suffrage

Sunday marks not one but two important anniversaries, the other of them being that it'll be exactly 90 years since the British election of 1918, the first in which (some, not all) women could vote and even stand for election -- and, indeed, the first in which a female candidate actually was elected: the Sinn Féin candidate Constance, Countess Markievicz (1868-1927), who conducted her campaign from prison and who subsequently (like all the successful Sinn Féin candidates) declined to take her seat in Parliament.

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography has created a useful resource page about the 1918 election, about the role of women in British government, and about the women's suffrage struggle in general. Reading it left me in two minds: on the one hand, it's remarkable how far we've come in just ninety years, from a time when women were regarded as having essentially the same civil rights as children; on the other, it strikes me as abominable that, a whopping ninety years later, we still haven't completed the job, as it were -- in the UK as in the US (and as in, I assume, most if not all other developed countries) the average and median wages for women still fall well behind those for men. It's a cause for impatience, no question of that.

help Vera just that little bit more . . .

For reasons explained here, the Help Vera appeal has reopened its doors for one final mighty bound towards getting Vera Nazarian's massively compounded problems sorted out; in brief, the plumbing bill to fix the damaged sewer for her house has proven to be twice the original estimate.

So, hurry, hurry, hurry to the main appeal site to browse through pages of excellent goodies that are still on sale -- many unique and wonderful items are here, some of them ideal for those last-minute Holiday gifts and stocking stuffers, others treats and treasures you can furtively buy for yourself.

A couple of days ago guppiecat heroically did a tally of the auctions that were still open. Obviously this posting of his is a tad out-of-date by now, but it's a good place to start since it turns the spotlight on items that otherwise you'd not find until you'd scrolled through pages of more recent offers. These include a few in which (modest cough) I have some personal interest:

Digital Art in the 21st Century: Renderosity by John Grant & Audre Vysniauskas (signed) - opening bid $29.95

The Chesley Awards: A Retrospective by John Grant, Elizabeth Humphrey and Pamela D. Scoville (signed) - opening bid $45 (although the bidding's now up to $50 on this)

Take No Prisoners by John Grant (signed), four left - $10 each, post free

All of these will, of course, be signed, inscribed, kissed or whatever else (within reason) the lucky purchaser desires.

So: You know it's a good cause. Why are you still here? Hurry along to the helpvera site pronto! Please.