Odds and Ends — 7 February 2025

22 days ago

Yeah, I’m stressed. We closed on our new house yesterday. Ideally, after repainting the upstairs of our old house and doing some remodeling in its downstairs and putting in new hardwood flooring in the new house, we’ll be able to fully move into the new place and sell the old one a month or so from now. Until then, we have two mortgages. No pressure.

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

BlackRock increases stake in Michael Saylor’s Strategy to 5%

Public Citizen Files Complaint Over Trump’s Meme Coin, Cites Foreign Payment Risks

Ondo Finance Reveals Chain Launch Plans as Trump-Linked Project Buys a Bundle of Tokens

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Flu cases rise again, while COVID takes a back seat

US dodged a bird flu pandemic in 1957 thanks to eggs and dumb luck – with a new strain spreading fast, will Americans get lucky again?

Politics:

https://twitter.com/1goodtern/status/1887389373164900460

Judge Rails at Trump Over Birthright Citizenship Order

A second federal judge blocked President Trump’s executive order that would restrict birthright citizenship, harshly condemning the administration for attempting to do so at a Thursday hearing.
Said U.S. District Judge John Coughenour: “It has become ever more apparent that, to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain.

https://twitter.com/Angry_Staffer/status/1887529822206726184

Владимир Путин одобряет это послание: Trump Disbands Task Force Targeting Russian Oligarchs

https://twitter.com/jbendery/status/1887227834239754641

To Pay for Trump Tax Cuts, House GOP Floats Plan to Slash Benefits for the Poor and Working Class

https://twitter.com/StaarVellocet/status/1887288346847645876

A Constitutional Collapse

To say that what is happening now is a constitutional crisis is to put it too mildly. Let’s call it what it is: a constitutional collapse.
Congress’s abdication of its constitutional powers and responsibilities to an executive branch run amok — or, you might say, run-a-Musk — would surely have horrified the Founders…
The framers clearly never envisioned a Congress that would be so supine in the face of such a barrage. Or a Senate majority that would, rather than advise, merely consent to such preposterously unqualified Cabinet choices as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Department of Health and Human Services, Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth to run the Pentagon.

https://twitter.com/harryjsisson/status/1887311430078144991
https://twitter.com/HeatherThomasAF/status/1886947130943922241
https://twitter.com/TheFungi669/status/1887279131475517465

Musk’s Team Feeding Sensitive Data Into AI Software

https://twitter.com/AmoneyResists/status/1887293472899473555
https://twitter.com/JamesSurowiecki/status/1887252977469301100
https://twitter.com/JakeMGrumbach/status/1887552100827365767

DOGE Staffer Resigns Over Racist Posts

A staffer for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency whose access to U.S. Treasury payment systems was approved by a federal judge on Thursday has links to a deleted social-media account that advocated for racism and eugenics.

https://twitter.com/lawindsor/status/1887376813699002820

A solution in search of a problem: Trump announces task force to ‘eradicate anti-Christian bias’

https://twitter.com/JustVent6/status/1887507768615063885
https://twitter.com/JamesSkoufis/status/1887175069849256315

Does anyone really care about David Axelrod’s terrible advice? Axelrod Says Democrats Should Concede on USAID

https://twitter.com/lawindsor/status/1887564988476281306
https://twitter.com/PLSgetserious/status/1887318897180717067

The Courts Push Back on Trump

A familiar pattern has emerged since President Donald Trump returned to the White House less than three weeks ago: He makes a brash proposal, his opponents file a lawsuit and a federal judge puts the plan on hold.
It’s happened with Trump’s attempts to freeze certain federal funding, undermine birthright citizenship and push out government workers.
Now the question is whether the court rulings are a mere speed bump or an insurmountable roadblock for the Republican president, who is determined to expand the limits of his power — sometimes by simply ignoring the laws.

https://twitter.com/lukepbeasley/status/1887515299336888404
https://twitter.com/QondiNtini/status/1887370804288962746

Trump Wants ’60 Minutes’ Taken Off the Air

https://twitter.com/LakotaMan1/status/1887254267763040642

Justice Department Sues Illinois and Chicago

The Justice Department sued the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago on Thursday, accusing them of impeding the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

Trump orders key government agency to cancel all media contracts

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1887602210978341019

The Oligarchs Who Came to Regret Supporting Hitler