Derailing Fast Track for the Trans-Pacific Partnership has become a high-stakes game of whack-a-mole

Friend,

Derailing Fast Track for the Trans-Pacific Partnership has become a high-stakes game of whack-a-mole. A Fast Track vote could pop up again — this time in the Senate — as soon as Tuesday.

On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives — led by House Speaker John Boehner and his corporate cronies — used another procedural gimmick to punt Fast Track back to the Senate. Our concerns that more-of-the-same trade policy would offshore more jobs and push down our wages remain 100 percent unaddressed.

How do we demolish Fast Track? Focus all we’ve got on the U.S. Senate!

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is planning another Senate Fast Track vote for as early as next Tuesday. Our window is short. We must act NOW.

Email your senators right now.

It’s hard to imagine, but the Fast Track bill that the House bounced back to the Senate is even worse than it started. To get the Republican votes to squeak it through the House, Boehner and Rep. Paul Ryan added a ban on climate negotiations and gutted the ban on Fast Track for countries that ignore horrific human trafficking problems, like Malaysia. Modest language against currency cheating was dropped.

It is past time for the United States to forge a new path on trade that reflects our democratic values, not the interests of multinational corporations.

McConnell and Boehner are telling Senate Democrats to trust them and okay the latest Fast Track bill. And, then sometime later, they promise to pass legislation to help American workers who lose their jobs because of the unfair trade deals Fast Track would enable.

Seriously. The McConnell-Boehner plan is to put the Trans-Pacific Partnership on the Fast Track and never look back. But the only way they can do that is if the 12 Democratic senators who supported moving the previous Fast Track package go along with their ploy — or they get some new senators to take the bait.

Do you trust Mitch McConnell, John Boehner and Paul Ryan to come up with a plan that will benefit American workers and grow the middle class? I don’t either.

With the next vote on Fast Track coming as soon as Tuesday, there is no time to spare. Write your senators today!

Thanks for all you do.

In solidarity,

Melanie Foley
Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch

P.S. Make sure to check our website, www.citizen.org/trade, for the latest developments. A lot will be happening in the next couple of days.

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

We expect a Senate vote early next week.

Dear Friend, Fast track passed the House. Let's stop it in the Senate! Call 1-877-415-8656 now. Sample script: Hi, my name is John and I'm calling from Poway. I'd like to leave a message for my senator. I'm concerned about the lack of strong environmental and worker protections in the new fast track bill. I'd like my senator to vote NO on fast track. Thank you. First, I want thank you for being one of our most committed supporters. Here's the latest on fast track: By just 10 votes, Speaker Boehner was successful yesterday in pushing through a last-ditch attempt to salvage the fast track bill. Fast track for toxic trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership has now passed through the U.S. House. It's a setback, but this is far from over. To get the bill passed, Boehner and Co. added new anti-climate language to appease climate deniers and separated fast track legislation from a companion bill to help workers who lose jobs from bad trade deals. This means the new, even more toxic, stand-alone fast track bill must go back to the U.S. Senate for approval. We expect a Senate vote early next week. Call 1-877-415-8656 now and leave a message asking your senator to vote NO on fast track! When calling, you'll hear a short message before being connected with the office of your senator that most needs to hear from you today. We can still stop this. With continued grassroots pressure and the appalling schemes used to pass the bill through the House, even past fast track supporters are coming around. "I do not support what's coming over from the House," said one senator who previously voted for the Senate version. With an uncertain future in the Senate, we can't let up now! You helped put environmental issues are at the center of the debate over fast-tracking toxic trade deals like the TPP and it's clear we're having an impact. Concerns about the climate and environmental impacts of trade is one of the key factors why this fast track bill is faltering. Call 1-877-415-8656 now and tell your senator to vote NO on fast track! Sincerely, Ilana Solomon Sierra Club P.S. After you make a call, be sure to forward this alert to your friends and colleagues!

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

Give in on Net Neutrality or we'll shut down the government.

Friend — Comcast's allies in Congress are threatening to shut down the federal government to block Net Neutrality. Will you chip in $5 to help fight back? I'll chip in $5 Comcast's war on Net Neutrality just went nuclear. A key committee in Congress voted yesterday to attach a provision blocking Net Neutrality to a must-pass spending bill that funds the federal government.1 Their implicit threat: Give in on Net Neutrality or we'll shut down the government. This could take the fight for Net Neutrality to a whole new level.Will you chip in $5 to make sure we have the resources to win? Yes, I'll chip in $5 to help save Net Neutrality. Yesterday's committee vote was the first step on the path to shutting down the government to block Net Neutrality—and we need to hold every member of Congress who voted against Net Neutrally accountable. If we can organize a backlash that's loud and clear, we can show Comcast's friends in Congress that they're not going to get away with this. And we're already on our way. As Net Neutrality champ Rep. Jose Serrano said before yesterday's big vote, "We have received more phone calls on this issue than any other issue in a long, long time. And I don't understand why some people can't understand that net neutrality is here, it is here to stay and it is what the American people want." Going forward, we're going to keep flooding Congress with phone calls and making sure that voters in their districts know which representatives are standing with Comcast against the free and open Internet. We also need President Obama to stand strong. We know he was willing to go through a government shutdown to defend Obamacare. Will he fight that hard for Net Neutrality? Because that's what it might take. We didn't know how far Comcast's friends in Congress would be willing to go to block Net Neutrality. Now we have our answer—and it's up to us to show we're up to the challenge. Click here to chip in $5 and help defend Net Neutrality. Thanks for standing with us. —David, Daniel, Kurt, Mark, Sara, and the rest of the Demand Progress team I'll chip in $5 Source: 1. Sneak Attack on Net Neutrality Picks Up Steam in the House, Free Press, June 17, 2015 Watchdog.net 30 Ritchie Ave Silver Spring, MD 20910

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

Join the call for climate action

Dear friends,

This morning Pope Francis released an unprecedented call to action on climate change, in a letter to 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide.

