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Odds and Ends — 24 April 2025

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Published: 24 Apr 2025 › Updated: 24 Apr 2025Odds and Ends — 24 April 2025

Odds and Ends — 24 April 2025

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

Trump fought the bond market, the bond market won: Saifedean Ammous

19 Richest Households Made $1 Trillion Last Year

The wealthiest have gotten richer, and control a record share of America’s wealth. New data suggest $1 trillion of wealth was created for the 19 richest American households alone in 2024.
That is more than the value of Switzerland’s entire economy.

Solana Foundation Shifts Validator Strategy to Promote Self-Sufficiency

Coronavirus and Public Health:

RFK Jr. Eyes Reversing Covid Vaccine Recommendation

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is weighing pulling the Covid-19 vaccine from the government’s list of recommended immunizations for children.
Eliminating the vaccine from the CDC schedule would not bar kids from receiving it. But the change would represent an extraordinary intervention by Kennedy to override the agency’s scientific decision-making and reverse a recommendation backed by the CDC and a slate of independent advisers just three years ago.

NIH guts its first and largest study centered on women

Politics:

Jordan outlaws Muslim Brotherhood group, confiscates its assets and offices

———— Autocracy R Us ————

Hundreds of scholars say U.S. is swiftly heading toward authoritarianism

Switching from ICE to DoD Custody: An Alarming Violation of Court Order on Deportations to El Salvador

Wife of wrongly deported Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia forced into safe house after government posts address online

Due Process and the Abrego Garcia Case

Judge Orders Return of 2nd Man Renditioned to El Salvador

A federal judge in Maryland has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of a 20-year-old Venezuelan man deported to El Salvador, whose removal violated a previous court settlement.

———— Smoot-Hawley 2.0 ————

Cronyism, Capitulation and Utter Chaos

What the hell was the Treasury secretary doing giving a closed-door briefing on a significant policy change that hadn’t yet been officially announced? Isn’t that a setup for large-scale insider trading? Indeed, attendees at that conference surely made market bets before Bessent’s remarks became public.
And since when are major policy announcements by government officials made off the record to closed private-sector meetings? One even wonders whether Bessent was announcing policy or making it: Did Trump back him up only after the fact?
The content of his remarks aside, what was Bessent even doing at this event? Senior government officials aren’t supposed to be helping investment banks entertain their clients.

Amplifying the Pain

This gruesome FT chart offers a helpful illustration of exactly what’s spooking the White House. Normally, if the U.S. takes a nasty economic hit — such as during Covid-19 or the 2008 financial crash — it’s swiftly counterbalanced by a stronger dollar and cheaper borrowing, easing the pain somewhat.
But Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’-induced crash has done the unthinkable — hitting U.S. stocks, bonds and currency all at the same time.

Trump Was Warned About Empty Shelves

The CEOs of three of the nation’s biggest retailers — Walmart, Target and Home Depot — privately warned him that his tariff and trade policy could disrupt supply chains, raise prices and empty shelves.
Said one administration official: “The big box CEOs flat out told him the prices aren’t going up, they’re steady right now, but they will go up. And this wasn’t about food. But he was told that shelves will be empty.”
Another official said the CEOs told Trump disruptions could become noticeable in two weeks.

Hassett on whether Trump is worried about empty shelves: ‘Absolutely not’

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

Trump Is Acting as a Proxy for Putin

His proposal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine isn’t a peace plan—it’s a reward for aggression.

———— Signalgate ————

Pete Hegseth Had Signal App on Pentagon Computer

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the installation of Signal, a commercially available messaging app, on a desktop computer in his Pentagon office, illustrating the extent to which he has integrated use of the unclassified communications platform.

———— Musk and DOGE ————

Tesla’s Remarkably Bad Quarter Is Even Worse Than It Looks

———— Mors Imperii ————

It’s the Stupid, Stupid

Yes, Trump and his accomplices are malicious. Yes, they’re corrupt. Yes, they’re dangerous. But they’re also profoundly stupid, and their stupidity is hurting or worrying a lot of people who voted for Trump.
So here’s my pitch: To break Trump’s coalition and reclaim our government, we need to talk not just about the administration’s corruption and its abuse of power, but about its pervasive incompetence.

Inside the desperate rush to save decades of US scientific data from deletion

Swathes of scientific data deletions are sweeping across US government websites – with decades of health, climate change and extreme weather research at risk. Now, scientists are racing to save their work before it's lost.

Thank you Memory Hole!

Trump’s War on Children

The administration is quietly putting America’s children at risk by cutting funds and manpower for investigating child abuse, enforcing child support payments, providing child care and much more.

Serendipity:

Memes and conflict: Study shows surge of imagery and fakes can precede international and political violence

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“An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.” – Plutarch

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