🌊 Data Centers in the Ocean
Plus: Showdown at the Strait, Rudy Giuliani critical, & Taco Bell chaos
Happy Cinco de Mayo, Roca Nation.
The holiday — commonly mistaken for Mexico’s Independence Day by people who put olives on their tacos — has become one of America’s five biggest drinking days of the year, with beer consumption rivaling that of the Super Bowl. It’s also a top five day in cultural appropriation. My Uncle Gary has no business wearing a sombrero right now.
Anyways, we hope your day is a real… 5/5.
Showdown at the Strait
Data centers in the ocean?
Taco Bell employee opens fire
-Max and Max
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Showdown at the Strait… Again
The Strait of Hormuz clearly ain’t big enough for two: The Iran war turned hot again on Monday.
Tensions built after President Trump announced “Project Freedom” on Sunday, a US initiative to guide commercial ships through the still-blocked Strait of Hormuz. Trump called it a humanitarian gesture and said resistance would be “dealt with forcefully.”
US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated it would support the operation with guided missile destroyers, aircraft, and approximately 15,000 troops, although officials noted that there are no plans to use warships as direct escorts. CENTCOM also claimed that two US-flagged merchant vessels successfully transited the strait on Monday, a claim that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard disputed.
Iran warned that any foreign force approaching the strait without Iran’s permission would be attacked. Iranian state media reported on Monday that Iranian forces had struck a US warship, but CENTCOM denied the claim.
And by Monday afternoon, the tensions came to a head.
Iran reportedly attacked a South Korean cargo ship in the strait, hit a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker with a drone, and launched drones and missiles at the UAE, striking a key oil facility at the port of Fujairah. The UAE said its air defenses intercepted several additional missiles. Iran also launched drone attacks on US forces in the strait, and while Iran did not land any hits, the US responded by sinking six small Iranian boats.
The shipping industry remains cautious, with companies saying they wouldn’t move vessels until the conflict was over or Iran gave assurances that ships would be safe.
Following the flare up, oil prices climbed as much as 5% on the day. Brent crude was trading near $144 a barrel as traders weighed the risks of a prolonged standoff.
As the conflict in the strait appears to be ramping up again, diplomatic efforts remain stalled. Iran has proposed an end to the broader conflict while deferring peace talks, but the US is still pushing for Iran to surrender its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Tehran said it is open to some limits on its nuclear program, but only in exchange for sanctions relief. Iran confirmed on Sunday that it had received and is now reviewing a US response to its 14-point proposal.
Despite the escalation, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this morning that “the ceasefire is not over.”
The Viral Posts that Tricked Me
Two weeks ago, I was scrolling through X and saw a viral post from a meteorologist: “The New York Times has reported that the east coast beaches may disappear in as little as 25 years from now. Just kidding; this was published in 1995.”
The NYT predicted in 1995 that most of the beaches on the East Coast of the US would be gone by 2020? This seemed a laughably wrong and profoundly discrediting prediction from America’s leading newspaper.
I dug up the original article in the Times’ archive.
The headline had been spliced together with an out-of-context excerpt, making it look like the 2020 claim was the thesis of the piece. In reality, the article outlined predictions from the UN’s climate change body, the IPCC. In that section, you will see the quote in question: “At the most likely rate of rise, some experts say, most of the beaches on the East Coast of the United States would be gone in 25 years.” That attribution – “some experts say” – matters. It was neither the Times’ prediction, nor the IPCC’s formal conclusion, nor the article’s thesis. Instead, it was one view among many that the article featured.
As someone with a well-trained news antenna – we at Roca are, in fact, full-time practitioners of cutting through the noise of social media – I was surprised to have been misled like this. But sadly, this is just a minor case of misinformation. And the viral post got a million views. I encountered two more the same week that tricked me…
Giuliani Hospitalized
Rudy Giuliani, 81, remains in critical condition at a Florida hospital after contracting pneumonia severe enough to require a ventilator, his spokesman said on Monday – though he is now breathing on his own. President Trump called him “the Best Mayor in the History of New York City, BY FAR” on Truth Social.
Hantavirus Outbreak
A suspected hantavirus outbreak aboard a Dutch-flagged luxury cruise ship off West Africa has killed three passengers and left around 150 others stranded on board.
Two crew members with symptoms are awaiting evacuation, while a British passenger is being treated at a private clinic in Johannesburg.
Hantavirus spreads through airborne particles from rodent droppings and does not transfer easily between humans. The WHO called the public risk low, though Cape Verde has barred the ship from docking as a precaution.
