"What are YOU actually doing to prevent this disaster that you post"

Anyway, Good luck to you Dan, but seriously, for all your huffing and puffing, ranting and raving, you are achieving nothing but blowing hot air...relax Dan, unless you want to take up arms or take an active part in protest or enter politics...otherwise, it's a complete waste of time, life's to short to be running around in circles worrying about things that you have no part in changing.

In answer to a previous question...I don't have to work to pay off any bills, I did that for over 50 years and now have zero debt, so that's why I am happy to just enjoy what life has to offer in this great country and not worry about things that I (or you) cannot change.

Research???!!! How about answering the question which I will ask again...

"What in blazes are you actually doing but waffling on and pasting others writings"???

(lol) aahh Dan, you are funny...here you are worrying yourself about every possible thing that is wrong or can go wrong with the world, and me, I am spending my life travelling Australia and overseas and enjoying life without a worry in the world ...and you're telling me to relax...now that's funny. (lol,lol,lol)

Contributed by Graham Williamson

The highly secretive Trans Pacific Partnership or TPP (1, 2) is currently attracting world attention. While the TPP masquerades as a free trade agreement, it is much more, so much so that some experts claim it has little or nothing to do with trade (3, 4). The TPP includes Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions to enable foreign corporations to sue governments in a closed shop tribunal system (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11). By permitting foreign corporations to control elected governments, national sovereignty, democracy and our national judicial system, are progressively subverted and surrendered to corporate rule and global governance (12, 13, 14, 15). According to the New American:

The architects and promoters of the TPP and FTAAP frequently point with admiration to the integration process of the European Union (EU) as the model they would like to see implemented for the Asia-Pacific rim nations. As with the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the Trans-Pacific Partnership has been designed to follow the EU example of relentless widening and deepening, constantly eroding national sovereignty, while building transnational governance that is not restrained by the checks and balances of national constitutions.

Investment lawyers have become aggressive promoters of a skewed and unjust system on which their six- or seven-digit salaries depend. As this report shows, investment lawyers have:
actively encouraged cases and sometimes even pushed corporations to pursue arbitration, exploiting loopholes in investment treaties to create an explosion in the number and the costs of dispute settlement cases
acted behind the scenes to push countries to adopt investment treaties
promoted the use of vague language in treaty clauses which increases the scope for investor-friendly interpretation by arbitrators and the chances of disputes
tended to approach investment law from an almost exclusively commercial angle rather than public interest, ignoring or even denouncing arguments based on human rights and sustainable development
aggressively and successfully fought to maintain and expand the current system of investment treaties and arbitration, both through academic circles and by lobbying against reforms that would serve the public interest
worked alongside speculative investment funds to provide the finance for corporations to bring more cases, at the expense of states and taxpayers

These actions have not only confirmed the pro-corporate bias of current investment agreements, they have tilted the regime even further in the favour of large multinational corporations. The result is a system driven by commercial interests rather than the delivery of justice.

It has been frankly said, by supporters of the system, that the promotion and protection of human rights is a modern tool of revolution. That revolution has already been successful in Australia. We already have laws that have created new rights at the expense of rights that we took for granted. We should not allow a revolution that affects us to be under the control of others. There is no good reason to allow rules that govern the rights of individuals and shape the nature of society to be interpreted by foreign bodies which have plainly shown an intention to give effect to their own modish notionsA nation is not sovereign unless it is independent from control from outside its own borders. In practice we have lost some of that independence. This erosion of our sovereignty was our own Doing.........Whether future Parliaments will prevent the further erosion of our national sovereignty must be regarded as doubtful, having regard to the difficulty which even the wisest of men and women find in trying to free themselves from the prejudices of the times.

Get off their back, they are not the centre of terrorists, it's all an over blown untruth...so say the new breed of politicians with their go soft lef leaning methodology!

A SENATE committee has rejected a bill by the Greens to give landholders the right to say no to coal seam gas operations on their land.

The bill, introduced by Queensland Senator Larissa Waters, aimed to create national laws to govern the use of CSG and coal resources, despite such issues long being a state government responsibility.

It would have also banned the use of hydraulic fracturing techniques in some highly valuable agricultural land, such as the Darling Downs and Liverpool Plains.

After more than 370 submissions, the Senate Environment and Communications Committee rejected the bill yesterday.

The committee wrote that landholders and the interests of future generations needed to be protected, but that Labor and Coalition senators fundamentally disagreed with the bill's approach.

