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Welcome to the second Friday of September. September, the most blesséd month, when superior babies are born.

It has been a weird week. The large volcano that can be seen from when the weather is particularly clear has started venting. If it goes we’re all going to die. That isn’t really an exaggeration. And the night before last we had a small earthquake from one of the many, many, many fault lines around here. It woke me up, but I didn’t realize it was an earthquake. My husband slept through it.

Because for so many, many, many, many months the nes has been so full of crazy and horrifying news, I decided to mix things up a bit this time. So this week I bring you: Five stories that have nothing alarming at all, five stories about science fiction and fact, five more typical stories of the week, five stories of interest to queers & our allies, and five stories about traitors. Plus a bunch of notable obituaries.

This Week in Interesting and Not Alarming:

FDA Finalizes Historic Rule Enabling Access to Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids for Millions of Americans

COVID tax relief: IRS provides broad-based penalty relief for certain 2019 and 2020 returns due to the pandemic; $1.2 billion in penalties being refunded to 1.6 million taxpayers

New Raspberry Rally Girl Scout Cookie Joins Nationwide Lineup for 2023 Season

Barack and Michelle Obama make first joint return to the White House for unveiling of official portraits

The Cartoon Mystery That Stumped the Internet

This Week in Science Fact and Fiction:

Here Are the Winners of the 2022 Hugo Awards

Beloved sci-fi bookstore, established in ’70s, reopens after burning down during unrest

You’ve Been Thinking of Australian Mammals All Wrong

In Ethiopia, scientists identify a fossil otter the size of a lion

Fascinating video demonstrates that none of us has any idea what a continent actually is

Stories of the Week:

Another dam(n) extinction: Another rare plant destroyed by a hydroelectric dam

Reionization of the Universe occurred 1.1 billion years after the Big Bang

Search for missing Native artifacts led to the discovery of bodies stored in ‘the most inhumane way possible’

Mystery of woman who went to ER and vanished 32 years ago solved – Myrtle Brown went to a hospital in Brooklyn in 1990 and was never heard from again. Her family was finally able to hold a virtual memorial for her

Neil Gaiman Slaps Back At Elon Musk For Criticizing Amazon’s ‘Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power’ — Update

Stories of Interest to Queers and Our Allies:

‘Casa Susanna’ Review: A Lost Chapter of Queer History Comes to Life

Country star raises over $100,000 for trans youth after denouncing influencer’s transphobia – Country musician Maren Morris is totally our hero of the day

Trans Floridians sue to block Medicaid rule excluding gender-affirming care – Human rights groups are suing Florida on behalf of four Medicaid beneficiaries who have been denied coverage of their gender-affirming medical care under a new state rule

Lil Nas X voguing to Beyoncé on tour is giving the internet life

Former dean of Christian boarding school charged with abducting teen Important note: the only reason any criminal charges were brought is because the mother of the teen — who hired this anti-gay a-holes to kidnap her child and torture them to try to make them straight — didn’t have legal custody. Nightmares like this happen to hundreds of kids every year with no consequences to the adults because the parents initiated it…

This Week in the Crooks, Traitors, and Other Deplorables:

When, Where and For What Mar-a-Lago Crimes Should Garland Indict Trump?

We’ve reached the endgame of Trump’s imperial presidency – The Washington Post’s report about nuclear secrets at Mar-a-Lago further exposes Trump’s attempts to wield presidential power after losing in 2020

Trump’s Lawyers Might Think They Just Won. They Still Botched the Case – Trump’s incompetent attorneys turned an administrative matter into a possible criminal indictment. The appointment of a special master doesn’t change that

DOJ appeals decision to order special master to review evidence seized in Mar-a-Lago search and says it’s halted intelligence review

Steve Bannon pleads not guilty to NY state charges of money laundering, conspiracy and fraud related to border wall effort

In Memoriam:

Queen Elizabeth II has died

SETI Pioneer Frank Drake Leaves a Legacy of Searching for Voices in the Void

Award-Winning Underground Comics Writer/Artist Diane Noomin Dies at 75

Peter Straub Dead: Horror Novelist, Stephen King Collaborator Was 79

Anne Garrels, longtime foreign correspondent for NPR, has died at 71

CNN anchor Bernard Shaw dead at 82