🌊 Please Insert Chips, Taiwan

How does the moon get its haircut? Eclipse it!

Okay, that was tough. Please don’t unsubscribe.

Hope you enjoyed your eclipse viewing yesterday. Our favorite part was seeing vendors all over our local park selling eclipse glasses instead of the usual Skittles, tour guides, and weed. We swear “Dune 2” was on the side of some of them… think everyone just grabbed them out of the recycling bin by the exit of a recent IMAX showing?

In today's edition:

–Max, Max, Jen, and Alex

KEY STORY

Chips: Made in America

Taiwan-based TSMC, the world’s largest producer of high-tech chips, announced major investments in the US

• TSMC produces 90% of the world’s advanced chips, which most computer-based technologies rely on

• In 2022, the US passed the CHIPS Act to bolster US chip production with the goal of the US producing 20% of the world’s cutting-edge chips by 2030

• On Monday, TSMC announced it will open its third plant in the US and upgrade its second plant, currently under construction, to be able to produce the world’s most advanced chip. The US will support TSMC’s investments with $6.6B in grants and $5B in loans

Dig Deeper

• The US government estimated construction of the third plant will employ at least 25,000 people, while TSMC estimated it will create 6,000 “direct high-tech, high-wage jobs”

• The second plant is expected to open by 2028; the third, by 2030

KEY STORY

Abortion Stance

Donald Trump said abortion policy should be left to the states, not the federal government

• Trump had in recent months supported a potential national abortion ban after 15 or 16 weeks of pregnancy

• But Trump said Monday that each state should set its own policies: “The states will determine by vote or legislation…and whatever they decide must be the law of the land,” he said. He also said exceptions should exist for rape and incest

• “You must follow your heart on this issue,” Trump said, adding, “But remember, you must also win elections to restore our culture”

Dig Deeper

• Several anti-abortion activists and Republican lawmakers publicly broke from Trump’s stance

• The president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a group that advocates for stricter abortion restrictions, told POLITICO, “We are deeply disappointed in President Trump’s position”

• Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) also broke with Trump, saying his stance “runs contrary to an American consensus” on the issue

KEY STORY

Interest Rate Staying Put?

Optimism is fading that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will substantially lower interest rates this year

• The Fed raised interest rates 11 times in 2022 and 2023, bringing them to a decades-long high. Late last year, amid slowing inflation, optimism grew that the Fed would begin cutting rates in 2024, likely beginning in March. That drove a major stock market rally

• Yet inflation has remained stubbornly high, and last Friday, the government released stronger-than-expected job data, raising concerns the Fed won’t cut rates

• Now, some investors fear the Fed could lower interest rates fewer times than expected or not at all this year

Dig Deeper

• Last week, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said that the stronger-than-expected economy has not changed his forecast that interest rate cuts could occur this year. “The recent data do not…materially change the overall picture, which continues to be one of solid growth, a strong but rebalancing labor market, and inflation moving down to 2% [the target inflation rate],” he said

SPONSORED

Do you play (flavor) favorites?

Together with LMNT

Today we’re taking a Roca deep dive into the flavors you’ll find in LMNT’s 12-stick variety pack. We want to know – which do you prefer? We have a stash in Roca’s HQ and here’s how our office breaks down:

• CITRUS SALT | Roca co-founder Max T goes for LMNT’s first and most popular flavor, a salty staple for newcomers and OGs alike. It’s bursting with lemon-lime, and as refreshing as it is energizing

• WATERMELON SALT | Roca’s Executive Director Jen prefers LMNT’s most fruit-forward flavor. Watermelon’s full-bodied sweetness makes it a fan-favorite for adults and kids

• RASPBERRY SALT | Roca’s Executive Director of Sales Viv loves her salt sweet and tart, so prefers Raspberry Salt. It starts crisp and stays smooth. It only seems to get better with time, propelling it up the ranks to LMNT’s second-most popular flavor

• ORANGE SALT | Roca co-founder Max F always grabs the ice-cold classic Orange Salt, the mildest of LMNT’s fruit flavors. It brings a tangy yet balanced salty sweetness that reels you in like a sip of sunshine nostalgia

Dig Deeper

• As always, LMNT is offering Roca a free sample pack with any purchase. Be sure to refresh your stash today, or if you haven't yet, try it out, and send us your favorite flavors!

