Maia

It does!

A classic black-and-white photograph of Geraldyn “Jerrie” Cobb, pioneering American aviator and astronaut candidate, seated in the cockpit of a high-performance jet aircraft during the early 1960s. She wears a flight helmet with visor, oxygen mask connected to a hose, and flight suit with patches. Her expression is calm, focused, and determined as she looks upward slightly toward the sky, evoking her role as the first woman to pass the same astronaut screening tests as NASA's Mercury Seven men and her status as the top contender in the Mercury 13 program. The image captures her courage, skill, and groundbreaking ambition in an era when women were excluded from spaceflight due to gender bias.

Jerrie Cobb should have been the first woman in #space. 🚀

Due to gender bias, she wasn't.

Part of the Mercury 13 (women), she passed the same tests as the Mercury Seven astronauts (men), often ranking in the top 2% (including compared to the men). She was born #OTD in 1931.

#WomensHistoryMonth

Dems really need to understand that nice isn’t the same as good.

Favourite #WorldBookDay moment ...
Asked a hall full of children if any of them knew what a Dalek was ... girl RAN up to the stage and announced ... it's a small onion but strong. Cut it and you'll cry.

Me: .... thinking ...
Me: .. still thinking ...
Finally ...
... Garlic.

American singer and founding member of the Supremes, Mary Wilson, was born #OnThisDay in 1944. She wore this green petal dress, purchased at a Hollywood boutique, on the cover of the 1968 album Diana Ross and the Supremes Sing and Perform Funny Girl. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. #fashionhistory

It's not merely making characters suffer that irks me; it's setting the characters up to fail, again and again, and taking away every bit of joy they ever get. It's a bad worldview and it's lazy writing.

Firefly is a show that I started out loving, and liked less and less as it went on, because Whedon. Not only "Ugh, Whedon", but because Whedon's idea of Great Drama is making you love the characters and then doing really shitty things to those characters.

I have been seeing this come up far
too often this week, so I would just like to state for the record, here in the court of public opinion, that there is NO age at which it is inappropriate to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We do not gatekeep sandwich joy around here. Real ones know.

Discworld QOTD, from Making Money

I believe that's 36.73 scaramuccis if you count as of today, or 39.1 scaramuccis as of March 31

every one of those "get out of your echo chamber" artists is someone who is very upset that you are not in their echo chamber fawning over them

Sorry I'm not more open-minded about LLMs, it's just some fucking maniacs shoveled out a bunch of useless bloatware featuring that technology, did not give me any chance to opt out, reorganized the entire economy around it, zeroed out gains made by green energy, and made it impossible to buy RAM

I had vivid memories of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and always wished to see it again.

When it was finally available on video, I was almost afraid to watch because it might not be anywhere as good as I remembered. It was a great relief to be able to still love it.

Close-up portrait of Setsuko Thurlow (born 1932), Japanese-Canadian atomic bomb survivor, taken in 2017 during an event. The older woman is shown in three-quarter view facing slightly left with a warm, gentle smile conveying joy, wisdom, and quiet resilience. She has short, neatly styled dark hair with soft curls, and red lipstick accentuating her open-mouthed smile or speech. She wears a red top or blouse partially visible under a gray blazer or jacket, and a small red pin or brooch on the lapel. The background is softly blurred with hints of purple fabric and another person nearby, suggesting an indoor gathering or conference setting. Her expression radiates hope and compassion, reflecting her lifelong advocacy for nuclear disarmament and peace.

Setsuko Thurlow survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 Aug 1945. She's a nuclear disarmament campaigner known throughout the world for being a leading figure of the International Campaign to Abolish #Nuclear weapons (ICAN). #WHM

Internat'l Day for #Disarmament & Non-Proliferation Awareness.

The Kenneth Branagh production is pure gold.

A Midsummer Night's Dream, because of the 1968 film with Diana Rigg as Helena, Helen Mirren as Hermia, Ian Richardson as Oberon, and Judi Dench as Titania.

Black-and-white formal portrait of Alva Myrdal (1902–1986), the Swedish diplomat, sociologist, politician, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. She is photographed against a dark background, resting her chin thoughtfully on her left hand, which displays a large, ornate ring. Her expression is calm, wise, and slightly introspective, with deep-set eyes, fine lines of age, and a gentle smile. Her silver-gray hair is styled in a soft, voluminous updo typical of the mid-20th century, and she wears a dark tailored jacket or dress with a simple collar, along with a distinctive metal wristwatch on her left arm. Alva Myrdal was a pioneering figure in social policy, women's rights, and international disarmament. With her husband Gunnar Myrdal, she co-authored the influential 1934 book Kris i befolkningsfrågan (Crisis in the Population Question), which shaped Sweden's progressive family and welfare policies. She served as Sweden's Minister for Disarmament and Church Affairs (1966–1973), headed UNESCO's social science department, and played a key role in the United Nations. In 1982, she shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Alfonso García Robles for her lifelong work on nuclear disarmament and peace advocacy through organizations like the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and Pugwash Conferences. Known for her intellectual rigor, feminist principles, and commitment to global justice, she remains an icon of principled leadership in diplomacy and social reform.#AlvaMyrdal #NobelPeacePrize #Disarmament #SIPRI

Alva Myrdal was a Swedish sociologist, diplomat & a prominent leader of the disarmament movement. She shared the #Nobel Peace Prize in 1982 (w/A. Robles) "for their work for disarmament & nuclear and weapon-free zones." #WHM

It's International Day for #Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness.

OMG

a pack of kittens closes in a a large dog standing on a chair

David Attenborough [whispering]:

“As the predators close in on their helpless prey, we can only watch in silent horror, for it is not man’s role to interfere in the hierarchy of nature.”

For most of my career I was a technical writer, or Speaker To Engineers.

#WomensHistoryMonth

This is Button. His family decided he was ready to be left home alone for the first time today. As it turns out, freedom can be a little awkward. 12/10 (TT: beginningwithbutton)

A little red car. The license plate (a MN Blackout style license plate) says DONT Underneath that is a sticker that says PANIC

Seen today in my neighborhood:

Always know where your towel is.

Galileo’s handwritten notes found in ancient astronomy text Discovery sheds new light on how famed astronomer came to lead a scientific revolution

A historian has discovered that a 16th century printing of The Almagest—a highly influential ancient astronomy text—contains extensive annotations from Galileo Galilei, the astronomer who later overthrew that text’s conception of a geocentric cosmos.

Learn more: https://scim.ag/4aMAwRm

My dad was the engineer who checked the other engineers' work.

When I was working as an editor, I told him that although he worked with engineering designs and I worked with words, I felt like I was following in his footsteps. I'd never seen him look so pleased as when I said that.

My mother's father was a printer. My father's father was a shoemaker.

Discworld QOTD, from Thief of Time

Death understands The Rules a lot better than the Auditors do. The Auditors invoke "The Rules" only when they're using those rules to get what they want.

The one time we see Death angry is in Hogfather: "YES. THERE ARE RULES. BUT YOU BROKE THEM. HOW DARE YOU? HOW DARE YOU?"

The Angel of the Iron Book doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves.