California Governor Gavin Newsom looks on before speaking to members of the media during a press conference at Petco Park, February 8, 2021 in San Diego, California, during a visit to the Petco Park Vaccination Supersite. The Petco Park Vaccination Supersite, which is hosted in a parking lot next to the ballpark, is a partnership between San Diego County, the San Diego Padres baseball team and UC San Diego Health and has capacity to dole out about 5,000 COVID-19 vaccines per day.SANDY HUFFAKER/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Governor Gavin Newsom was heckled by protesters demanding a recall vote during a press conference on California’s latest coronavirus figures.
The embattled politician, who is facing recall efforts that would trigger a fresh gubernatorial election not otherwise scheduled until late 2022, was jeered as he spoke to the press in Fresno and revealed more than 5 million people had received their COVID shot in the state.
Off camera a group of protesters could be heard loudly chanting “Recall Newsom” as he gave an update on efforts to tackle the virus, which has claimed the lives of around 45,000 people in California alone.
He did not respond to the heckles and continued to answer questions on the state’s response to the pandemic.
You can hear hecklers chanting “Recall Newsom” off camera at Governor Newsom’s press conference. He’s in the Central Valley talking about vaccine rollout, ongoing negotiations to get kids back to school, youth sports, etc. Says CA has now given 5 million doses of vaccine. @FOXLApic.twitter.com/CewonYrB8D
At the briefing, Newsom revealed the first two cases of the South African variant of the virus had been discovered in the state—one in Alameda County and one in Santa Clara county.
Newsom also said both COVID infections and hospitalizations in California were down significantly on a month ago.
“Real progress is being made,” he said. “We announced new vaccination sites just this week up and down the state of California.”
He said he was now focused on ensuring “underserved and underrepresented communities were getting fair access and distribution of these vaccines,” but added: “We are falling short of our goals of making sure that we truly are being equitable in the distribution and administration of this vaccine.”
L.A. has so far vaccinated nearly 300,000 of its four million residents, but Eric Garcetti said the roll out had hit an “enormous hurdle” which left clinics low on stock and appointments for the weekend canceled.
The “Recall Gavin 2020″ campaign is said to be approaching the 1,495,709 signatures that are needed by March 17.
Newsom’s popularity has waned in recent months. Last spring he was praised for his early response to the COVID-19 pandemic, having issued the nation’s first statewide stay-at-home order.
But he has faced growing opposition to further measures aimed at curbing the deadly toll of the virus, including closing schools and businesses, and his popularity has ebbed according to recent opinion polls.
He is also facing questions over a massive unemployment benefits fraud scandal. In a report released last month, the state auditor said the California Employment Development Department (EDD) had paid around $10 billion in fraudulent claims, blaming failures to boost detection efforts.
Nursing homes in Kentucky and Arkansas have confirmed the deaths of several residents. Four seniors died in Kentucky right after their vaccination. Three of these people had the virus before getting their vaccines.
Four seniors died in Arkansas, too. The deaths were reported a week after they got vaccinated. Each of the seniors tested positive post mortem.
The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System has information of the deaths.
Deaths after vaccination may not be related to the vaccine itself. Most seniors are diagnosed with chronic diseases, so they may have died of any existing condition.
Kentucky Nursing Home Death Cases
According to VAERS, Kentucky seniors received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. One of the seniors, an 88-year-old woman was “14+ days post covid” and received the shot while she was “unresponsive in her room.” The lady died an hour and a half later. The same happened to an 88-year-old man. Another woman vomited four minutes after getting the shot, lost her breath, and died later that night. An 85-year-old died two hours after getting the vaccine.
CDC spokesman said experts noted “no pattern … among the [Kentucky] cases that would indicate a concern for the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine.”
“Vaccination should be offered to persons regardless of history of prior symptomatic or asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 [the virus that causes COVID-19] infection,” CDC said.
CDC’s Dr. Sarah Oliver said, “Data from both clinical trials suggests that people with prior infection are still likely to benefit from vaccination.”
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) disagrees with the information, and the agency corrected the statement.
“CDC is aware of reports of increased reactogenicity (such as fever, chills, and muscle aches) in persons who have had COVID-19,” said a spokesman.
Arkansas Nursing Home Deaths
VAERS reports four deaths in Arkansas too. A 65-year-old got the Moderna vaccine and died two days later. Three other seniors died a week after getting their shot on Dec. 22. An 82-year-old died six days after getting his shot.
“After vaccination, patient tested positive for COVID-19.”
