🌊 America Pokemon Go's to the Polls

Happy Election Day, Roca Nation.

Or as Curtis Sliwa calls it, “Revenge against the Gambino kid who shot me 17 times in the sewers in 1982 Day.” Voters will Pokemon go-to-the polls in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York for some key gubernatorial and mayoral elections today. Virginia will also vote on its Attorney General race, featuring the guy whose leaked texts showed him calling for the deaths of political opponents and their kids. Well, we got our hold of another leaked text from Jay Jones today: It was from his neighbor Tommy and said “good luck.” We’re really not good at this news “scoop” thing yet.

Also, the fall pics are incredible. Keep them coming and see the first three below.

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

Elections in NYC, VA, and NJ

NYC, Virginia, and New Jersey are holding elections Tuesday in closely watched races that mark a major test for both political parties

• NYC's mayoral race has attracted national attention due to the candidacy of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani. Early voting in NYC produced the highest turnout for a non-presidential election in the city's history, with over 700,000 early voting check-ins over nine days

• Virginia voters choose between Abigail Spanberger (D) and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R) for governor, with the race focusing on the economic impact of federal job cuts and the government shutdown

• In New Jersey, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D) faces Jack Ciattarelli (R) in a contest dominated by affordability concerns and rising energy costs

Dig Deeper 

• 34-year-old Assemblymember Mamdani campaigned on lowering the city's cost of living through proposals, including rent freezes, free buses, and raising the minimum wage to $30 per hour. If elected, Mamdani would become the city's first Muslim and first socialist mayor

• Spanberger emphasizes defending federal workers against "chaos from Washington," while Earle-Sears defends the Trump Administration's cuts, arguing the impact will be minimal

• If Sherrill wins in New Jersey, it will mark the first time the state has elected governors from the same party for three consecutive terms since the 1960s

• Additionally, California voters are deciding Proposition 50, which would allow the state's Democratic leaders to temporarily bypass California's independent redistricting commission and redraw congressional maps to favor Democrats

KEY STORY

Shareholders to Vote on Musk's Pay Package

Tesla shareholders are voting this week on a compensation package for CEO Elon Musk that could be worth nearly $1T if he achieves ambitious goals over the next decade

• A Delaware court previously struck down an earlier $56B compensation package for Musk, finding that Tesla's board lacked independence from the CEO. Tesla criticized that ruling and moved its corporate registration to Texas

• The vote has divided shareholders along political lines, with government pension fund managers in Democratic-led states opposing the plan and those in Republican-run states supporting it

• Tesla's Board Chair warned shareholders that Musk might quit if they rejected the plan: "We run the risk that he gives up his executive position, and Tesla may lose his time, talent and vision"

Dig Deeper 

• Analysts have questioned whether Tesla's board can fairly judge Musk's performance. The board includes Musk's brother and several longtime friends and business associates

• The plan would allow the board to give Musk portions of his pay even if he misses his goals due to events like natural disasters or government interference. One advisory firm said Musk could earn tens of billions of dollars without meeting a single performance target

KEY STORY

Trump Administration to Partially Fund SNAP

The Trump Administration said it would pay for about half of November's food assistance benefits after two federal judges ordered it to use emergency funds

• The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides aid to roughly 42M low-income Americans and typically costs about $9B monthly. On November 1, SNAP funding ran out because of the federal government shutdown

• On Friday, federal judges in Rhode Island and Massachusetts ruled that the administration must use SNAP contingency funds to keep the program running. On Monday, the administration said it would comply and use the full amount of SNAP contingency funds, however, the total – roughly $4.65B – covers only 50% of November benefits for each eligible household

Dig Deeper 

• A Department of Agriculture official warned that states would face difficulties in distributing the reduced benefits. States will need to calculate the partial benefit amounts for recipients and update their systems to process the payments, which could take anywhere from a few weeks to several months for some states

• Officials said no funds would remain for new applicants in November, for disaster assistance, or as a cushion against shutting down SNAP entirely

• The administration declined to use a separate $23B school lunch and child nutrition fund for SNAP costs, arguing it would create an unprecedented gap in child nutrition funding

KEY STORY

Mexican Mayor Assassinated During Festival

A Mexican mayor who had publicly criticized organized crime was shot and killed during a Day of the Dead celebration in Michoacán on Saturday night

• Carlos Alberto Manzo Rodríguez, the 40-year-old mayor of Uruapan, was attending a candlelight ceremony when a gunman opened fire and shot him seven times in front of dozens of residents and tourists. Since December 2024, Manzo had been under the protection of 14 National Guard troops and municipal police officers. His state of Michoacán has seen seven mayors killed since 2022

• Manzo had become an outspoken critic of organized crime, and unlike President Claudia Sheinbaum's strategy of prioritizing intelligence over direct confrontation, Manzo advocated for lethal force against cartels

• In a September interview, Manzo said, "I do not want to be just another mayor on the list of those who have been executed," but added that despite his fear, he would not take "a single step back"

Dig Deeper

• Michoacán is one of Mexico's most violent states, where multiple cartels and criminal groups compete for control of territory, drug distribution routes, and illegal businesses

• Following the assassination, President Sheinbaum ruled out any changes to her security policies and defended her approach of reinforcing security forces and strengthening intelligence work. "Some are calling for militarization and war, as happened with the war on drugs. That didn't work," Sheinbaum said

• Hundreds of Uruapan residents took to the streets on Sunday for a funeral procession, chanting "Justice! Justice!" as they accompanied Manzo's body through the town

QUOTE OF THE DAY

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

📊 Kimberly-Clark agreed to acquire Tylenol maker Kenvue for over $40B in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $21.01 per share, creating a global health and wellness company with approximately $32B in annual revenue.

