TPP

Economist Predicts: TPP Is Dead

August 7, 2015 Yves Smith, www.nakedcapitalism.com Educate! Asian Pivot, Free Trade Agreements, TPP

By Yves Smith for Naked Capitalism -The coverage of the TPP in the media was schizophrenic, on the one hand describing it as part of Obama’s “pivot to Asia” (as in an effort to contain China’s growing hegemony), meaning it was clearly a political enterprise, an “everybody but China” deal, and on the other hand, saying that the reason Americans should support it was those miniscule trade benefits. And of course, there was nary a mention of the cost in terms of national sovereignity. What is intriguing and heartening about the Economist verdict isn’t merely that the TPP is dead. It’s that it’s so dead that for it to be revived, it would have to be in radically different form, with a much smaller group of countries. And if I read the Economist piece correctly, the “founding four” does not include Japan, which joined the negotiations late. Japan’s famously powerful farmers are not likely to sign up for a deal that encroaches on the island nation’s beef and rice lobbies. And it’s hard to see how anyone would take a Pacific political or economic pact all that seriously that did not have China or Japan as members.

No Human Trafficking Cover-Up For TPP, Press Conf. & Rally NYC 8/4/15

August 6, 2015 Cat April Watters, www.hotindienews.com Resist! Human Rights, Human Trafficking, Malaysia, TPP

By Cat April Watters in Hot Indie News - A crowd gathered at 313 E 43rd St. yesterday in NYC in front of the Malaysian Consulate to express outrage to the fact that despite the fact that Malaysian police discovered 28 suspected human trafficking camps located about 500 meters from the countries northern border AND 139 graves of trafficked persons, within weeks, Monday, July 27th, the State Department upgraded Malaysia from Tier 3 to Tier 2 on the Trafficking in Persons list in a cynical ploy to circumvent legislation prohibiting Fast Tracking of trade deals with Tier 3 nations. Malaysia is one of the 12 nations negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership, so Malaysia’s Tier 3 status would have prevented TPP from being Fast Tracked. Human rights group are outraged by the upgrade, which comes just two months after the discovery of human trafficking camps and mass graves of trafficked person in Malaysia.

Activists Protest Human Trafficking, TPP

August 6, 2015 Reuters Media, www.Reuters.com Resist! Human Rights, TPP

By Reuters Media - Angry about Malaysia's recent upgrade by the United States from the lowest tier on its list of worst human trafficking centers, about 40 of human rights activists held a demonstration outside the Consulate General of Malaysia in New York City on Tuesday. Last week, the U.S. upgraded Malaysia to so-called "Tier 2 Watch List" status, a move that could smooth the way for an ambitious U.S.-led free-trade deal with the Southeast Asian nation and 11 other countries. Malaysia hopes to be a signatory to Obama's legacy-defining Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which would link a dozen countries, cover 40 percent of the world economy and form a central element of his strategic shift towards Asia. "In this case our government, our president, our State Department is rubber-stamping some of the worst human rights violations that we can find anywhere on the face of the Earth," said Jamie Kemmerer of MoveOn.org.

The US Patent System: Out Of Step With The Times

August 5, 2015 Shobita Parthasarathy, www.theconversation.com Create! Innovation, Property, TPP

By Shobita Parthasarathy in The Conversation - This year, July 31 marks the 225th anniversary of the first patent issued in the United States. Though the American patent system was designed initially to stimulate innovation, some citizens now argue that it’s actually hurting innovation, limiting access to technology and promoting unethical areas of research and innovation. These critics are making their voices heard through courtroom challenges, legislative hearings and even street protests. This grassroots activism might seem strange. After all, the patent system is a highly specialized technical and legal domain, seemingly of interest only to inventors seeking exclusive rights to commercialize their new technologies for a limited period of time. Why has it become such a controversial site, and what can policymakers and citizens do about it?

Japan’s ‘Sacred’ Rice Farmers Await TPP Death Sentence

August 4, 2015 Nicole L Freiner, www.theconversation.com Educate! Farming, Food and Agriculture, Japan, Rice, TPP

By Nicole L Freiner for the Conversation - Rice is one of the five sacred areas of Japanese agriculture (with pork and beef, wheat, barley and sugarcane). To many, especially those living in rural areas, it remains the primary ingredient of the Japanese identity. As one farmer here said, “without rice, there is no Japan; the culture is a rice culture, it is the most basic element.” Japan’s rice farmers have long been the backbone of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. But lately, as their numbers dwindle along with a declining population and demand for rice, this key cultural constituency seems to have lost the strength it once had to demand the government’s support. There are now around 2 million rice farmers in Japan, down from 4 million in 1990 and as many as 12 million in 1960. The US is pushing Japan to increase its duty-free imports of American rice and related products from 10,000 tons a year to 215,000 tons. The US also wants Japan to open up its lands to foreign investment.

