Weather forecasts last week had implied (or in some cases explicitly said) the region is was in for a persistent cool down. I don’t know if they were being hopeful or just really f-ing wrong, because several days this week have been as hot as the record-breaking hot days of just over a week ago. Supposedly a cool down is on its way, but I’ll believe it when I experience it.

Let me present to you this week’s Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) science stories of the week, top five stories of general interest, top five stories of people behaving badly, top five stories of interest to queer people, the top five videos, and a notable obituary (plus my blog posts).

Science stories of the Week:

Sequenced fox genome hints at genetic basis of behavior.

The Ineffectiveness of Employer Wellness Programs, and the Importance of Randomized Trials.

Too Many Jobs Feel Meaningless Because They Are.

Men who wear boxers have a much higher sperm count, says study.

Pairs of small colliding galaxies may seed future stars.

Stories of the Week:

Counterpoint: I Don’t Hate Pineapple Pizza, Because It’s Pizza.

#BlackSpecFic is back for your fleeting attention but with better news this time!.

Why We’re Sharing 3 Million Russian Troll Tweets.

Do You Have “Advantage Blindness”?

The Bayeux Tapestry with knobs on: what do the tapestry’s 93 penises tell us?

People behaving badly:

Pastor Convicted for Child Porn Now Arrested for Trying to Meet Teen Boy for Sex.

Cops Called On Point Boro Family – For Having ‘Library’ For Kids.

Apple Kicked Alex Jones Off Its Platform, Then YouTube And Facebook Rushed To Do The Same.

Twitter says Infowars hasn’t ‘violated our rules.’ It looks like that’s not the case.

Sen. Nelson Reveals that Russians Have ‘Penetrated’ Florida’s Voter Registration System.

Queer stories of the Week:

How Bob Mizer came to be the gay Hugh Hefner.

Man pours glitter into car after driver calls him a ‘faggot’.

Lights, camera, action! Not one but two iconic gay films are getting sequels.

‘Pose’ Is A Fierce And Flawed Addition To The Evolving Queer Pop Culture Canon. In my opinion, this review is infinitely more flawed than the show it reviews…

Ireland’s Gay Prime Minister Will Challenge Pope on Same-Sex Parents.

In Memoriam:

Bisexual Polyamorous Goose Love Triangle Ends In Tragedy.

Things I wrote:

Slippery slopes and projection.

Course Correction vs Necromancy—a follow up on exclusion at sf/f conventions.

Videos!

Stephen Colbert: Looks Like Alex Jones Just Lost The War On Info:

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Prosecutors: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO):

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The Spy Who Loved the NRA :

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Cher – GIMME! GIMME! GIMME! (A Man After Midnight) [Official HD Audio]:

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Jake Shears – Big Bushy Mustache (Official Video):

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Sunday was the hottest day of the years, and Monday was still pretty bad, but the weather took a turn for the much more pleasant after that. We had drizzle yesterday and today! I’m so happy! I usually do my Friday Five on Thursday night and schedule it to publish in the morning, but I only got it half done because it’s been a crazy week and I decided to binge some things off the DVR. Anyway, only took a few minutes to finish up today.

Let me present to you this week’s Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week, five stories of people behaving badly, the top five videos, and a few of notable obituaries (plus my blog posts).

Stories of the Week:

Here’s How America Uses Its Land. The interactive graphic is amazing!

The Bullshit Web. This essay is about technology, bandwidth, how we use is… and so much more.

Everything bad about Facebook is bad for the same reason. The paradigm determines all…

Newsrooms must stand up to targeted campaigns of harassment.

What we know about blackberries – That galloping sound? The rising darkness? Look out! Here they come!

People behaving badly:

Democratic Donor Accused Of Killing A Young, Gay Black Man By Injecting Him With Drugs Will Face No Charges.

Possibly Craziest Story Ever (New Innovations in Politicians Doing Revenge Porn). GOP politician got off on the idea of other men sleeping with his girlfriend — it was such a turn on that he catfished other men and got them to tell him what they would like to do with her by pretending to be her.

Shark from San Antonio Aquarium returned after thieves are caught on video using baby stroller to carry animal. There’s more: Man Who Stole Shark from Aquarium Says He Was Just Trying to ‘Help’.

Kris Kobach’s Lucrative Trail of Courtroom Defeats – For years, the candidate for Kansas governor has defended towns that passed anti-immigration ordinances. The towns have lost big — but Kobach has fared considerably better..

Rep. Jordan Pressures Coaches to Get His Accusers to Recant.

In Memoriam:

Model Zombie Boy from Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ Video Dead at 32.

Things I wrote:

I finally stopped fiddling with my Hugo Ballot.

Future hazy, or we’ll take our weather blessings as we can.

Videos!

