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We have reached the second Friday in May. Which, paradoxically, will be followed by the third Saturday. Which I keep forgetting; which is an issue because the third Saturday is when I host the monthly (virtual) Writers’ Meeting.

I have reached the point where I am not only counting down the days until I get my second vaccine shot (and when my husband gets his), I am starting to enter into my calendar the dates when various friends will be fully vaccinated, and when we can start maybe actually visiting some of them in person.

Meanwhile, we have this week’s Friday Five. This week I bring you: one story that made me tear up, one story that made me chuckle, the top five stories of the week, five stories of interest to queers and our allies, five stories about deplorable people, five stories about science, five stories about science fiction, and five videos (plus one thing I wrote and some notable obituaries).

This Week’s Story That Made Me Cry:

A father kicked his son out when he came out. Two dads adopted the teen & now he’s speaking out – Families didn’t want to adopt a gay teen because they thought he would "turn the other children gay." Now he wants to stop discrimination against LGBTQ parents

This Week’s Story That Made Me Laugh:

Tyson blames underperforming roosters for US chicken shortage

Stories of the Week:

The Art in the Oval Office Tells a Story. Here’s How to See It

10 of the World’s Oldest Languages Still Used Today

Dry cleaners suffer as pandemic changes what we wear

Facepalm Pilot: Where Technology Meets Stupidity: An Interactive Guide to Ambiguous Grammar

Biden orders federal cyber upgrade after barrage of hacks – The far-reaching directive is an attempt to close longstanding gaps in the government’s ability to block and investigate hacks

Stories of Interest to Queers and Our Allies:

Judge blocks requirement for ‘gay sex’ offender registration

U.S. Will Protect Gay And Transgender People Against Discrimination In Health Care

‘The love of homosexuals is something good’: German Catholics to bless gay unions, defying Vatican ban

Author fights to keep her queer memoir on a Texas high school reading list — dildo and all – In The Dream House, about an abusive same-sex relationship, is one of 15 titles up for review in Leander

A Gay Man Says He Was Tormented at Liberty University. Now He’s Suing

This Week in Deplorables, Haters, and Obstructors

Lawsuit from Stephen Miller group alleges racial discrimination in distribution of COVID-19 relief

Joel Greenberg set for federal court hearing Monday, expected to plead guilty

Federal Judge Rules NRA Bankruptcy Effort A Sham – Score one for New York Attorney General Letitia James! Judge Harlin Hale ruled that the bankruptcy filing was an effort to escape regulation rather than a financial decision

First active duty service member arrested over Jan. 6 riot

Mum’s internet research on vaccines doesn’t make her an expert, court decides

This Week in Science:

A study of Earth’s crust hints that supernovas aren’t gold mines – The stellar explosions can’t be the main source for heavy elements, new data suggest

Is Mars Ours? – Should we treat other planets like natural resources or national parks?

Voyager spacecraft detects ‘persistent hum’ beyond our solar system

There’s no such thing as a tree (phylogenetically)

Saturn has a fuzzy core, spread over more than half the planet’s diameter – A wave in one of the rings reveals the size and composition of the planet’s core

This Week in Science Fiction:

Cora is the Winner of the 2021 Space Cowboy Award!

15 recent sci-fi books that forever shaped the genre – About the future, shaping the future

Mark Millar is ushering in Netflix’s new superhero universe with ‘Jupiter’s Legacy’

#DisneyMustPay Task Force Updates

Doctor Who fans feel ‘demonised’ by BBC crackdown on fan fiction

In Memoriam:

Norman Lloyd Dies: ‘St. Elsewhere’ Actor Who Worked With Welles, Hitchcock & Chaplin Was 106

Things I Wrote:

Don’t Roll the Dice if You Can’t Pay the Price — or, some writing lessons from a 1960 heist film

Thinking about professional conclusion jumpers

Videos

Click on the image to be taken to the video!

Stephen Colbert: McCarthy Admits Election Wasn’t Stolen, But GOP’s Tent Isn’t Big Enough For Liz Cheney

Republicans Refuse to Move On from Donald Trump: A Closer Look

Let’s Talk About the Israel-Palestine Conflict | The Daily Show

Venom: Let There Be Carnage – Official Trailer 2021 Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson

LOKI Trailer 3- NEW, 2021