We have arrived at the fourth Friday in September. September, that most blesséd of months, when superior people are born.

We did get rain last weekend. The temperatures have been reasonable all week. A pile of gifts so accumulating in my living room. I’ll probably find out what’s inside them soon.

Anyway, it’s time for this week’s Friday Five in which I bring you: twh stories that each need a special category, plus the top five stories of the week, five stories of interest to queers and our allies, five stories about deplorable people, and five stories about the pandemic (plus some notable obituaries).

This Week in It’s About Bloody Time:

LGBTQ veterans discharged dishonorably for sexual orientation to get full benefits, VA says

This Week in Stop Being Fuckwits:

OH MY FUCKING GOD, GET THE FUCKING VACCINE ALREADY, YOU FUCKING FUCKS

Stories of the Week:

Florida man fed up with potholes plants banana tree in road

These Sisters Promised Their Brother A "Power Rangers"–Themed Birthday And Here’s What Happened When They Followed Through 16 Years Later – “Once I walked into that door and I realised that this is the Power Rangers party that I’d been promised, it just brought out that little kid again. It was amazing.”

The Afghanistan War Is Over. But the Defense Budget Is Still About to Go Up – Congress is set to pass a spending bill about $40 billion more than the one approved last year

How the Debt Ceiling Turned into a Doomsday Cult – The end never actually comes but we love to obsess about it anyway

The Emmy Voters Need to Watch More TV – Analysis: Awards Don’t Reflect the Breadth of TV

Stories of Interest to Queers and Our Allies:

Lil Nas X’s ‘Montero’ album and the power of unabashed queerness – The star’s emotionally vibrant music is only part of the story

Biden pushes for more LGBTQ protections on anniversary of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ repeal

Trystan Reese on how to deal with bullying while raising amazing kids – Trystan Reese and Biff Chaplow are helping to redefine the word “traditional”

How an Atlanta basketball team went from Republican hands to LGBTQ ownership – WNBA veteran Renee Montgomery and executive Suzanne Abair are part of the Atlanta Dream’s new ownership trio — and among the first LGBTQ owners of a pro sports team

Elvira, Cassandra Peterson, Comes Out, Talks 19-Year Relationship

This Week in Haters, Deplorables, and Liars:

Trump Campaign Knew Lawyers’ Voting Machine Claims Were Baseless, Memo Shows – Days before lawyers allied with Donald Trump gave a news conference promoting election conspiracy theories, his campaign had determined that many of those claims were false, court filings reveal

Busted: Steve Bannon Admits He Helped Plot Jan. 6 Trump Rally to ‘Kill Biden Presidency in the Crib’

Maricopa County celebrates Cyber Ninjas audit admitting that Joe Biden did, in fact, win

Law Firm Seeks to Take COVID Misinformation Spreaders to Court

Twitter Bans Anti-LGBT Activist “Porno Pete” LaBarbera

This Week in the Pandemic:

Nearly 69% of Washington residents are fully vaccinated – In addition, more than 75% of Washington residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine

Alabama population on course to shrink for first time ever as Covid takes toll – State’s chief medical officer says ‘Our state literally shrunk in 2020’ as deaths exceeded births

‘Soul-crushing’: US COVID-19 deaths are topping 1,900 a day

A Trump Lawyer Reportedly Came Up With an Absolutely Bizarre Six-Point Plan for Pence to Overturn Election Prior to 1/6

CDC advisers recommend booster doses of Covid-19 vaccine for certain adults only

In Memoriam:

Willie Garson, ‘Sex and the City’ and ‘White Collar’ Actor, Dies at 57

Labelle’s Sarah Dash Dies at 76

We have arrived at the third Friday in September. September, that most blesséd of months, when superior people are born.

By the time this scheduled post publishes on FontFolly.Net, there may well be significant rain falling just outside my windows.

This was a more difficult Friday Five to assemble than usual. I could have easily filled two more categories! I could have filled out a separate category for the Nicki Minaj cousin’s friends swollen testicles stories alone!

Anyway, it’s time for this week’s Friday Five in which I bring you: three stories that need special categories, plus the top five stories of the week, five stories of interest to queers and our allies, five stories about deplorable people, five stories about the pandemic, and five stories about vaccine lies (plus something I wrote and some notable obituaries).

