Odds and Ends — 8 April 2024

21 days ago

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

A Brazil Supreme Court judge is investigating Elon Musk for alleged obstruction of justice after the billionaire vowed to defy a court order in Latin America’s largest nation blocking certain accounts on his platform.

America’s green manufacturing boom, from EV batteries to solar panel production, isn’t powered by renewable energy − yet

A stealth attack came close to compromising the world’s computers

The cyber-scare shows why the internet’s crowdsourced code is vulnerable

Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:

Disease severity similar for RSV as unvaccinated COVID-19, influenza

Politics:

Why Is the Press Making Trump Seem More Normal?

The press didn’t cover Trump accusing Biden of using cocaine because it was obviously false and they doubt their own ability to persuade their readers. They know that most people don’t click the link and read the article, so it’s easier to ignore. I understand the instinct, but if Trump is dumb and dishonest enough to say Joe Biden delivered the speech while high on cocaine, the public should know.
I often have to watch a whole Trump rally to prepare for the podcast, and no one has ever needed an editor more than Trump. The press shouldn’t do that job for Trump because it ends up hiding relevant information from the public.

https://twitter.com/acnewsitics/status/1777131524044812434

Trump’s $175 Million Bond Is Shadier Than It Looks

The little-known insurance company that rescued Donald Trump by providing a last-minute $175 million bank fraud bond isn’t just unlicensed in New York; it hasn’t even been vetted by a voluntary state entity that would verify it meets minimum ‘eligibility standards’ to prove financial stability.
Perhaps even more troubling, the legal document from Knight Specialty Insurance Company doesn’t actually promise it will pay the money if the former president loses his $464 million bank fraud case on appeal. Instead, it says Trump will pay, negating the whole point of an insurance company guarantee.

The Government Isn’t Ready for the Violence Trump Might Unleash

https://twitter.com/crampell/status/1776987026463563798

Peter Pellegrini: Russia-friendly populist elected Slovak president

https://twitter.com/RBReich/status/1776686815090462792

Election Denial Groups Plan to Disrupt November

As the most consequential presidential election in a generation looms in the United States, get-out-the-vote efforts across the country are more important than ever. But multiple far-right activist groups with ties to former president Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee are mobilizing their supporters in earnest, drawing on one baseline belief: Elections in the U.S. are rigged, and citizens need to do something about it.
All the evidence states otherwise. But in recent weeks, these groups have held training sessions about how to organize on a hyperlocal level to monitor polling places and drop boxes, challenge voter registrations en masse, and intimidate and harass voters and election officials. And some are preparing to roll out new technology to fast-track all of these efforts: One of the groups claims they’re launching a new platform for checking voter rolls that contains billions of ‘data elements’ on every single US citizen.

Napolitano: For Trump to run as ‘law and order candidate’ would be like ‘me saying I play in the NBA’

https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1777066409505198336

Built fjord tough: Why one American ally is surging defense spending