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Ready for Trump's 'Friday News Dump'? This organization is already one step ahead.

TGIF has become OMG, WTF.

It's become a bit of a joke that things are actually getting kind of predictable at this point in the Trump presidency — at least when it comes to Fridays.

On the first Friday after taking office, Donald Trump announced new restrictions on travel from seven majority-Muslim countries. On Friday, April 14, the White House announced plans to keep its visitor logs secret. On Friday, Aug. 25, Trump pardoned Joe Arpaio, the notorious former sheriff of Arizona's Maricopa County, and made his plans to ban transgender people from serving in the military official. Now, on a Friday going into a long Labor Day weekend, rumors are swirling that Trump may put an end to to President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

To be sure, the "Friday news dump" long predates the Trump White House. Still, it's remarkable how much truly concerning news has been packed into a single day of the week during the president's first months in office.

¯\\_(ツ)_/¯. Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images.

Knowing that bad news is always just around the corner on Fridays, the National Center for Transgender Equality did something genius to save themselves some time at the end of the week.

They turned their statement of condemnation into a Mad Libs-style form letter, that allows whoever receives it to quickly fill in the blanks and generate a pre-emptive response to the president's latest announcement.

NCTE titled the press release: "Ahead of Labor Day Weekend, NCTE issues a Blanket Condemnation of the Inevitably Divisive (Remarks / Release / Statement / Tweet / Policy) issued by Pres. Trump Regarding (Race / Women / Transgender people / Immigrants / Muslims)."

"Citing the Trump Administration’s strategy of releasing major — and often offensive — policy decisions/directives late on Friday evenings, the Washington, DC-based National Center for Transgender Equality has released a blanket condemnation of whatever the President does in this area, when he should be working on disaster relief for people who really need government attention, ahead of Labor Day weekend," it reads before quoting executive director Mara Keisling:

“Whether releasing major guidance to purge transgender service members, pardoning a notorious racist and civil rights violator or the tacit endorsement of Nazism in America, NCTE wants to get ahead of the White House for yet another pre-weekend news dump that will likely hurt good people. To be clear, we truly hope the President focuses on emergency relief in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and other pressing issues affecting the lives of millions of Americans.

By condemning the President’s inevitably divisive rhetoric/action in advance, however, we hope to provide a sobering counterpoint to this Administration’s discriminatory agenda and prevent their actions from being buried among this weekend’s news coverage.

By releasing this unorthodox statement sufficiently ahead of the weekend, news outlets won’t need to scramble to find expert commentary and guests to respond to the latest, outrageous tweet/statement/directive from the White House this weekend. The news media should know that whichever mean-spirited, and no doubt poisonous, plan/move the President announces/enacts this weekend, odds are high that NCTE and most Americans will be against it.”



Yes, the release is a bit troll-y, but NCTE hopes people will see past that to the larger issues at play.

The group, which when contacted by e-mail, claims to have "led or participated in 165 victories over the past decade," uses a variety of tools in fighting for the broader goal of equality for trans people and those at the intersection of marginalized groups.

"We wanted to call out the Administration’s pattern for what it is, and to shed light on this practice (which, if we’re being honest, has been used by many Administrations)," Keisling said in an e-mail. "But also to stir the news media not to fall for such an obvious ploy week after week. The spectacle isn’t the story, it’s the impact of such policies."

Mara Keisling speaks during a June rally for transgender equality on Capitol Hill. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images.

There's also a (perhaps unintentional) message that can be gleaned from this statement about the importance of not becoming desensitized to presidential chaos.

In the administration's early days, reminders that "this is not normal" and pleas against "normalizing" Trump spread far and wide. With so many important issues at stake, ranging from personal freedoms all the way to the future of the planet, it's easy to hit a point where you're burned out from being constantly engaged in activism. Burn out is a path to desensitization.

Believe it or not, there are still people who think that Trump is an LGBTQ ally because of the one time he held a flag (upside down) at a rally, ignoring his destructive policies. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

The truth is that we all need breaks, even the superheroes out there trying to save the world. Earlier this year, psychologist Alessandra Pigni published a guide to the "ABCs" of burnout prevention that's definitely worth a read. So rest up, relax, and recharge this weekend if you're able to. The battles are long, and it's in everyone's best interest to take the occasional breather.

So whatever "inevitably divisive (remarks / release / statement / tweet / policy)" Trump issues over this weekend or any, make note of it, but remember to take care of yourself as well.

Joy

Airbnb host wakes his guest up in the middle of the night so she wouldn't miss the northern lights

Best. Host. Ever.

@penslucero/TikTok

Pency Lucero taking in the Northern Lights

Seeing the northern lights is a common bucket list adventure for many people. After all, it ticks a lot of boxes—being a dazzling light show, rich historical experience and scientific phenomenon all rolled into one. Plus there’s the uncertainty of it all, never quite knowing if you’ll witness a vivid streak of otherworldly colors dance across the sky…or simply see an oddly colored cloud. It’s nature’s slot machine, if you will.

