I'm not a fan of video games. I don't play them, and haven't done so with any regularity since the days of video arcades, featuring Space Invaders Tempest and Frogger. So I really don't have any knowledge about the game Bully. But I find the implications of this suit and the possible outcome to be quite disturbing.

The Bully is taking a beat-down. Game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. was ordered to demonstrate an upcoming video game titled "Bully" for a judge to determine whether it violates Florida's public nuisance laws. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Ronald Friedman issued the order yesterday.

The move is a major coup for conservative Miami attorney Jack Thompson, known for his crusades against pornography and obscene rap music, and now the video game industry. He claims that the makers of the game have designed a "Columbine simulator" in Bully, which follows the life of a prep school student as he navigates the social ladders of a fictional school called Bullworth Academy.

Thompson filed the lawsuit a month ago, claiming that the game would violate Florida's public-nuisance laws, which are more typically used to prosecute environmental polluters. Besides Take-Two, the suit also names retailers Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and GameStop Corp.

"My view is that the game potentially impinges on public safety," he said. "I'm pretty sure that the game is harmful to minors."

Since the game has not been released yet, how does this idiot lawyer know that it is a "Columbine simulator", And even if it were a "shooting gallery" game set in the halls of a high school, would that make any difference from a First Amendment standpoint? After all, if the game is a public nuisance, what about movies, television shows, and music that glorify certain sorts of anti-social behavior. Might a judge be able to declare them to be a "public nuisance" subject to special regulations or outright bans, the guarantees of the US Constitution notwithstanding? Heck, I could see lawsuits declaring certain religious groups to be a "public nuisance" because of their unpopular or "intolerant" (read that "in accordance with traditional Christian teaching") teachings constituting a threat to others

A better move, from my point of view, would be to declare Jack Thompson, the lawyer in this case, to be a public nuisance, to strip him of his license to practice law, and to forbid him to file any future lawsuits seeking censorship of others.

After all, if you don't like the game then don't buy it and don't allow your kids to buy it. I realize that some folks have a real problem with such radical concepts of personal responsibility over government regulation, but it strikes me as much more important from the standpoint of balancing individual liberty over government power.

Posted by: Greg at 10:29 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 471 words, total size 3 kb.

I mentioned new author Naomi Novik's series">series several weeks ago as one of my favorite new finds. Look's like Peter Jackson is interested in giving them the Lord of the Rings">Lord of the Rings treatment.

Naomi Novik has written three fantasy novels chronicling the Napoleon-era adventures of a swashbuckling ship captain and a heroic dragon named Temeraire who fight to rescue Britain from a French invasion.

Now she has a dramatic tale of her own: Geek Girl Makes Good.

Ms. Novik has just sold the film rights to all three of her books to Peter Jackson, the director of such blockbusters as “King Kong” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The deal has completed her ascent from a computer programmer to a virtually unknown writer to a newly minted member of a select group of authors — J. R. R. Tolkien among them — whose novels could receive the extravagant high-tech, big-budget Jackson treatment.

Sitting in the living room of the tidy Upper East Side apartment she shares with her husband, Charles Ardai, Ms. Novik, a petite, pale and bookish-looking 33-year-old, said she had always hoped her novels would catch Mr. JacksonÂ’s eye.

“I fantasized about Peter Jackson,” said Ms. Novik, surrounded by bookshelves crammed with “Star Wars” figurines and vintage toys that bring to mind the apartment of the lead character in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.” “Before we ever sent the books to Hollywood, really, I was talking, we were joking with friends. Even my parents were saying, ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the man who did ‘Lord of the Rings’ bought your books?’ ”

“I’m a big geek and a fangirl,” she said, referring to her penchant for fantasy fiction. “If you wanted to make a dragon movie, I would be incredibly excited about it, just for that. And if it’s mine, so much the better.”

It is nice to see science fiction and fantasy works going more and more mainstream instead of being treated like escapist fare for pimple-faced teenagers with no friends. Some of the best writing today is found in the genre, which is so much more than Star Trek and Star Wars.

By the way, to give you a quick taste of what reviewers are saying of Novik's work, I encourage you to look at this.

Reviewing her first novel, “His Majesty’s Dragon,” in The Washington Post, Rachel Hartigan Shea wrote that the book contained a “generous dollop of intelligent derring-do.” The Times of London called it “Patrick O’Brian crossed with Anne McCaffrey: historic, seafaring adventure, with dragons.”

And now, coming soo to a theater near you!

And speaking of Anne McCaffrey, when will we get a film or television adaptation of the Pern novels?

Posted by: Greg at 10:22 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 461 words, total size 4 kb.

