After a drawn out face-off with landlords, demolition companies, and government officials, Tim Hilbert’s Texas Roadhouse has finally succumb to bulldozers and torch-weilding crews. After many of the bar and restaurant owners of Super Bar Street were forced out by gangs of club-wielding thugs, Hilbert stuck it out, demanding the $650,000 he invested in the Roadhouse. Both the initial offer of $50,000 and a second offer of almost triple that were denied by Hilbert.

In his pursuit for full compensation, Hilbert lived up to his home state’s ‘Lone Star’ reputation. Aside from the lawyers and consultants to do the beaureacratic battles, he hired a half dozen Chinese out-of-town tough guys to defend the bar from late night demolition crews. Even more brazen, he lead a demonstration in front of Zhongnanhai (central headquarters for the Central People’s Government) which lead to a five hour detention by police.

But for all of Hilbert’s tenacity, it was futile in the face of government mandates and eager demolition crews. After a brigade of various law enforcement officials arrived, movers cleared out the last of Hilbert’s property and demolition crews began tearing down the Roadhouse’s haggard facade.

When asked if he would continue to fight, Hilbert responded: “Absolutely, I’m a Texan.”

Links & Sources:

• Wall Street Journal
• Xianguo

According to the China Daily, Yang Zhiguo, a 74 year old man and Lanzhou resident went on a car smashing spree last Thursday after becoming fed up with drivers that plowed through red lights. Yang was later joined by two other men and nearby residents gave the men both bricks and water in a show of support. Mr. Yang had planned a whole week of his brick barrage, but the police picked him up on his first day after damaging over thirty cars with bricks.

After a woman in his community was killed last year in the same busy intersection, he became a champion for road safety. He successfully lobbied local police to put a stoplight in the intersection, but he said drivers just ignored it.

A poll of nearly 400,000 Chinese netizens showed that an overwhelming 80 percent of people supported him in his actions.

Each year, some 75,000 people are killed in traffic accidents in China.

Take that, law breaker!

Supergirl Li Yuchun (李宇春) is taking a Chongqing advertising agency to court over the unauthorized use of her portrait in a One Child Policy poster.

Seen in Shizhu county (石柱县) in Chongqing, the Supergirl’s portrait appears under the slogans “Boys are just as good as girls” and “Girls also continue the family line.” Already seen as sexually ambiguous in the public eye, she has been ridiculed on the web for appearing overly boyish. But as far as whether the ad agency promoting the campaign had malign intentions is being debated on the web. Some think the “designers” purposely put Ms. Li on the poster to poke fun and make some sort of underhanded statement.

But after examining the poster, it seems much more likely that it was the result of hasty photoshop work rather than malicious designers trying to damage the image of Li Yuchun. What the agency should be sued for is their lack of creativity, not image rights infringement.

Links & Sources

• ifeng
• joy.cn

A girl who killed a government official is exempted from criminal punishment.

These last days, ** is huge in China. An ordinary resident and staff at a foot massage center in Hubei province, Miss Deng stabbed a government official to death and wounded another after they sexually harassed and verbally abused her. After the incident, the web exploded with concern and support from Chinese citizens.

On June 16th, the first session of the Badong People’s Court trial of Deng Yujiao concluded that she is to be exempted from criminal punishment. The court ‘s conclusion wass based on the following 3 points:

1. Deng’s behavior was a form of “excessive self-defense”;
2. Deng turned herself in at the authorities (PSB);
3. Deng had limited capability to take legal responsibilities; “According to forensic assessment made jointly by the Hubei People’s Hospital and Wuhan Mental Disease Hospital, Deng has developed a manic-depressive reaction, which deprives her of full capability of taking legal responsibilities.”

After the court hearing she told XinHua News Agency that she was surprised about the judgment and was very satisfied. She thought she would have been penalized harshly because of the murder. She expressed her gratitude to the public, especially netizens, for their concern and support.

This might be a simple case in the West, but could be a precedent to China. The question everyone is asking now is “Without the explosion of public opinion, what would the result of Deng’s case be?

