I continue to feel better every day, so the cold/flu seems to be licked. Work has gotten very busy as some impossible deadlines bear down on us. Which means I haven’t gotten much of my own writing done lately.

But that’s enough about me!

Welcome to my Friday Five: Only the top five (IMHO) stories of the week and videos (plus notable obituaries and a recap of my blog posts).

Stories of the Week:

Sessions’ DOJ Charged A White Supremacist With Terrorism. They Just Didn’t Tell Anyone. Because he’s a born-in-the-USA white “christian” white supremacist man, so of course they aren’t making a big deal out of it.

Analyzing the Gender Representation of 34,476 Comic Book Characters.

Are White Evangelicals Sacrificing The Future In Search Of The Past? “While it is difficult to draw a direct connection between the numerical decline of white evangelical Protestants and their increasing isolation on sexual morality, the views of former evangelical Protestants provide some important clues. Analysis of a 2014 Pew study finds that former white evangelicals are far more likely than current white evangelicals to favor same-sex marriage (60 percent vs. 24 percent) and believe that society should accept homosexuality (67 percent vs. 32 percent). They are also substantially younger.”

In an Israeli Cave, Scientists Discover Jawbone of Earliest Modern Human Out of Africa.

The Crazy Story Of How “Clue” Went From Forgotten Flop To Cult Triumph. I love this movie so, so much!

In Memoriam:

Beloved, Visionary Fantasy Writer Ursula K. Le Guin Dies at 88.

The Fantastic Ursula K. Le Guin – The literary mainstream once relegated her work to the margins. Then she transformed the mainstream.

Ursula K. Le Guin, award-winning science fiction writer, has died at 88v.

We Will Remember Freedom : Why It Matters that Ursula K. Le Guin Was an Anarchist.

Things I wrote:

She Knew What She Was Doing and Why – Ursula K. Le Guin.

Women’s March 2018.

Weekend Update 1/20/2018: One year later….

Videos!

Ursula K. Le Guin accepts the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters at the 65th National Book Awards on November 19, 2014:

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We Need to Talk About Stephen Miller:

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Korea’s First Openly Gay K-Pop Star Debuts His First Video, ‘Neverland’:

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The Killers – Rut:

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Fischerspooner – TopBrazil (Official Video) [Ultra Music]:

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I think I might be over the cold. I crossed some tipping point on Wednesday afternoon, the fever went away, most of the symptoms had faded. Thursday morning I woke up feeling fine. So I went into the office—I put in a full day and never hit that wall of exhaustion that happened the previous time I went into the office. I don’t feel 100% well, yet, but I also don’t have anything I can point to as a symptom other than still feeling a little tired.

Enough about that!

Welcome to my Friday Five: Only the top five (IMHO) stories of the week and videos (plus notable obituaries and a recap of my blog posts).

Stories of the Week:

A brief overview of the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiʻi’s Queen Liliʻuokalani, and U.S.’s illegal annexation.

Most Americans considered Trump’s ‘shithole’ comments racist .

Trump administration’s new ‘religious freedom’ rule will encourage discrimination in health care. It will also kill people.

Opinion: The Turpin child abuse story fits a widespread and disturbing homeschooling pattern.

Bruce McArthur charged with 1st-degree murders of 2 men who disappeared from Toronto’s gay village. Police are mum about whether they can tie this suspect to several other similar recent disappearances…

In Memoriam:

How Peter Wyngarde went from a Japanese prison camp to 70s style icon who refused to button his shirt collar.

How Peter Wyngarde was outed as gay by police in 1975, destroying career of the 1970s pin up who inspired Austin Powers.

Obituary – Dolores O’Riordan, lead singer of the Cranberries.

Dolores O’Riordan to Be Laid to Rest Tuesday, Though Cause of Death May Not Be Determined for Months.

Director Hugh Wilson, Creator Of ‘WKRP In Cincinnati,’ Dies At 74.

Hugh Wilson, ‘Police Academy’ Director and ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’ Creator, Dies at 74.

Things I wrote:

Storytelling should not be preaching, part 3.

Confessions of a whiny patient.

Confessions of a musical junkie (or, a crazy writer and his crazier playlists).

Videos!

Ash vs Evil Dead | Season 3 Official Trailer | STARZ:

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MSNBC’s Joy Reid Gives Master Class in How to Shut a Trump Drone DOWN:

Embedding doesn’t work, click here!

Samantha Bee on Full Frontal Investigates on TBS: Is This Racist Racist?:

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Justin Timberlake – Supplies (Official Video):

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Troye Sivan – My My My! (with so many strobe effects that the video has a warning that it might induce seizures):

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My husband and I have both come down with nasty colds, though we have very different symptoms. I haven’t gotten much writing done outside of work all week.

Welcome to my Friday Five: Only the top five (IMHO) stories of the week and five videos (plus notable obituaries and a recap of my blog posts).

Stories of the Week:

Found: A Giant Extinct Burrowing Bat.

Close encounters of the racist kind.

Alleged White Supremacist Is Charged With Terrorism After Stopping Amtrak Train.

The Bully’s Pulpit: On the elementary structure of domination. From a few years ago, but ever informative: “Psychologists had long assumed that mean kids were taking out their insecurities on others. No. It turns out that most bullies act like self-satisfied little pricks not because they are tortured by self-doubt, but because they actually are self-satisfied little pricks. Indeed, such is their self-assurance that they create a moral universe in which their swagger and violence becomes the standard by which all others are to be judged; weakness, clumsiness, absentmindedness, or self-righteous whining are not just sins, but provocations that would be wrong to leave unaddressed.”

Millions Are Hounded for Debt They Don’t Owe. One Victim Fought Back, With a Vengeance.

In Memoriam:

R.I.P. astronaut John Young, the first man to get yelled at for smuggling a sandwich into space.

John Young, ex-astronaut who walked on moon and commanded 1st shuttle flight, dies.

R.I.P. Jerry Van Dyke.

Remembering the one-of-a-kind Jerry Van Dyke.

Rest In Peace, Bard Richmond. Bard is the man who gave me my first job out of college…

Matt Palazzolo, Young Gay Rights Activist and Actor, Has Died on a Mountain Hike.

Things I wrote:

Magnanimous oppressors and two-way streets.

Confessions of the sometimes clueless.

Videos!

The Dick Van Dyke Show Full Episodes S01E26 I Am My Brother’s Keeper:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here. Also, it’s the first episode of a two-parter, and you should really watch the second one, too.)

Anderson Cooper Ridicules Trump’s Claim That News Anchors Sent Letters Praising Him for Running a Meeting Well:

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Tapper to Trump: Look up, facts are in front of you:

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Calum Scott – You Are The Reason (Official):

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Jussie Smollett Freedom:

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The work week hasn’t been bad. It’s kind of nice that most of the office was shut down for most of the time I was out. There was a whole lot less email to dig through on my first day back, for instance. But, since I slept in just about every day of my 11-day vacation, my body has not been happy about getting up to go to work!

Welcome to my Friday Five: Only the top five (IMHO) stories of the week and videos (plus notable obituaries and a recap of my blog posts).

Stories of the Week:

In 2017, you were less likely to die in an airplane crash, but very likely to have a rough time as a passenger.

Fort Smith Mosque Forgives Its Vandal, Paying His Debts.

Where Do Ex-Evangelicals Come From?

Rich People Are the Worst at Relationships, Say Scientists.

It’s been one year since N.J. ditched cash bail. Here’s how it’s going.

Local Climate:

Seattle Sets New Rain Records.

In Memoriam:

Louis Collins, a titan of the antiquarian books scene, has passed away. “For a bookseller who made his name as a kind of human Google in an analog time, Collins adapted surprisingly well to the computerized age of bookselling.”

Washington Booksellers Remember Louis Collins, “One of the Best Bookmen in the Northwest”.

Things I wrote:

Weekend Update: Is 2017 over yet?

Confessions of an equivocator with delusions of ruthlessness.

Videos!

