Friday Links (I can't believe it's almost October edition)

We have now reached the fifth and final Friday in September. The most blesséd month is drawing to a close.

This week was weird. I had such a good week at work last week. And then a lot of fun celebrating my birthday, until we got the next set of news about the selling of our building. So we spent a lot of this week doing a lot of cleaning and sorting and hauling. My feet are still sore.

Anyway, here are links to some of the interesting things I read on the web this week, sorted into various topic areas.

Links of the Week

My Son, the Prince of Fashion. This story isn't about fashion. It's about a boy, his father, family, and finding your people...

HERE’S WHY TEAL PUMPKINS ARE SO IMPORTANT FOR TRICK-OR-TREATERS THIS HALLOWEEN.

Happy News!

Jeffrey Tambor, Coming Out, and “The Most Important Time To Be An Artist”.

This week in Comments, Trolls, and Wankers

The One Psychological Characteristic That Online Trolls Tend to Share.

This week in awful news

2 kids, teacher shot at Townville Elementary School; Teen arrested.

Teen kills father, opens fire on South Carolina schoolyard.

1 Dead, More Than 100 Hurt in Hoboken Train Crash.

Remembering the victims of the Cascade Mall shooting.

This week in evil people

Stumpf Pay Surrender Buys Time But Lawmakers Say It’s Not Enough.

State Senate Candidate Calls Gay Teen Who Committed Suicide A Murderer, Internet Comes For Him.

News for queers and our allies:

Can Gay Parents Provide Everything Their Children Need? No, but Straight Parents Can’t Either: The Children of Gay Parents, Like All Kids, Need More Than Their Parents Can Provide.

'Everybody Could Feel Safe': Remembering LA's Revolutionary Black Gay Nightclub.

Why the Queer Gaming Conventions GaymerX Puts Politics Second.

A Light During Darkest Days of AIDS: Hat Sister John Michael Gray Dies.

For LGBT Students, History Lessons Often Leave Out A Key Chapter.

With Insurers on Board, More Hospitals Offer Transgender Surgery.

The Closet Is Still Killing Us.

We Asked People Why They’re Proud To Be Bisexual And The Responses Are Perfect.

Norwegians now can change genders legally with a mouse click.

I‘m the gay son of a preacher man. When I came out to Dad, he was perfect.

First Pride Flag Launched Into Stratosphere.

Professional skateboarder Brian Anderson comes out: 'I'm a skateboarder first, gay second'.

A Trans Life, Captured by Mark Seliger.

Has It Really ‘Gotten Better’ for Gay Kids?

Same-sex couple celebrate their modern-day fairytale by dressing up as Disney princesses.

Science!

Science Is What Made America Great.

Colossal wasps' nest found in attic is the stuff of nightmares.

Mercury Is More Earth-Like Than We Thought.

World’s First Baby Born With DNA From Three Parents.

All of our astrological signs are wrong, according to NASA.

Self-powered fish tag tracks fish for as long as they swim.

Scientists Have Discovered A Way To Kill Superbugs Without Antibiotics.

‘This is one little pond and yet there’s thousands in there’: Okotoks mass poisons illegally dumped goldfish.

The UN plans to go to space in 2021.

Japanese inventor's typhoon turbines harness storms' energy.

Scientists find evidence for alternate theory of how life arose.

Happy Galactic Tick Day! You just moved around the Milky Way.

Bruce Campbell, Justin Willman and Nick Swardson deliver groundbreaking scientific discoveries about social media.

Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculation!

Mark Reads ‘Hogfather’: Part 17.

The Space Between Us trailer: Asa Butterfield leaves Mars for Earth in search of answers.

This week in Writing

11 Ways to Ask for Writing Advice (And 10 Major Mistakes to Avoid).

This Week in Tech

How not to get hacked by Mr. Robot.

the internet of crappy, crappy things.

This Week in Inclusion

Who Gets to Write What?

LGBTQ and Other “Diverse” Books Lead Banned Books List.

Why It Matters That Greg Rucka Finally Admitted Wonder Woman Is Queer.

This Week in Not Understanding Diversity

Let's Discuss Cultural Appropriation with Owls.

New NBC Series Makes Light of Human Trafficking and Asian Stereotypes.

Culture war news:

NOM continues to called blog post by anti-gay reviewer a "study".

Mother Sues Hospital for Discriminating Against Deceased Trans Son.

Is the NYT going to give every hate group in America a similar sympathetic article? Split Over Donald Trump and Cut Off by Culture Wars, Evangelicals Despair.

Many Evangelical Christians Feel Out of Place in Society (But You Shouldn’t Feel Bad About It).

Insightful Poll Reveals Who Opposes LGBT People on Two Big Issues.

Activists Say They Have Signatures Needed To Put Repeal Of Transgender Rights Law Before Voters.

Christian Activist: Sex Offenders Live Near Target Stores, So Trans People May Rape Our Daughters.

This Week in Hate Crimes

GAY MEN ATTACKED AT SAN FRANCISCO’S FOLSOM FESTIVAL.

This Week Regarding the Lying Liar:

Out of his depth, Donald Trump clings to deception."Knowledge is not elitism."

Donald Trump “Jokes” About Kicking Non-Christians Out of His Rally.

Dear liberals for #GaryJohnson: you're just voting for a tea party Republican who likes weed and helping Trump win.

A historian on why so many people want Donald Trump to "make America great again". "Hopes can be extinguished but nostalgia is irrefutable."

This week in Politics:

Why do Republicans support a bigot for president?

At the First Debate, Clinton Faced Asymmetric Warfare—and Won.

VOTING THIRD PARTY IS THE ELECTORAL EQUIVALENT OF SENDING THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS.

Here’s How We Need to Watch the Next 2 Debates.

Gary Johnson is not worth any liberal’s protest vote: He’s a free-market ideologue who would work to undermine large pieces of the left’s program.

Senate Votes to Override Obama Veto on 9/11 Victims Bill.

Political Provocateur Randy Rainbow Is the Best Thing About The Election.

Early votes: High interest buoys Clinton in key states.

Where Does Chris Christie Go from Here?

Taco Trucks Register New Voters.

This Week in Racism

“I Wanted to Dramatize the Racist Attitude of the Majority”.

This Week in Misogyny

The narrative of women in fear and pain.

Things I wrote:

Weekend Update 9/24/2016: Bring the SOB to justice.

Act my age?

I don’t need to watch the debate, I know which candidate thinks I have a right to exist, and which doesn’t.

…on my mind….

Videos!

***OMG!*** NEW “Will & Grace” scene about 2016 Election:



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Supergirl 2x01 Sneak Peek "The Adventures of Supergirl" (HD) (OMG! Tyler is soooooo adorkable as Clark Kent!):



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'American Male' Short Film:



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EXCLUSIVE׃ Adam Lambert Nails 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' Ballads Behind the Scenes:



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Niall Horan - This Town (Live, 1 Mic 1 Take):



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"Radio Gaga" Hong Kong Sep28.2016 Queen+Adam Lambert:



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Friday Links (blind dog and his seeing-eye dog edition)

It's already the fourth Friday in September! You know what that means? Well, this year it means I'm on vacation. I'm taking a couple of vacation days because it's my birthday this weekend. A company I used to work for gave each employee their birthday off as a paid holiday, and I liked it, so when I've got the vacation time to spare, I've kept doing it.

This week was extremely productive at my day job. Which meant my brain was pretty worn out at the end of each day. Add that I was still recovering from being sick the week before, and I think I managed to write two small scenes the entire week. *sigh* Oh, well, I'm hoping to get my mental batteries recharged here and maybe, now that another couple of impossible deadlines have been met, I can have a more reasonable workload in the day time.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

And remember, September babies are superior!

Anyway, here are links to some of the interesting things I read on the web this week, sorted into various topic areas.

Links of the Week

An Appreciation of Dolly Parton, America's Greatest Living Artist.

Tiny Rescued Pomeranian Serves as Seeing Eye Dog for His Blind Best Friend.

This week in Comments, Trolls, and Wankers

Making Peace With an Internet Overrun With Trolls.

Online Comments Sections Are Terrible. Monetizing Them Would Make Them Worse.

Have Comment Sections on News Media Websites Failed? Four editors weigh in...

It’s great news that NPR is killing off comment sections.

Rape Culture Strong in Online Comments, USC Study Finds.

Why We Turned Off Comments: It’s not permanent. But we think we can do better. We'll see...

One year ago, one study gave hope: Can comment sections contain (gasp!) rational, coherent, civil debate? Maybe? Sometimes?

This week in stupid

Why one of N.J.'s most cherished landmarks is now off limits.

This week in evil people

Twitter Suspends Right Winger “Instapundit” After He Calls On Drivers To Run Over Charlotte Protesters.

News for queers and our allies:

Can straight people be queer?

We Asked People To Draw Where They Are On The Kinsey Scale And It Was Pure Art. Yes, page through them all, they're great!

The 'B' in LGBT: Why Bisexual Awareness Week Matters.

BISEXUAL BROADWAY STAR ANDY MIENTUS SPEAKS OUT ABOUT BEING ‘LUMPED IN AS GAY’.

Eulogy for the Living: On Losing AfterEllen and Queer Women's Spaces.

Canada: Diocese of Toronto elects first openly gay bishop.

Science!

Are fireflies flickering out?

Indigenous Australians most ancient civilisation on Earth, DNA study confirms.

Jessica Cantlon seeks the origins of numerical thinking.

One Snow Leopard Needs a Protected Range Bigger Than Aruba.

Breakthrough Study Explains Why We Arrest Moms for Putting Kids in Nearly Non-Existent 'Danger'.

Bumble bee is proposed for U.S. endangered species status.

Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculation!

Love Is Love, The LGBTQ Comic Fundraiser For Orlando Shooting Victims.

This Crash Course in the History of Black Science Fiction will Change Your Reading Life!

You don't have to take the reviewer's word for it, here it is: A Crash Course in the History of Black Science Fiction.

Friday essay: science fiction’s women problem.

We should remember HG Wells for his social predictions, not just his scientific ones.

How Comic Books Helped Me Come Out As Bisexual.

The Question: Which Bisexual Comic Characters Deserve A Spotlight?.

This week in Writing

Writing Dreams and Harsh Realities.

This Week in Tech

Yahoo Says 'State-Sponsored Actor' Hacked 500M Accounts. 500 million? That's sounds like every possible account. Oh, and thanks for telling us two years after...

This Week in Covering the News

Fighting Politicians' War on Truth.

This week in Health

Breaking the Synagogue’s Silence on Mental Illness: What You Can Do.

This Week in Inclusion

‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ and other TV shows are smashing myths about bisexuality.

This Week in Police Problems

Police have shot and killed at least 2,195 people since Ferguson.

Why You Should Sign Initiative 873 to Change the State Law on Police Killings.

Marshawn Lynch speaks about Colin Kaepernick national anthem controversy.

Officials: Tulsa police officer "reacted unreasonably," charges filed in Terence Crutcher shooting.

Colin Kaepernick Had No Choice but to Kneel.

Culture war news:

Donald Trump’s Hate-Fueled, Alt-Right Army Hates ‘Faggots’ Too.

Botswana deports U.S. pastor Steven Anderson over homophobic sermons and views.

Religious Residents Protest Gay Israeli Singer As “Avowed Pervert,” Demand He Be Disinvited From Festival.

Campus Preacher Who Said Women Deserve Rape Arrested for Kicking a Woman in the Chest.

North Carolina Pays a Price for Bigotry.

Kentucky Judge: 'I Don't Hug (Men) the Way I Used To' Because of Gay Marriage. What a sad, sad deluded man...

Revisiting Focus on the Family’s Letter from a Christian in 2012.

North Carolina court rejects anti-gay magistrates case.

This Week Regarding the Lying Liar:

Why facts don’t matter to Trump’s supporters.

Trump’s Tax Cuts—and Child Care Plan—Would Be Utterly Worthless for the Middle Class.

Millennials, unlike some other demographics we won’t mention, are getting arrested to protest Donald Trump.

The Nazi Who Originated Donald Trump Jr.’s Skittles Analogy Was Hanged at Nuremberg.

Here's the Proof of Donald Trump's Racism, Sexism & Anti-Gay Rhetoric You've Been Asking for, Trolls.

This week in Politics:

The Origin Story Of The Big Lie That Hillary Clinton Started Birtherism.

Democrats, get your damned big-boy pants on.

Bernie Sanders: ‘This is not the time for a protest vote’.

Why You Really Must Get Behind Hillary, Now.

The Folly of the Protest Vote.

The RNC Autopsy, in the Shadow of Donald Trump .

This Week in Racism

THE CASE FOR WHITE CURIOSITY: INTERROGATING THE DEVASTATING LEGACY OF WHITE SUPREMACY IN AMERICA.

