Evil has reared its ugly head numerous times in the past two week or so.

Captured on video we watched in horror as a deranged man viciously attacked an innocent woman riding the train in front of him. We were horrified at the brutality of a man wielding a knife to take the life of a young lady who was minding her own business. It was equally appalling is that nobody immediately came to her aid.

I believe most of us saw ourselves in the victim. Deranged people surround us in California. Any one of us could be attacked from behind like her and never see it coming.

Our judicial system is far too lenient. There is no reason why that man with a knife – a repeat offender with mental issues – should have been walking the streets.

Because of the suspect’s skin color we didn’t hear the hue and cry against violence against a white person in the media like we did in the George Floyd case. The media hypes cases they want to hype, typically if a black person is the victim. It is hyped when a white person commits a crime against a black person. Of course, there are no riots for the media to cover either.

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I joined those who turned out at Whitmore Park on Thursday to remember the atrocities of September 11, 2001 when evil people flew plane loads of innocent people into buildings populated by innocent people. They took the lives of about 3,000 and brought a nation to its knees.

Ceres couldn’t be further away from the sites of the terrorist attacks, but good people came to remember 23 years later to remember what happened to their fellow countrymen.

There is much good that comes out of horrific incidences. Likewise, there will be much good that comes out of the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

The assassin didn’t like the messages of truth that Charlie was conveying on college campuses, which are largely indoctrination centers for the liberal mindset. Kirk used logic and reason – in a respective way – in his dialogue with students and others to see what is wrong with so much thinking that pervaded society.

So like the coward he was, the young assassin decided to take a shot at the 31-year-old husband and father of two precious little children. It’s obvious that trying to get people to think away from the woke nonsense pervading our nation is risky business since the left will kill you for it. There are significantly unhinged members on the left.

Tyler Robinson thought he had a well-executed plan. Thankfully we have smart people in law enforcement who worked the case quickly. Hopefully Utah will issue him a quick dispatch into eternity, but then again, there is no such thing as quick justice and punishment in our country. He may not be executed for decades – if ever.

Robinson represents a toxic core on the left which, in many cases, expressed malignant glee at the death of a good man. The demented assassin even waited to pull the trigger right after Kirk sought clarification on a question about gun violence. The audience was denied the answer, horrified to see Kirk reel back from his chair as the bullet ripped through his neck, rupturing his artery and gushing out a stream of blood. Kirk likely never knew what hit him but thousands – including my own nephew who was there – will be haunted the rest of their days as witnesses to a cold blooded murder.

There are evil forces in our country which fill the hearts of men with hate. They’ve been unable stop the conservative movement, and since they’ve been unable to win at the ballot box they resort to extreme violence.

Charlie Kirk didn’t deserve to die for the free speech he brought to college campuses. In a format that invited open dialogue and respectful conversation, he told people about the love of Jesus Christ and bringing salvation to the world. He addressed the blatantly obvious delusion some hold that men can be women and women can be men. He talked about the wrongs of illegal immigration and reparations of descendants of former slaves. 

I had watched Charlie come across my social media feed many times and found him to quite articulate and persuasive in argument, which is obviously why the hateful wanted him dead. The left has been unable to win the debate and steadily losing to common sense. Charlie represented common sense and I dare say that extremists on the left try to kill common sense.

Charlie spoke of absolutes in a society that follows whatever groundless whim of thought that comes along.

The Bible was pretty explicit about a day in which right would be considered wrong and evil called good and good be called evil. I believe we are in those days.

Note that conservatives don’t take to the streets and riot and kill in response to injustices.

Look at where the violence has come from in recent years. Elon Musk was hired by President Trump to help find waste, fraud and abuse in the federal budget system and what did the left do? They went bananas and started damaging Tesla’s cars owned by people who had nothing to do with must decision to join the trumpet administration. They also torched Tesla dealerships in protest.

Think about the time following the George Floyd riots and how the activists shut down freeways, looted stores, burned police stations, broke windows, vandalized police cars, threw rocks at police and torched at least one police station. They also killed while Democrats like Kamala Harris raised money for the legal defense of rioters.

Floyd died while resisting arrest for about a half hour. Charlie Kirk died because of his ideas. Who was the real martyr?

When it became apparent that Donald Trump was gaining momentum for a second term in the White House what happened? A well thought out lowlife named Thomas Crooks climbed on a roof with a high powered rifle, and nearly blew Donald Trump’s head off while the Secret Service appeared clueless about an open roof. That doesn’t pass the smell test.

We may never know why God chose to spare Trump but not Kirk. But we do know that the message of the gospel is being heard a lot in the aftermath of his death. We also will likely see a new crop of Charlie Kirks develop to continue his work.

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Sacramento Democrats are so predictable.

It’s mandate what they think is good and offer you no choices.

It’s craft every environmental restrictions veiled in a concern for those of minority races or the poor.

It’s the pervasive use of the term “systemic” whenever you talk about racism or inequality.

It’s about mandating somebody to do something at great cost.

Every move is based on the faulty premise that we are all destroying the environment with carbon and the earth will be turning into a solar oven.

It’s pure bull.

I can’t think of a more pleasant summer than the one we are in now. It’s been really nice. But Senator Henry Stern doesn’t think so. I didn’t need to verify he’s a Democrat to tell he was a Democrat. A tree is known by its fruit. The fruit of Democrats is always more control, more restriction, less freedom and more expense for your household.

Stern heralded passage of his Senate Bill 655 to regulate the inside temperatures of homes. The bill is the first-in-the-nation framework to set “maximum safe indoor temperature standards in residential housing.”

