🌊 End of the Filibuster?

Game 7, elections, & the fall photo showcase…

While most LA residents are learning they have a baseball team (two in fact!), sports fans across the country got an all-time treat on Saturday night between the Dodgers and Blue Jays. The game averaged 26M viewers in the US — for baseball that’s oh-ton-i — and tens of millions more in Canada and Japan. Seeing these numbers, it’s just a matter of time until Roger Goodell sends the Manning Camp to Osaka.

Now we turn to the big elections in NJ, VA, MN, and NYC tomorrow. The current Kalshi odds show an ~80% chance of a Democratic sweep. We also turn our attention to the annual Roca fall photo showcase — send in your best fall photos below!

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

Trump Calls to Eliminate Filibuster

President Trump urged Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster rule to end the ongoing government shutdown without Democratic support

• The filibuster is a longstanding Senate rule that requires 60 votes to advance most legislation. With Republicans holding 53 seats, the threshold forces both parties to negotiate and compromise on major bills

• Last Thursday, Trump called on Republicans to use the "nuclear option" to eliminate the filibuster and pass government funding with a simple majority vote

• Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) rejected Trump's demand, with multiple Republican senators indicating they would not support getting rid of the filibuster to resolve the shutdown

Dig Deeper 

• The government shutdown began on October 1 after Democrats blocked a Republican funding bill, demanding that any spending measure include an extension of healthcare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year

• House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) called Trump's proposal "an expression of the president's anger at the situation" and noted that Republicans would not want Democrats using the same tactic if roles were reversed

• Some Republicans warned that eliminating the rule could backfire spectacularly if Democrats regain control of the Senate, potentially allowing passage of progressive policies like statehood for Washington, DC

KEY STORY

Rio de Janeiro: War Zone?

A massive police operation in Rio de Janeiro resulted in at least 121 deaths, making it the deadliest raid in the Brazilian city's history

• Around 2,500 police officers descended on two Rio neighborhoods last Tuesday, deploying armored vehicles and helicopters to arrest Red Command gang leaders. Gang members fought back using firearms and explosive-laden drones

• By Wednesday, residents searching for missing family members had recovered approximately 70 bodies from nearby woods. Police arrested 113 people and seized 118 weapons and a ton of drugs, though the main target escaped

• A poll found that 62% of Rio residents supported the police action, with support rising to 88% among favela residents. Hundreds marched in the streets in protest, demanding the resignation of Rio’s Governor

Dig Deeper

• The United Nations office said it was "horrified" by the death toll as questions emerged about whether innocent people were killed. Residents described mutilated bodies and alleged that some victims had been stabbed

• Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the governor to explain the police actions in detail. Security analysts argued that such heavy-handed operations fail to dismantle criminal networks because they typically target low-level members rather than leadership

KEY STORY

US to Intervene in Nigeria?

President Trump threatened military action against Nigeria and said he might halt American aid to the country, claiming its government was failing to protect Christians from terrorist groups

• Nigeria is home to roughly 232M people, split between Muslims who primarily live in the north and Christians concentrated elsewhere. For over a decade, extremist groups like Boko Haram have carried out attacks across the country, targeting both Christians and Muslims

• Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had instructed the Defense Department to prepare for possible action in Nigeria, where he said the US could go in "guns-a-blazing" with the goal of wiping out Islamist militants

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that the Pentagon was preparing for action and stated that either Nigeria's government would protect Christians or the US would target the terrorists directly

Dig Deeper

• Trump's threat came one day after he designated Nigeria as a "country of particular concern," a label the US applies to nations it considers engaged in serious violations of religious freedom

• A 2024 report from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom found that extremist violence in Nigeria affected large numbers of both Christians and Muslims across multiple states

• Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu rejected Trump's characterization of the country. Tinubu said that describing Nigeria as religiously intolerant did not reflect reality and ignored his government's efforts to protect religious freedom

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KEY STORY

Trump Denies Venezuela Strikes

President Trump denied that he plans to strike inside Venezuela after reports to the contrary

• Last Thursday, The Wall Street Journal and Miami Herald both reported that the US had identified targets inside Venezuela that it could strike to decapitate Venezuela’s alleged government-drug smuggling nexus. The Herald reported that strikes could happen within hours

• The reports prompted alarm and criticism from isolationist Trump supporters like Tucker Carlson, though, and on Friday, Trump and other administration officials denied them

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio specifically denied the Miami Herald report, writing on X, “Your ‘sources’ claiming to have ‘knowledge of the situation’ tricked you into writing a fake story”

Dig Deeper

• Last Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that the administration had identified targets that it could strike inside Venezuela. Sources told the outlet that potential targets include airports, ports, naval facilities, and air strips that are allegedly used to traffic drugs. The Journal said that Trump had not made up his mind yet about whether to order the strikes