An unnamed person reported the death of the 90-year-old senior. “The vaccine did not have enough time to prevent COVID 19,” they said, adding that “there is no evidence that the vaccination caused patient’s death. It simply didn’t have time to save her life.” The 78-year-old died “as a result of COVID-19 and her underlying health conditions and not as a result of the vaccine.”
“Surveillance data to date do not indicate excess deaths among elderly patients receiving COVID-19 vaccinations,” the CDC said of the Arkansas deaths.
Frail groups
In Norway, 23 people died right after getting their shots. These side effects are common in patients vaccinated with the Phizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. These shots cause fever, nausea, and diarrhea. The symptoms “may have contributed to fatal outcomes in some of the frail patients.”
“There is a possibility that these common adverse reactions, that are not dangerous in fitter, younger patients and are not unusual with vaccines, may aggravate underlying disease in the elderly,” said Steinar Madsen, medical director of the Norwegian Medicines Agency.
Masked worshipers attend Mass outside the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in San Francisco, July 14, 2020. PHOTO: DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS
These days “follow the science” has become a cliché especially popular with government leaders. But when it comes to the constitutional right to worship, California began to follow the science only after a recent Supreme Court intervention.
Political elites issuing health orders that they themselves don’t obey—and destroying countless livelihoods without any scientific basis for such action—is infuriating. But it was especially so for us Catholics, who have scientific evidence that positively demonstrates we can celebrate Mass safely indoors. In lifting California’s blanket ban on indoor worship, the high court rightly acknowledged the blatant unfairness of treating religious worship differently from secular activities such as shopping.
It’s been a long fight. Even as the pandemic subsided last summer and secular businesses began to open up, we still had to fight San Francisco City Hall for our right to worship. At the time the local government’s health orders were even more severe than California’s statewide policies. For months, San Francisco banned outdoor gatherings of more than 12 people—even as street protests were conveniently allowed and some city officials even participated.
After numerous attempts at respectful dialogue with the pertinent city officials went nowhere, my patience finally wore out. I began to criticize City Hall publicly and gather groups for multiple simultaneous outdoor Masses. In September, the city raised the numerical limit for outdoor gatherings but issued a ruling that only one person at a time would be allowed in a church for private prayer. That prompted a warning letter from the U.S. Justice Department calling on the city to “immediately equalize its treatment of places of worship to comply with the First Amendment.”
The issue became more intense as Christmas approached. We were already locked out of our churches for Easter, and I could not stomach this happening again. On Dec. 18 I sent my priests a memo giving them permission to bring the congregation indoors if weather or safety required it. The church could be filled only to 20% capacity—then the rule for indoor retail—and strict safety protocols had to be followed: masks, social distancing, sanitation and ventilation. The state health order did not follow the science, and I knew my people had to have access to the Eucharist, rain or shine. Like all the sacraments, it cannot be livestreamed. By mid-January several parishes had begun receiving ominous warnings from government officials, and two were officially cited for violations by the city Department of Public Health.
US Vice President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping toast during a State Luncheon for China hosted by US Secretary of State John Kerry on September 25, 2015 at the Department of State in Washington, DC. AFP PHOTO/PAUL J. RICHARDS (Photo credit should read PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images)
The Biden administration, despite calling China the “most serious competitor” to the United States, is in fact unwilling to confront Beijing, according to author and former Naval intelligence officer Jack Posobiec, who has substantial experience living and working under communist rule in China.
“What you’re seeing now is an administration in the United States that is little more than a theater,” said Posobiec during an interview on NTD’s Focus Talk. “It is their window dressing for the global neo-liberal agenda. They have no interest in actually confronting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”
Posobiec, who has seen firsthand the way the Obama-Biden administration dealt with China’s maritime expansion in the South China Sea, told NTD host Jenny Chang that the U.S. government is trying to restore the same type of relations it had with the CCP during Clinton, Bush, and Obama presidencies, which he described as a “failed policy of globalization.”
The U.S. Navy under Obama, in response to China’s militarization of artificial islands in international waters, would practice what Posobiec called “rattling the sabers” by sending its warships and aircraft through the region, a move similar to the dual aircraft carrier drill that took place earlier this month at Taiwan Strait.
