Christian Real Estate Professionals

I was reflecting recently on my ancestors leaving their homeland in ITALY some 106 years ago...!!!

Actually, my Grandfather, whom I never met (he died when my father was 10 years old), landed at Ellis Island on March 17, 1906...!!!

How ironic, I thought, to have landed on the shores of a New Land on the feast of Saint Patrick, patron Saint of The Irish, who would be the main group to ridicule and taunt this next generation of Italian Immigrants as they settled their families in this great Country of ours...!!!

It was the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the hay day of the Industrial Revolution, and America was enacting special immigration laws making it easy for laborers, skilled and unskilled, to assist them in developing this land of opportunity...Railroad Systems, Steel Plants, Automobiles, Airplanes, Tool Manufacturing, Road and Bridge building...and occupations which would support these new industries...Tailors, Barbers, Butchers, Bakers, Farmers, Grocers, etc...

AMERICA, was indeed extending its arms of WELCOME to this latest wave of Immigrants from the Italian Nation...

Why did our ancestors leave such a beautiful place in North Central Italy to risk resettling their families in a New Land and giving up the Culture of centuries of their ancestors...???

Remember, in the early 20th Century most people in the World were still illiterate, uneducated, unable to read or write, and were being asked to make the switch from a rural, farm based, bucolic existence to a factory, assembly line based, capital driven system...

Since this post is not intended to be a treatise on the merits or downsides of labor, industry, progress, capitalism, unionism, or the like...suffice it to say that many of these illiterate immigrants may have turned out to be prophets...

Could they have been listening to that ‘wee, small voice’,so characteristic of how God often answers prayer...??? Were they being motivated by a desire to join the adventure, promise, prosperity, freedom, and hope that this new land, AMERICA, offered...

I like to believe that these simple, hard working, family oriented, religious ancestors of mine kept The Lord at the CENTER OF THEIR LIVES...and made decisions reflecting those priorities...

In any event, in coming to AMERICA, they avoided 2 World Wars, both fought on their former soil, a world wide flu epidemic which took the lives of millions of Europeans, Fascism, Nazism, Communism, Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin...!!!

It seems that as long as we keep God at THE CENTER OF OUR LIVES, we don’t succumb to dumb science, false hope, materialism, diabolic schemes and the like...

The God Whom We Worship is also not without a sense of humor, however...our youngest child, ASHLEY SIENA, was born on August 28...8:28...One of my favorite Scripture Passages from the Book Of Romans...

As we prepare to celebrate the Baptism of our youngest Grandchild, the newest Gaspari, MACLYN JANE, this Sunday...COINCIDENCE...??? OR DIVINE PROVIDENCE...!!!

Have a great weekend...!!!

Don’t fall for the left’s consistent use of 'CLASS WARFARE' to divide us as a Nation...!!!

The terms MIDDLE CLASS, WOMEN’S VOTE, CATHOLIC VOTE, INDEPENDENTS, EVANGELICALS, WALL STREET, MAIN STREET, etc...all methods intended to divide us as a Nation...!!!

Let’s face it...OBAMACARE, the 3000 page assault on PERSONAL FREEDOM has already received plenty of legitimate criticism, and the federally enacted ‘HEALTH PLAN’ hasn’t even been implemented yet...

Forget rising fuel prices, still unacceptable employment levels, inflationary food prices, declining property values, dependence on foreign oil, skyrocketing national debt...our current President should be unelectable purely on the matter of OBAMACARE...!!!

This should be his signature disqualifier...!!!

The current administration is attempting to amass various ‘voting blocks’ to gain reelection...!!!

I say we should step up to the plate and vote as AMERICANS...the hell with left, right, progressive, liberal, Republican, Democrat, male, female, black, Hispanic, and other labels which divide us...

We are great as a Nation because we have taken various cultures, ethnic differences, religious tolerance, work ethic, and other virtuous qualities and MELTED them together into a soup or stew we call AMERICAN...THIS IS WHAT UNITES US...!!!

Please don’t allow us to be manipulated at the voting booth...four more years of this divisiveness flexes our AMERICAN MUSCLE to the breaking point...

Refuse to be ‘LABELLED’ and nicely and conveniently compartmentalized for political gain...!!!

