Odds and Ends — 19 August 2022
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, and Debt:
Crypto market bloodbath leads to over $500M in liquidations in 24 hours
Streaming outperforms both cable and broadcast TV for the first time ever
UK Sovereign Debt Crisis Could Be Imminent.
China’s factories are shutting down again—but not because of covid
Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:
COVID can impair brain function, large study suggests
Two years after infection, patients recovered from COVID-19 are at higher risk of psychosis, dementia and ‘brain fog.’
North Korea Bungles COVID-19, then Blames the South
Politics:
Trump’s legal woes enter yet another protracted phase
Donald Trump entered Thursday demanding answers about the basis for the FBI search of his private residence and calling for a swift end to the investigation. Instead, the former president got few new details about the probe and a piece of unwelcome news to boot: the feds are just getting started.
Trump Associate Planned to Release ‘Declassified’ Documents
Likely the trigger for the search warrant?
The Old Republican Party Is Dead
Cheney’s defeat was no surprise, but it is an especially bitter pill to swallow for the Never Trump former Republicans (as Charlie Sykes and I discussed in a podcast today) who saw Cheney as the last outpost of the party they once knew. Cheney nodded to the GOP’s free fall in her concession speech.
Said Cheney: “I believe deeply in the principles and the ideals on which my party was founded. I love its history, and I love what our party has stood for, but I love my country more.”
Notice the use of the past tense there. The remarkable thing about Cheney’s speech is that it was aimed squarely at the voters. It was certainly not aimed at Trump; Cheney, as well as anyone, knows the pointlessness of addressing Trump in anything like an adult conversation. It wasn’t even really directed at the institutional Republican Party, which is beyond repair at this point. Instead, Cheney grabbed Republican voters by the lapels and told them to snap out of their Trump-induced trance.
Oopsie: GOP group apologizes for mistakenly posting KKK image
A Republican group in Alabama has apologized for accidentally posting racist imagery on their Facebook page after accidentally storing it on their computer after accidentally downloading it after accidentally visiting a racist website after accidentally hating Black people. pic.twitter.com/Acw0Dmywm3
— Middle Age Riot (@middleageriot) August 18, 2022
January 6 Grand Jury Subpoenaed White House Docs
Federal prosecutors investigating the role that former President Donald Trump and his allies played in the events leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol have issued a grand jury subpoena to the National Archives for all the documents the agency provided to a parallel House select committee inquiry.
The subpoena, issued to the National Archives in May, made a sweeping demand for ‘all materials, in whatever form’ that the archives had given to the Jan. 6 House committee. Those materials included records from the files of Mr. Trump’s top aides, his daily schedule and phone logs and a draft text of the president’s speech that preceded the riot.
Asking the National Archives for any White House documents pertaining to the events surrounding Jan. 6 was one of the first major steps the House panel took in its investigation. And the grand jury subpoena suggests that the Justice Department has not only been following the committee’s lead in pursuing its inquiry, but also that prosecutors believe evidence of a crime may exist in the White House documents the archives turned over to the House panel.
“The problem the Republican Party has is that they got really stupid people that vote in their primaries, and… really stupid people demand to have really stupid leaders. That’s where the Republican Party is now.” — James Carville
GOP Candidate Says Merrick Garland Should Be Executed
If there’s a hell, these guys have reserved seating: Former judges who sent kids to jail for kickbacks must pay more than $200 million
I agree. And I was the CIA Director https://t.co/LRAHDDyy4n
— Gen Michael Hayden (@GenMhayden) August 17, 2022
McConnell Pumps Money Into Ohio Senate Race
A political action committee with close ties to U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is launching a massive new ad campaign in Ohio, a clear sign that national Republicans are shifting more toward playing defense in the Buckeye State.
“This is a clear indication Republicans are worried about J.D. Vance’s ability to win in a solid red state.” — Taegan Goddard
Trump Supporters Threaten Judge
Hundreds of federal judges face the same task every day: review an affidavit submitted by federal agents and approve requests for a search warrant. But for U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, the fallout from his decision to approve a search warrant has been far from routine.
He has faced a storm of death threats since his signature earlier this month cleared the way for the FBI to search former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate as part of a probe into whether he inappropriately removed sensitive materials from the White House. Reinhart’s home address was posted on right-wing sites, along with antisemitic slurs. The South Florida synagogue he attends canceled its Friday night Shabbat services in the wake of the uproar.
Judge Rails Against Wisconsin Election ‘Investigation’ In 90-Page Takedown
Serendipity:
Japan launches a contest to urge young people to drink more alcohol