This Week in Sexism

An artist fixed that Jumanji set photo.

Farewells:

RIP Edward Albee, Iconic American Playwright and Proud Gay Man.

Things I wrote:

Normal is an illusion.

The heartland isn’t, and other myths of diversity.

Misleading definitions of middle-ground, or the return of the false equivalency.

Videos!

Pentatonix & Dolly Parton - Jolene:



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Angela Lansbury, 90, Slays With Surprise Live Rendition Of “Beauty And The Beast”:



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Lindsey Stirling & Lang Lang – Spider-Man Theme:



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Friday Links (brave 12-year-old edition)

It's already the third Friday in September?! How did that happen? Oh, well! Don't forget: September babies are superior!

This week has not been a productive week. We both came down sick. Each of us missed a day of work (but not the same day). And I'm not feeling rested and recovered yet. We also got news last week which almost certainly means that we'll have to move next spring when our lease is up or shortly thereafter. I've been living here for 21 years, and I'm not looking forward to the hunting, the packing, or the moving.

Anyway, here are links to some of the interesting things I read on the web this week, sorted into various topic areas.

Links of the Week

9/11 Survivor Schandra Singh on Painting Everyone Who Died That Day.

My Lost Mother’s Last Receipt.

Ketchup sandwiches and other things stupid poor people eat. Or, what clueless people misunderstand about what many people have to do to survive.

Happy News!

Evolution of the 007 logo.

This week in stupid

The Oregon wildlife refuge takeover ended seven months ago. The trial is now getting underway.

This week in awful news

US teens often forced to trade sex work for food, study finds.

Suspected Rapist Told Authorities the Bible Gave Him the Right to Have Sex with Anyone.

‘It was a bloodbath’: Petting-zoo animals killed in overnight dog attack.

This week in the environment

Joint Statement from the Department of Justice, the Department of the Army and the Department of the Interior Regarding Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

News for queers and our allies:

My Junior High Had a Burn Book, and I Was Outed in It.

Moonlight is a beautifully nuanced gay coming-of-age tale.

92-year-old mom has carried "Proud of my lesbian daughters" at NYC Pride Parade for 30 Years.

This is the moment a 12-year-old boy tried to stop 11,000 marching homophobe.

Science!

My favorite weather scientist has a podcast!

Behind the sugar industry’s 50-year mission to axe its link to heart disease.

NEW EVIDENCE SHOWS THE MOON FORMED FROM MELTED BITS OF EARTH.

A Timeline of the Earth's Average Temperature Since the Last Ice Age Glaciation. One of the best graphics ever!

Royal Society Photo Contest Winners Capture Breathtaking Details of Our Rapidly Changing World.

X-Rays From Pluto, Charon’s Weird Red Spot Examined In New Studies.

Children are twice as likely to get their intelligence from mom.

George Price's research into evolution cost him everything: He helped us understand how selflessness could evolve, but his work would have dire personal consequences.

Science Museum row: Ditching this sexist brain quiz ain't rocket science.

Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculation!

More 2016 Dragon Awards Reactions.

Biased Opinion - 2016 Hugo Awards Post Mortem.

Ursula K. LeGuin told her blog readers about a recent medical problem. Here's wishing her a speedy recovery.

STAR WARS SUPER FANS RESTORE UNMOLESTED 1977 PRINT, DISTRIBUTE ILLEGALLY ONLINE.

The Three Fractions of Speculative Fiction.

And other news:

45,000 Pounds of Would-Be Pennies Coat Highway After Delaware Crash .

This week in Writing

STORYTELLERS ARE HACKERS. THE SYSTEM WE’RE BREAKING INTO IS HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS.

This week in Words

How 'budgie smuggler' finally found its way into the Oxford English dictionary.

The Complete List of Lewd-Sounding Town Names in America.

This Week in Tech

How a Twitter Troll Was Revealed to Be a 13-Year-Old Boy (Who's Now Totally Grounded).

This Week in Police Problems

DOJ report spurs police LGBT Advisory Council.

13-year-old African American boy killed by police in Columbus, Ohio.

Culture war news:

This one quote shows what angry white guys mean when they talk about government overreach.

Fox News Commentator Tells Conservative Christians They Must Support Anti-Gay Hate Groups (Video).

Can Christians Learn from Colin Kaepernick?

