Trying something new this week. Decided to add links to sample articles for the different posts. Let’s see how that goes.
US ELECTION 2024
OLYMPICS
US ECONOMY IS BETTER THAN YOU THINK
GROCERY STORES INVESTIGATED FOR PRICE GOUGING
FACT CHECKS
WOMEN’S BOXING CONTROVERSY
BIDEN AND IMMIGRATION
UNITED KINGDOM RIOTS
VOLATILE WEEK ON WALL STREET
WAR IN GAZA SPREADS
WALMART/CVS TO OFFER ABORTION PILL
BIBLE READERS MORE LIKE TO BEFRIEND OTHERS
AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY CLOSING $60 MILLION DOLLAR MUSEUM
GOOGLE FOUND GUILTY OF MONOPOLY
VIETNAMESE BUSINESSMAN SENTENCED TO 21 YEARD IN PRISON
ANTARCTICA 50 DEGREES WARMER
US ELECTION 2024
I didn’t do a news last week, so just as a quick sumup here.
Harris/Walz confirmed as Democratic ticket. There was some excitement as people pondered who Harris would pick as a running mate, before she settled on the Minnesota governor. There hasn’t been a lot of time for me to see what he’s all about, but so far I get the sense he’s a pretty good guy. He’s a social studies teacher, so that’s going to get my vote right away. Plus, I live like 2 minutes from Minnesota, so the Midwestern thing is going to appeal to me. The interactions I’ve seen of him seem mostly positive. I have another little thing on FactChecking below, so I won’t mention it here.
I’m in favor of how Harris has addressed the more vitriolic Trump/Vance ticket. At one of her events, the crowd was chanting “Lock Him Up,” referring to Trump. She pushed back on that, saying “we’ll let the courts take care of that. We are focused on beating him in November.” On another occasion, Vance made disparaging remarks about Walz’s military service, highlighting his (Vance’s) own service. When asked for a comment or comeback (basically, looking for them to diss Vance), the Harris/Walz campaign said they would never attack anyone’s service, regardless of party, and thanked Vance for his service. I like that approach, and I think it’s been sorely missing in US politics since about, oh, 2015 or so.
That said, it’s still pretty unlikely I’ll vote for this ticket. I like Walz (so far). I’m fairly ambivalent on Harris, though I’m a fan of how she’s tried to (thus far) run a positive campaign. But I just find myself unable to get past the pro-abortion stance. If they even toned it back a little, I might be able to get there. But, for reasons I understand, they are making this one of their central points. I just can’t do it.
I will say, my favorite political note over the last couple weeks has been Trump’s suggestion that he be reimbursed for all the ads and work he did attacking Biden. For some reason, i find that hilarious. For one, Biden wasn’t even the nominee then (officially), and even if he was, nobody said Trump had to attack him. If Trump’s approach was to talk positively about all the stuff he (Trump) was doing, it wouldn’t matter who the democrat was. But, since Trump’s entire political approach is based on making his opponents look bad (a “negative” campaign), he feels ripped off. “I wasted so much time being a jerk. I should get more money to be a jerk to someone else.” I think that’s simply amazing.
I will note that Trump has re-agreed to a Sept 10 debate on ABC, after previously backing out. I’m not saying it’s specifically because I called him a wuss, but I’m not NOT saying that either.
#KEV2024
OLYMPICS
I don’t have much to say on the olympics, though I feel like I should, since it’s a pretty big deal. I’ll address the boxing issue below, but other than that I’ll just say it’s always impressive. So far the thing that has stood out to me is Katie Ledecky is pretty much awesome, and I don’t understand pommel horse. That is all.
US ECONOMY IS BETTER THAN YOU THINK
https://www.axios.com/2024/01/31/us-economy-2024-gdp-g7-nations
I keep seeing people casually mentioning online how terrible the US economy is. Obviously Trump people keep saying it, to suggest we MUST vote for Trump to save the economy. But even non-Trump people will just casually throw out “well, it’s going to be tough, because of the state of the economy.” But the thing is, the economy is NOT in bad shape. It’s actually, relatively, awesome.
I suspect some of the issue is people have such short term memories, they forget that we had a global financial shutdown like 10 minutes ago. It takes time for economies, especially global economies, to recover from something like that. But by just about any measure, the US has recovered far quicker than anyone anticipated. Even the parts that seem rough aren’t.
For example, you may recall that there was a crisis in 2022 regarding the US debt. There was a lot of discussion then about how terrible the economy was. However, you might not have noticed that international investors DIDN’T shy away from the US. Why is that? Essentially, internationally, the “debt crisis” was seen as an artificial crisis created by the Republicans to make Biden look bad, but investors saw through it.
Long story short, yes, grocery prices are high, but that’s not because of a bad economy. In fact the opposite. See the Next Post
GROCERY RETAILERS FACE INVESTIGATION FOR PRICE INCREASES
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-regulators-urge-congress-look-into-grocery-profits-2024-03-21/
I won’t say much on this, other than people keep complaining about high prices at the grocery store because of inflation or a bad economy. Yes and no. I would more say it’s complex (of course), but also businesses are taking advantage of the general sense of “well, it’s inflation” to raise their prices. I don’t really blame them. That’s why businesses do.
But it’d be nice if people realized that’s it’s good ole American greed pushing prices more than inflation. (inflation is actually pretty reasonable right now, all things considered.)
FACT CHECKS
https://apnews.com/ap-fact-check
AP has this great feature where you can see some fact on a regular basis. I wanted to comment on it briefly, because I had someone say recently “all those fact check sites do is blast Trump.”
Ok, this is something interesting that I think needs to be considered. Is it true that Trump is on fact checks more than other prominent figures. Yes. I think that’s objectively true. But why? Two options:
1 – The liberal media hates him and tries to nitpick everything he says (or lies about him).
2 – He says more false things than other prominent people.
This is my point with people saying they want “objective” news. There is no such thing. The “fact” is that Trump is fact checked more than other people. But “why” is the real disagreement, and the notion that he’s on there at all is biased (for example, almost no one fact check me. Why? Because even choosing what to talk about is bias.
So, quick sumup: don’t trust one source. Get your news from a lot of different ones. I link Reuters and AP as much as I can as i feel they’re the most centrist, and people can look for more on their own. But don’t just read them either. Ok – fact checks:
1 – No, Google is not limiting searches for Trump, at least not for the reason you think.
Google does make changes to its algorithm somewhat frequently (which drives web developers crazy), but in this case, their algorithm was limiting “violent” searches. It affected searches for Trump because of the violent attempt on his life, so the search terms blended together. So, yes, some of Trump’s searches were limited for a time – no, it’s not because they’re messing with the election. Google, like most companies, doesn’t care THAT much about the election, certainly not enough to do anything to make their service lose users. Money is the thing, always.
https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-misinformation-google-autocomplete-trump-b31855c23eb6e387dc324983ea4859bc
2 – No, Walz didn’t skip out on his military unit. No, he didn’t say he’d build ladders to help illegal immigrants. No, he didn’t switch Minnesota to a Somali flag. General rule, if you hear something that makes someone else sound cartoonishly stupid, it’s probably not true. Just do yourself a favor and look for words in context and what you, as a normal person, might say or do if you had a slightly different opinion.
https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-misinformation-walz-2024-election-cdf9f77a9975bc960b7311a3f08e52e1
3 – Trump’s Latest False Claims – Read if you dare.
I have a hard time with some of these, because I don’t know if they’re “false” or “lies” necessarily, as much as standard delusional political thinking. Like Trump’s statement that his crowd is bigger than Martin Luther King’s. Is that really a false statement? I mean, it’s ridiculously wrong, but I might say I ate fiddy pizzas last night. It’s not true in the strictest sense, but I don’t really expect you to count up the 30 i did eat and call me a liar.
That said, i do think the Jan 6 ones are pretty false.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-news-conference-fact-check-misinformation-eb899c1fc734f5ecb42b8d0902e5c004
WOMEN’S BOXING CONTROVERSY
Ok. This has been a topic of conversation at our house all week, for various reasons, and I’m going to try to just say a few things to think of here, as far as I know them.
1 – First of all, this whole thing is essentially Russia’s fault.
I’m not sure when people will start to realize how much Russia is behind false information and disunity in the world. I don’t know if it’s just because I lived near there for a while, but seriously people, this is Putin’s thing. He manipulates and spreads information that is not true. He’s good at it. He brags about it. So here’s an idea:
STOP LISTENING TO IT!!
So, back to boxing.
Imane Khelif is boxer. She was born and identified as a female her whole life. She is strong. She beat a Russian boxer. An organization, run by Russia, SAID they did a test proving she has XY chromosomes, but they won’t release the actual test. Russia is not at the Olympics. Russia spread information that Khelif is a man. Conservative people in the US lost their minds.
Do you see why this might not be the best issue to take your stand on transgender issues? I think people can have that discussion. This is not the person or time or story to do that.
