February - 2007 The Valley Patriot 15North Andover

HARDWAREMAIN STREET

North AndoverWinter Sled Sale!Winter Sled Sale!Winter Sled Sale!Winter Sled Sale!Winter Sled Sale!

*Heirloom wooden childs pull sled* All hardwood construction* Hand Crafted in Canada* Start a tradition, you’ll pass this sled down as a family treasure for generations to come

Single back support sled compareat $117 Our price now $49.99

Snow ScreamerFoam Sled

136 Main St. North Andover * (978) 683-4351 - * Special Seasonal Hours - Open Daily, 7-5:15 * Sunday 9:30 - 1pm

Ultralight foamconstruction with

“super slick”technology sliderbottom for FASTsledding action

Reg. $24.99

NOW $19.99

REG:$39.99 NOW:$24.99

The Hurricane

Double backsupport sledCompare at

$129.99Our Price

now $59.99

<---ALMOST 5 FEET--->

nothing since their leader; HarryHarutunian, resigned in disgrace last year.

In fact, some are even talking about usingthe findings of this audit to justify yetanother Proposition 2 1/2 Override because,of course, in order to fix the problem theyneed you to give them more and more ofyour hard-earned tax dollars.

Can you believe the gall?

The same people who are responsible forgetting the North Andover school systeminto this educational quagmire, the samepeople who rubber-stamped Harutunian’sbad education policies and fantasy budgetfigures, the very same people who viciouslyattacked Dr. Ormsby every time hequestioned the status quo, are now blamingDr. Ormsby instead of praising him forhaving it right all along.

Some are even talking about organizing arecall petition to get rid of the one guy whostands (and votes) alone when it comes tospending your tax money responsibly. Ifanyone needs to be recalled from the SchoolCommittee, it is Al Perry and Tim Pybus forgoing along with Harutunian’s three-yearcharade on the taxpayers and not doing theirjobs when his misdeeds were beingquestioned by Dr. Ormsby.

Paying Attention!(prestando attencione!)

with Tom Duggan

Audit Shows School Committee IncompetenceMaybe the North Andover School

Committee really isn’t incompetent.Perhaps it is completely capable of runningthe schools efficiently and just refuses todo so.

Whatever the case, an education auditreleased last month on the condition of theNorth Andover school system showed thatthe schools were deficient in complyingwith No Child Left Behind standards.Auditors also outlined lack of leadership,lack of communication, lack of evaluationsof teachers and administrators (all of whomgot hefty raises), failure to comply withcontracts and a failure to have district-wide(or school-based) education standards.

The audit further showed that the heftyraises and bonuses the School Committeegave to Superintendent Harry Harutunianwere given illegally because state law (andhis contract) called for a public evaluationof the superintendent. Under the“leadership” of Al Perry and Dan Murphy,this never took place in the Kremlin-likesecret environment of those HarryHarutunian days.

Remember when Superintendent HarryHarutunian was getting his spendingproposals rubber-stamped by Al Perry, TimPybus, Dan Murphy and the go-along-to-get-along crowd on the School Committee?It was Dr. Chuck Ormsby who wasquestioning the lack of standards andvoting against those hefty raises.

And when Harutunian’s puppet SchoolCommittee went to the voters time and againto beg for more money to spend on fantasybudget figures, it was Dr. Ormsby who

opposed his colleagues. He continuallystressed that school dollars need to bespent more wisely, reforms need to beimplemented and standards must be raisedbefore the committee could possibly ask thetaxpayers for one more dollar.

Remember how Dr. Ormsby waspersonally attacked, had his integrityquestioned and was ridiculed by fellowcommittee members who ganged up on him,opposing every reform or improvement hetried to put into place? It was Dr. Ormsby,back then, who tried to expose haphazardspending. He tried to work with a SchoolCommittee obsessed with throwing moneyat the problem, while doing very little aboutstudent achievement.

What’s more, Dr. Chuck opposedextravagant union raises and contracts thatdid not contain benchmarks forachievement. He voted against budgets thatwere not balanced and fought for an increasein AP classes, all while Al Perry, Dan Murphyand the rest of the ostriches on thecommittee were hell-bent on defendingHarutunian’s budgets and his never endingsupport for experimental programs (can yousay Every Day Math?).

It was the current School Committeemembers (add Dan Murphy) who failed theschool children of North Andover. Not onlydid School Committee members refuse to

question spending under Harutunian, theymade it difficult if not impossible for Dr.Chuck or anyone else to criticize the wayHarutunian was running the school systeminto the ground. Plain and simple, the NorthAndover School Committee didn’t do its joband made it nearly impossible for Dr. Ormsbyto do his.

Finally, after years of enduring amisinformation campaign against him, theindependent education audit has vindicatedDr. Charles Ormsby. But you would neverknow it to hear the new spin coming fromthe very same School Committee membersand “school advocates” who got us intothis mess.

To hear them tell the story, the reasonthis education audit showed so manyproblems in the schools is because of Dr.Ormsby and his questioning and oppositionto excessive school funding. This, eventhough his minority points of view had littleeffect on changing committee votes andpolicy.

Once again, the big spenders want toirresponsibly shift the blame and throweven MORE money at the problem, eventhough none of the standards orevaluations called for in the education audithave even begun. It seems this spend-all-you-can School Committee has learned

Licciardello Lashes Out...Respectfully

Tom Duggan is the president of ValleyPatriot, Inc., a former Lawrence SchoolCommitteeman, and hosts the PayingAttention! Radio Program on WCAP,980AM, every Saturday afternoon fromnoon-2pm. You can email your commentsto Tdugjr@aol.com

NORTH ANDOVER - At a recent meeting of the Board ofSelectmen, where the town’s capital improvement plan wasbeing discussed, tax and spend “school advocate” CindyJalbert stood before the board whining about how the townneeds a Prop. 2 1/2 Override and how her Committee onCapital Planning was not being included in the process ofthe capital improvement plan.

