Odds and Ends — 31 May 2025

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

Two Ways This Bitcoin Bull Market Is Sturdier Than 2020-21 and 2017

IMF raises concern over Pakistan’s Bitcoin mining power plan

Coronavirus and Public Health:

CDC Contradicts RFK Jr. on Vaccines for Kids

Coronavirus vaccines are still recommended for healthy children if their doctors approve, according to updated immunization schedules published late Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, contradicting Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s announcement earlier this week.

RFK Jr. Report Updated with Fresh Errors

The Trump administration’s clean up of the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Commission’s hallmark and error-riddled report is opening new questions about how the report’s authors drew some of its sweeping conclusions about the state of Americans’ health.
At least 18 of the original report’s citations have been edited or completely swapped out for new references… While some of the original report’s inconsistencies have been changed, a few of the new updated citations continue to misinterpret scientific studies.

https://twitter.com/pdmcleod/status/1928155278437974165

Politics:

https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/1928535393739178393

The Unconstitutional Conservatives

Not too long ago, Republicans believed in the rule of law, limiting the power of government, and protecting individual liberty. Then came Donald Trump.

https://twitter.com/MichaelSLinden/status/1928184101476917336

How controversial US-Israeli backed Gaza aid plan turned to chaos

https://twitter.com/AndrewFeinberg/status/1928507456780644512

———— Autocracy R Us ————

White House Convenes Meeting on How to Punish Harvard

The Trump administration is escalating its campaign against Harvard University — and looking for new ways to bring the storied institution to heel.
The White House convened officials from nearly a dozen agencies on Wednesday to brainstorm additional punitive measures… The administration official said that forthcoming actions are expected from the State, Treasury, Health and Human Services and Justice departments, among others, and could happen as early as next month.

https://twitter.com/capitolhunters/status/1928443564897235163

Trump Administration Knew Vast Majority of Venezuelans Sent to Salvadoran Prison Had Not Been Convicted of U.S. Crimes

The Trump administration knew that the vast majority of the 238 Venezuelan immigrants it sent to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador in mid-March had not been convicted of crimes in the United States before it labeled them as terrorists and deported them.
The government’s own data showed that officials knew that only 32 of the deportees had been convicted of U.S. crimes and that most were nonviolent offenses, such as retail theft or traffic violations.

https://twitter.com/WUTangKids/status/1928502518788637031

Trump’s Flurry of Pardons Signals a Wholesale Effort to Redefine Crime

President Trump is employing the vast power of his office to redefine criminality to suit his needs — using pardons to inoculate criminals he happens to like, downplaying corruption and fraud as crimes, and seeking to stigmatize political opponents by labeling them criminals.

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1928382271402168752

———— Medicaid ————

https://twitter.com/SenTinaSmith/status/1928468710399852575

https://twitter.com/wesforan/status/1928508006599114796

———— Florida Man ————

https://twitter.com/TheRickyDavila/status/1928289264506191986

https://twitter.com/DWUhlfelderLaw/status/1928260799878893845

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

https://twitter.com/realTuckFrumper/status/1928414581996601712

https://twitter.com/AnnieForTruth/status/1928428937224581181

———— Smoot-Hawley 2.0 ————

A Victory for Separation of Powers

A court’s decision affirmed a fundamental American principle: The president is no king, and he does not have the power to impose taxes in the form of tariffs whenever he feels like it.

https://twitter.com/HeathMayo/status/1928261212497760442

Trump’s Team Plots Plan B for Imposing Tariffs

…Trump’s trade team is readying its Plan B.
The administration’s tariff strategy was undermined when a court this week found it was illegal for Trump to impose sweeping duties by using emergency economic powers. A federal appeals court on Thursday allowed his duties to stay in effect while the administration’s appeal moves forward, but U.S. officials are weighing their options should they need to find a new legal authority to impose the president’s steep tariffs, which he argues will help rebalance trade in America’s favor.

Trump Team’s Plan B is to ram through tariffs using obscure law to negate ‘rogue judges’

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

https://twitter.com/rshereme/status/1928417478977130986

https://twitter.com/Kasparov63/status/1928469673831444828

I have no idea if this is true, but FWIW Ukraine attacks elite Russian unit base nearly 7,000km away in Vladivostok, source claims

https://twitter.com/Biz_Ukraine_Mag/status/1928360348710527442

https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1928486620736717289

———— DOGE ————

DOGE Could End Up Costing More Than They Save

Rather than set government straight, Elon Musk is leaving Washington with the federal budget all cattywampus. Deficit spending is increasing, not waning, and there is a growing school of thought that his “efficiency” effort could end up costing the government as much as or more than it saved.

———— Melon Husk ————

How Elon Musk Got That Black Eye

Said Musk: “I was horsing around with little X and I said, ‘go ahead, punch me in the face,’ and he did.”

https://twitter.com/moonwatcher1/status/1928575573422395651

https://twitter.com/shannonrwatts/status/1928529854183407998

Musk Juggled Drugs and Family Drama During Campaign

Mr. Musk’s drug consumption went well beyond occasional use. He told people he was taking so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that it was affecting his bladder, a known effect of chronic use. He took Ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms. And he traveled with a daily medication box that held about 20 pills, including ones with the markings of the stimulant Adderall, according to a photo of the box and people who have seen it.

Elon Musk’s Legacy Is Disease, Starvation and Death

https://twitter.com/zackbeauchamp/status/1928441229701779955

———— Mors Imperii ————

https://twitter.com/leftcoastbabe/status/1928313263307026733

https://twitter.com/middleageriot/status/1928562461533229516

Trump Voters Want a Rubber-Stamp Congress

Congress is a coequal branch of government empowered to make laws, control government spending and declare war. But according to Trump voters, the role of the legislative branch is to rubber-stamp the president’s agenda — and they don’t appreciate Republicans who deviate from the party line.
In two recent focus groups that quizzed older Trump voters from across the country about their views of Congress and congressional leaders, participants consistently praised lawmakers who displayed ‘loyalty’ to President Trump and disparaged those whom they viewed as failing to fall in line behind him.

https://twitter.com/Michell33650674/status/1928343170892304403

Serendipity:

https://twitter.com/DiscussingFilm/status/1928471623331385729

I’ve driven through this tunnel a zillion times:

https://twitter.com/Seth_Kaplan/status/1928502252638961986

‘True Detective’ Creator Says ‘I Have Another Story’ for Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson to Return: ‘We’ve Talked About Doing It. I Think the Guys Are Open to It’

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