Odds and Ends — 16 August 2025

@preparedwombat 78

11 days ago

oddsandends

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

This Is the 'Best Investment Environment Ever', Says BlackRock’s CIO of Global Fixed Income

Consumer Sentiment Weakens

U.S. consumer sentiment softened in August as households anticipated higher goods prices because of import tariffs.

Winklevoss’ Gemini files for Nasdaq listing after strong Bullish debut

Coronavirus and Public Health:

HHS Has Revived a Failed Program to Scrape Americans’ Data and Track Autism, Senate Suggests

Politics:

https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1956373327947145612

After a freeze, Trump administration reluctantly agrees to fund EV chargers

Israel’s extreme rationing of water to the Palestinian people is central to its larger project of control, domination, and ethnic cleansing.

Israel Is Quietly in Talks to Relocate Palestinians

Israel and the U.S. are pushing forward efforts to relocate hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, a move they have presented in humanitarian terms but which governments in Europe and the Arab world have criticized as unrealistic and a potential violation of international law.

———— Blatant In-Your-Face Corruption ————

Kristi Noem is living free of charge in Coast Guard commandant’s home

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

https://twitter.com/olddog100ua/status/1956220355997061324

Russia’s Foreign Minister Wears U.S.S.R. Sweatshirt

The Russian government is many things, but subtle is not one of them. Ahead of a highly anticipated summit on the Russia-Ukraine war in Alaska on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov engaged in some blatant trolling.
Lavrov arrived in Alaska wearing a CCCP sweatshirt. Those are the Russian initials for ‘USSR,’ which stands for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (aka the Soviet Union). Experts say that Lavrov, who has been Russia’s top diplomat for roughly two decades, knew exactly what he was doing by wearing that sweatshirt.
The war in Ukraine—a former Soviet republic—is widely viewed as a product of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nostalgia for the Soviet Union and imperialistic ambitions.

https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1956340949182992888

The U.S.-Russia Summit Is Already a Win for Putin

For the Russian autocrat, this is a win in itself. Putin is a global pariah facing an international warrant for his arrest, but the United States is welcoming him to American soil for the first time since 2015… Without stopping his aggression against Ukraine, and despite blowing through a series of deadlines, he gets a photo op with Trump.

Trump says ‘it’s really on Zelensky’ to reach deal with Russia

https://twitter.com/BlueATLGeorgia/status/1956517157807771976

https://twitter.com/julieroginsky/status/1956457612611854838

Well, What Did You Think Would Happen?

Trump rolled out the red carpet for Putin but failed to make a deal.

Trump Drops Ceasefire Demand

President Donald Trump said Saturday that Ukraine and Russia should go straight to agreeing on a final peace deal, dropping his demand for a ceasefire in a dramatic reversal that aligns him with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

https://twitter.com/YourAnonCentral/status/1956702396488515986

https://twitter.com/FPWellman/status/1956756483842183682

———— Mors Imperii ————

Young Men Face a Crisis

Many boys and men are struggling today… in an America… disrupted by technological change, immigration and growing inequality. Since 2010, suicide rates among young men have risen by a third — they are now higher than they are among middle-aged men. The share of college degrees going to men has fallen to 41 percent, lower than the women’s share in 1970. One in 10 men aged 20 to 24 is effectively doing nothing — neither enrolled in school nor working. That’s twice the rate in 1990. This crisis demands a response equivalent to what the Progressive era delivered, not just in public policy but equally important, from our civic institutions…
This male malaise is not just about jobs and diplomas. It is also a crisis of connection, as men and boys are increasingly detached from civic, familial and social life. They are lost, in part because they are lonely: 25 percent of boys and men aged 15 to 34 told Gallup they had experienced loneliness “a lot” on the previous day. One in seven young men reports that he has no close friends, up from 3 percent in 1990. Two thirds of men under the age of 30 think that ‘no one cares if men are okay.’
Consider the despair implicit in that last statistic.

https://twitter.com/johnastoehr/status/1956716416918339778