← The World and Everything In It
The World and Everything In It
6.25.26 Recent Supreme Court decisions, AI data centers, forever chemicals, and UFOs
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Our June giving drive is almost over. But the need for trustworthy journalism grounded in facts and biblical truth is in many ways just getting started.
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So if world means something to you, would you attach a dollar figure to that and make a gift of support that fits your budget? We're grateful for gifts of any amount. Please visit wng.org donate.
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Good morning. The Supreme Court keeps the family's property rights case alive. The punk family lives to fight another day.
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Also today, when a town says no to an AI project, who gets the last word? And a new approach to forever chemicals later trying to fit aliens into the creation story.
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It's basically a fresh coat of paint on an old deception that's been going on for thousands of years to lure people away from their creator.
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And world commentator Daniel Darling on the lessons of communist revolution.
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It's Thursday, June 25th. This is the world and everything in it from listener supported World Radio. I'm Mary Reichert.
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And I'm Myrna Brown. Good morning.
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Here's Kent Covington now with the news.
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The head of the UN's nuclear agency says he believes his inspectors will be back in Iran very soon to verify that Tehran is living up to the terms of a new peace deal with the US Rafael Grossi said Wednesday whether this happens the day after tomorrow or in one week or in 10 days, it's important but not essential. This is going to happen if they want to comply with the agreement. His remarks came after an Iranian diplomat insisted that any such inspections would only happen after a final deal and talks are still ongoing. US And Israeli military strikes have set Iran's nuclear program back significantly, but Tehran may still have enough near weapons grade uranium for up to 10 bombs. And the deal calls for that stockpile to be watered down. President Trump said Wednesday that it's all on track. Iran is making very big concessions. We'll see what happens. But it's been very, very, very powerful. It's going very, very well. But Democrats are not buying the president's assurances and they're demanding an updated classified briefing. Technical talks are set to resume early next week in Switzerland with 53 days remaining to turn the truce into a final deal. Meantime, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is touring the Persian Gulf this week on a mission to reassure allies. Nervous about the new Iran deal, he met yesterday with Kuwait, Samir and the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, all nations that Iran hit with missiles and drones during the war. From Kuwait, Rubio said Washington will stay, quote, completely aligned with our partners in the Gulf. We want them to know and we want to reiterate and begin to talk to them and engage them on conversations about every decision that's made with regards to this negotiation. We're not going to do anything that undermines the security of our allies, our long standing allies in the region. Today, Rubio sits down in Bahrain with the Gulf Cooperation Council, a group of six Arab states who are largely still wary of the terms of the Iran deal and the fight over the Strait of Hormuz. In Washington, U.S. service members kicked off celebrations for America's 250th birthday on stage and in the sky. World's Harrison Waters reports now from Washington.
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Military bands played American classics while tens of thousands gathered on the National Mall for the kickoff to the Great American State Fair. Jeanine Coyle came from Ohio to celebrate 250 years.
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We're a country that shouldn't have lasted
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five or six years, really.
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Speeches by Cabinet members, podcasters and religious leaders were punctuated by Air force flyovers, including F35s and a B2 bomber. Headlining the event, President Trump connected his administration's record to 250 years of American exceptionalism.
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I am thrilled to declare that America is back.
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The president went on to promise an end to the Iran war and return to normal gas prices, while touting efforts to curb illegal immigration and beautify Washington, D.C. the State Fair, organized by the President's Freedom 250 Task Force, will run for 16 days with exhibits from most U.S. states and territories, along with a rodeo. The main event is scheduled for July 4th with an attempt at breaking records for America's largest fireworks show. Reporting for World I'm Harrison Waters in Washington.
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Hours earlier on Capitol Hill, President Trump's lunch with Senate Republicans reportedly turned into a shouting match over Iran. Trump questioned why four Republicans sided with Democrats this week to pass a symbolic resolution to rein in Trump's war powers. And it got personal with Louisiana's Bill Cassidy, who stood up and demanded the White House tell Congress what's really happening in the war. The Associated Press reports that Trump called him a lunatic before colleagues told Cassidy to sit down. There is no love lost between the two. The senator's reelection campaign recently ended when he was defeated by a Trump backed primary challenger. After the lunch, though, Trump called it a great meeting. Mostly we like our leader.
