Odds and Ends — 26 May 2026

@preparedwombat 78

2 days ago

oddsandends

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

RWA market hits $51B as tokenized private credits surges

Indonesia Blocks Polymarket After Bets on President’s Early Departure

Coronavirus and Public Health:

The quiet $8 billion crisis: long COVID costs keep rising as Washington looks away

U.S. Researchers Barred From Talking to WHO

Key officials responsible for leading US research on infectious disease threats have been barred from speaking directly with the World Health Organization — effectively shutting some of them out of the global discussions on virus outbreaks.
The Trump administration issued the directive stopping individuals at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from communicating with the WHO.

Iran:

https://twitter.com/covie_93/status/2059083484899971564

From the Department of Obfuscation: US says it launched ‘self-defense strikes’ in Iran as peace negotiations drag on

https://twitter.com/TheMaineWonk/status/2059033304960061532

https://twitter.com/theliamnissan/status/2058920289736519936

https://twitter.com/BarakRavid/status/2058654372389584916

Why Trump Lost

The first surprising thing about President Trump’s impending defeat in the 2026 Iran war is that he already fought and won a successful war against Iran last year. In June 2025, U.S. and Israeli air strikes badly damaged the Iranian nuclear program in 12 days of bombardment. Exactly how badly remains controversial. But they didn’t do nothing. If Trump had quit while ahead, he could have banked his gains from last June as a solid if imperfect win.
The second surprising thing about Trump’s impending defeat is that he does not seem to have cared at all about the only evident reason to resume fighting in 2026: the Iranian people’s rebellion against their brutal oppressors. Trump has never given any evidence of caring about Iranian democracy or human rights…
The third surprising thing about Trump’s impending defeat is that even he himself seems never to have understood why he went back to war against Iran. What exactly did he think he would achieve?

https://twitter.com/donwinslow/status/2059066046355825083

https://twitter.com/ianbremmer/status/2059031952070447451

Trump’s Ego-Driven ‘Excursion’ Has Crashed Into Reality

Trump’s Iran war may be over, or virtually over. America lost.
Iran may or may not agree to exercise restraint in its control over the Strait of Hormuz and its nuclear program. But as Donald Trump of all people should know, agreements can be broken. At a fundamental level Trump, who began by demanding UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER and trying to impose a subservient new regime, is now slinking away, leaving Iran’s hard-liners empowered — and America’s reputation shattered.

https://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/2058318189994651766

Politics:

https://twitter.com/micyoung75/status/2058375179730923691

———— Autocracy R Us ————

https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/2057860290901901592

Federal Prosecutors Struggle With Grand Juries

Grand juries are the heart of the criminal justice system, the inner sanctum where prosecutors, working unchecked and in secret, have enormous power to indict their fellow citizens.
But under President Trump, the Justice Department has had serious difficulties presenting cases to grand juries, running into problems that would have seemed unthinkable a year ago.
In the past several months, prosecutors have repeatedly failed to persuade grand juries that the cases they have brought warrant criminal charges. And if it were not unusual enough, they have also been admonished at least three times since last November by federal judges who have accused them of misconduct.

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

But of course: Personal Info of Trump Phone Buyers Leaked

A phone company launched by Donald Trump’s family business is investigating a potential security flaw on its website that appears to have exposed the personal details of an estimated 27,000 people who sought to buy a gold-coloured smartphone.

Outside the MAGA bubble, Americans are increasingly seeing Trump as the loser he is. He has failed on every front. Manufacturing employment is down, inflation is outpacing wages, consumer sentiment is at a record low, mortgage rates are up. Trump’s war of choice has led to utter humiliation. According to current polls, Americans are giving Trump extremely low approval ratings, both overall and on every major issue — even border security.
Inside the MAGA fantasy bubble, however, Trump’s reign is hailed, almost literally, as the Second Coming.

https://twitter.com/JamieBonkiewicz/status/2059256718903619868