Odds and Ends — 24 May 2026

My wife and I recently finally got around to watching Chernobyl. Fine performances by Stellan Skarsgård, Emily Watson, and especially Jared Harris. If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and do so. Highly recommended.

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

https://twitter.com/jimstewartson/status/2058327420755980539
- jimstewartson

Soaring bond yields signal 'structural' shift and Bitcoin 'supercycle': Analyst

Fixed-income investors are in a "panic" as government securities, once seen as low-risk, begin to crack, according to BitMEX researcher Shang Wu.

https://twitter.com/Freyy_is/status/2058322802835333154
- Freyy_is

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Brain inflammation is unlikely to explain persistent long COVID symptoms, neuroimaging study finds

Iran:

https://twitter.com/zlatinna22/status/2058293259101675913
- zlatinna22

https://twitter.com/BrettErickson28/status/2058177824058704138
- BrettErickson28

https://twitter.com/GavMcCracken/status/2058113622723752010
- GavMcCracken

https://twitter.com/CloutedMind/status/2058201794354745737
- CloutedMind

Trump’s War Is Staggering to an Incoherent Defeat

Even the president’s supporters are alarmed.

https://twitter.com/FletchLives9021/status/2058268589451354278
- FletchLives9021

https://twitter.com/mdubowitz/status/2058204345535975786
- mdubowitz

https://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/2058304237436842187
- MeidasTouch

Trump keeps the world guessing with mixed messaging on Iran deal

https://twitter.com/Angry_Staffer/status/2058616606750658772
- Angry_Staffer

https://twitter.com/meiselasb/status/2058637077131243743
- meiselasb

https://twitter.com/ProfessorPape/status/2058646948421476751
- ProfessorPape

https://twitter.com/DougJBalloon/status/2058521513859678672
- DougJBalloon

Politics:

Navy chief undercuts Trump and Hegseth on Taiwan, Iran

Zelenskyy rejects Merz proposal for associate EU membership

———— Autocracy R Us ————

https://twitter.com/Emolclause/status/2057906410600780155
- Emolclause

———— Blatant In-Your-Face Corruption ————

https://twitter.com/RepMikeLevin/status/2058291909215526979
- RepMikeLevin

How Prediction Markets and Crypto Firms Steamrolled a Watchdog Agency

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

https://twitter.com/MelnykAndrij/status/2058170557728751872
- MelnykAndrij

———— Smoot-Hawley 2.0 ————

China Eliminates Tariffs on Africa to Outmaneuver Trump

African countries are finding it harder to export to the U.S. since President Trump returned to the White House with a long list of tariffs. But China sees their struggle as an opportunity.
Since May 1, Beijing has removed tariffs on all goods from 53 of 54 African nations in an effort to win business and influence across the continent. Everything from wine to sesame seeds and wool has been entering China tariff-free from everywhere except tiny Eswatini, which maintains diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Analysts say the move could push Africa’s population of more than a billion people and vast mineral resources further into China’s orbit.