Odds and Ends — 27 December 2023

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2023-12-27 06:19

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

Thunder Terminal claims funds safe after $240K attack, hacker says otherwise

The Economy Could Be Shockingly Normal in 2024

The economy in 2024 is on track to be described with a word that hasn’t been applicable yet this decade: Normal.
The extraordinary stresses of a pandemic, inflation, war, and the onset of tight money over the last four years have created a collective sense of an economy unmoored. But there is good reason to think 2024 will give way to something less chaotic.
Pandemic-disrupted supply chains are pretty much righted. Inflation is already back near normal levels. Labor shortages have eased. The Federal Reserve is poised to cut interest rates next year.

Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:

New JN.1 COVID variant may be more contagious but less severe

Florida Man:

Ron DeSantis' pollster encourages hospice care for terminal campaign

DeSantis Has Spent More on Private Jets Than TV Ads

Federal records show that, by the time of the Iowa caucuses, the DeSantis campaign is on pace to spend significantly more on private jets — the governor’s preferred mode of travel — than on airing television ads.

Politics:

https://twitter.com/TomJChicago/status/1739373653504967020?s=20
- TomJChicago

Trump Apparently Had a Miserable Christmas

Trump raged at President Joe Biden and special counsel Jack Smith, making expansive and false claims that his attempts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election represented a vital defense of American democracy and were thus perfectly legal. In a tide of invective in block capitals on his Truth Social network, Trump escalated extreme rhetoric on immigration that has drawn comparisons to Nazi demagoguery in the 1940s and reprised his view of unlimited presidential power that has critics fearing autocracy if he wins the next election.
Just three weeks before voting starts in the Republican nominating race, the front-runner also underscored the extraordinary extent to which false claims about electoral fraud three years ago are still the anchor of his political project. And his tirades, at a time when Americans who celebrate Christmas gathered with loved ones and sought a moment of peace, hint at a furious state of mind and extreme denialism. These are likely to raise new concerns about his temperament and suitability to serve again as commander-in-chief and are a dark omen as to what another Trump term could bring.

https://twitter.com/brianklaas/status/1739755932253327752
- brianklaas

Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign stops all TV ad spending less than a month before Iowa and New Hampshire

I can’t wait until he wanders off into The Wilderness of Forgotten Charlatans.

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1739818019914735657
- RonFilipkowski

Melania Trump to step up public appearances for Donald in 2024: ‘Time to leave her mark on history’

Good luck with that.

https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1739673164936810623
- nexta_tv

Ukraine Strikes Russian Warship in Crimea, in Another Blow to Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet

https://twitter.com/tommy_edwin1212/status/1738799226937585826?s=20
- tommy_edwin1212

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Home ‘Swatted’ on Christmas

Too bad, so sad.

https://twitter.com/RobertPicardo/status/1739701911258058998
- RobertPicardo

Matt Gaetz Still Going After Kevin McCarthy

Republicans are desperate to avoid nasty primaries next year. But the architect of Kevin McCarthy’s ouster from the speakership has other plans.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is continuing to buck party leadership, which has tried to coalesce early this cycle behind candidates in key races. Gaetz has instead thrown his support to other congressional hopefuls in several of those races, and his megaphone has already helped upend one of them.
The common theme among these candidates who have caught Gaetz’s attention: They’re all ultra-conservatives who are running in primaries against candidates backed by McCarthy.

https://twitter.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1738977474267250742?s=20
- MuellerSheWrote

Hunter Biden Text Cited in Impeachment Inquiry Is Not What G.O.P. Suggests

A 2019 message from the president’s son alluded to giving his father half his salary. The back story offers unflattering insights into the Biden family but does not support assertions of corruption.