One of Those "Who Says?" Weekly Link Round-Ups

 

Things are going well here at Casa Kittling, although Denis is a bit grumpy. I don't blame him. One of his doctors was running so late that Denis had to leave without seeing him so he wouldn't miss his return trip on Dial-a-Ride. I do understand how some medical appointments can run over scheduled times, but it's still a pain in the neck.

I've heard and read many times that people are supposed to become more conservative as they age. Who says? If anything, I'm becoming even more liberal.

One of the television series Denis and I like to watch is The Rookie; however, as I was watching the latest episode the other night, it dawned on me why I prefer watching UK crime dramas. UK crime dramas don't have the bad guys whip out assault rifles and spray endless rounds of bullets everywhere, not caring who or what they harm. I swear, every time I watch those assault rifles come out, I want to wade right in the middle, grab the guns, and use them to bash the bad guys into outer space. Fortunately, this is all in my mind and I'd never do such a thing, but I am so sick of violence. Give me a good old-fashioned Midsomer Murders death-by-pitchfork any day. *wink* 

Evidently, as a person ages, their focus is supposed to turn inward, toward themselves and what directly affects them. I'm finding that I am continuing to look outward to things that affect us all...  I'm not quite sure how I got off on that tangent, so here are some cheerful daisies I saw at the Phoenix Zoo last week. 

Have a great weekend, and enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Russian authorities arrested employees of the largest publishing house in the country over alleged "LGBT propaganda" in books.
• Climate change is threatening eye health in disturbing ways.
• When singing was a crime.
• Jane Austen's legacy lives on in Rom-Coms.
• An Ohio man is accused of burning 100 books on Black, Jewish, and LGBTQ history.
• Tribal communities risk losing local libraries and the history they hold amid DOGE cuts.
• A roadmap for restoring school librarians.
• Netflix is adapting S.A. Cosby's All the Sinners Bleed for TV, and had ordered the Quinn Shephard drama The Body.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• "Very rare" African ebony figurines were found in 1,500-year-old Christian burials in the Israeli desert.
• This lamp just became the most expensive object designed by Frank Lloyd Wright ever sold at auction.
• Harvard bought this stained copy of the Magna Carta for $27.50. It turned out to be an original.
• Four people sought shelter from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius-- and sealed their own fates.
• The joys of discovering the Roman underground, from the Colosseum to what's beneath the Trevi foundation.
• A 4,000-year-old stone-lined burial has been discovered in Morocco.
• Step into a painstakingly recreated 3D model of the Parthenon, now restored to its ancient glory.
• A study has found that the famous tomb said to hold Alexander the Great's father actually contains a younger man, a woman, and six babies.

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• Capuchins have started abducting newborn howler monkeys in a bizarre and deadly fad. More from Smithsonian Magazine.
• Salmon in the Pacific Northwest are facing a new threat: booming populations of seals and sea lions.
• Meet the bat-eared fox, an unusual animal that can hear insects burrowing underground. (Don't tell anyone, but Denis calls me "Bat Ears.")
• This eye-catching rattlesnake found in (Scottsdale) Arizona has unusual "leopard spots," likely from a genetic mutation.
• Birds are dying mysterious, violent deaths in this northern California neighborhood-- and no one can explain why.
• A study has found that chimpanzees perform first aid on each other, and it may shed light on the evolution of human health care.
• A robotic spy bowerbird observes sneaky juveniles pretending they're female to steal offered trinkets. (I think I could watch bowerbirds all day.)
• Eleven dog breeds that no longer exist.

►The Wanderer◄

• The boiling river of the Amazon in Peru, was thought to be a myth. Not so!
• North America's "broken heart": the billion-year-old scar from when the continent nearly ripped apart.
• Research suggests that Yosemite's ultra-deep canyon may have been carved in part by a ghost volcano and river.
• Why the United Kingdom has so many different accents in such a relatively small geographic area.
• The Czech factory where Oskar Schindler saved 1,200 Jews is now a museum in their honor.
• To truly experience these five cities, wake before sunrise.
• The secret passages of Mont Sainte-Odile, France.
• Crime and the City: Aspen, Colorado.

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Time's 100 Most Influential People in Philanthropy.
• 40 famous artists everyone should know, from Michelangelo to Frida Kahlo.
• Watch an interview with 100-year-old Roland Reisley, the last original owner of a Frank Lloyd Wright house.
• The woman with the axe: Fu Hao, ancient China's warrior queen.
• Sophie Scholl, the German student activist executed at the age of 21 for her anti-Nazi resistance.
• How a group of fearless American women defied convention to defeat the Nazis.
• Remembering the unacknowledged sacrifices of the Red Army's female snipers.
• How indomitable environmental activist Carolista Baum saved the Outer Banks from impending development.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Six mysteries set in international destinations.
• Eleven eye-opening books that reveal little-known stories from history.
• Twenty-one books about seamstresses and dressmakers.
• Thirty-three new books to read by the pool.
• Murder, mischief, and mayhem: the best campy and humorous thriller series.
• Four novels in which death comes calling at museums.
• Twenty-one great international books for U.S. readers.
• Nine of the best women detectives of the mystery genre.

That's all for this week! No matter how busy you may be, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!