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Monday, November 10, 2014
Ten Ways the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Would Hurt Working Families in the U.S.
via Dave Felice
1. More U.S. manufacturing, service, and even public sector jobs will be sent overseas (“off-shoring”). The U.S. is projected to lose more than 130,000 jobs solely due to the inclusion of Japan and Vietnam in the TPP.
2. U.S. sovereignty will be undermined. Multi-national corporations would have the right to challenge U.S. laws before international tribunals. The TPP creates a special “investor state” dispute resolution process that allows corporations to challenge any domestic laws that could adversely impact their “expected future profits.”
3. Wages, benefits and collective bargaining rights in the U.S. will be eroded. As other so-called “free trade” agreements have demonstrated, the TPP will exacerbate the race to the bottom because it places our workers in competition with corporations operating in countries like Vietnam, which has a minimum wage of just 28 cents an hour.
4. The TPP threatens environmental protection. The ability of U.S. citizens to protect clean air, water, and land would be severely undermined. Similar language in past agreements has led to over $14 billion in pending claims, mostly challenges to environmental laws in a number of countries.
5. Food safety standards will be under attack, and possibly overturned. Under the TPP, foreign corporations could challenge U.S food standards, labeling programs, and pesticide/herbicide regulations.
6. Federal, state, and local governments would be prohibited from giving preferences to American made goods and services. Firms operating in any TPP signatory country must be given equal access to the vast majority of U.S. federal procurement contracts, rather than allowing the U.S. to recycle tax dollars domestically to create American jobs. “Buy American/Buy Local” “Renewable/Recycled” and “Sweatshop Free” specifications could be challenged.
7. Medicine prices would increase, access to life saving drugs would decrease and the profits of big pharmaceutical companies would expand. Doctors without Borders stated, “The TPP is on track to become the most harmful trade pact ever for access to medicines in developing nations.”
8. Wall Street would benefit at the expense of workers, businesses and global financial stability. The TPP would expand the rights and power of the same Wall Street firms that already wrecked our economy and would create the conditions for even more global financial instability in the future.
9. The TPP will reward authoritarian regimes, like Vietnam and Brunei, which systematically violate human rights. The U.S. Departments of State and Labor, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International have documented Vietnam’s widespread violation of basic international standards for human rights. Brunei’s strict penal code targets LGBT groups, women and religious minorities. Gay men, lesbians and those convicted of adultery will be stoned to death for supposed “crimes.”
10. The TPP would be forever. Once the TPP is signed it would have no expiration date and could only be altered by a consensus of all signatories, thus locking in the TPP’s failed, extreme policies. Also, the TPP is designed as a “docking agreement” that other Pacific Rim countries could join over time if accepted by the signatory countries.
Original material by Communications Workers of America
Edited by:
Dave Felice, CWA Local 7777 (Denver) and National Writers Union Local 1981
Edited by:
Dave Felice, CWA Local 7777 (Denver) and National Writers Union Local 1981
For more information on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, visit:
ELECTION COMMENTARY by Elizabeth Warren
Special to Denver Direct
By Liz Warren
After listening to the morning-after postmortems from our favorite TV talking heads, I can't help but feel they have it all wrong.
A protest is not a mandate. Neither is voter apathy. (Note to Mitch McConnell and John Boehner: President Obama has been a bad boyfriend to the voters who elected him, and his rep spilled over onto the entire fraternity. That does not mean America now wants to get into bed with you. It means that some of us chose "abstinence" this election.)
Polls have consistently failed to show any meaningful support among informed Americans for the free market policies being pushed by those who, having amassed personal fortunes milking the existing system, now want to change the rules so that they won't have to share. Working people, given the option, wouldn't vote for the deals struck on golf courses between CEOs and legislators that privatize public services, leaving communities in ruins and marginalizing ever-increasing segments of society. And few among us would get behind corporate driven military aggression masquerading as U.S. foreign policy if we were given all the facts. Yet we can expect to see more of this (and then some) from those claiming to represent us in Washington, if we don't throw a rock in the gears next time around: http://www.alternet.org/election-2014/will-democrats-try-kill-partys-progressive-wing-regain-power
The next two years promise to be painful for the majority of working Americans, but it could get a whole lot worse before the pendulum naturally swings back. That's why we must plan NOW to get off the couch and hit the streets before November, 2016. I don't know about you, but I don't want to make last minute campaign calls for candidate Hillary Clinton. America deserves better.
BODIES are the only weapons we have to counter the huge sums of money that will be spent leading up to the 2016 vote by both mainstream GOP candidates and corporate-owned DINOs. It's not too early to start working toward uniting opposition forces, and focusing our efforts on creating better alternatives to the status quo.
To take back America from corporatists of both parties in 2016, we will need every American who genuinely values democracy to step up and rally both progressive voters and their equally disenfranchised Tea Party neighbors, with whom progressives have more in common philosophically than either realizes.
