Odds and Ends — 31 March 2025

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

Trump sons back new Bitcoin mining venture with Hut 8

https://twitter.com/TheEconomist/status/1906494824858972389

Reciprocal Tariffs Set to Start With All Countries

…Donald Trump said he plans to start his reciprocal tariff push with ‘all countries,’ tamping down speculation that he could limit the initial scope of tariffs set to be unveiled April 2.
Said Trump: “You’d start with all countries, so let’s see what happens.”

Let’s see what happens, that’s his strategy? And he says it out loud?

https://twitter.com/DavidSegalRI/status/1905637502557241710

Coronavirus and Public Health:

‘This is all wholly preventable,’ former Covid chief says of measles outbreak

https://twitter.com/propublica/status/1906104100372070479
https://twitter.com/outbreakupdates/status/1906161620738293859

Politics:

Marine Le Pen Barred From 2027 Presidential Run

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen was convicted of embezzlement and barred from running to be France’s next president in a verdict that reshapes the nation’s political landscape.
Judges at the Paris criminal court found Le Pen and her National Rally party guilty of diverting millions of euros in European Union funds to finance activities related to their domestic agenda.

Why Norway is restoring its Cold War military bunkers

———— Kalaallit Nunaat ————

https://twitter.com/FPWellman/status/1906167077720691106
https://twitter.com/shashj/status/1906089445792555155
https://twitter.com/amvetsupport/status/1906389430744617144

———— Autocracy R Us ————

The Great Grovel: How Trump forced elite institutions to bend to his will

“They’re playing to Trump’s strengths, which is as a mob boss.”

https://twitter.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1906378176856572001

Trump seeks takeover of elections in a bid for more presidential power

Rooted in the president’s false claims of election fraud, Trump’s executive order is illustrative of governing through dictates rather than legislation…
The order on elections is more than 2,500 words and at times densely written. It may have received less attention than warranted as it was issued amid the controversy over how sensitive military operational details were shared in a Signal chat group that accidentally included Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of the Atlantic.
The order is illustrative of how the president is attempting to govern, largely through dictates rather than legislation. It is rooted in Trump’s long-standing, though false, claims that the election system is rife with fraud. Its legal foundations are questionable. But like other executive orders the president has signed, it could produce chaos and change before it is fully litigated.

https://twitter.com/JonahDispatch/status/1906145064859935007

Trump Boasts About Getting Back at Opponents

Said Trump: “You see what we’re doing with the colleges, and they’re all bending and saying, ‘Sir thank you very much we appreciate it.’”
He added: “And nobody can believe it – including law firms that have been so horrible, law firms that nobody would believe and they’re just saying, ‘Where do I sign where do I sign?’ Nobody can believe it. And there’s more coming.”

Is it normal for a President to talk like a delusional fourth-grade bully?

https://twitter.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1905706784213606591
https://twitter.com/krassenstein/status/1906472606645305622

———— The Third Time’s the Charm? ————

Trump won’t rule out seeking a third term in the White House, tells NBC News ‘there are methods’ for doing so

There are only two methods. Modifying the Constitution (much easier said than done) and shredding it.

https://twitter.com/ChrisDJackson/status/1906382385836364072
https://twitter.com/brianstelter/status/1906399252810441058
https://twitter.com/levparnas/status/1906453119426285923
https://twitter.com/WalshFreedom/status/1906493073430806791
https://twitter.com/lawindsor/status/1906454909001826530

———— Melon Husk ————

Musk Says ‘Destiny of Humanity’ Rests on Wisconsin

Elon Musk framed Tuesday’s election for Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court in nothing less than apocalyptic terms, telling a crowd on Sunday night in Green Bay that the vote could ultimately swing control of Congress — meaning it could effectively “affect the entire destiny of humanity.”
Mr. Musk revels in provocative, inflammatory rhetoric. But his remarks — and the visit itself, 36 hours before polls open for Election Day — reflected his extraordinary push to bolster Judge Brad Schimel, the conservative candidate for the State Supreme Court. The election, he said, is not “some kind of judicial thing that is not that important.”

https://twitter.com/Mollyploofkins/status/1906496674643460400
https://twitter.com/BDHerzinger/status/1905933297701789741

Why DOGE Could Actually Increase the Deficit

https://twitter.com/dpakman/status/1906034970184864230
https://twitter.com/WUTangKids/status/1906091767927112117

Is Elon Musk remaking government or breaking it?

https://twitter.com/Angry_Staffer/status/1906385848309866826

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

https://twitter.com/JohannaNyman5/status/1906089787703828504
https://twitter.com/JayinKyiv/status/1906311422578966864

———— Signalgate ————

Jeffrey Goldberg Says It’s ‘Not True’ He and Waltz Never Spoke

Said Goldberg: “Well, this isn’t the matrix. Phone numbers don’t just get sucked into other phones. I don’t know what he’s talking about there. You know, very frequently in journalism, the most obvious explanation is the explanation. My phone number was in his phone because my phone number is in his phone.”
He added: “He’s telling everyone that he’s never met me or spoken to me. That’s simply not true. I understand why he’s doing it. But you know, this has become a somewhat farcical situation. There’s no, there’s no subterfuge here. My number was in his phone. He mistakenly added me to the group chat. There we go.”

https://twitter.com/lawindsor/status/1906044322237313463
https://twitter.com/AlCappuccinoIT/status/1905647654249316650

———— Mors Imperii ————

Agency for older adults and people with disabilities to be shuttered under HHS cuts

Report about alleged mistreatment of female detainees at Krome Detention Center sparks protest

https://twitter.com/PaulRudnickNY/status/1906345357706948858

Serendipity:

https://x.com/CigsMake/status/1905696940920361053
https://x.com/SVG__Collection/status/1906091974551121935

Cuts to science research funding cut American lives short − federal support is essential for medical breakthroughs

https://twitter.com/Strandjunker/status/1906060169907146918

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