German Battleships and New England Rail Trails: The Corners Edition (Forty-Nine and Fifty)

I know, I know, I have been M.I.A. more often than not, yet I have mostly finished up my website, Parsons' Pulpit. Go and check it out!

So, back to Wikipedia's featured articles for last couple days:

On Feb. 18th,

SMS Bayern was the lead ship of the Bayern class of battleships in the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). The vessel was launched in February 1915 and entered service in July 1916, too late to take part in the Battle of Jutland. Her main armament consisted of eight 38 cm (15 in) guns in four turrets, which was a significant improvement over the preceding König '​s ten 30.5 cm (12 inch) guns. The ship was to have formed the nucleus for a fourth battle squadron in the High Seas Fleet, along with three of her sister ships. Of the other ships only one—Baden—was completed; the other two were canceled later in the war when production requirements shifted to U-boat construction.

Bayern was commissioned midway through the war, and had a limited service career. The first operation in which the ship took part was an abortive fleet advance into the North Sea on 18–19 August 1916, a month after she had been commissioned. The ship also participated in Operation Albion in the Gulf of Riga, but shortly after the German attack began on 12 October 1917, Bayern was mined and had to be withdrawn for repairs. She was interned with the majority of the High Seas Fleet in Scapa Flow in November 1918 following the end of World War I. On 21 June 1919, Admiral Ludwig von Reuter ordered the fleet to be scuttled; Bayern sank at 14:30. In September 1934, the ship was raised, towed to Rosyth, and scrapped.

 On Feb. 19th,

The Walden–Wallkill Rail Trail, also known as the Jesse McHugh Rail Trail, is a 3.22-mile (5.18 km) rail trail between the village of Walden, New York, and the neighboring hamlet of Wallkill. The two communities are located in Orange and Ulster counties, respectively, in upstate New York. 

The trail, like the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail to the north, is part of the former Wallkill Valley Railroad's rail corridor. The land was purchased by the towns of Montgomery and Shawangunk in 1985 and converted to a public trail. The portion of the trail in Shawangunk was formally opened in 1993 and named after former town supervisor Jesse McHugh. Plans to pave the trail between Walden and Wallkill were discussed since 2001, and the route was finally paved between 2008 and 2009. The trail includes an unofficial, unimproved section to the north of Wallkill, and is bounded by NY 52 and NY 208.

Racist Comics and Exotic Shrubs: The Corners Edition (Forty-Seven and -Eight)

Wikipedia's featured articles for last couple days take us from a classic, yet racist, comic series to an exotic shrub.

On Feb. 16th,

Tintin in the Congo... is the second volume of The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. Commissioned by the conservative Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle [The Twentieth Century] for its children's supplement Le Petit Vingtième, it was serialised weekly from May 1930 to June 1931. The story tells of young Belgian reporter Tintin and his dog Snowy, who are sent to the Belgian Congo to report on events in the country. Amidst various encounters with the native Congolese people and wild animals, Tintin unearths a criminal diamond smuggling operation run by the American gangster Al Capone.

Following on from Tintin in the Land of the Soviets and bolstered by publicity stunts, Tintin in the Congo was a commercial success, appearing in book form shortly after the serial's conclusion.... In the late 20th century, Tintin in the Congo came under criticism for its perceived racist colonial attitude to the Congolese and glorification of big-game hunting, and attempts were made in Belgium, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and the United States to restrict its availability to children.

On Feb. 17th,

Banksia paludosa, commonly known as the marsh or swamp banksia, is a species of shrub in the plant genus Banksia. It is native to New South Wales, Australia, where it is found between Sydney and Batemans Bay, with an isolated population further south around Eden. There are two recognised subspecies, the nominate of which is a spreading shrub to 1.5 m (5 ft) in height, and subsp. astrolux is a taller shrub to 5 m (16 ft) high found only in Nattai National Park. 

Native mammals, such as the brown antechinus and sugar glider, are important pollinators of B. paludosa. Several species of honeyeaters visit the flower spikes, as do ants and the European honey bee. The response to bushfire depends on the subspecies; subspecies paludosa regenerates from underground lignotubers, while plants of subspecies astrolux are killed by fire and regenerate from large stores of seed which have been held in cones in the plant canopy. B. paludosa is sometimes seen in cultivation, with dwarf forms being registered and sold.

