Odds and Ends — 15 March 2026

Oh joy. I woke up to a blizzard warning. Just a few days ago, people were out wearing shorts and t-shirts.

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

Spot Bitcoin ETFs extend inflow streak to five days for first time in 2026

https://twitter.com/heynavtoor/status/2032548857176011121
- heynavtoor

South African Eskom Considering Discount Power for Bitcoin Miners as Solar Creates Surplus

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Severe COVID or flu may raise lung cancer risk years later

Iran:

“Nobody knows who is the leader, so there is no one that can announce surrender.” — Trump, on why Iran has not surrendered yet.

Or, hear me out, Iran has no intention of surrendering and Trump is too dense to understand that.

https://twitter.com/ianbremmer/status/2032837592882778613
- ianbremmer

https://twitter.com/dpakman/status/2032460671778992487
- dpakman

https://twitter.com/ScarletCinema/status/2032511434483958195
- ScarletCinema

https://twitter.com/TerribleMaps/status/2032465388068364777
- TerribleMaps

Pete Hegseth’s Worrisome Press Briefing

Hegseth’s presentation gave no remotely skeptical viewer any new reasons to trust that the administration expected the war to go as it has nor that there is a realistic plan to end it. Instead, his briefing suggests he believes that the administration’s only challenge in the Middle East is to prevent news organizations from reporting on anything but Iran’s desperation.
Hegseth is fond of the trick of using a dismissive tone while actually conceding skeptics’ main point.

https://twitter.com/brianschatz/status/2032876036946383201
- brianschatz

https://twitter.com/shashj/status/2032492954221191667
- shashj

https://twitter.com/laraseligman/status/2032597499249414640
- laraseligman

https://twitter.com/ripplebrain/status/2032825972836180434
- ripplebrain

U.S. Tells Citizens to Leave Iraq

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad urged all American citizens to leave Iraq immediately on Saturday after the embassy was attacked overnight for the second time since the war with Iran started.
The warning said militias allied with Iran had carried out numerous attacks on targets associated with the United States, including diplomatic facilities, American companies and hotels frequented by foreigners. It recommended Americans travel overland to neighboring countries because commercial flights were not operating and warned them not to come to the embassy or a U.S. consulate in the northern city of Erbil.

Israel Planning Massive Ground Invasion of Lebanon

https://twitter.com/Partisangirl/status/2032444073618145286
- Partisangirl

https://twitter.com/BretDevereaux/status/2032492063803998344
- BretDevereaux

https://twitter.com/HQNewsNow/status/2032446902063497435
- HQNewsNow

https://twitter.com/ShadowofEzra/status/2032559485399568406
- ShadowofEzra

Panicked Pentagon Sends Land Invasion Force to Middle East

Hegseth Says There’s No Need to Worry About Strait of Hormuz

“We have been dealing with it, and don’t need to worry about it.”

https://twitter.com/alon_mizrahi/status/2032705992673341565
- alon_mizrahi

https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/2032803960239595562
- ChrisMurphyCT

https://twitter.com/Paul_Heron_/status/2032557055173644371
- Paul_Heron_

Politics:

https://twitter.com/SkyYaldaHakim/status/2032472839748489383
- SkyYaldaHakim

https://twitter.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/2032563282536448469
- JoyceWhiteVance

The Republican Party’s Nazi Problem Is Getting Worse

Not so long ago, hugging Hitler was one of those lines you just didn’t cross in a decent democracy, and for good reason: fascism, the Second World War and genocide. Murdering millions of humans should never inspire admiration.
But that’s what’s been happening with increasing regularity, revealed by a recent string of unhinged text chains revealed among young Republican leaders. This isn’t an outlier or a one-off. It’s a pattern and a problem.

https://twitter.com/TheMaineWonk/status/2032563762071208240
- TheMaineWonk

———— The Epstein Coverup ————

https://twitter.com/AmberWoods100/status/2032645997046698196
- AmberWoods100

https://twitter.com/JakeG_Official/status/2032647951873618389
- JakeG_Official

———— Autocracy R Us ————

Judge Throws Out Subpoenas to Federal Reserve

A federal judge threw out a pair of subpoenas the Justice Department issued to the Federal Reserve, handing a victory to the Fed and dealing a heavy blow to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s criminal investigation into Chair Jerome Powell.

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/2032542678089380300
- atrupar

https://twitter.com/gtconway3d/status/2032670387616498173
- gtconway3d

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

https://twitter.com/keithdorejel/status/2032590482497208794
- keithdorejel

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

https://twitter.com/joni_askola/status/2032468394448998739
- joni_askola

———— Melon Husk ————

LA's Tesla Diner is so dead, even the protesters gave up

———— Hegseth on the Rocks ————

https://twitter.com/jpitney/status/2032501536593694851
- jpitney

https://twitter.com/AmirAminiMD/status/2032556078337020298
- AmirAminiMD

———— Mors Imperii ————

Oil Tankers Trump Seized Cost U.S. Millions of Dollars

The seizures have put the U.S. government in a financial bind. The ships are highly expensive to maintain. And the Trump administration cannot legally sell their oil without a judge’s permission.
Maintaining the seized tankers has already cost the United States tens of millions of dollars — in one case, $47 million in only three months — and complicates Mr. Trump’s claims of swift financial victories from his military operations targeting Venezuela and Iran.