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- 🌊 A Cure for Malaria?
🌊 A Cure for Malaria?
Plus: Gov shutdown ends, DOJ sues Cali, & Vine to return
Roca Wave is growing. Legacy media in flood zone.
This week we hit a couple big milestones on YouTube: 400k subscribers, 10 videos with over a million views, and 100 comments from our dads telling us to “learn how to weld.” In all seriousness, thank you to all of you who’ve supported our journey there and helped us put together these mini-docs on your part of the country. We are truly just getting started — the road to a million (and welding certificates) begins now.
Have a great weekend, and here’s 20 Questions!
🦟 Could this drug end malaria?
👨🏻⚖️ DOJ sues California over new map
📈 Vine comes back from dead
–Max and Max
KEY STORY
New Malaria Drug Shows Promise
A new malaria treatment cured more than 97% of cases in a late-stage clinical trial
Malaria killed roughly 597,000 people in 2023, mainly children under 5 years in Africa. There hasn’t been a major breakthrough in treating malaria for 25+ years
On Wednesday, Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis announced that in a study of 1,688 people across 12 African countries, a new drug, GanLum, cured 97.4% of malaria cases, compared to 94.0% with current standard treatments
Novartis plans to make the drug available on a non-profit basis
Dig Deeper
GanLum combines a new compound (ganaplacide) with an existing malaria medication (lumefantrine) to attack the parasites that transmit malaria to humans. Ganaplacide disrupts how the malaria parasite moves proteins inside cells, which it needs to survive inside red blood cells
Lab testing showed the drug worked against drug-resistant forms of the parasite and also blocked transmission of the disease from infected people to mosquitoes
The trial lead said, "Drug resistance is a growing threat to Africa, so new treatment options can't come a moment too soon"
KEY STORY
Government Shutdown Ends After 43 Days
President Trump signed a bill to end the longest government shutdown in US history
On Sunday, eight Senate Democrats broke with their party to advance a funding package, providing just enough support to overcome the Senate's 60-vote threshold. The Senate passed the bill Monday night, and the House approved it 222-209 on Wednesday evening
The deal includes full-year funding for the Agriculture Department, military construction, and food stamp programs through September 30. Most Democrats opposed it because it included only a promise for a Senate vote on healthcare subsidies, not a guarantee of passage or a House vote
Dig Deeper
The Wall Street Journal reported that the breakthrough came when a small group of Democrats met privately with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-LA) in late October, concerned about federal workers missing paychecks and food aid programs running out of money
Federal workers will start receiving back pay on Saturday, but the deal only funds most of the government until January 30, raising the prospect of another shutdown early next year
KEY STORY
EU Reduces Corporate Sustainability Rules
The European Parliament (EP) voted to reduce requirements for companies to monitor and report on labor conditions and environmental damage in their supply chains
In 2024, the EU adopted regulations requiring companies to track issues like child labor, unsafe working conditions, and environmental harm. The rules applied to companies with 1,000+ employees and €450M in annual revenue
Businesses and conservatives alleged the rules were burdensome and made EU companies less competitive, and on Thursday, the EP voted 382-249 to reduce the regulations
Now, only companies with 5,000+ employees and €1.5B in annual revenue must comply, exempting 90%+ of originally covered companies
Dig Deeper
The legislation also eliminated requirements for companies to produce plans for reducing their carbon emissions and removed mandatory reporting on labor and environmental practices for most businesses
Supporters said the changes would save companies an estimated €5B annually in compliance costs, while lawmakers of the left opposed the vote, including one Green Party member who called it "a sad moment for our European values"
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
Your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.
KEY STORY
DOJ Sues California Over Redistricting
The US Justice Department joined a lawsuit against California's new congressional maps
Last week, California voters approved Prop 50, which redrew maps from the state's independent redistricting commission to help Democrats gain up to five Republican-held seats. The vote was a response to a similar move in Texas, which just redrew maps to favor Republicans
The plaintiffs argue that California's redistricting violated the US Constitution by improperly using race as a factor to favor Hispanic voters. Attorney General Pam Bondi called the redistricting "a brazen power grab that tramples on civil rights and mocks the democratic process"
The lawsuit asks a federal judge to block California from using the new maps
Dig Deeper
One high-ranking official in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement that "race cannot be used as a proxy to advance political interests, but that is precisely what the California General Assembly did with Prop 50"
Democrats expressed confidence that the newly approved maps would withstand the legal challenge. A spokesperson for California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) said in a statement that "these losers lost at the ballot box and soon they will also lose in court"
If Prop 50 is upheld, the new maps would remain in place through the 2030 election, after which the state's independent redistricting commission would resume its normal responsibilities
WE THE 66
America’s TikTok Billionaire
In Part 2 of our series on who’s profiting off the Trump Administration, we do a deep dive on billionaire Jeff Yass
To hear his story and learn how he’s profiting off Trump Admin policies, check out today’s We The 66 deep dive!
RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office
📣 A new poll from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) found that 74% of Americans believe freedom of speech is headed in the wrong direction, marking a 10-point jump from July and the highest level since tracking began in January 2024.
🪧 Starbucks workers at 65 unionized US stores went on strike on Thursday, demanding better pay and staffing as contract negotiations remain stalled.
💰 Michael Burry – the “Big Short” investor famous for betting against the housing market before the 2008 crisis – is closing his hedge fund after warning that market valuations have become disconnected from fundamentals.
🇺🇸 Congress tightened restrictions on hemp products as part of the bill to end the US government shutdown, potentially devastating the hemp industry.
