Odds and Ends — 4 June 2021
Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:
Coronavirus Cases Plummet In the United States
The White House Says It Has Started Shipping Surplus COVID-19 Vaccines Abroad
Peru more than doubles its official Covid-19 death toll, leaving it with world's worst death rate
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:
So in Quebec you're telling me ONE hydro powerplant produces 36+ GW,and MOST of this power is unused. ~1/6-1/3 of this unused power can run the ENTIRE #bitcoin network. THE ENERGY FUD NEEDS TO STOP. Absolutely ridiculous. @adam3us and @100trillionUSD on @PrestonPysh .
— Churchofbitcoin (@Bitcoinschurch) June 2, 2021
Biden expands Trump's list of Chinese companies banned from US investment
Top US Lawmaker Presses Big Companies on Ransomware Crypto Payments
Russia’s $186 Billion Sovereign Wealth Fund Dumps All Dollar Assets
Politics:
Although some Republican leaders deplored their violence, most have come to support the rioters’ claim that Trump’s defeat meant the election was inherently illegitimate.
Republican senators have managed to outdo themselves in cowardice — which is quite a feat.
Last week’s Senate vote blocking a national commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol was even more appalling than either of the Senate’s impeachment trial acquittals of former president Donald Trump.
Feds Also Investigating Obstruction In Gaetz Probe
Chuck Schumer wants to pump up Cold War with China — at the planet’s expense
Despite an existential climate crisis, Senator Chuck Schumer's $250 billion "United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021" takes aim at China as the most pressing national security threat. In a Cold War-style declaration, the Senate Majority Leader's proposed legislation reads like the last gasp of a dying empire, a plea from a panicked superpower losing its grip on global dominance.
Did the Senate Parliamentarian Just Foil Chuck Schumer’s Plan to Beat the Filibuster?
Facebook to End Exception Made for Politicians
Facebook plans to announce Friday that it will no longer automatically give politicians a pass when they break the company’s hate speech rules, a major reversal after years of criticism that it was too deferential to powerful figures during the Trump presidency.
Since the 2016 election, the company has applied a test to political speech that weighs the newsworthiness of the content against its propensity to cause harm. Now the company will throw out the first part of the test and will no longer consider newsworthiness as a factor.
Serendipity:
NFL agrees to drop race bias in concussion claims
Meme credit: ebowman29 (source)