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We like everybody really in the room.
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I don't like a few people, but that's okay. But the trip to the Capitol was really about something else. Trump pressing senators to pass his Save America Act, a bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote. Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville. He brought up all the situations to where we can get the Save America act passed. And Save America act is the number one thing that people want. They want fair elections. Trump wants Senate Republicans to change the rules and scrap the filibuster to force a vote through. But Majority Leader John Thune says the votes just aren't there to do that. And Trump is playing hardball. He abruptly called off the signing of a bipartisan housing bill, vowing not to sign it until the SAVE act passes, even though that measure cleared Congress by veto proof margins. Meanwhile, in East Asia, North Korea has commissioned a warship that state media says can fire nuclear ballistic missiles. World's Kristen Flavin has that story.
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State controlled media reports that North Korea's navy just unveiled a 5000 ton destroyer. Leader Kim Jong Un called the vessel a symbol of his country's growing naval and nuclear capabilities. Officials say the warship is equipped with anti aircraft and anti ship weapons as well as ballistic and cruise missiles. It's now tasked with defending the country's western coast. Kim Jong Un reportedly told the crowd that his government plans to deploy another 5,000 ton destroyer soon along with 10,000 ton strategic warships. For WORLD I'm Kristin Flavin.
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And I'm Kent Covington. Coming up, a town fights to keep a new data center out. Plus, a Christian author grapples with ideas about aliens. This is the world and everything in it.
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It's Thursday, the 25th of June. Thank you for listening to World Radio. Good morning. I'm Mary Reichert.
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And I'm Myrna Brown. First up on the world and everything in it. The Supreme Court handed down five opinions on Tuesday. Here's World Legal correspondent Ginny Ruff on three of them.
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Two decisions make it harder for a person to file a lawsuit for religious persecution. In Cisco Systems vs Doe, the plaintiffs practice a religion known as Falun Gong. They argued Cisco should be held responsible for developing surveillance technology that allowed the Chinese government to track, arrest and torture them in cruel and inhumane ways. In Landor vs. Louisiana, an inmate sued prison guards in their individual capacities for forcibly shaving his dreadlocks in violation of his faith. The federal statute at play gives strong religious protections to the institutionalized. But in both cases, the court said that the relevant statutes did not authorize the specific cause of action. The plaintiffs brought cause of action, meaning the legal basis that allows someone to sue for a remedy. In Cisco, the plaintiff sued under two statutes. One ruling was 6 to 3 and the other 8 to 1. Landor was 6 to 3.
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Religious people aren't getting helped a whole lot by this decision today, but in a way they are because the court
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because the cases are really about separation of powers among the three branches of government, legislative, executive and judicial. Lawyer William Wagner has worked in all three and explains if Congress wants to change the law and it's the branch that's tasked with doing so. The judiciary is not a policy making branch and therefore the court did not decide whether the conduct was wrong.
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This may be a three ring circus, but we are not in the ring with the donkeys. We're not in the ring with the elephants. You know, our job is to just decide cases and controversies that come before us with the law that the donkeys and the elephants give us.
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A third decision involved a U.S. business seeking money for assets confiscated under Fidel Castro's regime. The court held 6 to 3 that the federal statute at play waives Cuba's sovereign immunity.
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And the final two opinions from Tuesday clarifying property rights and immigration enforcement in Pung v. Isabella County, a decision that says when the government sells your home to pay off a tax debt, the auction must be conducted fairly.
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The Peng family lost their nearly $200,000 home over a $2,000 tax debt. The question was must the government pay what the market value is or just take what it gets at auction? The court rejected fair market value as the baseline, but also rejected that auction proceeds automatically equal just compensation.
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The Peng family lives to fight another
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day, meaning the case is sent back to lower court. Deborah Lefetre is senior attorney with Pacific Legal foundation that represent her advice to taxpayers going forward.
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So if you are in tax foreclosure, do what you can to pay the taxes. If the house is going to be sold, it's better to sell it yourself. And if the government is going to
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sell it, try to ensure that it's a fair process.
