Congressional districts have a reputation for being downright ridiculous.

North Carolina's 12th district resembled a severely broken snake until it was revamped in 2017. Pretty much all of Maryland's districts defy comparison to anything but abstract art. And then there are a few dozen districts that look like letters in the alphabet — so much so that an anonymous gerrymandering fighter turned them into a font.

A few of the letters in the Ugly Gerry typeface are a combination of side-by-side districts, while New York's 8th District is turned on its head to be both the "M" and "W" in the alphabet. But most of the districts don't even require much squinting to resemble letters, which are all downloadable in one file on UglyGerry.com.

The creator of the Ugly Gerry typeface doesn't identify themself (or themselves) on the Ugly Gerry website or Twitter feed. But they did blatantly call out the congressmembers representing those districts in tweets of each letter, and call on readers to "use the font to tell Congress how happy you are that your vote doesn't matter." Kathryn Krawczyk

Researchers warn that more than 500 species of land animals — including the Sumatran rhino and the Española tortoise — are on the brink of extinction and will likely be lost within two decades, The Guardian reports. Land vertebrates with fewer than 1,000 individuals left were considered at risk of dying out in the near future in the new analysis published in the journal Proceedings of National Academy of Scientists.

The researchers also said because 84 percent of those species lived in the same regions their demise could create a domino effect. For example, per The Guardian, overhunting of sea otters led to the extinction of of the Steller's sea cow in the 1700s because otters were the main predator of kelp-eating sea urchings. When left unchecked, the sea urchins devastated the kelp forests upon which the sea cow's grazed. "Extinctions breed extinctions," the researchers said.

Of course, a decline in biodiversity will have adverse effects for humans, as well. “When humanity exterminates other creatures, it is sawing off the limb on which it is sitting, destroying working parts of our own life-support system,” said Stanford University's Prof. Paul Ehrlich, one of the researchers. “The conservation of endangered species should be elevated to a global emergency for governments and institutions, equal to the climate disruption to which it is linked.”

Prof. Georgina Mace, of University College London, said she wasn't convinced that simply having fewer than 1,000 individuals was the best way to measure a species' extinction risk — a declining trend for the population is crucial, too — but, nevertheless, she believes the study "re-emphasizes some startling facts" and that "action is important for many reasons." Read more at The Guardian. Tim O'Donnell

Defense Secretary Mark Esper is adopting the language of war to address nationwide protests against police brutality.

President Trump held a call with U.S. governors on Monday after a weekend of protests following the death of George Floyd in police custody. Trump used alarmingly violent language during the call as he told governors to "dominate" protesters, and Esper repeated that tone as he instructed governors to call on the National Guard to "dominate the battlespace."

So far, 23 states have called in their National Guards to add to the police presence as protesters fill city streets. But "most of the guard has not been called up," Esper told the leaders, reminding them "you have deep resources in the guard." "The sooner you ... dominate the battlespace, the quicker this dissipates and we can get back to the right normal," Esper continued.

During the call, Trump told the leaders he would deploy more "federal assets" to help respond to violent protesters. He has since hinted that he may invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 to combat protesters which would be the first time the act was used since the Los Angeles riots that followed the Rodney King trial. Kathryn Krawczyk

An independent autopsy has determined that George Floyd's death was "homicide caused by asphyxia."

The early findings of Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson's autopsy, which was ordered by Floyd's family, were announced on Monday, ABC News reports. They found that Floyd died from asphyxia "due to neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain."

Video emerged last week showing Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck while he said he couldn't breathe. The footage sparked nationwide outrage and protests across the country, and Chauvin has since been fired and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Contradicting the independent autopsy's findings, charging documents last week said that the Hennepin County medical examiner's preliminary findings found "no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxiation or strangulation," Axios reports, although The New York Times notes the full report is still pending.

Additionally, "weight on the back, handcuffs and positioning were contributory factors because they impaired the ability of Mr. Floyd’s diaphragm to function," a statement from attorney Ben Crump said on Monday.

While the previously-released criminal complaint had cited "underlying health conditions" that "likely contributed to his death," Baden said in a press conference that Floyd had "no underlying medical problem that caused or contributed to his death." Brendan Morrow

In response to a request from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Phillip Swagel, the director of the Congressional Budget Office, outlined Monday what the next decade could look like for the United States if current economic trends continue.

In his letter, Swagel said the coronavirus pandemic prompted the CBO to significantly alter their economic projections in the span of a few months. Their estimate for the level of nominal GDP in the second quarter of 2020 is now 14.2 percent lower than it was in January. Things improve slightly after that — the difference in the January and May estimates is 9.4 percent for the end of 2020 and 2.2 percent by the end of 2030 — but, all told, that means the cumulative nominal economic output over the next decade is nearly $15.7 trillion less than the agency had pegged in January. Adjusted for inflation, that figure comes in at 7.9 trillion.

Schumer, in a joint statement with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), pointed to those numbers as a reason why "the Senate must act with a fierce sense of urgency to make sure that everyone in America has the income they need to feed their families and put a roof over their heads," rather than waiting to pass more legislation. Tim O'Donnell

Terrence Floyd had one question for violent protesters when he arrived at the spot where his brother died: "What are y'all doing?"

George Floyd died in police custody a week ago after former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck, setting off a week of protests across the U.S. Floyd's family made their first visit to the site where he died on Monday, where Terrence Floyd repeatedly pleaded with protesters for peace.

The Floyd family's arrival was met with calm by protesters, who knelt to pray along with them.

Then, Terrence Floyd picked up a megaphone and told the crowd that he knew they were upset. "But I doubt y'all are half as upset as I am. So if I'm not over here wilding out, if I'm not here blowing up stuff, if I'm not over here messing up my community, then what are y'all doing?" Terrence Floyd declared. "You're doing nothing, because that's not going to bring my brother back at all." Destruction and riots have happened in response to police brutality in the past, but because "it's not their stuff, it's our stuff," it hasn't brought about change yet, Floyd continued.

So Terrence Floyd challenged protesters to "do this another way," namely by voting in every election. "Let's switch it up, do this peacefully," maintaining that his brother "would not want y'all to be doing this." Watch his full speech below. Kathryn Krawczyk

ActBlue, the organization that processes money raised for Democratic candidates and causes, showed the party drew in $19 million in donations on Sunday alone and $40 million between Friday and Sunday, The New York Times reports.

Sunday's total registers as the single largest day of giving all year, topping every presidential primary debate and election night (the previous high was $18.3 million, when former Vice President Joe Biden won South Carolina's primary.) The sum was also double the amount given the final day of April.

Nationwide protests against police brutality are the reason behind the surge in fundraising. The demonstrations also led to major donations to several charities throughout the country in a matter of days, including $20 million to The Minnesota Freedom Fund, a foundation that pays bail for those who can't afford it.

ActBlue doesn't disclose how donations are divided between candidates and causes, but a spokesperson for the site told the Times that half of the donations linked to the protests went to charitable causes. Read more at The New York Times. Tim O'Donnell