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─────── January 31, 2025 ───────
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Justice and truth are the common ties of society.”
John Locke
ESPRESSO SHOTS
U.S. NEWS
Crash Over the Potomac
The U.S.’s deadliest air crash in nearly 24 years left no survivors.
Just before 9 p.m. Wednesday outside of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, an American Airlines flight and a U.S. Army helicopter collided midair, plunging both aircraft into the icy Potomac River. Officials say the plane was carrying 64 passengers and crew from Kansas—including U.S. and Russian skaters leaving the U.S. Figure Skating Championships—and the Black Hawk helicopter was carrying three soldiers on a training flight.
The cause remains unknown. Officials say a last-minute runway change forced the plane to adjust course, but flight conditions were clear, and both aircraft were in a “standard pattern.”
In a press conference yesterday, President Trump promised thorough investigations while suggesting DEI policies may be to blame.
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CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
Join us in prayer for crash victims and their families, that the “God of all comfort” would move in power in this time of incredible tragedy (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
“Grant, O Lord, to all who are bereaved the spirit of faith and courage, that they may have strength to meet the days to come with steadfastness and patience; not sorrowing as those without hope, but in thankful remembrance of your great goodness, and in the joyful expectation of eternal life with all who love you.”
Book of Common Prayer, page 264
POLITICS
Week Two (Continued)
The Trump Administration is keeping up its breakneck pace.
Tuesday night, the Office of Personnel Management offered 2 million federal employees a chance to resign by February 6 and be paid through September, avoiding new in-office work requirements and government downsizing efforts. The buyout faces hurdles, with lawyers questioning if it violates federal spending laws and unions advising skepticism.
Then Wednesday, the Office of Management and Budget rescinded Monday’s controversial memo pausing spending on federal loans and grants. The Trump admin says the reversal “effectively end[s] the court case,” but won’t stop the President’s spending audits; critics called it “more confusion and chaos.”
Meanwhile, President Trump Sharpied the Laken Riley Act into law this week. At the signing, he announced plans to send 30,000 of the “worst criminal aliens” to a detention center in Guantanamo Bay.
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CHOOSE HUMILITY
Amid contentious political climates, it’s easy to cast ourselves in the right and see the shortcomings of others. When we find ourselves grumbling, we must remember to check our own hearts.
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
Matthew 7:3-5 (CSB) (read full passage)
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POLITICS
Hearings on the Hill
Seats are still hot in the Senate.
In confirmation hearings this week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.––President Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) nominee––faced intense questioning from Democrats on past vaccine comments, shifting abortion views, and financial conflicts of interest. He stated that he is not “anti-vax” (but advocated for safer vaccines) and promised to take on chronic disease and ultra-processed foods.
RFK Jr. is expected to face a razor-thin full Senate vote next week.
Meanwhile, Trump’s picks for FBI (Kash Patel) and Director of National Intelligence (Tulsi Gabbard) also had fiery hearings yesterday. Patel stated he didn’t support President Trump’s commutation of January 6 rioters, while Gabbard was questioned on her past support of intelligence leaker Edward Snowden and her qualifications to oversee the nation’s spy agencies.
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Verse to consider whether you’re being grilled or doing the grilling… “When arrogance comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.”
Proverbs 11:2 (CSB) (read full passage)
IN OTHER BREWS…
Former Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison Wednesday. Menendez resigned from office last year after being convicted of acting as a foreign agent and accepting bribes (gold, cash, a Mercedes Benz) in exchange for favors for Egypt and New Jersey businessmen. The Senator of 18 years maintains his innocence and plans to appeal the verdict.
The Fed is pressing pause on interest rate cuts after three straight reductions. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said rates will stay at 4.25%-4.5% until inflation takes a chill pill or the job market weakens. Regarding President Trump’s demand last week to cut rates immediately, Powell stated the Fed is just “keeping our heads down and doing our work.”
A stampede in Northern India killed 39 people and injured 60 more Wednesday as hundreds of millions of Hindus gathered for the six-week Maha Kumbh Mela festival (considered the largest gathering of humanity in the world). Crowd crush occurred as devotees gathered to take a ceremonial dip in a nearby river despite extensive measures to control the multi-million-person crowd.
Hamas released three Israeli and five Thai hostages yesterday, including two women, an 80-year-old farmer, and foreign nationals who’d been working in agriculture on October 7. Crowds of yelling Palestinians created chaos at the hostage handover, prompting Israel to delay the exchange of 110 Palestinian prisoners; the release resumed after Hamas guaranteed future hostages’ safe passage.
Looks like DeepSeek’s been reading off ChatGPT’s screen. OpenAI, the San Francisco-based creator of ChatGPT, accused the Chinese AI firm of training its (significantly) cheaper model using “distillation”––a cost-cutting technique where developers use data generated by more advanced systems to teach its own model. “Distilling” ChatGPT is allowed… unless you’re using it to build a competitor. Investigations are ongoing.
(Apologies, we got parts of Wednesday’s story on DeepSeek wrong. See the corrections and additional context in our running corrections doc!)
WHIPPED CREAM ON TOP
The mystery of the disappearing painting…
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