Chinese Censorship

This is a rude awakening ..

Being in China has its moments but honestly, nice views and amazing knock-offs doesn't really quality to the fact that it is still a communist country.

Although they claimed that to have some sort of freedom after the 1989 Tienanmen incident. Every God damn media here is censored like its Mother Theresa in a Porn film (no pun intended).

Magazines, Newspapers, Local TV, Cable TV and the Internet has been scrutinized and selected really carefully so not to upset anything in this country.

High Res Version

I knew this thing existed when I got here but I can't believe it's like telling an adult that Santa Claus existed. It's really worse that I thought.

Just an example would be accessing Organization Sites .. I need to go through a proxy webby to open "non-chinese *.org sites" .

Certain international blog/video sites like Multiply, Live, Blogger, Friendster and Youtube (to name a few) are prohibited as well.

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I found this website about a petition to the Chinese Media ..

"China Should Stop Media Censorship and Blockade to Save People's Lives

To: World Heath Organization (WHO) and International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

All the open societies in the world understand one clear principle: the relationship of media with government simply tells the degree of a government’s confidence, tolerance, transparency, and courage to invite public scrutiny. Media censorship, suppression and blockade will only allow the cover-up of corruption and malfunctions that happen in the past, present and future.

However, the practice of media censorship, suppression and blockade by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) does not merely lead to an ever-deteriorating systematic corruption. "


www.petitiononline.com/SOH2005/

Shockingly, there has only been 1.5k signatures since 2005. *why doesn't this surprise me*

Here are some other stuff that I found:

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How does China control the influence of foreign media?

China requires foreign correspondents to get permission before making reporting trips within the country and reporters often face harassment if they cover delicate issues.

Read More...

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This website tells it all, "unmadeinchina.org" shows what's really happening..

The Olympic Black Jails

The "Olympic" version of Beijing did not feature any poor people. Part of some "economic miracle"? No, what really happened was that thousands of residents were removed for the Olympic makeover; dissidents were rounded up, 400,000 security officials patrolled the streets, and the usual petitioners were nowhere to be seen. Where had they gone? Many were illegally held in the "black jails."

What kind of jail is a black jail? Black jails officially do not exist, they are a sort of "off the books" jail. Authorities are known throw up to 30 people, including the old, sick and handicapped, into public buildings where they are held prisoner in miserable hygienic conditions, and where they are at times even subjected to violence. None of those imprisoned have been accused of any crime.

unmadeinchina.org

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Curiosity never hurt anyone right? but it did kill the cat ..

poor me .. :(

George Benson & Al Jarreau on Tour

We actually got a good deal from our tickets as they were supposed to be 980rmb (approx 5k peso) but a friend of mine was able to get it for 380rmb (2k peso).

I am more of an RnB, Hip-hop and soul kinda guy so I wasn't really excited that much about this Jazz/Ballad concert. After office, we drove to the Beijing Exhibition Center Theater which took us around an hour because of the rush hour traffic. When we got there, people were already piled up to enter. It's my first time watching a concert in China and I was not surprised to see that the system that have to usher the spectators in was horrendously poor. It was complete mess.

When we successfully found our seats the concert was about to begin. The crowd cheered as the stage lit up ..

(apologies for the pictures, they were not allowed but u know pinoys, makulet ayaw mag paawat .. hehehe)

After a grammatically incorrect commentator finished his poorly executed introduction, the dynamic duo started the concert with "givin it to me", the carrier song of their tour.

I was amazed how goosebumps started running through my arms. They did this Jazz medley mostly instrumentals with George on the guitars, the band doing their thing and Al using his voice like a human drum. It was incredible.

The 2nd part of the concert was a solo act from Jarreau...

"Bip Bop, Badu Dop, Pam Param Pam Boom..."

He was famous for doing voice acrobatics like this and it was nothing I have ever seen before. I cant really name all of the songs that he did cuz i'm not that good at this genre, but I recalled him singing "Mashkinada" and "Spain".

Next came Benson, I was not able to get a snapshot of his solo performance cuz the guards were already on my tail. He played an instrumental medley with his guitar and did a lot of popular ballads as well, like "Nothing's gonna change my love for you, The Greatest Love of All" and my personal favorite "In Your Eyes".

Finally they got together again on stage for a spectacular close as they did some sort of upbeat Jazz number.

If you're one who's not into this sort of music (like me) and has the courage to try it.. go to their concert.. you'll have a taste of what you've been missing.

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Not trusting the drawing power of its co-billed veterans, singer-guitarist George Benson and singer-"vocal percussionist" Al Jarreau, or the eventfulness of their teaming, the producers of Givin' It Up have hedged their commercial bets with a full array of guest stars. But none of the guest singers lifts the proceedings above a sleek professionalism--not Paul McCartney, who participates in a humdrum, album-ending jam on Sam Cooke's "Bring It on Home to Me"; not the wonderful Jill Scott, who emulates Billie Holiday on a modest treatment of "God Bless the Child"; and not old pro Patti Austin. Herbie Hancock, Chris Botti, Stanley Clarke, and Marcus Miller also turn up, agreeably but unexcitingly enough, among smooth jazzers including Marion Meadows and Patrice Rushen. The material ranges from two songs to which Jarreau adds lyrics--the 1976 Benson hit "Breezin'" and "'Long Come Tutu," based on the Miller-written title track of Miles Davis's "Tutu"--to covers of Seals and Crofts' "Summer Breeze" and the Daryl Hall-penned Paul Young hit, "Every Time You Go Away." Benson and Jarreau seem a bit hemmed-in by the crowd of name contributors. Even in smooth mode, they have done livelier work than this. --Lloyd Sachs

amazon.com