🇰🇷 US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea on Monday ahead of annual security talks with South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back.

🖥️ Amazon Web Services (AWS) signed a $38B, seven-year deal to provide OpenAI with access to hundreds of thousands of AWS-owned Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) for computing power.

☩ Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, announced that 5M of the more than 6M Jews killed in the Holocaust have now been identified after seven decades of research.

👻 Two men have been charged with plotting a mass shooting over Halloween weekend in Dearborn, MI, with federal prosecutors alleging they expressed support for the Islamic State group online.

Fall Photo Showcase - Day 1

The first batch of our favorite fall photos you submitted

Send in your best fall photos to [email protected]!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

🇪🇬 Mummy's Home: Egypt has opened the Grand Egyptian Museum near Giza, described as the world's largest archaeological museum with 100,000 artifacts spanning seven millennia.

🍧 Scoop, There It Is: David Rush, who holds over 300 Guinness World Records, added another title by catching an ice cream scoop in a cone from 55 feet, 5 inches away.

🐒 No More Monkey Business: A Mississippi woman shot and killed one of dozens of research monkeys that escaped after a transport truck overturned, saying she feared for her children's safety after being warned the animals carried diseases.

💸 Complimentary Snack Service: Major airlines are providing free meals to unpaid air traffic controllers and federal aviation workers during the government shutdown after they missed their first full paycheck on Day 28.

💰 It Ends With Dismissal: A judge formally ended Justin Baldoni's $400M lawsuit against Blake Lively after the actor-director failed to meet a deadline to file an amended complaint.

ROCA WRAP
The Phantom Strategist

Sun Tzu

This military philosopher may never have existed, yet his writings shaped warfare for over two thousand years.

The man known as Sun Tzu supposedly lived during China's Eastern Zhou period, serving as a general for the state of Wu between 544 and 496 BC. His name translates to "Master Sun," with his birth name recorded as Sun Wu. According to ancient historian Sima Qian, writing around 97 BC, Sun Tzu impressed King Helü by transforming 180 royal concubines into disciplined soldiers. When two favored concubines laughed at his orders, Sun Tzu had them executed. The rest obeyed immediately, and the king appointed him general. Sun Tzu then led the state of Wu to victory against the larger state of Chu in 506 BC.

Starting in the 12th century, Chinese scholars began questioning whether Sun Tzu ever existed. The Zuo Zhuan, written centuries before Sima Qian's account, provides detailed records of the Battle of Boju but never mentions Sun Tzu despite describing other notable figures from that era. The name "Sun Wu" appears nowhere in texts predating Sima Qian's history. Some scholars suggest the name was invented, with "Sun" meaning "fugitive" and "Wu" meaning "martial" or "warrior." No records of professional generals exist from the Spring and Autumn period when Sun Tzu supposedly lived, only from the later Warring States era.

The confusion deepened in 1972 when construction workers in Shandong accidentally unearthed bamboo slips containing The Art of War sealed between 134 and 118 BC. The text contained about one-third of the modern version's chapters. Analysis revealed the work includes technology, philosophical concepts, and military techniques that wouldn't have existed during Sun Tzu's supposed lifetime, including anachronistic crossbow designs. Scholars now date the earliest portions to at least a century after Sun Wu's death. The same discovery included Sun Bin's Military Methods, a previously lost text by someone also called "Master Sun," explaining centuries of historical confusion about which Master Sun did what.

Despite questions about its author, The Art of War became the most influential military text in East Asian history. The warlord Cao Cao edited and commented on it in the 3rd century. Japanese generals studied it after its introduction to Japan in 760, helping shape the strategies of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu during Japan's unification. Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō read it before defeating Russia in 1905. The French translated it in 1772, and the first complete English version appeared in 1910. Mao Zedong credited it for his 1949 victory over the Nationalists, while Ho Chi Minh translated it for Vietnamese officers. American generals from Douglas MacArthur to Norman Schwarzkopf cited its principles, and modern Chinese strategists still rely on its teachings when developing state policy.

Whether Sun Tzu was a real general or a literary invention, his phantom hand has guided battles across 2,500 years.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

Huge shoutout to the Hogans and all of our Buffalo readers who helped us with this video on Buffalo’s amazing comeback. Buffalo has really gotten a second wind in recent years (well, except on AFC Championship Sundays) and is showing what a Rust Belt comeback can look like.

Hope you enjoy this video.

–Max and Max