238 Pentecost 13: Why are You Here?
“There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.” ~ Psalm 34
Why are You Here?
Why are you here? What are you looking for? What is it that this place gives you? Haven’t you been here before? What should I write for you next time? This afternoon I’m too tired to pull a rabbit out of my hat. But that’s also how I always feel, so nothing new there. Except therein rose the question, “Then, why are you doing this?” So, now, dear reader, I sit back and wait on you.
Till angel cry and trumpet sound,
R.J.M.F
Births, Deaths and Marriages
Petitions to put abortion on November ballots in Missouri and Arizona have been approved, as pro-abortion groups aim to codify abortion access into law. An Arizona judge has ruled that an information pamphlet about the vote in that state may include the phrase “unborn human being” but the ballot itself will use the term “fetus”. Right to Life says vague language in the proposed amendment leaves the door open to abortions up until birth and the removal of parental notification when an abortion is performed on a child. Meanwhile, Montana’s Supreme Court has overturned the requirement for parental consent when it comes to abortion for teenagers. The Court said the state’s lawyers “failed to give convincing evidence of the state’s interest in parental rights.” In a very woolly fashion, justices argued that “if the heart of the statute truly aimed to bolster parental rights in medical decisions for minors, it should also require parental consent to carry the pregnancy to term.” (CBS, Right to Life, WNG)
Potential vice president Tim Walz is so dedicated to abortion that he removed language from Minnesota law which would require medical staff to care for a child born alive after an attempted abortion. (First Things)
The Supreme Court of the U.S. has ruled 5-4 that injunctions against the President’s changes to Title IX will remain. The Administration argued that lower court rulings which are blocking the implementation of the changes are “overly broad.” President Biden’s D.O.J was asking the Court to at least allow transgender individuals to participate as their chosen sex, which is the main objection raised by the states that have refused to comply. (Daily Caller)
And now, something beautiful.. A 32 week old baby smiles on ultrasound at the sound of his father’s voice. (Oli London via X)
Crime and Punishment
A former Kansas police chief who approved a raid on a local newspaper has been charged with obstructing the judicial process. The paper’s owners maintain that the raid was unjustified and that Marion Police Department chief, Cody Gideon was trying to intimidate it to drop its investigations into sexual misconduct allegations against him. (NBC, The Handbasket)
Disney claims a man waived his right to sue them when he signed up for its streaming service. Jeffrey Piccolo is suing the company for wrongful death after his wife suffered a fatal allergic reaction after eating at Disney’s restaurant in Florida. Piccolo’s wife had “repeatedly stressed to wait staff that she had nut and dairy allergies” before ordering her meal. (New York Post)
Coming to America
A Peruvian gang leader, wanted in his home country for 23 murders, was just arrested in New York. The man had entered the country illegally in May and was “given a notice to appear for immigration proceedings.” (AP)
Senator Chip Roy (R-TX) has requested that the San Antonio Police Department turn over information on crime rates at a local immigration shelter after an illegal immigrant opened fire on police when they answered a distress call. Senator Roy believes violent offenders being housed there pose a risk to the public. (Daily Caller)
Texas’ governor Greg Abbott has ordered hospitals to tally up their costs for treating illegal immigrants. Abbott will charge the bill to the federal government, so Texans “don’t have to pay” for President Biden’s border policies. (WNG)
Thunderdome 2024
A coalition of over 200 organizations has said it is sending protestors to picket the Democratic National Convention which kicks off today in Chicago. Police say they will not tolerate any violence, even as fears of a repeat of 1968’s event were raised. (BBC)
The Harris campaign has been changing headlines within Google ads. The edited headlines link to actual reports, but the strategy capitalizes on the fact that people rarely read further than the headline. The ads do not violate Google’s policies, but “they are awkward for publishers who have no control over ads that could make them appear partisan.” Heaven forbid that the media should appear partisan! (New York Post, Axios)
Governor Tim Walz has a troubling record of giving money to Muslim groups with established ties to terror. (Washington Examiner)
There was a bit more we couldn’t squash in here:
RFK has denied that he offered his support to President Biden, VP Harris and Donald Trump in return for a cabinet position after a number of outlets claimed he did. A New York judge has ruled that he cannot be on November’s ballot in that state as he does not live there. (PJ Media, The Guardian)
Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota and Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio have V.P.s have agreed to debate on October 1st. (CBS)
