Suggestion Saturday: June 14, 2014

Here is this week’s list of blog posts and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

The Secret Life of the Depressed Exposed via Monica_Wilcox. “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” I’ve been having a lot of trouble figuring out the right person to attribute this quote to, but it came to mind while reading this confession.

What Feminism Means, According to Kids. This is great. It’s funny to see just how long it takes kids to figure out adult society.

Is Self-Improvement Just Another Word for Self-Loathing?  I don’t think so, but this blogger does make a good point about the dangers of spending too much time thinking about our flaws.

Stop Being Strong via ohheynina. I love this.

From The Truth About the Amish:

But right now, that’s what the future held for this big gelding: a trip to Canada, or one to Mexico– with no possible chance of reprieve. No one could save him, because the seller decided to get a guaranteed price (perhaps less) by selling directly to the kill buyer than taking their chances in the auction ring.  Who does that to their horses? Who steals from them their very, very last chance?

The Amish, that’s who.

From I. Don’t. Think. He’s. There via lovejoyfeminism:

Quite frankly, I didn’t leave Christianity—it left me. I just couldn’t believe anymore. It stopped making sense. And as it stopped making sense, my personal relationship with Jesus became more distant. I tried to hold on, but it was like trying to grab hold of a ghost. Tired of fighting, I let go, and avoided thinking about any of it for a few weeks.

The Remedy is one of the saddest and yet most fascinating medical history books I’ve read this year. Tuberculosis was once endemic in Europe. It was almost impossible to live there without being exposed to it at some point because the bacteria that causes it was everywhere.

If not for how often it killed people, I’d compare it to something like a cold sore or the common cold. It was simply part of everyday life for a surprisingly large portion of the population. What piqued my interest in this book even more, though, was that most people never developed any symptoms after being exposed to it. As soon as the bacteria settled int other lungs, their immune systems basically encapsulated the invaders to prevent them from doing any damage.

You could live the rest of your life with a tiny graveyard of tuberculosis germs in your lungs, and you’d never know that they were even there. I’d always assumed that this disease eventually killed almost everyone who had it, so it was fascinating to see how most people’s bodies were able to fight it off.

This is an excellent choice for anyone who loves reading about medicine or history. It’s also fascinating to see how scientists came up with a cure for this disease given that the cure is beginning to fail with certain, virulent strains of it these days. Scary stuff!

What have you been reading?

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2 Responses to Suggestion Saturday: June 14, 2014

  1. Kim Larocque

    Hi thanks for suggesting my blog post ‘The Secret Life of the Depressed Exposed” it really means a lot to me.

    🙂

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