400-408 – Brian Holman, former pitcher with the Expos (1988-89) and Mariners (1990-91), whose career was cut short due to injury, is today a Certified Financial Planner and the Principal and Managing Director for Ron Blue's branch office in Kansas City, Kansas (ronblue.com). He's perhaps best known for his game against the Oakland Athletics on April 20,1990, when he had retired the first 26 batters in a row before losing his perfect game on an inside-the-park home run. He's still heavily involved in baseball ministry, as both a coach and inspirational speaker (brianholmanbaseball.com)
But, today isn't about baseball. Brian shares the moving story about the truly important things in life, faith and family. Brian endured four unsuccessful shoulder surgeries, and later open hear surgery. His son David fell off a ski lift when he was 8 years old and almost died as a result of the injuries, including finding out he had a brain tumor and needed to have emergency surgery years later, leaving him to endure months of painful rehab to correct the paralysis on his left side. Brian and his wife Jami adopted daughter Kassidy, who was 3 when they got her off the streets in the Marshall Islands, later developed leukemia and died at age 9. Yet, through it all, God has provided the grace to endure. David, now 22, signed with the Mariners last year. Brian's oldest son Scotty just got diagnosed with Aspergers last year. Jami has fought a melanoma. And their daughter Jeffi is studying to be a pediatric oncology nurse.
• Seattle Times (12/19/2004) One tough family.
413-423 – Brian Holman
428-438 – Brian Holman
443-452 – Brian Holman
458-508 – Brian Holman
508 – Don't miss our upcoming KKLA Faith Night at Staples on Thursday March 15th to watch Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and the Clippers take on the Phoenix Suns. Tickets are only $18 through kkla.com, keyword "Clippers."
512-523 – Brian Holman. From Ron Blue: "God owns it all," "spend less than you earn," and "Do your givin' while you're livin' so you're knowin' where it's goin'."
528-539 – (:04) Florida Senator Marco Rubio at CPAC yesterday, "The greatest thing we can do for the world is be America."
Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (aifdemocracy.org), an organization "committed to demonstrating the synergy of American democracy and its founding principles with the religion of Islam," refers to himself as a "Jeffersonian Muslim," he is a former Navy Lieutenant Commander in the Medical Corps, former president of the Arizona Medical Association, and today is an Internist in private practice in Phoenix. Check out the excellent documentary he narrates, The Third Jihad (thethirdjihad.com). AIFD has launched "The Muslim Liberty Project" for the purpose of inoculating youth against radicalization, and helping families deal with their children perhaps becoming radicalized. And, as a result of the recent hearings in Washington, Zuhdi is no longer the lone voice talking about modernization. Now, there's this coalition, americanislamicleadership.org. In response to the recent humanitarian crisis in Syria, Zuhdi was part of the team that started savesyrianow.com.
• LAT (2/10/2012) Two blasts kill at least 25 in Assad stronghold of Aleppo, Syria.
• Fox News (2/10/2012) US debates arming Syrian opposition as defense strategy.
• Martin Sieff (Fox News, 2/10/2012) No easy solution for Syria.
544-554 – Dr. Zuhdi Jasser,
558-608 – • President Obama (2/10/2012) TRANSCRIPT: REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON PREVENTIVE CARE.
(9X) [1] THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. (Laughter.) I was actually going to say good morning. But I guess it's afternoon by now.
As part of the health care reform law that I signed last year, all insurance plans are required to cover preventive care at no cost. That means free check-ups, free mammograms, immunizations and other basic services. We fought for this because it saves lives and it saves money –- for families, for businesses, for government, for everybody. That's because it's a lot cheaper to prevent an illness than to treat one. We also accepted a recommendation from the experts at the Institute of Medicine that when it comes to women, preventive care should include coverage of contraceptive services such as birth control. In addition to family planning, doctors often prescribe contraception as a way to reduce the risks of ovarian and other cancers, and treat a variety of different ailments. And we know that the overall cost of health care is lower when women have access to contraceptive services.
[2] Nearly 99 percent of all women have relied on contraception at some point in their lives –- 99 percent. And yet, more than half of all women between the ages of 18 and 34 have struggled to afford it. So for all these reasons, we decided to follow the judgment of the nation's leading medical experts and make sure that free preventive care includes access to free contraceptive care. Whether you're a teacher, or a small businesswoman, or a nurse, or a janitor, no woman's health should depend on who she is or where she works or how much money she makes. Every woman should be in control of the decisions that affect her own health. Period. This basic principle is already the law in 28 states across the country.
[2A] Now, as we move to implement this rule, however, we've been mindful that there's another principle at stake here –- and that's the principle of religious liberty, an inalienable right that is enshrined in our Constitution. As a citizen and as a Christian, I cherish this right.
In fact, my first job in Chicago was working with Catholic parishes in poor neighborhoods, and my salary was funded by a grant from an arm of the Catholic Church. And I saw that local churches often did more good for a community than a government program ever could, so I know how important the work that faith-based organizations do and how much impact they can have in their communities.
[3] I also know that some religious institutions -– particularly those affiliated with the Catholic Church -– have a religious objection to directly providing insurance that covers contraceptive services for their employees. And that's why we originally exempted all churches from this requirement -– an exemption, by the way, that eight states didn't already have.
612-623 –
[4] And that's why, from the very beginning of this process, I spoke directly to various Catholic officials, and I promised that before finalizing the rule as it applied to them, we would spend the next year working with institutions like Catholic hospitals and Catholic universities to find an equitable solution that protects religious liberty and ensures that every woman has access to the care that she needs.
