The Pour Over Today - Monday, December 20, 2021

Episode Date: December 20, 2021

Senator Manchin tanks Build Back Better, COVID is surging, juries begin deliberating in the three high-profile trials, and other top news for Monday, December 20th. Stay informed, while remaining focused on Christ, with The Pour Over. Today's podcast is brought to you by Hiya.While most children’s vitamins are just candy in disguise, Hiya is made from a blend of 12 farm-fresh fruits and vegetables and supercharged with 15 essential vitamins and minerals - all of the good, none of the bad. That is excellent, but let’s be real... the best part is convenience.  Hiya arrives straight to your door on a pediatrician-recommended schedule and gives your kiddo everything they need in just one vitamin per day. Basically, Hiya does everything but chew this thing for little Timmy, and some days that’s the level of service we need. So parents, get 50% off your first order with code POUROVER when you try Hiya today.

Senator Manchin, tanks build back better, COVID is surging, juries begin deliberating in three high-profile trials, and other top news for Monday, December 20th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over. Here's the quote of the day. Success is not what you have done compared to what others have done. Success is what you have done compared to what you were supposed to do. Tony Evans. Let's get started with some espresso shots. While you've been arguing over the correct pronunciation of Omicron,

or Omicron, depending on your opinion, it's quickly becoming the most popular kid in the COVID block. The University of Texas' COVID-19 Modeling Consortium, and that's data modeling, not fashion modeling, has predicted two possible scenarios for Omicron's impact. The glass half full model shows a peak in January that won't overwhelm the hospitals. In the glass half empty version, the U.S. might reach 500,000 cases a day by mid-January, which would be double last winter's peak. The NHL, NFL, and NBA have all instituted strict protocols to slow the spread as U.S. daily cases surpass 125,000. And a federal appeals court

reinstated Biden's controversial vaccine and testing mandate, which applies to 80 million private sector workers, which is a decision that will likely end up in the Supreme Court. As COVID continues to mutate and spread, it can be easy to become anxious and discouraged. Yet, as followers of Christ, Scripture reminds us that Jesus will be with us in troubling and uncertain times all the way from now until eternity. Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23, verse 4. The holidays can be a stressful time for anyone, but they're especially stressful this season if you're Kim Potter, Elizabeth Holmes, or Ghislaine Maxwell. Kim Potter, a former police officer,

took the stand on Friday. In dash cam footage, she says taser, taser, taser before firing her gun and killing Daunte Wright during a traffic stop. The jury will deliberate whether fatally mistaking a taser for a gun constitutes manslaughter. Elizabeth Holmes was the founder of Theranos, a medical startup that promised miraculous testing using just a single drop of blood. After last week's closing arguments, the jury must now decide whether she's guilty of inflated optimism and bad business practices or outright fraud. Ghislaine Maxwell is accused of grooming four girls for Jeffrey Epstein to abuse, but her defense says that she's simply become the scapegoat for the deceased financier's crimes

since he's unable to stand trial. Christians should pursue justice while retaining love for both the victims and the attackers, desiring restoration, not revenge. And remember that we would all be guilty before God without the atoning work of Jesus. For all have sinned and fall short Romans 3.23-24 Congress is done for the year. Highlights from 2021's legislative session include a $1.9 trillion pandemic session include a $1.9 trillion pandemic bill, a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, a $300 per child tax credit, and 40 confirmed federal judges. Notably missing from the list is the Build Back Better bill, a key piece of

President Biden's agenda. And that sound that you hear is the bill flatlining. After six months of negotiations, the bill's price tag was trimmed from $3.5 trillion to $1.9 trillion. But it wasn't enough for Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia. Yesterday, Manchin, whose opposition likely dooms the BBB's chances in the Senate, announced that he couldn't support the bill, citing concerns over national debt and looming inflation. We'll have to wait until 2022 to see if the bill can be revived, which contains top democratic objectives like paid leave and universal preschool. Today's podcast is brought to you by Haya.

While most children's vitamins are just candy in disguise, Haya is made from a blend of 12 farm-fresh fruits and vegetables and supercharged with 15 essential vitamins and minerals, all of the good and none of the bad. That's excellent, but let's be real. The best part is convenience. Haya arrives straight to your door on a pediatrician-recommended schedule

and gives your kiddo everything they need in just one vitamin per day. Basically, Haya does everything but chew this thing for little Timmy, and some days, that's the level of service we need. So parents, get 50% off your first order with code POUROVER when you try Haya today. Check the link in our show notes. In other brews, we've got a rapid round of updates. Urban Meyer is out. Brought in to turn around the Jacksonville Jaguars franchise,

the once-celebrated football coach was fired last week after new reports of him kicking a player piled onto earlier scandals. He lasted just 13 games and won't be paid the approximate $40 million left of his contract. Not so fast. A judge rejected the historic multi-billion dollar bankruptcy settlement by Purdue Pharma that would have closed thousands of lawsuits over its role in the opioid epidemic because it would have also granted immunity to the Sackler family, the former owners of Purdue, from personal lawsuits.

Purdue plans to appeal the decision. The FDA is permanently allowing abortion pills Mufapristone and Misoprostol to be available by mail and prescribed through telehealth consultations. Abortion pills used to require in-person visits with healthcare providers, but those requirements were lifted during COVID. This change by the FDA makes the long-distance prescription and delivery options permanent. On Friday, 39 American citizens and lawful residents were evacuated from Afghanistan to America by the volunteer group Project Dynamo. While thousands of Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the 20-year war against the Taliban have been relocated,

thousands more remain stranded in the country. Spider-Man No Way Home not only smashed pandemic-era box office records, but managed to web the third-best opening of all time behind two other Marvel films, Avengers Endgame and Avengers Infinity War, raking in $253 million last weekend. Well, thanks so much for joining us this morning. As always, if you found this podcast helpful or encouraging or even just a little bit enjoyable, we would really appreciate it

if you left us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. And if you're listening on another platform like Spotify or MySpace or something else, we'd really appreciate it if you would share this podcast with a friend. We hope you have a great rest of your day and we'll see you back here on Wednesday.