The World and Everything in It - June 2, 2022

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

Small business owners still recovering from the pain of government lockdowns now face inflation.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Also rising violence against Christians in Nigeria. A watchdog group wants the Biden administration to take note.

Plus defrauding the elderly. You’ll hear why it’s so easy to become a victim.

And commentator Cal Thomas on fixing our foundation.

REICHARD: It’s Thursday, June 2nd. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

BROWN: And I’m Myrna Brown. Good morning!

REICHARD: Now here’s Kent Covington with the news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: United States sending medium-range rocket systems to Ukraine » The United States is sending powerful new rocket systems and ammunition to Ukraine.

The Biden administration had been reluctant to send the medium-range systems because they have the ability to strike targets on Russian soil. But Secretary of State Tony Blinken said Wednesday…

BLINKEN: The Ukrainians have given us assurances that they will not use these systems against targets on Russian territory. There is a strong trust bond between Ukraine and the United States, as well as with our allies and partners.

Providing that assurance was key to convincing Washington to send the systems amid concerns about provoking a wider war with Russia.

The Pentagon says these systems are a perfect fit for what Ukrainian forces need right now for the fight in the eastern Donbas region and will significantly upgrade their ability to fight at range.

But Under Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl says it will take weeks for the precision weapons to reach the battlefield.

KAHL: These of course are systems that Ukrainians need to be trained on. We think that will take around three weeks. And they’ll need to know not just how to use the systems, but of course how to maintain the systems.

The rocket systems are part of a new $700 million military aid package that also includes helicopters, anti-tank weapons, radars, tactical vehicles, and more.

NATO chief in Washington for talks on ongoing Ukraine war response » The head of NATO, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, is in Washington this morning for more talks about the ongoing allied response to the war in Ukraine.

Speaking at the State Department on Wednesday, he thanked US officials for their leadership. And he said Vladimir Putin’s decision to order the invasion of Ukraine was a massive strategic blunder.

STOLTENBERG: President Putin wanted less NATO. He is getting more NATO; more troops and more NATO members.

“More members” presumes that Finland and Sweden will eventually join the defense alliance.

They have applied to so, but all current NATO members must unanimously agree and Turkey has voiced concerns. Stoltenberg hopes to iron out those differences. He said he’ll convene a meeting between with Turkey and the Nordic countries during a summit in Madrid later this month. He said the summit will be a “historic” opportunity to strengthen the alliance.

Biden hosts roundtable with baby formula makers amid shortage » At the White House on Wenesday, President Biden again addressed the continued nationwide shortage of baby formula.

BIDEN: As a father and a grandfather, I understand how difficult has been for families all across the country.

He hosted a roundtable with executives from several companies that, together, make much of the infant formula in the country.

But one company not represented at the meeting was Abbott Nutrition. The shutdown of Abbott’s Michigan plant in February over safety concerns fueled much of the current shortage.

Speaking later to reporters, Biden conceded that his administration was caught off guard.

BIDEN: I don’t think anyone anticipated the impact of the shutdown of one facility.

But Robert Cleveland, senior vice president of Reckitt, which makes Enfamil formula said he did in fact anticipate the impact.

CLEVELAND: We knew from the very beginning this would be a very serious event.

Abbott’s Michigan facility is the largest formula plant in the country. After addressing health violations, is set to reopen this weekend, though it could take up to two months for supplies to hit store shelves.

The White House said a third round of formula shipments from overseas will begin next week.

Lawmakers debate new gun legislation » Meantime on Capitol Hill, lawmakers continue talks on new gun control legislation in the wake of last week’s shooting in Uvalde. Members of a House panel could vote as soon as today on a series of regulations. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: The House Judiciary Committee is working on a bill that would raise the legal age to purchase a semiautomatic centerfire rifle to 21. It would also create new federal offenses for trafficking firearms or selling large-capacity magazines.

The bill is said to include new rules on the safe storage of firearms and a tax credit for the sale of things like gun safes.

In the Senate, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is talking over potential gun measures. Republican Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis huddled this week with Democrats Chris Murphy and Kyrsten Sinema.

Murphy says Democrats won’t be able to get everything they want in new gun legislation. Winning enough votes to overcome a filibuster won’t be easy.

But he said the two sides are discussing things like red flag laws, background checks, and safe gun storage.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

U.S. job openings decline from record level but remain high » The white-hot demand for U.S. workers cooled off just a bit in April. But companies are still desperate to hire more people.