“But did the CCP actually respond to any of these? No, not at all,” Posobiec said, noting that the saber-rattling tactic doesn’t matter to Beijing, unless it comes with “economic repercussion” like Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo inflicted upon the communist regime. “The financing is still there, the wealth flow is still there, the money is still there.”Play Video
This unwillingness to continue the Trump-era economic warfare on China, Posobiec argued, is the very reason nearly all the big capital and finance institutions backed Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
“All the pro-CCP elements of the U.S. ruling elite backed Joe Biden to go against Trump,” Posobiec said. “Because Trump has been the only person willing to use economic warfare against CCP. This has been the most effective, and the only effective means that we’ve seen used in 30 years of globalization, that has been led by CCP.”
When asked about a potential Chinese invasion and annexation of Taiwan, Posobiec said such a scenario could come about due to the power dynamics within the CCP, and expressed worries that the Biden administration might not intervene.
“Xi Jinping still may be facing some of those threats from other factions of CCP that don’t want him to become this sort of chairman for life,” Posobiec said, suggesting that Xi, who rewrote China’s constitution to give himself indefinite rule, might at one point give up the decadeslong influence campaign on Taiwan to pursue a military takeover as a way to consolidate his power.
“I think that in that situation that Biden would not intervene,” he said. “I don’t think that he would find a meaningful way. What he would do is this: He would claim that he was intervening, but he would then try to seek a compromise. He would say, ‘We need to find something where both sides can come to an agreement.’”
“And the agreement that comes down would absolutely be to the detriment of the people of Taiwan,” he continued. “They would find an agreement that puts Taiwan in the same situation that Hong Kong found itself in 1997. That would be the type of agreement that they would make, and that’s exactly what CCP wants at the end of the day.”
A lawyer representing former President Donald Trump in the impeachment trial said that House Democrats presented no new information in the nearly eight-hour session on Wednesday.
“Yesterday we said we didn’t dispute that the breach of the capital is a terrible thing, and that mob violence is something that President Trump abhors. So we didn’t learn anything today we didn’t already know, it’s a matter of fact. I wonder why we sat through eight hours of videos that are under dispute,” Bruce Castor told reporters as he walked to his car after the session ended.
The representatives serving as impeachment managers presented no new evidence supporting the charge of inciting insurrection, though they did show video footage that had never been shown before to the public.
Castor said Trump’s team isn’t making adjustments to its approach based on what was presented on Wednesday, adding, “I don’t know what the public has seen and I don’t think the Democrats revealed anything the public hasn’t seen from a different angle; I think it was all angles.”
Castor also reaffirmed that Trump will not be appearing during the trial.
David Schoen, lawyer for former President Donald Trump, walks on Capitol Hill during a break in the second impeachment trial of Trump, at the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 10, 2021. (Joshua Roberts/Pool via AP)
Asked whether Trump’s lawyers would be presenting videos suggesting Democrats themselves have incited riotous behavior, David Schoen, another member of Trump’s team, said, “You’ll have to stand by and watch, but it’s a pretty good bet.”
“I would say, though, that it’s not only that they wanted plenty of video time today, it seems like they want a lot of screen time for themselves. They’re clearly playing to the cameras, to the public, all of the time,” he added.
Schoen was speaking during a virtual appearance on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle.” Host Laura Ingraham noted that some of the House impeachment managers objected to election results in 2017. They’ve equated similar actions in the last election cycle as inciting violence.
Schoen also argued that Democrats showing raw video clips and photographs from Jan. 6, when protesters stormed the Capitol during a joint session of Congress, undermined the message from some in the party that they want to heal the country.
Security video from the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 is shown to senators during the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, in Washington on Feb. 10, 2021. (Senate Television via AP)
“It’s continuing to open wounds for the American public and it is something that President Trump has condemned in no uncertain terms, the terrible violence that went on there. So there’s not an issue about that, they’re just hoping to drum up emotion and get their last shots in at President Trump,” he said.
Impeachment managers had asserted Trump was to blame for the violence on Jan. 6 as they attempt to convince 67 senators to vote to convict him.
“How did we get to a point where rioters desecrated, defiled, and dishonored your senate chamber?” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) said. “I will show you how we got here. President Donald J. Trump ran out of nonviolent options to maintain power.”
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), another impeachment manager, told reporters as he left the Capitol, “I thought it was a strong day.”Follow Zachary on Twitter: @zackstieber
President Joe Biden has terminated the emergency order used by former President Donald Trump to justify construction of the wall on the U.S. border with Mexico.
“I have determined that the declaration of a national emergency at our southern border was unwarranted,” Biden said in a letter sent Thursday to the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Vice President Kamala Harris in her role as president of the Senate
“I have also announced that it shall be the policy of my Administration that no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall, and that I am directing a careful review of all resources appropriated or redirected to that end.”