Think about the identity thing for a moment. If your argument is, 20 years ago, a newborn decided to fake being a woman for their entire life, in order to win a boxing bout. At the olympics that they may not have even qualified for (she has lost fights, you know). I mean, that’s really committing to the bit if you buy that.
She’s not even the first athlete to have this question, not even the only one AT THIS OLYMPICS (there’s another taiwanese boxer here too). But, she’s the one Russia wants you to talk about, so here we are.
My friends, Putin and Russia want us to fight each other. He’s flat out said that. He’s said the Russian intelligence community uses social media to rile up Americans to divide them, using divisive American issues that come up. It’s what they do. And they’re good at it.
Perhaps save your rage for a different time. Or, you know, don’t have rage at all.
You can look here for some info on why this is not as simple as you might think:
https://apnews.com/article/sex-eligibility-tests-female-athletes-07572d23d409126a8e069cb0bced1706
BIDEN AND IMMIGRATION
Couple of stories here.
1 – Biden Adminstration plan to allow 100,000 Dreamers to apply the US Health System.
The headline kind of sums this one up, but I’ll just note that 15 states are suing to block this.
https://apnews.com/article/migrant-health-care-dreamers-states-lawsuit-b243450475670f13a3e86d6be3568804
2- Biden Administration blocks visas for thousands.
https://apnews.com/article/cnhv-cubans-haitians-nicaraguans-venezuelans-parole-border-8440fe7e468dc985fb8939ccaa1be8e8
Again, headline kind of covers it, but the idea here is that migrant processors from these countries are possibly committing fraud.
I think these stories together highlight the main point I would make. Immigration is complex. Biden does not want open borders. On one hand, he’s trying to help people who were brought here involuntarily, on the other he’s trying to block corruption. I think both of those are admirable.
Now, in my opinion, Biden (or his admin anyway) has not done enough to help migrants, and has not done enough to bolster our immigration system, which is the main problem. So it’s not like I’m on board with everything’s he’s doing.
But my point is that anything that reduces it to “Biden doesn’t care about immigrants” or “Biden wants open borders” is simply not true. It’s complicated, he’s had varied actions for varies situations, and the whole issue is not going to be solved with one news conference or one executive order, or even one vote. It will take time, back and forth, trying new things, and compromise.
Let’s try that.
UNITED KINGDOM RIOTS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_Kingdom_riots
I’m going to link to the wiki on this one, because there are so many news sites it’s hard to know which one to use. But I’ll suggest you use the BBC links if you want more direct information
For a short summary, a teenager stabbed multiple students at a dance studio, and several of them died. Very quickly, social media posts indicated he was a Muslim immigrant from the Middle East. Right-leaning (ok, right-wing) people in the UK started protesting (rioting, really) about the problem of violent immigrants, dangers of Islam, and so forth.
So far, hundreds of people have been arrested related to the riots.
And the thing is, none of that is true. He’s not Middle Eastern, He’s not an immigrant, and he’s not Muslim. All of that is stirred up by fake social media posts, and in a big shock, most of that has been traced to Russia intelligence operations.
I don’t know how many times I can say it – stop believing posts on social media that talk about terrible other people are. You are being used. Russia has an particular knack for engaging conservative social issues – they know that gets people riled up. If you see anything talking about how bad islam, or LGBTQ issues, or immigrants are, stop yourself. Imagine if you were sitting in a room with the person they’re talking about. How would you see them? How would you talk to them?
And maybe get off social media a little.
VOLATILE WEEK ON WALL STREET
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/futures-rise-dovish-fed-comments-after-jobs-data-2024-08-09
I was going to write something about the stock market falling earlier this, but yesterday it recovered everything (almost) that had been lost. So, no biggie.
Actually, I’m kidding. I’m not sure it’s a “biggie,” but probably not something to just shrug off. Volatility, even if it evens out, is still worth considering. If you want my opinion, and I’m no market guy, the Markets in general have seen more volatility since the onset of social media. Everybody wants to find the NEW secret stock, and rumors fly around about companies, and investors get wrong “feelings” from social media posts (for example, the constant barrage of how terrible the US economy is, even though it’s…like…not. )
Because we have so much information, including international markets, everybody thinks they’re an expert, and they frequently over react, and then settle down. (The “fear” index was up at 60+ this week for a while, and now it’s down to 20-ish).
Again, keep in mind that people make money when you’re nervous. People living quietly working with their hands (yes, that’s a bible reference people) is not what drives business. They need you discontent, scared, angry, and running around spending money.
Maybe don’t do that.
WAR IN GAZA POSSIBLY SPREADING
As always, this is a hard one to talk about, because it’s so complex.
