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Via The Cradle

The US Department of National Intelligence acknowledged in its Annual Threat Assessment of 2025 that Syrian government forces were responsible for the massacres committed against minorities on Syria’s coast earlier this month. 

“The fall of president Bashar al-Assad’s regime at the hands of opposition forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – a group formerly associated with Al-Qaeda – has created conditions for extended instability in Syria and could contribute to a resurgence of ISIS and other Islamist terror groups,” the report noted, adding that “HTS-led interim government forces, along with elements of Hurras al-Din and other jihadist groups, engaged in violence and extrajudicial killings in northwestern Syria in early March 2025 primarily targeting religious minorities that resulted in the death of more than 1,000 people, including Alawite and Christian civilians.”

The report went on to say that “some remaining jihadist groups refuse to merge into the HTS Ministry of Defense, and ISIS has already signaled opposition to HTS’s call for democracy and is plotting attacks to undermine its governance.”

It also highlights that Syrian transitional president Ahmad al-Sharaa, who headed HTS and its precursor group the Nusra Front, “claims to be willing to work with Syria’s array of ethno-sectarian groups to develop an inclusive governance model.” Yet, these groups are skeptical of his intentions, therefore “protracted negotiations could devolve into violence.”

The massacres took place in early March in Syria’s coastal cities and surrounding towns and villages after an armed uprising launched by militants affiliated with Syria’s former army. 

During a widescale security operation to quell the uprising, the Syrian Military Operations Department – consisting of numerous extremist factions who have been incorporated into the country’s new army – carried out a massive campaign of executions.

Militants went door to door killing civilians, including women and children. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), at least 1,500 people were killed, most of them Alawites. 

Syrian authorities pledged to open an investigation into the massacres. Extrajudicial killings carried out by government forces have continued, however. 

SOHR reported last week that 72 people were killed in a period of 24 hours by “armed groups affiliated with the General Security and Syrian military factions” in several areas of Syria. Three European envoys warned Syrian authorities during a meeting in Damascus earlier this month that international support for the country would depend on the government “cracking down” on extremist elements, according to Reuters.  

“The abuses that have taken place in recent days are truly intolerable, and those responsible must be identified and condemned. There is no blank check for the new authorities,” a French Foreign Ministry spokesman told the outlet when asked about the message delivered by the European envoys in Damascus. 

“We asked for accountability. The punishment should go on those who committed the massacres. The security forces need to be cleaned up,” one of the envoys was cited as saying. 

Syria’s security and military forces are dominated by members of HTS (formerly Al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria) and fighters from what was known as the Syrian National Army (SNA) – a Turkish proxy formed in 2017.

Jolani Jihadi curses Shiites & shows off ISIS patch in the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus

Jihadi – “They know it well!” pic.twitter.com/XpuCsn6QcB

— OstensibleOyster (@Ostensiblay) March 23, 2025

The SNA groups, which were incorporated into the Syrian army and security apparatus, are known to have scores of ex-ISIS fighters and commanders within their ranks. 

After the fall of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government last year, the US swiftly removed a $10 million bounty on Sharaa, who was previously a member of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), the group which turned into ISIS. 

Investors from both traditional finance and the crypto world are increasingly aligning on the view that stablecoins represent one of the most significant business opportunities in a generation.

Such is the belief of Kyle Samani, Managing Partner of Multicoin Capital, who recently said that stablecoins—a form of crypto pegged to fiat like the U.S. dollar—will likely turn out to be “the single largest arbitrage in human history.”

“There’s 8 billion people on the planet. If you could go to each of those eight billion people and ask them, you can denominate your wealth in any asset—gold, Apple stock, S&P 500, euros, yen, whatever you want—my suspicion is if you went and asked everyone in the world and they could answer the question without fear of political persecution, I suspect five to seven billion of them would say U.S. dollars,” Samani said during a recent panel discussion at Digital Asset Summit 2025 in New York City.

.@KyleSamani says stablecoins represent what is likely “the single largest arbitrage in human history.” pic.twitter.com/F3ARzMELYx

— Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) March 26, 2025

“It’s like probably like the single largest like arbitrage ever in human history is to just get those people what they want,” the crypto investor and venture capital added. ”If you think that’s what they want, then give it to them. And crypto rails are going to be the mechanism by which you do so, and so I think there’s a massive opportunity to get stablecoins in the hands of billions of people.” 

Stablecoins are experiencing rapid growth due to their unique ability to combine the stability of traditional fiat currencies with the efficiency and accessibility of blockchain technology. Unlike volatile cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, stablecoins are pegged to assets such as the U.S. dollar, offering a reliable store of value that appeals to both retail and institutional investors.

Their use cases are vast and expanding: they enable fast, low-cost cross-border payments, bypassing the inefficiencies of traditional banking systems; they serve as a bridge between fiat and crypto markets, facilitating seamless trading on exchanges; and they power decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, where users can lend, borrow, or earn interest without intermediaries. Additionally, stablecoins are increasingly adopted in real-world applications, such as remittances, micropayments, and even as a hedge against inflation in countries with unstable currencies, driving their meteoric rise as a cornerstone of the evolving financial landscape.

The growth in stablecoins use of has been explosive in recent years.

Onchain data highlight a remarkable rise in Ethereum’s stablecoin supply, peaking at a record-breaking $132.4 billion. Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) lead the pack, forming the lion’s share of the stablecoin volume on this blockchain.

