Greenpeace

TTIP—American Economic Imperialism

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ttipPaul Craig Roberts – Greenpeace has done that part of the world whose representatives are so corrupt or so stupid as to sign on to the Trans-Pacific and Trans-Atlantic “partnerships” a great service. Greenpeace secured and leaked the secret TTIP documents that Washington and global corporations are pushing on Europe. The official documents prove that my description of these “partnerships” when they first appeared in the news is totally correct.

These so-called “free trade agreements” are not trade agreements. The purpose of the “partnerships,” which were drafted by global corporations, is to make corporations immune to the laws of sovereign countries in which they do business. Any country’s sovereign law whether social, environmental, food safety, labor protections—any law or regulation—that impacts a corporation’s profits is labeled a “restraint on trade.” The “partnerships” permit corporations to file a suit that overturns the law or regulation and also awards the corporation damages paid by the taxpayers of the country that tried to protect its environment or the safety of its food and workers.

The law suit is not heard in the courts of the country or in any court. It is heard in a corporate tribunal in which corporations serve as judge, jury, and prosecutor.

In other words, the “partnerships” give global corporations the power to overturn democratic outcomes. Allegedly, Europe consists of democracies. Democracies pass laws protecting the environment and the safety of food and labor, but these laws democratically enacted reduce profits. Anything less than a sweatshop, with starvation wages, no environmental protection, no safety legislation for food or worker, can be overturned at will by global corporations under the terms of the “partnerships.”

Only a traitor, a well paid one, could sign such a pact.

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Hundreds Of Pages of TTIP Agreement Leaked

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Derrick Broze – Greenpeace has leaked hundreds of pages of the controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) which show that negotiations may be in danger of collapsing.

TTIPAccording to newly leaked documents, the United States and the European Union are divided on certain agreements to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). After releasing the documents, Greenpeace Netherlands stated:

These documents make clear the scale and scope of the trade citizens of the United States and the European Union are being asked to make in pursuit of corporate profits. It is time for the negotiations to stop, and the debate to begin.

Should we be able to act when we have reasonable grounds to believe our health and wellbeing is at risk, or must we wait until the damage is done?

The TTIP has been negotiated in secret and the only information available to the public has come from unofficial leaks. “Now that we can see the actual texts, the EU negotiators have nowhere left to hide,” John Hilary, the executive director of War on Want, told The Independent. “The gloves are off, and they know they are in for a proper fight.”

The Independent reports that the documents indicate the U.S. is attempting to change regulation in Europe to lower environmental protections, consumer rights, and other policies important to EU citizens. The documents show that trade representatives on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean have experienced “irreconcilable” differences that could possibly interfere with negotiations.

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Money and the Vatican — [RT Video]

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Here’s a replacement video to the one that has been removed. This interview was done with Great Minds and is titled Gerald Posner, God’s Bankers – Blood Money?

[youtube=https://youtu.be/mQnDm-112iI]

Part 2 of 2

For tonight’s Conversations with Great Minds – Thom is joined by Gerald Posner. Gerald Posner was one of the youngest attorneys ever hired by the Wall Street law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore and is the author of eleven books – including New York Times bestsellers – and one a finalist for the Pulitzer in History. Gerald has written dozens of articles for national magazines and papers and has been a regular contributor to a variety of television networks. He’s also the author of the new book, “God’s Bankers: A History of Money and Power at the Vatican.”

vaticanRichard Syrett – Acclaimed journalist Gerald Posner joined host Richard Syrett for a discussion on the money and the cardinals-turned-financiers at the heart of the Vatican.

In tracing the evolution of the relationship between the Catholic Church and money, Posner noted that during the era when the Church was a colonial empire, it was vehemently opposed to capitalism and raised money via traditional methods such as taxes on the denizens of the land it controlled. However, with the emergence of nation states, the physical size of the empire was shrunk to just Vatican City and it lost its status as an independent nation in 1870, which led to the reliance on old methods to generate funds such as indulgences and donations. When these tactics failed, he said, church leaders begrudgingly opted to embrace capitalism and began taking out loans as a way to survive. Continue reading →

The Global Elite Is Insane

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NationOfChange  February 6 2014

In a recent report titled ‘Working for the Few: Political capture and economic inequality,’ Oxfam informs us that ‘Almost half of the world’s wealth is now owned by just one percent of the population’. Their report goes on to recommend that the World Economic Forum, an elite gathering held annually in Davos, Switzerland, take economic and political measures to ensure a more equitable distribution of wealth.

And in his explanation of why he attended the recent Forum in Davos, Kumi Naidoo, the Executive Director of Greenpeace International, tells us, ‘If we manage to shift the consciousness of one CEO or senior political leader, who may do the same with a couple of his peers, then I think it is worth it. It is also worth being there, listening and observing, understanding some of the forces that shape our world and importantly feeding that information back to the rest of Greenpeace and other civil society allies.’

As anyone who pays even the slightest realistic attention to the global elite already knows, the elite’s efforts to maximize its political and economic clout, and hence its wealth, at the expense of everyone else and the Earth itself, are carefully crafted. And this is not going to change on our recommendation or because we talk to them, or even because we listen to them. Moreover, the reason is simple.

The global elite is insane. And it is incredibly violent. I would like to illustrate this insanity and violence briefly, explain what I mean by ‘insane’ and then outline a strategy to resist it.

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