Odds and Ends — 15 February 2026

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

Study suggests WLFI could act as an ‘early warning signal’ in crypto

How $40-a-Pack Cigarettes Pushed Australians to the Black Market

$3.85 Million in Ethereum From Mixin Network Hack Sent to Tornado Cash

Wallets linked to the $200 million exploit of Mixin in 2023 woke after nearly two years and moved funds to coin mixer Tornado Cash.

Flash Fiction:

”Not everything is about you. Maybe that’s a truth hard to admit, but your ‘honest lie’ about last night fools no one, missy.”

”Who you calling missy? And I did it for you, not for me.”

”You did it for me? Oh, that’s rich. Well, you can damn well get rid of his body without my help. Missy.”

Written for this prompt.

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Scientists Finally Solve the Mystery Behind Rare COVID Vaccine Blood Clots

Politics:

The Silence of the Generals

As President Donald Trump crossed a dangerous line at Fort Bragg, the brass failed to speak out in the Army’s defense.

A few sentences referenced, but please do read the entire piece: Mark Carney Took the Stand the Rest of the World Must Now Take

Disentangling Canada from the United States is a mammoth undertaking. But Carney clearly means business…
The United States is on the cusp of becoming a pariah state, ruled by a spoiled man-child who is increasingly and openly mocked for his obvious failings. It only takes one person to say the emperor has no clothes to give others the courage to act…
Carney’s speech has been covered extensively in the press outside the U.S., which recognizes it for the titanic shift in policy that it is, and the open invitation to Europe to join him in defiance of Trump, consequences be damned. In it, Carney also mapped out what a post–American democracy world order looks like: Canada openly turning its back on the dysfunctional, unreliable, bullying kakistocracy that the U.S. has become and integrating with Europe as both economic powers move on.

https://twitter.com/constans/status/2022841356339573245
- constans

———— Minnesota Under Siege ————

https://twitter.com/BokononsProphet/status/2022694385755001303
- BokononsProphet

Obama compares ICE’s ‘rogue behavior’ in Minnesota to dictatorships

https://twitter.com/maxnesterak/status/2022437877234438227
- maxnesterak

———— The Epstein Coverup ————

We all know this is a blatant lie: AG Pam Bondi announces 'all' Epstein files have been released

https://twitter.com/BraddrofliT/status/2022702880080212418
- BraddrofliT

———— Pam Bondi ————

https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/2022323002017263935
- ProjectLincoln

———— Autocracy R Us ————

https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/2022713213675049336
- BillKristol

https://twitter.com/MaxFlugrath/status/2022725235988979970
- MaxFlugrath

Pirro’s Failure to Indict Democrats Is a Big Deal

The administration’s use of the Justice Department to intimidate President Donald Trump’s political opponents and stifle dissent reached a remarkable new low last week, when federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. tried and failed to prosecute six Democratic lawmakers who made a video urging military personnel to refuse to carry out illegal orders.
The disturbing stakes and implications of the effort were partially obscured by the clumsy execution of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and her prosecutors. A grand total of zero — zero — grand jurors agreed to return the proposed indictment. As a former federal prosecutor, I have never heard of this actually happening before.

https://twitter.com/propublica/status/2022158817983656332
- propublica

https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/2022749777633358203
- BillKristol

https://twitter.com/MacherM/status/2022808698616180865
- MacherM

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

https://twitter.com/alexplitsas/status/2022664277169967503
- alexplitsas

https://twitter.com/Walker_CT/status/2022159277784486264
- Walker_CT

Russia poisoned Navalny, UK says

https://twitter.com/ruthbenghiat/status/2022737445322936822
- ruthbenghiat

How to make sure the Stalinist in the Kremlin faces a grim future

Putin's only sympathizer in the European Union, Hungary's Viktor Orban, might now have firmer support among American authoritarians ('national conservatives') than among Hungarians.