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Will Poland Cancel Elections If The ‘Wrong’ Candidate Wins?

Will Poland Cancel Elections If The ‘Wrong’ Candidate Wins?

Via Remix News,

Is Poland also looking to cancel elections and persecute the opposition if a candidate unfavorable to the left-liberal establishment wins? 

After authoritarian forces in Romania banned presidential frontrunner Călin Georgescu from the election and subsequently arrested him, such a move could be repeated elsewhere, including in Poland.

“Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABA) has reportedly been told to contact its Romanian counterpart what materials they used for the constitutional court in Romania to invalidate the election there,” said Stanisław Żaryn, advisor to the President Andrzej Duda, talked about this development ahead of Poland’s May presidential election on the “Otwarta Konserwa” channel.

The ABW is tasked with securing Poland against potential foreign influences during its election period, but this request seems to be doing the exact opposite. 

According to Żaryn, the ABW asked specifically about what documents had been presented to the constitutional court in Romania, which allowed the court to invalidate the elections, reports wPolityce.

“And this is a certain light bulb that goes on for me in this situation, because it looks as if the team at the ABW was preparing how to prepare arguments, documentation, to possibly challenge the election result, because that is how it is interpreted,” he said. 

Żaryn further stated that he has received information that the ABW is specifically looking to block an election result that certain groups would find unfavorable. 

“This information is surprising, because today we should be preparing ourselves first and foremost to realistically assess Russian actions against Poland and counter them, and not to think about how to document or create documentation that will allow for the invalidation of the elections,” Duda’s advisor added.

Duda has already raised concerns in the past about what occurred in Romania. Last month, he questioned whether democratic elections can still be genuinely free if only candidates favored by the EU are able to win.

“Is it so that today elections in individual countries — democratic ones, it would seem — can only be won by those who are accepted in Brussels? I have such an impression, and I don’t like it very much,” he remarked, expressing skepticism over the European Commission’s involvement in both Polish and Romanian affairs.

He expressed unease over reports that prominent European Commission members admitted to influencing the Romanian elections, warning that “you will have to defend the results of elections in Poland if it turns out that someone intends to manipulate these results.”

Duda hinted at the possibility of public demonstrations to protect electoral integrity, suggesting that Poles may need to exercise their constitutional rights to free speech and assembly if they perceive any threats to democratic processes. “Maybe you’ll just have to demonstrate?” he said, warning that similar situations are unfolding across Europe and could destabilize democratic institutions.

Read more here…

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/31/2025 – 02:00

Will India Join The Asian “Squad”?

Will India Join The Asian “Squad”?

Authored by Andrew Korybko via substack,

Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Romeo Brawner invited India to join the Asian “Squad” while speaking at the latest annual Raisina Dialogue security forum in Delhi. This neologism was reportedly coined by Pentagon officials last spring to refer to the multilateral cooperation between the US, Australia, Japan, and the Philippines. Brawner suggested that India can participate through the sharing of intelligence on their “common enemy” China. Here are five background briefings:

* 16 June 2023: “The US’ Nascent Trilateral Alliance With Japan & The Philippines Will Integrate Into AUKUS+

* 27 January 2024: “Why’s Russia Letting India Export Jointly Produced Supersonic Missiles To The Philippines?

* 29 March 2024: “India’s Support Of The Philippines In Its Maritime Dispute With China Isn’t Related To The US

* 6 May 2024: “The US’ Newly Formed Asian ‘Squad’ Has Strategic Implications For India

* 18 February 2025: “The Latest Modi-Trump Summit Showcased India’s Multi-Alignment Strategy

To summarize, the Philippines is becoming the centerpiece of the US’ planned “Pivot (back) to Asia” for more muscularly containing China, which will de facto expand the AUKUS alliance throughout the region. India is a founding member of the Quad alongside the US, Australia, and Japan, but it fiercely safeguards its hard-earned strategic autonomy and won’t subordinate itself to the US like the other two and the Philippines will in spite of its problems with China, which is why it wasn’t included in the “Squad”.

India and China also entered into a rapprochement after their leaders met on the sidelines of October’s BRICS Summit in Kazan, with the US being inadvertently responsible for this process as explained here at the time, yet tensions still remain. Trump’s return to the presidency changed India’s strategic calculations, however, since he’s tough on China and is prioritizing the “Pivot (back) to Asia”. The US’ grand strategic reorientation to that part of Eurasia will give India a larger role in American planning.

Indian policymakers might therefore see value in sharing intelligence on China with their Philippine partner, who’s one of the US’ mutual defense allies, through the “Squad” format. This could even lay the basis for a new “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing alliance. Further ingratiating India with the Pentagon’s planning vis-à-vis China, so long as India retains its hard-earned strategic autonomy this entire time, might also result in less trade and tariff pressure from Trump or so Indian policymakers might think.

On the flipside, India could risk provoking China and thus further complicating their already difficult rapprochement if Beijing interprets this as signaling Delhi’s impending subordination to Washington, in which case their border tensions could once again worsen and last fall’s progress would be reversed. The bilateral sharing of intelligence with the Philippine would also likely be viewed as provocative by China but it would still be qualitatively different than India’s de facto or formal inclusion in the “Squad”.

Accordingly, one possibility is that India comprehensively ramps up its security cooperation with the Philippines without multilateralizing this through the “Squad”, all while communicating to the US how sensitive this issue is with regards to China. By taking the middle ground in such a way, India can remain in the US’ good graces despite keeping distance between itself and the “Squad”, which would avoid the perception that it’s joining an American-led anti-Chinese alliance at the expense of its sovereignty.

India must nowadays walk a fine line between China and the “Squad” in the context of Trump prioritizing the US’ “Pivot (back) to Asia” due to all that this grand strategic reorientation entails for India’s national security interests. Staying too far away from American-led initiatives could be seen as unfriendly by Washington while moving too close to them could be seen as unfriendly by Beijing. It’ll be tough to strike a balance, but if there’s any country that can successfully multi-align between both, it’s India.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 03/30/2025 – 23:20

Trump Says He Is ‘Not Joking’ About Running For 3rd Presidential Term

Trump Says He Is ‘Not Joking’ About Running For 3rd Presidential Term

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

President Donald Trump on Sunday said that he is “not joking” about recent talk of him potentially seeking a third term in office, although such a move would likely face significant legal hurdles.

The White House in Washington on March 11, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump told NBC News on Sunday morning. “But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.