Selectman Tom Licciardello, so frustrated with Jalbert’snonsensical rhetoric, took a few minutes to address themisinformation she was giving the public. “It is amazinghow many obstructions people will throw in front of anattempt to make forward progress,” Licciardello said. “Tohave a plan brought forward, to have it open for discussion,does not mean a final decision was made … . So, I have tosay Cindy, I get a little frustrated when I hear peopleimmediately begin to throw up roadblocks, because, ‘well,you didn’t talk to me personally about this.’ ”

Jalbert continued to whine, cutting off the selectman.“We want to be in on the ground floor before you doanything with your buildings,” she charged. “You don’tthink it would have been appropriate to let the SchoolCommittee know you were presenting a five year plan ... .”

At that point Licciardello had had enough. “Look, Cindy,I have answered your question. I really do not want to hear

the questions asked again five times. We have a busyagenda and I would like to move forward.”

Jalbert continued to insult and interrupt the meeting: “Ifind it funny to watch Tom Licciardello stand there and sayto the school department a few months ago ‘kill FosterFarm, the town will never go for it,’ and then watch him twoweeks ago say ‘this town will stand behind an override forthe schools.’ Well, I’m sorry I find it a little contradictory towatch you do that, Tom!”

“Let me explain this one last time,” a respectful butobviously flustered Selectman Licciardello responded.“My position has not changed on that one bit, and let meexplain it loud and clear. A plan that the citizens of thistown won’t support based upon projections that areinaccurate is very different from a well-thought-out planbased on good solid planning and supported by all of theboards. That’s the kind of thing I think the people in thistown have been crying for. Show us a good, well-thought-out plan and we will support it. But, I am so glad you raisedthis issue because one of the things I have been gettingfrustrated about is that some people think the people ofNorth Andover don’t care about our children because wedon’t spend enough in our school department. I would liketo - at long last - have that notion dispelled.”

“I keep hearing how we don’t spend at the state average(for schools). I asked the town manager to do a little workon that and what we found, in fact, was that there are a fewdifferent pieces to look at when you fund education. Oneof the pieces is the foundation budget, that is, what thetown spends from the tax dollars it raises. That means netof Chapter 70 (what the state gives us), our spending inNorth Andover, minus Chapter 70, is $7,468 (per pupil).The state average is $6,018; that’s 24% higher than thestate average.”

“The difficulty is that the Chapter 70 money we receivefrom the state is significantly lower. So if anyone here wouldlike to yell at people who are not spending enough moneyon the children, don’t do it to the good folks in NorthAndover who are spending 24% more, whose family taxrate is 44.7% higher than the state average. Call your repre-sentatives at The State House and say, ‘where’s themoney?’ ”

“Where’s the money for those programs that you havedemanded that we have? Where’s the money for the specialneeds programs you demanded we have? Where’s themoney for the transportation programs you say we musthave? Why won’t you let us join the GIC health insuranceprogram? Why do we have to have the prevailing wageprogram that makes us spend 300% more to fix a roof onone of our schools than if we had an average contractorcome in and do? Those are the people you ought to beyelling at! I am quite frustrated at hearing how the peopleof North Andover don’t care about their kids. It’s not thetruth. And I will submit to you that I believe if we do ourplanning correctly, if we show the people of this town thatwe can manage in a fiscally responsible way, and we canplan so we are doing the right thing for the town, absolutelythey will support an override. I have people coming up tome every day from both sides of the political spectrumsaying to me, ‘prove to me your doing the right job and Iwill pull out my check book any day.’ ”

“We have a perception problem we have to fix, and oneof the ways to do that is to stop telling people what aterrible job we are doing. We’re not doing a terrible job inour schools and we are not doing a terrible job on themunicipal side.”

Editor’s note: AMEN

Caught in the Act!

Methuen City Councilor Debbie Quinn and Lowell residentSteve Deschene of Lowell took along their copy of lastmonth’s edition of the Valley Patriot when they went onvacation to Naples Beach, Florida. If you would like tosend us a picture of The Valley Patriot on your vacation (it’sa great read on the plane) send it to valleypatriot@aol.com

Mayor Sullivan Gives Key to the City to SullyErna from Godsmack

Mayor Sullivan Gives Key to the City to SullyErna from Godsmack

Lawrence native Sully Erna (below left) from the rockband Godsmack, retuned to Lawrence last month to acceptthe key to the city from Lawrence Mayor Sullivan (seestory page 8.) Erna talks to Mayor Sullivan’s two sonsCasey, Michael, and nephew Tim Sullivan (middle picturebelow) from the band Anna Fair. Erna’s daughter Skyleruses a giant pencil to give Sullivan her autograph (picturedbelow right). At right, Giuseppi & Miguel DiMarca posefor a picture with Erna in Mayor Sullivan’s Office.

She will RememberShe will RememberShe will RememberShe will RememberShe will RememberGet Your Valentine a Gift BasketGet Your Valentine a Gift BasketGet Your Valentine a Gift BasketGet Your Valentine a Gift BasketGet Your Valentine a Gift Basket

She will RememberShe will RememberShe will RememberShe will RememberShe will RememberGet Your Valentine a Gift BasketGet Your Valentine a Gift BasketGet Your Valentine a Gift BasketGet Your Valentine a Gift BasketGet Your Valentine a Gift Basket

Valley Patriot Visits Naples Beach Florida

Lawrence state Representative Willie Lantigua,former Lawrence Mayor Kevin Sullivan (brother ofcurrent mayor Mike Sul l ivan), and LawrencePlanning Director Michael Sweeney recently gottogether at Bali’s Restaurant on Essex Street todiscuss political strategy for the upcoming LawrenceCity Council race.

