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March 14, 2022
We promise to not make this intro about Tom Brady. Because much more important than Brady's return is the fact that it's Pi Day. Pi is the reason we will never know the exact area of any circle. Pi begins 3.1415962 and never, ever, ever ends. Wait, that reminds me of this one NFL quarterback's career....
Today's Wrap gives an overview of the nasal spray Covid vax: Who came up with it and why the future fight against Covid could get nosy. Let's ride.
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I'm Not F*ing Leaving!
Overview
- Sunday evening, Tom Brady announced that he is returning for his 23rd NFL season
- He posted on social media, “These past two months I’ve realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands.” And ended the post with, “Unfinished business LFG”
- The 7-time Super Bowl champion announced his retirement in February. He turns 45 in August
- On Saturday, the ball he threw his “final” touchdown with sold for $518k at an auction
DIG DEEPER
The 44-year-old led the NFL in yards passing (5,316), touchdowns (43), and completions (485) in 2021. The Buccaneers lost in the divisional round of the playoffs to the eventual Super Bowl champs, LA Rams. It remains to be seen if Rob "Gronk" Gronkowski will also return to Tampa Bay.
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Foreign Fighters Join the War
Overview
- Tens of thousands of foreign fighters have gone to Ukraine to fight on both sides of the war
- The Ukrainian government says at least 20,000 foreigners have volunteered for the country's Foreign Legion, a military division made up of foreign troops
- That includes many Ukrainians living abroad, as well as 3,000+ Americans and Brits, many with combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan
- Russia is recruiting Syrian fighters experienced in urban combat with offers of up to $3,000 per month. Russia intervened in Syria's civil war to help keep its dictator, Bashar al-Assad, in power
DIG DEEPER
Syria's government is openly encouraging locals to fight in Ukraine. Some Western governments did so at first but have since tempered their support, fearing that Russia will consider a country's people fighting the same as its military fighting in Ukraine.
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States Weigh Rent Control
Overview
- With rents at record highs, over a dozen US states and cities are considering new rent control laws
- US rental prices are up an average 18% over the last 2 years. Most of the proposals would limit rent increases to between 2% and 10%
- Many proposals are at the city level, including in Boston, Miami, and Tampa, but many states have laws banning rent control, complicating efforts
- Advocates say rent controls protect people from housing inflation, particularly low-earners; critics say they disincentivize building more housing, worsening housing shortages
DIG DEEPER
The US expanded rent controls during the 1970s, when inflation was similarly high or worse. Many economists have since come to believe the controls did more harm than good, although some are changing their opinions.
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Missile Attacks in Iraq and Ukraine
Overview
- A Russian rocket attack struck a Ukrainian military base 10 miles from Ukraine's border with Poland, an EU and NATO member, on Sunday
- The attack killed 35+ and impressed that Russia may make continued shipments of arms to the Ukrainian military impossible. Most arms shipments come through the Poland-Ukraine border
- Also Sunday, Iran claimed responsibility for a missile attack near a US diplomatic building in Erbil, Iraq
- The attack raises tensions between Iran and the US. Iran said it was payback for an Israeli airstrike that killed 2 Iranian soldiers in Syria last week
DIG DEEPER
In response to the strike in Ukraine, the US said an attack on Poland would bring “the full force of the NATO alliance to bear." In Iraq, 10 missiles struck around the US consulate, although it's unclear if Iran had intended to hit the building itself.
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 What do you think?
Today's Poll:
Should public schools require studying a foreign language?
Yes
No
Today's Question:
What historical period do you find most fascinating and why?
Reply to this email with your answers!
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See yesterday's results below the Wrap!
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 Popcorn
Culture & Sports
- Madness has arrived: The NCAA tournament bracket is set, featuring Gonzaga, Arizona, Kansas, and Baylor as the #1 seeds
- The Batman remains the hero Hollywood needed, racking up $66M at the box office in its second weekend. Its total US gross is now $238.5M
- Unvaxxed NBA star Kyrie Irving sat courtside to watch his team play, because he is still unable to suit up for home games
Business
- Nein more business! Deutsche Bank has joined JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs in winding down its business in Russia
- Pfizer’s CEO believes that a 4th jab of Pfizer's Covid vaccine is “necessary," making the case on Face the Nation Sunday
- Sili-Kyiv Valley: US startup Clearview's AI facial recognition technology is being used by Ukraine in its war with Russia
Wildcard
- An NBA game was delayed after both teams walked onto the court in white jerseys. The Grizzlies had to go back to the locker room to change
- Road to table: Wyoming has a new roadkill feature on its Department of Transportation app that helps people quickly claim roadkill
- Go stamp yourself! Ukraine issued a new postage stamp with a soldier flipping the bird in front of the now-famous “go f*** yourself!” ship
- WikiLove: On March 23, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will marry his sweetheart Stella Morris in a Belmarsh prison
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― Roca Wrap
A Newsletter Exclusive
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Late last year, amidst the holiday Omicron surge, Yale School of Medicine researcher Akiko Iwasaki, Ph.D, made a breakthrough: His team found local vaccines administered with a nasal spray to be more effective in protecting mice against influenza than vaccines injected into the muscle, as standard flu shots are.
