Odds and Ends — 21 June 2025

@preparedwombat 78

4 days ago

oddsandends

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

High risk, high reward: Crypto perpetual futures gain momentum in US

Weird AF: Billionaire Telegram founder leaves his $14 billion fortune to the 100+ children he’s fathered

Elliptic, Internet Watch Foundation Team Up to Combat Crypto Financing of Child Abuse Material

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Fungal spores may help predict COVID-19, influenza activity

Politics:

How Trump Treats Black History Differently

The president’s decision to snub Juneteenth — a day that has been cherished by generations of Black Americans before it was named a federal holiday in 2021 — is part of a pattern of words and actions by Mr. Trump that minimize, ignore or even erase some of the experiences and history of Black people in the United States.
Since taking office in January, he has tried to reframe the country’s past involving racism and discrimination by de-emphasizing that history or at times denying that it happened.

’America First’ Is Dead

The fact is, for all the talk about rejecting ‘globalists,’ the experience of the Trump administration is one of intervening, repeatedly, in global affairs. There is no Fortress America possible in the 21st century. ‘America First’ is dead, if it ever really existed.

White House Floats New Funding Trick

Russ Vought’s relationship with Republican appropriators was already strained. Then he started talking about pursuing the ultimate end-run around their funding power heading into the fall.
The White House budget director has been persistently touting the virtues of ‘pocket rescissions,’ a tactic he has floated as a way to codify the spending cuts Elon Musk made while atop his Department of Government Efficiency initiative, and which the federal government’s top watchdog says is illegal.

———— Autocracy R Us ————

Padilla responds to Vance ‘Jose’ remark: ‘He knows my name’

https://twitter.com/donwinslow/status/1935836523053916260

https://twitter.com/JeremiahDJohns/status/1935829769586655247

Trump Is Losing Political Ground on Immigration

The Trump administration’s aggressive deportation program is testing the political bounds of what Americans will tolerate, spurring a backlash from voters and some Republicans and testing the administration’s resolve.
Federal officials in recent weeks have stepped up raids on worksites and farms, seeking to fulfill President Trump’s pledge of mass deportations. The move has sparked alarm in immigrant communities and street protests in Los Angeles and other cities. Last weekend, Trump directed that arrests be paused at farms and hotels, only to reverse the directive days later.
The back-and-forth was a sign of the confusion and conflict within the administration, which faces pressure from businesses and some Republicans to dial back enforcement even as it is under pressure from the MAGA base to pick up the pace.

———— Israel/Krasnov/Iran ————

https://twitter.com/theliamnissan/status/1935805300973433077

How Trump Can Offer Iran a Way Out

There is no easy option without downsides. The best course of action for Trump now would be to give Iran one last chance to accept a diplomatic deal. Such a proposal would require that Iran agree to hand over all of its enriched uranium, dismantle centrifuges and other known elements of its nuclear programme, and agree to open-ended inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Such an offer would include relief for Iran from economic sanctions, a withdrawal of the US threat to attack, a larger ceasefire and some face-saving mechanism by which Iran could participate in a regional uranium enrichment consortium tied to the generation of nuclear energy, not weapons.
Iran might accept it. After all, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini reluctantly agreed to an end to the war with Iraq in 1988 to save the 1979 revolution that brought the Islamic Republic into existence. Khomeini compared making this decision to drinking poison.

Trump Throws Gabbard Under the Bus — Again

For the second time this week, President Donald Trump publicly undermined Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, disregarding her assessment of Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Speaking to reporters on the tarmac after landing in Morristown, New Jersey, on Friday afternoon, Trump repeated his belief that Iran is building a nuclear weapon — and his disregard for the conclusions of Gabbard, who testified in March that Iran’s nuclear development program was not close to a bomb.

In this instance, Gabbard is probably correct. But since she’s a Russian agent, anything she says is suspect.

https://twitter.com/joelpollak/status/1935779585561366650

Pakistan to Nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

Pakistan said on Saturday it would recommend U.S. President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, an accolade that he has said he craves, for his work in helping to resolve the recent conflict between India and Pakistan.
Some analysts in Pakistan said the move might persuade Trump to think again about potentially joining Israel in striking Iran’s nuclear facilities. Pakistan has condemned Israel’s action as a violation of international law and a threat to regional stability.

As others have discovered, the easiest way to manipulate Trump is to stroke his fragile ego. And it’s not as if there’s any chance that the Norwegian Nobel Committee is going to give Trump what he wants.

Israel Faces Strategic Dilemma in Iran

The longer Israel waits for Mr. Trump, the greater the strain on its air defense system. To keep out Iran’s ballistic missile barrages, Israel is burning through its stocks of missile interceptors, forcing it to prioritize the protection of some areas over others. As time goes on, that raises the risk of more missiles hitting both civilian neighborhoods and strategic security sites.
With Israel’s airspace closed and much of its economic life suspended, the war’s protraction will also come at an economic cost. The sooner the war ends, the faster commercial flights will return and businesses can resume full operations.
Rather than wait for American help, Israel could decide to attack Fordo alone — taking a chance with the planes and munitions it has at its disposal. Some analysts say that Israel could even send commandos to enter and sabotage the site.

Elon Musk may have stopped sparring with President Donald Trump online, but the former presidential adviser and megabacker isn’t done publicly sniping at members of Trump’s administration.
The former DOGE chief slammed Sergio Gor, a top Trump adviser who played a role in his split with the president, bashing him as a ‘snake’ late Wednesday night.

https://twitter.com/TheMaineWonk/status/1936097300612292967