As of March 24, 2025, USDT on Ethereum surpassed $75 billion, with USDC trailing at just above $39 billion. Additional stablecoins like USDe, USDS, DAI, FDUSD, and PYUSD contributed $5.39 billion, $4.49 billion, $2.95 billion, $2.07 billion, and $714.23 million, respectively, to the total stablecoin pool on Ethereum.

This figure accounts for over half of the broader stablecoin market cap, which has soared to roughly $230 billion by March 2025.

In another feat for the stablecoin space, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino recently revealed the company purchased more U.S. treasuries than Canada, retaining $33.1 billion in U.S. government debt.

Last week, the Senate Banking Committee approved the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act of 2025, also known as the “GENIUS Act,” with a bipartisan vote of 18-6, advancing it out of committee. President Donald Trump has voiced his intent to sign payment stablecoin legislation into law this year. 

By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com,

The mothballed Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to Germany may return to service at some point as Europe’s industry would need some Russian gas to stay competitive, TotalEnergies’ chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said on Wednesday.

“I would not be surprised if two out of the four (came) back to stream, not four out of the four,” Patrick Pouyanne said at an industry event in Germany’s capital city, Berlin, as carried by Reuters.

“There is no way to be competitive against Russian gas with LNG coming from wherever it is,” the executive added.

Gas leaks in Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea were discovered at the end of September 2022.

Nord Stream 2 was never put into operation after Germany axed the certification process following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia, for its part, shut down Nord Stream 1 indefinitely in early September of 2022, claiming an inability to repair gas turbines because of the Western sanctions.

But speculation has intensified in recent weeks that a revival of the pipelines could be a part of a deal for the end of the war in Ukraine.

Earlier this month, Germany’s outgoing economy and energy minister Robert Habeck said that ideas to resurrect the Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to Germany are the “wrong direction of discussion”.

“The Ukrainians are still under the aggression of Russia. So I think talking about the potential of Nord Stream 2 or Nord Stream 1, if it’s going to be repaired, is completely the wrong direction of discussion,” Habeck said.

In response to reports about a resurrection of the pipelines, Germany’s Economy Ministry early this month said that it is neither willing nor planning to discuss a restart to the pipeline.

Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, for his part, said, “The right place for Nord Stream 2 is at the bottom of the sea, in pieces, not on the EU’s energy market.”

Less than two weeks after China’s BYD unveiled game-changing EV charging technology capable of delivering 1,000 kW fast charges and adding 250 miles of range in just five minutes, BloombergNEF analysts published a note Wednesday titled “Five Things to Know About BYD’s Five-Minute Charging.”

BloombergNEF EV analyst Ash Wang told clients that BYD’s 1,000 kW chargers are “as fast as filling a tank with gasoline at the pump, and could be a game changer for electric vehicle adoption.” 

Wang outlined five of the most critical things to know about the fast-charging advancement:

1. BYD blew competition out of the water with 1,000 kilowatts charging

BYD’s newest Han L and Tang L electric vehicles will be capable of adding 250 miles of range in just five minutes. That’s twice as fast as the best fast-charging vehicles in the market today, such as the Xiaomi SU7 Max, which can do 220 km in five minutes, and the Lucid Air which can do 187 km in the same time (Figure 1).

The vehicles will be available from Spring 2025, starting at around 270,000 yuan ($37,320) and will have peak charging power of 1,000 kilowatts. This is four times more than that of Tesla’s Model Y and even twice that of the Tesla Cybertruck that announced peak charger power of 500 kW.

Charging power (kilowatts or kW) is determined by voltage and current. Having high voltage architecture — BYD has a 1,000-volt platform — enables faster charging.

At this price, these vehicles pose a big threat to other automakers. It may take some time for the vehicles to arrive in Europe and North America, though, giving those regions some breathing space.

The advancement could undermine the case for next generation solid-state batteries. Toyota’s plans to bring that technology in mass production by 2025 now look slightly irrelevant. Honda and Nissan have also been working on solid-state batteries. The case for battery swapping may also stand diluted. While NIO’s latest system changes a battery slightly faster — in three minutes — it requires extra capital for the spare batteries in the swapping systems.

2. How does it work and is it real?

BYD’s new vehicles will be built on its new Super e-Platform 3.0, which has a 1,000-volt architecture. The high voltage, BYD’s proprietary “Flash Charging Battery” are key enablers of five-minute charging.

For context, most EVs use a 400-volt architecture. At higher voltages the required current for fast- charging is reduced. This is advantageous as the current is a driver of heat. There are a spate of models that have high voltages though, and BloombergNEF expects it will become popular across price points.

For example, Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 came to market with an 800-volt architecture in 2021, Xpeng’s 800-volt G6 came to market in 2023, and the new BMW Neue Klasse vehicles due in late 2025 will also have voltages of 800V. BYD’s ability to deliver faster charging than the competition and price below $40,000 could be pivotal (Figure 2, Figure 3).

BYD’s 1,000V architecture still manages currents of 1,000 amps, which is enabled through a mix of innovations in the battery pack, electrical system, and thermal management. All are aided by the company’s vertical integration strategy.

The battery technology is interesting because it is an evolution of the currently used lithium-iron- phosphate (LFP) chemistry. It is one of the cheapest cathode chemistries on the market, and it is the same chemistry CATL’s fastest charging Shenxing battery uses. It can charge 400km in 10 minutes rather than 5 minutes. The exact upgrades that will be made to BYD’s battery and its anode are currently unclear.

