In the News

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

The Freedom of the Press Foundation has launched an open-source submission platform for whistleblowers called SecureDrop, which will allow media organizations to "securely accept documents from whistleblowers, while better protecting their sources' anonymity."

The NSA is legally harvesting Facebook and Gmail data from offshore data centers: "The NSA takes advantage of offshore data centers to harvest from companies like Facebook and Google, who use those offshore centers to help distribute their traffic and data loads... These actions haven't been authorized by Congress...and don't need to be."

[Content Note: Harassment; sexual assault] Former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner has pleaded guilty to charges of false imprisonment and battery: "Filner was charged with felony false imprisonment and two misdemeanor counts of battery for placing one woman in a headlock and kissing or groping two others, prosecutors said. Filner will serve three months of home confinement." Insufficient.

[CN: Misogyny] Longtime Saturday Night Live cast member Kenan Thompson says there are currently no black women on SNL because there aren't enough funny black women who are well-prepared for auditions. Yikes. Whoops. Nope.

[CN: Classism] A new report by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education and the University of Illinois' Department of Urban and Regional Planning confirms what anyone paying the slightest bit of attention already knew: "A substantial number of workers who serve up your fast food aren’t making enough to get by. ...On average, 20 percent of front-line fast-food workers were living in households with incomes below the poverty line over the years that the researchers studied." This is why fast-food and retail workers have been striking across the country and demanding a livable wage.

Three seventh graders from Oakland hash out the Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, and Francis Crick DNA science beef via rap battle. And it's awesome.

[CN: Domestic violence] California Governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill into law "that will ban employment discrimination against victims of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault." I am angry that a law preventing discrimination against survivors even needs to be a thing in the world, but, as long as it does, thanks to Governor Brown for making it so.

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are going to host the Golden Globes for two more years. That is so many years. Who even knows where we'll all be in two years? No one can predict the future, but there's a strong likelihood I will still not be watching the Golden Globes, no matter who's hosting!