STAND UNITED IN PURPOSE...PROMOTE UNITY AMIDST DIVERSITY...!!!

That’s what has made AMERICA great, and that’s what will keep us great...CHANGE WE CAN TRUST...!!!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND...!!!

I recently did some research on the ‘Oath Of Office’ government employees are required to take, and found some interesting items:

Item 1...Here is the OATH OF OFFICE required by our Constitution that every federal employee must take: 

I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

Item 2...Here is the OATH OF OFFICE specific to The President Of The United States:

Article II includes the specific oath the President takes - to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Here then is my dilemma.......

Who enforces these oaths if it is felt that they have been violated...???

Have the various CZARS appointed by our President taken these oaths...???

Why are there so many ongoing ‘attacks’ on our Constitution from so many various groups that seem hell bent to destroy us...Starting with Our Bill of Rights, which sets forth the inalienable rights that come from God, i.e. Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit Of Happiness...Our First amendment rights to Freedom Of Religion, Freedom Of Speech...Our Second Amendment’s Right To Keep and Bear Arms...???

In any event, when there is an attack on Our Constitution, isn’t it The President’s duty to ‘Preserve, protect, and defend’ from any and all enemies ‘foreign and domestic’ these attacks...and whose responsibility is it to ‘ENFORCE’ that The President fulfills those obligations...???

These are important questions demanding answers...!!!

We pay Congress to work for us, and The Supreme Court to do the same, and also The Department of Justice...

Which branch is shirking its responsibilities...???

The government has already compromised the RIGHT TO LIFE as Dr. Ron Paul reminds us when a baby one day old has The RIGHT TO LIFE, but one day before it is born that same baby’s RIGHT TO LIFE is denied...!!!

When 11 of the 24 Catholic Senators recently opposed a vote for religious liberty, even properly formed consciences come into question...!!!

If this doesn’t demand our persistent prayer, I don’t know what does...!!!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND...!!!

I am an Italian American Catholic male...I  believe in feminism...With three daughters and four granddaughters, each of whom I love specially and dearly, how could I NOT be a feminist...???

My purpose for writing this post is to beg some prominent CHRISTIAN FEMINISTS to come forward and boldly make a case for the difference between SECULAR FEMINISM which tears apart the moral fabric of a true Judeo Christian society, and REAL CHRISTIAN FEMINISM which espouses conservative Christian family values, virtue, and morality...

As the French would say...VIVA LA DIFFERENCE...!!!

We have an upcoming election where it appears that the ‘FEMALE VOTE’ may be the swing vote that ultimately determines who’s agenda will be carried out both in the White House and both halls of Congress...!!!

Now is the time for all good women to come to the aid of their country...!!!

Without throwing support to any specific candidate, TRUE FEMINISTS need to support the men who are campaigning as candidates for our next president...!!!

True feminism draws the lines of demarcation clearly to divide selfishness from selflessness...!!! True feminists are ‘othercentered’...secular feminists are ‘selfcentered’...!!! True feminists are ‘partners in progress’...secular feminists seek to promote themselves and their ‘godless’ agendas...!!!

AGAIN, my intention for writing these thoughts is not to speak for others or put my opinions on the lips of others, but rather to elicit from the many strong, wise, intelligent, and caring women who I have either personally known, or whose writings or views I have become acquainted with, to provide personal witness that Christian Feminism is more mainstream in America than the secular feminism we see portrayed by the media...

Several years ago when the debate about STEM CELL RESEARCH was in the mainstream, secularists and the media portrayed the CATHOLIC CHURCH as being opposed to STEM CELL RESEARCH...that was then, and is now, far from the truth...What the church was opposed to was ‘EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH’ which was a disguised form of abortion...BTW, that type of research has never brought about any positive medical results, while ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH (very much encouraged by The Church), has shown many positive health care results...!!!

The secularists and the media are trying to do the same thing today by their attempt to cloak in the word ‘CONTRACEPTION’ a negative blanketing of The Catholic Church’s real teaching...Under their use of the word ‘CONTRACEPTION’ are included abortifacients (drugs and appliances which do not prevent conception, but cause the fetus to be aborted AFTER CONCEPTION has taken place)...there is much more to this topic...

