Roca Riders, today is the LAST DAY to visit our store. We restocked all the hottest items and because we love you so much, we're giving The Current readers 15% off your order the final day — which we aren't making available to our social media followers! Thank you again for your support of our mission. 

In today's edition:

• NY ends pet store sales

• YETIs washing ashore

• 20 Questions

 🔑 Key Stories

Why Do We Walk on 2 Feet?

Bipedalism (walking on 2 legs) in humans may have come from foraging in trees, a new study suggests

• Scientists believe human ancestors first walked on 2 feet 6M-7M years ago, and long theorized that they developed bipedalism to adapt to life on the ground

• But a new study tracked chimpanzees in an environment similar to that of early humans. It found that chimpanzees spend more time in trees than expected, and that of the time chimpanzees spent on 2 legs, 85% was while in trees, not on the ground

• This may suggest bipedalism was an adaptation for trees, not the ground, the researchers say

Dig Deeper

• The researchers added that while walking on land may have accelerated the transition toward bipedalism, it may not have been the initial cause

Border Patrol Bracing for New Surge

US border officials are bracing for a migrant surge as a restrictive border policy is set to end

• In March 2020, then-President Trump instituted “Title 42,” a policy that let the US more easily expel undocumented migrants seeking asylum, or protection, which many migrants are

• President Biden rolled that back this April, before undocumented arrivals hit an all-time high and he re-implemented the policy in September. Last month, a judge ruled the policy must end by December 21

• Biden administration officials say migrant arrivals may double next week, to 5,000+ daily in some spots

Dig Deeper

• Among the countries contributing to a migrant surge are Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. When Roca visited Colombia in October to meet Venezuelan migrants, they said that once Title 42 was lifted, the border would be "open"

New York Banning Pet Store Animal Sales

New York state passed a law banning pet stores from selling dogs, cats, and rabbits

• Animal rights groups have long lobbied for the ban, arguing that many pet stores sell animals that are bred or raised in places that abuse or neglect them. These “puppy” and “kitty mills,” as they’re known, are often out-of-state and thus can’t be targeted

• The new law bans the sale of all 3 pets at pet stores, effective 2024. Shelters and rescue groups will still be permitted to sell them, as will individual breeders

• Advocates argue it’ll improve animal welfare; critics say it will put New York’s pet store industry out of business

Dig Deeper

• The new law will allow pet stores to rent out portions of their stores to shelters or rescue groups who use the space to promote adoption, New York's governor said

European Parliament Corruption Scandal Ongoing

European Union lawmakers voted to ban Qatari officials from EU premises and organizations

• The European Parliament (EP) is one of the EU’s top legislative bodies. Last week, Belgian police seized ~$1.6M and arrested 4 — including one of the EP’s vice presidents — for their alleged involvement in a scheme by Qatar to bribe EP members for influence

• The EP has banned Qatar from EU bodies, and may increase monitoring of meetings and lobbying

• One of the arrested people, the VP’s husband, reportedly confessed to facilitating cash payments to EP legislators, and specified 2 bribe recipients

Dig Deeper

• Reports allege that the now-former VP, Eva Kaili, was in an ultra-selective VIP area of the World Cup's opening game, which was held in Qatar. She denies all accusations of wrongdoing: "She simply had no knowledge of the cash,” her lawyer said

Gunna Released from Prison

Atlanta rapper Gunna was released from jail after pleading guilty to a racketeering charge

• Police indicted Gunna, real name Sergio Kitchens, and 27 other members of Young Slime Life (YSL) in May 2022. Police allege that YSL is a street gang; YSL says it is a loose collection of rappers

• Gunna lodged an “Alford Plea,” in which he pleads guilty but doesn’t admit to committing a crime. He was sentenced to 5 years, but per the deal doesn’t need to serve the time. He was released on Wednesday and must complete 500 hours of community service

• Fellow YSL member Young Thug remains in jail 

Dig Deeper

• "While I have agreed to always be truthful, I want to make it perfectly clear that I have NOT made any statements, have NOT been interviewed, have NOT cooperated, have NOT agreed to testify or be a witness for or against any party in the case and have absolutely NO intention of being involved in the trial process," Gunna said through his lawyer

Banff Adventure Package

• We’ve partnered with our good friends at Dollar Flight Club and other brands to offer an adventure package to Roca Readers

• Banff is a resort town in the province of Alberta, Canada, located within Banff National Park, which is famous for its lakes and mountains 

• One lucky winner will receive flight cash and 3 nights for up to 4 people to stay at any of Basecamp Resorts locations

• There are no strings attached: All these brands are just looking to generate awareness and are funding the giveaway to do so. Enter here! Everyone who enters gets a special something extra from Dollar Flight club, too. Check it out here!