AL, TN Move to Redistrict
Republican governors in Alabama and Tennessee called special legislative sessions this week to redraw congressional districts, following a Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Louisiana congressional map for relying too heavily on race.
Alabama hopes to revert to a 2023 map reducing Democratic representation, while Tennessee aims to dissolve Memphis’ lone Democratic district by dispersing its voters among conservative ones. President Trump encouraged more states to follow suit.
GameStop to Buy eBay?
GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen told The Wall Street Journal that the company made a surprise offer to buy eBay for $56B in a bid to rival Amazon.
GameStop first began buying shares of eBay in early February, building a stake currently equal to around 5% of the company. The bid offers shareholders $125 per share, half in cash and half in stock, representing a 46% premium since GameStop began buying shares and a roughly 14% premium since eBay’s closing price on Monday.
Cohen proposed to use GameStop’s roughly 1,600 retail stores as physical hubs for eBay’s online marketplace, where sellers can drop off items, have them verified as genuine, and ship them out to buyers. Cohen said he would serve as CEO of the combined company without a salary, compensated only on performance, as in his current deal with GameStop.
On Monday, eBay’s board said it would review the proposal, though it noted there were no prior discussions between the two companies before GameStop’s offer. If eBay’s board declines, Cohen said he’s prepared to take the offer directly to shareholders.
SCOTUS Restores Abortion Pill Access
The Supreme Court temporarily restored mail and telehealth access to the abortion pill mifepristone on Monday, pausing a lower-court ruling that would’ve required patients to obtain the drug in person.
The case stems from Louisiana suing the FDA over Biden-era rules that allowed mifepristone to be prescribed via telemedicine and mailed to patients, including into states with abortion bans. Louisiana argued those rules undermined its near-total abortion prohibition. The Fifth Circuit ultimately sided with Louisiana, reinstating the in-person requirement last Friday, triggering the emergency appeal to the Supreme Court.
After the drug’s manufacturers – Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro – filed emergency appeals warning of widespread disruption for patients and providers, Justice Samuel Alito issued the stay, which restores mail access to mifepristone through at least May 11.
Alito’s order does not signal how the full court will ultimately rule. Briefs from Louisiana are due on Thursday, after which the Supreme Court will decide the next steps.
Data in the Deep
A Silicon Valley-backed startup thinks the next great data center isn’t in Texas or Virginia – it’s in the ocean.
Oregon-based Panthalassa secured $140M in a funding round led by Peter Thiel, with additional investment from John Doerr, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, and PayPal co-founder Max Levchin. The deal values the company at close to $1B.
The company’s technology converts the bobbing motion of ocean waves into electricity to power AI chips. Each unit is roughly 280 feet tall, with most of it sitting below the water like an iceberg. A computer server inside is kept cool by the surrounding ocean, while the units beam data back to land via satellite.
The units are built without any complex moving parts, making them cheaper to build and less likely to break down in rough conditions. Panthalassa plans to test a small fleet in the North Pacific this year, with paying customers coming online by 2027.
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What does Roca Nation think?
🏥 Yesterday’s Question: Do you have a horror story about health insurance? Writing a piece on it.
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Grande Delusion
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol defended the chain’s $9 drinks as part of an “affordable premium experience,” igniting a wave of mockery online.
Niccol argued that customers across all income levels are willing to splurge on a coffee for the chance at a “great seat” or a moment of connection with a barista.
Critics called the remarks out-of-touch corporate jargon, with many noting the irony that Niccol commutes to Seattle from Orange County on a private company jet.
Brush with the Law
Armenian authorities were called to wrangle a “zebra” loose on a busy Yerevan street, only to discover it was a donkey someone had painted black and white.
The Yerevan Zoo confirmed all its actual zebras were accounted for, and that an unidentified man had painted his donkey and paraded it outside the zoo to film a video.
Police are working to identify the owner, and the zoo warned that chemical dyes are toxic to animals and urged the public not to repeat the stunt.
The Last Straw
A Taco Bell employee in West Palm Beach allegedly opened fire on customers after accusing them of filling a water cup with soda.
D’Mari Patterson, 20, confronted the group over the soft drink swap, and after the argument escalated, fired two rounds – one of which struck a restaurant window – injuring three people.
Patterson claimed self-defense and told police the customers had a gun, but surveillance footage contradicted the account. He was arrested on three counts of aggravated assault with a firearm.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts
ICYMI we’ve had many people tell us they enjoyed this video. The people here were so friendly, although there are certainly some unsavory aspects to Highland Park’s history.
–Max and Max