The Labor Department says employers advertised 11.4 million jobs at the end of April. That was down from about 11.9 million in March.

The number of people quitting their jobs in April remained near record highs at 4.4 million.

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: inflation puts the squeeze on small businesses.

Plus, Newton’s law of thermodynamics applied to public policy.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Thursday the 2nd of June, 2022.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Before we get going today, I’ve got some great news for you if you’ve heard about our WORLD Watch program but haven’t gotten around to trying it out. We’re offering an introductory offer of two months for just four dollars—our two-for-four deal for WORLD Radio listeners.

REICHARD: I love WORLD Watch and of course it’s always a treat for me when you’re hosting the show, Myrna. I’m amazed at your talents!

It’s the entire project of WORLD Watch that’s vital to our mission. It’s an important resource for young families. Wish I’d had it when my children were younger!

It’s just a reality that video is the go-to for news today and WORLD Watch brings it at a very high level!

BROWN: And most importantly from a biblical worldview! I had a career in so-called mainstream television and I have to say WORLD Watch has all their quality and then some, but with a biblical perspective you can trust.

So I hope you’ll take advantage of this two-for-four offer for WORLD Watch. Two months of our daily WORLD Watch programs for just four dollars. You can redeem the offer at WORLDWatch-dot-news and just enter “radio” at checkout. Remember to enter that promo code “radio” when you check out for WORLD Watch!

REICHARD: Alright. Well, next up: rising prices.

The current spike in inflation is one of the worst in recent history. As you probably know from experience, it’s been hard on consumers. But it’s also hard on small business owners, who are squeezed between the rising cost of raw materials and the upper limit of what customers are willing to pay for the finished product.

BROWN: WORLD’s Josh Schumacher recently spoke to several business owners in northern California to find out how they’re coping.

AUDIO: [Downtown]

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: The streets of downtown Livermore are sunny. This is northern California, after all. They’re also pretty lively. It’s lunch time, so the tables outside coffee shops and restaurants are full. Shoppers walk in and out of small town boutiques.

But that doesn’t mean business is booming.

Bellina Keener manages the Olive Oil Pantry 2. It sells specialty local cooking oils and balsamic vinegar blends. She says the cost of everything has gone up.

KEENER: From our bottle prices to a lot of our products prices. So of course, it's going to cost the customer more, which makes it harder on us as we like to keep our prices at, you know, a reasonable amount.

The store’s owners didn’t want to raise prices. But eventually, they had to.

SCHUMACHER: How have the customers responded to that?

KEENER: They've actually been really good about it. Because we did have to raise the price on our bottles. And for the most part, they don't ask that. When they do, we just explain. You know, we have it, we're being charged more, so we have to charge you more.

Desmond Lachman says that’s inflation 1-0-1. Lachman is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

LACHMAN: They've got to pay a whole lot more for everything they buy, you know, ranging from gasoline to food to anything you can think of, the prices are now going up.

And Lachman says that puts small businesses in a particularly difficult position.

LACHMAN: Yeah, I would think that small businesses are probably less well capitalized, you know, the less well prepared to deal with this. You know, what inflation does is it injects a whole lot of uncertainty, you know, how long is this inflation going to last? Is this inflation going to get worse? You know, should I raise my price or not? What happens if I raised my prices, you know, that I might be losing consumers - this really puts smaller businesses in a particularly difficult situation.

And that’s on top of an already difficult last few years.

LACHMAN: Businesses, and I guess, consumers as well, you know, they've had really a rough time, the last couple of years. First, they got hit by the whole pandemic lockdown, you know, so there were huge disruptions to businesses, to individuals.

According to a recent Goldman Sachs survey, over 90 percent of small businesses across the country reported negative effects from inflation, supply chain issues, and other economic challenges during the past several months. In another survey, about half of small or local business owners said this historic wave of inflation could force them to close within the next six months.

And that could spell trouble for the U.S. economy. Small businesses make up about 44 percent of the country’s economic activity.

AUDIO: [Espresso Rosetta]

Just down the street from the Olive Oil Pantry, Espresso Rosetta has a few customers scattered across its indoor and outdoor tables. Mercy Schneider owns the coffee shop. She says she’s struggled with challenges related to the pandemic and supply chain problems for what feels like a really long time.

SCHNEIDER: It's such a weird time right now with things coming out of COVID. Like, I don't know if we're more busy or less busy, because all of the numbers that I have for years are all skewed.

