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China Clamps Down on Online Gaming

Posted by Zonk on from the can't-have-too-much-fun dept.

The BBC reports on new restrictions on online gaming. Specifically, they'll be monitoring some virtual worlds more closely, after some were found to be carrying 'anti-government' messages. Examples include religious and political material, although there are very few details on either the content or what exactly they'll be doing to monitor it. From the article: "Distributors must now obtain approval before releasing new games, reported Xinhua news agency. Companies must also submit monthly monitoring reports, confirming developers have not added forbidden content. The latest round of enforcement was prompted by 'a rash of problems with imported online games, some of which contain sensitive religious material or refer to territorial disputes', Xinhua said. " Relatedly, in Gamasutra's regular 'China Angle' column, they look at gaming-related TV ads, why those are dicey, and requirements that players not cross-dress in MMOGs.

76 comments

  1. i wait for the day when the news breaks: by voice_of_all_reason · · Score: 0

    Country closed, due to AIDS.

    1. Re:i wait for the day when the news breaks: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No /b/rother left behind

    2. Re:i wait for the day when the news breaks: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Goddamn it ... /b/ has become way too mainstream. Keep /b/ in /b/, that's what I say.

    3. Re:i wait for the day when the news breaks: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      DESUDESUDESUDESU DESU!

    4. Re:i wait for the day when the news breaks: by HeroreV · · Score: 0

      DO NOT WANT

  2. an open letter to the people of china by jimfinity · · Score: 1

    dear citizens of china, seriously guys, the amount of stuff you're willing to put up with is freaking me out. a lot. perhaps you should so something about that government you've got? just a suggestion. -jimfinity p.s. i just realized that due to the subject matter of this letter, your government probably won't let you see it. case in point.

    1. Re:an open letter to the people of china by jamar0303 · · Score: 1

      Nope, I'm seeing this just fine. Of course, my school also gets unrestricted internet- it's just a matter of "getting friendly" with the right people- they'll route your internet around the Great Firewall (or make sure that your proxy server of choice outside the country is fast and stays up).

      --
      OSx86 FTW
    2. Re:an open letter to the people of china by ab0mb88 · · Score: 1

      I knew Paris Hilton read slashdot, I just didn't think she posted here.

    3. Re:an open letter to the people of china by vega80 · · Score: 1

      China is still an authoritarian regime. People who have stood up for human rights in China (and there are many) have been thrown in jail, or worse. It's easy for you to try to prod the Chinese into action, since you don't have the fear of the secret police whisking you away in the middle of the night here. I'm sure citizens in China are hopeful for the day when they can be free citizens, and that day may eventually come, but if you care about civil liberties, I think you should address your letter to the Chinese government.

    4. Re:an open letter to the people of china by AdmiralAudio · · Score: 1

      Of course they should do something, but what can they really do? Nobody but the Chinese government is allowed to own firearms, so armed revolt would be a difficult task... though I'm sure 1 billion people armed with pitchforks and torches would make it easier.

    5. Re:an open letter to the people of china by HeroreV · · Score: 0
      Of course they should do something
      Why do you say that? Most Chinese people are pretty satisfied with their government. Things are slowly improving, and China has gone through some pretty terrible times in the past when trying to make sudden transitions. It might be for the best that change is happening slowly.
    6. Re:an open letter to the people of china by Shads · · Score: 1

      Yah, slow change is often better than revolutionary immediate change... see Russia.

      --
      Shadus
  3. Wow... by PingSpike · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I mean, I knew they had some nutty censorship going on there...but they've actually got people that make sure you can't crossdress in online computer games? Is that really a big enough problem that they need assign government officials to it?

    I guess I'll try to see this as an example of why all freedom of expression must be protected...even that which you disagree with. If you shrug it off, it just gets worse and worse.

    1. Re:Wow... by haddieman · · Score: 1

      I agree. It's stuff like this that makes me thankful that I live in America. Where, regardless of how you feel about the government, you are always free to express your opinions.

    2. Re:Wow... by faloi · · Score: 1

      I mean, I knew they had some nutty censorship going on there...but they've actually got people that make sure you can't crossdress in online computer games? Is that really a big enough problem that they need assign government officials to it?

