I feel actually compelled to write this.

disclaimer, i write to convey an idea in the simplest direct way, spelling grammar and punctuation is in fact of only mild consideration. no one actually cares if i dont capitalize.

every week i read the news, and like clockwork i cant help but run across yet another article of something absurd and silly that the government here has done this time.

i can see why western people who have never been to this country can exclaim "OMFGWTFBBQ! human rights violations! " at almost everything that happens here.

for example the list of things that are banned during the olympics that i have heard of so far.

1. horror movies. im seriously not making this up [link] yup. no "wronged spirits and violent ghosts, monsters, demons, and other inhuman portrayals, strange and supernatural storytelling for the sole purpose of seeking terror and horror,"

2. Bibles or other religious objects whithin the olympic village. [link]

3. live music in shanghai. basically because the gov doesnt want people distracted from watching the games. im seriously not making this up. 2 bars closed so far and all the rest cautioned against having live music.

but here is the rub. no one here cares.

honestly, it would be like one day waking up to find the american government one day banning tube socks or taco bell and having no one bat an eye.

how can this be?

simple fact, the chinese government is a behemoth. basically one big family. you have the top officials who are by and large actually fairly smart, they give jobs to their similarly minded friends. those friends give their friends jobs and so on and so forth down the line.

now what happens is that the lower down on this tree you go the lower the mettle of minds it contains.

on top of that. i could wake up tomorrow to hear that the government has outlawed the selling of shoes. were this any other place in the world you would find people panicking and rushing out to buy a lifetime's worth of shoes.

in china, nothing would change.

sure there would be the decree that henceforth thou shalt not sell footwear. but everywhere you look you would see shoes stores just like before.


the simple fact is. 99% of laws made in china are immediately ignored and forgotten. i skateboard, skateboarding is illegal. if you ask a policeman if you can, he will say no. if you skate past one, he will most likely give you the thumbs up and try and take a picture of you. hell. i live in a building where there is a cop shop on the corner of the street, i skate past them ever morning and wave, they wave back, even though i am likely to be breaking atleast three laws just by skating on the street.

i even occasionally have a beer in my hand whilest doing so.