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Saturday, January 17, 2026
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Culture, Opinion, Religion

Acts 2:42-47 (NLT) 
42  All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 43  A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44  And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46  They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— 47  all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

Acts 20:24 (NLT) 
24  But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

A great phenomenon is taking place in the church today. It’s going on very quietly, but with dynamic results. This is one of those messages that pastors hate to deliver, but I believe now is the time to open up the conversation that is being whispered in the hallways of the church.

The phenomenon is the falling away of the saints from the local church into the arms of mega church ministries.

Today, even as I type this message, there are people leaving their churches for what the enemy has painted to be greener pastures.

The book of Acts is Gods ordained snapshot of how the church is to function. I want to bring your attention to the word “devote.” In Practical Word studies the word means: Loving, devoted. The word “devoted” (philostorgoi) means the love existing between family members.

I, however, like what my Practical Application app says:

The believer is to love by loving his brothers in Christ, by being kind and affectionate toward them. This charge is dealing with the Christian family, the brothers and sisters within the church. We are to love each other by being kind and affectionate. We are a family of children who have actually been adopted by God as His sons and daughters (2 Cor. 6:17-18; Galatians 4:4-6; Romans 8:16-17).

Therefore, the believer is to live as a family member with his brothers and sisters; he is to live being both kind and affectionate. Note: there is no dissension or divisiveness in love. The church is to live in love, and living in love is peace.

Notice that this devotion is two folded into one. First, to the apostles (or you could easily say pastors as that is what they did), and second in fellowship.

The word “fellowship” means: In common, sharing fellowship, partnership, and participation.

So, the church is to maintain a high level of tender hearted devotion to one another and an obligation to participate in activities with one another, which includes the aforementioned verse: 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had.

How many of the believers met together in one place, or better yet one central location? How many?

All!

Where did they worship each day? They all met each day at the church (temple).

Wow! Mind boggling! They all met each day and we have trouble meeting with one another once a week.

“Okay Pastor, you’re over-reacting.” No, I don’t think so.

I am thinking of about 10 people I know personally who do not think it is necessary to go to the church anymore. Our YouTube generation has made a “prodigal son” leap into disobedience without a second thought. Oh, and the excuses are vast.

  • There are no good churches in my neighborhood…
  • The pastor is all about money….
  • The pastor doesn’t walk in love….
  • There are too many ______ people go there….
  • The people are stuck up……
  • The pastor beats the sheep….
  • They have a bunch of clicks there……
  • The people there gossip too much……
  • The church is too big, they don’t even know I’m there…..
  • The church is too small, they want me to work too much….
  • They hurt me there…..
  • So and so goes there…..

And the list goes on and on.

Are some of these complaints legit? Of course they are. But wait, what happened to the Power of God? Where’s the Joy of The Lord? What happened to the Love? What happened to the Grace? The Grace of God for the Church? The adoration for the Church?

We bring disgrace to God’s Grace when we run from our Godly ordained lives to a life lived in front of a television screen. I understand because I, too, was tempted to sit in front of the TV.

I, too, left a church with many good reasons, sat home and watched Joseph Prince for 2 to 3 months. Then, the Holy Spirit started to nudge me saying, “what are you doing? The vacation is over!” So, Cindy and I prayed and got hooked up with a local church that was right for us.

But here comes the second round of disobedience of the saints.

Not only have they traded in their local church for a mega church on TV, they have also robbed God with their lack of tithes and offerings. So, now they sit in front of a TV and, then, they scale back their giving to $20.00 a month! That may be great news for the mega church, but it is bad news for the local church, their community, and bad news for the believer.

Recently, we went to see Joseph Prince at Newark, New Jersey, and he confirmed what I already knew, he looked intently into the camera and with great conviction said, “you must be part of a local church!”

Why did he say that? His ministry also used to say, “Your tithe belongs to your local church!” Why would he say that? Because people are writing in to him and saying, “your my pastor Joseph, I’m tithing to you!” That’s why he’s saying it! He’s saying it because when people tell him stuff like that he is grieved for them because they are in error!

Here are some of the other reasons why people who do this are in error. Our second scripture in Acts:

24  But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

Our lives are to be used to bring God glory by fulfilling the call of God in our lives. We are to tell others about His wonderful Grace. If all we do is sit home and watch the mega church on TV all day who are we filling ourselves up for? How do you find out what your gift is unless you put your hands to the plow at a local ministry and try out different departments to see where we shine!? Come on!

That is just common sense.

Maybe you fill up once per week on mega church TV, and perhaps you do share the message and someone gets saved. Now what?

How do you answer what you know will be their first question: where do you go to church?

If this message is not causing some Godly concern, then you are backslidden toward your brothers and sisters in Christ and the Church of Jesus Christ. It’s time to get right with God.

A prayer for today:

Father God we come to you in the name of Jesus. We thank you for your ordained gift to the Believer, The Local Church! Father I thank you that blinded eye where opened by this message. That hearts where convicted and that the believer would repent and come back to Fathers house. No guilt, no condemnation, but just Holy Spirit led conviction to do what is right in your sight. I thank you that this message will reach all who are settling for the mega TV life, so that they can make things right with you, and most of all that they would become active witnesses of your never ceasing Grace! We thank you for changed hearts in Jesus Name! Amen!

Loving God & His People,

Pastor Steven Pereira

A great phenomenon is taking place in

News, Politics

The Sunday show ObamaCare news coverage post-deadline — in case you missed it — amounted to more broken promises. The Obama administration’s promise to fix the problem plagued-website before their self-imposed deadline of November 30, was broken.

After using a column in USA Today for a sales pitch and to take a victory lap, regardless of the fact the site’s fundamental problems are still present, Secretary Sebelius admits the site is still not working for those who truly need to use it. “For those who prefer to shop online, you may want to visit HealthCare.gov in off-peak hours when there is less traffic — mornings, evenings, or on weekends,” she wrote.

Obama adviser Jeffrey Zients said that their big key improvement increasing HealthCare.gov’s capacity to 50,000 simultaneous users, which would allow the site to handle a minimum of 800,000 users per day. But Zients admitted that traffic volume increases in the coming weeks would erase the new capacity regardless, because the more consumers visit the site to sign up before the December 23 deadline for coverage that begins January 1, the more the site will fail.

That could delay some people from completing online applications for subsidized health coverage, and the reason for the soon-to-be failure is simple. They refused to listen to experts, such as security guru John McAfee and David Kennedy, a “white hat hacker” who also testified at the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee hearing in November.

Kennedy said the problems were “impossible” to fix by the deadline, and merely placing patches of better code over bad code is subjecting user information to identity theft risks, or as McAfee referred to it, “a hacker’s wet dream.” Essentially, they are attempting to make enough fixes to give the appearance the site is functional, but in reality insurers are still not even receiving accurate, appropriate consumer information.

Depending on which show you were watching on Sunday, however, you may not even know any of this. So, we chose one debate on one show that covered the latest ObamaCare news that you and your family absolutely need to know. As usual, however, it needs some translation, because no matter how good the moderator, is it seemingly impossible to get complete answers out of proponents of the law.

On “Fox News Sunday” with Chris Wallace, Neera Tanden, who is the president of the leftist Center for American Progress think tank, debated James Capretta, an AEI fellow with the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Worth mentioning, Tanden was a key member of the Obama administration’s team that wrote and passed the behemoth law, ObamaCare.

Beginning with the fundamental integration software, which relays sensitive user information to the insurers, Capretta said the full extent of success or failure will take about a month to ascertain.

“It’s very clear from multiple media reports that the system is still not accurate when it makes payments to the insurance plan. In fact, they’re doing a workaround. They’re going to actually make large lump sum payments to the insurance plan, based on self- reporting from the insurance companies instead of actual individual subsidy calculations. So, they’re working around the whole problem instead of actually solving it,” Capretta said.

In other words, they have no idea who gets what subsidies for which plans, so they are throwing a bunch of money at the insurers in hopes they will cover the cost, with no regard to the security risks associated with user information.

Ignoring the security risks altogether, Tanden revisited the problems associated with Medicare Part D stating, “we actually had hundreds of thousands of seniors being sent to the wrong — they got the wrong pharmaceutical information. That’s a big problem.”

As if that wasn’t enough of an inadequate answer, it was also an inaccurate analogy, because the integration software for Medicare Part D was secure. Even though the programming wrong, it wasn’t an architectural problem with the code that made user information susceptible to theft.

Regarding the loss of health insurance plans, which of course, is the now-infamous broken promise made by President Obama, Capretta highlighted the employer-sponsored insurance cancellation notices that have yet to go out. While others are starting to come to grips with the reality that some 5 million Americans in the individual market have lost their plans with many more to come, this was the one debate all Sunday that touched on the severity and the magnitude of the soon-to-be problem of cancelled employer-sponsored plans.

But they will be cancelled, and as our PPD study first claimed, around 145 million Americans will lose their current plan and doctor.

“Is it or is it not the case that this isn’t just a question — an issue of problem with people with individual policies, but that a lot of people who get their health insurance through their small business employer or even big corporations are going to lose that coverage?” Wallace asked.