      It's not so much that it's a big enough problem to assign officials to it. It's more that it's harmless enough that they can assign officials the "easy" job, and then depending on mood congratulate them on their great work or demonize them for failing. It's hard to monitor and hard to prove. The perfect sort of thing for maintain buerocracy.

      --
      "It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." -Albert Einstein
    3. Re:Wow... by techpawn · · Score: 5, Funny

      These Bra and earrings give me +50 in my mana... the panties is just a comfort thing...

      --
      Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what your country did to you
    4. Re:Wow... by eviloverlordx · · Score: 1

      I mean, I knew they had some nutty censorship going on there...but they've actually got people that make sure you can't crossdress in online computer games? Is that really a big enough problem that they need assign government officials to it?

      I guess I'll try to see this as an example of why all freedom of expression must be protected...even that which you disagree with. If you shrug it off, it just gets worse and worse.

      When crossdressing in MMORPGs is criminalized, only criminals will crossdress in MMORPGs.

      --
      'Loose' is when your pants are three sizes too big. 'Lose' is when you misuse 'loose'.
    5. Re:Wow... by voice_of_all_reason · · Score: 2, Interesting

      How is this much different than in the US, other than it being de jure there and de facto here?

      Try refusing to submit your film/game/cd for a rating, see how far it gets.

    6. Re:Wow... by Lord_Slepnir · · Score: 1

      I have a feeling a lot of Night Elves are going to disappear from the game...

    7. Re:Wow... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Try refusing to submit your film/game/cd for a rating, see how far it gets.

      I buy unrated versions of films in mainstream stores all the time.

    8. Re:Wow... by Rycross · · Score: 1

      If I had a film/game/cd to publish, I could do so without a rating with no problem. Sure, places like Wal Mart wouldn't carry it without a rating, but the police wouldn't be knocking down my door, and I wouldn't be banned from selling it in whatever avenue I could find. The rating system is voluntary here, and yes, the biggest retail stores and publishers enforce it, but its not the same as government compulsion.

    9. Re:Wow... by C0rinthian · · Score: 1

      ...but they've actually got people that make sure you can't crossdress in online computer games? Is that really a big enough problem that they need assign government officials to it? You've never played an MMO before have you...

      MMORPG = Many Men Online Role Playing Girls
    10. Re:Wow... by haddieman · · Score: 1

      Whether your film/game/cd is rated or not is beside the point. What matters is that I could create a movie expressing my opinions about the government/economy/whatever and there wouldn't be any secret service agents knocking on my door telling me I'm a criminal because I'm "anti-government" (which I'm not by the way). That's the difference.

    11. Re:Wow... by Marillion · · Score: 1

      The distinction is that in the US, film and game ratings are done by a industry consortium. This is a two edged sword. On the one hand, it's not government censorship. This is good. On the other hand the first amendment doesn't apply to private entities. Who is the film ratings board? Who are they accountable to? Can I make petitions to them? They have de facto censorship powers. This isn't good. The same issues and problems apply to games as well.

      --
      This is a boring sig
    12. Re:Wow... by MWoody · · Score: 3, Informative

      Actually, you've fallen afoul of yet more shitty slashdot editing. From the link:

      Chengdu based Aurora Technology is forcing some reality back into fantasy role playing games as it places a visual verification restriction to players that want to play female characters in the company's new game Feng Yun Online. Only female gamers can play female characters. If successful, the policy should reduce confusion and broken hearts in the game.

      So the government has nothing to do with it, nor is it in any sense a product of an overarching regulatory action. It's one MMO that's using "our girls are REALLY girls" as a selling point.

      *sigh* I've defended the slashdot editors in the past (and been modded down for it), but this is getting silly. The optimist in me hopes it's a secret campaign to point out people who don't actually read the articles, just the summary, and make them look like fools. I know I, for one, feel like an idiot for IM'ing a few friends that link with "OMG, teh Chin3se are teh anti-mangirlz!"

    13. Re:Wow... by ultranova · · Score: 1

      So the government has nothing to do with it, nor is it in any sense a product of an overarching regulatory action. It's one MMO that's using "our girls are REALLY girls" as a selling point.

