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Spain, Morocco To Build Undersea Rail Tunnels
DoraLives writes "The BBC reports that Spain and Morocco 'have agreed to build a 39-kilometre rail tunnel beneath the Mediterranean Sea, to link Europe and Africa.' and that 'This plan could be put into action as early as next year...' Fairly daunting technical piece of work should they attempt it, but the prospect of an all-rail trip from Edinburgh to Tangiers is intriguing to say the least."
Or an swallow.
"a" swallow, to keep the grammer people happy :)
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology /space_elevator_020327-1.html
I'm not European (I'm from the US), but I spend a fair amount of each year in both Spain and Italy.
I don't like seeing McDonands spread all across Europe either, but they are everywhere (it's not fun seeing a 7/11 in downtown Madrid either). People of my generation (40s) generally don't eat there, but you can bet you'll see plenty of young people eating there. Like it or not, capitalism is quite alive and well in western Europe.
"Sad that Islamism wants to stop human progress." Arrg.. IT ISN'T Islam that's doing it!!! It's just crazy terrorists that HAPPEN to be Muslim. That might have been a slip of tongue, but it's that kind of thing that pisses me off. By the same reasoning, you could argue that Christianity is to blame for most of the terrorists in Northern Ireland. Yeesh. Oh, and you can just say "Islam" (instead of Islamism) in that context.
And to you, everyone in America has the right to their own opinion, no matter how baseless and stupid it is. Also, we aren't fighting Islam, It's just a few bad apples in the barrel, Should all catholics be punished for what a few priests did?
Now back to the matter of the tunnel, It could be a good idea. Yes Spain and Morroco have disputes, but working together usually helps dissolve things like that. Most of Northen Africa is relitively undeveloped, that's because there is no easy way there for the relitively wealthier Europeans. The train will make an easy way to and from North Africa, if Morroco plays things right and encourages tourism, it will be a new place to visit, a new sight to see. It will bring more people in and with those people will come more money. In turn, those people will have to go through Spain to get there, spending more money. That's what everything's about. It will be expensive in the short run, but this is a long term investment. I think it will have a positive effect on Northern Africa which may slowly spread downward in years to come. We can only wait and see.
IIRC, "Islamism" is a (rather clumsy) alternative term for Wahabbi -- the fundamentalist flavor of Sunni Islam followed by bin Laden. Hope that helps.