Odds and Ends — 16 January 2022
In Bronze II, I ran into Yodin Zaku for the first time and lucked out with a win.
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:
2021: A year of mass adoption for cryptocurrencies in Brazil
Solana Could Become the Visa of Digital-Asset World: Bank of America
Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:
Supermarkets Slash Hours As Workers Call Out Sick
Some U.S. supermarkets are reducing hours and cutting services as Covid-19’s Omicron variant infects cashiers, baggers and stockers, deepening grocery chains’ staffing challenges.
Across the country, supermarket workers are calling out sick after contracting Covid-19 or getting exposed to the virus, executives and employees said, prompting retailers to manage operations with fewer workers, while shopper demand for groceries remains high. Some grocers said they are hiring new employees, using temporary employment agencies and overscheduling available staffers to keep stores open, though some said they worry about continued pressure on their workers.
Europe's loud, rule-breaking unvaccinated minority are falling out of society
Politics:
From The Annals of Stupid: Capitol Rioters Called Pelosi’s Office for ‘Lost and Found’
As crews cleaned the US Capitol on January 7, 2021, the phone lines in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office began to ring.
Rioters were calling “asking whether there was a lost and found because they forgot their phone there, or they left their purse or what have you,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told Insider on Friday in a Q&A.
Police officers swiftly took down information from the callers, Raskin said.
”The officers quickly got on the phone and said, yeah, just give us your name, your address, your social, you know, and we’ll tie up those loose ends,” Raskin said. “But what’s so fascinating to me about that there really were people who felt as if they had been summoned to Washington by the president.”
Ukraine suspects group linked to Belarus intelligence over cyberattack
Five Points On Greg Abbott’s Disastrous National Guard Border Deployment
What began as a political posturing has spectacularly backfired, with a human toll.
Republicans who are angry about critical race theory being taught don't know what critical race theory is because no one is being taught critical race theory.
— Middle Age Riot (@middleageriot) January 14, 2022
Federal Elections Commission rejects campaign finance complaint against Rep. Ilhan Omar
Bipartisan Voting Reform Bill Gaining Steam
A growing group of Senate Republicans and centrist Democrats is working on legislation to overhaul the Electoral Count Act, the 19th-century law that former President Donald Trump sought to exploit to overturn the 2020 presidential election. That effort is expanding to include other measures aimed at preventing interference in election administration, such as barring the removal of nonpartisan election officials without cause and creating federal penalties for the harassment or intimidation of election officials.
Democratic leaders say they regard the effort as a trap — or at least a diversion from the central issue of voter suppression that their legislation aims to address.
Russian Mercenaries Reported in Mali, Despite Govt. Denials
Russia Issues Subtle Threats More Far-Reaching
No one expected much progress from this past week’s diplomatic marathon to defuse the security crisis Russia has ignited in Eastern Europe by surrounding Ukraine on three sides with 100,000 troops and then, by the White House’s accounting, sending in saboteurs to create a pretext for invasion.
But as the Biden administration and NATO conduct tabletop simulations about how the next few months could unfold, they are increasingly wary of another set of options for President Vladimir V. Putin, steps that are more far-reaching than simply rolling his troops and armor over Ukraine’s border.
Kosovo bans Serbian vote on constitutional changes on its soil
Serendipity:
Ocean heat is at record levels, with major consequences
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