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Secretive Pro-Corporate Trade Deal Could Endanger Health, Labor, Environment by Alex Stevenson
If it passes, the U.S-EU trade deal will be the biggest pact of its kind in the world. But the precise terms are a closely guarded secret. What are the corporate lobbyists who drafted it hiding from the billions of people it will affect?
WHO
Who is bracing for the release of the long-delayed, highly controversial Senate report on CIA torture? The entire National Security establishment is scrambling in anticipationof what Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) calls a “gut-check moment” for American democracy. National Security enthusiast Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) predicts the sky will fall around the world when the “painful details” are finally released. The Bush torture team has been fighting a preemptive battle against the report … a predictable move bythe practitioners of preemptive war.
Who just “ended” one front in the War on Terror? The U.S. and NATO “ceremonially” ended their Afghan combat command after 13 years. That pomp and circumstance came on the heels of U.S. drone strikes along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border that killed 13 militants.
Who just recorded an all-time record for national suffering by any country? Welcome to Afghanistan after 13 years of U.S. occupation and rebuilding.
And who was finally released from Guantánamo after 12 long years? Six men who were never charged with a crime and were cleared for release years ago. They’re headed for the relative paradise of Uruguay.
WHAT
What are the early warning signals of abrupt climate change? Stirrings in the Atlantic Ocean’s circulation offer a clue.
What are the chances that the U.S. will review its hostage rescue operations after two died during a failed raid in Yemen? Slim to none, according to outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.
What is happening to Russia’s economy as oil continues to tumble? The stock and bond markets are taking a beating, to start with.
WHY
Why is America’s military “adrift”? Sagging morale is only part of the equation.
Why is America’s all-in exuberance for fracking little more than “wishful thinking”? Overexuberant supply forecasts, for a start.
Why has the Supreme Court become an echo chamber dominated by a select group of lawyers?
Why do poor people tend to stay poor? The cost of saving is a big reason.
And why is the World Bank refereeing a race to the bottom? By measuring countries in terms of how well they serve corporate interests.
