Favorites August 26th 2021
Noah Smith 🐇@Noahpinion
The amazing thing about this quote is that it's by one of the physicists who did the experiment that showed that classical physics couldn't explain the speed of light!
He did that experiment two years BEFORE uttering this quote.
Paul Graham @paulg
"The more important fundamental laws and facts of physical science have all been discovered, and these are now so firmly established that the possibility of their ever being supplanted in consequence of new discoveries is exceedingly remote"
— Albert Michelson, 1899
7:27 PM · Aug 26, 2021
7 Reposts · 106 Likes
A Software Engineer would point out that as we look closer and closer at the universe, things look messier and messier. Seems like a bad code smell.
Michael Lane@michaeldlane
“San José has had high parking requirements for years that require more space for parking than for buildings. This creates an environment where it is unfriendly and unsafe to walk, and makes housing more expensive for parking spaces that often go unused.”
Adina Levin @alevin
San Jose studies inverting incentives for driving vs. sustainable transportation https://t.co/S1h0m26MqV
1:56 PM · Aug 26, 2021
1 Repost · 17 Likes
Requiring everyone build houses for cars to go with any homes built for people has obvious bad implications.
chrismeagher46@chrismeagher46
NEW: Since the end of July, the US has evacuated and helped facilitate the evacuation of 101,300 people from Afghanistan.
This morning's latest: 13,400 people over the last 24 hour period.
Since August 14: 95,700 people.
10:42 AM · Aug 26, 2021
232 Reposts · 884 Likes
In case you weren't following, the evacuation continues at quite a fast pace. Hopefully we can speed up the visas.
Ezra Klein@ezraklein
The illusion that we could control events in Afghanistan has been at the base of failure after failure. The refusal to admit that is remarkable.
Given the incredible record of failed American predictions and policymaking about Afghanistan, maybe a bit of humility is in order?
4:15 PM · Aug 26, 2021
152 Reposts · 1.14K Likes
Ezra Klein@ezraklein
Cooke writes, "COVID-19, by contrast, was — and is — a far, far more difficult challenge."
That's wild. I think we could have matched Canada or Germany or South Korea's performance over the first 6 months.
I don't think Canada, Germany or SK could have remade Afghanistan.
4:15 PM · Aug 26, 2021
82 Reposts · 1.13K Likes
Ezra Klein@ezraklein
But this is a way the left-right split in this country is not what it seems.
The right doesn't doubt the US government's ability to do extraordinary, seemingly impossible, things. It just doubts its ability to do those things here at home.
4:15 PM · Aug 26, 2021
147 Reposts · 1.35K Likes
Here's the whole piece.
Neoliberal 🌐@ne0liberal
This graph is incredible. Dying to own the libs.
7:36 PM · Aug 26, 2021
355 Reposts · 2.54K Likes
It's not just that they're refusing to get vaccinated, the split predates vaccine availability. But in terms of partisan differences, there is some good news as well:
Noah Smith 🐇@Noahpinion
Feelings toward China vs. feelings toward Taiwan:
1:38 AM · Aug 27, 2021
14 Reposts · 92 Likes
It doesn't vary by political party, and support for protecting Taiwan from China is also up.
