Links 2018/10/09

• "In a randomized, double-blind clinical trial—the gold standard of trials—a combination of ibuprofen (Advil) and acetaminophen (Tylenol) was just as effective at treating patients with acute pain in an extremity as three other pain-killer combinations containing opioids." Considering that "an estimated 91 people die each day" from opioids... this seems really worth following up on. Link.
• There is a lot of evidence that making prostitution illegal significantly increases rape. Link. When people ask themselves whether it should be legal, I really wish "should there be less rape" would be considered with as a much importance as "how do I personally feel about prostitution"?
• The number of detained immigrant children increases, and they are largely being moved from foster homes to a tent city in Texas. Link. Part of the cause for the increase is that detained children are not being picked up by their parents as much, because now ICE essentially uses undocumented children as bait for their undocumented parents. Link. I feel safer already.
• After continual anti-NAFTA talk, Trump finally announced he ended it and signed a new trade deal... which basically NAFTA with a new name. Link.
• Many state education rankings seem... not good. It is common for them to include spending as part of how states are measured. The more you spend, the higher you are ranked. So these are not a good way to check whether marginal state spending on education is worthwhile!
  "As recently as 2011, Education Week placed Florida fifth in the nation. Then the publication altered its methodology to put more weight on raw expenditures. Despite high test scores, the state dropped to 29th place—not because teaching effectiveness fell, but because the state supposedly spent too little!"
  Also, "According to U.S. News and World Report, Texas, which ranks 33rd, is far surpassed in educational quality by Iowa, which ranks eighth... But when we disaggregate student performance scores by racial categories... the rankings change dramatically... White students do better in Texas than in Iowa. Black students do better in Texas. Hispanic students do better in Texas. Asian students do better in Texas. Given these facts, it is absurd for U.S. News to rank Iowa higher than Texas in terms of educational performance. And this example is no fluke. Many other state comparisons similarly reverse if you account for student heterogeneity."
  Link.