Traveler and content creator Pency Lucero was willing to take that gamble. After thorough research, she stumbled upon an Airbnb in Rörbäck, Sweden with an actual picture of the northern lights shining above the cabin in the listing. With that kind of photo evidence, she felt good about her odds.

However, as soon as she landed, snow began falling so hard that the entire sky was “barely visible,” she told Upworthy. Martin, the Airbnb host, was nonetheless determined to do everything he could to ensure his guests got to see the spectacle, even offering to wake Lucero up in the middle of the night if he saw anything.

Then one night, the knock came.

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Pop Culture

Daughter shares incredible 3D optical illusions painted by her father, who has aphasia

David Hollowell suffered from a traumatic brain injury in 2021, losing his ability to speak. Remarkably, he is still able to express himself through art.

@david.hollowell/TikTok

David Hollowell pictured with his 3D art

For a little over three decades, David Hollowell’s professional life had been dedicated to art. In addition to working as an art professor, his highly acclaimed 3D illusion paintings were shown in prestigious exhibits. In 2018, the 71-year-old began taking his talents to a larger scale, turning his family barn into an immersive mural.

Then, in May of 2021, Hollowell fell off the roof of his home, resulting in a traumatic brain injury leading to aphasia, a disorder that affects a person’s ability to communicate through speech or written language.

Though Hollowell couldn’t access words the way he used to, his ability to paint detailed, mesmerizing images remained remarkably intact. And his daughter-slash-self-appointed-TikTok manager, Adrienne, is determined to share his work and his journey with as many people as possible.

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Pop Culture

Christopher Walken dancing in over 50 movies all perfectly spliced into a single music video

Most people don’t know he studied dance as a child.

via YouTube

These days, we could all use something to smile about, and few things do a better job at it than watching actor Christopher Walken dance.

A few years back, some genius at HuffPo Entertainment put together a clip featuring Walken dancing in 50 of his films, and it was taken down. But it re-emerged in 2014 and the world has been a better place for it.

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Joy

Australian in the U.S. says she thinks it's rude that Americans don't say 'You're welcome'

Who's being more polite?

via Tilly Hokianga/TikTok and RoseGoldMillie/TikTok

An Australian woman thinks it's rude that Americans don't say, "You're welcome."

There’s been a growing trend amongst American Gen Zers and millennials to stop saying, “You're welcome,” after being thanked. Older generations may think the change is part of a more significant trend of younger people having more lax manners, but in actuality, younger people believe that giving a simple “OK” or “Mm-hmm” after being thanked is more polite than saying, “You're welcome.”

Recently, Australian TikTok user Tilly Hokianga vented her frustrations with Americans in a viral post entitled, “Things That Send Me as an Australian Living in the US.” A lot of the points she made were pretty typical for someone visiting the United States, such as there's too much sugar in the bread and too many options for cereal.

However, she also noted that Americans have difficulty saying, “You’re welcome.”

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Pop Culture

Mississippi meteorologist paused for a 'human' moment while reporting on devastating tornado

"Oh, man. Dear Jesus, please help them."

WTVA 9 News/YouTube

Meteorologist Matt Laubham prays for the people in the path of a deadly tornado.

Broadcasters who have to report on tragedies as they are happening have a tough job. On the one hand, they have to maintain their professionalism and inform the public of what's happening in a factual way. On the other hand, they're still human and sometimes humanity trumps the traditional perception of what's "professional."

Such was the case for WTVA meteorologist Matt Laubhan, who found himself live on the air staring at a radar scan of a deadly tornado as it moved towards the small town of Amory, Mississippi. He, more than anyone, understood the severity of the situation, and he did his best to convey that to his viewers.

"This is a strong, life-threatening tornado that's going to move either extremely close to Amory or in through the northern part of the city of Amory."

He added, "Y'all trust me too much," explaining that people sometimes take his predictions of where the tornado will go as hard fact, but the reality is that tornados can change directions at any time. "So Amory, we need to be in our tornado safe place," he said.

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Pop Culture

Rick Astley covered Foo Fighters' 'Everlong' and it's shockingly great

Consider yourself Rick-Grohled.

Rick Astley/YouTube

Rick Astley rocking his Foo Fighters 'Everlong' cover.

Rick Astley has to be the luckiest '80s musician on the planet. The whole "Rickrolling" phenomenon has given his hit song "Never Gonna Give You Up" a reach far beyond its natural life span, and kept the guy a household name far longer than he probably would have been.

(For those who are unfamiliar, Rickrolling is when you make someone think they're being sent to a website, but the link goes to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" video instead as a joke. It's a silly viral bait-and-switch gag that's been going since 2006.)

But what people may not realize, because his most famous song has become an internet joke, is that Rick Astley is actually a really freaking great musician. The man can saaaang and it seems he's only gotten better with age.

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