Odds and Ends — 13 November 2025
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, AI, and Debt:
UAE’s ‘digital dirham’ CBDC pilot completes first transaction
Crypto exchange Coinbase to reincorporate in Texas, exit Delaware
Telegram CEO’s French Travel Ban Fully Lifted By Investigators
Coronavirus and Public Health:
COVID's uneven recovery still haunts the economy
Politics:
Judge says he’ll order release of hundreds of people arrested under feds’ deportation blitz
Donald Trump Is a Lamer Duck Than Ever
Even though he doesn’t want you to think so
Italy investigates claim that tourists paid to go to Bosnia to kill besieged civilians
———— The Shutdown Fiasco ————
https://twitter.com/TheWarMonitor/status/1988403284911260050
———— The Epstein Coverup ————
Epstein files petition led by Thomas Massie gets last signature needed to force House vote
https://twitter.com/itsJeffTiedrich/status/1988726176001716405
Trump warns Republicans to stay out of Epstein 'trap'
…Donald Trump told Republicans in Congress to stay away from House Democrats’ push to force the full release of Jeffrey Epstein-related files after the Nov. 12 release of three emails from the disgraced financier that mentioned the president’s name.
Said Trump: “There should be no deflections to Epstein or anything else, and any Republicans involved should be focused only on opening up our Country, and fixing the massive damage caused by the Democrats!”
Epstein is the deflection? Oh, that’s rich.
https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1988734860400422946
Trump not weighing pardon for Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell
President Trump has no plans to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, the central figure in the Jeffrey Epstein case and convicted sex offender serving a 20-year prison sentence, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday.
We should probably take that with a very large grain of salt. First off, Trump lies as he breathes and is famously mercurial. He’ll say one thing, and then say the opposite thing the next day, sometimes even minutes later in the same conversation. Also, note that Leavitt specifically says pardon but media reports yesterday said that Maxwell is working with her lawyers to ask for a commutation.
https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1988617354079555875
https://twitter.com/gtconway3d/status/1988773287846154420
https://twitter.com/JasonKander/status/1988798683182502232
———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————
https://twitter.com/robfardon/status/1988719734423277843
https://twitter.com/WUTangKids/status/1988767227353395477
https://twitter.com/SenWhitehouse/status/1988793066950713687
———— Smoot-Hawley 2.0 ————
https://twitter.com/JosephPolitano/status/1988628779095163223
———— Hegseth on the Rocks ————
https://twitter.com/gtconway3d/status/1988647591878492247
———— Mors Imperii ————
Hemp-derived THC drinks, edibles could soon disappear because of shutdown bill
https://twitter.com/TheOnion/status/1988683408914956542
Serendipity:
https://twitter.com/VHSDVDBLURAY4K/status/1988381982750109753
The Costs of Instant Translation
AI might soon rob us of the thrill and challenge of cross-cultural conversation.
https://twitter.com/RealEmirHan/status/1988734451539669460
https://twitter.com/HGACinema/status/1988501486066671645
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