Odds and Ends — 20 August 2026


Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, AI, and Debt:

Bitcoin ETFs draw $517M in largest one-day inflow since early May

https://x.com/heresyfinancial/status/2090098788744712407
https://x.com/zerohedge/status/2090062466994581671

Bitcoin's Sharpest Rally in Five Months Flips Markets From Bearish to Coin Flip

Bitcoin's steepest daily gain since March caught traders off guard, and Myriad's pump-or-dump market swung from 70-30 odds to nearly even in a single day.

https://x.com/scarylawyerguy/status/2089799512420151569

Coronavirus and Public Health:

The COVID-19 vaccine may offer brain cancer patients a surprise benefit

Iran:

Trump threatens ‘Economic D-Day’ for Iran and ‘tremendous’ consequences for its backers

https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/2090214372018622906

Politics:

Trump’s South Korea move rattles foreign policy world

https://x.com/mpfreeman1950/status/2090167040334082243

Trump Is Trying to Crush California’s Climate Policies

The Trump administration has taken a series of extraordinary steps to attack California’s position as a national leader in environmental protection, enlisting at least a half-dozen federal agencies to undermine the state’s efforts to pivot away from fossil fuels.

https://x.com/MikeBeauvais/status/2090208048157446387

*———— Minnesota Under Siege ————*

https://x.com/atrupar/status/2089703184675786889

*———— Natalie Harp ————*

Trump aide Natalie Harp worked at the White House without security clearance for a year

https://x.com/nytimes/status/2090106827388104712

https://x.com/BillKristol/status/2090127734911467930

https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/2090227631979368816

https://x.com/covie_93/status/2090129377098891322

https://x.com/DanManatt/status/2090124347604168741

*———— Mitch is Undead ————*


*———— The Epstein Coverup ————*

https://x.com/covie_93/status/2090208912649728491

https://x.com/OldManLefty1/status/2090157331216830626

*———— The Panopticon ————*

https://x.com/JasonBassler1/status/2089795717351239897

https://x.com/cmclymer/status/2089785017731838000

*———— Autocracy R Us ————*

https://x.com/jimstewartson/status/2090148035905171713

*———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————*

What Moscow doesn't know about its own oil refineries

Western analysts keep asking whether Ukraine's campaign against Russian refineries is actually working. I ran Russia's largest oil company and my answer is yes.

https://x.com/anneapplebaum/status/2090199296930889933

Trump’s Ballroom Guy Involved in Secret Kremlin Talks

Why would the chair of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts have to meet Kremlin officials?

https://x.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/2089995251020685574

*———— Hegseth on the Rocks ————*

https://x.com/BillKristol/status/2090107713585852715

https://x.com/tripgabriel/status/2090150723220639872

https://x.com/RadioFreeTom/status/2090260591264874684

*———— Mors Imperii ————*

Borrowing Costs Are Soaring

A record national debt. A rapidly ballooning deficit. Interest payments on track to surpass Medicare as the government’s greatest expense. None of it seems to matter much in Washington, where President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress have enacted an agenda that adds trillions of dollars to the national debt, with upcoming legislative plans that would pile on even more red ink.

Easiest prediction ever: the moment that a Democratic President takes office in January of 2029, Republicans will become extremely concerned about the national debt. Until then, mostly crickets.

https://x.com/Angry_Staffer/status/2090260122811384084

I Went to the Trump Admin’s “Patriotic” Art Exhibit. Dear God

https://x.com/hellodonavon/status/2090108078003798377

https://x.com/SeanMcCarthyCom/status/2090123149643776128

 ^{Badge thanks to @arcange}

I don’t always… source

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