      I'm a man with beard and all, but I doubt I'd have any trouble fooling a shitty webcam (or whatever they're using) to think that I'm a woman; if all else fails, show it a video of a woman playing a game (hey, can I sense a new bestselling MMO ebay item ?-). Given that, this is going to do absolutely nothing to stop anyone playing whatever they want.

      Of course they could require you to strip to prove that you're really a woman... I think we've found the true motive ;).

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    14. Re:Wow... by jackbird · · Score: 1
      What matters is that I could create a movie expressing my opinions about the government/economy/whatever and there wouldn't be any secret service agents knocking on my door telling me I'm a criminal because I'm "anti-government" (which I'm not by the way).

      One of the most chilling clauses I have ever read on slashdot. Why did you feel compelled to say that?

    15. Re:Wow... by Sage+Gaspar · · Score: 1

      Reduce confusion and broken hearts? What kind of game is that? :P

    16. Re:Wow... by jdavidl · · Score: 1

      With 1.2 billion people, they have so many government officials that they had to make work for some of them...

    17. Re:Wow... by Lordpidey · · Score: 1

      Hmm, what about a game like Endless Ages where males and females are significantly different stat-wise? They can be completely different in terms of gameplay.

      --
      Some people encrypt by using rot-13 twice. I prefer the more secure method of using rot-1 a total of twenty six times.
  4. WoW by jrwr00 · · Score: 1

    I wonder if they let them play WoW

    --
    WulframII - Free Online Mutiplayer 3D Tank Shooting Game
    1. Re:WoW by Fozzyuw · · Score: 1

      WoW is popular in China, just like in the US, Europe, and S.Korea. In the WoW website released the Coke sponsered TV ad some time ago for people to see. It was a good ad, but I had no idea who the 'famous' people where. Cheers, Fozzy

      --
      "The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." ~1984 George Orwell
    2. Re:WoW by xiong.chiamiov · · Score: 1

      Ever heard of Chinese farmers?

      --
      have you read the Moderation Guidelines Addendum?
    3. Re:WoW by bkg_cjb · · Score: 1

      If they tried to restrict WoW in China, there would actually be an uprising of historical proportions...yes, it's very popular here.

      --
      Adventures in Shaanxi
  5. Big Sebastion? by Sneakernets · · Score: 1

    Will SOMEBODY PLEASE think of the Government!
    Ohh my god that western influence of logic and reason is going to be the death of you!

    China's government is... very paranoid.

    --
    "No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson
    1. Re:Big Sebastion? by analog_line · · Score: 3, Interesting

      China's government has every reason to be paranoid.

      They have a massive, restless, and incredibly impoverished rural population that could crush the Chinese Communist Party if it ever decided that enough is enough, and revolution is at hand. The geography we currently call China has had a very long, and very bloody history of conflict. Sun-Tzu and all the rest of the famous Chinese military theorists were born out of that period in Chinese history. If you've ever played Romance of the Three Kingdoms, or the Dynasty Warriors games, that period is what those games are set in. The analogies are legion to represent the kind of balancing act the Communists have to undergo to keep China looking like what we think China really is. Even in the video games that you get out of China that are about Chinese history, that period is presented like a civil conflict, not wars between sovereign states. My guess being that while the powers that be can't erase the powerful legendary figures and the hold they have on the dreams of the Chinese people, they certainly can work to make sure that what they think those legends and stories should teach is what gets taught.

    2. Re:Big Sebastion? by silentounce · · Score: 3, Funny

      A government that is not paranoid is not a government at all.

      --
      There are many tongues to talk, and but few heads to think. -Victor Hugo
    3. Re:Big Sebastion? by voice_of_all_reason · · Score: 1

      The only thing a storied history of warfare for control of the country shows is that your own little empire is just another little benchmark and will eventually fall for the same reason the others did.

  6. Contested Territory by AnotherAnonymousUser · · Score: 1

    Territorial disputes? Of course there are! Have they looked at the state of Arathi Basin lately? It goes back and forth like no tomorrow!