Axios reported Trump had used the emergency order to divert billions of dollars in funds to build a wall on the southern border. It said the order was used after it became clear Congress was opposed to using additional funding for construction.
USA Today said that under the emergency declaration signed in February 2019, Trump was able to use $600 million from the U.S. Treasury Department and $6.1 billion from the U.S. Department of Defense for border wall construction.
The emergency proclamation was continued in February 2020, allowing Trump to divert an additional $3.8 billion from the Pentagon for the border wall construction.
Biden had announced he was going to rescind the emergency declaration on his first day in office.
The administration has also said that because of the pandemic, migrants coming to the U.S.-Mexico border seeking asylum will still be turned away.
“The vast majority of people will be turned away,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday.
Referring to God as a Reactionary seems odd, even to the writer. The term “reactionary” is mostly used in the context of politics. But then again, maybe it is the right word. We tend to be guided more by cultural theology than a biblical view of God.
As a resident of Southern California, I find myself on the receiving end of questions regarding how God works. The questions poised always seem to come back to God’s displeasure with Los Angeles, politics and entertainment. The questions, by the way, increase in proportion to the number of fires, earthquakes or mudslides.
The Christian community has its stock answers for why bad things happen and finds satisfaction, if not superiority, in being able to know the ways of God. Those answers, I might add, never satisfy the skeptic or the serious student of the Word of God.
When a missionary suffers loss or death in a fire, flood or earthquake, is that the judgment of God for their sin and rebellion? Or is that the work of Satan? I choose to embrace a theology that God is good. A.W. Tozer says that when we speak of God as good, we refer to His essential nature:
“Divine goodness, as one of God’s attributes, is self-caused, infinite, perfect and eternal. Since God is immutable, He never varies in intensity of His loving-kindness. He has never been kinder than He is right now, nor will He ever be less kind.”
The goodness of God is the foundation of our faith and our expectation. When we begin with the idea of a God who always does good and who loves us, then our expectation meets our experience. That simple shift in thinking is remarkably powerful because it realigns us with God’s eternal kingdom. We begin to operate from a perspective of abundance and favor instead of a perspective of poverty and struggle.
Some people embrace a theology that God inflicts evil on people to teach them a lesson or to make them holy. This view usually fails to take into account the consequences of living in a “fallen” world that is imperfect.
As a Christ-follower, I embrace that God is all-powerful and sovereign over all things. However, the use of His power is qualified by His other attributes like mercy and love. When we isolate one of His attributes from the rest of His character we cast God in a non-biblical light and make it difficult to understand His love.
A poverty spirit is easy to spot. It shows up in both the Prodigal Son and the older brother (Luke 15:11–32). The Prodigal Son dominates the story; he is young, selfish and wants his inheritance before his father dies so he can leave home and see the world, all at the father’s expense. The father, surprisingly, grants his request. Why would any father do this? The key is that this story is not about just any father; it is about the heavenly Father. This act of kindness points to the character of God. It is not a lesson about a wayward son who comes home; it is a story about a benevolent Father. The goodness of the Father can be seen throughout the parable. The son does not understand the depth of his father’s love until much later, when he runs out of money and finds himself in a far country, alone and barely surviving. He has developed such a spirit of poverty that he cannot see the goodness of his father. By that time, he perceives himself as a slave and not a son.
But when he came to himself, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.’” Luke 15:17–19
The sad truth of the passage is that the Prodigal never saw himself as a son. He did not understand the goodness of his father when he asked for his inheritance, nor does he understand in his despair away from home. He feels guilt and shame, not primarily because of his failure but due to a lack of knowledge about the essential character of the father.
When he returns, he is surprised to discover that the father has been eagerly awaiting him. The father sees him in the distance and runs to love and embrace him. So overwhelming is the father’s love that the son cannot find a platform for his confession. The character of the father dominates the story. He insists, “Bring out the best robe and bring “the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (verses 22–24).
What kind of father is this? No guilt? No life lessons? This would not be the reaction of many earthly fathers, and the contrast shows the abundant love and goodness of our heavenly Father.
But the story is not over. It continues with the older son, who also needs to understand the goodness of the father. When little brother returns from his journey in the far country, the older son is indignant and angry with both the brother and the father. He refuses to join the celebration for the returning Prodigal, even after the father pleads with him. He held the view that many hold today, that the Prodigal did not deserve the kindness of the father. It was not fair! How could the father love, forgive and bless such a clueless and selfish son?
