China Is (Still) Not Free

Free trade, it's been argued, and a taste of capitalism will only encourage the Chinese to move toward democracy. How naive. In the news today: "China will ban the opening of new internet cafes from this July in a government campaign to clamp down on online addiction and juvenile crime. "The state media said today that the freeze is designed to protect young people from the harmful influence of the web, but freedom-of-expression organisations say it is a fresh attempt by the Communist government to control the spread of politically sensitive information." More.... Call me cynical but I think it has more to do with keeping a lid things. Question: Among all of the personal freedoms that the Evil George Bush has taken from you, are you still able to get on the internet and spew your hate speech? Damn straight you are. God Bless America.