Modi fiddles as India’s reputation burns

The dispute with Canada over the murder of a Sikh activist is getting ugly. [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a different breed of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - India needs to get [its story]( straight. - [XL bully dogs]( are making people irate. - Cargill’s [business model]( is truly great. - Carbon credit [rules]( need an update. Et tu, Modi? “How often do you think about the Roman Empire?” If someone asked you [this question]( in the past week, congrats! You are a part of [a large experiment]( that originated on TikTok. And if you haven’t gotten asked that question, now is your time to join in on the fun. Take a second and consider the frequency in which your mind conjures up images of gladiators, togas, aqueducts and atriums. Is it [once]( a day? Twice a week? A [few times]( a month? For me, I think about it a few times a year, but that’s only because I took Latin in middle school and Grumio, the drunken slave cook who starred in [my textbooks](, still haunts me in my dreams. Most women are rarely dedicating brain cells to ancient Rome. But men?? Yeah, it turns out that [some of them]( are thinking about the era of Julius Caesar pretty much [nonstop](. This peculiar realization has caused Google searches for “Roman Empire” to reach a 10-year high: In spirit of that, I found a way to tie in the Roman Empire with our [feature column](, which is about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accusing India of being behind the murder of a Sikh activist in British Columbia. Back in 2005, the US Department of State [revoked]( Narendra Modi’s visa under section 212 (a) (2) (g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which renders any foreign government official who carries out “particularly severe violations of religious freedom” ineligible to visit the country. The decision — which effectively [banned]( him for nearly a decade — was in part due to a series of riots that occurred under Modi (then the chief minister of Gujarat) in 2002, after a fire broke out on a train full of Hindu pilgrims. Over 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were beaten or killed in the massacre. In the aftermath, India’s Supreme Court compared Modi to [Roman Emperor Nero](, who, legend [says]( fiddled with his lyre while Rome burned in the [Great Fire](. Nero is, undoubtedly, one of history’s most savage criminals, having been accused of killing not only his stepbrother, his wife and his mother, but countless Christians and all those who lost their lives in the fire. Although Modi, India’s prime minister since 2014, has since moved on from his Nero nickname, Trudeau’s dramatic [statement]( about India conducting an assassination on Western soil doesn’t exactly help his image, even if India’s foreign ministry strongly [denies]( it. “The fact that things have gotten this far is already a diplomatic and intelligence failure,” Mihir Sharma [writes]( (free read!). Regardless of whether the murdered man in question — Hardeep Singh Nijjar — was a saintly community leader (as some Canadian politicians surmise), Indian officials should have ensured Trudeau stay tight-lipped on the matter so that both countries could work together to gather sufficient evidence behind closed doors. “Instead, the meeting between Trudeau and Modi at the G-20 summit in New Delhi recently, where the Nijjar killing was discussed, seems to have been a trainwreck for the ages,” Mihir remarks, writing that India essentially [accused]( Canada of supporting a “nexus” of religious militancy and “organized crime, drug syndicates, and human trafficking.” Modi is up for reelection next year, and while his supporters will believe that he has transformed India from a weak state to a strong one, others won’t be as convinced. “There’s a difference between being seen as a prickly ally and an untrustworthy power, willing to trample on the values of one’s supposed friends,” Bloomberg's editorial board [writes](. “To the rest of the world, we might end up looking a lot more like [Rwanda]( or Russia than Israel or the US,” Mihir concludes. Despite the male fascination with the Roman Empire, nobody wants to be remembered as a modern-day Nero. Let’s just hope Modi understands that. Cave Canem The first time I heard about New York City’s infamous “[Tiger Man](” I was in actually Center Point, Indiana, visiting the [Exotic Feline Rescue Center]( with a friend who was writing [a story]( about big cats living in captivity for our college newspaper. Our tour guide told us about how a man named Antoine Yates managed to hide a 425-pound tiger and a five-foot alligator in his Harlem apartment for years. Yates fed his Siberian-Bengal mix 20 pounds of chicken thighs a day until the authorities [caught wind]( of his “pets” and shut the thing down in 2003. This was pre-[Tiger King](, and I was floored by the fact that there are people in this world who want to have [leopards]( and [tigers]( — animals that have zero qualms about [murder](! — roam free around their house. Which brings me to Rishi Sunak’s [ban]( on American XL bully dogs: Last week, one of these dogs [mauled]( an 11-year-old girl and two men. And over the last two years alone, [at least]( five people in the UK have been [killed]( by them. “I am frankly suspicious of anyone who wants to own a bully dog,” Tyler Cowen [writes](, who notes that this particular dog breed is also a money-laundering mascot for all kinds of [criminal gangs](. And they’re being bred with excessive skin folds and massive, muscular bodies for the express purpose of being scary and aggressive. Where he lives, in the state of Virginia, it’s [illegal]( to have bears, wolves, coyotes, weasels, badgers, hyenas, non-domesticated cats, alligators