🌊 Ladies and Gentlemen, Israel Got Him

Best $7.2M ever spent?

157 years ago today, the US took possession of Alaska from Russia. The US paid a measly sum of $7.2M for the giant ̶i̶c̶e̶ b̶o̶x̶ territory, which is now the US’ largest state. Without this deal, Sarah Palin wouldn’t even have needed glasses to see Russia from her house. This is undoubtedly the best $7.2M ever spent — well, unless you count the $7.2M Snoop Dogg spent on an NFT in 2021.

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

Sinwar Killed

Israeli confirmed the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza

• Sinwar – the mastermind of October 7 – was Hamas’ long-time leader in Gaza and became the group’s overall leader in July. He was Israel’s most-wanted man

• After a year of unsuccessful attempts, Israeli authorities said Thursday that Sinwar was killed “during IDF operations”

• Within Hamas, Sinwar was considered a hardliner who cemented ties with Iran and believed civilian sacrifice was necessary to defeat Israel

Dig Deeper

• Sinwar was believed to have surrounded himself in a tunnel with hostages to prevent Israeli strikes on his location, however, authorities said no hostages were found at the apparent kill site

• Sinwar's death marks a major defeat for Hamas and a potential turning point in the war. It comes as Israel has intensified its offensive in parts of Gaza, prompting calls by the US for it to improve the humanitarian situation or face reduced military support

KEY STORY

Union Surge

American workers filed 3,286 petitions to hold union elections with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) this year, up from 1,638 in 2021

• Unions are typically required to win elections with oversight from the NLRB to represent worker groups

• Despite the increase in elections, though, the share of US workers in unions has remained at around 11% – the lowest in modern history

• It’s the first time the number of union petitions has increased during a Presidential term since Gerald Ford’s in the 1970s. The Biden admin touted the jump as a win for workers

Dig Deeper

• The jump in petitions is in part due to a surge in labor groups in industries that are traditionally union-free

• Several large companies are facing union campaigns for the first time, including Apple, Amazon, and Wells Fargo

• In 2020, 16% of voters belonged to union households. Biden won 56% of those votes while Trump took home 42%

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KEY STORY

Music Scammer Charged

A North Carolina music producer has been charged with multiple felonies after allegedly scamming over $10M in royalties through AI-generated songs and streaming bots

• 52-year-old Michael Smith is alleged to have used thousands of bot accounts on various streaming services to automatically stream AI music he uploaded to the platforms. An indictment says he used auto-generated performer names and song titles to achieve up to 661,440 streams per day and $10M in revenue

• While he denies all the charges, the indictment quotes Smith as writing to his two co-conspirators, “We need to get a TON of songs fast to make this work around the anti fraud policies these guys are all using now”

Dig Deeper

• Smith allegedly worked with an AI music company and a music promoter to produce hundreds of thousands of songs quickly while evading fraud detection systems through the use of VPN services and a large number of email addresses

• He faces federal money laundering and wire fraud charges and dozens of years in prison if convicted

KEY STORY

Secret Service Overhaul?

An independent panel investigating the July assassination attempt on Donald Trump has recommended an “overhaul” of the Secret Service due to its “deep flaws”

• “The Secret Service has become bureaucratic, complacent, and static even though risks have multiplied and technology has evolved,” the panel said in the 52-page report it released Thursday

• The report also highlighted the Secret Service’s inexperience. At the Butler shooting, for example, the person who oversaw the drone detection system couldn’t get the equipment to operate, allowing Thomas Matthew Crooks to fly his drone over the grounds ahead of time

Dig Deeper

• The report also drilled the Secret Service for its “lack of critical thinking” and “lack of ownership”

• The panel concluded, "Without that reform... another Butler can and will happen again"

• The acting director of the Secret Service wrote in response, "We have already significantly improved our readiness, operational and organizational communications and implemented enhanced protective operations for the former president"

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

🪖 President Zelensky said that Russia is preparing to send 10,000 North Korean soldiers to fight in Ukraine, which he described as “the first step to a world war”

💊 A narrative of drug abuse and legal troubles emerged the day after One Direction singer Liam Payne died after apparently jumping off a third-floor balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina

🛩️ American stealth bombers struck facilities across Yemen that were reportedly being used by the Iran-linked Houthi militia

🚗 Per numerous reports, Uber has been exploring a potential acquisition of travel company Expedia. The deal – far from certain, insiders claim – would be Uber’s largest ever

🇺🇸 A lip-reading of a conversation between President Biden and Barack Obama at Ethyl Kennedy’s funeral suggests the pair think Kamala Harris is at risk of losing the 2024 election

COMMUNITY

🧐 Yesterday’s question: Do you think movies — generally speaking — have gotten worse over the last 50 years?

