Favorite Rejects 2021-12-22

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

Omg

Bonnie Glaser / 葛來儀 @BonnieGlaser

Amazon agreed to allow only five-star reviews for Xi’s book in China. https://t.co/LHOe9ff13V

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Kerry fell short but his coalition was well-optimized for the key Electoral College swing states —>

Nate Silver @NateSilver538

I don't know what rabbit hole led me to this piece of copy about the last days of John Kerry's 2004 campaign. But it's from 17 years ago and reads as though it's either an actual article from 100 years ago or an Onion parody from today. https://t.co/WEAyPdhgIM https://t.co/X4N7yYmc8P

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

“For some reason the same experts who don’t mind prescribing SSRIs when people have mild depression freak out about prescribing them when they’re the only evidence-based oral medication for a deadly global pandemic.”

astralcodexten.substack.comThe FDA Has Punted Decisions About Luvox Prescription To The Deepest Recesses Of The Human Soul...

Michael Mina @michaelmina_lab

Here’s a frustrating secret Today - in midst of Omicron - millions of Americans are begging for access to rapid tests, thousands dying daily. Get this: many manufacturers with very high quality rapid tests are begging To ship 100’s of millions of tests to US But can’t. 1/

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

I think the effort to torture modern political economy into this 1850s frame leads you to absurdities like Tim Cook as a member of the working class. https://t.co/kSxoBmo6yd

Alexander McCoy @AlexanderMcCoy4

@RajMahal819 @mattyglesias “Capital” in this sense isn’t merely assets, it’s a class of people defined by their relationship to the workplace. They’re the people who don’t have to work, they own the means of production, & their income comes entirely from extracting the surplus value generated by workers.

SittingPensivelyOnRoofHat @Popehat

Does anything really change? December 2021 vs June 2004

Janelle Shane @JanelleCShane

Behold! Your new AI-generated Christmas entities. aiweirdness.com/christmas-enti…

Steven Buss 🥑 🌐 @sbuss

Want to open a coffee shop in San Francisco? That's only legal in the green areas. And even then, you'll need to go through a year-long permitting process and spend over $100,000.

sam deutsch @samdman95

NIMBYs are stifling economic growth, destroying the environment, and driving inflation, and all for what? to preserve parking lots and strip malls. it’s about time that the pro housing majority takes our country back from a small group of affluent NIMBYs

Daniel 'I ride the bus, and I vote' Trubman, MPP @dmtrubman

I'm increasingly convinced American NIMBYism is a cultural death cult. Who else would prefer vacant buildings, declining populations, and neighborhoods devoid of young adults and children over redeveloping some empty office buildings?! https://t.co/cbl7bOZ3Oc

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

The "imperial presidency" is an outgrowth of the filibuster. Get rid of the filibuster, and Congress can govern this country again, and the President won't have to try to govern by executive overreach.

Bob Wachter @Bob_Wachter

This thing has rapidly become the world’s exasperating good news/bad news story. If your head isn’t spinning, you’re not paying attention. A 🧵on my take on both the good news & the bad, with an emphasis on the things that have changed in the past few days... or minutes.(1/25)

Nate Silver @NateSilver538

People miss the really good news in the South Africa data, which is that the *absolute* number of severe outcomes (e.g. ICU admissions) is quite low as compared to previous waves. It's *not* just a lower percentage (which could cause problems with a high enough # of cases).

sugan naidoo @sugan2503

ICU numbers going up but at a relatively slow rate. I haven't really heard any reports of ICU's being overwhelmed like they were in the last 2 waves. Last wave ICU peak was about 2600 and now it's only just over 600 with cases already having peaked in GP & a few other provinces. https://t.co/YvxpFMt12U

Nate Silver @NateSilver538

Hospitalization numbers are still growing in Gauteng province, but not by much (290 in ICU vs. 255 a week ago). And since their cases have begun to decline, hospitalizations likely near peak too, and much lower than prior waves.

sugan naidoo @sugan2503

SA COVID UPDATE 22 DECEMBER • Changes from yesterday highlighted • Excess deaths https://t.co/6kceBNKczL

Nate Silver @NateSilver538

Should be noted that South Africa had very little COVID of any kind when its Omicron wave started, whereas in the US, we have big Delta problems. To what extent Omicron comes "on top of" Delta as opposed to displacing Delta seems like an important question.