After a Youth Pastor Raped a Girl, Their Church Asked the Victim to Apologize to the Pastor’s Wife.

Marine drill instructor accused of running a clothes dryer with a Muslim recruit inside.

NC feeling the heat of boycotts because of HB2.

NC Republican who voted for ‘bathroom bill’ panics as poll numbers plunge.

South Africa ​bans anti-gay Arizona pastor from entering the country.

This Week Regarding the Lying Liar:

Donald Trump Flat Out Lied About Use Of 9/11 Funds.

Donald Trump fans have been sending me racist, hateful messages for months. Here's a sampling.

Trump Says Janet Yellen Is Keeping Interest Rates Low So President Obama Can Play Golf.

VIDEO: 176 Reasons Donald Trump Shouldn't Be President. Wow. So concise!

The Time Donald Trump Dismissed Half of America as Losers.

This week in Politics:

This Is Critical: Hillary Can't Back Down.

Who will Hillary Clinton’s ‘basket of deplorables’ comment actually alienate?

Hillary Clinton Says True Thing About Trump Supporters, Everybody Horrified Or Something.

Colin Powell Called Benghazi A “Stupid Witch Hunt” — And Condi Rice Agreed.

This Week in Racism

AND DO YOU BELONG? I DO.

Author Lionel Shriver dons a sombrero to lament the rise of identity politics in fiction. Racist author is racist...

Identity & Narrative: A Response to Lionel Shriver.

Things I wrote:

Weekend Update 9/10/2016: Paused pipeline, cease fire, and a tortured metaphor.

Sunday Funnies, part 20.

Three months later, Pulse shooting still a gut punch.

Wishing on 9/13….

The myth of live and let live.

Longing, Loathing, and Locution — how you love in sf/f isn’t the only way.

Videos!

The 'Magic Mike Live' Dancers Perform:



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Dads for Transgender Equality: Joe:



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Feast Your Eyes on The Full Trailer for Russell Tovey’s Gay Footballer Movie ‘The Pass:



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Friday Links (pipeline protest edition)

It's already the second Friday in September?! How did that happen? Oh, well! Don't forget: September babies are superior!

I've done very little writing and a lot of revising this week.

Anyway, here are links to some of the interesting things I read on the web this week, sorted into various topic areas.

Links of the Week

On Peace Between Christians and GBLT People.

This week in Seahawks

Building a New Beast Mode: It Will Take a Small Army to Replace Marshawn Lynch.

This week in Food

How Americans pretend to love ‘ethnic food’.

So what exactly could be wrong with having taco trucks on every corner?

Don't Fuck with Librarians

Stage Play Spotlights Alabama Librarian’s 1959 Defense of Children’s Book.

This week in awful news

Syrian government 'drops chlorine gas' on rebel-held part of Aleppo.

Wells Fargo Fined for Fraudulently Opening Accounts for Customers.

National Guard put on alert as protesters await decision on North Dakota pipeline.

Dakota Access Pipeline Protests: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know.

The Latest: Large Crowds in 3 States Protest Pipeline.

Aleppo: Key battleground in Syria's civil war.

Camerawoman Who Kicked Refugees in Hungary Is Charged With ‘Breach of Peace’.

Rights Group: Refugee Children Still in Greek Police Cells.

This week in the environment

Dakota Access Pipeline Company Attacks Native American Protesters with Dogs and Pepper Spray.

News for queers and our allies:

'LGBT' is Not a Synonym for 'Gay'.

Sleepless in Seattle: The Chef, the Quarterback and Transgender Rights.

The first openly lesbian contestant will take part in this year's Miss America pageant.

19 LGBT Hindu Gods that Defied the Gender Binary.

Letter From a Greek Activist Fighting the Binary.

I WAS TAUGHT TO HATE MY LESBIAN NEIGHBORS. THEY TOOK ME IN ANYWAY.

Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters. Alvin had been fighting the good fight!

Science!

Freddie Mercury has an asteroid named after him.

Bizarre ant colony discovered in an abandoned Polish nuclear weapons bunker.

Philae lander found on comet 67P as Rosetta mission draws to a close.

Why Canadians drink more coffee than most people in the world.

The giant panda is no longer an endangered species.

Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculation!

A Bleary-Eyed (And Slightly Furious) Post World Con Recap.

N.K. Jemisin and the Politics of Prose.

