Posts by Ralf Barnett

Europe will fine Twitter, Facebook, Google etc unless they rip up T&Cs

Beware the coming of CETA

It would be nice to think that the European Union leaders are really serious but I have this lurking feeling that this may only be a smoke screen. If it were serious why are they pushing the trade treaties with America and Canada sooooooo hard, this is a bigger threat to the European Nations sovereignty and capability to apply such fines than anything else. Once the trade treaties are signed the Commercial courts will negate any attempts by countries to regulate anything. This means that Safety and Environmental standards and laws will be revoked along with any attempts to maintain consumers rights.

Intel told Irish council all was well just before 12k job cuts announced

Can't trust Multi National esp. North American ones

Isn't it time we learnt that the multi national companies cannot be trusted. They have the power to blackmail. What is it that Intel wants; to pay no tax?

TPP: 'Scary' US-Pacific trade deal published – you're going to freak out when you read it

TPP, TTIP, Danger! it makes no difference It's crafted to make the rich even richer

As one of the 200,000+ at the TTIP Demo in Berlin who listend to the American and Canadian speakers among many others denouncing these trade agreements as only giving the multi national companies more power than our so called democratically elected governments. I needed to research further and found American economist and Professor called Joseph Stiglitz basically saying the same thing. Naomi Klein a Canadian writer, published a book and has also released a documentary film with the same title called "This Changes Everything". In these productions she shows how our big industries have no loyalties to anyone or anything, neither boundaries, Governments, Indigenous peoples or the Environment, only to making profit.

If thinking logically and not being side tracked, it stands to reason that as these agreements are being compiled by big businesses from all the involved countries, and knowing that they are only driven to make profit at any costs, does anyone seriously think that they will care about anything other than maximising their bottom line. Their goals will be to divide the pie up nicely between themselves and ensuring even more control over governments and populations.

The losers will be of course the so called normal people in all of the countries involved who have no other choice but to rely on their elected Governments to protect them. They will either lose their work, have to work for less money and worse working conditions, and/or have to pay more taxes.

Add to this that when a company sues for "loss of profits" whether caused by Environmental legislation, work standards, or anything else that gets in the way, the process will not be held in a court of law but in a special hearing presided over by none other than "representatives of other companies". If that is the case then our children are in for a very, very, nasty time.