When asked about whether he is serious or joking about the third term comments, Trump said, “I’m not joking.”

“It is far too early to think about it,” he said, adding elsewhere in the interview that he is “focused on the current” term in office.

Since taking office, Trump has, on multiple occasions, suggested that he wants to run for a third term, which could pose a legal challenge, because the 22nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states “no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” That amendment was ratified in 1951 after President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected four consecutive times. Roosevelt was the only president in U.S. history to be elected to either a third or fourth term.

Days after Trump took office in January, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) proposed an amendment to the Constitution that could allow presidents to be elected for three terms. However, amending the Constitution would require two-thirds of Congress members to vote for its approval, which would then have to be ratified by three-fourths of state Legislatures.

Explaining why he would want to seek a third term, Trump said that, “You have to start by saying, I have the highest poll numbers of any Republican for the last 100 years.”

“We’re in the high 70s in many polls, in the real polls, and you see that. And, and you know, we’re very popular,” Trump said.

When asked about how he could be elected to a third term, Trump told NBC News there might be ways to do so.

NBC’s Kristen Welker then provided him with a hypothetical situation: “Well, let me throw out one where President Vance would run for office and then would, basically … if he won, at the top of the ticket, would then pass the baton to you.”

In response, Trump said, “Well, that’s one. But there are others, too. There are others.”

“Can you tell me another?” Welker asked Trump. “No,” he said.

The 12th Amendment, which was ratified in 1804, says that “no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.”

Also in the interview, Trump was asked about why he wants to continue to be president, which Welker described is “the toughest job in the country.”

“Well, I like working,” replied Trump, who would be 82 at the end of his current term.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

*  *  *

Tyler Durden
Sun, 03/30/2025 – 22:10

A $100 Million Coin Collection Was “Buried For Decades”; Now It’s Up For Auction

A $100 Million Coin Collection Was “Buried For Decades”; Now It’s Up For Auction

If you’re looking for motivation to take the ole’ metal detector out on the beach and wander around aimlessly today, we might have it for you.

A coin collection buried for over 50 years is expected to bring in more than $100 million at auction, making it likely the most valuable ever sold. Known as the Traveller Collection, it includes coins from over 100 regions, spanning ancient to modern times, CNN reported last week.

The first sale, run by Numismatica Ars Classica, begins May 20, with auctions continuing over the next three years. Experts say the collection’s hidden past—buried underground for decades—makes it especially rare and remarkable.

According to a press release shared with CNN, the anonymous collector behind the Traveller Collection began buying gold coins after the 1929 Wall Street Crash and developed “a taste for coins with great historical interest, beauty and rarity.” Over time, he amassed around 15,000 coins.

The CNN report says in the 1930s, he and his wife traveled across the Americas and Europe, acquiring rare coins and documenting each purchase. As World War II loomed, they buried the collection in aluminum boxes underground, where it remained hidden for 50 years.

“The collection spans all geographical areas and contains exceptionally rare coins often in a state of preservation never seen in modern times,” the release states. Some coins have never appeared at public auction before.

Among the most notable pieces is a massive 100 ducat gold coin from 1629, minted under Ferdinand III of Habsburg. Weighing 348.5 grams, it’s one of the largest European gold coins ever produced.

The auction will also feature an “exceedingly rare” five-piece Toman set, minted in Tehran and Isfahan during the late 1700s and early 1800s by Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar. Only five complete sets are known to exist, including one housed at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum.

Arturo Russo, director of Numismatica Ars Classica, called the sale “a landmark in the history of numismatics,” citing the range, rarity, and quality of the coins, along with the collection’s unique backstory.

David Guest, a consultant to the collection, added: “Not only was the quality exceptional but many of the coins before me were of types not known to have been offered for sale in over 80 years and, in some cases, completely unrecorded.”

Tyler Durden
Sun, 03/30/2025 – 21:35

B-21 “Bomber On A Budget”

B-21 “Bomber On A Budget”

Authored by Rebecca Grant via RealClearDefense,

Even in the era of DOGE, President Donald J. Trump is doubling down on American investment in sixth-generation aircraft.  The Air Force F-47 fighter and a new Navy carrier plane will restock American airpower.  While air dominance is priceless, the fact remains that experience with the B-21 Raider bomber has quietly given Trump, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg, and the new leadership team the confidence to invest in advanced aircraft programs.  Saving money and executing on a predictable schedule is now a must for the survival of Pentagon programs. 

The B-21 is a “bomber on a budget.”  One of the most overlooked insights from the recent Air Force budgets is that the B-21 program is proving a new business case by keeping costs under control.  During the 2025 budget cycle, smooth progress on the production line enabled the Air Force to negotiate lower rates for the B-21 bombers now in production.  The Air Force trimmed about $1 billion off the B-21 program’s cost for Fiscal Year 2025 alone and bagged additional savings for future years. 

Coming in under budget is a first for a stealth aircraft – and quite a victory for the bomber leg of the nuclear deterrence Triad.  Contrast that with the snarls affecting nuclear shipbuilding and the Columbia-class submarine program.  It is also a great vote of confidence for future sixth-generation programs for both the Air Force and the Navy. 

The B-21 was planned from the outset to “bend the cost curve” for advanced aircraft procurement.  A cost cap of $550 million per bomber (averaged over 100 aircraft, and in 2010 dollars) was set as a performance parameter for the competition.  Northrop Grumman was widely believed to have won the B-21 program due to the combination of its experience in stealth bombers and its low bid price.  However, executing the B-21 plan has been a testament, first and foremost, to the Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO), the team that ran the B-21 from source selection onward but likes to stay out of the limelight. 

The Air Force is also capitalizing on progress with digital design, open software approaches, sophisticated aerospace composites, and a host of other advances in the American aerospace industry.  The net effect is smoother progress through design and early production.  For example, in 2021, a “major redesign” of the B-21 engine inlets was completed while the first two B-21s were being assembled, without incurring cost or schedule overruns.  “There’s nothing going on in that program that is leading to either a cost or schedule breach,” Air Force Lieutenant General Duke Richardson said at the time. 

New approaches to software are also paying off.  One example is the shorter time anticipated for weapons integration.  “It would take me years to integrate a new standoff missile on the B-2,” Air Force Global Strike Command chief General Timothy M. Ray said in March 2021. “It will take me months with the B-21.”

By 2022, the Air Force announced that the engineering and manufacturing development contract was producing a quality build B-21, with significant design maturity.  “The B-21 test aircraft are the most production-representative aircraft, both structurally and in its mission systems, at this point in a program, that I’ve observed in my career,” concluded Randy Walden, who was then the Director of the RCO.