40 Hampshire St. Methuen MA 01844

www.TaraMichaelBaskets.comwww.TaraMichaelBaskets.com

Call 978-682-6801 or 978-682-9783Free Delivery in the Merrimack Valley with Orders over $35

WE WANT YOUWE WANT YOUWE WANT YOUWE WANT YOUWE WANT YOUWE WANT YOU!WE WANT YOU!WE WANT YOU!WE WANT YOU!WE WANT YOU!

FIRST CHOICE CREDIT UNIONFIRST CHOICE CREDIT UNIONFIRST CHOICE CREDIT UNIONFIRST CHOICE CREDIT UNIONFIRST CHOICE CREDIT UNION

has expanded its membership and youhas expanded its membership and youhas expanded its membership and youhas expanded its membership and youhas expanded its membership and youmay be eligible to join our familymay be eligible to join our familymay be eligible to join our familymay be eligible to join our familymay be eligible to join our family

If you work or live within Essex County and you areemployed for any of the following: Gas, Oil & PropaneCompanies, Electric Companies or CommunicationCompanies, Or if you are a family member of anyonewho is employed by these entities YOU are eligible jointhe credit union.

“Family members” is defined as; spouses, children, siblings, brothers, sisters,parents, grandchildren, grandparents, stepchildren, stepbrothers, stepsisters,stepparents, sister-in-laws, brother-in-laws, mother-in-laws, father-in-laws, daughter-in-laws, son-in-laws, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, and any person whomaintains his or her principal residence in the same houshold with a member.

take advantage of our great lowtake advantage of our great lowtake advantage of our great lowtake advantage of our great lowtake advantage of our great lowrates by callingrates by callingrates by callingrates by callingrates by calling

(978) 687-1105 ext. 4259 or 4298(978) 687-1105 ext. 4259 or 4298(978) 687-1105 ext. 4259 or 4298(978) 687-1105 ext. 4259 or 4298(978) 687-1105 ext. 4259 or 4298

TO JOIN OUR MEMBERSHIPTO JOIN OUR MEMBERSHIPTO JOIN OUR MEMBERSHIPTO JOIN OUR MEMBERSHIPTO JOIN OUR MEMBERSHIPTO JOIN OUR MEMBERSHIPTO JOIN OUR MEMBERSHIPTO JOIN OUR MEMBERSHIPTO JOIN OUR MEMBERSHIPTO JOIN OUR MEMBERSHIP

Come visit Sal’s newest conceptOur new 300 seat authentic family Italian Restaurant offers cafeteriastyle luncheons and casual-elegant evening dining; with panoramicoutdoor riverside seating available. Executive Chef AntonioVeneziano from the Amalfi Coast in Italy has created a menu thatchallenges any Italian Restaurant in New England.

Come visit Sal’s newest concept

Function rooms available for parties of10-400 with family style or buffet style meals.

*10% OFFany entree*10% OFF

any entree

*During dinner hours Sun-Sat 4 p.m.- close, not to be combined with other offersExpires February 28, 2007

10% off any entree, good only at Sal’s Pizza and Italian Restaurant

354 Merrimack Street, Lawrence, MA(978) 291-0220

Riverwalk Mills in Lawrence …Exit 44 off Route 495

Sal’s Pizza and Italian RestaurantConference and Function Facility

Hi, I’m Errin LivingstonHi, I’m Errin LivingstonI’m a member ofTeam Zingales

Please see our ad on Page 10

I’m a member ofTeam Zingales

360 Merrimack Street, Bldg. #5 in Lawrence

On Thursday, January 18, over 100people joined host Robert D. Ansin,owner of Monarch on the Merrimack,and Sr. Mary Murphy, SNDdeN,President of Notre Dame High School,to celebrate Making History, anevent to inaugurate the school’sexpansion plan.

The event took place at the formerWood Mill in Lawrence, now renamedMonarch on the Merrimack.

Ansin, whose companyMassInnovation, LLC is converting thebuilding into lofts and a riverfront park,told the crowd that “the creative,innovative work that Notre Dame HighSchool is doing is something that I sup-port. It’s time for all of us to help them.”

Capital Campaign Chair Thomas F.Caffrey, Esq. noted the rapid growthof the school and described the needto renovate its hundred-year-old facil-ity. Sr. Mary Murphy, SNDdeN, Presi-dent of Notre Dame High School, talked

about the presence of the Sisters ofNotre Dame in Lawrence since 1859and the many contributions made bythem to the Merrimack Valley. She wenton to describe the early successes ofNDHS and the school’s plans forgrowth.

NDHS, an innovative Catholic highschool for economically disadvantagedyouth, provides its students with acollege-preparatory curriculum alongwith the opportunity to earn 70% oftheir tuition and gain invaluable job ex-perience through its Corporate Intern-ship Program (CIP). The CIP placesstudents in entry-level clerical positionswith such partners as Putnam Invest-ments, TDBanknorth, Raytheon, theLahey Clinic, Caritas Holy FamilyHospital, Verizon Wireless, SBLI, andthe University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

Bob Ansin (right), owner of Monarch on the Merrimackand community chair for the capital campaign, speaks withSenator Susan Tucker and Sr. Maryalyce Gilfeather,SNDdeN

Notre Dame Academy MAKING HISTORY!

For more information about Notre DameHigh School, please contact Mark Reimerat 978-689-8222, ext. 14, ormreimer@ndhslaw.org.

