Winter Light December 1, 2010

Winter Light January 2010

A couple of years ago the little bedside lamp that had accompanied my wanderings and illumined my readings for many years had taken to fits of dysfunction much like the age in which we live. Sometimes without provocation it went off leaving me in the dark and coming back on, if given time, just as mysteriously. Those who know simple electrical repair, like my husband who learned from his father, can easily fix the loose connection. But others without that training might throw the whole thing out as a lost cause. Such a disposition increasingly characterizes our society today. Many have thrown out the instructions on how to re-connect to the power.

While passing through the shortened days of winter we see more and more holiday lights displayed. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a recognized condition for which artificial light is used to treat the soul whose inner light has seemed to flicker out. It is in these winters of the soul that we need to hold tight God's instructions "Fear not... I will never leave you." 

When shadows far larger than the object casting them, appear to loom over our situation, the danger is not the darkness itself but our fear response. As we resist fear we find God's path illuminated and darkness must flee. Perhaps that path winds through gang controlled streets or corrupt corridors. Nevertheless, God said He will never leave us, nor forsake us. Though that light may seem to flicker and die and we question our power source we must remember He is faithful.

Through the Parable of the Ten Virgins we are told to trim our lamps and fill them with oil for the times ahead. The message of Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, generally coincides with Christmas and the Winter Solstice in December. Chanukah celebrates and affirms the miraculous provision of light and victory over darkness. On the darkest day of the year we can confidently celebrate the Giver of all Light. 

I wrote this devotional during a dark season in my life. I can happily report the bedside lamp has been fixed by my faithful husband and I am joyfully resting in The Lord's resplendent light. I have learned to say "Return unto thy rest oh my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with thee." Psalm 116:7

Lord, shine your Light upon us and through us that we might light the way for others in the coming year.

Chris Funnell

FURTHER STUDY:  Psalm 63:7-8, Hebrews 13:5, Matthew 25:1-13, Isaiah 51:4, Isaiah 60:3, Matthew 5:14, John 1:9, 8:12, 9:5, 11:9, 12:46, Revelation 21:24. Psalm 116:7.

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Words of wisdom from my father

Words of wisdom from my father

On a bright June day in 2007 I had plans to spend the night with relatives in town then rise early to shop at Filenes Basement’s annual Running of the Brides to find an outfit for my son’s wedding. Wearing sneakers and earphones, wired to praise music, I had planned to walk to Brookline from a hard day at the Statehouse knowing the exercise and music would help my greatly disappointed soul.

We wuz robbed again! were my angry thoughts at the time but having been trained by my gentlemanly father to hold your fire and coincidentally your ire. However, according to the laws of nature and Nature’s God, I had been genetically balanced with a mother who was an artful communicator in her expressions, body language and when necessary words. So I needed some time to let my conflicting feelings come to an understanding. I’ve bided my time as we watched the stock market plunge right after Obama took office. Republicans have been as rare as loons in the Legislature and it was all we could do to wait for 2010. Real estate and the automotive industry tanked and Massachusetts has chased people away with fees and taxes but the sky has not fallen... they keep saying.

I discovered that June day, tucked away, passing through a verdant but little used corner of the Boston Gardens, a statue I’d never seen before of an angel holding a basket. Inscribed beneath her outstretched wings and flowing robe were the words, “Cast your bread upon the waters and it will return to you after many days”. It could not have been more pointedly received if a boy had driven up on a bike, ringing his bell and handed me, with a flourish, a telegram addressed to me. God was saying, “I know you are disappointed but just keep on doing as I say.” Okay, Dad, you’re the boss. I sniffed and turned my thoughts to the coming wedding which would take place in the Land Down Under that Summer.

My earthly father died the same day Ronald Reagan was first inaugurated. He was a loyal Democrat and he could not understand my abandonment of the Party. He loved the Kennedy boys like his own sons and had tended all four of them as they each passed through Harvard Stadium and Dillon Field House where he worked for forty years. He’d taped up ankles of royalty and given whirlpool baths to future senators and congressmen, literary figures in training and future world leaders.

He had grown up in Somerville and attended Ringe Tech where he and his older brothers knew Tip O’Neil and Speaker McGee. My dad had aspired to be an osteopath and was mentored by team doctors who must have seen the gift of encouragement he so quietly radiated. He had sold popcorn in the stands as a boy and probably carried water for the team just to observe football and that grew into a career as an athletic trainer. When the war intervened he worked for the Navy keeping pilots in shape and after the war
returned to Harvard and under the direction of team doctors was grand-fathered in and became a Registered Physical Therapist.
He eventually opened an office in Harvard Square and for a while served as president of the Massachusetts Association of Registered Physical Therapists. He often joked he would write a memoir, Forty Years at Harvard Without a Degree.

He instilled a strong motivation for a college education in his four children as well as being a model for us generosity, kindness and love.
I remember the things he used to say like “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” This is really good advice especially now with the Internet holding your comments forever in cyberspace.
Dad would also say, “If you go somewhere and don’t have a good time, you have no one to blame but yourself.” These words float back into my mind as I walk through life’s rose gardens and cross dangerous intersections.  Dad also taught his children to take responsibility for themselves rather than blaming others.

Maybe that is why I have spoken out. I’ve spent hours on Beacon Hill, lobbying, praying, dropping off plea letters, petitions and once delivered Christmas stocking coal to the “bad legislators”.

I became involved in my party and was a delegate only to see the  Republican platform toss away its pro-life plank in 2006. I wore red duct tape at the convention unable to support the pro-choice candidate that year. My husband And I were demonstrating the fact that there was no one speaking up for the unborn.
 
On April 15’o9 I went to the TEA Party on Boston Common which was a gathering of a variety of folks who all felt we were Taxed Enough Already.
Although most could be described as conservatives they were angry with the fiscal recklessness of both parties for turning the American Dream into a nightmare for our children and grandchildren.

I’d like to see a party that prioritizes respect for life in the womb and defines marriage as between one man and one woman. Nothing radical just return to sanity.

On several occasions I’ve testified for those values before the Judiciary Committee listening to the public on various bills representing Commonwealth Covenant Keepers. I know I speak for many who have not known how to enter the political process.  They are out there and in huge numbers, like the moral majority these folks are not political, but their platform is older than dirt...hence the term Grass Roots.

Early in 2010 we saw the election of Senator Scott Brown and now with the mid-term elections around the corner we anticipate a lot of changes in the state and federal legislatures.

Let’s hope after November we see real changes in how things are done in the legislatures. I am looking for a whole boatload of  bread to return upon the proverbial waters.

