Odds and Ends — 27 January 2025

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

The release of DeepSeek R1 shatters long-held assumptions about AI

https://twitter.com/marciaxthree/status/1883583298666197248
https://twitter.com/preparedwombat/status/1883599465115979929

Bitcoin Sinks Below $100,000 as Trading Volume Explodes

Coronavirus and Public Health:

https://twitter.com/thejackhopkins/status/1883330934860333151

https://twitter.com/ruthbenghiat/status/1883355308329947494

Trump's early actions on health agencies roil medical researchers

Politics:

Trump Just Pardoned Himself

Colombia Will Not Accept U.S. Deportation Flights

Colombia will not accept deportation flights from the United States until the Trump administration provides a process to treat Colombian migrants with ‘dignity and respect,’ the country’s president, Gustavo Petro, said on Sunday.

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1883631168958140614
https://twitter.com/RepJackKimble/status/1883678209511985280
https://twitter.com/AdamKinzinger/status/1883659741282648179
https://twitter.com/donwinslow/status/1883677540671529456
https://twitter.com/SeanCasten/status/1883642529360511330
https://twitter.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1883646727980486696

Okay, never mind. Pretend nothing happened. U.S.-Colombia relations are back to the status quo ante. Move along folks, nothing to see here.

Trump Demands More Arrests of Immigrants

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have been directed by Trump officials to aggressively ramp up the number of people they arrest, from a few hundred per day to at least 1,200 to 1,500, because the president has been disappointed with the results of his mass deportation campaign so far.
The orders significantly increase the chance that officers will engage in more indiscriminate enforcement tactics or face accusations of civil rights violations as they strain to meet quotas.

https://twitter.com/SusanneM0905/status/1883188864753570022

Trump Swiftly Enacts Retribution

For those who may have crossed President Donald Trump, the message is sinking in: Payback is coming, and coming fast.
Said former prosecutor David Laufman: “There are plenty of early warning signs that confirm the worst fears of people who were concerned about a second Trump administration and what it would mean for the rule of law. The real question remains what checks and balances will there be to prevent the creeping establishment of an authoritarian state in the United States.”

https://twitter.com/madrid_mike/status/1883345544183238962

Capitulation Is Contagious

When fear spreads in a society, powerful people who know better are often the first to show their weakness.

https://twitter.com/agraybee/status/1883354998131872241
https://twitter.com/jimstewartson/status/1883592674722386051

“It’s really insane that he can destabilize the political situations in countries… I mean, this is insane shit.” — Bill Gates on Elon Musk

https://twitter.com/RBReich/status/1883553234398150760

Trump Suspends Flights for 40,000 Afghans

President Donald Trump’s foreign aid pause has forced a suspension of flights for more than 40,000 Afghans approved for special U.S. visas and at risk of Taliban retribution.

https://twitter.com/DarrigoMelanie/status/1883339987174990289

https://twitter.com/Scaramucci/status/1883677868355649563
https://twitter.com/Gabino_Iglesias/status/1883661516748284096

https://twitter.com/TrueFactsStated/status/1883622240434143701

Serendipity:

https://twitter.com/Pandamoanimum/status/1880184945546784961

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