“They will,” Capretta bluntly answers. “The law requires — especially small businesses to pay premiums as a large group now, instead of just for the individual enrollment in their company. So, if you have a healthy company and you’re small, your premiums are pretty low today, you’re going to get cooled with a larger group in the future and your premiums are going to go up. Moreover, you have to buy more expansive coverage that is compliant with the new law. So, lots of small businesses signed up for 2014 are going to get notices in the coming months saying, hey, you can’t get your old plan anymore. The same problem that individuals face, these problems are going to wipe all the way out through the small business community.”

You’ll notice that Tanden could not refute Capretta on the facts, thus she goes into a mindless, childish rant about some imagined plan that John McCain supported in 2008, and an attack that falsely charged Capretta with authoring a plan that would have a similar impact.

“With all due respect, I don’t want to get into the plans that don’t exist,” Wallace interjected. “Yes, the plan I drafted, which I would love to have Congress and other people consider, would not actually affect the vast majority of people in employer based coverage because it wouldn’t change the exclusion,” Capretta said correcting the record.

The interviewed debate goes on to discuss the narrowing of choice and coverage under the new law, as well as a few other tidbits. But, ironically, what the debate did not surround was whether or not the amount of people who lost their insurance will have a good experience trying to obtain another policy on the federal website, because that is irrefutable.

The promise was that the website would be fully functional come the self-imposed November 30 deadline, but it isn’t. No amount of downplaying by the administration over the last few weeks has changed that fact. The site isn’t functional, correct user information is not safely being transmitted to insurers, and the government is willing to risk the identity theft of millions of Americans just to keep up this charade.

It’s just another broken promise.

The Sunday show ObamaCare news coverage post-deadline

Polls

According to a new survey from Rasmussen, over half of voters now oppose ObamaCare’s contraceptive mandate requiring employers to provide health insurance with free contraceptives for their female employees.

However, perhaps opposition is fueled by the toxicity of ObamaCare, because voters still remain closely divided when asked if a business should be allowed to opt out of such a mandate specifically for religious reasons, which the U.S. Supreme Court will hear in the upcoming session.

The survey found that 38 percent of “Likely U.S. Voters” still believe businesses should be forced to provide health insurance that covers all government-approved contraceptives for women without co-payments or other charges to the patient.  But the majority, 51 percent, disagree and think employers should not be required to provide health insurance for such coverage, while 11 percent are unsure.

The Supreme Court said it will hear the cases, including the most notable case of Hobby Lobby, regarding this very issue. In October, Hobby Lobby asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to take up the company’s lawsuit against the federal health care law’s mandated coverage of the morning-after pill.

Despite the claims made by negative press coverage, the company’s insurance plans actually do offer 16 other forms of birth control mentioned in the federal health care act.

Two other recent cases, Cherry Creek Mortgage and the Pennsylvania Catholic Diocese, will most likely be decided by the court in one swoop. Thus far, religious freedom has won most of the cases before federal courts, with the 3-year battle soon to come to a head in the high court.

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on December 1, 2013 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

According to a new survey from Rasmussen,

Opinion

MILWAUKEE — In 2011, tens of thousands of government employees and others, enraged by Gov. Scott Walker’s determination to break the ruinously expensive and paralyzing grip that government workers’ unions had on Wisconsin, took over the capitol building in Madison. With chanting, screaming and singing supplemented by bullhorns, bagpipes and drum circles, their cacophony shook the building that the squalor of their occupation made malodorous. They spat on Republican legislators and urinated on Walker’s office door. They shouted, “This is what democracy looks like!”

When they and Democratic legislators failed to prevent passage of Act 10, they tried to defeat — with a scurrilous smear campaign that backfired — an elected state Supreme Court justice. They hoped that changing the court’s composition would get Walker’s reforms overturned. When this failed, they tried to capture the state Senate by recalling six Republican senators. When this failed, they tried to recall Walker. On the night that failed — he won with a larger margin than he had received when elected 19 months earlier — he resisted the temptation to proclaim, “This is what democracy looks like!”

Walker recounts these events in “Unintimidated: A Governor’s Story and a Nation’s Challenge.” Most books by incumbent politicians are not worth the paper they never should have been written on. If, however, enough voters read Walker’s nonfiction thriller, it will make him a — perhaps the — leading candidate for his party’s 2016 presidential nomination.

