🌊 The Reiner Tragedy
Plus: US to protect Ukraine, cannabis benefits questioned, & casinos in NYC
A much-needed dose of unity.
While some — including the President — issued classless responses to Rob Reiner’s death, the vast majority of conservatives, including actor James Woods, mourned him gracefully. Woods said on Fox News, “People would go, ‘How is it that you and Rob Reiner are friends?’… look, let me explain something to you about Rob Reiner. I judge people by how they treat me, and Rob Reiner was a godsend in my life. I think Rob Reiner is a great patriot. We had a different path to the same destination, which was a country we both love.”
He also recalled Reiner’s civil response to Charlie Kirk’s assassination: “People said such horrible things, and Rob did not. And when people say horrible things about Rob right now, I find it, quite frankly, infuriating and distasteful.”
The internet shows you a disproportionate number of negative and extreme responses. But it’s all (mostly) an illusion. Civility and unity can prevail.
🚔 Nick Reiner killed parents?
🏈 US vows to protect Ukraine
🎰 Casinos come to NYC
–Max and Max
KEY STORY
Rob Reiner and Wife: Killed by Son?
Los Angeles police said that Rob Reiner and his wife Michele – found dead in their LA home on Sunday – appear to have been murdered by their son
Reiner was a celebrated figure in Hollywood who directed numerous classic films, including “When Harry Met Sally” and “The Princess Bride”
LA police responded to a call for medical aid at the couple’s Brentwood home around 3:40 PM on Sunday where officers discovered two bodies inside the residence. Media outlets reported that the couple appeared to have died from stab wounds
Nick Reiner, the couple’s 32-year-old son, was arrested on Sunday night, with police saying he was “responsible.” The LA Police Department said it was investigating the deaths as an “apparent homicide”
Witnesses said they saw Nick and Rob get into a heated argument at Conan O’Brien’s house on Saturday
Dig Deeper
Nick had previously spoken about his struggles with drug abuse and homelessness over the years
President Trump wrote on Truth Social that Reiner’s death was “reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME”
KEY STORY
Chile Elects Right-Wing President
José Antonio Kast won Chile’s presidential election on Sunday, becoming one of Chile’s most right-wing presidents since 1990
Chile transitioned to democracy in 1990 after Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s 17-year military dictatorship ended. Chile’s murder rate has more than doubled since 2015, while the number of illegal migrants has tripled since 2021. Kast ran on an anti-crime and immigration platform against a communist
Securing 58% of the vote in a runoff election on Sunday, Kast won. His victory is a boost for Trump as he tries to align the Western Hemisphere in a front against China
Dig Deeper
In his victory speech, Kast said, “Without security, there is no peace. Without peace, there is no democracy, and without democracy there is no freedom, and Chile will return to be free of crime, anxiety and fear”
KEY STORY
New Review Questions Cannabis Benefits
A comprehensive review found insufficient evidence to support cannabis use for most medical conditions people commonly treat with it
Medical marijuana is legal in 40 states and Washington, DC, fueling a $32B industry. Millions of Americans use cannabis to treat pain, anxiety, sleep problems, and other conditions
Addiction researchers led by UCLA published a review last month in The Journal of the American Medical Association analyzing more than 2,500 clinical trials, medical guidelines, and surveys. The review found a gap between the health purposes for which people use cannabis and what scientific evidence shows about its effectiveness. Researchers found, for example, no solid evidence that medical marijuana helps acute pain
Dig Deeper
Unrelated, Trump discussed a plan last Wednesday to pursue marijuana reclassification through an executive order, moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. The move would not legalize marijuana federally but would ease barriers to research
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Even though you’re the best, it doesn’t mean you’re not going to lose. And it doesn’t mean nobody’s going to beat you.
-Georges St-Pierre
KEY STORY
US Offers Security Guarantees for Ukraine
The US offered security guarantees to Ukraine during peace talks in Berlin as negotiators reported progress toward ending the war with Russia
Ukraine has long sought NATO membership, something Russia fully objects. On Sunday, Ukrainian President Zelensky signaled his willingness to drop Ukraine’s NATO ambitions in exchange for strong Western security guarantees
On Monday, US negotiators presented Ukraine with security guarantees similar to NATO’s Article 5, which commits all members to defend any member that comes under attack. The guarantees would include a European-led peacekeeping force supported by the US that would operate inside Ukraine
Dig Deeper
Zelensky said the talks were productive but also said major disagreements remain over territory. Russia has demanded Ukraine withdraw from parts of the Donetsk region it currently controls, while US officials proposed creating an economic free zone in contested areas
A poll published on Monday showed that 75% of Ukrainians would reject any peace deal that cedes territory without security guarantees
Russia has not responded to the proposals discussed in Berlin, but has previously stated it would strongly object to US-backed security guarantees being included in any peace plan
WE THE 66
The Trillion-Dollar Climate Redaction
“Climate Change to Cause $38 Trillion a Year in Damages by 2049”
Bloomberg declared that as fact in an April 2024 headline. The article cited a shocking report published in Nature, a top-tier scientific publication, by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research – one of the world’s top climate research groups
Major media and central banks would go on to cite the paper to justify drastic spending measures, warning that global incomes would drop 19% by mid-century
Last week, though, that study was retracted, undermining one of the most pivotal climate studies. In today’s WeThe66 deep-dive, we break down the study, its implications, and why it was retracted. You can read it here
RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office
🏫 New England schools closed or heightened security after a masked gunman shot two Brown University students during a final exam review session on Saturday afternoon.
