Over the weekend America heard about a dastardly deed committed in a town nobody had heard of before: Dadeville, Alabama, population 3,200. Think tiny Denair minus 2,400 residents.
Some guy shot up a birthday party and killed four people, apparently all young black people.
On Monday I heard Fox News Radio report something like: “The community of Dadeville, Alabama is trying to make sense of a weekend shooting at a birthday party that left four people dead and 28 injured.”
I can make sense of it: Our culture is raising these monsters.
How many stories do you ever hear about a kid raised in a Christian family going on a murderous rampage? I’m certainly not aware of any.
If you raise a young man or woman without God, keep him or her out of church and away from any teaching of right and wrong, raise him or her without a dad who would have set them straight along the way, maybe in a home where there is no love, maybe put them in a school where they are bullied, maybe overload the national media and social media with confusing and disturbing messages that another loser made the 24-hour national news cycle as he went out in a blaze of glory, maybe immerse him in gangsta rap that reflects a culture of guns, abusing women and shooting people, then yeah, you’ve got yourselves a monster who does these sorts of hateful acts.
Guns don’t kill people. The take- guns-away-from-folks solution offered by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom will never work because disturbed individuals kill people and they use various instruments of death.
Only until we focus on the well-being of the American family and our children – and get back to faith in America – will we get a handle on this problem.
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Want to do your part to keep a convicted murderer behind bars?
Take a minute to message the governor and tell him that you oppose the parole release of Jeffrey Allen Maria (CDCR #C17137.)
The parole board again wants Maria to be a free man but the governor can stop it – if enough people voice their opposition.
Gov. Jerry Brown stopped his parole in 2018 and Newsom should do the same.
Let’s review what Jeffrey Maria did. In June 1979, along with then teenagers Marty Spears, Ronald Anderson and Darren Lee, Maria was involved in the brutal killings of Philip and Kathryn Ranzo in Modesto. Philip Ranzo, 30, was a pharmacist and Kathryn, 29, owned her own beauty salon. The teenage suspects showed up at the couple’s front door, pretending to be out of gas and needing to use a phone as a ruse to get inside. Acting as a Good Samaritan, Mr. Ranzo directed them to his garage to retrieve a can of gas. Maria and Spears then forced Mr. Ranzo at gunpoint into the garage where they hogtied him. Prosecutors say they used his 10-year-old son’s baseball bat to brutally beat him. The killers tortured Mr. Ranzo with a hatchet – slicing his throat and eyelids. He died from his wounds.
Spears then forced Kathryn Ranzo to an upstairs bedroom where he and others raped her and bludgeoned her to death with an axe and stabbed her. Spears then stabbed Mr. Ranzo in the neck and face untiol he died. Before the four left the murder scene, they ransacked the house and helped themselves to the couple’s cash and jewelry. Fortunately their young son was not home at the time.
Philip Ranzo was the son of Marie Kathryn Rhodes Ranzo who worked as a nurse’s aide at the Memorial Hospital Ceres and who attended St. Jude’s Catholic Church in Ceres.
Kathryn Elaine Moore Ranzo was the daughter of Turlock Police Officer Joseph Moore. She graduated from Turlock High School in 1967.
Here is what you can do to keep this monster locked up. Message the governor by visiting www.gov.ca.gov/contact, then go to the topic and search in the drop down bar for “Parole – Governor’s Review.” Click on “Leave a Comment.” Click on “con” and then message the governor about Jeffrey Allen Maria CDCR #C17137 and let him know that convicted torturers and murderers like him shouldn’t be allowed to walk in a free society.
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While driving down Mitchell Road Friday morning I spotted the Ceres Code Enforcement unit cleaning up unsightly homeless camp debris outside of Chicago Pizza. Judging by the fact that an officer had a woman in the back of his patrol vehicle I’d say the said homeless woman was being taken in on warrants.
It’s great to see the continual progress being made by a more aggressive code enforcement effort in Ceres which wants to eradicate such unsightliness. Have all the sympathy you have for the homeless but they have no right to trash and add blight to the any community in California and it shouldn’t be tolerated.