We must create a harmonic convergence of the two ends of the political spectrum in 2016, to defeat "corporate rule." I see us succeeding if we can apply a healthy dose of "old school" politicking - with millions of us going door to door like Girl Scouts to get out the vote. Given what's at stake, if we can't muster up the motivation to take back control of our country, we will have no one to blame but ourselves when the worst comes to pass.
Remember: quoting dollars spent on elections is a scare tactic aimed at discouraging dissent. The amount of money spent on campaigns is only as effective as the number of voters it can influence. Each of us has a vote and a voice, and is capable of influencing others. The 1:1 encounter is a powerful engagement tool but we must be sincere, honest, and willing to put in the time. And if we start now, we can recruit candidates worthy of our support.
Let's not give up. Together, we CAN make a difference.
Hopefully,
Elizabeth Warren
MoveOn Coordinator
National Trans-Pacific Partnership Team
National Trans-Pacific Partnership Team
San Diego
Sunday, November 9, 2014
MORE MARIJUANA MUCH? (Part 3)
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| High Times photo |
from Kevin A. Mahmalji
Across the Nation:
Clinical trial of cannabis extract to treat intractable epilepsy announced
Colorado-based doctor warns Georgia about medical marijuana
Englewood man facing eviction for smoking pot inside his apartment
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
MARIJUANA MUCH? (Part 2)
from Kevin Mahmalji
Across the Nation:
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Angry Voicemails Support Legal Pot in Oregonhttp://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-voters/angry-voicemails-support-legal-pot-oregon-n240386
California Raids Destroy Sick Kids' Medical Marijuana Supply
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6064798
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6064798
DC campaigners make final push to legalize marijuana
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/local/dc-campaigners-make-final-push-to-legalize-marijuana/2014/11/03/0f42e088-63ab-11e4-ab86-46000e1d0035_video.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/local/dc-campaigners-make-final-push-to-legalize-marijuana/2014/11/03/0f42e088-63ab-11e4-ab86-46000e1d0035_video.html
How Not to Legalize Pot
http://reason.com/archives/2014/11/03/how-not-to-legalize-pot
http://reason.com/archives/2014/11/03/how-not-to-legalize-pot
Medical marijuana hotly contested in Florida
Event: Parking in Denver: How I Learned To Stop Worrying & Love The Alternatives
Host: Frank Locantore - Uptown on the Hill
Time: Tuesday, November 11, 2014 05:30PM
Location: Tony P's Pizzeria
Address: 777 E. 17th Ave., Denver
Monday, November 3, 2014
The Heart of Historic East Denver - New Goodstein book and lecture dates
Halloween is over! Now Phil Goodstein can get around to the heart of Denver history. His new
book is
Curtis Park, Five Points, and Beyond: The Heart of Historic East Denver
(Denver: New Social Publications, 2014), ISBN 0–9860748–0–2, vi + 438 pp, $24.95. It probes the areas northeast of downtown, sections amazingly forgotten over the years.
No sooner had Denver started to recover from the bust in the wake of the Pikes Peak gold rush than real estate speculation became its foremost pursuit. This led to the creation of the city’s first park, Curtis Park, near 32nd and Curtis streets, in 1868. Within a few years, as Den-ver bustled, a distinctive suburban destination emerged at the five-pointed intersection of 26th Avenue, Wash-ington Street, 27th Street, and Welton Street. By the early 20th century, the latter enclave started to become the heart of black Denver. Other nearby elite residential areas, particularly Clements and San Rafael, likewise emerged as home of numerous African-Americans. Through the 20th century, the upheavals and transformations of these enclaves, along with Upper Larimer Street, were at the heart of Denver’s ethnic communities and the burgeon-ing preservation movement.
As is his wont, Goodstein looks at all aspects of the area in this extremely well-illustrated volume. He deals with the politics of confrontation and the civil rights move-ments. There are passing looks at alleged ghosts along with examinations of the impact of the 1976 Winter Olym-pics and the economics of the section. The overall im-pact is a panorama giving the reader a full grasp of Old East Denver and the city as a whole.
Goodstein will talk about the book on:
Saturday, November 8, 3:00 to 4:00 PM
Broadway Book Mall, 200 South Broadway (at the corner of Cedar Avenue)
Monday, November 10, 7:00–8:00 PM
Colfax Tattered Cover, Colfax and Elizabeth Street
Wednesday, November 12, 6:00–7:00 PM
Ebert School, Park Avenue West and Tremont Place. (Enter on the Tremont Place side.)
Saturday, December 6: 3:00 to 4:00 PM
Book Bar, 4280 Tennyson Street (southeast corner of West 43rd Avenue)
Curtis Park, Five Points, and Beyond
retails for $24.95. Mail orders, including tax and postage,
are $25.00, from New Social Publications, Box 18026, Denver 80218. Internet addicts can get it from capitolhillbooks.com and who_else@ATT@net. For more information, contact New Social Publications at 303/333–1095.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
MORE I-70
Gallagher Says APA I-70 Concerns are Valid
American Planning Association Raises Numerous Concerns with CDOT Plan
Out-Dated Travel Model For I-70 Just One Problem
For Immediate Release For More Information
10/29/2014 Denis Berckefeldt
720.913.5002
(Denver) Auditor Dennis Gallagher says an American Planning Association (APA) White Paper’s concerns regarding the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) I-70 reconstruction proposal are valid and troubling. The White Paper was released October 15 by the APA.