The killing of the leader of Hamas and the military leader of Hezbollah (Lebanon) is leading to fears the fighting in Gaza is spreading to a wider conflict in the Middle East. Essentially, as Israel pushes harder on its neighbors, they push back, and Israel responds, and they push harder, and Israel responds, and it escalates. In this last attack on Iraq, US personnel were injured. There are still roughly 2500 US troops in Iraq, and the plan is to withdraw by September, with the US fully out by 2025.
But if the war in Gaza spreads farther (and it sure seems like it is to me), who knows what will happen.
As always, I would caution you against taking a “Well, that country over there has the same name as a word in my Bible, so I’m with them” kind of attitude. I’m not saying be against Israel, I’m saying it’s not the same thing as the thing in the Bible. There are good historical and strategic reasons for us to support Israel today. Probably even some humanitarian ones. But there aren’t Biblical ones, certainly not full throated blind support.
(And now Kev prepares himself for the internet assault of how I’m anti-semitic, or how I’m unchristian, or how I’m this or that. Sigh. I get it. Yet here I stand. )
WALMART/CVS MAY OFFER MIFEPRESTONE (ABORTION PILL)
Walmart, CVS, and other retailers may start offering the “abortion pill” in their pharmacies. This comes after a relaxing of the regulations on mifeprestone. People on both sides are weighing in, with pro-choice supporters saying that if these retailers DON’T carry it, they are attacking women, and pro-life supporters saying if the DO carry, they are supporting abortion.
My point here would be, again, the futility of the political approach of 2016/2020. The ease of access for abortifacients means we (even more) need to address the causes of abortion, not try heavy-handed approaches from the bench. Yes, I want abortion to be illegal. But i think that will happen when we focus on the causes, not legislation.
BIBLE READERS MORE LIKELY TO BEFRIEND STRANGERS
Research indicates that regular Bible readers (weekly) are more likely to befriend people of different races and religions. I know people talk about how close minded and judgmental Christians are, but I’ll just say what I always say – I agree that the LOUDEST Christians tend to be like that. But not all of them. Look for the quiet friendly people.
AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY CLOSING 60 MILLION DOLLAR MUSEUM
I’m somewhat sad about this, mostly because I wanted to work for these guys once upon a time. Like most organizations, changing technology has left them scrambling, and there are reports of pretty significant organizational chaos.
In the short term, the museum is closing because not enough people are going. In the longer term, the question is, should we have a museum of the Bible in the first place? Do we need it with all the digital technology? And most important of all, could we have saved some of that money and given it to Kevin for Biblical historical digitizing?
These are vital questions for the Church.
GOOGLE FOUND TO BE A MONOPOLY
In a possibly vital ruling, Google has been found guilty of anti-trust violations. Essentially, they have the best search engine, and they are using practices to make sure it stays that way. In particular, this suit is looking at how Google pays to be the default search engine on mobile devices, like iPhones. In this way, people “always” use Google, which means they can charge higher ad prices.
To be clear, people CAN go in and change their search engine settings to DuckDuckGo or something horrible like Bing. But the judge essentially ruled that people are too stupid to do that, so Google is a monopoly.
The interesting thing here is that while this is important, some people think it’s moot. There’s a sense that AI is overtaking google on the internet, so while this ruling is being appealed over the next decade, it may not matter.
We’ll see.
VIETNAMESE BUSINESS OWNER SENTED TO 21 YEARS IN PRISON
A prominent Vietnamese business tycoon was found guilty Monday of defrauding stockholders of nearly $150 million by falsely inflating the value of his company, in a case that comes as the government cracks down on widespread corruption in the country.
I find this story interesting because Vietnam is cracking down on businesses basically ripping people or companies off, and then just paying a fine, and going about business.
This is what happens in the US (coughTrumpcough). The guy in Taiwan was primarily guilty of falsely inflating his company’s worth, which is basically what Trump was found guilty of. People will try to get away with stuff, and even if they’re found guilty, they negotiate a settlement and move on.
What would happen if, when Trump was found guilty, he immediately went to jail for 20 years. Or (and I’m not advocating for this), another Vietnamese offender was executed. Might he (and others) think twice about telling banks that things are worth more than they are. Might double check that math.
Might be worth considering.
ANTARTICA 50 DEGREES WARMER
https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/03/climate/antarctica-heat-wave-sea-level-rise/index.html
So, this is a concern, climate-wise of course. But I have to share this for one reason: when they were looking for a place to compare to Antarctica, where did they look? That’s right, at good ole North Dakota.
That’s right, penguins. We gothcu.