It’s Friday! It is the fourth Friday in November–the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving Holiday. This day has been called Black Friday for many years, though many retail chains have moved the beginning of the shopping day to Thanksgiving Afternoon, which ought to raise the ire of the same people who bitch about the so-called war on Christmas, yet somehow doesn’t. Regardless, while I used to avoid shopping on this day just to avoid the crowds, after the first time I read the story of some poor minimum-wage-earning retail employee being trampled to death in a Black Friday Sale, I have made it a priority to just stay home and not shop at all. Unfortunately, those of us doing that aren’t sufficient to bring an end to the insanity. I… I don’t know what else to say.

So, we find ourselves on the fourth Friday of November. Depending on where you live it is either the day after a major holiday or just another Friday. In either case, I guess it is time to get to my links. Before I get to that, though, I have a supplement to my irregular Sunday Funnies feature. Sheryl Schopfer is a long time friend who has multiple web comics. She recently suffered an accident that has interfered with the production of her comic. I am quite humbled that a very silly thing I wrote originally for her amusement a while back has been chosen to fill in part of the gap: Oh Deer, Oh Deer, Oh Deer.

Welcome to the Friday Five. This week I bring you: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week, five stories of the blue, and five videos (plus my blog posts).

Stories of the Week:

NCAA athlete disowned by family after coming out as queer ends fundraising after campaign surpasses $100,000.

An Atomwaffen Member Sketched a Map to Take the Neo-Nazis.

The Alt-Right is Killing People.

A dark matter hurricane is headed our way.

Former FBI agent: CIA leaked Khashoggi report because no one trusts Trump to ‘act on the truth’.

This Week in the Blue Wave:

How Big A Difference Does The House Speaker Really Make? Personally, while I want the Dem leadership go go in new directions, during this time when we only have HALF of one of the branches of government, I want the person who pushed through increases to social programs in the budget last year, thank you very much. We’re in the middle of a complex chess game against fascism, so we need someone who knows the system.

Nate Silver says media missed massive ‘blue wave’ while covering ‘stories about Trump voters in truck stops’.

View from the Left: Trump sunk Republicans in the midterms; we can help him do it again in 2020.

Architect of bin Laden raid: Trump ‘threatens the Constitution’ when he attacks the mediaThe Daily 202: Trump’s pattern of insulting war heroes continues with commander of bin Laden raid.

The Daily 202: Trump’s pattern of insulting war heroes continues with commander of bin Laden raid.

Things I wrote:

Word counts and other markings of the passing of time.

What are you serving, what are you talking about, and what are you avoiding during the holidays?

We are supposed to be giving thanks, after all.

Thanksgiving Links (ritual sacrifice, with pie edition).

Oh Deer, Oh Deer, Oh Deer.

Videos!

Christopher Sorensen – Afterglow (Official Music Video):

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

Build a prom Macys Thanksgiving performance:

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Trump’s Weird Lie About Raking in Finland: A Closer Look:

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

Tearjerkingly Perfect John Lewis Christmas Ad Shows Rock Legend Elton John’s Life in Reverse: :

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MMXJ – Memories (ft. SIDNE) (Official Music Video):

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