Virginia Postrel
3.8K posts
Virginia Postrel
@vpostrel
L.A. writer @WorksinProgMag @AbundanceInst Ihttp://vpostrel.substack.com History podcast w/ @CharlesCMann: https://t.co/s4TuT0CAWN
West L.A. Katılım Ocak 2009
2.6K Takip Edilen16.2K Takipçiler
These are the current top candidates for 2028.
If you were offered the choice between having one of these candidates lead the country or having Claude lead, with the stipulation a competent humans would enact the AI's expressed choices, which would you choose?
Poll in reply
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@JM4LISD @AlecStapp I seem to remember the phrase "war as work" in this context.
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@AlecStapp I forget the source of the quote but last century a philosopher suggested Americans went about wars with a business-like attitude -- and Heaven help the world if they ever regarded War as one of America's sports. Looks like Ukraine is on track for free-market business wars.
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Underrated challenge in war:
If you try to maintain equal unit sizes, then bad commanders will receive more resources over time than good commanders.
Ukraine solved this for drone teams by creating a marketplace where the currency is video-confirmed kills of Russians.
Austin Vernon@Vernon3Austin
How Ukraine Built a War Fighting State austinvernon.site/blog/ukrainewa… Most analysts have expected Ukraine to lose since 2022. Yet they’re still fighting and have turned the momentum. These are my notes on how they did it.
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@Russwarne @tracewoodgrains My first grade teacher somehow taught 35 kids at their individual levels. One of the best teachers I ever had—quite a lucky start.
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The authors of a new article found that reading achievement at the end of 1st grade within one low-income school ranged from the lowest level of reading achievement to 3rd grade and beyond.
In practical terms, about 25% of children in one classroom were still struggling to put letter sounds together to form words, while about 20% are fluent readers with increasing comprehension. There's no teacher in the world who can create one lesson plan that meets both groups' needs (and everyone in between).
Ability grouping is a must for competent teaching--even in the earliest grades.
Read more:
doi.org/10.1080/135981…
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@TheHistoryOfTh2 Music examples here share.google/KTy8mFJTJrEa5Y…
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"Featherbedding." As when the railroad unions, which had a lot of leverage back in the day, forced railroads to employ men to shovel coal even after they had switched to diesel.
The "firemen" just sat there all day.
Reem Ibrahim@ReemAmirIbrahim
Rhode Island has become the first U.S. state to force grocery stores to keep a 1:3 ratio of cashiers to self-checkouts. Failure to comply can result in fines of up to $500 per day. More in @reason 👇
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@EllipticalMan @LuciaLobosvilla I read lots of 300-page books as a child, including ones written in the 19th century. It used to be a normal form of entertainment for a certain kind of kid.
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Yes. I read it as a child. Because it’s a children’s book.
We keep lowering standards for children’s media and then wonder why kids can’t read or grasp complex concepts.
Running into words you don’t know is part of the learning experience. Not an insurmountable obstacle.
pete@pete_churchill
@bazashc Have you ever read it??? It’s 100% not a children’s book and whoever says that is lying to you. Not only is the vernacular dated and elaborate but the sentence structure and lengthy writing is often hard to get your head around as an adult. Love that book! but it’s not for kids
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@anuraagsidhu You can thank Mrs. Hollingsworth for the grounds, or so I’m told. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._H…
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I doubt I can teach a Japanese person
anything about reading subtle social
cues; but GENERALLY...
If someone is going to be judgemental
or sarcastic, they will use that phrase to
introduce their statement.
If they are trying to be compassionate
or comforting, they say it last.
In my humble opinion.
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Americans, I need a translator 🇺🇸
Someone told me "bless your heart"
can mean kindness…
or the softest possible insult.
In Japanese we have phrases like that too —
words that sound gentle but aren't.
So I'm asking sincerely:
when someone says "bless your heart,"
how do you KNOW which version it is?
Tone? Context? Face?
Please teach the Japanese guy 🙏
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@japan_nobunaga If my mother says it, she means the nice version, usually with a bit of pity or sympathy. Others not so much.
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A complaint from me, renewed: People who benefit from "capitalism," or a free economy, have no idea they do. They think goods and services, at affordable prices, drop from heaven. Or come from their favorite pol or podcaster. We have a sore need of economic literacy.
