Chipotle Operated by Robots?, Israel Occupying Syria "For Some Time" As Syrian Minority Religion "Begs" To Become a Part of Israel, Madison, WI School Shooter Left a Manifesto? (The Five for 12/17/24)

Hey, welcome to The Five, a publication about the stories that matter.

And no, I won’t be writing about the mysterious drones…your guess is as good as mine.

With that being said, let’s dive into the news…

[one]

As the world waits to see…what the heck Syria is going to become, Israel is occupying a small part of the country, until further notice.

The Associated Press reports:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday Israeli forces will stay in a buffer zone on the Syrian border, and specifically on the summit of Mount Hermon, “until another arrangement is found that will ensure Israel’s security.”

Netanyahu made the comments Tuesday from the mountain’s snow-dusted summit — the highest peak in the area — which is located on Syria’s side of the border. This was apparently the first time a sitting Israeli leader entered the Syrian territory.

Netanyahu said he had been on the summit of Mount Hermon 53 years ago as a soldier, but the summit’s importance to Israel’s security has only increased given recent events.

Israel seized a swath of southern Syria along the border with the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, calling it a buffer zone, in the days after Syrian President Bashar Assad was ousted by rebels. Israel’s capture of the buffer zone has sparked condemnation, with critics accusing Israel of violating a 1974 ceasefire and possibly exploiting the chaos in Syria for a land grab.

Netanyau visited the buffer zone with Defense Minister Israel Katz, who said he instructed the Israeli military to quickly establish a presence including fortifications, in anticipation of what could be an extended stay in the area.

The matter is further complicated by members of the Druze religion (it’s complicated…they embrace aspects of both Christianity and Islam, but are also strong believers in reincarnation) are begging to become a part of Israel to avoid persecution at the hands of terrorists, according to the Telegraph:

The residents of a Druze community in southern Syria have expressed a desire to become part of Israel to prevent assaults by “radical Islamists.”

A video circulating on social media shows a gathering of the religious minority in the Syrian village of Hader, in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria which is now fully controlled by the Israeli Defence Force.

“If we have to choose, we will choose the lesser evil. And even if it’s considered evil to ask to be annexed to the [Israeli] Golan, it’s a much lesser evil than the evil coming our way,” a man told a crowd in Arabic, according to a translation by Times of Israel.

The unnamed man said the “evil” coming for the Druze “might take our women, might take our daughters … might take our houses”.

Unfortunately, the average American sees the Middle East in the binary—Jew or Muslim. In reality, the region is home to a diverse population, both in ethnicity and beliefs.

[two]

Yesterday’s school shooting was a rare one…a female teen mass shooter (the 2nd, in recent memory…after the Covenant Christian School shooting in Nashville, where I had personal connections to two of the victims).

The motive…may yet be revealed, as it looks like the killer left a manifesto, according to The Daily Wire:

Madison, Wisconsin, police are looking into a possible manifesto or letter written by the 15-year-old female shooter who killed a classmate and a teacher and wounded several others before turning the gun on herself at Abundant Life Christian School (ALCS) on Monday morning.

The teen girl used a handgun that police recovered from the scene and was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told CNN on Tuesday that authorities “have been made aware of a manifesto … or some type of letter that’s been posted by someone who alleged to be her friend.”

“We haven’t been able to locate that person yet, but that’s something we’re going to work on today,” Barnes added.

Social media posts have circulated claiming to reveal what the shooter wrote before the fatal shootings, but so far, police have not confirmed the authenticity of any alleged manifesto. The police chief also addressed unsubstantiated claims that have spread on social media claiming that the shooter identified as transgender. Barnes said on Monday night that authorities “don’t know” whether the shooter “was transgender or not.”

[three]

It’s REALLY tough to figure out exactly what’s going on with the economy…but Christmas shopping is (mildly) good news for what Axios calls a “yellow light economy.”

Consumer spending has still strengthened over the past year. Retail sales, which are not adjusted for inflation, are nearly 4% higher than the same period a year ago.

• The cross-section of categories in the report that feed into GDP calculations still look OK in November, an encouraging sign for fourth-quarter growth: Retail sales excluding building materials, gasoline and autos rose 0.4%.

The bottom line: Consumers are not pulling back on spending in a way that would suggest the economy is in the midst of a downturn — but for those looking for signs of soft patches, this report offers some evidence.

• "From the Fed's perspective, scratching a little below the surface it will view this report as evidence of some moderate softening, consistent with another rate cut, but not evidence of any major weakening," Richard de Chazal, a macro analyst at William Blair, wrote in a note.

In other words, a bunch of people buying cars bailed out the economy this quarter…

[four]

No, the Polio vaccine is not going away, despite rampant rumors on social media…but farm pesticides may be another matter.
Breitbart reports:

President-elect Donald Trump on Monday praised Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, as “a very rational guy” and said his administration would not revoke the polio vaccine.

The matter came up during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago when a reporter asked Trump if he wanted Kennedy Jr. “to revoke any vaccines?”

“No, I want him to come back with a report as to what he thinks. We’re going to find out a lot,” Trump said.

“We’re doing two things: We’re going to have tremendous cost savings will come out of this, that’s a minimum. And we’re also going to have, and I think, very serious discussions about certain things,” he added, naming “pesticides” as an example.

“Europe doesn’t use pesticides, and yet, they have a better mortality rate than we do. They don’t use pesticides. In fact, they use it as an excuse not to take our farm product,” he said. “We spend billions and billions of dollars on pesticides.”

“And something bad is happening. Again, you take a look at autism today versus 20-25 years ago, it’s like not even believable,” Trump continued.

Trump again stressed that there would be reports before any changes.

[five]

Finally, fast food giant Chipotle is looking to double locations…but without many employees, according to their CEO.

Yahoo reports:

"It is my endeavor to really modernize the kitchen," Boatwright told Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid podcast (see video above or listen below). "It's been exactly the same for 30 years."

Automating the kitchen will be crucial to Chipotle's expansion and goal of hitting 7,000 total locations from its current 3,600 stores.

In October 2023, Chipotle and Hyphen introduced a digital makeline, in which a burrito bowl or salad travels along a conveyor belt while the system automatically dispenses each ingredient into the bowl. The process is currently in the testing phase in Southern California restaurants.

The days of fast food jobs…may be numbered.

Until the next one,

-sth