Odds and Ends — 22 July 2025

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

Progressives are losing the crypto future

SpaceX Wallet Springs to Life With $153M Bitcoin Transfer, First Move Since 2022

AI Just Hit A Paywall As The Web Reacts To Cloudflare’s Flip

Coronavirus and Public Health:

CDC says COVID-related emergency room visits climbing especially among young children

Politics:

U.S. to Stop Practice of Assessing Fairness of Elections

Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the State Department to stop commenting on the fairness, integrity and legitimacy of foreign elections, a major shift away from a decadeslong practice of promoting democratic elections abroad.
The aim, at least in part, is to signal the U.S. is less interested in pressuring foreign governments to make internal reforms, such as allowing competitive elections, that has been a hallmark of U.S. foreign policy under both parties since the Cold War.

Watchdogs Are Watching Their Backs

Mr. Trump has fired or demoted more than 20 inspectors general or acting inspectors general since he took office six months ago, hobbling offices that for years have served as a check on waste, fraud and abuse.

UK overtakes China as second-largest US Treasury holder

———— The Epstein Coverup ————

Pam Bondi Knows Her Latest Epstein Move Will Fail

https://twitter.com/PanasonicDX4500/status/1947385349292101910
- PanasonicDX4500

Epstein Crisis Forces House GOP to Scrap Votes

House Republicans will scrap several floor votes this week as internal party drama over the release of Jeffrey Epstein files derailed the work of the Rules Committee.
The panel came to a standstill Monday night as GOP leaders struggled to contain rank-and-file Republicans and their Democratic allies clamoring for a floor vote to compel the publication of materials related to the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1947625202990338333
- RonFilipkowski

———— Autocracy R Us ————

Venezuela to Investigate Torture in El Salvador Jail

Venezuela’s attorney general, Tarek Saab, said on Monday that his office would investigate El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, and two other officials for the alleged abuse of Venezuelans detained in the country.
More than 250 Venezuelans held in El Salvador’s notorious Cecot prison returned to Venezuela on Friday under the terms of a prisoner exchange agreed with the U.S.

The country is witnessing the creation of an all-powerful institution, and one man is responsible.

Trump Seeks to Upend Civil Service Protections

The Trump administration is formally arguing before a federal oversight body that it has unilateral authority to fire many federal employees at any time, seeking to unwind decades of precedent and current federal law.
Federal workers are typically not considered at-will and current statute requires that agencies provide notice, cause and an opportunity to rebut allegations before a firing can take place.

FEMA Search and Rescue Chief Resigns

The head of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue branch, which runs a network of teams stationed across the country that can swiftly respond to natural disasters, resigned on Monday.
Ken Pagurek’s departure comes less than three weeks after a delayed FEMA response to catastrophic flooding in central Texas caused by bureaucratic hurdles put in place by the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the disaster response agency.
Pagurek told colleagues at FEMA that the delay was the tipping point that led to his voluntary departure after months of frustration with the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency.