Odds and Ends — 1 September 2026

preparedwombat(78)

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

For Hive Power Up Day, I staked 101.239 HIVE.

https://x.com/GregoryConti19/status/2094109176356274332

Bond Selloff Intensifies

The global bond selloff is rolling on into September, raising borrowing costs for governments such as Japan and Germany and putting pressure on U.S. stocks today.

https://x.com/his_eminence_j/status/2094411310012465174

Coronavirus and Public Health:

For Many Americans, Covid Is Still a Chronic, Disabling Disease. These Scientists Are Working Tirelessly to Bring Them Relief

https://x.com/atrupar/status/2093729294044324267

USDA Cyclospora Research Projects Shelved

The Trump administration is shuttering research projects key to the federal government’s fight against cyclospora, the foodborne parasite sickening thousands of Americans this summer.

Iran:

https://x.com/ggreenwald/status/2094425890083987758

The devastation of NSA Bahrain is a national security warning

https://x.com/BrettErickson28/status/2094572117639762122

https://x.com/atrupar/status/2094397876990357705

https://x.com/KEGates/status/2094640550850998466

Politics:

https://x.com/EdKrassen/status/2094480354379722810

Pentagon secretly installs military influencers in civilian roles

Conservative veterans with large social media followings have been hired by the Defense Department and are amplifying Pete Hegseth’s culture-war fights.

Trump welcomes Russia back to the G20. Europe isn’t having it.

https://x.com/scarylawyerguy/status/2094539822031393073

How Karoline Leavitt Debased Her Job

The lie is the elemental matter of the Trump administration. The value of lying is Donald Trump’s deepest belief. He built his celebrity image through shameless and constant deceit that permitted him to bounce from blunder to blunder while constantly reeling in new suckers. Lying is also what binds his loyalists to him: The highest calling of any figure in Trump world is to refuse any concessions to reality when Trump commands it, and the surest ticket to oblivion is to speak the truth.
All of this has made the job of press secretary in a Trump administration less, not more, important than it normally is. In most administrations, the White House press secretary has a unique role in shaping public opinion, whereas the other staffers are concerned principally with governing. In Trump’s White House, distorting reality, rather than trying to improve it, is the highest priority for every official, including and especially the president himself. In an administration where everybody’s main priority is to lie on television, the role of the press secretary is redundant.

https://x.com/LuisMorenolg/status/2094231447200534581

Video in competitive congressional race spotlights challenge of regulating AI-generated political content

In Wisconsin, a recent example can be found on the campaign social media of U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, who is running a competitive reelection bid.
In the weeks since the Democratic primary affirmed that his opponent will be Rebecca Cooke, Van Orden has criticized her for receiving support from national Democratic groups. He has described her as being “anointed” by an elite establishment based in Washington, D.C.
And with the help of Grok, the AI companion built into X, formerly Twitter, he recently created and published a video of a red-headed and freckled young woman — strongly resembling Cooke — ordering “peasants” to vote for her.
“I am the Anointed One. You will comply and you will vote for me,” the synthetic figure says. “That is an order from your D.C. masters.”

https://x.com/shaunking/status/2094180472964133198

Trump has already found someone to blame if Republicans lose the midterms

https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/2094050083155108194

———— A mari usque ad mare ————

MapQuest’s app surges to No. 1 in Navigation after refusing to rename Lake Ontario

https://x.com/AntiTrumpCanada/status/2094081832362917940

Dumbest President ever: ‘I Don’t Want Canadian Anything!’ Trump Fumes at Neighbors from the North as Tariff Feud Ratchets Up

…Donald Trump escalated his trade war with Canada on Sunday by declaring he wants the USA to reject all products coming from North of the border — unless those companies are willing to relocate from Canada to the States.

https://x.com/AceTheCat21/status/2093844770447855671

https://x.com/JamieBonkiewicz/status/2094401418211807361

https://x.com/dieworkwear/status/2094557864799121688

———— Venezuela ————

https://x.com/DastDn/status/2094502251259674878

https://x.com/Tazerface16/status/2094149824656675202

Trump’s Oil Grab Reprises Oil Industry’s Neocolonial Past

…Donald Trump’s plan to seize direct control of Venezuela’s oil reserves is prompting warnings that the Latin American nation will become a modern-day resource colony akin to the so-called banana republics of a century ago — something that could create long-term risks for oil companies operating there.

https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/2094162737202954548

https://x.com/jimstewartson/status/2094229546077938045

https://x.com/MrGlobal2025/status/2093941521233969267

https://x.com/HealthRanger/status/2094269532294599120

Serendipity:

https://x.com/Strandjunker/status/2094158837192315172

This El Niño Will Be Unlike Any in the Past Eight Decades

Die-offs and floods have started already, a prelude to supercharged storms and droughts…
In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, along the equator, scientists have drawn a box. It’s a big box, two-thirds the size of China, yet hardly anyone lives inside it. This rectangular swath of open ocean is monitored by satellites and a network of moored buoys that measure minute changes in the temperature of the water, with an eye toward anomalies.
Every few years or so, driven by changing winds and currents, the water temperature in this part of the ocean starts to rise; even a half degree Celsius above normal over months warrants a designation that an El Niño phase has begun. That’s enough warming to unleash floods and fires, drought and famine, around the world. The box is called Niño 3.4. Right now, it’s hot in the box.

https://x.com/blinkwriter/status/2094529156877045830