For once, I think the ACLU might have a case. They can be frivolous at times, but I'm glad we have a group watching the watchers.

I hope that the ACLU has the best of luck and shuts down Mirch.

Eh 2010? I think that maybe be a little to soon. ACLA tends to babble on non choherntly at times.

Maybe a lawyer could correct me on this, but wouldn't the ACLU have to demonstrate intent in order to win?

@konrad_arflane

They tend at times to file lawsuits that are pointless and frivoulse, but yes there thends to be a great bais, mostly from neoconservatives.

But they don't file frivously as the media would like people to think.

Sounds like the right move to make, this guy sounds like a pompous self important wanker who felt a brief rush of power (presumably when it was on its way to someone important) and liked it.

Also, the more I look at the picture, I get the feeling that he reminds me of one of those characters in an english movie of the 60s or 70s and say things like "That adolph hitler, he had some good ideas". Not saything he is even remotely connected to the nazi thing (and isn't an application of that internet+nazi=irrelevant argument law) but he just kinda reminds me of that kind of character.

@Dark Sovereign

"Maybe a lawyer could correct me on this, but wouldn’t the ACLU have to demonstrate intent in order to win?"

IANAL, but they could show a pattern of "selective" enforcement of the building codes. That the Sanctuary has only been targeted for violations when it suited the city politically. That and the fact that the prior to the exhibit, the building was cleared for use, and only after the Public Works Commissioner's protest does the department reverse itself? That and they've got him on record stating that the show is not worthy of free speech protection... I think that clearly demonstrates that he allowed the abuse to happen, even if he wasn't directly responsible. And that's usually good enough for a civil suit.

"Hm, I’m not sure which side to take. On one hand, I wholeheartedly support free speech and the elimination of censorship, but on the other hand, I really don’t agree with calling Bilal’s exhibit “art”…"

Fortunately, you don't have to. Even if it isn't art, it's still clearly and unequivocally political speech, and is entitled to First Amendment protection. Indeed, the fact that art is protected in the first place seems to me to be a kind of "accident", or at least an indirect consequence of the protection of political speech - since whether or not a work of art is "political", censoring it is inevitably a political act.

@NeW SpEcTrUM

"On one hand, I wholeheartedly support free speech and the elimination of censorship, but on the other hand, I really don’t agree with calling Bilal’s exhibit “art”…"

As Konrad_arflane said, political speech is protected too.

I find the "it's not art" defense to be, well, lame. When Madison first proposed the 1st Amendment, he wanted to protect the right to speak, to write, or to publish your sentiments. Clearly he was thinking of the expression of ideas, probably not just those confined by writing or oral communication. But at the time, that's really all he had. You either had a newspaper, or you stood on a soapbox. Art itself wasn't really understood as a "conveyor" of ideas...

In Canada, our constitution uses the line "freedom of expression", mostly because it was written in 1982, so we understood that conveying of ideas could be done by more than just a mouth or a pen...

Mirch is the kind of person who simply should not be in a position of governmental authority. Imagine how he would abuse his power if he held a higher station than Director of Public Works.

Canada's latest constitution reform was done in 1982, before that we needed London's consent to modify it. As a confederation, Canada exist since 1867, before that, each province were considered different colonies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Act%2C_1982

Well, I'm terrified and I'm an athiest american of irish descent. Reading that gave me a terrible chill down my spine. When I close my eyes I can see the flecks of spittle starting to foam at the corner of that scumbag politician's mouth.

What happened? There was a story up about an interview Mirsch did, now it's gone.

Wups. Tried to post a comment - got blown out - oh well, will retype.

At the risk of being painted as partially evil myself, I will point out that his comments about muslims having a history of violence isn't COMPLETELY off-base. There is a long historical record of such, the problem with that logic is that just about every religion in the world, short of maybe hindu and some of the more peaceful forms of eastern religions have a long historical record of violence, so picking on the muslims for it, hardly serves a purpose.

That said, it's obvious that somebody needs to shut this guy up. Maybe the ACLU, maybe someone over him in the chain of command needs to have him fired. Maybe just somebody who cares about him needs to sit down with and say, "dude...LISTEN TO WHAT YOU ARE SAYING". Doesn't really matter, I'm not going to judge him, the bottom line is he needs to stop talking. QUICKLY.

@ jadedcritic

His comments about Muslims being violent may not be COMPLETELY off base, but like you pointed out, many other religions have a similar history. Let's face facts, they say prostitution is the oldest profession, but I'd say killer is even older. Humans have been fighting and killing each other since pre-history. It's in our nature. Yes, some Muslim clerics promote violence on "infidels," but so do many world leaders and random people on the street (in their own ways).

If we're going to censor people based on whether they're ancestors were violent, we might as well shut down all communication. About the only person who MIGHT pass would be the Dali Lama.

@ Gameboy

Samething chould be said about christianity, also which Dala Lama? Some I would say some are as close to white on humanity as you could get.

@Joker
It's one thing to imply the ACLU is too ivory tower for your taste, but I think your accusation of racism is out of line. Opinion or not, that's pretty heavy accusation to lay down without any support or examples.

I question that you are as familiar with the organization's work as you think you are.

Random note, that is a very unflattering picture.

Wait, that dude in the pic is Mirch?

I guess is some cases you can judge a book by the cover.

"At the risk of being painted as partially evil myself, I will point out that his comments about muslims having a history of violence isn’t COMPLETELY off-base. There is a long historical record of such, the problem with that logic is that just about every religion in the world, short of maybe hindu and some of the more peaceful forms of eastern religions have a long historical record of violence, so picking on the muslims for it, hardly serves a purpose."