The older son was living with the same poverty of spirit as the Prodigal. In his estimation, he was good, and now the father was bad. Only a bad father would show favor to a wayward son. Again we see how a distorted view of the goodness of God can affect our perspective on life.
Yet the father in our story was relentless in his pursuit of the older son. His goodness could be seen on every side. The father patiently waited as the older son expressed his frustration and anger. Once he finished, it was the father’s turn to close the discussion with words that ministered love and grace.
The father provided three important truths. The first was sonship: “Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours” (verse 31, emphasis mine).
The older brother had lived under his father’s roof for years but never understood that his father was good. He needed to acknowledge that a good father does not show favoritism. He was like many people today who live a life apart from the goodness of God and do not understand sonship. Much of the turmoil in our homes and the world can be directly traced to a lack of understanding that God is good.
The second truth was relationship. The father reminded the older brother, “Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours” (emphasis mine). You might think that after the younger son left home, the older son would be closer to his father, yet he never really knew him. Maybe he made no attempt to know the father because he assumed that he was not worth knowing. We can get so busy working for God that we fail to take the time to get to know the heart of the Father. When we set aside time to abide in His presence, we discover that our Father is much more interested in our relationship with Him than our labor for Him.
The third truth was that of inheritance. The father was incredibly generous: “Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours” (emphasis mine). All that the father had, he provided for his sons. In his living and his dying, he gave it all that he might further his kingdom. The father knew that future generations would depend on his sons getting a better understanding of his heart. The importance of knowing the goodness of God the Father is essential in every generation, especially those living in the last days who will face unparalleled lawlessness and disregard for Him.
What hope did the younger son have in that far-off country, destitute and detached from his father? What hope did the older son have with his hardened heart that kept him apart from his father just as surely (if not more so) as physical distance? In both cases, their only hope was in a renewed relationship with the father. The younger son realized it, and we can see what a vast difference it made in his life. Jesus ends the story before we see whether or not the older son finally came around. But the parable gives us all hope for the prodigals we know, as well as those we know who are so driven to work for God that they miss the joys of relationship with Him.
Jesus made it clear to His disciples that it was “your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). What a powerful statement! In Christ, we have been adopted into God’s family and are partakers of His divine favor. We are “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).
As Christ followers, we have been given the authority to carry out the agenda of the Father on earth. With every prayer, we increase in power and advance the Kingdom of God. When we press into the Kingdom, we understand that all the power and provisions of Christ are entrusted to our care. Jesus expects us to carry out the mission of proclaiming the Gospel, healing the sick and advancing the Kingdom.
The term “scorched earth” is usually one we associate with a military policy that targets anything that may be useful to the enemy. As a resident of Southern California, more specifically, Anaheim Hills, the term has recently taken on a different meaning.
Earlier this week, my wife and I were given 30 minutes to evacuate our home of 12 years. To make matters more complicated, I was en route to the airport when I received the text from my wife asking, “What do you want me to pack in the car? I have to leave in minutes.”
My mind raced trying to determine what was important and irreplaceable. All I could think of was family photos and the flag that draped my dad’s coffin at Arlington National Cemetery. In the midst of the chaos and disbelief, our friends and neighbors rallied to assist us in our time of need.
The next day, I found myself sitting in another airport trying to process everything that had happened in the past 24 hours. At first I reflected on our kind neighbors and how even in the worst of times we can see the good in humanity and love of God. Then my thoughts shifted and I began reflecting on the chaos, both natural and man-made, that has affected our nation in recent days. I began to wonder if I had become numb to all the tragedy. I don’t even have time to mourn the fact that we had to evacuate our home.
Thinking about all of this, I found myself asking, “Where is God?” As a nation, we are facing an increase in lawlessness and what appears to me, an unusual number of natural disasters.
It’s a natural human response to ask questions for things we can’t understand or process. I get it; moral evil can be explained by the free will of man but much of the things we face (cancer, death, hurricanes and fires) are not a result of our free will. So where do I go from here? Either God or nature (which He created) must cause these physical evils. But these things seem incompatible with an all-loving, all-powerful God.
I’m left with what I call a “divine tension.” I affirm the greatness of God and yet, at the same time wonder as the condition of the world.
C. S. Lewis captured my tension when he wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but [God] shouts in our pain: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
I admit I hear God better in the struggle than I do in its absence. Tears, heartbreak, loneliness and hurt all add to my humanity and character. My joy and peace is found in those little unexpected moments when my children call, my wife smiles, my friends rally to my side, and I hear God say, “It’s going to be OK, I got this one!”
