Trade

A key dispute in the TPP negotiations is the patents on pharmaceutical drugs and medical procedures.  Long patents inflate the profits of the pharmaceutical industry by not allowing less expensive generic drugs on the market. This means that people around the world will not be able to afford critical, often life-saving, drugs and medical procedures.  It also means that countries like Japan, Australia and New Zealand that have national health care systems will see the cost of healthcare rise to a breaking point, undermining some of the best health systems in the world.

Momentum is growing in the campaign to stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).  Yesterday, the TPP was dealt two blows. Each could be lethal but the TPP, and its Atlantic counterpart, called TAFTA, are not dead yet. It is time for the movement of movements that formed to oppose the TPP to stand in solidarity, defeat these agreements and end the era of rigged corporate trade.

When “Everything That’s Fit to Print” doesn’t include the content of a proposed trade agreement, who represents the public interest at the bargaining table?

… and a Guaranteed Profit for the Corporations and Bankers regardless of the opinions or outcomes of public protests.
A Tale of Milk and Honey from the UK/EU Homeland
Did you read the one by George on the TTIP negotiations?
Yep, so did I.
Worried?
Me too.

RT | November 11, 2013

The successful adoption of the EU-US trade agreement promises both parties massive gains of up to $159 billion, but the profits could come at the expense of the everyday consumer, who could see the quality of their products diminish as a result.

What would a trade agreement intended to benefit all Canadians look like?
This is of more than academic concern right now as the Harper Conservative government will eventually unveil the full details of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
From what we know about it now this agreement is little more than a ‘corporate bill of rights’. It gives corporations even more power to shift investment as they see fit and directly strengthens their interests in everything from public procurement to patent laws.

The conundrum of what you do with that puma that comes wondering into town. Or that wolf jumping electronic fences for some of papa’s Angus beef. What do you do with that toothless meth head, crazed and full of steam pipe madness when he comes rushing at you with a machete. What to do with the careening car jumping curbs while you bicycle around town. What to do with the woman about to push the child in the stroller off the cliff. What to do with the disheveled dude with the lab coat with the syringe of gasoline about to dip the needle into grandmother’s wrist.