Best director is second only to best picture, to pretend it doesn’t exist is disingenuous. Sure, say they are underrepresented, which is very true. But you weaken your argument with false absolutes.

I actually thought (2) was the real crux of the joke. As Rock was saying in the monologue about having bigger problems. The observation that people jump to complain about the characterization of Asians as good at math while ignoring that they are contributing to child labor is appropriate.

No Latinos...You mean other than the Mexican that won best director...two years in a row?

That’s not really what free speech means in the context of the 1st amendment. Sure you can be criticized for your speech by any Joe on the street, but to criminalize speech is a much higher threshold. Just look at how many causes of action exist based only on speech. You can probably count them in one hand. Even…

In the case at hand she is charged with involuntary manslaughter. That requires the person charged to actually kill another person. She isn’t charged with encouraging suicide. Massachusetts does not have a law against assisted suicide. There is no real way the prosecution can make that case.

I have no love for bullies, but isn’t bullying free speech? Remember it is constitutionally protected to say Fuck You to the police. But, maybe that is bullying to the police so no we can arrest you for it. Many words could be seen as bullying depending on the listener. All I’m saying is we need to be very very…

Would you kill yourself is someone said that? Clearly his mental illness was the proximate cause of his suicide. If we were to take the usual legal stance of how would a reasonable person respond to the words, then she didn’t make him do anything. If we decide that word restrictions are based on the most vulnerable…

that makes her a terrible person, but does that make her a criminal? I’m a little uncomfortable with that. I’m worried about a world where we shift too much on criminalizing words except in very limited circumstances.

it isn’t a case where two people were on either side of her. The other person met her separately.

Having read both seats of pleadings, this is a puzzling case. I can’t imagine any reason for Swift to lie about the incident. She doesn’t know Mueller and hadn’t met him before the concert.
At the same time, having been to meet and greets before you 1) aren’t alone with them and 2) are in close contact for a very…

Regardless of anything else, she needs to hire local counsel instead of relying on Washington DC white shoe lawyers. Their pleadings are a mess and will not ingratiate themselves to the Colorado judge or jury.

but the claim is that there were several witnesses

at least in the library you can put a book in your lap, right?

I think they are generally intended to slip. Runway dresses aren’t made to be worn by actual people (most are never produced and sold).

I totally agree that there are those that find selecting out disease to be sinister. I also agree that it has been happening for a long time. However, what has changed is the scope of our knowledge of genetic testing. Even back in 2000 I was studying the ethical implications of genetic testing and selecting particular…

I think the idea is that if they sound like Americans it breaks the suspension of disbelief. They can’t have Caesar speaking Latin, but if he has a foreign accent then you can tell yourself that he is somehow distant from ones self. I know, not necessarily a satisfying explanation. Maybe they just work more cheaply.

it is a bit of sarcasm because I don’t recall a controversy over the cast of 300 not looking like Spartans. We don’t really know a lot about how anyone in antiquity really looked. The whole climate was different and the Mediterranean was filled with trade and crossing of different people. I can’t get too upset over…

There has always been a difference between avoiding disease and trait selecting.

It is an ethical fine line. On one hand, a single couple says “oh yes, we want a girl” and on the other end you get a eugenics movement that values one over the other. We would be upset if everyone in China under the 1 child policy got IVF to select only boys.