Friday News Bites: Duggar Disgraces, FIFA Arrests, SCIENCE! + More

Greetings, fellow unicorns. It’s time once again to round up the news stories that caught my eye this week, and we have a lot to cover. Wade through the frustrating, soak in the interesting, and reward yourself with a good song at the end. Let’s get started:

First, let’s get the Josh Duggar business out of the way. Last week, news broke that one of the oldest kids from 19 Kids and Counting had not only molested younger children, but that some of those children were his sisters.

Duggar’s father, Jim Bob, reported his son to police, and the result was more or less a warning from a trooper who was later convicted of child porn charges.

Both Raw Story and Gawker — with bonus photos of Josh posing with Republican Presidential canditates — have roundups on the Duggars’ particular brand of faith, “The Quiverfull Movement.” SPOILER: It’s pretty much awful.

When the story was first coming out, TLC was airing a 19 Kids marathon. The show has since been pulled from the schedule, but as of now, it’s not officially cancelled.

And then we were reminded of that time Jim Bob said that incest should be punishable by death. Uh huh. But does that stop Josh from making an incest joke in 2008? No, it does not.

MOVING ON.

Hillary mentioned this link in her most recent Lady Reads roundup, but it’s worth mentioning again: “Here are 7 things people who say they’re ‘fiscally conservative but socially liberal’ don’t understand.”

If you’re feeling particularly feisty, forward it to a relative who doesn’t understand “the poors.”

In Texas and Oklahoma, flooding has killed at least five people and more are missing. Stay safe out there.

A grand jury has indicted six officers in the Freddie Gray case. Their arraignments are scheduled for July 2.

Here’s an interesting story about indigenous Brazilians fighting to keep their homes from being lost to dam development.

You may have already heard that FIFA officials were arrested on charges of corruption. Here’s an behind-the-scenes look at how the story was reported by The New York Times, play-by-play.

On a related note: In Qatar, hundreds of people are dying while constructing the 2022 World Cup stadium.

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has resigned his position as Middle East Peace Envoy. The irony in that title is… certainly something.

Yes, Ireland has legalized marriage equality via popular vote! And rainbows spread across the sky!

Did you also hear that Greenland’s parliament voted unanimously to extend marriage equality and adoption rights to same-sex couples? Hooray!

SCIENCE!

Here’s a study about what people post on Facebook, and what it says about their personality and self-esteem. In case you wanted science to back up your suspicions about that friend who talks about HOW GREAT her boyfriend is all the time.

And here’s something notebook people have been insisting all along: Writing your notes instead of typing them will likely help you better remember the information.

MDMA, also known as the drug Ecstasy, in prescribed form may help autistic people with social anxiety.

Also, Special K (ketamine) looks like it could help with depression. Sorry, DARE program.

Researchers in Ethiopia have found fossils that could be from a new early human species.

In other interesting fossil news: A creationist museum board member discovered a 60 million-year-old fish fossil, but is still ignoring the science that proves its age.

Say, how about some GUMMY LEGOS?

R.I.P.

The influential mathematician and economist John Nash, whose story inspired A Beautiful Mind, died in a taxi crash, along with his wife, Alicia. He was 86 and she was 82.

Actress and comedian Anne Meara died on Saturday at age 85. She and her husband, Jerry Stiller, “performed as Stiller & Meara on The Ed Sullivan Show and other programs in the 1960s and won awards for the radio and TV commercials they made together.” [Warning: Auto-loading video]

Photographer Mary Ellen Mark died on Monday from a blood illness related to bone marrow failure. She was 75.

In Entertainment:

The Daily Mail must officially apologize to J.K. Rowling for claiming that she made up her struggling single mother past.

Also, if you need another excuse to look at the photos of Neville Longbottom… um, I mean Matthew Lewis… in his underwear, here’s Rowling’s reaction to seeing the photos.

Here are the most popular books set in each state that are not part of a series.

Serial will return for at least two more seasons with two different stories. The podcast’s first season resulted in subject Adnan Sayed getting his case reopened.

Hot Topic has entered talks to buy ThinkGeek. Seeing as their products overlap quite a bit, I don’t necessarily see this as a bad thing. Maybe.

SWINTONOUS NEWS: Tilda Swinton might play the Ancient One in the upcoming Doctor Strange film, starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

Let’s close out with a great song and an even better video by Frazey Ford:

My joy takes nothing from you…

Until next time.