Odds and Ends — 22 August 2022
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:
Banks, crypto lobby clash with lawmakers over Fed digital dollar
Germany to Prioritize Coal Trains Over Passenger Services
Germany faces an historic energy crisis, which has fueled inflation and put the country on the brink of a recession. Russia has drastically cut natural gas flows on the key Nord Stream 1 pipeline amid its war in Ukraine. And hot and dry weather has hampered fuel transportation via Europe’s main rivers.
U.S. Companies Bring Home Overseas Jobs
U.S. companies are bringing workforces and supply chains home at a historic pace.
American companies are on pace to reshore, or return to the U.S., nearly 350,000 jobs this year… That would be the highest number on record since the group began tracking the data in 2010. The Reshoring Initiative lobbies for bringing manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.
Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:
The world might be done with covid, but I’m still keeping my distance
Amid covid surge, Iran cut corners to approve yet-unproven vaccine
Politics:
Jan. 6 Panel Members Say They’re In Talks With Pence’s Counsel About Testifying
Trump Long Ignored Presidential Records Act
Why Trump refused to turn over the seized documents despite repeated requests remains unclear. But Trump’s flouting of the Presidential Records Act, which outlines how materials should be preserved, was well documented throughout his time in office.
He routinely tore up official papers that later had to be taped back together. Official items that would traditionally be turned over to the National Archives became intermingled with his personal belongings in the White House residence. Classified information was tweeted, shared with reporters and adversaries — even found in a White House complex bathroom.
Russia Rules Out Peace Deal with Ukraine
Moscow sees no possibility of a diplomatic solution to end the war in Ukraine and expects a long conflict, a senior Russian diplomat has warned, as President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion reaches the six-month mark this week.
An Unusual $1.6 Billion Donation Bolsters Conservatives
A new conservative nonprofit group scored a $1.6 billion windfall last year via a little-known donor — an extraordinary sum that could give Republicans and their causes a huge financial boost ahead of the midterms, and for years to come.
The source of the money was Barre Seid, an electronics manufacturing mogul, and the donation is among the largest — if not the largest — single contributions ever made to a politically focused nonprofit. The beneficiary is a new political group controlled by Leonard A. Leo, an activist who has used his connections to Republican donors and politicians to help engineer the conservative dominance of the Supreme Court and to finance battles over abortion rights, voting rules and climate change policy.
This windfall will help cement Mr. Leo’s status as a kingmaker in conservative big money politics. It could also give conservatives an advantage in a type of difficult-to-trace spending that shapes elections and political fights.
Clean Energy Loans Are ‘Sleeping Giant’ of Climate Bill
Tucked into the Inflation Reduction Act that President Biden signed last week is a major expansion of federal loan programs that could help the fight against climate change by channeling more money to clean energy and converting plants that run on fossil fuels to nuclear or renewable energy.
The law authorizes as much as $350 billion in additional federal loans and loan guarantees for energy and automotive projects and businesses. The money, which will be disbursed by the Energy Department, is in addition to the more well-known provisions of the law that offer incentives for the likes of electric cars, solar panels, batteries and heat pumps.
Serendipity:
Pondoland: South Africa’s cannabis growers left behind by legalisation plans
A Dad Took Photos of His Naked Toddler for the Doctor. Google Flagged Him as a Criminal.
Image credit: created with craiyon.