This Week in the Children’s Shows from Times Gone By:

Why Is Everyone Freaking Out About Former ‘Blue’s Clues’ Host Steve?

This Week in My Favorite NFL Player Who Isn’t a Seahawk:

Carl Nassib forces game-winning fumble as Raiders win first-ever NFL game with out gay player

Carl Nassib’s debut as an openly gay NFL player is a big deal – Los Angeles Times

Stories of the Week:

At 101, This Woman From Maine Is Still Hauling Lobsters With No Plans To Stop

NASA Is Launching A New Telescope That Could Offer Some Cosmic Eye Candy

Why Is America So Bad at Keeping People Alive? – This story is NOT about COVID.

Ancient spider caring for her offspring is trapped in 99 million-year-old amber

Some birds learn to recognize calls while still in their eggs – Prenatal sound perception is more widespread than previously thought, new research suggests

Stories of Interest to Queers and Our Allies:

Twitter is celebrating the start of #BiWeek – Over half of LGB people identify as bisexual I need to get myself a t-shirt or a button that says, "I’m not bi, but my husband is."

Revisiting the gay dentist framed as an AIDS murderer: He “didn’t do it.”

DOJ expands probe into anti-LGBTQ prison violence in Georgia after 44 murders in the past year – The DOJ is investigating allegedly deplorable conditions in Georgia prisons, like inmates wielding machetes and toilets overflowing because staff turned them off

New Zealand bill to ban LGBTQ conversion practices receives record 100,000 submissions – Activists hopeful the majority of submissions will be in favour, amid previous signs of support and large social media campaign

Twitch sues users who targeted LGBTQ gamers with threatening ‘hate raids’ – The trolls doxxed LGBTQ and POC Twitch users, providing their personal information and leaving links to gory videos on their chat streams

This Week in Haters, Deplorables, and Liars:

Colorado pastor who mocked AIDS deaths and spread vaccine conspiracy theories dies from COVID-19

MyPillow CEO Repeatedly Tried to Get Ads Back on Fox. They Keep Rejecting Him

Former Republican House Speaker reaches settlement for molesting teen boy – Disgraced Republican Dennis Hastert is out of prison, but he’s still on the hook for the hush money he promised to pay the victim

OR HS Students Engaged In Virtual ‘Slave Trade’ Of Black Students – Oregon’s Newberg High School has banned Black Lives Matter and Pride symbols in its school as too divisive but its students were just caught engaging in a group chat “joke” that involved virtual slave trading of Black students

Who Had ‘Dan Quayle Saves The Republic’ On Their Bingo Card? – Mike Pence was under pressure from Trump not to certify the electoral college votes. He turned to former vice-president Dan Quayle for advice

This Week in the Pandemic:

Seattle area to require COVID-19 vaccine to enter indoor venues It’s the whole county, and we’re not the first in the nation to do this.

Republicans are still a bigger obstacle to vaccination than Black Americans

Unvaccinated COVID-19 hospitalizations cost taxpayers billions of dollars

Unvaccinated are 5X more likely to catch delta, 11X more likely to die – Three fresh CDC studies show vaccines holding up against delta

Delta variant vaccinated vs. unvaccinated: This new CDC chart shows how well COVID-19 vaccines work – Fully vaccinated individuals have a much greater chance of not being impacted by COVID-19, whether that impact is via infection, hospitalization, or death

This Week in Vaccine Misinformation:

Joy Reid To GOP: Your ‘Creepy Little’ COVID Cult Killed Your CA Recall – Joy Reid hilariously mocked Republicans’ love for COVID that is killing their politics along with many of their followers: “You may want to ingest horse dewormer and attend far too many funerals, but we, we don’t.”

