Environmental Conflict Resolution In The Federal Government: Fill & Download for Free

No.It’s not just Gabbard. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and more have said the same thing.They are referring to “investor-state dispute resolution,” and they’re dead wrong about what it can and can’t do, for two reasons. First, that’s not how arbitration works, and second, treaties the U.S. has adopted are U.S. law.I will repeat that. Treaties are U.S. law.If a state tried to overrule Federal law, or Congress tried to overrule the Constitution, you know what would happen? The law would be found invalid by a court, and struck down.In our hierarchy of law, it’s the Constitution > treaties > Federal laws > Federal agency regulations.I wrote a very long paper about this in my arbitration class in law school that was rather risky for me to write because the professor is a huge Warren fan, and I literally opened the paper by saying that I was going to call her wrong with legal justification to do so. (I was also taking a risk because I opened with a fearmongering TPP meme floating around and ended my introduction with the “that’s not how this works; that’s not how any of this works” meme in response.I won a CALI award for the course and the professor deducted only one point on the paper because of a typo.I’m starting to wonder if I should attempt to get it published, because the misunderstandings of investor-state dispute resolution continue to run rampant three years after I wrote that initial paper.Investor-state dispute resolution clauses are common in trade treaties. They allow parties to the treaties to seek resolution of trade disputes under the agreements in a neutral forum: international arbitration.Why?Well… let’s say you’re a multinational corporation, and you do business in Thailand. Or better yet: Venezuela.You set up some oil rigs. You get everything up to the point where all you have to do is flip the switch.And then the country comes along and says, “Yeah, that’s mine now.” You ask, “Umm… are you going to pay us for all that?” The country says, “Heh, heh. That’s cute.” You can either leave, and leave your stuff, or probably be executed.What are you going to do?Sue them?These are countries that have notoriously unreliable legal systems. They are often so backed up a case could take literally decades to even be heard, and the court systems are often corrupt and would always rule in favor of the state.That’s where international arbitration comes in.There are two main bodies that are used for these kinds of international disputes: the World Bank’s International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), or under the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).You can take the case to these, and a panel of arbitrators will look at the trade agreement and the facts, and decide whether or not the state or the investing company has violated some provision of the agreement. If one has, the arbitral panel can then decide what sanctions are warranted under the trade agreement.Under the New York Convention, a United Nations agreement regarding upholding arbitration awards, that does not include invalidating a law. That’s not a power that arbitrators have. Arbitrators are not the same as judges.Arbitrators can sometimes award injunctive relief, but only if the agreement they’re working off gives them that power, and only for that specific case. An arbitrator can not declare a law unconstitutional for everyone, like a judge might be able to do.So, that brings us back to ISDS clauses, such as the one in the TPP. Read it. It’s not that long. Articles 9, 25, and 28 have relevant information about the TPP’s dispute resolution.What the TPP allows, just like the over three thousand bilateral investment treaties and 350 multilateral trade agreements the U.S. is involved in, is for multinational corporations to sue the Federal government if the government expropriates their property without compensation or otherwise violates the treaty.The U.S. has been taken to international arbitration over three dozen times, and it’s lost exactly once.That case was over COOL laws, or “country of origin labeling.” The U.S. government adopted laws that required food products from foreign countries to have to be labeled that way, except if you were a U.S. producer. No label required.The North American Free Trade Agreement states that discriminating against products from member states is against the treaty with some exceptions. Some producers took it to international arbitration. The U.S. argued that it fit the exceptions. The producers argued it didn’t. The U.S. lost.Guess what happened to COOL laws.If you guessed that COOL laws were struck down and no longer existed, then you clearly haven’t been paying attention so far. They do still exist, they are still enforced, and what happened is that the U.S. has to pay these producers a sanction over it, or the countries affected can permissibly levy reciprocal tariffs to make up for the loss.That’s all.The MNC’s didn’t “override” U.S. law.The only way they could “override” U.S. law is if the law conflicted with a provision in the treaty, which is, as I said, U.S. law that supersedes simple acts of Congress. They could then sue in Federal court - as could you or I if we were affected by this - and seek to have the dispute adjudicated.In other words, by exercising their right to due process.Now, it is more complicated than this, which is why that paper I wrote is over 35 pages long. But that’s the gist of it.No, Tulsi Gabbard, Elizabeth Warren, and anyone else