🌊 May I Have a Pardon Pwease?

Petition to spring forward at 4 PM on a Monday.

Who decided that we should spring forward at 2 AM on a Sunday? 2 AM on a Sunday is the worst time to do it. Seeing the clock jump from 1:59 AM to 3:00 AM was the last thing I needed while watching Trailer Park Boys (French subtitles) with Domino’s crumbs covering my blanket on Saturday night. The government could’ve at least accompanied the time change with a “Who’s gonna carry the boats?” David Goggins video. We hereby petition a change to spring forward at 4 PM on Mondays.

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

SBF’s Pardon Plot

Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has launched a campaign to secure a pardon from President Trump

• SBF was convicted of fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering following the collapse of his cryptocurrency platform FTX in 2022

• A released document written by SBF showed that his path toward freedom included: “Go on Tucker Carlson, come out as a Republican”; “Come out against the Woke agenda”; and “Come out as extremely pro crypto and pro freedom”

• That’s exactly what he’s done in recent weeks, rebranding himself as a Republican, endorsing Trump’s policies, and going on Tucker Carlson’s podcast

• There’s no indication that Trump intends to pardon SBF, who is scheduled to be in jail until his 50s

Dig Deeper

• As FTX’s CEO, Bankman-Fried was a major Democratic donor, contributing tens of millions to candidates during the 2022 midterm elections

• In 2023, he was indicted for illegally using FTX funds for political donations. Prosecutors wrote: “He leveraged this influence, in turn, to lobby Congress and regulatory agencies to support legislation and regulation he believed would make it easier for FTX to continue to accept customer deposits and grow”

KEY STORY

US: Serious about NATO?

The Trump Administration’s NATO rhetoric is shifting

• NATO requires all members to come to the aid of any member that is attacked. Last week, Trump said that he told NATO members, “‘If you’re not going to pay, we’re not going to defend.’ I said that seven years ago, and because of that, they paid hundreds of billions of dollars”

• “I think it’s common sense,” he said. “If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them”

• At the same time, Trump’s nominee to serve as NATO ambassador called the US commitment to the alliance “ironclad”

• Critics have said Trump’s rhetoric is dangerous, while he and others say it’s key to getting NATO members to meet their requirements

Dig Deeper

• In 2024, 23 of 31 NATO countries met the 2% requirement – up from just three in 2014

• Poland led, spending 4.12% of its GDP, followed by Estonia, the US, and Latvia

• While many have criticized Trump’s rhetoric around NATO, he has said it’s why members have boosted their defense spending: “It was amazing how the money came in [in response to threats],” he said last week. “Now they have money. But even now, it’s not enough. They should be paying more”

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KEY STORY

Columbia Cuts

The Trump Administration cut $400M in grants and contracts to Columbia University

• Last spring, Columbia – an Ivy League university – saw some of the country’s most intense anti-Israel protests, with protesters camped out for weeks. Jewish students said the protests impacted their ability to safely attend classes, sparking a federal investigation

• On Friday, the Trump Administration announced that it would cut $400M in grants and contracts to the university, alleging that it failed to follow federal antidiscrimination laws

• Columbia’s interim president said the cuts would “touch nearly every corner of the University”

Dig Deeper 

• “Universities must comply with all federal antidiscrimination laws if they are going to receive federal funding,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in an accompanying statement. “Columbia has abandoned that obligation to Jewish students studying on its campus”

• On Sunday night, ICE authorities arrested one of the protest leaders and said they would cancel his green card

KEY STORY

Romania Candidate Crisis

Romania banned Calin Georgescu from competing in upcoming elections

• Romania is a NATO and EU member. In November, Georgescu – an anti-NATO, pro-Russia populist outsider – placed first in presidential elections, shocking the establishment. Authorities said there was proof of Russian interference, canceled elections, and rescheduled them for May

• On Sunday, Romanian authorities disqualified Georgescu from competing in those elections, alleging that he may have violated laws against extremism. Recent polls have shown Georgescu in first, with 40% or more support

• JD Vance, Elon Musk, and others have seized on the situation and used it as evidence of anti-democratic behavior in the EU. It’s unclear how or if the US will respond to the ban

