IN BRIEF: BLOCKED BY THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC

Thanks to an Australian blog that, frankly, I've never read before today -- Five Public Opinions -- via the oh-so-fair and balanced Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy (of which, your slime-mouthed Chronicler happens to be a member), I've inadvertently crashed head-on with one of the most enjoyable sites I've ever, well, inadvertently crashed into: The Great Firewall of China. It turns out that, yes, this empty claptrap blowhard less-than-nothing of a blog from hell is being blocked by the benevolent corporate despots who rule the PRC. How about that? Imagine -- the poor toiling Chinese masses, incessantly slapping together just about every conceivable consumer good in your nearest Wal-Mart, are officially denied the highly questionable benefits of suffering through my endless whiny wankerings about allergies, commuter traffic, and the terminal indifference of the average American. Do you suppose the totalitarian freaks in Beijing know something that, perhaps, I don't?

Actually, I'm sure it's merely that the corporate Stalinists at the top of the Chinese hierarchy block all Blogger/Google sites, as a matter of course. But it's nice to know that some pig-fucker authoritarians somewhere might think enough of this nonsense to keep their subjects from viewing it. I encourage everyone to check out The Great Firewall of China and see how well-considered their blogsites are in the world's most populous country. It's fun!