Odds and Ends — 14 May 2025
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, AI, and Debt:
Why Gen X is the real loser generation
Is AI Enhancing Education or Replacing It?
Silicon Valley Braces for Chaos
The center of the tech universe seems to believe that Trump’s tariff whiplash is nothing compared with what they see coming from AI.
https://twitter.com/kenklippenstein/status/1922305467881046247
Tiny Company Made Big Purchase of Trump Crypto
A struggling technology company that has ties to China and relies on TikTok made an unusual announcement this week. It had secured funding to buy as much as $300 million of $TRUMP, the so-called memecoin marketed by President Trump.
The purchase would create clear ethical conflicts, enriching Mr. Trump’s family at the same time that the president tries to reach a deal that would allow TikTok to keep operating in the United States rather than face a congressionally approved ban.
Coronavirus and Public Health:
Long COVID tied to substantial loss in work productivity
Politics:
Israeli Officers Admit Gaza on the Brink of Starvation
Some Israeli military officials have privately concluded that Palestinians in Gaza face widespread starvation unless aid deliveries are restored within weeks.
7.6 million would go uninsured under GOP Medicaid bill
The Medicaid portions of the GOP megabill would lead to 10.3 million people losing coverage under the health safety net program and 7.6 million people going uninsured, according to estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
https://twitter.com/sycamoressource/status/1922420542193234069
https://twitter.com/dpakman/status/1922347915990782005
Trump and Republicans Want to Make States Pay
Across the country, state leaders are beginning to express alarm about the budgetary fallout from President Trump’s economic agenda, warning that they will not be able to pick up the bill if the federal government reduces its funding for major public services.
To governors and other officials, many of whom are Democrats, the fear is that Washington could sharply curtail federal programs that help states improve their infrastructure, respond to natural disasters, expand education and provide a suite of health, housing and nutrition benefits to the poor.
This could backfire big time. Overall, blue states have, on average, subsidized red states and red states tend to be more reliant on federal dollars than blue states are.
https://twitter.com/FluteMagician/status/1922084012870209951
———— Blatant In-Your-Face Corruption ————
https://twitter.com/AdamParkhomenko/status/1921948967215985026
Trump’s Gifted Qatari 747 Would Be a Security Problem
…Donald Trump on Monday praised Qatar for offering his administration a free luxury jet, but current and former U.S. military, defense and Secret Service officials said he will likely have to waive existing security specifications to be able to use the plane.
Retrofitting the 13-year-old aircraft to current Air Force One requirements would take years of work and billions of dollars, current and former U.S. officials say. Such a task would be impossible to complete before Trump leaves office.
https://twitter.com/allenanalysis/status/1922331380345679874
Trump Heaps Praise on Saudi Crown Prince
…Donald Trump spent the bulk of what was billed as a ‘major foreign policy address’ to outline his vision for the Middle East instead touting his domestic policies and heaping praise on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Said Trump: “He’s your greatest representative, greatest representative. And if I didn’t like him, I’d get out of here so fast. You know that, don’t you? He knows me well. I do — I like him a lot. I like him too much. That’s why we give so much, you know? Too much. I like you too much.”
The ghost of Jamal Khashoggi would like a word.
———— Om wit te wees is nuttig. ————
https://twitter.com/WUTangKids/status/1921921600477102347
https://twitter.com/SarahIronside6/status/1922359176161788009
———— Autocracy R Us ————
Federal Grand Jury Indicts Wisconsin Judge
A federal grand jury indicted Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan on May 13 on charges that she tried to assist an undocumented immigrant escape arrest from her courtroom last month, putting her at the center of the growing dispute between President Donald Trump and the judiciary.
Getting an indictment and getting a conviction are two very different things.
———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————
https://twitter.com/JayinKyiv/status/1922343358023757862
Time to suffocate Russia's economy after 17th EU sanctions package, France says
———— Mors Imperii ————
Republicans Try to Cram Ban on AI Regulation Into Budget Reconciliation Bill
Don Jr. is the new Hunter Biden
"This certainly raises serious concerns about the appearance of corruption, because Trump's family is benefiting," says Laura Dickinson, a law professor at George Washington University who has served as special counsel for the Defense Department. "And when you look at this in the context of arbitrary cuts to other programs, it raises questions about whether preferential treatment is being given to family and others who curry favor with Trump."
The Wild West of Trump’s Presidential Pardons
Trump has turned the pardon process into the Wild West. What had long been a sober legal proceeding done by career officials in the Justice Department increasingly resides in the White House and depends on the whims of a president who is receptive to arguments of political persecution…
Pardon seekers are shelling out to hire lawyers and lobbyists who tout access to those in the president’s inner circle. Others seek to make their case to Trump or his inner circle at places they frequent, showing up at events at Mar-a-Lago, GOP hangouts on Capitol Hill and a collegiate wrestling match. And still others connect with conservative influencers, pitching their case on shows Trump consumes.
The World Woos U.S. Researchers Shunned by Trump
As President Trump cuts billions of federal dollars from science institutes and universities, restricts what can be studied and pushes out immigrants, rival nations are hoping to pick up talent that has been cast aside or become disenchanted.
For decades, trying to compete with American institutions and companies has been difficult. The United States was a magnet for top researchers, scientists and academics. In general, budgets were bigger, pay was bigger, labs and equipment were bigger. So were ambitions.
Serendipity:
https://twitter.com/YIMBYLAND/status/1922321273918488806
Ghost in the machine? Rogue communication devices found in Chinese inverters
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