🌊 Holy Ship That Was Fast!

Just got off the phone with Katie, a Roca reader in North Carolina.

She had initially emailed us: “I know I could make this terribly long-winded, but at this point, I am exhausted. I live in Winston-Salem, but I am the nurse for the Town of Wilkesboro Employees. We are just down the mountain from terrible devastation and have been working tirelessly to help our family and friends and this country that we love so much.”

Katie’s a nurse at Atrium Health, a Baptist hospital, and for the town of Wilkesboro as well. She is working around the clock to help with victims and noted, “Last night on a late night supply drop to Spruce Pine, I was told that there will be a VERY serious need for winter gear and basic clothing soon. It was chilly last night and the temps will start to drop fast.”

Katie has created an Amazon gift registry with ideas for gifts, especially for children’s clothing. Here is the link. If you want to support, make sure to hit “Rossy’s Gift Registry Address” as your address at checkout.

Talking to her on the phone just now was deeply touching — both because of the scale of hardship in the region but also because of her incredible generosity and compassion, which you could hear in her voice. Let’s come together for Wilkesboro! If you have any questions on how you can help, let us know and we can pass along to Katie.

–Max, Max, and Owen

KEY STORY

Port Strike Suspended

The US port strike ended after the two sides agreed to a tentative agreement

• The port workers’ union and the US Maritime Alliance came to a tentative agreement on Thursday that will increase wages but delay discussions on new automation/technology until January 15, 2025

• Union port worker wages will now increase 62% over the next six years – short of the 77% they were pushing for but above the 50% increase the Maritime Alliance offered. The 62% bump will raise the top port workers’ wages to $63 per hour – up from $39 today and slightly more than their West Coast counterparts

Dig Deeper

• The ~45,000 port workers from Maine to Texas began their strike on Tuesday, effectively shutting down most eastern US imports

• The tentative agreement came hours after Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that he would deploy the national guard to work Florida ports

KEY STORY

China’s “Hate Education”?

A spate of anti-foreigner stabbings in China has sparked claims of an “education of hate”

• Since June, China has experienced an anti-American and two anti-Japanese stabbings, one of which killed a Japanese boy on the anniversary of Japan’s 1931 invasion of China. Authorities called the stabbings “isolated incidents” that could happen anywhere

• But many people blamed nationalist propaganda. One viral article said, “The ‘anti-Japan rhetoric’ based on nationalist narratives has increased to dominate the internet…[This] will inevitably spill over from the screen and impact the ‘real world’”

Dig Deeper

• The stabbings come at a time of increased anti-US and anti-Japan sentiment in China

• Chinese rhetoric is often intensely hostile to both the US and Japan. Rhetoric toward the latter has deteriorated amid increased geopolitical tensions and since Japan began releasing water from a nuclear reactor into a sea near China last year

ROCA’S PARTNERS

Get Energized, Avoid Muscle Cramps

Together with LMNT

Cramps: We’ve all been there

• Those sudden, seemingly random muscle contractions that can hit you mid-workout or in the middle of the night, there’s nothing worse than a cramp

• An easy way to lessen the risk? LMNT.

• LMNT is an additive-free electrolyte drink mix. It’s an easy and tasty way to avoid cramps, without all the sugars and dodgy ingredients of sports drinks

• Get a free Sample Pack with any drink mix purchase here

Dig Deeper

• Add some sparkle to your day with LMNT sparkling: A 16-ounce can of sparkling electrolyte water

KEY STORY

CIA Expands Recruiting

The CIA launched a campaign to recruit informants via the big social networks and the dark web

• The agency sent posts across its channels targeting users in Iran, China, and North Korea with details on how to securely contact the CIA. The instructions told interested individuals to relay their locations, names, and contact details via VPN or encrypted browser and the CIA’s official website

• The CIA’s deputy director told Bloomberg that now is a uniquely good time to gather intelligence on China, where he claimed unhappiness with Xi’s leadership is growing amid economic stagnation

Dig Deeper

• The campaign comes after a similar one that was successful in Russia. Russia is less surveilled than Iran, North Korea, and China, though, each of which is considered a "hard target"

• The CIA official who spoke to Bloomberg added, "You’ve got people inside [China] who... for lots of different motivations fundamentally do not like the direction that Xi is taking the country and understand that there’s a path to helping their own country by working with us"

• A Chinese government spokesperson, meanwhile, told the BBC, "Any attempts to drive a wedge between the Chinese people and the CCP or to weaken their close bond will inevitably fail"

KEY STORY

Muslim Mayor Endorses Trump

The mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan – the country's only Muslim-majority town – endorsed Donald Trump for President

• Hamtramck is more than 60% Muslim, with immigrants from Yemen, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other Muslim countries. Amer Ghalib became Hamtramck’s first Muslim mayor when he was elected in 2021

• Mayor Ghalib endorsed Trump in a recent Facebook post, writing, “President Trump and I may not agree on everything, but I know he is a man of principles... I believe he is the right choice for this critical time"

