‘Palmer Luckey—founder of Oculus—is funding a Trump group that circulates dirty memes about Hillary Clinton.’

Source: The Daily Beast

“People don’t know why they get so upset about language,” says linguist David Crystal, but for some reason, they do, especially if you appear to break a rule about punctuation. Linguists like Crystal and Gloria E. Jacobs have all heartily assured us that there’s really nothing to fear about innovative linguistic uses of punctuation in the internet age—it certainly doesn’t mean the end of literacy for the texting generation, quite the opposite in fact… but to no avail. The moral panic is real.

For instance, you may have heard recently that recalcitrant texters (and the journalists describing them) have been leaving off periods at the end of their perfectly good sentences for some reason. A recent study has determined that text messages ending with the humble period can weirdly seem less sincere (compared to the exact same messages with periods on a handwritten note). For some, adding a period in online text might even signify anger, according to Ben Crair in the New Republic…’

Source: JSTOR Daily

‘Canada has lifted its ban on prescription heroin. Should the United States follow suit?’

Source: Pacific Standard

A guide to traveling with “the wickedest man in the world.”

Source: Atlas Obscura

‘In this clip from “Good Morning Britain,” His Holiness the Dalai Lama pulls off what may be the greatest Donald Trump impression ever by a Tibetan monk. The interview in which this fabulous impression was given by His Holiness was conducted by Piers Morgan, and for surviving that the Tibetan spiritual leader has our greatest empathy.

Earlier this year, His Holiness was asked by a somewhat less vile American news reporter to comment on Trump in another television interview. “That’s your business,” he said, declining the opportunity to throw shade…’

Source: Boing Boing