Dr. Brent Taylor is the Pastor of First Baptist Church Carrollton and Church at the Fields, international speaker, professor of American history, and corporate communicator. He is the author of “Founding Leadership: Lessons on Business and Personal Leadership From the Men Who Brought You the American Revolution” which will be available February 13, 2018 as well as a book on leadership and the presidency coming out in the fall of 2018.

Brent enjoys reading great stories from history, fishing, traveling, and helping people find their purpose in life. His other great passion is discovering the red light on at Krispy Kreme Donuts. Brent lives in the Dallas area with his wife and three children.

Eric Scheiner is the Director of MRCTV, and has over 20 years experience in broadcasting and video production. Beginning his career in the First-In-The-Nation Primary state of New Hampshire, politics, government spending and constitutional issues have been a major thread through his work.

The man accused of plowing a truck through a New York City bike path is a 29-year-old professional truck driver and Uber driver who came to the United States from Uzbekistan in 2010 and lived most recently with his wife and children in the same northern New Jersey city where several 9/11 attack conspirators stayed.

Law enforcement sources said Sayfullo Saipov, who’s been living in Paterson, drove a rented truck onto the path on Manhattan's lower West Side around 3 p.m. ET, killing eight people and injuring at least 11 others.

He shouted, “Allahu Akbar” — "God is great'' in Arabic — as he emerged from the truck, police said. He was shot and wounded by a police officer at the scene and taken to a hospital for surgery.

Just in time for Halloween, a self-described "progressive" political action committee unleashed an attack ad on GOP gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie depicting a truck with a Confederate flag and a "Don't Tread on Me" license plate chasing down minority children.

In the minute-long ad, the group Latino Victory Fund managed to tie claims that Gillespie supporters are out to hurt minority children in with Trump's alleged love of "white supremacy." The ad ends with a family watching white men and women on T.V. marching with lit torches through the streets, asking viewers, "Is this what Donald Trump and Ed Gillespie mean by the American dream?"

The answer to that question is, of course, no.

The Washington Post reported that the dramatic advertisement is apparently one of many in a bitter battle between the Republican, Gillespie and his Democratic opponent, current Va. Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam.

Philosophers and sages have long considered fear a tool for self-improvement—but no, cheap scares don’t count.

Americans have a complicated relationship with fear.

On the one hand, we enjoy fear enough to dedicate a holiday to it. This year, we will spend an estimated $9.1 billion celebrating Halloween. Horror films gross nearly half a billion dollars per year, and are known in Hollywood to have the best return on investment in the movie business. Quasi-dangerous activities like roller coasters are a big industry as well, following Hunter S. Thompson’s famous exhortation, “Faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death.”

These pursuits are occasions of “fake” fear. They simulate frightening circumstances that lie outside the realm of ordinary life, providing a fun shot of adrenaline without putting anyone in actual danger.