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- 🌊 From Endless Shrimp to Endless Debt
🌊 From Endless Shrimp to Endless Debt
Plus: 2-for-1 TikTok ban and Ukraine aid special
Tomorrow is 4/20 and you might be wondering...
How did a random day in April become the blaze-it holiday? Well, it all started with a group of friends at a California high school who would meet at 4:20 after school to enjoy some ~groovy~ plants they had stumbled upon. The term "420" soon became synonymous with partaking in this ritual. Then, due to the doob-ious students’ Grateful Dead fandom, the term seeped into Deadhead culture.
And that's how a three-digit integer became a verb, noun, date, lifestyle, and Elon Musk's — but not his lawyers’ — favorite number.
In today's edition:
🇺🇸 2-for-1 TikTok ban and Ukraine aid special
💰 A surprise $143,000 T-Mobile bill
🏝️ Hawaii's Sumo King
–Max, Max, Jen, and Alex
KEY STORY
Conflicting Reports Out of Iran
Explosions were reported early in the morning in Isfahan, an Iranian province that is home to a military base, nuclear facility, and drone factory
Conflicting reports have emerged about what happened. US officials said an Israeli missile struck Iran, although they didn’t specify what it targeted or how much damage was done. Iranian officials claimed Iran intercepted an attack by small drones, and one general was quoted as saying that explosions heard in Isfahan were actually caused by air defense systems firing, not the attack
Iranian officials claimed, and the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed, that no Iranian nuclear facilities were damaged
Explosions were also reported in Iraq and Syria, although it is unclear whether they were connected to the Isfahan strike
Dig Deeper
Italy’s foreign minister told reporters that the US was only informed of the strike “at the very last minute”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken didn’t elaborate on the attack, saying only that the US wasn’t “involved in any offensive operations”
Notably, Iran downplayed Israel’s potential involvement in the attack, indicating it doesn’t plan to retaliate over the attack. One Iranian general told Reuters, “The foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed. We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack”
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KEY STORY
Colorado’s Brain Waves
Colorado’s governor signed into law a first-in-the-nation measure to protect the data from people’s brainwaves
Per the NeuroRights Foundation, there are 30+ “neurotechnology products” on the market. Meanwhile, brain chip startups – such as Neuralink – have pledged to develop commercial brain chips
Despite that, there are almost no privacy protections for data gathered through commercial neural devices
On Wednesday, Colorado’s governor passed a law protecting neural data. The state will now extend to neural activity the same protections already given to biometric data, such as fingerprints
Dig Deeper
The law only applies to data generated by commercial devices, as those developed for medical use are already protected
Neuralink, Synchron, and other brain chip startups have pledged to produce commercially marketable brain chips within years
KEY STORY
TikTok Ban + Ukraine Aid
US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson plans to tie aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan to a TikTok sale
For months, Johnson refused to consider a Senate-approved Ukraine aid bill. Meanwhile, the Senate stalled a House-approved bill that would force ByteDance to divest TikTok within 165 days
Now, Johnson is introducing three separate bills – collectively amounting to $95B – to provide aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. He is packaging those bills with a revised version of the TikTok bill that gives ByteDance 270+ days to divest
The House plans to send the package – which Biden supports – to the Senate, where analysts say it has a good chance to pass
Dig Deeper
The Biden administration backed Johnson’s plan, saying, “The House must pass the package this week and the Senate should quickly follow”
One of the TikTok ban’s most vocal critics in the Senate has also voiced support for the new package, saying that the longer time frame gives ByteDance more time to find a buyer
KEY STORY
Giant Snake Found
A giant prehistoric snake, possibly the largest ever, was discovered in a mine in western India
On Thursday, researchers announced in the journal Scientific Reports that they had identified 27 vertebrae of an ancient, now-extinct snake species. Based on the size of the vertebrae, the scientists estimate the snake was between 36 and 49 feet long
That would make it similar in size to the Titanoboa, a prehistoric snake species discovered in Colombia. “At this point, we cannot say if [the newly-discovered species] was more massive [than Titanoboa],” a co-author said
The longest modern-day snake is the reticulated python, which can measure up to 30 feet long
Dig Deeper
Researchers called the newly-discovered snake species “Vasuki indicus,” with the first word alluding to the snake king associated with the Hindu deity Shiva and the second alluding to India
The study’s lead author concluded that Vasuki “was a slow-moving ambush predator that would subdue its prey through constriction”
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RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office
🐦 The World Health Organization’s chief scientist said there is “great concern” that the bird flu could mutate and begin spreading between humans
👨👩👧👦 More than a dozen members of the Kennedy family endorsed Joe Biden on Thursday, snubbing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential bid
🇵🇱 Polish police arrested a man they accused of plotting with Russian intelligence services to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
🚓 Four states — Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota, and Texas — experienced hours-long 911 outages on Wednesday, preventing some people in those states from seeking emergency assistance
✈️ Per the World Airport Awards, Qatar’s Doha Hamad is the world’s best airport, usurping 12-time and last year’s winner Singapore Changi
POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour
🐦 Can’t have (bird) sh*t in Detroit: Cersei and Yahtzee, a hawk and a falcon, have taken on “poop duty” before next week’s NFL draft in Detroit. Their job is to deter smaller birds from pooping on buildings
💰 Florida man phone bill scares couple: A Florida couple returned from a trip to Switzerland to find a $143,000 T-Mobile cell phone bill. The bill came from 9.5 gigabytes of roaming data
🦞 Endless Shrimp → Endless Debt: Red Lobster is considering filing for bankruptcy. In 2023, Red Lobster closed eight locations and lost millions from its endless shrimp deal
🐄 “Moo” “You’re hired”: A Maine gun store recently named a cow, Kade, as its goodwill ambassador, listing the animal as an employee
👣 Bigfelony: An Oklahoma man admitted to murdering his friend during a fishing tip over the mistaken belief that he was summoning Bigfoot to kill him
ROCA WRAP
Hawaii’s Sumo King
Sumo wrestling was fading in popularity – until Akebono entered the scene.