BYD has also upgraded the thermal management system around the battery cells and motors. In- house developed silicon carbide (SiC) chips, with ratings of up to 1,500 volts, supersede the performance of traditional silicon chips.

Will the vehicle actually charge at 1,000kW?

The video released on launch suggests it is possible. It would be a risk for BYD to announce they were going to be able to do it on vehicles coming out in two months, only for it not to materialize. Secondly, it’s important to understand that this performance is only under specific conditions.

The vehicle is only likely to achieve 1,000kW charging for a short period of time at low states of battery charge, so when drivers turn up with 40% charge they may not achieve these rates. Further, to achieve 1,000kW charging, it seems the vehicles need to use “dual-gun” charging, which is two 500 kW connectors used simultaneously. BYD has previously demonstrated the dual-gun charging on a Denza model (Figure 4).

3. Risks

Managing the heat and stress generated at such high currents is complex and could increase the risk of failure and warranty costs.

This has already been an issue in the EV industry. In February 2025, Samsung SDI recalled up to 180,196 high voltage battery packs, and in 2021, LG and GM agreed on a $1.9 billion deal to recoup recall costs due to battery issues on the Bolt.

Additionally, delivering 1,000 kW could decrease efficiency and therefore make charging more expensive.

4. BYD to expand charging infrastructure

BYD plans to install 4,000 “megawatt flash charging” stations in China. The company already operates 11,000 charge points in a joint venture with Shell, so BYD has some experience in the market. Tesla, by comparison, had over 12,000 Supercharger stalls across 2,000 stations in China by January 2025.

The impact of BYD’s rollout in a country the size of China may be limited, as there are already 3.6 million public chargers in the country, of which BloombergNEF estimates about 1.2 million are between 100kW and 400kW. I

t remains unclear who will own and operate BYD’s charging network, and whether it will open access to other brands. BYD will need other operators in the market, such as TGood and Starcharge, to take up the technology for it to be widely available.

BYD stations will also incorporate a battery pack of 250kWh to alleviate pressure on local grids. Incorporation of storage has long been touted with chargers but has so far been limited. This could be the catalyst for wider adoption. The rollout of megawatt-class chargers could face limitations outside China due to grid constraints.

5. Charging speed isn’t the only battle

Automakers are competing on other technologies like advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). Brands are attempting to stand out with more sophisticated products than their rivals.

BYD plans to incorporate its ADAS, called “God’s Eye” into its budget models. BYD’s Seagull hatchback is equipped with God’s Eye, and its starting price is under $10,000. In comparison, Tesla charges $8,000 for its full self-driving (FSD) software package, which is at the same autonomy level as BYD’s God’s Eye self-driving system (Figure 5).

The rollout of BYD’s 1,000 kW ultra-fast chargers could begin as soon as April—less than one week away—according to a report by CNEVPost. BYD’s general brand and public relations manager confirmed that 4,000 of these chargers would be installed in the coming months. 

Authored by Mark Hendrickson via The Epoch Times,

During my lifetime, dating back to the middle of the 20th century, Greenland was off the radar screen of most Americans. 

If Americans knew anything at all about Greenland, it was that it was the answer to the trivia question, “What is the world’s largest island?”

In the last several decades, the climate-alarmist crowd repeatedly issued dire warnings that global sea levels would increase dangerously due to Greenland’s glaciers and vast ice cover melting. 

Alas for the alarmists, Greenland’s famous Petermann Glacier has been adding ice for the past dozen years, growing nearly 10 miles in length from 2012 to 2024. Indeed, for the past dozen years, ice loss in Greenland has shrunk overall by two-thirds, amounting to five-thousandths of 1 percent of the total ice cover—not nearly enough to alter the long-term trend of global sea levels rising at a rate of 1.2 inches per decade.

In 2025, however, Greenland is suddenly big news. President Donald Trump, citing Greenland’s strategic location as vital to U.S. and international security along with the island’s largely untapped mineral wealth, has talked openly about the United States annexing the island, even suggesting the possibility of using force.

While we may shudder at Trump’s indelicate suggestion of a forcible takeover of a self-governing Danish protectorate with a population of only 57,000 people, he is completely correct that Greenland is strategically important, and has been for a long time. I learned this back in the mid-1950s.

Here I need to veer into a largely forgotten chapter in the history of the Cold War. In the 1950s, with the development of nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), the United States sought to devise ways to defend against that Soviet threat. Defense tactics ranged from elementary schools conducting drills that had us kids fold ourselves into pathetic little balls of flesh hiding underneath our classroom desks to the construction of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line—a string of dozens of radar installations at the northern extreme of the North American continent and stretching eastward into Greenland.

While it might have been counterintuitive to those of us looking at flat maps of the world and thinking that the Soviets would fire their ICBMs at us across the Atlantic, the geographic reality of our globe is that the shortest distance from Russian nuclear launchpads to targets in the United States was and is over the polar region and the Arctic Ocean. The DEW Line radars were meant to give us sufficient time to launch a counter-attack and (hopefully) to intercept at least some of the incoming missiles.

I had an inside glimpse at the DEW Line. “Pop,” the uncle who provided a home for my widowed mother and me, had superb engineering and construction skills. He worked for Michigan Bell, which was part of the Bell System that was the major contractor working with the Department of Defense to build the DEW Line.

