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Chinese Internet Users Relish Irony Of SOPA's Great Firewall Of America
- dholowiski 15y agoObligatory insane animation explaining the issue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jJZaajaGI9U http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=j...
- icegreentea 15y agoJust as a FYI, the animation is by NMA, which is a Taiwan (the non-communist China) based animation studio for a Hong Kong based media conglomerate. This is not from the mainland.
- zht 15y agoIt's amazing how the interests of a very small yet powerful lobby representing the interests of such a marginal percentage of the population can get Congress to consider a bill that imposes itself so overwhelmingly on the other 90 something percentage of the population
- maeon3 15y agoIf the great firewall of America materializes, I will teach my kids to say "...with liberty and justice for some". .and when the teacher corrects him/her and gets sent to the principals office. he will have a packet of material proving my case beyond all doubt.
- untog 15y agoAny reason to use your children? You wouldn't want to go in there and speak to the principal yourself?
- zht 15y agomaybe he has a day job
- maeon3 15y agoThis country is losing its liberties not because authorities are unaware, but because they dont care. the people are tranquilized into inactivity. My kid making a scene in class insisting on "liberties for some" will leave a mark on the future, encouraging people to call out and point at bull donk wheras a me talking with the principal would have zero effect.
- untog 15y agoThen why don't you make a scene? It bothers me that a lot of people seem to think that the best form of activism they can possibly practise is training their children to mindlessly repeat talking points on concepts they are barely able to grasp. There's a great BBC documentary on the Westboro Baptist Church where the interviewer asks a small child what he's protesting about. He trots out lines about homosexual sin etc. etc. but when questioned further it becomes blindingly obvious that he has no idea what he's talking about- he is just looking for approval from his parents. He is later hit in the face by someone inaccurately throwing a drink from their car. He has no idea why he's there or what he's doing, but his parents drag him there to suffer for the causes they believe in.
- lhnn 15y agoYou're assuming the OP is going to have his child blindly recite things. What if he actually teaches his children like parents are supposed to?
- untog 15y agoI will teach my kids to say "...with liberty and justice for some". Not "I will teach my kids about...". and when the teacher corrects him/her and gets sent to the principals office. he will have a packet of material proving my case beyond all doubt. = The kid will not know what they are talking about, so I will make them carry around a folder proving my point to anyone who dares to question me.
- sukuriant 15y ago
- bilbo0s 15y agoFunny story... My daughter caused an incident at school when she wouldn't recite the Pledge of Allegiance to TEXAS! That's right, every morning, kids here in Houston recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the STATE OF TEXAS! Well my daughter refused, and would only pledge allegiance to the Flag of The United States. Interesting exchanges ensued with the teachers and school administration telling her she wasn't being the right kind of 'leader'. She needed to be more of a 'team player'. In the end, they just told the other kids she was the 'class clown'. You know...because "She is always being 'loony'." This is society writ small. If someone exercises free or critical thought, they will be labelled a 'crazy' or 'radical'. The worst part is that the rest of society, or in my daughter's case, the class, will believe the authorities. Just came to my mind when I read your comment.
- cpeterso 15y agoMy (California) high school stopped reciting the Pledge of Allegiance around 1990. I didn't know schools still made people do this.
- bilbo0s 15y agoTo be clear...she's in ELEMENTARY school, I don't know if pledging allegiance to the State of Texas is required of high school students here. I can't imagine it is...of course I couldn't imagine a pledge of allegiance to the state of Texas either before I heard from the principal about my daughter's 'disruptive' behavior.
- cgag 15y agoI like the message, but I think I'd rather my kids didn't say the pledge of allegiance at all.
- toisanji 15y agothere is actually a significant difference and that is in America there is at least a opportunity, if not minor, for the people to have a say and not allow this law to pass. There are no such opportunities in China.
- bad_user 15y agoWith each such law passing, for how long do you think you'll still have this opportunity? And most importantly, will you notice when opportunities will be completely gone? Also, don't get your hopes up. Proponents of SOPA clearly expected opposition. What you're witnessing is the Overton Window strategy [1] and I can guarantee you that there's a 100% chance that their original plan will be 100% successful. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window
- pi18n 15y agoChilling and unfortunately accurate, I am sure.
- dholowiski 15y agoWhen I read your comment, I believe I called you stupid, out loud. I restrained from replying. But it turns out I'm the stupid one... http://www.techworld.com.au/article/409754/lawmakers_release_draft_alternative_stop_online_piracy_act http://www.techworld.com.au/article/409754/lawmakers_release...
- grecy 15y agoNot always. The house just voted 406-17 to keep the NDAA (indefinite military detention bill) conference committee closed to the public.[1] 1. http://www.opencongress.org/articles/view/2447-Indefinite-military-detention-for-U-S-citizens-now-in-the-hands-of-a-secretive-conference-committee- http://www.opencongress.org/articles/view/2447-Indefinite-mi...
- dinkumthinkum 15y agoBut given how the U.S. is supposed to be orders of magnitude more "free" than China, the fact that this SOPA is even a possibility seems to render that point moot.
- snowwrestler 15y agoThe Chinese relish any opportunity to make the claim that the U.S. is no better than them. There's a chip on the shoulder of their culture, which is strongly encouraged by the Communist leadership as a way of maintaining social order. Nothing suppresses dissent like an external competitor/enemy. But the reality is that SOPA is no more capable of overriding our Constitutional rights than any other law that Congress might pass. It's a significant difference between the countries that can't be wished away.
- nodata 15y agoTo be fair, they do have a point: http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/6r09d/fisa_passed_in_congress_6928_congress_the/c04n96n http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/6r09d/fisa_passed_...
- snowwrestler 15y agoMany laws have passed, that were subsequently struck down by the Supreme Court as violations of the Constitution. I'm not aware of a similar process in China.
- wtn 15y agoI'll keep that in mind my irrevocable Constitutional rights when I receive my full-body patdown before flying home for the holiday break.
- pork 15y agoUm...what constitutional right is being violated there? You're not being forced to fly. You're free to rent a car, board a bus, take a train.
- SamReidHughes 15y agoYou're not forced to leave your house, either, but you have rights when you do.