Lydia Schoch

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

From Scars:

But the more we learn about our own perspective and the more we see that it is just that, our perspective based on all that has happened to us and probably most influenced by whatever scarring we have undergone, the more we can relate to others and understand that they are doing the same thing, working from their perspective which, like ours, has been molded by whatever they have undergone.

The Tale of My Broken Neck. Why you should always wear a helmet when riding a bike, skateboarding, skating, etc.  This story includes graphic descriptions of the aftermath of a bike accident. The rest of the site may not be work-safe. Consider yourself warned. 😉

20 Reasons Why People Have Sex. I’m feebly trying to resist the urge to quote all 20 reasons and explain the difference between marked and hidden estrus the next time someone insists the purpose of sex is reproduction. Possibly not a work-safe link.

From Spotlight or Fame:

We loved her voice. We rooted for her comeback. But perhaps she moved into the spotlight too suddenly. Perhaps the flame from the light burned her in places no one could see.

The Paper Menagerie sent a chill down my spine. What have you been reading this week?

” ‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’

‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the Cat.

‘I don’t much care where –‘ said Alice.

‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the Cat.

‘–so long as I get somewhere,’ Alice added as an explanation.”

-Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Forgotten Heroes is a series of posts about extraordinary men and women who are (probably) not remembered by the average person.  Previous heroes include Elijah McCoy,  Nellie Bly and Charles Loring Brace. 

If you know of a forgotten hero who should be included in this series let me know about him or her in the comment section or via the contact form. My list of future Forgotten Heroes is growing short!

Time: 1917

Place: Alberta

Photo by Jkelly

Are women people? You might have smiled wryly or rolled your eyes as you read that question. Emily Murphy wasn’t smiling.

In Alberta in 1917 women weren’t legally included in the term persons according to how the British North American Act was interpreted at the time. Among other repercussions, this mean that women weren’t allowed to serve in the Senate. Emily wanted to change this.

The first step was to have women legally declared as persons. Her campaign became known as the Persons Case.

1 year passed.

Then 2.

5.

10.

Finally the case reached the Supreme Court in March of 1928. The question at hand:

Does the word ‘person’ in Section 24 of the British North America Act include female persons?

Five weeks later their unanimous answer was a resounding no.

Emily appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Great Britian and a year later the Supreme Court’s decision was overturned. (Remember, Canada didn’t officially become independent until 1982.)

I rarely venture into politics on this blog, but Emily’s decade-long struggle for women’s rights reminds me of something that recently happened in the country of my birth.

Last week a bill was passed in Virginia requiring women to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound before they are allowed to have an abortion.

Sometimes doctors do need to do these types of ultrasounds during a pregnancy to diagnose potential problems. But politicians are not obstetricians. They do not have the appropriate background or training to determine if any – much less all – women need this procedure.

This is not a medical issue.

Once you peel back a few layers it’s not even really about abortion.

It’s about the same damn question we’ve been wrestling with in western society for generations:

Are women people?

Can they be trusted to own property, have a bank account, vote, run for office, work, fall in love (or stay single),  decide when or whether to become a mother?

Or are men the only ones qualified to decide what women are and are not “allowed” to do?

I think we need another Emily Murphy in this world.

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

Fake Rhino Attempts Zoo Escape. This is one of the oddest news stories I’ve ever read. Love the idea of disaster preparedness, though!

Urine Color Chart. This reminded me of how I read my mom’s nursing school textbooks and academic journals as a kid. Can anyone confirm the validity of this chart?

From Personal Bill of Rights. The rest of the list is just as good:

1. I have the right to ask for what I want.
2. I have the right to say no to requests or demands I can’t meet.
3. I have the right to express all of my feelings, positive or negative.

MLK on the Vietnam War. A side of Martin Luther King, Jr. most people don’t talk about very often.

What have you been reading?

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

What the Childfree Have in Common with Introverts. Good stuff.

Shadow Puppets. How many shadow puppets can you make?

Genetic Portraits. Retouched pictures of family members – one half of the “face” you’ll see is one person, the other half is another.

From The Science Behind the Kiss:

Our lips are packed with sensitive nerve endings so that even the slightest brush sends a flurry of information to our brains that often feels very good. Although we often don’t think of them in this way, our lips are the body’s most exposed erogenous zone.

The Shitty Competition. In my experience people who act like this around others don’t like themselves very much either. Knowing this doesn’t make them easier to get along with but it can help you cultivate compassion for them.   Not a work-safe link.

Marcel Theroux’s Far North frustrated and piqued my imagination this week. The idea of anyone attempting to survive alone in an Arctic, post-apocalyptic environment is chilling. Makepeace’s descriptions of living in this world – especially when it comes to all of the details left unshared until the last possible second- were in turn intriguing, shocking, terrifying, and at times even a little irritating.

The story itself was full of surprising turns and I’d recommend it to anyone interested in this genre…I just wish a few key scenes had been described in more (or in some cases, any) detail.

What have you been reading?