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Tom Philpott – The Meat Industry Is Licking Its Chops Over Obama’s Massive Trade Deal

The US meat industry scored a big victory this week when world leaders hammered out an agreement that would reduce trade barriers across the Pacific: from the United Sates, Canada, Mexico, Peru, and Chile on this side to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, and Singapore on the other. President Barack Obama has made passing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or the TPP, …

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Dave Johnson – You Knew The TPP Was Bad. But Here’s How It Gets Even Worse

Negotiators are meeting in Atlanta, trying to wrap up the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). It might be wrapped up as soon as Thursday. While the agreement is secret, there are reasons for people to be very, very concerned. Here is a news article that explains why people should be alarmed about this secret “trade” agreement that the giant corporations have come …

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Maira Sutton – More Closed-Door Meetings, a New Chief Transparency Officer, and Growing International Opposition to the Deal: What’s Going on with the TPP

Over the past month, trade officials have been frantically working to resolve outstanding disagreements over provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in the midst of speculation that the deal is in deep trouble. At this late stage of negotiations, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has pretty much abandoned all remaining pretense of transparency in its consideration of these remaining policy …

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Christina Sarich – Humanity’s Big Fight: The Corporate Ownership of Food and Water

Privatization and corporate ownership of our food and water is what is at stake. The greed that has allowed companies to create patents on food and to siphon off water and sell it back to the world is as disturbing as ever. Following are ways which a cabal is trying to control 2 of our most basic needs – food and water. The …

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Jimmy Chin – Foreigners Could Hack US Elections, Experts Say

What if a foreign head of state had the power to handpick our next President? It sounds like the plot of a movie, but it actually might be in the realm of possibility. Most people take our elections for granted. The few who don’t often suspect that one party might be trying to steal votes from the other. But they …

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Robert Abele – Ending Government Rule of the Elites, by the Elites, for the Elites

One of the sad but important consequences for our system of government, in the face of such a process, is that not only do the economic elites now control the system, but more importantly, our elitist-backed politicians have no vision beyond the self-interestedness of catering to the money the elites use to support them. The people are out; the future is irrelevant; …

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Andrea Germanos – New TPP Leaks Reveal US ‘Pandering to Big Drug Companies,’ Threatening Innovators

New leaks of the negotiating text of the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement reveal that the Obama administration is pushing forth radical proposals that critics say will threaten to harm consumers and innovators while rewarding big drug companies and “extremist copyright” policies. Negotiators for the 12-nation trade pact failed last week to reach a final agreement at their meeting in …

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Binoy Kampmark – The TPP Trade Deal: of Sovereignty and Secrecy

It’s coming to you, roughly packaged, crudely thought out, and, we hope, incompetently executed. The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement is just about done and dusted, so claim those who have found it appropriate to keep this most “secret” of treaties under wraps. The Hawaii round of negotiations, taking place at the Westin Resort and Spa in Maui, will provide the …

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David Morris – Yes, trade deals really do overturn democracy

Forget tariffs, forget Obama’s promises. The whole point of modern ‘trade agreements’ is to whack pesky labor, environment and health laws, writes David Morris, and so empower capital and corporate power against regulators, governments and democracy itself. Unconvinced? Just imagine what these deals would look like if they were there to empower people. New trade agreements like the TPP largely …

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Sarah Lazare – As Elites Aim To Finalize Secret ‘Profit Over People’ Trade Deal, An Alarm Sounds

As trade ministers gather for negotiations at a luxury resort in Hawai’i on Wednesday to finalize the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, hundreds of people are planning to stage protests, hold performances, and raise a sacred “call to attention” to send the message that attempts by the global elite to put “profit over people” are not welcome and will not be …