• Michigan, which Biden won by 150,000 votes in 2020, has a Muslim population of over 240,000. It is a key voter group that Harris and the Democrats seek to win

Dig Deeper

• Ghalib has courted controversy during his time as mayor, including his support of a 2023 resolution that banned the display of LGBTQ+ flags on city property

• Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib said at that time, “I can't imagine how it feels for our LGBTQ+ neighbors in Hamtramck to watch their own elected reps decide their existence doesn't matter”

• AP reported that 64% of Muslims nationwide supported Biden in 2020. However, this spring, a Muslim-led movement to vote “Uncommitted” in the Michigan due to Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza garnered 100,000 votes

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

🛢 Oil prices spiked after President Biden commented on a potential Israeli strike on Iranian oil facilities

📕 Former First Lady Melania Trump fiercely defends abortion access in an excerpt from her upcoming book, due out next week

📈 Helene’s death toll surpassed 200. The hurricane is now the second-deadliest to hit the continental US in the last 55 years, after Katrina (Hurricane Maria claimed up to 3,000 lives, but mainly in Puerto Rico)

💣 Israeli troops ordered dozens of villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate as it pressed further into the country and bombed its capital, Beirut, killing at least 9

🏝 The UK government agreed to transfer a group of Indian Ocean islands back to Mauritius

COMMUNITY

🧐 Yesterday’s question: Who’s the most underappreciated president in US history?

ASK AND TELL
20 Questions

Ladies and gentlemen, the Weeknd.

Last week's trivia seemed to get a "And the crowd goes mild" reaction. Some of you loved it; but the majority seemed to be meh. One of you even wrote, "I do not like this version of 20 Questions at all," which took us hours to decipher. So guess what we're bringing back: Classic 20 Questions. The origin of 20 Questions was to ask 20 super random questions for you to answer at your desk, in the coffee line, on the couch, or even on the toil- nevermind. So here we go... hope you enjoy!

Here’s the link.

Last Week’s 20 Questions:

The correct answers from last week’s trivia edition of 20 Qs, along with the (%) of you who got it right.

• How many feet are in a mile? 5,280 (84.7%)

• Acrophobia is a fear of… Heights (51.1%)

• What is the capital of Canada? Ottawa (71.8%)

• Who directed "The Godfather"? Francis Ford Coppola (70.3%)

• Who founded 🤮 CNN? Ted Turner (70%)

• Who came first? Socrates (43.8%)

• Who of the below is not Canadian? Steve Carell (60.8%)

• What is the largest city by population in Ohio? Columbus (24.7%)

• What is the largest city by population in New Jersey? Newark (63.2%)

• What meat is used in a shepherd's pie? Lamb (80.3%)

• Which painter came first? Michelangelo (74.2%)

• What is Lady Gaga’s real name? Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (69%)

• What is the capital city of Indonesia? Jakarta (70.6%)

• Queen guitarist Brian May is also an expert in what field? Astrophysics (60.1%)

• What year was the first iPhone released? 2007 (52.3%)

• Who did the Packers play in the first Super Bowl? Kansas City Chiefs (36%)

• Atticus Finch is a character in what novel? To Kill a Mockingbird (93%)

• Dominic Toretto is a character in what movie franchise? Fast & Furious (90.2%)

• Whose slogan: "Expect more. Pay less."? Target (32.2%)

• In Gen Z brainrot lore, who rizzed up Livvy Dunne? Baby Gronk (52.6%)

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

👎 Always read the T&C: A court ruled that a New Jersey couple injured from an Uber ride accident can’t sue because of terms and conditions they accepted to place an Uber Eats order

🦐 Hell neaux: An analysis found that most of the shrimp sold at the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival was not from the Gulf region. Instead it was farm-raised imported shrimp, apparently from Ecuador or India

😳 Exhibit A, your honor: A man in China forcibly carried his wife out of the courtroom during divorce proceedings. The wife had filed for divorce because of alleged domestic violence. Still, the court refused the request

🇬🇧 BB-See your questions: The BBC canceled a prime-time interview with former Prime Minister Boris Johnson after the interviewer accidentally sent him her prep notes

💰 $pooky $zn: Tens of thousands of Bank of America customers reported that their balances dropped to zero on Wednesday. By Wednesday night, Bank of America said the issue had been “largely resolved”

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

We seriously had no idea what to expect from our first trivia-themed 20 Questions last week. Would more of the Roca community know that Socrates preceded Plato and Aristotle or that Baby Gronk rizzed up Livvy Dunne? Here were your best and worst questions.

Best: Atticus Finch is a character in what novel? (93% got it right)
Worst: What is the largest city by population in Ohio? (24.7% got it right - Columbus!)

Interesting results. Also, let’s come together for Katie and her community! It almost got the waterworks going reading her story and then hearing her voice.

–Max and Max