The Catholic Church has not changed its teaching on these matters, while, at the same time our government seems to be drifting away from our first amendment rights of freedom to worship and other freedoms...!!!

A sincere look at the Papal Encyclical ‘HUMANAE VITAE’, on Human Life, written in the 1960’s clearly restates The Church’s official position on these matters...For a brief summary for those with little time to read this, CLICK HERE...!!!

I believe that the majority of American women are God fearing, life loving, selfless, nurturing, and wise citizens of our beloved Country, and I encourage them to come forth and make themselves heard in this all important debate at this critical time in our nation’s history...!!!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND...!!!

UPDATE: I discovered this letter on Saturday morning while perusing The National Catholic Register...CLICK HERE...!!!

February is Black History Month...!!!

I’m trying to figure out why, in a Country where 24% of the population claims to be Catholic, only 3% of African Americans worship as Catholics...!!!

While I grew up in a typical second generation Italian American neighborhood, and I’m sorry to say I DID hear the ‘N’ word used from time to time, it always amazed me that there were so few blacks in our Church...!!!

Why was I amazed...???

From first grade on we were taught that discrimination against anyone of another race, creed, or ethnic background was sinful...The good sisters of the IHM made it perfectly clear...clear enough, in fact, that that ‘good news’ trumped any vestiges of discrimination left from the generation of our parents or grandparents...!!!

Still...it was difficult to shed some of the prejudices and stereotypes that surrounded us and the society of those days...For me, meeting, befriending, and appreciating on a one on one basis several black friends was my own personal ticket out of prejudice and into Christian brotherhood...!!!

Fast forwarding to the present day, my faith and my upbringing have conditioned me to accept people as they come...e.g. there are some Catholics, Italian Americans, Republicans, Democrats, Secular Feminists, Egotistical intellectuals, and others who I have come to dislike...however...my Faith, which I try to keep at the center of my life and family, insists that I LOVE EVEN THOSE...

NOW...one of my heroes has become SISTER THEA BOWMAN...Sister Thea has only recently become known to me, although she died in 1990...!!! A resident of Mississippi and a convert to Catholicism, Sister Thea broke many racial barriers in the Catholic Church in America. Proud of her African American heritage, the slavery of her ancestors, and the fight for equality for all her black ‘brethren’, Sister Thea became a Franciscan Nun, and through her singing, linguistical background, and educational ministries won many followers and admirers, both during her lifetime and even now...

A paraphrase of Sister Thea’s to a gathering Of The US Conference Of Catholic Bishops in 1989, just a year before she succumbed to cancer...’If you go into a room and you see a particular group not represented there, go out and invite them in’...In that short paraphrase Sister Thea underscored the Catholic Church’s claim to be ‘UNIVERSAL’ and ‘COLORBLIND’, and urged The Catholic Bishops to be sensitive to the various CULTURAL GIFTS that are often ignored by our Church and which gifts could greatly enhance our Worship To God...!!!

Sister Thea ‘FORCED’ Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes to admit that ‘BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL’

I write this post, not only to commemorate the memory of Sister Thea Bowman, but as an open invitation to those of African American heritage to come and Worship with us...We need your cultural diversity, your ardent enthusiasm, and your persevering Spirit...You may find that being ‘CATHOLIC IS BEAUTIFUL’...

I have entered a room in which I noticed there were many of you missing...WELCOME HOME...!!!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND...!!!

Do you believe in the theory of EVOLUTION...???

In addition to Darwin’s THEORY OF EVOLUTION there are some other theories that have been adopted by PROGRESSIVES to ‘persuade’ (read bamboozle) the gullible to see things their way: Darwin’s theory of ‘NATURAL SELECTION’...

The dictionary definition of ‘NATURAL SELECTION’ reads: ...the process by which those individuals with characteristics that help them become adapted to their environment tend to survive and transmit their characteristics.

AND SO...our leftist, progressive, conspiracy theory friends, in an effort to gain acceptance and additional herd members have changed that idea of theirs originally known as GLOBAL WARMING to CLIMATE CHANGE and more recently are using URBANIZATION as their latest ‘code word’ to push their agenda ahead...