Act 10 required government workers to contribute 5.8 percent of their salaries to their pensions (hitherto, most paid nothing) and to pay 12.6 percent of their health care premiums (up from 6 percent but still just half of what the average federal worker pays). Both percentages are well below the private-sector average. By limiting collective bargaining to base wages, Act 10 freed school districts to hire and fire teachers based on merit, and to save many millions of dollars by buying teachers’ health insurance in the competitive market rather than from an entity run by the teachers’ union. Restricting collective bargaining to wages ended the sort of absurd rules for overtime compensation that made a bus driver Madison’s highest paid public employee.

Act 10’s dynamite, however, was the provision ending the state’s compulsory collection of union dues — sometimes as high as $1,400 per year — that fund union contributions to Democrats. Barack Obama and his national labor allies made Wisconsin a battleground because they knew that when Indiana made paying union dues optional, 90 percent of state employees quit paying, and similar measures produced similar results in Washington, Colorado and Utah.

Walker has long experience in the furnace of resistance to the looting of public funds by the public’s employees. He was elected chief executive of heavily Democratic Milwaukee County after his predecessor collaborated with other officials in rewriting pension rules in a way that, if he had been re-elected instead of resigning, would have given him a lump-sum payment of $2.3 million and $136,000 a year for life.

To fight the recall — during which opponents disrupted Walker’s appearance at a Special Olympics event, and squeezed Super Glue into the locks of a school he was to visit — Walker raised more than $30 million, assembling a nationwide network of conservative donors that could come in handy if he is re-elected next year. Having become the first U.S. governor to survive a recall election, he is today serene as America’s first governor to be, in effect, elected twice to a first term. When he seeks a second term, his probable opponent will be a wealthy opponent who says her only promise is to not make promises. This is her attempt to cope with an awkward fact: She will either infuriate her party’s liberal base or alarm a majority of voters by promising either to preserve or repeal Act 10.

Walker is politely scathing — a neat trick — of Mitt Romney’s campaign, especially of Romney’s statement that “I’m not concerned about the very poor” because “we have a very ample safety net.” The imperative, Walker says, is to “help them escape the safety net.”

“Outside the Washington beltway,” he says pointedly, “big-government liberals are on the ropes.” No incumbent Republican governor has lost a general election since 2007. Since 2008, the number of Republican governors has increased from 21 to 30, just four short of the party’s all-time high reached in the 1920s. He thinks Republican governors are in tune with the nation. If re-elected, he probably will test that theory.

George Will’s email address is [email protected].

George Will discusses leadership of Wisconsin Governor

News

Cars from a Metro-North passenger train are scattered after the train derailed in the Bronx neighborhood of New York, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013. The Fire Department of New York says there are “multiple injuries” in the train derailment, and 130 firefighters are on the scene. Metropolitan Transportation Authority police say the train derailed near the Spuyten Duyvil station. (AP Photo/Edwin Valero)

UPDATE: The New York City train in Sunday’s fatal Metro-North derailment was traveling at 82 mph as it headed into a 30 mph zone, the NTSB said.

NEW YORK (AP) — A Metro-North New York City train derailment on a curved area located in the Bronx on Sunday morning, stopping mere inches from the water, caused “multiple deaths” and dozens of injuries, officials said.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokeswoman Marjorie Anders earlier confirmed the deaths, saying the big curve where the derailment took place is in a slow speed area approaching the Spuyten Duyvil station.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the New York City train derailment has left 4 people dead and 63 injured. Cuomo also spoke Sunday morning at the scene of the crash in the Bronx. The governor says authorities think everyone at the site has already been accounted for and that the National Transportation Safety Board was on their way.

Dr. Ernest Patti, of St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, said that 12 passengers were taken to St. Barnabas, of which 2 were in critical condition and 10 were in stable condition. Dr. Patti said the majority of the patients suffered from broken bones, including open compound fractures where bone pierces the skin. Some of them also suffered broken ribs, the doctor said.

Gov. Cuomo also said the train operator is among the injured. Officials earlier said the black box will be able to tell how fast the train was traveling.

The derailment of the southbound Hudson Line train was reported at about 7:20 a.m., officials said. The train left Poughkeepsie at 5:54 a.m. and was due to arrive at 7:43 a.m. at Grand Central Terminal.

Four or five cars on the seven-car train derailed roughly 100 yards north of the station, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said in a news release. But none of the cars entered the Hudson or Harlem rivers, which are adjacent, the MTA said.

The train appeared to be going “a lot faster” than usual as it approached the curve coming into the station, passenger Frank Tatulli told WABC-TV.

Joel Zaritsky told The Associated Press he was on his way to New York City for a dental convention.

“I was asleep and I woke up when the car started rolling several times. Then I saw the gravel coming at me, and I heard people screaming. There was smoke everywhere and debris. People were thrown to the other side of the train,” he said, holding his bloody right hand.