The City Management Police (城管) have put on display the “certificates” that they confiscated from unlicensed entrepreneurs.  They took more than 1200 of the spoof certificates, which look official but have names like “Pervert Certificate,” “Idiot Certificate,” and all kinds of other clever, though rather vulgar names. The entrepreneur in question told police that he sells over 200 hundred of these certificates to elementary and middle school students per day.

But these certificates can not only be found in Dongcheng (东城), where they were confiscated. They seem to be all over the country and are causing quite an uproar. Though it seems the only way for authorities to censor these certificates is not by going to the source (the factories producing them in large quantities), but by picking on the unlicensed little guy trying to make a living.

Sources and Links:

• The Beijing News
• Rednet.cn
• Northnews.cn

Merry Mart supermarket (美廉美 - měi lián měi) is officially Beijing’s first supermarket to be sued over their background music. Some workers from the Music Copyright Society of China (音乐著作权协会 - yīnyuè zhùzuòquán xiéhuì) brought along a small recording device to show that Merry Mart was infringing copyright law by playing Candlelit Mama (烛光里的妈妈) by 毛阿敏, a sappy song about a mother and daughter growing old.

The Music Copyright Society of China demanded 10,000 yuan for usage of the song and 6000 yuan for legal costs. Unfortunately for them, the judges in the HaiDian court only made Merry Mart pay 500 yuan for using the song and 1700 for legal fees.

This may have been the first supermarket targeted by copyright crimefighters, but it wont be the last. In the midst of piracy and copyright issues popping up in China, there are sure to be more legal battles like this in the future.

And, for your listening pleasure, Candlelit Mama with lyrics! Enjoy!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

妈妈我想对您说，
话到嘴边又咽下，
妈妈我想对您笑，
眼里却点点泪花。
噢妈妈，烛光里的妈妈，
您的黑发泛起了霜花，
噢妈妈，烛光里的妈妈，
您的脸颊印着这多牵挂。
噢妈妈，烛光里的妈妈，
您的腰身倦得不再挺拔，
噢妈妈，烛光里的妈妈，
您的眼睛为何失去了光华，
妈妈呀，女儿已长大，
不愿意牵着您的衣襟走过春秋冬夏。
噢妈妈，烛光里的妈妈，
您的腰身倦得不再挺拔，
噢妈妈，烛光里的妈妈，
您的眼睛为何失去了光华，
妈妈呀，女儿已长大，
不愿意牵着您的衣襟走过春秋冬夏。
噢妈妈相信我，
女儿自有女儿的报答。
噢妈妈相信我，
女儿自有女儿的报答。

Links & Sources:

• The Beijing News - 新京报
• Merry Mart
• Music Copyright Society of China

A group of elderly Beijingers were out in front of the Guangdong government office in Beijing protesting their southern compatriots’ cat consumption habits. They held red banners that read: “水煮活猫,” which translates roughly into “poached live cat,” a play on 水煮活鱼. They wept and held photos of cats in cramped up in wooden crates. Pleading the Guangdong officials to tighten up laws on the tabby trade, their protest was not only ineffective, but ridiculous.

There is no doubt that the majority, if not all, of the protestors are hard-core meat eaters. And I would bet that there is a dozen dog hot-pot restaurants in their neighborhood they are not protesting against. How can these hypoctires draw a line between cat meat and dog meat? Seriously, in a city where you can eat donkey, dog, and baby birds, it is unreasonable and illogical to distinguish a moral hierarchy between the furry critters we eat.

If anything, we should choose from one of three (maybe four, if you are one of those wacky vegans) paths of food comsumption. 1) Eat a strictly vegetarian diet. This gives you the moral high-ground to criticize and protest others that participate in the slaughter of animals. 2) Eating the meat of animals that are up to ecologically sustainable standards (grass fed, free range, hormone-free, etc.). 3) Eat anything and everything. This is a slippery slope that gives no moral ground for critisizing or protesting. My guess is that these protesters fall closest to category three, but they will still say things as ridiculous as: “These cats, they are like our children. We can’t let these people do this to them.”

Burn in 地狱, Guangdong cannibals!

Location: Traffic Police Department, Liang Xiang County, Fang Shan District.
Combined bank account balance: 0 (last 800 went to pay part of the hospital deposit).
Money in pockets: miscellaneous change.
Time: approximately 15:30-16:00.