March of the living dead lit mag submissions.

A related post by the same author: A personal rejection letter, sent to the literary journal which took 6 years to reject my story.

Here's what I saw from the front row of the "State of Short Fiction" panel.

The Hugos, the Sad Puppies and 1970s science fiction paperback covers, which were ridiculous.

The 2016 Dragon Awards or Participation Trophies for Puppies.

World Fantasy tries again with programming.

Even More Hugo and Clarke Awards Reactions.

And other news:

New York’s Attorney General Just Announced a Major Investigation into Makers of EpiPen.

Pacific Northwest College of Art Cancels an MA Program Days Before Classes.

This week in Writing

WRITE BETTER SCI-FI STORIES WITH THIS SIMPLE IDEA.

This Week in History

Naming Demons: The Aramaic Incantation Bowls and Gittin.

This Week in Tech

Warner Brothers reports own site as illegal.

This Week in Covering the News

You Failed, Chumps.

Hillary Clinton Gets Gored.

This Week in Inclusion

If We Don’t Exist We Don’t Exist.

This Week in Police Problems

When Police Unions Impede Justice.

Culture war news:

The Women Who Challenged Sweet Cakes on the Cost of Their Battle. "We’re not political people, never wanted this attention, and only filed a claim with Oregon's Bureau of Labor and Industries after six months of relentless media attention and harassment. Meanwhile, the Kleins quickly became media darlings of the right wing. Conservative groups flew them out to appear at events, Ted Cruz featured them in a campaign video, and their fundraising page raised over $600,000. In contrast, we became the target of hateful, violent threats and a daily onslaught of negative calls and emails from around the world. Over the past three years, we have received several thousand Facebook messages calling us fat, evil, and dumb — some with threats so violent that we have sincerely feared for our lives, moved houses, and lived in hiding in hopes of protecting our family."

Mere Months After Orlando, Evangelicals Declare New Commitment To Rejecting LGBT People.

New Jersey GOPer Tells Female Reporter He Hopes She Gets 'Raped'.

What Phyllis Schlafly Might Have Been, if It Weren’t for Women Like Phyllis Schlafly.

Donald Trump's Extremist Allies: Who's Who At The Values Voter Summit 2016.

Gays Who Lived Through Anne-Imelda Radice's Tenure as NEA "Decency Czar" Aren't Celebrating Her Gay Wedding.

This Week in Hate Crimes

Double Murder a Likely Anti-LGBT Hate Crime in Missouri.

This Week Regarding the Lying Liar:

Donald Trump still hasn’t paid most of his top staffers, and some of them aren’t happy about it.

Trump policy staffers quit after not being paid.

Donald Trump upstaged when Mexican taco truck arrives in protest and proves more popular than him.

At Least 110 Republican Leaders Won’t Vote for Donald Trump. Here’s When They Reached Their Breaking Point.

Trump Time Capsule #92: ‘How the Media Undermine American Democracy’.

Fox News Turns On Trump And Busts Him For Lying About Black Poverty Statistics.

Donald Trump Is Playing the Religious Right for Rubes.

Donald Trump Does Detroit: after weeks of preaching his sinister sermon of black pathology to mostly white audiences as part of his utterly fake “black outreach” — which is in fact the effort of a bigot to disguise his bigotry — Donald Trump finally brought his message before a few mostly black audiences.

Did Trump Happen Because Liberals Are Too Mean?

This week in Politics:

Hillary conversed with Colin Powell two days after becoming Secretary of State, not "a year later," as Powell has claimed. Second, Powell essentially told her that he had just gone ahead and broken the law by "not using systems that captured the data." Hillary, by contrast, chose instead to retain everything as the law required.

The 7 Biggest Deadbeat States Who Mooch Off Taxpayers All Vote Republican.

Gallup: Life got better for pretty much everyone under Obama.

Democrats Troll Donald Trump With a Taco Truck in Colorado.

The New York Times Screws Up Its Clinton Coverage, Part Infinity.

Why Hillary Clinton’s perceived corruption seems to echo louder than Donald Trump’s actual corruption.

Save the Republican Party: Vote for Clinton.

5 worst right-wing moments this week: Michele Bachmann’s apocalypse now.

Farewells:

Savannah drag legend Lady Chablis dies at 59.

Jon Polito Dies: Coen Brothers Actor & ‘Homicide’ Original Was 65.