Politics
The secret service can’t catch a break…
When you gotta go… A Massachusetts’ salon owner says members of the Secret Service broke into her business and used the bathroom while on assignment for a V.P. Harris event nearby. The agents took candy and let rally attendees use her facilities before leaving the security camera covered up and the premises unlocked when they were done. “I probably would’ve opened the door and made them coffee and…donuts to make it a great afternoon for them. But they didn’t even have the audacity to ask for permission,” the owner said. (ZeroHedge)
The Secret Service is investigating allegations that a female agent left her post on Donald Trump’s security detail last week to feed her baby. (New York Post)
Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA), a member of a bipartisan Task Force looking in to the attempted assassination of Donald Trump says the F.B.I has already cremated the body of Matthew Crooks. Rep. Higgins went to Butler to do his own investigations of events that day. “The problem with me not being able to examine the actual body is that I won’t know 100% if the coroner’s report and the autopsy report are accurate.” (The Blaze)
Former Secret Service director, Kimberley Cheatle has been assigned a security detail of her own, amid “national anger” after her poor leadership was blamed for Donald Trump almost being killed. (Red State)
Donald Trump is suing the Department of Justice for raiding Mar-A-Lago. (Fox)
Education
Columbia University President Minouche Shafik has resigned her position just a year after taking the job. Navigating anti-Israeli tensions on campus had taken a toll on her family, she said. Shafik was criticized for not dealing with protesters who had harassed Jewish students and chanted anti-Israel slogans. She was then criticized when she sent police onto the university grounds, which resulted in mass arrests. Shafik wrote that during her tenure, "it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community". Campus protests are likely to kick off again as the term starts. In California, a federal judge has ruled that it was “unimaginable and abhorrent” that U.C.L.A leadership tolerated students setting up check points to prevent Jews from accessing the campus during tent protests earlier this year. (BBC, WNG)
A former Cornell University student has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for threatening to rape Jewish students. (Just the News)
Speech
The EU’s official in charge of digital policies, Thierry Breton, suggested preemptively shutting down Musk’s social media conversation with Trump for fear that it would likely spread disinformation. “With great audience comes greater responsibility,” he tweeted, posting a copy of the letter he sent chastizing Musk. The European Commission has distanced itself from Breton’s threats, with anonymous officials confirming the letter was not approved by president Ursula von der Leyen. But he wasn’t the only one to complain. A reporter from the Washington Post had asked the White House Press Secretary earlier in the day if there was anything that could be done to “intervene” in the spread of misinformation that would likely come during the interview. (Reclaim the Net, MENAFN, Fox)
Stalwart defender of free speech, actor Rowan Atkinson, has delivered a very sensible address in support of reforms to British laws. The changes would shore up Britain’s ability to cope with free speech, even as people are being jailed for social media posts. Atkinson said that too many things can be interpreted as insults and that people need “deal with message not messenger”. (Not the Bee)
The Digital Age
News of a massive data breach hit headlines last week, with reports that every American’s Social Security details had been stolen. A cache of data was stolen from a data “aggregator”, which provides information for background checks, criminal records and other things. It was a bad breach, but as one cybersecurity blogger wrote, it may not be quite so bad as reports indicated. Billions of lines of information were stolen, but not from billions of people, if that makes sense. “If you find yourself in this data breach via HIBP (Have I Been Pwned), there's no evidence your SSN was leaked, and if you're in the same boat as me, the data next to your record may not even be correct.” (LA Times, Troy Hunt)
Facebook has announced it is shutting down CrowdTangle, a tool for academics and media types to see how falsehoods travel around the platform in real time. It was set up in 2016 and was “extremely useful in tracking viral false content, including Russian influence operations, accounts linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory and COVID misinformation.” Civil rights activists and academics criticized Facebook for taking it down, but Meta says it is working on a new Content Library which is similar but will have more limited access. (NPR)
People don’t trust A.I.: “The intention to buy or use the product or service was significantly lower whenever we mentioned AI in the product description.” (CNN)
Money, Markets and Jobs
