Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:
Hundreds of tourists turned back from German state over COVID restrictions
Paris police probe 'secret luxury dinner parties'
RNC Will Require COVID Test for Donor Retreat. These same folks complain about even the possibility of “vaccine passports”?
Why I have no political home: pic.twitter.com/NkmHzbGTC7
— David Sacks (@DavidSacks) April 4, 2021
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:
In Europe, Football NFTs and Tokens Are No Fantasy
After breaking $100 billion TVL, DeFi is now the equivalent of a top 40 U.S. bank
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Wants to Halt Foreclosures This Year
Politics:
NEWS: The Trump operation refunded $122 million — more than 10% — of what it raised online in 2020.
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) April 3, 2021
Prechecked boxes withdrew $$$ weekly from unwitting supporters. Scores were ensnared. Fraud claims to banks soared.
My investigation into what happened:https://t.co/vu10yWJaEs
Senate Parliamentarian Allows Use of Reconciliation Again
The Senate parliamentarian ruled on Monday that Democrats can use special budgetary rules to avoid a GOP filibuster on two more pieces of legislation, setting the stage for President Biden’s infrastructure agenda to pass in two packages with simple-majority votes.
It’s a win for Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) that allows him to pass Biden’s $2.25 trillion package by revising the fiscal year 2021 Budget Resolution. A second budget resolution can be passed this year to do the second half of Biden’s infrastructure agenda. Or the fiscal year 2021 budget could be revised a third time to set up a third reconciliation package.
“You have 51 or 52 corporations of the Fortune 500 that haven’t paid a single penny in taxes for three years. Come on, man. Let’s get real.”
— Joe Biden
Only Congress Could Give Us a Matt Gaetz
If these scandals seem to demand an explanation for how a member of Congress, entrusted to hold power in Washington, could behave in such a way, the reality may be the opposite: Only a member of Congress could behave like this and get away with it.
Whether Gaetz’s alleged behavior rose to the criminal is yet to be seen, but if true, it would have gotten him fired long ago in any conventional gig. Congress is no normal gig, though. It is, almost by design, a hostile workplace.
Republicans Love Infrastructure, Unless It’s Paid For, or Not Paid For
He’s hiding his Diet Coke bottle behind the phone a day after telling everyone to boycott Coca-Cola! https://t.co/K2is5hpl7o pic.twitter.com/idDtVtkBeM
— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) April 5, 2021
Netanyahu trial: Editor ‘told to drop negative stories about Israel PM’
Mike Huckabee tweets anti-Asian “joke”
GOP Voters Heard More About Dr. Seuss Than Relief Plan
This finding is a testament to the power of the issue and massive indictment of America’s information ecosystem. Dr. Seuss’s books weren’t banned. It’s a completely fake issue driven by blow-dried blowhards on cable and MAGA grifters on Facebook. Yet, it received as much attention as the passage of a historic piece of legislation that will put checks in people’s bank accounts and shots in their arms.
Serendipity:
Beverly Hills store let criminals stash guns, drugs and cash in vault at strip mall, prosecutors say
Beth Colgan, a UCLA law professor, called the dispute “fascinating,” saying the big question is whether the sealed search warrant shows there was probable cause to believe evidence of criminal wrongdoing could be found in virtually all of the safe deposit boxes.
How Much Do We Still Owe to Ernest Hemingway?
Meme credit: Dont_click_this_its_a_trap (source)