“POISON IN EVERY PUFF.” A new anti-smoking measure takes effect in Canada today that will require individual cigarettes to include warnings in all-caps lettering, like this one. The labels aim to make it “virtually impossible [for smokers] to avoid health warnings.” Can’t wait for the next iteration of cig deterrence where they implant a tiny speaker that plays “Baby Shark” all day.

In today's edition:

• The latest on the latest Trump indictment

• Mysterious NYC concert disappearances

• China's full-time children

 🔑 Key Stories

Meta, Google News Bans

Meta announced that as of yesterday, Canadian users will no longer be allowed to access news sites through its platforms

• Canada passed a law in June that requires large tech companies such as Google or Meta to pay news publishers for circulating their content

• Tech companies opposed that, saying they already drive traffic to news companies. In June, Google said it will block Canadian news outlets on its search engines when the law takes effect

• Then on Tuesday, Meta said that effective immediately, it will ban users in Canada from accessing news sites/accounts

Dig Deeper

• The Canadian government called Meta’s move "irresponsible” and some Canadian politicians criticized Meta and Google, saying they are trying to intimidate the government by depriving people of news. Other politicians accused Canada’s ruling party of refusing to work with the tech companies

• To our Canadian readers: Do you find the law reasonable or unreasonable? Let us know by replying to this email!

Uber’s First Profits

Uber reported that over the second quarter of 2023, it made an operating profit for the first time

• Uber, launched in 2009, has become the world’s largest ride-sharing company but has never been profitable. Since it began releasing financial data in 2014, it has reported $31.5B in operating losses

• Per earnings Uber released Tuesday, in Q2 2023, its operating profit – money left over after paying all core business expenses except taxes – was $326M. It’s the first time Uber’s core services were profitable

• Uber missed revenue projections, though, causing its stock to fall ~6% on Tuesday

Dig Deeper

• Uber has posted quarterly profits before, but those have always been driven by non-business-related things, such as returns on investments or equity restructuring. Its underlying business – ride-hailing, food delivery, etc. – has never turned a profit before

• Below is a breakdown of Uber’s second quarter earnings

Trump Indicted

A federal grand jury indicted former President Trump in relation to the 2020 election

• The indictment lists four charges related to actions Trump allegedly took to overturn the 2020 election:

  1. Conspiracy to Defraud the United States

  2. Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding

  3. Obstruction of and Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding

  4. Conspiracy Against Rights

• Those charges each carry between 5- and 20-year maximum jail sentences. Those charges each carry between 5- and 20-year maximum jail sentences. 6 other people were included as conspirators, although they were not named

• Trump has now been indicted in an alleged New York hush money scheme and he also faces 40 federal charges related to his alleged retention of classified documents

Dig Deeper

• Special counsel Jack Smith, who led the classified documents case against Trump, also led the probe that brought these newest charges

• In a statement, Trump’s 2024 campaign called the indictment the “latest corrupt chapter…to interfere with the 2024 Presidential Election”

Nigerian Stowaways

Brazilian police rescued four Nigerian migrants who had spent 14 days on a cargo ship’s rudder

• On July 10, Brazilian police discovered four Nigerian men on the rudder of a cargo ship that had just taken a 14-day trip across the Atlantic from Nigeria

• One of the survivors said he thought he was going to Europe and had embarked after a flood destroyed his peanut farm. The men didn’t know each other before the trip and slept on a net over the water. They ran out of food and water ten days into the trip

• Two of the men claimed asylum in Brazil; the other two have since returned to Nigeria

Dig Deeper

• European police agencies have caught Nigerian stowaways on the rudders of cargo ships on numerous occasions in recent years, often headed for Spain. The United Nations estimates that 1,126 Nigerian migrants died trying to reach Spain by boat in 2021

The Healthy Alternative to Sugary Sports Drinks

Together with LMNT

LMNT, pronounced “element,” is the electrolyte drink mix we recommend Roca Riders hydrate with this summer

