Favorites March 9th 2022

Alexander Clarkson @APHClarkson

That's assuming the current structure of the Russian state has the capacity to manage a command economy

Sam Freedman @Samfr

Russia suspending sale of foreign currency; Putin signs decree allowing him to ban exports of commodities; McDonalds and Coke latest firms to quit. Has any country ever gone from intergrated part of global markets to command economy so fast?

Modern Russia is significant structural disadvantages compared to the USSR.

David Zipper @DavidZipper

@tomweingarten Finally, a stunning finding from this 15-year study of 2 million Danes: Researchers concluded that traffic noise is likely responsible for ~11% of **all** annual dementia diagnoses in Denmark.

theguardian.comTransport noise linked to increased risk of dementia, study findsLarge survey involving two million adults found links between road and rail traffic and Alzheimer’s in particular

I'm sorry... what? Also, electric cars help, but most of the noise of cars comes from the tires.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

South Korea is an exotic land where the biggest city votes for the conservative party.

Populism Updates @PopulismUpdates

South Korean presidential election results map at 99% counted. Yoon won the capital Seoul, and flipped some western provinces https://t.co/tNjftvYRZA

And yea, this guy is quite conservative, he has some very bad ideas.

Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal

Not for nothing, but we made the Brits tow -- yes, tow, with horses -- US planes over the Canadian border before WW2

There's been conversation over whether Poland or the US can give Ukraine some MiGs without being too directly involved in the war. Here's more about pulling planes with horses.

• Thread about Avocados and Kleptocracies.

• Thread of examples of Russian Propaganda in a pro-China WeChat group.

• Footage of a children's hospital destroyed by Russian Bombing.

• Discussion of moral vs goal-oriented sanctions, examples of where goal oriented has worked.

• Thread where European Intelligence is estimating higher Russian losses than the US is

July 2021, San Francisco

Also, uh, Is George RR Martin making any progress on Winds of Winter? (No)