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- 🌊 What a Pain in the AWS
🌊 What a Pain in the AWS
Plus: Guns for drug users, eye implant breakthrough, & Texas Tech tortilla ban
Boom. Another conservation win.
Last week we shared the great news that the green sea turtle is no longer an endangered species, and this morning we saw another great conservation headline: Australia's once-endangered humpback whale population has risen above its pre-whaling levels to a population of 60,000 today. In the 1960s, its population dipped to just 200! And now it’s 300x that! If only Dory were around to tell them…
🪫 Mass AWS outage
💊 No guns for drug users?
🚫 Texas Tech tortilla ban
–Max and Max
KEY STORY
Amazon Outage Causes Mass Disruptions
Amazon’s cloud-computing division (AWS) experienced a widespread service outage on Monday morning that disrupted major apps and websites
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the largest cloud-computing service provider in the US and supports millions of websites and platforms. Any problems with the AWS network can have a major impact on the wider internet and popular mobile apps
On Monday, the outage hit dozens of websites and applications, including Facebook, Snapchat, Coinbase, Robinhood, Venmo, Slack, airlines, Perplexity, Fortnite, and Roblox
AWS said the issues stemmed from problems with the Amazon DynamoDB system, which provides websites with database storage and computing power
Dig Deeper
Analysts pointed out that the outage demonstrated how regional digital infrastructure problems can have far-reaching effects across the internet
While outages in cloud services are common, they have become more noticeable as more companies rely on major providers such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, highlighting the growing dependence of the modern internet on a handful of cloud-computing providers
KEY STORY
Bank Found Liable for Enabling Genocide in Sudan
A New York jury found French bank BNP Paribas liable for more than $20M in damages over its role in providing banking services to Sudan's government during a period of mass atrocities
Between 2002 and 2008, Sudan's government under Omar al-Bashir carried out widespread violence, particularly in Darfur. As many as 300,000 people were killed and 2.7M were driven from their homes. The US recognized the conflict as genocide in 2004
Last Friday, a federal jury found BNP Paribas liable for damages to three Sudanese refugees now living in the US, awarding them a combined $20.75M. The bank had given Sudan's government access to billions of US dollars through its Geneva office during the conflict, ignoring US sanctions
Dig Deeper
In 2014, BNP Paribas pleaded guilty to criminal charges of processing funds from Sudan and other sanctioned countries through the US financial system and paid nearly $9B in penalties
Lawyers for the plaintiffs described the case as a "bellwether trial" and said more than 20,000 Sudanese refugees living in the US could potentially seek damages from the bank
BNP Paribas disputed the verdict, saying it "ignores important evidence the bank was not permitted to introduce." The bank's stock dropped as much as 10% after the verdict
KEY STORY
SCOTUS Reviews Gun Rights for Drug Users
The Supreme Court agreed to decide whether federal law can prohibit drug users from owning firearms, reviewing a law used to convict Hunter Biden
The Gun Control Act of 1968 barred anyone who "is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance" from possessing a gun. The law has prevented more gun sales through the federal background-check system than any restriction except bans on felons and fugitives
The case involves Ali Danial Hemani, whose firearm possession charge was dismissed by the Fifth Circuit in January, ruling the law only applies when someone is actively intoxicated while possessing a weapon
The Justice Department has now asked the Supreme Court to reinstate Hemani's prosecution and uphold the broad application of the law, with arguments expected in early 2026
Dig Deeper
The Justice Department argues that founding-era laws restricted gun rights for habitual drinkers even when sober, providing historical precedent for the modern statute
Hemani's lawyers argued that roughly 19% of Americans have used marijuana and about 32% own firearms, meaning millions could face up to 15 years in prison under the law
A decision is expected by the end of next June
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KEY STORY
Eye Implant Restores Reading Ability
A tiny electronic eye implant helped blind patients read again after surgery
Geographic atrophy is an advanced form of age-related macular degeneration that causes cells in the central part of the retina to gradually die, leading to vision loss. The condition affects approximately 5M people worldwide and has no existing treatment
On Monday, researchers published results showing how an electronic eye implant allowed patients with geographic atrophy to read. The research found that 84% of the 32 patients tested one year after surgery achieved clinically meaningful vision improvements
Some patients reported being able to read books, complete crosswords, and read prescription labels using their previously blind eye
Surgeons had implanted a microchip under the retina of 38 patients across 17 hospitals in five European countries
Dig Deeper
After surgery, patients wore augmented-reality glasses with a built-in camera connected to a small computer on their waistband. The camera sent infrared images to the chip, which converted them into electrical signals that traveled through the retina and optic nerve to the brain
Patients required months of intensive training to learn how to interpret the images from the device. The implant is not yet licensed for use outside clinical trials, though doctors expressed hope it could be available through the UK's National Health Service within a few years
Doctors at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London called the results "astounding" and said the technology represents a "paradigm shift" in artificial vision
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Facts do not convey truth. That's a mistake. Facts create norms, but truth creates illumination.
RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office
🇮🇱 Israel resumed enforcing Gaza’s week-old ceasefire and confirmed aid deliveries would restart on Monday.
🇺🇸 The federal government shutdown entered day 20 on Monday, becoming the third-longest in US history behind only the 1995 and 2018-2019 shutdowns.
🧑⚖️ Federal officials appeared before a judge on Monday to address allegations that they violated court orders restricting tear gas use during immigration enforcement operations in Chicago.
💂 A federal appeals court ruled that Trump can deploy National Guard troops to Portland despite objections from city and state leaders, marking a significant legal victory as he sends military forces to multiple Democratic-led cities.
✍️ President Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed an agreement to supply the US with minerals and rare earth materials from Australia, reducing American dependence on China for critical materials.
What does Roca Nation think?
🌊 Yesterday’s Question: Do you have a favorable view of Ivy League colleges (Harvard, Princeton, Yale, etc.)? Why or why not?
Not really. The only times I ever hear about them are 1) when something sketchy is going on, 2) when someone does something illegal, 3) when they're being snobs, or 4) when they make some cool breakthrough. So, I dont often hear about them in a positive light, and the few people I've met from an Ivy League were a wrench short of a toolbox.
I do have a favorable view of the Ivy League schools. They hold a strong historical presence in our country, they promote education in a variety of ways from theology to agriculture, medicine to education, and they have helped solve numerous problems here at home and abroad. That they might swing a little liberal is no surprise because that's what education does is open the mind to new possibilities instead of restricting people to a narrow viewpoint that we receive from lack of exposure. That they are a little snobby is due largely to the historical nature and the money that is pumped into them creating an exclusivity. It's not always ideal, but the nature of the beast.
No.
I did at one time but now I feel a university education is not worth it unless you are going into very specialized fields and can work around the wokeness and indoctrination.
My kids would tell me about some of their professors and what they had said. It’s insane what they tell these kids is true. I also scanned some of their required reading which was eye opening.
My boys just played along, wrote papers confirming the prof’s ideology and got great grades. The only thing they learned in those classes (usually sociology requirements) was how to play the game.
The standards for acceptance have also gone down and some people who are admitted shouldn’t be there.
The luster of these and all universities has passed.
🏈 Today’s Question: Who will win the Super Bowl? National championship in cfb?
POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour
🧱 Brick by Brick Crime: A Lake County man was arrested last week for allegedly orchestrating a large-scale Lego theft ring, directing others to steal expensive sets from retailers and reselling them for profit.
🌱 Hollywood Horticulturalist: Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett has become an ambassador for Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, which celebrates its 25th anniversary storing over 2.5B seeds from 40,000 plant species worldwide.
🎃 Gourd Almighty: Competitors paddled across a lake in giant hollowed-out pumpkins during Oregon's annual West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta, with Gary Kristensen winning the first race in a 936lb squash while dressed as Buddy the Elf.