Psalm 68:11, "The Lord gives the word (of power); the women who bear and publish (the news) are a great host."

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Typing in the dark: The Democratic Convention...

The Democratic Convention in Worcester: typing in the dark

 

I wanted to cover the Democratic Convention June 4-5th so that I could compare it to the Republican Convention which was held April 16 and 17^th, both were held at the DCU Convention Center in Worcester. As a free-lance writer with about a decade of columns unencumbered by Political Correctness, I have carved out a niche as a Conservative local columnist. That does not mean I get in print, especially in the Boston Papers though I did blog in Boston.com during the debate before Gay Marriage was legalized in 2007. ( See my article…

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/lifestyle/columnists/x826450040)

 

At the Republican Convention I logged about 4000 words describing what happened there but the set up was very different for the second convention. Because they had more delegates they needed more floor space, I was told, and moved the press to the Super Box on the second floor. The seats were not wired for computers when I arrived and the electrician on duty was called to set up a few extension cords with power strips. I took my seat and began typing in the deluxe but dark area provided. When I powered up my desktop lit up for everyone behind me with a picture of Obama with an aura. I was outed.

 

 

The room temperature started to drop at that point, come to think of it, and youthful aids and interns must have been shocked that an infiltrator had arrived.   

 

The paid professionals did not cover the speeches given on the opening night by Martha Coakley, Barney Frank, Jim McGovern and others, and a whole tableful of gourmet treats in the private press room went untouched. I was too busy rebooting my computer as I sat mostly alone and my laptop kept mysteriously losing power. The DCU was blamed for bad electronics but I had no such trouble at the Republican Convention and we could actually see our laptops. The journalists who showed up Saturday had no trouble typing in the dark and nobody lost power either. My colleague and the founder and director of COMFLM, “Senior Papparazzi” and constant videographer said there are some who are not above tampering with equipment. But in the end we were grateful to be allowed to share the Superbox with the mainstream press. Thanks to those who made it possible.

We in alternative media may not be liberals like almost all our colleagues covering the news but we all believe in a Free Press, don’t we?

 

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Boston for Jerusalem, Brookline, MA May 23,2010

On May 23, 2010 Supporters of Israel and lovers of Jerusalem from Boston and beyond united on the steps of  a temple to sing and hear speakers proclaim their support for an undivided Jerusalem.  Jews and Christians gathered on the steps of Kehillath Israel near Coolidge Corner in Brookline. Police managed crowds and traffic as the crowd swelled to well over 500.  After an hour of music, spontaneous dance and various rousing speeches the group marched peacefully in a loop through the neighborhood past a small group of hecklers before returning to the temple and closing in a prayer of gratitude for the freedom we enjoy to stand for Israel and Jerusalem its capital. The march was organized by Christians and Jews United for Israel and joined and sponsored by many organizations.  www.CJUI.org

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Memorial Day: Thank a Vet by taking up the standard

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This Memorial Day, Thank Vets by taking up their Standard

 

Every Memorial Day we fly the national flag to honor our fallen military, particularly those we knew and loved. We attend parades, visit graves with flowers, wreaths and flags, shedding tears for those we never knew personally at the blowing of Taps.

 

At this writing there are still a some aging veterans of WWII with us, members of “The Greatest Generation”, who rose to the challenge of Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’, having gone through the Great Depression, countered the invasion of European nations and the bombing of London.  The last straw, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, was the provocation that caused every able-bodied man and many women to put aside personal goals and enlist in the military. Many laid down their lives, dying on foreign soil in defense of the principle of freedom as framed in our Constitution.

Their bodies still lie under white crosses and stars of David in huge cemeteries in Europe, visited by those who never met them but who crossed the ocean to remember and honor them.

 

Every community has ceremonies to pay tribute to a dying breed. Vets from succeeding wars, Korean, Viet Nam, Iraq and Afghanistan, carry flags and march in parades wearing the medals and emblems of their service. Some sell artificial poppies, ironically, to support disabled vets who returned with injuries and emotional trauma that prevent them from returning to their previous vocations. Many of us know someone suffering from

PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and how it affects families and communities.

Recently, I visited the campus of Uniformed Services University (USU) in Bethesda, Maryland to celebrate my son Ian’s graduation from their School of Medicine and his promotion to Captain in the US Army. On Parent’s Day I heard presentations from his professors, military and civilian attended Baccalaureate ceremony and witnessed as the new docs took a voluntary, additional Oath for Christian Doctors as veteran doctors present reaffirmed their oath over and above the Hippocratic Oath taken on graduation day.

 

On May 15^th we attended graduation at the impressive Daughters of the American Revolution Hall not far from the White House in Washington DC. We listened to anthems plaid expertly by The President’s Own Band comprised of US Marines. I was dazzled by all the pomp and circumstance and the military brass assembled that day and reaffirmed my commitment as a military mom.  You can keep your American Idols who dance and sing their hearts out…I want to celebrate the heroes who make America possible by pulling together under the greatest Constitution ever written.

 

That our President will not find the time or conviction to attend Memorial Day celebrations in Arlington Cemetery is of great concern. Why doesn’t the president celebrate our past, hard won victories or honor those who preserved our freedoms?  He seems to be driven by global political ambitions and a faith that is not that of our founding. To him we are no longer living in a Christian Nation. It is left to us to remind him of the principles our veterans fought and died for and in so doing teach our children what is truly American.

 

As we prepare to remember our dead, President Obama and Congress wielded the surgical knife over our military’s budget and threaten the health, morale and welfare of our troops by repealing the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Law”. What is next…flying the rainbow flag in battle? This president who is quick to telegraph our timetable of withdrawal to the Taliban is slow to respond to terrorist attacks on our own soil and will not close our borders to those who have vowed to destroy us and our way of life.

 

Recently, while driving in Vermont we happened upon the Vermont Memorial to Viet Nam Vets. I took the time to reflect on their sacrifice, even remembering the Green Mountain Boys who went to Fort Ticonderoga to fight for our foundling nation. As a mother of three sons I thought about the collateral emotional and economic damage on those families. I heard the bird calls of that area and thought how those in combat must have longed to hear the familiar sounds of home but instead watered the Tree of Liberty with their blood.

 

Back in Massachusetts Senator Kerry thinks Tea Party Patriots have a “comprehension gap” and Governor Patrick likens freedom of speech to “sedition”. What would he think of the thousands of farmers who marched from their farms in Uxbridge and a dozen surrounding towns of Worcester and Springfield to make a statement to the crown in 1774, the summer before “the shot heard round the world” was fired in Lexington? That August “thousands and thousands of farmers and artisans (workers) seized power from every crown-appointed (hack/crony) official in Massachusetts outside of Boston” according to Ray Raphael, historian and author of The First American Revolution: before Lexington and Concord.

