Well, here we are at the second Friday in August!

Heat. Poor air quality. Stress at work. All things I could talk about, but I don’t want to. Instead, I want to point out that my ongoing battle with one particularly persistent squirrel has entered a new stage. I was contemplating washing the bird feeder that has been hanging outside my window since the summer of 2017, and then coating several bags of bird seed with a more potent mixture of pepper-spray… when I realized that the plastic parts of that bird feeder had some cracks. So I ordered a completely different style of feeder which claims to be squirrel proof and I have since seen said persistent squirrel try few times to get to the seed, then give up, drop down to the deck, and pull food from the squirrel feeder. I am getting a LOT more birds at the feeder than I had during previous months, and also a whole lot more finches. So I think that so far this is a win!

Anyway, it’s time for this week’s Friday Five in which I bring you: two different stories that I think each deserve their own category, plus the top five stories of the week, five stories of interest to queers and our allies, five stories about deplorable people, plus discussion about a story that I think I must comment on, but I don’t really feel comfortable linking to.

This Week in It’s Not Over Yet!:

FDA set to authorize additional Covid-19 vaccine doses for certain immunocompromised people

This Week in Overcoming Oppression:

Congressional candidate’s campaign ad shows him being kicked out of the navy for being gay

Stories of the Week:

Hear Us Out: We Actually Need More Wildfires, Not Fewer The headline is VERY misleading. The experts interviewed call for more controlled burns, which are definitely NOT wild fires.

This terrifying ‘dragon’ was Australia’s largest flying reptile

‘Jeopardy!’: Mike Richards To Host Syndicated Show, Mayim Bialik To Host Primetime & Spinoff Series

A Carnivorous Plant Has Been Hiding in Plain Sight in North America – Triantha occidentalis is picky: It won’t eat insects heavy enough to be its pollinators

Marvel and DC face backlash over pay: ‘They sent a thank you note and $5,000 – the movie made $1bn’

Stories of Interest to Queers and Our Allies:

How Howard Ashman (while dying of complications of AIDS) Forced Disney to Tell Queer Stories

A New Study Shows Queer Politicians Still Face “Electoral Discrimination” at the Ballot Box

Texas trans girl’s affirming mother gets full custody after father fails to pay child support – Luna Younger, now eight, has been the center of right-wing outrage over the existence and affirming of trans youth for the last two years. Her mother now has most parental rights

Heroic mom grabs phone from man following her trans son to the bathroom to take pictures of him – "What bathroom are you going to use, tranny?" the ex-trans activist shouted. That’s when mom intervened to protect her 17-year-old son

Smith College Alums Rally Funds for Gay Student Cut Off By Parents

This Week in Deplorable People:

Rand Paul discloses 16 months late that his wife bought stock in company behind covid treatment – An aide to the Kentucky Republican said he prepared the disclosure last year and only recently learned that it was never transmitted

Federal judge says Trump’s accountants must turn over tax records to House panel – The judge approved a subpoena for Trump’s records covering 2017 and 2018, but turned down most of the panel’s request for similar information dating back to 2011

Former U.S. attorney in Atlanta says Trump wanted to fire him for not backing election fraud claims

Dominion Lawsuits Against Sidney Powell, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell And Giuliani Can Move Forward, Court Rules

NJ conversion therapy “experts” lose big in court to tune of $3.5 million

This Week in Too Horrible to Link:

One of the news stories in my bookmarks for the week is truly horrific. So horrific that I have decided not to link to it. But it is an important news story, in no small part because I have seen a lot of people on the Progressive End of the political spectrum laughing at the people who believe the QAnon Conspiracy as it it is nothing more than a joke.

It is more than that.

So, I’m going to mention the story of the man who, having completely bought into the conspiracy theory, kidnapped his one very, very young children, ran off to Mexico, and murdered them. Because the theory convinced him that his wife wasn’t entirely human and the children would therefore be monsters. The conspiracy theory and the people who buy into it are NOT jokes. They are very really threats to the lives of innocent people, such as these two very young children. If you haven’t read the story, and think you can stomach it, then use Google to find the tale of the father murdered his down kids because of the QAnon theory.