Odds and Ends — 8 July 2025

@preparedwombat 78

9 days ago

oddsandends

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

BlackRock iShares Bitcoin ETF Surges Past 700K BTC

Metaplanet eyes digital bank acquisition in phase 2 of Bitcoin strategy

Treasury Department Drops Case Over Ethereum Mixer Tornado Cash

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Medical groups sue HHS, Kennedy over COVID vaccine policy changes

Politics:

Any chance this will survive judicial review? IRS Says Churches Can Endorse Candidates

The IRS said on Monday that churches and other houses of worship should be allowed to endorse political candidates to their congregations, carving out an exemption in a decades-old ban on political activity by tax-exempt nonprofits.

There’s zero chance the Norwegian Nobel Committee will do anything but laugh about this: Netanyahu Nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he had sent a letter to the Nobel Prize Committee to nominate President Donald Trump for the peace prize.

The Hardest Truth About Trump’s Big, Ugly Bill

This may have been a loss for the American people, but this was a big Trump win. He continues to plow through the norms, institutions, and guardrails of government, and he will use the BBB to accelerate his momentum.
Acknowledging this is not defeatism: it’s a recognition of the challenge ahead.

Veterans Affairs Reverses Course on Large-Scale Layoffs

The Department of Veterans Affairs said Monday that it will no longer be forced to conduct a large reduction in workforce, unlike several other federal agencies that were forced to make mass layoffs because of the Trump administration’s U.S. DOGE Service.

———— The Epstein Coverup ————

https://twitter.com/allenanalysis/status/1942290208071786781

https://twitter.com/Thomas1774Paine/status/1942229174497771964

https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/1942274727063740551

https://twitter.com/RickChapterTwo/status/1942260603482997152

MAGA Stunned by Officials “Debunking” Epstein Theories

The MAGA movement erupted in disbelief Monday after top administration officials said convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had not blackmailed elite figures, kept a ‘client list’ or been murdered in prison.
MAGA’s fundamental distrust of the ‘deep state‘ sparked years of conspiracy theories over Epstein’s suicide in prison while facing federal sex trafficking charges. Now, even declarations from movement stalwarts like Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, the top two officials at the FBI, are not enough to placate adherents.

https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1942231420719804927

https://twitter.com/damintoell/status/1942063841375908009

https://twitter.com/Thomas1774Paine/status/1942072267539669466

https://twitter.com/theliamnissan/status/1942248092427809086

https://twitter.com/jimstewartson/status/1942054069121794134

Markets dropped on the news, as investors seemed to view the rates as punishingly high for some of America’s closest allies and largest trading partners.

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1942326401434280208

https://twitter.com/JustinWolfers/status/1942289639647162613

https://twitter.com/JustinWolfers/status/1942295621697753254