Passengers were taken off the derailed train, with dozens of them bloodied and scratched, holding ice packs to their heads.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo appeared on the scene later Sunday morning. The Fire Department of New York said 130 firefighters responded to the derailment.

The crash was reported by the engineer, and it wasn’t clear if any crew members were among the injured, the MTA said.

Edwin Valero was in an apartment building above the accident scene when the train derailed. He said none of the cars entered the water, but at least one ended up a few feet from the edge.

At first, he said, he didn’t notice that the train had flipped over.

“I didn’t realize it had been turned over until I saw a firefighter walking on the window,” he said.

“I was asleep and I woke up when the car started rolling several times,” said a bloodied Joel Zaritsky, who was on his way to New York City for a dental convention.

“Then I saw the gravel coming at me, and I heard people screaming. There was smoke everywhere and debris. People were thrown to the other side of the train.”

New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said there were initial concerns that people may have been ejected from the train after the crash and landed in the water. The NYPD dispatched its dive team, complete with helicopters and a canine squad. However, nothing was found, Kelly said.

“It’s going to be a long time before this is cleared up,” MTA spokeswoman Marjorie Anders told the media. “It was not a hugely crowded train,” she added.

Metro-North said it will provide bus service between White Plains and the Tarrytown Station for customers traveling in and out of Grand Central Station. Bus service was scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.

Amtrak Empire service was halted between New York City and Albany after the derailment. Amtrak said its Northeast Corridor service between Boston and Washington was unaffected.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the New York

News

NEW YORK –  A Metro-North New York City train has derailed, police said.

(Also Read: Cuomo: At Least 4 Dead, 63 Injured In New York City Train Derailment)

The train derailed near the Spuyten Duyvil station in the Bronx, with at least four and as many as all seven cars off the track, including two cars on their sides, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police.

The New York Fire Department said there were “multiple injuries” in the derailment, but the extent of the injuries is unclear. The fire department says 130 firefighters are on the scene.

The FDNY said the derailment in the Bronx was reported at 7:20 a.m. Sunday. Photos taken of the accident scene show eight cars derailed.

The MTA said four or five cars on the seven-car train derailed about 100 yards north of the station on a curved section of the track. But the MTA added that none of the cars entered the Hudson or Harlem rivers, which are adjacent.

The agency said the crash was reported by the engineer and it wasn’t clear if any crew members are injured.

Edwin Valero was in an apartment building above the accident scene when the train derailed. He said one of the cars ended up a few feet from the edge.

He says he didn’t realize the train had turned on its side until he saw a firefighter walking on the window.

In a press conference Gov. Cuomo and officials said it was too early to draw conclusions or speculate regarding the cause of the crash.

Read More: “Cuomo: At Least 4 Dead, 63 Injured In New York City Train Derailment“

A Metro-North New York City train has

Entertainment, News

Actor Paul Walker, best known for his role as undercover cop Brian O’Conner in the “Fast & Furious” movies, died in a car accident in Southern California Saturday. He was only 40 years old.

A representative for the actor confirmed his death in an e-mail Saturday evening.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said that two people were killed in the crash, which occurred at approximately 3:30 p.m. local time in Santa Clarita, California. A statement on the accident — see below — from the department said that deputies found the car engulfed in flames when they arrived at the scene.

Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene. The second victim has not been identified and the Los Angeles County Coroner told KTTV’s Kevin Takumi that dental records would be needed to formally identify the bodies.

A statement on the actor’s official Facebook page said that Walker was a passenger in the car, and had been at a charity event for his organization, Reach Out Worldwide earlier in the day.

“We appreciate your patience as we too are stunned and saddened beyond belief by this news,” the statement read in part. “Thank you for keeping his family and friends in your prayers during this very difficult time. We will do our best to keep you apprised on where to send condolences.”

Walker, a Southern California native and the oldest of five children, had started acting at a young age in commercials, and his television credits include appearances on “The Young and the Restless” and “Who’s The Boss?”

Walker, who was also known as an adventurer, once said that show business initially wasn’t a means to a career, but merely a way to help provide for the family. Walker made his feature film debut in the 1998 comedy “Meet the Deedles.” Supporting roles in the films “Pleasantville,” ”Varsity Blues” and “She’s All That” followed.

His role opposite Vin Diesel in “The Fast and the Furious” films, which was taken from a Vibe magazine article about underground street races, made Paul Walker a star. He was cast by producer Neal H. Moritz, whom of which Walker had impressed with his performance in the 2000 thriller, “The Skulls.”

