Friday Five (wear a mask edition)

Well. Here we are. So, keep your end of the bargain…

It’s Friday! We’ve reached the second Friday in May, already!

I’ve been doing a better job of taking at least a few minutes at the end of each workday to practice playing the ukulele, but I am way behind on so many other goals I set for the year.

Meanwhile, welcome to the Friday Five. This week I bring you: the top five stories of the week, five stories of interest to queers and our allies, five stories about the pandemic, five stories about the war criminal pretending to be president, five stories about deplorable people, and five videos (plus notable obituaries and some things I wrote).

Stories of the Week:

That Squiggle of the Design Process .

The ‘Credibility Bookcase’ Is the Quarantine’s Hottest Accessory – The bookcase has become the preferred background for applying a patina of authority to an amateurish video feed.

LeVar Burton still loves reading aloud. His storytelling might be what you need right now.

Scientists explain magnetic pole’s wanderings.

How Apple reinvented the cursor for iPad. The fascinating part of this story is the analysis of cursors and computer interface before you get to the iPad part.

This Week in News for Queers and Allies:

Instead Of Canceling, This Couple Had A Socially Distant Drive-In Wedding – Not wanting the coronavirus to interfere with their plans, this Austin, Texas, pair took their ceremony to the drive-in movie theater.

Under Lockdown, Parents Are Discovering Their Children Are LGBT And Dumping Them On The Street – “They’re trapped in the house, cooped up, and haven’t got anyone to let their frustrations out on.”.

Transgender ‘Rock Star’ Is Maine High School’s Valedictorian.

Netflix & Amazon Prime join forces to clap back at homophobes on Twitter.

What gay men can teach us about surviving the coronavirus – Frequent HIV testing is a fact of life for gay people. And even without a cure, we have found ways to lower risk and ease anxiety.

This Week in the Pandemic:

How the Pandemic Is Affecting the Navajo Nation – A conversation about the challenges facing—and the resilience of—the largest reservation in the country, which has become a COVID-19 hotspot.

Young and middle-aged people, barely sick with covid-19, are dying of strokes – Doctors sound alarm about patients in their 30s and 40s left debilitated or dead. Some didn’t even know they were infected.

Don’t Wear a Mask for Yourself . “Models show that if 80 percent of people wear masks that are 60 percent effective, easily achievable with cloth, we can get to an effective R0 of less than one. That’s enough to halt the spread of the disease.”

More people in District dying outside of hospitals during pandemic.

Trump and Tyson should do more to protect meat plant workers.

This Week in the Deplorable Thug Occupying the White House:

Minutes after pledging to not lie, the new White House press secretary lied a whole bunch.

Government orders 100,000 new body bags as Trump minimizes death toll.

Reporter Threatened With Retaliation For Mask Tweet.

Don Lemon Taunts Trump: ‘What is it About Obama That Bothers You? That He’s Smarter, Didn’t Need Daddy’s Help, is Better Looking, That He ‘Punked’ You?

The Trump administration botched the coronavirus response in exactly the shocking way everyone expected.

This Week in Deplorables:

Armed groups in downtown Raleigh protest virus-related restrictions.

Court filings show the NRA is in shambles — and Wayne LaPierre hopes his lawyer can ‘keep him out of jail’.

Loveland CO anti-lockdown protester had pipe bombs, FBI said. Was plotting to blow up a hospital because he believe medical professionals are lying about the epidemic…

NJ Councilwoman Has Obscene Homophobic Meltdown on Coronavirus Conference Call, Calls Gay Mayor a ‘Bitch-ass’ ‘Pedophile’ MF, Accuses Fellow Official of Sex Act.

Activist claims disturbing video depicts ‘modern day lynching’ of black jogger in Georgia — but suspects still not arrested.