October 16, 2019
Blizzard Makes Amends
OK, I'm only being 86.8 percent facetious.
They did get slightly
more consistent in their totalitarian douchebaggery.
Originally Blizzard opted not to ban the players when they first held up
the sign during the October 8th competition, but American University
elected to resign from competition anyway to stand in solidarity with
Chinese player, blitzchung, who had been banned from competition for
saying "Liberate Hong Kong. Revolution of our times!†during a post-game
interview.
Kudos to these American University students for pushing this. They gave up a fair amount of money by standing on principles. They also are grounded enough to note
in their statement that they are in North America and Blitz Chung is in Hong Kong.
Chambers said the team wants to remind people that Blitzchung risked far more than he and his teammates did to make a point.
"He risked real things,†Chambers said. "We risked getting banned from
a tournament structure we don’t intend to compete in anymore. He lost
his permanent Grandmasters spot, which is a money printer. He risked
getting arrested by security services in Hong Kong. He actually is the
hero here."
Note Blizzard's official announcement and public explanation on
the matter which, which consists of an anonymous tweet and a quiet
banning.
But hey; Blizzard is courageously putting to rest the notion that American Media Companies are not just tolerating totalitarianism in overseas markets, they are helping to bring the censorship here.
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October 13, 2019
Lion Rock is This Week's Suribachi
Note the protective plastic sheets being used to prevent the statue from being dinged by their huge brass balls.
I'm sure it will be removed posthaste, but the Hong Kong activists, acting in the dead of night,
managed to get their '
Lady Liberty' Statue
to the peak of
Lion Rock.
Previously the statue, which had been sculpted back in August, had resided at the Benjamin Franklin Center University Avenue.
The fact that there is a Benjamin Franklin Center in Hong Kong is surprising, a bit awesome, and should be cause for some reflection on this side of the pond. We have a lot to live up to.
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October 10, 2019
Of Quislelings, Collaborators and Business Decisions
A fairly comprehensive discussion of the current situation with Blizzard, the NBA, South Park and various other horror stories.
UPDATE: Aaaand we won't be using that video's cover image. The video is here. The hottest of bluecheck hot takes is at 26:51
Also: Extradition is now a swear word.
more...
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1
There is a part of me that wants Activision-Blizzard to get away with this fiasco, for the simple reason it will cause the Chinese to keep pushing the line and see at what point it becomes a bridge too far for Bobby Kotick and his C-suite subordinates. For example:
There has been a move over the last few years among the PRC's officialdom to crackdown on public display and expression of homosexuality on the Chinese social media and Internet. What if the next
diktat that Activision-Blizzard gets told as a condition of allowing their games in the PRC, is that they can no longer show any gay or lesbian people on any of their streams? Will being told that they can not, say, show people like Overwatch League player Austin Wilmot (Who goes by the gamer tag Muma and plays on OWL's Houston Outlaws.) in any interviews, profiles, and special videos, be the bridge too far? Or will Activision-Blizzard throw even the homosexual community under the bus to get that sweet, sweet Chinese money?
At least if that happens, the contortions and knots Activision-Blizzard will go through will be even more entertaining to watch than the mess they have now.
Posted by: cxt217 at Thu Oct 10 23:10:25 2019 (LMsTt)
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Many LGBTQ+ gamers I follow are insisting that their gaming streams are already being shut down on several streaming services, usually for content guideline violations. But considering how much of that is going on in a broader sense, I really can't say how much of it is targeted at that specific demographic.
On a related note, all the problems that the Chinese maker/programmer/Shenzen promoter Naomi Wu got into was predicated on the reveal of the open "secret" that she's (allegedly) bisexual. It's one of those things that she never says or advocates, but is well known. Because of her pro-Shenzen content, the Chinese government generally leaves her alone except when her sex life gets brought up. At least in her case, as long as she absolutely doesn't talk about or go out of her way to present herself in any kind of non-hetero relationship, they're happy to ignore her. But they've also made it clear that she's walking on the edge of a knife blade with regular police check-ins.
And, of course, I'm sure you've noticed the latest wrinkle that since Steve Kerr, NBA coach and former player and noted Lefty activist, has been attacked for his non-interest in commenting; Democrats have suddenly decided the NBA must be defended because Kerr is a reliable voice against Trump.
Posted by: Ben at Fri Oct 11 10:08:55 2019 (osxtX)
3
Well, the modern Democrat Party and media (But I repeat myself.) have never been shy of defending Communists...Even the kind that would knife them in the back when they get a chance (All of them.).
Posted by: cxt217 at Fri Oct 11 11:45:09 2019 (LMsTt)
4
Speaking of Naomi Wu, I just heard about a brilliant bit of kit she just put together, which projects an image on your face from the bill of a hat to foil facial recognition without wearing a mask.
Posted by: Mauser at Sat Oct 12 02:35:49 2019 (Ix1l6)
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October 09, 2019
October 08, 2019
Tooting Our Own Horn
Regarding this weeks issue with China, censorship
South Park,
Anime,
Blizzard,
the NBA,
Vans,
Disney,
videogame content, and, "
global beauty
standards",
we were discussing this here back in June.
One thing in particular that's not getting a lot about of coverage about this censorship: The Blizzard link is to a 20 minute video has an interesting bit of background on how China's censors have been removing or white washing (literally!) black and other dark skinned characters in video games for some time.
This is a BIG deal and it deserves a lot
more attention that the flurry of attention that is likely to be over by
the end of the week.
For instance, this cancerous dynamic is actually the source of many of the
"reactionism clauses" that are popping up in the Orwellian TOS's of tech
and media companies.
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"Reactionism Clauses"? first I've heard the term. What's that?
Posted by: Mauser at Tue Oct 8 21:03:26 2019 (Ix1l6)
2
Well, if you search "define reactionism", you'll get "of, pertaining to, marked by,
or favoring reaction, especially extreme conservatism or rightism in
politics; opposing political or social change." as a result.
A short amount of searching suggests the de facto meaning is "anything the ChiComs don't like."
Posted by: Rick C at Wed Oct 9 09:26:34 2019 (Iwkd4)
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