    1. Re:Contested Territory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, the horde have a deathgrip on it in my battlegroup :(

  7. What's left? by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 4, Funny

    So China doesn't want to play games with controversial religious messages, territorial disputes, or suspect political commentary. They must have loved it 21 years ago when Super Mario came back to life after death, lowered a flag outside a castle, and rescued a kidnapped princess from an evil king.

    --
    Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
    1. Re:What's left? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hell, they must have loved it even more 10,000 years ago when chessmen advanced across a board on a mission to kill a king, while pawns struggled to reach the other side and transform into queens.

  8. Way to go, China... by 58797A7A79 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Way to go, China... always being a shining example of how not to run a country. Makes me wonder which will happen first, the US catching up with you, or you catching up with North Korea.

    This just makes me sick. People should be able to speak out their grievances against their government without fearing for their lives or freedom.

    1. Re:Way to go, China... by jamar0303 · · Score: 1

      you catching up with North Korea

      Great... I'm DEFINITELY not staying in China for college- back to the States the first chance I get.

      --
      OSx86 FTW
    2. Re:Way to go, China... by 1ntegral · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This country has its share of human rights abuses. They're just not as publicized or obvious, and a lot of the time they take place outside of our borders, against non-citizens. Still, the erosion of our civil liberties is slowly advancing, especially since 9/11, and I feel every day as though our rights, including free speech, are going the way of the great auk.

    3. Re:Way to go, China... by 1ntegral · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Also, just an afterthought, it may be my insular American perspective talking, but I am continuously surprised that there is still a world superpower in existence under tight-fisted communist rule. I mean, I know that the general populous of China probably doesn't have access to most, if not all of the distopian books and films that illustrate the ridiculousness and certainty of failure of that particular governmental structure, nor would they have read the theory that makes their system a ticking time bomb. Despite this knowledge, however, it's hard for me to wrap my mind around so many people living in poverty and misery, especially considering that their numbers most likely greatly outweigh those of the ruling elite.

      It's a situation which also makes the US' claims of wanting to liberate the oppressed seem that much more hypocritical. I understand that they have a huge-ass army and that we don't want to piss them off, but what with all of the awful human rights abuses taking place in that country, one would think that it would be a higher priority of the most powerful nation in the world to try to, at least diplomatically, intervene on their behalf, not even mentioning the manifest destiny-esque "spread of democracy" so much in vogue right now. I suppose that there'd be nothing in it for us, though, and so the motivation to address the Chinese situation has never been present.

    4. Re:Way to go, China... by king-manic · · Score: 1

      Chinese people are mentally different. You know the theory that language molds the mind. Chinese has a more conformist attitude and generally attempt not to shake the boat. Perhaps it because the language is more about rote memorization. I happen to be chinese and have visited china often. They are aware of the funny things the gov does and are aware of the outside world. They simply want to live life, work hard, and raise a family. Not unlike most people and they just don't enjoy rockign the boat.

      --
      "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
  9. Tapping nodes by Clever7Devil · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now if we could only show the Chinese government just how gay gold farming is...

    --
    "By the time they had diminished from 50 to 8, the other dwarves began to suspect 'Hungry.'" -Gary Larson
    1. Re:Tapping nodes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mod parent +5 Funny/Insightful.

      Gold/Gil farmers really are gay and screw up the virtual economies. A simple ring that should cost 1000 ends up costing 20K or more because of gold/gil farmers and the morons who then buy the gold/gil.

    2. Re:Tapping nodes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When are you dorks going to find some word besides "gay" to insult people? It's offensive, but not the way you think it is. It makes you look bigoted, juvenile, homophobic and very, very, unoriginal.

    3. Re:Tapping nodes by Clever7Devil · · Score: 1

      Hmm, I read this and realized I was lining myself up for some massive flames. (No pun intended. Damn it! I did it again!)

      You see, I'm being ironic here. The Chinese government seems to be suffering from a bout of homophobia. The image of the "Chinese Gold Farmer" is something that is very vivid for MMO players.

      "Gay" is a popular MMO insult amongst another annoyance of online worlds: immature boys. These folks are also suffering from a (likely sociologically induced) case of homophobia.

