* Federal judge rules that California’s death penalty violates the constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. * Almond milk is not only bad for California's drought; it's a waste of precious almonds. * Profile data analyzed from America’s most popular hate website. * Charles Darwin’s
Even a fake history of blogging—going back to the Old Internet, when HTML templates were so raw—offers insight into how we reached today’s web and survived comments.
* After 350 posts and 40,000 deaths, a Times blogger reflects on what she learned cataloging American gun violence. * A map of gun incidents in New York City thus far in 2014 correlates with the city's race and class lines. * An exposé of the NYPD's "
* Israel accepts Egyptian-brokered proposal for an immediate end to fighting in the Gaza Strip. * Germany splits up sausage cartel for fixing wurst prices as far back as 2003. * Pack of legal joints to more likely cost 50 cents than $50, but that's assuming a "Smoke Local&
After moving from a state that recognizes same-sex marriage to one that doesn’t, a couple’s marriage becomes a partnership, and they are suddenly forced into new roles.
A young abstract painter from San Francisco explains why Instagram is the best art critic of all.
* One year from today, mankind will make its first contact with Pluto via a spacecraft the size of a baby grand piano. * America's great pot experiment: Legalization in certain states has been more treacherous than others, and could end after Obama. * Berkeley City Council votes to give free
* Interviews with the border children. * The story of the largest slave auction in America, in Georgia on March 2-3, 1859, known as the Weeping Time. * How Patti Hammond Shaw, who was jailed with men who allegedly abused her, changed how police treat transgender people. * Laverne Cox is nominated for
A new series where we ask a novelist to eat in a restaurant, then write us something that meets two criteria: 1) it is a restaurant review; 2) it is not a restaurant review.
* Three years ago the Arab Spring brought hope, now replaced by ruin—outsiders, no matter their intention, can't restore that future. * Female Syrian refugees face constant sexual harassment. * Dubai has unveiled its first state-sponsored construction project since the pre-crash bubble: an indoor city with hotels, shops,