Bases Loaded Cubed: The Things I Have Missed for the Last Three Days (Day Forty-Four, -Five, and -Six)

According to the featured articles on Wikipedia for the last three days, I have missed out on more than blog posts. (My absences have been due to spending my free time constructing a personal/professional website.)

On Feb. 13th,

The Bull Run River is a 21.9-mile (35.2 km) tributary of the Sandy River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Beginning at the lower end of Bull Run Lake in the Cascade Range, it flows generally west through the Bull Run Watershed Management Unit (BRWMU), a restricted area meant to protect the river and its tributaries from contamination. The river, impounded by two artificial storage reservoirs as well as the lake, is the primary source of drinking water for the city of Portland, Oregon.

It is likely that Native Americans living along the Columbia River as early as 10,000 years ago visited the Bull Run watershed in search of food. Within the past few thousand years they created trails over the Cascade Range and around Mount Hood, near the upper part of the Bull Run watershed. By the mid-19th century, pioneers used these trails to cross the mountains from east to west to reach the fertile Willamette Valley. In the 1890s, the City of Portland, searching for sources of clean drinking water, chose the Bull Run River. Dam-building, road construction, and legal action to protect the watershed began shortly thereafter, and Bull Run water began to flow through a large pipe to the city in 1895.

On Feb. 14th,

Romances is the twelfth studio album by Mexican singer Luis Miguel, released on August 12, 1997, by Warner Music Latina. It is the third album of the Romance series, in which Miguel covers Latin songs from 1940 to 1978.... Romances consists of twelve cover versions and two new compositions....

Romances has sold over 4.5 million copies and received platinum certifications in several Latin American countries, the United States and Spain. Miguel promoted the album by touring the United States, Latin America and Spain. The album was generally well received by critics....

On Feb. 15th,

John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio.... He began his career in 1903 and first gained attention as a stage actor in light comedy, then high drama, culminating in productions of Justice (1916), Richard III (1920) and Hamlet (1922); his portrayal of Hamlet led to him being called the "greatest living American tragedian".

After a success as Hamlet in London in 1925, Barrymore left the stage for 14 years and instead focused entirely on films. In the silent film era, he was well received in such pictures as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920), Sherlock Holmes (1922) and The Sea Beast (1926). During this period, he gained his nickname, the Great Profile. His stage-trained voice proved an asset when sound films were introduced, and three of his works, Grand Hotel (1932), Twentieth Century (1934) and Midnight (1939) have been inducted into the National Film Registry.

Barrymore's personal life has been the subject of much attention before and since his death. He struggled with alcohol abuse from the age of 14, was married and divorced four times, and declared bankruptcy later in life....

Every Professional Is A Creative Type: A Review of 'Creative Confidence'

The Kelley brothers inspired and convinced me of our universal creativity. There aren't "creative" types and everybody else. Creativity requires two things: an ability to solve a problem in a new or unconventional way, and an ability to empathize. This is Design Thinking. All problem solving should be human-centered and driven by empathy for the end user, whatever the product or service may be. Regardless of our educational background, professional choices, or college major, we should and can develop Creative Confidence. The Kelleys highlight stories from IDEO and the D.School--both are founded by them--demonstrating the eclectic teams they draft to tackle any variety of problems. In one example they enlisted a team to redesign a shopping car---using Design Thinking. This team included an anthropologist, an engineer, a computer scientist, and a graphic designer. Each person brings a special, but creative skill-set to a problem. When they adopt Design Thinking, magic happens: human creativity is unleashed and human lives are improved.

Creative Confidence crystallized my professional direction--before it I was mired in uncertainty about whether I had what it takes to assume more creative roles professionally. I have carried it around for the past few weeks, a new manifesto or professional bible. I also came away with dozens of action items. I have already put several in place. I recommend this book to anybody, in any firm, doing anything that touches the human world--it is especially relevant for people in the "start-up" landscape.

This book is filled with engaging success stories across all industries with people using Design Thinking. At times the book felt like a promotional for IDEO and the D.School--which it is--or a series of "shout-outs" to the Kelley brothers' friends and successful entrepreneurs--and their books. 

Each of us has creativity within: "creativity comes into play wherever you have the opportunity to generate new ideas, solutions, or approaches. And we believe everyone should have access to that resource." 

