The Daily Briefing highlights the news of the day and research that reveals the spirit of the day.
The Daily Briefing is a newsletter sent straight to your inbox every morning that provides biblical insight on today's news.
Top News
6. Trump rolls out red carpets for Xi Jinping, though he has portrayed China as a global menace (NBC News)
“He has accused China of hacking America’s elections and plundering its wealth, yet President Donald Trump has showered the visiting Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, with tributes and affection during their summit meeting this week at the White House. Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House for a lavish state dinner Thursday evening, capping a day of both pomp and circumstance and meetings during the high-stakes visit. Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan are the guests of honor as Trump and first lady Melania Trump host the Chinese delegation in the East Room.
“Guests scheduled to attend the state dinner included tech executives such as Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos, Tesla and SpaceX leader Elon Musk, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai of Google and Michael Dell, the CEO of Dell Technologies, the White House and a source familiar told ABC News. On Friday, Xi and his wife are scheduled to join Trump and the first lady for a private tea and a tour of the National Archives to view historical national documents. Xi is expected to depart the U.S. later Friday.”
China is run by engineers and the US is run by lawyers, according to Dan Wang. In his insightful book Breakneck, Wang writes how the U.S. and China "are fundamentally alike: restless, eager for shortcuts, ultimately driving most of the world's big changes." He goes on to say: "Both countries are tangles of imperfection, regularly delivering — in the name of competition — self-beatings that go beyond the wildest dreams of the other.” For Wang, the US and China are both greatly alike, yet significantly different…
“China is an engineering state, which can’t stop itself from building, facing off against America’s lawyerly society, which blocks everything it can. Engineers have quite literally ruled modern China… Once upon a time, America, too, had the musculature of an engineering state, building mighty works throughout the country: lengthy train tracks, gorgeous bridges, beautiful cities, weapons of war with terrible power, and missions to the moon.” However, today, Wang notes, the lawyerly class may have stopped massive projects, but they have enabled pluralism and respect for individual rights, features both notably absent in the engineering society.
Giving honor where honor is due… We do share many similarities with China, which has brought about prosperity to many, but we do have distinct differences – like how we treat our citizens. Yesterday, when Pres. Trump was giving Pres. Xi a tour of the White House, our president belittled our former president, highlighting how he is depicted as an autopen in a frame. While I didn’t always agree with Pres. Biden, I have always vehemently disagreed with Pres. Xi. He tortures his own citizens, sends some of his people to concentration camps, and monitors/persecutes local churches. China may be like us, but Pres. Xi is very different from us and shouldn't be laughing at us. (Rom. 13)
5. CNN, MS NOW and Politico allowed back at the White House after judge blocked Trump’s ban (NBC News)
“CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists were allowed back at the White House Thursday after they had been barred entry despite an overnight court order requiring the administration to temporarily restore their access.
“On Thursday morning, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the Trump administration to respond in writing after journalists from the three media outlets were turned away from the White House even after the judge’s order. Kelly early in the morning had granted a temporary restraining order reinstating the outlets’ access for 14 days while their legal challenge proceeds. It was not clear why the journalists had been barred from entry in the morning.”
Backstreet aren’t the only ones who are Back… Interestingly enough, former Pres. Obama went after Pres. Trump, a few days ago, speaking about his decision to ban reporters from the White House. “My imagination could not foresee some of the stuff that’s going on right now… I’m trying to think what would have happened if I had said, ‘You know what, Fox News, you’re out of here!’ It’s unimaginable.”
Just My Imagination -- The Temptations and former Pres. Obama. During his time, the Obama White House kept Fox News from a round of exclusive Sunday show interviews. In addition, they also instructed agencies to “skip” including Fox.
Watch out for the calf… While Moses was on Mount Sinai, Aaron yielded to pressure and built an idol for the Israelites. When Moses returned and demanded an explanation, Aaron tried to dodge responsibility with a laughable defense. He claimed the people gave him gold, he threw it in the fire, and "out came this calf!" In this moment, just as in presidential moments from the past, some will rationalize the presence of a calf, but we the people need honest and fair folks to provide context and report on the truth regarding the calf. (Ex. 32)
4. White House preparing plan for 90-day diesel exports ban (Politico)
“The Trump administration is preparing a plan to ban exports of diesel for 90 days, despite splits inside the administration and with the oil industry, in a bid to bring down energy prices weighing on Republicans leading into the midterms. A ban, the legal process of which is still being worked out, has been opposed by U.S. fuel producers who have warned that any short-term benefit would be outweighed by higher fuel prices in the future. Any halt to shipments would be the first restriction on U.S. energy exports since the Obama administration lifted a decades-old ban on oil exports in 2015.
