In 2024, the world changed. Here's how.
From the middle east, to a murderer achieving folk-hero status.
Hey, welcome to The Five, a publication about the stories that matter. Here are the events that changed our world in 2024.
Tomorrow, I’ll drop a best-of list for pop culture…then see you in 2025.
[the middle east]
The big stuff:
Iran’s President, Ebrahim Raisi, died in a helicopter crash in Azerbaijan in May. At first, this seemed like an assassination…but so far, it looks like Iran just had a garbage helicopter ferrying their most powerful leader. Things got a little weird when the Biden White House offered “official condolences,” and then the State department turned around and said Raisi had “blood on his hands.” (Duh).
Israel’s Hamas war extended to the northern border with Lebanon, after Hezbollah fired a missile from Lebanon that killed 12 ethnic Syrian children living in Israel, who were members of the Druze religion—a faith system that combines elements of Islam and Hinduism.
Shortly thereafter, Israel activated explosive pagers they had sold to the terrorist network, which literally castrated 37 terrorists. Four civilians, two of them children, were also killed in the micro-explosions.
In late November, the semi-dormant Syrian civil war kicked into high gear, when rebels took the city of Aleppo. The “transitional government” issued a statement today that elections could still be four years off. In other words, Syria probably just replaced a secular dictator with an Islamic Caliphate system. Iran, Iraq and Libya can now be entered into evidence under the catatory of “that doesn’t usually work out well.”
The Druze community (aka the people who were killed by Hezbollah to kick off the Israel/Lebanon war) in the Golan Heights are begging to be annexed into Israel, as they fear slaughter at the hands of Islamic terrorists. Israel has established contact, and appear to be in negotiations.
The U.S. was *MOSTLY* not on the ground, with two exceptions. The Biden Administration built an “aid pier” in Israel to take supplies to refugees in Gaza. Only it didn’t work. After we droppped $230M, the project was abandoned. Biden’s advisors pushed back against the project, but the POTUS allegedly went forward despite all warnings. After the fall of Syria, the Pentagon (begrudgingly) admitted there are 2,000 American troops on the ground—but what they’re up to is not exactly transparent.
Is the Middle East more stable? Closer to WWIII? It’s hard to tell…but a region that could always become hot…was marked by multiple wars this year.
[trump assassination attempts]
The big stuff:
Thomas Crooks, who grazed President Trump’s cheek in Pennsylvania, was tracked via cell phone tower data to have been “around the FBI headquarters in January 2023.” Correlation certainly does not prove causation, but it’s worth noting that Crooks’ name has completely disappeared from media coverage since the attack.
The 2nd would-be assassin is much more cut and dried…Ryan Wesley Routh, who tried to shoot Trump on a golf course this fall, was pretty bad at the whole thing. He was quickly apprehended, and appears to be insane. Routh’s trial has been delayed until September, in which his lawyers are expected to plead insanity.
Summary…Crooks’ deserves some additional investigation to determine (or rule out) any kind of government involvement in his actions. Routh appears to be full-on coocoo for Coco Puffs.
[diddy]
The big stuff:
In 2023, singer and Diddy-ex Cassie Ventura sued the music mogul for rape, sex trafficking and physical abuse.
This caused more than 100 other alleged victims to come forward and file lawsuits.
In March, Homeland Security raided Diddy’s homes in NYC, LA and Miami. He was charged with sex trafficking and racketeering in September, and remains in jail awaiting trial.
Diddy is accused of hosting “Wild King Nights,” which allegedly involved absurd quantities of alcohol and drugs…and mass rape.
The question is now…did the former rapper act alone, or is this another Epstein situation where we should be asking if the government was involved in order to blackmail high profile individuals.
The answer is FAR above my pay grade…but let’s not lose the central question in all the noise here. Diddy is almost certainly a rapist. The question now is…is he a rapist who had the blessing of the FBI or CIA?
[the vp picks]
This year, the Vice President picks played an outsized role in the election.
The big stuff:
Initially, the Dems launched a smear campaign against J.D. Vance, who the political left labeled Vance “weird,” brought up his “childless cat ladies” comment from cable TV in 2020, and spread the rumor that the first draft of Vance’s bestselling-memoir-turned-movie included a confession by J.D. that he had once had…shall we say “relations” with a couch. Google that one on your own time—not at work. The Dems went so far as to make the “weird” slander a yard sign.
Kamala Harris unexpectedly picked Minnesota governor Tim Walz as a running mate, despite the fact that PA Gov Josh Shapiro was MUCH more qualified and likeable…and in a swing state Kamala went on to lose.
Walz wound up being a huge drag on the campaign, from his false claims to have been in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square massacre, to claiming to have carried an AR-15 “in combat,” despite A) having never served in combat and B) AR-15’s are not used by any military. Walz tried to appeal to rural, blue collar voters, but couldn’t load a shotgun when he was bird hunting, and described a “pick six” as a play in football, rather than an interception…killing any credibility he had with the crowd he was supposed to bring in.
Then, during the VP debate in which J.D. Vance became a star and the proposed 2028 frontrunner due to a brilliant performance, Walz uttered the line “I became friends with school shooters.”
How much Vance helped Trump win is up for debate…but the negative impact that Walz had on Harris is…less subjective, and more clear when you look at the evidence.
We’ll never hear from Tim Walz again on the national stage.
[the ceo killer]
And finally, the United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered by rich kid/tech dude Luigi Mangione.
The big stuff:
Brian Thompson, the victim, was from small town Iowa, and was the son of a grain elevator operator. Despite coming from a rural, blue collar background, he worked his way up to leading a multi-billion dollar business.
Mangione, the accused murderer, grew up rich, and did have health problems…but not due to insurance denial. He turned to possibly large quantities of psychedelics to fix his back pain…which may have played a role in his decision to become a murderer.
Mangione was caught at a McDonald's, with the murder weapon on him. He has a rabid fan base who see him as a hero and sex symbol. It’s unclear if he wanted to be caught. It’s possible Mangione’s charges could be nullified via a jury, given his pop culture icon status tat the moment.
There’s a major cultural shift here…as Mangione represents the first time that a large chunk of Americans have cheered the murder of someone simply over their job/ideas they held…a la the French Revolution.
I’m not sure if there’s any credibility to the array of conspiracy theories around Luigi…but I can tell you to expect more copycat violence in 2025. Anything the public cheers…we get more of.
Until the next one,
-sth