Author Archives: anyapar

World Leaders Pave the Way for a Corporate Coup d’Etat: How to Stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership

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TPPDonkeyHoteyNegotiations for the world’s biggest trade deal have been conducted in total secrecy over the last four years. What’s worse, deliberations are being held between world leaders and multinational corporations that are paving the way for a global corporate coup.

The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) consists of twelve Pacific Rim countries: Australia, Brunei, Chile, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the US.

Over 600 corporate advisors are consulting on the TPP to establish an international court tribunal made up of corporate representatives, which could supercede the sovereignty of countries involved and override existing laws. But despite the drastic implications this deal could have concerning everything from food safety to intellectual property rights, a stunning new report by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) reveals that neither ABC, CBS, nor NBC have even so much as mentioned the TPP since Obama’s State of the Union address in February of 2013.

Given the magnitude of this so called “free trade” agreement and the corporate media’s blacking out of the issue, it’s important to look back at some of Breaking the Set’s coverage of the TPP.

First, Kevin Zeese, co-founder of It’s Our Economy, explains why the mainstream media has ignored the story and calls the TPP a ‘privatization’ of state owned enterprises.

Kevin Zees on the TPP Corporate Coup d’Etat

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Breaking the Set explains how the media distracted citizens in order to allow Congress to sneakily introduce a measure to put the TPP on a legislative fast track, an undemocratic move that undermines public debate.

How Bridgegate Distracted America from TPP Fast Track

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Margaret Flowers, Organizer for Popular Resistance, discusses why fast tracking the TPP is so dangerous to the democratic process, and why everyone should care about this trade deal.

How You Can Stop the TPP: Say No to Fast Track!

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Then, Abby interviews legislative representative of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Mike Dolan. Dolan breaks down the content of the TPP chapter released by Wikileaks and explains how the legislation will affect global citizens.

Mike Dolan on Dangers of TPP Fast Track

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The TPP fast track is now facing obstacles in Congress due to grassroots pressure. However, talks are still taking place and the time to act is now.

Once the US and Japan finalize negotiations, the TPP’s global corporate takeover is closer to becoming a reality. Please spread the word about this disastrous trade deal and put pressure on your congressional representatives to vote NO on the TPP fast track and reject the deal.

Two-thirds of Americans stand in opposition to a TPP fast track. Make sure your voice is heard too.

Learn more at:

www.stoptpp.org

www.exposethetpp.org

https://www.citizen.org/TPP

Written by Abby Martin and Anya Parampil, Photo by flickr user DonkeyHotey

Cenk Uygur Tells Abby Martin That Her Network’s More Tolerant than MSNBC

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MEDIAITE – The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur appeared on RT recently with anchor Abby Martin where he was asked about the ongoing controversy surrounding the network’s coverage of Russia’s invasion of Crimea and press freedom in the United States. Uygur said that the distinction between the two countries was evident in the fact that he lost his job on MSNBC for criticizing President Barack Obama while Martin retained her job after criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Uygur told Martin that he lost his MSNBC show because the White House was not “happy” with his criticism of Obama from the left.

“People give RT a lot of flak for toeing the line of the Russian foreign policy perspective, but here we have a media apparatus entirely funded by corporations that toeing the line of the U.S. government,” Martin opined.

Martin added that CNN is moving to “reality TV” and entertainment journalism. “I think a lot of people on TV are good people and they don’t even quite realize that they’re part of this machine,” Uygur said. “But, what happened was, they got promoted because they toe the line.”

Both Martin and Uygur criticized CNN further for what they said was their “soap opera” coverage of the missing Malaysian passenger plane.

“It seems like this network is constantly in the crosshairs of the U.S. media,” Martin later opined. She asked if Uygur was surprised by that. Uygur replied by saying an “honest” discussion about the funding of cable news networks would also include criticism for networks like CNN and Al Jazeera.

“CNN has lost so much credibility all across the world because everybody knows they cater to the government,” Uygur said. “You criticized the Russian actions in Crimea, you’re still on RT. I criticized the Obama administration and the U.S. government on MSNBC, I’m no longer on MSNBC.”

“So, who has the freer media?” he concluded.

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