Crazy and just a little bit scary news today
In short:
China has decided to pass a new law which makes it illegal to criticize China outside of China, in particular in regards to Hong Kong. Explicitly stated to apply globally.
This of course does not mean they will start issuing extradition requests to anyone and everyone and obviously doesn’t mean any other government would comply. But it does strengthen their position to squash dissent within media and entertainment companies desiring to do business in china and has given them even stronger justifications for moving against anyone who would produce anything which has anything critical to say about China. This also of course puts an even greater pressure on expatriate Chinese individuals, especially those with relatives still in the country.
Edit:
Turns out the US also now finally passed the order to cease differential treatment of Hong Kong, partly as a result of these laws being passed by China in Hong Kong. I haven’t managed to chrew through the whole executive order, but if you have a bigger appetite for legalese than me, have your fill:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidents-executive-order-hong-kong-normalization/
I often wish some of the tensions could be not so high. I haven’t traveled recently but makes me think twice about it. I have a lot of family back in China, only my parents and myself are here in the US. We are all US citizens and been here forever.
I’m just gonna put this here cuz it’s still a very weird situation
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2020/07/16/dr-disrespect-is-speaking-again/
tl;dr there’s rly no new information, lol
WTF
nice, obtaining 12-year-olds’ contact info with fake xbox controller giveaways…
What you get is name, address, phone number, and mommy’s credit card number that’s a “no charge, just for confirming your ID” kind of thing.
He looks really similar to Zlad.
It said in another article I’ve originally read that the reward was for US-only, so gl if anyone tries lol
I’m so glad I chose this profile pic. It captures my feeling well in so many things.
On an unrelated note, Superman supports gamer rights.
Yeaaaaaaaah… right 
It doesn’t count when you are born that way!
In USA and Canada, a bunch of mystery seeds were sent to random locations.
Bad timing to boost reviewer scores.
This is a break from the more out there and near vitriolic stuff that permeates this thread and instead give something more wholesome and lighthearted. Its honestly heartwarming to see someone still willing to learn even after they retired to go as far as a degree.
Thanks for this. I’m officially learning new stuff right now too. It’s daunting as I’m sure lots of the people learning with me are way younger. It really is never a better time than the present to pursue a dream. Helps a lot to see this man continue to beat the odds. I hope he gets to write that book - would love to read it. History and Philosophy: good stuff.