Shazam! | SDCC Trailer:

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Rudy Giuliani Doesn’t Know If Colluding Is Crime:

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Rudy Giuliani Says Collusion Is Not a Crime: A Closer Look:

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Anderson Cooper calls out Sarah Sanders’ promise:

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Boy George covers YMCA and asks Why Not?:

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Another week of hotter than normal temps here, which we’re managing to get through, but I’m spending a lot more time sitting out on my veranda after dark sipping tea or ice water or LaCroix or gin & tonic…

But enough about us. Let me present to you this week’s Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week, five stories of people behaving badly, the top five stories concerning queer people, the top five videos, and a few of notable obituaries (plus my blog posts).

Stories of the Week:

First Successful Test of Einstein’s General Relativity Near Supermassive Black Hole.

America Needs Better Democrats.

American white people really hate being called “white people”.

Women and Femmes Unite: A Structural and Political Analysis of Femininity.

The Fallacy of Agency: on Power, Community, and Erasure.

People behaving badly:

Tony Perkins longs for the days when he could have LGBTQ people jailed.

Forbes deleted a deeply misinformed op-ed arguing Amazon should replace libraries.

‘Cockygate’ Author Faleena Hopkins Backs Down From Trademark Dispute After A Settlement Is Reached.

Brock Turner Presents “Outercourse” Argument at Appeals Court.

Terrorized By Extremists, Sandy Hook Parents Accuse Facebook CEO Of “Providing A Safe Haven For Hate”.

Queer stories of the Week:

The Queer Art of Failing Better | Laurie Penny.

Queer Rapid Response Team for WorldCon 76.

Judge’s ruling supports Dallas School District’s transgender policy.

Oklahoma woman offers to be a stand-in mom at LGBTQ weddings.

Delaware Just Banned Gay Conversion Therapy For LGBTQ Youth.

In Memoriam:

Raymond Hunthausen, liberal pro-gay Seattle archbishop censured by Rome, dies at 96.

Lincoln Brower, Champion of the Monarch Butterfly, Dies at 86.

Black Panther Party co-founder Elbert ‘Big Man’ Howard dies at 80.

Things I wrote:

Subtracting homogeneity, fighting erasure—reflections on exclusion at sf/f conventions.

Malice or ignorance — more reflections of exclusion at sf/f conventions.

Videos!

Michael Cohen Releases His Secret Trump Tape: A Closer Look:

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Trump Whines ‘This Never Happened To Obama’:

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Jake Shears – Sad Song Backwards (Lyric Video):

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Troye Sivan – Dance To This ft. Ariana Grande:

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Sam Smith – Baby, You Make Me Crazy (Acoustic):

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My writing continues quite slowly. I didn’t have a superlong work week this week, though since I worked late into Friday, the weariness bled through the whole weekend and I don’t quite yet feel recovered.

But enough about me. Let me present to you this week’s Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week, five stories of people behaving badly, the top five videos, and a couple of notable obituaries (plus my blog posts).

Stories of the Week:

Authorities Were Called On A 13-Year-Old Selling Hot Dogs, But His City Had His Back. They helped him get his food safety certification, officials paid for his business license of out their own pockets, the put him in touch with a non-profit that helps “underserved entrepreneurs” become business owners.

Ethiopia claims Ten Commandments tablet hidden in Westminster Abbey.

Egypt sarcophagus: Mystery black tomb opened in Alexandria.

The Incredibles’ Syndrome is the ultimate cautionary tale for toxic fandom.

The Alternative Nobel: vote opens for a surprising new literature prize.

People behaving badly:

Brian Shared His Steam Account With His Dad. Then His Dad Stole It.

Lane Davis was a far-right, pro-Trump media figure looking for his big break. Then he stabbed his father to death. The more hate you spew and repeat, the more hate you feel…

Top Voting Machine Vendor Admits It Installed Remote-Access Software on Systems Sold to States.

Zuckerberg’s comments give Holocaust deniers an opening.

Alleged Russian Spy Was Working to Infiltrate Religious Right As Well As Gun Groups.

In Memoriam:

Tony Winning Gay Actor Gary Beach Dies At Age 70.

Nancy Sinatra, first wife of Frank Sinatra, dies at 101.

Henry Morgenthau III, 101, award-winning WGBH producer who turned to poetry.

Things I wrote:

Can I offer y’all some tea?

Millions of Voices Cried Out in Terror — or, That’s Not the Force You’re Feeling, Guys.

Videos!

A VERY STABLE GENIUS – Randy Rainbow Song Parody:

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Bohemian Rhapsody | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX:

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Andy Cohen Kept Texting Anderson Cooper During Trump’s Helsinki Fiasco:

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I am what I am – Gary Beach LA_CAGE [BDWY_200:

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David Guetta & Sia – Flames (Official Video):

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It’s Friday! And it’s the second Friday in July.

