Favorite Rejects 2022-01-04

Mr. Nick Beaudrot @nbeaudrot

vaccinated Omicron is the disease Trump wishes Vanilla covid were.

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

Yes, I think people haven't quite wrapped their heads around the fact that optimal policy response depends crucially on the biological realities of a pandemic, and that Omicron is fundamentally different from previous Covid variants in key biological respects.

Matthew Zeitlin @MattZeitlin

@nbeaudrot this is a key thing that's driving people insane, now you have biden and fauci and leana wen sounding like ron desantis and trump circa may 2020 or so and it's breaking brains

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Fortunately today we can all BS around on here 24/7

Ethan Mollick @emollick

The secret to innovation: bars! (and other places where people hang out) Areas that banned 🍺 during Prohibition had a big drop in patenting because the informal social networks in bars were disrupted. As networks were rebuilt elsewhere, patenting resumed, but in new categories! https://t.co/enWcp5ScZc

Nate Silver @NateSilver538

The thing I'll remember is people yelling at folks (me but also others who made the point more often) for merely suggesting we needed to consider the costs to closing schools as well as the benefits. If someone won't engage in cost-benefit analysis they're usually full of shit.

David Leonhardt @DLeonhardt

3. Suicide attempts have risen, slightly among adolescent boys and sharply among adolescent girls. The number of E.R. visits for suspected suicide attempts by 12- to 17-year-old girls rose by 51 percent from early 2019 to early 2021, according to the CDC. https://t.co/9wHLBsI8mc

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

These companies do a little patent-trolling, but Apple and Tesla aren't trusts or monopolies at all. What we need is MORE big companies in hardware industries, not to smash the ones we have just because they made a few guys rich.

Jeremy Cliffe @JeremyCliffe

Apple is now worth $3trn. Yesterday Elon Musk made $28bn in one day. To call this a new Gilded Age would be an understatement. So where is the big trust-busting / social democratic agenda? Where are the Bryans and Roosevelts (T and F), the Lloyd Georges and Attlees? https://t.co/Qg62aZ8vpu

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

This is true, but I also suspect that most carbon credits are a total scam.

Alec Stapp @AlecStapp

350 climate groups signed a public statement opposing “net-zero” emissions goals How can we take climate groups seriously when they’re opposed to options like carbon capture and nuclear energy? A true crisis demands an “all of the above” strategy https://t.co/hJCkYY745X

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

Hospitalizations for vaccinated people in NYC are no higher than before Omicron hit. Get your vaccine.

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

Banning coal exports will help address climate change. America should also do this.

Adam Tooze @adam_tooze

Talk about extending Indonesia’s coal export ban is sending ripples through Asian energy markets. Major supplier of thermal for China & India. https://t.co/IVSskENpGv https://t.co/mdClhmjRW3

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

I want to write a post contrasting Game of Thrones, Mad Men, and other early '10s shows that depicted society as a brutal ruthless power struggle with late 10s/early 20s shows like The Expanse and Wheel of Time that depict warm, loving friend groups who sacrifice for each other.

M.G. Siegler @mgsiegler

My main question: will you be able to cook a steak on any laptop running it or just an egg? 🥩🍳

Tom Warren @tomwarren

Intel is claiming its new 12th Gen Core i9 laptop processor can outperform Apple's M1 Max chip. It can also run at up to 115 watts, so I can't imagine the battery life is going to outperform Apple https://t.co/oAp35UK9m1 https://t.co/L72y2ecPM7

Marco Arment @marcoarment

Old-fashioned podcast ads (baked-in host reads) have had better CPMs, stronger response rates, and higher audience trust than almost any other form of advertising for over a decade. And large podcast companies threw that world away for… a worse outcome.

theverge.comPodcasters are letting software pick their ads — it’s already going awryThe podcasting industry is investing millions to transition from hands-on podcast ads to an automated world in which brands can buy and insert ads into shows. This is already leading to some headaches for podcasters.

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

Who does he think would have delivered our food?

Existential Comics @existentialcoms

Can't stop thinking about how we could have knocked out covid by simply paying everyone to chill at home for like 3 weeks right at the start. Or at literally any other point.