Odds and Ends — 11 January 2023
Kurt Wallander:
Beware, spoilers ahead: I watched the Kenneth Branagh versions of Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander crime novels several years ago (and, if memory serves, some of the Rolf Lassgård version too). I’ve long thought that I should read the novels, and am now reading a prequel collection of five short stories (Pyramid) of which I’ve read three so far. In the first story, Kurt Wallander is a young policeman, not yet a detective. He’s instrumental in solving the case, but still inexperienced and makes some dangerous mistakes. In the second story, through no real fault of his own, he comes close to getting killed. The third story is an interesting mystery but I’ve gotta admit that I was put off by the conclusion where Wallander, by now a very experienced detective, makes a rookie mistake that could have gotten him killed. Yeah, I’ll read the last two stories in the book, but the third was a bit lame, not Mankell’s best effort.
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, and Debt:
Ranked: Harmful Tariffs by Economy
Coinbase Cuts Around 20% of Workforce
China Deflation Pressure Worsens as Economy Slumps
Crypto.com delists USDT for Canadian users following
Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:
China halts visas for Japan, South Korea in COVID-19 spat
Satellite images show crowds at China’s crematoriums as covid surges
Why did teenage suicides decline during America’s first covid-19 lockdowns?
Politics:
The GOP Goes Down the Rabbit Hole
The good news is that most of the U.S. government remains in the hands of functional adults. The bad news is that the House is headed down the rabbit hole to its own Wonderland, where things will become “curiouser and curiouser,” and its members will have to placate their extremists by believing “six impossible things before breakfast” every day.
Brazil riots: Arrests ordered for top officials after capital stormed
SCOTUS Unanimously Sides With Death Row Inmate Over an Extreme Texas Court
Even this conservative supermajority understood that a forensic lab’s egregious misconduct demands a new trial.
On classified docs, GOP fails again to find a parallel for Trump
Conservative commentator Diamond of ‘Diamond and Silk’ dies at 51
At this difficult time, please treat the death of Diamond (of Diamond and Silk) with the same sympathy and respect that she treated the deaths of those who followed her advice on vaccines.
— Middle Age Riot (@middleageriot) January 10, 2023
No sign of casualties in Russia’s Kramatorsk strike
How Kevin McCarthy Could Be Ousted as Speaker
Under the newly adopted rule, any single member of the House could ‘offer a privileged resolution declaring the Office of Speaker vacant.’ The term ‘privileged’ here refers to a matter that has precedence over regular House business, meaning it is more urgent and must be brought to the House floor for a vote.
This is not confined to Republican members; Democrats could make the motion to vacate as well.
Procedural votes could be offered to slow down the motion, but when it does come to the floor, it would need only a simple majority of the House — or 218 members currently — to pass.
In theory, a small group of Republicans who want to force out the speaker could work with Democrats to reach the votes needed to remove the speaker.
’Land covered in corpses’ as Russia strives for first big Ukraine gains in months
Alabama May Prosecute Women Taking Abortion Pills
One week after the federal government made it easier to get abortion pills, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said Tuesday that women in Alabama who use those pills to end pregnancies could be prosecuted.
That’s despite wording in Alabama’s new Human Life Protection Act that criminalizes abortion providers and prevents its use against the people receiving abortions. Instead, the attorney general’s office said Alabama could rely on an older law, one initially designed to protect children from meth lab fumes.
Serendipity:
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