Taliban Getting $87M EACH WEEK from Taxpayers, Witchcraft Animal Sacrifices in NYC, Terrorists' Pagers Explode (Really)--8 Dead Egypt Abusing Prisoners--US Footing the Bill (The Five for 09/17/24)
Hey, welcome to The Five, a publication about the stories that matter.
One quick note before we dive in. Over the past few months, I’ve been working on finding the right tools to continue to grow my main business, run this niche publishing platform, tame the chaos of having young kids…and generally keep moving forward.
In some ways, it’s been good. I’ve dropped 40 lbs this year and increased my monthly recurring revenue, but I know that I’m still nowhere close to my potential.
I read The Twelve Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks Than Others Do in 12 Months awhile back, and it didn’t make much of an impact. However, when I picked the book back up this summer, it had a huge impact on me.
(NOTE: The book is free on Audible with any paid plan).
I’ll be leading a weekly discussion of the book and goal setting accountability group, which kicks off next week.
It’s free to join, but very limited (likely to just 5 or 6 members).
Just one catch…I ask that you make a donation to charity (you pick the nonprofit and the amount) for any week you wind up skipping.
The group will kick off next week, and wrap up the week of December 16th.
Interested? Fill out this form, and I’ll be in touch.
With that being said, let’s dive into the news…
[one]
It’s hard to say what THE strangest headline of 2024 has been so far, but the controversy of whether or not Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield, OH is certainly up there.
A bit of good news, I suppose…Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has confirmed that the bomb threats against various targets in the city, in response to the alleged pet eating, are definitely fake.
Thirty-three separate bomb threats have been made. Each one has been responded to, and every single one has been found to be a hoax. To be very clear, none of these threats had any validity at all. We understand people are very concerned, and we have taken action. In a moment, I'll let Andy Wilson provide more details.
We've moved resources into Springfield, and I want to reassure the parents there that all of these threats have been hoaxes. None of them have been credible. Unfortunately, we have people overseas, some from one specific country, who are using this as an opportunity to disrupt the United States.
We cannot let these bad actors win. Our schools must remain open.
Every time you think the whole “eating the dogs, eating the cats” thing will cycle out of the news…nope, a new development.
Just a warning, the rest of the stories are pretty heavy, so if you want to take a 2 minute break and enjoy the dance remix before proceeding, here you go:
[two]
The claims about eating pets in Ohio may (or may not) be exaggerated, or completely fabricated…but what we know for sure it that animals are being tortured and sacrificed in New York City…and officials are vowing to crack down.
City and federal parks authorities are beefing up resources near Jamaica Bay in Queens following The Post’s expose last week of surging animal sacrifices in the area.
The National Parks Service promised to install a pair of mobile lights by the Addabbo Bridge in the federally-managed Spring Creek Park to ward off people torturing and killing animals under the cover of darkness, Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens) announced.
NPS spokeswoman Daphne Yun said the agency would also provide additional parks police patrol in the area, where animal rescuers said at least eight animals were found dead or maimed since late July.
These have included five wounded pigs, a near-dead baby rat stuffed in a bag with chicken bones, and a dog carcass with its neck snapped.
[three]
Remember to keep getting up every morning, going to work and paying your taxes…the terrorists we fought against for 20 years are depending on you!
Yup, we’re sending loads of cash to the Taliban, to the tune of $87 million per week.
Lemonde (a French publication) reports:
The US may have been forcibly ousted from Afghanistan by the Taliban in the summer of 2021, but three years later, it is still by far the country's biggest donor, despite being outlawed by the world. According to the UN, this financial windfall and the waivers granted by Washington to ease sanctions against the Islamist regime are vital if the country is to avoid collapse. The special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (SIGAR), the agency tasked by the US Congress with overseeing the use of US funds, said the US "has appropriated or otherwise made available $20.71 billion in assistance" since the withdrawal of its forces.
