Odds and Ends — 18 November 2024

@preparedwombat 77

3 days ago

oddsandends

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

MicroStrategy Just Bought Another $4.6 Billion Worth of Bitcoin

Russia economy crumbling with food prices skyrocketing as Putin's problems mount

Polish presidential candidate pledges support for strategic Bitcoin reserve

I wouldn’t get your hopes up. He’s from a minor party that has only 2% of the seats in the country’s parliament.

Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:

Scientists Uncover Hidden Long COVID Cases, Tripling Previous Estimates

Politics:

Biden Lets Ukraine Strike Russia With U.S. Missiles

President Biden has authorized the first use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine for strikes inside Russia.
The weapons are likely to be initially employed against Russian and North Korean troops in defense of Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region of western Russia.

https://twitter.com/DarthPutinKGB/status/1858244380282307002

Mike Johnson Leaves Door Open to Recess Appointments

Speaker Mike Johnson left the door open to adjourning Congress so President-elect Donald Trump can appoint his Cabinet nominees outside of the usual Senate confirmation process if necessary.
Said Johnson: “We’re in a time of very divided government and a very partisan atmosphere in Washington. I wish it were not. I wish the Senate would simply do its job of advise and consent and allow the president to put the persons in his Cabinet of his choosing. But if this thing bogs down, it would be a great detriment to the country, to the American people.”
He added: “We’ll evaluate all that at the appropriate time, and we’ll make the appropriate decision. There may be a function for that. We’ll have to see how it plays out.”

What a load of crap. Johnson knows full well that he’s lying to our faces. Presidents have historically not been able to fill their cabinets with people of their choosing without the Senate’s approval. The Senate has rejected Presidential cabinet appointees nine times, and as recently as George H.W. Bush. And in a bunch of other cases, Presidents have seen the writing on the wall and realized that they would not be able to win confirmation and either the President himself or the nominated appointee has withdrawn the name from consideration. For example, this happened with two of Clinton’s Attorney General nominees. In the upcoming Senate, Republicans will have a 53-47 majority. If they can’t confirm Trump’s appointees, it’s because Trump is picking troubling candidates.

https://twitter.com/maddenifico/status/1858206557265158565

Trump’s worst Cabinet picks aren’t just unqualified, they’re part of a bigger power grab

At first glance, President-elect Donald Trump’s most controversial Cabinet nominees — Matt Gaetz, Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — are an odd list of ideologues and eccentrics chosen for political loyalty more than any substantive qualifications.
But there’s a more important and potentially more dangerous factor that ties their nominations together: They are foot soldiers in a power grab that, if it succeeds, would weaken the institutional guardrails that limit the president’s powers and concentrate more authority in Trump’s hands.

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1858129042077032717

Trump’s Choice for Energy Secretary Is a Climate Skeptic

Donald Trump rewarded the tycoons behind the shale boom, among his most ardent supporters, with the selection Saturday of Chris Wright as his nominee for Energy Secretary.
Wright was front-and-center for the fracking revolution that reshaped the country as a band of scrappy wildcatters that reinvigorated U.S. oil and gas production to record heights. His $2.8 billion company, Liberty Energy, pumps water and sand underground to frack customers’ wells.
Wright’s selection elevates a pugnacious branch of the oil-and-gas industry that is skeptical of climate-change science and mostly hasn’t pledged to build out low-carbon energy businesses, unlike giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron.

https://twitter.com/ElieNYC/status/1857463636144304276

'He exploded': Trump reportedly 'beyond pissed' after hearing of alleged leaker in orbit

https://twitter.com/cooltxchick/status/1857515933901762939

Trump’s New York Sentencing Must Proceed

An election is not a jury verdict, and winning an election doesn’t make you any less guilty.

https://twitter.com/Redistrict/status/1857627332107751787

Polls Show Growing Support for Mass Deportation

https://twitter.com/narrenhut/status/1857546077391441984

Trump to Ease Rules for Self-Driving Cars

Members of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team have told advisers they plan to make a federal framework for fully self-driving vehicles one of the Transportation Department’s priorities.
If new rules enable cars without human controls, that would directly benefit Elon Musk, the Tesla Inc. chief executive officer and Trump mega-donor who has become a powerful fixture in the president-elect’s inner circle. He has bet the future of the EV maker on self-driving technology and artificial intelligence.

https://twitter.com/AmoneyResists/status/1857573384793526332