NH State Rep Switches To Dem Over GOP’s Anti-Vax Nonsense – He said he had been content to ride out the rest of his term until state Republican leaders held a rally Tuesday in opposition to President Biden’s vaccine mandates for federal and private sector workers

Nicki Minaj is now fighting with Trinidad’s Health Minister & Joy Reid as MAGA crowd cheers her on – Nicki’s got a new group of friends who are rallying to her defense while the rest of the world calls out her blatant Trump-level lies bonus related link: Andrew Giuliani tweets his support of Nicki Minaj’s cousin’s friend’s swollen testicles

Dr. Peter Hotez Blasts Fox News, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham for Vax Disinformation: ‘Authoritarian Effort to Discredit Science’

Jimmy Kimmel Returns, Blasts Alex Jones Over Ivermectin Endorsement, Choice Of Beverage – “We’ve still got a lot of pandimwits out there”

In Memoriam:

Jane Powell, Spirited Star of Movie Musicals ‘Royal Wedding,’ ‘Seven Brides,’ Dies at 92

Jane Powell, Hollywood golden-age musicals star, dies at 92

Norm Macdonald, Comedian and ‘Saturday Night Live’ Star, Dies at 61

Things I Wrote:

Marriage Equality is a larger part of U.S. history than the confederacy

We have arrived at the second Friday in September. September, that most blesséd of months, when superior people are born.

We had to turn the a/c back on in the house this week. Workwise, the Monday holiday meant that some co-workers and customers decided to squeeze about fifteen days worth of urgency and lamentations into the first couple of work days. I’m glad I have to burn off a couple more vacation days this month, just sayin’.

Anyway, it’s time for this week’s Friday Five in which I bring you: two stories that need a special category, plus the top five stories of the week, and five stories of interest to queers and our allies (plus a notable obituary).

This Week in the Destruction of Democracy:

Senior Republican demonised by Trump reveals what’s behind GOP election suppression laws: ‘They got scared’

‘They don’t give a sh-t’: Seth Meyers slams Supreme Court for allowing Texas abortion ban – Meyers pointed out how the "odious" and "contentious" ruling was made by a Supreme Court that has three justices appointed by former President Donald Trump

Stories of the Week:

Biden announces sweeping new vaccine mandates for businesses, federal workers

Howard Stern ROASTS Anti-Vax Radio Hosts Who Died, Says Make Vaccine Mandatory: ‘Fck Them, Fck Their Freedom’

The top 1 percent are evading $163 billion a year in taxes, the Treasury finds

Two new Asian giant hornet sightings confirmed in Whatcom County – The new sightings were in the same general area the WSDA found Asian giant hornet nests in 2020 and 2021

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION SUES OVER BARBARIC TEXAS ABORTION LAW THAT WOULD FORCE A 12-YEAR-OLD TO HAVE HER RAPIST’S CHILD – The Justice Department argues that the law is “clearly” unconstitutional and sets a dangerous, chilling precedent

Stories of Interest to Queers and Our Allies:

Opinion: My journey from anti-gay activist to LGBTQ ally – The truth is, my religious freedom does not give me the right to discriminate against my fellow Americans. Today, I support nondiscrimination protections because of my faith

Catholic schools can’t fire teachers for being gay, federal court rules – The Catholic church said that the First Amendment gives it the right to fire LGBTQ teachers, but a federal judge has said that’s a bunch of hooey

Author Shon Faye on the agonising struggles affecting trans lives more than anti-trans feminists

Gay teacher forced to quit after school banned him from discussing his sexuality

Students stage defiant walkout after teacher reprimanded for coming out as bisexual

In Memoriam:

Carl Bean, singer, clergyman and queer rights activist, dead at 77

We have arrived at the first Friday in September. September, that most blesséd of months, when superior people are born.

I’ve had a low grade fever and weird mostly-cold symptoms for most of this week. I seem to be getting better, so I’m hoping it’s just a minor virus.

Anyway, it’s time for this week’s Friday Five in which I bring you: one story that made me cry, plus the top five stories of the week, five stories about the weather, five stories of interest to queers and our allies, and five stories about deplorable people, and five stories about the graveyard of empires (plue a notable obituary).

This Week in Stories That Made Me Cry:

I’m a White Cisgendered Straight Woman. ‘Pose’ Gave Me My History "I’m the daughter of a mom who came out and lost custody of me in 1979, the sister of a man who died of AIDS in 1990… How is it possible to live through your own history and only comprehend it 35 years later when you recognize it in a TV show?"

