Odds and Ends — 16 August 2022

in #oddsandends2 years ago (edited)


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Diemonshark got lucky (well, the speed helped with those misses).

Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:

LNG, Fastest-Growing U.S. Export Since Covid-19, Heading To Europe

Ethereum ICO-era whale address transfers 145,000 ETH weeks before the Merge

US Fed Opens Pathway for Crypto Banks to Tap Central Banking System

Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:

FWIW: The COVID lab leak theory is dead. Here’s how we know the virus came from a Wuhan market

’Next Generation’ Moderna Coronavirus Booster Jab Approved for Use in Adults

Politics:

Justice Department Intends to Keep Affidavit Secret

The Justice Department intends to unseal additional documents connected to the FBI search at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate but is urging a federal court to maintain the secrecy of the sworn affidavit describing the basis for the search.
The DOJ is particularly concerned that the release of details from the affidavit might harm ongoing efforts to interview witnesses, given the threats to federal agents in wake of the Mar-a-Lago search.

This should surprise a grand total of zero people. The penultimate sentence in the article:

Sworn affidavits that undergird search warrants are typically sealed until charges are issued or an investigation is closed.

Why Did Trump Take Classified Documents?

Reason One seems relatively harmless. Trump is a seven-year-old grown old, and he liked some of the cool doodads you get your hands on as president… Among the disputed documents at Mar-a-Lago was a meteorological map of Hurricane Dorian that he had infamously marked up with a black Sharpie. Who knows why that map was so important to him? Who cares?
The second and third reasons aren’t harmless at all. They’re deeply damaging and troubling.
So, Reason Two: Money. Unfettered greed has motivated Trump his entire life… Recall that Trump’s businesses have been in difficult straits. When Trump left the White House, his operations were saddled with about $1 billion in debt, $900 million of which comes due relatively soon. He personally guaranteed repayment of about $421 million of that debt.
Reason Three: Reputational damage… it’s not unreasonable to worry that his communications with foreign leaders — and anything disreputable or possibly illegal that took place in connection with those — could have been something he felt compelled to hide.

Lies, lies, and more lies. That’s all that Team Trump has to offer:

Pressure Grows on Trump to Announce 2024 Bid

The source indicated Trump needed to announce because politically it would be harder for the US Department of Justice to indict a candidate for office than a former president out of the electoral running.

Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Trump might be seriously underestimating Garland’s resolve.

John Bolton Says Trump Is Lying About Classified Docs

Said Bolton: “When somebody begins to concoct lies like this, it shows a real level of desperation.”

Breach of Voting Machines Points to National Pattern

In states across the country, including Colorado, Pennsylvania and Georgia, attempts to inappropriately access voting machines have spurred investigations. They have also sparked concern among election authorities that, while voting systems are broadly secure, breaches by those looking for evidence of fraud could themselves compromise the integrity of the process and undermine confidence in the vote.
In Michigan, the efforts to access the machines jumped into public view this month when the state attorney general, Dana Nessel (D), requested a special prosecutor be assigned to look into a group that includes her likely Republican opponent, Matthew DePerno.

It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy: Rudy Giuliani Is Target of Criminal Probe In Georgia

INTERESTING: DOJ indicates in a filing this AM that the *other* search warrant signed by Magistrate Reinhart on Aug. 5 is NOT related to the search of Mar-a-Lago. pic.twitter.com/vyUavHZ0GO

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 15, 2022

Buying an electric vehicle? Might want to pay up fast.

The Arizona GOP’s Anti-Democracy Experiment

Arizona has become a bellwether for the rest of the nation, and not just because of its new status as a swing state and the first of these to be called for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. It was and has continued to be the nexus of efforts by former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies to overturn the 2020 election results. At the same time, party figures from Trump down to Rose Sperry have sought to blacklist every Arizona G.O.P. official who maintained that the election was fairly won — from Gov. Doug Ducey to Rusty Bowers, speaker of the state’s House of Representatives. Such leaders have been condemned as RINOs, or Republicans in name only, today’s equivalent of the McCarthy era’s ‘fellow travelers.’
The aggressive takeover of the Arizona G.O.P. by its far-right wing was made manifest on primary night earlier this month, when a slate of Trump-endorsed candidates — the gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, the U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters, the state attorney general candidate Abraham Hamadeh and the secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem — all prevailed. As a group, they maintain that the 2020 election was stolen, have promoted conspiracy theories about Covid and have vowed to protect Arizona’s schools from gender ideology, critical race theory and what McCarthyites denounced 70 years ago as ‘godless communism.’ They have cast the 2022 election as not just history-defining but potentially civilization-ending.

Ukraine hits Russian Wagner mercenary HQ in east

Trump’s Evolving Explanation Over the Documents

Mr. Trump and his allies have argued that former President Barack Obama also mishandled documents (an allegation quickly dismissed as false by the National Archives); that the judge who signed the warrant authorizing the search must have been biased; that the F.B.I. might have planted evidence; that the documents were covered by attorney-client or executive privilege; and that Mr. Trump had declassified the documents.

Federal Judge Rejects Graham’s Bid to Quash Subpoena

Senate GOP Campaign Arm Slashes TV Ad Buys in 3 States

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has cut more than $5 million in Pennsylvania, including its reservations in the Philadelphia media market.
Reservations in Wisconsin, in the Madison and Green Bay markets, have also been curtailed, by more than $2 million. And in Arizona, all reservations after Sept. 30 have been cut in Phoenix and Tucson, the state’s only two major media markets, amounting to roughly $2 million more.

“This is a clear admission that Donald Trump’s favored candidates aren’t worth the investment.” — Taegan Goddard

Capitol Rioters Try to Profit from Their Crimes

“One of the main reasons the Democrats were put in power is because the American people wanted accountability and justice. We don’t have it yet. If Donald Trump is not punished for his crimes, then this country is done for.” — Former GOP strategist Cheri Jacobus

Enraged Anti-Vaxxer Arrested for FBI Threats in Wake of Trump Raid

On Friday, Adam Bies wrote, “Come and get me you piece of shit feds.” On Monday, he was in handcuffs.

Serendipity:

An “Extreme Heat Belt” will soon emerge in the U.S., study warns

Why Soylent Green Got 2022 So Wrong

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If these clowns hadn't made so much noise for so long about the baseless Russian collusion accusations, these new claims might actually have merit. I'm no Trump fan, but the track record of his opponents has made new criticism immediately suspect.

FWIW: The COVID lab leak theory is dead. Here’s how we know the virus came from a Wuhan market

Was the lab theory ever seriously considered, outside of the conspiracy crowd? Anyway, that's an interesting link! I'll save that one. Not that it will convince the conspiracy lovers, but good to have.