Hello C3 Family!

My Weekly Rant

Everything is going to be alright!!

We all know that sex and violence sells, so any news media you listen to whether it be mainstreamed, conservative, or liberal you are bound to think that the world is on fire. It also doesn't matter what your worldview is, you will end up thinking we are all going to die tomorrow if you consume enough "news." This is even true in the world of Christian News. Catholics think that the Pope and the Church leadership are becoming increasingly more corrupt and diabolical, Protestants believe that Christianity is dying and overall people believe that Christ has forgotten us. The fact that bad news is news that sells will always have us believing that the world is a crappy place. 

This problem is something that we like to blame others for, but really it is on us. We are the ones consuming the news, whether it be political, religious, or financial. It is up to us to give better incentives to the news producers to focus on the good. Sure, the world is the Enemy's camp and Satan is having his day, but we too easily forget that the war has already been won and Christ will never forget about us. I know that there are many, many, many wretched news stories out there because the world can be a harsh place, and I am not saying we should all be naive to that. What I am saying is that the bad should not dominate our lives, and the endless news cycle should not dominate our lives, and that remains true even if it transitions to just push out feel good stories. 

We constantly think that we are the saviors of the world. We think we can keep the church sane, we think we can bring about a new and better regime, we think that we can solve the worlds financial problems if people just listened to us. But here is the thing, we can actually do all of those things, but not in the way you might think. We can do all of those things by focusing on loving our families and doing the right thing. Living out a good example of a life that glorifies God is the way that you allow Christ to save the world through you. You do no need to preach and shout from the roof tops or tell everyone how bad things are. You need to go through life with Joy because your savior lives and the war has been won.

I say all this because most of the time the financial news, which this email is dedicated to, seems to be predominantly on the negative side.  That is a harsh reality, but no matter how much terrible financial news is out there, remember we still live in the most abundant time humanity has ever experienced and that fact coupled with THE WAY that Christ has offered us is a reason for Joy!

Top Stories of the Week

• Israel has called up 300,000 reservists and at least 11 US citizens have been killed in the Israel-Hamas (AKA US funded Iran) War. The war has caused Oil futures to rise over 5% in rapid fashion.

• Nelson Pretz, a billionaire activist investor, is renewing his fight to get multiple board seats on Disney.

• Walgreens pharmacists are the next group of workers to walk out on the job citing harsh working conditions. The question needs to be asked, our working conditions that harsh in America, or are we just feeling a bit entitled? I don't know the answer, I am genuinely asking. Mack Trucks workers went on strike as well this week.

• The Economic noble prize was awarded to Claudia Goldin for her work in the gender pay gap "problem." Goldin made the groundbreaking discovery, which wasn't news to anyone, that pay for women falls after the first child is born because they do not work as much. 

• RFK Jr. will run for president as an independent in 2024 and analysts think this will steal more votes from Republicans than Democrats.

• Google is launching an AI tool that will help the healthcare industry pull-up your medical history quickly and from anywhere.

• There is problem brewing at the Mexico-Texas Border because of lengthy inspections being conducted to uncover illegal migrants. Nearly $2 billion worth of goods have been delayed at the border. This problem is a result of Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott’s plan to try and control the larger border crisis. So now the Border problem has become a supply chain problem.

• Consumers are still willing to spend money on the name brands as Pepsi just increased their outlook. This is a big deal, since Pepsi does not just participate in the carbonated sugar water business but the snack and health drink business as well. Americans will stop at nothing to get its name brand snacks, inflation be damned!

• Hamas received over $41 Million in Crypto since mid-2021. Talk about a case for at least some regulation!! Now Israeli officials and Binance are working together to make freeze crypto accounts supporting Hamas. 

• Charles Feeney, the billionaire founder of the Duty Free Airport shops and savvy tech investor has just died. Feeney is known for giving away almost his entire fortune to humanitarian causes like ending the death penalty, and stopping genocidal violence overseas as well as funding hospitals. Feeney kept $2 million for himself and gave away over $8 billion. Feeney was raised Catholic and this influenced him heavily.