The Overturning

Yesterday I put the TV on at about noon as usual because I like to watch something while I eat lunch. The CBC was showing live coverage from outside the American Supreme Court building because the court’s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade had just been officially released, and many people had already amassedContinue reading “The Overturning”

The Storm Before the Calm

This past Saturday an unusual and intense storm passed through Ontario, leaving a path of destruction, shattered trees, and downed power lines in its wake. My city was badly effected, and now, four days after the event, thousands of people are still without hydro. Luckily I only lost power for 31 hours, although my internet,Continue reading “The Storm Before the Calm”

Here We Go Again

Several decades ago Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Hughes, the co-founders of MS magazine, were in a cab in New York City. They were discussing possible issues they could address at an upcoming feminist rally – should they talk about the scarcity of business and educational opportunities for women, the lack of maternity leave and affordableContinue reading “Here We Go Again”

Picture a Scientist

James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins won the Nobel prize in 1962 for their ground-breaking work in discovering the molecular structure and chemical makeup of DNA in 1953. Watson and Crick worked together at Cambridge, while Wilkins was at King’s College London where he worked with a woman named Rosalind Franklin. Franklin was theContinue reading “Picture a Scientist”

What Price Technology?

Technology is a wonderful thing. You can find out almost anything in a matter of seconds, from the name of a familiar actor to the atomic weight of plutonium. I have a friend who recently underwent a heart procedure which in the past would have necessitated weeks of recovery and would have left her withContinue reading “What Price Technology?”