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UK to close door to non-English speakers and unskilled workers, headline from the Guardian. According to the article, the plan would be for a points based system for work visas, with the ability to speak English worth 10 points out of the required 70. [more inside]
posted by Ghidorah at 7:49 PM PST - 177 comments

The Mary Sue asks Which Songs Are Definitely Not About What People Think They’re About? Starting with the not-so-patriotic "Born in the U.S.A.", "American Woman" and "Fortunate Son", moving on to the not-so-romantic "Every Breath You Take", the no-so-religious "Hallelujah" and the not-semi-positive "Semi-Charmed Life" and so on... What songs do you love in spite of or because of the mismatch between their image and their actual lyrics?
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:53 PM PST - 308 comments

Actress and artist Kellye Nakahara, best known for playing nurse Lt. Kellye Yamato on the long-running series M*A*S*H, has passed away at the age of 72. Coverage from CNN, Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly, Time. [more inside]
posted by bluecore at 5:23 PM PST - 45 comments

In March of last year, employees at the tech crowdfunding Kickstarter, tired of the poor working conditions there, announced that they were seeking to form a union under the umbrella of the Office and Professional Employees International Union. In response, management engaged in anti-union tactics, including firing two employees engaged in organizing. In the end, however, with a vote of 46-37, Kickstarter's employees are now officially unionized. [more inside]
posted by NoxAeternum at 3:25 PM PST - 73 comments

Donkey Gets A New Ball, Falls Head Over Hooves In Love With It (SLDigg)
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:39 PM PST - 32 comments

The truth about hydration: should you drink eight glasses of water a day? Why drinking water all day long is not the best way to stay hydrated. Should you drink water out of a chocolate syrup bottle? Why you should drink water first thing every day. The wellness influencers who never drink water. Why don't men drink water? Does drinking water make you sweat more or less? This is what you should know. Why do we drink so much bottled water? Can you drink expired bottled water? Does drinking more water help you hydrate your dry skin? How long you can live without water? Hate drinking water? There's an app for that. Am I drinking too much seltzer water? Drinking too much water will kill me, and I don’t care. Is your pet drinking more than normal? The Rock drinks a truly unfathomable amount of water every day. There’s a persistent myth that you shouldn’t drink water while eating. You can disregard it. A quarter of humanity faces looming water crises.
posted by Fizz at 12:30 PM PST - 111 comments

An incisive article about Parasite.
posted by azalea_chant at 12:00 PM PST - 31 comments

Jules Verne’s Most Famous Books Were Part of a 54-Volume Masterpiece, Featuring 4,000 Illustrations: See Them Online. [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 10:52 AM PST - 4 comments

Old-fashioned rice cookers are extremely clever - SLYT from Technology Connections. "Bet you didn't think a rice cooker was so interesting, did ya?"
posted by carter at 10:40 AM PST - 68 comments

Humans have been telling stories presumably since we evolved to speak. We’ve been using dice, or something quite like them, since at least 3,000 BCE. Why did it take us so long to combine them? Historian Anton Howes asks: Why weren't role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons invented before the late 20th century?
posted by Cash4Lead at 10:36 AM PST - 58 comments

The Acorn Princess is an LGBT fairy tale and animated short about a prince, a princess and their wedding. [trailer]
posted by simmering octagon at 8:29 AM PST - 9 comments

In the summer of 1871 or 1872, James McCauley starting what would become a major draw to Yosemite for almost a hundred years: the fire fall (Firefall.info). It became a summer celebration, night after night, drawing hundreds, then thousands. The last fire fall was on Thursday, January 25, 1968, as the crowds were too big and too destructive to the natural setting. Huell Howser talked with people who were part of the firefalls in 1996 (Chapman University, with embedded video; in parts on YT: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4), and at the end, he noted that there's a natural firefall in Yosemite, but it only happens for a few weeks in February. CBS This Morning has a segment on the natural illumination of Horsetail Falls (LA Times). [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 8:09 AM PST - 17 comments