Interesting Links for 25-08-2015

[andrewducker]

• Crowdfunding Is Driving A $196 Million Board Game Renaissance
  • (tags: games CrowdFunding kickstarter viaDanieldDWilliam )
• This is a clever horse.
  • (tags: horses smart )
• Doing things that are sexist
  • (tags: sexism society patriarchy )
• The upside of Saturday's events for John C. Wright
  • (tags: hugo funny )
• Crippling court costs force poverty-stricken people

Comments

[gonzo21]

Why, poor people simply don't deserve representation in law. Law is only for those who can afford it. Bloody peasants.

[cmcmck]

'Privilege' actually means 'private law'.

Neat, that, isn't it? We're simply getting back to what law always was- a prerogative of the wealthy.

What does Magna Carta actually deal with? The prerogatives of the wealthy...........

[gonzo21]

Did the magna carta actually do anything to protect the rights of the commoner? Or was it all about protecting the rights of Lords from Kings?

[cmcmck]

Very little in truth- the later re-writes are what really matter to common law.

I think Sellar and Yeatman had it about right in '1066 and all that'

1. That no one was to be put to death, save for some reason - (except the Common People).

2. That everyone should be free - (except the Common People).

3. That everything should be of the same weight and measure throughout the Realm - (except the Common People).

4. That the Courts should be stationary, instead of following a very tiresome medieval official known as the King's Person all over the country.

5. That 'no person should be fined to his utter ruin' - (except the King's Person).

6. That the Barons should not be tried except by a special jury of other Barons who would understand.

Magna Charter was therefore the chief cause of Democracy in England, and thus a Good Thing for everyone (except the Common People).

[bart_calendar]

I don't understand how her hen night thing is sexist.

[danieldwilliam]

I think it's sexist in the sense that it makes a couple of assumptions a) that a hen night will largely involve women and b) women largely like to do those things on a hen night.

The fact that the assumptions are probably correct doesn't change the fact that the assumptions are made purely on the basis of gender.

Which for me is one of the puzzlers about gender politics and gendered language. Some of the assumptions one might make are currently more or less accurate or at least useful as a prediction but should they be. And what comes first changing the world or describing it in different language.

[naath]

Because... it's making an assumption on the basis of stereotypes. Hen nights needn't involve drunkenness or comedy penises; they can be any sort of party at all, hopefully one that suits the bride.

The last pre-wedding party I went to (they didn't do segregated parties) was a ceilidh.

[drplokta]

Please don't show the video of the clever horse to Bugsy.

[andrewducker]

I promise.

Glad that your party went well - and with a full house. I'm hopeful that by next year's party Julie will be on a lower dose and up to us coming.

[kalimac]

That thing with innocent people being pushed into pleading guilty? We have that in the US too.

Not so sure if the word "guys" means only males. When I was in school, girls would address groups of each other as "you guys".

[andrewducker]

That's the use of "guys" I grew up with. But I can see the point that assuming that men are the default is problematic, and that some people do feel excluded by it.