In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today! (Your daily shutdown thread is here.)

Climate scientists predict that large parts of the world will shift to a new climate by the middle of the century, which "could force profound changes on nature and society."

[Content Note: Gun violence; misogyny] Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban for campaigning on behalf of girls' educational access, has been awarded the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for free speech.

ProPublica has launched #ProjectIntern, in which their paid intern Casey McDermott will "travel the country and document stories of the emerging intern economy."

[CN: Addiction] Last month, the first known US appearance of the Russian drug krokodil, a cheap alternative to heroin, was reported in Arizona. And now it's made an appearance in suburban Chicago. This shit is horrible, and I want to caution you that if you do any reading about it, you may stumble across disturbing images of what the drug does to users' bodies.

"I actually won't tell you which public editor it was but one of the public editors of the New York Times told me off the record after my debate that their biggest nightmare was his column every week."—Joe Scarborough. Seriously? The paper that runs David Brooks and Maureen Dowd thinks Paul Krugman is their biggest nightmare?! Welp.

[CN: Rape culture; misogyny] Robin Thicke, the douchebag who sings the execrable rape culture anthem "Blurred Lines," says don't blame him for twerking with Miley Cyrus: "That's all on her. ...Listen, I'm the twerkee. I'm twerked upon." He is the biggest dirtbag. [Please note that "twerking" and Miley Cyrus are not on-topic. The subject is Robin Thicke being a gross asshat.]

Do you think you can solve a 1,200-year-old Pictish puzzle? Well, give it a try!

Artist Elaine Amyot is my aunt, and this is a very nice story about her!