This was a critical time period.  The B-21 achieved its roll-out at Palmdale, California, in December 2022 and its first flight in November 2023.

Of course, inflation in the wake of the COVID pandemic hit the B-21 along with other defense programs, leading to increased costs for wages and supplies for both prime contractors and their hundreds of suppliers.  The B-21 program quickly digested those costs.  In January 2024, Northrop Grumman reported that it had taken a one-time after-tax charge of $1.2 billion due to macroeconomic factors that increased the costs of manufacturing the B-21.  The cost was swallowed as the first low-rate production lot began.

As a result, by spring 2024, the Air Force was reporting success in lowering costs for the next four lots of B-21s.  Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall informed the Senate that B-21 unit costs had decreased during contract negotiations with Northrop Grumman.  The Air Force saved money on the B-21 without reducing the planned quantity.

In turn, the Air Force was able to reduce its own procurement line for the B-21 down from $6.3 billion to $5.3 billion for the enacted Fiscal Year 2025 budget.  The Air Force was also confident enough to harvest the B-21 cost savings across the out-years.  An Aviation Week report noted nearly 28% savings across the five-year defense plan. 

The situation was very different for the B-2 Spirit back in the 1980s.  The Air Force requested significant design changes, including the requirement for low-altitude flight capabilities.  The Northrop engineers responded with “a miracle a day” to build the bomber.  Meanwhile, President Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of Defense, Caspar Weinberger, received personal briefings every three months on the progress of the B-2 and often had to allocate additional funds to keep the program going.

Forty years later, stealth bomber manufacturing is leading the way for efficient production of sixth-generation aircraft.  With the B-21, the Air Force has a robust program that is delivering on schedule and is ready for a production increase if the Trump administration decides to increase quantity.  As other sixth-generation programs follow the discipline of the B-21 Raider, America won’t lose a step in dominating the skies. 

Dr. Rebecca Grant is a national security analyst and vice president, defense programs for the Lexington Institute, a nonprofit public-policy research organization in Arlington, Virginia. She has held positions at the Pentagon, in the private sector and has led an aerospace and defense consultancy. Follow her on Twitter at @rebeccagrantdc and the Lexington Institute @LexNextDC.  

Tyler Durden
Sun, 03/30/2025 – 21:00

These Are The U.S. Cities Where People Are Most Delinquent On Debt

These Are The U.S. Cities Where People Are Most Delinquent On Debt

A new WalletHub study ranks the 100 largest U.S. cities by debt delinquency, using two key metrics: the percentage of delinquent credit tradelines and the percentage of total loan balances delinquent as of Q4 2024. Cities were scored and ranked based on both the number of delinquent accounts and the dollar value of unpaid debt. The findings spotlight regions where consumers are struggling most to keep up with payments, often reflecting deeper economic stressors in those communities.

Laredo, Texas tops the list as the most debt-delinquent city in America, according to WalletHub.

In Q4 2024, 16.01% of all tradelines in Laredo were delinquent—the highest in the country. Even more striking, residents were delinquent on 22.36% of their total loan balances, also the highest nationally. This combination places Laredo at the top of the list with a perfect delinquency score of 100.

The WalletHub study noted that San Bernardino, California ranks second, with 15.98% of its tradelines delinquent and 18.18% of total loan balances unpaid. While its tradeline delinquency rate is nearly identical to Laredo’s, the total debt amount past due is slightly lower, putting it behind Laredo overall. Still, these numbers make San Bernardino one of the most financially distressed cities in the country.

Detroit, Michigan follows closely in third place. About 15.45% of loans and credit lines in Detroit were delinquent, and 18.92% of the city’s total debt was unpaid—the second-highest in terms of overall loan balance delinquency. Despite not being the worst on any single metric, Detroit’s consistently high scores across both measures placed it third overall.

Newark, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania round out the top five. Newark had the second-highest tradeline delinquency rate at 16.00% but slightly lower total loan delinquency at 17.40%. Philadelphia, meanwhile, had a similar tradeline delinquency rate (15.57%) but lower unpaid balances (13.95%), ranking it fifth.

Overall, the most delinquent cities are often older, economically challenged urban centers—many of them in the Rust Belt or South—where residents face a mix of high costs and limited income growth. This study provides a snapshot of where debt stress is most acute, offering insight for policymakers and financial institutions focused on economic stability.

Analyst Chip Lupo commented: “Being delinquent on debt can significantly damage a person’s credit score and make it more difficult to get a credit card, rent apartments, or buy cars and homes in the future. People who miss a loan payment should try to get current as quickly as possible. The good news is that for many types of debt, borrowers have at least 30 days before delinquency gets reported to the credit bureaus.”

“That allows people a little leeway to get the funds together and avoid credit score damage, though the issuer will still likely charge a late fee.”

Thanks for the tip…Chip. 

Tyler Durden
Sun, 03/30/2025 – 20:25

Russia Seeks To Balance Ties With US, China: Official

Russia Seeks To Balance Ties With US, China: Official

Authored by Andrew Thornebrooke via The Epoch Times,

The Kremlin is seeking to balance its relationship with the United States alongside its military and economic partnership with communist China, according to a senior Russian official.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk made the remarks during an address on March 27 at the Boao Forum in China’s Hainan Province.

“As to the relationship between Russia, China, and the United States, we should not develop a relationship with one other country at the expense of another and vice versa,” Overchuk said, according to a translation of the comments first reported by Bloomberg.

Overchuk added that Moscow was eager to continue working with Beijing to implement and expand a strategic agreement signed by the two powers back in 2023.

That agreement laid out a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Russia, bringing the two nations into a de facto alliance. As part of that agreement, Moscow and Beijing have deepened their economic, diplomatic, and military ties, including by increasing their joint military exercises worldwide.

That agreement was also at least partially aimed at undermining U.S. hegemony in international affairs. Just one day before its signing, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged that China and Russia would create a “multipolar world order” to replace the “rules” of the current U.S.-led international order.

Chinese state-run media said that Overchuk also expressed hope that the strategic partnership would reach new heights in the coming years as the two powers continued to entwine their futures.

Similarly, Overchuk said that Russia had, in large part, been able to resist the power of Western sanctions over its war on Ukraine because of the support of China, which has greatly expanded purchases of Russian energy and other goods to fill the void.

