Odds and Ends — 30 April 2026

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

Bitcoin eyes $75K after 'most hawkish' FOMC as oil hits highest since 2022

Mayo Clinic Says AI Can Detect Pancreatic Cancer Years Before Human Doctors

Flash Fiction:

“I’ll make this as simple as I can. Say Yes and we’re done here; say No and we’re just getting started.”

“Maybe to you that’s not much ambiguity but to me those are both bad options. I say No and you beat me more. I say Yes, my boss finds out, and I end up in a landfill.”

“You’ve got free will. Choose.”

Written for this prompt.

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Biologic Evidence May Reshape Long-COVID Diagnosis and Care

Iran:

U.S. Seeks to Deploy Hypersonic Missile Against Iran

U.S. Central Command has asked to send the Army’s long-delayed Dark Eagle hypersonic missile to the Middle East for possible use against Iran, seeking a longer-range system to hit ballistic-missile launchers deep inside the country.
If approved, it would mark the first time the U.S, will have deployed its hypersonic missile, which is running far behind schedule and hasn’t been declared fully operational even as Russia and China have deployed their own versions.

California Gasoline Price Surges Above $6

Gasoline in California has topped $6 a gallon as the global energy crunch from the Iran war reverberates.

How the Iran War Could Break the U.S. Economy

At its linguistic core, the two-word phrase ‘demand destruction’ feels severe, harsh, maybe even violent.
In practice, that’s not far off: It means that the magnitude of a price shock can be so large, so persistent and so painful that spending behaviors shift – sometimes to the point where they permanently alter the course, the structure and the stability of a sector or an entire economy.

Politics:

Trump Threatens to Pull Troops From Germany as He Lashes Out at Merz

https://twitter.com/AdamKinzinger/status/2049639012839698434
- AdamKinzinger

Mirroring Gaza, Israel is destroying towns and villages in southern Lebanon

———— Don’t Call Him Chuck ————

https://twitter.com/JohnCremeansX/status/2049248344619274361
- JohnCremeansX

King Charles Humiliates Trump With History Lesson at State Dinner

https://twitter.com/TobiFrenzen/status/2049485147242725827
- TobiFrenzen

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/2049292558623477795
- Acyn

https://twitter.com/ctnyholm1/status/2049262027538129340
- ctnyholm1

———— Stark. Raving. Mad. ————

Trump Wants to Be One of History’s ‘Great Men’

Though Trump has long compared himself to America’s two greatest presidents, we were recently told by two people who are in a position to know such things—a senior administration official and a longtime Trump confidant—that the president had, in private conversations, begun thinking about himself less as a peer of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and more as an addition to Hegel’s immortal trifecta.
Said the confidant: “He’s been talking recently about how he is the most powerful person to ever live. He wants to be remembered as the one who did things that other people couldn’t do, because of his sheer power and force of will.”
The tendency to self-aggrandize is as fundamental a feature of Trump as his sculpted hair and overlong red ties. But it has become even more important in setting his priorities and steering his actions as he hurtles through his final term in office. He no longer has to worry about the judgment of voters and can instead focus on what he’s decided really matters: ascending to become one of history’s so-called great men and leaving an enduring—and, in many cases, physical—imprint.

———— The Epstein Coverup ————

https://twitter.com/covie_93/status/2049241947584303275
- covie_93

———— 86 47 ————

https://twitter.com/Fritschner/status/2049222813907628245
- Fritschner

https://twitter.com/ChristopherHale/status/2049228338976145587
- ChristopherHale

Comey is going to eat that guy alive.

https://twitter.com/donwinslow/status/2049226277765464084
- donwinslow

https://twitter.com/SarahLongwell25/status/2049292875590971546
- SarahLongwell25

https://twitter.com/MikeNellis/status/2049569483107250574
- MikeNellis

———— Autocracy R Us ————

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/2049240560766947787
- RonFilipkowski

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

Amazon Discusses ‘Apprentice’ Reboot

First it bought the Melania* documentary. Now Amazon is discussing a potential reboot of The Apprentice, the reality TV show that once starred Donald Trump and propelled him to national fame.
People familiar with the matter said that executives at Amazon internally have discussed casting someone very close to President Trump as the host if they were to move ahead with filming new episodes: his oldest son Donald Trump Jr.

The Evolution of Trump’s Corruption

In 2019, neither the press nor the public was yet so fatigued by news and numb to outrage, as New York magazine observedthis week, nor were they yet accustomed to a president using his position to openly enrich himself… The Republican Party also had more leaders who were willing to criticize the president, either publicly or privately.
Finally, although Trump has never seemed especially vulnerable to shame, the president and his aides could still be swayed by sufficient embarrassment back then. The phrase shameless corruption gets used a lot, but Trump’s second term embodies it.

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

https://twitter.com/revishvilig/status/2049561109028339941
- revishvilig

https://twitter.com/ak_mack/status/2049199344646041679
- ak_mack

———— Hegseth on the Rocks ————

Hegseth Brags Of A Deadlier War Machine As U.S. Unleashes “Devastating Civilian Harm Globally”

On Wednesday, Hegseth repeatedly dismissed congressional concerns about civilian harm and respect for the laws of war in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.