🌊 Alexa, Scam Our Customers

On this day in 1902…

Businessman and fashion pioneer Levi Strauss died in San Francisco. Levi’s was the first company in history to manufacture blue jeans, though at the time they were called waist overalls — “Sydney Sweeney has nice waist overalls” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. Levi Strauss, by the way, never married and had kids. So ironically, he never got to give any of his genes to the next generation.

With that awful pun out of our system, here’s today’s 20 Questions!

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

Amazon Fined $2.5B for Prime Trickery

Amazon agreed to pay $2.5B to settle Federal Trade Commission charges of deceptive Prime membership practices

• The FTC alleged that Amazon used “dark patterns” – deceptive website designs – to trick consumers into unintentionally enrolling in Prime by displaying prominent buttons like “Get FREE Two-Day Shipping” without disclosing recurring costs

• The settlement included a $1B civil penalty – the largest in FTC history – and $1.5B in refunds to affected customers

• Amazon must implement changes within 90 days, including clearer subscription buttons and simpler cancellation processes

Dig Deeper

• Eligible Prime customers will automatically receive $51 payments if they used three or fewer Prime benefits during any 12-month period between June 2019 and June 2025

• The FTC said nearly 40M consumers were affected by Amazon’s alleged conduct

• Amazon must create a “clear and conspicuous” button for customers to decline Prime membership while shopping and ensure the cancellation process is as easy as signing up

KEY STORY

Huntington’s Breakthrough

A new gene therapy has become the first treatment to successfully slow the progression of Huntington’s disease

• Huntington’s disease is a devastating inherited brain disorder that typically strikes people in their 30s or 40s, causing brain cells to die progressively and leading to uncontrolled movements, cognitive decline, and eventually death within about two decades

• Researchers at University College London released results showing the experimental therapy slowed disease progression by 75% in patients after three years

• The treatment stops the production of toxic proteins that damage brain cells using a harmless virus to deliver genetic material into neurons, which then instructs cells to block the production of the harmful huntingtin protein

Dig Deeper

• The treatment requires a complex surgical procedure lasting 12 to 18 hours, during which doctors use real-time brain scans to guide a thin catheter deep into two specific brain regions

• UniQure announced plans to submit the therapy for regulatory approval in the US in early 2026, with a potential launch before 2027 if approved

• Professor Sarah Tabrizi said many more people might now seek genetic testing since an actual treatment exists, rather than just symptom management

KEY STORY

xAI Secures Federal Government Deal

The US government struck a deal with Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI to provide its Grok chatbot to federal agencies

• The General Services Administration has been working since April to bring AI tools to federal agencies through its “OneGov Strategy,” with similar partnerships already existing with OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic

• Federal agencies gained access to xAI’s Grok models through an 18-month agreement announced Thursday, with the 42-cent fee representing the lowest price of any AI partnership secured by the government

• The deal places xAI alongside the three other major US companies developing advanced AI systems for government use

Dig Deeper 

• The agreement follows a period of tension between Musk and President Trump after Musk departed the Trump Administration in May

• The two appeared to reconcile at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service Sunday, where they shook hands and spoke briefly

• Negotiations for the xAI deal began in July, with Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum confirming Musk was not directly involved in the discussions

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KEY STORY

Trump Threatens Shutdown Firings

The Trump Administration warned federal agencies to prepare for permanent mass layoffs if the government shuts down on October 1, when current funding expires

• Since taking office, Trump has worked to reduce the federal workforce, with about 300,000 federal workers leaving this year

• Trump’s Office of Management and Budget directed agencies to prepare plans that would permanently eliminate positions in programs without dedicated funding

• The memo represents a change from typical shutdowns, where employees return to work once Congress approves new funding

• Democrats have blocked Republican funding proposals, demanding restoration of healthcare subsidies and Medicaid funding cut under earlier GOP legislation

Dig Deeper

• Federal workers across multiple agencies reported receiving no formal guidance about the potential shutdown, learning about the threat from news reports rather than their employers

• Trump canceled a planned meeting with Democratic leaders this week, saying their demands were “unserious and ridiculous”

• The Senate plans to vote again Monday on the Republican funding proposal, but without Democratic support, the government will shut down next Wednesday if no agreement is reached

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

🪖 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth summoned senior military officers from around the world to an urgent meeting in Quantico, Virginia, next week.

💰 A Paris court sentenced former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to five years in prison for conspiring to seek illegal campaign funding from Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi in 2007.

🍵 Starbucks announced it will lay off 900 corporate workers and close hundreds of stores as part of CEO Brian Niccol’s cost-cutting strategy to improve cafe operations.

🔫 A 29-year-old man has been identified as the gunman who attacked a Dallas ICE facility on Wednesday, killing one detainee and critically wounding two others.

🛩️ Unauthorized drones forced the closure of multiple Danish airports on Wednesday night into Thursday morning, including military facilities, in what officials are calling a systematic hybrid attack.

What does Roca Nation think?

🍿 Yesterday’s Question: Would you rather see your favorite artist in concert live or attend a home playoff game of your favorite sports team?

20 Questions!

Ladies and gentlemen, the Weeknd.

Today we bring you a long overdue return of the "Ratings" edition of 20 Questions. We give you a list of people, things, places, and abstract concepts (20 Questions does not get enough credit for its intellectual stimulation), and you rate that thing on a scale of 1 to 10.

