The World and Everything in It - October 26, 2021

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Good morning!

A political era has ended in Germany. What’s next for Europe’s driving economic force and a key U.S. ally?

NICK EICHER, HOST: Also California tries to curb anti-vaccine protests and ends up sidelining pro-life sidewalk counselors at the same time.

Plus marriage and mortality.

And reminders of God’s goodness, from horizon to horizon.

BROWN: It’s Tuesday, October 26th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

BROWN: Time for news. Here’s Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Heavy rains soak Calif., trigger flooding and landslides » A long and wide plume of moisture from the Pacific Ocean brought a deluge of rain to drought-stricken and fire-scorched California counties.

The rain was certainly welcomed, but maybe not so much so quickly. Meteorologist Sierra Littlefield with the National Weather Service said Monday…

LITTLEFIELD: We have seen lots of drainage problems leading to flooding concerns and just large volumes of water.

In the San Francisco Bay area, it looks to be one of the biggest rain events ever for this time of year. San Francisco International Airport got about 5 inches of rain.

Flooding caused road closures in the San Francisco and Oakland areas.

Further inland, some rivers overflowed in Napa and Sonoma counties. Heavy rains also triggered landslides in some areas.

Areas where fires have charred vegetation are at especially high risk of flooding and landslides. California Highway Patrol closed a stretch of State Route 70 in Butte and Plumas counties because of multiple landslides within the massive Dixie Fire burn scar.

Moderna: study shows vaccine safe & effective for young children » Moderna said Monday that a low dose of its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and appears to be effective for young children. WORLD’s Leigh Jones has more.

LEIGH JONES, REPORTER: The manufacturer joins its rival Pfizer in moving toward expanding shots to children.

The FDA is currently considering the Pfizer shots for children, 5 to 11.

Researchers at Moderna tested two shots for the 6- to 11-year-olds, given a month apart. Each contained half the dose given to adults. The company said results showed vaccinated children developed antibodies similar to levels that young adults produce after full-strength shots.

The study involved nearly 5,000 young kids. Some of the children experienced typical temporary side effects including fatigue, headache, fever and injection site pain. The study was too small to spot any extremely rare side effects.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Leigh Jones.

Facebook Papers: Whistleblower’s concerns widespread » Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen spoke to a panel of lawmakers in the British Parliament on Monday.

Just as she testified in Washington earlier this month, Huagen told British lawmakers that Facebook’s algorithm favors hateful content because it increases user interaction.

COLLINS: Facebook didn’t invent hate, do you think it’s making hate worse?
HAUGEN: Unquestionably it’s making hate worse.

Haugen heard there fielding a question from Damian Collins, who chairs a committee looking into the company’s safety practices.

The UK is working on online safety regulations that would regulate social media companies and levy stiff fines for violations.

Haugen leaked a trove of internal Facebook documents which reveal internal messages from employees who accused the platform of inciting violence and fostering social media addiction.

Haugen also said a weak chain of command and lack of resources left too much misinformation and hate speech unchecked. Facebook denies those allegations.

But others have cited censorship concerns, saying some Facebook employees have sought to target conservative news sites.

Thousands protest another military coup on Sudan » Thousands have flooded the streets of Sudan protesting a military coup that threatens the country’s shaky progress toward democracy. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: Protesters on Monday defied the military, setting tire barricades on fire until soldiers violently broke up the gatherings. Demonstrators in the capital of Khartoum shouted “The people are stronger!”

The Sudan Doctors’ Committee reported military forces fired tear gas and bullets into crowds, killing at least two and wounding roughly 80.

Hours earlier, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan’s declared that the military was dissolving Sudan’s transitional government. He claimed that faction infighting forced the military to intervene.

The military arrested interim Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, his wife, and several senior officials. The military also airports and bridges into the capital city and shut down internet access.

