Weekly reading 13

Jun 27, 2020
Hong Kong National Security Law by July 1?; Beijing outbreak; EU-China summit; Xinjiang - sinocism:

The South China Morning Post summarizes the key points we know from this weekend’s announcement:

Hong Kong government should strengthen its efforts to monitor and manage schools and societies where national security is involved

Hong Kong government will set up a commission to safeguard national security, which will be chaired by the chief executive and include an adviser appointed by Beijing

Hong Kong leader to appoint designated judges to preside over cases

Common law principles such as presumption of innocence and other human rights safeguards will be ensured

A central government agency will be set up to analyse the national security situation in Hong Kong, and ‘monitor, supervise, coordinate and support’ the local government’s efforts, collect intelligence and handle relevant cases; mainland agents are required to follow Hong Kong laws

Hong Kong will lead enforcement of the law except in a ‘very few’ cases where Beijing will retain jurisdiction

The new law will override local legislation should conflicts arise

This is surreal - for HK gov not only gives up independent governing power just like that, but also becomes the hitman that does the dirty work. It fits 被卖了还帮别人数钱. If you are at the bottom of a top-down structure, of course you gonna suck it and say it’s tasty. Welcome HK to join us; it’s fun.

“希望地方干部改变对国家安全‘没有责任感’的盲目性”:山东合村并居旋涡:

牛角店镇党委副书记姜渭柱在接受《中国新闻周刊》采访时说,乡村振兴工程是“让农民从土地上解放出来”。

当年翻身就是靠“打土豪,分田地”。现在这个口号让人恍若隔世。

农家女23年前疑遭两次顶替上大学,班主任:我让女儿顶替了你,求原谅 - qq:

而实际上,早在2003年,高三班主任就曾让人带信给苟晶,承认是自己女儿顶替她去北京读了大学。出身农家、无权无势的苟晶逐渐认命。在杭州的20多年,她努力拼搏,坚持读书,还把房子买在一所大学附近。

在中国,从不知道什么朝代开始,就生造出各种上下级关系,而且强调上下不可逾越:君臣,臣民,师生,父子,夫妻,兄妹等等。以下犯上就是不忠不孝不仁不义。长期的洗脑结果就是,处在上级的位置就不把下级当人看,处在下级的位置就逆来顺受乖乖听话。

23日傍晚6点,邱老师带着妻子、女儿和女婿,赶到接庄镇苟晶的老家,给苟晶的母亲带去了几斤桃子和1万元人民币,请求和解。

毁掉了别人的一生,居然想带着桃子和一点钱就和解了。

科技爱好者周刊(第 113 期):暴力犯罪为什么越来越少? - ruanyifeng:

综合上面这些因素,我认为,技术进步造成了暴力犯罪的减少。”莫伸手,伸手必被抓”,已经不是宣传口号了,而是技术进步的必然结果。

这就是带着事先做好的假设去看问题的结果。技术进步当然帮助犯罪减少,但不是决定性因素。没有数据支撑的结论都站不住脚的。

What the National People’s Congress tells us about the challenges facing China - sinocism:

The Hong Kong national security law was the main news item of the NPC. It looks increasingly likely that the law will be passed at the end of June. The haste is surely connected to the Legislative Council elections, which are scheduled for September: last November the democratic parties swept the board in district council elections and a repeat must not be allowed. The fear is that the NSL will be used to bar candidates unacceptable to the CCP. Other fears are: the effect on the judiciary (whose underpins the rule of law so vital to Hong Kong’s prosperity); the re-establishment of the old ‘Special Branch’ as security police and the setting up of mainland security organs in Hong Kong; and a hint that the NSL will reopen the question of national education, which led to protests in 2012 (the decision of the NPC referred to the Chief Executive reporting on the ‘carrying out national security education’).

Two things are particularly concerning. First is the removal of opposing candidates, which can immediately dismantle whatever differentiates HK from any other cities in China; Second is the national education, which can destroy whatever HK could have had in the future.

Macs with Apple silicon will get new, refined boot and recovery mode - sixcolors:

Doing unusual things at Mac startup has long required remembering keyboard shortcuts. Is it Command-Control-P-R or Command-Option-P-R that zaps the PRAM? Is that still even a thing? Is it Command-S for Recovery Mode—or wait, that’s Single User Mode, it’s Command-R for Recovery mode, Command-T for Target Disk Mode, Option to choose a startup disk.

The thing is Apple built the “superior” UX perception so strong and Apple devices are so popular, that people like me easily forgot about the many inconveniences (subtle or another) in its systems, like this one.

Apple’s new App Clips: Tiny apps you run with a tap - sixcolors:

So in our great App Clip future, I’ll be standing in front of a parking meter, or sitting at a table in a restaurant, or standing outside a cafe, and there will be something for my phone to scan, whether it’s a QR code to photograph or an NFC sticker to tap or a fancy, circular new App Clip Code designed by Apple that’s both a QR code and an NFC sticker.

Quite a blatant copy of WeChat mini programs. So is the UI overhaul over Android. Apple has been like this for quite sometime with many examples like the nightshift feature over f.lux. This is no different from Amazon pushing its own brands over similar commodities sold on Amazon. Obviously whatever Apple copies turns out to be better than the originals, given its resource and the advantage of having OS-level integration. Amazon is being exposed for its anti-competitive copying effort, wonder when or if Apple would be picked for the same at all?

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