TL;DR: Ain't One. Look At Images?
As tempting as it would be to use this thread to continue gushing over my beloved (North Dakota, to be clear), that can already be
found elsewhere and throughout the Meme threads. There is actually a much larger conversation and skeptical speculation to be had in regards to geopolitics, espionage and national security with this. However, I do think some background on the state's politics is necessary for additional context if not for just simply being informative.
To call it a
red state would be quite the understatement: it is one of the five least populous (770k) and most rural in the country; it has a 2A constitutional carry policy; it has a straight up abortion ban now save for extreme exceptions (incest, rape, etc.) post-Roe; it has the most churches per capita and highest percentage of church attendance of any state in the country (majority Lutheran protestant); it has been America's 2nd biggest shale oil and natural gas producer behind only Texas for the better part of the last dozen years and is/was instrumental in achieving energy independence; it has swung blue in a POTUS election 1 time (1964 LBJ landside) since 1936. It is a powerhouse of agriculture production.
It not only wields significant impact on NoDak's economy but is practically a way of life with deep ties to culture and heritage. The state government moves to protect it aggressively at the behest of the people, and when they don't they are overruled thanks to a constitutional amendment that allows the public to hold a referendum on any legislation passed by the state assembly. As an aside, it's also the only US state with a publicly owned bank and has a sovereign wealth fund tied to the revenues of oil and gas production similar to our Norwegian kin back in the ancestral lands. This was an event that took place during the Trump era (2016-2018).
So it begs the question on how the hell this could happen.
And while the law is very effective in its restrictions on banning corporations, limited liability companies (LLC) and foreign non-US citizens from buying up farmland, there are some exceptions and loopholes. Gates was able to purchase 2,000+ acres because it was done through a trust, which is allowed so long as the land is leased back to farmers. China was able to do so because the company's purchase didn't exceed 640 acres (mere 300) and it won't be utilizing the land for farming but rather investing in a $700 million corn-milling facility which also qualifies as a business-use exception.
Of course, that is the front. There really isn't any doubt that it'll co-function as a facility for intelligence gathering and military espionage given they picked a location right down the road from the US Air Force base in Grand Forks. This base also just so happens to be the de facto HQ of US drone development and technology in addition to serving as a center of its military communications around the world.
To see the ND governor (a former Microsoft exec fwiw, lol) so apparently giddy about it is annoying. So what the fuck does Gates have to do with any of this, if anything? I don't know, maybe nothing. He could hypothetically buy up millions of acres as a full-on private citizen and he already has the largest portfolio of privately owned farmland in the US (albeit still minuscule the grand scheme).
It's a question I'm interested in Surebro speculation on though.
This has drawn attention and potential action.
