Wednesday, June 24, 2015

How US plans to Put 'Tremendous Handicaps' on Chinese Companies



The key to TTIP is the so-called Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism that essentially gives corporations free reign to sue governments using a “failure to implement” provision, if state policies or legislation interfere with profits. But is this all about trade?
There was a direct, crucial "secret" agenda linking the G7 meeting in Germany and the Bilderberg meeting in Austria last week; the advancement of the virtually secret negotiations towards the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the massive free trade agreement between the US and the EU.
Even though the corporate powers behind TTIP are itching for a deal to be reached before the end of 2015, serious (negotiation) trouble remains.  
And then there was last Friday's vote in the US Congress. What happened were in fact two votes; one on giving the US government the "fast track" authority to conclude trade deals, mostly, in this case, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP); and another one on help for US workers struggling to compete with imports as a result of trade deals.  "Fast track" passed, but not the adjustment assistance. So the US Senate will need to review "fast track". The corporate powers behind TPP — and TTIP for that matter — were not amused.
Yet the whole thing goes way beyond total presidential authority to negotiate shady deals such as the TTIP, the TPP and the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA).
The Obama administration is obsessed with plugging a torrent of benefits for US workers once a Pacific deal is clinched. That's eminently debatable. From the point of view of other nations, TPP is hardly a panacea. Washington offers no new, improved market access. TPP shuts out China completely — which is ridiculous; Beijing is the top trading partner of most of these nations. And the key to TPP is corporations laying down the law on intellectual property rights — which opens the door to all sorts of social Darwinist abuses.

On TTIP, Brussels is saturated with spin swearing trade deal negotiations are not that "secret". The European Commission (EC) brags they post negotiation texts on its website, unlike Washington. Some they do. But not all, including the most sensitive. The key to TTIP is the so-called Investor-State Dispute Settlements (ISDS); that essentially gives corporations free reign to sue governments, any government, using a "failure to implement" provision, if state policies or legislation interfere with profits. In sum: corporate ethos wins; workers, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and democracy, lose badly.
One can already foresee the proliferation of kangaroo courts labeled "arbitration tribunals" stuffed with pricey corporate lawyers. So much for social "justice".
But is this all about trade? Of course not.
Welcome to NATO on trade
The giveaway is how the Obama administration is desperate to wrestle down Japanese resistance — going on two solid years now — against many of TPP's provisions. The proverbial "US officials" have been frantically spinning that TPP is crucial for the US "pivot to Asia".
Even Pentagon supremo Ash Carter went overboard two months ago, saying that TPP was "as important to me as another aircraft carrier."


And all this has happened as Washington was trying to force its allies — with no success — to shun the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Can't blame the Obama administration for not being on message; China can't lead a development bank, and China can't have a say writing global rules and standards for trade and investment. The heart of the matter is these three mega-deals — TTP, TTIP and TiSA — are the ultimate template of a Bilderberg group wet dream:  global corporate "governance".
And the Pentagon's own giveaway that TPP is the "strategic" economic arm of the "pivot to Asia" reveals how politicized "trade" has become. Under TPP, Chinese companies will have tremendous handicaps competing with US companies in both US and Asian markets. Call it yet another facet of "containment".
TTIP, TTP and TiSA are in fact a Hydra-like head; they follow the same geostrategic logic of NATO on trade — transatlantic and trans-Pacific; the "West against the Rest". Not accidentally, the BRICS are excluded. And no wonder the negotiations are secret; global corporate "governance" is not exactly a pop hit in any latitude.
Plastic ham, anybody?
Make no mistake; there's plenty of opposition to TTIP in Europe, at least among the few concerned — and horrified — EU citizens who took the trouble of trying to cut through the secrecy.  
In Germany, there have been serious demonstrations. The SPD — part of the coalition government under chancellor Merkel — is definitely against it. Italians learned TTIP would cost the country no less than 1.3 million jobs. It's useful to compare TTIP with NAFTA; in 12 years, the US actually lost 1 million jobs, as corporations and companies preferred to delocalize to Mexico, where costs are much lower.
Even Brussels was forced to admit TTIP will actually mean unemployment; a lot of jobs will definitely move Stateside, where labor standards and trade union rights are much lower.
TTIP will concern 850 million people between North America and Europe; that's roughly 45% of global GDP. Trade in question amounts as it stands to 500 billion euros a year. That could be arguably configured as "advanced globalization" — with not so much interference from emerging markets.
Enter the European idea that as a consequence of this leading role, the EU has the most advanced rules on health, consumer protection and quality of public services (it varies a lot from country to country; can't compare France with Romania, for instance).
Thus no wonder high-quality agricultural producers in the Club Med countries  are terrified that TTIP will mean a de facto barbarian invasion. Italians are terrified about the onset of a monster, false made in Italy market, with US corporations calling any mongrel GMO concoction a "Parma" ham or a "gorgonzola" cheese. 
A good test is to hit your average US supermarket. Talk about a horror show; at least 70 per cent of all processed foods are GMO-infested. The EU allows virtually no GM foods. Not to mention the toxic front; in the EU a company must prove a substance is safe before it's commercialized. In the US, anything goes.
Under TTIP, public health, education and water services in the EU will be devastated, and taken over by US corporations. Food safety laws, key legislation over the environment, and banking regulations will be turned upside down.
The spin from TTIP peddlers is that Globalization 2.0 will lead to a "surge" of 0.5% of the EU's collective GDP. That's not exactly a Chinese rate. But when you're austerity-ravaged, you drink any Kool aid you can get. And eat it with plastic Parma ham.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Omo Oodua.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Oyocracy- Nigeria’s New Order



