SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- Donald Trump’s surprising victory over Hillary Clinton was due in part to his anti-establishment sentiments and strong populist appeal among voters -- meaning members of the Electoral College, whose ballots represent those that count. Trump, a New York billionaire, positioned himself as a man of the people -- again defining “people” as the 538 electors empowered by the 23rd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, whom Republican lawmakers also cited as “the people” in “We, the people.” Unlike Clinton, Trump brought a message of positive disruption. He embodied the ideals of giving the nation a second chance. His recent cabinet picks, revealed Friday, illustrate that Trump has stood by his word.

SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- Sad news in the entertainment world today as the Westboro Baptist Church confirmed the death of brilliant and successful long-form satirist Rev. Fred Phelps, who passed away at the age of 84. Most people knew Phelps as the ferociously anti-gay preacher who drew almost universal scorn for staging protests of military and celebrity funerals as a way of demonstrating God’s wrath for the world’s tolerance of homosexuality. He was remembered fondly by other long-form satirists such as Stephen Colbert, Kanye West, Alan Moore and Andy Kaufman, the pioneer of the genre, for his dedication and commitment to the craft. Speaking from his dressing room in character as Tony Clifton, an insulting lounge singer, Kaufman described Phelps as “the best of us. Nobody, myself included, managed to stay in character so passionately and for so long.”

SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- A 78-year-old Mississippi man was pronounced dead on Wednesday by the Holmes County coroner, presumably as a result of cardiac arrest. Later that night, however, as morticians were preparing to embalm the body, the corpse reanimated. Employees at the funeral home said they were alerted to the resurrection when they heard movement, and then kicking, coming from within the body bag. Area residents called the incident a miracle. But science-minded Republicans attributed the cause to a curse against humanity by God for the ongoing spate of gay rights laws being passed across the country.

SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has until Saturday to decide whether to veto Senate Bill 1062, which allows business owners with strongly held religious beliefs to refuse service to gays and lesbians. The controversial bill was introduced to protect the religious freedoms of Christian-based enterprises, but in doing so discriminates against members of the LGBT community, according to opponents. It has been dubbed “Turn the Gays Away” by civil liberties groups and gay rights activists. State senators, however, accused detractors of misinterpreting the intent of SB1062. “The bill doesn’t discriminate against gays, that’s a false assessment; it discriminates against any group Christians disagree with,” snapped Arizona legislator John Shillelagh-McPaddy.

SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- Arizona Governor Jan Brewer courted controversy once again last Thursday after the state legislature approved Senate Bill 1062, which allows businesses with strongly held religious beliefs to refuse service to gays and lesbians. The polarizing legislation passed by a vote of 33 to 27, leading critics to denounce the bill as state-sponsored discrimination. Brewer’s administration had previously come under fire in 2010 after the passage of SB1070, an anti-immigration bill that Democrats chided as draconian. Gov. Brewer, however, vehemently defended the bills as tools for promoting equal protections, not for fostering prejudice or bigotry. On Monday, to illustrate the altruistic goals of her administration, Brewer unveiled plans to create special communities for the disparate religious, ethnic, racial and LGBT groups in Arizona. She also introduced a radical new state constitution based on “an established set of laws practiced around the world before the United States existed.”

SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- As the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, approach, security consultants and State Department officials have warned travelers that these may be the most dangerous games in their lifetimes. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) told media that "the security threat to the Olympics, this particular Olympics, is the greatest I've seen." The upcoming events have also been clouded by Russia's renewed stance against homosexuality. Phil Robertson, the outspoken and suddenly political television personality from "Duck Dynasty," also chimed in on the issue, urging Americans on Tuesday to avoid attending the Sochi Olympics in light of the threat. "We all know what's going down in the USSR -- the gay menace will descend on Russia to sabotage what were once goodwill games for straight athletes, all because Russia had the stones to do what America wouldn't -- protect its children from glorifying these perverted, sin-loving heathens," he said.

SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- Now that the slaying of an Australian baseball player in Oklahoma has become old news, the contentious debate of gun rights has once again given way to the contentious issue of gay rights. Much of the uproar stems from Russia's renewed sense of homophobia, which has resulted in the passage of recently ratified anti-gay laws that threaten to disrupt the 2014 Winter Olympics being hosted in Sochi. On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin shocked the global community anew by announcing that two cosmonauts would be arrested under the law upon their return to Earth for "propagandizing non-traditional sexual actions" during their attempts to repair a camera on the International Space Station.

SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- Russia's stance toward LGBT rights has been checkered and tenuous throughout its history. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the new Russian Federation decriminalized male homosexual acts in 1993, but laws protecting people against discrimination and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation remain nonexistent. Same sex unions are also unrecognized in the country. In June 2013, Russia took another step backward in defending and promoting the rights of gays by passing a federal bill that bans the distribution of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" to minors, using heavy fines, threats of imprisonment and overly broad interpretations to punish violators. The new law, signed by President Vladimir Putin, will be enforced during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The announcement provoked outcry from athletes around the world. On Thursday, the situation soured further when the Russian Sports Ministry declared its refusal to allow a series of traditional events at the competition.