Odds and Ends — 18 December 2024

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

Coinbase slammed for linking WBTC delisting to Justin Sun

Just a guess, but I doubt that many Hivelandians would rally behind Justin Sun.

US Likely Won't Purchase Bitcoin, But Arthur Hayes Isn't Worried

Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:

Infamous paper that popularized unproven COVID-19 treatment finally retracted

Study on hydroxychloroquine by Didier Raoult and colleagues gets pulled on ethical and scientific grounds

DenyDefendDepose:

Young Voters More Likely to Support CEO Murder

Politics:

https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1869203329081118983
- ChrisMurphyCT

The Constitution of Kakistocracy

Trump’s nominations represent an unprecedented triple assault on constitutional appointment norms: First, many are unqualified or hostile to their agencies’ missions. Second, rather than making a few controversial picks, Trump has flooded the zone, nominating an entire slate of problematic candidates that burdens the Senate’s capacity for proper vetting. And third, Trump has signaled willingness to circumvent the confirmation process through legally dubious tactics such as forced Senate adjournment.
Together, these moves threaten to transform the appointments process from a constitutional safeguard into a vehicle for installing loyalists regardless of competence.

https://twitter.com/1goodtern/status/1868728875620106397
- 1goodtern

The Real Scandal of Our Media Tycoons

Quote of the year so far, from Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago yesterday: “In the first term, everyone was fighting me. This time, everybody wants to be my friend.”
Amazing how many friends you can make with just a few well-chosen threats of vengeance against your remaining enemies…
It’s no surprise media owners are rushing to make good with Donald Trump; they know he’s eager to hit them where it hurts. Trump hasn’t just vowed to punish media orgs that displease him, he’s also made it clear that owning such institutions is enough to earn a mogul his economic and political enmity.
If you’re a newspaper owner or a corporation with a cable channel in your portfolio, the cost of subsidizing media that tells the truth about Trump has been jacked up tremendously. Say goodbye to that tariff waiver; good luck with that attempted merger.
Before Trump, owning a media outlet was often considered a luxury piece for the mega-rich. You made your money in tech or healthcare or finance—the major newspaper or TV network was the gaudy bauble you picked up on the side, a conspicuous way to be seen as “giving back.” Now, though, you’re realizing the president-elect is going to make your real job way harder because your bauble really pisses him off. It’s a lot more than you bargained for when you bought it.

https://twitter.com/ericgarland/status/1868767626199286042
- ericgarland

Trump’s Retribution Tour Begins

With five weeks until his return to the White House, Donald Trump is already delivering on his promise to wage legal vendettas against political enemies and journalists, alike. On Monday night, less than 48 hours after securing a $15 million settlement from ABC News, Trump filed a lawsuit in Iowa District Court accusing the venerated pollster Ann Selzer and her polling company—as well as The Des Moines Register and its parent company, Gannett—of ‘brazen election interference’ and consumer fraud over her November 2 poll showing Kamala Harris winning by three points in Iowa.
Whether that polling error constitutes an ‘election-interfering fiction,’ as the suit alleges, is now the question before a Polk County court. Iowa is notably in the minority of states that lacks an anti-SLAPP law, a protection that gives judges the ability to swiftly toss out frivolous attacks on free speech. But it’s still a long putt: Trump’s newest courthouse adventure leans on an extremely aggressive reading of a statute in Iowa’s consumer fraud law intended to prevent businesses from making misrepresentations to deceive purchasers.
Said Trump: “We have to straighten out our press. Our press is very corrupt, almost as corrupt as our elections.”

https://twitter.com/tribelaw/status/1868976583593410991
- tribelaw

https://twitter.com/essenviews/status/1869034485255430628
- essenviews

Mike Johnson Feels the Heat

Speaker Mike Johnson promised to avoid Christmas-season omnibus spending bills. Yet here we are, eight days before Christmas and three days before the government funding deadline, and Congress is considering a massive spending bill with a host of unrelated measures attached.
And in a surprise to absolutely no one, Johnson is coming under withering criticism from rank-and-file Republicans over the package.
Johnson is getting it from all sides: middle-of-the-road Republicans, a committee chair and conservatives…
Republicans are incredibly peeved that a whole host of Democratic provisions got added to the CR, while the package seems silent on GOP demands… The reality is that Johnson had to accede to a host of Democratic demands because he needs their votes.

https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1869137168700252402
- bayraktar_1love

https://twitter.com/danielmullen/status/1869036146086584454
- danielmullen

Kremlin Insiders Spill Putin’s Secret Plan to Manipulate Trump

Head of RT Margarita Simonyan, a decorated state TV propagandist and Kremlin insider, has spilled not only Russia’s hopes and dreams for Donald Trump’s second term in office but also Moscow’s strategy for suckering him in.
She believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin has an irresistible sway over Trump and will extract the desired outcome—but only if they meet face-to-face, without any influence or interference from other American power brokers, à la Helsinki, where the two men held discussions in secret.

https://twitter.com/PradaJules/status/1869153356897485008
- PradaJules

The Law Does Not Apply to Elon Musk

I’m not sure we have analogues for this. Normally when people flout the law they take pains to make it appear as though they’re not. They cover up their misdeeds or at least stay quiet.
Elon Musk’s approach is to brag about how he is an Übermensch to whom normal laws do not apply. So far this has worked out for him.

U.S. Releases Prisoner Held 18 Years Without Charges

The Pentagon has released a Kenyan prisoner who was held at Guantánamo Bay for nearly 18 years on suspicion he was tied to an affiliate of Al Qaeda that plotted attacks against Israeli tourists in East Africa two decades ago.
The prisoner, Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu, 51, was never charged with a crime.