• Since the 1940s, we’ve been told to drink eight glasses of water per day. However, only hydrating with plain water can dilute your electrolyte levels – which can lead to things like headaches, low energy, brain fog, and more

• Electrolytes are essential minerals that facilitate vital bodily functions, including the conduction of nerve impulses, hormonal regulation, nutrient absorption, and fluid balance

• LMNT electrolytes contain just what you need – the salts – without all the other harmful additives. Just mix it with water and it’s perfect for hydrating, be it after a workout or night out

• Other popular electrolyte drinks contain as much as 36 grams of sugar. 36 GRAMS! LMNT contains none – NONE!

• You can try it totally risk-free. If you don’t like it, they’ll give you your money back – no questions asked

Dig Deeper

• Right now LMNT is offering Roca Riders a free sample pack with any purchase. That’s eight single servings FREE with any LMNT order. This is a great way to try all eight flavors or share LMNT with a salty friend

🍿 Popcorn

ICYMI

• Trucker Swift: Taylor Swift reportedly gave out $100K “end of the tour” bonuses to truckers who transported her equipment during the Eras Tour’s US leg

• Bad as hell: Three of Lizzo’s former dancers are suing her. They say she sexually harassed workers, body-shamed a dancer, and created a hostile work environment

• Beef with T-Bell: A New York man filed a class-action lawsuit against Taco Bell for false advertising over the filling amount in its Mexican Pizzas and Crunchwrap Supremes

Wildcard

• NYC mystery: For the second time in two months, a concert-goer disappeared near the Brooklyn Mirage, a popular NYC concert venue. Both were found in the same creek days after disappearing

• Slime Bowl: CBS Sports and Nickelodeon are teaming up for the first-ever alternate telecast of the Super Bowl. Nickelodeon will broadcast a kids-centric, “slime-covered” version of Super Bowl LVIII

• Battle of the bulbs: A Biden administration ban on the sale of incandescent light bulbs – which accounted for ~30% of light bulbs sold in the US in 2020 – took effect on Tuesday

👇 What do you think?

Today's Question:

Can you fall in love with more than one person at once?

Reply to this email with your answers!

See yesterday's results below the Wrap! 

🌯 Roca Wrap

Huang graduated from a top Beijing university in 2013.

He landed a job at a major Chinese e-commerce conglomerate, where he worked his way up to become a manager with a competitive salary and perks. But he soon found himself burned out: His job “involved long hours, caused a lot of anxiety, and constantly pushed [me] to do more.”

There was also a “societal expectation of me going down the path of buying an apartment, getting married, having kids, and living this typical upper-middle-class lifestyle.”

The pandemic left Huang isolated, worn out, and depressed. He quit his job last year and took a new job with his parents: A “full-time adult son.”

Huang cooks and does chores for his parents, brings them to the doctor’s, and arranges social gatherings for them. In exchange, they pay him a monthly salary of 3,500 yuan – ~$500.

Thousands of young adults in China have quit their jobs or stopped looking for them to live with their parents as “full-time children.” They blame China’s uniquely competitive society.

Chinese college admissions are determined almost exclusively by the nation’s standardized Gaokao exam, which students study years for. Scores determine where a student can attend college and what career they can pursue.

College graduates then compete for a limited number of jobs in lucrative fields, but many can’t find a job. For 16- to 24-year-olds, China’s unemployment rate is 21.3%.

China also has a notoriously intense work culture. Its work-life balance is often referred to as “996” – working from 9 AM to 9 PM, six days a week. Low-level employees are generally expected to work later than their bosses.

In 2020, a viral video showed a student at one of China’s most prestigious universities studying on his laptop while biking. People began using a new term to describe people like him: “Neijuan king.”

Neijuan refers to the feeling of being trapped in a cycle of stress, anxiety, and constant work. It often implies a lifestyle in which a person is expected to live a competitive life for nothing.

