Favorites August 20th, 2021

Emily Best @emilybest

Hi friends, the CA recall election is our Brexit. Seriously, it’s the same size economy with potential reverberations across the world. The polling is actually close. It’s not enough to just vote NO, it’s too important. Spend 10 minutes today and text ten friends:

I really appreciate the framing of "California's Brexit". There's an obvious answer, and yet we are on a knife’s edge of screwing it up.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

In his memoir, George W Bush explains that he gave Pakistan a ton of aid to get them to stop helping the Taliban and then they didn't do it and then he didn't really know what to do about that. Then we just kept fighting under those circumstances for another 15 years.

Not having any allies in the area seems like a serious problem, the kind of thing that maybe should have been figured out earlier.

Trita Parsi @tparsi

NEW POLL: Despite implementation problems, 60% of Americans continue to support withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to a poll conducted Aug 17-19. Only 22% oppose Biden's decision. 67% want to prioritize domestic policy issues over foreign policy.

cv4a.orgNEW POLL: Americans strongly support Afghanistan withdrawal, want domestic issues prioritized - Concerned Veterans for AmericaPoll shows that majority of Americans support less military engagement abroad ARLINGTON, Va.— Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) on Friday released a poll showing a majority of the American people still support a full withdrawal from Afghanistan and want domestic concerns to be a greater priorit…

The public seems to still be on Biden's side, even while some observers seem to be hoping for a disaster. As bad as the situation is, the only clear mistake we're making is not taking more refugees. Other proposed procedures for the evacuation are nearly farcical.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

It seems like in places where housing costs are less exorbitant, moderately affluent people waste a lot of money on boats suggesting that we need to find a way to enlist the boat-building lobby into the cause of zoning reform.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

American class structure: Poor people Normal people Provincial elites with boats Coastal rich with modest homes that cost seven figures People with boats that cost more than houses

I’m looking for allies anywhere I can get them. He also goes on to link a vision of universal upzoning 😂.

Eric Topol @EricTopol

What works to reduce #SARSCoV2 aerosol transmission in schools? Opening windows: 14-fold decrease Surgical face masks: 8-fold decrease [Natural ventilation, face masks, HEPA filtration]: ≥ 30-fold decrease Details here, preprint

medrxiv.orgSARS-CoV-2 aerosol transmission in schools: the effectiveness of different interventionsBackground: Indoor aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has been widely recognized, especially in schools where children remain in close proximity and largely unvaccinated. Measures such as strategic natural ventilation and high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration remain poorly implemented an…

I mean, it's a study of schools, but these stats are probably useful to anyone trying to reduce transmission indoors.

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

South Korean national anger as a sensitive early indicator of shifting geopolitics

nytimes.comSouth Koreans Now Dislike China More Than They Dislike JapanThere is growing anti-China sentiment in South Korea, particularly among young voters. Conservative politicians are eager to turn the antipathy into a presidential election issue.

Wow, that's quite a change, especially given the history.

Jonathan M. Katz @KatzOnEarth

Oh yes, thousands of people just independently made the decision to travel from all over the country to a “Stop the Steal” rally and then accidentally stormed the Capitol to do just that, that makes perfect sense, thank you FBI

b-boy bouiebaisse @jbouie

forty years of “it’s not the crime, it’s the cover-up” has brain poisoned people into believing that there is no crime if there isn’t a cover-up

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper

another factor here -- and we saw it a lot under Trump -- is the common belief that it can't be a real conspiracy or corruption if it's happening in plain sight right in the open https://t.co/wAFmJyPnwN

The concept of Stochastic Terrorism is scary, and it's hard to say what can be done in a free society to stop it.

October 2019, Niagra