Odds and Ends — 22 June 2026

@preparedwombat 79

18 days ago

oddsandends

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

Bank of England eases stablecoin rules, introduces 40B pound issuance cap

Ethereum Layer-2 Taiko Warns Users to Withdraw Bridge Funds After Security Breach

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Updated COVID vaccines cut risk of hospital care, heart complications, new data reveal

Iran:

https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/2068379959614206369

Fed-up Trump threatens to ‘blow the shit’ out of Iran — prompting Tehran to storm out of US peace talks

President Trump threatened to destroy Iran on Sunday and suggested that the US could take full control of the Strait of Hormuz, becoming the ‘Guardian Angel’ of the oil choke point and take 20% of the crude if the fragile peace deal falls apart.
Said Trump: “You close it, and you won’t have a country. You won’t even make it back to your fucking country.”

Israelis Overwhelmingly Negative on Iran Deal

Israelis overwhelmingly view the war with Iran and subsequent deal with the United States in a negative way, with 92.1 percent of respondents to a poll believing Tehran is the winner.
According to the Hebrew University survey, 82.9% say the campaign weakened Israel’s long-term security and 86.0% have a negative attitude toward the outcome.

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/2067924548666671139

https://twitter.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/2067952165629432151

https://twitter.com/JamieBonkiewicz/status/2068765232449691995

From Bullying and Bombast to Utter Capitulation

Donald Trump surrendered to Iran in Versailles Wednesday, the place where a defeated and humiliated Germany surrendered in 1919 after World War I—a fact that the uneducated Trump likely does not know.
But anyone who saw the images of a bloated and stuporous Trump wandering around the meetings of the G7 conference this week—or who heard his blatant and patently ridiculous contradictions—would not be surprised to learn that he’s increasingly losing touch with reality.

https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/2068047676680138837

https://twitter.com/Angry_Staffer/status/2068337513740030125

https://twitter.com/LePapillonBlu2/status/2068308531523027328

Politics:

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/2068311804548100421
https://twitter.com/gtconway3d/status/2068289950022246652
https://twitter.com/jaynordlinger/status/2068373096965321086
https://twitter.com/PaulRudnickNY/status/2068480169329762727

The Most Surprising Miscalculation of Trump’s Second Term

He has underestimated the power of patriotic sentiment in countries besides the United States.

https://twitter.com/jimstewartson/status/2068124894584537448

President Trump’s political appointees quashed an early-stage criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding his clemency grant to a convicted fraudster.
The investigation, which has not been previously reported, had begun examining whether improper payments were made to help facilitate the commutation awarded to David Gentile, a private equity executive who was convicted in a $1.6 billion scheme that defrauded thousands of mostly mom-and-pop investors, some of whom lost their retirement savings.

———— Theresienstadt in the Everglades ————

’Alligator Alcatraz’ Shutting Down Permanently

Companies hired by the state to operate the Florida migrant detention center known as ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ were notified Monday morning to begin ‘full demobilization’ of the facility, quietly bringing an ignominious close a $1.2 billion experiment that was once hailed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Trump as a model other states should pursue

———— The Reflecting Pool ————

https://twitter.com/JamesTate121/status/2068038427397038561

https://twitter.com/ColMoeDavis/status/2067953306295562388

https://twitter.com/Tim_Walz/status/2068175775161811087

https://twitter.com/JamesTate121/status/2068809990890983771

Trump, Without Evidence, Blames ‘Disgraceful Vandalism’ for Reflecting Pool Do-Over

Just a week after the completion of President Donald Trump’s much-hyped $14 million renovation of the iconic Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the water is green and a thin layer of ‘American flag blue’ paint originally meant to augment the color of the feature has begun to peel.
But rather than blaming Mother Nature or the contractor who won a no-bid contract for the renovation, Trump has turned his ire on another alleged culprit: vandals.

https://twitter.com/davetroy/status/2068792759708717515

https://twitter.com/acnewsitics/status/2068762261515288762

https://twitter.com/TheMaineWonk/status/2068801533366399441

https://twitter.com/sarrah_bellus/status/2068781205080732041