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- 🌊 Manifest Destiny Pt. 2?
🌊 Manifest Destiny Pt. 2?
Plus: Introducing the "Gulf of America," Meta's fact checker ban, & more!
“Will Greenland State join the Big 10 or SEC?”
New year, new country? The forecast for 2025 is currently showing “cloudy with a high chance of imperialist expansion.” Based on recent events, it seems that Greenland, the Panama Canal, and Canada are all in play to become states. I mean, what’s next… Washington, DC?
Something tells me Barron Trump has been playing a bit too much Risk lately…
🇮🇩 Indonesia joins the BRICS
🇺🇸 America's new age of imperialist expansion?
✌️ Meta bans fact checkers
–Max and Max
KEY STORY
BRICS to BRIICS?
Indonesia was accepted as a full member of BRICS
BRICS – founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, China, and India – seeks to counter the West-led global order
Last year, it added Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE. On Tuesday, it added Indonesia – the world’s fourth-most populous nation. 47% of the world’s people now live in BRICS countries
The group’s power and cooperation is limited but may be growing. Its most significant proposal is to create a new global reserve currency, breaking the countries’ reliance on the dollar – a move that would have major implications on American financial and economic power and its ability to enact sanctions
Dig Deeper
While little progress has been made on creating such a currency, the possibility has drawn concern from economic and political analysts
Weeks after taking office, President-elect Trump tweeted, "The idea that the BRICS Countries are trying to move away from the Dollar while we stand by and watch is OVER"
“We require a commitment from these countries that they will neither create a new Brics currency nor back any other currency to replace the mighty US dollar or they will face 100% tariffs and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful US economy”
KEY STORY
UAE + US to Govern Gaza?
The UAE and US are in talks to initially oversee post-war Gaza
15 months into the war, neither the international community nor Israel has presented a plan for how Gaza will be rebuilt or governed once the war ends
On Tuesday, though, Reuters reported that the UAE is holding talks with the US and Israel over such a plan
The UAE reportedly wants the Palestinian Authority (PA) – which rules the West Bank – to be reformed and put in charge of Gaza. After Israel’s military withdraws and before the PA is ready to govern, the UAE, US, and other countries would jointly oversee Gaza’s government, security, and reconstruction
Dig Deeper
The report comes as the PA battles Hamas, a hard-line rival, for control in the West Bank, which the PA has partially governed since the 1990s. Rampant corruption has largely discredited the PA’s legitimacy and capabilities, hence the need for reform
In a statement, the UAE said it envisions the PA governing an independent Palestinian state, including Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Proposals for Palestinian independence currently have little backing in Israel
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KEY STORY
A New Age of Expansion?
In a wide-ranging press conference, Donald Trump declared he will rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” and suggested a possible military invasion to seize Greenland and the Panama Canal
“We're going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring. That covers a lot of territory,” Trump said
A reporter asked him if he could rule out an invasion of Panama and Greenland, and he said he couldn’t
On the Canada front, Trump said he would not use military force against Canada, only “economic force.” In recent weeks, he has called Canada the “51st state”
Dig Deeper
Trump also issued a stark warning to Hamas at the press conference, declaring that “all hell will break out” if the hostages in Gaza are not returned by his January 20 inauguration
KEY STORY
Meta Ends Fact Checks
Meta is ending its third-party fact-checking system and will switch to X-esque community notes
“The fact-checkers have been too politically biased, and destroyed more trust than they created, especially in the US,” Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday
Zuckerberg added that his company is “going to get rid of a bunch of restrictions” on political content such as “immigration and gender” and focus on “illegal and high-severity” content violations
Zuckerberg previously claimed that the Biden admin and legacy media companies pressured Meta to censor certain content, especially during Covid
Dig Deeper
Zuckerberg added that his company is “going to get rid of a bunch of restrictions” on political content such as “immigration and gender” and focus on “illegal and high-severity” content violations such as those related to terrorism, human trafficking, eating disorders, and suicide
The policy changes should make Meta’s platforms friendlier towards news companies, whose content is regularly suppressed under Meta’s filters
RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office
🇺🇸 At a conference in Las Vegas, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang declared, “The ChatGPT moment for general robotics is just around the corner”
🤖 Sam Altman predicted in a blog post that “in 2025, we may see the first AI agents ‘join the workforce’ and materially change the output of companies”
🇨🇳 A magnitude-7.1 earthquake struck a holy city in Tibet, in southwestern China, damaging thousands of buildings and causing at least 126 deaths. Hundreds of people remain trapped
🇺🇸 Two weeks after his father declared that the US should take control of it, Donald Trump Jr. announced a visit to Greenland
🧬 The stock price of prominent vaccine manufacturers rose on Tuesday after the US reported its first human death from the currently-circulating bird flu strain
COMMUNITY
What does Roca Nation think?
