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We have reached the fifth and final Friday in April!

My husband got his first dose of Covid vaccine this week. And I get my first dose today. It is difficult to explain how relieved I felt when he got his first shot.

Meanwhile, we have the Friday Five. This week I bring you: one story that made me smile, the top five stories of the week, five stories of interest to queers and our allies, five stories about deplorable people, five stories about the pandemic, five stories about the pandemic, five stories from the world of tech, and five videos (plus things I wrote and some notable obituaries).

This Week’s Story That Made Me Smile:

Meet Kiri, the tiny Japanese fire truck bringing joy to San Francisco

Stories of the Week:

German Bomb Squad: “Hand Grenade” Was Sex Toy

Supreme court dodges dispute between Texas, California over religious freedom, gay rights

FDA says it will ban menthol cigarettes and all flavored cigars

Writers Must Be Paid

Overdue VHS Tape From 1999 Leads to Warrant for Embezzlement – The charge was related to a “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” tape that had been rented from a video store in Norman, Okla. Prosecutors dismissed the case on Wednesday

Stories of Interest to Queers and Our Allies:

Judge tosses suit that sought to block transgender athletes – The federal lawsuit sought to prevent transgender athletes from competing in girls high school sports in Connecticut

Pennsylvania’s governor shuts down legislature’s proposed ban on trans youth in sports – "I’ll veto this discriminatory bill if it gets to my desk," Gov. Tom Wolf unequivocally stated. The Republican-majority legislature is unlikely to obtain a veto-proof vote to override him

Ohio to allow transgender people to change birth certificate gender

Over 400 Major Businesses Endorse Equality Act, LGBTQ+ Civil Rights

Joe Biden has made a lot of progress on LGBTQ rights in first 100 days. Now the Senate needs to act – Biden has an impressive record of getting LGBTQ rights back on track. His one failure: signing the Equality Act into law (and that’s not his fault)

This Week in Deplorables, Haters, and Obstructors

Three defendants in Ahmaud Arbery killing charged with federal hate crimes

Bombshell letter ‘by Matt Gaetz wingman Joel Greenberg claims he did have sex with underage girl’ The letter was written to Roger Stone who was supposed to accept a large payment from Greenberg in exchange for getting a pre-emptive pardon from Trump.

CEO fired after publicly ridiculing Tennessee teen over his prom dress I’ve seen the video, it wasn’t just ridicule. He was a grown-ass man following and harassing the teen-ager at the Prom venue.

Texas Senate is set to redefine supportive parents of trans kids as child abusers – One mother said she’s "terrified" to speak out against the bill because her kids could be taken away from her if it passes. Republicans were not swayed

‘They Don’t Care’: Republicans Blasted for Refusing to Applaud for Cutting Child Poverty in Half

This Week in the Pandemic:

India Covid deaths: Crematoriums overflow with victims, with pyres burning through the night

Brazil COVID-19 Deaths Top 400,000 Amid Fears Of Worsening Crisis

Moderna to Boost Covid-19 Vaccine Production to Meet Rising Global Demand

CDC unveils new mask guidance for fully vaccinated Americans

Gov. Ned Lamont signs bill eliminating Connecticut’s religious exemption for mandatory school vaccinations

This Week in Tech:

Apple’s M1 Positioning Mocks the Entire x86 Business Model

Buying a PC with Dell: My Journey Into Hell

How Pfizer Makes Its Covid-19 Vaccine

Disney Imagineering’s Project Kiwi is a free-walking robot that will make you believe in Groot

Electric cars: What will happen to all the dead batteries?

In Memoriam:

Michael Collins, ‘Third Man’ of the Moon Landing, Dies at 90 – Orbiting dozens of miles above the lunar surface, he kept solitary watch of the Apollo command module as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin embarked for the moon

Remembering Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins, dead at age 90

Daniel Kaminsky, Internet Security Savior, Dies at 42 – If you are reading this obituary online, you owe your digital safety to him

Things I Wrote:

In “One World, One People” Sam and Bucky Bring This Adventure to an End

When you don’t know how anything works, it’s easy to see conspiracies everywhere

Wednesday Update: The Prez is About to Address Congress

Videos

Click on the image to be taken to the video!

Pose – Season 3: Official Trailer – FX

Biden’s Big Speech: Progressive Proposals & Ted Cruz Caught Napping – The Daily Show

One of Trump’s Biggest Scams, the Foxconn Deal, Falls Apart: A Closer Look

Cruz And Christie Roundly Mocked While Biden Enjoys Widespread Approval Of Congressional Address

Lil Nas X – MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) – But Lil Nas X Makes All The Sounds With His Mouth