Long story short about Pop: Despite having served his country with three years of submarine duty in the U.S. Navy in the mid-1920s, staying in the reserves from then until World War II, and serving five years on active duty in that war (four of them on the aircraft carrier Essex in the Pacific) Pop, now in his 50s, was not done serving his country in extreme conditions. He volunteered (which really ticked off my aunt!) to serve in the Arctic, and was appointed assistant superintendent in charge of construction. His immediate superior took care of the book work back home, while Pop lived in the Arctic for two years (1955–1957) and personally oversaw the building of every one of those radar installations.

Working on the DEW Line wasn’t for the faint-hearted. Pop often worked two 10-hour shifts on the same calendar day. There were bucket baths in 30-degree below-zero temperatures. There were the long hours of darkness in the wintertime. On more than one occasion, crews shoveled snow for a week to prepare a makeshift runway for incoming aircraft bringing needed equipment and supplies, only to have a windstorm arise on the day of the expected delivery and undo the whole week of work, thereby aborting the hoped-for delivery. I still have a whole cannister of photographic slides showing over a dozen airplanes that were severely damaged while landing on the uneven ice, some of which Pop was a passenger in and others planes that he was waiting for. I recall hearing of one fatality—a man who fell into a crevasse. Building the DEW Line was anything but a cushy assignment, with the major benefit being that workers there could double their normal pay back in the States.

As mentioned above, Greenland, like Alaska and Canada, was a site of DEW Line installations. In fact, one of the gifts Pop brought back from the Arctic was a pennant for “Narsarsuak Air Base” in Greenland. I’m sure I was the only kid in my school who had ever even heard of Narsarsuak (spelled “Narsarsuaq” today). Trivia: The runway at Narsarsuaq slopes upward to the east, so that instead of aircraft taking off in the face of the incoming wind, they all take off going downhill toward the west.

The DEW Line closed in 1993. Satellites can detect missile launches much earlier than ground-based radars with sight lines limited by the Earth’s curvature. But Greenland remains strategically important. It presents a ripe field for Russian and Chinese mischief. And with the economic potential of Greenland’s mineral deposits, it is understandable that Trump wants to bring Greenland closer into the U.S. orbit. I just hope his forthright remarks don’t scuttle a good deal with the Greenlanders.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

As the fallout from Trump’s tariff plans comes into relief, a harsh truth is emerging for the automotive industry: there are lots of losers and not many winners. But foreign automakers, those without US facilities, will be hit especially hard. 

As Bloomberg notes, from South Korea’s Hyundai to Germany’s Volkswagen, and to a lesser extent America’s own General Motors, many of the world’s most prominent carmakers will soon face higher costs from Trump’s new levies on auto imports and key components. That’s because about 46% of all new cars sold in the US are imported.

“There are very few winners,” Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions, said in a phone interview. “Consumers will be losers because they will have reduced choice and higher prices.”

One notable winner in the tariff chaos is Elon Musk. His Tesla, which has large factories in California and Texas, churns out all the electric vehicles it sells in the US, although as Elon noted late on Wednesday, the company will also not remain unscathed.

Important to note that Tesla is NOT unscathed here. The tariff impact on Tesla is still significant.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 27, 2025

Ford could also face a less-severe impact than some rivals, with about 80% of the cars it sells in the US being built domestically.

Others will be less lucky: starting April 2, the new 25% tariffs will apply to all imported passenger vehicles and light trucks, as well as key parts like engines, transmissions. 

Not surprisingly, the tariffs give automakers that heavily source parts in the US an edge, and Trump also allowed an exemption: the new levies will only apply to the non-US share of vehicles and parts imported under a free-trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. That may soften the blow for vehicles whose supply lines zig-zag across the continent. 

Tariffs on parts from Canada and Mexico that comply with the trade deal also won’t take effect until the US sets up a process to collect those levies. The US neighbors could use that window to try to stave off full implementation, even if it’s a long shot.

And while NAFTA, pardon USMCA, nations will do everything in their power to be loopholed out, foreign brands heavily reliant on imported vehicles are fresh out of luck. South Korea’s auto giant Hyundai risks being among the hardest hit: although the carmaker and its affiliate Kia have plants in Alabama and Georgia, and just yesterday announced a $21 billion US expansion plan, it imported more than a million vehicles to the US last year, accounting for more than half of its sales in the country, according to figures from Global Data. 

Hyundai “remains committed to the long-term growth of the US automotive industry through localized production and innovation,” the company said in a statement, noting it employs 570,000 people in the US. Unfortunately, according to Trump, it should employ many more, and if the company – which imports almost 60% of the cars it sells in the US – wishes to avoid tariffs, it will have to not only hire more American workers, but build many more US plants. Oh, and this is just the beginning: once the reciprocal tariffs kick in next week, South Korean exporters will find themselves in a world of pain.

What about Japan? Let’s take a closer look at the country which historically has been the biggest global auto maker, and which produces 1.3 million (and another 0.4 million tolled in Mexico) of the 16 million annual car sales (Toyota 0.6mn, Subaru 0.3mn, Nissan 0.2mn, Mazda 0.2mn, MMC 0.1mn, Honda 0.01mn). For Japan, autos account for >30% of Japan’s exports to the US, which imports about 46% of all autos sold each year.

Based on an average sales price of US$45,000, the value of imports would exceed US$330 billion, and US import tariffs could have a major impact on sales prices and auto demand. All else equal, they would raise about $100 billion in annual tax revenues. But all else will certainly not be equal, especially once exporting nations slide into recession, and their export industries are crippled.

