Today’s Big Story

Biden’s Supreme Court Reforms

The president calls for term limits, enforceable ethics rules for justices

The president warned Monday that “extremism is undermining public confidence in the court’s decisions” as he called for term limits and an enforceable ethics code for Supreme Court justices in what would be sweeping changes to the high court and the way it operates.

Speaking at the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, Biden said the Supreme Court previously defended civil rights aggressively, “but now we live in a different era.” He said, “In recent years, extreme opinions the Supreme Court has handed down have undermined long established civil rights principles and protections.”

The Associated Press reports that Biden’s proposal calls for dramatic changes in the court: A new (and enforceable) code of ethics appears to be in response to press reports of judges, like Justice Clarence Thomas, accepting free trips for politically active donors. A constitutional amendment would limit presidential immunity and the most significant change would impose 18-year term limits for justices.

All of this would require legislation, and with less than six months left in office, the plan has little chance of being approved by a closely divided Congress with just 98 days to go before Election Day. Still, Democrats hope it’ll help focus voters as they consider their choices in a tight election. Vice President Kamala Harris, who has sought to frame her race against Republican ex-President Donald Trump as “a choice between freedom and chaos,” quickly endorsed the Biden proposal.

Interestingly, under Biden’s term-limit plan, presidents would appoint a new Supreme Court justice every two years. If that rule had already been in effect over the past two decades and each justice had served the full 18-year term, the court’s ideological split would be flipped now.

Iowa’s Abortion Ban Takes Effect

Pro-choice advocates call it a ‘violation of human rights’ and Harris sees it as a call to action

An Iowa law that bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy has gone into effect, likely causing an influx of patients to seek treatment in neighboring states. Reuters reports that this makes Iowa the 22nd state to impose broad restrictions on ending pregnancies since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal abortion rights in 2022. Until Monday, abortion was legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks.

“This ban is going to take effect before many women even know they’re pregnant,” Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, said in a video posted to YouTube. “What this means is that one in three women of reproductive age in America lives in a state with a Trump abortion ban.”

As the New York Times points out, Democrats hope to use support for abortion rights to their electoral advantage this year in Iowa and beyond. A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa poll from last year found that 61% of adults in the state believed abortion should be legal in most or all cases, while 35% believed it should be illegal in most or all cases. Though former President Donald Trump is widely expected to carry Iowa this year, as he did in 2016 and 2020, Democrats hope to flip at least one congressional seat in the state and reduce the size of the Republican majorities in the Iowa Legislature.

Olympic Triathlon Postponed Over Seine Water Quality

The river is still polluted after heavy rains led to discharges of raw sewage

This is what they were afraid of, right? The men’s Olympic triathlon planned for Tuesday morning local time was postponed over concerns about water quality in the River Seine, where the swimming portion of the race was supposed to take place. Organizers said they will try to hold the men’s triathlon Wednesday instead. The women’s competition is also scheduled on Wednesday, but both are subject to water tests. Friday is also planned as a backup date.

Water contamination levels forced officials to cancel a triathlon training session scheduled to take place in the Seine on Monday. It was the second of the sessions to be scuttled by water pollution, and with more water quality test results pending, it remained unclear whether the first actual 2024 Paris Games event would go ahead as scheduled in the iconic waterway.

Organizers say the river is still polluted after heavy rain storms on Friday during the opening ceremony and again on Saturday, which led to discharges of raw sewage. French sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra told French news channel CNEWS that officials are “absolutely serene about all of this.” The plans they put in place to control bacteria levels in the river have been effective, but the weather is beyond their control, she said.

The Placebo Effect Unlocked

New research into the power of placebos could upend our understanding of medicine

In a fascinating discovery, scientists have pinpointed what happens in our brains when we're expecting pain relief but are given a placebo, unknowingly, instead. It not only confirms “the placebo effect,” but offers clues into how powerful the mind is in mitigating physiological functions such as pain.

In a study published today in Nature, scientists traced the parts of the brain that were activated in mice conditioned to expect pain relief, mimicking how humans experience the placebo effect when given a pill with no active ingredients. They were surprised to see activity in the cerebellum and brainstem—parts of the brain that more often are associated with movement and coordination than pain perception.

Even more surprising, a placebo can work even when you know, categorically, that there’s no active drug in your treatment. That is, if you take what’s called an “open label non-deceptive” drug, the body can nonetheless be tricked into thinking it’s getting some healing effect. But the mind is powerful, as one neurologist points out, drawing an entertaining parallel: watching films. “Movies are powerful triggers of strong emotional responses, ranging from love and tears to heartache and fear,” he says. “These reactions take place despite the fact that the viewer is aware that everything is a fiction.”

Make Yourself More Likable

Being the guy everyone likes and appreciates will no doubt make your life significantly easier

It’s an undeniable and unavoidable truth: Being the guy everyone likes and appreciates will no doubt make your life significantly easier. Now this doesn't mean that you sacrifice your beliefs or sanity to get along with absolutely everyone. But it does, however, mean you should incorporate a few habits that will make you not only able to connect with others, but to be seen as trustworthy and dependable.

After all, likability is not some innate, unteachable trait that belongs only to a lucky few—the good looking, the fiercely social, and the incredibly talented. It's a skill that you can develop and hone over time.

Start within.