It’s Friday! A Friday in which every source of news is almost certainly going to be giving wall-to-wall coverage of yet another horrific shooting in a public place. Which I’m not going to say anything more about just now.
Anyway, here is a collection of some of the things that I ran across over the course of the week which struck me as worthy of being shared. Sorted into categories with headings so you can skip more easily:
Link of the Week
Body of man decomposed in car for nearly two weeks with small arsenal at home.
This week in Difficult to Classify
Nightmarish video of gun-firing drone to be investigated by US aviation authorities.
When Was the Last Time You Read To Kill a Mockingbird? Do You Remember How Funny It Is?
A TRUE CRIME TALE OF COMIC BOOKS, CORRUPTION, AND A $9 MILLION VANISHING ACT.
Happy News!
Two Fox Babies Adopted by Mama Cat Growing Up with Kitten ‘Siblings’.
Touching Image of Two Shelter Pups Hugging Before Being Schedule To Die, Saves Their Lives.
Science!
Pluto and Charon Keep Getting WEIRDER.
Meet the Scientists Who Helped Make Those Groundbreaking Pluto Photos Possible.
Russian entrepreneur launches $100 million search for aliens, backed by Stephen Hawking.
“The Dead Galaxies of the Coma Cluster” -One of the Largest Structures in the Universe.
Red Planet, Icy World? New Picture of Ancient Mars Emerges.
Runaway star creates spectacular shockwave.
June was Earth’s warmest month, and 2015 is its warmest year so far.
Single cell eyeball creature startles scientists.
Plants Murder Bugs to Pay Their Bodyguards.
As we marveled at Pluto, this spectacular comet image came out.
Large Hadron Collider discovers new particle.
Apples and Oranges — A Comparison.
Americans’ Air Conditioning Habit Is Eco-Friendly. The European myth that we use more a/c is based on comparing American cities with average summer temps on 88F (31C) to European cities with average summer temps of 73F (23C).
Surprises from Placental Mammal Phylogeny 1: Pangolins Are Close Kin of Carnivorans.
Sending Quantum Messages Through Space.
A New Planet That’s Almost — But Not Quite — Like Earth. Even the “almost” is stretching things more than a bit…
After Pluto there’s still plenty of the solar system left to explore.
Astronomers Spot a Intriguing ‘5-Star’ Multiple System.
Spectacular Einstein Ring –“Reveals Secrets of the Early Universe.”
Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculation!
Joe Phillips’ ‘Silver Screen Heroes’ Imagines an Old Hollywood Take on Superhero Movies.
Why Science Fiction Is a Fabulous Tool in the Fight for Social Justice.
George RR Martin urges ‘every true fan’ to rally for Hugo awards vote.
CHOSEN ONES, SPECIALNESS AND THE NARRATIVE OF THE ONE.
9 Diverse Fantasy Books That Will Challenge Your Idea of Fantasy Fiction.
DEAR GUY WHO IS MAD BECAUSE I WROTE A GAY CHARACTER IN A BOOK. Favorite line: “you’re on the third book of a series and this character isn’t new, so…? The whole gay thing has kinda been in there since the first book.”
Five Ways to Add More Diverse Writers to Your White Male Dominated Reading Lists.
Culture war news:
‘You’ll burn’: Bigoted Georgia vandals paint dire warning on pro-LGBT church.
Editor fires back at racist complaints: “Championing of diversity does not extend to bigots.”
City fires investigator who found cops at fault in shootings.
Indiana-Style Bill Promoting Anti-Gay Discrimination Gains Steam In Congress.
Florida Parents Try to Ban Books With Characters That Pray to Non-Christian God.
This Letter To The Editor Shoots Down Every Argument Against Gay Marriage In Just 150 Words.
Dear Adam: Being Gay Is Not Just about Sex.
This Is How Republicans Are Secretly Denying Marriage Licenses to Gay Couples.
This Bizarre Bill Would Protect Discrimination Against Gays—and, Um, Single Mothers.
Judicial Elections Make It Impossible for Alabama Judges to Protect Individual Rights.
This Week in the Clown Car
Republican candidacy has become more of a business model than a political commitment.
Andrea Mitchell: Why Didn’t GOP ‘Stand Up’ to Trump on Birtherism, Immigration?
‘You’re Fundamentally Wrong On Civics’: Rachel Maddow Explains The Constitution To Rick Santorum.
(There were many, many more outrageous headlines regarding the clowns scrambling to out-bigot each over for the Republican nomination; but sometimes enough is enough.)
This week in Other Politics:
I missed this! And it begins with an Isaac Asimov reference! Primary Amnesia: What the press forgets every election.
A letter to my dismal allies on the US left: Please, radical leftists, spare us the bitterness and negativity; we need hope and incremental victories and you provide neither. This is from three years ago, but is still true.
The unexpected and ingenious strategy of Obama’s second term.
On a similar note: Obama on the Hoofbeats of History.
Let’s stop pretending Republicans have a serious critique of the Iran deal.
This Week in Racism
16 Gut-Wrenching Photos Show What a KKK Rally Looks Like in 2015.
WATCH: KKK supporter uses ‘gorilla’ taunts to mock black crowd during tense Confederate flag rally.
This Week in Love vs Bigotry
How Bea Arthur Became a Champion for Homeless LGBT Youth.
This Week in Feminism
My wedding was perfect – and I was fat as hell the whole time.
This Week in Sexism
The Mansplainingest Mansplainer Who Ever Internetted.
News for queers and our allies:
Sexual Orientation Bias Common Among Health Care Providers.
Minister Raises $2,000 Bail for Black Woman ‘Arrested While Trans’.
Thomas Roberts Becomes First Out Gay Man To Host Nightly Network News.
Hollywood Gayze: Mark Simpson on Hollywood heartthrobs going ‘gayish’.
Transgender experience isn’t caused by a hormone imbalance so just give it up already.
As a Gay Widower, What the Word Marriage Means to Me.
A brief history of homophobia in Dewey decimal classification.
Why Coming Out As Bisexual Is Perpetually Exhausting.
Ending the “Gay Exception”: The Marriage Ruling and a Fight to Make Ohio and America Whole.
The obligatory Sad Puppies/Hugo Awards update:
That Sledge-Hammer was Always Meant To Hit There: A Hugo Theory.
the new shtick: bring it all down?
Farewells:
And other news:
Entrepreneurs don’t have a special gene for risk—they come from families with money.
Things I wrote:
Authorial i/n/t/e/n/t/ consent.
Hugo Ballot: My final take before voting closes.
Enchanted caves and bastard princes: more of why I love sf/f.
Videos!
Batman’s Awesome Backhand:
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Spectre Official Trailer #1 (2015) – Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz Action Movie HD:
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‘America’s Best Christian’ roasts Goodwill: They’re ‘secular charlatans’ using religious tricks to get rich:
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Sleeping clouded leopard cubs at Point Defiance Zoo:
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‘Hugging Dog’ viral photo saves pair from being put down:
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Kelly Clarkson covers “Bye bye bye”:
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Font Folly 