Favorites December 24th 2023
This seems really cool, the obvious problem is that in the US it'd have to service cars, and their batteries would simply be too big to lift.
I looked these engines up on wikipedia, and they say "Disadvantages include instability and noise." Seems like noise is already a big problem with a rocket?
High lead levels raise crime and lower educational achievement, fixing this is an investment in stability and growth for these regions. 25% of kids in Gaza have blood levels this high!
As I said to Dan myself, I think that massive offshore wind on the horizon would actually look awesome. Driving through the Altamont Pass with all it’s turbines is my favorite part of a drive to Lake Tahoe.
Longer Reads
• Thread with an explanation of a complicated way of measuring the effect of land value taxes by using outlier assessment values. TL;DR: implies a large economic value to implementing an LVT. (src)
Flotsam and Jetsam
– Long thread about a disagreement over ownership of prints of work by a famous photographer. Currently if they're displayed, the photographer's estate will sue. (src)
– Beverly Hills homeowners cannot do most remodeling until the city approves more homes. (src)
– Study shows pretty clear evidence that TikTok supresses content in line with CCP geopolitical goals. In a longer thread, the comparison to Instagram is quite stark. Here's a breakdown by precise topic. (src)
– In light of coverage that talks about the US being "at war" despite not having troops deployed to any live conflicts in the first time for over a decade, interesting question is whether the US currently has any troops deployed. (src)
– Trump pressured canvassers to simply turn the election over to him. Not a recount, not claims of issues with specific ballots, just "throw them out" (src)
– US government funding for science sources mapped to categories. Quite a lot goes to biosciences. (src)
– Back when the Golden Gate bridge was proposed, 2000 lawsuits were filed trying to stop construction. (src)
– Chinese people are willing to flee to the United States *through Mexico*, these are motivated, educated hard working people, we should be letting them in! (src)
– Even if you see Americans saying pro-Hamas stuff, polling indicates only like 1% support for Hamas in the US, statistical noise. (src)
– Reminder that the Boston Tea Party was a pro-tax demonstration. This was an add-on to a different take on the "strong men make good times" proverb. (src)
– Since the death of Robert Solow, a lot of discussion of the Solow model, which says that there's such a thing as building too much infrastructure. (src)