Hi Reader,
One way to grow and advance in life is to stay relevant. Try to stay up to date and knowledgeable on the latest trends and ideas in your field and or area of interest. Staying in the know can create new opportunities for you.
Housekeeping
Its the end of the year so our schedule will be slightly adjusted as we go into the new year. This week and next week will be the last weeks we'll be publishing content for Life with Ken. The last Newsletter of 2024 will be on December 16th, while the last Weekly Roundup will be on December 21st.
We have some dynamic content planned for the next two weeks so be sure to join us on our Substack so that you can receive that content when it releases. We will be on holiday break from December 22nd through January 5th. And we'll be back with our first Newsletter of 2025 on January 6th. Follow us on social media to stay connected with us throughout the holiday season and beyond!
What I am Interested in This Week:
Government Upheavals All Over the Place
I was going to only talk about Syria. I will do an exclusive Syria story on my X (Twitter) page, so follow me over there for an in-depth look. I am broadening this story because it's a similar story happening simultaneously around the world. I am interested in geopolitics because I am a traveled person having been to three continents and six countries. I plan on traveling more. Life with Ken has a diverse audience and I want to cultivate global citizenry. This year we have talked about Japan's government being in turmoil. We have been following the happenings unfolding in Ukraine and the middle east respectively. We've talked about France who I will highlight again here in a moment. And we've covered Haiti. Now, let's talk about South Korea, Romania, and Syria. With the addition of France, South Korea, Romania, and Syria are just the latest countries to have their governments topple and or experience serious duress. Again, because of the nature of our Newsletter I can't go into heavy detail here and I will make subsequent content on this topic, but, On December 3, 2024 President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea declared martial law to try to usurp power from the Democratic party in South Korea's legislature. The Democratic party is the majority party in the legislature by a significant margin and since Yeol's ascent to president they have been a persistent bulwark against his agenda. The martial law or military rule declaration was voted down by a defiant National Assembly who fought their way into their legislative building to vote. Political uncertainty continues to persist as the unpopular Yeol faces continued threat of impeachment and legislative opposition.
In France the government has collapsed. Following the snap elections in June and the subsequent redistribution of power, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal resigned. After doing so, President Macron appointed Michel Barnier as Prime Minister. The government has since collapsed after a vote of no confidence in Barnier on December 4, 2024. Barnier was trying to get a somewhat bipartisan austerity budget passed that was all but DOA. France is facing a deficit that is far outpacing their GDP, which is against European Union requirements. Macron and his politics are blamed for this budget bloat and there have been comparisons to Greece made. Without a budget the government can't function and this may be the case for a while. As an aside I appreciate France's approach to politics, I say this nearly every time I bring them up, and it would be nice to see the American people and the American government take a note from their book. In Romania, their top court has annulled their presidential results citing Russian interference. Romania's current president will remain in office until a new election is done and his term officially ends December 21, 2024. This comes after the current president declassified intelligence reports alleging that Russia had interfered with their election. And in Syria, Syrian rebels have ousted President Bashar Al-Assad. Assad is now currently taking refuge in Russia. So yeah, governments are in upheaval around the world.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Shot and Killed
This is an ongoing story from last week. On December 4, 2024, Brain Thompson, UnitedHealthcare CEO was shot and killed in New York City. The assailant is still at large and the NYPD are struggling to stay on this trail. The act appears to be a radicalized "V for Vendetta" kind of attack, as written on the bullets used by the assailant were the words "deny," "defend," and "depose," which is a title of a book by Jay Feinman, on the corrupt practices of insurance companies. As of Sunday the NYPD has released photos of the killer and think they may have identified him though details about the suspect have yet to be made known to the public. Police think he may have left the city by now. They found his original backpack that he had at the time of the incident in central park, but they have have yet to find a murder weapon. The "legs" of this story continue into the public's mixed reaction. some are mourning the loss of life while others are in agreement with the action taken as the insurance system in america is corrupt and statistically UnitedHealthcare is one of the main perpetrators of that corruption. Thompson's wife has said that there have been death threats coming to the family for some time now and other insurance companies have started removing the names of their top leaders from the internet and similar places. My feelings are mixed on this and that's all i'm going to say in this context.
Josh Allen Becomes the Best Quarterback of his Era
I am a Bills fan so I have to shout out my Bills after this accomplishment. Even though we lost the game to the Rams, our lead quarterback and captain, Josh Allen made NFL history as the first quarterback to ever complete three touchdown passes and run the ball for three touchdowns in a single game. I didn't get a chance to watch the game but I will. Allen was 22-37 receptions to attempts accumulating 342 passing yards. He also was the lead rusher of the game with 10 carries. Basically he scored all the points in a game that ended 42-44 Rams. As a fan who didn't watch the game my concern is why is he working so hard!? We did have a decent amount of inactive players this game so that likely contributed. I enjoy seeing my team do well but I am concerned about Josh's longevity, he most recently had an elbow injury as of last season. He's fine but he needs support. We claimed the AFC East Division Championship after beating the San Francisco 49ers 35-10, clinching our position in the playoffs. We also have the lowest winning record of those with a clinched position in the playoffs at 10-3. Our division rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs also have a clinched spot in the playoffs with a 12-1 record and have won their 9th AFC West Division Championship in a row. The bills have four more regular season games three of which are divisional games, and this coming Sunday, December 15th, we play the Lions who are 12-1 and won their division championship. Go Bills!
Honorable Mention
Jay-Z Accused of Sexual Assault - An amended lawsuit was filed on Sunday accusing Jay-Z of r***ing a 13 year-old girl with Sean "Diddy" Comes back in 2000. Sean Carter (Jay-Z) has made a statement saying this is absolutely untrue and he plans to fight to protect his name and his family. Click here to read an article on this story.
Encouragement for Your Week
This week I want to encourage you to be determined. As this year ends I am reflective of how I made it this far with the amount of opposition I've faced on all sides. I am grateful to have God in my life and when I think about it, the idea of determination resonates with me. Despite all that I've been through so far, I want to be a certain kind of person. I want to exist in this world in a certain way. Despite all types of nouns trying to stop and or deter me, with God I've remained determined. I thank God for that. I could have given up, I've tried to. I could have listened to losers, I have. But despite that I still want the same and or similar things out of life. That level of consistency in ideology and approach to life is a blessing. I am who I am and I want to be who I want to be and by the grace of God no one is going to stop me. I encourage you to cultivate that kind of determination in your life. Don't let anyone stop you. Let your desires and willpower resonate so deeply in you that no matter what you go through you have a north star and you know who you are, what you want, and how you want to live, no matter what.
Respond to this email and or contact us, I am happy to communicate with you!
Have a standout week!