18 The Valley Patriot February - 2007

makes them attractive to men as potential wives, mothers,and glue of the community. However, it is a two-edgedsword. The first woman in Eden needed to personallyexperience the forbidden fruit in order to understand itsvalue. Adam, who should have utilized his power of reasonand objectivity to stop her, gave in. Theologians call himthe “first wimp.” The more men rely on personal experienceand emotion to discern truth and define reality, the more webecome a society of wimps. What the annual Walk for Lifein Washington, D.C. showed us on January 22nd was thatthere is hope for a non-wimpish future. Experience as wellas reason moved many young people, tens of thousandsof them, on that bitterly cold day, to stand up for truthdespite the gods of egalitarianism, androgyny, andrelativism of the religion of secular humanism. Many womenheld up signs stating, “I Regret My Abortion.” They aremembers of the “Silent No More Awareness Campaign” ofwomen who have had abortions. Young men braved thecold to stand up for those who have no voice of their own,simply because it was the right thing to do. And, bothyoung men and women under 34, realizing they aresurvivors of the abortion-age, exercised their obligation tospeak out.

One third of their peers were not so lucky. It was a timeto show that legalized abortion produces broken women,missing children, and a weakened nation. It was a time tocelebrate life and mourn all those who lost theirs beforebirth. It was a time for men, called to love and protectwomen and children by nature, to speak out againstinjustice despite how unpopular it might be. On January22nd real men stood up with broken women who hadabortions and others who respect the sanctity of humanlife, to proclaim proudly and courageously together: Wemust be silent no more.

National

Democrat Keith Ellison is now officiallythe first Muslim United Statescongressman. True to his pledge, he placedhis hand on the Quran, the Muslim book ofjihad and pledged his allegiance to theUnited States during his ceremonialswearing-in.

Capitol Hill staff said Ellison’s swearing-in photo opportunity drew more media thanthey had ever seen in the history of the U.S.House. Ellison represents the 5thCongressional District of Minnesota. Itonce belonged to Thomas Jefferson, thirdpresident of the United States and one ofAmerica’s founding fathers. Ellisonborrowed it from the Rare Book Section ofthe Library of Congress. It was one of the6,500 Jefferson books archived in the library.

Ellison, who was born in Detroit andconverted to Islam while in college, said hechose to use Jefferson’s Quran because itshowed that “a visionary like Jefferson”believed that wisdom could be gleaned frommany sources.There is no doubt Ellison wasright about Jefferson believing wisdomcould be “gleaned” from the Muslim Quran.At the time Jefferson owned the book, heneeded to know everything possible aboutMuslims because he was about to advocatewar against the Islamic “ Barbary” states ofMorocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Tripoli.

Ellison’s use of Jefferson’s Quran as aprop illuminates a subject once well-knownin the history of the United States, but,which today, is mostly forgotten - theMuslim pirate slavers who over manycenturies enslaved millions of Africans andtens of thousands of Christian Europeansand Americans in the Islamic “Barbary”states. Over the course of 10 centuries,Muslim pirates cruised the African andMediterranean coastline, pillaging villagesand seizing slaves.

The taking of slaves in pre-dawn raids onunsuspecting coastal villages had a high

What Thomas Jefferson Learned from theMuslim Book of Jihad

Ted Sampley, U.S. Veteran Dispatch

casualty rate. It was typical of Muslimraiders to kill off as many of the “non-Muslim” older men and women as possibleso the preferred “booty” of only youngwomen and children could be collected.Young non-Muslim women were targetedbecause of their value as concubines inIslamic markets. Islamic law provides for thesexual interests of Muslim men by allowingthem to take as many as four wives at onetime and to have as many concubines astheir fortunes allow.

Boys, as young as 9 or 10 years old, wereoften mutilated to create eunuchs whowould bring higher prices in the slavemarkets of the Middle East. Muslim slavetraders created “eunuch stations” alongmajor African slave routes so the necessarysurgery could be performed. It wasestimated that only a small number of theboys subjected to the mutilation survivedafter the surgery.

When American colonists rebelledagainst British rule in 1776, Americanmerchant ships lost Royal Navy protection.With no American Navy for protection,American ships were attacked and theirChristian crews enslaved by Muslim piratesoperating under the control of the “Dey ofAlgiers”—an Islamist warlord ruling Algeria.

Because American commerce in theMediterranean was being destroyed by thepirates, the Continental Congress agreed in1784 to negotiate treaties with the fourBarbary States. Congress appointed aspecial commission consisting of JohnAdams, Thomas Jefferson, and BenjaminFranklin, to oversee the negotiations.Lacking the ability to protect its merchantships in the Mediterranean , the new

America government tried to appease theMuslim slavers by agreeing to pay tributeand ransoms in order to retrieve seizedAmerican ships and buy the freedom ofenslaved sailors.

Adams argued in favor of paying tributeas the cheapest way to get Americancommerce in the Mediterranean movingagain. Jefferson was opposed. He believedthere would be no end to the demands fortribute and wanted matters settled “throughthe medium of war.” He proposed a leagueof trading nations to force an end to Muslimpiracy.

In 1786, Jefferson, then the Americanambassador to France, and Adams, then theAmerican ambassador to Britain, met inLondon with Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja,the “Dey of Algiers” ambassador to Britain.The Americans wanted to negotiate a peacetreaty based on Congress’ vote to appease.During the meeting Jefferson and Adamsasked the Dey’s ambassador why Muslimsheld so much hostility towards America, anation with which they had no previouscontacts.

In a later meeting with the AmericanCongress, the two future presidentsreported that Ambassador Sidi Haji AbdulRahman Adja had answered that Islam “wasfounded on the Laws of their Prophet, thatit was written in their Quran, that allnations who should not have acknowledgedtheir authority were sinners, that it wastheir right and duty to make war upon themwherever they could be found, and to makeslaves of all they could take as Prisoners,and that every Musselman (Muslim) whoshould be slain in Battle was sure to go toParadise.”

