Martin68
Martin68's Journal"China may very well become the world's largest democracy." A very naive view.
The Chinese government is creating the most sophisticated citizen-monitoring and behavior-control system in the world. They have imprisoned a million Muslims in "re-education" prisons. The Government controls the internet and all other media. Anyone suspected of criticizing the government is imprisoned. A so-called "anti-corruption' campaign is being used as an excuse to eliminate opposition and consolidate power. I don't think you can get to democracy from here. The Tianmen Square democracy movement was the last best chance for democracy, and it was snuffed out like a candle, all the organizers thrown into prison. That was 30 years ago, and the Chinese government will never allow such movement to get started again.
This is great news! Finally, a chink in Big Oil's armor.
Opposition to the pipeline has been strong, with different groups attacking the project from different angles. The two biggest objections have been that 1) the pipeline goes straight up and down extremely steep mountain slopes which cannot be stabilized once a 120-foot-wide swath of trees have been cut down, and 2) the pipeline crosses hundreds of streams with no requirement that erosion and sediment control plans be submitted for each one. But these arguments, while correct, can be dismissed by the Commonwealth in the case of utility projects. The soil and water conservation district I work for has submitted language for a change in the law governing large utility projects that cross more than one jurisdiction, but it would not be applicable in time to affect this project.
Profile Information
Name: Martin JohnsonGender: Male
Hometown: Virginia
Home country: U.S.A.
Current location: Charlottesville, VA
Member since: Tue Jun 8, 2010, 02:30 PM
Number of posts: 22,776
