From: everything-list@googlegroups.com
[mailto:everything-list@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Platonist Guitar
Cowboy
Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2014 4:51 PM
To: everything-list@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: The solar example of a town in Germany
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
You are so right about the race to the bottom. The race so good for short
term profit; so foolish for long term preservation. With leadership like
this, one could ask: who needs enemies.
Chris
On Sun, Mar 2, 2014 at 11:45 PM, <spudboy...@aol.com> 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 <lizj...@gmail.com>
To: everything-list <everything-list@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sun, Mar 2, 2014 5:09 pm
Subject: Re: The solar example of a town in Germany
On 3 March 2014 05:33, <spudboy...@aol.com> 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 <lizj...@gmail.com>
To: everything-list <everything-list@googlegroups.com>
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.
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