The Political Discussion Thread

[jelgate]

Are you serious?

[Coco Pops]

Are you serious?

Yes I am.

Why keep China out of the TPP since it does have other Asian nations signed up..

[aretood2]

Why is that?

Well it's complicated now. At first China didn't like it at all because the TPP involved on establishing environmental, labor, and practice policies that would limit a lot of things that China does to keep its wages and prices down beyond market levels (like currency manipulation).

Recently China started to warm up to the idea of TPP, and Obama is thinking of that possibility of China getting into it. Personally, that would be a horrible idea if China waters down the fair practice aspect of the TPP. But the TPP can backfire too if China continues to strike out on its own. While they'd be economically backwards, they'd still be pretty cheap when compared to other TPP members which include the most advanced or powerful economies along the Pacific rim.

Obama is trying to reassure that it's not really meant to put China to the side. So it's hard to gauge what is going on. I can imagine that either way, it would slow China down with it's "unfair practices." But joining TPP would mean that China has to play ball and open up its economy. If the TPP is played right, eitherway it would weaken China's political pull in East Asia and strengthen Japan's economy (which is China's greatest rival in the region).

[Coco Pops]

But still the TPP is mired in a hell of a lot of secrecy for something like a trade treaty..

[Annoyed]

LSOS?????????


Yeah the TPP will not be good for many people unless you are a corporation and in that case you will benefit most. Plus it will give corporations the power to sue countries, especially if they say or do things that hurt their profits.. How insane is that?

Incidentally I find it interesting that there has been very little coverage over the years of the TPP in the mainstream media, almost as if various governments have been trying to hide it from the press. The TPP has been around in discussion for over 10 years.

1: LSoS = "Lying Sack of Shiznit" - What I usually refer to the current occupant of the White House as.

2: Not the government, but rather the media has been cooperative with the government and business, hiding this from the public.

[Gatefan1976]

I pretty much agree; from the moment of conception it is a human (or whatever) life. logically, it's the only thing that makes sense. So killing it at any point past conception is murder, in my opinion.

So only humanity is to be held as worthy of life?
Would you like some eggs and bacon?

But, pregnancy can be so damned inconvenient. And you know how high a priority convenience is these days.

Cause a woman on the street, selling her body to eat is doing it because it is convenient..............
Facts and reality, so damn inconvenient in the age of enlightenment, and you know how much ignorance and blind obedience is valued in a church.
Generally around 10%, but tax free at least!!

[Annoyed]

So only humanity is to be held as worthy of life?
Would you like some eggs and bacon?

Cause a woman on the street, selling her body to eat is doing it because it is convenient..............
Facts and reality, so damn inconvenient in the age of enlightenment, and you know how much ignorance and blind obedience is valued in a church.
Generally around 10%, but tax free at least!!

1: Yes, the fact that animals are killed so that I can eat meat and other products does bother me. But that is how life works. Be it a plant or an animal, we have to kill something in order to eat.


2: I've stated many times that I am an agnostic; my opposition to abortion is not based upon religion, it is based upon science. Once conception occurs, you are talking about a human life.

[SoulReaver]

my opposition to abortion is not based upon religion, it is based upon science. Once conception occurs, you are talking about a human life.

that makes it even funnier
so is a human cell worth more than a full grown sentient zillion-celled animal like a gorilla? if so why? because it has a God given soul DNA configuration that differs by 1%?
or are humans not animals because Charles Darwin was a god-defying heretic with his spurious theories because?

[Annoyed]

that makes it even funnier
so is a human cell worth more than a full grown sentient zillion-celled animal like a gorilla? if so why? because it has a God given soul DNA configuration that differs by 1%?
or is a gorilla non-sentient because as catholic doctor Robert J White said, animals lack souls because?

As I said above, I'm not completely comfortable with the killing of animals either, but I realize that something must die in order for me to eat, and that humanity has acquired much of our knowledge regarding medicine and other things via animal testing. I don't have a solution for that.

But I don't think we should devalue human life by killing it either.

[SoulReaver]

As I said above, I'm not completely comfortable with the killing of animals either, but I realize that something must die in order for me to eat, and that humanity has acquired much of our knowledge regarding medicine and other things via animal testing. I don't have a solution for that.

But I don't think we should devalue human life by killing it either.

it's not as much about survival as about quality of life (else what about vegetarians?) just like abortion is especially when the host is not at fault (eg. if the pill didn't work) or her health is in danger. abortion can also be a matter of survival if her life is threatened (toxemia etc.)
to deny the host's rights is to deny the value of her human life

[Annoyed]

Even if you're a vegetarian, you have to kill a plant to eat it.

[SoulReaver]

dunno about various religions but from a scientific pov I surmise that the vegetate victim doesn't suffer doesn't mind & doesn't even care about life (or about anything for that matter)

[Coco Pops]

1: LSoS = "Lying Sack of Shiznit" - What I usually refer to the current occupant of the White House as.

2: Not the government, but rather the media has been cooperative with the government and business, hiding this from the public.

But the media have done this everywhere, even outside of the USA. Our media for instance has barely touched this story in the 10 years that it has been known about...

Funny thing since media will also benefit from the TPP with draconian new copyright laws..

[Annoyed]

But if this had become widely known, many people in the US at least would have opposed it, and business didn't want that opposition.

[Annoyed]

dunno about various religions but from a scientific pov I surmise that the vegetate victim doesn't suffer doesn't mind & doesn't even care about life (or about anything for that matter)

How do you KNOW that?