Odds and Ends — 9 December 2025

@preparedwombat 78

10 days ago

oddsandends

A One-Sentence Story:

He didn’t think I’d shoot him for calling me Sport, but he was wrong.

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

https://twitter.com/TheWarMonitor/status/1998206215558676496

Russia Plans Limits on Cash and Gold Exports in Push to Curb Shadow Economy

https://twitter.com/WalshFreedom/status/1998081238574506234

CFTC to Pilot Tokenized Collateral in Derivatives Markets Starting With Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDC

https://twitter.com/DrBritWilliams/status/1998195830826975642

Coronavirus and Public Health:

COVID-19 pandemic and waning immunity disrupted measles population immunity and strategies to close immunity gaps

Politics:

Trump Denounces Europe and Its Leaders

The broadside attack against European political leadership represents the president’s most virulent denunciation to date of these Western democracies, threatening a decisive rupture with countries like France and Germany that already have deeply strained relations with the Trump administration.

https://twitter.com/joshrogin/status/1998178991686234183

Trump Promises to Block State AI Regulations

President Trump said in a social media post Monday that he will issue an executive order this week to curb state laws on artificial intelligence, the latest win for a tech industry lobbying for deregulation.

Since when do Executive Orders apply to anything outside of the Executive Branch?

https://twitter.com/anneapplebaum/status/1997995711330226466

Congress to Withhold Pentagon Travel Funds

Congress is using its marquee defense bill to force the Pentagon into turning over videos of strikes against suspected drug-smuggling boats off the coast of Latin America.
Lawmakers plan to withhold a quarter of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget until the Pentagon provides them with the videos.

Won’t the Trump regime just shuffle funds around like they’ve done before?

https://twitter.com/susanabulhawa/status/1998018616336265467

A National Security Strategy Based on White Supremacy

https://twitter.com/WalshFreedom/status/1998055100145697114

https://twitter.com/infinite_jaz/status/1998027139992662329

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1998237446249627733

For six months, Apple distributed an app called ICEBlock that allowed users to alert people when they saw Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. But after the Trump administration complained that the app endangered officers, Apple removed it.
On Monday, the app’s developer, Joshua Aaron, sued top Trump administration officials, accusing them of pressuring Apple to stifle his free speech and his right to create, distribute and promote ICEBlock.

https://twitter.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1998119279405748237

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

https://twitter.com/SpencerHakimian/status/1998067138893115726

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1998129348973662518

https://twitter.com/brianstelter/status/1998206606857715774

https://twitter.com/Kasparov63/status/1998089934394335606

https://twitter.com/TheMaineWonk/status/1998236325384995106

https://twitter.com/NormOrnstein/status/1997848627080028591

https://twitter.com/DougJBalloon/status/1998229875145204025

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

https://twitter.com/anneapplebaum/status/1998057727923208528

https://twitter.com/rshereme/status/1997994523255857491

https://twitter.com/KremlinTrolls/status/1997962076225192097

Zelensky rules out ceding land to Russia, refusing to bow to Putin or Trump

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country would not give up territory, not to hasten peace talks, not to satisfy Washington and not under pressure from Moscow.

https://twitter.com/StratcomCentre/status/1997997304486195278

https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1997940668619219204