Odds and Ends — 1 May 2026

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

For Hive Power Up Day, I staked 86.693 HIVE.

Crypto VC funding plunges to $659M in April, hits near two-year low

https://twitter.com/steak_umm/status/2049865002740281465
- steak_umm

Mortgage your home for dividends? Strategy CEO’s pitch raises eyebrows

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Long-term study of COVID lockdown and family life shows unexpected, lasting effects on fatherhood

Iran:

Mike Johnson Says the U.S. Is Not at War with Iran

In related news, water is not wet.

Trump Poised to Defy Congress on War Authorization

The Trump administration is on course to blow past an initial deadline for congressional approval for the Iran war on the grounds that the ongoing cease-fire stopped the clock on a 60-day deadline—an assertion met with outrage from Democrats and skepticism from Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Under a 1973 law called the War Powers Resolution, the president is required to notify Congress within 48 hours of military action and withdraw U.S. troops 60 days later, unless lawmakers declare war or authorize the use of force. The expectation on Capitol Hill was that the 60-day deadline expires on Friday.

Trump administration says its war in Iran has been ‘terminated’ before 60-day deadline

Katherine Yon Ebright, counsel at the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program and an expert on war powers, said that interpretation would be a “sizeable extension of previous legal gamesmanship” related to the 1973 law.
“To be very, very clear and unambiguous, nothing in the text or design of the War Powers Resolution suggests that the 60-day clock can be paused or terminated,” she said.

https://twitter.com/acnewsitics/status/2050001972565262733
- acnewsitics

Trump’s Iran Blockade Is Complicating Trip to China

President Trump’s declaration that he is willing to maintain a blockade on Iranian shipping until the Iranians surrender to his demands almost assures that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed by the time he arrives in Beijing in two weeks.
That is exactly what Mr. Trump was seeking to avoid when he delayed his trip to China six weeks ago. And it vastly complicates a critical meeting with President Xi Jinping, forcing White House officials to rethink how Mr. Trump approaches the effort to engineer a rapprochement with China.

https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/2049945635449671988
- CBSNews

To Fully Appreciate What Trump’s Iran War Has Squandered, You Have to Go Back 11 Years

Wendy Sherman was there at a moment when peace between Iran and the U.S. seemed possible. Now she reflects on all that’s been lost.

Politics:

https://twitter.com/covie_93/status/2049998455095886175
- covie_93

Platner-Mills ending in Maine leaves Democrats questioning Schumer strategy

Don’t Underestimate the Fury of Democratic Voters

———— Voting Rights Act ————

https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/2049965475501604888
- marceelias

https://twitter.com/srothschild1/status/2049979188333924611
- srothschild1

https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/2049589487861473547
- GavinNewsom

The Slaying of the Voting Rights Act by the Coward Samuel Alito

———— 86 47 ————

https://twitter.com/ABC/status/2049647692825952673
- ABC

If people are talking about what a toady Blanche is for pushing the bogus prosecution of Comey, they’re not talking about what a toady Blanche is for covering up Trump’s Epstein crimes.