Akebono Taro was born Chad Rowan on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. He excelled at basketball as a teenager and briefly attended Hawaii Pacific University on an athletic scholarship. He planned to study hotel management – but life took him in another direction.
Rowan had always enjoyed watching sumo, the traditional Japanese style of wrestling.
The sport’s rules are simple: Two wrestlers compete on an elevated clay platform. The first person to be pushed out of the ring or to have any part of their body other than the soles of their feet touch the ground loses.
There are no weight classes, meaning wrestlers often try to gain as much weight as possible.
Rowan felt that his build – 6’8” and over 500 pounds at his peak – was well-suited for sumo. In 1988, he flew to Japan to begin training under a renowned Hawaii-born sumo wrestler.
Sumo is Japan’s national sport, rooted in ancient Shinto religious rituals. The sport is infused with tradition, and to this day, wrestlers perform a range of purification rituals.
When Rowan first arrived in Japan, the sport was still dominated by Japanese wrestlers, who were often fan favorites against foreign-born wrestlers.
Some wrestlers accused the sport of racism: In 1992, sumo’s top ranking body, which decides whether to promote or demote wrestlers, refused to grant the sport’s highest rank to a Hawaii-born wrestler, saying only native Japanese wrestlers could be endowed with that rank.
Despite obstacles, Rowan became a dominant force in sumo, winning several major tournaments and rising through the sport’s ranking system. He distinguished himself for his brute strength, oftentimes using his bigger size to simply push wrestlers out of the ring. In other fights, he simply fell on top of smaller wrestlers.
In 1993, he became the first foreign-born wrestler to be awarded sumo’s top rank, yokozuna.
Rowan’s dominance ushered in a new era of popularity for sumo. His rivalry with two Japanese yokozuna, Takanohana and Wakanohana, defined the sport for years, driving its popularity among a global audience.
In 1996, Rowan became a naturalized Japanese citizen and changed his name to Akebono; two years later, he represented Japan in the opening ceremony of the 1998 Winter Olympics.
After repeated injuries, Akebono retired in 2001 with 11 grand championships, making him one of sumo’s most decorated fighters.
His dominance changed the sport forever: All 63 wrestlers to reach yokozuna status before him were Japanese; since he achieved the status, six of the last nine have been foreign-born.
After retiring, Akebono became a highly respected sumo teacher and helped train the wrestler who would become Mongolia’s first-ever fighter to reach yokozuna status.
Last week, Akebono’s family announced that Akebono had died of heart failure at a Tokyo hospital. Tributes poured in, with the US ambassador to Japan calling him a “giant in the world of sumo, a proud Hawaiian, and a bridge between the United States and Japan.”
Although Akebono has passed, his impact on sumo lives on.
Reply to this email to let us know what you think!
COMMUNITY
20 Questions
As is Roca tradition, every Friday we ask our readers 20 questions or polls and include the answers the following Friday. Let us know your thoughts!
Ladies and gentlemen, the Weeknd. With wedding season fast approaching, we feel it's appropriate to have her our first-ever "Best Wedding Songs" edition of 20 Questions. We're breaking this up into two parts: The first 10 are for the couple's slow dance, and the next 10 are for the dance floor. If you're planning a wedding, consider this free market research. Results will be posted next week.
Here’s the link! Have a wonderful weekend.
Last Week’s 20 Questions:
Last week we ran a “This or that, Regional Slang edition” of 20 questions. We bolded the most common response from each prompt:
Soda or pop
Soda
Pop
You all or y'all?
You all
Y'all
Faucet or spigot?
Faucet
Spigot
Drinking fountain or bubbler?
Drinking fountain
Bubbler
Hoagie or sub?
Hoagie
Sub
Lollipop or sucker?
Lollipop
Sucker
Tennis shoes or sneakers?
Tennis shoes
Sneakers
Excuse me or pardon me?
Excuse mePardon me
Clicker or remote?
Clicker
Remote
Aunt or aunt?
Pronounced Awnt
Pronounced Ant
Rotary or roundabout?
Rotary
Roundabout
Highway or freeway?
Highway
Freeway
Frosting or icing?
Frosting
Icing
Fireflies or lightning bugs?
Fireflies
Lightning bugs
Jimmies or sprinkles?
Jimmies
Sprinkles
Northerner or Yankee?
Northerner
Yankee
Hella or a lot of?
Hella
A lot of
Liquor store or packy?
Liquor store
Packy
Frappe or milkshake?
Frappe
Milkshake
Whoops or ope?
Whoops
Ope
EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts
Have a great weekend, Roca — and see you on Monday!
— Max, Max, Alex and Jen