microsoft bans democracy in china!

[danny_galaga]

from a friend. nice one:

http://tinyurl.com/ahc5o


i like how its reported on msn (",)

[danny_galaga]

aww, cmon! no comments? i thought this was hilarious (",)

[jbox]

We love microsoft! And we
Wanted nothing but obediance from them when they decided
To come to our shores. You have to understand that when you
Post you must be sure that you only encourage and support each other,
But using those nasty words
Couldn't possibly make our country a nicer place to live. When you
Get to China is important to remember that our
Past makes us very different from western countries. So
The job of the very noble
Censor is to make sure we can remain happy and peaceful!
    

Isn't this what everyone wanted anyway? A perfect demonstration of the free market in operation within their very own shores? That private enterprise may make whatever choices they feel will be of most benefit to their financial future... 

[crashwg]

We love microsoft! And we
Wanted nothing but obediance from them when they decided
To come to our shores. You have to understand that when you
Post you must be sure that you only encourage and support each other,
But using those nasty words
Couldn't possibly make our country a nicer place to live. When you
Get to China is important to remember that our
Past makes us very different from western countries. So
The job of the very noble
Censor is to make sure we can remain happy and peaceful!

Now that is funny!   Reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Homer's mom got in touch with him through the news paper.

[Prizmdrop]

Wasn't that a spoof of "A Beautiful Mind"?

[crashwg]

Wasn't that a spoof of "A Beautiful Mind"?

Couldn't tell ya, I've never seen it... 

[jbox]

Wasn't that a spoof of "A Beautiful Mind"?

Couldn't tell ya, I've never seen it... 

Presumably he is referring to a scene where John Nash (who is recruited by the NSA to search for hidden Rusky messages), is standing in the middle of an entire floor filled with dozens of papers spinning around slowly. Then, the audience gets to see his mind selecting random clips from each paper and putting them together, in particular the paragraph on the newspaper glows, rises up into the air and then flashes 'into his mind'. This process goes on for several minutes, and actually felt pretty realistic if you've ever been chewing over a particularly annoying problem, only to have the solution come to you in a "blinding flash" (Eureka! The hat goes on the head!).

For my part, I have never seen the simpsons episode.

*EDIT: the eye in 'recruted'*

[DarkKobold]

Ergh. Anyone want to take bets on how soon China's communist gov't falls?

[Bones]

I am going to entertain my first near sighted thought and say I don't care what happens in China as long as I can still get yum cha here.

[jbox]

Ergh. Anyone want to take bets on how soon China's communist gov't falls?

Wait, since when did China have a communist government? Last time I checked they have an authoritarian government, which until recently attempted to manage a planned economy. No doubt they paid attention to the collapse of the USSR, since it was both *next door* and of course they were occassional allies, which is why they are moving (relatively rapidly) towards a mixed/regulated economy similar to many western countries.   

I'm not a fan of their government, but to *assume* they are going to collapse when they have quite intimate dealings with Europe, the USA and even Australia seems a bit presumptuous. Only TV audiences believe evil people are all stupid. 

In reality I think the odds of a conflict over their "colonies" is about 10 times more likely to happen within the next decade than their government collapsing. For a start, they seem to have done a much better job of, ahem, 'educating' their youth... 

[danny_galaga]

Ergh. Anyone want to take bets on how soon China's communist gov't falls?

they wont collapse- period. unless youve been asleep youll have noticed that they are gradually changing the way their system works and slowly allowing more freedom. the chinese have had continuing beurocracy in government longer than any other country (even in a revolution you need pen pushers to keep things going). in fact, THOUSANDS of years longer than anyone. everyone should hope they NEVER collapse as it would cause a lot of turmoil in the world. why do you think most western governments are so sycophantic towards them? the other day i watched the australian V8 supercar series being raced in SHANGHAI for instance.

jbox, why 'colonies'? im pretty sure the only country they are occupying at the moment is Tibet. the rest of the country has been quite homogenous for some time, much longer than say Wales in the UK. Does that make Wales a colony? Besides, only Richard Gere seems to be worried about Tibet. China has interfered in other countries less often than many others so in that regard they are relatively benign.
still having said all that, i would much rather live in australia (",)

[jbox]

jbox, why 'colonies'?

Just choosing my words to be as neutral as possible. 

The conflict I refer to isn't over any area they currently occupy, since by introspection the west has already "lost" those. However, thanks to "economic rationalism" there is a very distinct lack of factories in the world producing computer parts outside of Taiwan. My personal suspicion is that this will play out exactly the same way that the initial Indonesia & East Timor situation did. Namely, that provided the Chinese government makes it clear they will not alter the one or two key trade arrangements currently in place then there will little more than condemnation to stop them from invading. 

Anyway, this is all missing the point. Aren't Microsoft's actions a direct demonstration of the choices a company might make in order to make more money?   

[fredster]

Anyway, this is all missing the point. Aren't Microsoft's actions a direct demonstration of the choices a company might make in order to make more money?

Yes, that's called "capitalism".  If the commies want the windows logo to be a red flag, I'm sure Bill would do it for them.
No problem.

[danny_galaga]

jbox, why 'colonies'?

Just choosing my words to be as neutral as possible.