Odds and Ends — 26 August 2025

@preparedwombat 78

5 days ago

oddsandends

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

Was $124K the top? Bitcoin's price peak signals tell a different story

https://twitter.com/EpsilonTheory/status/1959603617565991400

Chairman of Corporate America

To President Trump’s many roles, formal and self-designated, add a new one to the list: chairman of all boards.
The president has assumed a quasi-authority to orchestrate how the private sector operates, both broadly and down to the management and ownership of individual companies.
No one’s stopping him, so he continues to confidently plow ahead.

Elon Musk Sues Apple, OpenAI Over iPhone AI 'Monopoly'

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Trump To Ban Covid-19 Vaccine ‘Within Months’?

Life With Long COVID Comparable to Parkinson's And Stroke

Politics:

French Premier Risks Government Collapse

Opposition to French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou’s government gained momentum on Tuesday, adding to the likelihood that it could be forced out as soon as next month.
Three of the largest opposition parties in France’s National Assembly — the far-right National Rally, the leftist France Unbowed and the Socialists – have all indicated they will vote against the motion, which would force the government to resign.

Pot, meet Kettle: Trump blasts South Korea as unstable before meeting President Lee

———— The Epstein Coverup ————

Epstein Files Sent to Congress Were Already Public

The ‘overwhelming majority’ of documents the Justice Department gave Congress in response to a subpoena for all information from its investigation into the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein had already been publicly released, the top Democrat on the House’s principal investigative committee said on Saturday.

https://twitter.com/bryanbehar/status/1959515701343031341

———— Kilmar Ábrego Garcia ————

https://twitter.com/jason_paladino/status/1960059197816799554

Trump admin ‘absolutely forbidden’ from removing Abrego Garcia, judge says

———— Autocracy R Us ————

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1959999171060187639

America Tips Into Fascism

The United States, just months before its 250th birthday as the world’s leading democracy, has tipped over the edge into authoritarianism and fascism. In the end, faster than I imagined possible, it did happen here. The precise moment when and where in recent weeks America crossed that invisible line from democracy into authoritarianism can and will be debated by future historians, but it’s clear that the line itself has been crossed.
I think many Americans wrongly believe there would be one clear unambiguous moment where we go from ‘democracy’ to ‘authoritarianism.’ Instead, this is exactly how it happens — a blurring here, a norm destroyed there, a presidential diktat unchallenged. Then you wake up one morning and our country is different.

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1959994112251138356

WIRED for the Moment

In a conversation with Status, WIRED’s Katie Drummond argues that Silicon Valley is no longer just innovating new technology—it’s actively shaping American democracy…
DARCY: Stepping back, what do you think it means for American democracy and for the tech sector when Silicon Valley leaders are openly bowing before Donald Trump? And, in an attempt to end on a positive note: Where, if anywhere, do you find reasons for optimism?
DRUMMOND: We’re witnessing, in real-time, a profound consolidation of power and collusion among political and tech elites—the ruling class of this country, and the world – wherein the tools and technologies that this industry has built, and continues to build, can now be deployed in service of an authoritarian regime…
Don’t think for a second that these companies and their executives won’t get in line. They’re already in the Oval Office with a custom glass and 24-karat-gold statuette, for god’s sake.
What gives me optimism? People in tech doing novel, subversive, transformational things—grassroots or otherwise. That, and my second passport.

A nitpick: it’s actually possible to do that, but a truck from Germany would have to go through Iran to do so.

https://twitter.com/auonsson/status/1959395770211185012

https://twitter.com/ghostofRoc/status/1959384638918426846

https://twitter.com/olddog100ua/status/1959590684593148086

One of my pet theories is that China is supporting Russia’s Ukraine war just enough to bleed Russia dry. And that all the posturing about Taiwan is merely a ruse. China will instead sever the Transsiberian rail line and then attack Russia’s far east.

https://twitter.com/prestonstew_/status/1959592422679224438

https://twitter.com/FRHoffmann1/status/1959576884250828930

https://twitter.com/gregolear/status/1959381094056247471

———— JD Vance ————

https://twitter.com/pl_european/status/1959619224130736599

https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1959800866984108477

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1959935805503262742

———— Mors Imperii ————

https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/1959580478769361092

‘It’s like one day everyone left’: How immigration crackdowns are reshaping America

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1959625383566844121
https://twitter.com/iamwesmoore/status/1960021981656395841

Video Shows Trump Lied About Wes Moore

https://twitter.com/NPRinskeep/status/1959954162482909318

https://twitter.com/DissidentSoaps/status/1959682100292174250

Serendipity:

Africa Is Buying a Record Number of Chinese Solar Panels

Energy-starved countries on the continent have reluctantly turned to coal and gas for decades. Cheap Chinese solar panels are now finally changing the calculus.

https://twitter.com/RKing618/status/1960039471984095272