Paul Walker reprised his role as Brian O’Conner in four of the five sequels made of the 2001 hit. The latest edition, “Fast & Furious 6,” was the most lucrative of them all, grossing more than $788 million worldwide following its May release.

According to the Internet Movie Database, Walker was to appear in “Fast & Furious 7,” due out next July. He will also appear in the film “Hours,” due out December 13.

Universal Pictures, the studio that was behind the “Fast & Furious” films, released the following statement Saturday evening:

All of us at Universal are heartbroken. Paul was truly one of the most beloved and respected members of our studio family for 14 years, and this loss is devastating to us, to everyone involved with the FAST AND FURIOUS films, and to countless fans. We send our deepest and most sincere condolences to Paul’s family.

Walker starred in other films, including the crime thriller “Running Scared,” the Antarctic adventure “Eight Below” and the heist film “Takers.”

Walker tempered his stardom outside of the “Fast And Furious” series, taking up other adventurer passions, such as his role in tagging and studying great white sharks aboard with the crew of Shark Men, which first aired on National Geographic and History Channel.

Walker received praise from his co-stars and directors, who characterized him as a kind-hearted, friend and professional.

Vin Diesel, the star who appeared opposite Paul Walker in “Fast and Furious” shared his reaction via Twitter:

Brother I will miss you very much. I am absolutely speechless. Heaven has gained a new Angel. RIP. pic.twitter.com/leCBT0sZkG

— Vin Diesel (@OffVinDiesel) December 1, 2013

Ludacris, who starred with Paul Walker in “Fast and Furious” tweeted:

Your humble spirit was felt from the start, wherever you blessed your presence you always left a mark,… http://t.co/nUiPPIU9Bb

— Ludacris (@Ludacris) December 1, 2013

Walker is survived by his 15-year-old daughter, Meadow.

LA County Sheriff Statement 

Update: Speed was a factor in the solo vehicle collision. The car was a red 2005 Porsche Carrera GT.

 

Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

***

 

Sheriff’s deputies from Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station responded to a report of a traffic collision at approximately 3:30PM in the 28300 block of Rye Canyon Loop, Valencia, on Saturday, November 30, 2013.

When they arrived, deputies found the vehicle engulfed in flames. The Los Angeles County Fire Department responded, extinguished the fire and subsequently located two victims inside the vehicle. The victims were pronounced dead at the scene.

The cause of the collision is under investigation by traffic investigators with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The Office of the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner will determine the identities and the cause of death of the victims.

If you have any information about the cause of the collision, please call sheriff’s traffic investigators at 661-255-1121.  Or if you wish to remain anonymous, call “LA Crime Stoppers” by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org

 

"Fast and Furious" star Paul Walker dead

News, World

Many Americans were outraged over the new China air defense zone demands, but U.S. airlines are being advised by the U.S. government to comply by telling China of any flights passing through the disputed area.

Last week, China announced that all aircraft entering the airspace over the disputed East China Sea, located between China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, must first notify Chinese authorities and also that China would take unspecified measures against those who do not comply.

After U.S. and Japanese aircraft entered the airspace, China scrambled two fighter jets to investigate — rather intimidate — the flights. Now it would appear that the U.S. is not testing the waters before Vice President Joe Biden visits China Monday.

(Read Also: Defiant China Launches Two Fighter Jets Over East China Sea)

While the United States said it expected its carriers to operate in line with notices issued to airmen by foreign countries, the decision did “not indicate U.S. government acceptance of China’s requirements,” Reuters reported.

Obama administration officials claimed the decision was only made out of an abundance of caution to avoid any miscommunications that could lead to a disaster.

Still, neighboring countries and the U.S. have said that they will not honor the new zone. Chinese defense ministry said fighter jets identified and monitored the two U.S. reconnaissance aircraft and a mix of 10 Japanese early warning, reconnaissance and fighter planes during their flights through the zone early Friday.

Japan, however, is not willing to allow itself to be bullied by the Chinese. Japan’s two major airlines agreed with Japanese government officials to continue flying through the zone without notifying China.

Vice President Joe Biden is due to arrive in Tokyo Monday on a week long trip to Asia, and has said he would raise the issue directly with Chinese leaders.

The U.S. has tried to stay out of such territorial disputes, but post-World War II treaty obligations to Japan may force the U.S. to get involved.

Many Americans were outraged over the new

News, Policy

Obama administration officials claimed Saturday they were “on track” to have the many ObamaCare website problems ironed out by their stated November 30 deadline.

“With the scheduled upgrades last night and tonight, we’re on track to meet our stated goal for the site to work for the vast majority of users,” Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services spokesman Aaron Albright told Fox News, in a statement.