Dabney Montgomery dies; Tuskegee Airman was 93.

In Unmourned Departures:

Anti-feminist Phyllis Schlafly’s philosophy perfectly captured in 15 disturbing quotes.

Conservative Phyllis Schlafly, Foe Of Equal Rights Amendment And Founder Of Eagle Forum, Dies At 92.

Phyllis Schlafly, One of History's Worst Homophobes, Dies at 92.

Things I wrote:

Weekend Update 9/2/2016: cute otters and delicious tacos.

The first draft is always… well, a draft.

Wrestling the bear: getting to the end of your novel.

No one likes change before and while it’s happening….

Videos!

An Emotional Surprise for an Orlando Survivor:



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Australian | Aussie Shirtless Men Answer Boxers or Briefs in Los Angeles | 2016 Mens Fashion:



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Saade - Wide Awake ft. Gustaf Norén (Official Music Video):



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Sia - The Greatest:



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Friday Links (rescued baby otter edition)

It's Friday! It's the first Friday in September. September?! How did that happen? Oh, well! Don't forget: September babies are superior!

I've done very little writing and a lot of revising this week.

Anyway, here are links to some of the interesting things I read on the web this week, sorted into various topic areas.

Links of the Week

HOW A SELF-PUBLISHED WRITER OF GAY EROTICA BEAT SCI-FI’S SAD PUPPIES AT THEIR OWN GAME AND WHAT IT TAUGHT ME ABOUT PUSHING THROUGH WRITER'S BLOCK. Seriously, if you read nothing else this YEAR, read this.

Happy News!

Hitting all the right notes. “I want to see children do better in school. I want to see children have better lives. But I don’t want to belittle that I’m also seeking the joy of music for everybody.”

Baby sea otter Rialto’s heart-melting story of survival.

This Week in Difficult to Classify

The University of Chicago, Trigger Warnings and Safe Spaces.

Alabama officials ordered Christian woman to remove headscarf for drivers’ license: ACLU lawsuit.

Marine Who Saved 70 Lives In Pulse Shooting To Be Honored By LGBT Military Group.

This week in awful news

People Are Being Warned About Scary Clowns Luring Kids Into The Woods. They insist this is true. I think the universe is trolling us.

News for queers and our allies:

Out Representative Brian Sims Is Our New Favorite Disney Princess.

‘Inside My Head I’m a Girl’: Three Ways of Growing Up Gay.

Stranger Things' David Harbour on Seducing Jake Gyllenhaal, Fighting with Winona, and 'Hopper Butt'.

Why Walmart Became LGBT-Friendly.

'Best of the Best' and 'Absolute Worst' Colleges for LGBTQ Students.

Welcome to the new America: Straight-ish, heteroflexible, and pansexual.

Trailer for the Upcoming Gay Rugby Documentary, Scrum.

On becoming a man: Transgender in the workplace.

Science!

The Multiverse Idea Is Rotting Culture.

Will This “Neural Lace” Brain Implant Help Us Compete with AI?

Microscopic Black Holes Might Be Shooting Through the Universe.

Why Do We Have Such a Hard Time Grasping Climate Change?

The Strange, Twisted Story Behind Seattle's Blackberries.

Our new pterosaur fossil shows birds and small reptiles flew side by sid.

Miniature lion fossils lead to discovery of new species.

Fossils of oldest multicellular organisms found in South America.

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE: IRON FOUND IN FOSSILS SUGGESTS SUPERNOVA ROLE IN MASS DYING.

Alzheimer's: New drug that halts mental decline is 'best news for dementia in 25 years'.

Five rare white killer whales spotted together in a sign of dangerous inbreeding.

The 3.7 billion-year-old fossils discovered in Greenland.

A group of citizen scientists have cracked a 300 year old mystery.

Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculation!

Ageism in SFF.

We Are All Allies.

Communities: Weight of History.

This week in Writing

Nora Jemisin: “I would love to just write and not have everything turned into a political battle”.

This Week in History

Miss Cora M. Strayer's Private Detective Agency. It started out when someone posted a vintage newspaper ad, sending the writer on a search that unearthed a truly kickass woman who ran a successful detective agency from 1902-1938, taking a break to form the First Volunteer Women's Calvary Regiment to take up arms and join the fight in the Border War with Mexico in 1814...