I really wish I could blame Camp NaNoWriMo on how little blogging I’ve been doing, but it’s all down to the string of more than 10-hour days as we zero in on yet another ridiculous deadline at work. And now the heat is back, and I don’t deal well when the weather gets hot.

Anyway, here I present this week’s Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week, the top five videos, and a couple of notable obituaries (plus my blog posts).

Stories of the Week:

You don’t get to call me a sinner AND help yourself to my gay tax dollars.

Republicans Thought Peter Strozk Would Be a Punching Bag. He Just Knocked Them Out.

‘Ghost particle’ found in Antarctica provides astronomy breakthrough. And for more informationg: Why a 4-Billion-Year-Old Particle That Hit Antarctica Is Such a Big Deal.

Samsung phones are spontaneously texting users’ photos to random contacts without their permission.

How the Disposable Straw Explains Modern Capitalism , and related: Disposable Plastic Straws Suck. Try These Disability-Friendly Alternatives.

In Memoriam:

Hollywood film star known for Damn Yankees, The Burning Hills and his TV sitcom, The Tab Hunter Show.

Obituary – Tab Hunter, Hollywood golden boy forced to hide his sexuality.

Steve Ditko, Spider-Man Co-Creator and Legendary Comics Artist, Dies at 90.

Things I wrote:

Weekend Update 7/7/2018: White people who think the police are fugitive slave catchers.

Playing Piano on a Star’s Surface and Other Impossible Things — more of why I love sf/f.

Videos!

Gene Editing: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO):

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Steve Grand – “don’t let the light in” [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]:

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Cazwell – Cakes:

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Stephen Colbert: Red Hot Congressional Strzok Fest 2018:

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Youngr – Lost In Translation (Official Video):

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Most of my writing effort is going to Camp NaNoWriMo, so there will be fewer updates here than usual. I’m currently on a small vacation, as well.

Anyway, here I present this week’s Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week of, top five stories about people disappointing us, the top five videos, and a notable obituary (plus what I posted this week).

Stories of the Week:

Spiders Can Fly Hundreds of Miles Using Electricity: Scientists are finally starting to understand the centuries-old mystery of “ballooning”.

Dawn is now barnstorming Ceres and seeing wonders.

Pixar’s Bao Is More Than an Appetizer: It Is a Landmark in Asian Visibility.

Today’s Purple Hearts were first made for the invasion of Japan.

We Should Be Building Cities for People, Not Cars. The most interesting bit of this story is the fact that the makers of Sim City had to abandon their original plans to base the game on real cities, because so many parking lots made city look uninteresting!

People behaving badly:

12-year-old black kid gets cops called on him for cutting neighbors’ grass. But it isn’t all bad: Boy’s lawn business picks up after neighbors call police on him.

Powerful GOP Rep. Jim Jordan accused of turning blind eye to sexual abuse as Ohio State wrestling coach. 1,500 to 2,000 college-aged boys may have been sexually assaulted or raped by a doctor who GOP Rep ‪Jordan‬ allegedly protected. There’s more: Fourth Ohio State wrestler says Rep. Jim Jordan knew about sexual abuse when he was coach.

Keep the focus on Trump’s cruelty and incompetence.

Man suspected of killing 21 co-workers by poisoning their food.

An Addendum to An Addendum: Problematic writer was problematic.

In Memoriam:

Dick Leitsch, ‘Sip-In’ leader, is dead at age 83.

Things I wrote:

Weekend Update 6/30/2018: Hypocrisy, faux civility, and why we mustn’t stop fighting.

More likely to replace than upgrade — confessions of a penny-pinching gadget lover.

Hey, campers! Let’s get writing!

Oppressed Oppressors: Civility Isn’t What You Think

Videos!

Jon Stewart Is Ready To Negotiate With Donald Trump:

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G Flip – Killing My Time (Official Music Video):

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Keiynan Lonsdale – Preach (Official Music Video):

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Broadway United: We Are the World:

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Panic! At The Disco: Hey Look Ma, I Made It [OFFICIAL VIDEO]:

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Last weekend did not quite go according to plan. My husband came down with a cold on Friday, and decided he shouldn’t be hanging out at the convention hotel infecting other people. So I attended Locus Awards Weekend alone. He had hoped to be well enough Sunday morning to join me for the parade, but then woke up feeling much worse. Despite him telling me to go join the festivities, I decided to head home and try to take care of him. I enjoyed the events of the con and came home with a pile of new books, and I saw a lot of people dressed up in their Pride gear.

Here I present this week’s Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week of interest to queer people, top five general interest stories, and top five videos, and a couple of notable obituaries.

Queer stories of the Week:

Court Upholds Damages in Same-Sex Wedding Cake Case .

