009 Pentecost 17: Towers on Sand
Tinkering with life, Musk-a-pedia and Trump has a plan for Israel
“Surely men of low degree are a vapor, men of high degree are a lie; If they are weighed on the scales, they are altogether lighter than vapor.” ~ Psalm 62
Noise Decoder
Baby Skin
Researchers at Oregon Health and Science University are being praised for creating what they call “embryos from human skin DNA.” The process involves taking the nucleus of a skin cell and implanting it into a donor egg that’s been stripped of half its genetic information. Most didn’t grow to “blastocyst stage” and all of those had chromosomal abnormalities. But researchers say the “proof-of-concept” study will help overcome infertility, with the BBC noting the process could “even allow same-sex couples to have a genetically-related child” which might be the main reason for such experimenting. The moral implications are hard to miss. Even mom’s forums were concerned about the danger for women and children, who are often harmed whenever reproduction is tinkered with. Beyond the technical hurdles, this experiment adds to a growing list of methods that separate procreation from God’s design—stacked alongside IVF and surrogacy as new ways to create life without covenant or responsibility.
Looking to the cross: Despite the march of technology, our sovereign God still confuses the schemes of men. No matter how far these scientists push, they can’t reach heaven by cloning it. Every tower built on rebellion collapses in time — and crushes those beneath it. We needn’t resign ourselves to the march of so-called progress; we build differently. We raise our children as image-bearers, not lab products. We defend life as sacred, not synthetic. And we trust that Christ’s Kingdom — not human innovation — will have the final word. Pray for these towers to fall.
We Have Shutdown!
You may not have noticed, but the U.S. government officially shut down last week after Congress failed to reach agreement over funding. A Republican proposal to extend current spending levels for a few more weeks—buying time for negotiation—was rejected by Democrats demanding the reinstatement of several healthcare provisions. However, the real fight is over immigration. Republicans argue those provisions cover healthcare for illegal immigrants brought in under special conditions during the Biden administration. While Democrats have denied that they want free healthcare for “undocumented” immigrants, they are working with a different definition of who counts as illegal. Back in 2019, all Dem presidential candidates said they would decriminalize border crossings and pay for healthcare for anyone here illegally.
President Trump, meanwhile, appears content to let the shutdown bite. He’s reportedly open to using it to choke off funding for Democrat-led states and progressive projects, and will meet with the Office of Management and Budget to review which agencies could be shut down permanently. Sulky liberals said the government had already been shut down for months, arguing that Trump’s team have been upsetting federal funding for months, but Senate leader, John Thune said that could be easily solved if the Democrats would vote to open the government and cooperate.
Looking Them in The Eye
War Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Trump held a rare meeting of top U.S. military leaders—some recalled from postings abroad—to lay out a new direction for the armed forces. Hegseth declared that the military’s renewed focus would be on lethality, not “political correctness,” promising to restore “male standards” of fitness, dress, and discipline. He called it the end of “diversity-first” policies that weakened morale and combat readiness. Critics were quick to express outrage–you know who else called a surprise meeting of generals, eh? They blasted the speech as “fat-shaming,” “racist” and even “ableist” (apparently because “anyone can fly a drone”).
Critics continue to question Hegseth’s fitness for the office and it is not clear whether this display garnered respect from the top brass. Politico reported that a few generals grumbled the meeting “could have been an email.” Still, Hegseth’s message was clear: the U.S. military is done with social engineering. His willingness to fire several senior officers earlier this year, despite their strategic experience, is consistent with his speech at Quantico: “The sooner we have the right people, the sooner we can advance the right policies.”
On the Radar
Life
Birth, Death and Marriage
Pro-life lawmakers are demanding that the Food and Drug Administration explain why it approved distribution of another abortion drug. Kelsey Pritchard, director of state affairs for SBA Pro-Life America, said, “Adding a new life-ending drug to the market doesn’t make America greater or healthier.” (Daily Wire)
Planned Parenthood has shut down operations in Louisiana and Texas, with the last remaining clinics in each state closing recently. (WNG)
Netflix took a hit on the market after Elon Musk urged parents to cancel their subscriptions “for their children’s sake.” The controversy was reignited when old clips from the 2020 remake of The Babysitter’s Club and an animated series—both featuring transgender characters—were reposted by major conservative accounts. (Not the Bee, Yahoo Finance)
Great stuff to chew over from Rev Fisk this week..
