Christmas Eve thoughts…
December 24, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Christmas Eve thoughts…
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Year 1 data on congestion pricing in Manhattan…
* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M
So YES this has been a huge success.
* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M
So YES this has been a huge success.
December 23, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Year 1 data on congestion pricing in Manhattan…
* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M
So YES this has been a huge success.
* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M
So YES this has been a huge success.
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The people who profited most from the cancel culture/free speech panic were less interested in actual freedom of speech than establishing their own control over public discourse. You don't even have to take my word for it. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
December 23, 2025 at 6:17 PM
The people who profited most from the cancel culture/free speech panic were less interested in actual freedom of speech than establishing their own control over public discourse. You don't even have to take my word for it. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
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A wonderful review of what we know about the causes and consequences migration
The International Monetary Fund asked me to review the literature on migration economics to draw lessons for low-income countries.
In a new @iza.org paper, I argue that policy for the 21st century must discard four outdated ideas.
www.iza.org/publications...
🧵 thread—>
In a new @iza.org paper, I argue that policy for the 21st century must discard four outdated ideas.
www.iza.org/publications...
🧵 thread—>
December 19, 2025 at 1:29 AM
A wonderful review of what we know about the causes and consequences migration
The pure tenor quality of the voice of Harold
December 18, 2025 at 4:08 AM
The pure tenor quality of the voice of Harold
Competing thoughts: personalized mis/dis will further weaken discernible reality VS increasing the information deluge will cause people to retreat to curated trust agents.
“If the last decade was shaped by viral lies and doctored videos, the next will be shaped by a subtler force: [AI] messages that sound reasonable, familiar, and just persuasive enough to change hearts and minds,” warn Tal Feldman and Aneesh Pappu. www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/05/1...
The era of AI persuasion in elections is about to begin
AI is eminently capable of political persuasion and could automate it at a mass scale. We are not prepared.
www.technologyreview.com
December 15, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Competing thoughts: personalized mis/dis will further weaken discernible reality VS increasing the information deluge will cause people to retreat to curated trust agents.
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I’m taking Cinnabon’s side to not employ people who abuse their customers.
December 14, 2025 at 3:25 PM
I’m taking Cinnabon’s side to not employ people who abuse their customers.
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Exactly. Coddling them is not helping them or anyone else, and makes things worse for others.
Hard times are war, depression, tyranny. Not "I saw on my smartphone that people I don't know are reading books at a library in another town at a voluntary family event that I didn't attend." FFS.
Hard times are war, depression, tyranny. Not "I saw on my smartphone that people I don't know are reading books at a library in another town at a voluntary family event that I didn't attend." FFS.
I can understand, even if I disagree, why French wants to try and empathize with the concerns of these RW culture war types. But that empathy is just reinforcing their whiny, spoiled attitude when what they need to be told is to grow the fuck up, those aren’t real problems.
December 14, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Exactly. Coddling them is not helping them or anyone else, and makes things worse for others.
Hard times are war, depression, tyranny. Not "I saw on my smartphone that people I don't know are reading books at a library in another town at a voluntary family event that I didn't attend." FFS.
Hard times are war, depression, tyranny. Not "I saw on my smartphone that people I don't know are reading books at a library in another town at a voluntary family event that I didn't attend." FFS.
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I don't know what to say to make you understand that, however many handcrafted chair makers there are, there are many many more chair marketers and wood sourcers and distribution managers and all the other email jobs you need to put chairs under asses
December 11, 2025 at 7:02 PM
I don't know what to say to make you understand that, however many handcrafted chair makers there are, there are many many more chair marketers and wood sourcers and distribution managers and all the other email jobs you need to put chairs under asses
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i think a (perhaps underappreciated) aspect of this whole situation is the extent to which every elite profession is filled with people who excel at drawing attention and want to be famous more than they want to do the actual job
December 11, 2025 at 2:18 PM
i think a (perhaps underappreciated) aspect of this whole situation is the extent to which every elite profession is filled with people who excel at drawing attention and want to be famous more than they want to do the actual job
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Good news, the Trump era is extremely clarifying about who among our chattering class actually believes in things and which are just in it for the blind power worship
Bad news, the Trump era is continuing specifically because the distribution is extremely lopsided toward the latter
Bad news, the Trump era is continuing specifically because the distribution is extremely lopsided toward the latter
Anger over illegal migration helped return Donald Trump to the presidency. A New York Times review of former President Joe Biden’s actions on immigration found that Biden and his advisers repeatedly rebuffed recommendations to stem that migration. Here are key takeaways.
