Odds and Ends — 11 September 2021


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As a matter of fact, I have had rubella. But I’m an old fart, had it as a toddler before the rubella vaccine was developed. My younger brother wasn’t quite as “lucky” as I was since my mother contracted rubella while he was in her womb. He was born with very poor vision, was the runt of the litter, much smaller (still to this day) than either of his brothers, with a defective heart that would certainly have killed him had he not been fortunate enough to have gotten a heart transplant.

But go ahead, be an anti-vaxxer. Good luck with that.

Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:

How do you say FUD in Swedish? Trading Bitcoin’s like trading stamps, says Swedish central bank governor

Blockchain-based platform for fractional property ownership launches in India

China Intervenes in Oil Market

China made an unprecedented intervention in the global oil market, releasing crude from its strategic reserve for the first time with the explicit aim of lowering prices.
The announcement comes amid surging energy costs in China, not just for oil but also for coal and natural gas, and electricity shortages in some provinces that have forced some factories to cut production. Inflation is rapidly rising too, a political headache for Beijing.

Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:

“Real liberty for all could not exist under the operation of a principle which recognizes the right of each individual person to use his own, whether in respect of his person or his property, regardless of the injury that may be done to others.” — Justice John Marshall Harlan, in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, in which the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that vaccine mandates were constitutional.

So the big question is whether SCOTUS will stick with precedent as it so often has, or rule against Biden when this inevitably ends up in front of them.

Tennessee teen talking about grandma who died of Covid heckled by adults at school board meeting

A 9/11 Every Two Days

This weekend, we commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks which killed nearly 3,000 people. But we’ve lost track of the fact that at least that many will die of COVID-19 within the span of two days.

Politics:

Judge Blocks Florida’s ‘Anti-Riot’ Law

The 90-page decision by U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee found the recently-enacted law “vague and overbroad” and amounted to an assault on First Amendment rights of free speech and assembly as well as the Constitution’s due process protections.

“For a guy who graduated from Harvard Law School, DeSantis sure has a knack for losing court cases.” — Taegan Goddard

America's civil war of 2021

Texas passes social media 'de-platforming' law. Yeah, good luck with that in court.

”Six more people pleaded guilty on Friday to charges connected to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, including a man who threatened to shoot House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the head.”

Serendipity:

The extraordinary story behind Britain's most famous slogan

Hurricane Larry will produce category 1 winds and... feet of snow

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Badge thanks to @arcange

Meme credit: LadyDeerHeart (source)

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