Injuries are a part of the game of football. So are late hits. I can even accept the occasional “dirty hit”, with appropriate sanctions applied.

But a premeditated action calculated to injure an opposing player, engaged in well after the whistle has blown? That goes far beyond what anyone will recognize as a legitimate part of the game.

Tennessee defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth was ejected early in the third quarter Sunday after he kicked Dallas center Andre Gurode in the face. Now the tackle expects to be punished and knows he deserves it.

* * *

Julius Jones had just scored on a 5-yard run, putting Dallas up 20-6 in what wound up as a 45-14 victory. Gurode's helmet came off, and Haynesworth, standing over him, used his right foot to kick Gurode in the head.

Gurode said they hadn't been talking or having any exchanges that led to Haynesworth kicking him twice. He received stitches above his forehead and beneath his eye.

"In all my years of football, this has never happened to me. I've never been kicked in the face like this, and I've never seen anybody kick nobody else in the face," Gurode said.

A flag was thrown, and Haynesworth followed an official toward the Titans' sideline, protesting.
Haynesworth pulled off his helmet and slammed it to the ground, prompting another flag. Referee Jerome Boger disqualified Haynesworth, and the player walked off the field after talking briefly with Titans coach Jeff Fisher.

This was not accidental. The play had stopped and Haynesworth looked around before assaulting Gurode. Gurode eventually required 30 stitches to his face, and was unable to return to the game due to blurred vison.

Unfortunately, TitanÂ’s coach Jeff Fisher doesnÂ’t appear to understand the gravity of the situation.

The coach called Haynesworth's actions unacceptable and promised he would be punished by the Titans even if the NFL disciplines him.
"It's ridiculous to get to that point. Two back-to-back penalties like that, there's no place for it," Fisher said.

Excuse me? No place for back-to-back penalties? How about “there is no place for actions that would get you charged with a felony if they took place off the field”? Or maybe “there is no place for actions calculated to gravely injure a player, especially after the play is over”?

Haynesworth needs a long suspension – perhaps encompassing the rest of the season – for his misconduct. I would encourage the local prosecutor to consider filing criminal charges in this case. Michael David Smith over at AOL Sports Blog thinks that Gurode should sue Haynesworth. What this thug did cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be classified as “just a part of the game.” And I say this fully acknowledging that Haynesworth has acknowledged that his actions are indefensible.

By the way, I expect that Haynesworth will get a very cool reception the next time he comes to play here in Houston. Andre Gurode is a local boy – a graduate of the school where I teach. I’m sure the fans will give Haynesworth hell.

UPDATE: Looks like the suspension will be for five games, which is unprecedented in NFL history. But I'm still not sure that it is adequate.

The NFL handed down an unprecedented five-game suspension on Monday to Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth for kicking Dallas Cowboys center Andre Gurode in the head.

That length of suspension represents the biggest on-field disciplinary action in league history. Charles Martin held the previous high for a suspension, sitting two games for his bodyslam of Bears quarterback Jim McMahon on Nov. 23, 1986.

"There is absolutely no place in the game, or anywhere else, for the inexcusable action that occurred in yesterday's Titans-Cowboys game," commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.

"This is an unprecedented suspension," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "I feel like his actions on the field were also unprecented."

The coach indicated that Haynesworth would not appeal the decision.

"I felt there needed to be some serious action taken from a discipline standpoint, and I think what the league has done now is adequate," he said.

The suspension will cost Haynesworth $190,070 -- $38,014 per game -- which adds up to five-seventeenths of his 2006 base salary of $646,251.

"I think five games, five paychecks is substantial," Fisher said.

The suspension takes effect immediately. Haynesworth can return on Nov. 19 for the Titans' game at Philadelphia.

That means that Haynesworth will be with the team when they come to Houston, Gurode's hometown, on December 10. I want to encourage every fan of the Houston Texans to make sure that Hanesworth is the recipient of the sort of contempt he deserves from every lover of the game. Indeed, I encourage fans in every city to boo haynesworth and make sure he knows that we don't need his sort in the NFL.

And fortunately, there is still the possibility of prosecution.

The action could potentially cost Haynesworth more than a suspension from the football field. The Nashville, Tenn., police department issued a statement saying it "stands ready to assist [Andre] Gurode in criminally prosecuting [Albert] Haynesworth if Gurode so chooses."

Gurode's cooperation appears key to any charges being filed against Haynesworth.

"In assault situations, an affirmative desire for prosecution and an acknowledgement of cooperation from the victim, in this case Gurode, are preferable before officers and prosecuting attorneys move forward with the development of a case," the statement continued.

Posted by: Greg at 08:40 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 914 words, total size 6 kb.