Friday, August 28, 2015

VERNE STRICKLAND CHRISTIAN CONSERVATIVE WRITER/ PHOTOGRAPHER/ PRODUCER



VERNE STRICKLAND 
CHRISTIAN CONSERVATIVE WRITER/ PHOTOGRAPHER/ PRODUCER
July 17, 2015
  
Verne Strickland’s career in communications has focused on business, politics, current affairs, agriculture and international trade.

A native North Carolinian, Verne, an active 78 years of age, has honed his media skills through professional experience on the Internet, and in broadcasting, audiovisual productions, newspaper and magazine journalism, public relations and advertising.

Verne was hired in 1966 by Jesse A. Helms, renowned conservative commentator, who later became a prominent U.S. Senator – Chairman of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, then as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  Helms mentored the young reporter Verne Strickland, and helped to shape his rock-solid conservative philosophy.

Verne left television to join Jesse’s successful 1982-84 re-election campaign, serving as media consultant -- writing and producing radio, television and newspaper political advertisements. He voiced many of Helms’ most effective commercials during that campaign, which are still considered a standard of excellence in both State and National political circles

 A major achievement for Verne was the production in 1983 of ‘KGB: THE LIE AND THE TRUTH’— a 2 ½ television special aired to national audiences in prime time on Turner Broadcasting Service from Atlanta.

Its objective was to educate and inform America of the growing threat to freedom in the world under the domination of the Soviet Union’s feared terror and spying organization, the KGB, which at the time had made alarming incursions into U.S.

Produced under the auspices of Jesse Helms’ Coalition for Freedom, the powerful program generated a flood of viewer mail expressing alarm about the Soviet threat. It also raised considerable money for the Senator’s re-election bid.

As a news broadcaster, Verne anchored programs for sixteen years on WRAL-TV in Raleigh, NC. His voice was heard daily on the NC News Network and Capitol Agribusiness Network. He wrote and produced a number of highly-acclaimed documentary films in English as well as many foreign languages, including Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, German, French, Portuguese and Spanish.

Verne is a 1959 graduate of East Carolina University at Greenville, NC, and recipient of the University’s Outstanding Alumni Award. He also has been presented the Broadcaster of the Year Award by the National Association of Farm Broadcasters.
 

His career in news and audiovisual production has taken him to over thirty countries, including China, Japan, Taiwan, Egypt, Germany, England, Norway and the USSR. He was the first U.S. journalist to receive the “E” Award for Export Promotion – a Presidential Citation presented by President Richard Nixon.

During his television years he was a popular after-dinner speaker and humorist, entertaining State and National professional and civic organizations.

In 1983 he formed and managed Verne Strickland Communications, a successful multi-media company providing specialized communications and marketing services to leading advertising agencies, agribusiness companies and government agencies.

Now retired in Wilmington, Verne is enjoying free-lance writing, photography and production of his popular Christian conservative political blog USA DOT COM, seen also on Verne Strickland Facebook.

He and his wife, Durrene, have been married for 55 years, and make their home in the Echo Farms community of Wilmington, NC. The Stricklands have three sons and two grandchildren.
They both are long-time registered members of the Republican Party, where they are recognized as loyal conservative activists.

As a young man, Verne won the coveted rank of Eagle Scout, as well as the God and Country Award. He attended the 1953 National Boy Scout Jamboree in California. He was an acolyte, lay reader, and member of the Youth Choir at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Battleboro, NC.

3723 Sand Trap Court
Wilmington NC  
Phone 910.815.0120  







Sunday, August 23, 2015

WILMINGTON SHARES LARGEST RALLY IN HISTORY OF U.S. PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT



Antiabortion activists hold a rally opposing federal funding for Planned Parenthood in front of the US Capitol on July 28 2015 in Washington DC Sen...

By Verne Strickland, August 27, 2015.

