The Great Society better known as the War of Poverty. Racist LBJ stated (heard on audio recording still available today) “We’ll get those *n* on welfare and we’ll have their vote for the next 100 years”. His goal; destroy the family unit by creating large blocks of poor communities with fatherless homes to become socially engineered government dependents. And it worked!!!
Less than seven years later Columbia Univ. Professors Richard Clowerd’s and Francis Piven presented their “ Clowerd/Piven Strategy”. Their goal; to install socialism and a guaranteed universal basic income. Does that sound familiar today? The strategy; flood society with outreach through advertisements, grow unrest, enlarge the welfare state beyond capacity. Look it up!
Ten years later another Columbia student/alumni Barack Obama spent billions promoting a larger welfare population with distribution of brochures in schools, churches, libraries, hired outreach tables in hospitals, civic centers, ads on TV, radio, and billboards. Throughout the country, his promotions were everywhere including two billboards in Fillmore on Hwy 126, as you entered from the east and one from the west. You couldn’t go a day without hearing or seeing the ads and promotions. Then the last four years of Biden (probably Obama in charge with a continued push) practically finished the process. Up to 12 million border crossings were attached to the maximum welfare entitlements and shelter.
Included in Clowerd/Pivin Strategy were Saul Alinsky rules; use of class and ethnic friction by militant low income organizations (nonprofit/NGO,USAID) who declare the poor victims of pervasive oppression and injustice, unable to rise from poverty without a socialist revolution. BLM? Sound familiar? Is the Clowerd/Piven Strategy alive today? Point out welfare’s failures and you’ll hear cries of “children who experience malnutrition” and claims of deprived children whose parents can’t “buy the child an ice cream cone” an “economic imbalance” as Kelly Scoles wrote last week. Please answer, what is your fair share of what someone else worked for? Emotions won’t solve the real problem. Does it make sense the more EBT given, the less availability of nutritional food is available at large corporate markets like Kroger, Albertsons? Follow the money. Thankfully antitrust law stopped that buyout/merger attempt. We’re consuming more calories but receiving less nutrients needed. Thus, we’re getting fatter. Sorry Kelly you feel I “ungraciously” used the word fat, would obese sound softer?
Generations of families are stuck on welfare, becoming a lifestyle for far too many. Isn’t welfare temporary for those capable of working? Not today! Ask a small business owner how many times they’ve offered employment, only to be turned down if he/she won’t pay in cash under the table to allow welfare benefits to continue. Just ask, I have. Shouldn’t we be promoting development to a person’s capacity with work that’s rewarded and better living conditions instead of locked in lives of government dependency? Maybe the problem is a poor education and inability to qualify? For many that may be true. What or whose responsibility? Are poverty rates a result of a planned process toward socialism? Or did it just “happen”? The left pushed it and the right did nothing to stop it. Until now!!!
We are $36 trillion in debt! This cannot continue. We’re now seeing how USAID wasted billions through a grift of kick-backs from the nonprofit/NGO system. More will be exposed in the next months. There’s a reason the Biden crime family and others received pardons!!! Fixing what’s broken after creating it and ignoring the waste, fraud and abuse for so long won’t be easy. Everyone needs to take responsibility.
Jean McLeod,
Fillmore, Ca.
To the Editor:
A Fillmore Lions “THANK YOU SHOUT OUT” to HARRISON TRASH, QUALITY AG, OTTO & SONS, and the local 4H’S for assisting the Lions Club in the cleanup of the Scout Foundation Property. The cleanup was very much needed and long overdue and could not have been done without you. Thanks, Scott Lee, Lions Secretary.
Scott Lee,
Fillmore, Ca.
To the Editor:
I understand Musk’s “chainsaw” approach to budget cuts—the try it, see what happens approach. After all, in the tech world, there’s always an UNDO button. There’s a job, testers, who are dedicated to breaking things. I wasn’t a tester, but when I worked in the industry, I found an error (aka broke) something in one company’s system that shut the whole company down for two weeks. For another company, the problem I found was so big, I earned a major bonus for finding it. Ultimately, in tech world, any problem can be solved with the UNDO button.
If only that were true for the rest of life.
A health care initiative giving condoms can sound outrageous—and grab headlines—but when it’s understood to stop the spread of AIDS over there before it gets here, it makes financial sense. Laying off workers while you wait to see where the real need is can seem to make sense. Until you realize there is no UNDO button for either of those scenarios.
When a family is thrown into chaos because they’ve lost their income and health benefits, and their knowledge and expertise is lost to the organization. When AIDS spreads to your shore. When relief foods are left rotting on a dock and people are left starving, and farmers are left uncompensated. There is no UNDO button for that.
Human lives cannot be reduced to a series of 1’s and 0’s that can be deleted and rearranged at will. And that’s what Musk has a hard time computing.
Pat Collins,
Fillmore, Ca.