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Virginia Postrel retweetledi
ICYMI: the biggest federal housing bill in a generation became law last night at midnight. I provided this rundown 👇🏻 last month on some of the most important provisions in it.
Gary Winslett 🌐🇺🇸@GaryWinslett
Ok, so it looks very likely that we are going to be a very consequential housing bill out of Congress and to the President for his signature. Here’s a cheat sheet of some of the most important parts of the bill (just going through the text in order). 1/10
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This state. So won. So idiotic. 😭😓
Marc Joffe@marcjoffe
Under California SB 143 (2023), goat herders have to be paid ~ $17,000 per month effective July 1. That's because they are now entitled to minimum wage 24/7 plus applicable overtime. Unless this is fixed, goats which protect us from wildfire by consuming grass in danger zones will be slaughtered because it will too costly to keep them. Just another instance of sloppy, union-driven legislation in California! abc7news.com/post/south-bay…
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Up next is model and professional amateur @analogrithems. He's sporting @tacobell and @BestBuy ball and tee.
Think Outside the Buy!
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Story time: I was in Las Vegas when I was invited to play golf with my dear friend @EmilyJillette. I brought my pal @_decius_ with me, and he didn't have golf clothes but he had a red collared shirt. Jokingly, Emily called him "Target" all day because it was what he looked like - a Target employee. What she didn't realize was she sparked lightning and I realized that just about all fast food uniforms and retail are golf club legal. So, what if I started a line of second hand clothing for just this purpose? All of these outfits are available for purchase to the highest bidders and 100% goes towards the charity of their choosing (unless we veto, we reserve the right to).
Up first - I present @BestBuy X @tacobell. Who wins? With a special appearance by @WMurrayGolf and @Starlink @SpaceX!
Place your bids in the comments and the highest bid by end of day August 1st wins!!
Taco Bell flavor with Best Buy power!!!
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Love this.
Cyan Banister@cyantist
Story time: I was in Las Vegas when I was invited to play golf with my dear friend @EmilyJillette. I brought my pal @_decius_ with me, and he didn't have golf clothes but he had a red collared shirt. Jokingly, Emily called him "Target" all day because it was what he looked like - a Target employee. What she didn't realize was she sparked lightning and I realized that just about all fast food uniforms and retail are golf club legal. So, what if I started a line of second hand clothing for just this purpose? All of these outfits are available for purchase to the highest bidders and 100% goes towards the charity of their choosing (unless we veto, we reserve the right to). Up first - I present @BestBuy X @tacobell. Who wins? With a special appearance by @WMurrayGolf and @Starlink @SpaceX! Place your bids in the comments and the highest bid by end of day August 1st wins!! Taco Bell flavor with Best Buy power!!!
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@frogandabog @KelseyTuoc @Workingnowpleas As an author of nonfiction books I can attest that this is true. Vast amounts of knowledge are not digitized.
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@KelseyTuoc @Workingnowpleas absolutely agree with most, if not all, of this, particularly regarding the importance of the emphasis on (early and frequent) reading. i’m curious, you said there’s knowledge in books you don’t know of existing in other places, like what?
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I disagree with Alpha School's approach on some stuff but my agreement on this is very very strong and getting this right is important enough to cover for many other mistakes
MacKenzie Price@mackenzieprice
I don’t think we’ve ever had a kid whose knowledge level matched their grade level across every core subject. That’s why fixed grade levels don’t work. A kid should be allowed to do 7th grade math and 4th grade writing at the same time.
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A guy pilfered rare manuscripts from UCLA’s library, apparently sold them in China, and got a slap on the wrist. Link follows.
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@mnolangray Those Esotouric Tours people need more productive things to do with their time. They’re all over Next Door with similar posts and much less pushback.
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This r/LosAngeles thread speaks to how the culture of housing is changing:
1. Applicant proposes 10-townhouse SB 684-11123 project, preserving existing home
2. Preservationist-NIMBYs set up opposition campaign/website
3. It's getting absolutely roasted
reddit.com/r/LosAngeles/c…
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People in Northern California think there’s a rivalry with Southern California
People in Southern California don’t think about Northern California at all
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