Over $20K Raised…

Each year around the holidays, we like to feature a charitable cause for the Roca community to support. In our first couple years, it was a remarkable success if we could raise just a couple thousand dollars. But for The Gathering Place, you all have committed an incredible $20k+. We are FaceTiming Brenda — the founder of Gathering Place — today to share the good news. She may not believe it!

And it’s all thanks to you. We will make sure to share the video once it’s ready.

Would you rather edition of 20 Questions!

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

Hawk Tuah Disappears

Hawk Tuah has disappeared since $HAWK’s release

• Tuah, real name Hailey Welch, catapulted to stardom this summer after a viral man-on-the-street clip. She has since become a prominent public figure, with high-profile media appearances and her own podcast

• On December 4, Welch launched $HAWK, a crypto. It lost 95%+ of its value within 20 minutes, sparking allegations that Welch committed a rug pull, effectively stealing millions from her fans

• Welch and her team attempted to address the situation through a X Spaces livestream, however, the event – watched by millions – spiraled, prompting Welch to abruptly exit: "Going to bed, and see you guys tomorrow," she said

• Tuah’s team now faces lawsuits and she hasn’t tweeted or done her Talk Tuah podcast since

Dig Deeper

• Blockchain data shows that just 10 addresses held 96% of the $HAWK supply at launch, fueling the fraud allegations. Welch’s team insisted that they sold no tokens during the launch: "The team hasn't sold one token, and not one influencer was given any free tokens," Welch wrote

KEY STORY

Debt Ceiling Battle

President-elect Trump blew up budget talks with a demand to lift the debt ceiling

• Republicans have traditionally supported the debt ceiling, which caps government borrowing. The current ceiling is suspended until January 1. If it’s not lifted by then, the government will go into “emergency measures”

• Those could last a few months. Once they end, the US would be at risk of default, putting the next administration into a bind

• Separately, the government will shut down this Saturday if Congress doesn’t pass funding this week

• Speaker Johnson (R.-LA) announced a funding deal on Wednesday, but Trump killed it, saying it contained too many giveaways for Democrats and didn’t solve the debt ceiling problem. Elon Musk also did his part, tweeting over 100 times to criticize the deal

• On Thursday, Trump demanded an end to the debt ceiling as a pre-condition for a new funding bill. He also said that Republicans who don’t support that should lose their seats

• The move rattled Republicans and threw budget talks into crisis. Speaker Johnson is now back at the drawing board, trying to reach a new deal

Dig Deeper

• On Friday, the White House alerted federal agencies to prepare for an imminent government shutdown. The Republicans who lead the House are preparing to propose a new, leaner funding plan to avert a shutdown, yet it’s unclear if that will pass

ROCA’S SPONSOR

“The thing you advertised is amazing”

Together With Incogni

A Roca reader texted us this last month

• “Hey man, long time no talk. Just wanted to say the the Incogni thing you advertised is amazing. Haven't gotten any scam calls or texts since I signed up and I used to get 15+ a day”

• We weren’t surprised to hear that, because Incogni is a great service we recommend to friends and readers alike

• It’s a service that removes your number and personal information from data brokers and other online services. That stops spam calls, emails, and other annoyances or privacy violations

• Try Incogni out here!

KEY STORY

Fani Gets Canned

A Georgia appeals court disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her team from prosecuting President-elect Donald Trump in his election interference case

• This case – which accuses Trump and 18 others of trying to overturn the election results – was the last remaining criminal case against Trump that was set to go to trial. Two federal cases against him have been dropped since his election win

• The Georgia court ruled that Fani Willis and her assistant DAs have no “authority to proceed” due to Willis’ romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor she initially put on the case

Dig Deeper

• Trump lawyer Steve Sadow said, “This decision puts an end to a politically motivated persecution of the next President of the United States”

• Willis said she would ask the Georgia Supreme Court to review Thursday’s decision. There is no timeline for when the case might be heard or when a ruling might be issued

• The blow is only the latest to Willis, once known as a rising star in Georgia politics: She is also accused of botching a case against Young Thug, a prominent rapper who faced RICO charges and decades in prison, but ended up walking away last month without any jail time

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

⚖️ Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against pollster J. Ann Selzer, her polling firm, and The Des Moines Register, claiming that her pre-election Iowa poll showing a Kamala Harris lead in Iowa constituted election interference