🧠 Yesterday’s question: Do you have a positive or negative view of Elon Musk? Has it changed in the last year?
Positive.
I read the big book about him by Walter Isaacson. I felt neutral about him until I read the book.
He’s a complicated person and doesn’t always empathize but he is wicked smart, a hard worker, and tries to do right.
I admire him even more now that he is working with Trump. That took courage and he has it!
I had nothing but admiration for Elon Musk until I read his biography last year.
After reading Walter Isaacson's biography on Musk, I was hit by the realization that far too many of his relationships fall by the wayside much too easily. Sure, Musk is brilliant, but we all know he is also on the autism spectrum, and he lacks a good amount of the compassion and insight that comes with being fully "human" in his dealings with others.
For Musk, people are expendable. All people. He doesn't really need any other particular people for anything. Everyone is replaceable. He can afford to sweep livelihoods away if people don't live up to his steely standards.
This relationship in which he is engaged with Trump cannot last very long. Here, we have (likely) the two most egotistical, maniacal personalities on the planet (not dismissing Putin), who believe that the world is theirs to conquer. And it appears that they feed off of each other in terms of their grandiose validations. I do believe the two of them have been given the "Keys to the Kingdom," but as in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, what could possibly go wrong?
Honestly, it has become more negative lately as I can't seem to avoid reading/hearing about him every single day across every news feed. The political power also seems to have gone to his head. Would be nice to not hear about him for a week or so, it's monotonous.
🧐 Today’s question: What’s the most obnoxious sports fan base?
POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour
💲 Dollars and Sense: McDonald's revamped its value menu, keeping the popular $5 meal deal while adding a new "buy one, add $1" option for items like Egg McMuffins and chicken nuggets
🩺 Doctor’s Disorders: An Italian mayor “ordered” residents “to avoid contracting any illness that may require emergency medical assistance"
🩲 Undie-Prepared: A 2,000-person study commissioned by Hanes found that nearly half of Americans carry backup underwear for emergencies – and that 70% of carriers have had their spares come in handy
🇺🇸 Stephen A. Smith Weighs In: Star sports anchor Stephen A. Smith weighed in on the Fox Sports News sex allegations, defending Skip Bayless, his former “First Take” co-host, by saying that he “can’t imagine” someone as cheap as Bayless would pay an employee for sex
🚽 Even with Charmin?: Japanese toilet maker Toto warned users not to clean their toilet seats with toilet paper, as it can create micro scratches in the plastic resin surface that collect dirt and cause discoloration
ROCA WRAP
The Wolf Queen
Yellowstone National Park
A legendary one-eyed wolf died in this park after a fight with rivals.
Yellowstone – America's oldest national park, established in 1872 – spans 2.2M acres across Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. In addition to its natural beauty, the park holds immense scientific value: Among various functions, it serves as a living laboratory for wolf research, with the predators having been reintroduced in 1995. Scientists have spent the last 30 years studying how the wolves lived and how the reintroduction of a predator impacted the ecosystem.
Perhaps no Yellowstone wolf was more famous than Wolf 907F, known as the "Queen of the Wolves," who died on Christmas day at 11.8 years old – more than twice the average lifespan for Yellowstone wolves. 907F lost an eye and suffered from mange early in life, yet became a prolific mother, delivering her tenth litter of pups last May.
Despite her resilience, 907F’s time came to an end in December, though, after a fight with a rival wolf over a bison carcass. She succumbed to her wounds three days later.
907F will be remembered both for her old age – she is one of only six Yellowstone wolves to reach age 11 since reintroduction – and her value to her pack: Researchers noted that her advanced age and experience likely contributed to her pack's success in territorial conflicts, as elderly wolves bring valuable accumulated knowledge to such encounters.
ROCA VIDEO
LeScam: How the I Promise School Fell Apart
LeBron James opened the I Promise School to extraordinary fanfare in 2018. The media praised him for his benevolence and hailed the school as a potential model for schools nationwide. So, six years later... how's it doing?
The short answer is... terribly. We investigate what's become of LeBron's school and the larger problems it points to, including pandemic-induced learning loss and media deceit.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts
Our prayers are with all of our readers in the Los Angeles area. The videos emerging from the area are terrifying, and we hope all of you in the area have found your way to safety. We will, of course, cover the story tomorrow. Hang in there, SoCal readers ❤️
–Max and Max