For the following 15 years, the Americangovernment paid the Muslims millions ofdollars for the safe passage of Americanships or the return of American hostages.The payments in ransom and tributeamounted to 20 percent of United Statesgovernment annual revenues in 1800.

Not long after Jefferson ‘s inaugurationas president in 1801, he dispatched a groupof frigates to defend American interests inthe Mediterranean, and informed Congress.Declaring that America was going to spend“millions for defense but not one cent fortribute,” Jefferson pressed the issue bydeploying American Marines and many ofAmerica’s best warships to the MuslimBarbary Coast. The USS Constitution, USSConstellation, USS Philadelphia, USSChesapeake, USS Argus, USS Syren andUSS Intrepid all saw action. In 1805,American Marines marched across thedessert from Egypt into Tripolitania , forcingthe surrender of Tripoli and the freeing ofall American slaves.

During the Jefferson administration, theMuslim Barbary States, crumbling as a resultof intense American naval bombardment andon shore raids by Marines, finally officiallyagreed to abandon slavery and piracy.Jefferson’s victory over the Muslims liveson today in the Marine Hymn, with the line,“From the halls of Montezuma to the shoresof Tripoli, we will fight our country’s battleson the land as on the sea.”

It wasn’t until 1815 that the problem wasfully settled by the total defeat of all theMuslim slave trading pirates.

Jefferson had been right. The “mediumof war” was the only way to put and end tothe Muslim problem. Mr. Ellison was rightabout Jefferson. He was a “visionary” wiseenough to read and learn about the enemyfrom their own Muslim book of jihad.

The 34th annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. onJanuary 22nd, gathering tens of thousands from aroundthe country, remained under the radar. The mainstreammedia, once again, refused to cover it.

Why?

The journalistic arm of the cultural left sees abortion asthe necessary back-up for the fornication culture it createdupon the birth control pill. This march symbolizedblasphemy against the religion of secular humanism andits four-decades-old culture of death, where the gods ofequality (translated as sameness) and relativism reign. Inthis post-Christian religion, women are masculinized andmen feminized. With the feminization of thought, personalexperience and emotion displace objectivity and reason.Taken to the extreme, nothing is real unless it is experiencedand felt.

If truth and goodness are purely subjective, we createour reality rather than discover it. Here is the crux of ourcurrent culture war: Is truth and morality created by us or isit to be discovered and conformed to?

The former is the religion of secular humanism, the latterChristianity. The former has man as its center and ultimateauthority, the latter has God. This intellectual path awayfrom ethical monotheism and natural law can look enticing:we can re-create reality simply by manipulating the languageand convincing enough people. That’s a lot of power. Ifwe don’t like the definition of marriage, redefine it. If humanbeings become burdensome, redefine them to give us roomfor abortion and euthanasia.

Such self-deception, however, always leads to death. Thebiblical principle that lies lead to death can not be deniedfor very long. The war in Iraq is a legitimate concern, but

The March for Life was a March for Truth

the media and intelligentsia of this country have refused torecognize a gruesome war ongoing since January 22, 1973.

The late Mother Teresa once said: If mothers are killingtheir own children by abortion, how can we possibly askother people to stop killing each other? By making pre-birth homicide a legal choice we have declared war on God;and since that declaration 60 million of us, 1.5 million peryear, 4400 per day, every single day in this country, havebeen sacrificed to the gods of the religion of the culturalleft. I asked a female friend who is pro-life why, in a worldthat one-third of us under 34 years old are missing due toabortion, there’s so little alarm or outrage. She mentionedit’s because people need a face. She admitted that withmost people “unless there is a name and a face, it doesn’tbecome part of their personal experience. It isn’t real tothem.”

The irony is that this feminine psyche expressed aboveis what makes women beautiful. The focus on personalexperience, relationships, and emotional responses are what

Young women take a break at the 2007 March for Life

Paul Murano

To Contact Paul Murano email him at PJDM@aol.com

February - 2007 The Valley Patriot 19

Critics say the policy is unfairto green-card holders who mayneed to visit a dying relative,attend a funeral or tend to someother emergency. That’s a validconcern.

They also claim that thosereturning to countries wherepolitical conditions have

changed, and where their chances of beingpersecuted have evaporated, should not bepenalized. That’s also a valid point.

Yet U.S. government officials told TheMiami Herald that those who return homebecause of emergencies or changed politicalconditions would not be affected by thenew crackdown. Officials say they are afterthose who are obviously abusing thesystem by frequently traveling to countrieswhere the political conditions have notchanged, making it clear that their claimedfear of persecution was a fraud.

These asylum seekers, who come frommany countries where some people areactually persecuted, were really economicrefugees pretending to have politicalmotives for coming here.

And there are plenty of them. The“tourists” who go back to vacation incountries where they were allegedlypersecuted are a much larger group thanthose who have genuine emergencyreasons to return.

Some go back to their hometowns to boastabout the wealth they have acquired in theUnited States. Some even make a businessout of it — flying back and forth as “mules”carrying either cash or goods to resell intheir own countries.

Of course, there are thousands of politicalrefugees who do deserve to be here. Thoseare the ones who have proven that theirfear of persecution was legitimate by stayingaway from the countries and the people theylove - even after becoming American citizens.

But those who came under falsepretenses, those who lied about a fear thatnever existed, deserve the new policy.

For making a mockery of an asylumsystem that is meant to save lives, and tomake room for those who really deservepolitical asylum, they need to be stopped.

National

WheelAlignment

157 So. Broadway, Lawrence

OFF

(978) 687-1155

OPEN Mon. - Fri. 7:30 - 5:00

$10.004 Wheel Alignment Extra

OFFWe Do InspectionStickers!

LUBE, OIL & FILTER SPECIAL

$10.00Up to 5 qts. of Oil 10W30

Major Credit Cards &Personal Checks Accepted

A AA

What sort of person is Jimmy Carter?

