Second War Breaking Out in Eastern Europe? Kamala Outsources American Jobs, MidEast Peace Efforts...Improving? State of the Union & Inflation (The Five for 02/07/23)
Hey, welcome to The Five, a publication about the stories that matter and shape our lives—but may not make the front page.
A couple of notes before we dive in:
A). I don’t update this publication with much about my entrepreneurial life—but I’ll be coaching young Entrepreneurs as they try to win a cash prize for their business idea coming up very soon…if you’re interested in business and rapid growth marketing, I’ll be posting these to YouTube and linking in The Five.
B). If you’re an entrepreneur, manager or solopreneur looking for business and marketing strategy in 2023—you can tap into the knowledge base I’ve built built by placing major stories in
USA Today, CNN, Sports Illustrated (and many more)
generating millions of podcast downloads
Email open rates 10%+ above industry standards for lists of 300K+ subscribers
Insights on digital ad strategy from managing $2M+ budgets.
Wisdom from guiding marketing efforts for two Fortune 50 companies, Pampers, Skittles and other products you can find in Target and Wal-Mart.
In short, if you’ve got something to sell (idea or product) and want to go bigger in 2023, business coaching will be available later this year.
I’m currently full, but you can learn a bit more here, and email me— sethtowerhurd@gmail.com —to get on the list for later this year.
Also, I don’t work with just anyone—only individuals and companies with high growth potential (aka, I want you to make a lot of money from working with me).
With that being said…let’s get into the news.
[one]
An earthquake absolutely devastated parts of Turkey and Syria on Monday.
More than 2,300 people are dead after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria early Monday, according to officials.
The pre-dawn quake was centered in the town of Pazarcik in Turkey's southeastern Kahramanmaras province and was followed by several powerful aftershocks. Thousands of buildings were toppled on both sides of the border, and the death toll was expected to rise as rescue workers searched for survivors in the massive piles of rubble.
Both Turkey and Syria have declared a state of emergency.
At the time of this writing, at least 4,200 buildings have been destroyed, although that number will likely change by the hour.
This is the largest recorded earthquake in the history of Turkey and Syria.
UPDATE: The death toll has risen to at least 3,600.
[two]
As Eastern Europe is trying it’s darndest to pull the world (or at least major European powers) into a WWIII like situation…the Middle East is getting more peaceful?!
Israel is sending aid to Syria as well as Turkey as they grapple with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that killed over a thousand people in the region, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday.
Netanyahu said that Israel had received requests through diplomatic channels to assist in Syria, and that aid would be provided there.
“A request was also received to [provide relief] for the many who were injured in the earthquake in Syria,” Netanyahu said, and therefore he has “instructed that this be done.”
Israel plans to send tents, medication and blankets to Syria.In addition, a senior political official said that Israel would receive wounded Syrians for medical treatment if a request was made.
Israel considers Syria a hostile state, and the two do not have diplomatic ties. However, during the neighboring country’s bloody civil war, the IDF carried out a massive humanitarian operation to aid Syrian civilians.
That is…very good news for ongoing peace in the region.
And receiving ZERO coverage by the American corporate press.
[three]
It’s not possible to do justice to the ongoing Azerbaijan/Armenia conflict in a publication of this length (the two nations that are in a constant state of almost-war), but these tiny European nations are becoming a proxy for Russia, Turkey and Iran vying for more power.
The victims of this high stakes chess match are Armenians in one region of the country—who are being starved to death and frozen out.
As regional powers butt heads, a full-blown humanitarian crisis is unfolding, with baby formula, medicines and other vital supplies growing scarcer by the day. Schools have been shuttered and Nagorno-Karabakh’s 120,000 inhabitants put on ration cards as Azerbaijan continues to disrupt gas and electricity supplies amid sub-zero temperatures. Armenia’s leaders accuse Azerbaijan of seeking to ethnically cleanse Nagorno-Karabakh by starving the local population and forcing it to leave.
Azerbaijan’s strongman President Ilham Aliyev hinted as much in a Jan. 10 TV interview, saying, “Conditions will be created for those who want to live [in Nagorno-Karabakh] under the flag of Azerbaijan. Like the citizens of Azerbaijan, their rights and security will be ensured.
“For whoever does not want to become our citizen, the road is not closed, but open. They can leave. They can go on their own, or they can ride with [Russian] peacekeepers, or they can go by bus. The road [to Armenia] is open.”
Rebukes from the European Union and stiffer ones from the United States have had little impact so far as the siege entered its 51st day today. The International Crisis Group ranked Nagorno-Karabakh second after Ukraine among the top 10 conflicts to watch in 2023, warning in a report this week that “another war on Europe’s Eastern flank is real.”
Observations:
A). Wow, that “rebuke” from the failing European Union sure did a lot.
B). The “I Support the Current Thing” people on Facebook apparently only care about the butchery of civilians if their preferred news outlet informs them too.
C). Tragically, something like this is almost always happening. When the Russia/Ukraine conflict broke out, a colleague of mine made the comment that “we had outlawed war after WWII.”
Uhh…wut?
I grew up with a bunch of refugees from failed U.S. policy in Vietnam. War has never ended…but Americans are often too rich, comfortable and spoiled to notice.
D)., WWI started with major empires (Germany, Russia, England, the Ottoman Empire—now Turkey) messing around and starting a huge fight after a conflict in a small country in Eastern Europe (Bosnia). Two of those countries are involved in this conflict. That…does not help me sleep well at night.
[four]
In yet another political blunder…VP Harris is helping American companies outsource jobs.
Vice President Kamala Harris has helped companies direct investments outside the United States and into the economy of Central America in a move that the Biden administration claims will decrease record levels of illegal immigration.
Harris, who serves as the administration’s border czar, has frequently argued that the federal approach to border security should center upon addressing economic instability, climate change, and other “root causes” that purportedly lead to illegal immigration. She has galvanized a combined $4.2 billion in “private sector commitments to create economic opportunity in northern Central America,” according to a fact sheet from the White House.
Three things can be true at the same time:
A). This is political suicide for the 2024 election. Assuming Biden is not running again, this move alone could end Harris’ chances at the Oval Office. Outsourcing American jobs goes over about as well as proposing cuts to Social Security.
B). As someone who finds Harris to be about as off-putting and publicly incompetent as anyone who has held a major office in my lifetime—but I do understand this move, which was also tried by the Bush Administration.
It’s a good idea—but nearly impossible to execute on.
[five]
In tonight’s State of the Union—Biden will address (or, avoid) the rampant inflation that appears to be the #1 political issue for a large portion of the population.
According to Politifact, inflation has risen in just 24 months to the highest rates in 40 years—and was at only 1.4% under President Trump—which is a stat you can bet Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders—the youngest Governor in the country.
Until the next one,
-sth