Tomorrow will be June 4, 2009. As many of you may have seen on the news, it is the twentieth anniversary of the Chinese army going into TienAnMen Square in Beijing to crush the student protesters camped out there.
Of course, nobody in China will ever hear about this because the government news programs won’t be reporting it and because outside sources like the internet are being blocked.
Still, I need to mention it because I was there. No, I was not in Beijing on June 4, 1989, but I was there in TienAnMen Square just one week before, talking with the student protesters. (The two photos here are of protesters on one of the main avenues leading into the square.)
I was in the southern Chinese city of Guilin when the massacre actually happened, and we heard stories of people having been killed in Beijing. It wasn’t until my tour group got to British-controlled Hong Kong that night that we found out what really happened. Everyone was shocked by what happened in Beijing, as we pretty much felt that the government would just wait out the protesters, who perhaps were getting ready to go home, anyway. (That’s pure speculation on my part, of course.)
So, twe
nty years have passed. Back then, China was controlled by the Communist party and had a Communist-type economy. Now, the economy has gone capitalist, but the Communist party still remains the one and only political entity allowed. I have a 50-something friend at my office who was born in China, and he tells me that he expects to see the end of Communist rule in China during his lifetime. I hope he’s right.
Of course, nobody in China will ever hear about this because the government news programs won’t be reporting it and because outside sources like the internet are being blocked.
Still, I need to mention it because I was there. No, I was not in Beijing on June 4, 1989, but I was there in TienAnMen Square just one week before, talking with the student protesters. (The two photos here are of protesters on one of the main avenues leading into the square.)
I was in the southern Chinese city of Guilin when the massacre actually happened, and we heard stories of people having been killed in Beijing. It wasn’t until my tour group got to British-controlled Hong Kong that night that we found out what really happened. Everyone was shocked by what happened in Beijing, as we pretty much felt that the government would just wait out the protesters, who perhaps were getting ready to go home, anyway. (That’s pure speculation on my part, of course.)
So, twe
nty years have passed. Back then, China was controlled by the Communist party and had a Communist-type economy. Now, the economy has gone capitalist, but the Communist party still remains the one and only political entity allowed. I have a 50-something friend at my office who was born in China, and he tells me that he expects to see the end of Communist rule in China during his lifetime. I hope he’s right.For now, let's just remember what those protesters did twenty years ago and what they believed in. *********************************************************************************
I guess we should infer from looking at China that most of us reading this should be happy that we live in democratic nations. After all, there are plenty of people who don’t. Still, that doesn’t guarantee that the government won’t act in a self-serving manner and completely ignore what the people want.
A case in point is happening right now here in New York City. Not once but twice, the citizens of this city voted in favor of term limits. This limited a mayor to serving no more than two terms, with limits on the City Council, too. So what did the City Council do? They got all cozy with our Mayor Bloomberg and voted to overturn term limits! So what if the people voted twice in elections to implement it!
Now, even though Election Day isn’t until November, the people of New York City are being bombarded with advertisements in both the mail and on TV telling us how wonderful a mayor and how wonderful a man Mike Bloomberg is. Funny how the ads don’t mention his total disregard for what the people of the city actually want.
I guess we should infer from looking at China that most of us reading this should be happy that we live in democratic nations. After all, there are plenty of people who don’t. Still, that doesn’t guarantee that the government won’t act in a self-serving manner and completely ignore what the people want.
A case in point is happening right now here in New York City. Not once but twice, the citizens of this city voted in favor of term limits. This limited a mayor to serving no more than two terms, with limits on the City Council, too. So what did the City Council do? They got all cozy with our Mayor Bloomberg and voted to overturn term limits! So what if the people voted twice in elections to implement it!
Now, even though Election Day isn’t until November, the people of New York City are being bombarded with advertisements in both the mail and on TV telling us how wonderful a mayor and how wonderful a man Mike Bloomberg is. Funny how the ads don’t mention his total disregard for what the people of the city actually want.
Of course, one of the reasons for implementing term limits was to keep a multi-millionaire like Bloomberg from essentially buying an election outright to stay in power. Then again, what do the people know? I mean, only a man like Bloomberg can lead us out of this (rather convenient) economic crisis. Right? The New York Times even ran a story today describing how other potential candidates have been dropping out of the race in the face of Bloomberg’s media blitz. It’s just democracy in action, isn't it???
Well, as far as I’m concerned, this mayor and those Council members who voted to do away with term limits are just as bad as those self-serving Communists in China. You’ve got a better chance of finding a snowball in hell than of me voting for Bloomberg or that bum of a Councilman from my area who voted along with him. Those bastards all deserve to have their asses booted out into the street in November.
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Finally, I read today that a topless coffee shop in Maine was arsonized last night and severely damaged in the fire. Some people apparently lived in the building that was formerly a hotel. (Click here for the story.)
This comes on the heels of a doctor who performed abortions being murdered. Isn’t it just amazing how supposedly righteous people will do the most unrighteous things in the name of their righteousness?
Well, as far as I’m concerned, this mayor and those Council members who voted to do away with term limits are just as bad as those self-serving Communists in China. You’ve got a better chance of finding a snowball in hell than of me voting for Bloomberg or that bum of a Councilman from my area who voted along with him. Those bastards all deserve to have their asses booted out into the street in November.
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Finally, I read today that a topless coffee shop in Maine was arsonized last night and severely damaged in the fire. Some people apparently lived in the building that was formerly a hotel. (Click here for the story.)
This comes on the heels of a doctor who performed abortions being murdered. Isn’t it just amazing how supposedly righteous people will do the most unrighteous things in the name of their righteousness?
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