🧑🏻⚖️ A Wisconsin state judge went on trial on Monday for allegedly helping a man evade immigration authorities in her courthouse.
🛫 A JetBlue commercial flight and a US Air Force refueling tanker came close to colliding near Venezuela, prompting a review by US Southern Command.
🇷🇸 Jared Kushner withdrew from a Trump-branded hotel development in Belgrade, Serbia, after the project sparked protests and criminal charges against Serbian officials.
🎰 New York’s Gaming Commission approved licenses on Monday for three casino projects in New York City, marking the city’s first Las Vegas-style resort casinos.
What does Roca Nation think?
✍️ Yesterday’s Question: What a sad weekend of news. Any thoughts you’d like to share?
I am deeply disturbed by the video of the man yelling ethnic slurs at a woman in a restaurant. While I am a staunch supporter of free speech, there are certain elements of speech crossing the line and the ethnic slurs, c-word, and threats to eliminate the race, cross the line. How are we going to reinstate civility and proper discourse in our society if we do not hold individuals like this responsible for their actions. He should at least be placed on a government watch list and have some privileges taken away. I would start with banning him from the restaurant forever. There’s no place in our society for actions like his.
Chuck from New Hampshire
I have a positive thing to share. This weekend I baked my great grandmothers cookies, decorated the Christmas tree and watched Charlie Brown Christmas. I caught up with my grandpa and told him I made his mom’s cookies and we talked about old stories. I had a lovely weekend, sorry the world had so much anger and hatred.
Myah from Chicago
Yes, it was a sad (and cold) news weekend. But guess what! My sibs were very receptive to a chili cook-off for Christmas dinner!
Johanna from California
🎄 Today’s Question: What are you most looking forward to this holiday season?
Reply to max@rocanews.com with your response!
POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour
🐹 Capybara Christening: A Costa Rican wildlife center is holding a naming contest for four illegally trafficked capybaras seized by authorities in May.
📦 Capital Chaos: A Washington, DC, family has received over 100 misdelivered packages in six months intended for a nearby hotel with a nearly identical address.
💏 Pucker Up: Over 1,400 couples kissed simultaneously under mistletoe in Washington, DC, shattering the Guinness World Record by nearly triple the previous mark.
🚵🏻 Wheely Good Art: A Baltimore cyclist has collected over 700 lost hubcaps during bike rides and transformed them into large-scale art installations, including Christmas wreaths, a giant fish, and a 16-foot-tall Snoopy head.
🦏 Thunderstruck: Interpol’s Operation Thunder seized 30,000 live animals and over 100,000 animal parts across 134 countries in the largest wildlife trafficking bust ever conducted.
ROCA WRAP
The Submission Artist
Royce Gracie
This fighter revolutionized combat sports by defeating opponents twice his size using technique over strength.
Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1966, Royce Gracie grew up as one of nine sons of jiu-jitsu grandmaster Hélio Gracie. He learned the martial art from his father as a child, competed at age eight, and started teaching classes at 14. His father awarded him a black belt at 17. Months later, he moved to California with his brothers to join their older brother, Rorion, who had established the Gracie Academy in Torrance and continued the family tradition of challenging other martial artists to prove their style’s superiority.
The Gracie family’s challenge matches inspired businessman Art Davie to create the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). When the UFC launched in 1993 as an eight-man tournament with minimal rules, Rorion selected Royce to represent the family specifically because of his smaller, skinnier frame. The goal was demonstrating that a smaller person could defeat bigger opponents through superior technique.
Wearing his iconic white Brazilian jiu-jitsu gi, Gracie entered UFC 1 weighing just 178 pounds. He submitted boxer Art Jimmerson in his first match, then faced shootfighter Ken Shamrock in the semifinals. After defending a heel hook attempt, Gracie took Shamrock’s back and secured a rear choke using his own gi. Shamrock tapped but the referee missed it, so Shamrock verbally conceded defeat. In the finals against karate champion Gerard Gordeau, who bit Gracie’s ear during the fight, Gracie won by rear choke and received $50,000. Four months later at UFC 2, he defended his title by submitting four opponents. At UFC 4, he defeated wrestling champion Dan Severn after absorbing fifteen minutes of ground strikes before securing a triangle choke.
In 2000, after Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Royce’s brother Royler, the Gracies joined PRIDE Fighting Championships, a Japanese mixed martial arts company, to settle the score. The family demanded special rules for his fight with Sakuraba: Unlimited fifteen-minute rounds, no judges, and no referee stoppages. They battled for ninety minutes before Gracie’s corner threw in the towel after he broke his femur from leg kicks. Gracie returned to UFC in 2006, losing to welterweight champion Matt Hughes by first-round stoppage. In 2007, he defeated Sakuraba in their rematch but tested positive for extremely elevated levels of nandrolone, an anabolic steroid. California suspended him and fined him $2,500.
Gracie was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2003. Despite his steroid use, his success popularized Brazilian jiu-jitsu worldwide and proved that ground fighting could overcome size and strength advantages.
The fighter who proved size doesn’t matter transformed combat sports forever.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts
People are pointing out that Rob Reiner’s run from 1984 – 1992 has to be up there for any directorial run in history. During that span, he made This Is Spinal Tap, Stand by Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, and A Few Good Men.
A truly unbelievable stretch. We have no choice but to watch at least a few of them (A Few Good Movies?) this weekend.
–Max and Max