The Galactic Empire of China sent out a new decree which banned several Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Backstreet Boys songs for reasons stretching from vulgarity to poor taste. They could have also nailed Gaga for being the shock-jock of pop artists, Perry for being a paint-by-numbers artist, and the Backstreet Boys for still existing. Alas, China remained vague in their reasoning, opting to offer up blanket reasoning for the songs added to their blacklist.

E! Online has the story on the musical banishment, which began in 2009 as a way to eliminate music piracy and was then expanded to filter the music downloaded in the country. I’m all for cracking down on piracy of all forms, but it appears that it is just a veil to hide China’s true goal: total control of what goes into the brains of their people.

As disgusting as that is, the Chinese people can still get their hands on most of Gaga’s tracks. The committee was very precise in what it banned and what it let stand; they have not quite moved towards a blanket ban on artists - yet. All it will take is for Gaga to write a song disparaging the Chinese government to have her banned from the country entirely. As annoying as some of the products of free speech in America can be, stories like this really make me appreciate the freedom that we enjoy this country. Yeah, it means I have to hear Gaga four times an hour on a radio station, but it also means I can write this post without being fined. Take that, oppressive governments! Yeah! America! ... Well, you get the idea.