Odds and Ends — 12 March 2026

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

JPMorgan sued over alleged role in $328M crypto Ponzi scheme

New BlackRock Staked Ethereum Fund to Pay 82% of Rewards to Investors

Flash Fiction:

Monica’s claim to fame was winning the Fourth Place ribbon in the Minnesota State Fair crop art competition in 2009. Several other times, she’d taken Sixth or Seventh and other years, to her shame, she hadn’t ribboned at all. But the Fourth, she was still living with that glory years later.

Written for this prompt.

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Trial finds vitamin D supplements don't reduce COVID severity but could reduce long COVID risk

Iran:

Iran Is Exporting More Oil Today Than Before the War

Iran is exporting more oil through the Strait of Hormuz than before the war, showing it is in control of a strategic waterway that it has closed off to the rest of the region’s oil producers.



Targeting Iran’s Fragile Water Infrastructure Puts the Whole Region in Danger

For decades, the world has viewed conflict in the Middle East through a familiar lens: the price of oil, the range of missiles, and the sterile language of deterrence. But the most dangerous threshold in the current war may lie elsewhere. The infrastructure that keeps civilians alive by providing water, power, and sanitation is now a target of American airpower.

Why does a president who loves selling not want to pitch this conflict?

He has now made one of the most consequential decisions of his presidency: launching a war against Iran. The conflict, which is well into its second week, has widened throughout the Middle East, sent oil prices skyrocketing, and caused tumult in the financial markets. Yet Trump has not sold the war. In many ways, he hasn’t even tried.
The absence of a sales strategy is all the more confounding when you consider the political stakes.

World-class trolling:

Politics:

V.A. Begins Drive to Put Some Homeless Veterans Into Guardianship

Witkoff and Kushner Get an F in Diplomacy

Inexperienced and overextended, Trump’s envoys have failed on three fronts.

Strictly speaking, they’d only get an F if it’s assumed that the USA is their actual client.

Canadian PM Nears Majority With Fourth Defection

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is closing in on a majority in Parliament after a fourth opposition lawmaker joined his ruling Liberal Party.
New Democratic Party representative Lori Idlout, the sole representative for the vast Arctic territory of Nunavut, has defected to the Liberals. The series of so-called floor crossings is helping Carney consolidate power, less than a year after the former central banker and his party came up just short of winning a House of Commons majority in a national election.

———— The Epstein Coverup ————

———— Stark. Raving. Mad. ————

———— Autocracy R Us ————

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

———— Mors Imperii ————

What Happened to Millions Earmarked for Trump’s Library?

Congressional Democrats are opening a probe into millions of dollars private companies pledged to President Donald Trump’s planned presidential library, asking what happened to the money after the original fund was dissolved last year.



Serendipity:

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Badge thanks to arcange@arcange

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Odds and Ends — 12 March 2026 | Ecency