Odds and Ends — 30 December 2021

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I opened a Chaos Legion pack yesterday. Meh. The Rare card is nothing special. But I do have a bit of a soft spot for Goblin Psychic. Might have to level up there.

Playing in Bronze, I’m starting to get a feel for the different rule sets. At some higher levels I think that multiple rule sets can come into play. Two? More than two? Starting where? I’m such a noob.

Brighton Bloom summoning Death versus Tarsa with Earthquake rule set and 28 mana and Earth versus Earth, 99 mana, Melee Mayhem rule set.

Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:

Polygon upgrade quietly fixes bug that put $24B of MATIC at risk

Africa’s poised for a Bitcoin revolution in 2022.

A Lavish Tax Dodge for the Ultrawealthy Is Multiplied

The story of the tax break is in many ways the story of U.S. tax policy writ large. Congress enacts a loophole-laden law whose benefits skew toward the ultrarich. Lobbyists defeat efforts to rein it in. Then creative tax specialists at law, accounting and Wall Street firms transform it into something far more generous than what lawmakers had contemplated.

Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:

Chicago Public Schools extends deadline for at-home COVID-19 tests after drop boxes overflow with kits; Chicago Teachers Union criticizes screening ‘chaos’

Arkansas Judge Strikes Down Ban of Mask Mandates

An Arkansas judge on Wednesday struck down a state law that prevents schools and other governmental entities from requiring face masks.

Woman Isolates in Airplane Bathroom for 5 Hours After Testing Positive for COVID Mid-Flight

’Most ignorant man in the United States Senate’

“I’d say that he’s so misguided that it makes me wonder whether this is all just an act. And if it is an act, what does that say about what he thinks his constituents want to hear?” Reiner said, later adding. “And if this is not an act, then he is just the most ignorant man in the United States Senate. And that says a lot.”

Politics:

Jan. 6 Panel Reportedly Planning Dramatic Presentations On Trumpworld’s Big Lie Actions

“I think that Trump and his team have done a pretty masterful job of exploiting millions of Americans,” one of the senior committee aides told the Post. “How do you get that many people screwed up that deeply? And continue to screw them up? Right? And what do we do about that? So there are some big, big-picture items that go well beyond the events of [Jan. 6] that the committee is also grappling with.”

Oh yes, he’s scared.

Lawyers for former president Donald Trump told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that a Washington Post interview with the chairman of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol shows the committee is trying to establish a criminal complaint against Trump, something the lawyers say is beyond the committee’s authority.

I’m not a lawyer but this seems to me like an argument that won’t fly. The House of Representatives has already successfully referred a criminal complaint for a guy named Steve Bannon to the DOJ, who was then indicted by a federal grand jury. So, well within the committee’s authority. Why not for a guy named Donald Trump?

Hong Kong Police Arrest Pro-Democracy Site Staffers

The Hong Kong police on Wednesday arrested six current or former senior staff members of an outspoken pro-democracy news website in a morning raid, yet another crackdown by the government on the city’s once-vibrant independent press.

Republicans Move to Make School Board Races Partisan

Putin’s High-Stakes Blackmail

After weeks of menacing words and behavior, there is no longer much doubt that Vladimir Putin is engaged in high-stakes blackmail. After massing forces close to Ukraine, the Kremlin has issued an ultimatum: that western countries acquiesce to what amounts to a rewriting of Europe’s post-cold war security order, on its terms.
Russia’s president is in effect negotiating with a gun to his neighbors head. He must be deterred from military action. Whether and how US president Joe Biden and European allies achieve that will have profound implications for European security and relations with powers such as China.

Federal ‘reverse racism’ lawsuits against Michigan State Police dismissed

Serendipity:

Sabine Weiss: Legend of street photography dies at 97

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Badge thanks to @arcange

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The Ontario govt has dropped the ball. School starts Monday and no announcement about a plan. Unreal times!

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