Behind the Great Firewall Lurks the YRC...

Great to see you again!  We are going to start our second year of clear-sighted journalism with some news:  You may be excited to know that you are experiencing a rare privilege that 1.4 BILLION of the People's Republic citizens will never experience.  Yes, dear readers, you are reading the Yellow River Chronicles.

Are you sure the YRC is worth worrying about, Comrade General?

For reasons of public security and general journalistic fastidiousness, perhaps, the government of China maintains an active "Great Firewall" which censors many, many websites outside of China.  This according to Wikipedia:

China defends its right to censor the Internet that the country has the right to govern the internet according to its own rules inside its borders. The white paper, released in June 2010, called the internet “a crystallization of human wisdom.” But in the document the government lays out some of the reasons why its citizens cannot get access to all of that wisdom. It says it wants to curb the harmful effects of illegal information on state security, public interests and children. “Laws and regulations clearly prohibit the spread of information that contains content subverting state power, undermining national unity [or] infringing upon national honor and interests,” it says. In another section, China reaffirms its determination to govern the internet within its borders according to its own rules. "Within Chinese territory the internet is under the jurisdiction of Chinese sovereignty. The internet sovereignty of China should be respected and protected," it says. It adds that foreign individuals and firms can use the internet in China, but they must abide by the country's laws.

This protection includes large parts of the Cyberworld and your very own Yellow River Chronicles!  We ROCK!!  Here is result from an on-line app which allows you to check and see if a site is blocked.  

Note the line "Test results for theyellowriverchronicles.blogspot.com".  As you can see, the YRC is blocked in all of China, including Inner Mongolia.  However, the YRC is widely available in Mongolia!

For fun, you can go to the site (greatfirewallofchina.org) type in your favorite website and see if it is blocked.

"Squirrels sighted, Kilo Actual. Permission to engage!?!"

In fairness, the YRC is not singled out, as is the Red Lobster Restaurant site (truth!  List of sites blocked).  We are simply blocked because all Google-based blogs are blocked here.

So, YRC readership being as alert as a Jack Russell Terrier on methamphetamine, you then ask, "It that a squirrel?"  Ho ho ho.  Just kidding.  No, you ask, "how then is the YRC published each week." 

YRC Secret Communications Hub

Well, in the tradition of direct descendants of a long-time National Security Agency professional, we will simply....say nothing and look amused.  It is for your OWN protection, people.  

But, it does involve a communications satellite, AEHF Satellite (USA-214), some cups and twine and some really serious computer gear.  Um...subscription rates may be going up soon to pay for all this.

And next week in the YRC (if we are still here) we'll bring you up to date on what this all means on the other side of the world.