If you don’t believe me, check your kids homework, and you’ll verify what I just said...Our teachers are the biggest culprits trying to brainwash our children into accepting their liberal, secular, and misinformed agendas...

You see, we keep catching on to their deceptions, while they keep refusing to acknowledge the scientific opposition to their propositions...!!! In an almost childish manner...they keep wanting to ‘GET THEIR WAY’...NO MATTER WHAT...!!!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t indict all teachers...only those who fall for this line of deceptions...Certainly, there are still plenty of God Fearing, seriously concerned, professional mentors who see through these ‘smoke and mirror’ tactics and do their own ‘homework’ to circumvent these educational mine fields so as to protect our children and guide them to safe harbors...!!!

Personally, I like to use the age old remedy to education: The parents are the primary educators of their children, and by discussion, example, and discipline each child will be exposed to THE TRUTH...FIRST BY PARENTS, then, hopefully, by a responsible education system...

As for me and my house...WE WILL SERVE THE LORD...Joshua 24:15, and since THE LORD is THE TRUTH...it is HE who will set us free...!!!

I’m still a firm believer that kids CRAVE DISCIPLINE...and true discipline requires sincere disciples that preach and teach TRUTH...!!!

LORD, help me to evolve from a sinner to a saint...and my household as well...!!!

Have a great weekend...!!!

So how WILL President Obama spend his billion dollar reelection war chest...???

Keeping in mind he must get a majority of prospective voters to forget or ignore his FAILED POLICIES...He needs to CREATE a PERCEPTION THAT WILL MAKE HIM ELECTABLE...

Here’s how he will do it: DIVIDE AND CONQUER...!!!

Right now...there are enough LIKE MINDED voters to oust him from office...these voters are Republican, Democrat, Independent, White, African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, European American, Legal Immigrant, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Agnostic, Atheist, Gay, Straight, Conservative, Liberal, Libertarian, poor, middle class, rich, male, female, senior, young, middle aged...!!!

Wait and watch how the billion dollar reelection war chest begins to divide all these groups of Americans...UNITED, these voters will bring about a change in leadership that will put America on the right track to economic, political, and social recovery...DIVIDED, he knows he has enough voters ‘in his pocket’ to achieve reelection and five more years of failed policies and declining optimism, while he tries and errs his leftist, anti family, anti religious, anti life, anti liberty, socialist, evil empire agenda...

Some of the strategies he will use: DEMONIZATION...RACE BAITING...SOCIAL AND POLITICAL EGOTISM...RAISING DOUBTS...PROMISING EVERYTHING...CREATING FALSE PERCEPTIONS OF INCLUSIVITY...SLICK ADVERTISING CLOAKED IN CALCULATED RHETORIC...POLARIZING PEOPLES...GLAMORIZING GOVERNMENT...SPREADING GUILT...DISTRACTIONS...SOWING DESPAIR...SMOKE & MIRRORS...FALSEHOODS...!!! A billion dollar dose of all these tactics...!!!

This list is neither all inclusive nor complete or exhaustive...

THE GOOD NEWS is that what we must do to overcome these seductive tactics is simple...PRAYER...SEARCH FOR TRUTH...HARD WORK...REMAINING UNITED...STUDY...EDUCATION...SELFLESSNESS...SEEKING COMMON GROUND...MORE PRAYER...!!!

Have a great weekend...!!!

I listened carefully to The State of The Union Address on Tuesday evening...And before commenting on it I let some time for reflection pass by...

What a clever ‘PEP RALLY’ led by a clever orator...!!!

Missing from the speech, however, were many important items on the minds of many like minded citizens...Among which were decreasing the size of government, curtailing government spending, putting unemployed and under-employed people back to work soon, de-funding Planned Parenthood, lowering corporate taxes, freeing the US from dependence on foreign oil, reducing gas prices at the pump (they’ve actually doubled since he took office), the whole topic of RELIGIOUS LIBERTY, and failure to comply with campaign promises...i.e. reducing unemployment to below 8%, reducing the deficit (which actually increased by 5 trillion dollars), utilizing high speed rail, closing Guantanamo (though I’m in favor of keeping it as is), etc...to name a few...

In fact, the speech made more promises which would insure the continued growth of government and which provided additional assurances that we are certainly on the wrong track...

