<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style=""><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-e91c6721-7fff-c2f2-8630-c1161fe42b93" style=""><p dir="ltr" style="font-family:georgia,serif;line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The Today's Issues group meets at 9:30 on Sunday mornings in person in the parlor of the Religious Education buildings next to the church and on Zoom  at:  </span><a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8583258484?pwd=RFdJUGZOZkU4THArWFpnVkllZzh1dz09" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8583258484?pwd=RFdJUGZOZkU4THArWFpnVkllZzh1dz0</span></a><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">    </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-family:georgia,serif;line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This Sunday,  October 16, our discussion will be on consumer protection and the growth of the “metaverse”.  Here are some readings: </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-family:georgia,serif;line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-consumer-watchdog-chief-push-competition-scrutinize-big-tech-2022-04-26/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">In fiery Senate hearing, U.S. CFPB chief focuses on Big Tech influence, competition | Reuters</span></a></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-family:georgia,serif;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-06/us-to-step-up-crackdown-on-wall-street-big-tech-consumer-issues" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">US to Step Up Crackdown on Wall Street, Tech Consumer Issues - Bloomberg</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family:georgia,serif;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">  </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G630lQoVnilOEMq4N8n7QtuJLKh1V1Aae8h6ySzyRR8/edit?usp=sharing" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> Printable Google Docs File</span></a><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">.   Bloomberg requires registration to read the story on their site.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-family:georgia,serif;line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/07/technology/metaverse-facebook-horizon-worlds.html" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">24 Hours in the Metaverse Version of Facebook Was Surprisingly Fun - The New York Times (nytimes.com for subscribers)</span></a><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">   </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GKcGNSmaj2fk7iJqUaKDYlHTn1NOa-q_htB0JJWojdc/edit?usp=sharing" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> Here is a printable text only copy</span></a><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, no illustrations.   Here is a link to the</span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/07/technology/metaverse-facebook-horizon-worlds.html?unlocked_article_code=SEZaL-fqJBjVjwEj_rDaqX42lyuI8nRr_ZqXjBkgZpivHAdGZDuFvMLhgeS-Xar-NVQuCVOhZyfX_Om7yQBhWXp_AAzjLZddADyQ2V26irf495EG-4I5Zpol0ZU1IWqLpHAoCwFhlaY-ytms00O_Q3tdEV8tp7f5MDz2Stl6QSeC2KQ17Dm0sBTwFdxBv1-K8XW7QVf_5XeMO5jPnoQJyfqNHjbpRTO5DLzfGTaYnah4OttNcry1OQV3iPvrlJyPJjDMxuxl9Ro_2YXDsA8fkNx0GvzFOSu7Nsx4RVqjP5JwhLLJ2sCj_NrFwI1tU9aav-IsXRnb66V-O1PxGDgDY26gb_EEyk78zZ6zp83b&smid=share-url" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> full NY Times Article With Illustrations </span></a><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">that should work even without a subscription.  </span></p><br><p style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font color="#000000" face="Georgia"><span style="font-size:17.3333px;white-space:pre-wrap">Here are some extra readings and some YouTube videos on the Metaverse, in case you are interested to go more into this topic. </span></font></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-family:georgia,serif;line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2022/10/20/the-specter-of-our-virtual-future-the-metaverse-matthew-ball/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The Specter of Our Virtual Future | Sue Halpern | The New York Review of Books (nybooks.com)</span></a><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">  from the October 20 issue.  </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r-kKCJ0JxkJeYdeYQ4YlOaMDPv1OI3lUckOaEcCvxB0/edit?usp=sharing" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> Printable Google Docs version</span></a><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family:georgia,serif;line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family:georgia,serif;line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/09/technology/meta-zuckerberg-metaverse.html" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Inside Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse Struggles - The New York Times (nytimes.com)</span></a>  Let me know if you need a Google Docs of this</p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-family:georgia,serif;line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This is a seven minute YouTube video from a Wall Street Journal reporter sampling Virtual Reality worlds that already exist and are precursors to the most advanced “metaverse” Facebook is anticipating:  </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtLTZUaMSDQ" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Trapped in the Metaverse: Here’s What 24 Hours in VR Feels Like | WSJ - YouTube</span></a></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-family:georgia,serif;line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://remotereport.com/facebooks-horizon-workrooms-useful-collaboration-tool-or-gamers-gimmick/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Facebook’s Horizon Workrooms: Useful collaboration tool or gamer’s gimmick? – Remote Report</span></a></p><br></span></div></div>