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To those who might read this column and suggest I’m politically narrow-minded, I might point out that I used to be a liberal Democrat as a teen. I could not defend my position and honestly didn’t know much about the world yet. In the late 1990s I changed politically ideology to the opposite end of the spectrum. That sounds rather open-minded, doesn’t it?
When I was a young man I liked Jimmy Carter and voted against Ronald Reagan. I worked for Democrat Congressman and House Majority Whip Tony Coelho. To be honest I was only voting Democrats because I mindlessly went along with all the Democrats in my family.
Later, when I began to reason for myself, I realized that the party didn’t stand for what I did. I bailed and today, the differences between the two parties couldn’t be greater.
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You cannot make up the laws that Democrats are coming up with in California and other states.
In Maryland a Democrat proposed House Bill 1180 that would prevent anyone under 25 from being charged with felony murder. Before I even looked to see who the author was, I figured she was a Democrat. Bingo. I was spot-on.
The bill’s supporters say people under 25 haven’t had full brain development yet.
I don’t know about you but I knew at age 8 that killing was wrong and certainly knew that stealing cars, breaking into houses and robbing banks was something bad people did. If you don’t know that those are serious crimes by 12 you might have really crappy parents.
Democrat Charlotte Crutchfield, introduced the bill. She doesn’t believe that a first-degree murder charge should apply to a grown adult who commits a felony and someone “unintentionally” is killed or dies during that crime.
So let’s dissect this a bit. Crutchfield thinks it’s wrong for “Street Thug” Bailey to walk up to an old lady and yank her out of the car to steal it. But if she fights and he takes off, running over the old lady and killing her, then Bailey shouldn’t be charged with first-degree murder?
All of the criminal justices reforms offered by Democrats are those which lessen the penalties for the worst crimes. That’s why thugs can walk into the mall and steal everything in sight. They are emboldened by laws that go easy on thieves.
Crutchfield said “One of the fundamental elements of a just and fair criminal justice system is that individuals are held accountable for the crimes they committed or intended to commit.” I don’t consider anything “fair” or “just” to victims about excusing criminals from the consequences of their actions. If someone decides to commit a felony and someone dies because of their criminal ways – whether or not they “meant” to do it – then face the music. If that means you just threw your life away, so be it.
Those in the business of charging and imprisoning menaces to society are fed up. Wicomico County State’s Attorney Jamie Dykes is one of them. Dykes said this bill could even embolden young people to commit crimes. Duh, tell Crutchfield.
Most of the trouble on American streets is caused by youth and young men aged 16 to 25. Going easy on them will not curb criminal acts.
Anyone care to bet that Maryland’s Democrat Governor Wes Moore will back the bill given how he’s your typical Newsom liberal who promotes abortion and taking away gun rights?
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Thieves are just about the lowest human form next to child molesters, rapists and murders.
But what amazes me are the people who make excuses for it.
There was a post on the Stanislaus News Facebook page last week showing a surveillance video of a man gassing up his truck at a Sinclair station at Ninth and O streets in Modesto and plucking the landscaping plants right out of the planter next to the pump and sticking them in the back of his pickup. The surveillance camera recorded the theft.
Most people called the act what it is, disgusting thievery but one lady, an Armida Sandoval posted “I don’t think the owner isn’t worried about those plants. (Poor lady doesn’t know that two negative equal a positive). That’s chunk change (the saying is “chump” change not chunk change.) They (are) more worried about there (she misspelled their) sales for the week.”
This is another fine example of how parents are failing to instill values and how our schools fail to teach the basics.
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I’ll be 62 this year and have been in the newspaper business since 1982. But never in my life had I received an email from a staff member of a state legislator signed (She/Her) after her name.
This was a staff member of Democrat California State Senator Marie Alvardo-Gil who represents Ceres.
Emily doesn’t need to tell us that she is a woman. I kind of figured that out without her prompting. And if she identified as a (He/Him) it would make no difference to me; I’d consider her a delusional female.
