Odds and Ends — 4 May 2025

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

‘Like Spitting on a Fire’: Tether CEO Slams EU Deposit Protections Amid Bank Failure Warnings

Why Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust still dominates ETF revenue in 2025

Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:

New Drugs Outperform Paxlovid – A Game Changer for COVID and Future Pandemics

Politics:

Trump says, ‘I don’t know,’ when asked if he’s required to uphold Constitution

Everyone Wants a Piece of Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’

Laser-toting satellites capable of taking out missiles have long been the stuff of science fiction. President Trump is asking defense contractors to make the idea a reality.
Trump is looking to create a defense system that he calls the Golden Dome for America. It is envisioned to be a cutting-edge system of space and ground technology, with the goal of defending the U.S. against high-tech missile threats and potential attacks.
Taking cues from Israel’s Iron Dome, defense officials want the proposed shield to stretch from sea to sea, and from the Earth’s surface to space. Makers of aerospace equipment and weapons are already jockeying to grab a piece of the program.

Golden Dome is just a rebranding of the Strategic Defense Initiative, a massive clusterfuck.

New post for Togo leader could see him rule for life

https://twitter.com/cmclymer/status/1918649411002921226
- cmclymer

Democratic resistance in Venezuela is dead

https://twitter.com/AlinaSalazarG/status/1918805777709404199
- AlinaSalazarG

———— Autocracy R Us ————

Donald Trump’s Cruel and Unusual Innovations

Deporting illegal immigrants is lawful. Imprisoning them in El Salvador makes a mockery of the Eighth Amendment.

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1918543472363004360
- atrupar

ICE Prosecutor in Dallas Runs White Supremacist X Account

https://twitter.com/tomwatson/status/1918637889052680495
- tomwatson

Trump border czar Tom Homan gives 'chilling' warning to Gov. Tony Evers over ICE guidance

The White House border czar warned Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers over his guidance to state workers who encounter federal immigration officials on the job, suggesting the Democratic governor could face felony charges if the Trump administration believes its immigration efforts are impeded.

https://twitter.com/ruthbenghiat/status/1918706989267325072
- ruthbenghiat

Is the U.S. Becoming an Autocracy?

Other countries have watched their democracies slip away gradually, without tanks in the streets. That may be where we’re headed—or where we already are.

Trump Rages at Own Judge After Ruling Halting Deportations Under Wartime Act