During an interview with Elon Musk, Donald Trump said he feels “strongly” that presidents should have more of a say about what goes on at the Federal Reserve, particularly when it comes to setting interest rates, but critics can see the problems with politicizing the Fed. Musk said he would like to see a commission set up to check in on government spending. (Time, GoBanking)
Retail sales in July were higher than expected, with reports saying the increase is due to inflation cooling slightly. Or maybe everyone is just charging it to their credit cards? The US credit card debt just hit a record $1.14 trillion, with money sites concerned about “depleted” consumers. (CNBC, Daily Hodl)
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has finalized a rule that will prevent companies from buying fake reviews or suppressing real reviews. (Retail Dive)
Forgiveness not permission? Former Google CEO and chairman Eric Schmidt requested that a video of an address he gave to Stanford students be taken down, saying he misspoke. Schmidt suggested the way to get ahead for digital entrepreneurs is to steal ideas and, if successful, then send your lawyers in to clean up copyright lawsuits. “That’s typically how those things are done…But if nobody uses your product, it doesn’t matter that you stole all the content.” (The Verge)
Hungary’s Wizz Air is offering “all you can fly” subscriptions, with some catches. (EuroNews)
Religion and the Church
The Dalai Lama is almost 90. Determining where the next incarnation will show up is a tricky business. (UnHerd)
Arts, History and Sport
Examinations of the central altar stone at Stonehenge have lead researchers to believe it may have been brought from Scotland, not Wales, as previously thought. The six ton stone may even have been brought by sea. The new theory would imply that ancient tribes in the British Isles were co-operating extensively with each other. (Nature)
The Screen Actors Guild has struck a deal which will allow actors to licence a voice replica that can be used for a fee. (Variety)
A 16-foot pigeon will soon grace the NYC skyline. (Smithsonian)
Last week in history:
1748 Lutherans united together in the American colonies to form a synod. (Fact in History)
1858 Britain’s Queen Victoria and U.S. President, James Buchanan communicate via transatlantic telegraph. (Henry Ford Museum)
1920 “State Representative Harry T. Burn (24) casts deciding vote in Tennessee's and thus America's ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, allowing women's suffrage, after reading a letter from his mother.” (On This Day)
Health, Medicine and Food
Five people, including two doctors, are facing charges relating to the death of actor Matthew Perry, who died from an overdose of the anaesthetic drug, ketamine, last year. One attorney said the accused “took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves. They knew what they were doing was wrong.” Defendants obtained the drug under false pretenses and Perry’s assistant repeatedly administered it though he had no medical training. (The Blaze)
The Psychopharmacology journal has retracted three papers after the F.D.A rejected the use of MDMA (commonly known as “ecstasy”)for post-traumatic stress. Editors at the journal cited unethical conduct in the research for the papers. (Biopharm Dive)
A lab-grown meat company is suing Florida which banned such products on the grounds that they have not been proven to be safe for humans. Upside Foods says Governor Ron DeSantis’ ban is based in protecting ranchers and points to FDA approval of their products as proof of their safety. (The Verge)
“Our brain releases dopamine both when we eat and when we exercise.” Scientists are trying to understand why we chose one over the other. (Futurity)
No screens before bedtime! “The use of any type of screen was associated with lower self-reported sleep duration and an increase in disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep.” (Nice News)
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God’s Green Earth
Who is behind the “War on Agriculture and Nutrition?” Billions of dollars are being shifted away from helping secure clean water, fight disease and build reliable sources of energy to help the world’s poor “better withstand the devastation of climate change.” (Cornwall Alliance)
JBS, the global beef conglomerate based in Brazil, is in the cross-hairs of New York State Attorney General, Letitia James for “greenwashing”. JBS is accused of overstating its ability to meet “net Zero” emissions by 2040 as claimed. In a strange admission, the lawsuit says it can be sure JBS was lying because “no proven agricultural practices to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero” for such a big operation. (Mercator)
Efforts to restore beavers to Britain are paying off, with kits spotted in rivers around the nation. (The Guardian)
Science
NASA’s Mars Insight Lander has detected “signals” of liquid water under the planet’s surface. The Lander’s seismometer has captured four years of vibrations within the ground, leading scientists to believe there’s water in that there ground. (BBC)
A Swiss startup has managed to remove almost all “forever chemicals” from water, using the “destructive” power of oxidizing bubbles. (Good Good Good)
Hearts and Minds
