Odds and Ends — 12 May 2026

@preparedwombat 78

about 17 hours ago

oddsandends

Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, AI, and Debt:

Franklin Templeton, Kraken Parent Payward Team Up to Tokenize Wall Street Products

https://twitter.com/CostaKapo/status/2053948679485009990

For what it’s worth: EIGHT WEEKS TO EMPTY SHELVES. SIXTY DAYS TO FAMINE.

WHAT CAUSED IT, AND WHAT YOU NEED TO DO IMMEDIATELY.

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Why the FDA tried to bury studies showing vaccines are safe

Kennedy Is Driving a Vast Inquiry Into Vaccines, Despite His Public Silence

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said little publicly about vaccines in recent months, at the behest of a White House worried that his unpopular stance will hurt Republicans in November’s midterm elections. But he has not abandoned his quest for evidence that they are unsafe.
Working behind the scenes, Mr. Kennedy is spearheading an intense push, across health agencies under his purview, for government scientists and federal data contractors to examine his long-held theory that vaccines are helping to fuel an epidemic of chronic disease.

Iran:

https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand/status/2053741799047655462

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/2053869868999651579?s=20

Gas Prices Are About to Get Even Worse in California

A supertanker docked in Long Beach just delivered California’s last incoming shipment of Middle Eastern oil, a milestone for drivers already paying the nation’s highest fuel prices.
After the New Corolla fully discharges its Iraqi oil at the berth, another tanker carrying Middle Eastern crude won’t dock in California until months after the Strait of Hormuz waterway reopens.

Iran Has No Intention of Cutting a Deal with Trump

Now that the world has gotten a closer look at what Iran demanded, it’s clear why he’s so pessimistic. Some of Iran’s top lines will be difficult at best, and nonstarters at worst, for the U.S. to swallow. State media said Iran wants the U.S. to pay reparations for the war and allow Iran to control the Strait of Hormuz — neither of which would be acceptable in Washington — along with the lifting of sanctions.
The U.S., in turn, wants Iran to agree to major new limits on its nuclear program, which Iranian leaders, feeling emboldened by how the war has gone, seem nowhere near accepting…
The upshot is that even though a ceasefire remains in place, the path forward looks murky for Trump to get the Strait of Hormuz reopened, let alone achieve the war’s broader aims of setting back Iran’s nuclear program or regime change. Will he escalate militarily, give ground to Iran or prolong a status quo, in which gas prices rise and broader economic tumult grows?

https://twitter.com/TheRealDon85/status/2054027191294341413

Politics:

Navy Plans to Buy 15 Costly Trump-Class Battleships

The US Navy said it plans to buy at least 15 new battleships endorsed by President Donald Trump over the next 30 years, according to its new shipbuilding plan, marking a deeper commitment than previously revealed to what could be the costliest warship ever produced.

Battleships have been obsolete for 80 years. HMS Vanguard was the last one to be commissioned (in 1946). I have a hard time believing that any of these “Trump-class” ships will actually be built. If a Democratic President is sworn in in 2029, they’d almost certainly cancel the program. But even a Republican President not named Trump would likely cancel them. AFAIK, they haven’t even been designed yet, there’s just proposals for types of weapons they might have.

https://twitter.com/NickKristof/status/2053777719637463367

Trump Wants to Make Venezuela the 51st State

So 30 million Venezuelans would instantly become U.S. citizens and most of them would qualify for Medicaid, SNAP benefits, et cetera. Yeah, I’m sure Trump’s MAGA base would just love that.

The simple tin can is proving to be one of the toughest tests for President Trump’s tariffs.
Just over a year ago, Mr. Trump imposed high tariffs on steel to try to stifle imports of the metal and bolster domestic production.
But imports of the kind of steel used to make cans surged in 2025, and American can makers say they will remain heavily dependent on foreign supplies — now made more expensive by the tariffs — for a long time.