“But the war that the Trump administration launched against Iran in February, as well as Ukraine’s attacks against Russian refineries, have boosted diesel prices to record highs and caused farm-state Republicans to demand the ban. The average price for a gallon of diesel was $6.52 Wednesday, up 91 cents from a month ago and $2.83 from last year, according to AAA.”
Will this increase the price of diesel in the long run? Garrett Golding at the Dallas Federal Reserve noted that it would temporarily put down pressure on prices and then likely increase prices due to the reduction in the run rate…
Golding writes that this move would tighten the global market, causing prices to rise overseas. For domestic refineries, since they can no longer export, this would cause local storage capacity to fill quickly, and they would have to reduce the amount of product they can turn into other products. Because, as a reminder, a barrel of crude is refined into more than just diesel and gasoline. “The bottom line in this discussion is when you reduce run rates because you can't export distillate/diesel, you end up reducing how much gasoline, jet fuel, and other refined products you're producing - which means higher prices.”
Supply and demand… During the reign of Israel’s King Jehoram, the Arameans laid siege to Israel’s capital city to such an extent that “a donkey’s head sold for eighty pieces of silver, and a cup of dove’s dung sold for five pieces of silver.” Essentially, the demand for anything was driven by a supply of nothing. At this moment, many have a great need for refined oil products, and with the newly limited supply, this has caused prices to rise. However, though there is scarcity this side of eternity, there is coming a day when scarcity is scarce. (2 Kings 6-7)
Cultural News
3. 72% of Americans would slow financial progress to enjoy life now, SoFi survey finds (CNBC)
“Maxxing” is very in right now. Americans, especially the Gen Z cohort, have hopped onto a number of viral trends that promote optimizing virtually any given area of your life like “PTO-maxxing” when you try to get the most of your vacation time or “fibermaxxing” when you want more regularity in your diet. Naturally, the idea of “moneymaxxing,” or optimizing your financial strategy to make, save or invest more money has also cropped up in TikTok videos and news articles.
“While some folks are laser-focused on optimizing their money situation, 72% of Americans are willing to make slower progress on their financial goals in order to show up for their families, take vacations and prioritize meaningful memories, finds a new survey of more than 4,000 U.S. adults from digital financial services company SoFi. The survey was fielded in July and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.53 percentage points.”
Similar to early 2000s pop sensation Stacie Orrico, many Americans are saying There’s Gotta Be More To Life… Oliver Burkeman, in his insightful book Meditations for Mortals, suggests we should embrace imperfectionism. This is a “freeing and energizing outlook based on the conviction that your limitations aren't obstacles to a meaningful existence.” For Burkeman, “the day is never coming when all the other stuff will be 'out of the way,' so you can turn at last to building a life of meaning and accomplishment that hums with vitality. For finite humans, the time for that has to be now."
Embrace scruffy hospitality…. In the vein of imperfectionism and tradeoffs, Burkeman writes how scruffy hospitality refers to not waiting for your house to be fully in order before you host and serve friends. You are “more interested in quality conversation than in the impression your home or lawn makes.” As Mary Randolph famously noted: "A perfectly kept house is the sign of a misspent life."
This side of the garden, tradeoffs abound in this broken world. And while you can’t have everything, you can have a lot of some things. Paul encouraged us to make the most of life and Peter was a living testament to getting the most of out of life – especially with second chances. While there are tradeoffs associated with every decision we make, there are also opportunities to embrace the joys of imperfectionism. As Burkeman notes: "You might argue that making a decision is the defining act of the limit-embracing life." (2 Kings 20, 1 Pet. 3, Eph. 5, Gal. 5)
News You Can Use
2. Dads when it rains.
Watch it here. “He gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields;” (Job 5:10)
1. Six-year-old breaks women's world Rubik's Cube record
Watch it here. “Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank.” (Pro. 22:29)