The bill establishes a new state policy requiring all dwelling units in California to be able to attain and maintain a safe maximum indoor temperature. 

It’s unclear to me what exactly how this bill is supposed to make the inside of homes cooler.

Why am I thinking that requiring a building to never get over this maximum temperature is; a). Going to cause somebody to cost an arm or a leg; or b). Make housing more expensive than it already is?

Here’s why I say that (from his press release): “By establishing a framework for maximum indoor temperatures, this bill can help mandate cooling and make heat pump technology accessible to renters and low-income families, reducing both health risks and climate emissions.”

Now I get it. Landlords will have to buy heat pumps for their tenants. In many cities owners have their hands tied to raise rents to recoup such costs.

Stern must have been wringing his hands when he put out a press release that claimed we have “worsening extreme heat.” Like I said, we’ve had one helluva summer here in Central California.

Stern claims the state’s residential building standards have long required that homes maintain a minimum indoor air temperature of 68°F but said there is no requirement for a maximum indoor temperature and that, he said, leaves “residents vulnerable during increasingly severe heat waves.”

And I thought all you needed to do was lower the thermostat or find some other way to cool down.

If Democrats really cared about lowering energy bills, they’d start adapting policies for more hydroelectric power – read that build some dams and we get the water too – and quit overregulating everything under the sun.

He specifically expresses concern for “especially renters and low-income households who are most at risk, have life-saving cooling.” Don’t fall for his concern; it’s about catering to the Democrat voters who tend to be the ones dependent on government salvation. Don’t believe me? This from his press release: “By 2050, as heat waves grow hotter and more frequent, extreme heat COULD result in 11,300 deaths annually. In addition to mortality, heat has driven over 150,000 emergency-room and outpatient visits and hospitalizations since 2013, with disproportionate impacts on Black, Latino, Indigenous, and low-income communities.”

Aside from the Al Gore like predictions of climate disaster which have not come to pass, why not just say low income? Why the obsession with race? To present yourself as a champion of the populations who vote Democrat?

Jovana Morales-Tilgren of the social justice group Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability was wetting herself over the bill’s passage, saying, “Vulnerable and disadvantaged communities are at the intersection of climate risk and systemic inequality and have fewer resources to protect against extreme heat and heat-related illnesses.”

The reason people have fewer resources (dollars) is because Stern’s party continues to pass bills that drive businesses and jobs out of California and drive up costs. It’s that simple.

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Democrats in the state Legislature are posturing to appear as though they are “delivering on affordability and housing in 2025.” Anybody believe that?

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas sent out a press release on Thursday which he claimed the Assembly passed “landmark new housing affordability laws” which will “alter the trajectory of the housing affordability crisis, leading to faster construction of homes, less red tape and fewer delays, and more affordable housing options and opportunity for all Californians.”

He heralded bills that were passed but doesn’t say what the bills, only spreading pixie fairy dust on the press release with flowery promises of a lower housing costs.

Let’s look at one AB 609. It excuses eco-friendly infill projects from CEQA, but boy if your project isn’t being built to the Legislature’s environmental mandates, sorry Charlie.

Even the “fact sheet” on AB 609 notes: “CEQA is a major reason why housing production has fallen short of the State’s targets.”

So why not repeal CEQA, which is stifling the building of housing in California? Because they are in bed with the Sierra Club and other environmental groups that put money in their campaign coffers.

Keep in mind that AB 609 only applies to small in-fill projects, not larger one which address single-family ownership on a broader scale.

Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher was quick to declare the Democrats’ declaration of delivering lower prices as phony. He said: “The Affordability Session has been a total failure. Democrats have ended the year right where they began: with the highest cost-of-living in the nation. They claim success, but the everyday Californian doesn’t feel it or see it. What have they actually done? What results have they achieved? All they’ve done is talk and hold feel-good press conferences. We’re still paying $5 a gallon at the pump, mortgage and rent costs keep climbing, and working families are falling further behind. And their last-minute energy package will only drive our electricity rates even higher.”

Gallagher noted that:

• In just the first eight months of the session, Democrats proposed over $16 billion in new taxes and fees.

• Valero and Phillips 66 announced they’re shutting down their California refineries, with experts warning Californians could soon be paying $8 to $10 a gallon for gas.

• California’s electricity rates rose to more than double the U.S. average.

He went on: “Republican common sense solutions were blocked at every turn. The largest middle-class tax cut in California history was killed. A plan to slash utility costs by 30 percent died. A GOP bill package to tackle California’s housing crisis never saw a single bill pass.

“What did Democrats do instead of addressing California’s affordability crisis? They voted to ban cops from wearing masks while helping catch criminals, defunded Prop 36, and failed to put our kids’ safety first. Their deeply flawed budget is bankrupting Medi-Cal, undermined our safety net, and put California on a path towards multi-billion-dollar deficits.”

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Ceres City Councilwoman Rosalinda Vierra made a statement last week in citing reasons why she opposed a project approved by the Planning Commission. One of her reasons she said she was voting against the Truck Stop Grub Hub and Outdoor Music Venue was concerns about artificial grass because “they get very, very hot and it contributes to our urban heat island effect.”

Apparently she didn’t know that the first grub hub the city approved on Service Road has artificial turf in the center of its project?

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Speaking of Planning Commission, the city is seeking applicants to replace Dave Johnson whose term ends at the end of the year.

But seeing how the council is at odds with what the commission decides, serving might be a waste of time.

This column is the opinion of Jeff Benziger, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Ceres Courier or 209 Multimedia Corporation.  How do you feel about this? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com