As a totality, the police officers were extremely nice. They were talking to us matter-of-factly, asked us how much we paid for the vehicle, asked us how we liked China, but as to inquiries regarding the accident - not too many of those were made.

List of protocol procedures we underwent:
Police photographing the car
Police taking away the keys and impounding the car as “evidence”
Police taking us to the next-door hospital for my husband’s blood test just in case he was DUI
Police copying the passport information and taking away the car registration and driver’s licence

At the end - when my husband signed the required papers, and sealed them with his fingerprint (also procedure, apparently), we were told the following in the following order:
1) Since we moved the bike off the road and drove off from the crime scene - whatever the intentions - we were 100% liable for the accident and it does not matter who or what caused it;
2) Because we were foreigners, we were to be dealt with by the Foreign Affairs department of the Beijing Traffic Police, so all we could do at this point was to go home and wait for their call in the next couple of days.

When I inquired about going back to the crime scene, they reminded me (in the most friendly manner) that since we drove off and moved the bike, we are already fully liable and going to the crime scene would not change anything.

Time: around 6 pm.
Distance from home: about a 2 hour drive.
Remaining means of getting home: none.
Mood: stunned and disoriented.

At this point we were broke and car-less. We brought it up hoping to negotiate our damaged ride out of the impound lot. The attempt failed, but one of the officers loaned us 300 yuan to make sure we could pay for a taxi ride home.

We got home and - after ordering pizza with the remaining taxi money (as an emotional damage control measure) and a long and freaked-out conversation reliving the day, drifted into uneasy sleep.

Day 2, June 30th, Monday.
Mood: still stunned.
Most feared object: a ringing phone.

The next day was uneventful until lunch time, when the “daughter” of the man we hit called and told me to come pay the remaining 9200 of the hospital deposit, or the hospital will refuse her “father” medical treatment (by law, the medical institutions are not supposed to do that, but it can and does happen). Travelling back to the hospital for 2 hours was out of the question, so a bank transfer was the only option at that point. I left work early and went to the bank to conduct the transfer.

On the way to the bank, the Foreign Affairs Traffic Police Department called. A friendly male voice inquired about my husband, then told me that the next day we were expected at the Police Department Headquarters in BeiYuan for the deposition.

End of Day 2.

To be continued…

Out of the numerous policies that were put into place during the Olympics (i.e. cab driver uniforms, tight security checks, visa policy changes, etc…), the 单双号 (dān shuāng hào), or odd-even lisence plate restriction, was by far the most practical and best thought out.

Traffic flowed smoothly, eliminating tons of carbon emissions that would have been spewed out by idle cars. According to Sina, since the Opening Ceremony, 8 out of 15 days were “一级” (high-rated) and there was a 20% drop in pollutants compared with the same time period last year.

Supposedly, there were debates within the government whether to continue the policy. From Treehugger.com:

After public surveys publicized by state media showed a majority supported the restrictions, some officials indicated that the government had not ruled out continuing the measures. If there was real debate within the government, it would have been very interesting to have been a fly on the wall during the final discussions.

Then again, it’s doubtful that those ultimately in control could let a restriction like this stand, considering the taxes the government collects from automobile sales, its own stake in the auto industry, and the protestations of middle-class car owners.

Unsurprisingly, the the debates about whether or not to keep the policy in place indefinitely were won by the petrol-consuming bloc.

Sure, the Odd-even policy would bring a hard hit to the automoblie industry, a few extra troubles to car owners’ lives, and make public transport more crowded than it already is. But if we think just for a moment about, say, the welfare of all Beijing citizens, peak oil, lung cancer, global warming, traffic, frusteration, etcetera, it is hard to make a solid argument for keeping more cars on the roads.

Beyond the cold, hard facts of carbon emissions bringing nothing but doom and gloom, there is the ethical implications. Every time I commute (on bike, that is), I am constantly reminded of the selfishness of car owners. I have to breathe their toxic emissions; I have to avoid vehicles ten times wider and twice as long as mine; and, most troublesome of all, I have to share the bike lane with them sometimes.

So for the love of all that is good, clean, efficient, selfless, and responsible, let’s keep 单双号.