KEY STORY

Pope Opposes Gender Theory

The Vatican released a declaration reiterating its opposition to gender theory and sex changes

• Titled “Dignitas Infinita” (“Infinite Dignity”), the declaration reiterated long-standing church beliefs on a series of social issues

• It criticized gender theory, saying, “All attempts to obscure reference to the…sexual difference between man and woman are to be rejected”

• It added, “Any sex-change intervention, as a rule, risks threatening the unique dignity the person has received from the moment of conception”

• It also reiterated the church’s opposition to abortion, calling it “deliberate and direct killing”

Dig Deeper

• The document largely reiterated existing church and papal views, but came months after the Pope approved the blessing of people in same-sex marriages

• Some analysts viewed Monday’s declaration as an attempt to appease more conservative elements of the church, many of whom viewed the same-sex blessings ruling as too permissive

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

🇨🇳 US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she had “productive, direct, and extensive” conversations with Chinese leaders during her six-day trip to China

🇺🇦 Despite threats by some Republicans, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said he will take up the issue of Ukraine aid this week

🤖 During an interview, Elon Musk predicted that AI will surpass human intelligence by “the end of next year” and that AI will exceed the intelligence of all humans within five years

🇮🇱 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government has set a date for an assault on Rafah, saying, “Victory requires entering Rafah and eliminating the terrorist battalions there…This will happen; there is a date”

🎓 The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, a governing body for 83,000 students at small US colleges, voted 20-0 to ban trans athletes from competing in women’s sports

🏷️ Meta will expand its “Made with AI” labeling of AI-generated speech to include all videos, pictures, or audio generated or modified by AI

COMMUNITY

We founded RocaNews because we wanted news companies to give us just the facts – not tell us what to think. That inspires us to do the “Roca Votes” story each week, in which we summarize a controversial topic and see how Roca Nation feels about it.

This week’s topic asks: Are celebrity political endorsements dumb?

Yesterday’s Poll:

Will you be in the path of totality for today’s solar eclipse?
Yes: 20%
No: 71%
Unsure: 9%

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

🤠 Last night we let the chairs talk: Country music superstar Morgan Wallen was arrested in Nashville after allegedly throwing a chair from the rooftop of a bar

🏀 Last train to Caitlin Clarksville: Sunday’s South Carolina-Iowa NCAA national championship averaged 18.7M viewers, setting a new record for the most-watched women’s basketball game ever

🤒 No Role Model: Rapper J. Cole expressed regret for releasing his Kendrick Lamar diss, “7 Minute Drill,” last week. “The past two days have felt terrible,” J. Cole said

🐶 What about other animals? Ontario police reminded motorists that a dog doesn’t count as a passenger to allow drivers to use the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes on the highway

💀 Dad comes back from dead: A Kentucky man admitted to faking his death to avoid paying $100,000+ in child support to his ex-wife. He hacked into Hawaii’s death registry to mark himself deceased

🌘 Solar Eclipse watch list: North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana will be the next US states to experience the next total solar eclipse on August 22, 2044

ROCA WRAP
Aid and Tragedy

Deconfliction is “the coordination of flights, maneuvers, etc. between groups especially in areas where overlapping operations are occurring in order to reduce the risk of accidents or incidents”

In conflict zones like Gaza, it’s a matter of life and death.

For aid organizations, deconfliction means giving militaries advance notice of plans and movements. That’s what World Central Kitchen (WCK), an aid group that delivers food in crisis zones, did last Monday ahead of a trip up Gaza’s coast. Yet as the three-vehicle convoy made that journey, it was struck by three missiles in quick succession, killing seven aid workers.

The ensuing anger – including from the British, American, Canadian, Australian, and Polish governments, whose citizens died in the strike – led Israel to pledge to conduct an independent investigation.

On Friday, Israel’s military, the IDF, released its assessment of that investigation, which concluded that its troops were not justified in striking the convoy. It said it had dismissed two officers and punished three who were involved.

Israel also released greater detail about what allegedly happened on Monday night.

The aid workers had been helping unload and distribute food aid that WCK ships were ferrying from Cyprus to Gaza. On Monday, the aid workers were – with IDF approval – transferring food supplies to a warehouse several miles away.

The IDF said that during this process, it spotted an alleged gunman riding on the roof of a truck in the WCK convoy. Drone footage shows the gunman appearing to fire his weapon. The IDF said it then tried to contact the convoy, but because walkie-talkies and other communications are prohibited in the zone, it was unable to.

The IDF proceeded to track the convoy to a warehouse, where the convoy then split: One vehicle – which drone footage shows did have gunmen – went north, while the other three went south.

Because the north-bound vehicle was close to an aid facility, the IDF said it didn’t strike it. But in the south-bound group, the IDF says its troops saw what appeared to be a gun – but now believes was a bag – slung over a passenger’s arm, assumed the car held militants, and ordered a strike.

