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And here we are at the fourth Friday in July!

The middle of my work week was once again stressful and frantic, though this week the day after we had two releases things were very quiet, rather than having a lot of drama. So, I guess that’s better.

Anyway, it’s time for this week’s Friday Five in which I bring you: a pair of headlines I felt needed each needed their own topic, the top five stories of the week, five stories of interest to queers and our allies, five stories about the pandemic, five stories about traitors, and five stories about haters and deplorables (plus two posts I wrote plus some notable obituaries).

This Week in Trans Health Care:

Federal Judge Temporarily Halts Arkansas Transgender Youth Health Care Ban, Arguing It Causes ‘Irreparable Harm’

This Week in You Tell Him, Dr Fauci!:

‘You Do Not Know What You Are Talking About’: Fauci Destroys ‘Lying’ Rand Paul Over COVID Conspiracy Theory

Stories of the Week:

‘Fire clouds’ explode more than a mile high in Oregon wildfire now bigger than New York City – “The fire will continue to be extremely active with unstable air conditions and extremely dry fuels.”

Report: NFL Warns Teams of Possible Forfeits, More Penalties for COVID-19 Outbreaks in Unvaccinated Players – The NFL just informed clubs that if a game cannot be rescheduled during the 18-week season in 2021 due to a COVID outbreak among unvaccinated players, the team with the outbreak will FORFEIT and be credited with a loss for playoff seeding This is a very good thing and I hope sets an example. There is more.

Tenn. Man Died After He Was ‘Swatted’ by People Targeting Twitter Handle

U.S. Attorney General Garland bars prosecutors from seizing reporters’ records

Superbowl Champion Tom Brady trolls Trump – Jokes at White House: 40% of people "still don’t think we won" – Axios

This Week in the Pandemic:

Why fully vaccinated people get breakthrough COVID infections

Alabama Doctor: Dying Patients Beg For The Vaccine – ‘I’m sorry, but it’s too late’: Alabama doctor on treating unvaccinated, dying COVID patients

Fox has quietly implemented its own version of a vaccine passport while its top personalities attack them

Indiana University Can Require Covid-19 Vaccines, Federal Judge Says – Ruling by Trump=appointed judge deals setback to growing legal effort against compulsory inoculation at public educational institutions

How Republican Vaccine Opposition Got to This Point – In recent months, Republican skepticism of Covid vaccines and their rollout has grown louder: One recent poll found that 47 percent said they weren’t likely to get vaccinated

Stories of Interest to Queers and Our Allies:

Louisiana lawmakers fail to overturn veto of transgender ban

How Two ‘High School Musical’ Actors Brought Disney’s First Queer Love Song to Life

Here’s all the actions taken so far by the Biden-Harris administration to advance equality – We are officially halfway through the first year of the Biden-Harris administration. Here’s what they’ve done for LGBTQ rights

Judge orders West Virginia to allow transgender girl to join girls cross-country team – "Forcing a girl to compete on the boys’ team when there is a girls’ team available would cause her unnecessary distress and stigma."

Political Pundits Can Now Be Gay Black Men Who Wear Nail Polish

This Week in Haters, Hate Crimes, and Discrimination:

A high-ranking Alaska official called for a drag queen to be burned alive – State attorney Matthias Cicotte allegedly called a drag queen a "demon" who should "be burned to death" and called for "the death penalty" for people who support trans youth.

Liberty University ‘enabled on-campus rapes:’ 12 women file lawsuit

Guilty Plea In 2019 California Synagogue Mass Shooting

A Christian teacher demanded a religious exemption to using trans students’ names. A judge said no. – Music teacher John Kluge sued the school he used to work for, claiming that as a Christian he couldn’t be required to call trans students by their names. The judge was not impressed with his argument

2 LGBTQ Books Pulled From Elmbrook Schools After Daily Wire Story – Elmbrook Schools removed two LGBTQ resource books after the publication lied about children had access to sexual content

This Week in Seditious Traitors:

New Ad Hits Senator Ron Johnson Squarely In His Treasonous Face

Liz Cheney Spells Out Why Kevin McCarthy Is A Danger To Democracy – She said anyone who wanted to become speaker should show a commitment to the Constitution and the rule of law, and he has not done that

Pelosi: Jordan, Banks’ Actions ‘Made It Ridiculous’ To Be On 1/6 Commission Jordan and Banks are among the traitors, so…

Proud Boys Leader Guilty Of Burning Church’s Banner

Capitol rioter who breached Senate sentenced to 8 months in first riot felony sentencing

In Memoriam:

Gary Corbett Dies: Touring Keyboardist With KISS & Cinderella Also Co-Wrote Cyndi Lauper’s ‘She Bop’

Jerry Granelli, Vince Guaraldi Trio Drummer Behind A Charlie Brown Christmas, Dies at 80

Robby Steinhardt — Whose Group Kansas Notched Hits Like ‘Dust In The Wind’ — Has Died

William F. Nolan, Iconic Sci-Fi Author Who Co-Penned ‘Logan’s Run’, Dies at 93

‘She Rates Dogs’ podcast co-host Mat George dies at 26 after hit-and-run in LA

Civil Rights Pioneer Gloria Richardson Dies at 99: ‘She Was Born a Leader’

Charlie Robinson, ‘Night Court’ Star, Dies at 75

Things I Wrote:

A look at the latest Apple Remote

Again with the pastors sexually abusing people under their care