Odds and Ends — 2 September 2022
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:
Wall Street Is in Denial Over the Economy
62% of wallets did not sell Bitcoin for a year amid the bear market
An economic perfect storm is battering emerging markets. Debt crises loom
The Perverse Impacts of the Anti-Money-Laundering System
California rolls out a daring new housing policy to combat high home prices and increase supply
Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:
Pandemic Erased Decades of Progress in Math and Reading
National test results released on Thursday showed in stark terms the pandemic’s devastating effects on American schoolchildren, with the performance of 9-year-olds in math and reading dropping to the levels from two decades ago.
The declines spanned almost all races and income levels and were markedly worse for the lowest-performing students. While top performers in the 90th percentile showed a modest drop — three points in math — students in the bottom 10th percentile dropped by 12 points in math, four times the impact.
Politics:
Trump Vows to Pardon Capitol Rioters If He’s Elected
Former president Donald Trump said he would issue full pardons and a government apology to rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and violently attacked law enforcement to stop the democratic transfer of power.
Said Trump: “I mean full pardons with an apology to many.”
He added: “I am financially supporting people that are incredible and they were in my office actually two days ago, so they’re very much in my mind. It’s a disgrace what they’ve done to them. What they’ve done to these people is disgraceful.”
Trump Indictment Now Seems Inevitable
Trump White House Lawyers to Appear Before Grand Jury
Two former top Trump White House lawyers are expected to appear Friday before a federal grand jury investigating the events surrounding Jan. 6.
Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and former deputy White House counsel Pat Philbin were subpoenaed by a federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The move to subpoena the two men has signaled an even more dramatic escalation in the Justice Department’s investigation into the Jan. 6 attack than previously known.
GOP In Disarray Over Picture Proof Of Classified Docs At Trump’s House
Judge Again Rejects Graham’s Effort to Toss Subpoena
A federal judge has for the second time rejected Sen. Lindsey Graham’s effort to block a grand jury subpoena issued by the Atlanta-area district attorney investigating former President Donald Trump and his allies’ effort to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
In a 23-page order, U.S. District Court Judge Leigh Martin May ruled that the South Carolina Republican’s claim to be immune from such questioning — thanks to the protections of the so-called speech or debate clause of the Constitution — is not as sweeping as Graham claimed it to be.
Trump’s Truth Social rants against the FBI inadvertently undercut his main January 6 defense
According to the Republican Party, there are two types of elections in the United States: fair elections that they win, and rigged elections that they lose.
— Middle Age Riot (@middleageriot) September 1, 2022
Gotta love the wording options for the question in this poll.
Ginni Thomas Pushed Wisconsin Lawmakers on Election
Virginia ‘Ginni’ Thomas, the conservative activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, pressed lawmakers to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory not only in Arizona, as previously reported, but also in a second battleground state, Wisconsin, according to emails obtained under state public-records law.
“The wife of a Supreme Court justice trying to subvert the U.S. Constitution is problematic on many levels.” — Taegan Goddard
Don’t like the homeless? Cut down trees. WTF?
Another Putin Critic Dies Falling Out of a Window
Defenestration never goes out of style.
8 Russian Energy Executives Have Died Suddenly
The death of Ravil Maganov, chairman of the Russian oil giant Lukoil, at a hospital in Moscow on Thursday appears to mark the eighth time this year that a Russian energy executive has died suddenly and under unusual circumstances.
Gorbachev Was Shocked by Ukraine Invasion
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, was shocked and bewildered by the Ukraine conflict in the months before he died and psychologically crushed in recent years by Moscow’s worsening ties with Kyiv…
The great GOP abortion backpedal: Republicans slowly realize they live in a partisan bubble
New Mexico to Build Abortion Clinic Near Texas Border
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order Wednesday committing $10 million to build a new reproductive health care clinic near the state's border with Texas.
In addition to abortion, the clinic will provide regular preventative care and other pregnancy services.
Ex-Police Officer Gets 10 Years in Prison for Capitol Insurrection
A former New York City police officer and Marine Corps veteran, who swung a flagpole at police before tackling one officer and yanking his gas mask off during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday, the longest sentence handed down so far among the more than 860 people charged in the insurrection.
Thomas Webster, 56, of Goshen, N.Y., was the first riot defendant facing the felony charge of assaulting an officer to try his luck with a jury.
Yeah, good luck with that: Trump-aligned Pa. governor nominee Mastriano sues Jan. 6 committee
A host of other litigants have gone to court to challenge the committee’s lawfulness, and none have emerged victorious.
Donald Trump Is Still a Lunatic
Biden Calls Out Trump as a ‘Threat to This Country’
An Oklahoma teacher gave her students access to banned books. Now she's under scrutiny
Serendipity:
The U.S. diet is deadly. Here are 7 ideas to get Americans eating healthier
