FFS... I’m so sick of this effort at “balance” when there isn’t a question of it
These are human rights we’re talking about; transphobia, hate, & violence aren’t the “equal balance” to equity, they’re acts of hate that we SHOULD denounce
I’m convinced a big part of what’s led us to here today is the refusal to outright denounce hate speech/actions for fear of disrupting “parity”
Same w/ science. For crying out loud someone saying the sky is a blanket woven by elves isn’t equal to facts when we’ve BEEN TO SPACE
... & don’t @ me about folklore (we’re not taking about that) or give me “oh, but it used to be a FACT that *insert group* was inferior;” that’s a bad faith argument.
You know damn well what I’m talking about. Here & now. 2020. Right & wrong.
Also, describing it as the “Trans Issue” as a statement itself raises a whole lotta flags, for obvious reasons...
Tempting as it is to assume this is a clock, it couldn’t be. After all, if it WAS a clock on a French ship there would be a heck of a lot of ormolu dripping off the thing...
In grand naval tradition up to WWII, typical line-of-battle was just that: LINE of battle. Ships stem to stern, firing broadside
In ye olde days before yer fancy radar or radio (wireless, for you old-schoolers), how do you get all the ships firing on the same target? SIGNALS! /2
As an aside, “Broadside” is the literal name of the game, as in “what’s one of your favorite early 1960s War of 1812-themed naval combat board games where you get to dismast your opponent while showering them w/ 19th century sailor’s profanity?”
Here’s the thing: it may not have even been secret.
It was probably done w/o care, a symptom of systemic racism & another example of urban (usually black) cemetery destruction w/ a complete disconnect between urban redevelopment & community
Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the construction planners &/or workers didn’t care. Not enough to track down descendants. Not enough to hold community meetings.
Meanwhile, cheap erosion rip-rap is always welcome, as is cheap disposal.
Hang on to your hats; we’re going on a cartoon history 🧵 (content warning ⚠️), courtesy of Puck, Harper’s Weekly, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated, & other period papers:
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Honesty, we’re in a period which closely mirrors it; it just doesn’t feel that way b/c people are futsal shuffling, twerking, & dabbing instead of twirling to a Viennese waltz or early ragtime
It’s... a *different* vibe, to be sure
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The 1870s to mid 1890s saw an explosion of innovation, business booms, financial panics, increasing wealth stratification, social upheaval, widespread political corruption & polarization, immigration bans, racism, a rural/urban divide... I could go on
The railroad gauge article has been going around for ages; while I agree w/ it the point that history is important (it better be, given my chosen career!) the folksy piece has several issues, as snopes points out.
This is a good lesson in storytelling & interpretation (🧵):
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Track gauge has always been more based on power of precedent than anything else. It’s true that George Stephenson’s 1st engine, Blücher, used *almost* 4’ 8 1/2” because the Killingworth Colliery where he developed his early locos already used that for their horse-drawn wagons. /2
But the colliery owners had no clue what size Roman chariot axles were (& wouldn’t have given a fig). It was a happy coincidence. There were lines in hundreds of gauges at mines, quarries, etc., which didn’t much matter as they weren’t interconnected.
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