“This respected planning group confirms everything I have been saying about the numerous flaws in CDOT’s billion dollar boondoggle. Everything from the out-dated and flawed traffic model CDOT used to justify tripling the size of the freeway with Lexus Lanes to the serious lack of attention to social and economic justice issues in the affected neighborhoods,” Gallagher said.
The paper, produced by the Transportation Division of the APA, is the product of a site visit by transportation planning experts who visited Denver in mid-September. The experts met with staff from CDOT, City and County of Denver, Denver Regional Council of Governments, local elected-officials, members of APA’s Colorado Chapter, and residents of the Elyria and Swansea neighborhoods.
The paper makes particular note of the lack of confidence in the accuracy of the travel forecast based on the model used. It also cites confusion and inconsistency in determining which entity actually did the modeling. CDOT says the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) did the modeling and DRCOG says CDOT. This made it difficult to assess the viability of the modeling process.
The paper does state that it was an old, out-dated travel demand model and an old future land use forecast; that the latest and best modeling practices were not used including DRCOG’s newest state-of-the-art travel demand model called ‘Focus’. Nor did they use DRCOG’s new UrbanSim model, rather they relied on out-of-date travel demand software that cannot factor in highway-induced development.
“This is outrageous. CDOT plans to spend a billion dollars to expand a freeway and disrupt hundreds of lives without using the most up-to-date information and modeling tools available. As I have said before, they would be better off using a Ouija board,” Gallagher said.
The paper also notes that the neighborhoods, Elyria and Swansea are ‘settled urban environments’ and that the highway project needs to adapt to that context, not the other way around: the neighborhoods should not have to adapt to and expanded highway. This is where the issue of economic, social and environmental justice come into play.
“These neighborhoods have suffered for the last fifty years from the original decision to route I-70 through the heart of their neighborhoods. This reconstruction cannot add to that suffering and destruction. Widening this highway will do just that and cannot be allowed to happen. We already know from Denver’s Department of Environmental Health Assessment of these neighborhoods the serious health consequences these people are suffering as a result to I-70. CDOT’s proposal will make that worse. If it goes forward as planned, I guarantee you there will be lawsuits and CDOT can spend even more of the taxpayer’s money, unnecessarily.” Gallagher said.
Below are eight key points from the White Paper. A link to the paper itself.
I-70 PROJECT: PUBLIC COMMENTS SUMMARIZED
Thaddeus J Tecza
Sent: Sat, Nov 1, 2014 12:53 pm
Subject: Denver Comment on SDEIS
Folks,
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As you may be aware, the City of Denver required all agencies in the City government to coordinate their comments on the I-70 Project SDEIS into a single Denver City Comment. I thought you might be interested in that comment and I have attached it to this e-mail. Not surprisingly, the Mayor endorses the CDOT Lowered Partially-Covered Preferred Option. However, please note the number of comments within the document expressing concern over parts of the SDEIS. We believe that there were even greater concerns on the part of people within the city government that were omitted from the final version.
Also, those of us at UniteNorthMetroDenver would like to take this opportunity to once again thank all of you who took the time and effort to make Public Comments on the SDEIS. According to the Denver Post, as of Thursday there were 530 comments submitted. We know that many more, including comments from numerous organizations who support our position, were submitted on Friday. Many of you were kind enough to send us copies of your comments. Overwhelmingly, they were extremely well written, reasoned and passionate. They reflect the kind of concern for the city and your fellow citizens that is required if democratic government is to be successful.
Thank You.
Notes from the New Drug War by Jessica LeRoux - Nov. 1, 2014
NO i dont feel that sorry for the MED licensees & Blackmarketeers abusing the caregiver program who got caught up in the most recent DEA actions (and based on the sheer volume of people coming forward to confide in myself about their involvement, this is HUGE).
These busts are gonna be used by Pabon et al in collusion w/ the MIG set (whose members are involved in these busts, AGAIN) to push already written 2015 legislation that Kills the Caregiver program & punishes patients & doctors & does away with raised plant counts necessary for some serious ailments...
The caregiver program has been in jeopardy of state dismantling in favor of recreational taxes, and YOU FUCKS still had to make "your money" and divert weed out of state, rather than fighting the FUCKED laws that came outta A64 because you somehow "deserve" to still get paid by a plant... A plant that YOUR ACTIONS are fucking up all the good progress made by truly passionate cannabis activists.... FUCK YOU dirty greedy CANNABIS PROFITEERS...
all that said NOBODY should go to jail for a plant, but there will always be folks whose greed makes that Dream impossible.
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