Favorites September 1st 2021

Sep 02, 2021

This is arguably the most important single piece of epidemiological research of the entire pandemic. A MASSIVE randomized trial launched a pro-mask campaign in some Bangladeshi villages, but not others. The result: masking villages got less COVID.

Cool study, important note: cloth masks don’t work nearly as well as surgical masks. N95 masks were not tested.

The New York Times @nytimes

Private individuals in Texas can now sue anyone who performs or aids banned abortions, including doctors and even an Uber driver taking a patient to an abortion clinic. Plaintiffs, who need not have any connection to the matter, can win $10,000 in damages.

nyti.msSupreme Court, Breaking Silence, Won’t Block Texas Abortion LawThe law, which prohibits most abortions after six weeks and went into effect on Wednesday, was drafted by Texas lawmakers with the goal of frustrating efforts to challenge it in federal court.

This was the big news today, SCOTUS declined to intervene, despite Roberts joining the liberals in disent. Instagram has already suspended accounts out of fear of being sued. The key to the legal justification is the diabolical litigation bounty structure, which is going to put massive burden on the courts, especially if it’s copied. One interesting suggestion already:

Matt @regulatorynerd

@kimmaicutler So why don’t we flood the courts with law suits against Greg Abbott? It seems like you can accuse someone of assisting even if you’re out of state. The law doesn’t allow him to recover legal fees if he wins. But the filing would still require a response from him.

Although, please don’t take your legal advice from Twitter, or from me.

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

Cutting out fossil fuels also stops our lungs and brains from being hurt by particulate pollution.

Bloomberg CityLab @CityLab

The same policies that tackle climate change could add years back to our lives, a new analysis finds. @linpoonsays reports: https://t.co/KBzyN3VRMT

Again, air pollution is bad, if you had forgotten.

Alec Stapp @AlecStapp

DARPA is good

Find ways to fund science!

Ezra Klein @ezraklein

This is something I talk about in an upcoming podcast with @FeliciaWongRI, but the evidence that you can build policy feedback loops, even with really clear policies like stimulus checks and the child tax credit, is much weaker than I wish it was.

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

More than 80 percent of Americans received $1400 cash payments from the Biden stimulus plan. Per new poll from @Civiqs, 37 percent of Americans say Biden has done something that benefited them personally, 57 percent say he has not. https://t.co/F5BpWvyuTx https://t.co/GZvYXtAUaz

This is super disappointing, the feedback loops described here by Klein were hoped to be a way to help get folks to see some advantage in having a functioning government. Perhaps it only kicks in once the program is threatened?

OneHitPopehat @Popehat

People say cops are murdering thugs but it’s important to remember they’re also thieves

Matt Zapotosky @mattzap

A former Marine was pulled over for following a truck too closely. Without charging him, police took nearly $87,000 of his cash. https://t.co/4wNoKyG6St

There are a lot of opinions out there about police, but this one is pretty easy: civil asset forfeiture is bad and should be banned.

Tugboat for Today

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