Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

An Expat Has Time to Reflect, Now That the Party’s Over

blogs.wsj.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 92 posts

Re: An Expat Has Time to Reflect, Now That the Party’s Over

#31

Post by hga »

mac01021 wrote: post #21
HairyGing3r wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Missouri you get fined for having mismatched blinds, and not having money to pay that fine will get you into court/ private prison.

It makes sense that the "show me" state would prefer not to have any blinds at all.

Heh, but not true, speaking as a native of the state (born, raised, and retired to it). Nor is it a widespread law, certainly such a proposal wouldn't go down well here in the SW corner of it (especially in the very SW part I'm in that's culturally Southern), nor, outside of HOA procedural/contractual insanity can I see our Missouri Plan picked higher level judges approving of it.

Re: An Expat Has Time to Reflect, Now That the Party’s Over

#32

Post by chvid »

badminton1 wrote: post #22

And how is this relevant in any way?

If you just read the headline and not the article, then maybe the article is about the really bad recession that is going on in China right now (wellknown to all readers of HN). And how the expats caught there must "reflect" now that the party's over ...

Re: An Expat Has Time to Reflect, Now That the Party’s Over

#33

Post by coldtea »

badminton1 wrote: post #22

And how is this relevant in any way?

Relevant to what? Your specific interests?

Here's how social bookmarking sites work, for those confused: people post stuff, and other people vote on them. If it gets lots of votes, it's put in the first page, and it's de facto relevant to the site member's interests...

Re: An Expat Has Time to Reflect, Now That the Party’s Over

#34

Post by WesternStar »

driverdan wrote: post #27
HairyGing3r wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Missouri you get fined for having mismatched blinds, and not having money to pay that fine will get you into court/ private prison.

Citation needed

http://watchdog.org/252413/nanny-state-pagedale-missouri-fin...

Re: An Expat Has Time to Reflect, Now That the Party’s Over

#35

Post by ctvo »

hughperkins wrote: post #28

Im not sure i understand why this is a big deal. As the guy said, it was designed to send a message. As far as drugs, youd have to be insane to do drugs in china. The laws on drugs are really harsh. As for the reason, presumably the organizer hadnt paid the right bribes.

The issue is laws in China are arbitrarily enforced, making it easier to abuse power. Casual reading of this felt like the organizers were getting too successful and failed to pay the proper people. This was a message to them, not the partygoers. Next time pay us and we won't harass your guests.

Re: An Expat Has Time to Reflect, Now That the Party’s Over

#36

Post by seanmcdirmid »

xiaoma wrote: post #3
Numberwang wrote: post #2

Interesting read. Good to see the police making sure laws are followed.

The article clearly talked of how they aren't. Though motorbike taxis are illegal, they are ubiquitous except for temporary crackdowns. Though the raves were against the rules, they were advertised publicly for four years before any action was taken and there will be more publicly advertised raves that police ignore next year.

Electric bicycle deliveries are also illegal in many cities, but are tolerated because the new economy would completely collapse without them. Ride sharing was illegal for a long time until recently, but allowed to flourish until the laws caught up (well, beyond some selective prosecution). The sex industry is huge in China and mostly tolerated, or even partially run, by local police forces, and only disappears temporarily during central gov mandated crackdowns.

Re: An Expat Has Time to Reflect, Now That the Party’s Over

#38

Post by cocktailpeanuts »

HairyGing3r wrote: post #15
holdenc wrote: post #10

I'd say welcome to China, but let's be realistic. America offers plenty of opportunities to get locked up for 24 hours for breaking selectively enforced laws (protest anything lately?) and then perhaps even worse for resisting arrest.

In Missouri you get fined for having mismatched blinds, and not having money to pay that fine will get you into court/ private prison.

So this is how false rumors spread.

According to the article someone mentioned below, it is true that something like this happens in one small town in Missouri. In fact it's so ridiculous that the New York Times wrote an article on it.

But it's not right to say this happens "in Missouri", that's as false as saying "In America you get fined for having mismatched blinds"

Re: An Expat Has Time to Reflect, Now That the Party’s Over

#39

Post by elcct »

Paul_S wrote: post #14

What is ambiguous about drugs being illegal in almost every country on the planet (with a handful of exceptions)? Just because the police doesn't catch all the murderers doesn't make murder legal. That's crazy logic.

You are comparing apples to oranges

Re: An Expat Has Time to Reflect, Now That the Party’s Over

#40

Post by JumpCrisscross »

holdenc wrote: post #10

I'd say welcome to China, but let's be realistic. America offers plenty of opportunities to get locked up for 24 hours for breaking selectively enforced laws (protest anything lately?) and then perhaps even worse for resisting arrest.

> "He described having to watch anti-drug PowerPoint presentations and eat tasteless porridge. His employer, which runs an expat website, was told that he was detained. While it was embarrassing for him, he was not fired. Most importantly, he wasn’t deported. 'I wasn’t even fined,' he said. Since then, our normal expat lives have resumed."

We could learn something about drug-law enforcement from China.

Post reply on HN