Odds and Ends — 22 June 2026

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

Bank of England eases stablecoin rules, introduces 40B pound issuance cap

Ethereum Layer-2 Taiko Warns Users to Withdraw Bridge Funds After Security Breach

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Updated COVID vaccines cut risk of hospital care, heart complications, new data reveal

Iran:

https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/2068379959614206369
- TheRickWilson

Fed-up Trump threatens to ‘blow the shit’ out of Iran — prompting Tehran to storm out of US peace talks

President Trump threatened to destroy Iran on Sunday and suggested that the US could take full control of the Strait of Hormuz, becoming the ‘Guardian Angel’ of the oil choke point and take 20% of the crude if the fragile peace deal falls apart.
Said Trump: “You close it, and you won’t have a country. You won’t even make it back to your fucking country.”

Israelis Overwhelmingly Negative on Iran Deal

Israelis overwhelmingly view the war with Iran and subsequent deal with the United States in a negative way, with 92.1 percent of respondents to a poll believing Tehran is the winner.
According to the Hebrew University survey, 82.9% say the campaign weakened Israel’s long-term security and 86.0% have a negative attitude toward the outcome.

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/2067924548666671139
- RonFilipkowski

https://twitter.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/2067952165629432151
- TimothyDSnyder

https://twitter.com/JamieBonkiewicz/status/2068765232449691995
- JamieBonkiewicz

From Bullying and Bombast to Utter Capitulation

Donald Trump surrendered to Iran in Versailles Wednesday, the place where a defeated and humiliated Germany surrendered in 1919 after World War I—a fact that the uneducated Trump likely does not know.
But anyone who saw the images of a bloated and stuporous Trump wandering around the meetings of the G7 conference this week—or who heard his blatant and patently ridiculous contradictions—would not be surprised to learn that he’s increasingly losing touch with reality.

https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/2068047676680138837
- RadioFreeTom

https://twitter.com/Angry_Staffer/status/2068337513740030125
- Angry_Staffer

https://twitter.com/LePapillonBlu2/status/2068308531523027328
- LePapillonBlu2

Politics:

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/2068311804548100421
- RonFilipkowski

https://twitter.com/gtconway3d/status/2068289950022246652
- gtconway3d

https://twitter.com/jaynordlinger/status/2068373096965321086
- jaynordlinger

https://twitter.com/PaulRudnickNY/status/2068480169329762727
- PaulRudnickNY

The Most Surprising Miscalculation of Trump’s Second Term

He has underestimated the power of patriotic sentiment in countries besides the United States.

https://twitter.com/jimstewartson/status/2068124894584537448
- jimstewartson

———— Time for your nap, grandpa. ————

https://twitter.com/mmpadellan/status/2068650145118314953
- mmpadellan

———— Tulsi Gabbard ————

https://twitter.com/davetroy/status/2068754622353670537
- davetroy

https://twitter.com/joshrogin/status/2068690018369991093
- joshrogin

https://twitter.com/4HumanUnity/status/2068811530150523386
- 4HumanUnity

https://twitter.com/davetroy/status/2068757732924981366
- davetroy

———— The Epstein Coverup ————

https://twitter.com/OurShallowState/status/2068044099471716409
- OurShallowState

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

Trump Team Kills Inquiry into Clemency Deal Improprieties

President Trump’s political appointees quashed an early-stage criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding his clemency grant to a convicted fraudster.
The investigation, which has not been previously reported, had begun examining whether improper payments were made to help facilitate the commutation awarded to David Gentile, a private equity executive who was convicted in a $1.6 billion scheme that defrauded thousands of mostly mom-and-pop investors, some of whom lost their retirement savings.

———— Theresienstadt in the Everglades ————

’Alligator Alcatraz’ Shutting Down Permanently

Companies hired by the state to operate the Florida migrant detention center known as ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ were notified Monday morning to begin ‘full demobilization’ of the facility, quietly bringing an ignominious close a $1.2 billion experiment that was once hailed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Trump as a model other states should pursue

———— The Reflecting Pool ————

https://twitter.com/JamesTate121/status/2068038427397038561
- JamesTate121

https://twitter.com/ColMoeDavis/status/2067953306295562388
- ColMoeDavis

https://twitter.com/Tim_Walz/status/2068175775161811087
- Tim_Walz

https://twitter.com/JamesTate121/status/2068809990890983771
- JamesTate121

Trump, Without Evidence, Blames ‘Disgraceful Vandalism’ for Reflecting Pool Do-Over

Just a week after the completion of President Donald Trump’s much-hyped $14 million renovation of the iconic Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the water is green and a thin layer of ‘American flag blue’ paint originally meant to augment the color of the feature has begun to peel.
But rather than blaming Mother Nature or the contractor who won a no-bid contract for the renovation, Trump has turned his ire on another alleged culprit: vandals.