David's Favorites - April 15 2021

Apr 16, 2021

No guarantee that I’ll always comment on every tweet, but maybe it’ll motivate me not to include too many tweets?

Some math and metaphors. This CDC report finds that documented post-vaccine infections are a 1-in-11,000 event. What's that like? Well, the odds that an average 20something driving 17 miles gets into a car accident is ... 1-in-11,000.

Derek Thompson @DKThomp

CDC: The odds of post-vax infection are approximately 1-in-11,000. https://t.co/DXN6l2J9Mp

This is a useful stat if you want to talk about the risk of everyday things, although there’s a huge difference between ‘accident’ and ‘fatal accident’. I did a quick calculation, and using the same formula and the same source document, the odds of a 20 year old getting in a fatal accident driving 17 miles is about 1 in 3 million.

Patrick Fanelli @PatFanelli

Alternative headline: “vaccine thought to be 98% effective turns out to be 99.993% effective.” https://t.co/vPIjX66ig7

CNN @CNN

About 5,800 people out of tens of millions who have been vaccinated against coronavirus have become infected anyway, the CDC says https://t.co/RoYaQH05Hg

4 nines of effectiveness!

Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw

Trump Campaign Chair Manafort gave sensitive polling data to his associate Kilimnik, Russian intel agent. What did Kilimnik do with it? Mueller report 2019: Don't know Senate report 2020: Don't know Treasury Dep't 2021: He passed polling data to Kremlin

justsecurity.orgUS Treasury Provides Missing Link: Manafort’s Partner Gave Campaign Polling Data to Kremlin in 2016The Treasury Department says Konstantin Kilimnik “provided the Russian Intelligence Services with sensitive information on polling and campaign strategy.”

Also interesting in the treasury press release: among the 16 entities they’re targeting for sanctions are a bunch of disinformation outlets. Although they’re not ones I’ve ever heard of: InfoRos, Strategic Culture Foundation, NewsFront, SouthFront.