The Pour Over Today - Friday, September 17, 2021

Episode Date: September 17, 2021

Elite gymnasts testify on mishandled FBI investigation, COVID continues, the U.S. shares nuclear submarine tech, and other top news for September 17th. Stay informed, while remaining focused on Christ, with The Pour Over.

Elite gymnasts testify on mishandled FBI investigation, COVID continues, D.U.S. shares nuclear submarine tech, and other top news for today, September 17th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over. Thanks for joining us. Here's the quote of the day. May God in His mercy lead us through these times,

but above all, may he lead us to himself. Dietrich Bonhoeffer On Wednesday, four elite gymnasts, including an emotional Simone Biles, testified before Congress about how the FBI turned a blind eye to their abuse at the hands of USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. The testimony was part of an effort by lawmakers to hold the Bureau accountable for mishandling the investigation. Back in 2015, Olympian Michaela Maroney detailed Nassar's abuse to an FBI agent who failed to do anything with the information and later lied about details of her testimony to cover up his inaction. An Inspector general report says

at least 70 girls were abused between the time Maroney spoke with the agent and Nassar's eventual arrest. That agent was recently fired and his supervisor has retired, but senators and victims are angry that they're not being criminally prosecuted. We live in a sinful, broken, and unfair world, but as Christians, we have the privilege of knowing this is not our home. Even as we work and pray for justice, we can take comfort knowing that all things will ultimately be made right. Romans 3, verses 23 and 24 say, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. The casts of Hamilton, The Lion King, Wicked, and Chicago welcomed audiences back to Broadway after the New York theater's 18-month intermission. But not every state is seeing the same show. Alaska joined Idaho as the second state to activate crisis care standards. The state's largest hospital will begin rationing life-saving care amid surging COVID-19 hospitalizations. In the past week, Alaska saw an all-time high number of cases, and Anchorage ran out of open ICU beds. Across the nation, COVID-19 patients account for half of all patients in the ICU. The surge has led to some emergency room patients waiting in their cars for up to 4-5 hours before being seen.

According to recent data from the CDC, 1 in 500 Americans has now died of COVID. Culturally hot topics frequently make people think, speak, and act poorly, including us. We can respect others and represent God better if we are quick to listen and slow to speak. James 1 verses 19 and 20 say, everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. The latest group project for the U.S. involves joining with the U.K. and Australia in a security alliance and sharing highly protected submarine technology. According to President Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Johnson, the goal of the new pact, dubbed AUKUS, A-U-K-U-S, is to help Australia

increase their defensive capabilities by improving their nuclear-powered, not nuclear-armed, submarine technology. Not everyone is impressed. Though the UK and US deny supplying nuclear technology to specifically protect against China, China's foreign ministry spokesman called it a clear Cold War mentality. And France, whose own submarine deal with Australia is getting replaced by AUKUS, has released an angry statement criticizing their exclusion from the pact. AUK-word. Am I right?

In other brews, here's a rapid round of updates. California Governor Newsom decisively withstood his recall election by nearly a 28-point margin. The conservative-driven effort faced long odds in California, where there were 5 million more Democrats than Republicans. A WSJ investigation into internal Facebook documents shows Zuckerberg's empire knows, in acute detail, the flaws in their systems that cause societal harm. A 2018 algorithm update made Facebook angrier, Instagram causes body image issues in one-third of teen girls, and there are 5.8 million Facebook VIPs who can violate standards without consequences. U.S. border control apprehended over 200,000 migrants at the southern border in August,

a 317% increase over last August and the second consecutive month with over 200,000 apprehensions. DHS Secretary Mayorkas said the Biden administration intends to continue its strategy of rebuilding, quote, safe, legal, and orderly pathways for migrants, unquote. A not-yet-released book reports that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, feared President Trump may spark war with China to remain in power and held backdoor conversations to assure them no attack was coming. Milley asserts he did not break protocol, but Republican critics say it may have been treason. Time released their iconic issue full of iconic people on Wednesday. Prince Harry and Meghan, Simone Biles, and Billie Eilish

were among seven people featured on the covers of the 100 Most Influential People of 2021. And that is all we have for today. Thanks so much for joining us, and we will see you on Monday. Have a great weekend.