Why did he run from a debate with AlanDershowitz at Brandeis?

Why did Jimmy Carter damn the Jews witha book full of deceit and lies?

Here are three lies from his recent Globeop-ed:

* Carter condemns the enormous wall thatsnakes through the West Bank. The wall ismostly fencing, and while not a perfectsolution, is credited even by Palestinianswith stopping suicide murderers.

* Contrary to Carter ’s statements,Palestinians are deprived of the necessitiesof life because Yassir Arafat stole nearly abillion dollars in foreign aid, and Hamaswon¹t renounce violence, recognize Israeland thus qualify for international aid.

* Carter says Hamas would negotiate withIsrael, but they’d likely negotiate a truce,not peace, so they can enlarge their arsenalsand kill more Jews later. And now comes thenews -from Professor Konner at EmoryUniversity – who says Carter’s book OK’sthe murder of Jews until Israel accedes toCarter’s prescriptions. Read this sentencecarefully:

“It is imperative that the general Arabcommunity and all significant Palestiniangroups make it clear that they will end thesuicide bombings and other acts of terrorismwhen international laws and the ultimategoals of the Roadmap for Peace are acceptedby Israel.”(See Konner’s full analysis atwww.davidproject.org.)

Is a former president of the United Statescalling for the murder of Jewish children?

None of this should be too surprising.Carter has been accused by a former aide ofdramatically misrepresenting meetings at

which others were present taking notes. Hehas been accused by a former peacenegotiator of taking maps withoutpermission, and making changes thatmisrepresent historical facts.

Alan Dershowitz and Rachel Ehrenfeldnow point out that Carter has long actedlike a check-cashing employee of the ArabLobby.

The Carter Center has taken tens ofmillions of dollars from Saudi royalty andM.E. sultans, says Dershowitz. Not a peepabout the despotism of these benefactorsfrom this man so concerned with humanrights. Carter¹s failing peanut farm tookloans from the corrupt Pakistani Bank ofCredit and Commerce International (BCCI).

Then he took half a million dollars fromShiek Zayed, founder of the Arab Leaguethink tank, the Zayed Center, which wasclosed after Boston student activist RachelFish lobbied Harvard to return Zayed’s$2.5M gift.

Fish showed Harvard that Zayed’s Centerhosted anti-American and anti-Semiticspeakers.

Little wonder that Carter raised funds forthe PLO, certified corrupt Palestinianelections, shills for Hamas, and defames theJewish state and its supporters.

After his failing peanut farm was bailedout by the corrupt Pakistani bank – BCCI ina shady deal involving Saudi money, Cartertold the American people, There has notbeen any nation more cooperative thanSaudi Arabia. Now here’s a real case of dualloyalty. This is a national scandal.

Why Carter Attacks the JewsCharles Jacobs, The David Project

Wednesday Feb. 28th at 7pm.Our Lady of Good Counsel Schools, Judson Hall.

Guests speakers to include the Police Chief,Fire Chief, representatives from the DPW.

“Interactive Neighborhoods are Safer Neighborhoods”

For more information contact THNA President,Nick Kolofoles at 978-688-3705.

ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND

Immigrants who obtainedgreen cards after entering theUnited States through politicalasylum now run the risk of los-ing that privilege if they returnto the countries where theyclaimed they were persecuted,according to a warning postedon a federal government Website.

The measure is long overdue!

For too long, too many immigrants havemade a mockery of the political asylumsystem.

While many who truly deserve asylumare not getting it, others are exploiting U.S.compassion for the “huddled massesyearning to breathe free.”

Immediately after receiving a green card,they turn around and return to theirhomelands as tourists — although theyclaimed to have a “well-founded fear ofpersecution” upon returning. If they go backhome so quickly, then obviously their greencards were obtained through fraudulentclaims, and their permits to remain hereshould be revoked.

Since they no longer fear traveling to theircountry of origin; when they go home, theyshould not be allowed to return.

And that’s exactly what may now happento fraudulent asylum seekers.

The warning came in the form of a “factsheet” posted in late December on the U.S.Citizenship and Immigration Services Website. While those who truly fear persecutionin their homelands would not dare returnanyway, the warning will undoubtedly deterothers from abusing the system.

Although the warning is based onlongstanding laws and regulations, thepolicy of enforcing them is new. Legal U.S.residents who obtained their green cardsthrough political asylum had never beengiven such a warning.

The new policy has immigration attorneysand some immigrants very concerned. Someare even outraged by the warning.

Why? Because for attorneys, the busi-ness of representing asylum seekers maydwindle. For fraudulent political refugees,there will be a price to pay for cutting infront of the immigration line. If they come inunder asylum, they will have to wait a fewyears — until they become Americancitizens — to be eligible to return home.

“Immigrants” Faked Fear ofPersecution is Asylum Fraud

To find out more about Miguel Perez,and read features by other CreatorsSyndicate writers and cartoonists, visitthe Creators Syndicate Web page atwww.creators.com.

Miguel Perez

For background pieces on Carterand his finances, go towww.davidproject.org

Tower Hill NeighborhoodAssociation February meeting

20 The Valley Patriot February - 2007

Volunteers Send MedicalEquipment Around the World

Around the Valley

For North Andover resident Al Movsesian, volunteeringa day of his time at the old Lucent Technologies buildingon Rt. 125 is a labor of love.

With 150,000 square feet of warehouse space madeavailable by Orit Goldstein, Movsesian and dozens of othervolunteers for the International Medical EquipmentCollaborative or IMEC (a 13-year-old non-profitorganization) collect donated (mostly used) medicalsupplies and equipment from area hospitals, test and fixthe equipment, then package and ship the supplies toimpoverished hospitals and clinics in underdevelopedcountries around the world.

