Archive for Archive for July, 2010
Varla Jean Merman and the Unspeakable Act of Assimilation
Last night, David and I prevailed on my in-laws to sit with the kids and ambled from our sleepy vacation spot in Wellfleet, MA to Provincetown. After a predictably low-key but excellent dinner at Cafe Heaven, we were ready for something more dazzling: Varla Jean Merman’s Loose Chanteuse performance at the ArtHouse.
VJM is a whip-smart [...]
Empathy for “Entities”?
The controversy continues, as it must. I recently explored the issue of late-term abortions through a sort of thought experiment, asking whether anencephalics were “human” in any meaningful sense. A couple of posts later, and after a discussion about the point here at home and an internet-mediated exchange with Andrew Sullivan (see here, here, here, [...]
Anencephalics, Humanity, and Respect
For awhile, I wish I’d never written on anencephaly. My first clue should have been that I didn’t know how to describe these unfortunate children, born without most of their brains. Since one of my points was to raise the issue of what counts as humanity, I didn’t want to answer my own question by [...]
Props
Since I posted yesterday on my puzzlement over Andrew Sullivan’s unwillingness to support late-term abortions despite his obvious and eloquent empathy, he’s continued to post heart-stopping testimonials from readers about their own experiences. Then I was brought up short by his just-issued post:
“A reader writes:
The posts from real women who have had to ponder and [...]
Certainties? If Only
Responding to my first post on the subject of late-term abortions, Andrew Sullivan takes issue with me on anencephalic fetuses (i.e., those whose brains will not develop to enable cognition, and most of whom will die shortly after birth). In the context of questioning his opposition to late-term abortions even in such cases, I had [...]
Beginnings of Life, Impossible Issues
I’ve got two somewhat related topics to discuss today. Let’s start with the unpleasant subject of late-term abortions: On Keith Olbermann’s “Countdown” last night,1 Andrew Sullivan said that he was moved by the tragic testimonials of those who’d had such abortions when faced with the prospect of giving birth to seriously disabled children, some of [...]
Arizona Fails to Defend the Indefensible
One of the first things Arizona Gov. Janet “Let’s Pass an Unconstitutional Immigration Law” Brawer did upon entering office was to strip the partners of the state’s gay and lesbian employees of their health benefits. Her reason? God told her to.
It turns out that federal judges are less impressed by invocations of a Supreme Being [...]
A Real Vacation (I Think)
I’m to get up in about six hours, shovel whatever still needs to be packed into our trunk, and get out of here: Two weeks up in Cape Cod, and with little or no internet access. (What kind of monsters are these realtors?)
So I won’t be blogging — unless I do. A decision in the [...]
Reliably Controversial: Religion and Equality Clashes
Today’s column over at 365gay.com has elicited a mountain of response. No surprise there — it’s about how far to accommodate religion in anti-discrimination laws (including the marriage equality laws and public accommodation statutes). People are never shy about expressing opinions; the tougher thing is to maintain civility.
Article on BP Compensation Fund
Over on Slate, I have an article today on the BP compensation fund, administered by Ken Feinberg (he of 9/11 Compensation Fund and Executive Compensation overseer fame). I explore how the law that Feinberg says he’ll rely on actually isn’t good for most claimants, but that I expect him to compensate most of them anyway. [...]