“The functionaries of British rule cowered and collapsed no match for the collective force of patriotic farmers according to an eye witness”.

 

Ever since my son first put on his uniform four years ago he has received thanks from strangers for his service, though so far that has been done by studying hard and graduating with honors. Imagine the collective power we can muster as we come alongside our current military with the support they deserve in prayer and cheers and speaking on their behalf until our leadership hears the people.

Our president has said he aims to change our nation and has already left us dizzy with change we do not want. What support will we give the 18 year-old from our town who joined the military because he or she wants to preserve the America they know and love?

Chris Noonan Funnell  free-lance writer from the Boston area and yes, she is related to that outer Noonan journalist, Erica.                                                5/27/10

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Break the Silence event in NYC April 25, 2010.

The Media Shrugs
 
I was there with a busload from Boston standing outside the Israeli Consulate in New York City Sunday, April 25,2010. An awesome sense of solidarity warmed the atmosphere on a raw and rainy day. Four hours standing in cold rain was a small price to pay to honor Jerusalem , but the media's silence about this event has been deafening. Did you hear about it anywhere but on Face Book or AtlasShrugs.com?  I was interviewed by CBS and the NY Post, yet where is the coverage on this event?

Former Mayor of “the Big Apple”, Ed Koch put out a powerful message on YouTube promoting the event and asking “why the silence?” Our elected leaders should be standing up for our longtime friend, Israel, because our President is sending the wrong message…dissing PM Netanyahu but bending over backwards to appease the enemies of Israel in a bogus quest for peace in the Middle East through the Road Map and Two State Solution which leads to the unthinkable ‘Final Solution’ Israel’s enemies have been wanting all along…annihilation.
 
At the event a speaker declared, Bibi Netanyahu, by default, the “Leader of the Free World”, an astounding abdication of American leadership by our current president.  We have taken for granted the US position of prominence yet President Obama seems to be tossing that all away even saying we are a Muslim nation. It behooves each one of us to stand up and be counted. Let the Lord’s people say so! We need to exhibit moral clarity on Israel and not be afraid to proclaim we are a Judeo-Christian nation, we shall have no other gods before us.

I stood for four hours in the bone chilling rain with sincere folks, mostly older, who have not had their world view programmed by liberal press and academia.  Many Russian Jews were in attendance, they have ‘been there and done that’…and are not goin’ there again!  They smell an ill wind, like 1938 all over again and they will not be silenced. If it had been sunny there would have probably been double the size crowd which swelled at one point to around 3,000 according to estimation by organizers and Atlas Shrugs activist Pamela Geller who was one of the organizers and speakers on Sunday.
 
A petite, older Jewish lady stood to my left for hours; together we made sure signs propped up did not fall into the path of the thousands of yellow cabs, city buses and countless SUVs that passed carrying curious onlookers taken by surprise. 

The Media failed to even report on it afterward.  Perhaps it shrugs because no violence erupted. No nasty comments were flung at the counter-protesters.
 

My hands were too cold and busy holding my sign to use my umbrella which dangled from my wrist. A kind, senior gentleman to my right was sharing his umbrella and making encouraging comments. Many thanked me, a Christian, for coming the distance, a four hour trip each way on a bus with 23 other assorted FOI, about half of them Russian Jews with a zeal for the freedom they have enjoyed in the USA. If only the home grown would wake up and smell the coffee.

Those who made it to the event, stood under their umbrellas, holding signs, listening to rousing speeches by rabbis and radio personalities as bus fumes filled their nostrils. The police asked us to stay within their barricades. We were corralled in an ever expanding five-foot fence which was moved several times cutting off  two whole lanes on Yitzak Rabin Way in front of 801 Second Ave between 42^nd and 43^rd Street. It was a short walk back to the bus which had dropped us off at the United Nations Building . We knew a message had been sent. Time will tell if the media will do their job to relay it.
 

Most importantly, did President Obama hear our message? President Obama, Don’t throw Israel under the bus!

We have another opportunity in Boston on May 23rd to show our support at the Boston March for Jerusalem beginning at 3pm at Kehillath Israel 384 Harvard St (near Coolidge Corner) Brookline, rain or shine!

Chris Noonan Funnell 
Commonwealth Covenant Keepers

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Chris Funnell, Freelance writer
Commonwealth Covenant Keepers, Director
 

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Join us on BlogTalkRadio.com May 9th

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Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Conservatism Can conservative + grassroots + Christian = edgy and insightful political commentary? Tune in and find out!

Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Conservatism strikes again! Heard every Sunday on BlogTalk Radio.com at 6:00 pm PT and now with its own NMA TV.com channel, hosts Babe Huggett and Warner Todd Huston dig deep to analyze the news with their usual insightful and historical approach & follow trends to their logical conclusions through a politically irreverent yet conservative, Christian viewpoint. Scheduled guests will enjoy their own featured segment. Phone in comments from listeners always welcome! On tonight’s show: We’ll be twirling the LL&PoC dial once again tonight to catch the latest crazy views from Fake News International before we interview our main guests, the husband and wife sociology team of Dave & Chris Funnell, who developed the concept of Strategic Nomenclature showing that the Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations equals Political Correctness (SBLE=PC) thereby forcing mentally and morally bankrupt and outraged elitists to scurry for cover like the subculture cockroaches that they are. Program info Date / Time: 5/09/2010 on BlogTalk Radio.com at 6:00 PM Pacific/ 8:00 PM Central/9:00 PM Eastern Tonight’s Topics: Dave & Chriss Funnell show how the Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations equals Political Correctness (SBLE=PC) Call-in Number: (347) 237-4040 Listen TO OUR SHOW on the web!!! VISIT OUR STORE FOR SNAZZY LL&PoC SOUVENIRS!!! More from Huggett & Huston: OutLoud Opinion.com Publius’ Forum Free Britannia.org NMA TV The Reality Check.org

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Notes on the Republican Convention April 17, 2010

Notes from the Republican Convention in Worcester April 17,2010

9:25 am…Scott Brown opening…representing “ the revitalized Republican Party of Massachusetts”…Thank everyone here who  made history on Jan. 19^th.

His advice…be honest hold fast to your principles…People are yearning for freedom, transparency, accountability, job creation,  government that does not try to interfere in our everyday lives.

“Washington still has not been listening, trust me, Washington is doing the exact opposite… $13 Trillion debt”. While Brown was on a recent trip to Afghanistan $12 Trillion was spent in a little over a week. At issue…our grandkids… How will they beat that debt?