Stories of the Week:

Virginia Supreme Court Admits It’s 2021 – Turns out current-day Confederates cannot force "the Commonwealth to express, in perpetuity, a message with which it now disagrees." The Robert E. Lee statue comes down.

Afghanistan: 3 Unlearned Lessons – Why does America keep making the same mistakes over and over?

The Obscene Hypocrisy of Republicans Blaming Everyone But Themselves: The COVID Edition – They spent so much time owning the libs, they forgot to care about the lives of their constituents

Prosecutors say Jan. 6 rioters committed roughly 1,000 assaults on federal officers

John Roberts has lost control of the Supreme Court

This Week in Weather:

Weather disasters are getting worse worldwide, report says. But the good news is they aren’t as deadly

Scenes From Hurricane Ida’s Devastation in Louisiana – Hurricane Ida toppled trees and power lines and flooded homes in Louisiana before making its way inland. Eric Alvarez reports from Houma and talks to residents who are doing their best to rebuild

Millions in Louisiana still without power after Ida

Hurricane Ida’s remnants pound Northeast, killing at least 43

Hurricane Larry forecast to be a Category 4 with top winds reaching 140 mph

Stories of Interest to Queers and Our Allies:

Missouri says it pulled LGBT exhibit for bypassing state board that seldom reviews exhibits

Challenge to Washington’s law banning conversion therapy rejected in court – State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said it’s a "win for LGBTQ+ civil rights."

Washington man convicted of hate crime in transgender teen’s murder

Carl Nassib is now the first out NFL player signed to a regular season roster – Carl Nassib will break ground later this month as the first gay person to play in a regular season NFL game

These Portraits of (Literal) Gay Daddies Will Brighten Your Day – Bart Heynen’s book ‘Dads’ sheds light on gay dads and their families

This Week in Haters, Deplorables, and Seditious Traitors:

Democrats To Probe Secretive ‘Shadow Docket’ Following Supreme Court Texas Abortion Ruling

New policy for school district after Venice chiropractor signs 500+ mask exemptions Sarasota students

McCarthy faces ethics complaint after saying GOP ‘will not forget’ if firms hand records to Jan. 6 panel

[QAnon Adherent Must Return to Jail Ahead of Jan. 6 Trial Because He Watched MyPillow CEO’s Symposium Online](QAnon Adherent Must Return to Jail Ahead of Jan. 6 Trial Because He Watched MyPillow CEO’s Symposium Online](https://lawandcrime.com/u-s-capitol-breach/qanon-adherent-must-return-to-jail-ahead-of-jan-6-trial-because-he-watched-mypillow-ceos-symposium-online/)

Republican Demands ‘Documentation’ On School Mask Mandates. OOPS – Republican Tony McCombie filed a FOIA request for "feedback" on Illinois’ school mask mandate. Governor JB Pritzker responded with 870 thank you notes from relieved parents

This Week in the Graveyard of Empires:

Biden Deserves Credit, Not Blame, for Afghanistan – Americans should feel proud of what the U.S. government and military have accomplished in these past two weeks

Anti-Taliban Forces: U.S. ‘Won’t Have an Ally’ in Afghanistan to Fight Terrorism if We Losev

The Taliban Won Afghanistan’s Civil War. But Will it Win the Peace?

Afghan Women Stage Protest Demanding Role in Government, Education as Taliban Watch

Afghanistan resistance fighters clash with Taliban in Panjshir valley

In Memoriam:

Hollywood mourns Ed Asner, star of ‘Mary Tyler Moore Show’ and ‘Lou Grant’

Ed Asner’s most beloved roles were curmudgeons with soft hearts

Judge Formally Denies SAG-AFTRA Health Plan’s Motion To Dismiss Ed Asner Lawsuit

Hollywood mourns Ed Asner: ‘You made and will continue to make this world a better place’

We’ve made it to the fourth Friday in August!

