Odds and Ends — 8 January 2023
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:
Metaverse to possibly create $5T in value by 2030: McKinsey report
Will the US see a ‘richsession’ – or will economic turmoil hit the poor hardest?
U.S. subpoenas hedge funds in probe of crypto exchange Binance
Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:
I’m Sorry, but This COVID Policy Is Ridiculous
The recent attempt to limit the spread of disease from China makes no sense at all.
Beijing clamps down on social media critics of COVID policies
Politics:
The Dangerous Weakness of Speaker McCarthy
To buy off the votes of the opposition, McCarthy relinquished all the power and authority of the office. There appears to be nothing he is unwilling to sacrifice for the title of Speaker.
Kevin McCarthy begins his tenure as the weakest legislative leader in American history. He is a national joke. Democrats — myself very much included — enjoyed our laughs at Kevin McCarthy’s expense this past week. And we will laugh again when he can’t do the basics of his job. But we should be aware that a weak Speaker leading a fractured caucus is not really funny. It’s actually quite dangerous. Enjoy the laughs because shit will get real before too long.
"If y'all thought that was embarrassing, just wait till we try to govern!" pic.twitter.com/WN4KWOz7LC
— Middle Age Riot (@middleageriot) January 7, 2023
Moscow to mobilize 500,000 new conscripts, Kyiv military intelligence says
If true, what are the odds that they would be trained, equipped, or led any better than the cannon fodder that Putin’s been feeding into the meat grinder?
Inside the 28 minutes that saved Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy finally has the job he always wanted. What did he sacrifice to get it?
This is a body where James Madison, Abraham Lincoln, and Thaddeus Stevens once served. I don’t buy the GOP’s whole attack on science, but this week definitely casts doubt on the theory of evolution.
— Jamie Raskin (@jamie_raskin) January 7, 2023
Proposed GOP select panel would be empowered to review ‘ongoing criminal investigations’
The proposed “select subcommittee” would operate under the Judiciary Committee expected to be chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
Yeah, good luck with that. I’m pretty sure the DOJ will tell them to shove it. If the DOJ doesn’t take politicized orders from Biden, it’s not going to take them from a little wanker like Jordan.
Wagner’s Desensitized Prison Fighters Keep Staggering Into Bakhmut Like This Is a Zombie Apocalypse
Of the Wagnerites, Rem says that they’re a much more effective fighting force than they’re usually given credit for: “They’re making progress, after all.” Desensitized to violence and with nothing left to lose, the prisoners—many of whom are violent criminals including murderers and rapists—are considered by Ukrainian soldiers a tougher enemy than the average army conscript.
Parliament of loopholes: Why the Qatar scandal was inevitable
The EU’s only directly elected institution has failed to police itself.
House GOP Readies for Fiscal Showdowns
House Republicans are set to steer the country toward a series of fiscal showdowns as they look to force the White House to agree to massive spending cuts, threatening a return to the political brinkmanship that once nearly crippled the economy and almost plunged the U.S. government into default.
The prospect for a catastrophe rose dramatically after conservatives brokered a deal with Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) that clinched his election as the speaker of the House early Saturday. To put an end to days of raucous debate, party lawmakers said they agreed to drive a hard line in upcoming budget talks, potentially including demands for significant changes to Social Security and Medicare.
They can demand all they want, but Biden has zero incentive to cave to this kind of blackmail. Sure, gutting Social Security and Medicare may appeal to nutjobs, but not at all to the mainstream. And Biden has an ace up his sleeve. It wouldn’t be hard to talk Janet Yellen into authorizing many trillion-dollar coins.
Serendipity:
Electric Vehicles Are Bringing Out the Worst in Us
Converting the transportation system from fossil fuels to electricity is essential to addressing climate change. But automakers’ focus on large, battery-powered SUVs and trucks reinforces a destructive American desire to drive something bigger, faster, and heavier than everyone else.
In many ways, EVs reflect long-standing weaknesses in the design and regulation of American automobiles. For decades, the car industry has exploited a loophole in federal fuel-economy rules to replace sedans with more profitable SUVs and trucks, which now account for four in five new cars sold in the United States.
How much would it cost for Minneapolis to shovel all the sidewalks?
I used to own a house in Minneapolis. Snow removal for the sidewalk in front of my place was a major pain in the ass even when I was thirty years younger and didn’t own a corner lot.
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Let's talk about Binance:
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