In an analysis published three weeks ago (report available to pro subs), Goldman looked at one scenario where Japanese cars are hit with 25% tariffs, along with imports from Mexico and Canada. The results were dire. According to Goldman analyst Kota Yuzawa, the potential impact on Japanese auto companies’ operating profit – assuming a tariff of 25% on Japan in line with that imposed on imports from Canada and Mexico – is shown below. In this scenario Goldman assumes that sales volumes decline as a result of price hikes made by each company in order to offset the negative impact of tariffs (volume decline of 8-26% based on a 25% price hike for Canada/Mexico/Japan-made vehicles). In that scenario the profit hit will be anywhere between 6% for Toyota to 59% for Mazda.

In terms of exposure, Yuzawa calculates that production volume in US is largest for Subaru (39%), Honda (27%), Toyota (13%), Nissan (13%), Mazda (7%).

In another, far more draconian scenario, Japanese automakers are unable or simply refuse to hike prices to offset volume declines. The consequences are catastrophic and result in the following hit to operating profits: Toyota -¥570 bn, Honda -¥350 bn, Nissan -¥130 bn, and Mazda -¥60 bn. The implied impact on Goldman’s FY3/26 operating profit forecasts would be as follows: Toyota -11%, Honda -23%, Nissan -66%, and Mazda -34%, with Nissan and Mazda seeing relatively large impacts given their larger export mix from Canada/Mexico.

That’s just the start: in addition to the direct potential impact on finished vehicle exports described above, parts makers also have supply chains spanning multiple countries. Indeed, Toyota-affiliated companies that announced 3Q (October-December) results on January 31 referred to tariff risks. Denso’s sales from Mexico/Canada operations to the US total about ¥220 bn, while Aisin’s are about ¥60 bn. If a 25% tariff were also imposed on parts, Goldman warns forecasts potential profit declines of ¥55 bn/¥15 bn at Denso/Aisin. Toyota Boshoku did not disclose figures but noted a large potential impact, as much of its seat sewing is conducted in Mexico. Parts makers are working to pass on higher costs to automakers. Denso’s management expressed hope that tariff impact would be mitigated to some extent by the possibility of US corporate tax cuts and a weaker Mexican peso.

Ultimately, Goldman’s Yuzawa expects price increases to spread across the US auto industry, and after several years of pain, tariffed exports will find some parity with domestic producers: “Automobiles are essential goods, however, and in the longer term we expect demand for them to recover and the negative impact of tariffs on volume to gradually diminish as production of US-made models and procurement of US-made parts increases. In addition, the used car market is also robust. Higher new car prices are likely to lead to higher used car prices, which could also boost vehicle purchasing power through higher residual values. Our economists estimate price elasticity of demand at 1.2-1.5 in the short term and 0.2 in the medium term, and we use the midpoint of 1.35 in our scenario analysis in this report.”

The problem is what happens until the equilibrium point is reached over several years, and how painful will the looming Japanese recession be, because make no mistake: Japan is now almost certainly facing a recession: Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at Nomura Research Institute (NRI), expects an 25% increase in U.S. auto tariffs to push down Japan’s GDP by at least 0.2%. 

“The Trump tariff has the potential to immediately push Japan’s economy into deterioration,” he said.

But what is worst of all for Japan is that the so-called virtuous wage-price cycle in which the perenially deflating nation managed to find itself, is now also doomed. That’s because the auto industry has been the driver of recent wage hikes according to Reuters, as automakers distribute the huge profits they reaped overseas to their employees. Starting April 2, kiss those profits goodbye… and if Japanese automakers want to avoid plummeting stock prices, or worse, bankruptcy, what they will immediately do is announce that any future wage increases have been put on hold and, just as likely, are about to hit reverse.

Not surprisingly, Japan’s government has expressed serious concern over the potential fallout from newly announced US tariffs, warning of risks to both bilateral economic ties and global trade stability.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Thursday that Tokyo is closely monitoring the situation following Trump’s announcement of additional tariffs. Speaking at a press briefing, Hayashi cautioned that the broad-based nature of the U.S. trade measures could have far-reaching consequences.

“We believe that the current measures and other broad-based trade restrictions by the U.S. government could have a significant impact on the economic relationship between Japan and the U.S., as well as on the global economy and the multilateral trading system,” he said.

If only there was anything Japan could do to retaliate.

As forexlive notes, one thing Hayashi didn’t mention was that the new tariffs are likely to trim back the prospect of a May rate hike from the Bank of Japan, echoing what we said, namely that “these new tariffs will hit Japan’s auto industry hard, and thus economic data.”

More in the full Goldman note “Scenario analysis on US tariffs on Mexico/Canada for Japanese automakers” available to pro subs.

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

The entire system has been designed to generate as much revenue from your activity as possible until someday you eventually drop dead.  

It is tax season, and that means that it is time to feed the largest and most bloated government in the history of the entire planet once again.  Of course the federal income tax is just one of the ways that they are systematically draining your wealth.  As you will see below, there are literally dozens of taxes that Americans must pay each year.

 Many of our politicians seem to revel in inventing ways to extract money out of us, and that needs to stop.

Most Americans are working extremely hard, and yet money seems to keep going out the other end faster than it is coming in.

The truth is that the entire system has been designed to take what you have away from you.

There are many ways that this is accomplished – taxation, inflation, debt, interest, fines, fees, tickets, government seizures and good old-fashioned corporate greed.

If you decided to just sit back and do nothing but hold on to the wealth that you already have, you would find out that it would disappear quite rapidly.

