What's in the News

Authoritarianism can't be just a hobby. This was a planned mass gathering, meant to take place over three days. Society should be grateful.

Society should be grateful.

... and besides, the cops should be on top. 

Good investment. No one will remember their stunt, nor salad, by next week.

That'd probably - possibly - be true in a normal society, that notoriety adds rather than subtracts from market value. But in this one? A company or product that manages to fall under the eye of sauron is one we... support?

Could be, I suppose. One of major mistakes in marketing is to imagine that "the market" is all people. "The market" for a product or service is always and only those people willing, interested, and able with respect to that product or service. Are there people in Beijing for whom offending mordor is attractive in a salad?

Well, people are people and reasons for purchase are many, so maybe. Which I suppose is why the agents of mordor do so often clash with underdressed men.

It was simple enforcement of truth in advertising regulations.

Real Spartans wouldn't promote a salad restaurant.  Real Spartans would only do this for a steak restaurant.

Well I was curious so I looked it up. Spartans ate, for preference, a thing call black broth, made from blood, vinegar and boiled pig's leg. Probably would have fit right in in China. But that was the Spartans of 300. The Spartans of the sequel, 300:Rise of An Empire, well those hairless fools certainly ate salad. On a related note, archaeologists apparently discovered that roman gladiators were more than likely vegetarian.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/05_may/02/gladiator.shtml

Chinese woman trapped in escalator dies, but saves toddler son

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/07/27/chinese-woman-dies-after-being-trapped-in-escalator-but-saves-2-year-old-son/

Well I was curious so I looked it up. Spartans ate, for preference, a thing call black broth, made from blood, vinegar and boiled pig's leg. Probably would have fit right in in China. But that was the Spartans of 300. The Spartans of the sequel, 300:Rise of An Empire, well those hairless fools certainly ate salad. On a related note, archaeologists apparently discovered that roman gladiators were more than likely vegetarian.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/05_may/02/gladiator.shtml

Also, real Spartans would have worn clothes and, was battle expected, they would have been encased in bronze armour since that was the custom of Greek hoplites.

Also, real Spartans would have worn clothes and, was battle expected, they would have been encased in bronze armour since that was the custom of Greek hoplites.

Silly Eric. You trust what some boring people wrote down to fill dusty pages in history books and journals while ignoring the clear visual evidence from blockbuster Hollywood movies created solely to bring highly detailed  factual re-creations of historical events to educate the public.

Adhering to simple facts is not education, just plain common sense. If I really got miffed about inaccuracies, I could comment on how idiotically exaggerated that whole  300 Spartans at Thermopolae is, as there were a couple of thousand Spartan slaves, Helots and a rather large contingent of other soldiers. Also, Ephialtes, not a Spartan.

They must have been the ones in the leather pants then.

Adhering to simple facts is not education, just plain common sense. If I really got miffed about inaccuracies, I could comment on how idiotically exaggerated that whole  300 Spartans at Thermopolae is, as there were a couple of thousand Spartan slaves, Helots and a rather large contingent of other soldiers. Also, Ephialtes, not a Spartan.

So some dead "historian" makes a few claims about "facts".  How can that possibly compare to the visual proof offered in an incredibly accurate Hollywood educational film?

Peter Hessler's latest:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/10/learning-to-speak-lingerie

I've never been a big fan of his but this has got to be some of the best writing i've read this year.

MILLIONS OF SONGS DELETED IN PIRACY CRACKDOWN

After issuing a stern warning last month which ordered the country's streaming music providers to stop offering unlicensed tracks, the Chinese government is reporting progress. Following the expiration of a July 31 deadline, the National Copyright Administration says that more than two million songs have already been deleted.

Just like the citizens of most developed nations, the Chinese public has developed a healthy appetite for movies, music and TV shows. However, much to the disappointment of countries such as the United States, many have become accustomed to obtaining that content for free.

Faced with a massive piracy problem that will take years to erode, Chinese companies have been looking towards improving legitimate services in an effort to tempt more than 650 million Internet users away from the dark side.

Leading international record labels including Sony and Warner have forged local licensing deals but revenues remain low, in part due to cheap licensed services (one offered by Internet giant Tencent costs just $1.60 per month) and in part due to online piracy.

Now, after years of relative inaction, the Chinese government seems willing to do more for the music industry. Early July an announcement from the National Copyright Administration of the People’s Republic of China (NCAC) made it clear that unlicensed music would no longer be tolerated.

As part of the “Sword Net 2015″ anti-piracy campaign designed to strengthen copyright enforcement supervision, promote the establishment of “good order” and develop the online music ecosystem, NCAC said that it was drawing a line in the sand.

Starting last Saturday, all online music providers were ordered to cease distribution of unlicensed music and permanently remove such content from their systems. Or, if they prefer, face criminal consequences....


But, but... why?

Because China is a well-organized, by-the-book, law-and-order abiding nation where any breach of etiquette or law is most severely frowned upon and...grhghth...hahahahaha....sorry, thought I could but...mwahahaha......because there is a whole  bunch of jackasses in Beijing who  all looked up "Tyranny" "Draconian" and "Machiavellian" and thought those sounded like super great ideas. Best basis for leadership ever, especially Machiavelli. They must love him.