🛰️ Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ aerospace company, launched its New Glenn rocket on Thursday, carrying two NASA satellites to Mars in the vehicle's first customer mission and second flight overall.
What does Roca Nation think?
🇺🇸 Yesterday’s Question: Any responses to the billionaire answers? Curious to hear more thoughts since yesterday’s responses were so interesting.
It would appear that Roca received responses tilting to a majority opinion that billionaires should not exist. If that doesn't scream to the symptomatic problem of socialistic and communistic pariahs infesting our culture - y'all need to get hearing aids for your cerebral cortex. Pay attention, America. The minute we allow people to dictate how much money one is allowed to earn/accumulate - that's when China's goals of cultural manifest destiny will be attained.
I think what Sean from Connecticut said is a classic example of the common argument against billionaires that is completely based on feelings. He said being a millionaire is okay, but billionaire is unacceptable? Who draws that line? The reality is, there is no fair way to dictate people’s wealth. If you choose one person to be judge over an individual’s wealth, that’s a king. If you choose a special group to be judge, those are the elite. If you forcibly take from others because you don’t want them to have more than you, that’s a dictator. Each human, when guided by their own personal feelings and beliefs, is not capable of being a fair judge. There is no realistic way to regulate an individual’s wealth without that system becoming corrupt. Of course I want billionaires to be philanthropic, but you can’t force them to be the same way you can’t force the middle class to be. Let’s stop acting like you have to be a billionaire to benefit and aid society, stop projecting your own personal duty to others onto the rich, and step up and help our communities ourselves instead of attempting to delegate it to the wealthy. Just because you are not a billionaire doesn’t mean you can’t be helpful. And just because someone is a billionaire doesn’t mean they are required to be more helpful than you.
Should billionaires exist part deux
I agree with the sentiment that we should not inherently limit success. HOWEVER, the playing field needs to be fair. The ultra-rich have taken over our government and are creating rules that allow them to succeed at the expense of the rest of the population. That is what needs to be fixed.
I also believe it's immoral to be a billionaire, especially if you aren't SUBSTANTIALLY giving back to society - and that doesn't include creating another for-profit company to explore space. But my beliefs are my own and shouldn't dictate laws.
20 Questions!
We're doing our first-in-a-long-time ratings edition of 20 Questions. You'll have categories that range from "fish sticks" to "Bradley Cooper," and will report back with average ratings next week.
POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour
⌚ Frozen in Time: A gold pocket watch recovered from Titanic victim Isidor Straus is expected to fetch £1M at auction, becoming one of the most expensive artifacts from the disaster.
🏆 Walk-anda Forever: Actor Chadwick Boseman will receive a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 20, with his widow accepting the honor on his behalf.
📲 Do it for the diVine: Jack Dorsey is reviving Vine as "diVine," a new platform launching a beta version on Thursday with over 100,000 archived 6-second videos from the original app that shut down in 2017.
🐊 See Ya Latah, Alligatah: A small alligator spotted multiple times along Boston's Charles River this week has been captured and rescued by wildlife officials after becoming an unlikely social media star.
🤖 Russian Bot Falls Flat: Russia's first AI-powered humanoid robot face-planted onstage during its debut at a Moscow technology showcase, stumbling and falling flat while attempting to wave at journalists.
ROCA WRAP
The Ancient Teacher
Confucius
This philosopher's teachings have shaped 2,500 years of Chinese civilization and continue to influence people today.
Born Kong Qiu in 551 BCE just south of modern-day Beijing, Confucius grew up in poverty after his father died when he was three. His mother raised him alone, and he later worked as a bookkeeper and shepherd to support her. Despite humble beginnings, he became perhaps history's most influential moral philosopher, creating a system of ethics that prioritized personal virtue, family loyalty, and moral leadership over laws and punishment.
Around the age of 30, Confucius pioneered accessible education in China, accepting anyone as a student regardless of social class. Instead, he required only a symbolic gift of dried meat as tuition. His curriculum covered six arts, including music, archery, and mathematics, but his real focus was moral development.
Confucius trained students to become government officials who would rule through example rather than force, teaching them his Silver Rule: "Do not do unto others what you do not want done to yourself." More than 3,000 students would pass through this curriculum.
Despite his reputation as a teacher, Confucius spent years attempting to implement his ideas in government with little success. Appointed Minister of Crime in his home state, he tried convincing aristocratic families to dismantle their fortified cities and restore power to the duke. He managed to convince some families to raze their walls, but when the powerful Meng family refused, his political career collapsed. At 56, he left the state and spent the next 13 years wandering, presenting his philosophy to various rulers who listened politely but never adopted his reforms.
Confucius returned home at 68 and spent his final years teaching and editing ancient Chinese texts, including the Book of Changes and the Classic of Poetry. He died at 71 or 72, burdened by the loss of his son and favorite disciples. Buried on the banks of a river, his humble tomb has since expanded into a 183-hectare cemetery holding over 100,000 graves of his descendants.
Confucius believed he had failed to reform society, yet in 140 BCE, Emperor Wu of Han made his teachings China's official state philosophy, requiring all civil servants to master Confucian texts. That system lasted nearly 2,000 years until 1912.
Today, his descendants number over 2M people across 83 generations, making his family tree the longest continuously documented lineage in human history. For a man who thought he'd failed, his success proved remarkably enduring.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts
Mark from California said it well: “incredible insight on the written comments on billionaires. I especially like the comment on legislators wearing uniforms such as NASCAR so we know who owns them.”
We had the same takeaway. Your insights on the billionaire question — and others we’ve asked in recent weeks — were excellent. The quality and civility of discourse you provide in our inbox are amazing. Thank you.
–Max and Max