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And lastly, Blanche vs Lau, a 6, 3 decision says border Patrol agents have the right to temporarily parole or release a returning green card holder into the US if he or she has pending criminal charges in lieu of automatically admitting the person. Lau is a Chinese citizen and permanent US Resident. He left the country briefly and upon return, border agents found he had a pending federal charge. Instead of just letting him back in, they put him on parole so the government could hold a deportation hearing.
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Lau had argued officials needed clear and convincing evidence of a crime before treating him like a new applicant. The majority disagreed with that. Hans von Spakowski is senior legal fellow at Americans Advancing Freedom and noted the long lines for customs at airports.
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The agent doesn't have time or the ability to conduct some kind of extensive hearing on whether someone has actually been convicted. The fact that he's been charged with a crime is sufficient.
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The court is expected to release opinions today and next week as well.
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Coming up next on THE World and everything in it, a small Michigan town voted against building a data center, but got one anyway. These facilities store AI data and they're cropping up around the country at the same time. Many communities are objecting to their construction. They've raised concerns about high energy and water consumption, as well as noise and light pollution.
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But many say the fight is really about diverging visions of the future, one where humans work with their hands and minds and another where computers displace humanity. World's Lauren Smith visited a data center in rural Michigan and has our story.
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That hum is a hyperscale data center in Dowajack, Michigan, recorded from a nearby resident's front porch. The volume is about the level of a normal conversation and it runs 24. 7. In eastern Michigan, another community fears that sound will become its new normal.
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I've been hearing with these data centers that noise is a real problem.
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Mark Gola is sitting outside a coffee shop in Saline, a city of about 9,000.
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I mean, we don't want to fall behind, but I don't know if the way it was done was the right way to do it.
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In the background is traffic noise from construction trucks. Gola's friend Jim Peterson says their table used to be quieter.
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It's almost like a wartime building effort. This is very unusual.
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Many of those trucks are heading toward a 250 acre data center construction site for Oracle and OpenAI just down the road. It's called the Barn and it will create nearly 500 permanent jobs and more than 2,000 temporary jobs. The developers also promised millions of dollars to community projects. That didn't convince the Saline Township board, which initially voted not to allow construction on the barn. One of the concerns was high water usage, which could push up prices for locals by tightening supply.
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When these data centers are coming into communities, they might be the highest single user or the highest single diverter of water.
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Katie Wright is an economist who specializes in water distribution. Michigan has plenty of water, but Wright says that abundance has created vague laws about ownership.
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Data centers are kind of the first big thing that maybe is making the east think carefully about how they've defined their water rights.
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Unlike most data centers, the barn won't use evaporative water cooling. Instead, it will rely on circulating air and won't even connect to the municipal water supply. It should use no more water than a standard office building, though that could still be more than any other building in town. And limiting water usage isn't a silver bullet.
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The general trade off is you can either use more water or you can use more energy.
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A typical data center uses up about as much energy as a nuclear power plant produces. Joel Stewart works in nuclear plants and sees an opportunity for his industry to build new plants near data centers.
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That would be the positive outcome of an AI data center is the nuclear power plants. They're one of the longest lasting job creating factors for community.
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In the past decade, only one nuclear plant has been built in the US and they take longer to build than data centers, at least in the short term. Stewart says if a data center popped
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up near him, I would be worried
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about rising energy costs. Absolutely.
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The barn has promised to take on those costs and not pass them on to local residents. Instead, the developers say they'll fund their own energy use and contribute to strengthening the local power grid. But even if the water and power questions could be worked out, Stewart believes data centers still wouldn't be welcome in many communities.
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Michigan is a very aesthetically beautiful state and AI has this dystopian cyber future vision to it, to where it's like it's a direction that really scares a lot of us in the rural communities.
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In purely economic terms, the data center could be a boon. By rejecting the project, economist Katie Wright
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says they basically have said no to an industry that could have provided them additional security or lowered uncertainty for a recession in the future.
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Wright believes the easiest way to sort out who wants what is to clearly define who owns what and then let them trade if they're willing.