And now she has to factor inflation into the equation.

SCHNEIDER: I'm not sure how much of that has to deal with supply chain problems and in general and how much it's inflation. But I'm certainly having to keep a very close eye on my cost these days and adjust menu accordingly.

Despite those challenges, Mercy Schneider is optimistic.

SCHNIDER: I'm a student of history. And the last time we saw a similar set of circumstances nationally was in the 1970s. We had a similar major inflation, we had similar economic pressures. So if I'm looking at what I think is going to happen, I look to what happened at that time.

Eventually, prices came down. But it took a while.

SCHINDLER: So I personally suspect we're going to see a period of incredible inflation probably teamed up with shortages in critical areas. And I really hope that we come out of it in a booming economy, like we did at the end of the 70s. But at the moment, I think that this is, I suspect, this is only the beginning of the pain.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher in Livermore, California.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

Six months ago, the Biden administration removed the African nation from its list of “Countries of Particular Concern”—or CPC for short. It lists countries that severely violate religious freedom.

And despite Nigeria’s removal from that list, religious violence hasn’t let up there.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Last month, a Nigerian Christian college student named Deborah Samuel was stoned to death by Muslim extremist classmates. They then burned her body after accusing her of blasphemy.

Now, the religious liberty watchdog group Open Doors is calling on the Biden administration to put Nigeria back on the CPC list.

Joining us now to talk about it is David Curry. He is the president and CEO of Open Doors. Curry frequently briefs lawmakers on religious liberty concerns around the world and has testified before Congress on the topic.

REICHARD: David, good morning!

DAVID CURRY, GUEST: Good morning. Thank you for having me on.

REICHARD: Well, we talked to you not too long ago when Open Doors released its 2022 World Watch List. That list ranks the 50 most dangerous places in the world to be a Christian. And Nigeria was pretty high up on that list. Where did you rank it and why?

CURRY: Nigeria is seventh on our list. Just to get into the top ten of the World Watch List means that there's some very serious persecution and violence against Christians for practicing their faith. In Nigeria's case, we're really talking about half the country—the northern part of the country, which is under Sharia law, the 12 states in the northern part of  Nigeria. And you have three or four, but two major, extremist groups: Boko Haram, which is ISIS affiliate, and the Fulani, which is a tribal group, but also shares an extremist Islamic ideology. The end result is more people are killed that we can count in the northern part of Nigeria than almost anywhere else. And with all of that being said, six months ago, the Biden administration dropped Nigeria off its Countries of Particular Concern list. So we're calling on them to reinstate that designation. It's an important statement about freedom of religious expression, first of all. It lets Nigeria know that if they're going to be a partner in the international community, they cannot tolerate this kind of extremist attacks on Christians.

REICHARD: Did the Biden administration offer any explanation for removing Nigeria from the CPC list in the first place?

CURRY: Well, the suggestion seems to be that it's not the government of Nigeria, it's these extremist groups that are persecuting Christians. So therefore, they should be taken off the list. But of course, that's not what the law says. They’re willfully—in my view, willfully—overlooking the fact that it's countries who persecute, but also countries that tolerate persecution. And this has been going on in Nigeria since 2012 or so, this extreme level of violence. And this government has overlooked it. They're not protecting the civil sites like churches, villages where Christians are in a majority. When they do send the military, they send them with guns, but not with bullets, these kinds of things, which are shows of, you might say, some kind of show of support, but in practical matter, leave the door wide open for these extremist groups. So, Nigeria is culpable in the death of thousands of people who've been attacked, hundreds already so far of young girls who've been kidnapped and forced into marriage by these extremist groups in the north of Nigeria. I mean, we're talking about some very serious human rights implications, specifically directed against Christians.

REICHARD: Let me ask you this, David, what difference does it make for a nation to be placed on the list of Countries of Particular Concern?

CURRY: Well, these laws carry implications—economic implications, partnership implications. And so, obviously, there are some things that it can't do. But when the government identifies a country as one of particular concern around religious liberty, that really puts them on notice and also puts in certain restrictions that the government of Nigeria would be wanting to avoid.

REICHARD: We mentioned the murder of Nigerian student Deborah Samuel. What do you know about that, and any other recent examples that show how dangerous things are for Christians in Nigeria right now?

