^{The Ghost in You}

Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:

Embattled crypto lender Celsius files for bankruptcy protection

By putting partisanship aside, North Carolina ranks No. 1 in America’s Top States for Business, with the nation’s strongest economy

Former Crypto Adviser Michael Barr Confirmed as Top US Financial Watchdog

The Senate approved the appointment of Barr, an ex-Ripple adviser who served in Obama’s Treasury Dept., as the Fed’s new vice chair for supervision.

Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:

Shanghai fears new lockdown as millions test for Covid amid sweltering heat

FDA authorizes Novavax Covid vaccine for adults as the first new shots in U.S. in more than a year

The Novavax shot is based on more conventional protein technology used for decades in hepatitis B and HPV vaccines, while Pfizer and Moderna are the first FDA approved vaccines to use mRNA.

Politics:

Trump’s Lawyers Think Mark Meadows Is Going Down

Trump’s inner circle increasingly views Meadows as a likely fall guy for the former president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Members of Trump’s legal team are actively planning certain strategies around Meadows’ downfall — including possible criminal charges. Trump has himself begun the process of distancing himself from some of his onetime senior aide’s alleged actions around Jan. 6.

GOP Boycott of January 6 Committee Is Backfiring

A president asking for civil war

Donald Trump’s advisers have proved to be the strongest witnesses against him. In the course of seven hearings over the past five weeks, the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has presented a parade of loyalists from Trump’s inner circle eviscerating Trump’s excuses. On Tuesday, those offering scorching testimony about the President they served included his Attorney General, his campaign manager, his lawyers, his press secretary, two of his deputy press secretaries, his daughter, and, notably, his White House counsel, Pat Cipollone.
They knew—they all knew—that Trump’s lies about the “rigged election” were, as former Attorney General William Barr so memorably put it, in a deposition shown at an earlier hearing, “bullshit” and “complete nonsense.” They testified that they told Trump so, too. And they were under no illusions about the damage the President was wreaking in disregarding the evidence, the courts, the Electoral College, and the Constitution itself to pursue his quest to overturn the 2020 election and remain in power.

If throwing Donald Trump in jail starts a second Civil War, we'll just have to win that one, too.
— Middle Age Riot (Hive account@middleageriot) July 13, 2022

Arrest Made In Rape of 10-Year Old Ohio Girl

A Columbus man has been charged with impregnating a 10-year-old Ohio girl, whose travel to Indiana to seek an abortion led to international attention following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade and activation of Ohio’s abortion law.

The arrest comes just days after Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost suggested the rape never happened.

Conservatives tried — and failed — to cast doubt on tale of Ohio child rape victim

Election Officials Say ‘Insider Threats’ Loom

Election officials are confronting a wave of threats and security challenges coming from a troubling source: inside the election system itself.
In interviews on the sidelines of the National Association of Secretaries of State’s summer conference, a dozen chief election administrators detailed a growing number of ‘insider threats’ leading to attempted or successful election security breaches aided by local officials. The most prominent was in Colorado, where a county clerk was indicted for her role in facilitating unauthorized access to voting machines. But there have been similar instances elsewhere, including in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio.

Jan. 6 Participant Who Right-Wing Media Cast As Agent Provocateur Speaks Out

10 GOP Lawmakers Plotted to Overturn Election

Ten Republican members of Congress attended a Dec. 21 White House meeting focused on efforts to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to help overturn the 2020 election.
The revelation underscores how deep the involvement of some lawmakers were in former President Trump’s schemes to overturn the election even after the electoral college met to affirm President Biden’s victory.

Newsmax Host Blames ‘Butt Dial’ for Witness Tampering

MAGA Fan Accused of Setting Fire to His Own Van

A Minneapolis man told cops he’d been the victim of a terrifying, politically motivated attack in the heat of the 2020 presidential race: His camper van was set on fire because it displayed a Trump flag, and the flames had spread to engulf other vehicles and his garage, which itself had been spray-painted with graffiti supporting Joe Biden and Black Lives Matter, just weeks after local police killed George Floyd.
Investigators have now concluded that he staged the whole thing.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) tries to mock Berkley law professor Khiara Bridges for using the phrase "people with the capacity for pregnancy" during a Senate hearing on abortion.

She was having none of it. pic.twitter.com/9tiGFhU07L
— Alanna Vagianos (@AlannaVagianos) July 12, 2022