Dig Deeper

• Romanian authorities allege that thousands of TikTok bot accounts coordinated to promote and amplify videos of Georgescu and that Russia paid at least $400,000 to Romanian influencers to boost Georgescu

• Russia’s goal, they said, was to rig the election so Romania would elect a president that would cut aid to Ukraine. Romania borders Ukraine and has played a key role in providing military aid shipments to the country

• Vance and others have said the given evidence is insufficient to nullify the results of an election, while Russia has called him a victim of the “European totalitarian-liberal elite”

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

🇸🇾 More than 1,000 people were killed in some of Syria’s worst violence in years

🇵🇸 European nations have backed an Arab-led $53B Gaza reconstruction plan that would rebuild the territory over five years without displacing Palestinians, calling it "realistic" despite Israel and President Trump rejecting it

🇺🇸 The US added 151,000 jobs in February, below the 170,000 that economists forecasted. The unemployment rate rose to 4.1%

🍁 Mark Carney – the former head of both Canada and England’s central banks – won the leadership of Canada’s Liberal Party, replacing Justin Trudeau, who resigned in January

🇨🇳 China announced tariffs on Canadian food products

What does Roca Nation think?

🧐 Today’s Question: Should we abolish Daylight Saving Time?

Reply to this email with your response!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

🚊 Blast From The Past: A massive unexploded World War II bomb discovered near Paris’s Gare Du Nord – the world's third-busiest train station – forced the cancelation of nearly 500 trains and disrupted travel for 600,000 people

💸 Stephen A. Secures the Bag: Stephen A. Smith signed a five-year contract extension with ESPN worth at least $100M, which secures his position on "First Take" and gives him more freedom for political commentary

🚓 Tattoo Troubles: An Indian tattoo artist was arrested after tattooing a sacred Hindu god on an Italian woman’s thigh

💎 The Inside Job: A man allegedly robbed a Tiffany & Co. store in Florida after posing as a representative for an Orlando Magic player and then swallowing nearly $770,000 worth of diamond earrings

👑 Playlist Fit For A King: King Charles III is launching a one-off Apple Music radio show called "The King's Music Room" from Buckingham Palace to share his favorite songs and musical anecdotes

ROCA WRAP
Closing Time

North Korea

This country has halted tourism just weeks after reopening to Western visitors.

North Korea sealed itself off at the start of the Covid pandemic in early 2020, cutting off what was already limited access to the secretive nation. After nearly five years of isolation, the country started to scale back restrictions in the middle of 2023, cautiously reopening its borders. It opened up to Russian visitors in 2024, but it was only last month that Western tourists were allowed into the remote, eastern city of Rason, which had been earmarked as a “special economic zone.”

Several tour companies now say that trips to the reclusive country have been cancelled until further notice, with no explanation provided by Pyongyang. 

"Just received news from our Korean partners that Rason is closed to everyone. We will keep you posted," China-based KTG Tours, which specialises in North Korean tours, announced on Wednesday.

Young Pioneer Tours and Koryo Tours were among the other agencies that have reported the suspension, warning customers planning tours in April and May to refrain from booking flights "until we have more information."

The first Western tourists who visited on February 20 reportedly faced even more restricted movements than on pre-pandemic trips – with fewer opportunities to wander streets or talk to locals. Phone signals and internet access were not available, and tour leaders suspected Rason was selected because the area is relatively contained and easy to control.

Earlier this week, Koryo Tours had announced it was accepting international applications for the Pyongyang Marathon scheduled for April 6, but it's now unclear if these can still be processed.

Prior to the pandemic, North Korea welcomed approximately 350,000 foreign tourists in 2019, with Chinese visitors making up 90% of that number. The reasons behind this sudden reversal in tourism policy remain unknown, leaving tour operators and potential visitors in limbo once again.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

Hope you all had a great weekend. The most exciting news from our corner of the universe is that our third Roca co-founder, Billy Carney, got engaged to the wonderful Meg Roop (who, most importantly, is an avid Roca reader). We celebrated late into Saturday night, and we hope the partying didn’t cause us to backslide on our no-typo Lenten resolution. Congratulations to Billy and Meg!

–Max and Max