Two things of interest today:

• There’s a Google-CCP battle brewing. Google will no longer censor itself to appease the Chinese government after discovering hackers from somewhere in China accessed the Gmail accounts of some human rights activists. It’s good to see a major company giving the finger to China. Working together is great and all, but China acts like a big spoiled baby too much. The Western media have jumped all over this story, but China’s state-run presses (CCTV, Xinhua, our very own China.org.cn) have kept mum about it.
• Credit Suisse’s annual survey on Chinese consumption habits showed that the Chinese are earning more and saving less. Besides the scary implications of having to satisfy the wants of 1.5 billion people, will buying more things make the Chinese more individualistic? After all, buying is all about making choices and expressing ourselves through those choices. Would this wrangle the Chinese free of their traditional communal uniformity?