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Navigating Challenges, Terrorist Warning, and Averting Shutdowns
Essential Tips for Family Business Success
Marketing Rebels
March 23, 2024
Good morning. It's Saturday, March. 23, and we're covering the $1.2 trillion spending package, US embassy warning Russia of terrorist attack, 5 most interesting things about the NBA's worst teams, and much more. First time reading? Sign up here.
American Fact of the Day!
Rhode Island: Rhode Island has a state rock. All of the states in the U.S., except Pennsylvania, have a state rock or a state mineral. Rhode Island’s is the Cumberlandite. Next time you’re near Narragansett Bay, on either side, see if you can find a Cumberlandite, which is typically brown or black with hints of white.
Breaking Updates
House Passes $1.2 Trillion Spending Package to Avert Shutdown
The House of Representatives passed a package of spending bills totaling $1.2 trillion Friday morning in an attempt to avert a government shutdown. The bills now await action in the Senate, and if passed Congress will have kicked the fiscal responsibility can down the road, until the fall. The bills also contain some tiny increases in spending related to combating illegal immigration meant to placate Republicans:
To win over support from Republicans, Johnson has also touted some of the spending increases secured for about 8,000 more detention beds for migrants awaiting their immigration proceedings or removal from the country. That’s about a 24% increase from current levels. Also, GOP leadership highlighted more money to hire about 2,000 Border Patrol agents.
Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) called the bill a win for the D.C. Cartel and not the American people. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) accused Speaker Mike Johnson of being owned by Democrats, saying, "it’s clear that the Democrats own the speaker’s gavel," while Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) said:
“We told the people we were going to have a smaller government, and we told the people we were going to secure the border. It’s a sad day.”
Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) left no room for misunderstanding about his position, calling himself "a hell no on this bill" and saying, "The bottom line is that this is a complete and utter surrender."
Read more updates here
US Embassy Warned Russia of Terrorist Attack and Putin Ignored It
Friday evening, Moscow time, four or five armed men strolled into the Crocus Concert Hall in northwest Moscow and opened fire on the crowd. Before departing the area they had killed at least 40 people and wounded over 100 more.
What makes the whole story more interesting is that on March 7, the US Embassy in Moscow issued a public warning that a terrorist attack on a concert venue was imminent. The US warning was joined by similar warnings from multiple foreign embassies in Russia. Reacting to that intelligence, the FSB rolled up an ISIS cell in a Moscow suburb.
On March 9, Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee (KNB) confirmed media reports that two Kazakh citizens had been killed by law enforcement in Russia.
Two days earlier, on March 7, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had stopped an Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) cell from carrying out a terrorist attack targeting a synagogue.
Telegraph channel Meduza has highlighted that on March 19, Vladimir Putin dismissed alerts from U.S. diplomats regarding a potential terrorist attack on a densely populated venue in Moscow.
The Russian leader denounced the American cautionary advice as "blackmail" from the West, aiming to "intimidate and destabilize our society".
Read more updates here
