Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Mason Profile picture
Mason
@webdevMason
Kākāpō husbandry specialist
6 subscribers
Nov 17 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
It's scope sensitivity

The median taxpayer pays around $15k/year in federal income tax

That money is harder earned than most, and it's coming from people who could really use it

Head-math tells them that a single $1M vanity project wipes out their *lifetime* contributions tbc I don't think obscure basic or applied research is the place to try to trim fat either, but it's a powerful thing to show people what someone like themselves is buying for the federal government and it's a study about 'roided up hamsters or whatever
Oct 14 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
I'd also have had a hard time believing the "Venezuelan gangs are taking over apartment complexes" story if I hadn't had my own utterly insane experience with tenant protection bureaucracy

The police will not help you, period Image
Image
Image Now that she's got these people out of her home, I can share more

One of the squatters grabbed her by the hair and tried to push her down her stairs — police took the report and did nothing

By the end she was carrying a loaded gun on her at all times in her own home
Mar 15, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
I think everyone will find something to dislike in my take on Dylan Mulvaney, which is that there is obviously a desperate cultural thirst for someone, anyone, to just wholeheartedly enjoy being a girl in a way that is politically acceptable — and this is probably a good thing! I do find it reductive and a little bit embarrassing, but man, the culture we have has got to start somewhere. The idea that there is *anything* good about femininity has been MIA for what, a decade? Longer?
Jan 19, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
My mom's home in Oregon is being seized by "friends" who she allowed in a few months ago, who now refuse to leave & have literally stolen keys to her outbuildings. It's impossible to navigate her rights & obligations because local housing lawyers are booked up w similar conflicts They moved two additional people in; mom can't afford to go anywhere else, so she has four people who live rent free in her house and glower at her as they go to and fro, leaving their dishes for her to clean and taking hour-long showers
Dec 27, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
There is a whole alternate canon, more vibe than fact, emerging here "My lived experience is that twitter was actually always pretty right wing"
Nov 15, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Stellar jays have caught on that I'm feeding the squirrels from my window (I guess these are actually "Steller's jays." I just always heard it pronounced "stellar jay.")
Nov 15, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Why is the NYT licking SBF's nether regions "Political connections" would probably have been a better broader category, to encompass all kinds of hobnobbing and back-scratching aside from just $

"Just whoring" should probably have been left more generic, to include rapport-building for future scoops
Nov 13, 2022 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
The downstream effects of this have the potential to destroy entire communities from the inside out

There will be support groups filled with parents whose children were put down like dogs by the same people to whom they pay their taxes If you think this is an exaggeration, you may not fully grok the scope of this program as it *already* exists after just 5 years commonsense.news/p/scheduled-to…
Aug 21, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
@wesyang IMO most people who think they innately value intelligence in a partner are probably actually using that as a proxy for something else

It's actually a very good proxy for a lot of things — stuff like career/status potential, sure, but also "makes me feel deeply understood" @wesyang I think a lot of people — maybe men in particular but maybe not — want someone smart enough to agree w/ them about most things & elevate their own arguments in a way that gives them greater clarity on their own ideas, more opportunities to expound on their favorite hobby horses
Aug 10, 2022 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Political violence is nearly always bad. It's also nearly always understandable. For a lot of people, the extent to which an act of violence is one of these two things is a reflection of the extent to which it is NOT the other, and that's why we consistently talk past each other If you viscerally grok that someone can be so different from you that their instincts about which social/political circumstances justify violence are fully incompatible w/ yours, you can either try to eliminate all people like this or find rules that protect you from each other
Jul 4, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
I think this is a pretty weak argument, not least because it basically implies that abortion is less about what women want than about making sure neither men nor the broader society have to deal with abandoned women and their children I feel like one possible solution is to raise sons with half-decent judgment and values
Apr 21, 2022 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
It seems like by the time I got preggo most online baby communities had decided to end the eternal heated breastfeeding vs. formula debate with a truce, which is fine, but the form this takes in practice is basically mindless chanting of the completely inane phrase "fed is best" 1. Breastfeeding is much healthier
2. Yes, but sometimes it's really hard/impossible
3. ?????
4. Don't starve babies, the end
Apr 21, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
It's not about the house, it's about the priorities represented by the house. e.g. space for kids, safe neighborhood > walkability, cool neighborhood This is the actual issue Image
Dec 10, 2021 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
Twitter’s moderation game is unreal. If there’s no remotely plausible TOS violation, simply append a “misleading” label (no elaboration necessary) and disable all engagement aside from quote-retweets I enjoy getting into the weeds re: how misleading this actually is, but frankly I also think it’s fucking important that people are allowed to say things on social media that social media staffers consider misleading
Dec 9, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
I’m struggling to understand how the entire medical & media infrastructure can be so invested in a novel drug with the potentially catastrophic risk profile of molnupiravir when there’s a standard FDA-approved SSRI that performed just as well in a widely lauded large-scale RCT Molnupiravir caused such significant harm to fetuses in animal models that Merck has suggested ensuring contraceptive use during *and* after treatment, actively generates mutations that could theoretically lead to new variants & has a mechanism of action that may cause cancer
Dec 9, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
The media has gone absolutely schizophrenic on omicron, just totally unable to draw a coherent narrative or practice any patience where it’s owed — and even the most forgiving portion of its audience seems to be tired of getting pulled through the panic/blame shredder A key phrase I’m seeing a lot is “giving ammo to the anti-vaxxers,” which IMO can reasonably be parsed as a frustrated expression of that which cannot be stated plainly: the people committed to following institutional advice are tired of being kept in a coercive state of panic
Dec 4, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Somewhat optimistic takes on Omicron out of South Africa bloomberg.com/news/articles/… Omicron is spreading fast, but no confirmed deaths globally so far. Depending on how long it’s been spreading, that could be a *really* good sign google.com/amp/s/www.alja…
Nov 22, 2021 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
They don’t tell you this, but (non-abusive) fighting and rough patches in the context of a committed relationship where neither person is afraid that the other person is going to reject them or leave are SO much better than the serial monogamy dating roller coaster Looking back I don’t know how anyone gets anything done when they’re spending their 20s and 30s with zero relationship security. Some people are probably wired to tolerate this better than others, but geez, it just consumes so much human compute
Nov 3, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
I usually argue a bit with Aella on this stuff, but honestly in a culture with low expected commitment norms she’s right that monogamous defaults basically just lead to serial breakups to trade up or enjoy the perks of novelty Hesitantly accepting a polyamorous lifestyle so your partner doesn’t “have to” leave you when he or she wants to cheat doesn’t seem like such a big win to me though
Oct 18, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
To be clear, I think #3 is substantially worse for most people than #1, and #2 is generally benign only because it is almost impossible to maintain by force of will alone Otherwise bright people believing that their goals/desires are more malleable and subject to rational reconsideration than they actually are probably generates more personal angst and interpersonal drama in these groups than any other single factor
Oct 18, 2021 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
One of the weirdest ideas in Bay Area rationalist/adjacent circles is that you become someone like e.g. Elon Musk, hyper-productive and motivated, by introspecting a ton Introspecting to the extent that you're actually treating it like a dedicated hobby or job might do something for you, but I see no reason to believe that it will make you substantially more productive or motivated to do things other than introspect even more