Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, and Debt:
Europe Needs Digital Euro, Central Bank Says After Trump Order Barring US CBDC
Vitalik Buterin takes aim at ‘unlimited political bribery’ using tokens
Coronavirus and Public Health:
Trump’s Freeze at NIH Alarms Scientists
While the National Institutes of Health employs 20,000-plus workers and spans 27 institutes and centers, the agency’s main job is to fund researchers working outside its walls.
But an unprecedented disruption of grant review panel meetings is provoking panic across the world of academic science that this key piece of the agency’s mission will be upended.
Said one doctor: “Everything appears to have just ground to a halt.”
Deny, Defend, Depose:
Politics:
Trump Had Fiery Call with Denmark’s Prime Minister
…Trump insisted he was serious in his determination to take over Greenland in a fiery telephone call with Denmark’s prime minister…
Five current and former senior European officials briefed on the call said the conversation had gone very badly. They added that Trump had been aggressive and confrontational…
Said one Danish official: “It was horrendous.”
Said another: “He was very firm. It was a cold shower. Before, it was hard to take it seriously. But I do think it is serious, and potentially very dangerous.”
ICE agents denied entry at a Chicago elementary school, CPS officials say
Chicago Public Schools prevented officers from U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement from going into an elementary school on Chicago’s Southwest Side Friday and talking to students.
Since that story broke, “a federal spokesperson” has said that it was the Secret Service, not ICE. Um, either way, WTF?
Trump fires at least 12 independent inspectors general in late-night purge
The White House late Friday fired the independent inspectors general of at least 12 major federal agencies in a purge that could clear the way for President Donald Trump to install loyalists in the crucial role of identifying fraud, waste and abuse in the government.
The dismissals appeared to violate federal law, which requires Congress to receive 30 days’ notice of any intent to fire the inspectors general.
Some of the government’s largest agencies were involved, including the Departments of Defense, State, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, and Energy.
Trump’s Early Actions Mirror Project 2025
…Donald Trump’s blitz of executive actions align with many of the ideas promoted in a conservative policy blueprint he once distanced himself from.
…analysis found that dozens of executive actions rolled out by the new administration this week mirror recommendations in the sweeping plan. In all, more than 30 out of Trump’s 47 initial executive actions as of Thursday afternoon match or partially align with ideas promoted in Project 2025, the analysis found.
How Republicans Learned to Excuse Political Violence
This is a significant moment in the transformation of our country. The party that controls the presidency and both houses of Congress—emboldened by a Republican-appointed Supreme Court majority that has granted Trump broad immunity from prosecution—is exempting its supporters from accountability for political violence, including assaults against police.
The response to the January 6 pardons shows that the president faces no effective constraints from within his party…
The J6 pardons have chagrined many Republicans. But it is not going to make many of them rethink their support for Trump. If you want to understand why, look again at the sentence that Lowry wrote just before laughing off the hysterical fear of Trumpist paramilitaries. Trump “says crude and unworthy things.” He “behaved abysmally.”
Even when Republicans in good MAGA standing can bring themselves to scold Trump, their criticism is limited to discrete acts. Trump can say or do something bad, but he cannot be something bad. To acknowledge that his bad acts follow from his character and beliefs, and therefore offer a guide to his future actions, would throw into question the morality and wisdom of supporting him.
“Patriotism is loyalty to country and loyalty to the Constitution – not loyalty to a single head of state. No stroke of a pen and no proclamation can alter the facts of what took place on January 6, 2021. When others in the public eye are not willing to risk their own power or popularity by calling out lies when they hear them, the record of the proceedings in this courthouse will be available to those who seek the truth.” — U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, in reluctantly dismissing a case against a Jan. 6 defendant.
Marco Rubio demands immediate halt to virtually all US foreign aid
The move will affect international assistance contracts administered by Washington, including through the US Agency for International Development, worth billions of dollars and spanning countries around the world.
Russia says it will not allow NATO dominance in Baltic Sea
You and whose navy?
Putin Dismisses Trump’s Sanctions Threat While Heaping New Praise on Him
Said Putin: “He is not only a smart person, he is a pragmatic person, and I can hardly imagine that decisions will be made that would harm the American economy itself.”
He added: “It is probably better for us to meet and, based on today’s realities, talk calmly about all areas that are of interest to both the U.S. and Russia.”
Trump Revives Anti-Abortion Policies
…Donald Trump’s campaign-trail promise to leave abortion regulation to the states lasted just a few days into his presidency.
He issued executive orders on Friday that revive some anti-abortion policies from his first administration — including restrictions on federal funding for family planning and other health programs abroad that discuss abortion as an option or provide referrals for the procedure.
Elon Musk Can Now Surveil the Entire Government
As one of his first acts after being sworn in, President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by reorganizing and renaming an existing entity, the US Digital Services, as the US DOGE Service.
And while some have noted that this version of DOGE moves away from the sweeping vision of deregulation outlined in a November Wall Street Journal op-ed, it’s a move that will give centibillionaire Elon Musk and his allies seemingly unprecedented insight across the government, and access to troves of federal data.
Said law professor Richard Pierce: “It’s quite a clever way of integrating DOGE into the federal government that I think will work, in the sense of giving it a platform for surveillance and recommendations.”
Trump’s calls with British leaders reportedly left staff crying from laughter
Oath Keepers founder barred from D.C., U.S. Capitol unless judge signs off
‘I Was an Investor in the Trump Memecoin’
I woke up in the small hours Saturday morning. Couldn’t sleep. Checked the news and saw that Trump had launched his own memecoin. I do not usually dabble in crypto, but I poked around the $TRUMP website to see how hard it would be for, say, a working-class, middle-aged guy in rural America to figure out how to purchase the token. The answer was: very easy. Anyone with a fifth-grade education and a debit card can buy $TRUMP coins in about five minutes.
I looked at the clock. In few hours the $TRUMP memecoin would be all over Fox & Friends—at which point a million slow-witted cultists would be alerted to this fabulous new investment vehicle. So I threw some money into the coin and waited. A few hours later this meaningless, valueless token took off.
When the initial hype cycle slowed, I sold my holdings. And for the first time in my life, I understood the guys who work in boiler rooms: Transferring wealth from idiots to your own pocket is intoxicating.
Supreme Court to Decide on Religious Public Schools
The Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider whether the state of Oklahoma may fund a proposed Catholic charter school, a blockbuster case that could redraw the line between church and state by allowing religious public schools for the first time.