🔫 The FBI revealed that the 15-year-old girl who killed two and injured six people at her Wisconsin school this week had been in contact with a 20-year-old California man

🇰🇵 North Korean hackers stole $1.34B worth of cryptocurrency in 2024, more than doubling the previous year's total

🇬🇧 UK Defence Secretary John Healey announced during a Kyiv visit that the UK is considering sending British troops to Ukraine for military training, emphasizing that they "will look wherever we can to respond to what the Ukrainians want"

⚖️ A French court sentenced Dominique Pelicot to 20 years in prison for drugging and raping his wife Gisèle over decades, while 50 other defendants received sentences ranging from 3 to 15 years for participating in the abuse. The landmark case had gained attention global attention after Gisèle insisted the trial be public

COMMUNITY

🧐 Yesterday’s question: Who’s the most influential media figure in the US today?

Community
20 Questions!

Ladies and gentlemen, the Weeknd.

"All I want for Christmas is the return of 'would you rather' on Roca 20 Questions." - Mariah Carey

Okay, Mariah, we hear you. Today we bring back the long-dormant "Would you rather?” edition of 20 Questions. It's been far too long since we last did one of these, and we look forward to seeing your answer to these super important and never unrealistic hypotheticals.

Here is the link.

Last Week’s Responses

These are the averages from your responses to last week’s “This or That” edition of 20 Questions.

Pancakes - 46.2%
Waffles - 53.8%

Cowboy hat - 35.2%
Cowboy boots - 64.8%

Cappuccino - 66.4%
Diet Coke - 33.6%

Zipper - 77.1%
Button - 22.9%

Microwave - 51.6%
Air Fryer - 48.4%

Milk chocolate - 43.2%
Dark chocolate - 56.8%

Fried calamari - 56.4%
Fried pickles - 43.6%

Early bird - 44.2%
Night owl - 55.8%

Uber - 64.3%
Taxi - 35.7%

Soft mattress - 33.6%
Firm mattress - 66.4%

Sparkling water - 28.1%
Still water - 71.9%

Batman - 54.3%
Superman - 45.7%

Sour gummy worms - 59%
Gummy bears - 41%

Ice skating - 64.5%
Roller blading - 35.5%

Sticky note - 64.9%
Notes app - 35.1%

Hoodie - 59.1%
Sweatshirt - 40.9%

Crying baby on plane - 60.4%
Smelly food on plane - 39.6%

Plan ahead - 64.2%
Procrastinate - 35.8%

Soy sauce - 40.1%
Ketchup - 59.9%

Couch - 93.9%
Bean bag chair - 6.1%

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

🕊️ Bird’s Eye View: A British Columbia woman, Michelle Lefebvre, has gone viral with her innovative "face feeder" – a paper plate of birdseed attached to sunglasses that allows birds to feed inches from her face

🐻 Beary Bad Luck: A 58-year-old man died after being struck by a falling bear that was shot from a tree during a hunting expedition in Virginia

✈️ Stowaway Once, Shame On You…: Svetlana Dali – the woman who went viral for recently trying to stow away on a Delta flight to Paris – was apprehended trying to enter Canada by bus after cutting off her ankle monitor

🪳 The Future Is Here: Singaporean researchers have developed a system to mass-produce "cyborg cockroaches" at a rate of one every 68 seconds by automatically implanting electronic backpacks onto live insects

💊 Gen-Sober: Teen drug use has hit record lows this year, with abstinence from alcohol, marijuana, and nicotine reaching unprecedented levels across 8th, 10th, and 12th grades

ROCA VIDEO
Inside the Hood’s Booming Blood Industry

We recently visited Atlanta where we learned about a growing blood plasma craze. Nearly everyone we talked to in Clayton County had either themselves donated plasma or knew someone who did. Our findings led us down a rabbit hole, and what we discovered amazed us. Blood is the 10th biggest export in the US today, and the number of plasma donation centers has tripled in recent years.

This video investigates the causes of this boom and why so few of us know about it.

–Max and Max

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

It’s been a long and glorious week for Roca Nation. Thank you again for your remarkable generosity — it warmed our hearts and put smiles on the faces of dozens in a community that’s suffered greatly.

Now we turn to what will be one of the best football-watching weekends in a long time. Notre Dame playoff game? Ravens vs. Steelers? Ohio State vs. Tennessee? Go Irish!

–Max and Max