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, a high-ranking official on the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Politburo Standing Committee, said he had met with Overchuk twice already this year and that the two would continue developing relations between their governments.

Overchuk agreed with that sentiment, saying he would continue to seek ways of expanding cooperation with China.

“There’s a desire on both sides to explore opportunities for expanding those ties because both nations are experiencing outside pressures,” Overchuk said. “And naturally we look for ways of how to cooperate and work together to improve the living standard of people in our countries.”

The comments come as Moscow seeks to reopen economic and diplomatic ties with the new administration in Washington and to discourage American and allied arms shipments to Ukraine.

President Donald Trump has thus far encouraged the rapprochement with Russia, saying that the United States would work towards fully reintegrating Russia into the global economic and diplomatic space.

Moscow’s recalcitrant approach to Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine has dampened those efforts, however, with Trump on one occasion threatening sanctions and tariffs on Russia if the Eurasian power did not comply more fully with cease-fire efforts.

“Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large-scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and final settlement agreement on peace is reached. To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now before it is too late. Thank you!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on March 7, partially in capital letters.

The Trump administration may nevertheless be open to the idea of a more integrated Russia and China as Washington seeks to bring both powers to the table on other issues, including military spending and nuclear proliferation.

“At some point, when things settle down, I’m going to meet with China, and I’m going to meet with Russia, in particular those two, and I’m going to say ’there’s no reason for us to be spending almost a trillion dollars on the military,’” Trump said last month.

How Washington will manage the increasing cooperation between Moscow and Beijing is an open question. The two powers have increasingly become antagonistic towards the United States in recent years, working directly with communist authorities in North Korea and the Islamist regime in Iran to undermine U.S. interests abroad.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 03/30/2025 – 19:50

Canadian Banks Linked To Chinese Fentanyl Laundering Risk US Treasury Sanctions After Cartel Terror Designation

Canadian Banks Linked To Chinese Fentanyl Laundering Risk US Treasury Sanctions After Cartel Terror Designation

In an explosive interview with The Bureau’s Sam Cooper, David Asher – a former senior U.S. State Department official with close ties to the Trump administration’s financial and national security apparatus—issued a stark warning: Canadian banks could soon face a “new universe” of regulatory scrutiny from the U.S. Treasury. This follows the formal designation of Mexican cartels, including the Sinaloa group, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). According to Asher, the command-and-control structure for laundering proceeds from synthetic narcotics—produced using Chinese precursor chemicals—is largely orchestrated by Chinese triads operating out of Canada.

Asher warned that these transnational crime gang nexus seriously threatens both U.S. national security and the stability of the North American financial system

Here’s the interview between Cooper and Asher, which offers a possible road map for the looming legal consequences for Canadian banks as the Trump administration ramps up hemispheric defense and moves to dismantle, once and for all, the command-and-control structures of Mexican cartels and Chinese triads operating through Canadian financial institutions. 

In an explosive, sweeping interview, former senior State Department investigator David Asher—closely connected to the Trump administration’s financial and national security apparatus—warned that Canadian banks could soon face a “new universe” of regulatory scrutiny, including from the U.S. Treasury, due to the recent designation of Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

Asher, who contends that the “command” for Western Hemisphere money laundering of synthetic narcotics—including fentanyl, methamphetamine, and ecstasy sourced from Chinese precursors—is “largely run by Chinese triads in Canada,” also argues that this interconnected transnational network presents profound risks to Canadian financial institutions.

Speaking bluntly about the nexus between Chinese Triads and Mexican cartels operating in Canada, Asher said: “Of course, they’re in bed with each other. This is why Tse Chi Lop lived in Toronto… These cartels are now designated as terrorist organizations. That changes everything—how we prosecute them, and what tools we can use.”

Asher, along with Canadian law enforcement experts such as former RCMP intelligence analyst Scott McGregor, believes a rarely discussed Canadian legal barrier—Stinchcombe—must be overcome. They argue Canada could unlock powerful new authorities if it begins treating cartel-connected Chinese money laundering networks as accessories to terrorism.

The rule, derived from the 1991 Supreme Court case R. v. Stinchcombe, requires Canadian law enforcement to disclose nearly all investigative material to the defense. While intended to ensure a fair trial, critics say it severely hampers complex RCMP investigations, especially those relying on wiretaps or sensitive intelligence, and risks blowing the cover of international partners and covert operations.

Asher didn’t mince words: “Every case I worked in Canada… the Stinchcombe thing ended up [inhibiting investigations]—we were targeting phone numbers tied to Canadian money launderers who were Chinese. And they got told after 90 days that we were going after them. Then they just changed numbers and changed their OPSEC. It’s a farce.”

He sees the recent terrorism designation of Mexican cartels as a legal pivot point: “That whole Stinchcombe thing should be thrown out the door because we can now use counter-terrorism authorities.”

Asher believes that if Canadian law enforcement engages more directly with U.S. authorities, the financiers and money launderers tied to Chinese triads in Canada can be directly linked to fentanyl-trafficking Mexican cartels. If Canadian banks are shown to be facilitating these funds, even passively, they may be subject to U.S. regulations—including terrorism finance sanctions.

The implications for Canadian institutions are profound. “If any of these financial institutions are picking up a dollar for the cartels at this stage and we can prove it, then they’re engaged in terrorism financing.”

Asher also pointed to marijuana trafficking from Canada into the United States—not as a separate criminal enterprise, but as part of the same transnational fentanyl networks. He said Chinese Triads, with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, sit atop this narcotics pyramid and are exploiting Canada’s legal marijuana system.

“The illegal pot—marijuana from Canada that comes into the New York State tri-state area and into the Pacific Northwest states of the United States is huge. And now we’re seeing the integration of fentanyl into marijuana in some cases.”

The flow of narcotics south and criminal proceeds north continues largely unabated, Asher warned, with superlabs in British Columbia and other areas of Canada producing meth, ecstasy, and fentanyl.

On Canada’s enforcement efforts and the outcomes of official inquiries into Chinese criminal and influence networks, Asher was scathing: “What have you done to follow up on [the Cullen Commission]? Nothing. And then you had this Hogue inquiry about Chinese influence in politics. What have you done about that? It looks to me like practically nothing.”

He called on Canada to show resolve on investigations that impact the United States: “Frankly, one of the first things you still need to do is: why is TD Bank Canada not being charged? And do we have charges against some of the executives, whether they’ve been publicly named or not?”

