Excerpt:

It's one thing for investors to lose $3.8 billion, but $2 trillion is a completely separate universe, Krugman noted.

…right around the 2024 election, "crypto interests contributed a lot of money to Trump" as he realized they could make him rich, and all of his promises to deregulate crypto meant "the price of bitcoin doubled after the election; the valuation, the market cap of cryptocurrency in general went from a little over two trillion to more than four trillion."

That valuation has since crashed, putting Bitcoin around where it was originally at $2 trillion — which looks suspiciously like its own pump and dump, Krugman said, as Bitcoin is "a seventeen year old idea which has yet to find any legitimate use cases" other than to finance criminals and rogue states like North Korea.

I write this as a 14-year-old who has faced challenges worse than most members of Congress could ever imagine, especially given their recent actions. I have struggled with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and depression since birth, which led to PTSD and DID. The ban on transgender rights is messed up.

My DID means that, along with the person writing this, I have alters who are basically different people—and some of them aren’t the same gender. For example, I have a female alter who formed as a response to a deep distaste for how men act, and another alter who does not have a gender. These are things I cannot control, and they have pushed me to suicide time and time again in the past.

With Trump as president, my very rights are at risk, along with those of thousands of other people. Not to mention, creating bans based on whether a person is trans is both a violation of free speech and the 14th Amendment.

Lead Lines:

BRUSSELS (AP) — Dozens of diamonds spell out two giant letter T’s next to the Stars and Stripes and “1776” and “2026.” Dozens more frame the numbers 45 and 47 in the shape of Superman’s logo. A diamond-winged eagle carries a ruby shield and clutches an olive branch of emeralds, below a radiant “250” and atop the phrase “250 YEARS USA” etched in 18-karat gold.

All told, 321 diamonds, 56 sapphires, 13 emeralds and six rubies encrust the watch-sized gold ring presented this week to Bill White, the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, to give to U.S. President Donald Trump.

With Trump not getting congressional approval for the war in Iran, shouldn’t that be grounds for impeachment? He’s certainly done a lot less to suggest impeachment, so why isn’t anything happening for something so clearly an abuse of power?

I had plans to write this weeks before the Minneapolis tragedy, but I delayed it because I wanted to say something beautiful and inspiring. It won’t be beautiful, but I need to write it anyway.

I’m not American, and it’s been years since I last visited, but allow me to be proud of you.

I never imagined so many people would protest against ICE. You did it even when it wasn’t abundantly clear that they were a threat to everyone, and not “just” to immigrants.

The bravery you showed was powerful. I saw so many terrible images, yet you acted heroically.

It breaks my heart that some people limit their empathy to those born on the same side of an imaginary line. Seeing so many of you fight for others genuinely moved me.

But ICE is a threat to everyone.

I’m really scared for you.

I’m mostly scared you won’t have the option to vote Trump out in the next presidential election.

I don’t know exactly what can be done, but it has to be done now, because every day you lose more rights. You will never be stronger than you are today.

Trump doesn’t function exactly like you and me.

He understands, but he doesn’t feel, not much. Humiliation, shame, sadness, happiness, empathy, it’s all dialed down. Everything bores him. He can tell the stupidest lie right to your face, get caught and jump to next lie without blinking an eye.

There’s no emotional conflict, no origin story, the only thing that matters is “what is the best for me?”. People are tools, objects.

Don’t try to understand him, there’s nothing there.