“We tend to think suffering is fundamentally a matter of a lack of goods – of health, of money, of luck, of wisdom. The degree to which we can be helpful is the degree to which we can assist in closing that gap.” But sometimes the “lack” is someone to listen, and we need to do as Job’s friends did: sit there and shut up! If someone is hurting, “you get the gift of being able to say, ‘There’s nothing more important for me right now than to be with you.’” (Plough)
War and Rumors of War
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered submarine U.S.S Georgia to join a group of navy carriers heading to the Middle East amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran. A retaliatory strike on Israel has been predicted since the killing of Hamas’ leader Ismail Haniyeh. It was not lost on reporters that it was the Secretary Austin that ordered the maneuver not the President. “Who is currently in charge over at the White House? Have we now reached such a post-Constitutional arrangement that that the major decisions of war and peace are being made by a military-intelligence complex beholden to no one?” (WNG, ZeroHedge)
Reports say that an Israeli strike in Gaza has claimed the lives of 80 people. Israel has ordered residents to evacuate Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-largest city, as they continue to root out militants, but people say they have nowhere to go. (AP)
China has freed a Taiwanese fisherman detained for four months. Observers say China is using its Coast Guard in the waters off Taipei to intimidate Taiwan’s leadership which it perceives to be seeking independence. (Bloomberg)
Stories from Far Away
🇨🇩 Africa’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have declared monkeypox to be a public health emergency, with a more virulent variant recently discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Thought Western authorities are stirring fears of a global outbreak, it may be wishful thinking on their part.. By the E.U.’s own reporting back in April, ”only about 10% of cases have been laboratory-confirmed” and the risk of the virus spreading globally through “sexual networks” is low since much of the spread is caused by sex workers. (BBC, Tom Renz via X, European Centre for Disease Control, LifeSite)
🇬🇧 A special police taskforce in the UK is trawling through social media posts looking for “hate speech” in a bid to curb what it classifies as “online violence”. Commentators say the “authoritarian impulse” has been building for years, but is now spilling over into shutting down online speech. (Reclaim the Net, The Critic)
🇨🇳 China seems intent on “trying it on” with the new U.K prime minister Keir Starmer. Plans for a “super embassy” in the heart of London were rejected by the previous government, but have now been resubmitted with no changes. (GB News)
🇪🇸 A Spanish boxing coach has said that Algeria’s Imane Khelif, a male who won the women’s gold medal at Paris Olympics could not pitted against women because he was just too strong. (The Blaze)
🇸🇪 Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland have agreed to build a police hub in Stockholm to better deal with gang violence which is spilling over from Sweden’s immigrant communities, out into other nations. “Swedish gang members have been hired by Danish gangs for violent attacks on rivals.” (Reuters)
🇮🇳🇵🇰 A bridge 20 years in the making will bring huge changes to the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. India sponsored the project which locals say will help them make a living, especially in winter months. But they worry about expanded power of the Modi government. Both India and Pakistan claim the region for themselves. (BBC)
🇬🇷 Wildfires have ravaged areas of Greece, including Athens. (CNN)
🇯🇵 Japan’s prime minister Kishida Fumio has said he will not seek reelection when his term expires next month. Kishida has very low approval ratings after corruption scandals within his party. (AP)
🇹🇭 Thailand's parliament has picked Paetongtarn Shinawatra to take the reins as prime minister, after Srettha Thavisin, the former PM was dismissed by a constitutional court. Paetongtarn is the daughter of billionaire tycoon Thaksin who also served as prime minister in 2001 until 2006, when he was deposed by a military coup. (BBC)
🇮🇳 A new app released in India will warn people of approaching herds of elephants to reduce the amount of people killed by the pachyderms. (BBC)
🇨🇦 A Canadian man built a hovercraft using parts from a Jeep Cherokee.
🛡️The 1980s toy considered a threat to national security
🇰🇷 A Seoul textile company gets a curtain-like brick façade
🗺️ The California town where the streets have no name
🌻 The happiest sunflowers
🇯🇵 Japanese craftsman takes 6 months to make a cello
💿 A fascinating map of evolution of various tech
🛰️ Aurora borealis seen from the Space Station
🚸 The tricky realm of playdate etiquette kicks off viral conversation
📷 Stunning image of Perseid meteor shower over Stonehonge
🚦A website turns New York’s traffic cameras into selfie-taking photo booths
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This Week Preached:
Podcast Release:
Let us pray. Almighty God, whom to know is everlasting life, grant us to know Your Son, Jesus, to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow His steps in the way that leads to life eternal; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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