James Powderly of Graffiti Research Labs Detained In China 337
An anonymous reader writes "News from Free Tibet 2008 that internationally known artist, technologist and co-founder of the Graffiti Research Lab, James Powderly, was detained in Beijing early on August 19th while preparing to debut a new work and technology of protest, the L.A.S.E.R. Stencil. According to a Twitter message received yesterday by Students for a Free Tibet at approximately 5 pm Beijing Standard Time, Powderly had been detained by Chinese authorities at 3 am. His current whereabouts remain unknown. Powderly was the inventor of throwies." (Powderly's detention was also mentioned at Make Magazine's blog.)
Rosa Parks (Score:2, Insightful)
Rosa Parks knew that she was SUPPOSED to give up her seat, but she took a stand. It was arguably dangerous for her to do so.
People who have the balls to stand up against tyrants may be called stupid by some, but they will be called heroes by others.
Oh, and non-destructive graffiti is pretty damned cool.
You know... (Score:5, Insightful)
I've never heard of most of these "activists" before the Olympics and I've got a feeling we won't be hearing much from them afterwards. If people have been involved with pro-Tibet, pro-Darfur, pro-democracy, pro-whatever stuff all along, then good for them. But most of these loudmouths getting press recently seem to only be interested in complaining when their neighbors are taking pleasure in something China-related.
It reminds me of all those goofs who are so indignantly outraged every Thanksgiving, but never lift a finger to help American Indians on the other 364 days a year. Or even on Thanksgiving, for that matter.
Re:Whoops (Score:4, Insightful)
from that article:
The switch from gunshots to injections is a sign that China "promotes human rights now," says Kang Zhongwen, who designed the Jinguan Automobile death van...
So they're starting to look at how people die? Me - I would have thought looking at how people live would have been a more useful step in promoting human rights. But then what do I know - I don't control the lives of over a billion people...
Re:You know... (Score:5, Insightful)
Perhaps this speaks more of the level of attention that the world pays to activists (during major events versus otherwise) than it does to the level of commitment of activists to causes.
Seriously, this guy been around a while. Your ignorance is not evidence that he's a mere opportunistic attention-grabber.
Re:Rosa Parks (Score:3, Insightful)
Rosa Parks was given a speedy trial, fined $14, and on appeal wreaked havoc on the laws that were the foundation of racial segregation in the United States.
Since this guy is a US citizen, the Chinese government will probably let him live. A Chinese citizen probably wouldn't be so lucky.
Hopefully this event teaches him, and and others in his home country to appreciate the freedom that they have when they're spewing their typical "baby out with the bathwater" rants about how fascist the US government is.
Re:Rosa Parks (Score:3, Insightful)
Rosa Parks
Are you really going to compare graffiti -- a nuisance of a chosen action -- to a civil rights struggle? Based on the color of a person's skin?
People like Rosa Parks were heroes to all, especially to racists and passive people who needed to have their eyes open. I'm not sure who James Powderly thought he was representing but going to a foreign country and committing what is a crime in that country just makes a bunch of people uneasy.
Oh, and non-destructive graffiti is pretty damned cool.
Light is still a form of polution. Though non-destructive, it is most likely still annoying. While I agree with the cause this man was "fighting" for, I am indifferent to his ineffective methods. He would most likely be arrested in my country too [usdoj.gov].
His methods weren't opening people's eyes, they are alienating people like me who would rather see a message sent to the Chinese government that makes them think about their injustices.
Re:Rosa Parks (Score:4, Insightful)
How do you know? Isn't it a tad/i hasty to be making assumptions? And hasn't he actually achieved at least something? When was the last time anything you did got mentioned on the front page of Slashdot?
What does the fact that he isn't Tibetan or a Chinese citizen have to do with anything? What I'm getting out of your post is, "people should mind their own business and not rock the boat." Is that the impression you meant to convey?
Is this a surprise? (Score:5, Insightful)
Going to foreign countries run by totalitarian governments to protest is a bit on the unwise side regardless of how just the cause.
One doesn't need to be a member of the oppressed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:You know... (Score:5, Insightful)
Feel free to convince me otherwise. The Wikipedia page linked here certainly makes him sound like an opportunistic attention-grabber. As I said, I have all the respect in the world for serious activists on this front, but this guy sounds like a self-promoting jackass who assumes (correctly, probably) that his white skin and US passport are Get Out Of Jail Free cards.
