DIVERSITY IS OUR STRENGTH: Arrested Baltimore Cops: Three Black, 3 White, One Woman. Well, that’ll let the air out of one major narrative, though I’m sure this is explainable by privilege-osmosis or something.

UPDATE: Yep! “And there is no debate that tragically, black police officers often absorb the attitudes of their colleagues.” It’s from Salon’s Joan Walsh, natch.

SO IT’S TERRIBLE TO SHAME WOMEN FOR NOT BEING “BEACH-READY,” but it’s fine to mock men for having “Dadbods.” Because equality!

WHEN HIPSTER FETISHES COLLIDE: Tattoos Might Be Causing Apple Watches to Malfunction.

WELL, GOOD: Western Hemisphere Wipes Out Its Third Virus: Rubella. “The Americas have led the way when it comes to eradicating diseases. It was the first region in the world to eradicate smallpox in 1971 and then polio in 1994. And the PAHO already has its sights on another target. ‘With rubella under our belt, now it’s time to roll up our sleeves and finish the job of eliminating measles as well,’ Etienne said.”

CHEATERS GONNA CHEAT:  Britain has informed a U.N. sanctions panel that Iran is attempting to procure illicit nuclear materials.  But hey, I’m sure they won’t cheat on us.

NEWS YOU CAN USE:  22 weird facts about animal sex.  If there’s reincarnation, I think I’d like to come back as a Bonobo.  Or maybe a whale.

OH, GOODY: In US First, Dog Infects People With the Plague.

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SCIENCE: Why Do Some People Get Fitter Than Others?

Studies indicate, unsurprisingly, that genetics must be involved, since a particularly high or low response to exercise tends to run in families. But less has been known about which genes might be involved, and how those genes actually increase or blunt the body’s response.

Now a new study in rats adds to a growing body of data about how and why bodies respond so differently to exercise. In the study, rats with a particular set of genes responded robustly to exercise, becoming much more fit after a few weeks of running, while rats born with other genes gained little cardiovascular benefit from the same exercise program, apparently because their heart muscles didn’t react as expected.

The results raise questions about whether people who remain stubbornly unfit, no matter how diligently they work out, might want to rethink their exercise routines.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say yes.

NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF SCIENCE: Men, Women Want Sex at Opposite Times of Day.

AN IDEA SO CRAZY IT JUST MIGHT WORK: Irate Congressman gives cops easy rule: “just follow the damn Constitution.”

6 BALTIMORE PD OFFICERS CHARGED WITH FREDDIE GRAY HOMICIDE:  Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced that Freddie Gray’s death was a homicide, and has filed second-degree murder and manslaughter charges against the six officers involved in Gray’s arrest and transportation.  Gray’s spinal and neck injuries are consistent with those of being involved in an automobile accident, and Gray was not belted during his transfer in the police van.  The van driver, officer Caesar Goodson, has been charged with second-degree murder on theory that he intentionally failed to secure Gray and then gave him a “rough ride” to throw Gray against the van’s walls.  All other officers have been charged with manslaughter for neglecting to provide medical attention to Mr. Gray.

The Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police has written a letter to Ms. Mosby, asking her to step aside and appoint an independent prosecutor, based on her conflicts of interest with Gray family attorney William Murphy, prosecutor’s connections with local media (who are likely to be witnesses in the case), and Ms. Mosby’s husband’s role as Baltimore City Councilman.

Strangely, in all of the media reports I’ve read thus far, I still cannot ascertain the race of any of the six officers charged.  I assume someone will report on this soon, though.  It would be interesting to know.

I THINK IT’S ALREADY SAFER THAN A CAB, SINCE THERE’S A RECORD OF WHO PICKED YOU UP AND WHERE THEY TOOK YOU: Uber’s New Panic Button Beams Real-Time Alerts to Police.

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I WANT TO BELIEVE: New Test Suggests NASA’s “Impossible” EM Drive Will Work In Space.

If this actually works as suggested — still doubtful, but growing less so — it’ll dwarf everything else that’s happened this year in importance.

IT MIGHT NEED TO BE BIGGER: Here’s the Entire U.S. Navy Fleet in One Chart.

WELL, THAT’S THE PROBLEM WITH SOMETHING YOU CAN STRAP ON YOUR WRIST: Small Display Bedevils Some Apple Watch Apps.

SCIENCE MARCHES ON: FDA OKs Shot to Zap Your Double Chin. It’s just a fat-dissolver, though, and won’t do anything for simple sagging.

But before you rush out to try this, how about giving the Gary Taubes / Mark Rippetoe approach a try?

CLUSTER HIRING, BECAUSE DIVERSITY!:   When I read this report, paid for with over $3.4 million of your tax dollars, another word commonly paired with “cluster” came to mind.  The report, “Faculty Cluster Hiring for Diversity and Institutional Climate,” was produced by a coalition of urban universities and the Association of American Medical Colleges with an NIH grant.  The report is a cheerleading exercise for “cluster” hiring of minority faculty:

Yeah, right–they really want to foster an “inclusive” and “desirable” climate in universities, unless the faculty is conservative, in which case they will never be hired in the first place, much less “thrive.”  Just ask Teresa Wagner.

But of course the goal of “diversity” isn’t really diversity of thought and views (which one might foolishly think is important in higher education), but the antithesis of that–namely, hiring a “critical mass” of racial minorities, which liberals/progressives, in their infinite wisdom, believe will spout liberal/progressive views in the classroom.  It’s a horrible stereotype of racial minorities, of course, but liberals/progressives believe it with all their hearts, and it’s enforced mercilessly by attacking minorities who refuse to abide by it.  Just ask Clarence Thomas, U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), Dr. Ben Carson, Allen West, or Condoleezza Rice, or U.S. Rep. Nia Love (R-UT).   Because #diversity!

WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW: Soon You’ll Be Able to 3D Print Chuck Yeager’s Supersonic X-1. I’ll be more excited, though, when you can print a full-scale working B-29.

INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: IRS Seizes $107,000 From Innocent Small Business, Despite Recent Policy Changes.

A SERIOUS DIVERSITY PROBLEM AT HARVARD LAW: 98% of Harvard Law Faculty Political Donations Go to Democrats.

TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 722.

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: Power couple linked to Madeleine Albright accused of fraud.