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🇺🇸 Broadcasting from the Bahamas

🇺🇸 Broadcasting from the Bahamas

Plus, why are skywriting messages all over LA lately?

December 05, 2022

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Good morning, and happy Monday! This holiday season, here’s how to teach our children to be kind…

Plus, why are skywriting messages all over LA lately? We have answers...

Also, The Pour Over’s readers are faithful to its politically-neutral news coverage — see what you think…

FLAG POLLS

🐎 Georgia Senate Runoff Election: Warnock 52, Walker 48 (CNN)

🐎 Georgia Senate Runoff Election: Warnock 50, Walker 47 (WXIA-TV/SurveyUSA)

📉 President Biden Job Approval: Approve 44, Disapprove 55 (Rasmussen Reports)

🐎 Georgia: Trump vs. Biden: Biden 44, Trump 43 (The Hill/Emerson)

POWERED BY THE POUR OVER

Have These Christian Millennials Fixed the News?

It’s called The Pour Over, and it has two goals: 1) Keep its readers informed about world events. 2) Keep its readers focused on Christ. That means providing politically neutral coverage of events and pairing it with brief reminders from the Bible.

The question is… are they hitting the mark? See what you think. Subscribe in just one click. No seriously, one click.

QUICK CLICKS

Twitter Files Released, Crypto's Crater, Idaho Update

US: 'The Twitter files' shows company's internal debate on how to handle Hunter Biden laptop story (MarketWatch)

US: Crypto Stocks Teeter Near Abyss as Fink’s Warning Adds to Angst (Bloomberg)

World: Apple looking to move iPhone production out of China in wake of violent worker protests: report (Fox Business)

US: Parents of murdered Idaho student say two victims' 'means of death don't match' (NY Post)

US: NC power outages investigated as 'criminal occurrence' after substation damaged by gunfire; Sunday evening curfew in place (NBC News)

World: Iran to disband morality police amid ongoing protests, says attorney general (BBC)

World: Residents are evacuating as Mount Semeru, Indonesia's highest volcano, has erupted (NPR)

CRYPTOCURRENCY

Broadcasting from the Bahamas

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has given a series of interviews recently in which he attempted to explain the downfall of his cryptocurrency exchange. At the start of last month, FTX was the world’s second-largest such exchange, and the man known as SBF was worth billions. Now seemingly broke, many want Bankman-Fried to potentially face criminal prosecution.

Reporting from the Right: ‘Why Are You Not In Jail?’: FTX Investor Holds Nothing Back In Fox News Interview (Daily Wire)

Reporting from the Left: In defensive interview, Sam Bankman-Fried claims he's broke and committed no fraud (CNBC)

From The Flag: FTX was operated from a luxury penthouse in the Bahamas, which may have contributed to less-than-sufficient regulatory oversight. Bankman-Fried has also remained outside the US following his companies' collapse. Here’s more from both sides concerning this ongoing story.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

After FTX Fiasco, DeFi Is the Future, and the US Should Embrace It

While the term “decentralized” finance is often associated with crypto, FTX was actually centralized, heightening its risk.
The US should look to become a world leader in stablecoins, as the modern, digital world is moving on from the US dollar.
Despite living within the “cancel culture” era, SBF remains well protected in the public sphere, because he donated to Democrats.

“Centralization Caused the FTX Fiasco” Vivek Ramaswamy and Mark Lurie, Wall Street Journal Opinion: “Sam Bankman-Fried was among the most prominent public advocates of responsible cryptocurrency regulation. The collapse of FTX, his $40 billion exchange, has amplified calls for more regulation. These demands are misplaced if they fail to distinguish between centralized and decentralized exchanges—a critical distinction that Mr. Bankman-Fried conveniently elided in his lobbying efforts. … Popular vernacular associates cryptocurrency with ‘decentralized finance,’ or DeFi. … But if FTX were a decentralized exchange, Mr. Bankman-Fried would have been unable to drain its accounts of customer funds. To be sure, DeFi isn’t risk-free—code is subject to attack. … But DeFi code grows stronger every day, owing partly to these battle scars. … This year, centralized crypto intermediaries have lost more customer money than decentralized protocols have. Users are starting to vote with their feet: Decentralized exchanges have processed almost $1 trillion this year, roughly 20% of all cryptocurrency trading volume.”

“This crypto pioneer wants tough US laws to prevent another FTX and stabilize digital markets” Jeremy Allaire, MarketWatch Opinion: “President Joe Biden issued an urgent call to Congress more than a year ago to establish a national regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. Payment stablecoins are the medium of exchange in the digital asset economy and are increasingly used within the traditional financial system because of their propensity to make it faster, cheaper and more convenient to send, spend, save and store money. … some of the world’s largest economic zones are moving forward with comprehensive legislation designed to displace the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency. China, for example, has launched its own government-run alternative payment system that would raise troubling privacy concerns in an open society like ours. The US should allow its more dynamic private sector and open internet models to counter these competing powers and ensure the world does business in digital dollars rather than digital yuans.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: Media treats fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried with kid gloves because he was a Dem darling Douglas Murray, New York Post Opinion

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

SBF Is Spilling To All Who Will Listen, What Will We Learn?