Everything Ellen Knows About #DeepState and Eric Trump:

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LISTEN TO URSULA K. LE GUIN ON CELEBRITY CULTURE AND FICTION VS. FACT:

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Our President Never Planned On Being Our President:

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Winter Storm Grayson Brings Snow To Tallahassee, Florida For The First Time In Years:

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54 Years of Doctor Who in 2 Minutes:

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It is also the eighth day of my Christmas vacation. I thought this week would be easier to narrow the stories down to five, because we’re at the part of the year where all the news sites and publications are posted year in review pieces and listicles to fill the gap for all the contributors taking time for the holidays. But even with that, I still had a bunch to sort through.

Welcome to my Friday Five: Only the top five (IMHO) stories of the week and videos (plus notable obituaries and a recap of my posts).

Stories of the Week:

A New Species of Giant Octopus Has Been Hiding in Plain Sight.

From Minneapolis to New York City, nation faces frigid New Year’s Eve and start to 2018.

Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton Retain Most Admired Titles.

4 positive political moments for the LGBTQ community that somehow got past Trump.

Ten Federal Judges Have Now Rejected Trump’s Transgender Military Ban.

In Memoriam:

Rose Marie, ‘Dick Van Dyke Show’ Star, Dies at 94. Rose Marie’s character on the Dick Van Dyke Show, Sally Rogers, was my favorite back in the day.

I missed this op-ed Rose Marie penned earlier this month, even though I’ve been following her on Twitter: ‘Dick Van Dyke’ Star Rose Marie: What Happened When I Publicly Shamed My Harasser (Guest Column).

Rose Marie and her 90 years in show biz are saluted in documentary ‘Wait for Your Laugh’. “Baby Rose Marie was a child star before Shirley Temple was born, sang for Al Capone, opened the first big casino in Las Vegas for Bugsy Siegel and changed the world by playing a female writer on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” when women didn’t work on TV. Spanning vaudeville, radio, Broadway, film, television and more, this new documentary tells the story of the longest active career in entertainment, but it also looks at what it was like to be a female performer in the 20th century, how to work through periods of extreme personal heartbreak, as well as, how Rose Marie and her fellow nonagenarians Dick Van Dyke, Carl Reiner and Peter Marshall still have the drive to create today.”

Things I wrote:

What’s on your list?

We need a rainbow Christmas….

Words and Images: untreatable case of I don’t give a sh*t.

Videos!

Sam Smith – Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas in the Live Lounge:

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December 2017! Best News Bloopers & Amazing Reporter Fails 2017 !! Funny video:

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Remembering Colo the first gorilla was born in a zoo, 1956–2017:

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THE CHRISTMAS OLYMPIC CHALLENGE | TWERK OFF ft. Matty Lee | Tom Daley:

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New Year’s Eve – Lea Michele “Auld Lang Syne”:

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It is also the first day of my Christmas vacation I don’t have to go back to the office or think about work until January, and that is a very good thing. I’m not quite as cheerful as I ought to be. First, a friend of many of my friends was one of the victims who died in the train derailment this week. Then, the man who gave me my first job in the telecommunications industry and was one of the best bosses ever lost his long battle with cancer this week.

Welcome to my Friday Five: Only the top five (IMHO) stories of the week and five videos (plus notable obituaries and a recap of my posts).

Stories of the Week:

‘Merry Christmas’ Is Bogus Issue, Voters Say 4-1, and other findings….

Kym Worthy: 817 serial rapists IDed in tests of Detroit rape kits.

Paleontologists Reconstructing Lost Worlds With Poop.

Sorry, NRA: The U.S. was actually founded on gun control – If you study your history, you’ll see it. Start with James Madison’s first draft of the Second Amendment.

The Curious Case Of THE LAST JEDI And Its Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score.

Unmourned Death:

Disgraced cardinal who oversaw Boston clergy sex abuse scandal dies.

In Memoriam:

Friends and Family Remember the Great Pacific Northwest Actor, G. Valmont Thomas.

Things I wrote:

Sunday Funnies, part 26.

A mobile slice of life.

May the calendar keeping bringing happy holidays to you!

Little packages of joy, love, and light.

Videos!

Gay Christmas – Tom Goss:

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OCEAN’S 8 – Official 1st Trailer:

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White Wine In The Sun by Tim Minchin:

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Foo Fighters: Christmas Medley (Live) – SNL:

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Carol of the Bells of Notre Dame:

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