The Pour Over Today - Friday, February 4, 2022

Episode Date: February 4, 2022

The death of the global leader of ISIS, what to know as the Olympics kick off, a few companies’ horrible weeks in the stock market, and other top news for Friday, February 4th. Stay informed, while remaining focused on Christ, with The Pour Over.Pay what you want for The Pour Over:https://links.thepourover.org/member_02_04

Today we're covering the death of the global leader of ISIS, what to know as the Olympics kick off, a few companies' horrible weeks in the stock market, and other top news for Friday, February 4th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over. Here's the quote of the day, There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind. C.S. Lewis Let's get started with some espresso shots.

U.S. special forces killed the global leader of ISIS, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qureshi, in northern Syria. Yesterday morning, President Biden recounted the overnight raid. As special forces approached, al-Qureshi detonated an explosive that killed himself and members of his family, including women and children. The president confirmed that all Americans have returned safely from the operation. Speaking of the U.S. military, Biden ordered 3,000 troops to Poland, Germany, and Romania as efforts to find a diplomatic resolution with Russia remain stalled. The U.S. and their NATO allies have promised that they will not send troops directly into Ukraine, but hope their presence in Eastern Europe will prevent any potential conflict from spreading.

Yesterday, U.S. officials claimed to have evidence that Russia plans to stage an attack as a pretext for invasion. We live in a sinful, broken, and unfair world that is marred by sin. Even as we work and pray for peace, we can take comfort knowing that this is not our home, and through Christ, all things will ultimately be made right. 1 Peter 5.10 says, The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while.

Instead of the normal two-year Olympics gap, we've got back-to-back action with the 2022 Winter Olympics kicking off tonight in Beijing, less than a year after the COVID-postponed 2020 Summer Olympics that were actually held in 2021. The real game to watch, international political chess. China is under scrutiny and is facing diplomatic boycotts over mistreatment of its Uyghur minority, and athletes have been encouraged to use burner phones in anticipation of China monitoring their communications. The athlete to watch is snowboarder Sean White, who is capping off 16 years of Olympic shredding with his fifth and final Olympics. Maybe you're wondering how to watch. Unless you're an eligible spectator from mainland China, you're going to have to watch on

TV. In the U.S., you can watch the games on NBC, which run tonight through February 20th. and watch the games on NBC, which run tonight through February 20th. Meta 25% stock nosedive yesterday. After posting a shocking earnings report on Wednesday, Zuckerberg's empire faced the largest one-day wipeout in U.S. corporate history, a record that it stole from itself. Well, technically Facebook. In July of 2018, Meta said that Facebook's fourth quarter daily active user base shrank for the first time in history, and the company reported $10 billion in operating losses as it invests in building the metaverse. Investor fears must be contagious. PayPal stock also dropped 25% on Wednesday after announcing impending revenue losses as eBay transitions off PayPal to their

own proprietary payment platform. It wasn't all bad corporate news though. Amazon stock jumped 16% after hours yesterday after reporting a nearly doubled profit and a price increase for Amazon Prime from $119 to $139 per year. News like this reminds us that our true hope should never be found in finite sources, even multi-billion dollar companies. should never be found in finite sources, even multi-billion dollar companies. Only Jesus provides a stable foundation that will last into eternity. Psalm 112, 6-8 says, Surely the righteous will never be shaken. They will be remembered forever.

They will have no fear of bad news. Their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord. Their hearts are secure. They will have no fear. At The Pour Over, we believe that news can actually be a force for good, helping people find rest and comfort in Christ while spurring them on to loving action, instead of, you know, creating division, anger, and just having a persistent feeling of impending doom. For example, and keep this in mind while reading today's news, even if everything goes wrong, your eternity is secure.

To operate The Pour Over, it costs about 20 cents per subscriber. Many readers and listeners are unable or unwilling to pay, but you can actually sling four of them on your back and support our staff and mission for just $1 a month. If you'd like to support our mission, please click the link in our show notes and pay what you want for the pour-over. In other brews, we've got a rapid round of updates. CNN's President Jeff Zucker resigned after failing to disclose a relationship with another senior executive, Chief Marketing Officer Allison Gallist. The relationship was uncovered during an internal investigation into CNN host Chris Cuomo, who was fired for inappropriately helping his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, navigate sexual harassment allegations. ABC suspended Whoopi Goldberg from The View for

two weeks following, quote, wrong and hurtful comments about Jews and the Holocaust. On Monday's show, Whoopi said the Holocaust was not about race because both the Germans and Jews were white. She apologized hours later and was suspended the following day. This Sunday is Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee, which marks 70 years of her reign. The Queen is the longest-serving British monarch, and her coronation in 1953 was the first event in history that more people watched on television than listened to on the radio.

A 2,000-mile storm put 100 million people under some sort of winter weather alert this week. The storm already knocked out power in parts of Texas, Arkansas, and Tennessee, and is expected to dump up to 18 inches of snow in parts of the Midwest and the Northeast through this evening. Stay safe out there. Senator Ben Ray Lujan, a Democrat from New Mexico, recently suffered a stroke. Thankfully, Lujan's staff said he's expected to make a full recovery. Barring setbacks, he'll reportedly return to the Senate in four to six weeks. Republicans will outnumber Democrats 50 to 49 in Lujan's absence, making passage of President Biden's legislative agenda and nominees difficult

until he returns. That's our roundup of the news for today. Thank you so much for listening. If you find this podcast helpful or encouraging, there's a couple ways that you can support us. One method that goes a long way is giving us a five-star rating on the Apple Podcast app. And also consider dropping a review. We actually read all of them and take them to heart, like this review from Brandon. I heard about the pour-over from Preston Sprinkle, and it has become one of my new favorite podcasts. Every morning, my Google Home wakes me up with the weather and the Pour Over podcast, and it's been a game changer to hear scripture and encouragement to start my day, as well as brief, unbiased takes on current events. Brandon, thanks so much for taking the time out of your day to submit a review. We're

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