We must end the one party system in MA…endorses Charlie Baker. We need balance, more state Reps…Change is not always a good thing.. Deval Patrick spent our rainy day fund… gave us taxes on meals, beer, hotel rooms ...proposed a mileage tax. This is not the change we need. Charlie Baker is a fiscal conservative fighting higher taxes… He will lead the way to creating jobs in MA…Karen Polito will be a watchdog in the treasurers office. A professional auditor running for Auditor… Isn’t that a novel thought..! We have a real chance to get Beacon Hill back on track. Drop everything you are doing. Donate money, workers needed. Steve Ross… Get him elected State Senator in Brown’s old seat.

This is similar to the Tsongas Arena where my husband and I sat as 2004 delegates from Uxbridge. Governor Mitt Romney was bowing out after one term leaving us fiscally improved but socially destroyed with his inept handling of Same Sex Marriage, schools invaded by PP and GLSN.  Lt. Gov.Kerry Healey was running for governor and I naively was still hoping against hope that she would not promote or align with the pro-aborts…but she did, in a big way, with a reception following the debacle hosted by hot pink clad, pro-choice Planned Parenthood activists.

In the Tsongas Arena in Lowell, 2006, my husband and I did not sit with our Uxbridge delegation because we did not intend to cast a vote for a pro-choice candidate. As people adhering to the Bound4Life.com pledge, we had made years before NOT to vote for anyone who is pro-abortion. Instead we pray for America to return to her foundational life preserving/affirming Constitution. We consider Massachusetts to be a rogue state which has abandoned its own Constitution. Just as some of the Supremes have done with our Federal Constitution…they would rather be like Europe or Cuba.

Back on the platform…Nominee… Bill Campbell, for Secretary of State.
Bill Galvin has opposed election day registration. a) 2100 voting precincts..must hire, costs $21M and opens the door to election fraud…a day for voting not registering…b) Support our troops.. Bill Galvin failed our troops reporting by not counting their votes 2002-2008, disqualifying their ballots which were mostly Republican votes for stronger military. This fact obviously is not posted on his website. You can be sure our troops will be counted with Bill Campbell…we should not have to wait for the Justice Department to sue our state to get justice.

Visited Boston college with his daughter… a class on the Carter years…class poll Country in decline …with Ronald Reagan .. no longer in decline…since founding of our nation we are being called to step forward. It is time to end old ways, fresh start, restore discipline.

For the position of Auditor..Brad Marston nominated Kamal Jain..(see MassTransparency.com)…”Our state spends a billion a week…would you like to know where that money goes?”

Bio: immigrant born in NJ..folks grew up in India under British rule, they fought and won their independence. [Proud first generation American. Two decades experience in high tech companies with experience in private sector.. deep respect for our nation’s founders. In each swag bag is a Constitution a gift from our campaign to you.. Ron Paul endorsed him…pro-American and pro-liberty principals. RP challenged him to run for Auditor limiting self to 2 terms. Will give himself a 10% pay cut.. no pensions for politicians. Last year $28.2Billion $51.8 B ..tell truth about spending. If the state is allowed to hide spending from us. Total state spending and State budget. $51,800,000,000 (8 zeroes)

Most he shows facts to can’t believe them at first…data on spending is sold by state comptroller. Must pay $6K wait 4 months…State Auditor does waste, fraud and abuse investigation. Executive position...reports directly to people 300 actual auditors on staff..need leadership..a vision and a plan. Our State Government is as big as UPS if treated same they would be in prison..

This is DiNucci’s legacy, a man who came from my neighborhood, Waltham, Newton…I shook his hand because he was pro-life but he has been Auditer all these years. Was he incompetent, a shill or a crook?

How can we trust anyone him if we can’t verify?.. Total transparency every dollar on line…website…every bid, every dollar and dime, every transaction… on line.

Pioneer Institute and Boston Herald had to buy data. When he is in office it will be free. When he wins take back the house and senate.Only candidate with a vision for total transparency. I was leaning toward Mary but this guy looks great. Let’s see what Mary has to say.

Mary Z. Connaughton State Auditor…nominated…not a politician but a professional…actually an auditor.

Bill McCarthy passed by… said I looked good though, even w/o my red tape…Read my lips…no pro abort candidates.

Cities and towns fasted while BH feasted..time to put overgrown government on a diet.

Dr. Gerry Dembrowski just walked by running for Ed Markey’s seat. Go Gerry!

11:15 introducing MZC…Michelle McPhee’s voice…and other clips are played… kind, boring, repetitious. MZC “Professional not political.. very lively entry.. from Framingham..travelled last 6 months, a high level of energy…w

We are not gonna take it any more!. Got her start in 2004 ran for State Rep… did not win but learned public wants to see you in action.  Served on the Turnpike Board saw Beacon Hill up close and personal, did not like what I saw.. vote on toll hike.. estimate off, checked math .. Went to board, no response . Went to Boston Herald.. she was right, the board was off $6M.  We have to pay attention. Voted against a $100 M toll hike…Front page Globe piece…she was “ the thorniest thorn in Gov P’s side”. Auditor audits money taken from your checkbooks. Top advocate for the taxpayer.. there is wasteful spendig on BH.. only truly needy should get state benefits.. Unfunded Mandate…we need an objective state Auditor. As final arbiter… can not afford $21B health care liability..need to find new ways. Served of Framingham Finance Committee, plenty of local experience .MBA at Assumption College. AP called her “a pitbull”. Family came out at end, husband, mother and small kids.

In front of me Dan Grabouskas,  a Republican responsible for the mess that is the Mass Transit system…several crashes, driver killed. A transgendered driver texting her/his girlfriend while driving, crash that injured many on the Green line.

Break time... Bathroom line for women really an issue...even a man in the hall came over to joke about the ridiculousness of all these female delegates standing in a long line outside the ladies room while no such line ever appears at the men’s. I went in search of a bathroom that did not have 25 peeved women in line... As we stood on the right complaining about the ladies who were entering through the exit and thereby cutting the line...just like elementary school days... one has time to ponder, who is in charge here? The architect? Management? or the sheeple who just want to take a whiz? We are all accountable for our behavior but the social architects bear a responsibility if they cause the people to groan and rebel.

Standing in the second line now, I realized the sign did not say Women’s Room it said “Family Bathroom” sign had a silhouette of a man and woman holding hands with a child in the middle. The future is here. Dad, Mom and child may all use the same bathroom. The Worcester Centrum/ DCU Center is now the home of the Big Tent Bathroom.

