The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) is a feature at LGBTSr.com, offering news you can use every Friday.  

NEW: You can now get the Readlines with a subscription to my Substack newsletter, along with regular musings, opinion and philosophical misfires. 

  Quote for the Week:  “Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.” – Peg Bracken, author of ‘I Hate to Cook’

BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES 

First the good news: The January 6 Committee referred Donald Trump for prosecution on four charges. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

2022 was not the apocalypse, a lot of good things happened. Challenges and opportunities await us in the New Year. Walmart will soon offer delivery by drone. My beloved Lambertville, NJ, was named New Jersey Destination of the Year, and my writing career, such as it is, is going gangbangers. Or it that gangbusters? So let’s move forward with hope and determination, and make next year everything we want it to be.

The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) is a feature at LGBTSr.com, offering news you can use every week.

  Quote for the Week: “I will never not fight back.” – Robin Tyler, comic and activist

  BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES 

First the good news: President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, ensuring federal protection for same-sex marriage and requiring states to honor marriages performed where they are legal. And the Biden administration proposed a crackdown on those ubiquitous (Not)Medicare Advantage plans.

Krysten Sinema surprised absolutely no one when she changed her party affiliation to Independent. If she needs another attention fix, she may well become a Republican. And Texas broke through the anti-trans floor to sink even lower, demanding personal information on all the transgender Texans it can find. Scary times.

The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) is a feature at LGBTSr.com, offering news you can use every week.

   Quote for the Week

“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” – Mark Twain

  BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES

First the good news: Georgia Senator Rafael Warnock WON! The Respect for Marriage Act heads to Biden’s desk. Brittney Griner was freed from Russian captivity. And that’s just the last 48 hours.  What a week!

The manufactured case of graphic designer Lorie Smith, wannabe victim and Evangelical tool, afforded SCOTUS the chance to display its comedy chops, with Samuel Alito scoring big with a joke about Black kids in KKK costumes. Can an HBO special be far behind?

The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) is a feature at LGBTSr.com, offering news you can use every week. Subscribe here for virtual delivery. 

  Quote for the Week:

“You’re guaranteed to have outcomes you like and outcomes you don’t like in a democracy.” – PA Senator-Elect John Fetterman

  BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES

First the good news: Michael Moore was right. The dreaded red tide we’d been warned about by the media’s relentless drumbeat turned into a puddle. Democrats kept the Senate, lost the House by a slim margin, and vindicated President Biden’s first two years.

Nancy Pelosi will be stepping down from her leadership position. Marjorie Taylor Greene prepares to lead the rabid pack of GOP revenge seekers. Trump announced his run for 2024 in one of the week’s most anticlimactic stunts. And the Respect for Marriage Act was set for an almost-assured passage for the holidays.

The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) offers news you can use every week.

  BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES

First the good news: President Biden’s approval rating ticked up to 45 percent, boding well for the Democrats. The President also declared the pandemic over. Go Dark Brandon! Cherry on top: New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a $250 million civil suit against the Trumps for their massive real estate fraud no one was surprised to learn about.

Donald Trump has gone full QAnon, while denying doing any such thing. Whether it’s their relentless attacks on all things trans and drag (with the rest of us in the queue), or their delight at the inhumane treatment of migrants, ‘the GOP base’ cheers the increasing cruelty of their own party. And a new study found that COVID appears to significantly raise the risk of Alzheimer’s in older adults. What a world. 

The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) offers news you can use every week. You can view the archives here. 

  Quote for the Week: “The mother’s battle for her child with sickness, with poverty, with war, with all the forces of exploitation and callousness that cheapen human life needs to become a common human battle, waged in love and in the passion for survival.” – Adrienne Rich 

  BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES 

First the good news: the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe has resulted in a surge in vasectomies. That’s about it for the week.

A 10-year-old rape victim was denied an abortion in Ohio and had to travel to Indiana to escape the forced birth of her rapist. Basketball superstar and Russian hostage Brittney Griner plead guilty to possessing hashish vape cartridges. And Rep. Liz Cheney said the greater danger to the U.S. is in not prosecuting Trump.

Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we salute Biden’s wartime leadership, thank the Florida student walk out, check the latest weeds snacks and chocolate frogs, and scan the week in headlines!  Twist Top picks, listicles, and video edition, too!

The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) offers news you can use every Wednesday morning.  You can view the archives here. And coming this spring: an audio edition of the Readlines. Fasten your headphones! 

  BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES 

First the good news: the Trump crime family inched closer to indictment on racketeering charges, with the organization’s accounting firm cutting and running. That may be it for an otherwise bleak news cycle.

Vladimir Putin “recognized” two separatist regions of Ukraine, in preparation for what everyone assumes will be a full scale invasion of the sovereign nation.

Taking this week’s hate cake, Florida’s sure-to-pass Don’t Say Gay Bill includes an amendment requiring schools to out LGBTQ students to their parents, with a “harm exemption” removed. So much for saving the children.

The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) offers news you can use every Wednesday morning.  Browse the archives here. And coming this spring: an audio edition of the Readlines! 

  BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES 

First the good news: Queen Elizabeth II celebrated 70 years on the throne!

Mike Pence said Trump was wrong to claim the VP can overturn an election (cue vicious attacks). And the national Republican Party declared beating Capitol police with flag poles and smearing excrement on the Senate walls is ‘legitimate political discourse.’ What a world!

The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) offers news you can use every Wednesday morning.  Browse the archives here.  

  BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES 

First the good news: Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement. President Biden reaffirmed his commitment to nominating the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court, while conservatives began their smear campaign and accusations of quota-filling (having apparently never heard of Thurgood Marshall’s replacement).

Texas indulged its inner fire starter and began pulling LGBTQ and race-related book titles from school shelves in record numbers. Florida, neck-and-neck in the race to erase, readied a bill to prohibit schools and private corporations from telling White snowflakes that they may not be the most special people ever. So discomforting!