Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:

Bank of Korea completes first phase of digital currency pilot

OpenSea Bug Allows Attacker to Get Massive Discount on Popular NFTs

Fed rate hikes will intensify a global debt crisis, research warns

Russia Fires Shot Across Petrodollar’s Bow By Hinting at Gold-Backed Ruble.

Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:

RFK Jr. Invokes Nazis In Anti-Vaccine Speech

At a rally against vaccine mandates in Washington, DC, on Sunday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. likened vaccine policies in the US to the actions of a totalitarian state, even suggesting Anne Frank was in a better situation when she was hiding from the Nazis.

Canadian truck drivers protest COVID vaccine mandate

U.S. Food Supply Under Pressure

The U.S. food system is under renewed strain as Covid-19’s Omicron variant stretches workforces from processing plants to grocery stores, leaving gaps on supermarket shelves…
Food-industry executives and analysts warn that the situation could persist for weeks or months, even as the current wave of Covid-19 infections eases. Recent virus-related absences among workers have added to continuing supply and transportation disruptions, keeping some foods scarce.

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine; their safety and effectiveness are established; the vaccines aren’t experimental

Politics:

Trump instructed Michael Cohen to make sure Don Jr. went to jail instead of Ivanka

We already knew that Trump would throw one of his kids under the bus to try and save himself. Now we know that there’s a hierarchy of kids.

Former Attorney General William Barr has spoken to January 6 committee

Bill Barr, the most corrupt attorney general in history, was not corrupt enough for Donald Trump.

— Middle Age Riot (@middleageriot) January 24, 2022

Biden Mulls Deploying Thousands of Troops to Baltics

President Biden is considering deploying several thousand U.S. troops, as well as warships and aircraft, to NATO allies in the Baltics and Eastern Europe, an expansion of American military involvement amid mounting fears of a Russian incursion into Ukraine.
The move would signal a major pivot for the Biden administration, which up until recently was taking a restrained stance on Ukraine, out of fear of provoking Russia into invading. But as President Vladimir V. Putin has ramped up his threatening actions toward Ukraine, and talks between American and Russian officials have failed to discourage him, the administration is now moving away from its do-not-provoke strategy.

Sure, that might make the Baltic countries feel safer, but the nearest of them (Lithuania) is more than 200 miles from Ukraine.

House Republicans tout infrastructure funding they voted against

New Emails Reveal Plot to Hand Arizona to Trump

A former Speaker of the House is threatening jail time for members of Congress who are investigating the violent January 6 attack on our Capitol and our Constitution.

This is what it looks like when the rule of law unravels. https://t.co/vpQZjTg9em

— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) January 23, 2022

Serendipity:

Cruise ship with hundreds of passengers diverts to Bahamas after US issues arrest warrant over unpaid bills

Aranese: Spain’s little-known language

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