Re:idiot (Score:2, Insightful)
That's pretty disingenuous. Writing propaganda these days? "Arrest people who make signs with simple blinking LEDs"? Interesting description.
Yeah, it is disingenuous. They didn't just arrest them - they then proceeded to charge them with terrorism.
Because, like, they might have been bombs or something.
Re:So many ways to make a point (Score:4, Insightful)
I like to think that going over and killing twelve people is slightly worse than mildly pissing a few people off with an unsolicited light show, but then i'm a bit weird like that.
Re:Rosa Parks (Score:5, Insightful)
He went over there to get publicity for a cause, and he got publicity for a cause. You could argue he achieved less than he might have, but to say he achieved nothing is idiotic.
Re:You know... (Score:2, Insightful)
It reminds me of all those goofs who are so indignantly outraged every Thanksgiving, but never lift a finger to help American Indians on the other 364 days a year. Or even on Thanksgiving, for that matter.
I'm not offended (I'm Indian myself), nor am I one of those ultra-politically correct, don't-want-to-offend-anyone types of people, but it would be more accurate to say Native American instead of American Indian. American Indian can also refer to people of Indian descent who were born in the US, and that can get a bit confusing for people who don't know US history.
Re:Whoops (Score:3, Insightful)
So, basically, it makes it easier to ignore the fact that you're killing someone.
I'm not against capital punishment, but I think that there should be a certain amount of raw reality involved in it. No coat of sugar.
Re:You know... (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes those do-nothing loudmouth liberal hiptards should just die in a fire. It's almost like they're doing nothing at all... what with all that thinking about this stuff.... and talking about it...
Since when did communication become a stoning offense? Bringing ideas to the fore without some kind of action attached to it isn't a crime.
And regarding those loudmouths who talk about the Native Americans on Thanksgiving, they are doing something. They are doing more than you sound like you're doing (which is simply whining about people who talk about what they feel strongly about).
Enjoy yourself a nice tall cup of STFU. On the house. With my compliments. You seem to be serving enough of it. Perhaps now would be a good time to have a drink yourself.
Tibet rant, this needs to be said... (Score:5, Insightful)
Tibet has been part of China since 1792. Yes, for over two freaking centuries! You might not like it, but tough shit. And guess what, if a bunch of Chinese students came to the US and flung banners around Stanford demanding we give California back to Mexico, we'd probably tell them to get their butts back to China and mind their own business. Heck, we'd probably even detain a couple of them.
Re:You know... (Score:2, Insightful)
There is little point in complaining that one European word does not properly describe them, and then insisting that another European word be used instead.
Re:Rosa Parks (Score:4, Insightful)
It is not necessary for things to be as bad as they can possibly be before one has the right to complain about things that are wrong. The U.S. has in many ways grown greatly more totalitarian over the past eight years. Saying "It's not as bad as China, so the problems don't matter" is the height of idiocy. That's like saying "Linux doesn't crash as much as Windows, so it must be perfect.
Indeed, it is precisely because people do appreciate those freedoms that they rant about signs of growing fascism in the U.S. government. They who have never seen the light cannot know that they live in darkness, and so do not complain. Therefore, I would contend that the people who do not rant are the ones who do not fully appreciate those freedoms.
Re:Rosa Parks (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Rosa Parks (Score:5, Insightful)
We are all free to express our desires to anyone. We are free to demonstrate and protest that which we find morally objectionable, and no arbitrary borders or citizenship should stop us. I find your stance morally reprehensible, as it seeks to divide people into arbitrary groups who are not allowed to support each other in seeking redress for wrongs. You advocate a particularly sick form of authoritarianism.
Re:You know... (Score:3, Insightful)
I've never heard of most of these "activists" before the Olympics and I've got a feeling we won't be hearing much from them afterwards. If people have been involved with pro-Tibet, pro-Darfur, pro-democracy, pro-whatever stuff all along, then good for them. But most of these loudmouths getting press recently seem to only be interested in complaining when their neighbors are taking pleasure in something China-related.
I can just picture you, sitting on your ass and posting these comments on Slashdot, criticizing someone who did at least something, however little (and did indeed risk imprisonment by an oppressive regime), spewing your self-righteous shite.
And for this feces of yours, you get the highest reward you can expect - being "Modded Up" - but that's also all the reward cowards like you can expect. You'll go to sleep tonight without having achieved anything of interest in your squalid little existence, save for a pat on your back by a few other losers like you, who just happened to have mod points tonight.
