400-408 – Les Steckel, has been the President of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (fca.org) since March 1, 2005. He was the head coach of the Vikings in 1984, and has been on the coaching staffs of 7 different teams over his 25-year NFL career. Colonel Les Steckel served in Vietnam as an infantry officer, and recently retired from the Marine Corps Reserves after thirty years of service. He and wife wife Chris have three adult children, and will become a grandpa this coming Superbowl weekend.
Joining Les is Mark Boyer, Vice President of the Western Region for FCA (714-841-2300), and former NFL tight end for 8 years with the Indianapolis Colts. Mark oversees the 36 full-time FCA staff in Southern California, and is looking for more.
• The FCA Championship Breakfast will be Wednesday, December 29, at the Beverly Hilton at 8am (lafca.org).
• The FCA Sport Camp will be at UCLA this summer, from June 30 - July 3, and it's for high school athletes. Mark is now looking for college athletes to be huddle leaders at the camp (lafca.org).
413-423 – Les Steckel.
428-437 – Les Steckel.
443-452 – Les Steckel.
458-508 – Rebecca Nichols Alonzo, author of The Devil in Pew Number Seven (beckyalonzo.com).
SYNOPSIS – Rebecca never felt safe as a child. In 1969, her father, Robert Nichols, moved to Sellerstown, North Carolina, to serve as a pastor. There he found a small community eager to welcome him—with one exception. Glaring at him from pew number seven was a man obsessed with controlling the church. Determined to get rid of anyone who stood in his way, this tormented man unleashed a plan of terror designed to drive them from town "walking, crawling, dead or alive."
Rebecca's father stood his ground until one night when an armed man walked into the family kitchen…and Rebecca's life was shattered. If anyone had a reason to harbor hatred and seek personal revenge, it would be Rebecca. Yet The Devil in Pew Number Seven tells a different story. It is the amazing true saga of relentless persecution, one family's faith and courage in the face of it, and a daughter whose parents taught her that forgiveness is the language of heaven.
512-523 – Rebecca Nichols Alonzo
528-539 – Rebecca Nichols Alonzo
544-554 – Rebecca Nichols Alonzo
558-608 – • Thanks to Lori Barragar, family owner of Shelton's Premium Poultry (sheltons.com), for her generous donation of Thanksgiving turkeys this season. Be the X caller and get your free turkey!
• The Examiner (11/15/2010) George Soros also profiting off controversial new TSA scanners.
• Timothy Carney, Washington Examiner (11/12/2010) 'Naked scanners': Lobbyists join the war on terror.
612-623 – • LAT (11/15/2010) In-state tuition for illegal immigrants is preserved with California Supreme Court ruling [Updated].
• William La Jeunesse, Fox (11/16/2010) Tuition Breaks for Illegal Immigrants in CA. If each of the 25,000 illegal immigrant students were to graduate from the UC system after 4 years, and each student saving $20,000 per year in tuition, the bill to California taxpayers comes to $2.5 billion dollars ($625 million per year).
// Big money is at stake: in-state tuition can save a kid up to $23 thousand dollars. In fact, it was a group of out-of-state University of California students paying higher prices who brought the lawsuit, claiming it was discriminatory and against federal law for the school to give discounts to illegals and not them. The plaintiff's attorney says they plan to appeal to the US Supreme Court, where they hope to get a definitive ruling that would apply nationwide.
In all, there are 10 states that give cheaper tuition to illegal immigrants, and lawsuits pending in lower state courts in Texas and Nebraska hope to halt the practice there.
// If there's a lot of money at stake for individual students, the cost for California and other states is huge. The Immigration Reform Law Institute claims more than 25 thousand undocumented kids get tuition discounts in California, costing state taxpayers more than $200 million every year. The group also claims there are 65 thousand such students nationwide, making it easy to see how the national price tag for these policies could easily top half a billion dollars.
• LA Times (11/15/2010) In-state tuition for illegal immigrants is preserved with California Supreme Court ruling [Updated].
• My San Antonio (11/17/2010) Hispanic lawmakers seek DREAM Act vote. DREAM stands for "Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors". Roughly 800,000 teens and young adults would be eligible.
• DreamActivist, FAQ. The DREAM Act has four basic requirements which are: 1) You entered the country before the age of 16; 2) You graduate high school or obtain a GED; 3) You have good moral character (no criminal record); and 4) You have at least five years of continuous presence in the US. If you meet the above criteria, once the DREAM Act passes, you will then have six years within which to obtain a two-year college degree or complete two-years of military service. Upon doing all of this you will gain the chance to adjust your conditional permanent residency to U.S. citizenship.
628-639 – Calls
644-656 – Calls
• Ralph R. Reiland (11/15/2010) Above all others. The Korean students judged themselves last, finished first. It was an eight country study. From the story: The idea that self-esteem produces better performance, reversing the direction of better performance boosting self-esteem, is clearly a concept that's been oversold. But we feel good -- whether it's self-evaluations of leadership skills, looks, personality or math ability, it's not unusual for 25 percent of American students to self-judge themselves to be in the top 1 percent. The downside can be a declining nation that's overstocked with egotistical and incompetent narcissists.
• Barbara Hollingsworth, Washington Examiner (11/17/2010) Low-tax states will gain seats, high-tax states will lose them.
• Washington Post (11/14/2010) At West Potomac High School, taking F off the grade books.
