May 23, 2022

$10,000, 5 clues, 1 secret location: Welcome to the first Roca Treasure Hunt. In National Treasure-like fashion, we are giving away $10,000 to the first 3 to figure out a secret location based on daily clues this week. Invite your friends to join the hunt with your unique link. Happy Monday and may the brightest Riders win.

In today's edition:

• Join the Roca Treasure Hunt
• A visit to one of Earth's most mysterious places
• Do Roca readers prefer AC or Wi-Fi? 

 Key Stories

Americans are Disgruntled 

A large majority of Americans are displeased with the state of the country, per a CBS/YouGov poll

• Only 26% of respondents said things in the country are going “somewhat” or “very” well; 74% said things are going “somewhat” or “very” badly
• Respondents were most pessimistic about their finances: 77% said they were pessimistic about the costs of goods and services, 68% about the economy, and 67% about the stock market
• More than 60% of respondents said they were “uneasy,” “worried,” or “frustrated” about the current state of the country

• The most common word (51%) respondents used to describe the Democratic Party was "weak"; the most common word used to describe the Republican Party was "extreme" (54%)

US Considers Ukraine Deployment

The US is considering sending special forces to protect the American embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine

• The US reopened its embassy in Kyiv last week. The city has been relatively peaceful, however it remains within range of Russian missiles
• The State Department, which oversees US embassies and diplomacy, currently provides its own security via an organization called the Diplomatic Security Service
• If President Biden approves the deployment, special forces would help protect the embassy. Formerly, he had said that no US troops would enter Ukraine

• Unlike US embassies in many unstable countries, the Kyiv embassy is not heavily protected. Earlier this month, US special forces escorted a group of diplomats into Ukraine – the first known instance of US forces entering the country since the war began.

Monkeypox Outbreak
 

15 countries — including the US, UK, and Canada — have reported cases of monkeypox

• Monkeypox, related to smallpox, generally spreads from animals to humans. The WHO said it is being sexually tranmistted between humans, though. Most cases have been reported among gay men
• This monkeypox strain is ~1% fatal, however there is an effective vaccine and treatments
• President Biden said that “everybody should be concerned” by the outbreak, although one pathologist told the FT, “In a broader context, this isn’t an infection we should really worry about”

• “We have a vaccine to prevent it, we have drugs which work against it and it’s not spread easily between people as it requires very close contact,” that pathologist said. Countries are providing vaccines and treatments to those at risk.

Elections in Australia

The center-left Labor party won federal elections in Australia, unseating the center-right party that has governed since 2013

• Major topics in the election included inflation and climate change, which the incoming prime minister says he will combat much more aggressively
• In a speech, the new prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said his government would turn Australia, a major coal producer, into a renewable-energy superpower
• The Labor party performed best in urban and suburban areas; the center-right Liberal party was most successful in rural areas

• The first person to send a Google Street View screenshot of the correct place wins $5,000, second wins $3,000, third wins $2,000 
• No in-person photos will be accepted. This is an entirely virtual game
• You have only 1 guess and it can not be changed. Guess by replying to a newsletter, which goes out at 11:00 AM ET daily 
• Winners will be announced on May 31
• Full rules are at the bottom of this email!

• Saturday night leaving: SNL bid farewell to Pete Davidson and Kate McKinnon on Saturday night, ushering in a new era for the show
• Easy on the bench! The Dallas Mavericks' bench was fined $100,000 for violating the NBA's "bench decorum" in Game 2 of its playoff series
• Speaking of the Mavs... The 15-yo Texas girl trafficked at a Mavericks game was found 10 days later. 8 people have since been arrested

 What do you think?

See yesterday's results below the Wrap!

 Roca Wrap

No one knows what life is like on North Sentinel Island – one of Earth's most remote places. Many who have tried to find out have died in the process.

North Sentinel is situated in the Indian Ocean and part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which are an Indian territory. While much of that archipelago is developed, North Sentinel Island is not – and its people have never allowed it to be explored.

The Sentinelese – the natives of North Sentinel – speak a language no one else can speak, not even the indigenous people of nearby islands. No one knows what they call themselves; no one knows how they live.

The island was recorded for the first time in 1771, when a British ship spotted bonfires on the shore but didn’t investigate. About 100 years later, the first foreigners landed on the island when an Indian ship washed ashore. The crew came under attack by a group of naked, red-painted people. They fought them off until a rescue party arrived.

In 1880, the British landed on North Sentinel. The islanders fled into the trees, but the British captured 2 adults and 4 children. The adults quickly fell sick and died, but the children survived. The British returned them with a large quantity of gifts.

Around that time, a number of prisoners being kept on nearby islands escaped to North Sentinel. All were killed.

No one made contact with the Sentinelese for another 100 years. In 1974, though, an Indian crew brought a National Geographic documentary crew to investigate the island with them. The team came under attack, and the director was shot in the leg with an arrow.

The Indian team made repeated gift offerings, leaving food, toys, pots, pans, and more. The Sentinelese would sometimes wave; other times they’d turn and moon visitors, launching arrows if they got too close. They ignored plastic objects, but liked coconuts and anything metal.

The first peaceful contact came in 1991, when the Sentinelese approached a team of anthropologists and touched them before taking a gift of coconuts and retreating. In 2006, though, they killed 2 Indian fishermen who accidentally drifted ashore.

Today, the Indian government bans people from going anywhere near the island. Neither that nor the risk of attack is enough to keep everyone away, though, including one American who set out to meet the Sentinelese in 2018. 

It wouldn’t be an easy trip. 

Part 2 is coming in tomorrow’s newsletter. 

 Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

Yesterday's Question:

Spread the Wave!

 Final Thoughts