On Design Thinking they say "being human-centered is at the core of our innovation process. Deep empathy for people makes our observations powerful sources of inspiration. We aim to understand why people do what they currently do, with the goal of understanding what they might do in the future...An empathetic approach fuels our process by ensuring we never forget we're designing for real people...Design thinking relies on the natural--and coachable--human ability to be intuitive, to recognize patterns, and to construct ideas that are emotionally meaningful as well as functional. We'ere not suggesting that anyone base a career or run an organization solely on feeling, intuition, and inspiration. But an over-reliance on the rational and the analytical can be just as risky."

Creative confidence becomes a way of life "by adopting the eyes of a traveler and a beginner's mindset, you will notice a lot of details that you normally might have overlooked. You put aside assumptions and are fully immersed in the world around you."

By the time you finish this book, you will want to have your entire house and office space covered in white boards, and a notebook in every pocket. Creative Confidence means being prepared to capture all the amazing ideas that pass through your limitless mind. Once you start doing this, be prepared to swim in a pool of creative flourishing.

Lord, into thy Hands I Commend my Spirit!: The Art of being a Protestant Martyr (Forty-Three)

Today's featured article on Wikipedia paints over the religious divide present in 16th Century England.

The "Streatham" portrait is an oil painting on panel from the 1590s believed to be a later copy of a portrait of the English noblewoman Lady Jane Grey dating to her lifetime (1536/1537–54). It shows a three-quarter-length depiction of a young woman in Tudor-period dress holding a prayer book, with the faded inscription "Lady Jayne" or "Lady Iayne" in the upper-left corner. It is in poor condition and damaged, as if it has been attacked. Although of historical interest, it is generally considered to be of poor artistic quality. As of January 2015 the portrait is in Room 3 of the National Portrait Gallery in London.

So, where is the religious divide, I mentioned?

Lady Jane Grey was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII through his youngest daughter Mary Tudor, and first cousin once removed to his grandson, King Edward VI. After Edward's death, a Protestant faction proclaimed her queen over Henry VIII's daughters, hoping to prevent the Catholic Mary Tudor (elder daughter of Henry VIII) from taking the throne. Two weeks after the death of her brother, Mary, with the support of the English people, claimed the throne, which Jane relinquished only nine days after being installed. She and her husband, Lord Guildford Dudley, were imprisoned in the Tower of London on charges of high treason. Jane's trial was conducted in November, but her sentence of death was suspended. In February 1554, Jane's father Henry, who had been pardoned, participated in Wyatt's rebellion. On 12 February, Mary had Jane, then aged 16, and her husband beheaded; Jane's father suffered the same fate two days later.

Jane was a devout Protestant during the English Reformation, when the Church of England violently rejected the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. Known for her piety and education, she corresponded with Protestant leaders in Continental Europe, such as Heinrich Bullinger. A modest person who dressed plainly, her last words before her execution are reported as "Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit!"

As well,

Jane's execution by a Catholic queen made her into what the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography terms a "Protestant martyr"

In short, art, regardless of the quality, is often two things: 1.) Birthed out of family drama, and 2.) Governed by the day's politics.

The Never-Ending Final Fantasy, Part VIII (Day Forty-Two)

As an avid non-gamer and anti-escapist, today's featured article on Wikipedia left me jonesin' for something more like reality.

Final Fantasy VIII (ファイナルファンタジーVIII Fainaru Fantajī Eito?) is a 1999 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix). It is the eighth major installment in the Final Fantasy series. The game was the series' second 3D installment and the first to consistently use realistically proportioned characters, and introduced a new magic system to the Final Fantasy franchise which removed magic point-based spell-casting. Set on an unnamed fantasy world with science fiction elements, the game follows the story of a group of young mercenaries, led by Squall Leonhart, who are part of an organization named SeeD. Initially traveling to different countries to stop the sorceress Edea, their goal changes to stop a sorceress from the future named Ultimecia from compressing time. 

The development of Final Fantasy VIII began in 1997, during the English localization process of Final Fantasy VII..... The game was positively received by critics, who praised the originality and scope of the game. It was voted the 22nd-best game of all time in 2006 by readers of the Japanese magazine Famitsu. The game was a commercial success; thirteen weeks after its release, Final Fantasy VIII had earned more than US$50 million in sales, making it the fastest-selling Final Fantasy title of all time until Final Fantasy XIII, a multi-platform release. The game shipped 8.15 million copies worldwide by March 31, 2003. Originally for the PlayStation, it was later ported to Windows-based personal computers and became available on PlayStation Network as a PSone Classics title in 2009.

