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China Blocks HBO After John Oliver's Last Week Tonight Mockery of Xi Jinping (scmp.com)
News agency AFP reports: After mocking censors working overtime to delete comparisons of Chinese President Xi Jinping with the cartoon bear, comedian John Oliver and now the website of TV giant HBO have fallen victim to Beijing's censorship machine. Chinese authorities blocked HBO's site in China, just days after Oliver took Xi to task, anti-censorship and monitoring group GreatFire.org said on Saturday. The website was still not accessible on Monday. HBO joins a long list of Western media outlets that have had their websites blocked in China including The New York Times, Facebook and Twitter.
Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood,
Where Christopher Robin plays.
You'll find the enchanted neighborhood,
of Christopher's childhood days.
A donkey named Eeyore is his friend.
And Kanga and Little Roo.
There's Rabbit and Piglet.
And there's Owl.
But most of all Winnie the Pooh!
Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh,
Chubby, little cubby all stuffed with fluff.
He's Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh,
Willy, nilly, silly old bear.
...so we all turn to VPNs & piracy for the simple ability to access content
Thin skinned snowflakes threatened by comedy.
How will China know when it's the current year?
China just needs to grin and bear it.
Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
You too can be a world leader if you stop maturing in grade school....
sigh
Last week news comes to Slashdot!
All he does is yell at the camera. I wouldn't watch even if I agreed with what he says. Not really funny.
He isn't funny
Wowsa. I bet you're fun at parties.
John Oliver is great at attacking straw men.
I think he's great at attacking real men. I'm not aware of any straw man arguments he's made. He addresses a real, actual issue on every show.
I don't respond to AC's.
If you expect a half hour comedy show to enable change in China, I hope you are forever disappointed. Things would have to get really, extremely bad for a half hour comedy show to somehow enable change.
Oliver is a twit. He's not funny and his voice is very irritating. How did he get a show on HBO? Oh, that's right, HBO has very low standards. China isn't missing a thing.
He isn't funny...
You pretty much lost all credibility right there.
The problem with John Oliver is that he is very much one of the back-slapping media types who think just because they have a 'platform' and an audience that are told to laugh at their jokes, that they have an actual point. Sometimes they really do, sometimes they don't. Being constantly 'virtuous' does not necessarily make you right, and acting in a smug way on camera will also lose you the people you really DO want to win over. You end up with an echo chamber because everyone you pander to stays and no-one else does.
As a Brit, I agree. He wasn't that funny then when he stopped getting airtime over here. Come to think of it, neither did James Corden. Why do you keep picking up our second rate comedians? (Cough - Benny Hill)
Some cunts got points. How is commenting about John Oliver in a John Oliver thread 'Offtopic'??
Hey, Benny Hill is HILARIOUS when you're sitting in your dorm room stoned off your ass! Other than that, not so much... I actually rather like John Oliver's self-deprecating sense of humor.
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
According to John Oliver, he gets paid big bucks to say "fuck" on tv. I wish I had a job like that...
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
When you're not very smart, complicated things are not funny or fun to learn about. Oliver tends to be pretty educational on complicated topics, so I can see how there'd be a subset of the population which would find that frustrating.
Additionally, if you're a rabid believer of anything, someone attacking that thing can feel like an attack on you. And that's not funny. If you can't honestly engage with reality, I can see how Oliver wouldn't be funny as he likely is attacking one of the stupid things you really are passionate about.
Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
F*ck Trump. amirite?
Well, we did get John Cleese to live in Santa Barbara for an extended period, we keep hoping we'll get another decent Brit comedian to do the same. Alas, I guess that hope is as in vain as pining for a functioning Lucas refrigerator or palatable British food...
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Have a first class degree - he isn't that funny.
I get all my education from entertainers too. Makes me real smart, it does.
Smart enough to get on Slashdot all call people stupid.
In EE, not political science or the like. Yes, I can think for myself.
You don't get to make comments about credibility posting AC.
That was pretty mild. I would have went all out on that snake-faced fatso. This is not a game anymore, they want to dominate the entire world and enslave everyone not just the Chinese people. I hope that Xi has a horrible death awaiting him, because he's starting to fuck with the greatest powers on Earth. And when you stick out like that then you'll end up crushed. So yeah, the Oliver video was really mild compared to what I would say about Xi. In the next few years we'll see more about Xi on news, shows, and blogs, and we'll see how China's censorship deals with that. I'm also not surprised that the Chinese let this freak into power, they're cowards when it comes to taking a stand against injustice. Oh well, Xi will will end up murdering a few hundred million of them in the near future.
