Imaginary Conversations and Random Thoughts

Ok, sure. Like the rest of you freedom lovers, I was a bit bothered by the idea of government monitoring of internet usage. Of course, that is probably relatively minimal here in the US, but in a place like China, it may very well be relatively maximal, if I may coin a phrase.

More disturbing was the idea that supposedly enlightened western companies would play a part in helping China to track down dissident types who used the internet in China. Companies like Yahoo. In fact, just a few days ago, a suit was filed against Yahoo for this sort of behavior. The same article on the lawsuit also notes that Microsoft and Google also assist China in its efforts at internet censorship and monitoring.

Why, it's the sort of thing that would stoke the fires of outrage! That is, until I saw this:



These eminently huggable icons (available soon as plush toys, made in China!) are the Beijing Internet police. This image shows up every half hour on Beijing servers to let you know that someone's watching, but they're so dang cute, you don't really have to worry about it.

You've gotta hand it to them. Being arrested is a lot easier to take if you're being busted by a hot babe:



Or a hot stud, if that's your preference:



You have the right to remain sexy!

(The sad thing is, I'm not even sure where this post went off the rails)