Odds and Ends — 14 July 2025
Historical factoid: my father witnessed the sinking of the Blücher.
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, AI, and Debt:
US Economy in a 'Goldilocks-Like Equilibrium' as Bitcoin Blasts Past $121K
AI Is Already Showing Signs of Slashing Job Openings in the UK
Corporate Bitcoin Adoption Set to Skyrocket by End of 2025, Says Blockware
We Warned About the First China Shock. The Next One Will Be Worse.
Coronavirus and Public Health:
A new summer COVID wave may be on its way
Politics:
Trump’s Megabill Creates Budget Nightmare for States
…Donald Trump’s landmark legislation is driving a giant hole in governors’ budgets in a midterm year.
By slashing health care and food assistance for low-income Americans, Republicans in Washington are passing tremendous costs onto the states, leaving local leaders from both parties grasping for ways to make up for billions in lost federal dollars. The cuts are already threatening to endanger governors’ education, public safety and disaster relief funds.
https://twitter.com/mattduss/status/1944466633667543453
A clinic blames its closing on Trump’s Medicaid cuts. Patients don’t buy it.
———— The Epstein Coverup ————
https://twitter.com/4nt1p4tt3rn/status/1944449797072601089
https://twitter.com/MikeNellis/status/1944395109354623133
https://twitter.com/ScottHech/status/1944453555043389826
Trump’s Epstein Headache Isn’t Going Away
At what should be the height of his political powers — having racked up signature wins in enacting his sprawling GOP megabill, bending U.S. allies to his will on defense spending, launching a successful and limited attack on Iran with no meaningful reprisals on U.S. forces — President Donald Trump is instead facing a fast-metastasizing MAGA rebellion over his administration’s handling of the files from the criminal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
https://twitter.com/TheMaineWonk/status/1944457018758058445
https://twitter.com/AdamParkhomenko/status/1944428595360956524
https://twitter.com/jimstewartson/status/1944527283995430920
———— Autocracy R Us ————
https://twitter.com/funder/status/1944053888736538916
Whistleblower Emails Expose Fresh Trump Abuses in Abrego Garcia Case
Newly released communications show the lengths the Trump administration went to in order to label Kilmar Abrego Garcia an MS-13 leader.
https://twitter.com/DeanObeidallah/status/1944432380682392010
———— Blatant In-Your-Face Corruption ————
‘Come meet us in Dubai’: the new offshoring of grand corruption
———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————
Russia launches 136 drones into Ukraine ahead of expected Trump announcement
———— Smoot-Hawley 2.0 ————
Trump’s Tariffs Are Here to Stay
…Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs have prompted investors to bet that he will ‘always chicken out’ and given businesses and foreign leaders hope that the leader of the world’s largest economy will ultimately back down from his threats if they prove too economically disruptive.
Events of the past week have cast serious doubt on that bet. As Mr. Trump renews trade threats against more than two dozen trading partners, he is once again proving his fondness for tariffs, and embracing import taxes in a way that no other president has since the Great Depression.
———— Melon Husk ————
Why Gov. Greg Abbott Won’t Release His Emails With Elon Musk
———— Hegseth on the Rocks ————
GOP senators question Hegseth’s leadership after weapons ‘goof-up’
———— Mors Imperii ————
The spectacle presidency: How Trump governs through distraction
https://twitter.com/middleageriot/status/1944516571910599084
Serendipity:
https://twitter.com/filmfae/status/1944515681912816031
https://twitter.com/ustonymc/status/1944676703046947077
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Brought a smile to my face on a hard day. Thank you!