Twelve Things that Caught My Eye Today (Feb. 5, 2015)

1. The House of Commons moved to open the door to three-parent embyros yesterday. Christopher White at the Center of Bioethics and Culture Network writes: “scientists and policymakers alike have let their eagerness for what we can do, outpace the considerations on what we should do.”

2. David Kirkpatrick from Egypt:

When Shaimaa el-Sabbagh, 31, was killed at a small demonstration in downtown Cairo on Jan. 24, I thought, is this news? Sondos Reda Abu Bakr, 17, had just been killed by the police at a protest in Alexandria. The next day was the fourth anniversary of the start of the Arab Spring revolt in Egypt, and I had a feeling many more people would die before the day was over. About 50 had died in clashes with the police at demonstrations on the previous anniversary, in 2014.

…

Her killing provides one answer to the question of how the new authorities have managed to finally dam the flood of popular demands and protests that seemed so unstoppable just four years ago.

3. Washington Post:

At last, something resembling good news in the fight against Boko Haram: Chadian troops reportedly have ousted the militant group from a Nigerian town it has occupied for months.

The victory in Gamboru, the Northern Nigerian border town where more than 300 people were killed in a Boko Haram massacre last spring, was said to be decisive. Chad’s army said it killed more than 200 militants in the offensive, its second incursion into Nigerian territory in a week. Nine were killed on the Chadian side.

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5. Our Standing Up for Gordon College editorial. (Did you read David French the other day?)

6. Jean Lloyd on Public Discourse today: Teens struggling with their sexual identity may seem to have more options than they did in the 1980s—but one important option is increasingly denied to them.

7. Cosmo on childbirth.

8. Former drug czar Bill Bennett pours cold water on marijuana on Morning Joe (and debates with Howard Dean).

9. Why would the New York Times do this?

10. Pope Francis:

Families need to know that the Church is making every effort to protect their children. They should also know that they have every right to turn to the Church with full confidence, for it is a safe and secure home. Consequently, priority must not be given to any other kind of concern, whatever its nature, such as the desire to avoid scandal, since there is absolutely no place in ministry for those who abuse minors.

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