Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement comes to mind. It's seen as a silent, gradual but finalizing invasion of Europe/US sovereignty by large corporate interests, according to "Le Monde" as example. "Harmonization" of for example environmental and health standards entail the imposition of the "lowest, market friendliest standards for all..."
Otherwise of course, this whole thing will not make sense according to the most powerful lobbies. Not just large US corporations, but the UK's "financial industry" is pushing hard for the lowering of standards as well. Labor unions in Europe will have to scale back demands and expectations, because we need lower standards across the board, to harmonize. Apparently, Europe's standards in way too many areas, including agriculture, food production, industrial waste, hydraulic fracturing, or limiting corporate interests' legal power to sue for losses due to balance sheet losses, consumer protection etc. are way too high/strong. If you're some large fossil fuel based corporation, you should be able to sue governments and taxpayers more effectively for their irresponsible market behavior in developing more sustainable technologies, because this costs jobs and slows real growth and profit. Germany will be interesting to watch in this regard, because popular opinion/protest is mobilizing against much of this, but government and the ever present German guilt over the war, puts the country in no position to "say (dictate...)" much, even if many politicians are convinced by sustainability concerns, via their records. So no say there. Especially not to allied interests of large corporations and US/UK savior alliance, that saved the world AND them from themselves. Germany is said to have sent "lightweight obedient" to the negotiations, and at this point you can't expect more from a country who's head of state has her phone bugged and manages a "Spying among friends is not good" statement, as consequence. Media is fed bits and pieces of "transparency" in EU, as in some US lobbyist going "your food safety standards are way too high... why not dip your chickens in Cl before packaging to save on all these stupid costs of keeping farms clean you impose etc." (as if you could eat from the floor of an EU farm...), but members from European Parliament are barred from seeing the actual texts being negotiated, that lobbyists are said to be actively penning, "helping us to harmonize properly". And guess what? The European Centre for International Political Economy, that should ideologically be favoring this "endeavor", predicts GDP growth of 0-point something percent! This relies on you giving faith to "lower customs means increased growth", which is quite blue eyed. If you don't buy this, according to the authors of the study, then indeed, GDP growth will increase only by 0.06 percent... from 2029 onwards though. So a family of four will increase its income per member by around 4.54 Euros a month, in about a ten year span. Not hard to see who has the upper hand here and where things are headed concerning this. Uhm...lower standards for the growth. But we really want/have to test our luck to not even produce that growth, don't we? PGC On Sun, Mar 2, 2014 at 11:45 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > Heh, understood Liz, thanks, but I wasn't offended, merely, puzzled. No, a > 6000 year old Earth is not what I see either. I would just warn you, or > surprise you, that even lots of Phd's get 'bought-off' by being on the > 'right side' of politicians who provide employment in academia, and the > rich that fund the pols. I also just wanted to focus on when the climate > whammy will happen, and we can do about? > -----Original Message----- > From: LizR <[email protected]> > To: everything-list <[email protected]> > Sent: Sun, Mar 2, 2014 5:09 pm > Subject: Re: The solar example of a town in Germany > > On 3 March 2014 05:33, <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hmm. Show me how I disinformed? Oh! By disagreeing. Ah! But what are >> the facts? What is the behavior of pols and billionaires? Where's the panic >> over inundating waters? No crash programs? I guess its easy to be lied to, >> if one is bought off by ideology in the first place. The cause and effect >> part of the brain must go to sleep. >> > > Hang on, spudboy, if I read you right you are taking personally a > comment I made about the behaviour of certain organisations who want to > give a spurious scientific front to their already-decided views. Unless > you're a member of the Discovery institute or something, that wasn't > directed at you personally! > > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: LizR <[email protected]> >> To: everything-list <[email protected]> >> Sent: Sun, Mar 2, 2014 1:12 am >> Subject: Re: The solar example of a town in Germany >> >> This is kind of a touchstone for these disinformation based >> organisations. They created institutes specifically to push some agenda. >> We've had tobacco, big oil, and of course the anti-evolution lot, all with >> their own "think tanks" and "institutes". Personally I reckon they got the >> idea from L Ron Hubbard, who once got into a conversation with fellow >> science fiction writers - I forget who, say James Blish and John W Campbell >> Jr, for the sake of argument - and they all proposed crazy ideas about how >> one could create a science based religion. "We could have little devices >> that let people measure their state of spiritual health!" they chortled, >> imagining this was just one of those games SF writers love to indulge in - >> little realising that Hubbard was making mental notes of everything they >> said. >> >> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. 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