CURRY: Well, let's just talk about that one case, because they killed her, brutally beat her and burned her for blasphemy. Now, that's just a term they throw out. But let's talk about what she did. She sent a text message on a group text in her classroom. Everybody was excited that their finals had finished and she said, and I quote, “Jesus is the greatest. He helped me pass my exams.” Just a student excited about having finished her finals and was thanking God for it. And for that, some extremists got hold of it, found out about it, and they killed her for it. So, they hide behind blasphemy laws under Sharia law, but this is just murder because she was a Christian.

REICHARD: David, how can Christians pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in Nigeria? And what else can they do to help?

CURRY: I think we need to pray for their protection. Pray for boldness. Always, when I'm talking to Nigerian believers or other believers, they want us to pray with them. They're standing for the faith, but there's fear involved. They're human. So pray for boldness, provision. I continue to pray for the government of Nigeria, that they'd stand up and speak out on behalf of their minority population there in the north. We desperately need to be praying for them and for other people who are persecuted for their faith. Our calling as Christians is to stand with people as if it were our own family there under pressure, as if it were ourself, and indeed it is. We are a family, according to our Biblical understanding. These are our brothers and sisters. So let's pray for them.

REICHARD: We’ve been talking to David Curry, president of Open Doors USA. David, thanks so much for joining us.

CURRY: Thank you.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: The problem with doggy doors is that doggies are not the only things that can walk through them.

Los Angeles resident Julie Levine said her dogs woke her up in the middle of night barking like crazy.

She told television station KABC:

LEVINE: Then when the dogs realized they caught the scent - because they are Beagles, they have incredible noses and went nuts.

After all the commotion, she decided to check the footage on her security camera. And that’s when she saw a different kind of canine—a large coyote.

Footage showed him jumping over a wall and following a scent trail through the doggy door. But it didn’t take long for him to bolt back out of the house, likely chased away by Levine’s barking Beagles!

She said the coyote “probably went down the hall, saw what he was up against,” and “skedaddled out of there.” Who knew beagles could be so scary?!

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, June 2nd. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: financial exploitation.

Fraud is no respecter of persons, but according to the Federal Trade Commission, older consumers get scammed at much higher numbers than their younger counterparts.

REICHARD: Older adults are more likely to believe phony calls from tech support and government imposters, even someone saying they’ve won a sweepstakes prize. And some believe them enough to hand over big money.

AUDIO: [News montage]

KIM HENDERSON, SENIOR WRITER look: Nearly one in five older Americans fall victim to financial swindlers. And if you’re thinking it can’t happen to your loved one or even you, think again.

Seniors logged nearly 100,000 scam complaints with the FBI last year. Russell Frazier believes that’s not even the half of it.

FRAZIER: We probably really don't know how big the problem is, because most people that do get taken advantage of, once they realize they've been taken advantage of, are embarrassed or scared to admit it.

Frazier worked as an investigator in the vulnerable adults unit of the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office. That’s a specialized law enforcement role involving elder abuse and neglect.

FRAZIER: A responding police officer in a local jurisdiction, if they see someone that's been abused, they're going to take action. But a lot of times financial crimes are not so obvious. And so those cases would get referred to us from law enforcement.

Frazier says there’s a reason many seniors don’t want to admit they’ve been scammed. They want to do what the experts call “age in place.”

FRAZIER: Some of the elders we dealt with, you know, elderly people living by themselves, probably shouldn't be living by themselves, but want to stay independent, want to stay in their homes. They know that if they report what happened, the next step may be they may end up getting taken out of their home.

AUDIO: [News clip]

While federal agencies handle mail fraud and schemes that cross international borders, Frazier and his team went after domestic scammers.

FRAZIER: I've seen it where, you know, a child is the one taking advantage of the parent. It could be a caretaker that's coming in, supposed to help cleaning up and stuff, take advantage of them. And I've seen handymen . . .

In most cases, the victims were living alone. If they had relatives, they were far away.

FRAZIER: They were living by themselves, and they were on the downslide mentally and were just trying to grab onto somebody that they thought could help them. And they end up grabbing onto the wrong person, and they end up getting taken advantage of.

Frazier believes diminishing capacity plays a part in elder fraud, but he also thinks the older generation is more trusting. They think hanging up the phone is rude.

FRAZIER: These people know how to keep them on the phone, build that relationship. And they know what they're doing, they know what they're saying, and they spot the ones that, you know, are just going past their head, you know. This is going to be a target. And then they're going to latch on, and they'll try to take them for what all they can get.

