Odds and Ends — 6 November 2025

3 days ago

I finally got around to replacing the charging cable on the left (even in its degraded state, it was still successfully charging my devices) that I’d bought a few years ago for something like ten bucks. Yesterday, $3.59 got me a six-pack of cables.

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

Banks lobby US Treasury for blanket stablecoin yield ban, Coinbase pushes back

Layoffs Rise to Recession-Like Levels

Layoffs accelerated in October, pushing 2025 job cuts to levels typically seen in recessions, according to newly released data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a private firm that tracks workplace reductions.

https://twitter.com/TheMaineWonk/status/1986267313222320362

Bitcoin Could Bounce, Headwinds Can Turn into Tailwinds: Tom Lee

Coronavirus and Public Health:

The order of pre-COVID chronic conditions may best predict long-COVID risk

Politics:

Russian Crew Reportedly Killed as Sudan’s RSF Shoots Down Military Il-76 Transport

https://twitter.com/GeauxGabrielle/status/1986134637882507444

https://twitter.com/MattBinder/status/1986130777558389103

“New York City has Fallen”: MAGA erupts after Mamdani’s victory

Trump allies and right-wing pundits unleashed Islamophobic and anti-immigrant attacks after Mamdani's victory

https://twitter.com/EastEndJoe/status/1986274522425680336

———— The Trump Shutdown ————

‘Hell to Pay’ If Democrats End Shutdown

Democrats’ sweeping victory in Tuesday’s elections has the party’s House members and activists warning Senate Democrats that the price of caving on the government shutdown just went way up.
Said one House Democrat: “There would be hell to pay if Senate Democrats don’t let events play out.”
The lawmaker added: “We had a huge night last night, and striking a weak deal in the immediate aftermath would be a self own.”

Democrats Gird for Longer Shutdown Fight

Senate Democrats ended their workday Tuesday agonizing over what to do about the record-setting government shutdown. Many of those same lawmakers woke up Wednesday morning ready to fight on.
The sweeping Democratic gains in this week’s elections bolstered the faction in the party insisting that senators dig in and force Republicans to accede to their demand for an extension of key health insurance subsidies used by more than 20 million Americans.

Thune Doesn’t Have the Votes for the Nuclear Option

———— The Epstein Coverup ————

https://twitter.com/DavidShuster/status/1986249329477095860

———— Autocracy R Us ————

‘Highly unusual’: New warning signs for DOJ’s Trump-ordered case against Comey

A federal magistrate judge questioned whether privileged material was improperly obtained and used.

Trump Administration Accused of ‘Propaganda’ for Shifting Story in Shooting Amid ICE Protests

https://twitter.com/royalpratt/status/1985879099164725535

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

https://twitter.com/JayinKyiv/status/1986178523132789226

https://twitter.com/maria_drutska/status/1986351094734463234

———— Smoot-Hawley 2.0 ————

Supreme Court Skeptical of Legality of Trump’s Tariffs

The Supreme Court appeared skeptical of arguments Wednesday that President Donald Trump has legal authority to impose tariffs on a vast range of goods from nearly all countries, signaling the justices could strike down or limit at least part of the administration’s signature economic policy.
The justices sharply questioned government attorneys and attorneys for states and small businesses that challenged the tariffs during more than two and a half hours of arguments in the most significant case over Trump’s policies to reach the high court to date and the first in which the justices could be called on to render a final decision.

https://twitter.com/mmpadellan/status/1986123466769092708

https://twitter.com/TahraHoops/status/1986095263111594180

https://twitter.com/factpostnews/status/1986176871323582617

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1986214586928841085

———— Peter Thiel ————

https://twitter.com/thezachloeffler/status/1986024314794123336

This email is one of the most quietly revealing artifacts of the entire post-2008 era.

Peter Thiel isn’t predicting socialism here. He’s diagnosing the terminal logic of late capitalism: when ownership becomes inaccessible, belief in the system dissolves.