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It is now the fourth Friday in October. Halloween is so, so, so close!

The rainy weather has gotten much more intense here. My work week was back to a more normal level of stress. After about 10 days on a new medication, my blood sugar levels are starting to noticably go down.

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, five stories about traitors, five stories about haters and other deplorable people, and five stories about the pandemic. Plus a couple of notable obituaries.

Stories of the Week:

Positive LGBTQ media depictions reduce queer people’s anxiety & depression – Media can play a big role in giving queer people hope and resilience in the face of discrimination

The right-wing playbook against supposed liberal media bias is being used on tech giants with alarming effectiveness – A new Washington Post report shows how Facebook became a hostage of the conservative movement

The Shadow Docket: How Supreme Court Conservatives Are Manipulating Justice – This op-ed argues that this court is forcing conservative outcomes on the public in secret

Vikings were in the Americas exactly a thousand years ago

Governments planned to misuse CSAM scanning tech even before Apple’s announcement

Stories of Interest to Queers and Our Allies:

Wonder Woman has jumped into the battle over transgender rights & she’s not holding back – You’ll hear her theme music playing when you read what Lynda Carter had to say

Dr. Rachel Levine becomes first transgender four-star officer across all uniformed service branches – The Assistant Secretary of Health is now a four-star admiral

Netflix employees plan mass walkout over anti-trans Chappelle special. Celebs are backing them up – Alexandra Billings, Colton Haynes, Angelica Ross, Jameela Jamil, Jonathan Van Ness and more are jumping in to support the company’s transgender employees

High school puts on a drag show for its homecoming halftime show – Both faculty and students strutted across the field as fans decked out in rainbows waved Pride flags

Lil Nas X’s ‘Industry Baby’ finally hits No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 – The platinum-selling hip-hop artist some thought was a one-hit wonder has scored a third number one hit

This Week in Seditious Traitors:

Trump’s New Social Media Company Is His Biggest Scam Yet – TRUTH Social will probably be a flop, but Trump is likely to make hundreds of millions anyway

Jim Jordan Handed the House January 6 Commission the Keys to Subpoenaing Him: Report

BREAKING NEWSFBI Raiding DC Home of Manafort Associate and Russian Oligarch Oleg Deripaska: Reports

Steve Bannon Held in Criminal Contempt of Congress

Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan and the Proud Boys: How the fragility of the male ego fuels the far-right – Authoritarians know how to play on the gender anxieties of insecure men, building up an army of bitter chumps

This Week in Haters, Deplorables, and Liars:

Indictment accuses Nebraska congressman of lying to FBI – A federal grand jury has indicted U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska, accusing him of lying to the FBI and concealing information from federal agents who were investigating campaign contributions funneled to him from a Nigerian billionaire

NV Man Who Claimed Dead Wife’s “Forged” Mail Ballot Proved Voter Fraud Gets Charged With Doing It Himself and Voting Twice

Woman arrested on allegations she threatened judge in Georgia ballot case – She’s Charged With Terror Threat Over GA Ballots

Netflix made a mess of the Dave Chappelle controversy. It’s a crisis of Netflix’s own making It is only a controversy if you are willing to admit that bigots have a point. Otherwise, he’s just a hateful bigot, period.

FBI arrests MAGA-rioting comic book artist who took down officer in ‘violent struggle’

This Week in the Pandemic:

Without Covid-19 jab, ‘reinfection may occur every 16 months’

Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto tests positive for Covid-19 – Fox News Host Reveals Breakthrough COVID Case: Lucky For Me I’m Vaccinated And You Should Be Too

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban: "I require my employees to be vaccinated" as Gov. Greg Abbott bans mandates in Texas

What is the ‘delta plus’ variant of the coronavirus?

COVID vaccine: CDC expands booster rollout, OKs mixing shots – Federal health officials say millions more Americans can get a COVID-19 booster and choose a different vaccine for that next shot

In Memoriam:

Colin Powell, Who Shaped U.S. National Security, Dies at 84 – A former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, secretary of state and national security adviser, Mr. Powell died of complications of Covid-19, his family said

Remembering Dick Kelley, former Seattle Deputy Mayor and Progressive Champion