Open Thread July 25, 2023

Today, had she lived , would have been my mother’s 117th birthday (though that would have been extremely unlikely. ) She was a survivor of childhood abuse, widowhood with a newborn child,  and a melanoma on her nose.  She was not a woman who talked a lot, but one could generally take anything she said to the bank.  When I was in high school and college it was never hard for me to get friends to come over, but sometimes it was hard to tell whether it was her or me for whom they were coming.  At her funeral my last surviving sunt (who had always been known to be the most easily offended person in the family) said, that my Mom had been “the most loving person she had ever known.”  And, both prior to that and to this day, Virgil has raised many eyebrows by saying that he never really knew what love was until he met his wife’s mother.  Of course I miss her.  But I would probably miss her more had she not put so much time and effort into preparing me to be strong and independent.  Happy Birthday, Mom.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Democratic Underground (Zorro) – They Checked Out Pride Books in Protest. It Backfired.
Quote – Adrianne Peterson, the manager of the Rancho Peñasquitos branch of the San Diego Public Library, was actually a little embarrassed by the modest size of her Pride Month display in June. Between staff vacations and organizing workshops for graduating high school students, it had fallen through the cracks and fell short of what she had hoped to offer. Yet the kiosk across from the checkout counter, marked by a Progress Pride rainbow flag, was enough to thrust the suburban library onto the front lines of the nation’s culture wars. Ms. Peterson, who has run the library branch since 2012 and highlighted books for Pride Month for the better part of a decade, was taken aback when she read an email last month from two neighborhood residents. They informed her that they had gotten nearly all of the books in the Pride display checked out and would not return them unless the library permanently removed what they considered “inappropriate content.”
Click through for what happened next.This take is so that Colleen can get bragging rights for her city. The original article was in the NY Times, but I don’t have a gift link, and besides, the comments are pretty good.

Good News Network – Stunned Researchers Discover that Metals Can Heal Themselves ‘Without Human Intervention’
Quote – Scientists for the first time have witnessed pieces of metal crack, then fuse back together without any human intervention, overturning fundamental scientific theories in the process. If the newly discovered phenomenon can be harnessed, it could usher in an engineering revolution—one in which self-healing engines, bridges, and airplanes could reverse damage caused by wear and tear, making them safer and longer-lasting. The research team from Sandia National Laboratories and Texas A&M University described their findings today in the journal Nature.
Click through. I found this through CPR. I don’t often do an all good news day, and I didn’t plan this one, but I figured, since it is Mom’s birthday, I’d let it go.

Food For Thought

I made this.  Marthe48 says “Please feel free to share.”