His core message is that Canada must shake off legal and political inertia: “Why wouldn’t Canada want to protect itself? You’re losing thousands of people every year, sometimes tens of thousands, due to overdoses and poisonings and basically murder in the form of these narcotics networks.”

The consequences of inaction, Asher warned, could be dire—not only for Canadian sovereignty and public health, but for its banking sector’s international standing. “Canadian money laundering command and control remains a huge issue for drug trafficking across the United States… That’s just the bottom line.”

The following transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity. Some passages have been removed to streamline the discussion while preserving its core insights.

Sam Cooper: What is the key change that designating the Sinaloa cartel and these other Mexican cartels as terrorist networks—because Canada followed President Trump on that. So now this anti-terrorism law should be applicable in Canada. One, does that change the calculus of the U.S. working with the Canadian government in going after cartels in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal? And two, in your view, are these cartels operative with Chinese command-and-control financiers that underwrite their operations across North America?

David Asher: First of all, of course, they’re in bed with each other. I mean, this is the reason why Tse Chi Lop lived in Canada and in Toronto. I mean, the Sinaloa cartel has significant operations with partners and proxies in Canada, both for distribution and, increasingly, we believe with production—the rise of these super labs.

And so, the way I define it: we can do law enforcement top down. We use their intelligence, use their sources. We know who the leadership are, we know where the money is. Rather than build a case from the bottom up and start with dime bags on the streets of Chicago or Vancouver, we say we know these cartels are designated, and now these cartels are terrorist organizations. That changes everything in terms of how we could prosecute them and what type of tools we can use. Because that whole Stinchcombe thing should be thrown out the door because we can now use counter-terrorism authorities. Because Canada does have a reasonably strong counter-terrorism law.

So if we treat these cartels as terrorists—which they are—and you’ve designated them, we can use our signals intelligence and all sorts of other tools to much more robustly target them without them knowing it. Because every case I worked in Canada, the Stinchcombe thing ended up—we were targeting phone numbers tied to Canadian money launderers who were Chinese, and also actually some Italian mob guys too, and Iranian mob guys. And they got told after 90 days that we were going after them. And then they just changed numbers and they changed their OPSEC. It’s a farce, you know that. But I mean, just like with the terrorism designations, I think we’re in a new universe here.

So now that the Latin cartels have been designated as terrorists, your Anti-Terrorism Act of 2017 will—it has these four key provisions: prevent terrorists from getting into Canada and protect Canadians from terrorist acts; activate tools to identify, prosecute, and convict terrorists; keep the border secure and contribute to economic security; and work with the international community to bring terrorists to justice and address root causes of violence.

All these aspects are fundamentally game changers. I mean, if you apply that, I think that you treat these cartels as terrorists, you start to prosecute them. We could do it jointly. And their partners too—I mean, they’re accessories to terrorism. So if the Chinese are laundering the money, and if TD Bank, let’s say, is accepting the money? Then TD Bank is involved in terrorism finance. Suddenly, then, the whole tapestry of authorities has changed, and we should not have to follow the Stinchcombe thing anymore. It should be that we have a direct way to secretly target the communications and follow the money through the cartels, now that they’re basically the same as Hezbollah and the Quds Force and Al-Qaeda.

And then there’s Chinese partners. Frankly, if they’re working with them in a partnership, you should be able to approach them as accessories to terrorism from a legal standpoint. That would change your prosecution. It would change your intelligence collection capability, and it would actually conform with the facts, frankly.

And I think also anybody who’s getting the Chinese guys you’ve profiled, like Paul King Jin and all these Chinese United Front actors in Vancouver—I mean, they are now effectively accessories to a terrorist organization’s finances.

So I have to assume that your politicians are not going to meet with accessories to terrorist organizations anymore. I hope what this is doing in the U.S. is that all U.S. banks now are under warning that the Anti-Terrorism Act will be applied to them if they take one dollar of Sinaloa money.

I think that people are starting to realize that. And I think there’s much—I think it’s hardly that TD was the only Canadian bank that was involved in laundering money.

Sam Cooper: Can you expand on that?

David Asher: You’ve got other banks, like BMO. I’m not saying it’s laundering money, but I’m not saying it isn’t. I don’t know, but they have huge operations in Mexico, so obviously they should be looked at. But if any of these financial institutions are picking up a dollar for the cartels at this stage and we can prove it, then they’re engaged in terrorism financing. I mean, the U.S. government will go after banks anywhere in the world that are engaged in terrorism financing, Canadian or otherwise.

And I don’t think the U.S. government is satisfied at all with the Canadian response at this stage. But there is great hope because if you start to crack down using your Anti-Terrorism Act, I think that we have an opportunity to change the framework for collective action and have a much better relationship.

But it’s going to mean taking on the Chinese because the money laundering for terrorist dollars is material support for terrorism, and it’s going to require going after the distribution of not just fentanyl, but let’s not forget there’s massive amounts of methamphetamine produced in Canada. And by the way, no one’s talking about all the meth from Canada that’s entering the United States. President Trump isn’t just concerned about fentanyl. I mean, for years we’ve had methamphetamine coming out of Canada into the United States.

Sam Cooper: Well, I recently did a story on a major Sinaloa Cartel cell set up on the British Columbia border near the Peace Arch crossing. They were dealing with [Sinaloa Cartel boss] El Mayo directly, which says a lot, right?

And they were raided–mind you no one is even incarcerated—but they face civil forfeiture. And they found Mexican passports, fentanyl, MDMA, methamphetamine, ketamine, fake Xanax, incredible weapons caches. And you also just had another major smuggling operation of MDMA from B.C. just prosecuted in Washington state. So the U.S. government is concerned with all these precursors from China and that includes ecstasy as well, right?

David Asher: Yes. And of course, the illegal pot—marijuana from Canada that comes into the New York State tri-state area and into the Pacific Northwest states of the United States is huge. And now we’re seeing the integration of fentanyl into marijuana in some cases.

I think that the Canadian defense that statistics show Canada is innocent in fentanyl trafficking across North America is just bullshit. I mean, something like probably 80% of the money laundering networks in the U.S. that are Chinese are in direct contact with numbers in Canada every day. And we don’t know who those subscribers are. We’re not allowed to spy on Canada.

Sam Cooper: Alright. Can I ask you this? I heard from a senior U.S. narcotics expert with deep knowledge that the pot being run down from Ontario into New York and the tri-state area was coming in tons — and that they believed this was command-and-control Chinese organized crime in Toronto. They said the funds connected to all of that was collected in the U.S. and ultimately coming back up to Toronto banks.

