Strange Things Banned by Governments各國政府的奇怪禁令

Greece： Video Games 希臘：禁玩電子游戲

In 2002， Greece decided to ban any and all video games. The law was apparently intended to help crack down on1） Internet gambling； CNET reported that \"the blanket2） ban was decided in February after the government admitted it was incapable of distinguishing innocuous3） video games from illegal gambling machines.\" Soon after， though， a local Greek judge declared the law unconstitutional4）， and though the law still exists， it seems the Greek government hasn't been doing much about it.

Not the action of time travel itself， but rather the portrayal of it. In early 2011， the State Administration for Radio， Film， and Television in China declared that time travel is all but5） prohibited from TV and movies. Apparently， time travel has been very popular in Chinese TV dramas， and the government discouraged them because they \"casually make up myths， have monstrous6） and weird plots， use absurd tactics7）， and even promote feudalism8）， superstition， fatalism9） and reincarnation10）\".

The emo trend began in the 1980s， characterized by its emotional music similar to punk and rock and the fashion styles that are a mix of punk and goth12）. To most people， it's just a phase for teenagers to go through； in Russia， though， it's a dangerous social group that should be stamped out13）. In 2008， a piece of legislation began to restrict \"dangerous teen trends\" like the emo culture. The bill describes \"emos\" as teenagers with studded14） belts， painted fingernails， facial piercings， and black hair with face-concealing fringes15）. It also claims that the emo \"negative ideology\" encourages depression， social withdrawal and suicide—and it would be irresponsible to allow the trend to continue. The self-proclaimed emo culture took to the streets， marching in the UK and Siberia to defend their right to expressing their emotions. If Russia has its way， emo will be all but banned by 2020.

During Fidel Castro's reign in Cuba， few citizens owned cell phones. Not because they were too expensive， but because they were banned—only executives working for foreign companies or high communist party officials were allowed to have them. Fidel Castro defended his ban by claiming the restrictions were \"necessary sacrifices\" in the \"battle of ideas\" against the U.S. When Raul Castro， younger brother of Fidel， took over control of Cuba in 2008， one of his early actions was to lift the ban on cell phones. Although the phones were expensive， the freedom to own a cell phone had many citizens rush to purchase their first.

2002年，希臘（政府）決定取締任何一種電子游戲。很顯然，這一法規旨在幫助打擊網絡賭博。科技資訊網報道稱，“政府承認他們無法區分無害的電子游戲和非法的賭博機器，之后就于二月頒布了‘一刀切’禁令”。然而沒過多久，一名希臘地方法官宣稱該法規違反了憲法。雖然這項法規仍舊存在，但希臘政府卻似乎并沒有怎么推行過。

中國政府禁止的并不是穿越這件事本身，而是對穿越的藝術再現。在2011年初，中國廣播電影電視總局就宣稱基本全面禁止電視劇和電影中出現穿越題材。很明顯，中國電視劇非常流行穿越題材。中國政府打擊這類題材的原因在于它們“隨意編造神話，劇情荒謬，手法奇怪，甚至宣揚封建、迷信、宿命論以及靈魂轉世”。

情緒搖滾風行于20世紀80年代，其音樂情緒類似于朋克和搖滾，而其時尚風格則是朋克和哥特的結合體。對大多數人來說，喜歡情緒搖滾只是青少年經歷的一個階段，但俄羅斯卻認為這是一個必須鏟除的危險社會團體。2008年出臺的一項法案開始限制像情緒搖滾文化這樣的“危險的青少年流行風向”。該法案將“情緒搖滾迷”描述成一群扎鉚釘腰帶、涂指甲、臉部穿環、留一頭黑發且劉海還要遮住半張臉的青少年。該法案還宣稱情緒搖滾的“消極理念”會促使沮喪情緒、回避社交甚至自殺現象的發生，所以該法案認為允許這種風潮繼續是不負責任的。在英國和西伯利亞，一群自稱情緒搖滾的文化群體走上街頭游行抗議，捍衛他們表達情緒的權力。如果俄羅斯能夠成功實施該法案，那也得到2020年才能幾乎全面禁止情緒搖滾。

在菲德爾·卡斯特羅領導古巴期間，沒有幾個人擁有手機。不是因為手機太昂貴，而是因為手機在古巴是禁用的，只允許在外企工作的高管或者古巴共產黨的高官使用手機。菲德爾·卡斯特羅聲稱這是與美國“意識形態競爭”中的“必要犧牲”，并以此捍衛他的這一禁令。2008年，菲德爾的弟弟勞爾·卡斯特羅接任古巴領導人時，他早期的舉措之一就是取消手機的禁令。盡管手機對于古巴人來說相對昂貴，但能夠自由擁有一部手機還是令許多公民都爭先恐后去購買他們的第一部手機。

1.crack down on：

（對……）采取嚴厲措施；鎮壓

2.blanket [?bl??k?t] adj. 總括的；通用的；適用于所有情況的

3.innocuous

[??n?kju?s] adj. 無害的；不會引起爭論的；無傷大雅的

4.unconstitutional

[??n?k?nst??tju???nl] adj. 違反憲法的；違反規定的

5.all but： 幾乎完全地

6.monstrous

[?m?nstr?s] adj. 駭人聽聞的；荒謬的

7.tactic [?t?kt?k] n. 一種手法

8.feudalism

[?fju?d（?）l?z（?）m] n. 封建主義

9.fatalism

[?fe?t?l?z（?）m] n. 宿命論

10.reincarnation

[?ri??nkɑ?（r）?ne??（?）n] n. 靈魂轉世再生說

11.emo [?i?m??] n. 喜歡情感硬核音樂（一種類似朋克音樂、歌詞大多涉及情感主題的搖滾樂）的人。這類人多喜歡穿黑色的衣服，留長發。

12.goth [ɡ?θ] n. （流行時尚中的）哥特派（具有以倫敦俱樂部為背景，身著黑衣、喜愛搖滾樂且離經叛道的青年人風格）

13.stamp out： 消滅；根絕

14.studded [?st?d?d] adj. 鑲嵌有……飾物的；有裝飾物的

15.fringe [fr?nd?] n. （頭發的）劉海