who is trying to scare you into believing that free trade treaties are bad because they allow big bad corporations to use international arbitration panels to strike down U.S. laws is straight up wrong.Frankly, for someone of Elizabeth Warren’s legal pedigree, she should be embarrassed by how wrong that statement is.Edit: All right, since this has come up now at least five times in the comments now, yes, I’ve already read and addressed Warren’s op-ed in the Times and The Guardian critique of ISDS clauses in the paper that I mentioned. They’re wrong, for the reasons I mentioned above.Read the TPP.I would specifically point people to Articles 9 and 28, Annex 9–B, and then Article 25 as good places to begin. Articles 9.15 and 9.16 of the TPP explicitly provide for domestic policy regulations for “environmental, health, and other regulatory objectives,” and “internationally recognised standards, guidelines and principles of corporate social responsibility.”Annex 9-B also states that “(b) Non-discriminatory regulatory actions by a Party that are designed and applied to protect legitimate public welfare objectives, such as public health, safety and the environment, do not constitute indirect expropriations, except in rare circumstances.”Regulations created pursuant to Article 25 of the TPP for appropriate domestic purposes and not simply pretext for discriminatory economic protectionism are specifically exempted from ISDS arbitration.If you want to respond with a criticism, I’m implementing the following rule. You must actually read the Trans-Pacific Partnership text, and comment with the specific citation to the part you find objectionable and why.Show your work.

This is what I wrote to my local state rep. It fell on deaf ears:Dear Jonathan,Congratulations on winning the primary and thank you for inviting me to write you regarding the recent gun violence. I am encouraged by the dialogue. I believe that the current bills in the state legislature will be effective in curbing the legal procurement of firearms, but have no direct impact on curbing violence.We both want to reduce violence among youth. I feel that gun control legislation is currently "fashionable," but it is ineffective. Prior to sharing my ideas on how to curb violence, I would like to communicate that I am more than just a constituent who is pro-gun. I have specific experience in public safety, and would like to share a summary of my expertise.I have a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Criminal Justice, and am a graduate of Northwestern University’s School of Police Staff and Command. Professionally, I was the security staff coordinator at Children’s Memorial Hospital, an Advisor to the Skokie, Illinois, Police Department’s Explorer Program, a school security consultant to the Westchester, Illinois Police Department, and I worked a crisis intervention professional in a multiple needs special education classroom, where the primary diagnoses of students was Autism, Fragile X Syndrome, and Mild Mental Impairment. I created behavior management plans for the students who were violent.I also worked as the Safety and Security Director for a large suburban school district. While there, I centralized security functions and implemented non-invasive security protocols, formulated a Security Director network with other schools, presented prevention of school violence at an IASA conference, and taught “Violence in American Schools” as an Adjunct Instructor at Roosevelt University’s Education Department.I am a published author in professional journals on managing violence and am a court recognized expert witness in security related issues. I have also authored law enforcement policies and procedures involving· Missing Juveniles· Dealing with Persons with Mental Illness· School Bus Accidents· All Hazards Plan (including school violence)· Abduction of Students· School Bomb Threats· School Hazardous Materials· Civil Disturbances and School Security· Hostage Situations in Schools· Intruders in the SchoolI have also had training in topics including but not limited to:· Building Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Programs for Youth· Bomb Threats/Explosive Safety· Emergency Planning· Non-Violent Crisis Intervention· Threats in the Workplace, Investigation of Workplace Violence· The Community’s Role in Community Policing: A Violence Prevention Strategy· Conflict Resolution and Peer Mediation Strategies· Youth Violence· Emergency Preparedness· School Violence· Runaway Training· Terrorism Overview· Emergency Operations Center—Unified Command· FEMA Training (suite of Incident Command)· Multi-Victim Incident Management· Homeland Security comprehensive Assessment Model Risk and Vulnerability Assessment· Multi-Hazard Planning for Schools· Building Effective Public/Private Partnership· Counter Terrorism Strategies Applied LocallyI have taught classes in:· Managing Violent People· Control and Restraint· Psychopathy vs Evil· Youth Violence and Emergency Preparedness for Educational Institutions· Causes of Youth Violence· Violence in American Schools· All Hazard PlanningI realize that was a lot to read, but I wanted to establish myself as an expert in the area of school security and youth violence.As I stated earlier, I am against gun control, but that is not why I am writing. I am not going to try or be successful in changing your mind about gun control. Rather, I would like to propose the following ideas on how to curb youth violence, instead of enacting gun control legislation. It is a multi-faceted problem, which must have a multi-faceted