At 11:09 PM, a missile struck the first vehicle, whose surviving passengers scrambled into the second vehicle. A second missile struck that one, whose passengers then scrambled into the third vehicle, and at 11:13 PM, a third and final missile struck the third vehicle.

The IDF said there were three key failures: That WCK’s plans and location were not conveyed to IDF troops; that the suspicion of a gunman entering one vehicle was insufficient to justify a strike; and that multiple missiles should not have been fired after the first one was.

While Israel has said it punished those responsible and will take steps to ensure such a strike doesn’t happen again, that’s little consolation to the victims and other aid workers, up to 200 of whom have reportedly been killed since the war began.

Aid groups have paused their activities in parts of Gaza, citing the fact that there is no indication deconfliction or other protocols will protect them.

On Wednesday, President Biden said, “This is not a stand-alone incident” and accused Israel of “not [doing] enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians.”

Following a call with Biden the following day, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that Israel would allow an Israeli port and another border crossing with Gaza to be used for expanded aid deliveries.

If Israel does so, that may reduce aspects of the humanitarian crisis in northern Gaza, where it is worst. For now, though, ineffective deconfliction means aid deliveries are not guaranteed.

Reply to this email to let us know what you think!

ROCA VOTES
Aid and Tragedy

Deconfliction is “the coordination of flights, maneuvers, etc. between groups especially in areas where overlapping operations are occurring in order to reduce the risk of accidents or incidents”

In conflict zones like Gaza, it’s a matter of life and death.

For aid organizations, deconfliction means giving militaries advance notice of plans and movements. That’s what World Central Kitchen (WCK), an aid group that delivers food in crisis zones, did last Monday ahead of a trip up Gaza’s coast. Yet as the three-vehicle convoy made that journey, it was struck by three missiles in quick succession, killing seven aid workers.

The ensuing anger – including from the British, American, Canadian, Australian, and Polish governments, whose citizens died in the strike – led Israel to pledge to conduct an independent investigation.

On Friday, Israel’s military, the IDF, released its assessment of that investigation, which concluded that its troops were not justified in striking the convoy. It said it had dismissed two officers and punished three who were involved.

Israel also released greater detail about what allegedly happened on Monday night.

The aid workers had been helping unload and distribute food aid that WCK ships were ferrying from Cyprus to Gaza. On Monday, the aid workers were – with IDF approval – transferring food supplies to a warehouse several miles away.

The IDF said that during this process, it spotted an alleged gunman riding on the roof of a truck in the WCK convoy. Drone footage shows the gunman appearing to fire his weapon. The IDF said it then tried to contact the convoy, but because walkie-talkies and other communications are prohibited in the zone, it was unable to.

The IDF proceeded to track the convoy to a warehouse, where the convoy then split: One vehicle – which drone footage shows did have gunmen – went north, while the other three went south.

Because the northbound vehicle was close to an aid facility, the IDF said it didn’t strike it. But in the south-bound group, the IDF says its troops saw what appeared to be a gun – but now believes was a bag – slung over a passenger’s arm, assumed the car held militants, and ordered a strike.

At 11:09 PM, a missile struck the first vehicle, whose surviving passengers scrambled into the second vehicle. A second missile struck that one, whose passengers then scrambled into the third vehicle, and at 11:13 PM, a third and final missile struck the third vehicle.

The IDF said there were three key failures: That WCK’s plans and location were not conveyed to IDF troops; that the suspicion of a gunman entering one vehicle was insufficient to justify a strike; and that multiple missiles should not have been fired after the first one was.

While Israel has said it punished those responsible and will take steps to ensure such a strike doesn’t happen again, that’s little consolation to the victims and other aid workers, up to 200 of whom have reportedly been killed since the war began.

Aid groups have paused their activities in parts of Gaza, citing the fact that there is no indication deconfliction or other protocols will protect them.

On Wednesday, President Biden said, “This is not a stand-alone incident” and accused Israel of “not [doing] enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians.”

Following a call with Biden the following day, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that Israel would allow an Israeli port and another border crossing with Gaza to be used for expanded aid deliveries.

If Israel does so, that may reduce aspects of the humanitarian crisis in northern Gaza, where it is worst. For now, though, ineffective deconfliction means aid deliveries are not guaranteed.

Reply to this email to let us know what you think!

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EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

PSA: The next episode of our new podcast We The 66 is dropping today! Go ahead and subscribe now on YouTube and Spotify to be the first to listen. In the meantime, check out our introductory episode on media censorship and the purpose of the show.

Thank you all so much for the support.

— Max, Max, Alex and Jen