Blizzard Suspends Hearthstone Player For Hong Kong Support, Pulls Prize Money

[The_Blade]

It's technically the same argument/logic that blizzard claim to use: "The main subject should be isolated to preserve focus and going outside of it results in consequences". I don't really see a problem with preventing topic hijacking unless you meant something else? For example, most would agree that it'd be in bad taste if PETA joined a gay pride parade with anti-animal abuse signs.

Considering the average attention span and such, it's a fair policy. It's how they usually define the bounds or the topic that I disagree with as is the case with Blizzard.

Was talking mostly about the internet societies and the expected consequences of group tunnel vision. Sure preventing topic hijacking is often the best alternative on narrow communication. However, when the loud and repetitive audience takes over (even of whole discussion boards), they tend to police the topic discussed through the same moral virtue that they gain by discussing/raising-awareness on one specific thing. That's the problem and a part of group nature. They will shutdown any other discussion to remain relevant on open channels, real life, or school. It's not always malice. Most of the time it's just part of feeling like you belong or talking about the latest news/topic. It's also not a hard shutdown.

For example, this happened at my home university. A group of students has been raising awareness of Mexican Police salaries and poor way of life within the force as a way to improve their lives and prevent corruption. The group was quite successful at helped a local police squad increase their government funding. In Mexico this is huge. Then the Hong Kong protests started and as the attention seeped into my university a small group of Hong Kong voices rose up. This was the same group that would always preach other mainstream issues. A quick campaign from their part was enough to remove the attention from the "students for police" that had been built over the years and one of their projects could not be funded successfully. At their best they were acting like peaceful protests. At their worst they were smearing "students for police" as a fascist group.

These negative voices are often the loudest. As we can see clearly by the spammers.

I'm familiar with several of those, but Australia? What's going on there?

I grouped Australia with the wrong scale of conflict. However, they are facing the worst recession since 2008. The government sold out the manufacturing and mining industries to China about 10-5 years ago, as well as the fishing rights for several Australian coasts. The cost of living has skyrocketed due to, again, chinese influences in the property market. The general public is not happy; and is trying to fight back the government. This has sparked some very shady actions from the police against the public. These have lasted for the past year. Said incidents involve: shadow arrests for comments made online or through social media, bully raids at homes or work places, and police brutality in general versus regular civilians. The MSM recently joined the public against the government after journalists were starting to suffer from the same abuse, but due to an Afganistan related incident (not civilian discomfort). The general public have condemned this effort. "Now, YOU care" is the motto in the streets because the MSM never covered any of the stories of crisis beforehand. Crazy Australians have been stabbing and killing people out of this growing hate (the most famous one is the egg crate stabber at Australia and the Christchurch shooter in NZ). Several friends have gone back to Latin America due to the situation, and Australian friends remain jobless or at a high risk of being fired.

[Visions of Khas]

That's interesting, thanks for bringing that to my attention Blade. I know China also has some holdings in New Zealand and are dramatically investing in many African countries.

I look at politics and world events, and every day there's more evidence the world's going down the shitter due to greed and egomania.

EDIT

For what it's worth, China seems to have (for now) retracted the extradition bill, fulfilling one of Hong Kong's protesters' demands.

[The_Blade]

It's the beauty of how globalization changed the game for macroeconomics. At a past time, during the early industrialization period, economies only grew due to a delicate balance between agriculture efficiency, private firm's incentives and war/conflict. Now every country became a cluster of economy sectors that can be replaced on regular business theory as the "business". We have gone way past the safety of growth and now are at a stage of death/purge in most economies/markets (meaning competition became really hard and competitors close down). The only sector that's not there is the services, which is why every country has a ludicrous idea that any of their cities will become the next Silicon Valley. Tho, China is about to dominate the growth and we will all spiral down the drain. Oh no London you beautiful tech hub. Berlin, I thought you had more plans for apps. Sydney, we still love you even though every single one of your startups moved to the USA or China.

Ah, wish Eco was here to shut me down.

[The_Blade]

Well... another conflict were China is a common factor has exploded. Chile now on fire after inequality protests sparked by the privatization of public transportation in joint venture with a Chinese company... which hiked the public transportation fare globally across platforms.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/...160029869.html

Honestly, I feel like WW3 has started, but we will see a new front of warfare. Psychology will be the 6th battlespace beyond ground, air, water, cyber, and space.

dramatically investing in many African countries

More like hostile takeover. At least 4 African countries have lost at least one seaport against Chinese loan shark tactics. Democratic Republic of Congo officially sold all of their rare earths to China a year ago, after a PR fiasco took down their exports of Cobalt and Lithium. China is currently settling "colonies" at DRC.

DRC's Blood Cobalt from a year ago
Current Analysis on China and Congo

[sandwich_bird]

The government sold out the manufacturing and mining industries to China about 10-5 years ago, as well as the fishing rights for several Australian coasts. The cost of living has skyrocketed due to, again, chinese influences in the property market.

That seems to be the case pretty much everywhere. It's not looking good here in Canada anyways. Apart from buying up real estate and anything that's for sale, they had anti Hong-Kong/pro-CCP protests in our streets for god sake. Also, thugs sending hate to a Tibetan women who became a university student president. That's without talking about how they basically made up Huawei by hacking our biggest tech company to death. Can't count on our prime minister to do much about anything though. After all, part of his electoral campaign is funded by China and he's investing millions into Chinese banks. You'd think he'd pull out after they openly bullied our country for the Meng Wanzhou affair but nah, that yuan crack is too good. They won't even need a war to accomplish global domination at this point, our magnificent leaders are just going to sell it to them. The funny thing is that, somehow, the only person who's actually doing "anything" of value against all this is one of the biggest crook of all time. That's some grade A writing ha!

[KaiserStratosTygo]

The fallout series is looking more and more realistic every day.

[Visions of Khas]

The fallout series is looking more and more realistic every day.

God I hope not.

[KaiserStratosTygo]

God I hope not.

Soon everyone's homes will suddenly delete their properties within them.

[The_Blade]

Soon everyone's homes will suddenly delete their properties within them.

Oh yes... Give me my rebel extinguisher system at every home. Pour a mix of gasoline and oxygen gas into any room where enemies of the state think of treacherous cooking recipes (or other related state condemned activities) and light them on fire instantly. [collateral damage may happen]

[Nissa]

*sigh* Great. Everyone brush up on your survival skills. Time to become shepherds in the wilderness.

And to think, I wanted to go to Australia to become free from PC culture here in the US.