Odds and Ends — 19 July 2025

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

Trump Signs GENIUS Act Into Law

UK elections: How crypto donation risks are dividing MPs

Coinbase Doesn't Custody All of Strategy's Bitcoin—So Who Does?

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Scientists Find Shocking Link Between COVID and Alzheimer’s

Politics:

https://twitter.com/JustinWolfers/status/1946254135633813765
- JustinWolfers

Israel Seeks Help Moving Palestinians Out of Gaza

The director of Israel’s Mossad spy agency visited Washington this week seeking U.S. help in convincing countries to take hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza.

Why would countries want to openly be accomplices to ethnic cleansing?

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1946200837518200874
- RonFilipkowski

———— The Epstein Coverup ————

The Epstein Week That Was

Trump tried falsely blaming Democrats for the Epstein scandal, including former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, as well as former Attorney General Merrick Garland and former FBI Director James Comey. The Justice Department even fired Maurene Comey – James’ daughter and a longtime federal prosecutor who worked on the Epstein case – this week.
Yet this seemed to make things worse, not better. It was a hugely uncharacteristic moment for Trump since his return to the White House. Trump has had an iron grip over the GOP and his base. This week showed that even Trump has limits.

https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/1946259045918081419
- TheRickWilson

Team Trump Was on ‘Fucking Warpath’ to Kill Story About Salacious Letter to Epstein

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1946030837419442629
- RonFilipkowski

https://twitter.com/HeathMayo/status/1945994179764449455
- HeathMayo

https://twitter.com/clownyow/status/1946345279763993047
- clownyow

https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/1946117860650004523
- TheRickWilson

https://twitter.com/RobertJMolnar/status/1946029256108327360
- RobertJMolnar

What Jeffrey Epstein Got for His 40th Birthday

https://twitter.com/shannonrwatts/status/1946178981956305105
- shannonrwatts

https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/1945968323285389334
- davidfrum

https://twitter.com/theliamnissan/status/1946200114021699727
- theliamnissan

Inside the GOP-Led Plot to Defy Trump on the Epstein Files

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is moving forward with plans to force a vote on requiring the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, despite attempts by President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to take steam out of his efforts.
The push by Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) has proven popular in Congress, with most Democrats and some on the GOP’s right flank supporting it.

https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1946323882475962847
- kyledcheney

https://twitter.com/TheMaineWonk/status/1946290721771713015
- TheMaineWonk

https://twitter.com/KellDA/status/1946392122803793952
- KellDA

———— Autocracy R Us ————

Dozens More Were on Deportation Flights to El Salvador

The flight manifests for three legally contested deportation flights from Texas to El Salvador contain dozens of additional, unaccounted for passengers than a previously published Department of Homeland Security list of people deported from the United States on those flights.
The additional people on the flight manifest have not been publicly acknowledged by the U.S. government in any way, and immigration experts who have been closely monitoring Trump’s deportation campaign say they have no idea where these people are or what happened to them.

Kristi Noem Moves Into Public Housing

https://twitter.com/TheTNHoller/status/1946253357297070473
- TheTNHoller

Trump Has Fired Dozens of Prosecutors

The Department of Justice under the Trump administration has fired dozens of career prosecutors during the past six months, making the dismissal of federal attorneys — generally a move reserved for cases of misconduct — almost commonplace.
The dismissals often came without warning and have affected more than 40 prosecutors.

———— Blatant In-Your-Face Corruption ————

Trump Leverages His Power to Reap Profits

If one theme has emerged in President Donald Trump’s second term, it’s this: He’s leveraged the power of his office for personal gain unlike anyone before in history.
From crypto coins to bibles, overseas development deals to an upcoming line of cellphones, Trump family businesses have raked in hundreds of millions of dollars since his election, an unprecedented flood of often shadowy money from billionaires, foreign governments and cryptocurrency tycoons with interests before the federal government.

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

Not sure how I got it into my head, but for some reason I thought that Granta had ceased publication years ago. Apparently not. They’ve now published a great must-read by William T. Vollmann: