“I’m totally for the rules. It’s uncomfortable to get dirty text messages from male friends and even more gross when they are from strangers. But I’ll take them as jokes and reply if they are from my female friends.”

Members of the communist party in Shenze country in Hebei have been diligent in stamping out ‘inappropriate’ text messages:

“Obscene information not only harms the people’s soul but harms the people’s morality as well,” it quoted the party rule as saying. Since July 10, Shenze party officials have held 480 meetings to discuss the harmful effects of obscene messages.

In the United States of America, sexual harassment via text message (or any other method) is already illegal, because it’s harassment. So, a law specific to the deliver of the harassment is not necessary. However, if in China text message spam is growing problem (as say MSN spam is here), then something like this would be useful in shutting down mass spam enterprises.

Jinan University home page

Cornell University home page

From what I can find about it online, Jinan University is a small liberal arts college in China, equivalent to a third-tier, mediocre school here in the US. That they have completely ripped off Cornell’s beautiful web design for their own homepage is not particularly surprising in light of the lowly status 暨南大学.

The actual copying is incidental, as Jinan has copied design elements by style, and missing many of the subtler details of the Cornell site. Their images are blurry, aliased, and with halos. Their menu links are cramped and undistinguished; they have no rollover elements. Even their main content doesn’t lay out well on the page, sliding this way or that. So the only question left is why would a third rate school do a poor copy Cornell’s design for their English pages? It just doesn’t make sense, especially as the Jinan Chinese pages are in their own style.

Members of China’s armed police demonstrate a rapid deployment during an anti-terrorist drill held in Jinan, capital of east China’s Shandong Province July 2, 2008, roughly one month ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

Yes, it’s a publicity stunt done by the police for a PR drill in light of the upcoming olympics. Note that the Segway devices are capable of 13 mph out of the gate, and ones used for anti-terrorist deployment are probably modified for a higher speed. 20mph is something that humans can’t sustain with all their gear for very long, so using Segways might not be such a bad idea!

The truck used by Tomohiro Kato

The man who committed the “stabbing rampage” was Tomohiro Kato. He lived by himself in a small apartment, and had grown tired of life. Kato told police that he had grown “tired” of life, “hated the world” and had gone to Akihabara to kill random people. “Anyone was O.K., I came to Akihabara to kill people. It didn’t matter whom I’d kill,” he said. Kato wore a beige suit and black-and-white sneakers, and was armed with a 12″ survival knife.

Tomohiro Kato being captured by police

There is more coverage at Japan Probe, who’ve compiled a good list of links and news stories about this incident. It goes to show that even in countries that ban guns–like England and Japan–crimes, killing sprees, and murders can still be committed. And if knives are banned, only criminals will carry knives…

Update: Mashable reveals that the killer “twittered” his attack plan on a Japanese forum:

“I’m going to Akihabara to kill people. If my car is destroyed I’ll use a knife. Goodbye everyone.”
“I’m tired.”
“It’s time, I’m leaving.”
“I’ve entered Kanagawa [prefecture, en-route to Tokyo], I’m taking a rest.”
“I’ve reached Akihabara. Today it’s a pedestrian area, I think.”
“It’s time.”

Akara said that besides disrupting the New Year festivities, the rebels wanted to show the international community that the Thai government could not control the situation in southern Thailand, thus underlining the rebels’ legitimacy as separatists.

I’m not sure civil war really ever solves problems.  Generally it’s the bloodiest, most horrible, kind of war because you are fighting your own people.  If your mother one day says, “I like things the way they are, I don’t want to split” she’s suddenly your enemy and your revolutionary friends are obliged to tear her apart.

Here are a couple photos of her dress that evening–you’ve seen the same worn by plenty of American and British actresses going up for their awards:

In this next one you can tell the camera man is totally enthralled by her dress:

Yes, the dress is very sexy, but it’s also fairly modest and sophisticated, with a long skirt.  If it weren’t for that slit running top to bottom there would be no problem… and nothing to distinguish it from every other black evening gown.  It’s only by taking risks with fashion that you can shock and impress the people around you.  If you wear what society expects, you’re not making progress.

Dare to go against the norm!  Be unique and special!

Xinhua reported that police said it was difficult to know the exact amount of profits the Web site earned. Police found about 200,000 yuan ($25,000) in the bank accounts of the nine.

The government encourages Internet use for education and business, but strictly controls content and tries to block access to material deemed pornographic or subversive.

Interestingly, the internet is only about 3% porn, according to some unknown study I read recently.  Why is this such a big focus for China, then?

As you know, in 1951 the People’s Republic of China asserted control over Tibet, forcing them to sign a 17-point agreement. Before that, Tibet existed as a sovereign nation. However, Tibetan exiles say that 1.2 million people have died as a direct result of the “Great Leap Forward,” which China denies. Living conditions in Tibet are also considered substandard as a result of Chinese rule.

Yesterday, Boing Boing collected a series of stories detailing how Tibetan refugees were shot crossing the border. Stranger yet is that China admits that the PLA killed some of the refugees:

China admitted that its soldiers killed a person who was trying to flee Tibet, but the official account contradicted eyewitness reports that the troops had shot at unarmed refugees. The state-run Xinhua news agency released a short report of the September 30 incident that occurred near Mt Everest, saying soldiers had found nearly 70 people trying to illegally cross the Tibetan border into Nepal.

Interestingly enough, there is actually video footage of the atrocity:

The video footage, taken by a Romanian cameraman who was at advance base camp on Mount Cho Oyo at the time, depicts a line of Tibetans walking uphill through the snow on the Nangpa Pass when a shot is heard and one of the figures falls to the ground. The video clearly depicts that the Tibetans had their backs to the soldiers, were unarmed, and offered no resistance. The nun who died, Kelsang Namtso, appears to have been shot in the back.

I have no idea what can be done about this, but given China’s poor human rights record, this will just keep on happening. It’s the classic Machiavellian state–do what you need to to browbeat the people, assert power, and silence dissidents.

1. Malaysia outlaws unsuitable names
2. Botox ban for Malaysian Muslims
3. Kiss warning to Malaysia tourists

Tourist aren’t allowed to kiss because, “kissing and hugging [isn't] acceptable to Malaysian citizens” according to Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz. According to the 2004 Global Sex Survey by condom manufacturer Durex, Malaysian’s are the second most-virgin (losing to Vietnam), and the sixth least-sexed. So, if abstinence is the goal of censorship, the banning of public affection, and other laws in Malaysia, it’s probably working.

I wonder what would happen if you correlate things like “standard of living” and “GDP” with sexual satisfaction and cultural tolerance.  It’s probably no accident that well-to-do countries are often made up of more open societies.

As a giant country, China has a responsibility to the rest of the world to reduce emissions.