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QUOTES AND QUOTABLE 

“Short of building a fort around our desks using empty shipping boxes and half-functioning umbrellas, headphones are the only “Do Not Disturb” signs we have left.”

- Lyndsey Mannering, on the trend of listening to nothing on headphones

“Conservatives’ highest priority now must be to prevent Trump from winning the Republican nomination in this, the GOP’s third epochal intraparty struggle in 104 years.”

- George Will, shouting fire in a burning house

   ON THIS DAY 

* Well, the obvious: Jesus was born, or so we’ve all agreed for the sake of commerce and Christmas vacations. Year zero.
* Silent Night performed for the first time, at the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorff, Austria. 1818
* George Washington crossed the Delaware, ensuring a new independent nation. 1776
* The USSR invaded Afghanistan in a bid to halt civil war and protect Soviet interests. 1979
* James Brown, The Hardest Working Man in Showbiz, passed on to funk heaven. 2006 

   BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES

Lakeisha Holloway, a homeless woman living in her car, became overwhelmed by stress and mowed down a group of pedestrians on the Las Vegas strip, killing one and injuring dozens. Steve Harvey named the wrong Miss Universe on live television (maybe he should have stayed for that crucial rehearsal). A young American was arrested trying to escape gay marriage into the arms Al Qaeda, and Donald Trump completed his mission to make presidential politics a scatological free-for-all, letting the world know that bathrooms and what women do in them are disgusting.

Did I Mention?

Virginia will no longer recognize concealed-carry gun permits from 25 states whose laws are less restrictive. Have we turned a corner?

   NEWS FOR Qs

Congressional Spending Bill Includes Funds to Support LGBT Equality Abroad
Human Rights Campaign

NM Reps Prefile Bill Allowing Refusal of Service to LGBT People
KOB4

Arizona Gets Its First VA Clinic for Trans Veterans
Advocate 

Kentucky Governor Removes County Clerk’s Names from Marriage Licenses
Washington Post

   U.S. AND BEYOND