April 18, 2022

Today is the last day to file your 2021 taxes! As of April 8, 40% of taxpayers were yet to file their returns. It seems March Madness inspired a desire for tax season buzzer-beaters. We eagerly await the Coachella pics of frantic Millennial concertgoers filling out TurboTax on their laptops mid-Billie Eilish set.

This past Friday, Jews celebrated Passover, Christians observed Good Friday, and Muslims observed Ramadan. Meanwhile in North Korea, people celebrated the Day of the Sun. Read about it in today's Wrap.

― Key Stories

Pandemic 2: Unlucky Charms
Overview

• The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating Lucky Charms after reports of illness
• In recent weeks, the website iwaspoisoned.com has received about 3,000 reports from people who have reported falling ill after eating Lucky Charms cereal. The website’s owner said it's the most complaints the site has ever received about a single product
• The FDA said it is “currently reviewing and investigating these reports”
• General Mills, which produces the cereal, said it has found no evidence of illness linked to the cereal, but is working with the FDA

California Cancels 4-Day Workweek
Overview

• California (CA) legislators proposed a bill mandating 4-day workweeks for large companies
• The bill would shorten the workweek from 40 to 32 hours for private companies with 500+ employees. One of the bill’s sponsors said doing so would align companies to workers’ post-pandemic expectations
• CA’s Chamber of Commerce, which represents businesses, rebuked the bill, calling it a “job killer”
• While companies ranging from Microsoft to Kickstarter have tested 4-day workweeks, no jurisdiction has mandated it. Many more steps are required before the bill has a chance to become law

Arab-Israeli Tensions Heat Up
Overview

• Tensions between Israel and Palestine remain high amid a wave of terror attacks and raids that have left 19+ dead
• Since March 22, shootings and stabbings have killed 13+ Israelis. At least 2 attackers have had links to IS
• Israeli forces have been conducting retaliatory raids and interrogations across the West Bank, an Arab territory occupied by Israel since 1967. Last week, 6 Arabs were killed by Israeli troops
• On Friday, Israeli forces used tear gas to clear Muslim worshippers from a holy site claimed by both Jews and Muslims

Twitter Prepares Poison Pill
Overview

• Twitter announced a plan to prevent Elon Musk from taking control of the company
• The company will adopt a so-called “Poison Pill” strategy: If one shareholder acquires over 15% of Twitter, other shareholders will be able to buy shares at a discounted rate, which would block Musk from owning more than 15%
• Twitter's fear is that Musk could single-handedly buy out a controlling stake without the board agreeing to it. This move effectively blocks him from taking control without the approval of Twitter’s board
• Last week, Musk offered the board $43B for Twitter

See yesterday's results below the Wrap!

 Popcorn

Culture & Sports

• You're a box office flop, Harry: The Secrets of Dumbledore made $43M at the box office this weekend, the worst opening of any Harry Potter franchise film
• Technical foul on PETA: An animal rights protester chained herself to the basket during Game 1 of the Timberwolves-Grizzlies playoff series
• The fan who paid $518k for Tom Brady's "final touchdown ball" is getting a refund! The auction house Lelands agreed to void the sale

• A Florida man watched Spider-Man: No Way Home 292 times between December 21 and March 22, setting a new Guinness World Record
• Meanwhile in Kentucky...  A Kentucky man won $450,000 from a lawsuit over a surprise birthday party his employer threw against his wishes
• A British filmmaker is offering a $1M donation to the British Museum if anyone can prove the Shroud of Turn relic is a forgery
• The 5 people who provided "critical information" that led to the NYPD's arrest of the Subway shooter are splitting a $50,000 reward

― Roca Wrap

A Newsletter Exclusive

On Friday, Jews celebrated the start of Passover, Christians celebrated Good Friday, and Muslims celebrated Ramadan. In atheist North Korea, people celebrated the Day of the Sun. 

The Day of the Sun – April 15 – is the most important day on the North Korean calendar. It commemorates the birth of North Korea’s founder and “eternal president,” Kim Il-Sung. 

Kim was born Kim Song-Ju to a protestant family in a Korean village in 1912. At the time, North and South Korea were unified into a single Korea, which was under Japanese occupation. In his late teens, Kim became involved in communist guerilla activities. In his 20s, he became a communist commander in China, and made a name for himself with raids on Japanese occupying troops. In 1935, Kim switched his name to Kim Il-Sung, roughly meaning "Kim become the sun."

When World War 2 ended, the Soviet Union installed Kim as the leader of Korea’s communists. They helped him build a communist army, and in 1948, Korea splintered into 2 parts: The Republic of Korea (the south) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (the north). Kim was in charge of the north. The countries went to war in 1950, and when that – the Korean War – ended in 1953, the modern borders of North and South Korea were largely set. 

Kim ruled North Korea until his death in 1994, turning it into one of the world’s most isolated and repressive states. He coined himself the "Great Leader,” and established a cult of personality that exists until today. His portrait still hangs in every North Korean train station and airport, and his body is still preserved under a public glass coffin in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. 

Each year, the country marks his birthday with days or weeks of celebrations. This year, though, the authorities have reportedly ordered around 2 months of celebrations, the longest such ceremony since 1992. 

The celebration includes synchronized dance performances, paying respects to North Korea’s deceased leaders – Kim Il-Sung and his son, Kim Jong-Un – by leaving flowers on their memorials, military parades, and more.

According to North Korean defectors, the holiday is one of the few times all North Koreans can eat to their hearts’ content. Children are given bags of cookies and candy, contingent on their bowing to posters of the Kims. 

Once the celebration is over, political meetings convene for people to reaffirm their commitment to the 10 Principles of the Ideological System – the Communist Party’s list of guidelines for how North Korean people should live. 

Those principles include promises to enforce the teachings of Kim Il-Sung (“Kimilsungism”) and Kim Jong-Un, to defend their authority, to strengthen the party’s ideology, and to “value the political life we were given by the Party and the Leader.”

In the final clause, North Koreans affirm that they will do all they can to make sure North Korea celebrates another Day of the Sun next year: 

“We must pass down the great achievement of the Juche revolution and the Songun revolution, pioneered by the great Comrade Kim Il-sung and led by Comrades Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, from generation to generation, inheriting and completing it to the end.”

 Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

Yesterday's Question:

20 Questions: 1-5

― Final Thoughts