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 says "settlement" reached on Iran, signing could be as soon as this weekend (CBS News)
“President Trump said Thursday that a "great settlement" has been reached, and a signing could take place as soon as this weekend, likely in Europe. Iran hasn't confirmed any such agreement. Two sources familiar with the diplomatic efforts told CBS News that a letter of intent or memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran is likely to be signed early next week.
“Mr. Trump had earlier said he called off new military strikes on Iran, hours after threatening to escalate the war. Mr. Trump said final points and concepts of a potential deal had been approved by "all parties involved," including the U.S. and Middle East countries, but he did not list Iran. The president said the Strait of Hormuz will reopen as soon as an agreement with Iran is signed.”
While we fight and drain our weapon supply, China watches and waits. In a fascinating analysis in Foreign Policy, Hal Brands of Johns Hopkins writes that though we may be running out of munitions, they are running out of generals, with Xi’s serial purges having “effectively lobotomized the top ranks of the Chinese military.”
The size of our stockpiles is classified, but estimates by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, based on publicly available data, found that US forces fired more than 1,000 long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, or roughly one-third of the entire stockpile. “In short, the conflict has badly strained a military that has been trying to do too much with too little for far too long.”
What are the implications? “Even if conflict with Iran could fortify the psychological pillars of U.S. deterrence, it has weakened the material foundations of that deterrence. And whatever the complexity of Xi’s calculations, U.S. military weakness creates greater risk that China could choose to test the status quo more aggressively—or that deterrence could fail if an unanticipated crisis sends tensions soaring and brings the cross-strait standoff to a head.”
Remember the trees… In Deuteronomy, we read how when the Israelites went to battle against a city, they were instructed not to “destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit.” This wasn’t just a prohibition against a "scorched-earth" policy, but rather an expansion of the definition of victory. There were short-term tactical needs (cutting down non-fruit-bearing trees for siege ramps) and long-term economic survival. In this instance, we are cutting down Iranian trees, but we need to be cognizant of the Chinese forest. (Deut. 20)
5. House votes against extending controversial wiretapping law set to lapse Friday (WaPo)
“The House of Representatives on Thursday rejected a last-minute attempt to extend a controversial warrantless-surveillance law, as Democrats continue to protest President Donald Trump’s decision to temporarily place Bill Pulte, a mortgage agency director and MAGA loyalist, atop the U.S. intelligence community. The vote failed 218-198, with 19 Republicans joining nearly all Democrats in opposing the bill. It would have required a two-thirds majority to advance under the parliamentary tool House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) used to quickly bring the legislation to the floor.
“The result all but ensures that Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a post-9/11 spy tool that both parties have argued is critical to U.S. national security, will lapse for the first time. The program is due to expire Friday at midnight. As they prepared to leave Washington on Thursday, lawmakers sought to blame the other side for the stunning failure to reach a deal.”
Welcome to the era of the permanent campaign, according to Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson. In their book The Spirit of Compromise, Gutmann and Thompson write how the “more that campaigning comes to dominate governing in democratic politics, the harder compromise becomes.” In this instance, it becomes harder to reauthorize FISA.
There are 2 mindsets: uncompromising and compromising. The uncompromising mindset is rooted in the modern campaign, which “favors candidates who stand firmly on their positions.” This mindset is about drawing distinctions and standing by principles, as it should be. It has 2 elements: “principled tenacity” and “mutual mistrust.” This operates under the assumption that “their opponents are motivated mainly by a desire to defeat them and their principles.”
By contrast, the compromising mindset is about reaching solutions in a democracy that at times requires some compromise. It also has 2 elements: “principled prudence” and “mutual respect.” This is “a pragmatic recognition that compromise is usually necessary in a democracy to accomplish anything of significance.” To “reach a compromise, then, politicians must adjust their wills as much as their reason. They must be able to turn a will to oppose into a will to cooperate. That involves a psychological shift as much as a policy change.”