While votes were being tallied it was time for lunch, tables were set collecting signatures for nomination papers. After surveying the overpriced fare, pretzels, soda, hot dogs etc., I decided to buy a turkey Panini …There I spied Joe Malone and got out my camera... a friendly aide offered to take our picture. I did not even know what he was running for but I accepted the sticker and posed after a flurry of others interrupted to wish him well. They gave me a sticker somebody held my Panini while I posed… the multitudes kept cutting in…sometimes, I am just too well bred…but some recognize this and give favor. I introduced myself, shook his hand told him about COMFLM. He asked for a card. Memo to self: Get more COMFLM cards. Instead I pulled out my Commonwealth Covenant Keeper card and changed my hat telling him about the covenants that the Commonwealth was founded upon. His eyes glazed over as often happens when I explain what and who I represent when I testify at open hearings at the Statehouse. I have to polish my shtick when introducing the purpose for CCK.

Joe Malone, former State Treasurer and more recently, Fox News commentator is running for Congress against Steven Lynch in the 9^th Congressional District which Lynch has held since 2001 and before that by the popular Joe Moakley.

I still have my C-Span bag from 2006… I remember their camera in my face for an uncomfortably long time as we sat…fuming about the depths to which the party for Life had sunk without a bang or a whimper.

I had joined as a Reagan Democrat, crossed over, voted outside our family lines in 1980.  Now in 2006 the GOP goes over to the dark side without so much as a glance backward! What a nose dive the Massachusetts Republican Party had taken! This was the hustling floor where in spite of Mitt Romney’s leadership, a hundred Republican candidates were trotted out and later easily defeated at that November because John Kerry ran for President and Democrats came out in droves to vote for the favorite son and every other person with a D by their name.

The 2006 Convention in Lowell is where Romney’s Lt Gov. Kerry Healey went off the reservation and no one blinked an eye. Did Romney know this all along, when he picked her?

I taped my mouth shut with red duct tape which had the word LIFE on it.<www. Bound4Life.com> I admire the kids who stood silently on the Supreme Court Steps in DC as well as the SJC Court house here in Boston, interceding for our nation and leaders and vowing never to vote for a pro-choice candidate.

We need a pro-life candidate for governor…who will speak for those who have no voice? The silence is deafening.

What does Charlie Baker know about his choice for Lt., Richard Tisei?…what strategy is now in place for the Log Cabin to set up in the corner office after Charlie Baker has gone on to his next endeavor? Perhaps he has presidential aspirations… Massachusetts, when did it become an incubator of vipers? This seems harsh but I’m just sayin’.

The tally for auditor Mary Z. Cannaughton, 2388 , Kamal Jain, 392. Watch Jain, he is an up and coming leader and I hope he stays in the game. At first he did not seem to qualify with required %15, but under the rules he did. This is good for the State because a healthy debate will ensue. Both candidates will hammer home the mishandling of funds, and culture of corruption to which we have grown inured.


A redhead Republican, videoblogger nominated Karen Polito for Treasurer, the “foremost expert on protecting children on Beacon Hill”, lead sponsor of Jessica’s Law. No other nomination…endorsed. She came out to accept and rally the post lunch time crowd who were missing their Saturday afternoon nap.
Chearleader-like, a former Selectman , a current State Rep, drives a wagon, mother of a couple of kids, “This is Polito country!” said the nominee from Westborough. She clearly wanted to get folks excited… but we are post lunchtime logy and growing tired of hype. Watching our time misspent, waiting in bathroom lines and for the inefficient counting system… we pissed away our enthusiasm …She pitches her position as ‘a traditional values” candidate to old-timers and new-timers alike, but MCFL does not endorse her.

She accepts the nomination and proceeds to tell about her great-grand father, Francesco Polito, who came here 100 years ago, from Sicily with $50 in his pocket to invest in the American Dream and start the family business …His formula: paid bills on time, took on no excessive debt, invested wisely.  Beacon Hill has lost sight of this simple basic formula…The Treasury is the  financial nerve center of the Commonwealth and monitors investments , receipts, public pension system $42M cost to fund public retirements. Many abusing and gaming the system, politicians vote themselves midnight pay raises and sweetheart deals.

Her plan if she gets to replace Bill Galvin, will be championing people, fighting higher taxes. It’s not the State’s money, It’s the people’s money… It’s your money!

Mass Citizens for Life has issued a statement about Polito and Christy Mihos: We at MCFL have been afraid that certain political happenings would make people draw logical but incorrect conclusions.
Yesterday I sent out the explanatory email, which is below this one, where I tried to be polite and subtle.
Some people say they are confused, so let me be more specific.
Dr Mildred Jefferson is giving a nominating speech for Christy Mihos for governor.
This would lead you to the logical but incorrect conclusion that Mihos is pro-life and supported by Mass. Citizens.
Mihos takes a pro-abortion position with the exceptions that I copied and pasted from his web site.
Mass. Citizens does not support him.
Some very reputable people are supporting Karyn Polito saying she is a "stellar pro-family" candidate.
The term "pro-family" developed in 1980 and meant "pro-life plus..."
This would lead you to the logical but incorrect conclusion that Polito is pro-life.
Polito has a perfect pro-abortion rating from NARAL based on her voting record.
Mass. Citizens does not support her.
I hope this helps. Anne Fox, Pres. MCFL










The Republican Nominating Convention is tomorrow.
There are some facts I think you need to know. I hope they will help to keep you from drawing any incorrect conclusions. Best, Anne

1) Dr. Mildred F. Jefferson will make a nominating speech for Christie Mihos for Governor. You know Dr. Jefferson's stature in the Massachusetts Pro-Life Movement.
Yet you may remember from past races that Mihos supports a woman's right to choose. He has no voting record. This is all his 2010 web site says:

• "Christy supports the use of adult stem cells in scientific research. However, he opposes embryonic stem cell research,which are harvested living embryos, a process that destroys the embryo.
• Christy opposes the Massachusetts proposed legislation that would expand to 35 feet, the so-called "buffer zone" around abortion clinics. This violates the first amendment freedom of speech for sidewalk counselors.
• Christy opposes the use of public funds for abortions."

2) State Representative Karyn Polito is running for Treasurer.
Victor Pap has left Catholic Citizenship to run her campaign.
An email from Chanel Prunier at Massachusetts Independent PAC, says, "Many of you know Karyn Polito as a stellar pro-family candidate, who has voted in defense of traditional marriage and championed Jessica's Law, a statute protecting our children from sex offenders."
NARAL has supported Polito, giving her a pro-abortion rating.