KEI Leaks TPP Text On Intellectual Property

August 4, 2015 James Love, www.keionline.org Resist! Big Pharma, health, Health Care, TPP, Trade

By James Love of Knowledge Ecology International. Washington, DC - Today, August 4, 2015, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) released text from three sections of the 95-page secret negotiating text on the Intellectual Property Chapter being used in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP, sometimes referred to as TPPA) trade negotiations. The negotiating text is dated May 11, 2015, and reflects the state of the text right before the Maui rounds of the negotiation, which ended Friday, July 31, 2015. Analysis and more text to be forthcoming.

Newsletter: Their Greed Is Our Ally

August 2, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org Newsletter #BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Cleveland, Kayactivists, Police abuse, Police violence, Shell Oil, sHellNo!, TPP, Trade

By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flower for Popular Resistance. The radical transformation that is needed is not on the agenda of anyone running for president in either the Democratic or Republican primary. The reality is that nothing offered by mainstream politics will achieve the transformational change that is needed. A normally mainstream Democrat, Robert Kuttner writes: “This is one of those moments when there is broad popular frustration, a moment when liberal goals require measures that seem radical by today’s standards. . . . Muddle-through and token gestures won’t fool anybody.” Consciousness is rising and with that so will the demands and actions of an organized populace. Sometimes it will take the shape of protests, other times a rebellion, sometimes cities will be shut down and there will be riots. The system is not responding to the reasonable demands for social, economic, racial and environmental justice.

Hawaii TPP Protest Breaks Record For Conch Shell Blow

July 30, 2015 Andrea Brower & Marti Townsend, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! Globalization, Neoliberalism, TPP, Trade

By Andrea Brower & Marti Townsend - In a galvanizing call-to-action, hundreds gathered today outside of secret TPP negotiations to put out a global kahea (call) to stop the corporate assault on people and planet. At least four hundred people took part in a unified sounding of the pū (Hawaiian conch shell), setting a new world record that will be officially submitted to Guinness Records. Event organizer Trinette Furtado said that in blowing the pū, “we are putting out a mighty kahea(call), past the shorelines of Maui, to connect with others standing up for their 'āina (land) and people.” Following the record-setting sounding of the conch, powerful ancient chants echoed down the beach, beginning with “I Ku Mau Mau”—“Stand Up Together.” Long-time Native Hawaiian activist Walter Ritte spoke, "We don’t need another layer of colonialism and bureaucracy. We had the sugar and pineapple barons, now we have the chemical-GMO barons and the tourist industry. We don’t need anymore. It’s pilau, pilau, pilau (rotten).”

Protests To Stop TPP By Land And Sea

July 28, 2015 Flush The TPP!, www.flushthetpp.org Resist! Finance and the Economy, Hawaii, Protest, TPP

By Flush The TPP! - Hundreds of local residents and representatives from international advocacy groups are gathering on the shore of Kā‘anapali Coast to express their opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) because it would sacrifice fundamental protections for public health, the environment, local jobs, and indigenous rights in order to enrich a few major corporations. “The TPP is a threat to our sovereignty as Native Hawaiians, and as human beings,” said Kaleikoa Ka‘eo, professor of Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai‘i. “This secret trade agreement would allow corporations to control decisions about how we live without any accountability to us, the people of this land. We call on everyone who cares about the environment, public health, jobs, and basic human rights for Hawaiians and all people to join us on Wednesday for a gathering on Kā‘anapali Beach.”

Political Payback For TPP Fast Track Legislators Begins

July 26, 2015 Staff, www.nwlaborpress.org Resist! fast track, TPP, Trade

By Staff for Northwest Labor Press - The damage to their relationship to organized labor is beginning to be felt. The Northwest Oregon Labor Council resolved not to invite them to its annual Labor Day picnic this year. The announcement of that decision was greeted with general applause at the July 7 meeting of the state AFL-CIO Executive Board. Likewise, the Oregon AFL-CIO won’t be inviting any Fast Track Democrats to its biennial convention in Seaside this October. That’s never happened before. And there’s more to come. “Our message is: ‘You damaged the relationship. It’s up to you to fix it,’” Oregon AFL-CIO president Tom Chamberlain explained at the Executive Board meeting. Senator Wyden is up for re-election in 2016, and so are all the Fast Track Democrats in the House, since they must run every two years. United Food and Commercial Workers, both nationally and in Oregon, has resolved not to support to the re-election campaigns of members of Congress who voted for Fast Track, in any way. And at least one other national union is ready to back a primary challenger to Wyden, if one should emerge.

