[BLOG] Some Thursday links

• Bad Astronomy’s Phil Plait notes how the media made a simulation of a third planet at Gliese 832 a discovery of a new Earth-like world.
• The Broadside Blog’s Caitlin Kelly calls on a consideration of why schoolchildren are labelled troublemakers.
• The Dragon’s Gaze notes that 51 Eridani b has been discovered to be a cloudy world, and how.
• Far Outliers notes how the decline of Temasek (the future Singapore) was followed by the rise of Melaka.
• Hornet Stories tells of an Orthodox Christian priest in Australia, who, at the funeral of a lesbian, called for gays to be shot.
• Joe. My. God. notes that Catalonia’s parliament approved a referendum on secession.
• The LRB Blog considers the import of Monte Testaccio, a man-made hill of rubble and waste dating from Roman times.
• The NYR Daily considers the engaging and engaged pop art of Grayson Perry.
• Roads and Kingdoms tells of a lazy afternoon spent drinking New Zealand beer in a Moscow pub.
• Towleroad notes an upcoming revealing documentary about Grace Jones.
• Window on Eurasia notes how, in the Donbas wars, mercenaries are becoming a major, potentially destabilizing force.
• Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell looks at the conflict between quantitative data and qualitative stories in politics.