Legalizing prostitution: 1605

"...for the office of a pimp is not a slight business, but an employment fit only for discreet persons, and a most necessary one in a well-regulated commonwealth; and none but persons well-born ought to exercise it; and in truth there should be inspectors and comptrollers of it, as there are of other offices, with a certain number of them deputed, like exchange-brokers; by which means many mischiefs would be prevented which now happen..."

--From Don Quixote de la Mancha--

The Game: 1605

And so, in process of time, the devil, who sleeps not, and troubles all things, brought it about, that the love which the shepherd bore to the shepherdess, was converted into mortal hatred; and the cause, according to evil tongues, was a certain quantity of little jealousies she gave him, beyond measure: and so much did he hate her from thenceforward, that, to avoid the sight of her, he chose to absent himself from that country, and go where his eyes should never behold her more. Torralva, who found herself disdained by Lope, presently began to love him better than ever she had loved him before." — "It is a natural quality of women," said Don Quixote, "to slight those who love them, and love those who slight them: go on, Sancho."

--From Don Quixote de la Mancha--

Of course Don Quixote would say something like that. Everything a knight-errant did was to pick up a chick, why shouldn't they be pick-up artists?

The poor: 1605

In the meantime Don Quixote tampered with a labourer, a neighbor of his, and an honest man (if such an epithet may be given to one that is poor), but very shallow-brained.

--From Don Quixote de la Mancha--

The elite today would never say such a thing, but they sure seem to act like they think it's true.

Literacy problems: 1605

You must know, then, that this gentleman, at times when he was idle, which was most part of the year, gave himself up to the reading of books of chivalry, with so much attachment and relish, that he almost forgot all the sports of the field, and even the management of his domestic affairs: and his curiosity and extravagant fondness herein arrived to such a pitch, that he sold many acres of arable land to purchase books of Knight-errantry, and carried home all he could lay hands on of that kind....

...With this kind of language the poor gentleman lost his wits, and distracted himself to comprehend and unravel their meaning; which was more than Aristotle himself could do, were he to rise again from the dead for that purpose alone.

--From Don Quixote de la Mancha--

"Don't read too much kids, it'll make you poor and might just make you go insane!"

I like anything that begins so subversively.

Obama to gays: if you want equal rights, become a Republican

"Instead, the Department of Justice argued that the immediate effect of her decision should be to prohibit the military from discharging openly gay service members who belong to the Log Cabin Republicans."

--From Reuters, via Drudge--

With incentives like this, how can any homosexual be a Democrat, or like myself, an Independent? The writing is on the wall people, we must become Republicans and join the Log Cabin! Look at the benefits!

UPDATE:

I've filled out my change of party application and sent it in. I may have overdone the postage, but the purple-heart stamps seemed especially appropriate:



It's only safe to be "out" in the Republican Party.

Happy Labor Day

I think beer would be the obvious drink for Labor Day; Chinese beer, since they do most of the labor.

Traffic

Every line on the street in China is a suggestion. That's how they drive anyway (and I would say they are some of the best drivers in the world).

From what I heard, to get a drivers license you need to win a lottery. Even if you win, you can only drive on highways in your home province. Everywhere else you have to use back roads. The Chinese government is also happy to take away your drivers license, for anything, so people wont report accidents to them or insurance companies.

You also aren't allowed to drive your car if it has a dent. If you get in an accident, you pull into a nearby repair shop and settle the damages, in cash, with the other driver. Witnesses will help determine who was at fault.

In America, we give people tickets and fine them, but usually let them continue to drive. In China if you're a bad driver they take you off the road entirely. All together their system seems safer and to involve a lot less paperwork and judicial oversight. I saw no car accidents when I was there. That's not to say the Chinese system was planned. The government's bureaucracy is so completely unusable that an informal system has taken over.

I've blogged before about how sidewalks double as parking spaces, but small streets also double as sidewalks, even if the streets have sidewalks around them.

There will be people everywhere with cars driving through them. You wont notice the cars coming up behind you and it can be a little scary.



In America there are often lanes going slower than other ones. In China, everyone in the slow lane would move into the faster ones, then switch over just before they had to make a turn. It's very fluid. Everybody is cutting in front of everybody else.



I've been on highways where people were driving on motorcycles, against traffic.

There doesn't seem to be any road-rage involved. I saw one incident where a truck driver had turned too late and was stuck. Everybody, even people in other lanes, honked their horns once or twice, then a police officer walked over and looked at the driver. The sense of shame he must have felt! I think that's all they need.

Lawn work

You need the weeds pulled out of a lawn. Do you have someone spray chemicals? No. It's cheaper to hire someone who does this all day long for a living:



Note: I filmed this in a park, with HUGE expanses of lawn. I guess it pays better than weeding a rice paddy, but still!

Road work

From what I saw, when they are tearing up a road in China they don't close it down. A machine will jack-hammer starter holes in the entire street surface, but cars will still be using it, even with the holes.

It lets the road be used as much as possible, causing the least disruption. Not that people wont stand around and gawk at the racket.

Things I thought in China (part 2)

I saw a cow in an abandoned field, grazing on a bush.

The Chinese like to offer Americans Coke for lunch, but rarely have it themselves.

I saw a woman in a shed. A shed where one entire wall was a mirror. She was watching TV sitting in front of an electric fan. The shed was at the end of a small alley filled with garbage bags on a street with no lights.

I had strawberry yogurt along with my breakfast. When I opened the container it was white and liquidy. I reached in with a spoon to stir up the strawberries, but there were none. It was meant to be drunk and only had the lightest hint of strawberries.

I saw a bumper sticker today; the only bumper sticker I've seen here.

You can make all sorts of faux pas and no one will correct you, or even act like they notice. But sometimes, just sitting somewhere, a stranger will walk very close to you and give you a dirty look.

I have never seen anyone wear a seat-belt.

It is very rare to see a Chinese person with a dog, but if you want to be garunteed to see one, go to a park which doesn't allow dogs.

Stores

Walking down the street the sidewalks are literally lined with shops. Smaller streets, with less traffic, are home to street vendors, who cook food in the shadows.



Many stores are completely open to the outside. Convenience stores especially.



Produce sellers are the best. They let their wares almost pour into the street.



You just want to walk everywhere and see everything. Sometimes you luck out and come upon a night market.



It's flower stalls, fruit stalls, fish mongers and butchers. All close together, all open to the air, all inviting you to come and see their wares.







And you're never far away from somewhere selling food.