It seems Adolf Hitler was right after all. Those who champion the cause of revolution and lead men, are not men of letters but orators. Humans tend to respond more to emotion and expression than some coalition of alphabets written in ink. From Winston Churchill to Frederick Douglass, Cicero, Kwame Nkrumah, Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama, Nnamdi Azikiwe , Tafawa Balewa to mention but a few, the power of an orator is not in doubt . Humans buy into great speech no matter the motive behind it and with a good delivery spiced with some dramatic acts, telling someone to jump off a cliff has never been easier.

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Africa must establish its own (ICC) to prosecute Western leaders - Mugabe (Do you agree?)



Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who is likewise the African Union (AU) chair, says Africa must set up its own International Criminal Court (ICC) which would be commanded to arraign Western leaders who have carried out unlawful acts on the landmass.

As indicated by the state-owned Chronicle daily paper, Mugabe said it was high time Africa set up a criminal court which would look for equity for "genuine" atrocities and unlawful acts against humankind carried out by the West, identity amid the colonial period.

Monday, June 15, 2015

"Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy.” - Henry Kissinger



"Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy.”
- Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State
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This is how the people in power see soldiers. They see civilians as gullible, easily manipulated fools who can be used as pawns to support any money making, power grabbing scheme as long as our rulers tell us it's for our own good and waive a flag.

PRO-KIEV BATTALIONS AND ISLAMIC STATE: The real Terrorists-IN-ARMS



This article is based on Truth about situation in Ukraine post
In first photo you see pro-Kiev battalion “Azov” in the city Mariupol on June 13, 2015. It was parade for “anniversary of liberation of city Mariupol by battalions “Azov” and “Donbass”. In the second photo you see members of Islamic State terroristic network in the Syrian city Rakka on July 1, 2014. It was parade “in honor of liberation of city Rakka”.

Confused by Own Propaganda: Americans Ready to Go to War With Russia



The US foreign policy drags the country into a vicious cycle of interventionism, Ron Paul underscored, referring to the recent Pew Research poll that indicated that more than over 50 percent of Americans would not oppose going to war with Russia.

According to the latest poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, a US independent fact tank, many NATO countries are reluctant to defend their allies against Russia with the exception of the United States and Canada: over 50 percent of Americans and Canadians would not oppose going to war with Russia. This trend is really worrisome, according to Dr. Ron Paul, a former Republican congressman and two-time US presidential candidate, and Daniel McAdams, Executive Director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.

Americans' readiness to get involved in a direct military confrontation with Russia could be regarded as a relic of the Cold War, suggested the experts, warning that the US foreign policy course may drag the country into a vicious cycle of interventionism that in its turn would further undermine America's economy and the well-being of its citizens.
"It really does not solve the problem of what the countries are to do with NATO. I am afraid NATO is going to be with us for a long time. I see it as only a tool for our propaganda," Dr. Paul noted.

At the same time, however, the US' opinion of NATO has gone down since 2011, Mr. McAdams remarked, referring to the same Pew Research survey.  Only 49 percent of Americans expressed a favorable opinion of NATO, down from 54 percent in 2010 and 2011. On the other hand, the number of those Americans who expressed disapproval of NATO has increased from 21 percent in 2010 to 31 percent in 2015. Attitudes are changing gradually, and a lot more Americans do not believe the government either, despite all the propaganda from Washington, Ron Paul stated, adding that the Internet is helping people to question more what the US government is doing.

It is remarkable though that lots of NATO-member countries expressed their unwillingness to unleash a war against Russia. Particularly, the population that is the least enthusiastic to go to war with Russia is that of Germany. While Angela Merkel is regarded by many as a lap dog of Washington, the German people are not with her, Mr. McAdams stressed. While the West is threatening itself with Russia's phantom menace, there is another figure that shows how "militant" the Russians really are, the experts noted.

