Odds and Ends — 22 October 2021
A fun day ahead. I’m going to drive to a Subaru dealership to see if they can fix the broken roof rack on our car. Then wait two hours while they fix it or two months while the part comes from Japan.
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:
Pension fund for Texas firefighters reportedly allocates $25M to Bitcoin and Ether
Inflation Now Ties with Pandemic as Biggest Issue
Fintech App Current Taps Coinbase’s Bison Trails to Support Polkadot DeFi Plans
Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:
China-linked disinformation campaign blames Covid on Maine lobsters
Politics:
Pranksters Have Already Defaced Trump’s Social Network
Within hours of former President Donald Trump announcing his new social network, pranksters found what appeared to be an unreleased test version and posted a picture of a defecating pig to the ‘donaldjtrump’ account.
The site has since been pulled offline — evidence that Trump is to likely face a daunting challenge in building an Internet business that can stand on its own.
Trump’s Brand New TRUTH App May Violate Terms Of Open Source Code It’s Built On
The new social network founded by former President Trump may violate the terms of use of the software on which it is based.
On Wednesday night, after Trump revealed the TRUTH social app, Twitter users began to note that the network appeared to be based on an open-source social networking software called Mastodon, which allows people to modify the underlying code so long as they abide by its license.
But the Trump network appears to have taken the publicly available code for the website while violating the terms that make it free to use.
Michigan Republicans Are Quietly Replacing Officials Who Certify Vote Totals
If the January 6 insurrection had happened in Benghazi, maybe Republicans would want to investigate it.
— Middle Age Riot (@middleageriot) October 20, 2021
The Lawyer Behind Trump’s Infamous Jan. 6 Memo Has a Galling New Defense
The evolution of Trump’s Big Lie: Republicans retool their conspiracy theory for the mainstream
Republicans are redefining “rigged” to make Trump's Big Lie more media-friendly.
Two Prosecutors Added to Matt Gaetz Case
The Justice Department has added two top prosecutors from Washington to the child sex trafficking investigation of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).
The prosecutors — one a public corruption investigator with an expertise in child exploitation crimes, and the other a top leader of the public corruption unit — have been working on the Florida-based investigation for at least three months.
Democracy or the filibuster. That’s the choice.
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) October 20, 2021
Greene Clashes with Two Lawmakers on House Floor
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), tangled with two members of the Jan. 6 committee on the House floor Thursday, getting into an impromptu shouting match over Black Lives Matter and a wild conspiracy theory about space lasers starting California wildfires.
Serendipity:
US surgeons test pig kidney transplant in a human
Meme credit: Memer2122 (source)
People are wise. Inflation is a big problem