The transitional government was supposed to shift to a fully civilian government next month. The country has been in a state of transition since the ouster of dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Hertz order for Teslas ranks among biggest-ever EV purchases » Don’t forget to plug in your rental car at night! Something you might need to keep in mind when renting a care from Hertz.

The car rental giant announced Monday that it will buy 100,000 electric vehicles from Tesla. It is one of the largest purchases of battery-powered cars in history.

Hertz’ interim CEO Mark Fields said that Teslas are already arriving at the company’s sites and should be available for rental starting next month.

That company said it will establish its own electric vehicle charging network as it strives to produce the largest rental fleet of electric vehicles in North America.

Analysts say Hertz-Tesla deal likely is worth around $4 billion dollars.

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: Germany’s new government and its approach to geopolitics.

Plus, reeling in God’s goodness.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 26th of October, 2021.

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

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. First up: Germany.

After 16 years, Angela Merkel is no longer the head of state. Germany’s Socialist party won national elections last month in a tight race. But Germany’s system of coalition governing means the country’s leaders still have a lot of wheeling and dealing to do before we know who’ll be running the next government.

BROWN: Here to explain the global implications is WORLD European Correspondent Jenny Lind Schmitt.

JENNY LIND SCHMITT, REPORTER: When Angela Merkel became Germany’s first female chancellor in 2005, George W. Bush was still president of the United States. Under Merkel’s leadership, Germany maintained and expanded its role as the driving economic force of the European Union and the world’s fourth largest economy.

Her time as chancellor also saw Germany welcome thousands of Syrian and Afghan refugees in the crisis of 2015. “Wir schaffen das—We can do this,” she famously said at the time.

AUDIO: [Merkel speaking]

Though ridiculed by her critics, that phrase became emblematic of Merkel’s time in power. Her practical, no-nonsense leadership sometimes lacked flair, but it was reliable and got things done.

Merkel’s decision last year to step down as chancellor sent Germany’s political parties into a flurry ahead of September’s elections.

While some Germans just wanted change, most wanted Merkel’s style of reliable leadership to continue. But her pick to replace her as head of the conservative Christian Democratic Party failed to connect with voters. The left-leaning Social Democratic Party, the SPD, won the election.

MATTHIES: Deutschland hat mit diese Wahl eine weitere Linksrutsch erlebt...

Helmut Matthies is editor-in-chief of the German evangelical news organization IDEA. He says that in this election Germany slid further to the left. He sees the election result as evidence of the fracturing of German politics. The convervative CDU party had its worst showing ever, with only 24 percent.

MATTHIES: Bisher war der Burgerliche mitte…

VOICEOVER: Until now, there was a centrist voting bloc, with the CDU and the FDP. But after this election, the centrist bloc is gone.

Matthies says that’s bad news for the German pro-life movement. The three parties now working to build a coalition all want to push a pro-abortion agenda. Parties with a pro life platform have been losing power.

Before the election, the Green party touted its candidate, Annalena Baerbock, as the woman to replace Merkel. The Greens didn’t get enough votes to win the chancellorship, but they did get enough to win a seat at the coalition table. Since the last election in 2017, the Greens doubled their percentage.

MATTHEIS: Also die Grünen sind von den stimmen her, die Grössten Wahlgewinner bei diese Wahl gewesen.

VOICEOVER: Looking at vote percentages, the Greens were the biggest winners in this election.

So who will be the next chancellor? With coalition talks still underway, nothing is guaranteed. But most likely SPD candidate Olaf Scholz will be Germany's next leader. Scholz has been Merkel’s finance minister under the Grand Coalition that ruled the last four years. He describes his approach as “pragmatic, but oriented toward the future.” Critics say he lacks charisma, but for many Germans, his positive and pragmatic approach seems the logical continuation of Merkel’s policies and a good remedy for uncertain times.

The new twist in this election cycle? This will be the first three-party coalition since the 1950s, which also signals a change.

