I suspect a whole lotta of people are authoritarian-curious about how this video game crackdown in China is gonna go. The New York Times reports that:
China’s strict limits on how long minors can play online video games just got stricter. Chinese children and teenagers are barred from online gaming on school days, and limited to one hour a day on weekend and holiday evenings, under government rules issued Monday.
I mean, I guess they can do that given the whole massively oppressive Orwellian dictatorship energy they got going on, but I do wonder whether this is a bit fucking dumb. (At the same time as I recall the trouble we had getting Thomas off the big Box of X when he was supposed to be studying for his senior year. Oh how I would have loved to have had a couple of goons from the Ministry of State Security in my back pocket).
It’s all of a piece I guess with the chokehold on Hong Kong, and the Putin-style monstering of the emergent bizoid elites. It makes me wonder which chapter of Sun Tzu suggested stomping the shit out of everyone, everywhere, all at once. Just for the lulz.
Probably George Lucas got it from Sun Tzu, but it totally fits: "The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will fall slip your fingers".
And that's the thing that I don't get with authoritarianism. It's just so wasteful and pointless. The eastern bloc in the 70s and 80s couldn't sustain neighbours spying on neighbours. Because who's watching over those people's shoulders?
Yeah, you might have all those cctv cameras, and algorithms automating the flagging mechanisms, but the sheer level of false positives still means that there has to be a new and massive govt dept devoted to it.
And what sort of moral panic sparked this brain fart. Since human teenagers first threw rocks at each other, parents have worried about the fact this didn't happen when *they* were young. News-flash: it did. And granny and grandpa should just be quietly chortling to themselves about it.
Mrs W and I can't keep our 9 month old away from our smart phones. LittleW already knows how to swipe, tap (and lick) the screen. So the horse has bolted. It probably bolted a good six months ago or more. Our job will be to channel that ability. It certainly won't be the government's role.
That's nothing to today's edict: no effeminate media. Because the 50's were so culturally productive? I agree with Dave W: why keep restricting your talent pool?
JB, I just finished stalins hammer for the first time, and at first, I gotta say I was a little underwhelmed until the final couple chapters of Paris. This isn't a complaint, just that I didn't know what I was getting into. At first I thought SH would be the start of a new trilogy. Then I eventually realized it's only the intermission between two trilogies. All in all an enjoyable read. A nice palate-cleanser for the mayhem and shenanigans to come. Am impatiently awaiting the next proper installment of the Axis of Time. Any clue on how much longer to wait? Ya know so I can prepare my wallet for its impending doom?
Probably George Lucas got it from Sun Tzu, but it totally fits: "The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will fall slip your fingers".
And that's the thing that I don't get with authoritarianism. It's just so wasteful and pointless. The eastern bloc in the 70s and 80s couldn't sustain neighbours spying on neighbours. Because who's watching over those people's shoulders?
Yeah, you might have all those cctv cameras, and algorithms automating the flagging mechanisms, but the sheer level of false positives still means that there has to be a new and massive govt dept devoted to it.
And what sort of moral panic sparked this brain fart. Since human teenagers first threw rocks at each other, parents have worried about the fact this didn't happen when *they* were young. News-flash: it did. And granny and grandpa should just be quietly chortling to themselves about it.
Mrs W and I can't keep our 9 month old away from our smart phones. LittleW already knows how to swipe, tap (and lick) the screen. So the horse has bolted. It probably bolted a good six months ago or more. Our job will be to channel that ability. It certainly won't be the government's role.
That's nothing to today's edict: no effeminate media. Because the 50's were so culturally productive? I agree with Dave W: why keep restricting your talent pool?
*first!*
JB, I just finished stalins hammer for the first time, and at first, I gotta say I was a little underwhelmed until the final couple chapters of Paris. This isn't a complaint, just that I didn't know what I was getting into. At first I thought SH would be the start of a new trilogy. Then I eventually realized it's only the intermission between two trilogies. All in all an enjoyable read. A nice palate-cleanser for the mayhem and shenanigans to come. Am impatiently awaiting the next proper installment of the Axis of Time. Any clue on how much longer to wait? Ya know so I can prepare my wallet for its impending doom?
Thanks Sarge. I'd never really thought about how somebody coming to those three books as a whole might easily them like you did and go, "Whut?"
But you're right. They are an intermission. I should probably learn from that.