Favorites December 27th 2022

December 2022, Filoli Historic House and Garden

CougarSpider @CougarSpider

Below: US Defense spending as a percentage of GDP since 1953

Somehow I don't think I had ever seen this graph before. Would have been even higher in the 1940s!

Matt "Inflation Reduction Act Superfan" McGovern @MattMcGovern

US companies are producing heat pumps that work below -20F

electrek.coUS companies are producing heat pumps that work below -20FAn air source heat pump prototype has been developed that can operate in temperatures as low as -23F (-30C).

Wow, that's really impressive, I wonder if the performance degrades slowly as you get closer to the lowest operating temperature, or if it's a fast drop off in the last few degrees.

Nate Silver @NateSilver538

This is a good point. Strategically speaking, the filibuster isn't quite as much of an on-off switch as people assume. The credible threat of further blowing up the filibuster created additional leverage for Biden and Democrats.

Steve Benen @stevebenen

Why has Biden scored so many bipartisan victories? The debate over filibuster reform, oddly enough, seems to have played a surprisingly significant role. https://t.co/8TvAOnH2cS

This is an interesting point, I still think changing the mechanics of the filibuster while the Democrats have power is a good idea though. The filibuster is asymmetric, it favors the side whose goal is stasis.