The people gathered on Sixteenth and Seventeenth Streets in Wilmington on a sunny Saturday morning would not draw attention at a shopping mall. Or a Little League ball game. Or a church picnic.
Except for one clue. These American moms, college kids and even a grandfather carried homemade signs which proclaimed their dead-serious challenge to Planned Parenthood, a nationwide abortion organization responsible for a staggering number of infant deaths –  “infanticide”,  if you please – across the United States.
One of the protesters was Shannon Tyson, who describes herself as “a mom. It’s my full-time job. Part-time I am a post-partem doulah in the community, so I support families when they bring their babies home.”
Add up the two activities and you are talking about a serious but sunny young lady who is devoted to motherhood and all that goes with it – including  joining with others of like mind to stand on a city thoroughfare and make a public statement to “stop the slaughter” of innocent babies in the mother’s womb. (The “pro-choice” ladies have broadened the rules of the abortion “game”, of course, to the point where babies are born and then killed. And it even gets worse.
Shannon, who lives in Wilmington, told me why she was on hand to join in the protest of the abortion profession’s highly controversial modus operandi.
“This is about a group of concerned citizens hoping to stop the abortion industry and the atrocities that are happening at Planned Parenthood. We are organizing under the national protest of the Planned Parenthood Association.  I just have a heart for this, and God used those awful videos to reignite this fire, and the people here have been enthusiastic and ready to let their voices be heard.  So it was the Lord that got me interested  – having my own son, learning more about the issues through the videos and other information. Like the others here, I hope to accomplish a lot of awareness and reach people who don’t know what’s going on.”
As we talked curbside, many of the autos passing by honked approval of the demonstration. It was impossible to run the gauntlet between the anti-abortion protesters lining both sides of the four-lane thoroughfare without being aware of what was going on.
America has become desensitized to rowdy demonstrations which even implode into riots, shootings and fire-bombings.  So the civil and respectful gatherings which typify these public statements by abortion opponents stand in stark contrast to the often raucous and ugly outbursts which have been described in the headlines over the summer of 2015 where racial divisions provided the incendiary mix.

Planned parenthood: Quick Facts

According to their latest annual report (2013-2014), Planned Parenthood reports that their affiliates performed 327,166 abortions- that's more than 30% of the estimated 1.058 million abortions performed annually in the United States.

Based on Planned Parenthood's most recent annual report, an unborn baby dies every 96 seconds inside a Planned Parenthood clinic.

Planned Parenthood's revenues for 2013-2014 exceeded $1.3 billion. They report that 41% of their income came in the form of "Government Health Services Grants and Reimbursements."


For 20-year-old Isaac Sawyer, who traveled to Wilmington from Sampson County, the motivations were personal and nothing short of gut-wrenching.
“In 1994 when my mom was pregnant with me,” said the lanky, bearded Sawyer, “the doctors said I would be retarded because of downe syndrome.  They encouraged her to have an abortion,  saying  I would be a hazard to my other siblings, and they threatened to call  Child Protective Services to have her other children seized if she didn’t have an abortion.  Mother stood her ground and did not go through with that, and here I am today – perfectly fine, never had any mental problems, top of my class.”
Today the baby marked for death by an abortion doctor just graduated from Sampson Community College with an associates degree in horticulture. He is engaged and working at a wholesale plant nursery near Dunn.  He has become an effective advocate for the unborn.
“It is wrong that one person can end the life of another,” said Isaac. “People have no right to murder others, saying they should have an abortion because the baby might have mental problems. So I want to protect those who can’t speak for themselves.
He said his fiancĂ©e and her family “did a little research” on the Planned Parenthood clinic on Tradd Court in Wilmington.  The abortion center is just blocks from where the demonstrations took place on Seventeenth Street across from New Hanover Regional Medical Center.
Here is some information the Planned Parenthood center at Tradd Court in Wilmington provies about its abortion clinics:

Abortion is a safe and legal way to end pregnancy.

There are two kinds of abortion in the U.S.  in-clinic abortion and the abortion pill.
Abortions are very common. In fact, 3 out of 10 women in the U.S. have an abortion by the time they are 45 years old.
If you are pregnant, you have options. If you are trying to decide if abortion is the right choice for you, you probably have many things to think about. Learning the facts about abortion may help you in making your decision. You may also want to learn more about parenting and adoption.
If you are under 18, your state may require one or both of your parents to give permission for your abortion or be told of your decision prior to the abortion. However, in most states you can ask a judge to excuse you from these requirements. Learn more about parental consent for abortion.


Only you can decide what is best for you. But we are here to help. A staff member at your local Planned Parenthood health center can discuss abortion and all of your options with you and help you find the services you need.

- See more at: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/abortion/#sthash.CHd3cx3x.dpuf

 

Also at the Wilmington rally to expose Planned Parenthood and its slaughter by abortion was Richard Fimbel.  A veteran of the Viet Nam War, he says, “I have some associated problems, but am doing okay with God’s help.”  He and his wife Mary operate a prominent non-profit organization --  Andrew’s Toy Box --dedicated to providing special packages filled with toys, crafts and books to children with life-threatening or chronic illnesses.  The charity group is affiliated with St. Mark’s Church, and partners with local hospitals and hospice organizations  from its headquarters at 607 Salo St. Wilmington NC.
“I’m here at this right-to-life rally to stand up for the precious unborn babies, because we believe life begins at conception, and should be defended and respected.  We want to increase awareness – so parents will not abort them.”
To this reporter, she said, “We need a million more just like you out here spreading the word. Education and awareness are what drives the public outcry against abortion. The issue is ignored by most of the general news media.”
She observed that 3,000 babies aborted daily in the United States every day – and three are killed by abortion each day in Wilmington.
“It’s an atrocity,” said Mary Fimbrel. “They’re not globs of cells – they’re human beings. What is happening is barbaric.”