Like you said, the money comes back to be laundered where command is. So that’s the legal—or really, illegal—pot trade from Canada, mixed with the fentanyl trafficking networks directed from Canada. The drugs go south, the cash is collected, and it’s laundered back up through Canadian banks.

That’s your TD Bank case, right?

David Asher: It’s all part of the same drug trafficking organizations.

But look, we don’t have super labs in the United States, and this idea that, well, we have super labs in Canada, but they’re not targeting the United States—how the hell do you know that? I mean, you just stumbled upon this super lab out in British Columbia. How many others? We’ve heard from dozens of sources that there are a number of labs like that in Canada. I mean, there’s no way they’re not going to be involved in exporting to the United States.

But even if they aren’t, it’s a huge threat to Canada. And we have to assume that it’s an incoming threat to the United States. But putting aside fentanyl super labs, you’ve got super methamphetamine labs too, and you’ve got the marijuana business, ecstasy business—it’s all drug business. They’re all interlinked. And let’s not forget that Tse Chi Lop served, I don’t know about nine years in prison in the United States. We arrested him well before he was identified publicly, and when he was based in Canada.

You showed in your book Wilful Blindness that Paul King Jin, all these guys come down to Las Vegas to launder money. Remember, you can take these chips from these casinos and you can exchange them internationally. They’re like bearer bonds practically. You can take them and settle them elsewhere. The chips are fungible. So the idea that these major Chinese networks in Canada are not cross-border into the U.S. is also bullshit.

Sam Cooper: Absolutely, yes.

David Asher: That’s not some secret. Everybody knows that who works organized crime cases. So what’s going on in British Columbia, which your Cullen Commission reporting detailed in mind-altering detail. What has Canada done to follow up on that? Nothing. And then you had this Hogue inquiry about Chinese influence in politics. What has Canada done about that? It looks to me like practically nothing. I think there’s a lot we can do though. And there are people in the Canadian government that want to work this positively, and I think there should be more receptivity to it in the United States.

But I think we’d like to see the Canadians put some meat on the plate. Can they help us target the Sinaloa cartel’s operations in partnership with Chinese triads, not just in Canada, but in the U.S. too, and maybe even in Mexico?

I mean, have they come forward with a plan of attack together? I don’t think so. And if they did, it would be helpful. But frankly, one of the first things you still need to do is: why is TD Bank Canada not being charged?

And do we have charges against some of the executives, whether they’ve been publicly named or not? It’s in the document that the Department of Justice released that there were a number of people they’ve identified for criminal prosecution. I mean, in the U.S. we’re fining TD $3.1 billion. What’s Canada done? Like a $9 million fine against TD Corporate in Toronto. Seriously? The people in Toronto were running the money laundering network in the United States of America.

Sam Cooper: What more can you say about that piece?

David Asher: There are other people you should talk to about that. But we know there was command and control for the money laundering in Toronto. That’s why the CEO of TD Canada resigned. He took the blame, but he hasn’t been charged. I expect that that case has not ended yet. I think there’s a high probability that it will be continuing. I don’t know this for certain—I’m not involved—but from what I can see, the facts are pretty clear in the document that was put out by the Department of Justice. I don’t think that there’s grounds for this investigation into TD’s money laundering activity at the headquarters level to stop.

But why isn’t the Canadian government looking into them? This is the largest money laundering bank in the history of the United States of America. It’s Canadian. Have you ever thought that you guys might be able to charge them for money laundering too? What about anything they’re doing today?

At this point, I know they’ve hired people as consultants to try to supposedly clean up the bank, but you know what? They’ve got a long way to go. They have to close accounts. They’ve got to screen every relationship they’ve got. And even then, if the Department of the Treasury is satisfied, the Department of Justice might have a different view of it.

But I think that we know this: at the end of the day, the Canadian money laundering command and control remains a huge issue for drug trafficking of all sorts across the United States of America. And so I think that’s just the bottom line.

Sam Cooper: Okay. Let’s talk more about Stinchcombe and Canada’s courts and cross-border crime, because this is a major cause of friction fundamentally for Canada and the U.S. as allies I believe.

Can you explain more about the extreme impediments that Canadian police work under, so that U.S. international enforcement is totally frustrated, loss of confidence, can’t work with Canada. Could you briefly describe to the readers what Stinchcombe means in terms of your and the U.S. government’s frustration in not being able to go up on [establish wiretaps] on Iranian, Chinese, and Mexican operatives in Canada?

David Asher: Well, we could go up on them, but then they had to be told we were going up on them. I mean, there’s this disclosure rule. I’m not an expert on Canadian law, but I can tell you that we had multiple cases—including [Asher names an alleged Iran-regime connected criminal in Toronto that allegedly laundered several billion dollars in major Canadian banks] against the Iran network.

We actually did have a case into Tse Chi Lop as well that was significant with the Australians, but it was DEA-led. And we’ve had so many others, including against the Hells Angels of Canada, who were a big problem. I mean, those guys, they’ve been trafficking into the United States. And as far as I can understand it, every time we want to target someone, they end up getting told that they’re being targeted. I mean, you can’t build an undercover criminal investigation if the cover gets blown after 90 days because of some Canadian law or rule.

And the fact is, but now with this terrorism designation, at least when it comes to the cartels and their facilitating parties—and that could be the Hells Angels, that could be the Wolf Pack, that could be the Chinese triads—it doesn’t really matter. They’re facilitating terrorism.

And Canada would need to start to make cases on your own to identify, prosecute, and disable and dismantle these networks. Your government knows where these networks exist. It just acts like it’s powerless to do anything. It’s just not true. I’ve always felt that there was a compromise—because we were dealing with, in some of these Iran cases, we were dealing with terrorism. We had direct Hezbollah and Iranian IRGC connections in Canada. So it baffled us why the criminals were being told that they were being targeted or how they found out.

Whether it was through Stinchcombe or leaks or whatever. But all I can say is: when’s the last time we did a major case together between U.S. and Canada to take down a network? Seriously? Can you name one?

Sam Cooper: I can’t. No.

David Asher: Exactly. So there’s none, basically, that’s of any note. And it’s not just to blame Canada. I’m saying let’s just turn this into an opportunity for justice, because at the end of the day, your people are getting murdered by these cartels. And the cartels are making money because they can launder through these Chinese networks. And if they can’t make money, they’ll go out of business. So our job is not to protect Canada, but we’re certainly happy to help.