solution.Solution 1: Locking Mechanisms for FirearmsCurrently, the law reads that if a youth under the age of 14 gains access to a firearm because it is unsecured, the firearm owner is responsible for the crimes (or negligence) committed by that youth. (Note if the firearm was obtained during the course of a crime, i.e., burglary, the firearm owner is not held responsible).This is a reactive stance. A better option would be to require that firearms be secured when there are non-FOID holders or those under 21 present. Require gun owners to have a safe, cable lock, trigger lock, or other mechanism. Currently, Federal Law requires that gun sales include a lock and a pamphlet. For those who oppose this, there are quick release safes on the market that allow rapid access to a firearm, in case of an emergency.Solution 2: Walk-Through Metal Detectors in SchoolsInner city schools have metal detectors. I am unaware of any mass shootings at inner city schools. School shootings have occurred at schools with open doors in non-urban areas. When I was the Security Director at a school, we had a hand held metal detector that was not used during my tenure there.Making students, adults and visitors pass through metal detectors (such as the ones in government buildings) will prevent firearms from being present in schools. Opponents will say that they don’t want their schools to be prisons. However on the spectrum of safety, convenience is at one end and security is at the other. If this makes the child safe, then it is reasonable.Solution 3: Create/Enhance State-Level Security Guidance for SchoolsCrime Prevention through Environmental Design is a concept that is about 30 years old. I accomplished this by placing security personnel at each entrance when school opened in the morning, and locking all doors but one during first period. The one open door was staffed by security who made visitors and students show ID and sign in with an expiring sticker/badge, which would last the day, but not be visible the next day.Solution 4: Armed Personnel at SchoolsI am NOT saying that we should arm teachers. However, there should be an armed security function at the school with instructions to engage the target (and not wait outside). Rapid Deployment is a concept in law enforcement to go into the school in 3-4 person teams, sweeping for the offender. This could be accomplished by hiring police officers, School Resource Officers, or Veterans who have a higher level of training. It could even be accomplished by having school security personnel with concealed firearms.Solution 5: Increased Training for TeachersThere is at least one lock down drill a year for public schools. Teachers are taught to barricade themselves in their rooms with the lights off. This training is minimal at best. The FBI has a video about “Run, Hide, Fight” for active shooters. Emergency training should be more extensive for teachers. They should know how to get out of a classroom with a window (even have a glass hammer, similar to what is available for cars) and take other actions, as well.Solution 6: Grants for programs such as “Character Counts” and “Making Healthy Choices”Currently, the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority makes grants available for law enforcement. Expand their grant giving initiatives to schools for “Walk Up” programs (walk up to the loners, walk UP to the students who are troubled), to involve them in their school communities.While with the Glencoe Police Departments, I worked with Glencoe School District 35, and obtained a Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grant for $20,000. We purchased anti-drug materials, hired motivational speakers and funded a program that went beyond being anti-drug, but taught students to make healthy choices.Solution 7: Social WorkTroubled youth graduate from high schools. There should be a link to community organizations who provide free services (i.e., via township offices), so that 18 year olds can receive continuity of mental health care. Cases should be transferred to community organizations (i.e., Township Offices) to continue to help these individuals.Solution 8: Mandatory Reporting of Straw PurchasesOne way that firearms get into the hands of criminals is through straw purchases. The law should have harsher penalties and minimum penalties for those who legally purchase firearms with the intent to provide them to a non-FOID holder. Just like there is a mandatory reporting requirement for those who work with children to report suspected abuse to be investigated by DCFS, there should be a mandatory reporting requirements for gun stores to report suspected straw purchases to law enforcement in real time, while the customer is still in the store.Solution 9: PenaltiesCurrently, the judicial system has too much leeway in sentencing. In a recent case, a person convicted of making straw purchases was sentenced to 4 months in jail. This is way too light of a sentence. There should be mandatory minimum sentencing of these criminals with much longer amounts of incarceration. This is where to start.Solution 10: Make Judges AccountableIn conjunction with Solution 9, Judges should be made accountable for light sentencing of offenders who use firearms. There is too much leeway and light sentencing occurring, with high recidivism rates.Other ideas and solutions that I have are geared towards the Federal Level. I would be happy to meet with you to discuss these further and work on proposed legislation within the scope of this email.Thank you for giving your attention to this matter.