(Since the comment ended up here, I'll respond here, even if the article it relates to was removed)

Hinduism certainly has its share of violent adherents. Hindu nationalists in India, for example (though they don't get much attention in the Western press, possibly because they're mainly attacking Muslims...). Or Hindu fundamentalists attacking people who break the rules of the caste system.

The only world religion, AFAIK, that doesn't get much violence in its name is Buddhism. But maybe someone will enlighten me (pardon the pun).

konrad: Prior to China's invasion of Tibet and Tenzin Gyatsu becoming the current Dali Lama, Tibet was an absolute hellhole, even moreso than today. It was nothing but an absolutely cruel theocracy. Of course, Tenzin Gyatsu doesn't practice that, but he wasn't in power for very long, and probably would have continued with it had China not invaded.

Dark Sovereign said: "Maybe a lawyer could correct me on this, but wouldn’t the ACLU have to demonstrate intent in order to win?"

Check out the next post. I think it's got intent pretty well covered.

Retracted, rather. Redacted is something else.

...I'll just be going now.

http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=2816

They've got a video of the Sanctuary intro presentation.

@ Creature 9

Huh, I thought it was the phrase you with us, or you agianst us.

@ Jabrwock

Many thanks for the link to watch the exibit.

quis custodiet ipsos custodes.

They have multiple videos up on the protest.

I think it is interesting. I wish the journalist doing the interview would hold their feet to the fire.

There is one question that I would ask each one of them “Is alright to have a game depicting the assassinating Saddam?”

I want the journalist to ask question on the facts of the matter before they get to the opinions. Make sure the people know what they are talking about before asking their opinion. By just asking for their opinion there is no basis to how they drew their conclusion besides on speculation that they just heard about it and didnt like it.

It is apparent from the interview that people know nothing about the art besides the selective reports. There is showing their ignorants.

Second video of people interview in Troy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KlczicOXF4

Third Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9Gr3lJXy1Y

I hope they sue. It will wake some politicians up that games are an art form.

I'm not sure how many of you live, work, or have any sort of business dealings in Troy, but I can tell you from experience as a construction project manager that the code enforcement in Troy is VERY strict. I'm surprised they were allowed to open as a place of assembly at all if the door widths were incorrect and crash bars weren't installed.

They're going to have a hard time proving selective enforcement of the code, I myself could provide them with the names of at least 10 local businesses that were shut down for violations that were more minor then failing to have crash bars on the doors.

If you look at the video, there is a wheelchair ramp on the front of the building. I'm not sure where the door widths are below minimum standards, but if they are in a wheelchair accessible area then they are an extreme danger for handicapped people in the need to evacuate.

It may be easy to THINK this is selective enforcement, however look at it from the other side. Perhaps the fire inspector got a complaint from one of the protesters and HAD to act on the complaint and ban assembly untill such time as the building was brought up to code. Otherwise the city would be liable if there was an evacuation and a handicapped person got trapped inside...because they knew about the violation and allowed assembly to continue.

It's very suspicious that the man in charge of code enforcement was the man organizing the protest, however denying him his right to protest simply because of his political position would be a violation of HIS civil rights.

In the video the owner/operator of the video says that the reason the work hasn't been done yet is that they don't have the money but that they are working on it. This leads me to believe they were ALREADY informed about the violations before they opened this assembly.

I would say if people are so concerned about having this voice heard, which I can completely understand, start a donation fund to pay for the work to the building. This will show the city of Troy that people are serious about this exhibit. $10 each from 1000 people would pay for 3 door replacements and the hardware. It's just more convenient for people to be able to plead poverty and expect special treatment.

Handicapped accessibility and door sizing/crash bar rules exist for a reason. A place of assembly MUST follow these rules for the safety of the patrons. A city MUST enforce the code once a violation is found or they can be sued. The inspectors were being generous allowing the exhibit to open, and very well could have closed it after a complaint. How do you know some handicapped person attending the talk didn't complain when his wheelchair got stuck in a door?

If the place burned down with a handicapped person stuck inside because of known code violations it may not be an article on GamePolitics but you can be damn sure there would be investigations into why the city allowed an assembly in a handicapped accessible building that was not up to code.

Yes, Aliasalpha. THAT is the selective enforcement, Will. This was a known issue going back something like a year already; they were given until April '08 to finish it, and the construction to do so has been ongoing.

They were cleared for this assembly by the Troy FD and the Dept. of Public Works earlier in the day, but then after a call from Mirch, it was reversed.

Produce proof that mirch shut them down

Ha, I m betting getting the proof will to lead to block in trying to get the documents. Probably the typical government run around. Legal action will probably need to be taken to get the documents. I am also betting that there is no paper work, it was all done by mouth or phone. So yeah good luck at getting proof. If there is 1 thing politicians can do is remove the blame from themselves and find a scapegoat for a majority of their political actions.

If circumstantial evidence can be used to convict people for crimes in court, then I see no reason why it cannot be used here. Based on the timing of how building was closed just screams censorship.

A protest is planned right in front of City Hall Tuesday March 18 at 5:30pm. Please come and show your support for free speech and the arts in Troy, and speak out against local bullies who use their political power to silence those who don't agree with them. FREE TROY!!!

@PennyLane

Please tell me someone has organised a trojan horse. Naturally one with doors that are within one micrometer of the recommended size...