Odds and Ends — 27 March 2025
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, AI, and Debt:
Bitcoin price prediction markets bet BTC won't go higher than $138K in 2025
Ripple Partners With Chipper Cash to Boost Payments in Africa Using XRP
Coronavirus and Public Health:
HHS’s Long COVID Office Is Closing. What Will This Mean for Future Research and Treatments?
https://twitter.com/Craig_A_Spencer/status/1904993885673189407
Politics:
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1905017297892258146
https://twitter.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/1904991464192725218
Bolsonaro to Stand Trial on Coup Charges
A majority of judges on a Brazilian Supreme Court panel voted to approve criminal charges against Jair Bolsonaro, setting the stage for the right-wing former president to stand trial over allegations that he attempted a coup after his 2022 election defeat.
———— Signalgate ————
Hegseth’s Leak Would Have Warned the Enemy. The White House Is Using Semantics to Obscure That.
https://twitter.com/PuckofArks/status/1904780248278786192
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1904886235459440932
https://twitter.com/PatRyanUC/status/1904898412438249593
https://twitter.com/OMGno2trump/status/1904853530264936605
Trump Goes After the Messenger
Trump—who is famously reluctant to use any electronic messaging, and who started sending the occasional text message only during his last campaign—had not heard of the encrypted app and opted against weighing in when he spoke with the press, the officials said. Instead, Trump insisted he knew little about the matter while taking a swipe at Goldberg and this publication.
But since then, the two officials and an outside adviser told me, the president has grown frustrated at the incident’s sloppiness and the negative headlines it has spawned—including from a contentious congressional hearing today—even as he and his allies have focused on attacking the media rather than showing outward concern for the apparent flagrant national-security breach.
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1904908390427418870
https://twitter.com/BlackKnight10k/status/1904905166148493358
https://twitter.com/lawindsor/status/1904924952853442773
https://twitter.com/PalmerReport/status/1904917054106354126
https://twitter.com/OAlexanderDK/status/1904889239344427305
Chat Blunder Shows Pitfalls of Trump’s Ad Hoc Approach
Texts by President Trump’s advisers about whether to attack Houthi militants in Yemen underscored the ad hoc nature of the administration’s national security deliberations, a mode that has sometimes left allies bewildered and his own aides at odds.
Other presidents have relied on the State Department, Pentagon and National Security Council staff to develop and filter options in an orderly manner. The Trump team has operated in a far less orthodox fashion, one that stems from the president’s impatience with debate and skepticism of bureaucracy. Many of his top advisers, few of whom have held senior positions before, share that perspective.
https://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/1904684732165873747
https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/1904891218133197192
https://twitter.com/janecoaston/status/1904909526274367549
https://twitter.com/RepJackKimble/status/1904681502744440959
https://twitter.com/Timodc/status/1904874042663764062
J.D. Vance’s Anti-European Obsession Runs Deep
The text-message debacle over the U.S. attacks on the Houthis is the latest example that Vice President Vance is the Trump team’s chief antagonist of Europe — both publicly and behind the scenes.
Vance’s private argument against the attacks, included in the texts among top U.S. officials that were revealed by The Atlantic, matched his recent pattern of public hawkishness toward European allies.
https://twitter.com/TheOnion/status/1904911235356721564
https://twitter.com/AesPolitics1/status/1904907490589884512
'Somebody has to go down': Trump allies take aim at Michael Waltz
This is about a lot more than one guy. Multiple heads need to roll. But that’s probably not going to happen given the pervasiveness of corruption in this administration. And the bigger problem isn’t an “accidental invitation,” it’s the ongoing use of Signal.
https://twitter.com/PalmerReport/status/1905016202591682836
https://twitter.com/RobertPicardo/status/1905095704831520855
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1905011859708576153
———— Melon Husk ————
https://twitter.com/SSWorks/status/1904545282718666965
https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/1904901849691328749
DOGE says it needs to know the government's most sensitive data, but can't say why
———— Krasnov/Putin/Ukraine ————
https://twitter.com/AnnaOdesitka/status/1904593275270685118
Ukraine ceasefire deal looks like a Russian wishlist tied with a US bow
A moratorium on attacks on ships in the Black Sea seems to be contingent on sanctions relief – a key Kremlin demand
———— Autocracy R Us ————
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1904759590421409836
Trump Suggests Compensation for Capitol Insurrectionists
https://twitter.com/JoJoFromJerz/status/1904713047869976895
Trump Is Blasting Through Norms
…Donald Trump and his administration are vilifying judges who rule against them and targeting political opponents and law firms for retribution in ways that have no parallel in recent U.S. history.
These actions and others show a presidency with a strikingly aggressive approach to power, moving swiftly to claim more authority and barrel through norms, according to legal experts and constitutional law scholars.
While their antagonistic posture toward court challenges and judicial orders is the most prominent display of resistance, the degree to which Trump and his associates have targeted foes for punishment is also a stark departure from past administrations.
https://twitter.com/donwinslow/status/1904641057398415737
Donald Trump’s New World Order Is the Old World Order
The president has shattered America’s commitment to promoting democracy and international norms, replacing it with an erratic transactionalism that favors dominance over stability—and loyalty over law.
America Is Watching the Rise of a Dual State
For most people, the courts will continue to operate as usual—until they don’t.
———— Mors Imperii ————
https://twitter.com/AXorbitant/status/1904875169727848572
Republicans Rebuff Trump Demand to Impeach Judges
President Trump’s call to impeach judges who have ruled against him is going nowhere in the GOP-controlled Congress, even as Elon Musk and other MAGA voices continue to rage against court orders slowing initiatives on immigration and other contentious issues.
https://twitter.com/thejackhopkins/status/1904741727774089525
Private Data and Passwords of Senior U.S. Security Officials Found Online
Private contact details of the most important security advisers to U.S. President Donald Trump can be found on the internet. DER SPIEGEL reporters were able to find mobile phone numbers, email addresses and even some passwords belonging to the top officials.
“Too Stupid for Words”: Trump pulls back 20 semi trucks of food from Cleveland’s food bank
https://twitter.com/MPLSKerrBear/status/1904702429540602360
Serendipity:
Donal Logue’s Road to Transforming Trucking Education
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