Odds and Ends — 16 May 2023
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, and Debt:
Elon Musk Subpoenaed in Jeffrey Epstein Case
The U.S. Virgin Islands issued a subpoena to Tesla CEO Elon Musk seeking documents as part of that government’s lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase over sex trafficking by the bank’s longtime customer Jeffrey Epstein.
College Graduates Leaving Coastal Cities
This pattern, visible in an Upshot analysis of census microdata, is startling in retrospect. Major coastal metros have been hubs of the kind of educated workers coveted most by high-powered employers and economic development officials. Economists have lamented the growing coastal concentration of their wealth. A politics of resentment in America has fed on it, too. These urban centers have become a class of their own — ‘superstar cities’ — with outsize impact on the American economy fueled by the clustering of workers with degrees.
But it appears in domestic migration data that, years after lower-wage residents have been priced out of expensive coastal metros, higher-paid workers are now turning away from them, too.
Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:
Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine no longer available in the US
Florida Man:
DeSantis Bans Diversity Programs at Florida Universities
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill into law Monday barring the state’s colleges and universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and limiting how race can be discussed in many courses.
Politics:
After a four-year investigation, John Durham serves up a nothing burger. You want fries with that?
The Media Is Normalizing Debt-Ceiling Extortion
For a while, Obama’s perspective mostly carried the day. But as the new Republican-led House seeks to renew the effort to use the debt ceiling as a hostage, a revisionist interpretation has taken hold: This isn’t a new or dangerous tactic, it’s just how Congress operates…
This is all totally false. These arguments conflate negotiation, which is historically common in debt-ceiling bills, with extortion, which isn’t.
It is true that, historically, debt-ceiling bills have also been wrapped together with other measures. But what McCarthy is doing is not that. He is threatening to refuse to lift the debt ceiling unless President Biden grants him concessions. The parties are not engaged in “horse-trading,” because all the horses are being handed by one party to the other. They are only negotiating over the size and contours of the ransom payment.
No Revisionist History on a Lame Duck Debt Ceiling Vote
Biden dives into debt ceiling talks, causing mini panics among his base
The White House argues it’s still not negotiating over the debt ceiling — just having budget talks with a debt ceiling component.
how fucked up is this: Donald Trump's tax cuts for the obscenely wealthy are responsible for a QUARTER OF OUR NATION'S ENTIRE DEBT and Republicans want to cut YOUR social security to pay for it, and that's what this debt ceiling bullshit is all about. fucking unacceptable
— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) May 14, 2023
Harassment Suit Against Giuliani Full of Graphic Allegations
A woman who accused Rudy Giuliani of sexual harassment has filed a 70-page complaint in New York Supreme Court that is chock full of graphic allegations and personal text messages.
Aide Says Giuliani Told Her He Was Selling Pardons
A former aide to former Trump attorney Rudolph Giuliani says he told her the ex-New York City mayor and then-president Donald Trump were offering to sell presidential pardons for $2 million apiece, according to court documents.
Serendipity:
Why America Is Struggling to Stop the Fentanyl Epidemic
The New Geopolitics of Synthetic Opioids
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