White House officials have downplayed expectations since setting the deadline, repeatedly stating the site would work for the “vast majority of people.”

The Washington Post earlier Saturday reported the administration was prepared to announce Sunday that they have met deadlines for “improving” HealthCare.gov.

Officials will claim that the crash-prone site, which many experts claim will not be secure for users, will now be able to handle 50,000 users at once. But technicians failed to reach the deadline to fix at least some of the glitches, according to the Washington Post.

(Read Also: ObamaCare Website Problems ‘Impossible’ To Fix By Deadline)

A mere few hours before the deadline, CMS announced the site would be down for an extended period overnight Friday until 8 a.m. Saturday. During that time, the online application and enrollment systems were available, still.

There is no doubt that if the site doesn’t deliver on the White House promises, then President Obama’s credibility, political support and the very fate of his landmark health care law that bares his name could be in jeopardy. The president’s numbers on trust and approval have fallen to all-time lows since the failed rollout, as the majority of Americans now see the president as incompetent and untrustworthy.

However, if it is the case the site is able to recover, it will surely help the Democrats and the president restore confidence in the program and government, itself. But the question remains if the mainstream media will accept the qualified improvements, or if they will hold Obama and his administration to their word.

The financial success of ObamaCare is contingent upon young, healthy people to sign up for the program. If they lose interest or back away from the program, then it will blow a hole in the federal budget. A document obtained by People’s Pundit Daily from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, estimates that ObamaCare will already bring total health care expenditures to $5 trillion each year.

(Read Also: ObamaCare Cost To Push Health Expenditures To $5 Trillion By 2022)

The White House says it’s made numerous upgrades in both software and hardware over the last month, which also will allow the site to handle more than 800,000 visitors a day.

Still, in the days leading up to the deadline, the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services continued to scale back expectations, saying not to expect the site to be 100 percent glitch-free.

“If there are extraordinarily high spikes in traffic, which exceed the site’s capacity, consumers will be put in a new, advanced queuing system that will give them an expected wait time, or allow them to be notified via when they can return to the site,” CMS spokeswoman Julie Bataille said Monday.

Obama recently said he’d consider a “fix” to be successful if 80 percent of the people are able to navigate the site without a major problem.

(Read Also: Experts And Officials Say Insurance Death Spiral “Fix” Won’t Do!)

Democrats and Republicans will be closely watching the site this weekend. With the midterm elections less than a year away, it’s vital to Democrats that the site lives up to expectations the president set. Republicans have already suggested they’ll launch coordinated attacks linking every congressional Democrat up for re-election to ObamaCare.

In the House, the effort, based around dozens of votes to repeal the law, is about denying Democrats the 17-seat gain they would need to win back the majority. In the Senate, it’s about gaining the six seats Republicans need to take control of that chamber.

It was announced earlier this week that Families USA, a self-proclaimed non-partisan organization, has been given a $1.1 million grant to establish a database of ObamaCare “success stories.”

Families USA received the money from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on Oct. 4. The grant, which was first reported by CapitolCityProject.com, is meant to help Families USA expand the database of “real people” sharing their stories of enrolling in ObamaCare.

Reports surfaced exposing the grant in the same week that the White House announced they will unilaterally impose two more delays in an effort to minimize the law’s damage to their 2014 prospects.

On Wednesday, the administration announced that it would delay the launch of an online portal to the health insurance marketplace for small businesses until November 2015. Officials said that the decision to delay the launch had been taken because making repairs to the federal health exchange site, Healthcare.gov took priority.

The administration also announced that the launch of a Spanish-language sign-up tool would have to be postponed.

In recent weeks, the White House has also pushed back the enrollment deadline for individuals to December 23, given businesses with more than 50 workers until 2015 to provide required health insurance without paying a penalty, and moved the deadline date for individuals to avoid penalties for failing to get coverage back for six weeks.

There was also an announced schedule change in next year’s open enrollment season. It will start on November 15, 2014, which is conveniently 1 week or so after the midterm elections and 1 month later than originally scheduled. They now plan to finish on January 15 of 2015, roughly 5 weeks later than originally planned.

The midterm congressional elections are November 4, and congressional Republicans hammered the administration for changing the dates for political reasons, or in other words to hide any spike in 2015 premiums and mass cancelations.

(Read Also: PPD Study: 145 Million Americans Will Lose Health Insurance Plans)

The administration had also announced prior that it would allow insurance companies to extend for another year coverage under individual policies that don’t meet ObamaCare’s Essential Health Benefit Standards. Though the move was a response to anger over a wave of almost 5 million policy cancellations, experts and insurance officials said the president’s johnny come too late “fix” would lead to higher premiums, and speed up a potential insurance death spiral.