Work has been weird and stressful. I realize I say that a lot; yet then Thursday of this week good things happened. One of the good things was it was the the first time in well more than a week that my workday wasn’t interrupted by multiple calls from managers, directors, and veeps (both in and out of my chain of command) with emergencies that needed addressing now. I made more progress on my to-dos by midday than I had it the week proceeding. Make no mistake, I did lots of stuff during the last two weeks, it’s just that the majority were emergencies that hadn’t been on my to-do list at the time. There was also one piece of much appreciated good news, so even though I’d already been planning to make Pork Scallopini for dinner Thursday night — which, since 1/3 of a cup of wine is needed for the sauce that means that once I open the bottle I’m obligated to drink the rest — that first sip of wine felt very celebratory.

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 hateful deplorabloe people, five stories about the pandemic, and five stories about the graveyard of empires (plus something I wrote and some notable obituaries).

Stories of the Week:

13 U.S. troops killed in ISIS attacks on Kabul airport – The bombings came just hours after defense officials warned about an increased terrorist threat from the Islamic State’s branch in Afghanistan – the rest of the Afghanistan news has its own section, "Graveyard of Empires" below.

Capitol Police officers sue Trump, allies over insurrection

White evangelicals are in precipitous decline — and the younger generation is pulling them in new directions

It’s time to give Republicans the fight of their lives on voting rights

The first ‘murder hornet’ nest of 2021 has been destroyed in Washington Yes, we found more…

Stories of Interest to Queers and Our Allies:

Statue of trans icon Marsha P. Johnson erected in New York City park – It is considered to be the first monument of a transgender person in the city park system

A School Board Will Pay $1.3 Million To Gavin Grimm Over An Anti-Transgender Bathroom Polic – The decision ends a yearslong battle that brought national attention to the rights of students to use the facility that corresponds with their gender identity

‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ is The Gay Coming-Of-Age Tale For Everyone With an Inner (and Outer) Drag Queen

Brothers Osborne’s TJ on Creating Safe Space for LGBTQ Fans: ‘That’s Worth More Than Anything’ – "I didn’t realize what a sense of purpose it would bring to my life to be here," the country singer said

How LGBTQ+ Excellence Helped Shape Broadway

This Week in Deplorable People:

Death sentence upheld for church shooter Dylann Roof – He was the first person in the U.S. to be sentenced to death for a federal hate crime

Trans teen required to undergo genital examination at airport & people are speaking out – Trans people called out TSA’s "sophisticated system of someone pressing a pink or blue button" after a mom sued the agency for demanding to see her daughter’s genitals because of an "anomaly." This is yet another reason why the TSA, which is 99.9% security theatre and not actually protecting anyone, needs to be disbanded.

School district may ban Pride flags after parent spots one inside a classroom & freaks out – "If a teacher is not even able to hang a flag which represents that protection, what does that say to the LGBTQ students in that community?"

Federal Judge Lets New York Attorney General Try to Sue Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman for $2.75 Million This is separate from all voter intimidation criminal charges in several states.

Josh Duggar wants his child pornography charges thrown out because of Donald Trump – Duggar’s attorneys are trying to get his charges dismissed because Homeland Security investigated him under the leadership of two Trump-appointed officials, both of whom were later deemed to have unlawfully held the positio

This Week in the Pandemic:

US COVID-19 hospitalizations top 100,000 for first time since January

100,000 more COVID deaths projected unless US changes its ways – Coronavirus case counts are once again rising across the US, near and far. Health officials are scrambling to vaccinate as the Delta variant takes hold

COVID Vaccines Show No Signs of Harming Fertility or Sexual Function

How to get the authoritarian far-right to cave in a hurry

Arkansas doctor under investigation for prescribing parasite pill thousands of times for Covid-19 despite FDA warning

This Week in the Graveyard of Empires:

Afghanistan News: ‘We Will Not Forgive,’ Biden Says, Vowing Retaliation for Kabul Attack

Planes, guns, night-vision goggles: The Taliban’s new U.S.-made war chest

Fearful LGBTQ Afghans can’t receive money raised for them through GoFundMe ‘due to Taliban control’

‘Let Me Explain to You How Our Process Works’: Psaki Derails Doocy’s Attacks on Administration’s Afghanistan Airlift

Hillary Clinton has been arranging charter flights out of Afghanistan for at-risk women, reports say

In Memoriam:

Charlie Watts, Rolling Stones Drummer, Dies at 80

Don Everly, Half Of The Quintessential Harmonic Duo The Everly Brothers, Dies At 84

Tom T. Hall, singer and ‘Harper Valley P.T.A.’ songwriter dies at 85

Things I Wrote:

That’s not what defines a complete story

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

The air cleared up and the temps went down this week. I had to turn the a/c back on for part of Thursday, but the daytime highs are supposed to be even cooler in the coming days.

