nationalize the fed
nationalize the fed's JournalMother Jones: The Meat Industry Is Licking Its Chops Over Obama's Massive Trade Deal
Tom Philpott | Wed Oct. 7, 2015
The US meat industry scored a big victory this week when world leaders hammered out an agreement that would reduce trade barriers across the Pacific: from the United Sates, Canada, Mexico, Peru, and Chile on this side to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, and Singapore on the other.
President Barack Obama has made passing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or the TPP, the signature goal of his second term. Now it goes to Capitol Hill for approval—which it will likely get, given that back in June, Congress granted the president "fast track" authority to negotiate trade deals, meaning that it will be considered in up-down, simple-majority votes in both chambers, with no chance of amendment or filibuster.
So how would the TPP affect Big Meat in the United States? The industry is currently facing stagnant domestic demand for its product as Americans eat less meat. The TPP would open markets in countries that currently protect domestic farmers with tariffs. Japan, for example, agreed to slash its tariff on imported beef from 38 percent to 9 percent over the next 15 years—likely making it much easier for American importers to gain a foothold. Because the pact has been negotiated in secret and few details about it have been released, it's impossible to estimate how big of a boost the TPP will provide to US meat purveyors. But it already has industry groups doing the money dance...snip
...Of course, when asked why they're eating less meat, Americans commonly cite a desire to reduce the environmental and social impacts of industrial-scale meat production: everything from animal cruelty to fouled water and air to labor abuses at slaughterhouses and pillaged local economies. An export boom will only intensify those trends...
Two foreign companies—Brazil's JBS and China's Shuanghui—now control nearly half of US pork production...
snip
MORE: http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2015/10/trans-pacific-partnership-tpp-meat-and-gmo-industries-shuanghui-china
NPPC Confident TPP Deal Good For U.S. Pork
WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 5, 2015 – The National Pork Producers Council expressed confidence that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement negotiators concluded in Atlanta will benefit all sectors of the U.S. economy and will provide enormous new market opportunities for high-quality American pork products...
http://www.nppc.org/2015/10/nppc-confident-tpp-deal-good-for-u-s-pork/
Related: Bacon Is About to Get More Expensive
—By Tom Philpott | Wed Jul. 8, 2015 | Mother Jones
While Americans celebrated Independence Day last weekend, the meat industry was partaking of another time-tested tradition: concentration. That's the economists' term for when one big company buys another, resulting in an industry dominated by just a handful of players. And that's what happened when Brazilian meat giant JBS plunked down $1.45 billion to buy the US pork interests of global agribusiness behemoth Cargill...
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2015/07/bacon-jbs-cargill-pork
Energy Storage Needs to Think Bigger Than Batteries to Beat Fossil Fuels
Batteries won't be the answer for running renewable energy 24/7.
Travis Holum Oct 11, 2015
Wind and solar energy have been gaining ground on fossil fuel competitors like coal and natural gas for a few years now, and in 2014 more new renewable energy capacity was built than all fossil fuel plants combined. But the renewable energy industry is starting to run into some headwinds that could last for years if it doesn't innovate fast enough.
In locations where renewable energy makes financial sense, like sunny southern California or the windy Texas plains, renewable energy has brought on so much supply that the grid can't handle it. The fear is that when the sun goes down or the wind stops blowing it will put a huge stress on the grid, the kind of stress that will be costly to overcome...
Energy storage on a massive scale
Batteries are a great energy storage medium for seconds, minutes, or even a few hours of storage, and those are necessary technologies for keeping the grid running. But for wind or solar energy to play a major role in the grid, the industry needs to find a way to save energy for days, weeks, and months at a time. Maybe hydrogen is the answer to this problem?
There are options out there, like a wind-to-hydrogen project that I thought could show a path forward for turning renewable energy into a usable fuel and an energy we could use year-round. And the answer to the problem might be easier than we think...snip
MORE: http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/10/11/energy-storage-needs-to-think-bigger-than-batterie.aspx
http://insideevs.com/car-drivers-instrumented-test-2016-toyota-mirai/
Berlin anti-TTIP trade deal protest attracts hundreds of thousands
Hundreds of thousands of people marched in Berlin on Saturday to oppose a planned free trade deal between the European Union and the United States that is claimed to be anti-democratic and to threaten food safety and environmental standards.
The environmental groups, charities and opposition parties that organised the protest claimed 250,000 people took part, while a police spokesman said 100,000 attended. Smaller protests were also held in other cities, including Amsterdam, with a rally due to be held in London on Saturday night at which shadow chancellor John McDonnell is scheduled to speak.