      You see what I did there? ;-)

      Yeah, I know it's not funny when I have to explain it. I'd just rather be thought of as a bland progressive than a hilarious bigot.

      --
      "By the time they had diminished from 50 to 8, the other dwarves began to suspect 'Hungry.'" -Gary Larson
    4. Re:Tapping nodes by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      Gold/Gil farmers really are gay and screw up the virtual economies.

      I never knew "virtual economy" was a newfangled term for ass?

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    5. Re:Tapping nodes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thats just gay.

    6. Re:Tapping nodes by Shads · · Score: 1

      The problem is... the increase in price isn't a result of gold farming. It's from the never ending increase of money into the world with very few outlets out of the world. Gold farming just increases the speed of progression down the time line. When they start making economies that aren't horribily broken in the first place... when they start making working economies this problem with cease to exist.

      --
      Shadus
    7. Re:Tapping nodes by Tyrion+Moath · · Score: 1

      He said gay because the Chinese are against homosexuals, and would then enforce some sort of rules against it for being homosexual in nature. At least, thats my take.

    8. Re:Tapping nodes by IHC+Navistar · · Score: 1

      The Chinese Government like to oppress people because it is mad that it has sand in it's vaChina.

      --
      Knowing Google's lust for data collection, the Soviet Union is still alive and well inside the psyche of Sergey Brin....
  10. Psst... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    The real reason is that the Koreans are beating the Chinese in the online games.

    1. Re:Psst... by elrous0 · · Score: 0, Flamebait
      The Koreans are just better at mastering complex concepts and techniques than the Chinese. Witness the failed Chinese effort to master bathing and oral hygiene.

      -Eric

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    2. Re:Psst... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now, see... this is why I browse with a +5 modifier for flamebait, troll and offtopic comments.

      lulz

  11. Coming to America soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It won't be long before there are strong calls to do something about widespread MMORPG use in Western countries. These will come both from people who believe that RPGs are inherently evil (due to magic use, witchcraft, etc.), and from people who believe that any potentially addictive thing is too harmful to be permitted.

    Eventually, politicians are going to capitalize on these demands, in much the same way that they capitalized on calls for criminalization of alcohol a century ago. MMORPGs might even be driven underground... although more likely they will evolve into sanitized forms that the fundamentalists don't mind.

    There is a disadvantage to being "mainstream"!

    1. Re:Coming to America soon by Firefly1 · · Score: 1
      These will come both from people who believe that RPGs are inherently evil (due to magic use, witchcraft, etc.), and from people who believe that any potentially addictive thing is too harmful to be permitted.
      Okay, the first group strikes me as folks who can't distinguish fiction from reality... something the vast majority of people can do just fine, thank you very much. And if the second group is so concerned about additcions, perhaps they should focus their concerns on things like, oh I don't know, methamphetamines...
      But the politicians you then mention, the ones who'd exploit such misguided perceptions to get (re)elected, are more worrisome. Seems that they've long forgotten their own youth... and we know what happens to folks who forget history.
      On an unrelated note, I agree with an AC elsewhere in this discussion: the use of 'gay' as an insult needs to be phased out. In that vein, I can think of a few things spawned over on 4chan's /b/ whose stepping out the proverbial airlock sans spacesuit would not be an unfortunate occurence.
      --
      - White Knight of the Order of Mihoshi Enthusiasts
    2. Re:Coming to America soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Okay, the first group strikes me as folks who can't distinguish fiction from reality... something the vast majority of people can do just fine, thank you very much.

      O RLY?

    3. Re:Coming to America soon by Shads · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      harry potter is evil. Just like d&d. In all honesty, there are a ton of nutbags who make out everything to be evil. They're very insecure in their belief and think everything that offers a slightly different view is EBIL! MMO's or anything that have non-Christian's in them... are legitimate targets for these nutter butters.

      --
      Shadus
  12. Ancient Chess wasn't like that by paladinwannabe2 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Actually old-school chess had 'Councilors' instead of queens, that could only move diagonally 1 space foward and back. Since pawns could only turn into Councilors, the game was saying 'if you start out as a pawn, you can't get very far'. Nothing controversial about that.

