Odds and Ends — 14 February 2026

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

Crypto CEO gets 20 years for $200M Bitcoin Ponzi scheme

https://twitter.com/Ike_Saul/status/2022303228897968310
- Ike_Saul

https://twitter.com/FranziaMom/status/2022010355648803242
- FranziaMom

https://twitter.com/rw_pw/status/2022416101628612832
- rw_pw

Clarity Act Passage Would 'Comfort' Markets Amid Bitcoin Volatility: Treasury Secretary Bessent

Flash Fiction:

”Y’all might not want to hear this, but in her company, things turn weird fast. That fiasco with the Hendersons? Wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t shown up. And have you forgotten her impact on last week’s dinner party?”

”Oh come on, she’s just trying to have fun. Like any other puppy.”

”Like any other puppy? That dog’s a chaos agent from hell.”

Written for this prompt.

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Higher pre-COVID BMI tied to greater risk of post-infection heart, GI problems in youth

Politics:

Trump Says He’ll Mandate Voter ID for the Midterms

Yeah, it doesn’t work that way. States control voting. The Constitution does allow Congress to override some of those state functions (which Republicans are right now trying, and failing, to do with the SAVE bill) but the Constitution grants the President zero authority here.

https://twitter.com/RonBrownstein/status/2022482445686419472
- RonBrownstein

https://twitter.com/WendyRWeiser/status/2022423514914213942
- WendyRWeiser

Yes, she actually said that:

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/2022684997648351423
- atrupar

https://twitter.com/theliamnissan/status/2022454305404620878
- theliamnissan

———— Minnesota Under Siege ————

https://twitter.com/j_e_brandt/status/2022027573493215706
- j_e_brandt

https://twitter.com/leftcoastbabe/status/2022208260145918006
- leftcoastbabe

https://twitter.com/LauraJedeed/status/2022343424897057075
- LauraJedeed

New Video Contradicts Federal Indictment of Don Lemon

Video footage appears to contradict key aspects of a federal indictment’s descriptions of former CNN anchor Don Lemon’s actions at a protest last month inside a church in St. Paul, Minnesota.

https://twitter.com/covie_93/status/2022311387238637977
- covie_93

https://twitter.com/daviss/status/2022432211862188262
- daviss

https://twitter.com/kolsenjd/status/2022349857898565917
- kolsenjd

https://twitter.com/WedgeLIVE/status/2022353373886841185
- WedgeLIVE

They Didn’t Get Their Insurrection. That’s the Story.

A disciplined city refused to hand over the excuse—and now ICE is reportedly drawing down.

https://twitter.com/NiallStanage/status/2022118116231458881
- NiallStanage

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/2022399217063596075
- kylegriffin1

https://twitter.com/sheisartmoney/status/2022380000889155857
- sheisartmoney

———— Stark. Raving. Mad. ————

https://twitter.com/OurShallowState/status/2022474971210223638
- OurShallowState

———— The Epstein Coverup ————

https://twitter.com/CheriJacobus/status/2022156650627686627
- CheriJacobus

https://twitter.com/ReneeLibby95084/status/2022467797930877284
- ReneeLibby95084

Norway's former PM charged with gross corruption over Epstein links

https://twitter.com/ArtCandee/status/2022430195312120142
- ArtCandee

https://twitter.com/CheriJacobus/status/2022339145625219471
- CheriJacobus

———— Autocracy R Us ————

Homeland Security Wants Social Media Sites to Expose Anti-ICE Accounts

https://twitter.com/NiallStanage/status/2021947796006613399
- NiallStanage

Where are all the ‘Don’t tread on me’ Americans?

https://twitter.com/Kasparov63/status/2022341637461147865
- Kasparov63

Trump Officials Denied Detainees Access to Lawyers

A federal judge ruled Thursday that the Trump administration has been violating the rights of people detained by ICE in Minnesota, saying the agency had stashed them in an ill-equipped, overcrowded facility without access to attorneys.

https://twitter.com/JasonBassler1/status/2022340488691413034
- JasonBassler1

———— Blatant In-Your-Face Corruption ————

USAID Money Is Paying for Russ Vought’s Security

The White House budget office is using millions of dollars from the former U.S. foreign aid agency to pay for the security detail of Russell Vought, President Donald Trump’s budget chief and an architect of the government overhaul that has cut thousands of federal jobs.

https://twitter.com/SeanCasten/status/2022318268195766783
- SeanCasten

https://twitter.com/JohnJHarwood/status/2022323233828049122
- JohnJHarwood

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/2022294845943873904
- TheRickWilson

Putin Didn’t Know How Good He Had It

The Russian leader has gotten the world he wished for—and it’s threatening to crush him.

———— Smoot-Hawley 2.0 ————

https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/2022289907687780528
- davidfrum

———— Hegseth on the Rocks ————

Pentagon used Anthropic’s Claude During the Venezuela Raid

https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/2022456118140944706
- RadioFreeTom

https://twitter.com/dccommonsense/status/2022170736753095033
- dccommonsense

———— Mors Imperii ————

https://twitter.com/TomHoefling/status/2022391283403362749
- TomHoefling

Resistance Is Rising

Little by little, week after week, a subtle but significant shift is unfolding in American politics: Institutions and even a small but growing number of Republicans are standing up to President Trump.
The law of political gravity is starting to apply to Trump. Simply put, the more unpopular his policies and tactics, the easier it is for even scared Republicans to speak up and institutions to hold their ground.