April 11, 2022

Pour one out for April 11, 1954, which a Cambridge computer scientist dubbed the "most boring day in history" after analyzing a database of 300M+ facts. Evidently, the Cambridge computer scientist didn't consider day one of the 1954 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship a real hair-raiser.

But you know what is exciting? A Roca newsletter referral giveaway! Anyone who makes a referral over the next week gets a chance to win plane tickets to pretty much anywhere in the world. 1 referral = 1 ticket. Hit 5 referrals, your count doubles. More details below!

― Key Stories

Plaige Allegiance to the Flag?
Overview

• The discovery of an old newspaper article suggests that the “author” of the US Pledge of Allegiance plagiarized it
• The Pledge was believed to have been written by Francis Bellamy in 1892
• A historian recently found a newspaper clipping that contained the Pledge several months before Bellamy supposedly wrote it
• The clipping attributed the Pledge to a 13-year-old, who claimed he had written it in 1890 for a school competition. That 13-yo was named Frank Bellamy. He was apparently of no relation to Francis Bellamy

Pakistan's Prime Minister Ousted
Overview

• A political crisis in Pakistan ended with its prime minister, Imran Khan, ousted
• Khan was a world champion cricket player who became prime minister in 2018. Pakistan is the world's 5th most populous country
• Last weekend, Khan dissolved the country's parliament just before he was scheduled to face a vote to remove him from power
• The move sparked a political crisis. Pakistan's supreme court ruled that Khan had violated the constitution. After the ruling, parliament was able to hold another vote to remove him from power

Russo-Ukrainian War Shifts East
Overview

• Ukrainian and Russian forces are relocating to eastern Ukraine ahead of major battles
• So far, the war has transpired in southern, northern, and eastern Ukraine. Russian forces have pulled back from northern Ukraine, though, and are trying to capture Ukraine's east, a region known as Donbas
• “The battle for Donbas will remind you of the Second World War, with… thousands of tanks, armored vehicles, planes and artillery” Ukraine's foreign minister said
• The US says some Russian units have been “eradicated,” and Russia is rallying reservists to fight

No Convictions in Kidnap Plot Trial
Overview

• A jury found 2 men — accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer because they opposed her lockdown policies — not guilty
• The defense argued that undercover FBI agents entrapped the defendants, tricking them into planning a kidnapping plot they never intended to commit; no action has been taken against the FBI
• 2 other plotters had already pleaded guilty; a mistrial was declared for 2 others
• The Justice Department wanted the case to be a major victory against domestic terrorism, which it has said it will prioritize under President Biden

See yesterday's results below the Wrap!

 Popcorn

Culture & Sports

• Gold jacket, green jacket... who gives? Scottie Scheffler, the #1-ranked golfer, took home his first green jacket with a 3-shot Masters win
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2 roared into 1st at the box office with an opening US weekend haul of $71M, leaving Marvel's Morbius in the dust
• Teardrops on my keyboard: Elon Musk called out the most-followed Twitter accounts for their inactivity, singling out Taylor Swift

• Like, hell yah, b**ch: Jesse Pinkman and Walter White will appear in the final season of the Breaking Bad spinoff series Better Call Saul
• A Connecticut mechanic found art pieces worth millions in an abandoned barn. The artist's family told him he could keep and sell the art
• One small step for private astronauts: The SpaceX capsule carrying a private crew that paid $55M each successfully docked to the ISS 
• The tradition of free tapas in the Spanish city of Granada is now facing heat! The town is rallying to oppose the mayor's opposition

― Giveaway

• Each time you refer someone to The Current, you’ll earn one ticket
• If you hit 5 referrals, your ticket count doubles
• Wait until next Monday to see if you won!

― Roca Wrap

A Newsletter Exclusive

Challapata is a town in southwest Bolivia. 6 out of 7 days of the week, it's relatively quiet. But on Sundays, the town comes alive to host Bolivia's biggest chutos fair.
 
Chutos are contraband cars that have been smuggled into Bolivia from Chile. Most are second-hand Japanese cars shipped to a port in Chile. From there, the cars’ smugglers – or chuteros – take over.
 
The chuteros’ job is dangerous. They must cross the Chile-Bolivia border while avoiding military patrols, sent by the Bolivian government to crack down on the illegal practice. That means they must follow covert routes over the Andes, through deserts, and across salt flats.
 
If the trip is successful, the cars usually need repairs from damage. And to pass as “Bolivian” cars, they need new license plates and papers. The result is an entire industry in Challapata dedicated to the chutos business, from mechanics to papers’ forgers.
 
“Tap any random person on the shoulder there and ask them what they do, if they were honest, they would say they were involved in some way or another,” said The Economist’s Latin America correspondent of Challapata.
 
Chutos smuggling has been around for nearly 30 years, but the business has spiked since 2008, when Bolivia’s government banned imports of cars over 5-yo. It’s been illegal to import cars over 1-yo since 2016. The Bolivian government says older cars, particularly chutos, are less safe and pollute more. 
 
Yet the crackdown on chutos hasn’t stopped their arrival, and the government is reportedly scared to do more because of how many people would be impacted. An estimated 1 in 3 cars in Bolivia is a chuto.
 
Chutos are popular because they’re cheap. Because they are older and have evaded important tariffs and taxes, they cost around 1/3-1/2 what a legally imported car does. Those are attractive savings in Bolivia, where the per capita income is about $3,100 per year. Even after bribing authorities, people still save thousands by buying a chuto.
 
Today chuteros appear more popular than ever, largely thanks to TikTok. Young chuteros share videos of their daring escapades on the app, skidding across salt flats and climbing mountains. Some highlight wrecks along the way. The culture has even spawned its own music genre, chutocumbia.

The chuteros’ business is booming, and if TikTok trends are any indication, that won’t stop soon.

 Games

1. American Idiot
2. Rumours
3. College Dropout
4. The Joshua Tree

 Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

Yesterday's Question:

20 Questions: 1-5

― Final Thoughts