But I think that this needs to be—and it’s unfortunate that things have started off in an adversarial way between Washington and Ottawa. But I think that there’s just a lot of frustration. And I know it exists at the Treasury Department, not just the Department of Justice.

You’ve got a ways to go, and I think that your new Prime Minister will hopefully be able to navigate this, and we’ll see a new way of working these things together.

And I think, again, this terrorism designation is huge, but someone has to start by saying, okay, now we’ve got a terrorism designation. What do we do with it? And right now, I don’t think you should wait for the U.S. to come and complain or appeal to you to do it. You should do this yourselves. Why wouldn’t Canada want to protect itself? You’re losing thousands of people every year, sometimes tens of thousands, due to overdoses and poisonings and basically murder in the form of these narcotics networks. And then, basically, you’ve created a countrywide environment that’s permissive to criminal organizations, and people are suffering. The fact is, this enormous amount of real estate that’s been bought across Canada, especially in British Columbia and the Toronto area, has been bought with money that’s been laundered. It makes Miami in the 1980s look minor league.

Sam Cooper: Yeah. The estimates I’m getting now are over a trillion dollars in Toronto and Vancouver, connected to mortgage fraud and underground banking since 2010.

David Asher: Yeah, it’s massive. And it has to be fixed. I mean, seriously, this is an opportunity.

Sam Cooper: It’s an opportunity to improve both our nations.

David Asher: Correct. And I think if Canada came forward and said, we just identified the following networks and individuals who are laundering money for Chinese money laundering organizations, and we’re going to take them down, the U.S. would probably be impressed. Right now, you’re showing videos of dogs on the border and helicopters—that doesn’t do anything. Make some arrests, take down some criminals.

Eliminating Mexican cartels and Chinese triads from financial institutions across the Americas is part of the Trump administration’s broader strategy to strengthen national and hemispheric defense. This explains the push for deeper economic integration between the United States and Canada, along with the establishment of a hardened defense perimeter stretching from the Arctic to the Panama Canal.

Let’s visualize that…

TD and other banks face continued scrutiny under U.S. anti-terrorism laws following the recent disclosure of Chinese-linked superlabs in Canada, as the drug overdose death crisis claims 100,000 Americans per year. This heightened scrutiny may help explain why TD Bank’s equity on the Canadian stock exchange has yet to recover above its October 2024 highs, when the U.S. Department of Justice announced AML penalties against the bank.

What’s clear is that U.S. officials are growing increasingly confident in their assessments of drug money laundering by international gangs through Canadian banks—and have already begun issuing AML violations, as seen in TD’s case. We suspect the spotlight could soon shift to Mexican banks as well. And in the U.S., the DoJ should take a deeper dive into banks.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 03/30/2025 – 15:45

Wisconsin AG Sues Musk Over $1 Million Giveaways, Loses, Then Appeals To State Supremes

Wisconsin AG Sues Musk Over $1 Million Giveaways, Loses, Then Appeals To State Supremes

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul has appealed directly to the state Supreme Court, after an appeals court slapped down a Friday attempt to sue Elon Musk and his PAC to block a $1 million giveaway to Wisconsin voters.

In his original lawsuit, Kaul said he was trying to stop an “egregious” and illegal scheme to sway voters days before a pivotal state Supreme Court election.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul speaks at an event in Milwaukee, Wis., on Oct. 27, 2022. Morry Gash, File/AP Photo

As the Epoch Times notes further, Kaul’s original complaint, filed in Dane County Circuit Court on March 28, targets Musk’s announcement that two Wisconsin voters would be picked to receive $1 million each at a Sunday event—on the condition that they vote in the April 1 election. The high-stakes election will determine whether the high court remains a 4–3 liberal majority or flips to a conservative majority.

In a since-deleted post on social media on March 27, Musk wrote: “I will also personally hand over two checks for a million dollars each in appreciation for you taking the time to vote. This is super important.”

Musk later clarified his plans in a new post on X on March 28.

“On Sunday night, I will give a talk in Wisconsin,” Musk wrote. “To clarify a previous post, entrance is limited to those who have signed the petition in opposition to activist judges. I will also hand over checks for a million dollars to 2 people to be spokesmen for the petition.”

According to Kaul’s lawsuit, Musk’s March 27 post violated a Wisconsin Statute that prohibits offering financial incentives to cast a vote. The Wisconsin attorney general is seeking emergency relief to block the payouts, arguing that Musk’s plan violates state election laws.

Musk’s announcement of his intention to pay $1 million to two Wisconsin electors who attend his event on Sunday night, specifically conditioned on their having voted in the upcoming April 3, 2025, Wisconsin Supreme Court election, is a blatant attempt to violate Wis. Stat. § 12.11,” the complaint states. “This must not happen.”

The lawsuit notes that Musk’s since-deleted post had garnered over 19 million views before it was taken down and was widely reported by the news media. While the complaint acknowledges that Musk removed the first post, it notes that, as of Friday afternoon, neither Musk nor America PAC had issued a statement rescinding the initial payout offer.

“Upon information and belief, despite taking down the X.com post, neither Musk nor America PAC have announced that the plan to make two $1 million payments to Wisconsin electors who have voted in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election has been cancelled,” Kaul wrote. He called on the court to issue a temporary restraining order that would bar Musk from any further promotion of the million-dollar gifts and prevent him from making the payments.

Musk’s attorney was not immediately reachable for comment. While Musk has not publicly commented on the lawsuit directly, he shared a post on X describing the lawsuit as “lawfare” and a “desperate attempt” by Democrats who are “terrified Elon is going to activate Wisconsinites to vote.”

The legal battle unfolds against the backdrop of a high-stakes race that could reshape Wisconsin’s political and judicial landscape. Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel, a Republican, is facing off against Democratic Dane County Judge Susan Crawford for a 10-year term that will decide the ideological tilt of the court.

Musk’s America PAC launched a petition campaign earlier this month offering $100 to registered voters who signed a pledge opposing “activist judges.” The PAC also promised an additional $100 for each referral made by the signer.

“Judges should interpret laws as written, not rewrite them to fit their personal or political agendas,” the petition reads. “By signing below, I’m rejecting the actions of activist judges who impose their own views and demanding a judiciary that respects its role—interpreting, not legislating.”

Though recipients of the money are not required to vote in a particular way, Kaul referred to the petition in his complaint, arguing that the entire effort undermines election integrity and violates Wisconsin law.

