Odds and Ends — 18 March 2026

@preparedwombat 78

5 days ago

oddsandends

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

Crypto industry ties were a liability in Illinois primary

https://twitter.com/infosec_fox/status/2034027270965240047

PayPal Expands PYUSD Stablecoin Globally as Supply Tops $4 Billion

https://twitter.com/FT/status/2033929762079375598

Flash Fiction:

”The staff here at Mistress Ayesha’s Temple of Pain and Pleasure provide discrete services to our clientele so that they all feel that this temple is theirs alone. They all strive to provide customized experiences. How can we tailor your time here, detective?”

”Listen lady, this is not my temple. Never was, never will be. Just answer my question. Who found the body?”

Written for this prompt.

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Young people particularly vulnerable to cults post-COVID

https://twitter.com/KlasfeldReports/status/2034085028284584122

Iran:

https://twitter.com/donwinslow/status/2033731887953547351

https://twitter.com/hippyygoat/status/2033647783899500577

https://twitter.com/covie_93/status/2033660492493857197

Not just energy: How the Iran war could trigger a global food crisis

https://twitter.com/saletan/status/2033966656746070521

https://twitter.com/shanaka86/status/2033918272819638407

Russia Is Sharing Imagery and Drone Technology With Iran

Russia has been expanding its intelligence sharing and military cooperation with Iran, providing satellite imagery and improved drone technology to aid Tehran’s targeting of U.S. forces in the region.
Russia is trying to keep its closest Middle Eastern partner in the fight against U.S. and Israeli military might and prolong a war that is benefiting Russia militarily and economically.
The technology provided includes components of modified Shahed drones, which are meant to improve communication, navigation and targeting… Russia has also been drawing on its experience using drones in Ukraine, offering tactical guidance on how many drones should be used in operations and what altitudes they should strike from.

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/2033926674178339173

https://twitter.com/radigancarter/status/2033961136899690759

https://twitter.com/MikeNellis/status/2033964111931802037

Iran’s Regime Is Consolidating Power

Despite more than two weeks of relentless airstrikes, U.S. intelligence assessments say, Iran’s regime likely will remain in place for now, weakened but more hard-line, with the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps security forces exerting greater control.

https://twitter.com/ejmalrai/status/2033996554894274997
https://twitter.com/covie_93/status/2033976956606202088

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/2034084410249658464

Everyone but Trump Understands What He’s Done

Donald Trump does not think strategically. Nor does he think historically, geographically, or even rationally. He does not connect actions he takes on one day to events that occur weeks later. He does not think about how his behavior in one place will change the behavior of other people in other places.
He does not consider the wider implications of his decisions. He does not take responsibility when these decisions go wrong. Instead, he acts on whim and impulse, and when he changes his mind—when he feels new whims and new impulses—he simply lies about whatever he said or did before.
For the past 14 months, few foreign leaders have been able to acknowledge that someone without any strategy can actually be president of the United States.

https://twitter.com/IlhanNiaz/status/2033949682775335243

https://twitter.com/Maks_NAFO_FELLA/status/2033834737286914420

https://twitter.com/kejamieson_/status/2033914764766625975

Politics:

Belgian court sends ex-diplomat, 93, to trial over 1961 murder of Congo leader

https://twitter.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/2034034303613509891

China Is Not Going to Bail Trump Out

Wars, AI drama, even the odd peace prize — the world had plenty on its bingo card for 2026. But it did not include Donald Trump urging China to send ships to the Middle East. The US president’s request for Chinese help is a black swan moment.
In an age of great power rivalry, the hegemon is inviting its main challenger to help extract it from the world’s most combustible region. Read that again. Then ponder where China’s incentive lies. Why interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake?
That China has no intention of sending minesweepers to the Strait of Hormuz is clear. The question is whether Xi Jinping wants to see Trump backed into a corner. It is one thing for China to gain a diplomatic edge over the US; quite another to test whether Trump is Dr Strangelove.

'Greenland was a breaking point': EU allies say Trump dug his own grave

https://twitter.com/kurimero2000/status/2033474828745708017

https://twitter.com/TheMaineWonk/status/2033961203400110109

A federal judge threw a top prosecutor from the New Jersey U.S. attorney’s office out of his courtroom during a sentencing hearing this week and demanded that the office’s leadership testify about who had authority over their actions.

https://twitter.com/Blake_Allen13/status/2033981387905138872

https://twitter.com/QasimRashid/status/2033721406446272540