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If we want data centers to end up in locations where, you know, maybe local populations actually want them or local communities want them, then allowing people to buy or sell or hold their water actually helps those data centers end up in places where communities are comfortable with the trade off of that.
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When construction finishes next year, the barn will be one of the largest data centers in the United States. Other Michigan towns are taking Note. So far, 26 communities have blocked data center construction, and at least two more have bans under consideration. Reporting for World I'm Lauren Smith in Saline, Michigan.
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Additional support comes from Dort University, where the MSN Family Nurse Practitioner program prepares nurses for Christ Centered Family Focused Care. Dort. Edu from Harbinger Tours Supporting Israel through luxury tours With a November departure led by Marshall and jessica pennel, harbinger tours.net and from Ridge Haven camp and retreat centers in North Carolina and Iowa. Fall registration now open@ridgehaven.org
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up next, limiting so called forever Chemicals called PFAs or PFAs, they're found just about everywhere, from household items to food and water.
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Since the 1950s, PFAS has been used in manufacturing. They make products stain resistant or non stick, among other uses. And they get into the environment through waste. During the manufacturing process, factories often release PFAS into nearby lakes and rivers. Over the years, the federal government has taken more steps to monitor and regulate these chemicals. World's Emma Eicker has our report.
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In 2024, the Biden administration rolled out legal standards for PFAS in drinking water. It was the first time that the Environmental Protection Agency set a national limit. Then this May, the Trump administration re examined the regulations.
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What they've said is their reason is that the last administration didn't follow the proper procedure.
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That's Jean Zhuang, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. In the May 18 announcement, the EPA stated that the Biden era regulation may have cut corners with rushed research, resulting in regulations that were expensive to implement. Zuang says manufacturers have a vested interest in lowering these PFAS limits.
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Industry doesn't want these drinking water standards to be around. They're the ones that challenge these standards. And it's because the more that the public is paying attention to the harmful effects of these chemicals in their drinking water, the more pressure these industries are going to feel to do something about their own pollution.
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The EPA will distribute $1 billion to states for more research into the toxicity of the chemicals. With more grant money to come over the next five years, the agency says it expects near regulations to survive legal challenges and be implemented nationwide. David Legates is director of research and education at the Cornwall alliance for the Stewardship of Creation.
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PFAS are forever chemicals are chemicals that, as the name implies, never go away. And that's been one of the issues is what kind of impact do they have on humans.
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He says that balance is needed as research on the effects of the chemicals continues.
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The problem is we don't really know the risk.
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There may be a small threshold where forever chemicals don't negatively affect humans, but
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without more research, nobody really knows whether
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that threshold exists or where it might actually be.
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Still, existing data does show a negative effect on humans from large amounts of pfas, especially in clothing, food and water. For example, Teflon is a synthetic chemical that can withstand high heat and prevents materials from sticking to it for more than 90 years. It's been used in plumbing, manufacturing, textiles and cookware. But Teflon is highly toxic and because of its strong chemical bonds, it never breaks down in the environment.
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And so you're literally cooking with something that can get into the food system which you're then going to ingest, which gets into your body directly.
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The same potential for long term damage happens when chemicals get into drinking water. Here's Hwang again.
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They cause harm to our thyroid, liver, kidney. They can increase the risk of various cancers and cause significant harm to, you know, fetuses and to young children as well.
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In April, the clothing brand Lululemon came under investigation for potentially having forever chemicals in their activewear. From cbs.
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In a statement, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said his office is reviewing whether the company misled customers about the health
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impacts of its products, saying, quote, emerging
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research and consumer concerns has raised questions
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about the potential presence of PFAs in their clothing.
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Lululemon responded, claiming they phased out PFAS three years ago. The investigation comes as people are becoming more aware of toxic chemicals in clothing. Experts say that synthetic fibers easily leach into the skin, especially with sweaty exercise. One study found that the presence of polyester in underwear led to decreased fertility in men. Though the study was small and has not been repeated, Legate suggests more research is needed to find the limit for when PFAS can exist without issues in the environment and then meaningful guidelines can be followed.
