It’s Monday, February 3rd, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Adam McManus
European Union delegation warns Pakistan about human rights abuses
On Friday, a European Union delegation said that Pakistan’s preferential trade status could be jeopardized if it does not address human rights concerns, including controversial Islamic blasphemy laws, forced marriages and conversions of Christian girls, and freedom of religion, reports Morning Star News.
According to Open Doors, Pakistan is the 8th worst country worldwide for the persecution of Christians.
In John 15:18, Jesus said, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you.”
Reagan Airport’s control tower was understaffed
Since an Army Blackhawk helicopter crashed into an American Airlines jet last Wednesday night, killing all 67 people aboard both, authorities are taking a closer look at what went wrong.
Staffing at the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” reports The New York Times.
The controller, who was handling helicopters in the airport’s vicinity Wednesday night, was also handling planes that were landing and departing from its runways. Those jobs typically are assigned to two controllers, not one.
The Reagan airport tower was nearly one-third below targeted staff levels, with 19 fully certified controllers as of September 2023 instead of the recommended 30 controllers, according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan.
Alarms were raised about ‘congested’ airspace before fatal D.C. crash
In related news, Daniel Driscoll, Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the Army, questioned why military helicopters needed to conduct training exercises near such a busy commercial airport, reports The Guardian.
Driscoll told lawmakers that the incident seemed “preventable” and vowed to review Army practices.
Martin Chalk, a former British Airways captain who retired in 2020, said, “The military tend to have a bit of a law-unto-themselves approach,” explaining that military pilots do not have to follow all civil aviation protocols.
Senator Kennedy urges Kash Patel to reform the FBI, not burn it down
Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s nomination for director of the FBI, was at the center of a tense and highly charged Senate hearing Thursday in which he defended his calls for significant reform at the beleaguered agency.
Patel, age 44, worked as a counterterrorism prosecutor for the U.S. Justice Department under the Obama administration. Then, he served in the first Trump administration as chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Defense, deputy director of National Intelligence, and senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council.
Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana had a fascinating exchange with Patel.
KENNEDY: “You’re not saying that everybody at the FBI is bad, are you?”
PATEL: “Never said that. I’ve overwhelmingly said, multiple times, that 98% of the FBI is courageous, apolitical, warriors of justice. They just need better leadership.”
KENNEDY: “Who put away the Unabomber?”
PATEL: “The FBI.”
KENNEDY: “Who put away Timothy McVeigh and his [Joseph] Stalin‘s stomach for blood?”
PATEL “Agents at the FBI.”
KENNEDY: “Who helped investigate Jesse Smollett, who, in an effort of self-aggrandizement, set back the fight for minority rights for years? The FBI had opened an investigation, wasn’t it.”
PATEL: “Eventually, yes, Senator.”
KENNEDY: “There have been or were some bad people at the FBI and the Justice Department. Mr. Hunter Biden cheated on his income taxes. Didn’t pay $1.4 million in income taxes over four years. And he filed fraudulent returns. He tried to deduct his hookers as a business expense, and they hit him with two misdemeanors before there was a public outcry. Don’t you think the American people are entitled to know the details of that?”
PATEL: “The American people are entitled to a singular form of justice and the details to every public corruption investigation.”
KENNEDY: “You, you remember Peter Strzok?”
PATEL: “I sure do.”
KENNEDY: “One of the lead investigators for Mr. [Robert] Mueller‘s Russian collusion hoax.”
PATE: “Yes, Senator.”
KENNEDY: “You remember when the Inspector General, not his colleagues, turned him in? Inspector General found that Mr. Peter Strzok sent an email to his girlfriend. ‘Just went to a Southern Virginia Walmart. I could smell the Trump support.’ Remember that?”
PATEL: “He did that while employed at the FBI, while working on that investigation.”
KENNEDY: “Do you remember when the IG revealed another email by Mr. Strzok to his girlfriend? Mr. Strzok said, ‘I am riled up. Trump is an idiot. Is unable to provide a coherent answer.’”
PATEL: “Peter Strzok said that.”
KENNEDY: “You remember when his girlfriend texted Mr. Strzok? [She said,] ‘Trump’s not ever going to become president, right?’ And Mr. Strzok replied, ‘No. No, he won’t. We’ll stop it!’”
PATEL: “I do remember their insurance policy.”
KENNEDY: “And then Mr. Strzok testified, in front of God and country, that never had his political beliefs impacted his work. You believe in the tooth fairy?”
PATEL: (laughs) “When I was a kid.” (crowd laughs)
KENNEDY: “You believe Jimmy Hoffa died of natural causes?” (laughter) Then Mr. Strzok got fired, and next thing we know, the FBI and the Department of Justice, after he sued, gave him $1.2 million. Don’t you think the American people are entitled to know the details of that?”
PATEL: “Absolutely!”
Senator Kennedy gave Kash Patel this advice once he’s confirmed to be the new FBI Director.
KENNEDY: “Now, I want you to think hard before you answer my next question. Do you believe in the adage that ‘two wrongs don’t make a right, but they do make it even’”?
PATEL: “Senator, I think if anyone commits a wrong in government service, the American public deserve to know the absolute detail of that corrupt activity.”
KENNEDY: “When reforming the FBI and the Justice Department, ‘two wrongs don’t make a right, but they do make it even’ is the wrong approach, isn’t it?”
PATEL: “That’s correct.”
KENNEDY: “And we’re going to hold you accountable for that.”
PATEL: “I hope you do.”
KENNEDY: “There’s some good people at the FBI.”
PATEL: “Lots.”
KENNEDY: “And there have been, and may still be, some bad people there. And you’ve got to find out who the bad people are and get rid of ‘em in accordance with due process and the rule of law. And then you got to lift up the good people. Don’t go over there and burn that place down. Go over there and make it better! Do you commit to us today that you would do that?”
PATEL: “I commit to you, if confirmed, Senator, every single day, 24/7, 365, the FBI will be the premier law enforcement agency in the world!”
Christian teen hockey player suffered spinal cord injury
And finally, on Friday night, January 24th, while playing hockey, 17-year-old Jackson Drum of Parkers Prairie, Minnesota, sustained a traumatic neck injury during a hockey game in Vancouver, Canada. When he hit the boards head first, the 6’4”-tall young man with Fellowship of Christian Athletes Hockey endured a devastating spinal cord injury and had a cardiac arrest.
Fox 9 in Minneapolis talked with his aunt, Emily Nouyen.
NOUYEN: “There’s really no words to describe how our family is feeling.”
He was stabilized and rushed to the Vancouver General Hospital. On Saturday, he underwent surgery to fuse C1 and C2 together to stabilize his neck.
NOUYEN: “My sister has said a few times, ‘I feel like I’m in a nightmare!’ And that’s exactly how I would describe it: just devastation.”
Jackson remains on a ventilator, unable to move.
NOUYEN: “The doctors in Vancouver have prepared my sister and Jason for the possibility that Jack may not walk again, may not be able to use his arms, and may not breathe on his own.”
Jackson has a long road ahead in recovery with considerable medical bills accruing. It’s the family’s hope to move Jackson to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota as soon as he’s stabilized.
Please pray that God would miraculously heal Jackson Drum. Pray that the inflammation comes down, that he breathes on his own, and gets feeling back in his arms and legs.
So far, $66,280 has been contributed to pay for his medical care including a medical transport from Canada to Minnesota. You can help through a special link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com.
1 John 3:17 says, “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?”
Close
And that’s The Worldview on this Monday, February 3rd in the year of our Lord 2025. Subscribe by Amazon Music or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I’m Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.