I am not American, I have visited the United States once spending 5 days in the amazing city of New York. I can honestly say that I don't fully understand the political process, Hilary Clinton won the popular vote by 3 million votes yet lost the presidential election because of a 227 – 304 loss in the Electoral College vote.( Lost me on that one-same as OJ acquitted then sued by the victim's families and found guilty of the crime he was found innocent of by a jury of his peers...again, you lost me) I don't fully understand your constitution and laws and so you may find discrepancies and inaccuracies in what follows and for that, I apologise.From an outsider's viewpoint I, and many people I know, see America falling in on itself. Imploding. And this has never been more evident than it is under the stewardship of Mr Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States of America.A President who came to the White House on a platform that apparently resonated with the American people and yet a platform that does not gell with his previous views and actions here are a few glaring contradictions from his colourful past.Whilst he has an estimated wealth of 4.5 billion he has filed six chapter 11 bankruptcies. To which he once remarked “I do play with bankruptcy laws---they are very good for me. Its a way of cutting debt."Has been a very loud voice regarding illegal immigrants and the loss of employment as a result of cheap labour carried out by these illegal immigrants and has throughout the history of his business empire been guilty of engaging in these practices, the 200 or so Polish workers in America illegally working 12-hour shifts and getting paid $4-$5 an hour to help build TrumpTower being a notable example.Has been accused by 24 women of inappropriate sexual behavior in the last 30 years. Up until 2016.2005 opened a for-profit, non-accredited Trump University. That in 2013, was sued by the New York Attorney General for allegedly defrauding students.Opened Trump Steakhouse that was closed in 2015 violating 51 health codes including serving five-month-old duck.These are clearly the actions of a man driven by profit at all cost, a self-obsessed human being firm in the belief that he is beyond reproach. This is before his presidency. Am I judging a man on his past, not allowing for the chance to change? Am I being too harsh? Afterall don't we all mature and with maturity grow wiser. Here is President Trump and some of the things he has done since taking office:On the day of his inauguration Trump pledged to end "American carnage" and repeated the "America First" slogan he campaigned successfully on, adding ‘Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American factories". And then proceeded to action the followingRegarding the environmentRepealing environmental protections intended to address anthropogenic climate change.Ended the Clean Power Plan,Withdrew from the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation,Urged for subsidies to increase fossil fuel production, calling man-made climate change a hoax.Addressing the healthcare issuesTried to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but having failed he signed legislation eliminating the individual mandate provision.Taking on the finance sectorEnacted a partial repeal of the Dodd-Frank Act that had previously imposed stricter constraints on banks, lenders, traders and wall street in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and withdrew from the Tran Pacific Partnership.Assigned the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which lowered corporate and estate taxes permanently, and lowered most individual income tax rates temporarily.Addressed Americas employment issues byEnacting tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and other goods, triggering retaliatory tariffs from Canada, Mexico, and the European Union, and a trade war with China. The cost of the tariff war impacts on the business importing the goods. American business. This, in turn, is passed on to the consumer.Imposed tariffs on Chinese imports after pressuring China to change longstanding trade practices. Resulting in employment, inflation and stock market issues as businesses in many countries around the globe grow fearful and lose short term confidence.Trump's demand for federal funding of a U.S.–Mexico border wall resulted in the 2018–2019 government shutdown (the longest in American history) impacting on the livelihoods of many millions of Americans.Tackled the tricky issues regarding foreign policy with the following:Drawing the United States closer to states that have flaunted and violated human rights and UN resolutions like Saudi Arabia and Israel whilst offending mocking and ridiculing friends and allies.Agreed to sell 110 billion dollars of arms to Saudi Arabia, despite overwhelming evidence of the Saudi Royal family being complicit in a murder.Recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.Withdrew the United States from the Iran Deal.Issued a controversial executive order denying entry into the U.S. to citizens from several Muslim-majority countries.Stamped his feet and held his own country to ransom till he got funding for his Mexican border wall.Implemented zero tolerance at border crossings resulting in families being separated and causing widespread condemnation amidst violations of human rightsThe first 100 days saw president trump sign an unprecedented 24 executive orders - more than any president since world war IIHis daily tweets press conferences