Not understood is the simple fact that ‘government’ offers more problems and virtually no solutions...

SOLUTIONS...SOLUTIONS...SOLUTIONS...!!!

Most intelligent leaders surround themselves with capable advisors...then implement their wisdom...

The promises made were of the ‘pie in the sky’ variety, and even if possible to accomplish, would take at least another full term to implement...FIVE MORE YEARS...???

If those who drink the ‘KOOL AID’ of this administration insist on more of the same...THEY JUST DON’T GET IT...

Yes, President Bush left in a poor economy...but in three years of this administration, two of which controlled every branch of government except the Judiciary, things HAVE GOTTEN WORSE...

OH, don’t misunderstand what I’m saying...The United States is still the greatest country on earth...BUT MUCH NEEDS YET TO BE DONE...

So why don’t some get it...???.......THEY CAN”T HANDLE THE TRUTH, especially the acknowledgement that they may have cast a wrong vote in the last election...!!!

A truly intelligent person realizes how limited one person is to solve the problems of a nation, and surrounds him/herself with other wise leaders, the sum of whose capability to solve our problems exceeds the wisdom of each.......THEN ACTS UPON THAT WISDOM...!!!

Have a great weekend...and as The President closed his ‘PEP RALLY’...God Bless The United States...!!!

P.S. STAY TUNED: NEXT WEEK.......HOW OBAMA'S BILLION WILL BE SPENT...!!!

There is so much concern and “Buzz” about Google shutting down Picnik.com, I decided to provide you with some alternative tools for editing and customizing your graphics, photos, and images.   While Picnik.com will be shutting down in April 2012, here are some other options you have available immediately.

FotoFlexer – Create some dazzling photo and image effects in your browser for FREE.  Use Animations, resizing, coloring, contrast and more.  Take a look at These 5 Demo’s for a quick tour of what FotoFlexer has to offer, you’ll love some of these cool features.  Smart Scissor is a favorite feature.

Pixlr – and for Picnik users, try Pixlr Express.  You’ll love the Editor, the Pixlr-o-matic, the Pixlr Grabber for Firefox and Chrome browsers, and the Pixlr Imm.io hosting, all of which are very robust and user friendly cool features.

LunaPic – This site will rock your world!  Lunapic offers more choices and options for photo editing and custom effects than some of the paid software applications I’ve purchased and used in the past.  Use vignettes, color bars, animated imaging, picture frames, retro color, collages, custom text, reflection animations, slide shows, and a ton more.  One of the most feature rich FREE online editors available.  You’re gonna love this site.

FreeOnlinePhotoEditor – A really simple and easy to use photo and image editor for those “quick fix and gotta go” graphics.  Very basic but simple and fast.  Some of the other online photo and image tools include:  OnlinePhotoTool.com: Online photo editor,  Automatically resize your images when sending it by email,  Create an Image from your RSS feed,  Create Image from your Tweet and Twitter account, and Create, save and email screenshots.

BeFunky -  Be Funky lets you do some pretty amazing things with your photos and graphics.  Most of the features and tools are focused on creating cool, fun, and funky effects and artwork.  The site’s name says it.  Some of the effects available would take hours to create in Photoshop or other high end and costly photo/image editors.

Definitely worthy of a visit and tour.

Photoshop.com – That’s right, you can use Photoshop online and for FREE.  You’ll need to register, but I promise it will be worth it.  The Photoshop tools are powerful and very easy to use.  Be prepared to spend a little time here, you’ll be amazed at what they have to offer and allow you to do online for free.  I’m not going to lie, this is one of my favorites and my personal replacement for Picnik.com closing down.

GIMP – GIMP is very similar to Adobe Photoshop except that GIMP is FREE.  It does require you to download the software but one huge benefit to that is it will never be bought and shut down on you.  It is a very powerful and feature intense program so unless you’re really experienced with editing and graphic design, or you have more time than it takes to close a short sale, you may want to stick with one of the others.

I personally like to use GIMP for graphic design more than image or photo editing.

Combine all these together and you’ll have more FREE editing tools and features than you’ll ever need or use and absolutely FREE.  Take a few moments to review each site, bookmark them, then give each one a try to see which one(s) best meet your photo and image editing needs.  Enjoy!