The Pour Over Today - Friday, March 4, 2022

Episode Date: March 4, 2022

Today, we’re talking about Russia capturing its first major Ukrainian city, the U.N.’s response to the invasion, the January 6th Committee’s court filing, and other top news for Friday, March 4th. Stay informed, while remaining focused on Christ, with The Pour Over.The TPO community has raised over $33,000 in response to the crisis in Ukraine. To continue supporting those in need we’ve designed a shirt in partnership with CauseTeam...https://www.causeteam.com/causepages/detail/with-ukraine#cause-info...all proceeds go to Roads of Hope:https://roadsofhope.org/This episode is sponsored by Minno. Try Minno free for 7 days at https://www.gominno.com/ or download the app. 

Today we'll be talking about Russia capturing its first major Ukrainian city, we'll cover the UN's response to the invasion, the January 6th committee's court filing, and other top news for Friday, March 4th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over. Here's the quote of the day, I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all, but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess. Martin Luther. Let's get started with some espresso shots.

We're entering the second week of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and Putin is frustrated by a less than decisive first week of attacks. He's ratcheting up the intensity and is beginning to take some ground, including in the port city of Kherson, which became the first major Ukrainian city to fall into Russian hands. Mariupol, another southern port city, is surrounded and has faced over 24 hours of nonstop shelling. But Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, continues to face heavy bombardment for the third straight day, which is damaging government buildings and killing multiple people. However, the 40-mile-long Russian convoy is still parked 20 miles outside Kiev, and it hasn't moved in days. Civilians, expectedly,

are not great. The UN estimates 1 million Ukrainian refugees have fled the country, and over 200 Ukrainian civilians have died since the start of the invasion, which is prompting a war crimes investigation. Yesterday's peace talks between Ukraine and Russia were largely unfruitful, but they did agree upon humanitarian corridors for civilians to use for evacuation. The international community is responding with more of the same, sanctions and severed business ties for Russia, military equipment and money, but still no troops for Ukraine. The UN General Assembly held a vote and overwhelmingly voted to condemn Russia and demand they withdraw troops. 141 countries voted in favor and five countries voted against, including Belarus, Russia, North Korea, Syria,

and Eritrea. And 35, including China and India, refused to pick a side. As part of their effort to enforce sanctions against the Russian oligarchs, the DOJ will start hunting for their yachts. Moldova, the small non-NATO country on Ukraine's western border, is now on alert after photos of the maps reportedly suggest that Putin's targeting this country next. Be quick to point to God and give him the credit for your hope, strength, and love during times dominated by uncertainty and fear. Even in the midst of chaos, our eternity is secure. The poor over community has raised over $33,000 in response to the crisis in Ukraine. To continue supporting those in need, we've even designed a shirt in

partnership with Cause Team and all proceeds go to Roads of Hope. You can find the link to the t-shirt design in the show notes. Job 1210 says, the life of every living thing is in his hand, as well as the breath of all humanity. Apparently Thanksgiving dinner came earlier this year because January 6th is back in the headlines. The January 6th House Select Committee says it has evidence that former President Trump, quote, engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States, and they're saying he broke several laws in the process. The committee can't bring criminal charges themselves. However, they are arguing that the former president obstructed an official proceeding, which was the Congress January 6th session to count electoral votes. They claim he defrauded the United States by interfering with election certification, and they claim he violated D.C.'s common fraud law by spreading election

misinformation. Republicans have said that the mostly Democrat committee, which does include two anti-Donald Republicans, is just carrying out a partisan attack on Trump. Also related to January 6th, Joshua James, a member of the Oath Keepers, became the first person to plead guilty of seditious conspiracy connected to the Capitol violence. Culturally hot topics frequently make people think, speak, and act poorly, including us. We can respect others and represent God better if we're quick to listen and slow to speak. James 1, 19 and 20 says, everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for human anger does not accomplish God's righteousness. Today's podcast is brought to you by Minnow.

Today, the biggest influences on a kid are their parents, their friends, and... Encanto? Or Frozen, or Cocomelon, or whatever else is on their screen. Minnow is here to make sure that last item is up to snuff. Minnow is a streaming service for kids, and they have ridiculously high standards. They only allow shows that reinforce Christian values, keeping the kiddos in your life entertained while helping them turn to Jesus in both the fun times and the hard times. You can try Minnow free for seven days at gominnow.com or download the app. In other brews, here's a rapid round of updates.

With COVID cases continuing to drop, the White House is transitioning to prevent future outbreaks mode. Their newest plan includes launching hundreds of one-stop test-to-treat programs at pharmacies. People can get a rapid COVID test, and if they test positive, they'll immediately receive antiviral medication, all at no cost. Fitbit is recalling 1.7 million of its Ionic smartwatches because its battery can overheat and burn wearers. We know it's hard to motivate when the steps don't count, but Ionic owners should remove the watch and run to the post office. Because once you return it, you'll receive a $299 refund and 40% off a new Fitbit. A bipartisan group of eight state attorney generals launched an investigation Thursday into whether TikTok harms children and teens' mental health. Their investigation will reportedly focus on TikTok's methods of boosting young user engagement, which mirrors a similar investigation into Instagram.

We hope their findings are presented in short clips set to music to keep our attention. A new report puts numbers to, quote, high inflation and finds that American families are paying $385 more per month on average. Meanwhile, oil prices have continued to rise and they've crossed $110 for the first time since 2014. The U.S. and its allies are releasing 60 million barrels of oil reserves and they're leaving Russian oil unsanctioned to combat rising prices. oil unsanctioned to combat rising prices. If you got $2.5 billion and want to buy a soccer team, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich is reportedly looking to sell the English soccer club Chelsea. He's promised proceeds of the sale will be used to, quote, benefit all victims of the war in Ukraine. That's all we have for today. Thanks so much for listening. If you're thinking, I want to help more Christians stay informed while remaining focused on Christ,

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