ROLOFF: The smaller partners of a possible coalition are currently in the driver’s seat. And that’s a new development for Germany.

Professor Ralf Roloff is deputy dean of the College of International and Security Studies at the George Marshall Center in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. He says the two smaller parties first found their own common ground before approaching the SPD.

ROLOFF: In the larger projects, that we need to modernize the country, that we need to get out of the stalemate that we went through the particular years of the Grand Coalition so that’s certainly where the two are eager to push forward.

Roloff says that while foreign policy didn’t come up much during the campaign, he expects Merkel’s policies to continue.

ROLOFF: The limitations for a new government to completely reshape German security and foreign policy are not that big. All of the three partners are fully committed to NATO, They are fully committed to the European Union in different ways.

One exception? The consistently strong stance the Green Party has taken on human rights in Russia, China, and other autocracies. That emphasis is likely to continue in a coalition.

For instance, until recently Germany’s China policy was viewed mostly through an economic lens. Roloff says that’s starting to change as more human rights abuses come to light, and because the pandemic highlighted Germany’s outsourcing of medical supplies.

ROLOFF: Just recently, two years ago, we started to discuss the security implications. And not so much in terms of the hard security implications, but the security implications that stem from the economic interdependence with China. So China buying into many companies in Germany or in Europe.

China has recently made some large-scale purchases, including a drone manufacturer and the internal port of Duisburg that have given internal security experts concern.

In a forum last week with Berlin-based MerKAYtor Institute for China Studies, foreign policy experts from the four leading parties stressed Germany’s need to regain technological independence from China. They also want Europe to strengthen ties with the United States. Johannes Vogel is a Bundestag member with the Free Democrats, the other party in coalition talks.

VOICEOVER: No matter who builds the government, in any case, we need a new perspective on our China policy.... With the Biden administration and political change in Europe, or at least Germany, this is a chance to open a new chapter in the transatlantic relationship and have a united Western policy on China.

For all their current coziness, the three parties have some important policy disagreements, including on whether to raise or lower taxes and how to fight climate change. But before they can tackle those issues, they have to settle the most important question—who is going to be in charge?

Assuming current talks are successful, they hope to have an agreement by December 6th.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Jenny Lind Schmitt.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: free speech in the Golden State.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 742 into law this month.

What Newsom says it’s supposed to do is protect people seeking COVID-19 vaccines against harassment by vaccine protesters. Specifically, it suspends certain free-speech activities when a speaker is too close to someone near the entrance of a vaccination site.

But the law is also threatening the outreach efforts of some pro-life ministries to women considering abortions.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Joining us once again to fill us in on what’s happening here is Steve West. He’s an attorney and writes about religious liberty issues for WORLD Digital. Good morning, Steve!

STEVE WEST, REPORTER: Good morning, Myrna.

BROWN: Well, Steve, what does this new law say exactly with regard to speaking to people near vaccination sites?

WEST: Well, Myrna, the impetus for the law was apparently concern about harassment of those entering vaccination sites by anti-vaccination protesters—sites which are not only doctor’s offices but drugstores, retail stores, all kinds of places where these vaccinations are offered. So it’s a law which casts a wide net and essentially, it draws a big circle around a vaccination site, making it a crime to knowingly approach within 30 feet of any person while a person is within 100 feet of the entrance or exit of a vaccination site, if they’re trying to go in or go out. Or also to approach any occupied motor vehicle when they’re seeking to go in or to go out of a vaccination site. And it says you can’t obstruct, injure, harass, intimidate, or interfere with that person or vehicle occupant. So, in effect, it operates like a 130 foot bubble for all kinds of speech.

BROWN: But why would that prevent ministries from speaking to women near abortion facilities?