The Politics behind the Wordless Novel (Day Forty-One)

Given today's featured article on Wikipedia, we should reevaluate the narrowness of how we define the "novel".

For example, the wordless novel is "a narrative genre that uses sequences of captionless pictures to tell a story. As artists have often made such books using woodcut and other relief printing techniques, the terms woodcut novel or novel in woodcuts are also used. The genre flourished primarily in the 1920s and 1930s and was most popular in Germany."

The wordless novel has its origin in the German Expressionist movement of the early 20th century. The typically socialist work drew inspiration from medieval woodcuts and used the awkward look of that medium to express angst and frustration at social injustice.... Following an early-1930s peak in production and popularity, the genre waned in the face of competition from sound films and anti-socialist censorship in Nazi Germany and the US.

Two aspects of this art form I want to address:

First, the "socialist themes of struggle against capitalism are common; scholar Perry Willett calls these themes 'a unifying element of the genre's aesthetic.'" As well, "[t]he storytelling tends to be melodramatic, and the stories tend to focus on struggles against social oppression in which characters are silenced by economic, political, and other social forces. The characters are clearly delineated as good or evil—the good drawn sympathetically and the evil with the contempt of the artist's moral indignation."

Second, "wordless novels used relief printing techniques such as woodcuts, wood engraving, metalcuts, or linocuts. One of the oldest printing techniques, relief printing has its origins in 8th-century China and was introduced to Europe in the 15th century.... Relief printing is an inexpensive but labour-intensive printing technique; it was accessible to socially conscious artists who wanted to tell wordless stories of the working classes."

Of the first, I ponder, why should an artistic medium be shackled to the dominate political ideology of its origins? Following the case made by French critical theorist Roland Barthes, art basically belongs the era of the reader, not so much that of the writer.

Of the second, the irony in that the socialists choose a "labour-intensive" technique, instead of a more efficient capital one.

It's Good to be King: The Governance of 7th Century Britain (Day Forty)

Today's featured article on Wikipedia has a royal turn.

Æthelred (/ˈæθəlrɛd/; died after 704) was King of Mercia from 675 until 704. He was the son of Penda of Mercia and came to the throne in 675, when his brother, Wulfhere of Mercia, died. Within a year of his accession he invaded Kent, where his armies destroyed the city of Rochester. In 679 he defeated his brother-in-law, Ecgfrith of Northumbria, at the Battle of the Trent: the battle was a major setback for the Northumbrians, and effectively ended their military involvement in English affairs south of the Humber. It also permanently returned the Kingdom of Lindsey to Mercia's possession. However, 

Æthelred was unable to re-establish his predecessors' domination of southern Britain.
He was known as a pious and devout Christian king, and he made many grants of land to the church. It was during his reign that Theodore, the Archbishop of Canterbury, reorganized the church's diocesan structure, creating several new sees in Mercia and Northumbria.... 

Æthelred's wife, Osthryth, was a daughter of King Oswiu, one of the dominant 7th-century Northumbrian kings. Osthryth was murdered in unknown circumstances in 697, and in 704 Æthelred abdicated, leaving the throne to Wulfhere's son Coenred. Æthelred became a monk at Bardney, a monastery which he had founded with his wife, and was buried there....

The most interesting sections in this article relate to the governing structures and manners of 7th Century Britain.  My curiosity peaks, however, with this question: How common of a practice at the time to abdicate one's kingship?

The Darwinian Waters of Evolution: The Case Study of the Trait du Nord (Day Thirty-Nine)

Today's featured article on Wikipedia highlights how even artificial selection cannot man the Darwinian waters of evolution.

The Trait du Nord, previously also known as Ardennais du Nord or Ardennais de type Nord, is a breed of heavy draft horse developed and bred in the area of Hainaut in western Belgium and in northeastern France. Originally considered a subtype of the Ardennes, it was recognized as an individual breed with the opening of a studbook in 1903. Developed in the fertile Flemish grasslands, it was bred for size and pulling power for agricultural work. By 1855, the horses bred near Hainaut were considered by some veterinarians to be superior to other Flemish draft breeds. The Trait du Nord was used extensively in mining from the late 19th century through 1920, with lesser use continuing through the 1960s.

