Texas Woman Kidnaps Illegal Immigrant's Baby, Elon Musk Turning Twitter into "Mega App," Welcomes Trump Back? Serial Killer Muder Spree in CA, Oil Prices to Skyrocket? (The Five for 10/05/22)
Hey, welcome to The Five.
This is the rare week with three issues, since last week’s culture issue was late.
Let’s dive into the news…it aint good. That is, if you don’t want higher oil prices or global war…
[one]
I don’t want to be in the business of pearl-clutching and predicting certain conflict in the European theater for the first time in 70+ years, because no one know the future.
That being said, sending an aircraft carrier to train with NATO doesn’t make it less likely for war with Russia to break out.
The U.S. Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier embarked on its first-ever deployment Tuesday and will train with other NATO countries amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The USS Gerald R. Ford left the world’s largest Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, along with destroyers and other ships that make up its carrier strike group. The Ford will join vessels from countries that include France, Germany and Sweden for various exercises, including anti-submarine warfare, in the Atlantic Ocean.
The exercises come seven months after Russia invaded Ukraine and during a time of increasing tension between Moscow and the West. Bradley Martin, a senior policy researcher with the RAND Corporation, told The Associated Press last week the exercises will showcase American military capabilities and support for NATO.
The USS Ford is the first of the Navy’s new Ford class of aircraft carriers. They are designed to carry a wider variety of planes and operate with several hundred fewer sailors.
[two]
In one of the most horrifying stories to come out of the current border crisis, authorities say a Texas woman offered a ride to an illegal immigrant from Honduras, before kidnapping the migrant’s baby.
NBC News reports:
The suspect, Jenna Leigh Roark, was arrested last month on charges of hostage taking and aiding and abetting. Court documents did not list attorney information for Roark.
The FBI was alerted to the case on Sept. 26, when the St. Petersburg Police Department in Florida contacted it about a woman who said she had been separated from her infant son since May and was being extorted for money. When she made the complaint, she was living in Florida.
The woman, who is not named in the documents, told police that she crossed the border from Mexico and approached a man and a woman in an El Paso apartment complex looking for directions to the bus station, the complaint states.
The woman said that Roark said her name was "Jane" and that the pair offered her a ride to the station. During the drive, Roark told the woman that she would keep the woman's son, and the two women exchanged phone numbers, it says.
It was not clear Tuesday what was said during the alleged exchange or why the woman agreed to leave her child with Roark. The complaint offers no other details about the alleged encounter, and the Justice Department could not immediately be reached for comment.
"Jane would periodically send victim pictures and videos of son and victim and son would speak on the phone two to three times a week," the complaint states.
But soon after, Roark told the woman that she had to pay $8,000 to get her son back, says the complaint, which alleges that Roark later dropped the price to $5,800.
There’s no way to know how many other incidents like this, and other similar situations, are happening daily…because one of the issues with rampant illegal immigration is that is sets up the migrants to be abused, financially, physically and sexually in unfair labor situations, and at times…even via kidnapping.
[three]
The city of Stockton, CA may be dealing with an active serial killer on the loose, and have put up a large reward for information before the alleged murderer strikes again.
CNN reports:
The reward for information leading to an arrest in the killings of six people in a series of shooting deaths in Stockton, California, has been raised to $115,000, police said.
Stockton Police have said they believe the attacks, which include one non-fatal shooting, are related, and on Tuesday released surveillance video of a “person of interest,” emphasizing that the person is not seen committing any crimes on camera.
The person in the video has a specific, uneven stride and upright posture, which made them identifiable in the video surveillance they’ve recovered, Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden said.
Investigators also have ballistic evidence that connects the six homicides and one attempted homicide, according to McFadden. He would not elaborate on what the ballistic evidence is.
[four]
Tesla CEO Elon Musk appears to be buying Twitter, and claims he’ll turn it into a “mega app.”
Twitter has been bleeding users for years, so a major revamp is almost a given…but it’s unclear exactly what Musk is shooting for here as far as functionality goes.
Elon Musk has a new plan for Twitter Inc. after giving up a legal battle and agreeing to pay $44 billion for the company Tuesday.
That tweet was Musk’s first public statement Tuesday about the decision, which was revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier in the day. While the Tesla Inc. TSLA, -4.42% chief executive has tossed off myriad ideas for improving Twitter TWTR, -0.68%, this was his first mention of creating a new app that includes Twitter, though he has cryptically tweeted a hint before about plans for a social-media service under that name.
In a discussion with Twitter employees earlier in the acquisition process, Musk did bring up a desire to build a “super app,” a concept that has become ubiquitous in China, with offerings like WeChat, but has yet to find an equivalent in the U.S.
While the mention of turning “X” into its own app is new, Musk has a history with the letter well before Tesla released the Model X. One of Musk’s first big wins as an entrepreneur was when his online bank, X.com, merged with another company to create PayPal Holdings Inc. PYPL, 0.70% in 2000.
If the sale closes (as soon as a Friday), one major question is whether former President Trump will be un-banned from the app in time for midterms…
[five]
Finally, if you’re enjoying those cheaper gas prices…well, prepare for despair.
Oil production is being cut globally and prices are expected to climb by winter.
From The AP:
The OPEC+ alliance of oil-exporting countries decided Wednesday to sharply cut production to support sagging oil prices, a move that could deal the struggling global economy another blow and raise politically sensitive pump prices for U.S. drivers just ahead of key national elections.
Energy ministers cut production by a larger-than-expected 2 million barrels per day starting in November after gathering for their first face-to-face meeting at the Vienna headquarters of the OPEC oil cartel since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The group said the decision was based on the “uncertainty that surrounds the global economic and oil market outlooks.” Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman stressed the group’s stated role as a guardian of stable energy markets.
“We are here to stay as a moderating force, to bring about stability,” he told reporters.
Until the next one,
-sth