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) would create the world’s largest free-trade zone, encompassing some 800 million consumers, and harmonise regulation between the EU and North America in areas ranging from food safety law to environmental rules and banking regulations. It would mean that cars made in Britain could be sold in the US, for example, but opponents say it would water down important EU regulations...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/10/berlin-anti-ttip-trade-deal-rally-hundreds-thousands-protesters
Protesters gather to demonstrate against the TTIP trade agreement in Berlin on Saturday. Photograph: Axel Schmidt/Getty Images
Toyota Fuel Cell Plus Concept Comes From A Future Hydrogen-Based Society
Carscoops.com | Dan Mihalascu | October 8, 2015
With the FCV Plus Concept, Toyota is fast-forwarding to a future where hydrogen fuel cell cars will be as common as vehicles powered by internal combustion engines are today.
Scheduled to have its world debut at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month, the Toyota FCV Plus study is said to embody a society in which hydrogen energy is in widespread use. In that society, fuel cell cars will be more than just vehicles that will take people from A to B.
Toyota says clean generation of hydrogen from a wide range of primary energy sources will make local, self-sufficient power generation a global reality, and fuel cell vehicles will take on a new role as power sources within their communities. The automaker’s goal is to turn fuel cell vehicles from eco-cars into energy-cars.
What if every car on the road could produce power?
A parking lot becomes an energy plant.
This is exemplified by the FCV Plus, which can generate electricity directly from hydrogen stored outside the vehicle, in addition to its own hydrogen tank. As a result, the vehicle can be transformed into a stable source of electric power for use at home or away...snip
MORE: http://www.carscoops.com/2015/10/toyota-fcv-plus-concept-comes-from.html
Toyota is the Number 1 Vehicle Manufacturer in the world, building ~10 million cars per year. That's almost 200,000 per week. (192,307)
Power out? Plug your house into your car
Honda's New Product Supplies 9kW of Electricity From EV to AppliancesNikkei Technology | Masaya Sato | October 7, 2015
Honda Motor Co Ltd unveiled a high-output external power supply unit that can transmit electricity from an electric vehicle (EV) or fuel-cell vehicle (FCV) to home appliances.
The power supply unit, "Power Exporter 9000," was exhibited at Ceatec Japan 2015, which runs from Oct 7 to 10, 2015, in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. With a rated output of 9kVA (equivalent to 9kW), it can power even a large air conditioner and medical precision equipment. Honda aims to have the unit employed by municipalities and public facilities such as hospitals as an emergency power source.
A car and a generator- and the only exhaust is water
The cable of the new product is connected to a "CHAdeMO" EV rapid-charging port. For transmitting electricity to appliances, it is equipped with six 100V outlets and one 200V outlet and capable of supplying up to 90A of electricity.
A "sine wave inverter" mechanism controlled by a microcomputer was employed as the inverter of the power supply unit so that alternating-current power with a stable waveform can be generated. As a result, the unit was used for medical devices expected to be used at the time of disaster with no difficulty in a joint research conducted by Honda and Tottori University Hospital.
Because the unit uses an EV or FCV, it does not generate exhaust gas or noise and can be used anywhere...snip
MORE: http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/atclen/news_en/15mk/100700083/
Honda is also working on a Home Solar Hydrogen Station
http://world.honda.com/FuelCell/SolarHydrogenStation/
Related: Toyota Mirai Can Serve As Emergency Power Supply Using CHAdeMO
...The PTO will be connected to the CHAdeMO inlet in the trunk and will turn the DC current to alternating current, edible by other appliances.
Nichicon Corporation, with its 6 kW EVPower Station – used by Nissan and Mitsubishi – will work with Mirai too as an emergency power supply to power building equipment and home electronics...
http://insideevs.com/toyota-mirai-can-serves-emergency-power-supply-using-chademo/
Become a Power Producer instead of a Power Consumer with a Hydrogen Electric Vehicle. The Fuel of the Future is Now.
What does Doctors Without Borders think of the TPP?
Statement by MSF on the Conclusion of TPP Negotiations in Atlanta
October 05, 2015
Statement by Judit Rius Sanjuan, US Manager & Legal Policy Adviser, MSF Access Campaign:
"Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) expresses its dismay that TPP countries have agreed to United States government and multinational drug company demands that will raise the price of medicines for millions by unnecessarily extending monopolies and further delaying price-lowering generic competition. The big losers in the TPP are patients and treatment providers in developing countries. Although the text has improved over the initial demands, the TPP will still go down in history as the worst trade agreement for access to medicines in developing countries, which will be forced to change their laws to incorporate abusive intellectual property protections for pharmaceutical companies.