WEST: Well, in the case of Right to Life of Central California, which is in Fresno, their outreach center is located next door to the Planned Parenthood abortion center, which is also a vaccination site, though it’s not for the COVID vaccines. Right to Life employees and volunteers regularly stand on the sidewalk in front of their building and attempt to engage women heading to Planned Parenthood for abortions. They try to engage them in conversations, offering alternatives. But this law would even bar them standing in front of their very own building. So, this is a speech ban that catches up not only anti-vaccination protesters but all other types of speech, including pro-life speech. Interestingly enough, the law excludes lawful picketing as a result of a labor dispute, which must be a testimony to the power of unions.

Also worth pointing out here is that harassment is very broadly defined. It includes handing someone a leaflet, any attempt to educate them, or any attempt to counsel them—so anything intended to help a person consider other options is banned.

BROWN: Okay, so Alliance Defending Freedom and others have filed suit challenging this law, correct?

WEST: That’s right, Myrna. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing Right to Life filed a complaint in federal court last Wednesday arguing the ban violates First Amendment guarantees of free speech and religious freedom. They are asking the court to block the ban.

And then in a separate case earlier, three pro-life activists affiliated with the California-based Life Legal Defense Foundation also filed a federal suit against the law. In that case, the court is set to hear a motion to temporarily block the measure tomorrow.

BROWN: You say that these so-called “bubble zone” laws have a checkered history in court. Expand on that if you would.

WEST: Oh, yes, this has gone on for over two decades. So, over 20 years ago, the Supreme Court upheld a Colorado law that imposed an 8-foot buffer around abortion facilities. And they said it “allows the speaker to communicate at a ‘normal conversational distance.’” Well, that’s one thing. But then in 2014, the justices struck down a 35-foot buffer around abortion centers in Massachusetts, concluding that “if all that women can see and hear are vociferous opponents of abortion, then the buffer zones have effectively stifled petitioners’ message.” We might surmise then that 8 feet is ok, 35 feet not.

Well, since then, lower courts continue to wrestle with zones banning speech outside abortion centers. In October of 2019 there were two separate rulings involving a 15-foot buffer in Pittsburgh and then another, a 20-foot buffer in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. But the judges in that case reasoned the zones did not apply to sidewalk counselors who engage in “peaceful one-on-one conversations on any topic or conducted for any purpose at a normal conversational volume or distance.”

So, the bottom line is that some reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions are OK, but the kind of restrictions placed on speech by Califirnia in this law are way out of bounds.

BROWN: Okay, so where does the case regarding the California law go from here?

WEST: I don't think courts should have a difficult time with this law. I suspect judges will pretty quickly enter orders blocking implementation of the law—perhaps even this week. Appeals may follow, or legislators may decide to have another look at what is clearly an unconstitutional law—amend it, or better yet, rescind it. Someone needs to pop this bubble.

BROWN: Steve West writes about religious liberties for WORLD Digital. You can read his work at WNG.org. You can also subscribe to his free weekly newsletter on First Amendment issues, Liberties. Steve, always good to have you on. Thank you!

WEST: Thank you so much, Myrna.

NICK EICHER, HOST: If you’re a mom or a dad, you’ll try about anything to lull a fussy baby to sleep—even plopping the little one in a car seat and just driving around.

There’s something sleep-inducing about that—the gentle motion, the muffled road noise. It just works.

Well, a touring company in Hong Kong is applying the same principle to grown-ups!

Ulu travel is now offering bus tickets to nowhere.

The bus will drive passengers around the city on what it calls its “uninterrupted sleeping bus.”

Tickets start at just $13 U.S. and range up to $51 dollars with actual cabins aboard the double-decker buses.

The package includes an eye mask, to shut out the light, and ear plugs—crucially, I imagine, to protect against snoring neighbors.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, October 26th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: till death do us part.

God designed marriage as an earthly picture of a spiritual reality: Jesus’ relationship with his bride, the church. Both relationships grow and deepen over time. And God uses lots of different things to produce that growth, including reminders of our own mortality. WORLD correspondent Amy Lewis talked to a couple with first-hand experience.

