Meanwhile, I have unsuccessfully protest my ma$$ media because they haven't changed.
"Chinese city thwarts refinery protest; Pollution fears arise on project outside Chengdu" by Didi Tang | Associated Press, May 05, 2013
BEIJING — After word spread about an environmental protest that was planned for Saturday in the central Chinese city of Chengdu, drugstores and printing shops were ordered to report anyone making certain purchases.
Microbloggers say government fliers urged people not to demonstrate, and schools were told to stay open to keep students on campus.
And when Saturday came, thousands of police officers and security staff were on Chengdu’s streets, some of them making a tight ring around a major public square.
A weekendlong earthquake drill, officials said, but many residents didn’t believe it. They said city officials preemptively quashed the protest over a petrochemical plant that a powerful state-owned enterprise is building about 25 miles northwest of Chengdu.
‘‘What do they fear?’’ asked local resident Tina Zhong, contacted via China’s social media. ‘‘If the government can share more information, the public would be less distrusting.’’
While China punishes political dissent aggressively, it has been somewhat more tolerant of environmental complaints.
The public, especially members of China’s rising middle class, have become more outspoken against environmentally risky plants, and several mass protests against such projects turned violent last year before local governments agreed to scrap the plans.
In the city of Qidong in eastern China, protesters against a wastewater discharge project last year even briefly occupied the local government compound and stripped a high-ranking official half-naked.
Maybe the Chinese are on to something, and what's with mixed media messages? One day it's a locked-down, totalitarian authority state that is constantly spying on you, the next it's Chinese out protesting.
The reaction to the protest plans in Chengdu, provincial capital of Sichuan Province, raises questions about whether China is getting tougher on dissent over environmental issues, though a protest Saturday in southern China saw less heavy-handed government tactics.
Just do what the Amerikan government is doing: declare anyone who doesn't fully chew and swallow official dogma insane.
I'm starting to believe this president is truly evil. Starting more wars and supporting official lies is one thing; the recent targeting of political enemies by the IRS, the push for more spying power, the level of secrecy invoked by this administration (which is why my paper is mostly filled with shit), and now this fart-mi$ting f*** in the face of record-cold winters across the planet (with it ten degrees below normal here today and a FREEZE WARNING for TONIGHT) is really pu$hing things beyond the pale.
Hundreds of people — many wearing mouth masks — gathered in Kunming to protest a planned refinery project in the area. The demonstrators demanded information transparency and that public health be safeguarded.
Meanwhile, stoo-pid 'murkn kids who have been indoctrinated and inculcated with politically-correct dogma (I was one) are out protesting global warming -- as they are all bundled up in coats.
That project and the plant near Chengdu are owned by PetroChina, the country’s largest oil and gas producer. The plant being built northwest of Chengdu in Pengzhou is expected to produce 10 million tons of refined oil and 800,000 tons of ethylene per year.
Residents say they are worried the plant would pollute the air and water, and question why the plant is being built in a region prone to earthquakes. Pengzhou is in the same fault zone as the 2008 Wenchuan quake that left 90,000 people dead or missing, and for an earthquake last month that killed at least 196 people.
Leaving the earthquakes aside (and the Globe forgot about 'em awful quick), those are the real environmental problems of our age; however, that would conflict with current bu$ine$$ concerns, and won't help push the carbon credit market that Wall Street banks underwrite and use to save the planet.
In Chengdu, local authorities have been taking preemptive measures to stop local residents from taking to the street.
At least one neighborhood police station has asked drugstores to report anyone buying large quantities of mouth masks, and for printing services to inform police immediately of those printing or photocopying materials with phrases such as ‘‘Petro Project,’’ “Environmental Protection,’’ “Personal Health,’’ and ‘‘Pengzhou.’’ The police demand that personal identity numbers and phone numbers of the customers be collected and reported.
You see, when they do it, it's bad. When AmeriKa does it to catch terrorist patsies or framed actors it's all in the name of strong security.
A woman who answered the phone at the police station said the notice was issued in accordance with an order from the municipal government and its public security bureau. Officials contacted in the city government said they were unclear about the issue.
Eight Chinese microbloggers contacted by private message also said the city government has been disseminating fliers urging its residents not to take part in any protest to preserve the city’s stability — sometimes forcing signatures — and that several junior and high schools as well as colleges were asked to hold classes to keep the students on campus on Saturday.
Microbloggers is a cool term for the CIA's covert operations program in China.
Most of the microbloggers refused to give their names, saying they feared how government officials would respond.
I can relate to that.
On Saturday, police officers were seen being transported into key locations, such as Sichuan University and the Nine-Eye Bridge, in coach buses marked with the words ‘‘Public Security.’’
They lined up along streets and ringed a major public square, spaced a few feet apart from each other, according to online photos and witness reports.
Some witnesses said security guards, traffic coordinators, and neighborhood matrons were recruited to help keep order and that data services for mobile phones were briefly cut off around 2 p.m.
Calls to PetroChina rang unanswered Saturday. In a company statement carried in state media Saturday, it said the project has been approved by China’s environmental protection agency and the National Development and Reform Commission, and that it has been evaluated for earthquake safety.
It also promised to halt production should any environmental issue arise.
--more--"
Related: China Protests
Also see: China's Leadership Change
I hope you can see why I'm really no longer enthusiastic about my pot-hollering-kettle crap media.
