Odds and Ends — 29 June 2025

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

Bitcoin price will make history with $109K weekly, monthly close

The 6 Doomsday Scenarios That Keep AI Experts Up at Night

Coronavirus and Public Health:

New WHO report fails to rule out COVID-19 lab leak origin as China continues to impede investigation

Politics:

https://twitter.com/RepJackKimble/status/1939393120052867564

Republicans May Regret Allowing Trump So Much Power

Through silence or vocal support, House and Senate Republicans are backing an extraordinary set of new precedents for presidential power they may come to regret if and when Democrats seize those same powers.
New precedents are exhilarating when you’re in power — and excruciating when you’re not.

https://twitter.com/TheTNHoller/status/1939304190238478520

https://twitter.com/TheMaineWonk/status/1939350462014046502

John Thune is going to fire the parliamentarian, isn’t he?

Justices’ Nerves Fray

The Supreme Court’s nine justices often like to tout their camaraderie, hoping to dispel public perceptions that they are locked into warring ideological camps.
But the final rulings of the current term — issued from the bench during a tense 90-minute court session Friday — revealed some acrimonious, even acidic, exchanges.

GOP Megabill Would Add $3.3 Trillion to Debt

Tillis won’t run for reelection in North Carolina

https://twitter.com/AlexanderMcCoy4/status/1939004801754251538

Louisiana hospitals warn Mike Johnson of ‘devastation’ from megabill

Every major health system in Louisiana is warning Speaker Mike Johnson and the rest of the state’s congressional delegation that the Senate GOP’s planned Medicaid cuts “would be historic in their devastation.”

https://twitter.com/brianschatz/status/1939162039043399955

———— Israel/Krasnov/Iran ————

https://twitter.com/gtconway3d/status/1938671624821039286

Iran Could Restart Enriching Uranium in Months

Iran could start producing enriched uranium again ‘in a matter of months’, the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog said, adding there is no military solution to stop Iran from a nuclear weapon.

https://twitter.com/TheMaineWonk/status/1939099426179490081

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1939345511355687035

Intercepted Call Downplayed Damage of U.S. Attack

The United States obtained intercepted communication between senior Iranian officials discussing this month’s military strikes on Iran’s nuclear program and remarking that the attack was less devastating than they had expected.
The communication, intended to be private, included Iranian government officials speculating as to why the strikes directed by President Donald Trump were not as destructive and extensive as they anticipated.

Top Iran Cleric Declares Trump And Netanyahu 'Enemies Of God' In New Fatwa

———— Autocracy R Us ————

https://twitter.com/DarrigoMelanie/status/1939113532617814472

‘Don’t Write Anything Down’

Across President Donald Trump’s administration, a creeping culture of secrecy is overtaking personnel and budget decisions, casual social interactions, and everything in between, according to interviews with more than 40 employees across two dozen agencies, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid reprisals. No one wants to put anything in writing anymore, federal workers said: Meetings are conducted in-person behind closed doors, even on anodyne topics. Workers prefer to talk outdoors, as long as the weather cooperates. And communication among colleagues — whether work-related or personal — has increasingly shifted to the encrypted messaging app Signal, with messages set to auto-delete.
It’s not just career staffers who are clamming up, fearful they will be tagged as rebellious or resistant to Trump’s policies and dismissed amid the administration’s push to trim the workforce, fulfilling the president’s promise to eradicate waste, fraud and abuse. Trump’s own political appointees are also resistant to writing things down, worried that their agency’s deliberations will appear in news coverage and inspire a hunt for leakers, federal workers said.

https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1939315174508253214

This did not appear in The Onion: El Salvador president threatens to send imprisoned gangsters to Paris Fashion Week

https://twitter.com/tribelaw/status/1939323570993218022

Trump Will Give ‘Temporary Pass’ for Some Migrants

…Trump said that there will be a temporary pass issued for migrants working at farms and in the hospitality industry to allow employers to have more control after the administration sent mixed messages about exceptions in its mass deportation efforts.

https://twitter.com/wideofthepost/status/1939052642782638290

https://twitter.com/CREWcrew/status/1939277676801413620

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

https://twitter.com/SpencerHakimian/status/1939312285513564186

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

https://x.com/olddog100ua/status/1939040105231958144

https://twitter.com/20gimsack/status/1938911527144222740

Russia hits Ukraine with biggest air attack of the war

Russia’s summer offensive stalls

———— Melon Husk ————

Musk Fumes as Trump Tax Bill Cuts Electric Vehicle Credits

———— Mors Imperii ————

https://twitter.com/NathanJRobinson/status/1938653934324715965

https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1939318580820218177

https://twitter.com/CheriJacobus/status/1939143503981728210

Serendipity:

https://twitter.com/InternetH0F/status/1939187241370124733

June is the new July: Why intense summer heat is arriving earlier

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