Odds and Ends — 29 July 2025
When we bought our new place a few months ago, one of the things we liked the most was all the trees in its backyard. After last night’s storm, we have one less. Fifty tears ago, I was adept at using a chainsaw. Now? Not so much.
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, AI, and Debt:
Big brands are sleepwalking when it comes to stablecoins
With Amazon and Walmart exploring stablecoins, institutions may be underestimating potential exposure of customer data on blockchains, posing risks to privacy and brand trust.
America’s first transcontinental freight railroad is planned after a megamerger
South Korea’s Ruling, Opposition Parties Clash Over Stablecoin Regulation
Coronavirus and Public Health:
Politics:
Trump Blocks Visit of Taiwan’s President
Donald Trump’s administration has denied permission for Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te to stop in New York en route to Central America, after China raised objections with Washington about the visit.
Lai planned to transit the US in August en route to Paraguay, Guatemala and Belize, which recognise Taiwan as a country. But the US told Lai he could not visit New York on the way.
More Than 60,000 Killed in Gaza
The number of Palestinians killed in the Israeli military campaign against Hamas in Gaza passed 60,000 on Tuesday, local health authorities said.
It is a figure public health analysts, doctors and conflict casualty monitors say is likely to be a significant undercount, as Israel’s ground operations and attacks on hospitals have upended the enclave’s health care infrastructure.
Judge Blocks Effort to Defund Planned Parenthood
A federal judge on Monday ruled Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide must continue to be reimbursed for Medicaid funding as the nation’s largest abortion provider fights President Donald Trump’s administration over efforts to defund the organization in his signature tax legislation.
———— The Epstein Coverup ————
https://twitter.com/AesPolitics1/status/1949846860287385845
https://twitter.com/realTuckFrumper/status/1949850711618957710
https://twitter.com/allenanalysis/status/1949885430431961585
———— Autocracy R Us ————
Trump Launches Investigation Into Duke University
The Education Department is launching an investigation into Duke University and Duke Law Journal, the department announced in a news release on Monday, citing reporting that alleges the university was violating the Civil Rights Act.
A Casualty of Trump’s FBI Purge Speaks Out
“They get a kick out of playing dress-up and acting tough, but they actually have no idea what they’re doing.”
———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————
https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1949802075317059784
https://twitter.com/Prune602/status/1949836083664966025
———— Smoot-Hawley 2.0 ————
To avoid worst of Trump tariffs, E.U. accepted a lopsided deal
https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1949578088712712651
https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1949801459333153171
Trump’s Trade ‘Deals’ Make Little Sense
Trump has now announced a trade ‘deal’ with the European Union that looks a lot like the ‘deal’ he made with Japan. I use scare quotes because there is little sign of a quid pro quo. The United States is imposing a 15 percent tariff that is lower than previously threatened, but still vastly higher than we had before Trump. Overall U.S. tariffs seem likely to settle roughly at the level that prevailed after the infamous Smoot-Hawley tariff of 1930.
In return we got a vague promise of higher European investment in the United States. When Japan made a similar promise last week, administration officials asserted that this would mean hundreds of billions flowing into rebuilding U.S. industry. Japanese officials, however, say that the money will consist almost entirely of loans and loan guarantees. This strongly suggests that Japan will, if it does anything at all, simply be sticking Trump’s name on money flows that would have happened anyway. There’s every reason to suspect that the same will be true of whatever the EU does.
And like the Japan deal, this deal seems to place lower tariffs on cars made in Europe, which have very little U.S. content, than on cars made in Canada, which contain many American parts. Add in the punishing tariffs on steel and aluminum, and Trump’s trade policy seems, if anything, to be tilting the playing field against U.S. manufacturing.
———— Hegseth on the Rocks ————
Pentagon Thrown Into Confusion Over Think Tank Ban
A wide swath of Defense Department officials fear that new rules banning employees from participating at think tank and research events — a key way the Pentagon delivers its message and solicits feedback — will leave the military muzzled and further isolated from allies.
The move, according to more than a dozen officials and think tank leaders, hampers the department’s ability to make its case both in Washington policy circles and to allies struggling to understand how they fit into President Donald Trump’s worldview.
———— Mors Imperii ————
https://twitter.com/sethharpesq/status/1949863458939302172
For a decade, President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement has bulldozed through generations of GOP orthodoxy on everything from the national debt to immigration to trade to Russia.
Now, there are fresh signs that MAGA is careening toward one of the last remaining Republican shibboleths: unconditional support for Israel, an article of faith that has long animated both Trump’s white evangelical base and traditional Republicans hawkish about the Middle East.
Medicare Part D Drug Plan Premiums Set to Rise
Premiums for Medicare drug plans are set to increase sharply next year, due to rising costs, regulatory changes and cutbacks to a subsidy program. The subsidy program, which sent extra federal funds to the private insurers that offer the drug benefit — known as Part D — had largely shielded seniors from rising monthly bills in 2025.
The Trump administration is set to cut spending on that program by about 40% in 2026.
Serendipity:
https://twitter.com/historyinmemes/status/1949923816777621920
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Looks like a nasty storm passed through!
Damn man them trees can be a nuisance too. Chainsawing ain’t as easy as it used to be it seems. Best hire a pro to make quick work of it.
In need of some fire wood? 🔥
One of the trees that border the line of houses here fell after becoming diseased. It fell right across the boundary and into my garden and I came home one day to see the top of the branches right up to my front door. A foot or two taller, it would have crashed into the living room. Funny thing is I passed it on the street side coming home and didn't even notice the gaping hole in the hedge. The postman couldn't deliver for days until my neighbour had cut away all the canopy.