High tech low life

If you haven't watched this on PBS yet, watch it. I don't care who you are, it's for you.
It's about these two bloggers in China, but the thing about looking at China, it's like a foil for the U.S. It's of course very different. But in a lot of ways it's very similar. If you've ever been to Hong Kong I will tell you that once you cross into China, it's not just the fact that they drive on the right side of the road that is simlar to America. America is a big country, China is a big country. There are people in the U.S. that are constantly criticizing the government. Same in China. The way that is dealt with is of course very different. But China's not as bad as we always think in the U.S. And as the recent Snowden incident shows, the U.S. is not always as great as a lot of people think either. I would also say though that looking at China always makes you feel better. Because a lot of people are always complaining about this and this about the U.S. government. And ultimately, it's usually better here than in China. Okay, if you are white and Christian. But then You have to think about what it's like to be Tibetan or a Uigur in China.

Now I'm going to talk about money and Freedom.
I try not to talk about what's fair and the rights of the people, because ultimately all that really is bullshit. Well Not bullshit, but it's just not something you can talk about realistically with a government. So let's talk about money.
I just can't imagine how much money China spends every year, censoring the internet. For what? What does it do? Stuff still gets through. Even before there was internet there was still word of mouth. And during the horrors of the Cultural Revolution.. didn't the country and therefore the government also suffer basically from itself? Alright but I don't know that much about China. I know much more about the U.S. because at least I live here.
And small stuff like how the police arrest certain people or when the FBI raids a mosque  to find out what's going on inside... Instead of thinking of things in terms of rights and freedom, I think things would actually improve if everyone just thought of money.
For instance, when that Cambridge cop arrested Henry Louis Gates. Who paid for that? How much did that cost? And when you think of it that  way, was arresting an old professor to as some sort of show of chest puffing or cock comparing really worth the money it costed the tax payer and the government, to arrest, book and detain him, when all the cops had to do was say sorry, swallow some pride and go get some donut sand coffee instead.
 Or  when the FBI raids a mosque to find out what's inside (I use this example because earlier I was watching another special, America Reframed, about being Muslim American) did it not occur to them that they could probably just send someone in and look? Doesn't the FBI have Muslim agents? I hope so. And let assume that they don't, which would be ridiculous, someone knows enough about Islam to pretend right? Isn't that a lot cheaper than a raid?
My mom traveled the globe. Hitchiked, if you will, down through Africa, back out, through the Middle East, into Asia, when doing so was not safe or cool. She even went into Laos while the Vietnam war was still going on.
While she was in the middle east, she dressed like a middle easterner, and was dark, because of the sun, nearby copper mines, etc. You get the point. She recalled one day seeing a helicopter (very rare) and a white male in sunglasses and suit and tie with prep school like blazer on lapel down from it. CIA thank you for announcing your arrival. What kind of dumbness is that? How much did that cost. Aren't you supposed to be a little more inconspicuous.

I remember thinking that things must have changed and that was another era. But when I was in high school and 9/11 happened we watched an old Frontline piece on Bin Laden. Anyway, there was a picture of a CIA guy, in Afghanistan (before the U.S. went in this last time) with the mountains in the back, and he's wearing shirt and tie and pretty much looks like he's ready for a sit down dinner at prep school.

These are just some examples of American Government idiocy. For Chinese Government idiocy ad well as Chinese Citizenship ballsiness watch High tech low life on PBS.org and see these guys Zola (young) and Tiger Temple (middle aged) go around on their bikes and their cameras recording things and writing their thoughts. They really are heroes. The modern wuxia warriors, except there Kung Fu superpowers have nothing to do with swords and flying and have everything to do with their words flying over the internet all around the world. Their pens are incredibly mighty and man do they have balls to pull that shit in China, Seriously.