Favorites November 23rd 2021

Randall Munroe @xkcd

Bayes’ Theorem xkcd.com/2545

I'm hoping that if I read Bayesian Probability for Babies I'll eventually reach that state.

Ryan Heath @PoliticoRyan

Covid vaccination and death rate in Europe - in one devastating chart

Interesting to see the non-linearity of vaccination effectiveness made so plain.

Timothy B. Lee @binarybits

I think it's reasonable for Joe Manchin to worry about the high cost of the BBB Act. But if he's going to insist on holding down costs he shouldn't tolerate the use of ridiculous accounting gimmicks to hide the true costs.

Timothy B. Lee @binarybits

The version of the BBB Act passed by the house funds child care for six years and then eliminates the program in 2027. Absolutely no one thinks that's a good policy.

Timothy B. Lee @binarybits

If Democrats think a federal child care program is a good idea, they should own up to it and fund it for the full 10-year budget window. If not then don't fund it at all. But they aren't saving taxpayers any money by pretending it will sunset in 2027.

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty annoyed at how weirdly written the BBB childcare provisions are. I'm quite worried that they'll make things worse.

Maggie Haberman @maggieNYT

This is really something. A political party is paying for a former president’s legal bills for an investigation into his private business practices >

Josh Dawsey @jdawsey1

The Republican Party agreed to pay some of Trump’s legal bills in the N.Y. investigation about his finances. The party has paid lawyer Ronald Fischetti about $120k so far. W/⁦@Fahrenthold⁩ and crew: https://t.co/fBZaAqFkCu

It really is the party of trump

Nate Silver @NateSilver538

Hadn't seen this poll, but whoa, if only 35% of Democratic voters think democracy is facing a major threat (71% of Republicans do, by contrast!) that speaks to a major disconnect between Democratic elites and rank-and-file voters.

Andrew Prokop @awprokop

Interesting @michelleinbklyn piece theorizing that liberals are disengaging from politics due to "despair" about democracy. However a recent poll showed only 35% of Dems said they thought democracy was facing a major threat https://t.co/KYuJtuQSaC https://t.co/cEY7g0inVo https://t.co/XgANolTsGB

The thing about legislatures overturning the will of the people is pretty frightening. Maybe they think it won't matter?

Andrew Prokop @awprokop

I suspecy this is basically it. Like the "is there a threat to democracy" question is now another version of the "how is the economy doing" question where we see huge partisan swings immediately depending on who the president is

a left-leaning but high-quality polling outlet @SeanMcElwee

@awprokop @michelleinbklyn i assume it's because trump isn't president

Really, voters have already forgotten how ridiculously close Democrats came to losing the Senate, and for that matter, the Presidency.

Casey Newton @CaseyNewton

Wow, they made a list of the dumbest people at Google

cnbc.comSeveral hundred Google employees sign manifesto against widened Covid vaccine mandateGoogle employees are circulating a manifesto opposing a widened Covid vaccine mandate as a return-to-work deadline nears.

I don't think you need my comment on this one.

Shira Ovide @ShiraOvide

Apologies to On Tech readers. All programming will now become "WILL NASA SUCCESSFULLY BOOP THAT STADIUM-SIZED ROCK WITH THE EQUIVALENT OF A SPACE HAMMER?"

nytimes.comNASA Is Crashing a Spacecraft Into an Asteroid. Watch the Launch Now.An early morning liftoff kicks off DART, NASA’s first mission to test a spacecraft that could one day save Earth from a deadly space rock.

I think I've called for better asteroid defences, good to see it happening!

Yuri @_fuurei

i just learned that a single robin can eat 14 feet of worms in a day that's a lot of fuckin worms

Kyle🌱 @KylePlantEmoji

The early bird gets the worm. The late bird also gets the worm. There a lot of fuckin worms out there, you can sleep in

March 2021, Santa Cruz

I just noticed that the Dart launch is happening in like 15 minutes, so I guess I’ll watch it.