and press releases have more falsehoods in them than any previous president media checkers and other fact pickers go so far as to say that they believe his untruths could be the most in American political history, more than any other politician ever.President Trump's policies have been projected to add $4 trillion to the national debt by 2029, including almost $2 trillion from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.When I look over what President Trump has done, and I am not alone in this observation, I see a businessman. Whose above actions are to the long term benefit of the minority rich, both individual and corporate. The short term benefit is a drop in unemployment, government coffers only pouring out instead of gushing, American manufacturing increasing, new business opening and an internationally revered nation,,,,,, this is precisely what Trumps presidency wants you to see. The long term reality is that the bump will be short-lived but just long enough for the president to make sure he and his pals can live high off the hog. All you have to do is look at who is benefitting and who will benefit from tax cuts, the scraping of wilderness protection, 110 billion-dollar arms deals, the loosening of the shackles in the financial sector and a foreign policy that can only have nervous heads of states scrambling to the nearest arms provider checkbook in hand.The President loves America, but the America he loves is the one that continues to let him expand his empire and increase his wealth; The ugly side of greedy capitalist America that will do anything to increase profit no matter what cost or to whom. The world saw this side exposed during and after the 2008 crash.Globally the president has distanced your friends and allies broken and almost destroyed long-established friendships and trusts. He has put the world closer to conflict and saber rattled his way across the globe and for what? Americans need to be aware that whilst still a superpower you just aren't the only one anymore. China, North Korea, Indonesia, Japan Russia India, and Pakistan to name a few, all have state of the art military weapons, huge well-equipped armies. Vast navy’s and modern tech drones and planes couple this with strong economies and huge reserves of wealth and you now have a table that has more seats being occupied and occupied by strong loud voices who now demand a better deal for their respective countries. This requires a strong yet respectful interaction, thoughtful and considered action. Not threats and insults. Not thoughtless action that reverberates around the globe.The Iranian deal is a classic example. Years and years of tentative communication and at last an agreement that whilst not great was still the first step towards other negotiations and other, better agreements. Instead we have a country now , hostile to America and its allies, because almost overnight one man tore up that deal and placed harder restrictions on them resulting in no cooperation no open dialogue a resumption albeit ramped up tenfold of their nuclear program/ and an even more hostile Iran in an already volatile part of the world. And even worse, a nation who feels betrayed and will be even less willing to sit down and negotiate.Another example is Trump deciding to change America's stance on Jerusalem. Despite a UN resolution stating that there will be a part of Jerusalem for Palestine and a part of Jerusalem for Israel honoring a previous agreement. However, the East part, agreed by both parties to be the capital of the independent state of Palestine is controlled by Israel and has been since it was stolen in the 50’s. As such it is considered occupied territory in direct violation of the UN resolution recognising two states.. In 1980 Israel declared that all Jerusalem was now the capital of Israel and passed it into law, an action condemned and not recognised by the UN and all of its 14 permanent member states. For decades the US has been resolute in its condemnation of any action by both sides that fails to recognised that there is an agreement in place that should be honoured as should any UN resolution passed because of violations of the agreement. Then to the condemnation of many countries and regardless of the implications for the Palestinians and the region President Trump does an about-face, turns America's back on the UN and its 14 permanent members and declares to the world that Jerusalem is now the recognised capital of the state of Isreal.So is the world alone when it sees the 45th President of the United States of America as nothing more than a greedy capitalist hell-bent on getting what he wants. Whose only agenda is to line the pockets of himself and his cronies. He has divided your country, divided your global friends and allies and moved the doomsday clock a little closer to midnight. And whilst he distracts with his tweets, his offensive comments, endless accusations, and exposure of his private scandals and his questionable political and business dealings he is busy passing into law changes that if they can be undone will still have severe consequences for generations to come. Maybe he feels he can file for chapter 11. after all, it does get you out of debt.Remember, this is an outsider putting forward his observations, throwing them out there to either find agreement or constructive negative feedback. If you feel the need to be anything but diplomatic then this debate is not for you as engaging in a tirade of ridicule and abuse will do nothing to advance my education.