🌊 DEI Continues to DIE

Please don’t give us a key to the city, Detroit.

Happy Friday, Roca Nation. After a few days of exploring northern and central Michigan, we’re now in Detroit and eager to explore the Motor City. One fun fact is that Detroit once gave Saddam Hussein a key to the city after he made a big donation to a church. Thankfully, the US hasn’t looked for WMDs here, but we sure would like to double check Sesame Street.

Happy Labor Day Weekend! 20 Questions link right here.

–Max, Max, and Owen

KEY STORY

Telegram Charges Brought

France formally brought charges against Telegram founder Pavel Durov

• French authorities arrested the Dubai-based Durov on Sunday. On Wednesday, they formally accused him of enabling drug trafficking, money laundering, and the distribution of child abuse content. Durov was released on bail but can’t leave France

• French authorities said they arrested Durov after “an almost complete absence of response from Telegram to judicial demands”

• If convicted, Durov faces up to 10 years in prison

Dig Deeper

• Also on Wednesday, the EU disclosed an investigation into whether Telegram had understated its user numbers to avoid regulations triggered when a company hits 45M users

• EU authorities said Telegram was required to submit a user-number filing this month but failed to do so

KEY STORY

DEI Boycotts Continue

Ford became the latest US company to roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies

• In June, conservative activist Robby Starbuck called for a boycott of Tractor Supply Co. over the company’s DEI and climate change policies. The boycott hit Tractor Supply’s market cap, and it responded by nixing the policies

• Similar boycotts have since hit John Deere, Lowe’s, Harley Davidson, and others, all of which have ended various DEI-related policies

• This week, Ford became the latest company to do so, announcing that its priorities had “evolved”

Dig Deeper

• Starbuck claimed Ford is the seventh company to roll back such policies

• It said it would change its human resource priorities and end participation in a prominent index that ranks companies by their pro-LGBTQ policies

ROCA’S PARTNERS

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Together with Public Rec

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• Shop the best deals of the year, happening now through 9/2

KEY STORY

Iced Tea Secrets

Arizona’s 99-cent iced teas may be in jeopardy

• Vobev – one of Arizona’s suppliers – hired Evercore, an investment bank, to help the company sell itself. While uploading items to a shared document space for potential acquirers, Evercore bankers illegally uploaded a confidential document detailing how Arizona can sell its Iced Teas for 99¢

• The tea-maker’s founder said the secret agreement fell into the hands of Ball Corp, another major beverage supplier, putting Arizona’s 99¢ drinks in peril. A NY judge has ordered Evercore to reveal everyone who had access to documents

Dig Deeper

• Evercore said it uploaded the document per the instructions of Vobev and argued their case should be dismissed

• The judge disagreed, though, and ordered Evercore to turn over records of everyone who had access to the document

• This July, Arizona’s founder had said the company’s big cans – which have retailed for 99 cents since 1992 – were the company’s lifeblood: “We’re successful, we’re debt free, we own everything… Why have people who are having a hard time paying their rent pay more for our drink? Maybe it’s my little way to give back”

KEY STORY

Paralympic Games Begin

The Paralympic Games opening ceremony took place in Paris last night, kicking off the competition

• Over the next week and a half, more than 4,400 athletes with intellectual, physical, or visual impairments will compete in more than 20 different sports. Organizers said they have sold more than two million tickets

• The International Paralympic Committee President says he’s hoping the games will create a global “inclusion revolution” that stretches beyond sports and into classrooms, concert halls, and boardrooms

• The Paralympics will be broadcast on NBC

Dig Deeper

• China has dominated The Games this century, taking home both the most golds and overall medals in every Summer Paralympics since 2004

• The United States is the all-time leader in Summer Paralympic medals with 2283, followed by Great Britain (1914) and China (1237)

• Four-time Paralympian Steve Serio and 2016 champion Nicky Nieves carried the USA’s flags for the opening ceremony

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

💊 A new study that looked at 200,000 diabetes patients found that a class of diabetes drugs was strongly correlated with decreased dementia risk

🤖 OpenAI is in negotiations to raise money at a $100B valuation. For context, only 168 public companies are currently worth $100B+

🏠 California’s legislature passed a controversial bill that will allow undocumented immigrants to receive government funds for up to a 20% down payment on their first home

🚫 The suspects in the foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna earlier this month intended to kill “tens of thousands” of fans

🇺🇸 Kamala Harris gave her first interview since becoming the Democratic nominee. She gave it to CNN and did it together with Tim Walz

COMMUNITY

🧐 Yesterday’s question: Do you consider drunk driving to be a major moral flaw?

ASK AND TELL
20 Questions

Ladies and gentlemen, the (Labor Day) Weeknd.

Not sure about where you live, but in Michigan right now there is a slight crisp in the air. Hollywood could not write a better script for the first full weekend of college football.

The theme for today's 20 Questions is a fun one: It's work-themed! Excited to see your answers for Labor Day 20 Qs.

Here’s the link.

Last Week’s 20 Questions:

Highlights from your answers to last week’s historical “would you rather” edition of 20 Qs.

• Roca Nation would rather fight at the Colosseum than have dinner with Jeffrey Dahmer.

• Roca Nation would rather go to a play with Abe Lincoln than drink Kool-Aid with Jim Jones.

• Roca Nation would rather drink scotch with Ernest Hemingway than smoke a blunt with Bob Marley.

• Roca Nation would rather storm Normandy than defend the Alamo.

• Roca Nation would rather train with the Samurai than with the Spartans.

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

🥤 The final straw: Capri Sun is launching new plastic bottles for its juices. The brand — which became a staple for kids with its iconic juice pouches — hopes the bottles will appeal to adults

🚔 Surprise! You’re arrested: Police arrested a woman during a city council meeting in Surprise, Arizona, over a law that bans public criticism of officials. She went after one of their salaries

🍔 Gonna need a bigger arch: McDonald’s is finally launching the “Big Arch,” its largest burger to date. The Big Arch is twice the size of a Big Mac and consists of 1,030 calories

🫀 CPR on aisle one: On his first day working at a Texas Kroger, an assistant store leader saved a co-worker’s life. He administered CPR on the co-worker for four minutes until paramedics arrived

🏎 Danger Car: The F1 safety car for the Italian Grand Prix crashed after spinning off at a high speed during a test lap at the Monza Circuit on Thursday

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

First of all, apologies for this sentence yesterday in the “Dig Deeper” of the story on voting: “However, they’re this year’s are taking on special significance because of fraud claims related to the 2020 election." We know that hurt some of your brains — apologies for the error.

Second of all, we hope you have an amazing Labor Day Weekend! We just heard back from our doctor, and he said no amount of cfb is too much.

–Max and Max