The Pour Over Today - Friday, December 2, 2022

Episode Date: December 2, 2022

Today, we’re talking about another potential railroad strike, economic ups and downs, Spotify Wrapped playlists, and other top news for Friday, December 2nd. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over. Sponsored by the TPO Christmas Gift Guide

Today, we're talking about another potential railroad strike, economic ups and downs, Spotify wrapped playlists, and other top news for Friday, December 2nd. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over. Here's the quote of the day. The sermon of your life in tough times ministers to people more powerfully than the most eloquent speaker, Bill Bright. Let's start with some espresso shots. In case you missed the last few episodes of Railroad Wars, railroad unions were set to

strike back in September. The Biden administration negotiated a tentative deal including 24% raises. Four of the 12 railroad unions rejected the deal, primarily because it didn't include paid sick leave. A strike was reset for December 9th. Washington, D.C. was not okay with a strike predicted to cost the economy $2 billion a day, so President Biden asked Congress to intervene. This week, the House passed a bill that requires unions to accept the Biden administration's negotiated deal, and yesterday the Senate signed off, averting the strike. A separate measure adding seven days of paid sick time to the deal did not pass the Senate. Business groups celebrated the news while the unions criticized Congress for taking power away from workers.

Jesus showed compassion when people expected rejection, gentleness when people expected anger, and love when people expected hate. Whether you're negotiating massive union deals or negotiating eating vegetables in a while, everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others. For the first time in a while, Uncle Sam isn't hiding his economics report card. Updated data shows the U.S. economy did better than previously estimated in Q3. The economy grew at a 2.9% rate, up from the original estimate of 2.6%, and much better than the declines in Q1 and Q2. The upward revision is a bright spot amid the current recession chatter. Meanwhile, the stock market jumped on Wednesday after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell

signaled the central bank may start monitoring the pace of rate increases this month. Think rates raising by 0.5% instead of 0.75%. It's the first concrete indication the Fed thinks inflation is being tamed, though Jerome warned there is still a long way to go. In less cheery news, DoorDash, CNN, and crypto trading firm Kraken all announced layoffs. Regardless of whether the broader economy is struggling or thriving, Christians should seek to give generously of our time, talents, and resources to those in greater need. Reach out to your local church to see where help is needed. Hebrews 13 verse 16 says, Don't neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.

Just in case you haven't seen it on, you know, basically everyone's social media, Spotify released its seventh year and wrapped campaign this week. It's the traditional annual recap for its around 450 million monthly active users and serves as a summary of each user's listening habits. New this year were 16 different music personalities, with names like Jute Boxer, Fan Clubber, Early Adopter, and Connoisseur. The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, which has streamed exclusively on Spotify since 2020, was the most popular podcast for the third

year in a row, while Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny was the most streamed artist, also for the third straight year. Don't worry, Swifties. Taylor was the second most streamed artist in both the U.S. and internationally. Drake was number one in the U.S. Music is an incredible gift from God. Take a moment to thank him for this gift or any other simple pleasures that you enjoy. James 1 verse 17 says, Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. If you're super type A and have all your Christmas shopping done, this isn't for you. For the rest of us who still need some gift-giving inspiration, there's the Pour Over Christmas Gift Guide.

It's got our favorite Bibles, kids' Bibles, audio Bibles, and more, exceptional coffee roasted by a pour-over reader, things for travelers, readers, homebodies, kids, hat wearers, spouses, athletes, and lots more. Over half the items are made by the pour-over readers, all of whom notice and love every single order. Happy shopping! Check out the link in our show notes. In other brews, here's a rapid round of updates. An appeals court has halted a special master's review of the documents seized from Mar-a-Lago. The Justice Department objected to the appointment of special master,

saying it was an unnecessary hindrance to its investigation, and that former President Trump has no credible claim of privilege over the documents. Trump is expected to appeal to the Supremes. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries was elected as the new Democratic leader of the Democratic Caucus, formerly led by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, becoming the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in Congress. In another first for Congress, all posts for one party, Democrats, will be filled exclusively by women or people of color.

Neuralink, Elon Musk's other, other, other, other company, had a show-and-tell event where it unveiled a video of a monkey with a Neuralink chip implanted in its brain, typing with only its thoughts. It was rewarded with a banana smoothie. Musk claims Neuralink could solve blindness and paralysis, and said much-delayed human trials could begin within six months. President Biden accepted visitors from across the pond. He held his first official state dinner yesterday for French President Emmanuel Macron, and he'll be meeting the Prince and Princess of Wales today as William and Kate promote their climate change initiative in Boston. Thankfully, the red, white, and blue napkins could be reused for both meetings. San Francisco supervisors voted 8-3 Tuesday to authorize city police to use lethal remote-controlled robots in emergency situations.

The decision followed heated debate with proponents saying the robots could save lives, while opponents argued it would further militarize a police force that's already too aggressive with minorities. That's all we have for today. Thanks so much for listening. If you're listening on the Apple Podcasts app, give us a five-star rating and drop a review. If you're listening on Spotify, give us a follow and hit the notification bell to never miss a new episode. We appreciate your support and hope you have a great weekend. We'll see you on Monday.