Jared Polis could become America’s first openly gay elected governor.

Sharon Brackett Becomes First Transgender Woman Elected To Public Office In Maryland.

99 Photos of Pride Beyond Borders In Seattle.

Education watchdog rebukes school that redacted history textbooks to remove gay Holocaust victims.

Other stories of the Week:

Dragons and wealth inequality.

Asteroid Arrival! Japanese Probe Reaches ‘Spinning-Top’ Space Rock Ryugu.

Maryland shooting: At least five dead as gunman opens fire at Capital Gazette newspaper building in Annapolis.

Breaking down the impact of Kennedy’s retirement.

Study Suggests White People are More Likely to Assault Black, Latino People Than the Other Way Around. As one friend who shared this online noted, “in other words, water is still wet”

In Memoriam:

Christopher Stasheff, author of Warlock In Spite of Himself, and Her Majesty’s Wizard, dead at 74.

Harlan Ellison, Provocative Sci-Fi Writer of ‘Star Trek,’ ‘A Boy and His Dog,’ Dies at 84.

Things I wrote:

Sunday Funnies, part 30.

Videos!

Rep. Maxine Waters Responds To President Donald Trump Attacks:

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Chris Hayes Explains Why It’s Important to Yell at Public Officials:

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CNN anchor fact-checks Trump supporter on family separations:

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Alexandria Ocasio Cortez Surprised Everyone, Even Herself:

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Troye Sivan – Bloom:

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It’s the third weekend of Pride Month.

It appears that the rains have come to an end, and now I have to brace myself for scorching weather.

Here I present this week’s Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week of interest to queer people, top five general interest stories, and top five videos (plus a recap of my blog posts).

Queer stories of the Week:

New Jersey’s Capital City Trenton Just Elected its First Gay Mayor, Reed Gusciora, in Stunning Upset Win.

Teacher Resigns Because He Can’t Handle School’s Transgender Name Policy.
Translation: he rage quite because they won’t let him bully trans students.

Why Some Gay Men Hate Pride Parades — And Ourselves.
Internalized homophobia can take a lifetime to unlearn.

The queer history of Wonder Woman and the Amazons.

Provo Bans LGBT Groups From July 4th Parade.

Other stories of the Week:

The Fight for the Right to Be Cremated by Water.

Hop Sing Laundromat Owner: No Fan of Bad Tippers, Cheesesteaks or (Ugh) “Mixologists”.

Between the Coats: A Sensitivity Read Changed my Life – an Essay by Sarah Gailey.

A Kenyan, Retired Reverend Timothy Njoya has taken his defense for the clitoris to court saying it should be let to stay where the Lord put it.

‘Shocking’ die-off of Africa’s oldest baobabs: study.
Trees that can easily live to by 3000 years old are not faring will under a changing climate.

Things I wrote:

To Conquer the Kingdoms of Sin — more confessions of a queer ex-evangelical.

A flag proclaims we are a people, a family, a tribe….

Videos!

Republican Senator Hatch Marks Pride Month with Call for Inclusion, Understanding:

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WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? – Official Trailer [HD] – In Select Theaters June 8:

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Stephen Colbert on Inspector General’s report:

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GOP’s Trump “Cult”; Trump Foundation Lawsuit; Comey Report: A Closer Look:

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David Bowie – Heroes (Official video):

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Anyway, here I am posting the Friday Five on Saturday. I’ve been sick at least Monday, though I didn’t recognize the signs until after waking up with the cover and fever Tuesday morning. I felt much better Thursday morning, thought I was getting over it, and went into the office after sleeping through two sick days. Then Thursday night I was very scattered and the Friday Five assembly (which usually takes about an hour) drug on and I started dozing off at the keyboard so I went to bed. I figured it would only take fifteen minutes or in the morning to finish it and post; since I was going to be working from home anyway, it would be a good thing to do for a break, right?

I got up when the alarm went off, feeling worse than the day before, got my meds, set up the work computer, was logging into the work network… and I fell asleep for two hours. My fever was back and my brain was just sluggish. I had unmovable end of the day deadlines that were already behind because of the two sick days, so I was scrambling the rest of the day.

So this week it’s a Saturday Five: This week you get the top five (IMHO) stories of the week of interest to queer people, top five stories about people who are less-than-wonderful, top five general interest stories, and top five videos (plus notable obituaries and a recap of my blog posts).

Queer stories of the Week:

Court upholds Phoenix law over same-sex wedding invitations.
The ruling that the anti-gay folks were crowing about as a victory wasn’t; it wasn’t a victory for our side, either, but it contained some good things.

Sexual Assault and Silence Among Men in the Military During Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: My boyfriend was sexually assaulted when we were in the navy. Then I made the mistake of speaking up.