Blocked in Australia too. Freedom woo!
John Oliver tends to yell a lot, disparage people, insult them, avoid rational discussion of the issues and conflate complicated issues by reducing them to the point of uselessness. Every once in a while, he has his writers research some obscure topic, then has a TAKE on that topic. The problem is he always has a TAKE that is extremely one-sided and he will ridicule anyone who disagrees with him. The best example of this is when he gave his audience an opener line, they cheered, and then he informed them that they should be mad about the thing he just said. It was probably the only time I ever laughed watching that show.
Er, why should a comedy show have an actual point? This isn't Fox and Friends.
DRUMPF! hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha Hilarious!
It IS! IT is hilarious! DRUMPF DRUMPF DRUMPF!!
It's not but the SJW John Oliver cult has taken over the comment section.
True, over 1.3 billion people are just fine with having their media restricted, their every move tracked and now having a "social credit score". Social dissent is at an all time and they all call him "Big Daddy" Franky, I think we here in the West should be very, very worried about the change China stands to bring to us in the next couple decades. Because by the 30's China will be the de-facto leader of the Global Economy while the US will be struggling to even stay relevant
This is literally the first google result for "John Oliver Straw Man". https://purple-state.com/john-...
I think he's great at attacking real men. I'm not aware of any straw man arguments he's made.
Actually it's part of his standard comedy formula. Pretty much every attack on a real man is followed up with a strawman argument. The only problem is that those are obviously and hilariously left field for the purpose of comedy.
People who don't understand this comedic style are inclined to believe that he just bullshits about everything, and people with an agenda are happy to reinforce this view of what he says.
It was definitely a low point on the show unless you have TDS in which case it was probably cathartic.
Sure doesn't sound like you've ever watched it. He doesn't yell at the camera the vast majority of the time. When he does it is part of a joke about the girl in accounting everyone hates.
Yes, it's clear, you've not seen any of his shows. The guy does not insult anybody. He often goes out of his way to provide a little perspective on the other side of an issue. He definitely doesn't yell a lot. So why are you commenting about him when you clearly haven't watched his show?
I would request a single incident illustrating where he is insulting someone or avoiding a rational discussion since he doesn't gin up controversy unlike larger media outlets.
Thin skinned snowflakes threatened by comedy.
I used to watch John Oliver, back when it was funny.
Raw, un-insightful insults are not funny, and half the country will turn it off to watch something else.
For comparison, check out Dave Chapelle's monologue and hosting of SNL right after the 2016 election. His jokes were witty, showing a wry take on the situation, with a sense of humor.
For a non-contrast, check out any of Bill Maher's monologues - they're invariably pointed, mean, and with no insight or content. He's selling shock and promoting outrage instead of humor(*).
I thought Oliver's original take - getting the audience involved with his antics - was brilliant, and his research brought real issues into focus ...until he ran a segment about a subject I actually knew something about (vitamin D), which was completely in error, and I suddenly realized that I was taking his results as gospel without skepticism. Fell into the trap and didn't know it.
Anyway, I don't like contempt dressed up as comedy. Lena Dunham, Cathy Griffin, Bill Maher, Steven Colbert, and all the rest.
It's not creative, and it's not funny.
(*) Which is sad, because he's the only liberal celebrity I've seen who can rub two thoughts together to come up with a rational argument. He's very bright, but doesn't use his talent in any effective way.
I'm not sure that he actually thinks the "left field" comments are supposed to be considered ridiculous and thought of as absurd. I think it's more the propaganda technique of telling one truth followed by two lies.
I would love to watch the link but the HBO copyright police have self censored the linked video here in Canada.
I don't think Oliver tries to have an actual point so much as yank everyone's pants down around their ankles and let the audience see them for what they are worth.
Have gnu, will travel.
Some folks (by choice or ignorance) don't get Oliver's humor because it's so tightly mixed in with the real content. The worst of these people dismiss his show entirely because it's not funny, or because it attacks something they believe in.
how are you. i am ok, just got off work. im typing from my bathtub. in america. on my chinese laptop. that says dell on it.
do you remember the 50s? the 70s?
look at what we have now. now we live in heavenly palace of the world wide web. and sharing. in past ages we lived in darkness.
i have learned Chinese words, food, and people on the internet. It has grown close to my heart, we all sing these beings of Earth, our song is our legacy.
shouldn't we sing together?
Much of his stories stand on their own if not for some of the left pandering. But on the other hand, I don't think someone pandering a neutral view could survive in America today. Everything is too polarized and nobody is willing to take a rational look at facts anymore.
