Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, and Debt:
USDT Issuer Tether Acquires Minority Stake in Football Club Juventus
BTC-e operator to be released as part of US-Russia prisoner swap
Coronavirus and Public Health:
Five years later, Americans say pandemic drove them apart
RFK Jr. Confirmed as Trump’s Health Secretary
The Senate on Thursday voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has repeatedly expressed skepticism of vaccines, as the health and human services secretary.
He overcame deep opposition from much of the medical community and Democrats who implored Republicans to reject him, calling him a danger to public health.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), a polio survivor, was the lone Republican to vote against him.
Trump Insults McConnell Over RFK Jr. Vote
President Donald Trump insulted Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and cast doubt on the senator’s battle with polio on Thursday after he voted against Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation to serve as Health and Human Services secretary.
Said Trump: “He’s not voting against Bobby, he’s voting against me.”
Asked about McConnell’s bout with polio influencing his decision to vote no, Trump appeared to question his diagnosis.
He added: “I have no idea if he had polio. All I can tell you about him is that he shouldn’t have been leader.”
Politics:
Leaders set for key security meeting as 'old' world order at risk of crumbling
So it looks like the adjudicated rapist is going to stab Taiwan in the back next:
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Trump’s Immigration Arrests Appear to Lag Biden’s
U.S. agents arrested more than 21,000 unauthorized immigrants in November as President Biden’s term wound down — a pace the Trump administration doesn’t appear to be matching in its first month despite its crackdown.
In a stunning reversal, Apple and Google quietly restored TikTok to their app stores last night—despite a federal law explicitly banning it.
Nothing about the law has changed. It passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support. The Supreme Court upheld it unanimously.
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“You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour, and you will have war.” — Winston Churchill
Zelensky: Do not do Ukraine deal behind my back
Ukrainian president warns he will reject deal as Trump claims talks between Kremlin and Kyiv will take place on Friday
Not happening. The other G7 countries will have none of it: Trump Wants Russia Back in the G7
President Trump said Thursday he would like to see Russia reinstated in the Group of Seven (G7) major economies and suggested various actors other than Moscow were to blame for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
If anything, rather than becoming the G8, might it become the G6? The next G7 meeting is four months from now, with Canada hosting. Trump has 34 felony convictions and IIRC, Canada bars felons from entry.
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Acting US attorney in New York and five others quit after being told to drop Eric Adams case
Eric Adams to Allow ICE Agents Into Rikers Island
The executive order seems to conflict with New York City’s sanctuary laws designed to prevent cooperation with the enforcement of federal immigration law.
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The entire letter can be read here. Well worth your time.
Elon Musk Isn’t Making a Dent in Federal Spending
It all seems to add up to something big. On a daily, sometimes hourly, basis, Elon Musk claims that his team of fiscal commandos has found yet more government fraud, terminated another wasteful contract or even scrapped an entire agency. Mr Musk’s supporters believe that, through tech wizardry and sheer willpower, he is slashing the federal deficit in a way that has eluded politicians for years. But this narrative has a glaring flaw: our review of official data shows that Mr Musk’s efforts have scarcely made a dent in spending.
Every working day the Treasury publishes a statement detailing withdrawals of cash from its primary deposit account, providing the best high-frequency indicator of government spending. Since Donald Trump took office a little more than three weeks ago, outlays have averaged $30bn a day. Compare that with the same period last year under Joe Biden: federal spending back then came to about $26bn a day.
Outflows from the Treasury have actually risen since January 28th, when Mr Musk first claimed his ‘Department of Government Efficiency’, or DOGE, was saving the federal government $1bn a day.
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Tulsi Gabbard told to crush UK’s Apple data grab
Trump’s war on DEI is a war on the civil rights era itself, an attempt to turn back the clock on equal rights. Working under the guise of fairness and meritocracy, Trump and his allies want to restore a world where the first and most important qualification for any job of note was whether you were white and male, where merit is a product of your identity and not of your ability.
As is true in so many other areas, the right’s accusation that diversity means unfair preferences masks a confession of its own intentions.
Trump Guts Ability to Fight Public Corruption
The Trump administration has gutted the federal government’s ability to fight public corruption in a matter of weeks.
Since Inauguration Day, the Justice Department has paused all investigations into corporate foreign bribery, curtailed enforcement of a foreign agent registration law and deemphasized the criminal prosecutions of Russian oligarchs. And senior administration officials have considered eliminating the Department’s Public Integrity Section, which investigates and prosecutes alleged misconduct by federal, state and local public officials.
Judge Blocks Trump’s Gender-Affirming Care Order
A federal judge Thursday blocked parts of two executive orders issued by President Trump that collectively seek to restrict gender-affirming care.
U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson at the conclusion of a hearing found a group of transgender teens and LGBTQ organizations that sued were likely to prevail on all of their claims that the orders are without authority and amount to illegal and unconstitutional discrimination.
Trump Tramples Over Ideological Soulmate Milei
Argentine President Javier Milei’s bromance with Donald Trump is hitting a rough patch.
Argentina has some of the highest levies in the world on US goods, which means it risks becoming one of the hardest-hit by the American president’s pledge to impose reciprocal tariffs on trade partners.
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Serendipity:
Serial Killers - Qu'est-ce que c'est? post is probably the best post I’ve ever seen on this blockchain) but sadly never made the transition to Hive. He starred in the short-lived comedy series The Knights of Prosperity. Here’s the pilot episode, other episodes are also available on YouTube:@donallogue posted for a while on the old chain (his
Want a free Hive account? Join Hive using my referral link.
Hey @preparedwombat! Great stuff here, all the wild news about Elon has been eating up a lot of my feeds lol. The Kara Swisher interview this past week was gold... she was one of his biggest supporters and turned on him which I found really interesting. The hyper biases of journalism are showing their hands.
I also wanted to ping you here because I saw you were voting for INLEO's last proposal but aren't voting for the current one. Just wanted to see if we could get your support once again. Would mean a lot! Sorry to contact you in a comment, but I couldn't find you anywhere else. Thanks for considering it 🦁