Odds and Ends — 17 July 2021
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:
Binance stops stock token sales, ‘effective immediately’
Why You Shouldn’t Let a Startup Scan Your Eyeball in Exchange for Crypto.
Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:
Fired Tennessee vaccine official received a dog muzzle at work days prior to her ousting
Covid Still Killing Americans at Rapid Pace
For the month of June, coronavirus was responsible for 337 deaths a day. For comparison, the historic average deaths from gunshots, car crashes and complications from the flu add up to 306 a day.
Vaccinated Americans May Enter Canada In Mid-August
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday Canada could start allowing fully vaccinated Americans into Canada as of mid-August for non-essential travel and should be in a position to welcome fully vaccinated travelers from all countries by early September.
Politics:
Mark Milley Feared Trump Would Strike Iran
Trump Says Mark Milley Should Be Impeached
Trump’s generals weren’t the only ones: Did Mike Pence fear a coup too?
DOJ in legal knot in Mo Brooks, Trump case
Manchin Shoots Down Filibuster Carveout For Voting Rights
Rogue Commerce Unit Targeted Chinese Americans
Officials in a little-known security unit within the Commerce Department conducted unauthorized surveillance and investigations into the agency’s employees that targeted people of Chinese and Middle Eastern descent, Senate investigators said in a new report.
It found that the work of the office — consumed by concerns about rampant Chinese espionage in the United States — sometimes veered into racial profiling, and that its leaders used extreme tactics, such as sending masked agents to break into offices to search for incriminating evidence.
Witness Directly Implicates Trump in Tax Scheme
The ‘Freedom Phone’ Is a Budget Chinese Phone
The pro-Trump internet went wild on Wednesday for the Freedom Phone, a $500 smartphone that comes stocked with conservative apps and promises to liberate anyone else who buys it from Silicon Valley censorship.
Despite being lauded by some of the right-wing media’s leading figures, though, the Freedom Phone’s buyers could be getting less than they expect for its $500 price tag. That’s because the Freedom Phone appears to be merely a more expensive rebranding of a budget Chinese phone available elsewhere for a fraction of the Freedom Phone’s price.
“Freedom Phone appears to be a rebranded Umidigi A9 Pro which you can buy for $120.” — Taegan Goddard
Trump Lawyers Who Spread False Election Claims Are Now Defending Themselves In Court
Few Potential Arizona Voter Fraud Cases Found
Arizona county election officials have identified fewer than 200 cases of potential voter fraud out of more than 3 million ballots cast in last year’s presidential election, undercutting former President Donald Trump’s claims of a stolen election as his allies continue a disputed ballot review in the state’s most populous county.
$25,000 Trump Painting, QAnon Merch And A White Nationalist Ejected: The Wildest Moments Of CPAC
Ticket sales are moving slowly for the coming Trump-O’Reilly stadium tour
General Austin “Scott” Miller found a new way to push the Taliban back in Afghanistan. Then, instead of pressing the fight, he became the man in charge of pulling America out.
Serendipity:
As coastal flooding worsens, some cities are retreating from the water
Meme credit: tennis.queen.gal (source)
Interesting to see how Binance manages to mitigate these attacks over the next few years