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In response an argument that an individual can't be copied and still be the same person
Having been back and forth on this issue a lot over the last few years, I've lost any confidence in the validity of the question as to where the self begins and ends. I can find no logically sound test that indicates whether individual identity under a given case is continuous or not. It seems to ultimately come down to a cultural semantic argument ( Read more... ) -
In response to a discussion about how privilege can't be measured
(And how you can't say who is better off, a person who experiences, x1y1z3, vs x2y2z1 vs x1y4z1.5)
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Actually I think that some forms of privilege not only can be quantified, but should. In fact, quantification is what allows us to determine whether a given social category is a form of privilege or oppression, and this has real consequences.
( Read more... ) -
Dreams of steel objects in British transit
CARRIAGES OUT OF PHASE
I get that it cuts down on maintenance and administrative overhead. The thing that makes me nervous about these new London/suburb commuter trains is how they phase through each-other. You don't want the front car - because it's never pleasant to see a cargo train hurtling towards you. Yes, sitting inside, you still get ( Read more... ) -
In response to a meme complaining about cyclists
I'm not sure I agree with the subtext.
As someone who both drives as part of her job and bikes to work, I find that bicyclists are in a pinch due to lazy regulation. Legally bikes are vehicles in BC - because the province saw them as a luxury item when they wrote the law. Saying, "this is like a car" is the only way of articulating safety rules in ( Read more... ) -
Opinion vs. Fact
The more I write more opinion columns for Daily Xtra, the more I attention to how other columnists do their job. One common method is to be needlessly inflammatory, substituting rhetoric for reason while ignoring the arguments of those who disagree with you and generally using logical fallacies to advance an agenda that your audience already ( Read more... ) -
Another Umbrella Term Piece
I don't agree with this
As a trans woman and activist, I love the use of trans, trans* and transgender as umbrella terms
In my experience, the problem we have is one of semantics, rooted in whether transgender means:
(a) people who break the rules of gender other than in who they sleep with (i.e. people whose identities *and/or expressions* differ ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
From everything I've gathered from religious conservatives, Hell is not only going to be awesome but we'll have unbeatable social policy.
Heaven, on the other hand? That's not going to end well. Or ever. -
On BDS
To [Commentor on a friend's feed regarding their disappointment the letter from the Vancouver Queer Film Festival on the subject of BDS, where this commentor was claiming that BDS was anti-Semitic and unethical]
I do not agree with your analysis. Here is my take on it.
Historically, embargoes, sanctions and boycotts have been not been effective at ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
"You have likely noticed that a great many things in your world are inefficient and unjust. At times you may find it implausible that this status quo can hold when there is so obviously a better way to do one thing, and a kinder way to do another, and so on, and that all these ways sync up, snap together and should just plain work. It seems ( Read more... ) -
Boxes
Two characters, both near and dear to me. Chris and Emily. A scruffy, ethical contract-killer and staunch defender of friends, even when they barely understand human beings. And a chirpy, energetic science nerd, full of optimism. One masculine; one feminine. One is an established character for a TV show. The other is a larp character who I want to ( Read more... )