We have reached the first Friday in December. Which seems both weird and miraculous, time having become a fog for so many of us. I suspect that I am not the only one who frequently checks the calendar to count how many days we have to endure before January 20th arrives.
It has been cold and dry this week. Because there has been nearly zero cloud cover all week, the temperature drops every day drastically come night fall. Which, this time of year, happens before 4:30. I don’t know if it’s related to the weather, but all week long two of the four squirrels that regularly come to the squirrel feeder on my deck and dig around in my flower pots, have be really angry at each other. The keep getting into fights, anyway.
But let’s get to the Friday Five. This week I bring you: two stories that have nothing to do with any of the anxiety-inducing things happening in the world, the top five stories of the week, five stories of interest to queers and allies, five stories about space science, five stories about the pandemic, five stories about crooks & liars, and five videas (plus notable obituaries and some things I wrote).
This Week In News We Need Right Now!:
Cher singing to “The World’s Loneliest Elephant” is all the sweetness you need today.
Stories of the Week:
Fewer than half of Americans know that alcohol is a carcinogen. Big Booze wants to keep it that way.
This Week in News for Queers and Allies:
LGBTQ Organizations Urge Media to Stop ‘Deadnaming’ Transgender Stars After Elliot Page Comes Out.
This Week in the Space Science:
China’s Chang’e-5 Moon mission probe touches down.
A very ancient globular cluster orbits the Andromeda Galaxy.
Huge Puerto Rico radio telescope, already damaged, collapses.
Asteroid 2020 SO images reveal mystery object is likely a piece of NASA rocket.
This Week in Crooks, Liars and Other Deplorable People:
Former U.S. Attorney Asks Georgia to Investigate Lindsey Graham for Potential Election Crimes.
This Week in the Pandemic:
WA nurse has lingering effects from COVID months later, returning to work.
102-year-old woman beats COVID-19 twice.
Coronavirus Was Already Spreading in America by Last Christmas, Study Finds.
Hawaii police arrest couple who boarded flight despite testing positive for coronavirus.
In Memoriam:
Legendary Science Fiction Author Ben Bova Has Passed at the Age of 88.
David Prowse, Actor Behind Darth Vader, Dies At 85.
Gay wrestling star Pat Patterson dead at 79.
Things I wrote:
Words and numbers and other things that matter.
Videos!
Sykes Calls This Time ‘The Most Dangerous 60 Days Of The Trump Presidency’ | Deadline | MSNBC:
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New Orleans Orgy Organizers Regret Lax Enforcement Of Social Distancing Rules:
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John Mulaney on Secret Service Investigation, SNL Joke Backlash & Writing for Seth Meyers:
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President Obama’s Mother-In-Law Helped Keep The First Family Down To Earth:
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Bells, Bows, Gifts, Trees:
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