The evil smoke came back. I spent much of the week wearing a breathing mask when I was outside. And the temperature was higher than usual most of the week, again. We’re supposed to get rain this weekend. I suspect it won’t be enough to take out the wild fires. Fortunately, we have more masks, now. So if the smoke comes back we’ll be ready. And if it doesn’t, we’ll be ready for next year.

Which brings us to the Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) science stories of the week, five sci fi stories, five other stories, five queer stories, and the top five videos (plus my blog posts).

Science stories:

Mishka the asthmatic otter at Seattle Aquarium has mastered her inhaler to get through the haze.

Medieval Poisons.

Breathing Seattle’s air right now is like smoking 7 cigarettes. Blame wildfires.

Ice Confirmed at the Moon’s Poles.

Yes, Pluto is a planet.

Sci Fi Stories of the Week:

“Racism and Science Fiction” by Samuel R. Delany.

2018 Hugo Awards Celebrate Apocalypse, Robotics and Social Satire.

Picking Through Hugo Numbers.

Winners of Three or More Consecutive Hugos in Same Category.

Hugo Awards winners showcase science fiction’s diversity.

Other News:

The Price of an Evangelical Christian Soul. “Donald Trump brought Evangelicals to a high mountain overlooking America and told them it could all be theirs—and all it would cost them is their souls. In the dizzying storm of a Presidential campaign and all that was laid out before them, this seemed like a bargain.”

Aston Martin building 28 Goldfinger DB5 reproductions — complete with gadgets.

The GOP Is Attacking Progressives for ‘Extremist’ Views Like Medicare for All – Guess Who Supports It?

SUPERSONIC ART: Simon Lee, Illustrations. Absolutely lovely.

Elizabeth Warren Takes on Corporate America.

Queer stories of the Week:

Oregon Man Arrested for Threatening to Bomb HIV-Positive Gay Neighbors.

Whose Afraid of Female Masculinity?

After violent threats, family of transgender girl looks to leave town.

How LGBT People — And Their Parents — Are Fighting For Queer Rights In The South.

Man Charged in Murder of Gay UPenn Student Blaze Bernstein Denies Hate Crime Enhancement in Court.

Things I wrote:

Hugo Winners 2018 — and how close my ballot was to the final winners.

Doesn’t anything last anymore—or, insights from a penny-pinching packrat.

Videos!

Fascists to Watch 2018 | August 15, 2018 Act 1 | Full Frontal on TBS:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Madonna performs ‘Like A Prayer’, ‘Beautiful Game’ and ‘Hallelujah’ at the 2018 MET Gala in New:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

OMAROSA! A Randy Rainbow Song Parody:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Cher – SOS [Official HD Audio] (I pre-ordered the album, so so far I’ve been getting the singles about an hour before the official audio is released on YouTube…):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Calvin Harris, Sam Smith – Promises (Official Lyric Video):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

This has been a weird week, with really bad air quality because of smoke from wildfires near and far. The teeny bit of silver lining is that it didn’t get as hot as it was forecast in the middle of the week because all the smoke was reflecting so much sunlight. It was still very unpleasant. And as I type this is not completely over. I’m driving across the state to see my Mom on her birthday, which I hope will be more pleasant than much of the news I had to sift through for this week’s post.

Which brings us to the Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week, five stories of the unpleasant kind, the top five videos, notable obituaries (plus my blog posts).

Stories of the Week:

Mike Godwin: One Year After Charlottesville’s “Unite The Right” Riots: Following Karl Popper, We Should Tolerate Intolerance, Within Reason. The maker of Godwin’s Law expounds on Karl Popper’s Paradox of Tolerance.

Edward Gorey’s Vintage Illustrations for H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds.

Rules Won’t Save Twitter. Values Will. And since they have no values…

Weird Prehistoric Plant Turns Out To Be Weird Prehistoric Animal.

Going Clearwater: The Illusory “Firewall” of the Writers of the Future Contest.

Unpleasant News:

Catholic Priests Abused 1,000 Children in Pennsylvania, Report Says.

Wave of support for transgender 12-year-old threatened with castration by community members.

Right-wing media pastor and GOP-backed congressional nominee favorably remembered when “homosexuality was once criminalized”.

Catholic School That Suspended Woman in Same-Sex Marriage Took $6.5 Million in State Funds.

Black Americans are still victims of hate crimes more than any other group.

In Memoriam:

Early fandom artist Vicky Wyman passes away.

Robert Dix, Actor in ‘Forbidden Planet’ and ‘Forty Guns,’ Dies at 83.

REST IN POWER: Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin dies at 76.

Aretha Franklin, The Undisputed ‘Queen Of Soul,’ Dead At 76.

Aretha Franklin, Indomitable ‘Queen of Soul,’ Dies at 76.

Aretha Franklin once called The Times to explain some lyrics from ‘Respect’.

Things I wrote:

Why I’ll never be a great copy editor — or, the beauty of ambiguity.

Videos!

Classic Sesame Street – Mr. Rogers Visits:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Aretha Franklin – Bridge Over Troubled Water:

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Aretha Franklin – Freeway Of Love (Video):

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Watch Aretha Franklin Accompany Herself at the Kennedy Center Honors:

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Aretha Franklin – I Say A Little Prayer: her very best performance!:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Aretha Franklin – Respect:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

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:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

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

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

The Spy Who Loved the NRA :

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

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Jake Shears – Big Bushy Mustache (Official Video):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

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:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Rudy Giuliani Doesn’t Know If Colluding Is Crime:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

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?:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

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:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Trump Whines ‘This Never Happened To Obama’:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Jake Shears – Sad Song Backwards (Lyric Video):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Troye Sivan – Dance To This ft. Ariana Grande:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

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

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

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:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

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

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

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

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

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

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

David Guetta & Sia – Flames (Official Video):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

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):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

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

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Cazwell – Cakes:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Stephen Colbert: Red Hot Congressional Strzok Fest 2018:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Youngr – Lost In Translation (Official Video):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

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:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

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

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Keiynan Lonsdale – Preach (Official Music Video):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

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:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

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

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

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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