Google is completely full of shit. Firstly, if they are able to tailor their search engine so it CENSORS EVERYTHING the Chinese government wants it to*, why is it so hard to eradicate this one picture? And secondly, if Jezebel can have a moderator, why can't Google employ a team of them to deal with complaints like this? It's not like they can't afford it.
*Fun Fact: if you Google image search 'The Dalai Lama' in China, you get 161 pictures, only one of which is the DL - he is pictured as a young man meeting senior Chinese officials in the 1950s, before China invaded Tibet, murdering over a million Tibetans and destroying 600 or so Buddhist temples, forcing him into exile.
@Diziet_Sma: I just googled "the Dali Lama" (one l) and got over 2 million results, all of which on the first page (the only one I looked at) are of the current Dali Lama.
@Diziet_Sma: Because we don't live in communist China. Google didn't say they couldn't, they said they wouldn't. It's against their business plan to censor some search results that are offensive.
@BytheSea: Yeah, I didn't articulate that very well - I'm against censorship, unlike Google. So yeah, it's against their business plan, unless it isn't.
Can someone please tell me what 'explicitly fit' means? I get all the other sexual innuendo (and sexual obviousness) of the ad, but that's a new one on me!
@cuteasabutton: Ah! I kinda see. Still not sure how hotness is explicit - unless that's code for 'porn'. But I may be asking too much to expect any sense here.
Vampires are traditionally very straight-laced. While a gay vampire makes sense to me, Bram Stoker's book was seriously like the straightest book ever. Men bite women, women bite children, and a sexy woman = bloodsucking demon. Stephanie Meyer just exacerbated the trend by making her vampires abstinent in every sense of the word. Also, sparkly.
Interesting choice of censorship: apparently "lesbi-", the very bottom of that girl's boobs, and the moon are so offensive that they need to be covered with what appear to be anti-smoking labels.
@AuntieBee: Gotcha. Yes, I'm sure at first glance, you notice the little mud-flap girl silhouette in the A, and not the giant luminescent cleavage. Boobs: because "the lesbian Twilight" wasn't moving enough product.
@NefariousNewt: interesting...in the redesign, they actually managed to get MORE cleavage in the shot...only to put a sticker on part of it...diabolical!
@NefariousNewt: But wouldn't people who are oddly wary of lesbians be mad if they accidentally bought this, for their children of course, without being able to see lesbian under the sticker? Yes, it's discriminatory and terrible, but isn't it also a little dumb.
Interesting that in a country with such heavy restrictions on the press, she's publishing stories about corruption, government cover-ups and a health crisis. And here in the West, with all our press freedoms, more and more of our papers and magazines are being padded out with celebrity news, gossip and "women's" sections.
The more I learn about China and the media, the more I realize that my old boss (Chinese, moved to the US about 7 years ago) was such a bullshit slinger when it came to how "free" they were. She even told me that minorities get better treatment than "real" (her word) Chinese people. Oh, and of course, Tibet always belonged to them. Did I just end up with the most brainwashed one?
No wonder my journalist mother doesn't trust any Chinese news sources.
@AmericanSplendor: She even told me that minorities get better treatment than "real" (her word) Chinese people.
I'm fairly confident that the Uighurs, at a minimum, would dispute this.
On the other hand, I do know that ethnic minorities in China are not subject to the same population control laws as the Han Chinese. So, in that one respect at least, one could argue they are treated better.
Oh, I know, it's just I can easily NOT listen to those people, because i know they're spouting bullshit. But, with her, I didn't know, and I was forced to listen to her and I didn't know if she was completely biased, turns out she pretty much was.
She never talked about the birth control stuff, but she made it seem as if all they do is sit around and make up mean things about the government and no one ever gets in trouble. She said they have "no respect" for the Chinese government.
Oh, and funny anecdote, she was at the University of Beijing in 1988, and doesn't understand why the Tienanmen square protests were "such a big deal."
She would probably think this journalist is a total traitor.
It speaks volumes about the leadership in Iran that they have more journalist prisoners than China, a closed-minded, heavily controlled nation with over 1 billion in population.
So true. And although the Chinese gov't will cut out sites like google and yahoo for periods of time, they're not completely cutting out wireless service.
Osnos points out that she seems to see reform as a way to strengthen the existing government, not overthrow it.
Well, first off, who really ever wants a coup except those who hope to gain power? And second, if I were her I'd rather be giving a moderate message all the time than a radical one between jail visits, ya know what I mean, Vern?
I was in the Vagina Monologues at school and it was definitely one of the best experiences for me as a then proto-feminist. (It was not handled Chinesely.) I hope all the best for this production, in whatever way it must go on.
Incidentally, I once met Eve Ensler and she is an amazing individual (like anyone's surprised).
@tonightineed is actually Mrs. Ziegler-Spock: I said it yesterday in front of one of the builders who's re-doing our offices. His face went white and he asked me to repeat myself, I did and he looked mortified. More fool him.
11/25/09
Did anyone else report that blog? I couldnt' have been the only one.
11/25/09
11/25/09
*Fun Fact: if you Google image search 'The Dalai Lama' in China, you get 161 pictures, only one of which is the DL - he is pictured as a young man meeting senior Chinese officials in the 1950s, before China invaded Tibet, murdering over a million Tibetans and destroying 600 or so Buddhist temples, forcing him into exile.
11/25/09
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Vampire -- no problem.
Lesbian -- Oh no!!!!!! Think of the children!!!!
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07/13/09
07/13/09
No wonder my journalist mother doesn't trust any Chinese news sources.
07/13/09
Now, in all fairness, you hear this one in America a LOT. Just replace "real Chinese" with "white men."
07/13/09
I'm fairly confident that the Uighurs, at a minimum, would dispute this.
On the other hand, I do know that ethnic minorities in China are not subject to the same population control laws as the Han Chinese. So, in that one respect at least, one could argue they are treated better.
07/13/09
Oh, I know, it's just I can easily NOT listen to those people, because i know they're spouting bullshit. But, with her, I didn't know, and I was forced to listen to her and I didn't know if she was completely biased, turns out she pretty much was.
07/13/09
She never talked about the birth control stuff, but she made it seem as if all they do is sit around and make up mean things about the government and no one ever gets in trouble. She said they have "no respect" for the Chinese government.
Oh, and funny anecdote, she was at the University of Beijing in 1988, and doesn't understand why the Tienanmen square protests were "such a big deal."
She would probably think this journalist is a total traitor.
07/13/09
07/13/09
So true. And although the Chinese gov't will cut out sites like google and yahoo for periods of time, they're not completely cutting out wireless service.
07/13/09
Well, first off, who really ever wants a coup except those who hope to gain power? And second, if I were her I'd rather be giving a moderate message all the time than a radical one between jail visits, ya know what I mean, Vern?
07/13/09
She seems super-clever to me, getting her point across without doing anything that could get her in massive trouble.
06/23/09
Incidentally, I once met Eve Ensler and she is an amazing individual (like anyone's surprised).
06/23/09
06/23/09