Re:Rosa Parks (Score:3, Insightful)
We are all free to express our desires to anyone.
No, you are not free to tell me how I should conduct my business. If you try to tell me things on my own land you are trespassing, please leave.
We are free to demonstrate and protest that which we find morally objectionable,
Absolutely, as long as you do it on your own territory, or on a public land.
and no arbitrary borders or citizenship should stop us.
Sorry, the property line is here and you may not cross without my permission.
I find your stance morally reprehensible, as it seeks to divide people into arbitrary groups
Sorry, you are swinging your ax at the freedom of association. Any group of people is free to join for any common purpose it wishes.
who are not allowed to support each other in seeking redress for wrongs.
Allowed? No, there is no authority over nations (the UN is not even close.) Free people, grouped into a nation or just standing on a street corner, may choose to allow or disallow an input from outsiders. It's *their* decision, if they are free, of course.
You advocate a particularly sick form of authoritarianism
No, I advocate freedom. You, on the other hand, advocate interventionism [wikipedia.org], a policy that hurts the United States on the international arena. What right do you have to tell other nations how to live?
Re:Rosa Parks (Score:5, Insightful)
People like Rosa Parks were heroes to all, especially to racists and passive people who needed to have their eyes open.
People like Rosa Parks were carefully chosen by lawyers to become sympathetic test cases before the Judiciary and the court of public opinion.
You think Rosa Parks was the only black woman who got arrested for refusing to move to the back of the bus? Even Rosa Parks wikipedia page can't help but mention a pregnant 15 yr old girl named Claudette Colvin [wikipedia.org].
Light is still a form of polution. Though non-destructive, it is most likely still annoying. While I agree with the cause this man was "fighting" for, I am indifferent to his ineffective methods.
It shouldn't really matter how James Powderly chose to protest, in much the same way that it shouldn't have mattered that Claudette Colvin was unwed and pregnant by a much older man.
I'm sure when the right kind of protestor gets arrested, you and others with your mindset will take notice.
Re:Tibet rant, this needs to be said... (Score:5, Insightful)
If California wanted to go back to Mexico, what right would we have to stop them?
You're funny. (Score:5, Insightful)
Tibetans don't think they've been part of China since 1792. They thought they were running Tibet. And they did, until they were invaded in 1959. You might not like it, but tough shit
And guess what, if a bunch of Chinese students came to the US and flung banners around Stanford demanding we give California back to Mexico, we'd probably tell them to get their butts back to China and mind their own business.
NONSENSE! We'd laugh. That's it. We'd laugh and laugh and laugh.
If Al-Qaeda held a rally in the US.... (Score:0, Insightful)
This douchebag had it coming, having the gall to foment terrorism during the Olympics. Being arrested is a merciful punishment for him, we could have just let a crowd beat the shit out of him while the cops look the other way.
Free Tibet is a terrorist, separatist organization dedicated to establishing a Western protectorate over an "independent" Tibet so the Lamas can reinstitute theocracy, slavery, and poverty to the territory. They will never succeed, no matter how much the Western imperialists and the traitors who sold themselves to the West want it to be so.
Re:Rosa Parks (Score:3, Insightful)
Powderly regularly protests all kinds of oppression, both at home and abroad.
Oh wait...
Why don't Americans mind their own business? (Score:3, Insightful)
GWB goes over there and raises a stink about "human rights", now this clown, too. You're not going to change anyone's mind over there. They're doing this on purpose, economic freedoms are given to the Chinese people first, political will follow. Compared to 4 year cycle of US politics, they think in a span of 50 years or so - way too long an attention span for an average US politician to be able to muster.
It's not like there are no problems here at home, either. Infrastructure is crumbling, economy is in the toilet, military budget is astronomical, high schools put out idiots who need remedial courses to even be able to study further, space program is lagging behind, middle class is being raped with taxes, etc, etc.
It sure as heck is much easier to just bash foreign governments for their perceived shortcomings. Fixing problems here would actually require a brain and quite a bit of work.
Re:Rosa Parks (Score:3, Insightful)
The positioning of your deks hurts nobody. But if you turn your back on the suffering of another human being then it makes you complicit in their plight. We are a social species and part of a society is caring for those who are hurt - otherwise we are just another tribe of hairless apes screaming at the night. But hey, you choose your own life path just like we all do. Except for those who have that choice taken away from them.
Ugly (Score:3, Insightful)