Tryon Edwards noted that compromise is but the “sacrifice of one right or good in the hope of retaining another.” When Peter compromised, he sacrificed faithfulness for worldliness. He preferred to fit in rather than stand out. Then there is Daniel, who revealed the value of compromise by not confusing the means with the ends. As he demonstrated, compromise is the art of bending in some areas but not breaking in others. (2 Chron. 18, Dan. 1, Eph. 2)
4. Trump nominating prosecutor Jay Clayton to be next director of national intelligence (CBS News)
“President Trump on Thursday announced he's nominating Jay Clayton, the current U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, to be the next director of national intelligence. The president urged the Senate to confirm Clayton "as soon as possible."
“Mr. Trump's pick for acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte, has attracted strong criticism from Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill, stalling work on extending a key spy power that is set to lapse this weekend. Democrats are refusing to agree to an extension as long as Pulte is set to assume the role. The president said Pulte will take over for Tulsi Gabbard on June 19. Mr. Trump made the announcement of his selection of Clayton on Truth Social.”
You’re Still The One – Shania Twain sings it and Pres. Trump said it to Mr. Clayton. But in all seriousness, hiring is one of the more difficult aspects of leading a team, identifying data points that predict success instead of simply relying on data that is available. However, researchers have discovered that referred candidates are more likely to get call backs, more likely to be hired, and more likely to stay at the company. Though they only account for 6 percent of applications, referrals result in more than a quarter of all hires.
Welcome to the age of signal collapse… Today, large shares of job applicants are using generative chatbots to polish their language and summarize their accomplishments. A study out of Columbia found that though this raises the quality, it does so at the expense of “compressing” and “homogenizing” the information. Now, hiring managers are straining to “distinguish underlying expertise,” and to separate precious signal from chatbot noise.
Enter Samuel from HR… In 1 Sam. 16, Samuel is sent to Bethlehem to anoint Israel’s next king from among the sons of Jesse. When Samuel sees the oldest brother, Eliab, he thinks, "Surely this is the one." Eliab looked the part, but God was looking at other data points and, in turn, directed Samuel accordingly. Hiring is tough, but it doesn’t have to be as tough as we sometimes make it.
3. SpaceX Sets Milestone With World’s Largest I.P.O., Furthering Musk’s Power (NY Times)
“SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite maker, officially finalized its initial public offering price to become the world’s largest stock market debut, in a testament to the tech mogul’s influence and people’s belief in his business vision.
“On Thursday, SpaceX confirmed its I.P.O. price was set at $135 a share and that it would sell more than 555 million shares, according to a company statement. That means SpaceX would raise around $75 billion from its offering, putting its valuation at $1.77 trillion.
“With those numbers, SpaceX would shatter an I.P.O. record previously set by Saudi Aramco. Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company was valued at $1.7 trillion and raised more than $29 billion when it went public in 2019. SpaceX will begin trading publicly on Friday under the ticker symbol SPCX.”
Channeling Travis Tritt, those involved with SpaceX are singing It’s A Great Day To Be Alive… But then again, in general, it is a great day to be alive. Global GDP has increased as much in the past 30 years as it did in the previous 30,000 years. In 1986, global GDP stood (in inflation-adjusted terms) at $33 trillion. It now exceeds $73 trillion. The World Bank has defined the level of abject poverty at the equivalent of $2 per day. In 1800, 94 percent of our ancestors lived in abject poverty. Today, that number has fallen below 10 percent.
Money isn’t everything… but it can help with a lot of things – like medical care. For example, in 1800, there wasn’t a country on earth with a life expectancy greater than 40 years. Today, there isn’t a country on earth with a life expectancy under 40 years. People are living longer, and they're living longer with fewer disabilities.
Silver as common as stones… Under King Solomon, Israel reached its economic zenith. They controlled international trade routes, built magnificent structures, and made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem. Money was plentiful… and also tempting. That moment wasn’t all bad, but it wasn’t all good, either. H.L. Mencken once observed: "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." In this instance, I’m less concerned about Musk with all of this money/power and more concerned about this moment with all of the opportunity. (1 Kings 10-11)
News You Can Use
2. Coppin State graduate goes viral for rap video celebrating her accomplishments
Watch it here. “Sing to the LORD a new song…” (Ps. 96:1)
1. Small Town vs Big City Business Names
Watch it here. “And so Adam named all the living things…” (Gen. 2:20)
