The Pour Over Today - Hamas Hostage Negotiations, OpenAI Outser, & More | 11.20.23

Episode Date: November 20, 2023

Today, we’re talking about hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas, advertisers leaving X over Elon Musk’s recent posts, OpenAI firing its CEO, and other top news for Monday, November 20th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over Today. Sponsored by Beyond the Crucible

Today we're talking about hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas, advertisers leaving X over Elon Musk's recent posts, OpenAI firing its CEO, and other top news for Monday, November 20th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pullover today. Here's the quote of the day. A man who governs his passions is master of his world. We must either command them or be enslaved by them.

It is better to be a hammer than an anvil. Saint Dominic. Let's get started with some espresso shots. A deal between Israel and Hamas to release hostages is reportedly close. Exact details aren't known, but various sources have said that more than dozens of hostages could be released in the coming days in exchange for a five-day pause in fighting. In the meantime, the fighting and devastation continues. A UN team led by the WHO toured Gaza's al-Shifa hospital and declared it a death zone, saying a lack of essential supplies

such as water, fuel, and medicine had caused the hospital to essentially stop functioning. The WHO didn't address claims that the hospital was being used as a military center and called for a ceasefire to address the humanitarian catastrophe. Back home, hundreds marched in pro-Palestinian rallies in cities like D.C. and N.Y.C, where they stormed the headquarters of Fox News. As the humanitarian crisis worsens and the stakes get even higher, demonstrate your faith in our ultimate king by praying for world leaders. Pray for wisdom, justice, and peace to rule in the Middle East. 1 Timothy chapter 2 verses 1 through 3 say,

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior. A number of major corporations have paused ad spending on X, formerly Twitter, after some recent X changes involving Elon Musk. The backlash began when Musk replied, quote, you have said the actual truth, unquote, to a post accusing Jewish communities of dialectical hatred against whites. Musk then narrowed his focus on the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish-led non-profit, for promoting anti-white and anti-Asian racism.

In response, companies including Apple, Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery suspended their X ad campaigns, and the White House condemned Musk for repeating a hideous lie. TikTok is also doing some X-ing out. The platform removed the hashtag Letter to America from its search function after Osama bin Laden's letter justifying the 9-11 attacks went viral, with many praising it as an alternative perspective. went viral, with many praising it as an alternative perspective. In this politically divisive time, it can be disorienting to keep track of who's on which side.

Instead of following parties or people, remember that we look to Christ, who aggressively promoted love over hate, even when it defied the views of his day. Matthew 22 verse 39 says, The second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself. ChatGPT lost its CEO. In a move that seemed to surprise many, the board of OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, ousted its well-known co-founder Sam Altman as CEO. Another co-founder, Greg Brockman, was stripped of a leadership position and quit hours later. The catch? It's not clear why the two were booted. In a statement, OpenAI's board said Altman was

not consistently candid in his communications, but later confirmed that his firing was not made in response to malfeasance or anything related to financial, business, safety, or security-slash-privacy practices. Ousting a CEO who is delivering strong results and not being accused of a moral failure is virtually unheard of. And stakeholders seem to be siding strongly with the ousted, not the ousters, with major backers, including Microsoft and Sequoia Capital, reportedly pushing for Altman to be reinstated. The world has different priorities than God does, and many eternally insignificant things are compelling for a season. As Christ followers, we can show the world how to follow

intriguing business news without letting it consume our attention. Helen H. Lemel in 1918 said, Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. Today's episode is sponsored by Beyond the Crucible. Unless you've recently resettled here from Mars, you know what it's like to live in a fallen world. We all face daily setbacks, losses, and heartbreak, but our hardest moments can actually lead to powerful transformations. Want to know more? Check out the Beyond the Crucible podcast, hosted by Warwick Fairfax, who at 26 years old launched a $2.25 billion takeover bid for his family's 150-year-old

media business and lost it all. Just like a crucible melts down metal so it can be transformed, our crucible moments can push us from brokenness to breakthrough. The Beyond the Crucible podcast features guests who've endured life-altering traumas and tragedies and bounced back to lead purposeful, significant lives. Subscribe to Beyond the Crucible wherever you get your podcasts. In other brews, here's a rapid round of updates.

Former First Lady Rosalind Carter, a celebrated humanitarian, died peacefully at home yesterday at 96, six months after being diagnosed with dementia. Rosalind spent 77 years married to Jimmy Carter, the U.S.'s 39th president, who entered hospice care in February. Mrs. Carter helped transform the role of first lady into a full-time job and championed many causes, including improving mental health care. Argentinians voted in a nail-biter of a presidential election yesterday as the country faces 142% annual inflation. Its two candidates couldn't have been more different. Sergio Massa, a liberal career politician currently serving as the country's economic minister, lost out to Javier Millet, a libertarian TV pundit who promised radical change, including ditching the peso altogether. change, including ditching the peso altogether. Speaker Johnson is making good on his promise to publicly release Capitol Hill security footage from the January 6th riots just in time to spice

up Thanksgiving dinner conversation. The first 90 hours were released Friday, and the remaining 44,000 hours are expected over the coming months. Supporters herald the transparency, while critics call it dangerous and irresponsible. Following triumphant U.S.-Mexico shows, Taylor Swift's Eros Tour has encountered problems south of the equator. After postponing a show in Argentina last weekend due to excessive rain, she postponed Saturday's show in Rio de Janeiro due to extreme heat. At Friday's show, about 1,000 fans were said to have fainted in the heat, including a 23-year-old fan who later died.

SpaceX launched another very expensive firework on Saturday in its second test of the Starship spacecraft. The rocket developed to one day carry astronauts to the moon and Mars. Starship was meant to fly on a 90-minute mission to space, but experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly. Still, Saturday was considered an improvement over the first tests in April. And that's all we have for today. Thanks so much for listening. If you're listening on the Apple Podcasts app, give us a five-star rating and drop a review. If you're listening on Spotify, give us a follow and hit the notification bell to never miss a new episode. We appreciate your support and we hope you have a great day. We'll see you on Wednesday.