Odds and Ends — 19 August 2025

@preparedwombat 78

8 days ago

oddsandends

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

The real tokenization revolution is in private markets, not public stocks

https://twitter.com/nickgerli1/status/1957533447443845290

After Attacking Monero, Qubic Sets Its Sights on Dogecoin

Coronavirus and Public Health:

COVID reinfection may raise risk of persistent symptoms by 35%

MAHA Is Going to Make America Sicker

Politics:

Newsmax Will Pay $67 Million to Settle Defamation Case

Egregious lies about the 2020 presidential election are going to cost Newsmax $67 million.
To avert a high-stakes trial, the right-wing cable channel has agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $27 million this month and another $40 million in the next two years.

https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1957529439656636620

Texas lawmaker stuck in House floor over GOP 'permission slip' rule

How is that not unlawful detainment?

Hamas Accepts New Gaza Cease-Fire Proposal

It was unclear whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was on board with the terms, which came as Qatar and Egypt were intensifying mediation efforts.

———— The Epstein Coverup ————

Republican Bid to Help Trump Move Past Epstein Falls Flat

When House Republican leaders rushed to leave Washington for a long August break, they seemed desperate to quell the anger among their supporters about the Trump administration’s backtracking on a promise to release files related to its investigation of the accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
But halfway through a five-week congressional recess, the clamor shows little sign of quieting. While Republicans had hoped that legal rulings might insulate them from having to confront the issue, the courts have yet to intervene. Back in their districts, lawmakers have continued to face questions about the Epstein investigation from their constituents.
And the Justice Department, which ignored a Friday deadline from Senate Democrats and faces another on Tuesday to comply with a bipartisan subpoena to provide the materials to Congress, has yet to release anything.

https://twitter.com/sandibachom/status/1957517985222177030

———— Theresienstadt in the Everglades ————

Florida GOP removes new immigration merchandise after Home Depot objects

The Republican Party of Florida on Saturday removed a line of deportation-themed shirts, hats and other tchotchkes for sale on its website that mimicked >The Home Depot’s logo. The party’s line of “The Deport Depot” merch was themed on the new immigrant detention center Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled this week that he called “Deportation Depot.”

———— Autocracy R Us ————

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1957410667499008464

Authoritarian, not authoritative

…the Smithsonian is one of the world’s great repositories of art and culture, in large part because of its political independence. U.S. economic data is considered a highly reliable account of the world’s largest economy and is vital for decisionmaking by businesses and governments. America’s higher education system has long been the envy of the world, with students coming from everywhere, at great expense, to learn the U.S. model and to bring its lessons back home with them.
Trump is working very aggressively to end all these advantages. And like most things, this will be easier to smash than to rebuild.

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1957502306498548050

———— Stark. Raving. Mad. ————

https://twitter.com/BlueATLGeorgia/status/1957505480122630519

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

https://twitter.com/allenanalysis/status/1957399184857878746

https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1957355455354646864

https://twitter.com/AmoneyResists/status/1957460499542446309

Trump Buys More Time for Putin

The meeting at the White House today yielded little progress toward peace—but it could have been far worse.

https://twitter.com/veggieto/status/1957568033276272986

https://twitter.com/JayinKyiv/status/1957507020002664939

Hot Mic Catches Trump Saying Putin ‘Wants to Make a Deal With Me’

https://twitter.com/OlgaNYC1211/status/1957450524602630610

Teachers from California and New York who want to work in Oklahoma public schools will be required to pass a certification test to prove they share the state’s conservative political values.
Regardless of the subject or grade they teach, they’ll have to show they know ‘the biological differences between females and males’ and that they agree with the state’s American history standards, which includes elements of a conspiracy theory that the Democratic Party stole the 2020 presidential election…

https://twitter.com/WUTangKids/status/1957615842348396978