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Is there a threshold at which you could tolerate them? Do you actually start to build an immunity to them so they would have no impact whatsoever on you? That's the question that nobody's done the research on.
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For now, the EPA will accept public comments on limiting PFAS in drinking water until July 20, and they have suggested that later regulations could be more stringent than Biden era limits, depending on available research. Reporting for World I'm Emma Eicher,
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A software tester from Canada, is now the world champion of an unusual sport. Not hockey, not curling. No. For Michael Mena, it's pogo sticking. At this year's Pogo Palooza competition near Pittsburgh, he won both the big air and best trick championship. The prize money? Not impressive at all. Zip, zero, nada. Organizers say the total purse for the entire event was exactly that much nothing. But it hasn't stopped competitors from spending years chasing ever more difficult tricks. Many pro pogoers hold regular jobs and they have to because of the aforementioned lack of prizes that you can take to the bank. So if they ever start to rely on on the sport for income, what they'd be bouncing are checks. Instead, they bounce for joy. The pogo is the payoff. It's the world and everything in it. Today is Thursday, June 25th. Thank you for turning to world Radio to help start your day.
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Good morning.
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I'm Mary Reichardt.
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And I'm Myrna Brown. Coming next on the World and Everything in it, fitting space aliens into a Christian worldview. Over the last two months, the Pentagon has released hundreds of documents and recordings of unidentified anomalous objects. That's the government's new, more inclusive name for unidentified flying objects, or UFOs. The files contain reports of orbs moving erratically, flying discs, and large fireballs.
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Experts are split on whether the videos show proof of space aliens. But as these accounts find a place in pop culture and government, one author says Christians should know what they think about it. World's Mary muncie reports.
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In 1962, astronaut Scott Carpenter saw white particles below his spacecraft.
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They appear to be traveling exactly my speed. There is one drifting off. Uh, it's going faster than I am. As a matter of fact.
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That same year, spacecraft pilot Walter Schirra Jr. Also described little white particles near his craft.
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The white object actually looked like it came toward me, but it wasn't.
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Those audio recordings from NASA are part of the files that the Pentagon released over the past few months. NASA later dismissed those reports by saying the particles were coming from the spacecraft itself. But there are a lot of reports without explanation, like old military footage showing orbs making odd movements and modern videos of orange lights in the sky. It can ignite questions about the true nature of the spiritual realm. Derek Warfel is a movie producer with a background in theology. He's the author of UFOs and God in the 1980s.
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I kind of thought most people like this is just kind of a nice science fiction myth. But I just began seeing too many encounters by credible people. And I just, as a Christian, I didn't have a category for that in my philosophy.
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He really started digging into it after watching the History Channel show Ancient Aliens. The first episode aired in 2009.
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Amidst a wave of modern UFO sightings, a new theory emerged that aliens visited
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Earth in antiquity and were regarded as gods.
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Now it's on season 22.
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I disagree with the conclusions that History Channel Ancient Aliens comes up with. But they present an awful lot of evidence from credible people who that there are encounters with these crafts and with these beings. And, you know, what do you do at that point? Do you just write it all off and stick your head in the sand like an ostrich or do you basically say there's gotta be some explanation for this?
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He's not alone. In 2021, a Pew Research poll found that 65% of Americans think intelligent life exists on other planets. Wurfel thinks that Scripture would have mentioned them in the creation account if God made other non human intelligent beings. And the odds are stacked against intelligent life evolving on one planet, much less 2. Yet he believes that there is something unexplained going on. While people may lie about an encounter, Wurfel thinks that not everyone would or is incentivized to do so. People around the world report beings communicating telepathically or relating new secret knowledge about the universe or undergoing invasive tests.
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They even say that they're the ones who seeded life here in the first place. And as a Christian, they also deny all Christian doctrines and teachings.
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Wurfel says generally, those who encounter aliens end up with physical ailments or their lives are destroyed over time. He says that sounds a lot like some other beings that Christians do have a name for.
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There's a French writer called Baudelaire who said the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.
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Worfel believes that aliens are Satan's newest strategy in a materialist age. He thinks the only difference between space aliens and the Egyptian and Roman gods is the physical spacecraft. So the defense is the same.
