For my own amusement, while I'm on a conference call, I'm compiling all the mentions of Somerville MA in the New York Times.

( 1860 - 1995: Murder and mayhem )

There are so many things wrong with this New Republic article on the danger of trigger warnings that it's hard to know where to start. For one thing, the twin pillars of their argument seem to be "But where will it all end!?!" and "We can't do everything, so we shouldn't do anything", neither of which are particularly persuasive to me ( Read more... )

A Republican county supervisor is pushing a plan to make a new state out of a group of Southern Californian counties nyti.ms/r5qzOk

After 3 years, Austrian pastafarian wins right to wear a colander on his head in his driving license photo bbc.in/pYJlMw Sweet FSM!

British web store owner claims a single spelling mistake can cut revenue in half, ( Read more... )

Town clerk in Barker NY quits rather than issue licenses for same-sex marriages nydn.us/nGsC3c

Dartmouth College tries an experiment to cut down on waste -- petite trash cans employees have to empty themselves bit.ly/r7ND96 I'm amused by this story because this is exactly what I do at work -- I have a wee trash can on my desk that I empty in the ( Read more... )

"By then, Matthew was throwing up most mornings and asking his mother if he was going to be fired from school." nyti.ms/mOHIKf

What happens when an entire state shuts down? Minnesota is finding out -- the state govt has been closed since July 1 nyti.ms/oS1nhB "The costs of closing (who knew it cost money to halt spending?) are themselves swiftly ( Read more... )

Nearly-dead languages are experiencing an unexpected surge in use -- by teenagers on the internet, as code bit.ly/qzQdAG

US ISPs have reached agreement to throttle connections of customers they suspect of downloading copyrighted content nyti.ms/qhtMUe

Anti-contraception Christian couple changed their views after two unexpected pregnancies of their ( Read more... )

"You are going to hear a remarkable and intriguing story about gold coins that were stolen from the U.S. Mint." nyti.ms/qx4F2a

A survey of products for masking or reducing noise while you sleep (just in time for Burning Man!) nyti.ms/pyL56r

Jane Scott, world's oldest rock critic, has died nyti.ms/plWZ5T She started reviewing rock in 1964 at age 45 & went on for 4 decades. "In the netherworld of rock-star dressing rooms, it was assumed anyone as respectable-looking as she ( Read more... )

Japan has found a trove of rare earth metals 10x bigger than previous estimates of earth's entire supply bbc.in/mu2PKk The hitch: it's under the Pacific, raising serious concerns about economic viability and environmental effects.

UK researchers develop 3D printer that uses chocolate as the building material bbc.in/pfucmK Nom nom nom!

New study ( Read more... )

Multi-racial American artists are increasingly succeeding in their efforts to have their voices heard nyti.ms/pNJAIY

US school boards are having to cut instruction time from the year even as advocates say they should increase it nyti.ms/pD1ewW

"Some families now organize their family tree into two separate histories: genetic and emotional." nyti.ms ( Read more... )