The vast majority of Americans are tired of this Woke trans nonsense. It’s a distraction from the bigger issues we face, like a federal government spending billions like crazy. Like state regulations driving people and businesses out of California. Like not enough reservoirs to store water like when the skies opened up earlier this year. Like China and Russia rattling their sabers. Like California being millions of housing units short and homeless people turning our cities into Third World slums.
This reminds me of the time America was obsessed and distracted with the Gary Condit-Chandra Levy scandal while terrorists were plotting to fly planes into buildings on Sept. 11, 2001.
The world must look at us and think Americans have lost their minds.
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It’s painful to watch these “man on the street” videos posted of Americans because it illustrates how ignorant most people are on our history, our system of government and who are the elected officials. The problem is worse among young people who are more concerned about heading to the dispensary or hooking up than being well-informed and intelligent.
Mark Dice exposes the ignorance of average Americans by taking his mic and camera to the beaches of Southern California to pose questions anyone should know, like the purpose of the Fourth of July. One woman had no clue about the country we fought for our independence. He trolled another woman by saying, “When Jesse Ventura, John Wilkes Booth and the other Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, what year was that?” Those names flew right by her pretty skull of mush as she answered, “1870 something but I don’t remember the specific year.”
Another young woman was absolutely clueless when asked what country Mount Rushmore is located in.
Yet another young lady fell right into his trap when he asked if Donald Trump’s kids should get away with shooting a Triceratops dinosaur on a recent hunting trip just because they are his kids. She totally agreed.
We’re in serious trouble.
All of this collective ignorance has me confident that people are strictly supporting politicians based on looks or party affiliation without discriminating between candidates and their political ideology. (Refer to what I said earlier about me being an ill-informed Jimmy Carter liberal at age 19).
How else can you explain why U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein was re-elected in 2018 despite her being 85 years of age? Her senility showed during a Nov. 17, 2020 committee hearing in which she asked the same question twice and didn’t even know what she did. Now she’s on her way out, giving Newsom a chance to appoint a more liberal replacement.
Democrat voters in Pennsylvania bypassed Dr. Oz in November to elect an unhealthy John Fetterman to the U.S. Senate despite significant concerns about a stroke he suffered during his 2022 campaign. Since he became a senator, he missed six weeks of business as he was hospitalized for depression. Now who knows if he’s in or out.
Maxine Waters was re-elected to the 43rd Congressional District in 2022 over a Latino Republican despite her being 84 years old and in Congress for 32 years. Her “get Trump” obsession tells you what you need to know about her intelligence.
Joe Biden was elected president despite widespread concerns about his mental decline at age 78. Now we have a feeble 80-year-old president who is told where to stand, what to say and when he’s not on a teleprompter utters strange incoherent ramblings. China and Russia are emboldened to do what they are doing because of him.
We should seriously look at term limits for Congress and Senate. Incumbents generally hold a lock on their seats for their ability to outraise their opponents in campaign cash.
Voters who are either stupid or blinded by party allegiance is why our country is sliding into a morass of debt, economic fragility, a decline of our military might, societal ills and lack of infrastructure for its people.
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While Newsom has been on his “Campaign for Democracy” tour of other states, we really need to begin a Restore Common Sense campaign. It starts with educating voters who have foisted upon us leaders who have zero common sense.
Let me address Newsom’s silly video. I’ll publish his words and offer my response:
“Let’s be direct. We can’t solve a problem without first identifying it.”
(Yeah, so why aren’t we building dams for more water, reducing the costs of building housing in California because we are like one million or more units short and why are we allowing homeless to live filthy in our streets? Why is gas higher here than anywhere and why don’t you care to lower taxes?)
“The problem in our country right now....”
(Wait, dude. You were elected to take care of California so why are you spending time elsewhere? Go on.)
“…authoritarian leaders who are so hell bent on gaining power and keeping it by whatever means necessary that they’re directly attacking our freedoms in state after state.”
(You are the authoritarian leader! Who shut down our businesses and schools and threatened to withhold funding to Merced County for defying your orders to shut down life and businesses while you openly didn’t wear a mask at the French Laundry? And the only “freedoms” you truly care about is the freedom to kill babies and parade trans people in public libraries. You have no problems claiming that you represent California values because you’ve been empowered by big city liberals who run roughshod over the wishes of conservative areas like the Central Valley, but you have a problem when the people of Arkansas, Texas and Florida elect conservative judges. You are a piece of work.)
