The Pour Over Today - Monday, November 15, 2021

Episode Date: November 15, 2021

Taylor Swift re-released more old songs, COP26 has wrapped up, a migrant crisis at the border of Belarus & Poland, and other top news for Monday, November 15th. Stay informed, while remaining focused on Christ, with The Pour Over. 

Taylor Swift re-released more old songs, COP26 has wrapped up, a migrant crisis at the border of Belarus and Poland, and other top news for Monday, November 15th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pullover. Thanks for joining us. Here's the quote of the day. We ought to see the face of God every morning before we see the face of man. Dwight L. Moody. Let's jump in with some espresso shots. We're thinking of reposting old podcast episodes because it's working really, really well for Taylor Swift. T-Swift released Red, Taylor's version, a re-recording of her 2012 album, and has since nabbed a couple new Spotify records and utterly dominated social media chatter.

The re-release included an uncut version of All Too Well, a song believed to be about actor Jake Gyllenhaal. Both the 10-minute-long song and Gyllenhaal have gone viral. She's re-recording because songs have two distinct categories of ownership. One, the composition, lyrics, sheet music, and other aspects of the musical work. And two, the master, the specific audio recording you hear on Spotify, radio, etc. While Swift owns her early music's composition, she doesn't own her original

masters. It's contentious. Rerecording her unowned masters allows her to control her work again. Many eternally insignificant things, like Taylor's new old music, sorry Swifties, can be compelling for a season. Stay focused on Christ and kingdom goals, and remember, compared to spending an eternity with God, most things don't matter. Colossians 3 verses 2 through 4 says, Set your minds on the things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ and God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. then you also will appear with him in glory.

There's a crisis brewing at the Poland and Belarus border, and your high school geography teacher is praying you know where that is. Western countries have long imposed sanctions on Belarus, a country aided by Russia, in a response to their reported human rights violations. Poland now believes that Belarus is retaliating by shuttling Middle Eastern migrants en masse to the border and giving them wire cutters and tear gas to help them illegally cross the border. In response, Poland has sent 15,000 troops to stop them. Whether or not the allegations are true, thousands of migrants are in freezing conditions in makeshift shelters with inadequate food and medicine.

President Biden said the situation is of, quote, great concern, unquote, and is responding with, you guessed it, more sanctions against Belarus. Jesus showed compassion when people expected rejection, gentleness when people expected anger, and love when people expected hate. Whether you're negotiating a migrant crisis or leaving a comment about it on social media, be imitators of Christ. Ephesians 5 verses 1 through 2 says, Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.

The COP26 International Climate Summit wrapped up this weekend after two weeks of speeches, protests, and late-night negotiations fueled by Red Bull. Drank through paper straws. Probably. Nearly 200 nations agreed to adopt the Glasgow Climate Pact, which includes a moved-up deadline to cut greenhouse emissions, a call to action to cool off coal reliance, a plea for developed countries to double their financial support of developing countries' climate needs, rules for carbon markets, and side deals. Reactions spanned the spectrum.

U.S. Climate Envoy Kerry said, quote, it's a good deal for the world, unquote, while climate activist Greta Thornburg gave a rhetorically robust thumbs down, calling it, quote, blah, blah, blah, unquote. U.K. Prime Minister Johnson sees both sides, saying, quote, his delight at this progress is tinged with disappointment. quote, his delight at this progress is tinged with disappointment. In other brews, here's a rapid round of updates. Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Trump, was indicted on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress for defying subpoenas related to the January 6th investigation.

Prosecution of such charges is rare and lengthy, and this case specifically will likely involve precedent-setting decisions on the scope of executive privilege. A federal appeals court reaffirmed a decision to block President Biden's vaccination mandate for private U.S. companies with over 100 employees, saying the mandate, quote, grossly exceeds OSHA's statutory authority. The dispute is expected to ultimately land in the Supreme Court. The Great Resignation is actually speeding up. The Bureau of Labor Statistics made headlines with data showing 2.9% of the American workforce quit in August. That number rose to 3%, or 4.4 million people in

September. The massive turnover is concentrated primarily in hourly frontline workers. An Alabama boy, who weighed less than a pound at birth, is already a Guinness World Record holder. His mother delivered him at only 21 weeks and one day of gestation, and he has now been certified as the world's most premature baby to survive. Hashtag freed Britney. A Los Angeles judge officially ended the conservatorship that gave Britney Spears' father massive control of his pop star daughter's life and finances for nearly 14 years. Her fans traveled from around the world to celebrate the decision outside of the courthouse. And that is all we have for today.

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Otherwise, we will see you on Wednesday. Have a good one.