Noah Smith 🐇@Noahpinion
An article about how Taiwan could defend itself against a Chinese invasion:
tnsr.org
A Large Number of Small Things: A Porcupine Strategy for Taiwan - Texas National Security Review
6:43 AM · Jan 3, 2022
8 Reposts · 48 Likes
Noah Smith 🐇@Noahpinion
This new kind of irrigation system is just an absolutely amazing piece of technology. So simple, and yet it could save much of our world from water shortages.
bloomberg.com
Bloomberg - Are you a robot?
8:26 AM · Jan 3, 2022
53 Reposts · 314 Likes
Matthew Yglesias@mattyglesias
Very cool story, but note this works because Iceland has extremely plentiful zero-carbon geothermal power so it’s a great place to do things that are too energy intensive to work elsewhere.
Policy Tensor @policytensor
Is the future being created in Iceland? https://t.co/qGFfDP48HM
12:21 PM · Jan 3, 2022
6 Reposts · 127 Likes
Randall Munroe@xkcd
Throat and Nasal Passages xkcd.com/2563
1:11 PM · Jan 3, 2022
919 Reposts · 6.93K Likes
Matthew Yglesias@mattyglesias
Smart points from @danpfeiffer — I’d just emphasize that media negativity is an audience-driven phenomenon.
If you click on and share positive stories, more of them will be produced. If you dwell on negativity, more of that will be produced.
messagebox.substack.com
How the Media’s Addiction to Bad News Hurts Dems
1:44 PM · Jan 3, 2022
51 Reposts · 334 Likes
Kate Starbird@katestarbird
13 of 15 died of Covid.
My colleague @holden explains that media literacy isn’t about vetting “facts” but about comparing the initial impression a piece of content gives you to the whole story. Deception lies within the gap. https://t.co/xGkYscdYpn
Breitbart News @BreitbartNews
More Border Patrol Agents died in the line of duty during 2021 than in any other time since the agency’s inception. The line-of-duty deaths of 15 Border Patrol agents mark a grim milestone in the agency’s history. https://t.co/ZOHWeT9Jtp
3:40 PM · Jan 3, 2022
1.77K Reposts · 6.81K Likes
Matthew Yglesias@mattyglesias
This is tomorrow's Slow Boring post, but (fully aware that this is not the filmmakers' stated intention) I think it works great if you read it as an allegory about the US government's refusal to do anything about the threat of a comet colliding with the planet earth.
Ross Douthat @DouthatNYT
There's a lot to say about Don't Look Up but its signal failure is that it aspires to be a movie about *systemic* cultural-political failure but ultimately tells a story where if a dumb right-wing president had chosen policy A instead of policy B everything would've been fine.
6:43 PM · Jan 3, 2022
6 Reposts · 209 Likes
Matthew Yglesias@mattyglesias
In Dr Strangelove, the nuclear weapons are an allegory about nuclear weapons.
6:45 PM · Jan 3, 2022
11 Reposts · 250 Likes
Noah Smith 🐇@Noahpinion
The anti-booster movement among certain "public health" people is still lowkey going strong
Marty Makary MD, MPH @MartyMakary
Dear President Biden,
FDA is bypassing it's scientific advisors to authorize boosters for all kids 12-15 next week. This is unconscionable--undermines the integrity of the FDA's standard process! Please require FDA to put this authoriz before the VRBPAC advisory comm for a vote!
8:46 PM · Jan 3, 2022
7 Reposts · 127 Likes
Matthew Yglesias@mattyglesias
I think the most underrated possible future for American politics is one where Republicans win big majorities without a coup then use their big majorities (which Trump never had) to pass some very conservative bills and then there’s an electoral backlash — i.e. normal politics.
9:05 PM · Jan 3, 2022
14 Reposts · 204 Likes
Timothy B. Lee@binarybits
This was a good interview but I didn’t understand this part. Don’t traditional retailers edge cache inventory to be near customers at warehouses called “stores” that are all over the us? noahpinion.substack.com/p/interview-ry…
10:30 PM · Jan 3, 2022
2 Reposts · 23 Likes
Matthew Yglesias@mattyglesias
One cool thing about proportional representation + parliamentary government is it lets citizens vote expressively and professional politicians act strategically which seems like a more plausible division of labor than the American setup.
10:44 PM · Jan 3, 2022
67 Reposts · 661 Likes
Nate Silver@NateSilver538
It's probably foolish to think a NYC mayor will successfully translate into being a national political figure, but I still think Eric Adams would be in my top 5 for "who will be the next Democratic presidential nominee after Joe Biden?".
10:56 PM · Jan 3, 2022
126 Reposts · 1.96K Likes
Noah Smith 🐇@Noahpinion
Why don't they fix poverty in their own countries before colonizing space?
/s
9DASHLINE @9DashLine
China and Russia team up to establish joint moon base https://t.co/CvewlkQKfB
3:25 AM · Jan 4, 2022
6 Reposts · 125 Likes
Aaron 🥑🚈🚰🏀@aceckhouse
call it SuperB realtor 9 cause it's gonna create plenty of housing in Palo Alto, baby
Louis Mirante @louismirante
Just in!!!!! In what I’m calling the first SB 9 project, an architect just told me he filed today to use SB 9 to split a lot and have two homes on each lot - in Palo Alto! 4 homes where once will have been 1, all with a promise of great opportunity. A YIMBY/fair housing victory!! https://t.co/s0UhaZsRyH
3:51 AM · Jan 4, 2022
23 Likes