Europe

My friend the philosopher James K.A. Smith gave a talk the other day at the Ethics and Public Policy Center’s Faith Angle Forum. In the Q&A, the Benedict Option came up. Here’s a link to the audio clip. The Ben Op discussion comes up at shortly past the 20 minute mark.

When someone in the audience asked Jamie (as his friends call him) to comment on the Benedict Option, he asked to go off the record because he’s a friend of mine. Someone — Mike Cromartie, I’m guessing — said no, keep it on the record, because “he can handle it.”

Submitted by Nick Giambruno via InternationalMan.com,

In the 1989 Batman movie, the Joker (played by Jack Nicholson) showers a crowded Gotham street with free money.

In the scene, it looks like it’s raining hundred-dollar bills. The people love it. Little do they know, the money is actually a trap. Once the Joker has lured them into the street, he unleashes poisonous gas.

Well, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s worst nightmare is about to come true.

For days there have been rumors that Syria might attempt to adopt some manner of federal system at peace talks in Geneva as a kind of compromise on the way to negotiating a political solution to the country’s five-year conflict that’s killed some 300,000 people and created the worst refugee crisis Europe has seen since World War II.

The Bank of Korea is aiming for a “cashless society” by 2020. The bank’s officials plan to provide South Koreans with cards instead of coins, since consumers are increasingly becoming comfortable with cashless payments due to the prevalence of mobile wallets, smartphones and mobile banking. Koreans now carry less cash as it gives way to credit cards and fintech payments. Now if a consumer were to purchase a 9,500 won item and pays cash using a 10,000 won banknote, the shopper would be credited 500 won to his or her prepaid card instead of getting a 500 won coin in change.

Today Janet Yellen and the FOMC will go back to square one and try to reset global expectations unleashed by the ill-fated December rate "policy mistake" hike, when at 2pm the Fed will announce assessment of the economy (even if not rate hike is expected today) followed by Yellen press conference half an hour later.