Favorites December 4th 2021

Dec 05, 2021

2 things happening here 1. there's a v successful GOP propaganda machine with no full equivalent on the left, which sets a floor of positive coverage for GOP presidents 2. the non-conservative news media has a negativity bias and overreacts to bad news washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…

It's not exactly a surprise that the media is structured this way, but it's interesting to see a structured analysis of the phenomenon.

Brian Fung @b_fung

Twitter is acknowledging a wave of "coordinated" and "malicious" activity on its platform as right-wing activists say they've been "weaponizing" the site's new private media policy:

cnn.comRight-wing activists are openly ‘weaponizing’ Twitter’s new private media policyJack Dorsey is stepping down as CEO of Twitter and Parag Agrawal, Twitter’s chief technology officer, will take over. CNN’s Paul R. La Monica reports.

I don't think I've mentioned it previously, but Twitter added a new policy regarding sharing any media of people without their consent. This has been very easy to abuse.

Bay Area Air Quality @AirDistrict

@simX @graue Wood smoke is impacting air quality today. Fires in fireplaces and woodstoves are the largest source of air pollution during the winter in the Bay Area.

It's all woodsmoke this last week! Day after day of smog, and I'm thinking 'huh, I guess people started commuting again'. Nope!

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Open letter from a distinguished group of science and math professors criticizes the proposed California Math Framework that would reduce middle/high school students’ access to advanced math classes.

sites.google.comk12mathmattersWe write to express our alarm over recent trends in K-12 mathematics education in the United States. All of us have first-hand experience of the role that clear mathematical thinking has played in advancing information technology and American economic competitiveness. We all also share the urgent

Gotta say, I'm not super excited about some of the proposed changes for California's school system. We've already seen the results of this policy in SF.

Philip Oldfield @SustainableTall

This is a remarkable graphic There is 1120Gt of biological life on earth - all plants, humans, animals, bacteria, *everything* In comparison there is 549Gt of concrete, 92Gt of bricks, 386Gt of aggregates and 65Gt of asphalt visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-th…

I kinda feel like the aggregates are a cheat.

Tugboat for Today

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