"We [the United States] are spending [on defense] more than twice as much as the next four countries put together. And Russia is the fourth. There is a country called Saudi Arabia that spends [on defense] more money than Russia," Dr. Paul stressed.
Some people are nearly hysterical about the need to go war, Ron Paul underscored referring to the fake petition to Obama to launch a preemptive nuclear strike against Russia, initiated by Mark Dice, a best-selling author of "Inside the Illuminati."
Ron Paul emphasized that it's the Institute's job to try to inform people about what is really going on, preventing them from blindly following the US' neocon propaganda.

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Ukraine SITREP June 11th, 2015 by Scott



Vox of Populi: If Putin ran for President of the USA in 2016, on a platform of banishing all incumbent members of the house and senate to re-education camps in Outer Mongolia, he’d win by a landslide..

I would add that if Putin ran for President of Russia today on a platform of banishing all incumbent members of the Russian parliament and government and the Russia’s Central bank to re-education camps in Outer Mongolia, he’d would also win by a landslide..

US puppy-puppets planted in the EU-27: EU Parliament Passes Anti-Russian Resolution




Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), armed with non-factual information and an anti-Russian agenda, might potentially add fuel to the fire and make the already unsteady relations between Europe and Russia even worse.

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Wednesday, June 10, 2015

U.S. Contractor Killed in Bulgaria during Syrian Rebel Training Scheme



A U.S. defense contractor killed in a blast in Bulgaria last week was working for a program to train and equip Syrian rebels fighting against Islamic State, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
The American died when a rocket-propelled grenade misfired at a military range in Anevo in central Bulgaria on Saturday.
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Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Buying A Used Car: Things you need to Know





When you buy a car or already used auto there are a couple of more pitfalls to pay special mind to however you can sack yourself a deal on the off chance that you look in the perfect spot. It can likewise be awesome fun choosing whether you need an attractive exemplary like an Toyota Corolla Premium  2014 or a deal circled like a Ford Ka.

Whether you decided to purchase from a merchant or from the private business you'll need see the historical backdrop of the auto. This is truly critical. You can either purchase from a franchised merchant, an used car merchant, Privately or importer. Here are a couple of thing to take note of when you decided to buy a car:
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Batá: The Talking drum is Alive! (Must read)



Although, modern musical instruments like the piano, guitar, violin, and trumpet amongst others are taking over the musical landscape, the place of the Yoruba Batá (Talking Drum) can never be downplayed.
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It is exceptional and unique in its production and sound which connotes so much to those that deeply understand the Yoruba language and cultural heritage. It is a truly African traditional drum that is known all over the world. Interestingly, foreigners have travelled to south-west Nigeria to learn the art of the talking drum. It is not dead. In fact, Jovago.com, Africa’s No 1 Hotel Booking Portal can clearly say that the drum is waxing stronger.

Monday, June 8, 2015

President Obama Accused of ‘Manspreading’ for Merkel -




Talking some really substantial subjects amid the G7 summit, President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel took some time out to view the Bavarian Alps.

Too terrible Obama wouldn't give Merkel space to take a seat. The hills are alive, however nothing can beat that presidential legroom.

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Opinion: Educational engagement and out of school youth in the Commonwealth: Unpacking educational inequalities



Educational engagement and out of school youth in the Commonwealth: Unpacking educational inequalities
By Ahmed Adamu

More than 60% of the Commonwealth population are made up of young people, who represent the hope and strength of the Commonwealth sustainability.

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Russia, China Not to Accept America’s Vassalage Status Despite US Pressure



The US is playing with fire by instigating a military standoff off Russian and Chinese borders, while neither the South China Sea nor Ukraine can be considered America’s backyards; Washington needs to understand that neither Russia nor China will accept its vassalage status, according to the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia.
The bipolar world ended with the end of the Cold War, the US attempt of a unipolar world has ended up in fiasco, but what is now being suggested as true pluralism and consensus in international relations, is seen by the US as "uncertainty" and "danger", which must be ended by force, the newspaper correspondent Rafael Poch wrote in his blog.
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Vladimir Putin Interview to the Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera



Ahead of his visit to Italy, Vladimir Putin gave an interview to the newspaper Il Corriere della Sera.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good evening.
Luciano Fontana: Good evening, Mr President. First of all, we would like to thank you for giving us this important opportunity to interview you today.
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6.06.2015 Military Report of Novorossia (NewRussia)



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5.06.2015 Military Report of Novorossia



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5.06.2015 Crisis News



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Basic facts to know about Nigeria




Nigeria is the biggest African dominated country on the planet, located in the western section of Africa with a population of over 170 million people. The nation Nigeria is comprised of over two hundred different tribes and languages which include Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Tiv, Fulani, Calabar and several others.

Friday, June 5, 2015

Foreign Policy Diary ‘Turkey’ – Rising of the Threat



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