Odds and Ends — 30 April 2025
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, AI, and Debt:
Bitcoin volatility lowest in 563 days, Hayes predicts $1M BTC by 2028
OpenAI Rolls Back ChatGPT Update After User Pushback Over ‘Sycophantic’ Behavior
https://twitter.com/BrianTycangco/status/1917120875876520360
SEC Drops Probe Into PayPal's PYUSD Stablecoin
Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:
Politics:
https://twitter.com/factpostnews/status/1917383947215917187
Trump Is a Triple Loser in Canada’s Election
So Trump has produced a revived government in Ottawa with a distinct mandate to fight him tooth and nail. But that’s not the only way he was a loser on Monday. It’s not at all unusual for politicians to rally domestic support by picking a fight with other countries; it’s a jingoistic political tale as old as time. In this case, there is zero evidence (outside the hardest core of MAGA loyalists) that Americans have rallied to Trump’s Canada-bashing cause. Au contraire, as they might say in Quebec…
If that’s not enough, the president’s persistent bullying of Canada has drawn extra attention to his single most unpopular economic policy initiative: the on-again, off-again trade war that has unsettled markets everywhere and convinced price-conscious Americans that inflation is about to make a comeback.
https://twitter.com/PaulRudnickNY/status/1917061552076951902
https://twitter.com/jaketropolis/status/1917197613063131530
———— Autocracy R Us ————
‘We’re citizens!’: Oklahoma City family traumatized after ICE raids home, but they weren’t suspects
https://twitter.com/shannonrwatts/status/1917222895321075934
Majority of Americans Say Trump Is a ‘Dangerous Dictator’
Trump Says He Could Free Abrego Garcia From El Salvador, but Won’t
…Trump, whose administration has insisted it could not bring Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia back from El Salvador to the United States, said he does have the ability to help return the wrongly deported Maryland man, but is not willing to do so because he believes he is a gang member.
Mr. Trump’s comments not only undermined previous statements by his top aides, but were a blunt sign of his administration’s intention to double down and defy the courts.
So how will Trump’s admission that he could secure his release with a single phone call go down with, say, Judge Paula Xinis, who has set a deadline of 5 p.m. today for more information on this case? The Supreme Court, remember, ordered the Trump administration to ‘facilitate’ Garcia’s return to the U.S. way back on April 10. This whole case suddenly got more interesting.
https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/1917207947249135682
All the U.S. Citizens Who’ve Been Caught Up in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown
It’s not a matter of if U.S. citizens are getting caught up in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and mass-deportation efforts but, rather, how and how many.
https://twitter.com/jmontforttx/status/1917202028985569747
———— Smoot-Hawley 2.0 ————
White House: Reports Amazon considering tariff display costs ‘a hostile and political act’
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1917258762446069995
https://twitter.com/maddenifico/status/1917254462386663812
Bessent: No supply chain shocks ahead from tariffs
Source: Trust me bro.
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1917214202797895756
Trump Insists China Will Probably ‘Eat Those Tariffs’
———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————
Why Trump Is Giving Putin Everything He Wants
———— Melon Husk ————
Musk’s Parting Gift: The Construction of a Surveillance State
———— Hegseth on the Rocks ————
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1917228485371924539
———— Mors Imperii ————
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1917337895137935476
I assumed that it was a fake post falsely attributed to Graham. I was wrong.
Trump Is the Godfather in Reverse
The Canadian election demonstrates why Trumpist trade policy, and foreign policy in general, is doomed to catastrophic failure. Trump isn’t trying to drive tough substantive bargains. Mainly, he seems to want to indulge in narcissism, demanding that other nations humiliate themselves so he can put on a display of dominance. And America doesn’t have remotely enough leverage, even against Canada, to make such demands. You could say that Trump is a reverse Godfather, making offers other countries can’t accept.
Consider the state of negotiations — or, actually, non-negotiations, since talks appear to have broken down — with Japan, another country Trump appears to have thought he could bully. Japan does sell a lot to the United States and might have been willing to offer something to preserve its access to our market.
But reports indicate that Japanese representatives sent to Washington left without accomplishing anything because they found Trump’s people impossible to deal with.
https://twitter.com/Mteuzi/status/1917268504912552388
U.S. Added to Global Human Rights Watchlist Over Declining Civil Liberties
https://twitter.com/MalloryMcMorrow/status/1917219897060245615
Serendipity:
https://twitter.com/RealEmirHan/status/1917282954226684051
Spain-Portugal blackout: what could have caused it, and how can we prevent another?
https://twitter.com/emilykmay/status/1917243813703123346
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Man so much going on right now. I wish I didn’t have any horses in this race and could just grab a bowl of popcorn and watch for entertainment value!
So much global reputation and relationship damage in so short a time. Wonder if it will fizzle or fall apart more! It doesn’t seem like any opposition is legitimately and cohesively forming but I hope that is not the case.
I wonder if part of the problem is how spread out America’s population is. In most countries, the capital is also the largest city. Washington is only our seventh largest.
Bucharest had a huge protest and a few days later Ceaușescu was up against the wall. That kind of thing just can’t happen in America.
What is he going to do to Jeff Bezos? Isn't he independently wealthy, can fly in space and everything?
the facilities closing down and job losses, is that to do with no goods arriving, or people boycotting Amazon?
Yeah, I don’t understand why so many people fear Trump. He’s just a fourth grade bully.
I was going to say that after a certain amount of money, it's all about power. But I wonder...is Bezos afraid? Are the billionaires actually worried about what the government can to do them, personally? Law firms folding. Universities folding. Can judges be far behind? I think the fear goes beyond money. I think there is a real fear of the power that government is exerting over individuals and organizations.
In that case, I wonder when they are going to start organising collectively?
I think nobody knows what's going to happen. Just waiting, playing it safe.
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