For example, the additional monopoly protection provided for biologic drugs will be a new regime for all TPP developing countries. These countries will pay a heavy price in the decades to come that will be measured in the impact it has on patients. As the trade agreement now goes back to the national level for countries's final approval, we urge all governments to carefully consider before they sign on the dotted line whether this is the direction they want to take on access to affordable medicines and the promotion of biomedical innovation. The negative impact of the TPP on public health will be enormous, be felt for years to come, and will not be limited to the current 12 TPP countries, as it is a dangerous blueprint for future agreements."
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/article/statement-msf-conclusion-tpp-negotiations-atlanta
+ 5-- Reich, Stiglitz, Sanders, Warren, Chomsky,
and more vs. Most (R)'s and a President who proudly proclaims that his policies are "Republican From the '80s".
Who to believe?
It won't be long (end of December?) until those who dare oppose the TPP, TTIP and TISA are called racist Luddite anti-science anti-vaxxer leftist scum of the earth. While Congress mobilizes flush with Big Corporate Lobbying money- plenty to buy puff pieces about how these 1,000 page agreements are going to help poor people in Vietnam.
Ridiculed- just like some of us were that objected to being mandated to pay corporate insurance companies for the rest of our lives- even though Candidate Obama opposed mandatory insurance laws.
Get ready.
Live Event: Trans-Pacific Partnership Atlanta Ministerial Press Conference @ 9am EST 10/5/15
Source: United States Trade Representative (USTR)
Scheduled for Oct 5, 2015
The United States hosts a press conference with the twelve Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Ministers to discuss progress in the negotiations. To learn more about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, visit http://www.ustr.gov/
Read more: youtube /watch?v=u3KBpGE1VLs
USTR Youtube channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYyBlo9I-Lcz9NCuFO0iFMw
Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement reached, sources say
Source: CBC
An agreement has been reached on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, according to officials familiar with the lengthy negotiations, Reuters reported Monday.
The sweeping pact, which was finalized after marathon negotiating sessions in Atlanta, will cut trade barriers and set common standards for the 12 Pacific Rim countries involved. For a short time over the weekend, it looked as though the deal might have had to be abandoned as some of the trade ministers involved were preparing to head to an upcoming G20 meeting in Turkey.
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, who is scheduled to campaign in Richmond Hill, Ont., this morning, has delayed his trip to speak to media about the deal in Ottawa.
The deal was initially expected to be concluded by last Friday following two days of final negotiations. The haggling, however, ended up dragging on for three more days that included multiple all-night sessions...
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-election-2015-tpp-agreement-atlanta-1.3254569
Joseph E Stiglitz: The great trans-Pacific free-trade charade
Bangkok Post | 4 Oct 2015
As negotiators and ministers from the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries meet in Atlanta in an effort to finalise the details of the sweeping new Trans-Pacific Partnership, some sober analysis is warranted. The biggest regional trade and investment agreement in history is not what it seems.
You will hear much about the importance of the TPP for “free trade”.
The reality is that this is an agreement to manage its members’ trade and investment relations — and to do so on behalf of each country’s most powerful business lobbies.
Make no mistake: It is evident from the main outstanding issues, over which negotiators are still haggling, that the TPP is not about “free” trade...
...The TPP would manage trade in pharmaceuticals through a variety of seemingly arcane rule changes on issues such as “patent linkage”, “data exclusivity” and “biologics”. The upshot is that pharmaceutical companies would effectively be allowed to extend — sometimes almost indefinitely — their monopolies on patented medicines, keep cheaper generics off the market and block “biosimilar” competitors from introducing new medicines for years. That is how the TPP will manage trade for the pharmaceutical industry if the US gets its way...snip
MORE: http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/716932/the-great-trans-pacific-free-trade-charade
Joseph Eugene Stiglitz, ForMemRS,[2] FBA (born February 9, 1943) is an American economist and a professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001) and the John Bates Clark Medal (1979). He is a former senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank and is a former member and chairman of the (US president's) Council of Economic Advisers.[3][4] He is known for his critical view of the management of globalization, free-market economists (whom he calls "free market fundamentalists"
, and some international institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stiglitz
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