The Pour Over Today - Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Episode Date: February 8, 2023

Today, we’re talking about a deadly earthquake in Turkey and Syria, President Biden’s State of the Union Address, adventures in AI, and other top news for Wednesday, February 8th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over. Join us in partnering with World Concern Sponsored by Learning Humility

Today, we're talking about a deadly earthquake in Turkey and Syria, President Biden's State of the Union address, adventures in AI, and other top news for Wednesday, February 8th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over. Here's the quote of the day, fervent prayer keeps your true identity in focus. Priscilla Shirer. Let's get started with some espresso shots. Early Monday morning, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rippled through southeast Turkey into northern Syria, quickly followed by a 7.5 magnitude quake further north in Turkey, and over 100 not

insignificant aftershocks. The quakes killed at least 7,200 people across the two countries and leveled more than 5,500 buildings, including a multi-story apartment and a hospital in Turkey alone. The death toll continues to climb, but it's already one of the deadliest earthquakes in decades. A few things that made this series of quakes uniquely bad. It was caused by a strike-slip fault line, poor infrastructure,

and a crowded region impacted by Syria's 12-year civil war and subsequent refugee crisis. Rescue workers are pouring in, but recovery efforts are being complicated by horrible weather, and some of the worst damage is in difficult-to-reach, rubble-controlled regions in Syria.

We're asking the Pour Over community to join us in partnering with World Concern, which has boots on the ground helping during this crisis. We're matching the first $1,000. Discover how you can help through the link in the show notes. James chapter 2, verses 15 through 16 say, if a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, go in peace, stay warm, and be well-fed, but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is it? Last night, President Biden reflected on 2022 and laid out his agenda for 2023 in the State

of the Union Address. What was on the menu? For one, inflation. It's high, but on the decline. Strong job market on the side. Two, federal debt limit. Three, tensions with China, heightened by recent balloon sightings. And the war on Ukraine. $50 billion in U.S. aid. Another $2.1 billion weapons package on order. When Biden spoke on actions to fight the opioid epidemic, mental health, and cancer, everyone clapped. When he proposed a minimum tax on billionaires and addressed gun violence and police brutality, the clapping was more partisan. Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivered the Republican rebuttal, arguing that Democrats are out of touch with American values and needs. Here's a verse to consider when you find yourself preoccupied with the future.

Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians, chapter 4, verse 6. Don't know something? Bard it. On Monday, Google announced all employees will be testing out Bard this week, a new natural language chatbot croned from Google's Lambda artificial intelligence. Remember, that's the AI a Google engineer claimed had become sentient last summer.

While Google CEO Sundar Pichai didn't mention OpenAI's chatbot GPT during the announcement, Bard is a clear response to the other chatbot's splashy debut. ChatGPT is the fastest-growing app ever, reaching 100 million users in just two months. Microsoft, a major backer of OpenAI, held a large event yesterday announcing how it's integrating ChatGPT into its products, including Bing. Microsoft is pitching the once-ridiculed search engine as a research assistant, personal planner, and creative partner at your side, as well as a place to get your questions answered. Here's a verse to consider when intimidated by the opportunities and threats of ever-changing technology. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 8. This episode is sponsored by the book Learning Humility.

We live in a culture obsessed with the self. If you need examples, just spend 30 seconds scrolling through social media and you'll find rampant narcissism, egomania, and pride. Jesus was nothing like this. Instead, he was the embodiment of humility and servant leadership. In Learning Humility, author Richard Foster takes readers on a journey to rediscover humility in a world that has a shortage of it. In order to be spiritually transformed and grow in our Christ-likeness, we need a healthy dose of humility.

Grab a copy of Learning Humility and be challenged to think of yourself less. Check out the link in the show notes. In other brews, here's a rapid round of updates. Nearly 5,000 Ohioans were urged to evacuate their homes on Monday after a train transporting vinyl chloride, a man-made chemical used to make PVC, derailed. To prevent an explosion, officials slowly released and burned off the vinyl chloride, but that filled the air with toxic chemical. No injuries have been reported. In a major shakeup, Ukraine is replacing its defense minister. The new guy, Kirill Badanov, most recently served as the head of Ukraine's military intelligence agency, and he'll take charge of a department facing corruption allegations.

The swap comes ahead of new offensives expected from Russia and the infamous first anniversary of the war on February 24th. Turns out, it's not the first time Chinese spy balloons have popped up in U.S. airspace. time Chinese spy balloons have popped up in U.S. airspace. On Monday, U.S. officials said similar balloons floated by at least three times during Trump's administration and one other time in Biden's. This time, better surveillance reportedly signaled their presence and origin in time to shoot it down. Wondering what to do with that spare $7 million? You won't be able to buy a 30-second Super Bowl ad. Fox announced that all of its slots are sold out. Additionally, Anheuser-Busch is no longer the exclusive alcohol sponsor, so you can expect lots of new booze ads to fill the void left by crypto companies.

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 hope you have a great day. We'll see you on Friday.