or crocodiles as pets. “I don’t consider those meaningful restrictions on my liberty,” he writes. Would the US go so far to introduce an XL bully dog ban of its own? Read the [whole thing]( to find out what Tyler thinks. Quid Pro Quo Lots of people are talking about Sam Bankman-Fried’s [parents]( getting [sued]( by FTX, but really the only commentary you need to read is from Matt Levine, who [says]( a fair amount of the evidence involves the “unfortunate-in-hindsight phrases” from SBF’s father, Allan Joseph Bankman, and his mother, Barbara Fried. Let’s start with Barbara, shall we? She is a professor emerita of Stanford Law School and once described herself as her son’s “partner in crime of the noncriminal sort.” Obviously, Matt’s reaction to that is “oops oops oops oops oops.” She was seen “as the single most influential advisor regarding Bankman-Fried’s and the FTX Group’s political contributions,” repeatedly asking her son to support Mind the Gap, the political action committee that she co-founded. Barbara also managed to slap some pretty suss titles on her research papers, including, “The Limits of Personal Responsibility” and “Beyond Blame.” Beyond Blame Barbara’s husband Allan is also a Stanford Law School professor. According to the court documents, he seemingly enjoys the finer things in life, namely: private jets and … Larry David. In addition to teaching [mental health law](, Allan is “a tax professor and, apparently, a theorist of not paying taxes. And he seems to have been involved in the tax structuring of how to get money out of FTX,” Matt writes. In January 2022, Allan told his son Sam about a nontaxable method that would allow him to send his parents a very generous sum of money — $10 million, to be exact. After cashing the check, Allan wrote his son a thank-you note: “We are so touched by this gift. Mom is announcing retirement, which she would not have done otherwise.” A month later, Bankman and Fried bought themselves a lovely $16.4 million luxury oceanfront property in The Bahamas ([duh](!). To top it all off, Allan had this URL in his search history: www.offshorecompany.com /trusts/bahamas-asset-protection. “If you help run a crypto company that goes bankrupt and loses $8 billion of customer money,” it’s certainly not a good look, Matt says. Kids, don’t go asking your mom or dad (or newsletters, for that matter) for legal advice. And parents, don’t go asking your child for $10 million birthday gifts. It’s simple, really! Crash Course "Even if nuclear weapons aren't used in battle, they still profoundly shape the way that wars play out." Hal Brands Bloomberg Opinion columnist, author and foreign policy professor at Johns Hopkins University On the latest [episode]( of Crash Course, Timothy L. O'Brien has a discussion with a fellow columnist about [nukes, Russia and our new Cold War](. Telltale Charts Here’s something we don’t talk about very often: America’s largest private company is a living, breathing cash machine. “They’re one of America’s richest but least known corporate dynasties: the Cargill-MacMillan family,” Javier Blas [writes](, and “quietly, both the company and its owners are enjoying some of their best times ever.” Between 2020 and 2023, Cargill, which is controlled by two billionaire families linked by marriage, netted about $18.5 billion in profits. Javier says it’s “nearly as much as it made in the entire decades of the 1990s and 2000s combined.” The commodity trading giant might like to keep things on the DL, but there’s really nothing hush-hush about its mountains of cash: Here’s another thing we don’t talk about very often: Suriname, a former Dutch colony on the northern coast of South America. In so many words, David Fickling [says](, the nation wants to have its carbon-credit cake and eat it, too. You see, Suriname is about to start selling UN-backed carbon credits while, at the same time, it’s planning a $9 billion development to become a major crude producer. “Such a reserve could emit about 75 times as much climate pollution as the forest credits would absorb — or nearly eight times as much in a given year, at planned production levels,” David writes. The whole thing feels slimy and gross! C’mon Suriname, the world needs you to be better than this: Further Reading Biden talked the talk [at the UN]( today. But can he walk the walk? — Andreas Kluth Do you live in one of America’s top WFH neighborhoods? [Find out here](. — Justin Fox Retailers are nervous about your upcoming [student loan payments](. — Leticia Miranda Maybe, just maybe, [Mexico]( can put crime and corruption in its rearview mirror. — Eduardo Porter Europe is not prepared for the [potential shock]( of having Trump back in office. — Marc Champion Great restaurants will always have [afterlives]( because of the people who run them. — Howard Chua-Eoan Burberry needs to keep [the buzz]( going well beyond fashion week. (Also, hi, [Mary Berry](!) — Andrea Felsted Is the Fed starting to believe in a soft landing? [Five signs]( to watch out for. — Bill Dudley ICYMI Microsoft is mourning a major [Xbox leak](. Ski resorts are giving up on [snow](. The US Senate is ditching its [dress code](. [Ozempic]( lookalikes are a gold mine. Kickers I order [a wedge salad]( every time it’s on the menu AMA. “[I am tired](” is searched more now than ever. (h/t Michael Newman) A Danish art museum wants [its money]( back. (h/t Scott Duke Kominers) Someone managed to score an [interview]( with Mixie and Munchie. You can find a [really good tailor]( in middle-of-nowhere Maine. Notes: Please send wedge salads and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Threads](, [TikTok](, [Twitter](, [Instagram]( and [Facebook](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. 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