“That’s why I’m launching the Campaign for Democracy.”
(No, you’re testing the waters for a presidential run in either 2024 or 2028 and I pray to God that you realize a lot of people cannot stand your style of slick politician leadership. You have ruined California so please don’t spread your damage elsewhere).
“We’re going on the road to take the fight to states where freedom is most under attack.”
(You should be honest and state: “California is in shambles yet I’m neglecting my job for a few weeks to meddle with the affairs of other states where people have elected common sense leaders.”)
“…where Republican leaders ban books...”
(You mean state Legislatures taking sexual smut out of public schools and trying to indoctrinate minors into cutting off their genitals or adding breasts?)
“…criminalize doctors…”
(for mutilating kids. Why are you so obsesses with accommodating confused kids with life-altering surgeries who have no idea what life is about?)
“…fire teachers…”
(You mean for preaching trans ideology, telling kids that they are horrible and should feel guilty if they are white or preaching your hatred of conservative politicians like DeSantis instead of teach the subject matter?)
“…intimidate librarians…”
(No, keeping smutty materials away from underage kids is not intimidation, it’s common sense. You wouldn’t put Hustler or Playboy magazines in a public library and adult material has no business being in a school library. Again, I’m puzzled by the Democrats push to facilitate the confusion of kids).
“…kidnap migrants…”
(Newsom is intellectually dishonest. Migrants aren’t kidnapped. Illegal aliens are apprehended and sent back to their country. We have a legal system for entry. And Gov. Greg Abbott didn’t kidnap migrants and bus them out of his state to D.C. against their will. He wanted to place the problem of illegal immigration where it belongs: in Biden’s neighborhood. But aside from that, we know that he has flooded the state with needy and unskilled illegal immigrants who we now pay for in terms of public services like healthcare. No wonder the Central Valley is now a Third World Nation. But hey we have an unfinished bullet train that’s $100 billion in the red. The cost estimate for the initial 171-mile segment now exceeds the $33 billion estimate for the entire 500-mile Los Angeles to San Francisco system when voters approved a bond in 2008.)
“…target trans kids…”
(How about trying to protect confused children before they damage their bodies before they are able to logically figure out life?)
“…stoke racism, condone antisemitism…”
(There we go with another Democrat calling Republicans racist. Real original, Gavey.)
“… force the victims of rape and incest to carry their attacker’s baby…”
(Not only is this a miniscule occurrence of about one percent, let’s be honest about abortion. It’s mostly being used as a lasts-stop birth control measure. This governor encourages women who consider a baby to be an inconvenience to kill their babies. He got angry at Walgreen’s because they wouldn’t carry the abortion pill due to it being illegal in many other states. Newsom also invited women to California so we can pay for abortions. His opinion is very clear – he are an enemy of the fetus (which means offspring).
“…where they ignore the will of the people and make it harder to vote and easier to buy assault weapons.”
(Red state governors are elected to do the will of the people, who are obviously not like California libs. They want elections to be fair and want to make it harder to cheat while voting. As far as assault weapons are concerned, gun laws don’t prevent acts of violence. The Boston Marathon bombers used a pressure cooker, explosives and nails. You can’t stop evil people from being evil.)
“They fan the flames of culture wars to distract from the fact that blue states have lower murder rates.”
(Fighting the war on traditional values is fanning flames? That is a way to distract from the fact that blue mayor cities have unacceptably high murder rates? What is the Chicago murder rate up to now this year? 135 at last count which is why Lori Lightfoot lost her race big time. And let’s talk about how your former city of San Francisco is losing businesses like Whole Foods because theft is so rampant there they cannot afford to remain open.)
“…better healthcare outcomes and higher GDP’s.”
(Newsom is running a sh** show in California which is why 340,000 residents fled to the red states he is so intent on destroying.)
I know it’s controversial when I say it but Newsom is not only wrong on most of this policies, he’s evil.
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