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The Bible says, you know, if you're attacked by Satan, submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you because we're greater than he is. Let me give you an example of that. There's an example of a guy who'd been abducted several times. He was being raised off his bed, and in the middle of this thing, he knew what was coming next. And I guess out of his background, he said, jesus, save me. And at that very moment, he was thrown back on the bed. Now, why would that happen if they're just intergalactic visitors?
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Not every story is so cut and dry. But Wurfel believes the similarities between alien encounters and demonic oppression shouldn't be ignored. It's not clear what will come of the government's decision to release its files. So far, it seems to have raised more questions than answers for most people. But Warvel says these files reveal the spiritual battle that the scripture makes clear.
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The attack comes from the same source. There is a supernatural source that's trying to destroy us. Jesus says the thief comes to kill, steal and destroy. This is just one of many ways he does that.
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So regardless of what the Government does. Christians can have an answer ready.
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Reporting for world I'm Mary Muncie. Good morning. This is the world and everything in it. From listener supported World Radio. I'm Myrna Brown.
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And I'm Mary Reichard. History doesn't repeat itself exactly, but it often rhymes. And a political trend in news headlines this week is a reminder of an important anniversary. World commentator Daniel Darling says most Americans probably missed it, but should not have.
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This week brought another political milestone in some of America's deepest blue political strongholds. Candidates openly identifying as socialists defeated opponents who two years ago won election as progressives. That's worth pausing over. Not because these candidates are Mao Zedong. They're not. Not because they're proposing labor camps or cultural revolutions. But rather because words matter. And so does history. 60 years ago this spring, Mao launched China's Cultural Revolution. Millions suffered. Teachers were humiliated. Pastors were imprisoned. Churches were destroyed. Ancient traditions were attacked. Children were encouraged to denounce parents. Loyalty to family faith and history gave way to loyalty to the revolution. The Cultural Revolution was no accident. It flowed from an ideology that promised liberation but delivered repression. An ideology that promised a better future while destroying anyone who stood in the way. The remarkable thing is not that communism failed. The remarkable thing is how quickly many people forgot how badly it failed. A recent survey found something that would have astonished previous generations. More than a third of young Americans view communism favorably. For most of the 20th century, millions of refugees arrived in the west with stories to tell. Stories from Cuba, from Eastern Europe, from the former Soviet Union, from China. They had seen socialism and communism not as theories, but as realities. But those witnesses are disappearing. The Cold War is no longer a memory for many Americans. It's a chapter in a textbook. And when memory fades, old mistakes begin to look like new ideas. Of course, today's American socialists insist they are talking about democratic socialism, not communism. The problem is, history teaches that every socialist movement eventually confronts the same temptation. If government becomes the source of our provision, security, identity and meaning, it begins displacing institutions that once filled those roles. Family, church, community, tradition. Ronald Reagan understood this. He observed that Marx recognized religious belief as a threat to his system because it acknowledged an authority higher than the state.
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Marx's central insight when he was creating his political system was that religious belief would subvert his intentions. Under the communist system, the ruling party would claim for itself the attributes which religious faith ascribes to God alone. And the state would be final arbiter of truth, justice and morality.
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That's why communist governments never merely managed economies, they sought to reshape souls. And that's one lesson worth remembering. 60 years after Mao launched the Cultural Revolution, ideas have consequences. And some ideas have consequences measured in graves. As Americans watch socialism gain new political momentum, especially among the young, we ought to remember something history has already taught at enormous cost. The promises are always new. The results never are. For World, I'm Daniel Darling.
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Tomorrow, Katie McCoy is back for Culture Friday, and a summer superhero flick hits theaters this weekend. Colleen Darberino will be along with a review of Supergirl. That and more. Tomorrow. I'm Mary Reichard.
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And I'm Myrna Brown. The world and everything in it comes to you from World Radio. World's mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates and inspires. The Bible says, for I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and all the way up around to Illyricum, I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ. And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written, those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand. Verses 18 through 21 of Romans, chapter 15. Go now in grace and peace.