While he has had some notable failures (most of which I don't remember off hand), overall his show has done a better job than many local/national news stations at the long term job of investigative journalism. Whether covering the politics of or damage in Puerto Rico, to talking about the messy situation in Venezuela, to taking jabs at the Health Insurance and Finance sectors, he has brought up a lot of salient topics which more americans on both side of the fence should try discussing, rather than parroting their party/news source's biased view. America is teeting very close to an intellectual, economy, military, and social cliff that if it falls over, will likely result in the end of the United States of America as a civilization.
This is accurate for some of his pieces, but not for most. The problem is mostly the right, but sometimes also the left, insists 'alternative facts' are on the same footing as actual facts, and that opinions based on alt facts, and positions based on "lets hurt people", are just as worthy. Its not always the case. Like "Global warming is a fake Chinese conspiracy to hurt the US" is not a side with as much merit as the other. Donald Trump is a stupid, ignorant, egomaniacal buffoon who incessantly lies is also an objectively true assessment, even if you agree with his posititions, and saying he's smart and well informed just isn't accurate; its not an equally valid side.
He should run for President.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Very simple answer: Americans don't find British humor funny.
Never go full retard.
Recently John Oliver ran a piece on Venezuelan elections which was quite well debunked for being the US interest piece it was. Oliver has done comparable pieces serving American interests (some outright, some by silence) including his 2016 election coverage which never closely examined Hillary Clinton's campaign (there's not much there to like from an anti-war perspective when one gets into the details of her record) while dismissing the entirety of Dr. Jill Stein's campaign for one issue he disagreed with. Oliver had a segment on the sharp escalation of the drone war under Pres. Obama but covered in a way that doesn't criticize Obama much and lacks the drumbeat repetition that might educate Oliver's viewers on the horrors of extrajudicial assassination (including killing Americans and children). Circa 2016-02-28 Oliver got ironically worked up over then-candidate Trump for plainly stating what was Obama's policy after playing a clip of Trump calling into "Fox & Friends" where Trump said "...the other thing with the terrorists, you have to take out their families. When you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. They care about their lives, don't kid yourself. They say they don't care about their lives, you have to take out their families.". Oliver replied "That is the front runner for the Republican nomination advocating a war crime." without pointing out that that's also precisely what Obama had already done and that killing people is objectively worse than ugly words. Oliver's drone segment was a one-off; easily missed if you didn't happen to catch the show or that segment, and not featuring catchphrases that pepper the show elsewhere (thus no risk of educating the audience about this to the point of raising a generation that would object to this war).
Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman's famous book "Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media" is well worth reading (and see the documentary based on this book) to understand the full extent of the famous Chomsky quote:
Modern news-based comedy shows contribute to that quite well with their carefully calibrated anti-Trumpism. With one notable exception (RT's "Redacted Tonight") all of those shows make fun of Trump in very comparable ways (looks-based derision such as his skin color, hair color, weight, the fit of his suits, etc.) and even draw on the same sources to tell them what constitutes news (largely whatever CNN says). But they don't dare give drumbeat coverage of critical issues that would seriously challenge American interests such as empire building, war, pointing out the continuity of policy across administrations, or the ugliness of capitalism.
So there's no real surprise in this turn of events. Censoring this particular story either comes from a lack of understanding of the Barbara Streisand effect or has roots in self-promotion. Issues that are eminently worth criticism remain firmly outside the range of allowable debate for corporate media.
Digital Citizen
Wowsa. I bet you're fun at parties.
What is this shit? Reddit circa 2012?
A party where everyone loves John Oliver is going to be a fucking lame party. If you don't know that, you've probably never been to a real party and think that nerdy shit you do with your grad school friends is something - it's not. You're dorks.
Yes, he hits the sweet spot of people who aren't actually smart, but like to identify as smart. The smart poseurs. It's a sizable market. Basically, the Starbucks crowd. Smart people see through Oliver and if they want to laugh, spend their time elsewhere.
This comment has to be a piss take, surely.
https://youtu.be/Ml5qULGjbno
Lol?
I dismiss it because it’s funny. We probably can’t have that kind of people too
Yes it is propaganda ... except the two lies are incredibly obvious to the point of comedy. The methods share a lot in common but on John Oliver's show the obvious lies exist to solicit laughs rather than share information.
avoid rational discussion
I hate to point this out, but you and all the other people criticising him here are doing the same thing. No criticism of specific topics he covered or points he raised, just attacking his presentation and style. Okian came about the closest when he mentioned vitamin D, but didn't elaborate.
