Odds and Ends — 16 January 2025

preparedwombat in #oddsandends • yesterday

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

Texas kicks off 89th legislative session with new strategic Bitcoin reserve bill

Litecoin Price Jumps Double-Digits As ETF Speculation Ramps Up

Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:

1 in 20 COVID survivors may have condition characterized by extreme fatigue

Politics:

Israel and Hamas reach a Gaza ceasefire agreement

Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement on a multiphase ceasefire that commits them to end the war in Gaza, President Biden and Qatar's prime minister announced separately on Wednesday.
This deal will halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much needed-humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity," Biden said. He said it was the same as a proposal he made in May 2024, which was endorsed by the United Nations Security Council.

This is a big success for Biden, so obviously Trump will falsely try to take credit for it.

When Norms Lead You Astray

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s final report states for the record what has been clear to political observers for some time now: Trump running for and winning the presidency prevented him from being tried and convicted for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election. He ran for president to stay out of prison, and it worked.
My impression is that this is a case of adherence to (normally laudable) legal norms that led to a distinctly non-democratic outcome. The justice system essentially played itself.

Absolutely nobody could have foreseen this, what a shocker: Trump Advisers Back Off on Timeline to End Ukraine War

Advisers to President-elect Donald Trump now concede that the Ukraine war will take months or even longer to resolve, a sharp reality check on his biggest foreign policy promise – to strike a peace deal on his first day in the White House.

Thank you, Memory Hole! Trump Said He’d Solve Ukraine on Day One. Republicans Say He Didn’t Mean ‘Day One.’

“…I think the problem with Biden is that he believed in our values but not our power. Whereas Trump believes in our power, but not our values.” — Tom Malinowski

The Fear Is the Point

The Trump administration won’t have time, money or resources to enact mass deportations right away. But they can scare the hell out of everybody.

Trump Considers Executive Order to ‘Save TikTok’

The self-styled master dealmaker is exploring unconventional ways to rescue the Chinese-owned video app from a nationwide ban, arguing it will help him reach an adoring audience throughout his second term…
President-elect Donald Trump is considering issuing an executive order once in office that would suspend enforcement of the TikTok sale-or-ban law for 60 to 90 days, hoping a brief reprieve for the Chinese-owned app will net him an early victory.
Trump has been mulling ways to save the day for the wildly popular video app, talking through unconventional dealmaking and legal maneuvers; these include the executive order that could unravel the Biden administration’s nationwide ban of the app now scheduled for Sunday.

America Just Kinda, Sorta Banned Cigarettes

A new rule by the FDA could change smoking as we know it.

Soaring wealth inequality has remade the map of American prosperity

Serendipity:

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agmoore yesterday

So much to unpack here, but since I'm very angry with Biden, I'll start with that.

“…I think the problem with Biden is that he believed in our values but not our power. Whereas Trump believes in our power, but not our values.”

The problem with Biden was ego. He was too old to begin with. I'm two months shy of 78. 78 is not 75, or 70. My husband is 78. My siblings are around the same age. The members of my writing group were around the same age. 78 is old, even a for a person who ages 'well'.

Biden was too old the first time. The second time he and his entourage could not give up power. "I'm the only one who can beat Trump." His refrain. There are very few people in the world, in history, who can say "I'm the only one." There is always someone else.

Biden destroyed the country by insisting on running again. Not for staying too long in the race, but for running, period. We needed an open, vibrant primary with a candidate who could strike a fresh way forward.

Biden cheated us. I cannot forgive him. More than that, I can't forgive the people who persuaded an old, cognitively impaired man that he should struggle to hold onto power.

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preparedwombat yesterday

I can't forgive the people who persuaded an old, cognitively impaired man that he should struggle to hold onto power.

Sadly, that also applies to Trump. Maybe even more so.

But I don’t really buy that Biden’s cognitively impaired. Other than one disastrous debate, he seems sharp to me. He’s had a speech impediment his entire life. A generation ago he was famous for putting his foot in his mouth.

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agmoore yesterday

I don’t really buy that Biden’s cognitively impaired.

I made the same excuses for him. What are you comparing him to? He's not sharp. Maybe he can do fine in every day tasks. Not as president. Why do we have such low expectations of our leaders?

Reagan was off his game too. Trump definitely (although he was always a bit off balance). Each one of these men stayed in power because others propped them up.

I don't think, in the free market, competing for an important job without favor, any of them would be hired.

He’s had a speech impediment his entire life.

I made the same excuses for him. The debate showed the man. But it wasn't one off. I've seen him slip again, and again. He can't be on sometimes and off sometimes. He's president. He has to be on all the time. He is no sharper than I am, and believe me, I cannot be president.

A generation ago he was famous for putting his foot in his mouth

Yes. I was never a Biden fan. He put his foot in his mouth (not because of stuttering). He plagiarized. He eviscerated Anita Hill. He helped to launch mass incarceration.

I was still going to vote for him, until the debate. Then I had no one to vote for. I donated to the Harris campaign. I was willing to do anything to keep Trump out. But the man who was at that debate (Biden) was not someone I could vote for. That would have been unethical, in my view.

Of course, you and I can disagree on this, because we are civil, rational, courteous people. Can't disagree with a lot of people because the age of civility and rationalism seems to have passed.

I enjoy your posts very much, although sometimes what I read gets under my skin :)

I'd like to edit this comment: Biden knows more than I do about policy and government. In that sense, he's smarter than I am. But he's not sharp. He doesn't think in the moment. He doesn't have fluency of thought. That's what I'm addressing. That's what a leader needs, I believe.

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