Favorite Rejects 2021-08-03

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

This also seems like a situation where China's authoritarian politics is going to make them relucant to admit that their vaccines don't seem to actually work vs Delta.

Ryan Avent @ryanavent

It feels foolish to question China's capacity to keep a lid on outbreaks, but given what we know about how contagious delta is, and with cases scattered across many provinces... https://t.co/MmgwlQiXtc

Peter Baker @peterbakernyt

After 3,000 were killed on 9/11, America embarked on a major government and societal restructuring to prevent it from happening again. After 600,000 died (and counting) from covid, the US government has initiated no comparable effort. ⁦@yayitsrob⁩

theatlantic.comCongress Is Slashing a $30 Billion Plan to Fight the Next PandemicThe proposal would overhaul America’s approach to tackling outbreaks, allowing scientists to develop vaccines in advance. But for now, Democrats are cutting it down.

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

Mussolini: * Did not make the trains run on time * Falsely claimed he made the trains run on time, and forever skewed people's perception of the tradeoff between government effectiveness and freedom 1980s Japan: * Made the trains run on time * Everyone just took it for granted

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

We have seen some real failures of long term strategic thinking from teachers unions over the past year https://t.co/yplevAUKi6

Josh McCabe @JoshuaTMcCabe

MTA calling for mandatory mask requirements for students while continuing to oppose mandatory vaccinations for teacher is something. https://t.co/cn7qhbdMEi

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

What’s bizarre about this is the union locals (not necessarily the average teacher) keep advancing the view that school is not very important.

Jonathan Chait @jonathanchait

So the Delta variant supposedly presents a medical threat so dire that it could potentially limit schooling for the third year in a row. But it’s not serious enough to justify a vaccine requirement for teachers. https://t.co/jOVAvrsGM0

rabbi daneel olivaw @Theophite

do people who think that building new housing only houses the rich also think the rich are currently homeless

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

The "China's government wants tech to be about national power rather than human enjoyment" theory continues to make correct predictions:

Kara Swisher @karaswisher

More: https://t.co/5ixjNHDyAl

Will Oremus @WillOremus

twitter has this amazing capacity to turn a random person's above-averagely insightful passing observation into their entire online identity and raison d'etre and eventually into a waking nightmare

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Shit. He found us out.

Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald

Also, did everyone suddenly decide to start feigning deep knowledge about Hungary and begin talking about it all because Tucker Carlson traveled there? Is it now considered immoral or something for journalists to visit other countries to report on what they see and hear there?

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Though to be clear: Rather than feign deep knowledge of Hungary what I have been pointing out is that extremely obvious surface-level comparisons make it clear that a political movement that valorizes Hungary is extremely dumb.