The Trait du Nord continued to be used extensively for agriculture through World War II, but after the war this usage, and the breed population, declined significantly as farming became increasingly mechanized. During the mid-20th century, the breed was in demand for the production of horse meat, and due to this was bred to be larger and heavier. In the early 1970s, the market for horse meat began to decline, and the Trait du Nord, like many European draft breeds, was in danger of extinction. It was not until the 1990s that the breed experienced a slight revival through an increased interest in recreational riding and driving.

With increased reliance on motorized technology for farming and mining, coupled with changes in consumer dietary tastes, we find the Trait du Nord presently an endangered species.    

The breed is considered to be endangered by the French government, with fewer than 100 new foal births a year. The national breed registry in France is working with local groups in an attempt to promote this breed and bring population numbers back up. The breed currently has a high risk of inbreeding, due to the low number of breeding stallions, and is at risk of extinction.

We often think of animal species flourishing in the absences of us, and that if only those darn humans would just get out of the way or off of this planet entirely, these other creatures would thrive. However, the fate of the Trait du Nord reminds us well that numerous species rely on us exclusively for their very livelihoods. In short, what stands between a species and its extinction is often nothing more than us humans. To many, we are their only levee against the raging waters of evolution.

J.S. Bach's Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe, BWV 22: Scoring and Structure (Day Thirty-Eight)

As a musician and music-lover who often confines himself to mostly Jazz or Jazz-influenced music, Wikipedia's featured article on days like this make my ears happy!

Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe (Jesus gathered the twelve to Himself), BWV 22, is "a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach composed for Quinquagesima, the last Sunday before Lent. Bach composed it as an audition piece for the position ofThomaskantor in Leipzig and first performed it there on 7 February 1723."

Scoring and structure

The cantata has five movements and is scored for three vocal soloists (an alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B)), a four-part choir (SATB), and for a Baroque orchestra of an oboe (Ob), two violins (Vl), viola (Va) and basso continuo. The duration is given as c. 20 minutes.

In the following table of movements, the scoring, divided in voices, winds and strings, follows the Neue Bach-Ausgabe. The continuo group is not listed, because it plays throughout. The keys and time signatures are taken from Alfred Dürr. The symbol is used to denote common time (4/4).

No.	Type	Text (source)	Vocal	Winds	Strings	Key	Time
1	Arioso	Jesus nahm zu sich  die Zwölfe (Bible)	T B SATB	Ob	2Vl Va	G minor
2	Aria	Mein Jesu, ziehe mich  nach dir (anon.)	A	Ob		C minor	9/8
3	Recitativo	Mein Jesu, ziehe mich,  so werd ich laufen (anon.)	B			E-flat major − B major
4	Aria	Mein alles in allem,  mein ewiges Gut (anon.)	T		2Vl Va	B major	3/8
5	Chorale	Ertöt uns durch dein  Güte (Cruziger)	SATB	Ob	2Vl Va	B major

The time signatures for the second and fourth movements caught my attention, since these are highly uncommon in the music to which I play and listen.

John Irving on Knowing Whether You're a Writer

At some point in their lives, every author made a decision that they were a writer--no aspiring prefixed to the title. It frightens us to make such an identifying claim about ourselves, especially if we have little to show for it--no novels, no short stories, maybe only a few blog posts. Stepping onto such an admirable and storied path can feel pretentious or undeserved. Admittedly, writers are well aware of the many bookshelves that are full of unnecessary and terribly-written novels. It's only worse in the interwebs, crowded by millions of people trying to find a voice that can articulate something which may matter to somebody else. This curmudgeonly pessimism from already established wizards of the page shouldn't stop us from responding to the creative impulse inherent in our species. Most of us hear the call of the pen, or feel a very real compulsion to dance our fingers across the keys of a typewriter or a keyboard--too few of us decide to continue moving our feet once the path becomes treacherous, seemingly blocked by an immovable barrier. 

You may not find yourself ready for it, or believe you will ever be capable of penning something worth reading. John Irving, author of The Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany, offers something heartening to those feeling under-prepared or unqualified for the work. His advice doesn't apply to all--especially if you are extroverted by nature--but I think most aspiring-writers will find some confidence. And, hopefully, a few more will find the courage to remove the hyphenated prefix.

Female Genital Mutilation: The Libertarian Imperialist Feminist Case Against (Day Thirty-Seven)

Today's featured article on Wikipedia draws attention to political, social, cultural, and moral issue on which I take a strong stance.  

