Odds and Ends — 2 February 2024
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, and Debt:
US Property Losses Trigger 20% Plunge in Japanese Bank Aozora
A New Global Tax Is About to Raise Billions. The U.S. Is Missing Out.
German Police Seize $2.1B Worth of Bitcoin in Piracy Sting
Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:
Newest COVID shots are 54 percent effective in preventing symptoms, CDC finds
Politics:
US sanctions Israeli settlers over West Bank violence
Oregon GOP Lawmakers Who Walked Out Can’t Run Again
The Oregon Supreme Court said Thursday that 10 Republican state senators who staged a record-long walkout last year to stall bills on abortion, transgender health care and gun rights cannot run for re-election.
The decision upholds the secretary of state’s decision to disqualify the senators from the ballot under a voter-approved measure aimed at stopping such boycotts. Measure 113, passed by voters in 2022, amended the state constitution to bar lawmakers from re-election if they have more than 10 unexcused absences.
Last year’s boycott lasted six weeks — the longest in state history — and paralyzed the legislative session, stalling hundreds of bills.
Media Misses: Politico Minimizes the Danger of Dictatorship
What Is Trump Buying With Millions In Legal Fees For His Associates?
Donald Trump’s various campaign committees spent in the vicinity of $50 million on legal fees in 2023 as he and his associates mounted criminal defenses to indictments in four different jurisdictions.
Before you ask: Yes, this is perfectly legal. For a mafia don.
Fact check: What Rep. Ilhan Omar actually said in viral speech
https://twitter.com/joncoopertweets/status/1753091292681114096
https://twitter.com/ElieNYC/status/1753134377943339359
Inside Trump’s Costly Outburst: ‘Like an 8-Year-Old Having a Temper Tantrum’
Roberta Kaplan’s strategy delivered E. Jean Carroll $83 million from Donald Trump. Federal prosecutors may want to take note.
EU approves €50B Ukraine aid as Viktor Orbán folds
https://twitter.com/JonLemire/status/1753187029028843901
https://twitter.com/middleageriot/status/1753206929281650784
Special Counsel Asks About Trump’s ‘Hidden Room’
Special counsel Jack Smith’s team has questioned several witnesses about a closet and a so-called ‘hidden room’ inside former President Donald Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago that the FBI didn’t check while searching the estate in August 2022.
As investigators would later learn, Trump allegedly had the closet’s lock changed while his attorney was in Mar-a-Lago’s basement, searching for classified documents in a storage room that he was told would have all such documents.
https://twitter.com/StatisticUrban/status/1752795986991165556
Texas Ignores the Constitution and the Rule of Law
A Select Few Witnessed Alabama’s Nitrogen Execution. This Is What They Saw.
There are contrasting accounts of the first U.S. execution by nitrogen gas, but most witnesses agreed on one thing: It did not go as Alabama had promised.
https://twitter.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1753111788370219383
Ruling in Trump’s Fraud Case Delayed for Several Weeks
Engoron is debating whether or not to add an extra zero?
https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/1752838128895680752
Oregon GOP Lawmakers Who Walked Out Can’t Run Again
The Oregon Supreme Court said Thursday that 10 Republican state senators who staged a record-long walkout last year to stall bills on abortion, transgender health care and gun rights cannot run for re-election.
The decision upholds the secretary of state’s decision to disqualify the senators from the ballot under a voter-approved measure aimed at stopping such boycotts. Measure 113, passed by voters in 2022, amended the state constitution to bar lawmakers from re-election if they have more than 10 unexcused absences.
Last year’s boycott lasted six weeks — the longest in state history — and paralyzed the legislative session, stalling hundreds of bills.
https://twitter.com/clearing_fog/status/1753162608642064822
Ukraine Needs American Weapons, Not More GOP Drama
The GOP’s moral collapse threatens global security.
US intelligence officials estimate Tehran does not have full control of its proxy groups
Does this surprise anyone? The US also probably didn’t have full control of the Nicaraguan Contras or our proxies in the Angolan Civil War or the Libyan Civil War.
Ex-Trump Org. CFO in talks to plead guilty to perjury charge tied to civil fraud investigation
https://twitter.com/SollenbergerRC/status/1753255371697803534
Serendipity:
Scientists found a major clue why 4 of 5 autoimmune patients are women
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