🍿 Popcorn

ICYMI

• Doxx Populi: Twitter suspended the accounts of CNN, NYT, and WaPo reporters Thursday night. Twitter said it was related to the live sharing of Elon's location

• Trump rookie card? Former President Trump unveiled a collection of "Trump Digital Trading cards." The NFTs, which he likened to digital baseball cards, will go for $99 apiece

• Oh YETI, my YETI: Brand new YETI coolers are washing ashore in Alaska over a year after they fell from a British Columbia-bound cargo ship

Wildcard 

• Chimps have gone wild: The Swedish zoo that shot several chimpanzees dead this week has more chimpanzees on the loose

• THE short king: Guinness World Records declared Iran's Afshin Esmaeil Ghaderzadeh the world's shortest man. He is 2'1.7" (65 cm), and weighs 14.3 lbs (6.5 kg)

• Wall-E, where's my ketchup: Uber is rolling out a fleet of six-wheeled delivery robots to replace human Uber Eats drivers in Miami. It's part of a pilot program called "Dadeland"

👇🏻 What do you think?

Today's Question:

Just 20 Questions!

See yesterday's results below the Wrap! 

🗣 20 Questions

Every Friday, we ask the Roca readers 20 questions, then feature our favorite answers the following week. 

We hope you all had a terrific week. But here's a question: Would you rather start it over, or continue on? 

Á la that question, today's 20 Questions theme is "Would You Rather." We've got 20 hypotheticals, and you have to choose which you would rather experience. These are extraordinarily difficult, mind-bending questions. Brace yourselves.  

We will feature the percentages next week. 

Here's the link. Have a WAVY WEEKEND!

If you have thoughts, let us know at [email protected]!

 🌊 Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

Have you ever hit an animal on the road?

Yes: 74.0%No: 26.0%

Yesterday's Question:

Do you ever look through old yearbooks? What hits you the hardest about them?

Anthony from San Diego: "What hits the hardest is knowing I used to dress like that. So glad things are different now."

Kelly from Ontario: "Often after a few drinks with old friends... and the hardest part is trying to decipher those cringey grad quotes!"

Camden from Los Angeles: "The fact that I don’t know where most of these people ended up, and I use to spend every day with them doesn’t sit quite right with me"

Last Week's 20 Qs Responses:

Last week we did a "Ratings" edition of 20 Questions, where you provided 1-10 ratings for each of the below prompts. Here are the averages of your responses...

1. Candy Canes, 5.6

2. Sledding, 7.1

3. Hot Chocolate with marshmallows, 7.9

4. Eggnog, 5.2

5. Starbucks holiday drinks, 3.9

6. Christmas trees with colorful lights, 8

7. Christmas trees with yellow/white lights, 7.7

8. Gift buying, 5.9

9. Gift giving, 8.6

10. Those circular sleeves of raw cookie dough holiday symbols pressed on them, 5

11. Grocery store holiday cookies, 4.5

12. Shopping online, 7.7

13.  Shopping in a mall, 4.5

14.  “Last Christmas” by Wham, 5.7

15.  “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee Hockey, 7.1

16.  Christmas pajamas, 6.6

17.  Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, 5.1

18. Jack Frost nipping at your nose, 5

19. Wintry mix of snow, sleet, and rain, 2.9

20.  Yule log on the the TV, 5.3

🧠 Final Thoughts

Thank you for reading Roca today. As a reminder, today is the last chance to shop our holiday collection. Here's the link to do that with 15% off. 

If you watch Avatar this weekend, let us know how it is. We would be going tomorrow night, but the Bills are playing!

Have great weekends, and See you Monday.

Max and Max