🏈 Flour Power Ends: Texas Tech has banned its decades-old tradition of fans throwing tortillas onto the field during kickoffs after the Red Raiders were penalized twice and fined $25,000 in their game against Kansas.
🖼️ Saint on Display: The remains of Saint Francis of Assisi will be publicly displayed for the first time in 800 years, moving from their sealed reliquary beneath the Basilica to the Papal altar for one month in 2026.
ROCA WRAP
The Rogue Filmmaker
Werner Herzog
This legendary filmmaker once moved a full-sized steamship over a mountain in the Amazon.
Werner Herzog was a pioneer of New German Cinema who has spent six decades creating films that blur the line between documentary and fiction. Born Werner Stipetić in Munich in 1942, Herzog survived Allied bombing raids as an infant and grew up in a remote Bavarian village without running water or electricity. He saw his first film when a traveling projectionist visited his one-room schoolhouse.
Herzog's path to filmmaking started with theft. At 19, he stole a camera from the Munich Film School to make his first film, later explaining he felt a “natural right” to the tool he needed and financed early projects by working night shifts as a welder in a steel factory. His approach to filmmaking became equally unconventional: He avoids storyboards, emphasizes improvisation, and places cast and crew into real situations that mirror their films. When his friend, Lotte Eisner, fell gravely ill in 1974, Herzog walked from Munich to Paris believing she wouldn’t die if he did so – she lived another eight years.
Herzog's commitment to motivation became literal in 1978. He had promised to eat his shoe if fellow filmmaker Errol Morris completed a pet cemetery documentary project, doubting Morris would follow through. When Morris premiered “Gates of Heaven,” Herzog cooked and publicly consumed his footwear in an event later documented in the film “Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe.” Herzog said he hoped it would encourage anyone struggling to finish a project.
Herzog's obsession with authenticity reached its peak during the filming of “Fitzcarraldo” in the early 1980s. The film tells the story of a man determined to haul a steamship over a mountain in the Peruvian jungle. Rather than use special effects or models, Herzog actually dragged a 320-ton steamship over a mountain. The production became legendary for its difficulty. In one instance, a Peruvian logger had to amputate his foot with a chainsaw after being bitten by a venomous snake during production. In another incident the indigenous Machiguenga people, working as extras for the film, offered to kill one of the more difficult actors – Klaus Kinski – both as a favor to Herzog and because they believed he was an evil spirit. He declined their offer.
He speaks multiple languages but has refused to speak French, saying the only time he’s spoken the language was during an incident in Africa when he was forced to speak French at gunpoint to communicate with African rebels who had captured him. Herzog has called the decision one of his biggest life regrets, though he’s refused to elaborate on why.
After moving to Los Angeles in the late 1990s, Herzog continued attracting the unusual circumstances that defined his career. In 2006, while giving a BBC interview about his documentary “Grizzly Man,” he was shot in the abdomen by someone with an air rifle. Herzog continued the interview without seeking medical treatment, dismissing the wound as “not significant.” Despite his successes, he revealed his limited possessions to outlets in 2013, noting he’s only owned a single suit for 25 years, a car for 12, and a pair of shoes for three.
In June 2022, at 79, Herzog published “The Twilight World,” his debut novel about Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese soldier who hid in Philippine jungles for decades refusing to believe World War II had ended. Herzog met Onoda in Tokyo more than 20 years earlier and was fascinated by his jungle ordeal and describes the book as exploring themes of obsession and reality that have defined his entire career.
For a man who walked across Europe to save a friend's life and ate his shoe to prove a point, writing fiction might be Herzog's most conventional move yet.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts
Thank you all so much for reading Roca today. It seems you all have been digging the new Wraps like yesterday’s — who would’ve thought that Count Dooku used to take out Nazis? We promise to keep them coming.
By the way, in case you missed it, here’s our latest YouTube video. A heavy but important one.
–Max and Max