This amount includes nearly $3 billion in humanitarian and development aid. The experts also considered the $3.5 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan state, frozen by Washington and transferred in September 2022 to the Afghan Fund set up by the US Treasury in Switzerland to "protect macro financial stability on behalf of the Afghan people." In its calculation, SIGAR took into account spending on Afghan refugees welcomed to its territory since August 2021. For example, $8.7 billion was spent on the evacuation and care of Afghans evacuated to the US under Operation Allies Welcome, part of which is funded by the US Department of Defense. These operations took place in part under Taliban supervision, and the Taliban are said to have taken their tithes from Afghan NGOs working in the field.
The US Departments of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security committed nearly $3 billion and $284 million respectively. The Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2024 included a $5.53 billion commitment from the Department of State and the Department of Defense for the Enduring Welcome program, designed to continue the care of Afghan refugees.
Believe it or not, there are still pro-freedom forces fighting in Afghanistan…and fighting AGAINST the American-funded Taliban (get your head around that) and U.S. military equipment we left behind.
For a VERY deep dive on this issue, check out former Navy SEAL Sean Ryan’s interview with Ahmad Massoud, the son of a legendary Afghan Commander who defeated the Soviet invasion.
You can sign the petition to get Ahmad to testify in front of Congress here.
[four]
And if you thought we had covered all the terrorism and torture your tax dollars funded this week…think again.
The US State Department will not restrict any military funding to Egypt, including funds conditioned on human rights, a State Department spokesperson told CNN Wednesday.
The agency informed Congress Wednesday that it intends to provide Cairo with $1.3 billion in foreign military financing assistance, the spokesperson said.
Egypt has been accused of sweeping human rights violations under President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, but Cairo has been a key negotiator in the discussions about Gaza – a fact the spokesperson referenced in explaining the administration’s decision to fully provide the funding.
“This decision is important to advancing regional peace and Egypt’s specific and ongoing contributions to U.S. national security priorities, particularly to finalize a ceasefire agreement for Gaza, bring the hostages home, surge humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in need, and help bring an enduring end to the Israel-Hamas conflict. This decision also reflects Egypt’s crucial role in promoting a ceasefire in Sudan, and its instrumental efforts to get humanitarian assistance to the Sudanese people,” they said.
$225 million of that foreign military funding requires Egypt to meet broad human rights conditions. $95 million is contingent on the determination that Cairo “is making clear and consistent progress in releasing political prisoners, providing detainees with due process, and preventing the harassment and intimidation of American citizens.”
The vast majority of the funding – $980 million – does not have conditions.
Last year, the agency withheld $85 million that had been conditioned on Cairo’s progress in its treatment of political prisoners, instead diverting that money to Taiwan and Lebanon, sources with knowledge of the matter told CNN.
Egypt’s abuse of prisoners is notorious, with former political prisoner Ramy Shaath describing scenarios in which prisoners are chosen at random and tortured…not for information or confession, but simply for the entertainment of the guards.
Again, your tax dollars at work.
[five]
And finally…in one of the craziest stories of the year (again, saying something there), Israel appears to have made the pagers of terrorists overheat and explode.
At least eight people were killed and 2,750 others including Hezbollah fighters, medics and Iran's envoy to Beirut were wounded on Tuesday when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, security sources and the Lebanese health minister said.
Lebanon's information minister Ziad Makary said the government condemned the detonation of the pagers as an "Israeli aggression". Hezbollah also blamed Israel for the pager blasts and said it would receive "its fair punishment".
The Israeli military declined to comment on Reuters enquiries about the detonations.
A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the detonation of the pagers was the "biggest security breach" the group had been subjected to in nearly a year of conflict with Israel.
Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the Gaza war erupted last October, in the worst such escalation in years.
Hezbollah confirmed in a statement the deaths of at least three people, including two of its fighters. The third person killed was a girl, it said, adding that an investigation was being conducted into the causes of the blasts.
Just a few hours after the attack, most security experts are baffled by how the attack was possible, but former Army Intelligence officer Ryan McBeth thinks it’s possible that Israel overwhelmed the pagers with electrical signals…and could be a lead in to a larger conflict with Hezbollah.
Until the next one,
-sth