    --
    You are reading a copy of my copyrighted post.
  13. I Want My CTV! by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I wonder which demands will drive more political change in China's mafia government: basic human rights, or more entertainment? If the entertainment is interactive communication among regular Chinese citizens, there probably isn't a difference, or at least it's a reinforcing cycle.

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  14. Fear by silentounce · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I think what they are afraid of is groups like the Falun Gong building a presence on these online games and acting as a medium of communication, a place to hold meetings, plot actions, etc. Anti-government movements have existed throughout Chinese history e.g. the White Lotus Society, Kuomintang, the CCP. One of these groups eventually takes power through a violent revolution. The cycle has been going on for thousands of years.

    --
    There are many tongues to talk, and but few heads to think. -Victor Hugo
  15. an open letter to the people of the USA by AmazingRuss · · Score: 1

    dear citizens of the USA, seriously guys, the amount of stuff you're willing to put up with is freaking me out. a lot. perhaps you should so something about that government you've got? just a suggestion

    1. Re:an open letter to the people of the USA by mjhacker · · Score: 1

      dear citizens of the USA, seriously guys, the amount of stuff you're willing to put up with is freaking me out. a lot. perhaps you should so something about that government you've got? just a suggestion But at least we're allowed to gripe about our government. Or change things via democratic means, if we don't like it.

      Nice attempt at being witty, though. Points for that.
    2. Re:an open letter to the people of the USA by Shads · · Score: 1

      Yah, but you get called anti-american or a terrorist these days if you disagree with the tripe they're putting out.

      As for changing things, sure we can elect someone else next election or change senators and such... ... but ...

      Evil Corrupt Lying Democrat who is in the pocket of various medical, ecological businesses, and other countries.
        - or -
      Evil Corrupt Lying Republican who is in the pocket of the religious reich, the rich, and big business.
        - or -
      Evil Corrupt Lying Independent who got shot down by one of the previous two parties, but is still a sell-out to the highest bidder for his/her vote.

      WIN! Yes the choices we have are astounding, its all about who do you want your vote sold to... *rolls eyes*.

      --
      Shadus
  16. Getting rid of farmers the easy way? by argStyopa · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...Let China do it?

    So if I get this right, if in WoW I reguarly /yell "FREE TIBET" and "DOWN WITH THE FASCIST OPPRESSORS OF TIANAMEN SQUARE!" China will step in and prevent any logins from China to my server?

    That's quite a tragedy.

    Sounds like I need to program some macros.

    --
    -Styopa
    1. Re:Getting rid of farmers the easy way? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I tried that once in another MMO. The guys didn't do anything at the time (if anything, they probably put me on ignore), and I was quite disappointed by their lack of response. A few months later, I asked one of them in Chinese about buying an item that he was selling, and he replied that he didn't speak Chinese and that he was actually Korean.

  17. Take my freedom, but leave me my WoW by StephenW · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'll be interested to see how people take it the day that Blizzard puts out some unacceptable patch and the Chinese government attempts to completely remove World of Warcraft. I can see the headlines now. "Chinese government overthrown by gold farmer revolt in a single night," followed shortly by, "Azerothan gold piece replaces the yen as official Chinese currency."

    1. Re:Take my freedom, but leave me my WoW by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The official currency of China is the renminbi, and a "yuan" is a unit of that currency. You must be confusing China with Japan.

    2. Re:Take my freedom, but leave me my WoW by jamar0303 · · Score: 1

      They do use the same symbol to represent their currencies, though.

      --
      OSx86 FTW
  18. For now... by AmazingRuss · · Score: 1

    ...we can gripe, anyway. Our election infrastructure is pretty suspect...I wouldn't say rigged, more randomized.

    We can wait for the forces of chaos swirling through the Diebold voting machines to choose us new leadership.

  19. In Soviet Russia.... by kalirion · · Score: 2, Funny

    But at least we're allowed to gripe about our government. Or change things via democratic means, if we don't like it.

    In Soviet Russia, there was a joke:

    An American dog asks a Russian dog, "So, how's this 'glastnost' thing working out?"
    The Russian dog replies, "It's great! They made my chain one meter longer, moved the food two meters further away, and I can bark to my heart's content!"