It is not an accident that most Americans are experiencing a declining standard of living.  The system is rigged, and the rigging has not been in our favor.

The following are 55 ways that everything that you think that you own is being systematically taken away from you…

#1 Do you think that you own your home?  You might want to think again.  Most Americans that “own a home” are paying a mortgage.  If you stop paying that mortgage you will lose that home.  The number of foreclosures in the United States last year was up 174 percent from 2021, and mortgage delinquencies have been rising in recent months.

When homeowners get booted out of their homes, they don’t get their down payments back.

They also don’t get all of the mortgage payments that they have made back.

The banks get to keep the money and the homes.

Perhaps you have paid off your mortgage.  Does that mean that you now “own your home”?

No, not really.  Just refuse to pay your property taxes and see what happens.  At best, you can say that you have the right to rent your home from the government.

In any event, the reality is that the banks now own more of “our homes” than we do.

Just check out your most recent mortgage statement and see how much “home equity” you actually have.

If you recently purchased your home, it probably isn’t much at all.

Things used to be far different in this country.  Once upon a time, ordinary Americans owned most of the homes and most of the land in this nation.

But now the banks own most of it.  Sadly, most American families that believe that they “own homes” are actually enslaved to 20 or 30 year debt contracts.

And if something happens and you are unable to keep making payments, you could lose everything.

#2 Do you think that you own your vehicle?  You don’t own it if you are still making payments on it.  Of course if you stop making payments you will rapidly lose that vehicle.

But even if it is paid off, you can only operate that vehicle if you do the following…

*You must pay the license fee.

*You must pay the car registration fee.

*You must pay the emissions inspection fee.

*You must pay the property taxes on that vehicle if that applies in your area.

*You must pay the tire taxes.

*You must pay the gas taxes.

If you have paid all of those taxes, then you are permitted to drive only where the government allows you to drive and only under the rules that the government sets for you.

But at least you “own” your vehicle, right?

#3 What about your possessions?  Do you own them?

Well, yes, you probably own some possessions.

But that doesn’t mean that they are not enslaving you.

After all, did you use a credit card to pay for any of them?

If so, you could end up paying far more for your possessions than you originally thought that they cost.

#4 Do you own your education?  Well, it is undeniable that nobody can ever take it away from you.  But if you took out student loans to get your education, that debt may end up enslaving you for decades.

The borrower is the servant of the lender and student loan debt is more of a financial drain on Americans than ever before.  Americans now owe more on their student loans than they do on their credit cards.

Today, Americans owe more than 1.7 trillion dollars on their student loans, which is a new all-time record.

#5 Will you protect your wealth if you put your money in the bank?

No, in fact your wealth will be systematically destroyed in the bank.

Inflation is a hidden tax on every single dollar that you own, because it destroys the value of all dollars in existence.

There are some Americans that have been saving money for decades, but those savings are being taxed into oblivion by inflation.

Just compare the price of a carton of 12 eggs five years ago to the price of a carton of eggs today.

When the cost of living goes up, the value of the money that we have put in the bank goes down.

#6 Insurance costs continue to soar.  After insuring virtually everything in our lives, many of us barely have any money left over to actually live our lives with.

#7 State and local governments all over the nation have turned to ticket writing as a primary revenue source.  They know that most people do not carefully follow the speed limit, and so they have turned that behavior into a revenue-generating tool.

#8 Some states have decided to simply confiscate wealth even if nothing has been done wrong.  For example, some states are now aggressively seizing “unclaimed” safe deposit boxes.  If you have a safe deposit box that you have not checked on in a while, you might want to make sure that it is still there.

#9 You might end up losing your valuables when you cross the border.  U.S. border agents regularly seize laptops and other electronic devices as people cross the border.  In many cases those items are never returned.

#10 If you don’t pay your property taxes, you will lose your home and it will likely be a big Wall Street bank that will end up owning it.  The big Wall Street banks have been buying up thousands of tax liens and are making a killing by socking distressed homeowners with predatory interest, outrageous penalties and almost unbelievable legal fees.

#11 Of course the federal income tax is one of the biggest ways that our wealth is being drained.  One of the primary reasons why the Federal Reserve and the IRS were established back in 1913 was to redistribute wealth.  Wealth is transferred from hard working Americans to the U.S. government, and then it is redistributed to those that aren’t working or spent on some of the most wasteful programs imaginable.

Needless to say, federal taxes are just one of the taxes that we pay.  The truth is that the average American pays dozens of different taxes each year.   The following are just a few examples of the insidious forms of taxation that drain our wealth…

#12 Building Permit Tax

#13 Capital Gains Tax

#14 CDL License Tax

#15 Cigarette Tax

#16 Corporate Income Tax

#17 Court Fines (an indirect tax)

#18 Dog License Tax

#19 Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)

#20 Fishing License Tax

#21 Food License Tax

#22 Fuel Permit Tax

#23 Gasoline Tax

#24 Gift Tax

#25 Hunting License Tax

#26 Inheritance Tax

#27 IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)

#28 Liquor Tax

#29 Local Income Tax

#30 Luxury Taxes

#31 Marriage License Tax

#32 Medicare Tax

#33 Payroll Taxes

#34 Phone Taxes

#35 Property Taxes

#36 Real Estate Tax

#37 Recreational Vehicle Tax

#38 Road Toll Booth Taxes

#39 Road Usage Taxes (Truckers)

#40 Sales Taxes

#41 School Tax

#42 Septic Permit Tax

#43 Social Security Tax

#44 State Income Tax

#45 State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)

#46 Toll Bridge Taxes

#47 Toll Tunnel Taxes

#48 Traffic Fines (indirect taxation)

#49 Trailer Registration Tax

#50 Utility Taxes

#51 Vehicle License Registration Tax

#52 Vehicle Sales Tax

#53 Watercraft Registration Tax

#54 Well Permit Tax

#55 Workers Compensation Tax

When you take all forms of taxation into account, there are some people that hand over more than 50 percent of their incomes to various levels of government each year.

