Odds and Ends — 19 November 2025

@preparedwombat 78

6 days ago

oddsandends

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

Crypto carnage — Is Bitcoin’s 4-year cycle over?

Google boss says trillion-dollar AI investment boom has 'elements of irrationality'

Crypto Exchange Kraken Raises $800 Million at a $20 Billion Valuation

Coronavirus and Public Health:

8 trajectories for long COVID

Millions of patients have developed long COVID, a chronic condition that involves a range of symptoms, including fatigue, brain fog, dizziness, and palpitations, that persist for at least three months after infection. In a new analysis of adult participants in an initiative called Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery, or RECOVER, Mass General Brigham researchers identified eight different trajectories that long COVID can take, depending on severity, duration, and whether symptoms improve or worsen.

Politics:

MacKenzie Scott Gives $700 Million to Historically Black Colleges

Federal Three-Judge Panel Strikes Down New Texas Map

The decision is a major blow for Republicans, in Texas and nationally, who pushed through the mid-decade redistricting at the behest of President Donald Trump. Attorney General Ken Paxton said he would appeal.

https://twitter.com/PinstripeBungle/status/1990413089775264019

Gotta love how the Senate completely ignored Mike Johnson.

https://twitter.com/BasedTorba/status/1990819404834025889

https://twitter.com/Mollyploofkins/status/1990612808526876896

https://twitter.com/MarcoFoster_/status/1990652038506516670

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1990764259446567134

https://twitter.com/5149jamesli/status/1990645765245710553

———— Stark. Raving. Mad. ————

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1990567109940687026

https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1990599497290858560

Sundown

The president of the United States gave a speech yesterday before a group of McDonald’s corporate workers and franchise owners.
Bottom line: This is a man in noticeable mental decline.

———— Autocracy R Us ————

https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1990803765880836357

https://twitter.com/LarrySabato/status/1990844690489340235

https://twitter.com/SarahNLynch/status/1990556577397415944

https://twitter.com/SenWhitehouse/status/1990803330768253073

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1990866140818813219

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

Vladimir Putin has no plan for winning in Ukraine

On june 10th 2026 the fighting between Russia and Ukraine will have lasted longer than the first world war. That conflict, too, was supposed to have been over in a few weeks. As in Ukraine, fighting became bogged down and the high command squandered men’s lives in one doomed assault after another. In August 1918 the allies used new tactics to break the German lines. Today, by contrast, Ukraine will not surrender and Russia does not know how to win.

https://twitter.com/JustAJaneJ/status/1990662287309345017

———— Melon Husk ————

Elon Musk Returns to White House as Tensions Thaw

Elon Musk returned to the White House Tuesday in a sign that tensions between President Donald Trump and the world’s richest man have thawed since a fierce split over deficit spending earlier this year fractured their once-cozy relationship.
Musk was invited as a guest for a gala dinner to honor Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, one of many business titans invited including Tim Cook, David Ellison, Marc Benioff, Bill Ackman and Jensen Huang.

———— Our Plan: Don’t Get Sick ————

https://twitter.com/SpencerHakimian/status/1990791509273423997

https://twitter.com/shillman1/status/1990822376028754153

https://twitter.com/TheRealThelmaJ1/status/1990895329751822448

———— Mors Imperii ————

https://twitter.com/cturnbull1968/status/1990847473233821923

Pardoned Rioter Tried to Bribe Child Sex Victim

A man pardoned by President Donald Trump for storming the Capitol was arrested on child molestation charges, according to Florida officials, who said he tried to use an anticipated Jan. 6 payout to silence the victim.

https://twitter.com/GeneforTexas/status/1990452937706140067

Trump Continues to Dismantle Education Department

The Trump administration announced on Tuesday an aggressive plan to continue dismantling the Education Department, ending the agency’s role in supporting academics at elementary and high schools and in expanding access to college.