Corporate Lobbying Expense Jumps As U.S. Trade Debate Rages

July 25, 2015 Alex Wilts, www.reuters.com Educate! Capitalism, Corruption, Free Trade, Lobby, TPP

By Alex Wilts in Reuters - Washington lobbying by companies and groups involved in global trade boomed in the past nine months, records show, as Congress debated a landmark trade pact proposed by President Barack Obama, the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Lobbying expenditures by members of a pro-TPP coalition increased to $135 million in the second quarter of 2015, up from $126 million in the first quarter and $118 million in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to Senate Office of Public Records reports reviewed by Reuters. The spending surge occurred among members of the U.S. Business Coalition for TPP, a group that hopes a final TPP deal can be completed by the end of 2015. Trade negotiators from the 12 TPP countries will gather in Hawaii next week for meetings aimed at wrapping up the deal.

Timeline For TPP Vote Uncertain

July 24, 2015 Lori Wallach, www.citizen.org Educate! Congress, fast track, TPP

By Lori Wallach for Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch - TPP proponents are eager for Congress to vote on a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal in late 2015. But to do so, given Fast Track’s statutorily-required timeframe of notice periods and pre-vote reports, TPP negotiations must be completed – and the TPP text itself – by the end of July. If notice to Congress of intent to sign the TPP were sent by August 1, a final TPP vote could be held the last week Congress is in session in December. Assuming the quickest timeline conceivable under the Fast Track rules and that somehow a required International Trade Commission (ITC) report on TPP impacts could be completed faster than has ever occurred for past pacts*, a TPP vote could take place about four and one half months after Congress is given notice of intent to sign a deal. Thus, negotiations must conclude at the July 28-31 TPP ministerial and a text must be ready for notice of intent to sign by August 1. That text must be publicly posted on August 30. This would allow for a vote the week of December 14. After that, Congress goes on recess and a vote would roll to 2016.

History Is Knocking, Once Again

July 22, 2015 David Solnit, www.indypendent.org Resist! Corporatism, Corporatocracy, TISA, TPP, TTIP, WTO

By David Solnit for the Indypendent - “Seattle,” shorthand for the 1999 anti-WTO mass actions, was a moment when organized protest and resistance became a genuine popular uprising of thousands of ordinary people who successfully shut down the opening day of the WTO meeting, took over and occupied the downtown core of a major American city, and contributed to the collapse of negotiations that would have increased poverty, destruction, and misery around the world. Several years after the Seattle actions, a group of us calling ourselves the People Powered Strategy Project reflected on the key elements that made the one-day mass urban action and week of struggle in Seattle successful. We came up with the following principles in an effort to bring a people-power strategy to the antiwar movement, which had none after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, and I have added a few more. These same principles worked in San Francisco on March 20, 2003 — the day after the U.S. invasion of Iraq — when 20,000 people from the area shut down and occupied the Financial District, 2,000 of whom were arrested.

Corporate Trojan Horse Comes To Hawaii

July 19, 2015 Andrea Bower, www.hawaiiindependent.net Resist! Hawaii, TPP

By Andrea Bower, for the Hawaii Independent - The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a massive international treaty being negotiated, in secret, by 12 Pacific Rim countries, side-by-side with 500 corporate advisers. After five years, they are aiming to wrap-up the deal on Maui at the end of this month. Meetings with Chief Negotiators begin July 24, followed by what they hope will be the final Trade Ministers meeting from July 28-31. Both the Westin and Hyatt Regency in Lahaina are reportedly hosting the meetings. Hawaii has been a favorite location for several of these high-security meetings because it is geographically isolated, seemingly far away from mass protests that might disrupt their agenda.

Newsletter – Culture Of Deception

July 18, 2015 Margaret Fowers and Kevin Zeese, www.popularresistance.org Newsletter Austerity, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Climate Change, FERC, Greece, Indigenous Rights, Propaganda, Puerto Rico, TISA, TPP, TTIP

By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese. A recent report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, "The Climate Deception Dossiers," proves that the corporations which profit from the burning of fossil fuels knew about global warming decades ago, knew their industries contributed to it and responded by funding propaganda to deny global warming and pushing policies that increased their profits at the expense of a livable future. In "We are all Greeks Now," Chris Hedges connects corporate capitalism to the many crises we face. He writes, "Corporate profit is God. It does not matter who suffers." When profit is worshiped, truth is sacrificed and all manner of deception is justified."

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