OMG, it’s the first Friday in August!

I don’t want to talk about work. It’s been weird. Our weather had also been weird. Earlier this week I started to freak out because the squirrel who was very obviously pregnant a week and a half ago (and has clearly given birth since) has continued to insist on ignoring the squirrel feeder on our deck and jump up on the bird feeder to the point that I saw birds flying toward the feeder the seeing the squirrel and veer away–but the point is one day she ate birdseed so fast that she was out there hanging on the perch choking for air and for about a minute or maybe two I thought I would have to go out there and try to perform a tiny squirrel heimlich manuever… anyway, after she coughed up and started breeding again and left the feeder, while I was checking it I realized that it was nearly four years old and the main plastic tube had cracks in it. So I ordered a different feeder whose design is supposedly squirrel proof. It arrived late Thursday. I filled it and put it out on the veranda and also cleaned out and refilled the squirrel feeder with fresh food. So over the next few days we will see if the new feeder is, indeed, squirrel proof.

Anyway, it’s time for this week’s Friday Five in which I bring you: the top five stories of the week, five stories of interest to queers and our allies, and five stories about deplorables (plus a post I wrote).

Stories of the Week:

After a DNA test, he told a stranger: ‘I think you might be my father’

Poll Shows Many Seniors Would Switch Parties For Lower Drug Prices

2 dads say teachers at a New York school blamed their gay son for the ‘horrific’ homophobic bullying he endured and now they are suing for ‘justice’

‘Nobody’s ever seen a number like this!’ New data reveals just how bad the Trump economy actually was

Covid Booster Shots Likely Offered Soon To People With Compromised Immune Systems — Fauci ; Priority Include People With HIV

Stories of Interest to Queers and Our Allies:

Lawsuit: Tennessee Anti-Trans School Restroom Law Is Unconstitutional

Megan Rapinoe leads Team USA to Olympic bronze medal in incredible comeback – Rapinoe scored twice, including a rare "olimpico" goal, and teammate Carli Lloyd broke a record for the most career Olympic goals

Teen punished for saying she’s a lesbian on the school bus gets actual justice – The bus driver and the school’s principal lost their jobs

Olympic Diver Jordan Windle Credits & Thanks Gay Dad For His Success

From ‘kiss of death’ to competitive edge: Out athletes finally score big endorsements – Coming out as gay in the ’90s was referred to as the “kiss of death” for sports endorsements, but LGBTQ athletes are slowly starting to snag some of the lucrative sponsorship market

This Week in Deplorable People:

Trolls harass drag queen & call her “pedo” for helping gay bar employees get vaccine – Vandals spray-painted "pedo bar" near her bar because she is giving her employees more time to get vaccinated against COVID-19

Federal judge tells Capitol riot defendant what he did was ‘not patriotism’

‘It doesn’t leave you’: the toxic toll of LGBTQ+ conversion therapy

Tucker Carlson praises murderous regime

Bi man ordered to pay ex-wife “emotional damages” for coming out… but that got overturned – She said she wouldn’t have married him if she’d known he was bisexual – and she somehow won her case. And then lost again

Things I Wrote:

Tuesday Tidbits 8/3/2021: Some thoughts on masks