Odds and Ends — 27 January 2023

2 months ago

In a 99 mana battle, I was able to use 80 mana (Noxious Fumes and Wands Out rule sets, Dragon/Earth/Life splinters available) which turned out to be overkill.

Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:

Lovely. More “Hive” confusion FUD: US Justice Department seizes website of prolific ransomware gang Hive

U.S. economy doesn’t look as good as GDP suggests

Crypto Custodian Aegis to Add Coverage of Lido's Staked Token Derivatives

Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:

FDA advisors recommend replacing original Covid vaccine with bivalent omicron shots for all doses

Claims of Covid Vaccine Injuries and Deaths Revive Protest Movement

Street rallies, legal conferences, and suspicions about “sudden” deaths show that anti-vax propaganda hasn’t gone away — it’s just evolving

Politics:

Durham Investigation Finds Nothing

Egged on by Mr. Trump, Attorney General William Barr set out in 2019 to dig into their shared theory that the Russia investigation likely stemmed from a conspiracy by intelligence or law enforcement agencies. To lead the inquiry, Mr. Barr turned to a hard-nosed prosecutor named John Durham, and later granted him special counsel status to carry on after Mr. Trump left office.
But after almost four years — far longer than the Russia investigation itself — Mr. Durham’s work is coming to an end without uncovering anything like the deep state plot alleged by Mr. Trump and suspected by Mr. Barr.

Why Trump Wasn’t Charged Once He Left Office

The Fine Print of the January 6 Committee Report

It is rare for a government body to show its work to the extent that the committee has. Normally, footnotes in an investigative report point to interviews readers can’t access. They refer to grand jury transcripts, internal memorandums of interviews and other materials the reader cannot simply click on and search. The Jan. 6 report’s 4,286 endnotes, small print that people so often skip, by contrast, offer a guide to this vast and vital public record.
For nearly a month, I have studied the footnotes and the document they support. Legal scholars, historians and others will analyze this material for years to come, but already some takeaways are clear. Notably, the committee shared not just its interpretation of events and the raw material from which it drew but also used the notes to make thousands of connections between the two. It’s a powerful model for future investigative bodies, one that allows anyone to check the committee’s interpretation of its evidence. It also offers pointers to journalists as to where to find the good stuff in the pile of material just dropped in their laps.

Trump Has Completely Lost His Grip on Reality

Manpower will be crucial for Russia to mount a spring offensive

Moscow will need many more combat soldiers to achieve the three-to-one ratio necessary for an attacking force.

California seeks disbarment of Eastman following Trump memo

Turkey’s Problem Isn’t Sweden. It’s the United States.

Erdogan has focused on Stockholm’s stance toward Kurdish exile groups, but Ankara’s real demand is the end of U.S. support for Kurds in Syria.

Arizona 2020 Election ‘Audit’ Had Direct Ties to Trump

New records show Trump received direct updates from people at the coliseum, his allies pressured the lead contractor on when to report findings, and that contractor asked people close to the former president if he could help pay for it. This all happened as leaders of the state Senate publicly denied Trump had any involvement in their effort.

Biden bars new mining in Minnesota wilderness area