local margin scribbler

Americans adopted the secret ballot to protect voters from intimidation. Senators sitting in judgment of a president deserve the same protection, and a new Senate could adopt it by simple majority in January. @andycraig.bsky.social

This is what we call a permission structure

God, I want to be Nanny Ogg when I grow up.

Brazil banned online gambling and people started spending the money on food. It's also an incredibly popular policy. There's literally no downside!

Maybe I'm delusional but my first reaction to a $11.4 billion cost for off grid solar access for EVERYONE for whom this is a good solution seems pretty cheap ... financialpost.com/commodities/...

Today (Oct 27) is the last "safe" day to return your ballot via USPS! We highly recommend now returning it to a dropbox or voting site (options differ by state) If you *must* return via USPS, take your ballot to a USPS location and ask for a postmark at the counter. Maybe take a photo w/ it too. 🗳️

Today's the last day to mail in your early ballot. After today, visit a drop box or polling location instead. Don’t risk it, make sure your ballot is counted! 🗳️

Look, I'm an evolutionary physiologist, ok? I believe in biology, not this sentimental feminist claptrap. Women are biologically optimized to be nurturers. They run households, they don't fight lions. That's why they're the only ones we can trust to govern our complex, industrialized civilization.

This is the woman of the week. Virginia Dillard, age 105, got herself all pretty to go vote in Texas. 💙

New Mexico hit 50% climate-friendly energy in 2024 — well ahead of its 2030 target. The outlook is good for 80% by 2040, too: www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle... via @canarymedia.com

Yall wanna see a hedgehog nommin an apple

Solar has become “the obvious choice” for consumers, said Nsitem. “As the US-Iran war pushed up global fuel prices, the cost of operating these generators has risen, making solar systems much more attractive overnight.” Gift link

right. so now we can pack up DHS with good conscience and create a Civilian Response Teams to handle local disasters. You saw it, cops are gonna be part of CRT

Subaru is killing off gas cars and will only sell EVs in Europe

Can’t fall for a phishing scam if you never open emails. Check. Mate.

Importing fossil fuels is an economic burden. Convenient that countries like India can now just build their own clean power generation and make the smart economic choice. "India has shelved a proposal to mandate coal imports..."

as others have pointed out, this is how a good teacher handles a(n intentionally) difficult student -- you take them seriously, then dismantle the premise of their point

oh. that's bad. that's really bad. because if a bad actor claims revealed preference over expressed preference we are now in a form of consent territory that is very very messy.

“The internet is a store but it used to be a library” hits me like a slug to the chest

We already have flying cars. They're called helicopters. They're really expensive and there are good reasons you have to have a pilot license and work with air traffic control to fly them. Putting jets on a sedan is not going to result in a better vehicle or transportation experience in any way.

the second el-sayed chose to treat tommy as an equal and not a nuisance, tommy was cooked

next time, we melt it down

Stats are useless. The only way to understand people's experiences is to talk to a ton of them and aggregate.

Single staaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiir! 🎉

bureacratically legible quantifiable indicators are the only game in town for understanding things at a policy level, like full stop. they're frequently wrong. people often use them to lie. they contain a multitude of biases. they are also the only option.

Sometimes I have an intrusive thought hoping for The One Horrible Disaster to happen in the hopes it will snap people to their senses. This is stupid of me because if the pandemic and insurrection have taught us anything, it is that people do not learn from horrible disasters. People just die.

finally becoming the liberal arts major my father always dreaded

This bad boy can fit so many nationalized space companies inside it you wouldn’t believe it

Electric cars saved $20B in oil – and the US is falling behind

One of the projects of the post-Trump era should be de-privatization, something long overdue since the Reagan revolution. Bob Kuttner makes a list of reclaiming the public commons. prospect.org/2026/10/13/t...

Dogcatcher xkcd.com/3309/

Normalize democrats saying abolish DHS as a first step

When I was seven years old and always crammed at the end of the lunch table, flattening out the aluminnum foil from around my lunch into shininess because i was sooooooo bored because everyone else was talking over each other and i couldn't understand a thing

🇺🇸 Six Flags Magic Mountain just finished installing a new 12.4 MW #solar installation above its parking lot, officially California’s largest solar carport. It’s expected to generate enough electricity each year to offset both the amusement park and neighboring Hurricane Harbor Los Angeles.

Talarico: I've heard credible reports that Ken Paxton has a serious medical condition that causes clinical levels of cowardice. People are concerned. He has asked for proof of life from me. I'm asking for proof of spine from him.

From 2019: "When it comes to the long-term economics of power generation, it isn’t a fair fight. There is no clear way natural gas can compete with renewables on an economic basis in the coming decades." And now in 2026....

would un-ironically do this in 10 years

Wed Digit: 10/10 - Legit candidate for nicest day of the year! Sunshine and Goldilocks highs in the low 70s. Warmer and wonderful through Fri and into Sat, but rain could arrive late Sat or Sun. Full forecast at capitalweather.com and CW app. (Drawing by Caroline, a 6th-grader from Silver Spring)

One of the highlights of NYC Climate Week was getting a ride through the city on Saul Griffith's new Lightfoot scooter. It's incredibly cool -- way more solid & stylish in person than I expected. I swear I took pictures but I can't find any of them so you'll have to trust me.

Finally got a pod about agrivoltaics on the schedule. Looking forward to that one.

The Constitution allows it. South Korea has proven it works. If you want to make impeachment viable—and so much else is pointless if you don't—then it can be done by a simple majority adopting a simple rules change: vote on the verdict by secret ballot.