AMY LEWIS, CORRESPONDENT: Dave and Margie Miller married in 1966, in the time of flower children and draft card burnings. Barry McGuire’s apocalyptic protest song “The Eve of Destruction” topped the charts. Months later Barry Sadler’s “Ballad of the Green Berets” celebrating the military and patriotism was number one. It was an era of polarization and extremes.

MARGIE: We both learned, (laughs) we both learned we know we’re different people. And he and I, I think, are the classic “opposites attract.” I really do. And I think, don’t take this wrong, but I think that is really wonderful in the beginning almost. But then as years go on, and I think you would agree with me, it makes it a little harder almost. Because you’re still opposites, you’re still different.

There have been times when it looked like their marriage wouldn’t last. God graciously preserved their union. But two years ago their marriage was in question for reasons outside their control.

Miller’s heart was doing strange things. He was easily fatigued. Miller speaks here while fishing from the banks of the Delaware River.

MILLER: My heart’s been kind of crazy lately. Yeah, and fluttering on top of that. An irregular beat. Rapid and then skips a beat, rapid and skips a  beat and then dut-dut-dut. It’s all over the place. I’m on different medication, but it doesn’t seem to be helping much.

His doctor diagnosed him with atrial fibrillation or AFib. It’s a relatively common heart condition particularly in older men. Miller is 78. To reduce stroke-inducing clots doctors treat AFib first with drugs. Then they might try an electrical shock called a cardioversion. Last resort is a minimally invasive surgery called ablation.

Miller made it to the ablation stage. He and his wife Margie, a former home health nurse, speak here from their front porch. Miller has just finished transplanting a hydrangea bush. It needed more sun. Birds visit his feeders and birdbath. Their aging curly-coated dog Hannah lays at Miller’s feet. She doesn’t leave his side for long.

MILLER: I went in for what’s called a hybrid ablation, which is they go through a hole in the chest, go behind the heart and zap the atrium, the wall of the atrium, and then they put a clamp on the atrium appendage, which they did fine…

The hybrid ablation worked to fix his AFib.

MILLER:…But on the way out, he severed my pulmonary artery. And I bled out. And I was in surgery late that morning to late that afternoon. They figured they had everything taken care of, under control, so they cabled me up and at 2:30 in the morning, they had to take me back, open me up again. The body fluids in my chest were so bad that my lungs weren’t expanding and contracting.

He was transferred to cardiac ICU with five tubes coming out of his body. Miller and his wife refer to that surgery as The Big Event. It’s the incident that might have robbed them of future anniversaries. It also might have driven them to despair and to question God’s provision.

That didn’t happen to Miller and his wife. That’s because 20 years ago Miller was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

MILLER: I knew I was in God’s hands. So, since that day, I’ve really been ready for anything. And it helped me get through The Big Event. You know, when you know your mortality could be right around the corner, you better make sure things are right with God. It strengthened my faith, just trusting him. Faith is again the key.

Life has changed for Miller since The Big Event. He can’t do everything he used to. But he still loves to fish…

MILLER: I haven’t been fishing for years. This is nice just to get out here.

And his love for his wife Margie lives strong.

MILLER: (puff) My greatest fear is that she goes before I do. Because she does so much for me. I don’t have to do anything with the bills. She takes care of that. I wouldn’t know how to start, first of all. She basically takes care of the house and I basically take care of outside. Right, honey? (Yes.)

MARGIE: I try to make things as easy, for him, and me, but I never used to do it quite as much for him. Just make things easy for him, in other words, things within reach, things he doesn’t have to hunt for. Daily life. Anything that’s hard for him…

Margie says she tried to find ways to make his life “easier and better.”