Iwasaki, who at Yale is a professor of immunobiology; molecular, cellular, and developmental biology; and epidemiology, found that nasal vaccines may also provide far better protection against Covid.
Traditional vaccines rely on shots because muscles are full of blood vessels, so injections into the muscle are the most efficient way to pump immune-stimulating vaccines into our bloodstream.
Yet some researchers believe that Covid was able to infect those who were vaccinated because the Covid vaxxes produced antibodies in the blood, and too few of those blood antibodies ended up in the nose, where the virus arrives.
According to Iwasaki’s findings, nasal vaccines can solve this problem because they cover the linings of the airways where the coronavirus first lands. The ability to kill the virus before it enters lower airways can help prevent serious illness.
Nasal vaccines have benefits beyond higher efficacy. They require less skill and time to administer than injections, meaning they are more quickly distributable. They are also more accessible for those afraid of needles and syringes.
Nasal vaccines already exist for the flu, and there are currently over a dozen nasal Covid vaccines in development worldwide. An Indian company, Bharat Biotech, may be the first to conduct widespread nasal Covid vaccine tests after recently winning approval to launch a late-stage trial of the nasal Covid vax.
Astrazeneca is currently adapting a nasal Covid vax for testing in the US and EU. It will be conducting a phase 1 trial of 54 adults in partnership with the University of Oxford this spring.
And it’s not just vaccines that may go in your nose to fight Covid: Companies are experimenting with virus-killing nasal sprays, which people would take a puff of post-exposure to prevent breakthrough infection.
With all these developments, the future fight against Covid may happen in your nose.
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If you have thoughts, let us know at Max@RocaNews.com!
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 Games
Name the country by its capital city. No Googling, Binging, or.... DuckDuckGoing?
- Buenos Aires
- Riyadh
- Kuala Lumpur
- Vienna
Find out the answer at the bottom of Roca Clubhouse.
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 Roca Clubhouse
Yesterday's Poll:
Should paparazzi own the photos they snap of celebs?
Yes: 39.0%
No: 61.0%
Yesterday's Question:
Just Roca Rider Storytime! Topic: Worst/most hilarious dates.
General Feedback:
On Friday's poll, Greg said: "I don't like paparazzi. I think they harass and exploit people who want some privacy. That said, I think all photographers should own their photos unless otherwise agreed to. To me, this is a copyright issue, and stripping paparazzi of their photo rights might set a precedent for stripping other journalists or artists of their photo rights."
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Roca Rider Storytime
Last Friday, we asked you to submit your funniest, most awkward, or cringiest date story. We hope it was a therapeutic experience. We feature some highlights this week.
Helen: "I once was ditched at a restaurant after my date spilled water all over me. He said he was going to get towels from the bathroom and just left instead. lol"
Melissa: "I met a guy at a speed dating locals thing and we went on a date to Olive Garden. He tells me he sells antique jewelry and pulls out a jewelry box and shows me a beautiful ring. He says "this could be yours... if you play your cards right" and snaps it shut. Ya, I never returned his calls."
Izzy: "He picks me up for dinner, and he is a mute. Not one word on the car ride there, and I had been trying to stir up some conversation, but I was met with failure. We arrive at the restaurant, and he proceeds to ask me if I have ADHD because I was asking him so many questions. I told him I was only talking so much because he was saying NOTHING. He does not acknowledge this and continues to not say anything to me. It gets worse... he agrees to order an appetizer to share, and it arrives, and he eats nothing. I ask him if he is okay, "Oh yeah I'm actually not hungry at all", so I ate the entire app (I am not one to waste delicious Italian food?). Our food comes and he offers me his dinner and at this point, I just ate all the food we ordered, every bite, by myself, even his meal. Then... he would not shut up about how much food I ate. He told me how much he enjoyed our date and ASKED ME TO GO TO DINNER AGAIN. He is the only person I have ghosted to this day."
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Games Answer(s):
1. Argentina 2. Saudi Arabia 3. Malaysia 4. Austria
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― Final Thoughts
Riders: Your worst date stories left us feeling both disturbed and oddly comforted. Disturbed because we now realize we should not have been FaceTiming our moms into all our first dates; comforted because we now know we haven't been alone in doing so.
Hope you all had great weekends. Spring is in the air!
- Max and Max
Today's Instagram Wrap is part 1 of a 2-parter on Roman Abramovich, the orphan-turned-Russia's most visible oligarch.
Thanks for reading! See you again tomorrow!
As always, send thoughts and feedback to Max@Rocanews.com |
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