Odds and Ends — 15 April 2026

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

I saw an ad for a company offering “Bespoke AI Software.” Is that a sign of the end times?

Struggling shoe retailer Allbirds makes bizarre pivot from shoes to AI, stock explodes more than 400%

https://twitter.com/bcmerchant/status/2044196827206156528
- bcmerchant

The World’s Economy Is About to Change Abruptly

The global economy is about to shift from price shock to physical constraint—and once that happens, policy will no longer stabilize the system; the system will begin forcing policy.
The language of this crisis is still wrong. Most commentary continues to describe rising oil prices as the central problem, as if this were another cyclical disruption that markets will absorb. That framing is now obsolete. What is unfolding is not primarily a price event but a structural supply shock operating on a system that lacks the capacity to adjust in the time that matters.

https://twitter.com/markgadala/status/2044183919839310098
- markgadala

Flash Fiction:

”You really thought you could get away with it?”

”I’m sorry. I know it was stupid. I’ll pay the boss back. Double. In a week.”

It doesn’t work that way. You steal from some schmoe, fine. You steal from your priest, fine. You steal from the boss, not fine.”

”Please, it will never happen again!”

”On that we can agree. You’re going to take a quick nap now. Not the kind of nap you wake up from.”

Written for this prompt.

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Study finds long COVID leaves a distinct immune signature in the blood

Iran:

Europe Has Postwar Plan to Free Up Hormuz Without U.S.

European countries are putting together a plan for a broad coalition of countries to help free up shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, including sending mine-clearing and other military vessels.
But the plan would only come after the war and may exclude one country in particular: the U.S.

Divided America Processes War Trump Hasn’t Explained

Public-opinion surveys show that roughly six in 10 Americans oppose the U.S.-led war against Iran, a striking shift from the solid public support that accompanied the United States’ invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan in the early 2000s, or the Persian Gulf war in the 1990s.
Some say they are simply baffled by a war that they feel the president did not prepare them for and that still has not been clearly explained.