Autumnal Special
Roca Community Fall Pics

Ladies and gentlemen, the Weeknd.

Time to channel your inner National Geographic, Roca Nation, and send us your best fall pics. We are doing this fall special in lieu of 20 Questions this week, though you can see the averages of last week’s “Would You Rather?” edition below. The last time we did this was 2022, and the pics were unbelievable (one above). If you live in Florida, palm tree pics count!

Last Week’s 20 Questions:

Average responses to last week’s “Would You Rather?” edition of 20 Questions.

Have mustard as your only condiment - 88.9%
Wear Dolphin shorts, knee socks, and a crop top every time you leave the house - 11.1%

Have Moo Deng as a pet - 31.7%
Bring back Harambe - 68.3%

Have spaghetti for hair - 90.7%
Have marshmallows for fingers - 9.3%

Wear clown shoes every day - 21.9%
Wear a clown nose for a year - 78.1%

Always have to eat food that’s been dropped on the floor - 97.1%
Always have to eat food that someone else has chewed - 2.9%

Wear permanent clown makeup - 86.9%
Wear permanent glitter - 13.1%

Sneeze glitter - 25.4%
Burp rainbows - 74.6%

Live in a giant peach - 81%
Watch CNN for at least 8 hours a day - 19%

Be chased by a swarm of angry bees - 8.5%
Be chased by a gang of angry grandmas - 91.5%

Have a rewind button for your life - 73.2%
Have a pause button that only works during embarrassing moments - 26.8%

Have your own theme song that plays every time you enter a room - 77.2%
Have a laugh track follow you around - 22.8%

Hiccup for the rest of your life - 1.7%
Sneeze every time someone says your name - 98.3%

Have a pet rock that tells you dad jokes - 71.6%
Have a talking cat that only insults you - 28.4%

Wear a giant sombrero all the time - 80.1%
Wear a giant cheese hat all the time - 19.9%

Watch the Whopper commercial for every commercial the rest of your life - 73.6%
Have Baby Shark as your ring tone which you can never silence - 26.4%

Have dinner with Elon Musk - 70.2%
Play chess with Mark Zuckerberg - 29.8%

Be stuck on a desert island with Kanye West for a week - 54.8%
Be roommates with Ellen DeGeneres for a year - 45.2%

Be ambassador to the UK - 35.3%
Be ambassador to Fiji - 64.7%

Trade lives with a serial killer for a day - 10.2%
Trade lives with a politician for a day - 89.8%

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

🧬 Triple Trouble Down There: During a cadaver dissection, UK medical students detected a rare case of a man with three penises. He likely never knew the gift he was born with

✈️ Cabin Fever at 30,000 Feet: A SriLankan Airlines captain was grounded after locking his co-pilot out of the cockpit mid-flight

🥩 Beware of Rare Bear: 10 people in North Carolina developed symptoms of parasitic worm infection after eating rare bear meat at a gathering. Doctors attributed the illnesses to roundworms, a parasite that can invade various organs, including the brain and heart

🕺 Breakdancing Bump Busted: A new study documented how a man in his 30s developed a "headspin hole" after years of practicing breakdancing moves

🩸 Opera Gone Wild: 18 audience members at the state opera in Stuttgart, Germany required medical treatment for severe nausea after a controversial performance that featured live piercing, real sex acts, and blood

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

We don’t talk about baseball much in The Current (damn right we italicize the name of our newsletter), but unbelievable scenes from Cleveland last night. And now we’ve got more baseball this weekend plus Bama/Tennessee, Georgia/Texas, and Kansas City/San Francisco.

This weekend, both Maxes will be at the wedding of a dear friend, Matt Winesett, with whom we shared a podcast before starting Roca. Max F will be looking extra dapper up there as best man. We’d like to give a special shoutout to Matt and his soon-to-be-wife Emily! Two wonderful people and much more importantly… two Roca readers.

–Max and Max