Convincing a Suicidal Teen He Can Wish the Gay Away.

This Week in Tech

I Got Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup.

Google Just Agreed to Pay $5.5 Million to Settle Claims It Hacked Apple's Browser.

Apple’s new rule will force Google, Amazon, and others to shorten their app names. The other changes, restricting the use of metadata in the app description and image tags, may go a long way toward fixing the horrible search results when trying to find an app...

This Week in Inclusion

Hello! You just used the “damned if you do/don’t” fallacy!

“An Ode To Being Blaxican” Shines A Light On An Erased Identity.

This Week in Police Problems

Dear Police: Once and For All, Saliva Does Not Transmit HIV.

This Week in Not Understanding Diversity

Matt Bomer's Transface: Hollywood Business as Usual.

Culture war news:

'Gay Zombies' Face $104 Million Lawsuit for Crashing Pride Toronto.

MTV News' Jamil Smith: Breitbart News Is Trying To "Mainstream" White Supremacy "Through Trump".

Colin Kaepernick Is Righter Than You Know: The National Anthem Is a Celebration of Slavery.

Denial Lit Gets a Little Wilder: Toles and Mann’s Madhouse Effect.

#VeteransForKaepernick Stand Up For His Right To Sit Down.

'Woman using law Mike Pence pushed as a defense against child abuse charge' & other Thur. midday news briefs.

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s new ‘Hug a Homophobe’ stance is the least inspiring thing I’ve heard all week.

Human Rights Campaign Sets Sights on Johns Hopkins After Controversial Trans Report.

This Week in Hate Crimes

Explosions Rock LGBT Newspaper in Salem, Mass - Again.

Police: Man put hydrochloric acid in gay sex club’s lube dispenser.

Police probe gay bar threats from thug who wanted to go ‘bigger than Orlando’.

This Week Regarding the Lying Liar:

Donald Trump’s Tweet About The Murder Of Dwyane Wade’s Cousin Was Bad. The Associated Press’ Tweet Was Worse.

Pro-Trump Pastor Goes on Non-Apology Media Tour After Clinton Blackface Tweet.

Trump’s VP pick Mike Pence published articles urging people not to employ gays.

Several Hispanic Trump surrogates reconsider support.

And the award for most unbelievably savage Trump take goes to... Garrison Keillor?! When this is over, you will have nothing that you want.

This week in Politics:

The AP, And Why The Press Has Trouble Admitting Its Clinton Mistakes.

Anthony Weiner was the Ted Cruz of the left.

West Virginia attorney general spokeswoman booted after spotted repeating overtly racist phrases in ‘Stop White Genocide’ video.

The Drive to Become ‘Fox News Famous’ Hurts the Right. ...there were actually two primaries: the race for the nomination and the auditions for FOX.

Remember That Time Dubya Lost 5 Million Emails And Nobody So Much As Flinched?

Maybe 2016 Will Be the Year Voters Elect an Openly Gay Republican to Congress. I know the author thinks this is good news, but racist self-loathing gays aren't really an improvement over the run-of-the-mill anti-gay Republican. And being willing to vote for a token guy who shares all their other bigoted views doesn't prove the Republican base is becoming more enlightened.

Boston Globe: Don’t close the Clinton Foundation.

This Week in Racism

How Nextdoor reduced racist posts by 75%.

Georgetown University Plans Steps to Atone for Slave Past. It's better than nothing, I suppose...

How do you become “white” in America? "As the history of the Poles in America shows, whiteness has always been a malleable category, used for political exploitation."

This Week in Misogyny

So, You Must Talk to the Woman Who Is Wearing Headphones.

This Vote Is Legally Binding: In response to all those articles about talking to women with headphones….

Farewells:

Gene Wilder, ‘Willy Wonka’ Star and Comedic Icon, Dies at 83.

Two of Gene Wilder's most regarded films - "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and "Blazing Saddles" - are headed back to theaters this weekend following the actor's death this week.

Gene Wilder’s Understated Nuttiness.

Things I wrote:

Weekend Update 8/27/2016: Homophobic pastor is a child molester… surprise?

Diamonds, houses, bars of soap and what I almost mansplained.

Thank you, Mr. Wilder.

Videos!

Ash vs. Evil Dead - Season 2 | official FIRST LOOK (2016) Bruce Campbell:



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Lyon Hart - Falling for You:



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