Anyway, it’s time for this week’s Friday Five in which I bring you: two topics stories in each of two unusual topics, plus the top five stories of the week, five stories about the pandemic, five stories of interest to queers and our allies, and five stories about deplorable people.

This Week in Confused Angry White Men:

A Man Who Had Ranted Against Joe Biden Surrendered To Police After Threatening To Blow Up His Truck In DC- The man appeared to have been livestreaming and threatening President Joe Biden and Democrats before surrendering Thursday afternoon I feel it necessary to point out that while he did call for Biden and other Democrats to resign, he said they reason they needed to resign is because no one can afford health care any more… in other words, what motivated him to his act of terror was a Republican-caused problem…

‘The revolution is on’: Would-be D.C. truck bomber demands Biden’s resignation, then surrenders

This Week in the Graveyard of Empires:

Americans rank George W. Bush as the president most responsible for the outcome of the Afghanistan war: Insider poll

America’s Afghanistan occupation was always going to fail – The unfortunate disaster we’re seeing right now underscores how much the U.S.’s extended occupation of the country was always a mistake

Stories of the Week:

Column: We can’t blame the unmasked and unvaccinated for being irresponsible? Really? – As thousands of unmasked motorcyclists carouse in the streets of Sturgis, S.D.; as protesters greet vaccine and mask mandates with comparisons to Hitler; as vaccination rates lag and COVID caseloads climb, we’re also seeing — paradoxically — a wave of sympathy for those who have failed to behave responsibly.

US Capitol riot judges step up as the conscience of democracy

OnlyFans Says It Will Ban Sexually Explicit Content How to say you want to go bankrupt without using the work bankrupt…

Haiti quake death toll rises to 1,419, injured now at 6,000

T-Mobile Investigating Claims of Massive Customer Data Breach

This Week in the Pandemic:

Nearly 5,600 Hillsborough students isolated or quarantined one week into school year

Vaccine Outrage: Why the Delta Variant’s ‘Sudden Doom Effect’ Is Making Us Snap – We’ve tried being resilient. We’ve tried having rational conversations with friends and family members about the importance of vaccines and face masks. We are long out of f–ks to give

Texas requests five mortuary trailers in anticipation of Covid deaths – The state’s seven-day average of coronavirus deaths is at its highest since March 2021

Fox News Is Requiring Its Employees to Disclose Their Vaccination Status – Mask-wearing will also be required of everyone irrespective of vaccination status in certain in-office situations

An Alabama doctor watched patients reject the coronavirus vaccine. Now he’s refusing to treat them

Stories of Interest to Queers and Our Allies:

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Approves LGBTQ Rights Ordinance

Illinois expands legislation to protect LGBTQ service members

LGBTQ freedoms — all of our freedoms — depend on restoring voting rights – Our democracy has long been improved by marginalized communities pursuing a place in American life

How Lil Nas X Is Revolutionizing Hip-Hop as an Empowered Gay Star

Residents build giant Pride flag in view of high school after school board bans it – "I wish it could be 10 times bigger," one of the organizers said. The school board said that Pride flags are "divisive" because they don’t include straight students

This Week in Deplorable People:

Grand jury indicts Minn. GOP operative on child sex trafficking charges

Pharmacist Arrested for Selling COVID Vaccination Cards Online – A licensed pharmacist was arrested in Chicago on charges related to his alleged sale of dozens of authentic Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 vaccination cards on eBay

Oregon School Board Passes Motion to Ban Pride Flags, BLM Signs

‘A Big Win’: USPS Must Turn Over Docs About DeJoy’s Potential Conflicts of Interest – "The stench of corruption wafting up from Louis DeJoy’s office is so thick seagulls are flying in from the Jersey Shore and circling overhead."

