Thank goodness it’s Friday. It’s been a very crazy month. A burn-out crazy hours month. I wish I had some assurance February will be a teeny bit less stressful. In any case, I’m so happy that it’s finally Friday.

Anyway, here are links to some of the interesting things I read on the web this week.

Link of the Week

Living with a Controversial Catholic Sect Helped Me Lose My Religion and Leave Masculinity Behind.

Fact Checking

Wall Street Turns Off the Spigot for Anti-Gay New Jersey Congressman.

Here Comes the Berniebro.

This Week in Food

On wine. A Tragedy. “This person who, when I’m not in the room, opens a wine and enjoys it for what it is panics the minute an expert enters, hoping to not be admonished for their choice. They have been taught that there is a correct answer to the question: is this wine good. The wine industry has taught a generation of wine drinkers that there is a right answer. That there is a possibility to get wine wrong. Shame on us.”

Why bingeing on health foods won’t boost your immune system.

This Week in Diversity

Academy Unveils Dramatic Changes to Promote Diversity.

United States Senate run entirely by women after blizzard causes male senators to call in sick.

News for queers and our allies:

Why coming out as bisexual is perpetually exhausting. Actually, coming out as anything queer is perpetually exhausting

The LGBTQ Left Has an Anti-Semitism Problem.

The Prancing Elites: Reality TV Stars You Can Feel Good About Loving.

A gay-rights group, caving to anti-Israel extremists, decides to cancel an ‘intensely divisive’ Jewish event—and then, under opposite pressure, decides to include it. The flawed lesson? The victim who shouts the loudest gets what they want in today’s hyper-politicized cultural climate.

Nebraska’s defunct same-sex marriage ban could once again go before voters under a measure that seeks to remove it from the state constitution.

Science!

The National Science Foundation (NSF) will not tolerate harassment at grantee institutions.

Monster Star Explosion Breaks All Records.

Human breast milk protein could wipe out superbugs.

Are beards good for your health?

Young gorillas seen dismantling poachers’ traps for the first time.

Scientists Made a Huge Genetic Discovery About Schizophrenia This Week.

Mammoth Bones Found Under Oregon State University Football Stadium.

Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculation!

Meet The World’s First Gay Mormon Superhero.

Where Are We Going? Some Reflections on British Horror, Present and Future.

BBC: 10 Women Who Changed Sci-Fi.

This week in Writing

The history and the future of software including the much awaited iOS Scrivener.

COVER DESIGN 101: A SENSE OF MYSTERY.

Traditional Publishing, Non-Compete Clauses & Rights Grabs.

he’s got one trick to last a lifetime but that’s all a pony needs.

Thoughts on Writing #49: Leave Reviewers Alone.

Culture war news:

Controversial church in Harlem is deep in debt and may go up for public auction.

Whiteness at work in Arizona: Viral photo of racist teens shows the casual arrogance behind “bad decisions”.

The Anglican Communion’s un-Christian stance on marriage.

GOP lawmakers want exemptions for gay marriage opponents.

Planned Parenthood cleared, but 2 indicted over videos.

This Week in the Clown Car

‘You Have Truly Broken My Heart’: Sarah Palin’s Supporters Turn Against Her After Trump Endorsement.

Barbara Bush: I’m Reasonably Certain That Jeb Would Be The Best President. What a ringing endorsement… from his mother?

The Real Reason Trump Is Winning Evangelical Support: They’re Just Not That ‘Religious’.

Cruz Campaign’s Flint Water Giveaway Focuses On Anti-Abortion Centers.

Huckabee hits Cruz on tithing, trade and meetings with ‘gay activists’.

For Years, Trump’s Charity Gave Veterans Little More Than Peanuts.

This week in Other Politics:

Our Insane Addiction to Polls.

‘They’ve all come to look for America.’ They just have to watch Clinton’s ad to find it.

How an Early Endorsement From Largest LGBT Group May Reveal Hillary Clinton’s Worst Fears.

Rejecting Bourgeois Feminism. “Setting up the Berniebro straw-man has become their knee-jerk response to any critique, no matter how tempered and thorough…”

Were the Media Unfair to Hillary Clinton in 2008? Guess who’s making that claim now.

Amusing that Obama’s approval rating has hit a 2-year high as America realizes it hates every other pol even more.

Disgraced former anti-gay Republican Congressman Aaron Schock owes more than $700,000 in legal debt.

This Week in Love Conquers…

On Kindness – My mother is sick. “Sometimes people are mean, and sometimes things will be hard. One of your jobs is to try and make sure that that never makes you mean and hard, too.”

This Week in Stupidity

Guns Keep Us Safe …from Snow Plows …from friends… …from Good Samaritans….

A Lawyer Thinks This Tiger’s Friendship With A Goat Is “Gay Propaganda”.

Farewells:

Abe Vigoda, ‘Barney Miller’ and ‘The Godfather’ star who was often subject of death hoaxes, dies at 94 . Sady, not a hoax this time.

Marvin Minsky, Pioneer in Artificial Intelligence, Dies at 88.

Things I wrote:

Weekend Update 1/22/2016 – He made sure that it wasn’t a mass shooting, all right.

Another commentary on ships.

Begin at the beginning, not before.

Confessions of an eye-rolling homo.

Videos!

We asked the men of West Hollywood to pass on their advice to younger gay men. To ‘Gay It Forward’ (and it’s good advice for everyone!):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

DeRay Mckesson Helps Stephen Address His Privilege:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Rostam – EOS (Official Video):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Binder clips are useful:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

These interviews from 2000, with some of the last living queer concentration camp survivors, are pretty incredible:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)