[5] Now, after the many genuine concerns that have been raised over the last few weeks, as well as, frankly, the more cynical desire on the part of some to make this into a political football, it became clear that spending months hammering out a solution was not going to be an option, that we needed to move this faster. So last week, I directed the Department of Health and Human Services to speed up the process that had already been envisioned. We weren't going to spend a year doing this; we're going to spend a week or two doing this.
[6] Today, we've reached a decision on how to move forward. Under the rule, women will still have access to free preventive care that includes contraceptive services -– no matter where they work. So that core principle remains. But if a woman's employer is a charity or a hospital that has a religious objection to providing contraceptive services as part of their health plan, the insurance company -– not the hospital, not the charity -– will be required to reach out and offer the woman contraceptive care free of charge, without co-pays and without hassles.
[7] The result will be that religious organizations won't have to pay for these services, and no religious institution will have to provide these services directly. Let me repeat: These employers will not have to pay for, or provide, contraceptive services. But women who work at these institutions will have access to free contraceptive services, just like other women, and they'll no longer have to pay hundreds of dollars a year that could go towards paying the rent or buying groceries.
[8] Now, I've been confident from the start that we could work out a sensible approach here, just as I promised. I understand some folks in Washington may want to treat this as another political wedge issue, but it shouldn't be. I certainly never saw it that way. This is an issue where people of goodwill on both sides of the debate have been sorting through some very complicated questions to find a solution that works for everyone. With today's announcement, we've done that. Religious liberty will be protected, and a law that requires free preventive care will not discriminate against women.
[9] We live in a pluralistic society where we're not going to agree on every single issue, or share every belief. That doesn't mean that we have to choose between individual liberty and basic fairness for all Americans. We are unique among nations for having been founded upon both these principles, and our obligation as citizens is to carry them forward. I have complete faith that we can do that.
Thank you very much, everybody.
628-639 – • FRC (2/10/2012) Tony Perkins Responds to Pseudo-Compromise of Conscience Rights Mandate.
"Hello, I'm Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council here in Washington, D.C.
"The White House was in damage control this week as the opposition to their latest mandate has reached historic proportions. Religious leaders have said if all else fails they would rather go to jail than comply with the Obama administration's mandate that religious organizations provide contraceptive, abortifacient drugs and sterilization as part of the healthcare coverage.
"To put this in the proper context, as I have spoken with Protestant and Catholic religious leaders, the opposition was not about contraception, but rather a violation of the religious freedom and conscience rights of Americans.
"Hoping to quell the uprising the President announced that a compromise was being put forth that would provide the drugs and services to employees without the religious organization having to pay for them. The insurance company would provide the contraception to the employees free of charge. This service would not appear on the organization's list of services, so they are not responsible for providing something they are morally and religiously opposed to. Right?
"It's not that easy.
"How will the insurance company pay for this? The administration says it is good business, because it saves the insurance company money in the long run because they don't have to pay for the cost of pregnancies.
"Really. If this is good for business and saves money, why didn't the insurance companies do this years ago? Nothing has prohibited insurance companies from providing contraceptives.
"Insurance companies are not charities. They will be offsetting the costs by increasing the administrative costs of organization plans, and religious employers will still have to pay for those plans.
"So, goes the old saying, there is no such thing as a free lunch. So there is no such thing as a clear conscience when you violate the tenants of your faith, whether it is in writing or not.
"One of the wisest men who ever lived once said: "If you say, 'Surely we did not know this,' Does not He who weighs the hearts consider [it]? He who keeps your soul, does He [not] know [it]? And will he [not] render to [each] man according to his deeds?"
"It was true when Solomon wrote it, and it is true today.
"This latest fig leaf from the Obama administration is not only deceptive, this mandate remains fundamentally wrong and still violates the religious freedoms and conscience rights of Americans.
"Even if this compromise were legitimate, it applies only to religious organizations. The freedom of religion was granted to every American, not just those who work at religious organizations.
"This is yet another example of President Obama's flawed view of our rights as Americans. He has repeatedly said he supports the freedom of worship. Freedom of worship is what happens within the four walls of a church or possibly under the roof of your own home.
"The freedom of religious, which our Constitution serves to protect, recognizes our ability to lives our lives according to our faith, just as the Bible instructs us to do."
644-654 – • Charles Krauthammer (NRO, 2/9/2012) The Gospel According to Obama.
• Donald Wuerl, Chuck Colson, Meir Soloveichik (WSJ, 2/10/2012) United We Stand for Religious Freedom: ObamaCare's contraception mandate stands the First Amendment on its head. Cardinal Wuerl is the archbishop of Washington, D.C. Mr. Colson is the founder of Prison Fellowship and the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Rabbi Soloveichik is director of the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University and associate rabbi at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan.
654 – How'd you like to be able to send your son or daughter to a great Christian school this Fall for half price? Go to kkla.com, click on the "Half Off Tuition" banner, and check out the cool map with all the schools we're partnering with, and get the details on how this might be a great fit for your family. If so, be listening on Wednesday, February 22nd, right at 4pm, when I'll give out a special phone number, and if you're ready to put the whole one-half tuition on your credit card at that moment, you'll be one of only two families per school to qualify for this great deal! That's the "Half Off Tuition" banner at kkla.com, go now!
• Fox News (2/10/2012) Obama announces change in birth control coverage rule after outcry.
• Peggy Noonan (WSJ, 2/10/2012) Low Turnout and the Big Tune-Out: Voters aren't bothering with the GOP, but Obama has lost their attention too.
• Blaze (2/10/2012) OBAMA: CHURCHES WON'T BE FORCED TO DIRECTLY PROVIDE CONTRACEPTIVES BUT…
• Pastor Dudley Rutherford from Shepherd of the Hills called in last night after the show to say that the church has offerred to pay the fine for the two amputee veteran brothers who were fined for wheeling a wheelchair onto an LA County beach last year. The fine was $650.