According to Marie Sturgis, MCFL Executive and Legislative Director, these were the votes during her tenure as State Rep:
"Rep. Karyn Polito supported the Buffer Zone expansion to 35 feet, voted for the anti-life life science bill, voted for the artificial creation of human embryos and for funding of embryonic stem cell research. She did support Governor Romney by voting to prohibit lab workers from donating eggs and the exploitation of women for their eggs.
She voted against restoring the original law that defined life as beginning at the moment of conception.
She supported contraceptive coverage."

 When Dr. Mildred Jefferson was called to the podium to nominate Christy Mihos it tok her a while to get there being advanced in age and frail. But her voice was strong and authoritative and the crowd responded warmly as if ‘Mom’ had something to say.


Marty Lamb running for Congress dropped by. ( also running against Markey)

 Vinnie DeMacedo time to take back the corner office, fight run away taxes put an end to one party government, stop the political circus on BH. We need a leader willing to stand shoulder to shoulder…I believe that candidate is…”Richard R. Tisei!”…Huh? Say it isn’t true… this is almost as much a blow as Healey taking us down the abortion road…
1980 young Republican elected to State legislature four years later.
Strong record over 30 years. Author of the infamous “Bathroom Bill” Tepid applause and some boos. No further nominations for Lt. Gov…say what????
The guy Scott Brown voted with % 97 of the time.

Graduated American University. A year in the Reagan Whitehouse. Threw hat in ring from his dorm room. Youngest R ever elected a State Rep, now State Senator. Perseverance, Seen it all… the good, the bad even Mike Dukakis…but this is the worst. Sweetheart pensions, corruption charges. People are fed up highest jobless rate since 1976. barely struggling to hang on..
Owns a real estate brokerage co. Watch as people who lost their job must move out of state because they can’t afford it,
House doesn’t talk to House, House doesn’t talk to Senate, DP doesn’t talk to anyone… raised taxes by $2B refuse to reform.
Most anti-business climate in our lifetimes. DP had his chance… he’s failed now it’s time for a change time to put an end to one party rule. It’s time for Charlie Baker. Two turn arounds once with Weld Celluci, then again with Harvard-Pilgrim Healthcare CEO.
Tomorrow is the 235th Anniversary of Paul Revere’s Ride…tell all your neighbors, help is on the way. Pretty unified response…wish he wasn’t openly gay. Seems capable with good experience.

Dr. Mildred Jefferson of Cambridge…almost a no show.. more wasted time in the Commonwealth. In her dapper white hat, she opens..
On Boston Common I told Christy Mihos I wished he was pro-Life. He has now morphed into our candidate seeing he needs some way in.
 Dr. Jefferson former prez of MCFL..will endorse him as the only candidate for Life… Cannot neglect our leagacy. Our special burden and obligation to see we live true to the truths upon which this Commonwealth was founded. National Healthcare system We have never had a debate on National Healthcare because there has been no debate.. Compulsory Health Care system has very little to do with health care and more with forcing Socialized system. Nothing so valuable that it has to be given for limiting the Constitutional rights of every citizen. An assault unlike any other.

Great speech, Save the Republic, but via Christy Mihos who is feigning traditional values when he is quoted recently supporting gay marriage and  legalized abortion?, He calls himself a Social Libertarian.

Things are heating up we are getting down to the meat of this meeting..who will win the nod to be the Republican candidate.. it’s obvious.

Christy Mihos introduced. Wants to be our voice in the corner office from the corner store and gas station. Firm and determined Andrew Jackson was his favorite president. Repubs comprise % 11 of voters. Sales tax rollback will be on the ballot Nov. 2^nd. How is that bad for government? Stop cycle of dependency that is crushing our way of life. Health care Reform. Mandates, government du jour double digit tax increases. Will work to fix Patrickcare. Iviserate middle class . Health Ins % 59 what we have is usury and our gov is oblivious. No pensions for state service. Small biz friendly, keep fees and fines at local level.
Cites and towns are being crushed eliminate all tolls toll free roadway. No caps on charter schools no matter the choice. Pick own judges. Pro-amily judges. Of the people for the people and whatever they want to vote on. I will veto the Bathroom Bill… monitor use of public restrooms. Big Dig fiasco…West and North of Boston stuck with % 85 cost. $14 B kept truth from us…took $3Billion plowed into our Big Dig costs still paying for it. Heckler…Bozo… I always tell you the truth and speak in bold colors. Big biz, gov, media or do what the Boston Globe says.  Founders God Bless the nation…The natives with the Baker/Tisei signs are getting restless.
2;25 we are just about there. A vote will be taken soon after CB’s speech . But I have been swayed to vote for Christy because he at least says he honors Life, will veto Bathroom Bill honors the founders too. He’s got some backers making noise.

Former Lt Gov Kerry Healey…It’s been a long 4 years…higher taxes, closed door negotiations, still waiting for our property tax reduction …but the people had their say electing Scott Brown and she knows that Charley Baker will take Beacon Hill on.
That’s what good Republicans do.  They support their party. CB knows the private and public sector.
Time we need a strong fiscal conservative. Someone seconds the nomination.
Charley BakerB 53, Needham schools, Now Swampscott. Worked door and bar at Oxford Ale House in Cambridge, product of a mixed marriage, Mom D dad R. Thanks Mom and Dad for everything…if we ever needed 2 party gov it is right now.. Wife Lauren, 19,16, 12. We hope they will stay in Massachusetts. 4 more years of drift, tax hikes, one party gov leave because they have to. With small biz owners nothing is predictable. Went to BH cut taxes …they collectively shrugged shoulders…people who left went to New Hampshire. It’s not about the weather it’s about the taxes, fiscal, regulatory jobs climate.
Patrick wants to finish what he started. Boo-oo-oo!!! said the peanut gallery. Beacon Hill feeds the beast, that is, state government with our money. Spent $500M more than they took in, used rainy day fund before it even started to rain. Filled postions, jobs that had been vacant for 12 years and wanted to slap a fee on talking to someone at the registry.
This is what happens when one party rule runs amok on Beacon Hill. But we can fix this. After the Dukakis debacle…the Weld administration in 1998 cut taxes 27 times, unemployment fell from % 9 to % 3.
Do you want more patronage and insider jobs..?  Tim Cahill did not know how to reform state government…if one of these two insiders wins they will just back their truck up to the loading dock and feather their nest. Do you want 4 more years of taxing spending into oblivion? Sweetheart pensions and benefits?
The people stomp their feet and chant.. Charlie, Charlie , Charlie!

“I support rolling back both the income and sales tax to % 5. If they don’t have the money on the table they can’t spend it.” We must chase down the people who terrorize our neighborhoods. Very serious challenges…over 300 K out of work. Next governor will inherit a monstrous fiscal mess. I’ve walked into a mess before. If Beacon Hill just muddles its way through the next 4 years…we can’t let it happen. Baker’s acceptance speech closes to theme his song by the Drop Kick Murphys…works for me.

