The Pour Over Today - Monday, August 30, 2021

Episode Date: August 30, 2021

Ida makes landfall as Category 4, U.S. carries out two deadly drone strikes in Afghanistan, COVID updates, and other top news for August 30th. Stay informed, while remaining focused on Christ, with The Pour Over.

Happy Monday, it's August 30th, and you are listening to The Pour Over. We aim to keep Christians informed on what's happening in the world while staying focused on Christ. Here's the quote of the day. It was pride that changed angels into devils. It is humility that makes men as angels. St. Augustine. Let's get started with some espresso shots. On Saturday, Louisiana Governor Edwards warned that Ida could be one of the strongest storms to hit the state since the 1850s. Coincidentally, that was the same decade where the name Ida was very popular. Unfortunately, his prediction wasn't wrong. Ida made landfall as a powerful

Category 4 hurricane yesterday, on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which killed 1,833 people and caused $176 billion in damage. Meteorologists warned that Ida would be stronger than the 2005 storm, but said it should not be as deadly or destructive. Katrina's devastation was largely due to failures of human-made levees. Mass evacuations in Louisiana and Mississippi began on Friday while Ida tore through Cuba as a Category 1, which caused significant damage but led to no reported deaths. Natural disasters are devastating and create enormous need for volunteer labor and financial support. You can join in the recovery efforts by

showing up or supporting disaster relief organizations like the Salvation Army. The Apostle Paul says in Galatians 6-9, Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. The U.S. carried out two drone airstrikes in Afghanistan over the weekend. The Pentagon reported that the first airstrike killed two ISIS-K leaders, who were believed to have planned the deadly attack on the Kabul airport this past Thursday. They reported that there were no civilian casualties. The second airstrike destroyed a vehicle that was laden with explosives near the airport,

which had been identified as an imminent ISIS-K threat. The second attack killed at least nine civilians, including six children. Yesterday, the remains of the 13 service members killed in Kabul were returned to the United States in the solemn ritual of the dignified transfer. The president and first lady were both in attendance. The U.S. military remains on high alert for another possible attack as they rush to complete their withdrawal by tomorrow, which was President Biden's deadline. There may be good reasons to be worried or scared or even hopeless about this day, month, or year, but God does not promise good days. He promises a great eternity. Stay focused on eternity because it changes everything. Philippians 4 verses 6 and 7 says,

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. We hoped you jumped on the opportunity to gallivant across Europe while you could, because the European Union appears ready to re-close non-essential travel from the U.S. over concerns of Uncle Sam's persistent fourth wave. And no, visiting South France for wine, cheese, and Instagram pics is still not considered essential. This update comes as many European countries are showing surprisingly promising COVID numbers. Denmark is declaring outright victory, saying COVID-19 is no

longer a quote socially critical disease. The health minister announced that 80% of Danes 12 and older are fully vaccinated and all restrictions are expected to be lifted on September 10th. On this side of the pond, not everything is headed in the right direction, though. More than 100,000 Americans were hospitalized with COVID, which is the most since January. In other brews, we've got a rapid round of updates. The Supreme Court has found its gavel. Last week, the Robe 9 halted the White House's eviction moratorium and reinstated the Remain in Mexico policy that requires asylum seekers to wait outside the country while their claims are evaluated. The three liberal justices dissented in both cases. After a two-year-long lawsuit, Apple finally conceded and will now allow in-app purchases

to be redirected outside their ecosystem, where the tech giant takes 15-30% of every transaction. The settlement includes a payout of $100 million to impacted app developers, which is really just a small bite of Apple's $200 billion pile of cash. Federal Reserve Chairman Powell spoke on Friday and confirmed plans to start rolling back stimulus policies. These policies aided economic recovery, but also sent inflation soaring. At the same time, the White House raised its inflation forecast for the fourth quarter to a hefty 4.8%. For context, the target inflation is 2%. Sirhan Sirhan, who was convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 was granted parole on Friday. The 77-year-old

16th attempt at parole was bolstered when two of RFK's children said that they supported his release after seeing his level of remorse. Six of their siblings are outraged, though, and asked Governor Newsom to reverse the decision. Thank you so much for joining us today. We hope you have a great week, and we'll see you back here on Wednesday.