• Separately, sources told the Miami Herald that the US’ goal is to decapitate the Venezuelan drug-government nexus. One told the paper, “Maduro is about to find himself trapped and might soon discover that he cannot flee the country even if he decided to…What’s worse for him, there is now more than one general willing to capture and hand him over, fully aware that one thing is to talk about death, and another to see it coming”

• White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly denied the reports, saying, “Unnamed sources don’t know what they’re talking about. Any announcements regarding Venezuela policy would come directly from the President”

QUOTE OF THE DAY

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

👻 FBI Director Kash Patel announced last Friday that federal authorities stopped a potential terrorist attack in Michigan and arrested multiple suspects allegedly planning a violent act over Halloween weekend.

🇸🇾 Al-Qaeda leader-turned-Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa will reportedly visit the White House next week.

💰 A federal judge in Rhode Island issued a temporary restraining order directing the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to use contingency funds to pay SNAP benefits (food stamps) during the government shutdown.

📃 A federal judge ruled Friday that President Trump cannot require documentary proof of citizenship on the federal voter registration form.

🔪 A British man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following a stabbing spree on a London-bound train that left 11 people hospitalized, two in life-threatening condition.

What does Roca Nation think?

🍁 Today’s Question: It’s that time of year again! Send in your best fall pic, and we’ll be featuring our favs in the days ahead! Please include location.

Send in your best fall photos to [email protected]!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

🎃 Gourd of Darkness: A British farm honored late rock legend Ozzy Osbourne by breaking a Guinness World Record with a massive squash mosaic depicting the Prince of Darkness.

📖 Six-Seven Heaven: Dictionary.com has named "67" as its 2025 Word of the Year, reflecting the viral Gen Alpha slang term that skyrocketed in popularity over the summer.

☕ Grounds for Concern: A Dubai cafe is serving the world's most expensive coffee at nearly $1,000 per cup, brewed from rare Panamanian beans purchased for $600,000.

🦇 Fang You Very Much: An international research team discovered six new species of tube-nosed bats in the Philippines' protected forests, revealing surprising biodiversity just in time for Halloween.

🫷 Handy Work: A Kentucky elementary school teacher spent four years designing and 3D-printing a functional prosthetic hand for his student, Jackson Farmer, who was born without a right hand.

ROCA WRAP
Driving that Train…

Casey Jones

This railroad engineer died stopping a speeding train to save his passengers, becoming an American folk legend.

Born John Luther Jones in southeastern Missouri in 1864, his family soon relocated to Kentucky, where he acquired the nickname "Casey" from the town of Cayce. Jones became a locomotive engineer for the Illinois Central Railroad, earning a reputation for exceptional punctuality. He prided himself on never arriving behind schedule, and locals claimed they could set their watches by his trains. In 1886, he converted to Catholicism to marry Mary Joanna Brady and settled in Jackson, Tennessee, where they raised three children.

In February 1900, Jones transferred to Memphis for the prestigious passenger run to Canton, Mississippi. This route was part of the fast "cannonball" service between Chicago and New Orleans, featuring the most demanding schedules in American railroading. Some veteran engineers doubted the timetables were achievable and quit rather than attempt them. Jones drove Engine No. 382, a powerful steam locomotive capable of remarkable speed.

On the night of April 29, Jones departed Memphis 75 minutes behind schedule after filling in for an ill colleague. Racing south through fog and rain, he made up time aggressively, reaching speeds near 80 miles per hour. By Durant, Mississippi, he had recovered nearly 70 minutes of the delay. Approaching Vaughan station around 4 AM, Jones rounded a curve at 75 miles per hour, unaware that freight trains had stalled on the main line ahead.

When his fireman Sim Webb spotted the red lights of a caboose blocking their path, Jones immediately reversed the throttle and applied emergency brakes. He ordered Webb to jump while refusing to abandon his post. Webb leaped to safety moments before impact. Jones managed to slow the train from 75 to roughly 40 miles per hour before the locomotive crashed through a caboose and two freight cars, overturning into an embankment. His watch stopped at 3:52 AM. Jones was the only fatality, and his actions prevented any passenger deaths.

For an engineer who lived by the clock, his final seconds bought enough time to matter.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

Hope you all had a great weekend. Yesterday we published a piece on We The 66 about how anti-Israel voices are dominating alt media despite their insistence that Jews/Israel run the media. We encourage you to read it without pre-judgment, and see the evidence for yourself as this narrative continues to take hold.

Happy November — can’t wait to enjoy the two more hours of daylight today!

–Max and Max