Odds and Ends — 26 March 2025

about 1 month ago

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

Moody’s Warns on Deteriorating Outlook for U.S.

Credit rating group Moody’s has warned on the US fiscal outlook, saying President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs can hamper the country’s ability to cope with a growing debt pile and higher interest rates.

Consumer Confidence Hits 12-Year Low

America’s economic mood continues to deteriorate as President Donald Trump carries on with his sweeping economic agenda.
Consumer confidence slid 7.2 points this month to a reading of 92.9, the Conference Board said Tuesday in its latest survey, extending a decline that began in December, after the US presidential election.

https://twitter.com/ShadowofEzra/status/1904220440588845091

Trump Family Venture Plunges Deeper Into Crypto

World Liberty Financial, a crypto project backed by President Trump and his family, said it would launch a new stablecoin backed by U.S. government debt.

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Five years on: The countries that never locked down for Covid-19

Measles Case Confirmed in D.C.

The D.C. Department of Health confirmed a case of measles in the District on Tuesday morning.
The person who was diagnosed traveled through several places in D.C. while contagious, including an Amtrak train.

Remedy Supported by RFK Jr. Leaves Patients More Ill

Doctors in West Texas are seeing measles patients whose illnesses have been complicated by an alternative therapy endorsed by vaccine skeptics including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary.
One of those supplements is vitamin A, which Mr. Kennedy has promoted as a near miraculous cure for measles. Physicians at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas, say they’ve now treated a handful of children who were given so much vitamin A that they had signs of liver damage.

Politics:

———— Pete Hegseth, DUI Hire ————

https://twitter.com/covie_93/status/1904245476796338370
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1904513707805126821

The Worst and the Dimmest

These guys might look like idiots, and talk like idiots, but don’t let that fool you: they really are idiots.

https://twitter.com/DarthPutinKGB/status/1904223770979570126
https://twitter.com/donwinslow/status/1904329777479393540
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1904625168997376386

The Scandal Will Also Be in How They Brush It Aside

There should be consequences for top government officials convening on Signal to discuss war plans. We fear there won’t be.

https://twitter.com/hissgoescobra/status/1904296759049744596
https://twitter.com/janthonylong/status/1904296688161869946
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1904280526778736652

Trump Looks for a Fall Guy for Signalgate

https://twitter.com/FPWellman/status/1904312359512121821
https://twitter.com/mermaidmamamags/status/1904253622835441917
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1904662855904800825

White House Aides Defiant After Group Chat Fiasco

Said one Trump adviser: “We don’t care what the media says. We can easily handle what would kill any other administration. This will blow over.”
Said another: “Trump certainly wasn’t pleased with this. But all this talk you see about Waltz not lasting is just way premature. There’s a Washington feeding frenzy. And we all know that you don’t give the mob what it wants.”

https://twitter.com/JenResistedAGN/status/1904517626706981137
https://twitter.com/David73943232/status/1904355093350105370

Trump’s Angry Rant Over Hegseth Text Fiasco Makes Scandal Even Worse

https://twitter.com/DarthPutinKGB/status/1904575559918924286
https://twitter.com/JayinKyiv/status/1904511529766064584
https://twitter.com/BlueATLGeorgia/status/1904597775515607460

———— Ask and Ye Shall Receive ————

Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump’s Advisers Shared on Signal

https://twitter.com/cmclymer/status/1904887521512763563

———— The Buck Stops Somewhere Else ————

https://twitter.com/KellyScaletta/status/1904552876782858647
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1904567023923089696

Kabuki theater? I’ll believe when I see it: Intelligence Officials Shift Blame to Pete Hegseth

Several of President Donald Trump’s top national security officials shifted responsibility to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for sending potentially classified information that appeared in a group chat about US military strikes in Yemen that a journalist was included in.
It was a subtle arms-lengthening of one of Trump’s most controversial — and least experienced — cabinet members.

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1904501260423663734
https://twitter.com/lrozen/status/1904662980718923827

———— Melon Husk ————

https://twitter.com/RonWyden/status/1904547450389418297
https://twitter.com/MaxFlugrath/status/1904697847892652145

———— Krasnov/Putin/Ukraine ————

https://twitter.com/YourAnonCentral/status/1904492052244742246
https://twitter.com/Kasparov63/status/1904594976094196209
https://twitter.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/1904543618422944101

EU rejects Russian ceasefire demand for sanctions relief

https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1904410695300493658
https://twitter.com/OlgaNYC1211/status/1904344536521797806
https://twitter.com/FPWellman/status/1904520385711755669

Putin’s Theories of Victory

Russia Sees Trump’s Dealmaking as a Can’t-Lose Proposition

https://twitter.com/ReneDuba/status/1904488411827773587
https://x.com/JayinKyiv/status/1904574166671503388

———— Autocracy R Us ————

They Are America’s Most Powerful Law Firms. Their Silence Is Deafening.

Mr. Trump’s tactics against Big Law and other legal institutions seem clearly aimed at demonstrating there is no law but whatever deal the president is personally willing to strike, indeed no law but Trump.

https://twitter.com/Timodc/status/1904351201019187426

Mike Johnson Floats Eliminating Federal Courts

Facing pressure from his right flank to take on judges who have ruled against President Donald Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Tuesday floated the possibility of Congress eliminating some federal courts.
It’s the latest attack from Republicans on the federal judiciary, as courts have blocked a series of actions taken by the Trump administration.

The Justice Department Just Debuted a New Defense of Trump. It’s Terrifying.

Alien Enemies Act Deportations Were Carefully Orchestrated To Keep Courts In The Dark

———— Mors Imperii ————

Fooking brilliant: Florida debates lifting some child labor laws to fill jobs vacated by undocumented immigrants

Florida has been working for years to crack down on employers that hire undocumented immigrants. But that presented a problem for businesses in the state that are desperate for workers to fill low-wage and often undesirable jobs.
Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state legislature have a potential solution: children.
The state’s legislature on Tuesday is set to debate a bill that would loosen child labor laws, allowing children as young as 14 years old to work overnight shifts. If the new law is passed, teenagers would be able to work overnight jobs on school days.

J.D. Vance Will Join His Wife on Greenland Trip

What possible reason would the Danes have for allowing this?

Trump Signs Order to Tighten Voter Registration

…Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that would seek to cut federal grants to states who don’t adopt tougher standards for voter registration, the latest Republican step in the political fight over access to the voter rolls.

https://twitter.com/Angry_Staffer/status/1904683395591840214