Female genital mutilation (FGM), "also known as female genital cutting and female circumcision, is the ritual removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. Typically carried out by a traditional circumciser using a blade or razor (with or without anaesthesia), FGM is concentrated in 27 African countries, Yemen and Iraqi Kurdistan, and found elsewhere in Asia, the Middle East, and among diaspora communities around the world. The age at which it is conducted varies from days after birth to puberty; in half the countries for which national figures are available, most girls are cut before the age of five.

The practice is rooted in gender inequality, attempts to control women's sexuality, and ideas about purity, modesty and aesthetics. It is usually initiated and carried out by women, who see it as a source of honour, and who fear that failing to have their daughters and granddaughters cut will expose the girls to social exclusion. Over 130 million women and girls have experienced FGM in the 29 countries in which it is concentrated. The United Nations Population Fund estimates that 20 percent of affected women have been infibulated, a practice found largely in northeast Africa, particularly Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia and northern Sudan.

FGM has been outlawed or restricted in most of the countries in which it occurs, but the laws are poorly enforced. There have been international efforts since the 1970s to persuade practitioners to abandon it, and in 2012 the United Nations General Assembly, recognizing FGM as a human-rights violation, voted unanimously to intensify those efforts....

Yet, believe it or not, "[t]he opposition is not without its critics, particularly among anthropologists. Eric Silverman writes that FGM has become one of anthropology's central moral topics, raising difficult questions about cultural relativism, tolerance and the universality of human rights."

Ugandan law professor Sylvia Tamale argues that early Western opposition to FGM stemmed from a Judeo-Christian judgment that African sexual and family practices – including dry sex, polygyny, bride price and levirate marriage – were primitive and required correction. African feminists "do not condone the negative aspects of the practice," writes Tamale, but "take strong exception to the imperialist, racist and dehumanizing infantilization of African women."

The debate has highlighted a tension between anthropology and feminism, with the former's focus on tolerance and the latter's on equal rights for all women. Anthropologist Christine Walley writes that a common trope within the anti-FGM literature has been to present African women as victims of false consciousness participating in their own oppression, a position promoted by several feminists in the 1970s and 1980s, including Fran Hosken, Mary Daly and Hanny Lightfoot-Klein. It prompted the French Association of Anthropologists to issue a statement in 1981, at the height of the early debates, that "a certain feminism resuscitates (today) the moralistic arrogance of yesterday's colonialism."

As one who quickly disregards my multi-cultural principles when the individual is to be left tyrannized by the community, tribe, and/or family, I take a hard anti-anthropologist line on this matter. And if being against the anti-FGM campaign makes one an imperialist, do understand that I am "imperialist" because of my libertarianism. The state is not the only source of force in the world;–that is, culture can be as rippling to individual liberty as any government, be it democratic or despotic. 

Also, as one who finds nymphomania as an aspirational value for both the individual and society, at large, I cannot rectify how FGM is not sexual theft. What else can it be, when according to Understanding the Female Orgasm (July 2003), by Al Cooper, that

• Fifty to 75 percent of women who have orgasms need clitoral stimulation and are unable to have an orgasm through intercourse alone. 
• Even for women who do orgasm through vaginal intercourse alone, most still need the right position to provide clitoral stimulation.

Putting my libertinism aside, this again speaks to my liberal nature: individual sexual choices and experiences should never be sacrificed to any community's prejudices.

In short, on the issue of FGM, I am proudly a libertarian imperialist feminist!

P.S. Since many people I have spoken with over the years seem not to be aware of what exactly is be cut during FGM, here is illustration to explain:

Bases Loaded Deux: The Things I Have Missed for the Last Three Days (Day Thirty-Four, -Five, and -Six)

Here is what I missed from the last three days, at least, according to the best website online, Wikipedia:

On Feb. 3rd,

State Route 67 (SR 67) is a state highway in San Diego County, California. It begins at Interstate 8 (I-8) in El Cajon and continues to Lakeside as the San Vicente Freeway before becoming an undivided highway through the eastern part of Poway. In the town of Ramona, the route turns into Main Street before ending at SR 78. SR 67 provides direct access from the city of San Diego to the East County region of San Diego County, including Ramona and Julian.

