013 All Saints: Before the World Confessing
SNAP bail out, nukes on the menu and Nigeria's Christian genocide in the spotlight
“The Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.”~ Psalm 149
On the Radar
Business and Markets
Two federal judges have ordered the Trump administration to use $5 billion in emergency reserve funds to pay for food stamp programs that stopped a couple of days ago due to the government shutdown. New reports say around 90,000 SNAP recipients were not actually entitled to benefits. Videos of people threatening violence if they didn’t get their food stamps haven’t helped the program’s problematic reputation. (AP, The Federalist)
President Trump has completed a short tour through Asia, talking trade with South Korea and Malaysia. He also held trade talks with China’s President Xi Jinping. China has agreed to buy American soy beans again and to lift restrictions on exports of rare earth metals. The U.S. agreed to lower its tariffs against Chinese imports. (Reuters, BBC)
The U.S. Federal Reserve has cut interest rates by another quarter percent as the job market continues to slow. (New York Post)
Only one country on earth produces enough food to feed itself. (Science Focus)
Crime and Policing
The FBI says it has arrested five people in Michigan in connection with a Halloween terrorist plot. (CBS)
Politics
A little bit insurrection-y? A far-left group has called for Americans to surround government buildings in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday and “drive the Trump Fascist Regime from power.” (Not the Bee)
Republicans have referred an alleged scheme to pay voters to back Democrat candidates in a North Carolina county election to the Board of Elections for investigation. (News & Observer)
The Church
President Trump has ordered a halt to aid for Nigeria and reiterated that he is serious about a potential military operation, calling it unacceptable that Christianity is “facing an existential threat” at the hands of radical Muslims. Videos of burned-out churches and murdered villagers have circulated online for some time. One pastor appealed directly to President Trump to intervene while standing among graves freshly dug for his slaughtered congregants. (France 24)
Finland’s Supreme Court has begun hearing a “hate speech” case against politician Päivi Räsänen, who posted Bible verses on social media in response to her Lutheran church body joining a Pride event. Räsänen has been unanimously acquitted by two lower courts but now faces renewed prosecution by the government for incitement. (WNG)
A carpenter who helped restore Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral after the 2021 fire has been granted the rare privilege of getting married in the ancient building. The wedding was attended by fellow artisans, engineers, and restorers who used 13th-century tools and methods during the reconstruction. (New York Post)
Barcelona’s Sagrada Família Basilica became the world’s tallest church last week after its final tower was added. Standing at 534 feet, the structure’s first stone was laid in 1882. (AP)
Great stuff from the archive:
Science and Tech
A prototype habitat for deep-sea research has been unveiled, designed to accommodate a small team for up to a week underwater. (Interesting Engineering)
It appears ChatGPT shares prompts with Google and other data scrapers when generating responses — so assume if it’s on the internet, it’s public. (Quantable)
History and Culture
Ethan Strauss on how legalized sports betting is slowly ruining the NBA. (Big Ben Show via Apple Podcasts)
Native Americans before Native Americans. (Palladium)
Tori Amos and the history of the pumpkin spiced latte. (Snack Net)
The Portland gas shortage of ‘73-’74. Locking gas caps and car pool campaigns, some abandoned gas stations used by churches suggested filling up with “Holy Ghost fire”! (Flashbak)
Mind and Body
A new study links mask-wearing during COVID with lower public trust and connection: “Masks make facial expressions measurably harder to read, and decoding masked faces costs the brain extra effort in emotion, face-processing, mentalizing, and empathy regions.” (Natal Gazing)
War and Rumors of War
President Trump says he has ordered the Department of War to recommence nuclear testing “on an equal basis” with countries like China and Russia. It’s unclear whether he was referring to testing nuclear explosives or missile flight capabilities after a 33-year hiatus. Russia said it was news to them that anyone is testing nukes and vowed to conduct its own tests if the U.S. does. (Reuters)
Lithuania has completely closed its border with Belarus, saying it will respond to any violations of its airspace. Belarus, aligned with Russia, has been sending balloons across the border and disrupting flights. (Politico)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered new strikes on Gaza targets after Hamas failed to meet the terms of a recent ceasefire—namely, returning the bodies of hostages and halting rocket fire. Hamas claims it wasn’t responsible for attacks on Israeli soldiers, while even its allies criticized the group for staging a fake return of bodies. Meanwhile, analysts say Iran remains intent on fueling anti-Western hostility despite U.S. hopes otherwise. (WNG, BBC, Front Page)
Last week’s Watches:
World News
🇸🇩 The World Health Organization reports that more than 450 people, including patients and children, have been killed in a hospital in northern Sudan. El Fasher, one of the last cities in the Darfur region still held by the national military, has fallen to the Rapid Support Forces, who control much of the north. Although the country is mostly Muslim, human rights agencies say the RSF is conducting genocide against non-Arabs. BBC has a history of the current conflict here. (United Nations, BBC) 🇺🇳 The United Nations has launched an investigation into U.S. strikes against Venezuelan drug boats. (AP)
🇬🇧 Britons are calling on their government to stop importing violent men and to deport those in the country illegally after a string of brutal knife attacks. Authorities say the latest attack on train passengers was not an act of terrorism, but could not offer an alternate motive. (ZeroHedge, BBC, Just the News)
🇫🇷 More arrests have been made in connection with the Louvre jewel heist. Experts hope the thieves will realize how hard it is to offload the haul and abandon it somewhere.(Wall Street Journal)
🇪🇬 A massive new museum two decades in the making has opened in Cairo, featuring 5,000 artifacts from King Tutankhamun’s collection. (AP)
🇧🇷 Protests have erupted in Rio de Janeiro after police killed 119 people they say were members of a major drug cartel. Favela residents and relatives of the dead claim the operation involved execution-style killings and torture. (CBS)
🇬🇧 Britain’s Prince Andrew will be stripped of all titles and removed from his royal residence over his association with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. (Die Welt)
Quickhits
😄 CNN’s numbers guy, Harry Enten, dressed as a dumpster fire for Halloween
🇦🇺 Messages in a bottle from WWI soldiers have washed up on Australian beaches
🕶️ Why the kids are all saying “6-7”
⚡ If we must have giant pylons for power lines, why not make them huge animals?
🇪🇸 A rare white Iberian lynx captured for the first time ever
Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, You knit together Your faithful people of all times and places into one holy communion, the mystical body of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Grant us so to follow Your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living that, together with them, we may come to the unspeakable joys You have prepared for those who love You; 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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