Odds and Ends — 2 June 2025

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

Binance Founder CZ Proposes DEX to Prevent Front-Running

The machine economy has arrived and bots have wallets

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Researchers report surge in at-home heart attacks and cardiac deaths since COVID pandemic

Silence on E. coli outbreak highlights how Trump’s changes undermine food safety

Food safety inspections are being scaled back after an investigation linked to a single lettuce producer you never heard about

Politics:

Law Firms That Appeased Trump Angered Their Clients

At least 11 big companies are moving work away from law firms that settled with the administration or are giving—or intend to give—more business to firms that have been targeted but refused to strike deals.
Among them are technology giant Oracle, investment bank Morgan Stanley, an airline and a pharmaceutical company. Microsoft expressed reservations about working with a firm that struck a deal, and another such firm stopped representing McDonald’s in a case a few months before a scheduled trial.

Nadler calls aide’s brief DHS detention ‘deeply troubling’

———— Sow the Wind, Reap the Whirlwind ————

https://twitter.com/krassenstein/status/1929174235823386825

https://twitter.com/Archer83Able/status/1929175516738736446

https://twitter.com/GrantWescott/status/1929159773783478480

https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/1929176001235284037

Ukraine Just Crippled Russia’s Air Force — And Trump Is Mad He Wasn’t Told

Operation Spiderweb changes everything. And Washington wasn’t in the loop.

https://twitter.com/AdamKinzinger/status/1929175326585741612

https://twitter.com/OAlexanderDK/status/1929154390436270348

https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/1929178578584752586

https://twitter.com/SamRamani2/status/1929229792596947313

https://twitter.com/DarthPutinKGB/status/1929251775191646473

AFAIK, Russia has only a few (3? 4?) of these operational:

https://twitter.com/KhomenkoIv60065/status/1929143285714411617

I have no idea if this is true, but if it is, wow:

https://twitter.com/cossackgundi/status/1929212858786545921

———— Palantir ————

https://twitter.com/BigBlueWaveUSA/status/1929005452005880097

https://twitter.com/kareem_carr/status/1928894317302583669

https://twitter.com/harryfisherEMTP/status/1928902156570022115

———— Autocracy R Us ————

https://twitter.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1928974128255557705

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

Stephanopoulos Accuses Trump of ‘Staggering’ Corruption

George Stephanopoulos opened his Sunday show with a scathing accusation of corruption by Donald Trump and his family – just six months after ABC agreed to a $16 million payment to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by the president for the anchor’s comments.
Said Stephanopoulos: “The scale is staggering. Donald Trump and his family are making hundreds of millions, potentially billions of dollars, as Trump and his administration are taking official actions that benefit contributors and investors.”

———— Smoot-Hawley 2.0 ————

Trump Aides Insist That Tariffs Will Remain

…Trump’s top economic advisers stressed on Sunday that they would not be deterred by a recent court decision declaring many of the administration’s tariffs to be illegal, pointing to other authorities the White House could invoke to pressure China and other nations into trade negotiations.
They also signaled that Mr. Trump had no plans to extend an original 90-day pause on some of his steepest tariff rates, raising the odds that those duties — the mere announcement of which had roiled markets — could take effect as planned in July.

———— Melon Husk ————

https://twitter.com/NoLieWithBTC/status/1928994304007028903

Elon Leaves Trail of Destruction, Corruption … and No Financial Disclosure

Musk’s tenure as a Special Government Employee is ending, but his chaotic stint in the federal government will haunt Americans for years.

———— Mors Imperii ————

https://twitter.com/Fernand46357857/status/1929023218880253954

Serendipity:

https://x.com/CinemaTweets1/status/1928472281941954673

https://x.com/realMattKParker/status/1924806518328684762

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