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Crime and Punishment
Courts, Law and Policing
Rapper Sean Combs has been sentenced to just 50 months prison on prostitution charges after more serious charges of racketeering were dismissed. Although he made apologies to former girlfriends and his mother, the sentence has disappointed the prosecution who say he is unrepentant for sexual abuse and trafficking . (People)
A father has appealed to politicians to do more to keep career criminals off the street. Stephen Federico’s daughter, Logan, was shot by a man with insanely long rap sheet who broke into the house where she was staying. (Not the Bee, Complex, New York Post)
Google has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by President Trump over his suspension from YouTube. According to court documents, most of the payment will go toward a National Mall trust and funding for the new White House ballroom. (AP)
Stores may soon deploy drones to chase down thieves. (Gizmodo)
Hunter S. Thompson’s widow has asked the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to review his death 20 years later. Thompson died from a gunshot wound, which was originally ruled a suicide. (BBC)
Tribes and Tongues
Immigration and Race
It came to light last week that commercial driver’s licenses are being issued without requiring full legal names. Fact-checkers tut-tutted that some cultures use mononyms, but many examples posted online showed the license holders had Real ID status — meaning they were likely never properly vetted. The New York Post pointed out that the 9/11 terrorists also held legitimate licenses and IDs, which “enabled the hijackers to maneuver throughout the United States in order to plan and execute critical elements of their mission — allowing them to rent cars, travel, take flying lessons, and board airplanes.” (Hot Air, New York Post)
Google and Apple have removed apps that track immigration agents from their app stores. (CNBC)
Reality Bytes
Digital Technology
OpenAI has released parent controls for its ChatGPT bot, following a wrongful death lawsuit, where a teen took his life after getting suicide tips from the chat bot. The measures are already being panned as very easy to work around. (Yahoo)
A Harvard Business School study says popular AI companion apps are using “emotional manipulation tactics to prevent users from ending conversations”. There is something brutally ironic about the solution to loneliness being a profit-driven listening robot. The study’s author says “companies benefit when AI tools elicit emotional responses”, encouraging compliance and disclosure of personal information. (CoAI)
The Bride And The Counterfeits
Religion and the Church
Mormons are raising money for the wife and children of the man who burned down a Michigan temple and killed several people. (Newsweek)
The Church of England has chosen a woman to be the new Archbishop of Canterbury. The church has ordained women to the priesthood since 1992. (BBC via Yahoo)
Nepal has chosen a new “Kumari” a two-year old girl who is deemed a goddess until she reaches puberty. She will live in a temple, rarely leaving apart from festivals. “She was just my daughter yesterday, but today she is a goddess,” Aryatara Shakya’s father said. (AP)
The Elements
The Natural World
A huge blaze at a California oil refinery has put it out of action indefinitely. The Chevron plant “supplies a fifth of all motor vehicle fuels and 40% of the jet fuel consumed in southern California.” The cause of the fire is not yet known. (Los Angeles Times, Hot Air)
From the archive:
Knowledge
Science and Data
Elon Musk says he’s building an alternative to Wikipedia, using his Grok AI to rewrite entries and remove bias. His announcement comes after Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger told Tucker Carlson the site is heavily censored against conservative viewpoints — possibly even influenced by government agencies.(PC Mag, Daily Mail)
What if humans forgot how to make CPUs? “When manufacturing lines get interrupted, humans can forget really quickly.” (LaurieWired via YouTube)
The 700-year-old tower of a London church has been hoisted onto giant stilts to allow for new development around it. (Sky)
Near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4, which was discovered late last year, has about a 4% chance of hitting the Moon but could blast debris into space, potentially threatening satellites. Scientists have suggested testing nuclear explosives as both a deterrent and a way to study the impact. (Not the Bee, Arxiv)
Straight Outta J-School
Media and newsmakers
Trust in media has dropped even lower with only 28% of those surveyed by Gallup saying they mostly believe news reporting. Within that number, those who identfy as Republican only 8% have confidence that newspapers, television, and radio report the news “fully, accurately and fairly”. (Daily Signal)
War and Rumors of War
Conflict and Weaponry
A second Ukrainian man had been arrested, this time in Poland, in connection with the blowing up of the Nordstream gas pipeline in 2022. (BBC)
President Trump has outlined a new plan to end the Israel–Hamas war. The plan wouldn’t displace Palestinians and would grant amnesty to Hamas fighters who lay down their weapons. Arab nations have been invited to join a task force to help guide Gaza’s future. While Israel supporters are skeptical that Hamas will accept the deal, the war is likely to end one way or another — Trump has said that if Hamas refuses this latest plan for peace, he won’t discourage Israel from “finishing the job.” At last report, Hamas had partially accepted the proposal. (BBC, Newsweek, ZeroHedge, AP)
Stories From Far Away
World News
🇬🇧 British authorities have called an attack on a Manchester synagogue an act of terror. A man of Syrian descent drove a vehicle into pedestrians before stabbing a security guard. Two people are dead and at least three injured. The assailant was shot dead by police. Those who’ve warned about the dangers of Islam said the attack was no surprise: “Around 75 percent of British counter-terrorism work involves averting Islamist extremism.” (AP, Reuters, The Critic)
🇬🇧The United Kingdom’s National Health Service has pulled an article from one of its websites that promoted the supposed “benefits” of first-cousin marriages after public backlash. Conservative MPs accused the Service of double standards for promoting a practice linked to serious genetic defects. MP Richard Holden said that by failing to ban the practice, the Starmer government is promoting “oppressive cultural practices” and facilitating “backdoor illegal immigration by marriage.” (Fox)
🇦🇫 The Taliban has cut internet cables running through Afghanistan in what watchers call “morality measures”. Update: Internet is reportedly restored, without explanation. (CBS, France24)
🇫🇷 Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in prison for conspiring to raise illegal campaign funds from Libya. (Reuters)
🇨🇳 China has broken its own record for the world’s highest bridge. (AP)
Quickhits For The Eyebuds
🦀 A crab has been fined after travelling on a British seaside train
☕ Which U.S. states have the longest coffee orders?
🦯 A collection of fancy walking canes
🎸 Stradivarius also made guitars and there is one left in the world
🐻❄️ Polar bears take up residence in an abandoned Arctic Circle weather station
✈️ A new private jet with digitized windows
🧳 Maybe verify your AI-suggested travel plans before you leave home..
Let us pray. O God, our refuge and strength, the author of all godliness, by Your grace hear the prayers of Your Church. Grant that those things which we ask in faith we may receive through Your bountiful mercy; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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