MARGIE: I think we’re, I don’t know if closer is the right word, I think we care for each other more, and maybe a little deeper. That has to do with age and long marriage and everything. I do think you gain wisdom as a Christian and as an older person. The old stuff you used to maybe have a fuss about, it’s such small potatoes…

Just before their 55th wedding anniversary in August, they had to put down their faithful dog Hannah. She had trouble walking and couldn’t make it up the porch steps anymore. Last month Margie had a botched knee replacement fixed. Miller was his wife’s nurse after her surgery. She called him an angel caregiver.

MILLER: She’s not feeling well either. Her blood work is way off, and way off enough to be concerned about….she’s not worried.

Margie’s doctor told her she has chronic lymphocytic leukemia. But the Millers still make plans for the future.

MILLER: See the new window, what we’re gonna do in the hallway wallpaper next…the flooring comes in when?

Dave and Margie have seen God’s grace and faithfulness through 55 years. No matter how much more time they have together, they’re confident that won’t change.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Amy Lewis in Blairstown, New Jersey.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Tuesday, October 26th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Have you ever watched a sunrise over the water? If you have, you may have gotten a sense of the emotion King David might’ve felt when he wrote, “The Heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

Here’s commentator Whitney Williams.

AUDIO: [Sounds of boat revving and wind]

WHITNEY WILLIAMS, COMMENTATOR: In the early morning hours of a cool October morning in Texas, our family of five huddles together in a small, single-engine center-console boat as it bounds off the tops of salty ocean waves toward Galveston’s North jetty.

AUDIO: I see a lot of running fish! 

We look ahead to our fishing spot, prepared and hopeful—the bull redfish run through the ship channel this time of year and catching them has turned into something of a tradition. Massive container and cruise ships put us in our rightful place as nighttime lights on the coastline push out their last twinkles and the sun slowly peeks up over the horizon. After bumping along for 15 minutes or so, the captain, my husband, slows the engine to a stop and drops anchor. I unsleeve a dull, dirty knife and begin to cut bait on top of a no-longer-white ice chest, handing him meaty heads and gutty tail pieces to hook as I go.

With six lines baited and in the water, we watch and wait. Rod tips continually bow and straighten as underwater currents tug on heavy weights. “Not a fish,” Captain Dad tells his boys, who’ve alerted him to the rods’ movement. As the morning progresses, our sons pull in small sharks, fairly large stingrays, and catfish (or “kittys,” as The Captain likes to call them). Our eldest even nets some jellyfish for closer examination. When The Captain lunges across the boat and grabs a pole, we know it’s go time. “Action baby! Come on, eat it!” The Captain urges the fish. He waits a bit and then sets the hook, giving the reel a few turns. “It’s a red!” he announces, handing the rod over to one of our sons, who struggles to gain ground as the fish makes a run for it, stripping line from the reel. “Pull up, reel down,” Captain Dad instructs.

AUDIO: [Sounds of excitement over the catch]

These big ones are catch-and-release only, so the delight is in the fight. Eventually, we see the weight rise above the water. “Get the net!” the straining boy yells, but Captain Dad’s already there waiting, net in hand. He hoists the 25-to-30 pound fish into the boat. It’s 42 inches long, light orange and white in color, with a black heart shape on its tail. Out of its element, the fish makes a low drumming noise. The Captain removes the hook and our 8-year-old secures the fish gripper. He strains to hold up his catch for a photo, not quite getting its tail end off the ground.

We celebrate with a round of Vienna Sausages and some swigs of Big Red and I bask in God’s goodness, thanking Him for the delights He offers us in His creation. Suddenly, I feel guilty for my enjoyment, remembering that in that very moment other people are suffering.

The beauty of it all suddenly felt contradictory, until God whispered this reminder: “I paint these skies for the brokenhearted, as well.”

I share these thoughts with The Captain. “You think too much,” he says.

I’m Whitney Williams.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: a win for moderates. We’ll talk about the role Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are playing in the Democratic Party and its future.

And, appreciating pastors.

That and more tomorrow.

I’m Nick Eicher.

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 Psalmist wrote, Oh come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

Go now in grace and peace.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.