Closes with a soloist singing Amazing grace…Then God Bless America.

So, nothing said about someone running against Coakley… Why not Jain?…can we draft him? No, he doesn’t have a law degree.
Jain was thought not to qualify but pressed and found to be close enough to the required % 15.

On the way out I met Mary Connaughton and told her about COMFLM and Commonwealth Covenant Keepers.
Having both her and Jain campaigning until the primary will continue to shine light on the shenanigans on the Hill. Jain definitely has a future and should persevere.

On April 22 at a reception at the Union Club for Gerry Dembrowski for Congress, running for Ed Markey’s seat, Charlie Baker spoke highly of Dembrowski having known him since the early days of his campaign. Dembrowski returned the compliment and then some, revealing that when his wife died last February of metastatic bone cancer, Baker was the first to call and offer help.  This has clearly forged a strong bond between them that will be an asset to the Commonwealth.

To lighten the moment someone joked they are surprised every time they wake up to find the gold is still on the roof.


Chris Noonan Funnell

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Harridans of State - Op-Eds - Israel National News

Congress has its Nancy Pelosi and Netanyahu has his Hillary Rodham Clinton. These liberated women are suited and high heel shod as they stomp where no women have stomped before; beyond the pale, beyond what my grandmother called the pink limit.

Fellow Progressives would agree, Nancy wields a mean mallet. The huge hammer with a history has been
She took the mother of all mallets and pulverized that glass ceiling.
used before to decree the Welfare State is hereOut with the old and in with the new!

The grandmother who speaks with a little girl voice has taken buttonholing and arm twisting to a new level.

Third in line for the Presidency and according to Diane Sawyer the most powerful woman on the planet, Nancy, now seventy years old, plays hardball with the big boys. She took the mother of all mallets and pulverized that glass ceiling but unlike Hillary hardly got a hair out of place.

Nancy travels in style at great expense to the taxpayer. She even sends members of her family on private military flights burning her way through taxpayer dollars like there was no tomorrow.

In the tomorrow the Democrats just signed into being, our grandchildren will be standing in line for health, education and employment.  She-who-must-be-obeyed has just pulled off the equivalent of the Brinks Robbery (adjusted for inflation) on each of our grandchildren. They will stand in long lines for what we have taken for granted, behind hoards of illegals which the Progeressives plan to usher to the front of the line with a sweep of their pens and  slam of their gavels dispensing the get out of jail cards to lawbreakers whose vote they need to stay in office.

Who could resist those incentives to cross over the border?

Meanwhile, the IRS will have drilled into our offsprings lives so deep they will never know the giddy heights of freedom we American Dreamers once knew and frittered away watching TV when we should have been watching our wallets, borders and elected officials more closely.

While the ink was drying on the Health care Bill and Nancys cheeks glowed with the thrill of victory, opponents of the bill were painting a big red target on her back. www.FireNancyPelosi.com wants to make sure this is her last hurrah.

The second part of the one-two punch is winding up as Obama lines up illegal immigrants who will be enabled to keep Obamunism in perpetuity, erasing the fear that opponents will vote them out in November and landing
I am not alone in suspecting [Hillary] harangued Ariel Sharon into a coma.
a knock out punch on the American Way.

Meanwhile Hillary has other ideas though shes a bit out of the loop from her global travels. She, like her predecessor, Ms. Rice, who I am not alone in suspecting harangued Ariel Sharon into a coma, are enforcers  who need no battle axes. They have forcefully conveyed the bad news to Israel that her best friend, America, in the name of peace, has betrayed her and insists the tiny state hand over East Jerusalem to pacify Israels enemies.

All twenty two Arab states surrounding Israel, have contrived claims to the Land made Holy by the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the eternal capital city for His people.

Recently, while in Jerusalem, the bumbling veep, Joe Biden, stirred up a brouhaha about an Israeli announcement to build apartments in a Jerusalem suburb. How would Biden react if China suddenly pulled our loans and demanded we build no more new housing in America? only cinder block cells from now on, one per family!

Hillary had the chutzpah to make a 45 minute, blistering phone call to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding Israel show a serious commitment to the peace process the anti-Semites have mapped out, a path that leads to the annihilation of the Jewish State and people.

Thank G-d for Bibi who was able to withstand the Harridan of State , reminding Hillary Jerusalem is not a settlement. Not only is it non-negotiable land belonging to Jews, it is holy ground to Christians who maintain the inerrancy of the Bible. Not only will it not be relinquished by these believers, it is intended to be the political capital of Israel once more. However the history is too complicated for this column.   

The Jews giving up East Jerusalem makes about as much sense as Red Sox Nation giving up a quarter of Fenway Park to the New York Yankees.

 

 

 

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via israelnationalnews.com

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The Passion of Jesus Christ revisited

The Passion of the Christ movie

 

I came away from watching the movie “Passion” identifying more with Mary the mother of Jesus, than with Him or the hypocritical religious types, the Roman torturers, mocking crowds, or helpless disciples.

 

I’m not sure if this was because I’m a mother of sons or if it was a deflection, a dodge from the full message because it is just not de regeiur to be devastated in public. We Americans like to be under control so when emotions well up we quickly, unbeknownst to even ourselves, stifle them.  This film was about human frailty becoming a vessel for God’s passion for mankind.

 

 I liked the relationship it showed of Jesus to his mother. He drew strength from her in that very visible and tangible way moms interact with their children.  That earthy, lifelong bond that is understood by all but the most depraved torturers ( like those who took great pleasure in flaying Jesus’ body).  Probably they got that way, like Captain Hook in Peter Pan, for lack of a mommy.  Jesus’ relationship with his father in Heaven was only seen as it affected Jesus, at times he doubted his father’s plan but in the end yielded to it in a sublime trust we are asked to emulate.

 

If the very realistic and drawn out torment of Jesus didn’t get to you, then I bet the mother of Jesus mopping up his spilled blood did.  It would take a mom or a dad to do that, one that had lost all concern for what others thought of them.  One who was passionate about their child. Sometimes it is only our kids that awaken that passion in us.  Most can relate to the impulse to do anything for our kids.  That’s it…that’s what the Father was demonstrating through Jesus.  The passionate love a parent has for a child, with it, a person can conquer death.  Without it a person may be incapable of giving love or compassion.

When Mary went to Jesus as he carried his Cross he gained strength and explained “See I’m making all things New!”

 

The lost boys and girls who tormented Jesus, like those in Never Neverland were caught in eternal torment of selfishness themselves.  They had not matured to a point where they could put others first.