Even the future is being taken away from us.  The future is literally being stolen from our children and our grandchildren.  They will be inheriting the 36 trillion dollar national debt that we have accumulated.

What we have done to future generations is unthinkable, and yet we continue to borrow colossal mountains of money.

When you base an entire economy on debt, eventually you end up with money problems that never seem to end.  As a nation, we are now enslaved to a vicious spiral of debt that threatens to destroy everything that our forefathers worked so hard to build.

As the debt loads of our federal, state and local governments become even more burdensome, they are going to want even more money from us.  For decades we gave in to new tax after new tax thinking that it would finally satisfy them.

But it never seems to be enough.  They always want more.

Unfortunately, most Americans are so caught up in the “rat race” that they never take much time to think about who designed the race or why they are running it.

It is time to wake up.

We are being systematically abused by the control freaks that are running things, and it is time to say that enough is enough.

*  *  *

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

With an eye on offsetting the loss of illegal-immigrant labor, the Florida legislature is considering a bill that would ease the state’s child labor laws. A bill that advanced from a committee on Tuesday would make it legal for children as young as 14 to work graveyard shifts on school nights.  

The hours at issue are those between 11pm and 6:30 am. The controversial bill was given the blessing of the Florida Commerce and Tourism Committee by a narrow 5-4 vote, and now faces the scrutiny of two more committees before it can receive a vote of the Senate. Governor Ron DeSantis has backed the proposal, saying an easing of child labor laws can help fill employers’ needs as the state makes it increasingly difficult for illegal immigrants to work there. 

Last year, Florida started to allow 16- and 17-year-old home-schooled and virtually-schooled children to work anytime at all. The new bill would extend that freedom to 14- and 15-year-olds. However, it would also let 16- and 17-year-olds in traditional schools work any hour of the day. It would also allow them to work more than an 8-hour-day on a school night, and more than 30 hours a week while schools are in session.  

The move comes in the wake of a statewide crackdown on the use of illegal immigrants. A 2023 Florida law compels employers with 26 or more workers to confirm their immigration status by using the federal E-Verify system — under threat of $1,000 daily fines for non-compliance. That internet-based system cross-checks the information the employees put on “Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.” The loss of illegal labor has some people worried about the effect on the Sunshine State’s economy. 

DeSantis has argued that loosening restrictions on younger workers is a big part of solution. “Why do we say we need to import foreigners — even import them illegally — when teenagers used to work at these resorts, college students should be able to do this stuff,” DeSantis said during a panel discussion last week with Tom Homan, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “What’s wrong with expecting our young people to be working part-time now? I mean, that’s how it used to be when I was growing up,” added DeSantis. 

Some have expressed concern that teenagers will be put in tougher situations at work, as they won’t be able to point to a state law as a reason for being available to labor into the wee hours. “The teens who will be most harmed by this bill are low-income young people or those without documented status who are compelled by their situation to work,” Nina Mast of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute told the Miami Herald. She argued that the legislature is “essentially trying to legalize violations that employers are already committing.”

In the committee hearing, the bill’s sponsor, Tampa Republican Jay Collins, argued that “This is a parental rights thing. Parents know their kids best.” Dismissing visions of teens slaving away in hazardous envionments, he said, “Ultimately, we’re not talking about ‘The Jungle’ by Upton Sinclair. We’re talking about them working at Publix, at Piggly Wiggly or jobs within the industry.”

There’s another dynamic to consider: If families are so hard-pressed that they need their children to work night jobs, lacking the opportunity for legal employment may help push desperate adults and children into illegal activity — from thievery to prostitution and drug sales.   

Authored by Michael Clements via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

For the sixth Congress in a row, bills to require states to honor out-of-state concealed weapons permits are in both chambers of Congress.

The House Judiciary Committee will mark up its version of the legislation on March 25. President Donald Trump has promised to sign it if it reaches his desk.

Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) introduced HR 38 in the House on Jan. 3. The Senate version, S 65, introduced by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) on Jan. 9, is before that chamber’s Judiciary Committee.

Proponents of the reciprocity bills say they require concealed weapons permit holders to comply with all other gun laws in whatever state they are in. For example, if the state prohibits guns in places of worship, he or she couldn’t concealed carry in those places even if their home state allows it.

Opponents of the legislation say that’s not true.

David LaBahn, president and CEO of the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, said his organization opposed the legislation when it was introduced in 2017 and that it has not changed its position.

He said the bills, as they are currently written, would require police to know the gun laws in all 50 states and to take the word of out-of-state visitors that whatever state gun permit they present is valid.

The critics contend that states with strict gun laws, like California and New York, would be forced to recognize permits from states with fewer restrictions. According to LaBahn, that means that people from states with less gun control would not be subject to the stricter regulations.

“As long as you’re from an open-carry state, you can open carry any place in the country you choose,” LaBahn told The Epoch Times.