One instance that sticks out in Frazier’s memory involved a woman and a musician’s mode of transportation.

FRAZIER: It was actually a gospel singer that traveled around the country moved in on an elderly lady.

The man got his name on the elderly woman’s checking account and had her moved into a senior living facility. Meanwhile, he used her money to purchase a tour bus.

But convicting that robber required a thorough investigation.

FRAZIER: I had to go sit down and get a statement from her doctor saying that she was at the point where she couldn't make financial decisions for herself. And then we had to tie all the transactions together. So you had to get subpoenas for, you know, multiple accounts to show how they all got transferred, and then show how you know at the end, you went to purchase this tour bus.

A judge ultimately convicted the gospel singer of several crimes, but by that time, the defrauded woman was dead. And like most of the cases Frazier worked, there was no one to acknowledge what he and his team had accomplished. No pat on the back.

FRAZIER: But the judge cleared the courtroom after the verdict and just sat there and told us how much he appreciated what we did. You know, just, that was a pretty good one for me.

AUDIO: [News clip]

Fighting this type of crime requires help from the public.

FRAZIER: It's not that way, you know, nationwide, but in Mississippi, a financial institution, a doctor, a lawyer, there's several professions that can contact the attorney general's office, they see some type of abuse or neglect or exploitation that's going on involving a vulnerable person, and will be protected from liability for doing it.

Fighting this type of crime also requires an investigator who can track details over a long period of time. Someone with computer skills. Someone with compassion.

But Frazier says he was happy fighting elder fraud.

FRAZIER: All the investigations I did over my 25 years in law enforcement, I really liked doing these investigations. It's rewarding, I’ll say that, to catch somebody taking advantage of these people. Probably most of them are getting away with it.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kim Henderson in Jackson, Mississippi.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, June 2nd. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Here’s commentator Cal Thomas.

CAL THOMAS, COMMENTATOR: The heightened debate over “gun violence” following the massacre of 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, leaves out one critical element. The debate starts at the wrong end.

Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Thermodynamics states: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

Newton’s laws applied to physics. But the concept of action and reaction, of cause and effect, could be applied in other areas, including violent people who use guns to kill others.

Instead of starting with guns, we should begin at the beginning. If voters elect district attorneys and judges who release dangerous criminals, sometimes with low or no bail, that is an action. The opposite reaction is that many of them will commit new crimes.

Take the case of Darrell Brooks, the Wisconsin man charged with driving his car into a Milwaukee parade in November. Six people died and dozens of others suffered injuries. Brooks got out of jail less than a week before the parade after paying just $1,000 dollars in bail money. At the time, he faced charges of felony bail jumping, second-degree recklessly endangering safety, obstructing an officer, disorderly conduct, and battery. All from an incident in which he ran over the mother of his child! And that wasn’t even his first brush with the law.

Once again, an action (low bail for a dangerous criminal) produced a reaction (the deaths of innocent people).

In our schools and culture, we refuse to teach right from wrong. What’s the reaction? A generation of people who do whatever they want.

During the mid to late 19th century and early 20th century, many American public schools used the McGuffey readers. They contained sayings and lessons designed to conform young people to a standard of behavior that was good for them, their families, and the wider culture. These values included patriotism, respect for parents, honesty, and hard work as a path to success.

They also promoted the necessity of religious faith as the foundation for a better life. Here’s one excerpt from the 1879 edition: “Religion: the only basis of society. How powerless conscience would become without the belief of a God. Erase all thought and fear of God from a community and selfishness and sensuality would absorb the whole Man…Man would become what the theory of atheism declares him to be.”

Again, action and reaction. Teaching moral absolutes and faith produced one kind of person. Failure to teach these values has predictably created a different type of human in modern times. Can anyone credibly assert that the concepts contained in those old books failed to create adults who respected the law, life, and property of others? Compare that to what is being taught—and not taught—in schools and by culture today.

Attempts to ban certain guns will not solve the problem. But recalling and teaching the truths we once universally accepted could get us the reaction we all want.

I’m Cal Thomas.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Tomorrow: more questions from our student journalists. John Stonestreet will answer those on Culture Friday.

And, a new installment in the Star Wars saga. We’ll review the new streaming series, Kenobi.

That and more tomorrow.

I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: 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: The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil… For whoever finds [the Lord] finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. (Proverbs 8:13 ESV)

Go now in grace and peace.

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