This is not the first time Musk’s PAC has offered money to eligible voters before an election. During last year’s presidential election, America PAC ran a similar campaign offering $1 million per day to randomly selected petition signers in swing states, along with $100 bonuses in Pennsylvania.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 03/30/2025 – 15:10

A Case For Net Zero Immigration

A Case For Net Zero Immigration

Authored by Robert Syrus via Robert’s Newsletter,

Elon Musk fired over 6,000 Twitter employees, which was about 80 percent of the company’s workforce, starting in November 2022. He told Tucker Carlson “It turns out you don’t need all that many people to run Twitter”. Recently President Trump offered two million federal workers a buyout severance package to leave their jobs. What if it turns out you don’t need all that many people to run America?

At this historical juncture when America is at last taking action on unlawful migration on the one hand and on the other hand credible sources such as Goldman Sachs are predicting radical worker displacement by AI and robotics it might be an opportune time to examine what labor and immigration policies really will put America, and Americans, first. A reversal of the deindustrialization processes which have beset the country over the past fifty years (and became turbo-charged once China was ushered into the WTO in 2001) if it is to be accomplished re-industrialization will look less like Rosie the Riveter and more like Robby the Robot.

There are some, with whom the Donald Trump of the shockingly gold-festooned NYC apartment might instinctively side, who call for bigger because…better, right? Matthew Yglesias argues this case in One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger. Of course if it only required a mega-sized population to be successful 800 million people in India would not depend upon daily government food handouts and 1.3 billion Africans would not rely on food imports for 80 percent of their groceries. Even in China, 11 percent of the population (which translates to roughly 153 million people) are unable to afford a healthy diet. So before inviting another 666 million people to enjoy the blessings of US liberty, policy makers should best examine all the most likely future scenarios.

If America is not completely full, it’s certainly full of foreigners. A 2018 study by researchers from Yale and MIT utilized mathematical modelling and estimated that the number of undocumented immigrants could be around 22 million, nearly double previous estimates. Common sense and Fox News will tell you that the real total is likely closer to 30 million after the Biden border-free-for-all. Combine that with some 30 million legal foreign born residents/naturalized citizens and you get 60 million newcomers. If you accept the figures of perennial immigration critic Ann Coulter (author of the famously prophetic book Adios America) of 50 million illegals you get a staggering 80 million foreign born residents, fully 24 percent of the aggregate Census Bureau population.

According to most sociological studies, it typically takes around three generations for European immigrants to become fully assimilated into American culture. Therefore isn’t the case for a ten-fold increase of foreign immigrants weaker than the case for Net Zero Immigration?

The populist Swiss People’s Party which leads most polls has campaigned on a promise to cap that tiny country’s population at 10 million. Larry Fink, head of investment behemoth Blackrock has cited studies which show countries with stable or declining populations may become the world’s leaders in incorporating AI and robotics. Even in sectors where there is no shortage of potential workers such as trucking, (the number-one high paying employment for non-college American men) automation is poised to make a devastating impact. Millions of driving jobs will vanish, permanently. During 2024 autonomous taxi company Waymo successfully completed 4 million passenger rides. Human drivers cannot compete with 24/7 operation, no strikes, and lower insurance rates. That being the case does it not make sense to discover which immigration policies most benefit the shrinking and increasingly threatened middle class citizen?

During January 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show that over one million foreign-born workers found a job but effectively zero net jobs accrued to native born Americans. During a time of great employment transition does it make any sense to give away “golden ticket” jobs to foreigners residing in foreign countries through programs like H1B? The median starting salary for H1B jobs at companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Google is about $150,000 but the opportunities for jumpstarting a person’s career and family life are incalculable. Here’s a question: what jobs absolutely positively cannot be filled by native born Americans or even any of the 60 million foreign-borns already here but must be filled by someone who currently lives in Mumbai or Shanghai? Can it be true native-born American’s brains have been permanently stunted from achieving excellence by 1990s TV shows as Vivek Ramaswamy recently, and perhaps unwisely, suggested?

China has no immigration program equivalent to H1B. Yet according to recent studies, China is currently considered to be ahead of the United States in several key technologies, including electric vehicles and batteries, advanced manufacturing, 5G network infrastructure, facial recognition technology, and certain aspects of artificial intelligence applications. Russia, with a GDP one tenth of America’s cannot compete for international technical talent; however the country ranked fifth in the world in terms of the number of people engaged in research and development and it is known to possess at least three hypersonic weapons systems deployed and used in active warfare with contrasts to the US total of zero.

Let us graciously disagree with Mr. Ramaswamy and consider the alternative case that there is no shortage of qualified or trainable workers in America. Let us further consider that the most practical course of development of the vast and varied landscape of the country’s economy is a steady state where a fixed number of 350 million citizens preside over an economy whose GDP growth is powered not by randomly adding foreign bodies but by the ever-increasing power and efficiency of automatons.

Will Elon Musk’s off-the-cuff prediction that there would come a point when “no job is needed” and jobs instead would be just for those who wanted one for “personal satisfaction” come true? Whatever the future holds, the concepts in the brief 2020 tome Fully Automated Luxury Communism: A Manifesto are as much a dead end as Marxism for a simple reason: reality doesn’t work that way.

However…let’s fast forward to 2035: the country has a sensible skill-points and quota-based immigration plan, keeping the population stable as the nation is given time to assimilate the 60 million foreign born residents dumped into it during the previous 60 years and time to adjust to the Robot Industrial Revolution. These wise policies have not resulted in wage inflation or a labour shortage but has strongly incentivized corporate America to retrain the millions of workers displaced by AI and replace seasonal migrant labour with world-beating robotics which pick apples, cook French fries and drive 80 percent of truck and taxi trips, terrestrial and aeronautical.

Imagine Alfred Lutz, formerly employed as a Master Diesel Technician, recently retrained as a data scientist working for Walmart. Alfred makes enough money to support a politely hot stay-at-home wife and 2.6 mildly sassy but generally agreeable children. He works hard but can insist on reasonable leisure time and vacations; he is secure in the knowledge that his employer cannot just outsource his job to 2.5 H1B replacements for the same salary and no benefits. He is part of the resurgent middle class rescued in the mid-2020s by the MAGA movement.

As a flying drone limousine glides over Dallas freeways and lands him on his spacious driveway/helipad, Alfred may well reflect that the new American Dream rests on a foundation of net zero immigration and robot luxury capitalism.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 03/30/2025 – 14:00