Odds and Ends — 11 August 2025
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, AI, and Debt:
ETH Transaction Volume Climbs on Price Rally, Cheaper DeFi Costs
Do Kwon Expected to Plead Guilty Over $40 Billion Terra Collapse
Coronavirus and Public Health:
COVID-19 surges again in Bay Area just before school starts
RFK Jr. Stokes Fears of Lost Medical Breakthroughs
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to cut federal funding for mRNA vaccine research is the latest in a series of moves that have the potential to crush future medical breakthroughs and accelerate a brain drain.
America has historically led the world in scientific innovation — driving economic growth, strengthening national security, and attracting global talent. But scientists, including some who served in Trump’s first administration, warn that lead is slipping away.
Politics:
Why India Can’t Afford to Jettison Its Relationship With Russia
…Trump is using the threat of stiff tariffs to try to peel India away from Russia, as he attempts to boost pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
But decades of close economic, political and military relations between New Delhi and Moscow mean Trump faces a challenge in persuading Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to drop a partnership that has survived great geopolitical turmoil.
Who Is the Heir to the MAGA Movement?
Republicans are looking ahead to the end of the president’s transformative political tenure with trepidation, unsure whether the GOP’s rising stars can keep hold of the movement that Trump has commanded for the past decade. Trump is in no hurry to choose a successor, as he considers the full bench of ambitious Republicans who are vying for the job and his approval… He thinks the next Republican standard-bearer should have to earn the job.
Another reason for the reluctance to discuss a successor: Trump, who has publicly toyed with serving a third term in violation of the Constitution, isn’t thinking about life beyond the White House and doesn’t like contemplating the end of his political career.
Truth Social’s New Chatbot Disagrees with Trump
…Donald Trump and the new AI search tool on his social media network, Truth Social, don’t exactly see eye to eye.
Truth Search AI contradicts the president by saying that tariffs are a tax on Americans, the 2020 election wasn’t stolen, and his family’s cryptocurrency investments pose a potential conflict of interest.
Mike Johnson hit with new accusation showing ‘clear-cut violation’ of federal law
———— The Epstein Coverup ————
Since it’s 100% a manufactured distraction from Epstein, see The District section below.
Trump’s Bid to Release Transcripts Was a Smokescreen
A federal judge rejected a Justice Department request to unseal grand jury transcripts from the Ghislaine Maxwell case, saying they contain virtually nothing new about Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes.
In his ruling, Judge Paul Engelmayer said the Trump administration’s premise — that the Maxwell transcripts would shed meaningful light on Epstein’s network or the government’s investigation — was “demonstrably false.”
———— Gaza ————
Netanyahu Doubles Down on Gaza Offensive
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel defended on Sunday his government’s plan to launch a renewed offensive against Hamas in parts of Gaza, following a wave of international condemnation from traditional allies and critics at home.
A Cash Shortage in Gaza Is Making the Hunger Crisis Much Worse
———— Autocracy R Us ————
Trump says homeless should leave D.C. “IMMEDIATELY” — after floating federal takeover of capital
Trump orders homeless he passed en route to golf course to leave Washington DC
Court Rules Against Trump Clamp Down on Spending Data
A federal appeals court panel shot down a Trump administration bid to make secret a public database of federal spending that researchers say is crucial to ensure the administration is not flouting Congress’ power of the purse…
It voted unanimously to give the administration until Friday to put the data back online. Two of the three appeals judges assigned to the matter also signed onto a forceful opinion declaring that the administration’s bid to conceal the data was an affront to Congress’ authority over government spending.
https://twitter.com/TheRealThelmaJ1/status/1954471810852114856
———— The District ————
https://twitter.com/DoctorHenryCT/status/1954659648465785226
Trump Puts D.C. Police Under Federal Control
President Donald Trump announced Monday that he would place the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control and deploy the National Guard to the streets of Washington to fight crime and clear the city of its homeless population, an extraordinary flex of federal power that could expose residents of the nation’s capital to unpredictable encounters with a domestically-deployed military force.
The decision to deploy troops comes as the president has been slamming America’s cities as places where crime is out of control, despite two years of declines that have brought homicide levels in many major cities to their lowest levels in decades.
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1954922861103100009
———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————
https://twitter.com/sumlenny/status/1954583971645603990
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is said to have completely misunderstood some of the Russians’ statements and misinterpreted them as a concession from Putin. He had misunderstood a ‘peaceful withdrawal’ of the Ukrainians from Kherson and Zaporizhzhia demanded by Russia as an offer of the ‘peaceful withdrawal’ of the Russians from these regions.
Said a Ukrainian official: “Witkoff doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
https://twitter.com/JayinKyiv/status/1954537844233392600
Vance: ‘We’re done with the funding of the Ukraine war business’
https://twitter.com/reshetz/status/1954416041045459150
Europe promises to ‘stand firmly’ with Ukraine as Trump, Putin plan summit
https://twitter.com/gtconway3d/status/1954547579548475608
https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1954923028476842420
https://twitter.com/LarrySabato/status/1954935490320183512
———— Smoot-Hawley 2.0 ————
Not exactly capitalism: U.S. Government to Take Cut of Nvidia and AMD A.I. Chip Sales to China
In a highly unusual arrangement with President Trump, the companies are expected to kick 15 percent of what they make in China to the U.S. government.
———— Hegseth on the Rocks ————
https://twitter.com/krassenstein/status/1954930119220592997
———— Mors Imperii ————
Trump Spins Up a No-Bad-News Presidency
President Trump is accelerating his longtime efforts to banish facts and figures that challenge his narrative of a spotless presidency.
Much of the federal government has begun operating according to his version of reality.
Trump Hasn’t Sought Approvals for White House Ballroom
…Donald Trump is rushing to break ground next month on a giant White House ballroom, but has not yet submitted the project for a review that experts said is required by law and often takes years to complete.
A security fence and a tennis pavilion — neither of which involved the White House itself — each took at least two years to move through the National Capital Planning Commission, which vets construction of and renovation to the region’s federal buildings. The Trump administration plans to start work next month on a $200 million, 90,000-square-foot structure that would nearly double the footprint of the main building and its East and West wings.
Voters have proved willing to tolerate corruption, but there’s one thing they won’t ignore.
Serendipity:
As the planet gets hotter and its reservoirs shrink and its glaciers melt, people have increasingly drilled into a largely ungoverned, invisible cache of fresh water: the vast, hidden pools found deep underground.
Now, a new study that examines the world’s total supply of fresh water — accounting for its rivers and rain, ice and aquifers together — warns that Earth’s most essential resource is quickly disappearing, signaling what the paper’s authors describe as ‘a critical, emerging threat to humanity.’
https://twitter.com/adrianmckinty/status/1954547706744951108
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