Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
In January, following the appointment of the new government, there was a lot of talk of the changes that would come. Newsweek reported that there would be reforms to China’s labor camp system, the laojiao. The laojiaos made news in the US last December when a K-Mart shopper found a note from a labor camp worker in her Halloween decoration. Like a message in a bottle, it was a desperate plea for rescue. The note’s authenticity was questioned, and K-Mart issued a wag of the finger to any companies that used forced labor to make their bargain goods, but not a lot came out of it. Now its April, and the government has vowed to make reforms, but with few details offered, and big challenges facing real change. The laojiaos have become profitable, and China’s not interested in losing its foothold as the world’s cheap labor leader. Perhaps the biggest roadblock of all is finding an effective, humane, and efficient system for silencing political dissidents. Blocking access to Facebook is easy, but building a better Guantanamo… that’s another story.
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Giant Robot may be part of the problem, with Game Nights and our annual Game Over art show, but it looks like video game addiction is getting serious in Hong Kong. The South China Morning Post reports on the efforts of social workers, and their plea for financial assistance to help the “hidden youth” escape the vortex of their computer monitors and walk freely in the sun, under blue skies free of pixels. “It is most important to engage these youths… We need more funding support. It is rather labour intensive [to reach out to these youths]. “If we just contact them by e-mail, they still sit in front of the computers.” New tactics must be devised in the war against video game addiction. Please email your suggestions to the Hong Kong Social Welfare Department. In the wake of Game Developers Conference (GDC) and Wondercon lets all have a moment of silence for the fallen children who are the unwitting victims of the pestilence that is video game addiction. And let this be a reminder that sometimes it’s a good to step outside and connect with the real world (as long as you can still get wifi).
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“All the good stuff is in Asia”. We’ve heard it over and over and here’s yet another example. The legendary Sausage Double Beef Burger might be the way to control over-population. The bun looks great by the way and only $2.82! (FoodBeast – McDonalds China Sausage Double Beef Burgers)
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You thought online dating in LA was hard? Try being a single guy in China. You thought being a single guy in China was hard? Try being a dead single guy! China’s One Child policy has taken its toll on the straight male population now old enough to be goaded into marriage by eager parents. Chinese men are looking for foreign brides in the most non-traditional places. Even when they do find a bride, they still have to worry about authentic natural beauty. Dark days indeed. Now, the plight of the single and deceased. ABC News reports the sentencing of four grave robbers in Southwest China’s Sichuan province. They were digging up dead brides for dead bachelors. These matchmakers with dirt under their nails help broker “ghost marriages” for families who have lost unwed sons. In an effort to help their lost boys keep from wandering this earthly plane in search of “the one”, they marry them off to unwed girls who have met similar fates. The moral of the story: the toughest thing of all is being a woman in China. Alive or dead.
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Something must be wrong, right? Definitely not a place you’d want to visit. This is what it looked like on wednesday. (Washington Post – Beijing Air)
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