A year later, another new term emerged on Chinese social media: “Lying flat.” The term referred to many Chinese youth who, faced with a tough job market and work culture, voluntarily chose not to pursue work. A trend called on Chinese people “lie flat” and refuse the “neijuan” lifestyle.

For many, “lying flat” meant quitting demanding jobs or taking gap years. For some, it meant becoming “full-time children.”

In recent months, #FullTimeChildren has gone viral on Chinese social media. Widely-circulated videos show young adults posing with their parents and doing housework and chores. Some, like Huang, get paid; others don’t.

Some Chinese people praise the movement as a culmination of the “lying flat” mentality; others celebrate it as a sign of devotion to one’s elders.

But others accuse full-time children of “chewing the old” – a Chinese expression meaning mooching off one’s parents. Others say it isn’t a financially stable option.

China’s government – which has tried to improve China’s “996” work-life balance and reduce academic competitiveness – is a critic of both the “lying flat” and “full-time children” trends.

“In the face of pressure, choosing to ‘lie flat’ is not only unjust, but shameful. There is no value whatsoever in this poisonous [situation],” one Chinese official wrote. President Xi Jinping has advised young people to “eat bitterness,” meaning endure hardship.

For now, though, many Chinese youth appear to want the opposite of hardship.

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

 🌊 Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

Would you be/are you comfortable living within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant?

Yes: 55%
No: 45%

Yesterday's Question:

Is Travis Scott responsible for the Astroworld incident?

Huzaifa from Mumbai: "Ofc he is my guy was singing in autotune while people were dying and even his apology was “that’s sick I’m so famous that people are dying to see me live”"

Philip: “no performers have little to nothing to do with the the setup.”

Bill from Colorado: "Yes. And it’s possible to trust an arsonist to run the fire department."

Gabe from Foresthill, California: “With events this large there has to be a fireman's maximum person limit. If the tickets sold were more than the amount permitted for the event, then you should claim some responsibility. In the end, it's hype music and I think the people got going a little too hard. In addition, I love to know how many of the killed and injured were on drugs.”

Ginger from Houston, Texas: “No, Travis Scott is not responsible. Open air concerts are hard to manage. There is no way to keep people back in a big crowd. Why do you think they are crossing the border in crowds? Because you can't stop them. People have lost consideration of others. Mindfulness was once a thing they were trying to use to help this, but it is too late for the overwhelming selfishness this country has created in our children over the last 30 years.”

Cheryl from Arizona: “That responsibility belongs to a group consisting of Security, Booking Venue and Concert managers. Mr. Scott's job was to show up and rap away”

Yesterday's Wrap Replies:

Chris from New Orleans: “The PIF can buy a lot, but it couldn’t buy Messi or Mbappé. Ronaldo going was for the money. He is as good as retired for the Portugal National team, and the primary competitive leagues don't care to have him. Instead of completely retiring, he will take the wad of cash and play around in the dessert where competition is no factor (I dont blame him at all). Messi is also good as retired, so going for the "Michael Jordan deal" is effectively the same thing, but moving his family to Miami probably gives them a nicer way of life. Mbappe choosing to stay in the competitive leagues (going to La Liga) is because he is nowhere near retirement and needs to stay competitive to play for France National. England National was right to kick out Beckham when he came to MLS due to competition.”

Andrea from Chicago: “Wow! Thank you for the great article ‘Mbappe in the Desert’. Getting the history on how actions transpired over the last 85 years to develop to the point of being able to afford millions for an athlete is very interesting.”

🧠 Final Thoughts

Happy Hump Day Roca Riders. To those of you who are “lying flat” — maybe you’re reading this email after you’ve slept until noon and enjoyed a home-cooked meal. To those of you who are “eating bitterness” — maybe you’re reading this e-mail from work.

Either way, we hope it’s an enjoyable break in your day! Thanks for reading Roca, and see you tomorrow.

—Max and Max