Odds and Ends — 31 March 2021
In a post a while back, @intothewild talked about some beers he’d recently sampled, including Dragon Fandango from Toppling Goliath Brewing of Decorah, Iowa. I looked around for it in some local liquor stores that carried other Toppling Goliath brews but had no luck finding it. Until yesterday. It’s a lovely sour ale. Oh my, with its 4.2% ABV, I could drink this every day. And just might, if I win the lottery or Hive moons. But at $25 for a 4-pack, for now at least it’s going to be relegated to being an occasional treat.
Coincidentally, just yesterday my wife made hotel reservations for us for a four-day mini-getaway to Decorah in May. We plan on visiting the Seed Savers Exchange and will be going to the Toppling Goliath tap room. Probably more than once.
Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:
Germany limits use of AstraZeneca Covid jab for under-60s
Mutations could render current Covid vaccines ineffective in a year or less, epidemiologists warn
Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:
CME To Launch Micro-Bitcoin Futures; Options Traders Betting On $80k By End-April
Civil Liberties Group Calls FinCEN Crypto Wallet Rule ‘Unconstitutional’
About three-in-ten U.S. adults say they are ‘almost constantly’ online
How the global demand for seafood is leading Chinese factories to pollute the Gambia
Politics:
Mitch McConnell can see the future — and knows it’s likely to place Republicans in a pickle. He sees a rapidly recovering economy, an increasingly vaccinated population and general optimism budding across the country like bluegrass at the start of springtime. And he’s realized the GOP needs an explanation for the shower of good news coming in the opening months of a new Democratic administration.
Are The Austerity Alarmists Gone For Good?
Since the early 2010s, when the GOP was aided by economics professors arguing that the size of the national debt would lead to another economic crash, not only have none of those predictions come true, but the Republicans themselves passed a massive tax cut in 2017 which further ballooned the size of the national debt. “A lot of electeds were like, ‘wow, we really were caught off guard by how cynical that was…'”
A Sickness That Runs Deeper Than Covid
It is the sign of a sickness deeper than covid-19 that the defiance of public health guidance has become a political selling point in the Republican Party. In the not-so-distant past, Republican governors competed with their colleagues to author innovative welfare reform or criminal justice proposals. Now bad covid policy is a point of pride and a path to influence.
Here’s The Deal With Schumer’s Plan To Sneak Past The Filibuster Three Times In One Year
Dominion Expands Legal Team To Go After Trumpworld
With billions of dollars in lawsuits now in the balance, Dominion Voting Systems has quietly expanded its legal armada in recent days, as the election technology company goes after Trumpworld and conservative media giants. People familiar with the matter say that the company’s legal team still hadn’t ruled out going after ex-President Trump specifically, but that no final decision had been made yet on if they wanted to open up that can of worms on the former leader of the free world.
Gaetz Probed Over Sexual Relationship with 17-Year Old
Conservatives Think America Is Doomed
What had been (in the days of Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp) an optimistic philosophy has metastasized. We are left with a right wing that is animated by despair, desperation, and an inevitable belief in American decline. We have been hearing this sort of clamoring since 2016, culminating with the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6. But there was always the hope it would dissipate if or when Donald Trump left the White House. But sadly, Trump’s exit has done little to quell the incipient thirst for authoritarianism from many on the right. Indeed, the fever seems to be getting worse.
Serendipity:
Japan's cherry blossom 'earliest peak since 812'
Creating An Emergency Food Pantry For Your Family
Badge thanks to @arcange
