February 2023
Thursday, 23 February 2023
The new scientific review on masks and Covid isn’t what you think
Kelsey Piper, Vox: “Only two of the studies are about Covid and masking in particular. Furthermore, neither of those studies looked directly at whether people wear masks, but instead at whether people were encouraged or told to wear masks by researchers.”
Also: Bedbug Continues to Minimize the Pandemic
Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Earth’s innermost layer is a 400-mile-wide ball of iron, new study suggests
Jackie Wattles, CNN: “‘Additionally, the transition from the innermost (solid) ball to the outer shell of the inner core (also solid shell) seems rather gradational than sharp,’ Pham said. ‘That is why we cannot observe it via direct reflections of seismic waves from it.’”
Modern Capitalism Is Weirder Than You Think
Eric Levitz, New York: “High interest rates and low inflation may be good for lenders. But they’re suboptimal for asset managers.”
Monday, 20 February 2023
Biden Visits Kyiv
Nadin Brzezinski: “We are close to something like the Moscow Declaration of 1945 that established the principles of the International Military Tribunal. The document will give you a summation of how we got there. Remember Russia was one of the powers involved in that.”
Twitter’s Decision to Limit SMS 2FA is Dangerous
Ricky Mondello: “This is a good explanation of 2FA because it focuses on the impact of using it, rather than some indirect appeal to the virtues of ‘factors’ involved in authentication.”
Sunday, 19 February 2023
How To Read This Chart
Philip Bump: “… safe Democratic House districts did elect people with more liberal ideologies, though closer Democratic seats didn’t. On the Republican side, though, more extreme representatives were elected over time regardless of how safe the seat was.”
Sunday, 12 February 2023
Europe has to stand against Russia
Noah Smith: “In other words, the U.S. might keep helping Europe, but it might not. And even if it does keep helping, its assistance might be reduced due to a need to focus on China — especially in the event of an attack on Taiwan. Europe therefore cannot afford to continue to rely entirely on steadfast U.S. support to protect it from the Russian threat.”
Tuesday, 7 February 2023
Why Does It Feel Like Amazon Is Making Itself Worse?
John Herrman, New York: “It was a slow and, in hindsight, astounding transformation in which the ‘everything store’ substantially outsourced its store.”
Tonight, the president is going to lie to us
John Stoehr: “But a booming economy isn’t a union.”
Monday, 6 February 2023
Why Is the New York Times So Obsessed With Trans Kids?
Tom Scocca, Popula: “Like the premise that the Clintons had to have been guilty of something serious, or that Saddam Hussein must have had a weapons program worth invading Iraq over, the notion that trans youth present a looming problem is demonstrated to the reader by the sheer volume of coverage. If it’s not a problem, why else would it be in the paper? […] The Times expended more than 6,000 words on puberty blockers, raising the specter that, despite doctors’ widespread agreement that the treatment makes life better for adolescents who identify as trans, the drugs carry the risk of reducing bone density. Bone density loss is also one of the many side effects of isotretinoin, […] which has been used to alleviate severe acne in millions of teenagers over the decades […] Yet the Times isn’t publishing multiple front-page stories about whether teens are endangering their bodies by getting treated for cystic acne.”
Thursday, 2 February 2023
Get Ready for the Pandemicene
Jessica Wildfire: “In short, I’m not scared of viruses.”