December 28, 2021

While Elon Musk is typing in "Mars" on Zillow, Mark "Aloha" Zuckerberg is scooping up more and more land in Hawaii. Zuck seems to have moved on from the metaverse and is now eyeing.... the Mauiverse (his 1,400 acres are actually on Kauai, but... pun). Already psyched for his next 4th of July vid!

We're back with 2 more of our favorite pics you sent in, starring a very happy dog named Pancho. Let's ride.

― Key Stories

The JPEG Politician

• Republican Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters is selling NFTs to fundraise for his campaign 
• Masters is closely linked to Peter Thiel, the venture capitalist who co-founded Paypal and was Facebook's first major investor. Masters co-authored Thiel's famed start-up guide, "Zero to One"
• The first 99 donors who contribute the maximum $5,800 to his campaign will receive an NFT allowing access to a private chat server and live events 
• Masters says NFTs "create or support certain communities where people share an excitement about something in particular" – the "something" here is his candidacy

India vs. Mother Teresa

• The Indian government is refusing to allow Mother Teresa's charity, the Missionaries of Charity, to receive foreign funding, marking a crackdown on the group
• Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries in India in 1950. Some have accused the group, one of the world's most well-known Catholic charities, of using charity to convert Hindus to Christianity
• The charity can work in India, however it can't access the foreign funds that pay for its work
• This month, Indian police received a complaint that the organization was trying to convert Hindu girls. The group denied that

CDC Cuts Isolation Period

Overview

• The CDC cut its recommended isolation period from 10 to 5 days for many people who have tested positive but are asymptomatic
• The CDC advises mask-wearing for the following 5 days
• The CDC said the change reflects data showing that most transmission occurs early on in the infection period, between 2 days before symptom onset and 3 days after
• Many businesses have called for the change as omicron's spread has forced millions of people into isolation, exacerbating labor shortages

Prostate Cancer Screening Progress

• A leading cancer researcher predicted that new technology will make prostate cancer screenings possible within 5 years
• Prostate cancer is notoriously difficult to accurately detect, and 1 in 8 men are diagnosed in their lifetimes
• Rosalind Eeles, an expert at the UK's Institute of Cancer Research, said that "advances in genetics and also imaging, particularly MRI," should make early screening possible in the next 3 to 5 years
• Difficulties in detection mean there is no standard screening process for the disease, like there is for breast or other cancers. New tech could change that

See yesterday's answers below the Wrap!

 Popcorn

Culture & Sports 

• BTSick: 3 of the 7 members of K-pop superstar group BTS have tested positive for Covid since returning from abroad
• "The View" is struggling to find a permanent conservative voice to replace Meghan McCain in the wake of her August departure
• Spidey couldn't do it all... 2021 box office revenue is expected to surpass $4.4B, a 91% increase from 2020 but a 61% drop from 2019

• Big Tech's top dog: Alphabet (Google) proved the best-performing Big Tech stock of 2021, rising 71% and nearing a market cap of $2T
• Thai tech company Jasmine Technology saw its stock skyrocket by 6,700% this year due to sky-high demand for bitcoin mining
• Cancel culture: US airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights on Sunday, continuing a stretch of mass flight cancellations

• Airbnb is "cracking down" on NYE partying in light of omicron, preventing guests without a positive review history from making 1-night bookings
• A Virginia family now lives in Habitat for Humanity's first US 3D-printed home. The home was built in merely 12 hours
• A large Roman fort that Emperor Caligula used to help conquer Britain in 43 AD was discovered near Amsterdam
• A San Francisco man paid $400k to move his $2.7M house 7 blocks. The home moved at an average speed of 1 mph

― Roca Wrap

Roca Pics of 2021

 Games

1. KIOCEO HDUOG
2. LOCHTECOA HPCI
3. EFECFO
4. IOSKCEO & RMAEC

 Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

Yesterday's Question:

General Feedback:

20 Questions

― Final Thoughts