Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:

Celsius lawyers claim users gave up legal rights to their crypto

Apple’s new car software could be a trojan horse into the automotive industry

Accounting Rules Make the Outcome of Tesla’s Bitcoin Sale Unclear

Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:

Hospitals Struggle with Staff Shortages

Hospitals across the country are grappling with widespread staffing shortages, complicating preparations for a potential Covid-19 surge as the BA.5 subvariant drives up cases, hospital admissions and deaths.
Long-standing problems, worker burnout and staff turnover have grown worse as Covid-19 waves have hit health care workers again and again — and as more employees fall sick with Covid-19 themselves.

Combined nasal and throat testing swabs would detect more Omicron infections, two papers suggest.

A Fifth of China’s Population Under Lockdown

China has roughly a fifth of its population under full or partial lockdowns, according to one count, as another rise in coronavirus cases prolongs the uncertainty hanging over the country’s economy.

Politics:

Trump says he wanted to give himself Medal of Honor but was told it was ‘inappropriate’

He had to be told?

Matt Gaetz Tells Protesters ‘Nobody Wants to Impregnate You’

Ex-cult member Ginni Thomas may have fallen back into old habits with QAnon-backed conspiracy theories

Ignore the naysayers, Nancy Pelosi. Go to Taiwan.

Nations such as Japan would surely view Pelosi canceling her visit as a sign that the United States is unwilling to test China’s resolve. That sends a message of weakness, which Biden will not want to try to counteract. Anything more provocative than a visit to Taiwan from Pelosi would risk antagonizing our allies, or China, at an even greater level. Better she go now than place Biden under pressure he doesn’t want in the future.

Marjorie Taylor Greene Says GOP Should be a Christian Nationalist Party

So much for “big tent” aspirations.

The Yale historian who predicted Trump’s fascist turn foresees Putin’s failure in Ukraine: ‘You pretend to win a war and we pretend to show enthusiasm’

Al Gore compares ‘climate deniers’ to Uvalde police officers

Actually, the Russian Economy Is Imploding

Five months into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there remains a startling lack of understanding by many Western policymakers and commentators of the economic dimensions of President Vladimir Putin’s invasion and what it has meant for Russia’s economic positioning both domestically and globally.
Far from being ineffective or disappointing, as many have argued, international sanctions and voluntary business retreats have exerted a devastating effect over Russia’s economy. The deteriorating economy has served as a powerful if underappreciated complement to the deteriorating political landscape facing Putin.

Serendipity:

Taps have run dry in Monterrey, Mexico, where there is water for factories but not for residents

The Mother of All White Elephants: Inside Saudi Arabia’s Plan to Build a Skyscraper That Stretches for 75 Miles

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