IMEC is the brainchild of former hospital administratorTom Keefe, a Haverhill native who left his full-time job torun the non-profit after seeing the “dire need” of hospitalpatients around the world. “You go to other countries andyou see that they do not even have basic hospital needs,like sutures, heart monitoring machines or incubators,”Keefe says. “Our goal is to get donated medical equipmentin this country and supply an entire hospital overseas.”

Keefe estimates that 55-70 40-foot containers full ofmedical equipment are shipped each year to hospitals andclinics in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and South andCentral America.

As Keefe walked through the warehouse at the old Lucentsite, he showed us the millions of dollars of equipmentwaiting to be inspected and shipped.

Specialty items like baby monitors, heart monitors,incubators, IV machines, respirators, tables, chairs andhundreds of other supplies needed to furbish and maintaina hospital or clinic.

“One of the first things we wanted to do,” Keefe says,“was to make sure that the equipment we were going toship overseas would not be diverted to corrupt governmentofficials or sold on the black market. So we make sure wehave someone at each location to follow the suppliestowhere they are needed, like the Oncology Hospital inYerevan, Armenia.”

Keefe says that through “shepherding organizations”like the Knights of Vartan, Rotary Club, the Seventh DayAdventists, and other non-profits, all the customspaperwork is filled out exactly as the host country requires.The non-profit shepherding organizations then follow theequipment through the lengthy process of shipping thecontainers overseas and that the customs of the hostcountry are respected.

As just one example, the Knights of Vartan have shippedfour 40-foot containers of equipment in the last couple ofyears, packaged by IMEC and the volunteers in NorthAndover, to Armenia. That’s twenty pallets of supplies andequipment per container which were shipped to the CentralOncology Science Center and Hospital in Yerevan. Keefehimself has been to Armenia, evaluating its needs, takingstock of inventory and overseeing the installation of themedical equipment.

Since IMEC does not use government funds, anddepends on the charity of non-profits and others, Keefesays that what they need most is not donations but morevolunteers with specialized medical and technicalknowledge to test equipment, as well as those willingtohelp package and ship the containers.

“What we really need most are volunteers, bodies, weneed bodies to help us package and ship these materials,”Keefe says. We have been blessed to have so many goodpeople give of their time, and we are even more blessedthat companies like UPS, Timberland and Phillips lend ussome of their workers to help, but we always need more.”

“What we try to do is provide medical equipment thatdoctors in hospitals and clinics around the word tell usthey need. But it isn’t just specialized medical equipment,some hospitals don’t even have a computer, or desks, orexam tables - simple things we take for granted in thiscountry. So we send them what they need.”

A map of the world in Keefe’s conference room at Lucenthas 70 colored flags pinned to it, each representing acountry IMEC has delivered one or more containers full ofmedical supplies to a needy hospital or clinic.Forinformation or to volunteer, you can contact IMEC at 978-557-5510 ext. 316, or visit the Web site atwww.imecamerica.org.

I’m a member of Team Zingales

Hi, I’m Betty Tavares

We’ve MOVED! to 360 Merrimack Street, Building #5 in Lawrence

Please see our ad on Page 10

February - 2007 The Valley Patriot 21

previously known or realized. Hmm. You are intrigued bythe second definition - “a dramatic disclosure ... .”

Within the film you hear inspiring language, such as:

“What happened here was so successful and soprofitable that it convinced young America to pursue acourse of industrialization ... Lowell is America’s first greatindustrial city ... The city is a revelation to all who see it.Indeed, American technology is to reach new heights in19th century Lowell.

The city is transformed into a huge laboratory forexperiments in waterpower, engineering, textile chemistry,and machine design.”

Of course you are familiar with this story and have heardsimilar language, but what you really loved about thisbreathless prose was the opening phrase of the lastsentence, “The city is transformed into a huge laboratory... ,” repeat, “laboratory.” And a laboratory for what, youask yourself rhetorically? Well, like it said, “experiments inwater power, engineering, textile chemistry, and machinedesign.” This gives you pause, and you wonder, are suchexperiments still going on? Are we still breaking newground?

OK. Now the movie ends. You go outside and walkdown to the banks of the Merrimack River where Boott Millis being transformed into luxury condominiums. You take abreath of the cool air and ask yourself, what does the futurehold for the Merrimack Valley? What would it look likedecades from today if, like the past, the whole region actedas a “laboratory” for experiments in industry, energy,engineering, and chemistry? What would it look like if awhole region were the fertile nexus of a new industrial“revelation”? What is the “dramatic disclosure ofsomething not previously known or realized” that thisregion can offer to the World?

In a quest to answer those questions, your first task is todo a wide-area scan. What do we know about industry andeconomic growth today? Five points come to mind:

(1) All industry is now global. Competitive advantageis driven almost entirely by innovation and quickimplementation. Any industrial rebirth must focus onintellectual capital.

(2) Environmental considerations are paramount.There is zero room for the belchers of yesteryear. Anyindustrial growth must not only be environmentally friendly,but, in fact, restorative. It must restore the environmenteven as it creates jobs and commerce.

(3) Fossil fuel dependence is a non-starter. Theenergy requirements of tomorrow’s industry must besatisfied through non-carbon sources.

(4) Human safety and dignity are rule one. Toxicenvironments are unacceptable. Tomorrow’s industry mustfind ways to create products that are benign and pose nothreat to workers or consumers.

So, you ask yourself, can the Merrimack Valley achievethis?

BusinessInnovation Valley (www.ivalley.org)

Imagine the year is 2107 - one century from now. You’renot around, of course, but your great-grandchildren are.Like you once did, they now live in the Merrimack Valley.One Saturday afternoon, a group of your kin decides to goto the newly created Visitor Center for the Merrimack ValleyNational Innovation Park and Incubator. This facility, agreatly expanded version of what you and I once called theLowell National Historical Park, now focuses on the entireValley, with branches in all constituent cities.

At the center, your descendants relax, sitting downcomfortably in an atrium that is a marvel of technologicallyadvanced, environmentally-friendly design. You and I,silent witnesses peering wide-eyed through time, could notbegin to fathom how it’s possible for the fabrics coveringthe walls, the floor, the furniture - and even our future family’sclothing - to respond to one’s gaze and touch by changingcolor, texture, and pattern. But not all would be somysterious and unfamiliar. The sounds of children playingand the smell of freshly cut grass thankfully remain ageless.

Your future clan is about to experience a multi-sensoryshow that recaps the great regional achievements of theprevious century. Triggered by an unseen signal to dimthe room lights, the numerous transparent skylight panelscomprising the atrium’s cathedral ceiling each assume adifferent color, slowly becoming nearly opaque, resultingin a stunning stained-glass ceiling.

As the show begins, your kin are surrounded with thesights, sounds and smells of our present era. A narratorintones: “The year is now 2007, the year historians mark asthe beginning of a dramatic rebirth of the region -catapulting it, once again, to the height of world envy itenjoyed one-and-a-half centuries earlier.”

Now, let’s come back to today. It’s February. It’s cold,but not as cold as it should be. In fact, it’s been one of thewarmest winters in a lengthening chain of warm winters.

The skiing industry is melting into the red and the newestreports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) have just hit the papers, issuing their strongestwords yet on the “unequivocal” evidence of human-induced global warming. They say that our impact is goingto continue to warm the Earth for centuries, even if westopped production of heat trapping gases today. Thebest we can hope to do is curb the burden. Argh. You needa break.

So, what do you do?

Well, of course you go to the Lowell National HistoricalPark where every 30 minutes they show a film on the city’sgreat industrial heritage. The film is titled Lowell: TheIndustrial Revelation.

You notice the title does not contain the word“revolution,” as you had momentarily thought, but rather,“revelation.” Revelation, which, according to our friendsat American Heritage Dictionary, means (1) The act ofrevealing or disclosing, and (2) Something revealed,especially a dramatic disclosure of something not

Your next task is to perform a local scan of what isinnovative locally and indicative of possible growth forthe region. Many highlights come to mind, however, youonly have room, at the moment, to jot down three of them.

(1) The Merrimack Valley is home to the UMASS-LowellCenter for Green Chemistry, the world’s premier academicprogram for the study of environmentally benignapproaches to industrial chemistry.

This innovation is growing rapidly in major commercialsectors, such as pharmaceuticals, plastics, electronics, andconsumer goods. It is saving industrial interests billionsof dollars in energy and environmental compliance, andproducing not only products of equivalent, but oftensuperior quality. It helps industry to do more with less.Companies around the globe send their top researchers toLowell to better understand how to apply this innovationto their own businesses; they envy this knowledge.

2. The Merrimack Valley is home to what is likely theworld’s largest geothermally-heated residentialdevelopment. The Wood Mill in Lawrence, now known asMonarch Lofts, is in the process of becoming a complex of600 condominiums and 30-plus offices heated and cooledlargely through natural, non-polluting processes. It servesas a shining example of how to build high-density urbandwellings of the future … precisely what every majordeveloper around the world now wants to know.

3. The Merrimack Valley is home to KonarkaTechnologies, the world’s leading innovator in the emergingindustry of nano-scale photovoltaics. This excitingtechnological breakthrough is opening a new world of solar-powered materials, such as plastics, films, and even fabricsthat can all create electricity when exposed to light. Konarkais prototyping solar powered tents where the canvas-likefabric is, itself, the electrical generating material.

They also have designs for backpacks and other self-powered solar fabric products. In 1850, the mills on theMerrimack River were producing more than 2 million yardsof cotton cloth a week. How much longer before Konarkaand its cousin companies are generating 2 million yards aweek of solar powered fabric?

While most of us were thinking that the mill era for theMerrimack Valley was over, Konarka instead went aheadand invented the cotton of the future.

Well, that was a mindful, you say to yourself, as youreconsider the questions with new insight: What’s in thismulti-modal movie that my progeny are going to watch 100years from now?

What happens, beginning today, that allows this regionto become a laboratory for the economy of the future? Whatare the combinations of innovations that once again willallow the Merrimack Valley’s industrial revelations to shineforth upon the world?

Suddenly, it becomes clear, the answers start with you.

The lights go dim. The movie begins.

Seth Itzkan is president of Planet-TECH Associates, a consultingagency identifying innovations ineconomic development. Recently,Mr. Itzkan helped The BostonFoundation to conceptualize andimplement its Hub of Innovationstool. You can email him atseth.itzkan@gmail.com

The Innovation Valley initiative seeks to helpstimulate economic growth and quality-of-lifeenhancements in the Merrimack Valley. Everymonth we will report on innovative businesses,practices, and ideas that are helping to makeMerrimack Valley the place to be. Look for ourarticle in print media and online atwww.ivalley.org.

John Michitson was a Haverhill citycouncilor for 10 years; the last 2 aspresident. He is a manager andelectrical engineer at the MITRECorporation in Bedford, Mass. Johnand his wife, Heidi, are enjoying thechildhood of their 4-year-olddaughter and 6 year-old son. email:jmichitson@verizon.net

Our Future Economy: The MovieSeth J. Itzkan, Karl Thidemann, John Michitson

Our Future Economy: The Movie

While most of us werethinking that the mill era forthe Merrimack Valley wasover, Konarka instead wentahead and invented the cottonof the future.

As the show begins, your kin aresurrounded with the sights, soundsand smells of our present era. Anarrator intones: “The year is now2007, the year historians mark as thebeginning of a dramatic rebirth of theregion.”