Can you perhaps give us some specific examples?
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
XI JINGPING = BUTTHURT
Thanks for the link!
“A racist voodoo doll made of discarded cat hair
Brilliant!
So what you're saying is that he actively critical thought by reminding his own audience to question him rather than simply accept whatever he says?
Wowsa. I bet you're fun at parties.
What is this shit? Reddit circa 2012?
That's been a standard Slashdot meme since about 1998, which I'm guessing was 3 or 4 years before you were born?
He should run for President.
Exactly! "That's not who we are".
Oh, you meant that other president ...
Fox has been downhill all the way since Married, With Children finished its run.
I have always wanted to hack my wife's iPhone x because i notice some strange move from my wife. A friend of mine to whom i explained what i was passing through gave me an hacker email spymasterpro3x at gmail dot com whom i contacted using the google mail to help me hack into my partners iPhone X. My God under 24 hours SPYMASTERPRO3X at Gmail(dot)com the only legit hacker broke into my spouse phone with out physical access or even my husband knowing about it so i got to read all his chat and text and then found out that my husband was cheating on me but all thanks to this hacker for making this possible for me.
He does have a certain point of view, however he always makes fun of himself as well and whatever he discusses it's always in a comedy style, which is much better way (making people laugh) then the other side extremes.
He does raise awareness to important neglected issues, like e.g. taking full guardianship of somebody's life without their consent, without any evidence of them needing it, without proper medical diagnosis and finally without any training or license required.
Particularly, in his take on 3rd parties during the election, Oliver's criticisms were superficial, largely aesthetic attacks, and he didn't even countenance, much less criticize, arguments practical or philosophical about the choice of voting outside the existing duopoly. Nor did he have anything at all to say about the parties' actual platforms, which is what an informed person votes by.
All these idiot "leaders" who try to censor stupid stuff like this constantly, why don't they get it makes them look really stupid and afraid of their own shadow? I thought such people liked looking "strong", but when they do stuff like this, when they can't even take a joke, it just makes them look like the biggest pussy they can possibly be. Why don't they mind looking like they are so afraid of every little thing? Why doesn't it register in their puny little minds how pathetic it makes them look?
I think it's fair to say that for a long time he, like most people, didn't really expect Trump to win so didn't take him too seriously. On the other hand, I think he does make good political and philosophical/moral arguments, he just tends to preface them with some humorous insults.
I guess staying away from the wider platform issues is his thing - he's more focused on the less often discussed stuff, the things you might not be aware of.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
I don't think you know what SJW or cult means, and I don't even like the guy.
Why? I am absolutely serious. The guy is a cringe-incorporated.
Can't run for President; naturalized citizen, not a "natural born Citizen" per the Constitution (usually interpreted to mean born in the US or on a US territory/base/embassy, or child of a US citizen temporarily outside the US at the time of giving birth)
As usual, AmiMoJo states his heavily biased opinion, handwaving away all the evidence already present in the thread.
... comparisons of Chinese President Xi Jinping with the cartoon bear, ...
Which cartoon bear? Yogi Bear? Humphrey the Bear? One of the bears from Kung-Fu Panda? That guy from Disney's "Brother Bear"?
That's not even counting all of the anonymous cartoon bears that have shown up over the decades. What I'm trying to say is: there are one definitive of cartoon bear. There are a lot of them.
Also, I'm too lazy to bother looking for/watching clips of Last Week Tonight, so instead I ask again: which cartoon bear is Xi Jinping being compared to?
You can just come up with excuses for anybody on "your side" it seems. I hope you get paid a lot to use your deception. I'm not trying to call you a "Russian Troll!!" I mean for your day job.
You are aware, though, that many other people discount or even outright oppose third party voting across the board- right?
Personally, I think it's a bunch of malarkey. Take this: we had 3500 votes... total... for the Libertarian party in Oklahoma yesterday. It was also the first time that the Libertarian Party had appeared on the ballet in two years... not only that, but it was another sixteen (!) years before that.
There is literally nothing that you could do to convince me that those voters are impacting *anything* in *any* meaningful way.
That didn't stop Obama.
DratatataTISH!
I knew somebody would bite.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Oliver sort of reminds me of Ben Elton (if you're not just a Brit, but an old one).
His material is sort of similar to that tall Scotch cunt who swears a lot, but the latter's delivery is totally deadpan whereas Oliver telegraphs the punchline a bit too much for my liking.
Having said that his show's OK, but I prefer that Aussie cunt who swears a lot. The one where he registers a camel as an emotional support animal is fucking hilarious.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."