Odds and Ends — 31 March 2023

Argentinian Airline Issues Every Ticket as an NFT

Low-cost carrier Flybondi has expanded its partnership with NFT ticketing company TravelX to offer all tickets as NFTs on the Algorand blockchain.

Crypto wallet provider Ledger raises $109M as demand for self-custody soars

Hollywood’s COVID-19 Safety Protocols Agreement May Be on Its Way Out

Ron DeSantis Chose the Wrong College to Take Over

Ron DeSantis’ plan to take control of Disney’s land backfired spectacularly because of a loophole in the agreement that may reduce his appointees to powerless functionaries

What If DeSantis Doesn’t Run?

For starters, it means that all of the questions about Biden running stop. If DeSantis pulls the plug, Trump becomes the overwhelming favorite—at which point there is zero chance that Biden declines to run for reelect. The next thing that happens is Trump pops higher in both national and early-state polls. That’s because Trump is the second choice of about half of the voters who support DeSantis. Which means that you’d expect Trump to almost immediately add 10 points to his poll numbers, putting him close to the 60 percent mark nationally. Then comes the time for fear. The Republican establishment, which has been pushing DeSantis relentlessly for two years, would freak the eff out. They’d look around and see that Nikki Haley has moved backwards since declaring her candidacy. Mike Pompeo seems to have disappeared. Maybe Chris Christie is in the race sitting at 3 percent. The point is: No declared Republican candidate will have demonstrated viability.

Grand Jury Votes to Indict Donald Trump in New York

A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Donald J. Trump on Thursday for his role in paying hush money to a porn star, according to four people with knowledge of the matter, a historic development that will shake up the 2024 presidential race and forever mark him as the nation’s first former president to face criminal charges. The felony indictment, filed under seal by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, will likely be announced in the coming days. By then, prosecutors working for the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, will have asked Mr. Trump to surrender and to face arraignment on charges that remain unknown for now.

Donald Trump’s Odds Of Prison Time Are A Lot Higher Today Than They Were Yesterday

Trump Rages at Hush-Money Indictment in Misspelled Truth Social Rant

You might think that a supposed billionaire could hire a proofreader…

DeSantis Says Florida Will Not Extradite Trump

Yeah, good luck with that.

Anecdotal evidence that we may indeed be “living” in a simulation, albeit a surreal one: The Trump Campaign Is Selling $47 Indictment T-Shirts

Finland Wins Final Approval to Join NATO

Finland won final approval on Thursday to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a major shift in the balance of power between the West and Russia that was set off by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Federal Judge Strikes Down Free Preventive Care

A federal judge in Texas who once declared the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional issued a far-reaching ruling on Thursday that prevents the Biden administration from enforcing a provision of the law that provides patients with certain types of free preventive care, including screenings for cancer, depression, diabetes and HIV. The decision, by Judge Reed O’Connor of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Texas, applies nationwide. If it stands, it could have far-reaching implications for millions of Americans, and bring the United States back to the days before the 2010 health law known as Obamacare, when insurers were free to decide which preventive services they would cover.

Texas GOP Proposes Bill To Allow Sec Of State To Overturn Election Results In State’s Largest Blue County

GOP Downplays Importance of a Budget

House Republicans are deemphasizing the importance of a GOP budget in the context of debt-ceiling talks, signaling their blueprint might not even be finalized until after the conference figures out its moves on raising the federal government’s borrowing limit. It’s a significant shift for the GOP that comes after hard-line lawmakers during the 15-ballot Speaker’s election demanded a budget showing sharp spending reductions for the upcoming 2024 fiscal year that would balance the budget in 10 years.

Newly Declassified Report Contradicts Officials, Suggests Havana Syndrome Might Be Caused by Directed Energy

Trump Grand Jury Digs Into Second Hush Money Case

House GOP prepared to move a fallback debt limit plan if White House refuses to negotiate

What’s the point? If it’s not a clean bill, why would Biden (or other Democrats for that matter) agree to it? Obama/Biden walked into a propeller blade the last time that Republicans blackmailed them on the debt ceiling, I can’t imagine that Biden would do so a second time.

Russians Flock to Bali to Avoid War as Locals Grumble

It all makes sense now…

The same Ukrainian nationals, working for Russian intelligence, who were feeding the anti-Biden “dirt” to Rudy Giuliani in 2019/2020 were later (in 2021/2022) tasked with prepping the ground for Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

Dalai Lama identifies the reincarnation of Mongolia’s spiritual leader – a preview of tensions around finding his own replacement

Airplanes Face a Growing Risk of Being Hit by Uncontrolled Incoming Rockets

Well, not just airplanes. I’d have to guess that the surface area of urban conglomerations far exceeds that of airplanes.

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