1 is the worst; 10 is the best. And no, this has nothing to do with looks. Although if you do find your 4th grade chemistry teacher attractive (prompt #18), feel free to get that off your chest and onto the Google Form. We can't wait to see what you have to say. Let's ride!

Link to 20 Questions!

Last Week’s Responses

Average responses to last week’s “Bad Movie Quotes” edition of 20 Questions. The higher the number, the worse the quote.

"I guess my heart just doesn't know it's in high school." – High School Musical 3 - 6.3
"I’m gonna take you to the bank, Senator Trent. To the blood bank." - Hard to Kill - 5.7
"I don’t like sand. It’s coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere." - Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones - 5.0
"It's Lethal To Bats....But Deadly To Humans" - Morbius - 6.6
"The Illumin-what-i?" - The Multiverse of Madness - 5.4
"I am a peacock, you gotta let me fly!" – The Other Guys - 4.6
"You think your life is hard? I'm a high school junior wearing size 13 Nikes. Beat that." – Tall Girl - 5.5
"You haven't known the triumphs and defeats, the epic highs and lows of high school football." – Riverdale - 5.7
"You're like my own personal brand of heroin." – Twilight - 6.7
"My gold stars are a metaphor for me being a star." – Glee - 7.0
"I have a master's degree in American literature. There's nothing I can't handle." – Pretty Little Liars - 6.3
"I'm such a whore" "Well you're my whore." – The Secret Life Of The American Teenager - 6.8
"Make a move and the bunny gets it." - Con Air - 4.5
"You better hold on tight, spider monkey." - Twilight - 6.6
"Let's kick some ice!" - Batman and Robin - 5.6
"I think World War 2 just started." - Pearl Harbor - 6.0
"I did not hit her. It's not true. It's bullshit. I did not hit her. I did NOT...oh, hi Mark." - The Room - 5.9
"Can I sit here?" "It is a free country, or at least it will be."- The Patriot - 5.7
"I want you to drain every ounce of their blood, even if it kills them." - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - 6.4
"On this planet we have a saying: 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'""I also have a saying: 'I don't care.'" - Transformers: Age of Extinction - 5.2

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

🇰🇷 Skin in the Game: South Korea legalized tattoo artistry by non-medical professionals for the first time since 1992, ending over three decades of criminalization that subjected artists to prison sentences and hefty fines.

💀 Hard-Headed Evidence: A million-year-old fossilized skull from central China is challenging established timelines of human evolution, suggesting modern humans split from Neanderthals much earlier than previously believed.

🎙️ Buzz Marketing: Happy Dad Hard Seltzer, owned by the Nelk Boys, became the first-ever hard seltzer partner of The Joe Rogan Experience, the #1 podcast in North America with 73M monthly listeners.

🏋️‍♀️ Granny Gains: Britain’s strongest grandmother has broken four world records just 18 months after discovering powerlifting at age 65.

🥤 Meet the Pop: Actor Ben Stiller has launched his own soda brand, Stiller’s Soda, featuring three nostalgic flavors: Lemon-lime, Shirley Temple, and root beer.

ROCA WRAP
The Eccentric Ace

Rube Waddell

This man became the most unpredictable Hall of Fame pitcher, once leaving mid-game to chase fire trucks.

Born near Bradford in 1876, George Edward “Rube” Waddell became both a dominant strikeout artist and baseball’s most notorious character. Even as a child, he exhibited erratic behavior, frequently skipping school and embarking on adventures. At age three, he simply walked to a local firehouse and stayed for days.  

Waddell’s fascination with fire engines defined his chaotic career. During games, he would abandon the pitcher’s mound whenever fire trucks passed the ballpark, sprinting off to follow the sirens. This happened repeatedly, forcing managers to post guards to prevent his escapes. Opposing fans learned they could distract him simply by making fire engine sounds from the stands.

Teams developed strategies to exploit Waddell’s childlike nature. Fans would hold up puppies or shiny objects, causing the pitcher to become mesmerized during the game. He would run over to pet dogs or stare transfixed at anything that sparkled, leaving batters waiting while he was lost in wonder.

Between seasons, Waddell starred in a melodrama called “The Stain of Guilt.” Unable to memorize lines, he improvised different dialogue nightly, yet critics praised his performances. The play became famous for scenes where Waddell would lift the villain actor and hurl him across the stage. He leveraged this success to negotiate higher baseball salaries. During off-seasons, Waddell would vanish for months. Teams discovered he was wrestling alligators in traveling circuses, treating the dangerous work as entertainment. This pattern of disappearing to pursue bizarre adventures left managers uncertain whether he would return.

Despite his eccentricities, Waddell was exceptional on the mound. He struck out 349 batters in 1904, a record that stood for over sixty years. During exhibition games, he would regularly showboat by waving all his fielders off the diamond, then strike out three batters in a row with only his catcher remaining. His career ended prematurely when he contracted tuberculosis while helping flood victims in Kentucky, dying at just 37 in 1914.

In baseball history, talent and madness rarely mixed so memorably.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

Got a note from a California reader that made us smile:

“I just now got a chance to read today's issue and I was really impressed by the story about the receptor in bone cells (GPR133) that acted like a master switch for bone building. I have an appt for a DEXA scan next month because I have osteoporosis so this is really cool news! I'm sure it won't be available for years to come but it's great to know that they are making progress.”

It’s nice to bring positive news stories to life with real people. Hopefully those researchers and regulators enter turbo mode to bring this treatment to market for her and all of our readers with osteoporosis. Have a great weekend!

–Max and Max