Favorite Rejects 2022-03-27

Kamil Galeev @kamilkazani

Well, they were sure of Russian victory. We have absolute military superiority and can easily crush Ukraine. We may not invade, but if we do, we'll 100% win. This was based on assumption about the invincibility of Russian army. Compare vibe of Russian TV in late February and now

Kamil Galeev @kamilkazani

The assumption that Russia gonna win was based on three elements. First, on the mythos of WWII. They conveniently forgot that in WWII Russia fought on the side of greatest economic power and now it's fighting against. See Soviet soldiers on American Studebakers

Ryan Radia @RyanRadia

@binarybits @christianbrits This chart is a good illustration of @AlanMCole's geometry argument. NYC has lots of bridge/tunnel lanes open to automobile traffic, but the AM hourly peak passenger throughput of bus/rail dwarfs automobile traffic.

Shannon Bond @shannonpareil

Given that, it’s funny this whole story came about bcs that Keenan Ramsey profile sent a LinkedIn message to @noUpside — one of the few people who CAN spot the telltale signs of an AI-generated image. "The face jumped out at me as being fake," she says. npr.org/2022/03/27/108…

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Do you? Or do you just need the old Churchill joke that there’s no alternative that would reliably do any better?

Yascha Mounk @Yascha_Mounk

Obviously, a lot of people often vote for very bad or dangerous ideas and candidates. But if you want to call yourself a (small-d) democrat, you really do have to believe that the average voter is capable of having the right instincts on important questions most of the time.

Dr Zoë Hyde @DrZoeHyde

Groundbreaking new research shows a far-UVC (ultraviolet light) air purification system can reduce levels of an airborne pathogen by 98% within minutes. This is equivalent to an incredible 184 air changes per hour - better than even HEPA air cleaners. nature.com/articles/s4159…

non functional tubule @meatspacemaxima

Putin providing clarity on key culture war topics: making a clear cleavage point between the truly illiberal right and conservatives, and between the left and those against America spending any money on defense. Yet another way that I think the mid-2010s culture war is over.

Stephen Stapczynski @SStapczynski

A narrow majority of Japanese support restarting idled nuclear reactors for first time since 2011 Fukushima disaster, according to a new poll 🇯🇵☢️🚨 ➡️53% said reactors should restart: Nikkei ➡️High fuel prices threaten Japan's economy, stretch grid bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Noah Smith 🐇🇺🇦 @Noahpinion

rUssIa WAs PrOvOKed BY natO expAnSION

Julia Davis @JuliaDavisNews

Russian media is suddenly explicit about what Russia is really doing in Ukraine. Citing Vasily Zenkovsky's writings from 1931, propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov laid it out: "Russia will never cede Ukraine to anyone... it has to be part of Russia, even against Ukraine's own will." https://t.co/peSoFKIynz

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Potential realigning issue that could break America out of deadlock.

Matthew Zeitlin @MattZeitlin

Seeing conservatives say that will smith did a cancel culture and couldn’t take a joke and others saying he upheld masculine virtue; libs split between saying Will defended black women and that he did a violence, finally something that splits political blocs, thank you Will Smith

Noah Smith 🐇🇺🇦 @Noahpinion

Bot army

Tim Graham 🌻 @timothyjgraham

I've been tracking accounts that 'liked' tweets from Russian government and embassy accounts. Sprayed a bit of sparkling water on the screen when I looked at the account creation dates https://t.co/e24atNgZoo

Dr. Mansa Keita @rasmansa

Today I learned that hippos can't swim. They tiptoe on or jump off the bottom of the water.

Colin McMillen @mcmillen

I'm all for soaking the rich, but agree taking unrealized gains is completely bonkers. What I'd actually change: 50% estate tax, no basis step-up on death, and make it illegal to borrow against unrealized gains.

Robert Nelsen @rtnarch

All of this “tax unrealized gains” talk is by folks who have never taken risk, built things, invested capital. That risk-taking is why the USA leads in innovation. If you make short-term sellers (to pay tax) out of long-term risk takers, it is toxic to the system.

Colin McMillen @mcmillen

Oh, and, capital gains should be taxed as ordinary income (or higher?) It makes zero sense for *unearned* income to have a lower tax rate than income gained from actually doing productive work.