Favorites August 1st 2022

July 2022

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

“A political union in Europe was never going to be built on economic foundations. Europe will come together as a geopolitical union or not come together at all.”

time.comOut of the Wreckage of Ukraine, the E.U. Is Finally Becoming a UnionThe Ukraine invasion is showing that Europe will come together as a geopolitical union or not come together at all

If Ukraine becomes a member, their votes plus Poland's will outvote Germany. I wonder if Britain could be interested in a mutually beneficial alliance there.

Nat Bullard @NatBullard

US gasoline prices have almost retraced their level at the start of April

30 to 40 cents of that is from the US use of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Jeff Stein @JStein_WaPo

BREAKING: The outside agreement reached b/w Manchin and Dem leaders to overhaul building & environmental review in the US, including pushing new WV pipeline. Offered by Dem leaders to help secure Manchin commitment for clean energy subsidies washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022…

If I recall correctly, NEPA is like the federal level CEQA, and reform of it would be good for renewable projects as much as for fossil fuel projects, so this seems like very good news. Now if we could just get some CEQA reform to go with it. Supply side progressivism!

Aaron David Miller @aarondmiller2

Biden breaking out of a weakness narrative — hitting al-Zawahiri; adept alliance management in Ukraine; significant climate package; significant gun control measures in decades. May not help in mids. But welcome moment for a president presiding over a deeply polarized nation.

Obama had a short thread on Ayman al-Zawahiri, the last of the major 9/11 planners.

Wally Nowinski @Nowooski

Always hard to tell if it’s the normal algorithm or if we’re getting a preview of what propaganda is like when China owns a social media network, but my TikTok feed today is ~50% videos about Pelosi visiting Taiwan. None are pro-visit.

If you're wondering, *THIS* is the problem with TikTok.

AnyEricHat @Popehat

Sommelier: Here you are, sir. The Weingut Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling. [pours taste] Me: [without breaking eye contact pushes glass off table] Sommelier: Very good sir. https://t.co/VAZNyPselX

CNN @CNN

Cat food brand Fancy Feast is expanding into feline-inspired human cuisine, with a New York City Italian restaurant designed to celebrate the company’s new line. https://t.co/2umDS5yhBl

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Threads

• Funny thread of things Yglesias found in NYT articles from the late 1800s. Starts with the NYT explaining what spaghetti is. I was exclaiming quite loudly regarding the description of Tortillas