The route has existed as a railroad corridor since the turn of the 20th century. A highway known as the Julian road was built by 1913, and was designated as Legislative Route 198 in the state highway system by 1935. Route 198 was renumbered SR 67 in the 1964 state highway renumbering. A freeway south of Lakeside was built in the late 1960s, and opened to traffic in 1970. Since then, the portion of the highway north of Lakeside has become known for a high number of traffic accidents and related fatalities. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has made several attempts to remedy the problem and make the road safer.

On Feb. 4th,

"Damien" is the tenth episode of the first season of the animated television series South Park. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on February 4, 1998. In the episode, the boys' class is joined by a new student named Damien, who has been sent by his father Satan to find Jesus and arrange a boxing match between the two. The majority of South Park residents bet on Satan to win the match due to his enormous size and muscular physique, but Satan ultimately throws the fight and reveals he bet on Jesus, thus winning everybody's money.

On Feb. 5th,

Marcus Ward Lyon, Jr. (February 5, 1875 – May 19, 1942) was an American mammalogist, bacteriologist, and pathologist. He was born into a military family, and demonstrated an early interest in zoology by collecting local wildlife around his father's army posts. He graduated from Brown University in 1897, and continued his studies at George Washington University while working part-time at the United States National Museum (USNM). At the same time, he taught at Howard University Medical School and later George Washington University Medical School. He received his Ph.D. from George Washington University in 1913. In 1919, he and his wife, Martha, moved to South Bend, Indiana to join a newly opened clinic. Prior to moving, Lyon had published many papers on mammalogy, both during and after his tenure at the USNM. In these papers, he had formally described six species, three genera, and one family. Once in South Bend, he began to publish medical studies, too, but continued his work in mammalogy, with a particular focus on the local fauna of Indiana. He published more than 160 papers during his career.

Philip Seymour Hoffman on Doing a Job Well (Day Thirty-Three)

Today's featured article on Wikipedia spotlights the beautiful craft and tragic life of one of the finest actors of the last quarter century.

Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was "an American actor, director, and producer of film and theater. Best known for his supporting and character roles – typically lowlifes, bullies, and misfits – Hoffman was a regular presence in films from the early 1990s until his death at age 46."

So much of Hoffman's work is readily spoken for by itself. Yet, my main takeaway from this article is how he spoke about doing the craft (any craft) well:

[I]n a 2012 interview he confessed that performing to a high standard was a challenge: "The job isn't difficult. Doing it well is difficult." In an earlier interview with The New York Times, he explained how deeply he loved acting but added, "that deep kind of love comes at a price: for me, acting is torturous, and it's torturous because you know it's a beautiful thing... Wanting it is easy, but trying to be great – well, that's absolutely torturous." 

The Przevalski's Nuthatch (Day Thirty-Two)

Today's featured article on Wikipedia has flocking us back to your feathery cousins.  

Przevalski's nuthatch "(Sitta przewalskii), originally given the nomen nudum Sitta eckloni, is a bird species in the family Sittidae."

The bird is endemic to areas in southeastern Tibet and west central China, including eastern Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan, inhabiting coniferous mountain forests of spruce or fir. The altitude at which it nests varies according to locality, but typically is from 2,250–4,500 m (7,380–14,760 ft). The species was first described in 1891 from a specimen collected in China's Haidong Prefecture. The common name and Latin binomial commemorate the Russian explorer Nikolay Przhevalsky, who discovered the species in 1884. Little is known about its ecology, which is probably comparable to that of the white-cheeked nuthatch.

It was given the rank of full species (separate from the white-cheeked nuthatch) in 2005 in Pamela C. Rasmussen's Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Other authorities followed suit, but as of 2014, S. przewalskii does not have a full threat-status evaluation by BirdLife International or the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A 2014 phylogenetic study of the species found it to be at the base of the nuthatch evolutionary tree out of 21 species examined, dispelling a hypothesis that S. przewalskii could belong to the same species as S. carolinensis. 

Quiet Desperation

I often find myself fearing my (or my husband's) midlife crisis. I desperately want to live a life I am proud of, one that is satisfying and exhilarating, but I am more often than not, disappointed.

I am currently reading Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver and a theme I am picking up on is lives of quiet desperation. The narrator is a country farm wife who married young and compares herself to young college students who have traveled and learned things, who have nice clothes and eat exotic food. 

I had a lapse and couldn't remember who coined "lives of quiet desperation," so I looked it up and found this: