Odds and Ends — 30 September 2025

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

Stablecoin Market Surges on U.S. Regulation, With Circle's USDC Gaining Ground: JPMorgan

Visa Direct tests stablecoins as cash equivalent for instant transfers

The Debate Raging Over Bitcoin's Future

A major change for Bitcoin is coming, reigniting disputes over whether it should remain strictly immutable or adapt to new pressures.

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Inhaled heparin slashes ventilation, death in COVID patients, analysis suggests

Politics:

The Race to Save America’s Democracy

Trump’s administration may seem chaotic, but Americans should not take the integrity of next year’s elections for granted.
Donald Trump likes to say he doesn’t actually lose elections–only the “rigged” ones. Such comments are not mere bluster, like the president’s boasts about golf. They are threats to democracy, which is more fragile than many Americans may realize.
At the end of last year, I asked former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara on his podcast whether we should be worried about Trump trying to pursue a third term. No, he assured me, we have the Constitution; that’s ironclad. I was uneasy with this answer then. My fears have only deepened.

https://twitter.com/lanechanged/status/1972715068614746359

An Entire Generation of Americans is Turning on Israel

Public polling makes clear that generational change is coming that is set to reshape U.S. policy toward Israel in fundamental ways.
On both the left and the right, young Americans are growing more skeptical of offering unconditional U.S. support to Israel, particularly as the death toll in Gaza rises and the possibility of Palestinian statehood dims. At the same time, younger Israelis are veering hard to the right, becoming more nationalist and religious and less sympathetic to the Palestinians, a shift that will create more tension in the U.S.-Israel relationship in the years to come. A collision looks unavoidable.

https://twitter.com/SaraForTexLege/status/1972675648469549226

The US navy killed 17 in deadly strikes. Now Venezuela is giving civilians guns

https://twitter.com/TheMaineWonk/status/1972810108120777131

The Rise of America’s Young Socialists

Zohran Mamdani, 33, shocked the world when he handily won the Democratic primary for New York City mayor running as a proud socialist. Mamdani’s victory has variously been attributed to his charisma, his adroit use of social media, his ability to bring South Asian residents into city politics and the warts of his leading opponents.
But it is also something else: the flowering of a movement that began to gestate nearly 20 years ago, when the misery of the financial crisis proved formative for a generation then just coming of age.

U.S. Deports Plane of Iranians After Deal With Tehran

The deportation is one of the most stark efforts yet by the Trump administration to deport migrants no matter the human rights conditions they might be sent into.

———— The Epstein Coverup ————

https://twitter.com/TimHannan/status/1972273394923303032

https://twitter.com/4HumanUnity/status/1972055067705614564

https://twitter.com/OurShallowState/status/1972404969803530746

———— Stark. Raving. Mad. ————

https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1972328972395712861

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1972351169499734498

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1972733406133076434

———— Autocracy R Us ————

https://twitter.com/iGardon/status/1972442970348818782

Trump says he 'would think' DOJ is investigating former FBI Director Christopher Wray

Stephen Miller: Donald Trump’s ‘prime minister’ executes his plan to reshape America

https://youtube.com/shorts/lMbg56Llzoc?feature=shared

https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/1972312384913174979

https://twitter.com/WUTangKids/status/1972465473859342723

Trump Sets a Precedent That Could Haunt His Allies

The indictment of the former FBI director James Comey demanded by President Trump sent a shiver of fear through others on the so-called enemies list of the current FBI director Kash Patel. But one other person who might have reason for concern is Kash Patel himself.
There will, presumably, come a time when the Republican Party is no longer in control. A precedent has now been set for prosecuting a former FBI director disfavored by the current administration for allegedly lying to Congress. Democrats already are accusing Mr. Patel of having lied to Congress in his confirmation hearings when he promised not to engage in political retaliation.
Mr. Trump’s campaign to imprison, fire or otherwise punish his political foes and use government power to crack down on free speech he does not like has broken norms that stood for generations. But it has also established new standards for what a president can do that even some conservatives worry may come back to bite them.

https://twitter.com/allenanalysis/status/1972691576225665450

https://twitter.com/LucasSa56947288/status/1972672037714895344

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1972371930431783321

https://twitter.com/secretsqrl123/status/1972444191864377474

https://twitter.com/JayinKyiv/status/1972675502721712318

https://twitter.com/Kasparov63/status/1972762109785313782

———— Smoot-Hawley 2.0 ————

Trump announces 100% tariff on foreign-made movies

Under Trump, US cedes its share of China's beef market to Australia

Australian beef has replaced U.S. supply in China since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, funnelling hundreds of millions of dollars that have in previous years gone to the U.S. cattle industry into Australian pockets.

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1972662232400957651

———— Hegseth on the Rocks ————

https://twitter.com/gtconway3d/status/1972756571966050510

https://twitter.com/NickKristof/status/1972371521432883584

Military leaders voice concern over Hegseth’s new Pentagon strategy

https://twitter.com/NotAssangesCat/status/1973007797425225915

———— Mors Imperii ————

Energy Dept. adds ‘climate change’ and ‘emissions’ to banned words list

It is the latest in a series of Trump administration efforts to dispute, silence or downplay climate change.

https://twitter.com/FPWellman/status/1972689354871935273

https://twitter.com/krassenstein/status/1972646217306759601

FEMA Is Paralyzed

Many of FEMA’s core functions related to preparing for natural disasters and leading recovery efforts after they strike have ground to a halt as the Trump administration redefines the agency.
Crucial contracts and grants haven’t been approved, caught up in layers of new bureaucracy. A wave of senior staff departed the agency when Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency offered buyouts, taking decades of experience with them. Around 400 FEMA employees have been detailed to work at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as that agency rapidly expands. And the administration has started dismantling the agency’s disaster-response infrastructure, which was strengthened in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1972834164786495587

https://twitter.com/IsaacDovere/status/1972846129248456979

Millions Could Lose Housing Aid Under Trump Plan

https://twitter.com/hasanthehun/status/1972473209191850330

https://twitter.com/Sharman6642/status/1972473594702962785

Serendipity:

https://twitter.com/j_amesmarriott/status/1972200027465699679

https://twitter.com/keithroysdon/status/1972643248033456423

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