 

Parenthood when it’s done right has a way of causing your own priorities to take a back seat. That is why parents often come apart when they lose a child.  It goes against nature.

 

For Jesus and Mary and all of us, life requires a sublime trust in God’s plan.

 

 

Chris Noonan Funnell    2/28/04

 

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Lobby Day at the State House, Boston

Today was Lobby Day at the State House organized by opponents of the Bathroom Bill. If you have never gone to an event like this you really owe yourself and your progeny this attention to your government. 
On the same day The Health Insurance Bill(It is really not about health care)was signed into law, citizens in Massachusetts had to travel great distances to visit the Statehouse and plead with their reps to stop the "Bathroom Bill" which has been promoted by Transgender activists who want to allow anyone to use the bathroom or locker room of his or her choice, no matter what sex they are or appear to be. confused..?..join the club. This is the third time this issue has been brought to committee and like a battering ram they will keep at it until we send such a strong message the bill's promoters give up.
Now, no one wants to deny health care to those who need it. That is not the issue...it is all the hidden costs, backroom deals and incursion into our rights.
Here in Massachusetts this sort of forced health insurance is bankcrupting the state. It is a failed experiment and should not be applied on a national level.  Romney should come back and clean up the mess he made leaving us with Romneycare and same sex marriage. I would not trust him as president as he is a true flip flopper with no demonstrated commitment to Life or the sanctity of marriage.
The Bathroom Bill S1728 is really about erasing gender distinction, not civil rights as we already ave such laws on the books. Opponents of this bill are not homophobes and they are most concerned with the safety issue for the bulk of society who will be put in harms way by predators who will take advantage of this poorly written bill. Children in school will be forced to have unisex bathrooms and locker rooms. Have we all taken leave of our senses?
It is astounding that the statehouse entertains such proposals and wastes time and resources on ridiculous proposals like this.
I lay much of the blame at the door of media who have under reported and not alerted the public to the shenanigans.  This PC bias is killing journalism, like the White house, it has been taken over by radicals with a secular agenda.
Such responses as the Internet, blogs and TEA parties are changing the way we communicate and how we respond to things. Boston is Tea Party country and we ave a big one scheuled on the Common on April 14th with Sarah Palin. You can pick up your 'Don't Tread on Me' flag at Faneuil Hall Market Place for $9.99.
Check out the Greater Boston TEA Party for more info. If you have never been to Boston this would be a great time to come and participate in a historical movement.

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Comfort From America - Opinion - Israel National News

by Chris Noonan Funnell

Follow Israel opinion on

and

.

Many Christians in the US hear the cries of Israel, and stand with the people of Israel who have bought, with blood, sweat and tears, this strip of land covenanted to them through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and most recently returned to Israeli sovereignty by the conquest of 1967.

via israelnationalnews.com

I said it then and I say it now.

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The Collegiate Day of Prayer at Harvard

Collegiate Day of Prayer at Harvard 2010, February 25th
For the first time in a hundred years small band of prayer warriors gathered by the faithful Brazilian pastor, Edson Porto, met at 7 a.m. under the portico of Harvard University’s Memorial Church to mark The Collegiate Day of Prayer. It was cold and rainy with chill winds making our extremities numb by the end of an hour of  prayer, petition and proclamation outdoors
One student, Adam, had to go to class but the rest of us, representatives of 4 different local churches, went inside the majestic church in Harvard Yard where my husband and I were married thirty years before almost to the day.
In 2000 Edson called a prayer meeting there on our 20^th wedding anniversary and we felt we were part of this mission to see Harvard return to its Christian roots and purpose, to educate leaders for the church and government.
We entered the vestibule, took off our coats and walked into the light filled sanctuary with white walls and pews, raised dark pulpit and unseen in the narthex on the pipe organ someone was practicing lovely hymns reminding me of our wedding ceremony. We knelt, prayed, read from Isaiah 54, agreed to a proclamation, sang a new song and and an old one, Amazing Grace.
As we were about to leave we met a small group of students who were headed upstairs for a prayer meeting and they invited us to join them. Edson was elated seeing the significance of being invited to the”Upper Room”.
After more prayers and scripture reading we had to close but were again invited to a larger meeting that night at Harvard Hall which was attended by about 80 students.
There has been so much wind and rain in the area lately. March is coming in like a lion...soon comes the Lamb.

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Percy Jackson and the Olympians

What do the latest trends in Children's Literature have to do with what's going on in Vancouver BC?    
The downhill skiers taking the medals are setting the bar high. Lindsey Vonn who took the gold yesterday on a mountain of ice despite the pain of an injured shin has shown us how blonds have more fun....by strapping on the men's skis and going for it!
At the bottom of the mountain her mascara mingled slightly with tears of joy and gratitude for winning the prize she'd sacrificed so much to win. She skied with all her might and collapsed momentarily, taking in the moment and then searching for her husband and family who were all there to cheer her on and rejoice with her in victory.
The go for broke style of the Olympic stars like skier Linsey Vonn and snowboarder, Shaun White are a lesson to us all. Maybe we all can't ski downhill or pull corkskrews on the Half Pipe but we can aspire to that dedication and perseverance that marks a winner and take that winning attitude into our respective fields of endeavor.
Along with the trend to risky behavior in the sport culture whether it be on the downhill slopes or high above the Half Pipe or half-dressed on the pages of Sports Illustrated,
Olympians are taking chances and blazing new trails.  Average kids who may be less physically endowed who want to make their mark or receive notoriety may have to find their rewards in the virtual world or in the pages of a good novel. The popularity of the Harry Potter series which features broomstick-riding kids with magical powers has been followed up by another youthful protagonist, in the series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians.  Percy is diagnosed with ADHD like increasingly more kids today and in the story he finds out his mother mated with an Olympian resulting in his special status. Kids who have been put on Ritalin are eating up these books like candy and Hollywood has gotten on the bandwagon. A new series will draw heavily on Egyptology rather than the gods of Mount Olympus. We can surely ask ourselves at what point did we lose control of our children? When we could no longer self-identify as a Christian nation we started down the slippery slope. As we watch kids lose control going over icy patches and moguls we must as a nation take responsibility for the wreckage at the bottom of the hill.
  
SPEAKING of SLIPPERY SLOPES....
In 2004 the decision to allow Gay Marriage in Massachusetts was being debated in a blog on Boston.com.
I was asked as a conservative commentator to participate. I was working as Communications Director for Mass Family Institute at the time and could not continue due to conflict of interest issues.
http://www.boston.com/news/special/gay_marriage/blogs/chrisfunnell5.html

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