On its website, Giffords.org—the gun control group founded by former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was shot during an event in Tucson, Arizona—criticized Republicans for introducing the legislation on Jan. 8, the anniversary of Giffords’s shooting.

Her webpage has links to objections it presented in 2017, when HR 38 was voted out of the Judiciary Committee. The bill did not get a floor vote at that time.

“A New York police officer is not trained to enforce Montana gun laws,” the website reads. “Under some versions of [concealed carry reciprocity], if an officer accidentally arrests someone they think is breaking the wrong state’s law, the police officer could be charged with a crime.”

LaBahn said that states currently arrange reciprocity compacts. Compacts ensure that officials understand the laws in each member state.

However, the reciprocity bills disregard state laws, he said.

“This is really an anti-10th Amendment Bill where the federal authorities are stepping in,” LaBahn said.

Proponents of the bills say that LaBahn’s interpretation is wrong.

Amy Swearer, an attorney and a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, carries a concealed firearm. She said reciprocity for concealed carry permits would make her life easier.

Swearer lives in Virginia but travels through other states regularly for work. She said the reciprocity would give her peace of mind, knowing that she is not breaking the law in a state she’s visiting by simply exercising her Second Amendment rights.

“The state in which [the concealed carry permit holder is] in can’t prosecute them for the offense of carrying without a license or unlawful carry. [But] that person would still have to abide by all the other carry laws in that state,” Swearer told The Epoch Times.

Currently, under the federal Firearm Owners Protection Act, nonresidents can legally transport unloaded firearms through a state if they are traveling to or from a place where they can legally possess the firearm.

Swearer said that with the bill, there may end up being some other local gun laws that won’t apply to out-of-state visitors, such as gun registration requirements. But importantly, reciprocity does not require the state of New York, with strict gun regulations, to allow Oklahoma residents act in accordance with only Oklahoma’s gun regulations when they are in the Empire State.

“So nothing in this bill would require states in any capacity to change their existing gun laws or restrictions on where people can or cannot carry,” Swearer said.

John Commerford, executive director of the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) Institute for Legislative Action, said national reciprocity for concealed carry is the NRA’s top goal for this Congress. He said Trump has promised to sign the bill if it reaches his desk.

Commerford said the law does have one requirement that gun owners in at least 29 states with permitless carry should be aware of.

“Under HR 38, you would need a permit from your state to carry in the other states,” Commerford told The Epoch Times.

According to Commerford, 29 states are “Constitutional Carry” states. These states do not require permits to carry a concealed firearm in public for individuals who can legally possess a firearm.

All but one of these states offer a permit even though it isn’t required. Vermont has never required a concealed carry permit.

Commerford said a permit provides evidence that the gun owner has met some legal requirements for carrying a firearm. He also said that the bill is part of a larger objective.

“The ultimate goal would be to have constitutional carry nationwide. However, HR 38 is politically viable in this Congress,” Commerford said.

Commerford admitted that politically viable isn’t the same as a done deal. However, with a majority of the states adopting Constitutional Carry and Republicans controlling both chambers and the White House, Commerford said the NRA will work to get the bill on the floor of the House and then on to the Senate.

LaBahn said his organization will monitor the bill and take any action they deem appropriate to prevent its progress. He said that if the bill’s supporters really believe they have the backing of the majority of states, perhaps they should change their strategy.

“If the desire is to have national right to carry, Congress can establish that, and [eliminate] state to state confusion. This act is … a very poor second best to their intent and will likely get people hurt,” LaBahn said.

Washington’s soft-touch jail policies have turned facilities into fentanyl hotspots, thanks to rules that make it harder to properly search inmates, according to Jason Rantz at 770 KTTH. 

Rantz writes this week that Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders recently sounded the alarm after two overdoses at his jail tied to drugs smuggled in body fat.

“Once the drugs made their way in, a different inmate consumed the drugs and overdosed,” Sanders said. “Life-saving efforts from jail staff prevented the overdose from being fatal.”

Days later, it happened again—this time, fentanyl was found under an inmate’s breast.

“A Corrections Sergeant observed an inmate acting oddly and immediately called for medical,” Sanders reported. “CPR was performed for 10 minutes… Narcan deployment… The inmate will be booked on new felony charges.”

In his piece, Rantz writes that that It shouldn’t be this easy for an obese inmate to sneak drugs into jail—but thanks to misguided policies, it is.

This stems from 2SSB 5695, a 2022 Democratic bill—ironically also backed by Republicans—that banned “dehumanizing” strip searches and mandated body scanners. But the Department of Health, tasked with setting scanner rules, imposed such weak radiation limits under WAC 246-230-040 that scanners can’t detect drugs hidden in body fat.

“The new rules under WAC 246-230-040, implemented in January 2025, force scanners to use laughably low radiation levels to appease activists screaming about ‘ALARA’ (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) principles,” wrote Sheriff Sanders.

Lawmakers say the new rules protect inmates from radiation—but that claim doesn’t hold up.

The previous scan dose—2.00 µSv—was already safer than a dental X-ray. Sheriff Sanders pointed out it would take 1,000 scans to hit the annual limit. “Strip searches cannot be conducted on every inmate who is booked… but its [the scanner’s] effectiveness isn’t nearly what it was post-law change,” he wrote.

Strip searches were unpleasant but worked. Lawmakers scrapped them without ensuring the scanners could actually do the job. And the same Department of Health that insisted COVID vaccines stopped transmission isn’t exactly a reliable authority on radiation safety.