[Links]
[links] Link salad has a devil set aside for you
The Importance of Worldbuilding in Steampunk — (Via jaborwhalky.)
Oil Slick, Mississippi River Delta, Gulf of Mexico — Is it shining like a National guitar?
More vintage Japanese illustration and design
Sinking the Tunnel: 1910 — Some serious steampunkery, from Shorpy.
Of dialects, armies and navies — (Via Scrivener’s Error.)
Mosque Building and Gay Marriage vs. Mob Rule by the Right — Ah, the tyranny of the majority.
Scrivener’s Error on the Proposition 8 decision — Some choice cites here, including: Proposition 8 is unconstitutional because it denies plaintiffs a fundamental right without a legitimate (much less compelling) reason. Yes, Virginia, bigotry is not part of the state’s compelling interest, no matter how sincerely held it may be by people with money and political influence.
?otD: Do we call it Myanmar-Shave now?
8/5/2010
Writing time yesterday: 3.0 hours (revisions, WRPA)
Body movement: 30 minute urban walk
Hours slept: 7.75 (solid)
This morning’s weigh-in: n/a
Yesterday’s chemo stress index: 3/10 (fatigue, peripheral neuropathy, emotional distress)
Currently (re)reading: Inheritor by C.J. Cherryh
Posted: 5:05 am Thu August 05 2010 |
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You are reading the blog of Jay Lake, speculative fiction writer and author of hundreds of short stories, many novels, and winner of the John W. Campbell Award.
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Bryan Schmidt
August 5th, 2010 at 5:26 amHow does the ‘tyranny of the majority’ differ from the ‘tyranny of the minority?’ Seems to me the issue is two sides who each want the other to live by their values. The Left loves to claim the religious Right is trying to force its religion on them, but the Left is doing the same. Freedom of speech and freedom of religion were meant to promote respect and unity. To protect rights to vote and speak as you believe. Objecting to others’ views solely based on disagreement is un-American. At the same time, trying and wanting to force them to live against their beliefs because you disagree is un-American. Extremists on each side never seem to recognize this or the compromise which is required. There are plenty of possibilities for compromise. If the Right’s objection to gay marriage, for example, is based on the term “marriage” being biblically defined as between “one man and one woman,” why does it have to be “gay marriage?” Why can’t it be “civil union” or “legal partnership?” The answer is because each side wants to be superior over the other in this battle of wills. And that is to the detriment of our country and what she used to stand for.
Jay
August 5th, 2010 at 5:43 amYou’re missing a key point here. The Left’s values don’t include control of the social and personal behavior of others nearly to the degree to the Right’s. For example, nothing in the effort to legalize gay marriage inflects the rights, privileges or behaviors of conservatives, but the opposition to it limits the rights, privileges and behaviors of millions of Americans.
It’s precisely that control of behavior that strikes us liberals as so un-American. Put simplistically, the Left seeks to enable rights for everyone, the Right seeks to limit them.
As to marriage specificially, there are over 1,000 rights enumerated in law reserved for marriage which do not extend to “civil union” or “legal partnership”, from tax breaks to hospital visitation to inheritance. Those are not equivalent, and to argue that they are is a bit disingenous.
The Left isn’t seeking suppression or superiority, it’s seeking justice and equality for all. Put simply, if you’re opposed to gay marriage, don’t enter into a gay marriage? Why should it matter to you if someone else does? What harm is done to you by this?
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