I get that the aesthetic is unusual or different from the norm, but what are the “tired tropes” from sci-fi that are different?

US society in general has already said that this isn’t the sort of person they want teaching our kids.

give Miranda her job back or pay her $3 million

I think that, overall, you are correct, inasmuch as a big company like this would not get HR to sign off on a firing without some legit reason to back it up, particularly given the fact that she was pregnant, and the relatively certainly that litigation would ensue. However, I think it’s more likely that Netflix…

I think overall what I’m getting is that you think that “whataboutism” regarding the CPD and Chicago state’s attorney’s office, are going to provide Smollett a good defense... and they won’t. Whataboutism works well in informal discussions like ours because there are no rules; in litigation, the rules of evidence and…

Oh, well they can eat all the dicks then.

1. That is too simple and unremarkable a statement to be meaningful to this discussion; but you’re also not wrong. Certainly things can and are be different from one state appellate district (let alone state) to another, but this is more or less an overriding principle of the division between civil and criminal law…

Is there anything to stop people from organizing tournaments according to the rules they want to use without Nintendo being involved? I feel like I’ve never heard much of Nintendo being involved in the competitive Smash scene, but nevertheless, tournaments and big purses happened.

Okay, but, what does “Reiwa” mean? You told us about the current period, and the period before, but not the next one.

1. Per the demand letter, Section 1-21-010, Municipal Code of Chicago. The thing about private rights of action based on nominally criminal conduct is that they do not require a criminal conviction, and in fact, can proceed even where there has been an acquittal. In other words, the fact that one has neither been…

What will be the city’s claim?

So yes I stand with Jussie Smollett against the racist piece of s*** CPD and Rahm Emanuel the man who hid the Laquan McDonald murder tape for a year so he could get reelected.

I genuinely appreciate the praise, but I understand my being in the grays here. While I’m not spouting some right-wing drivel (or at least I don’t think I am), what I have to say isn’t exactly “on-brand” for the site. I think it’s possible (and if true, perfectly valid) that people who are getting their news from The…

I get that—it’s why I didn’t want to say “the majority of these”, since I didn’t know that for a fact, and didn’t believe it to be true anyway. Either way, the cost of bringing a lawsuit against people who make these bogus calls and reports would probably still be more expensive than what it costs the state in law…

devil’s advocate: what 19 year old reads emails from their mother?

So yeah.

He wasn’t “cleared”—declining to prosecute is not an adjudication on the merits, and it certainly isn’t an acquittal. Prosecution was deferred contingent on (and I think this is more symbolic than anything) the city keeping his $10k bond, and the fact that he already performed 16 hours of community service. But even…

If you’re talking about people call the cops on black people for loitering, or whatever other nonsense, I think it’s probably the case that the legal fees for bringing an action against those people would (even through the preliminary pleading phase of the case) exceed the damages sought. I also believe in many…

The lower burden of proof in a civil proceeding is much easier to meet than “beyond a reasonable doubt”, and because this would not be a criminal prosecution, State isn’t compelled to turn over Brady evidence (i.e., potentially exculpatory evidence) like they would in a criminal prosecution.

There were a handful of people caping for Smollett in the comments when Jez reported on the deferred prosecution a couple of days ago, holding on to to the idea that this was an actual hate crime, and not some poorly orchestrated charade. I hope those people realize the absurdity of the crap Smollett’s own attorney is…