Odds and Ends — 16 June 2026

13 days ago

I made Marry Me Chicken for the first time last night, following this recipe. I had particularly large chicken breasts so had to leave it in the oven ten minutes longer than the recipe called for to get the meat up to 165° Fahrenheit. I tend to prefer thigh meat which is more forgiving, but for this meal the breasts worked out okay and were not dry as they sometimes are.

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

No Wonder Americans Are Unhappy

On Wednesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the surge in energy prices had wiped out a year and a half of wage gains for the average American worker. On Friday, the public-markets debut of SpaceX made Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire.
That stark juxtaposition helps explain why many Americans, in survey after survey, say they no longer believe the U.S. economy is working for them. A few people are getting fabulously, unimaginably wealthy at the same time that entire generations of families worry they will never be able to afford to buy a house, raise children or enjoy a comfortable retirement.

Coronavirus and Public Health:

Covid vaccination cut risk of adverse heart events, large study finds

Iran:

https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/2066295145700458690

https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/2066589998569193716

Trump Celebrates While America Capitulates

The peace deal with Tehran is an Iranian victory.

https://twitter.com/DrNeilStone/status/2066472982948516238

https://twitter.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/2066586723962716669

Trump's Iran "Deal" Is a Giant Bag of Dog Shit

It's not a deal. It's a memo of understanding in advance of a surrender of the American-led world order…
America lost the war...We will exit the war with none of those goals achieved, and in order to end the war, America had to submit to a host of Iranian conditions. We lost and there is no reasonable way to hide this fact.

https://twitter.com/Angry_Staffer/status/2066324122993332647

https://twitter.com/MaxTwain24/status/2066653910086082957

When it’s a Grade A Clusterfuck, the first order of business is to point fingers and assign blame to anyone but yourself: Key Trump Officials Doubt Iran’s Intentions on Deal

CIA Director John Ratcliffe told President Trump and other senior officials that intelligence gathered by U.S. intelligence agencies raised serious doubts about Iran’s willingness to make the nuclear concessions the U.S. is seeking in any final deal.
Ratcliffe isn’t the only skeptic in Trump’s top team. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have both expressed concerns and raised questions about the deal in internal discussions, while Vice President Vance and U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner advocated for it.

https://twitter.com/TheMaineWonk/status/2066627354705694875

https://twitter.com/nicrypto/status/2066378088985002002

'Don't Bullshit Us, Trump' Netanyahu Loyalists Rage at 'Treacherous' United States Over Iran Deal

https://twitter.com/DougJBalloon/status/2066297334623780995

Politics:

https://twitter.com/PaulleyTicks/status/2066224077921218624

Russia was behind arson attacks targeting PM Keir Starmer

Democrats Warn Trump Officials Not to Pursue Arch Project

Congressional Democrats warned the Trump administration on Monday that officials could face fines or even criminal prosecution if they push forward with building the president’s 250-foot triumphal arch in Washington without the approval of Congress.
In a letter sent to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and two National Park Service officials, Democrats who oversee national resources on Capitol Hill said that the administration would be breaking at least three laws by moving ahead with the project, and that Trump officials could be personally penalized.

Europe Is Just Trying to Avoid a Fight at G-7

Europeans once thought they could win favor with President Trump by lavishing praise on him and pandering to his foreign-policy objectives. Those days are long gone.
As European leaders gather with Trump in person this week for the first time since the start of the Iran war, their goal will be simple: avoid a repeat of the cage match that took place on the White House lawn over the weekend.

The emergency motion Trump filed last week made reference to an astonishing and apparently new Kennedy Center bylaw: All new private donations, it suggested, have been conditioned “upon the name of the Center remaining unchanged as the ‘Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.'”
If the name were ever changed, the bylaw apparently states, the Center would be obliged to return all such donations.