The majority of the states announced that they would not comply.

Obama administration officials claimed Saturday they were

Opinion

Debbie Nall has been opening her doors for almost three decades to those in need. Because the state demands a monopoly on social welfare Debbie Nall will be fined heavily if she doesn’t stop helping others.

During the all but forgotten IRS targeting scandal, I demonstrated the government obtained that power to target conservative groups in their effort to gain a monopoly on social welfare. But what does one have to do with the other?

If you were to ask Debbie Nall of Lawrence, Kansas, why practicing social welfare was a crime, she would tell you the city has an ordinance that says residents in a single-family zoned neighborhood cannot have more than three unrelated guests in their home over a 90-day period.

For almost three decades, Ms. Nall has opened her 8-bedroom home to around 90 of her fellow-citizens who were in need. And who were those unfortunate citizens?

“Usually it’s abused women, displaced women or people who have gotten out of the hospital who don’t want to die in the hospital,” she said in a media interview. “If people only knew the blessing that comes out of it.”

In other words, “usually” it is your typical Democratic voter, or rather those who are dependent on government assistance programs. And sadly, respecting her latter comment, “people” do know “the blessing that comes out of it.” In fact, they know all too well, which is why they do not want Debbie Nall or any other citizen or civil society organization threatening their social welfare monopoly.

The IRS was granted power that made the recent scandal possible only after progressives like Lyndon Johnson — and those who shared his “Great Society” vision — used 501[c] statutes to weaken faith-based social welfare programs. Their motives are simple, despicable, and multidimensional.

First, and most obvious, they want a monopoly on social welfare, because the more We citizens help each other, then the less “necessary and proper” it becomes to have Them — or, government — intervene in intimate areas of our lives. That may sound overly cynical, but just look at the case of Debbie Nall.

Nall has pled her case to government officials, but city officials say if she doesn’t stop that they are going to smack her with hefty fines. “These are her guests. The house is not overflowing. If you have eight bedrooms, own your home, how can the city impose fines for opening your home to guests?” Nall’s daughter wrote to KCTV. “Not renters. She takes no money. She asks for no help. She has worked her whole life to pay her house off and now the city fines her heavily for opening her doors.”

Even before Johnson and the “Great Society” reforms, progressives had been on the attack against faith-based social welfare, particularly Protestant social welfare, because the ideology of empowerment it professes is dangerous to the nanny state. It isn’t a fear of established religion that prompted big government progressives to oppose Bush’s faith-based initiatives, or Jack Kemp’s “empowerment agenda,” it was their ability to reduce the need for government.

Unlike government social welfare, receiving assistance from these groups instills in citizens an obligation toward their fellow-citizens, communities, and God-forbid in the case of a faith-based group, God (to provide further evidence for my argument, I included the entire first section of chapter 3 in Our Virtuous Republic, entitled “Decapitation of Church And State”).

Nevertheless, it is the stubbornly resilient tendency of the American national identity to strive for autonomy, demanded by the Christian ethic, which progressives have long sought and are still seeking to eliminate. There is no doubt they have had an enormous amount of success. Yet stubborn is our American way of life and desire for close relationships in a community, thus laws that punish those who practice social welfare are needed to weaken those relationships and increase dependency.

In a recent article I highlighted a few relevant polls. In a Fox Poll, a whopping 74 percent of all registered voters said they “think Americans rely too much on the government and not enough on themselves.” In a follow-up question, 50 percent said “to rely on friends, family, their church or other charitable organizations” for fulfillment of needs “is the better way to get families who fall on hard times back on their feet again.”

Only 35 percent said that a reliance on “government programs such as food stamps and welfare” was the way to go, and by a 52 percent – 35 percent margin, Americans would rather friends and family in need ask them for a place to stay instead of relying upon government assistance.

Rasmussen recently found that beyond their family, 35 percent said their personal allegiance was to their church and community, while 31 percent said the nation comes first – which mirrors the same stubborn, yet natural preference of Americans to choose community over big government also shown in the Fox Poll.

I will leave you with the link to her interview, and you can ask yourself why Debbie Nall carrying out her Christian duty would be a problem for the state. Then, I would encourage you to click here and take the small amount of time to read “Decapitation of Church and State” taken from Our Virtuous Republic, after which, you will see that the modern interpretation of a “separation of church and state is the biggest hoax ever perpetuated on the American people regarding their national identity.”

If you were to ask Debbie Nall

People's Pundit Daily
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