House Panel OKs Bill to Imprison Doctors Who Perform Abortions Because of Genetic Defects (Reader Steve)
From the Arizona Daily Star: “Brushing aside questions of legality and religion, [an Arizona] House panel voted Wednesday along party lines to imprison doctors who terminate a pregnancy solely because the fetus has a genetic defect. … [The legislation] is designed to give equal rights to an ‘unborn child’ and seek to protect it in the name of preventing discrimination. And it would do that by sending doctors to prison for at least 2½ years for performing an abortion knowing the reason the woman is terminating the pregnancy because of a genetic abnormality. It also would give the woman’s husband or even the woman’s own parents the right to sue on behalf of the unborn child.”
Neil Gorsuch Supports an Originalist Theory That Would Destroy Modern Governance (DonkeyHotey)
From Slate: “On Thursday, the Columbia Law Review published one of the most important and topical scholarly articles in recent memory, ‘Delegation at the Founding.’ Its authors, Julian Davis Mortenson and Nicholas Bagley, put forth a sweeping argument: They assert that an ascendant legal theory championed by conservative originalists has no actual basis in history. That theory, called the nondelegation doctrine, holds that the Constitution puts strict limits on Congress’ ability to let the executive branch set rules and regulations.”
Plummeting Sperm Counts, Shrinking Penises: Toxic Chemicals Threaten Humanity (Russ)
The author writes, “The end of humankind? It may be coming sooner than we think, thanks to hormone-disrupting chemicals that are decimating fertility at an alarming rate around the globe. A new book called Countdown, by Shanna Swan, an environmental and reproductive epidemiologist at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, finds that sperm counts have dropped almost 60% since 1973. Following the trajectory we are on, Swan’s research suggests sperm counts could reach zero by 2045. Zero. Let that sink in. That would mean no babies. No reproduction. No more humans. Forgive me for asking: why isn’t the UN calling an emergency meeting on this right now?”
How a College Dropout Found a Shakespeare Secret All the PhDs Missed (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “Dennis McCarthy’s eyes were swimming in his computer screen. What had he gotten himself into? Nothing he read was making any sense. ‘English Seneca read by candlelight.’ ‘Blood is a beggar.’ Every line seemed to hold references he didn’t understand, like the code of a secret club to which he didn’t belong. Which, he supposed, is exactly what it was. His idea had been a simple one, if a bit naive. In late fall of 2005, he had been working on some papers about the geography of evolution — how changes to animals and plants move across the world. One day, he wondered if he could apply similar principles to ideas, tracing how a story moved from country to country, changing subtly along the way. As an example, why not use the greatest masterpiece in the English language: William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.”
Chinese ‘Polar Bear Hotel’ Opens to Full Bookings, Criticism (Dana)
The author writes, “A hotel that bills itself as the world’s first ‘polar bear hotel’ has opened in China’s far northeastern Heilongjiang province, drawing both guests and criticism for its central feature: live polar bears. The Polar Bear Hotel, part of the Harbin Polarland theme park in Heilongjiang’s capital and largest city, Harbin, opened its doors on Friday with the promise of round-the-clock polar bear viewing from all 21 guest rooms. … Photos and videos from Chinese state media showed people watching two polar bears in an indoor enclosure featuring artificial ice and small pools of water.”