4 Takeaways From The Times’s Reporting on Biden’s Immigration Record
A New York Times review of President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s actions on immigration showed that they created an opening for a more aggressive Trump administration agenda.
nyti.ms
December 11, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Good news, the Trump era is extremely clarifying about who among our chattering class actually believes in things and which are just in it for the blind power worship
Bad news, the Trump era is continuing specifically because the distribution is extremely lopsided toward the latter
Bad news, the Trump era is continuing specifically because the distribution is extremely lopsided toward the latter
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No one can control a movement built on lies and conspiracy theories, at least not for long. The leaders might be cynical liars willing to say anything for power, and therefore readily stop pushing a given piece of nonsense when it’s no longer useful, a bunch of their marks actually believe it.
December 11, 2025 at 1:59 AM
No one can control a movement built on lies and conspiracy theories, at least not for long. The leaders might be cynical liars willing to say anything for power, and therefore readily stop pushing a given piece of nonsense when it’s no longer useful, a bunch of their marks actually believe it.
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What if they constantly want culture war because policy war is complicated and hard and culture war is stupid and easy
Marco Rubio ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor's decision to adopt Calibri a “wasteful” diversity move
Rubio Stages Font Coup: Times New Roman Ousts Calibri
The secretary of state called it a "wasteful" diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters.
www.huffpost.com
December 10, 2025 at 7:11 PM
What if they constantly want culture war because policy war is complicated and hard and culture war is stupid and easy
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a lot of effort was spent in the 20th century trying to make "nothing is true, everything is permitted" into a positive, liberatory vision and we are seeing anew every day that it sucks, actually
December 10, 2025 at 10:05 PM
a lot of effort was spent in the 20th century trying to make "nothing is true, everything is permitted" into a positive, liberatory vision and we are seeing anew every day that it sucks, actually
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It doesn't make a blind bit of moral difference if someone is doing dreadful things because their heart compels them to do dreadful things or out of perceived pragmatism, but it does obviously affect how you deal with them (person B is open to all kinds of persuasion, A only to blackmail or removal)
December 10, 2025 at 9:22 AM
It doesn't make a blind bit of moral difference if someone is doing dreadful things because their heart compels them to do dreadful things or out of perceived pragmatism, but it does obviously affect how you deal with them (person B is open to all kinds of persuasion, A only to blackmail or removal)
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It is more than a little bit insane to recall that the foundational structure that makes this happen is that modern post-industrial economies are so insanely productive that this sort of dedicated scam compound makes economic sense in countries with weaker economies and institutions.
December 8, 2025 at 8:16 PM
It is more than a little bit insane to recall that the foundational structure that makes this happen is that modern post-industrial economies are so insanely productive that this sort of dedicated scam compound makes economic sense in countries with weaker economies and institutions.
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157 years ago, on the 9th of December 1868, the world's first traffic lights were installed outside the Palace of Westminster in London. It used semaphore arms during the day and green/red gas lamps at night. It had to be operated by a constable. It exploded on January 2nd 1869. #otd #history 🗃️
December 9, 2025 at 9:00 AM
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Fuck *anybody* who formula-shames.
RFK Jr: "All of the ingenuity of corporate America has not produced an infant formula that is superior in nutrition and all the qualities that we want to the infant formula that God made, which is the infant formula in a mother's breast."
December 8, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Fuck *anybody* who formula-shames.
The Dear Leader conditional…
Trump: We are going to be giving and providing it to the farmers in economic assistance. Farmers like me based on voting trends. So we are going to use that money to provide $12 billion in economic assistance to American farmers. $12 billion is a lot of money
December 8, 2025 at 7:58 PM
The Dear Leader conditional…
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December 8, 2025 at 5:09 PM
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Wanting people to spend the money you refuse to pay them is wild.
If you want people to spend more, pay them more.
December 1, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Wanting people to spend the money you refuse to pay them is wild.
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I dunno man the concept of actually owning something you pay for must be like a drug if you're under 30
Why do Gen Z have a growing appetite for retro tech?
Why do Gen Z have a growing appetite for retro tech?
Gen Z are going retro, with studies showing a resurgence in people buying tech in the modern age that can be dated back decades.
www.bbc.com
December 7, 2025 at 6:57 PM
I dunno man the concept of actually owning something you pay for must be like a drug if you're under 30