Trump Gushed About Handing Afghanistan Over to the Taliban, Who Would Then ‘Kill Terrorists’

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.

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

We have reached the fifth and final Friday in July!

I feel as if I’ve just been playing catch-up at work all week. Our region has mostly avoided the heat this week, for which I am grateful.

Anyway, it’s time for this week’s Friday Five in which I bring you: a headline I felt needed its own topic, the top five stories of the week, five stories of interest to queers and our allies, five stories about people who aren’t thinking, and five stories about haters and deplorables (plus two posts I wrote plus some notable obituaries).

This Week in Deserves Its Own Category!:

CDC wants vaccinated Americans to wear masks indoors in Covid hot spots – The announcement marks a sharp change in policy for the nation’s leading health agency

Stories of the Week:

Mysterious ‘Jetpack Man’ may have been spotted again in the skies near LAX – Air traffic controllers warned pilots that a person in a jetpack was spotted flying near LAX

This Man Does Not Make Poppers – For decades, poppers have been the go-to sex drug for gay men. But where do they come from? This is a very odd tale…

Some people in Missouri are getting vaccinated in secret to avoid backlash from loved ones, doctor says

These kids had questions about trans athletes. So they asked one. – Sometimes, the power of a simple conversation is all it takes to understand something you didn’t before

Lil Nas X’s New Video Is More Than a Homoerotic Prison Romp

Stories of Interest to Queers and Our Allies:

Stephanie Dolson is first out American athlete to win Olympic gold medal – With over 160 out athletes participating in the Tokyo Olympics, Dolson isn’t the first member of "Team LGBTQ" to win a gold medal, but she’s still a trailblazer

Illinois Decriminalizes HIV Exposure, Adds Gender-Neutral Birth Certificate Option And More As Pritzker Signs LGBTQ-Affirming Laws

Gay athletes more comfortable living their lives openly — and that’s a good thing – It’s not as though gay athletes suddenly appeared out of the blue. They’ve always been here, just hidden, fearful, living closeted lives while playing the games they love

Atlanta mayor hosts job fair for LGBTQ applicants

A Chicago suburb is finally repealing a law that bans people from wearing opposite sex clothing – The ordinance governed "obscene and immoral acts." And relics of old anti-LGBTQ laws like it are still on the books nationwide

This Week in What Were They Thinking:

Woman Charged After Viral Close Call With Grizzly – The woman videoed approaching within 15 feet of a Grizzly sow and her two cubs in Yellowstone National Park in May of this year has been charged with two citations. Investigators used tips and an investigation of social media posts to identify the Illinois tourist

Elizabeth Warren Schools Billionaire Over Social Security – Billionaire thinks he’s gonna get one over on Sen. Elizabeth Warren with "easy" question

Washington State Patrol’s toxicology lab ran tests in office contaminated by meth, possibly jeopardizing thousands of cases

Florida Man Hospitalized After Jumping Into Jaguar Exhibit at Zoo

Punk’d: Fox Airs Deep-Faked Story Stoking White Resentment – Fox should air a retraction since the "letter" they whine about turns out to be from a right-wing astroturf organization.

This Week in Deplorable People:

Trump Family Loses Big Appeals Court Fight to Force Fraud and Deceptive Practices Lawsuit into Secret Arbitration

Defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick Is Charged With Sexually Assaulting A Teen

Former Virginia policeman charged in Capitol riot to stay in jail after buying guns – A federal judge called his purchases "a remarkable shopping spree for high-powered assault weapons."

11th Circuit strikes down Florida megachurch challenge to hate group label – An evangelical Christian ministry listed as an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center was not discriminated against when its application to fundraise through Amazon’s charitable website was denied, the court ruled

Gaetz Hastily Escorted Out of Press Conference as Reporter Repeatedly Asks: ‘Are You a Pedophile?’

In Memoriam:

ZZ Top Bassist Dusty Hill Dead At Age 72

Ron Popeil, ‘Set it and forget it’ infomercial star, dead at 86

Things I Wrote:

Miss Piggy was aggressively straight, yet it took decades to acknowledge the existence of Muppets who aren’t straight

Mid-week Update: Scared little boys playing soldier