Last week’s interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times was a stunning near-admission of guilt from SBF, who appears to be a conman.
In an unearthed interview, SBF said reading books is a waste of time, which speaks to his flawed philosophy.
The collapse of FTX highlights crypto’s shady and scammy role in the world of offshore finance.

“The Confession of Sam Bankman-Fried” Jack Shafer, POLITICO Opinion: “Will somebody please dispatch an Uber yacht to the Bahamas, where Bankman-Fried resides, throw a net over him and give him his day in court? … Viewed in retrospect, Bankman-Fried’s entire life is a piece of bad fiction, authored by him, in which he charms the grown-ups around him. Up until now, the world has bought Bankman-Fried’s child-genius one-act completely. The baggy T-shirts and shorts. The claims of being a missionary for the now-less-buzzy philosophy of ‘effective altruism.’ … So why shouldn’t he just continue playing the role, just because it’s become unbelievable over the past month? More than one kid has beaten the raiding-the-cookie-jar rap by saying they wanted to get to the bottom of the caper, even though they’re covered in chocolate chip crumbs. … ‘I’ve had a bad month,’ Bankman-Fried said, a sympathy-seeking aside… It was probably the most honest and direct thing he said.”

“Sam Bankman-Fried doesn’t read. That tells us everything.” Molly Roberts, Washington Post Opinion: “SBF is a believer in effective altruism. … (and) had devoted his life toward ‘earning to give.’ … You pick a career because it will make you a massive amount of money, and you can spend that money on something that is good. So SBF picked finance, and after that he picked crypto. … SBF was also immersed in a type of effective altruism known as longtermism, where that ultimate outcome you’re seeking is hundreds of thousands or even millions of years away… Why not scam a few bucks today to save a few billion lives in the 23rd century? That’s not just skipping to the end of the book — it’s skipping to the end of the entire series. … People can… do the right thing today and the right thing tomorrow at the same time. … Figuring it out, however, might require reading a book or two.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: Crypto is out of control. FTX is just the latest example Casey Michel, CNN Opinion

FLAG THIS

Is Crypto Still the Future of Finance?

Despite the negative headlines currently swirling around the space, "a new survey shows that a majority of Americans (53%) believe cryptocurrency is the future of finance."

This is according to Grayscale in partnership with The Harris Poll, which also found that "Nearly four in five Americans consulted (79%) feel there needs to be clearer regulation of cryptocurrency – with support from Democrats (87%) and Republicans (76%)."

Should Sam Bankman-Fried face criminal charges following the collapse of FTX?

FLAG FINDS

News to Feed Your Spirit, Reachable Real Estate, Be The Bartender

🗞️ We know you read politically neutral newsletters. You’re reading one right now. So try adding one more perspective to your well-rounded view with The Pour Over. This free newsletter filters the news through a philosophical perspective for a unique reading experience. Widen your horizon.

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🍸 Christmas dinner or holiday happy hour? If you’re looking forward more to the latter, here’s a one-item gift guide: Bartesian’s cocktail maker. Forget waving down a bartender–or spilling ice all over yourself because you didn’t close the shaker correctly. This is like an adults-only Keurig, as with the press of a button, Bartesian makes every hour cocktail hour. Simply fill it with your spirits and ingredients (in the form of Bartesian’s K-Cup-style cocktail capsules) then press for drinks in their finest form: not stirred, not shaken, just mixed.

WATERCOOLER

Bermuda Triangle, Blindsight, Bitter Brussels Be Gone!

On December 5, 1945, at 2:10 pm, five US Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers comprising Flight 19 take off from the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida on a routine three-hour training mission. After having completed their objective, Flight 19 was scheduled to take them due east for an additional 67 miles, then turn north for 73 miles, and back to the air station after that, totaling a distance of 120 miles. Mysteriously, they never returned. Pictured above is a similar Avenger torpedo bomber.

The Conversation: Blindsight: A Strange Neurological Condition Could Help Explain Consciousness

Lifehacker: The Best Way to Pack for an Extended Trip

Popular Mechanics: Remember When the Internet Lost Its Mind Over This Gift-Wrapping Trick? Here's the Secret.

Today I Learned Brussels sprouts used to have a bitter taste until breeders in the '90s started cross-pollinating different varieties to remove the chemicals that caused the bitterness. Their work has helped Brussels sprouts' recent surge in culinary popularity.

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