In its report, it wrote the Greens bill was "an excessive and unworkable response to concerns that landholders may have about gas and coal activities".

The committee was also concerned the bill could create what was "essentially akin to a private ownership scheme for certain resources" by giving landholders the final say on projects, rather than state governments.

While the gas industry backed the committee's decision to reject the bill, Sen Waters hit back in her own dissenting report.

She wrote the committee was endorsing "the Liberal-National government's head-long rush to expand the unconventional gas industry even further".

"It is clear which side the Liberal-National government has chosen - the gas companies," she wrote.

The rejection of the bill came on the same day as a new report found the CSG industry in Queensland was the major driver of rising electricity demand across the nation in the year to September.

To which to do refer...???..The Libs/Labor or the Greens...???

Would have thought you would be on the side of the landowner in this...i.e...the Greens side of this debate...

EXTERNAL LINK

I once loved my country!
I remember back in 1968 living in Brisbane that the 3 major cities back then were Sydney. Melbourne & Adelaide. And Adelaide was the Industrial City.
Adelaide - South Australia was were you went to work in the Iron Ore Industry or where you could get a job making railway tracks for B.H.P. You could get a job building ships, submarines, cars, washing machines, fridges, TVs, Hills hoists, Victa Lawn Mowers, or make tyres at Bridgestone tyres.
Lightburn Washing Machine Company even made a car called a Zeta. It was not much of a car but at least it was Australian and we built it.
I worked at Stanvac where we made our own Petrol, Diesel, Kerosene and Oil. We had Oil Rigs in Bass Straight, North West Shelf and the Timor Sea.
We even had Australian owned Service Stations like (H.C. Sleigh) Golden Fleece and many of us young wanna-be mechanics back then worked as a driveway attendant. (Just like Stanley)
I remember catching a train from the city to Gawler and then on to Freeling, Hamley Bridge, Stockport, Riverton, up to Clare, Gladstone, Laura etc. And all these towns were bustling with activity and on the weekends they were all open for business.
Our shops were filled on every shelf with food and products all proudly made or grown in Australia. Our fridge was full of Lamb Chops and Steaks because it was cheap as we were a huge Lamb and Beef growing Nation. And once a month Mum would make us all a delicacy! It was called a Sunday Roast Chicken.
I remember when we all had trade skills and high quality tools that would last and last.
But most of all we had Mates. We as Australians watched each others backs even if we had not met yet, and we all said GDay to everyone with a smile.
Our kids could go anywhere they liked on their bikes just as long as they were home before dark. Australia was pretty safe back then.
Yes Australia was once a self-supporting nation that had it all. It had Farms that produce our dairy, fruit & vegie and meats etc.
And Politicians back then were known as statesmen and they were voted by the people for the people on behalf of the people and did what the people wanted.
We had public utilities owned by us the people that guaranteed our Electricity, Water and Sewage forever.
No one knew how much the Snowy Mountain Scheme cost, we just built it.
No one knew how much the Sydney Harbour Bridge or the Indian-Pacific railway cost! WE JUST BUILT IT!
Then came CORPORATE GREED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now everything above has GONE.
Now we dont watch each others backs anymore but watch each other through security bars, burglar alarms, and security screens.
Now we dob each other in.
Now we import poor quality processed food
Now we import cheap tools that break just taking them out of the packet they come in.
Now we rely on ships to bring in our fuels.
Now we cant afford our own Lamb or Beef anymore
Now we eat steroid pumped chicken just about every day.
Now we import trade skill workers on 457 Visas
Now we have high unemployment as nearly all of our Industry and Manufacturing has gone offshore.
Now we have that many Laws that we have just about outlawed ourselves. But I guess we need even more laws so now we will have Sharia Law as well.
We now pay for water that falls out of the sky at $3.80 a litre.
Now we have taxes for everything. Taxes for carbon, Taxes for sake of having taxes, (They call them Levys) and dont forget the newest tax is the ISLAMIC TAX (Halal Certification)
Now here in South Australia in our towns we have Railway Stations and railway tracks but no trains.
We have Public Bus Stops in our Towns but no busses.
We have Hospitals and Clinics but no Doctors or Nurses.
We all have Mobile Phones and have little to no reception.
We have Digital TVs with stuff all Signal.
And the worst of all is our once great nation is being sold off piece by piece to every other country on earth except us.
Yes I did once love my country.