That's right: one the world's most prominent moral voices just cast climate action as a moral imperative. Whether or not you're Catholic, this is huge news, and you can help make sure it sends ripples near and far: 

Will you call on faith leaders in your community to join the call for climate action?

The Vatican’s stance couldn’t be clearer: climate change impacts us all, especially the poor. To prevent its catastrophic consequences we need an ethical and economic shift, a revolution in hearts and minds. Pope Francis’s encyclical letter puts the link between climate change and human activity center stage at a crucial moment for the climate movement:

"Humanity is called to create awareness of the need to change styles of life, production and consumption, to combat this warming or, at least, the human causes that produce or accentuate it.”

With this extraordinary call to safeguard the earth and humankind’s common good, it’s time for faith leaders across the planet to add their voices to the chorus calling for climate action.

Click here to learn more about Pope Francis's climate encyclical and ask the faith leaders in your community to join the call for climate action.

Pope Francis has now joined a chorus of faith groups, businesses, and government leaders who recognize that climate change is a massive threat to our planet and its people. Let's make sure this moral shift happens from the ground up -- in every city, town, and community.

This encyclical is an historic, faith-led call to action for millions to stand together against climate change, a deeply moral issue we simply can’t ignore. The more voices in the chorus, the stronger the signal we’ll send to government leaders meeting in Paris later this year to negotiate a climate agreement.

We need the voices of faith and other leaders in your community. We need your voice.

Onwards,

Yossi

P.S. This morning's news about the Pope's groundbreaking encyclical was tempered by grief for many of us. Even as we are celebrating good news from Rome, we are shocked and saddened to hear of a terrible hate crime perpetrated against an African American faith community in Charleston, South Carolina. As we think about how climate change affects the world's most vulnerable, let's do just that: let's remember that we're fighting for those communities near and far that suffer from oppression and horrible violence. Fundamentally, the fight for a more sustainable world is a fight for a more just world. I think Pope Francis would agree.

---

350.org is building a global climate movement. Become a sustaining donor to keep this movement strong and growing.

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

Bernie Sanders for President?

Bernie Sanders for President? Steve Hochstadt: You might think that Sanders would try to run away from the socialist label, but that would mistake two things: Sanders’ honesty and the real nature of American democratic socialism. READ MORE shared from

THURSDAY, 18 JUNE 2015 Jeb and The Donald Enter GOP Debate: But If They All Agree, What Are They "Debating?" Joseph Palermo: For example, all of them (including Bush) agree on handing over the largest share possible of the country’s resources and public assets to private corporations and banks. READ MORE Friend on Facebook Follow on Twitter Forward to a Friend Rachel Dolezal Acts Like a Child Abuse Victim Tina Dupuy: While the national discourse instantly teeheed and tsk tsked at a white woman identifying herself as black, immediately branding her as a freak, a fraud and a phony—we all missed the real story. READ HERE Bernie Sanders for President? Steve Hochstadt: You might think that Sanders would try to run away from the socialist label, but that would mistake two things: Sanders’ honesty and the real nature of American democratic socialism. READ MORE Climate Change/ Chaos/ Denial Larry Wines: In science, the burden of proof is always on whomever suggests a change in conventional wisdom, or the absence of wisdom that accompanies entrenched assumptions. READ MORE Obama Versus Hersh: Who's Telling The Truth? Sherwood Ross: If the Hersh account is accurate, and bin Laden was unarmed, it begs the larger question of why the Pentagon ordered an elite unit to assault his compound with guns blazing when he could have been taken prisoner? READ HERE

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

Gazprom, Shell agree to expand Sakhalin-2 project

Gazprom, Shell agree to expand Sakhalin-2 project

Jun 18th, 2015

by John Donovan. 

No comments yet

Gazprom, Shell agree to expand Sakhalin-2 project

Thu Jun 18, 2015

(Reuters) – Russian gas producer Gazprom and Royal Dutch Shell have signed an agreement to expand the Sakhalin-2 LNG project, Gazprom said in a statement on Thursday.

The Sakhalin-2 project, Russia’s sole LNG plant, has a current annual capacity of around 10 million tonnes. The third line would add another 5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year.

Officials from both companies signed the agreement at an economic forum in Russia’s second city of St Petersburg on Thursday, but gave no specific timing.

read more

Share this:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Email
• Print

Like this:

Loading...

Posted in: Gas, Gazprom, LNG, Reuters, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Russia, Sakhalin II.
Tagged: Gas · Gazprom · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Russia · Shell

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

Can You Really – Really – Be Sure Of Shell?

Can You Really – Really – Be Sure Of Shell?

Jun 18th, 2015

by John Donovan. 

No comments yet

By Owain Bennallack – Thursday, 18 June, 2015

Making glib comments about the flaws of tracker funds – or even more so the foolishness of those who invest in them – is a mug’s game. 

The evidence shows that over the long term, tracker funds beat most actively managed ones, not least because of the far higher costs of keeping a fund manager in Ferraris, versus plugging an old PC into the mains and dusting it now and then. 

Okay, I exaggerate… but only a little. 

However strange it may seem, warts-and-all tracker funds holding a seemingly sub-optimal mix of shares tend to beat the majority of carefully chosen portfolios – even though a fund manager is free to avoid the basket cases and double-down on the good companies that seem cheap. 

read more

Share this:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Email
• Print

Like this:

Loading...

Posted in: Ben van Beurden, BG Group, Gas, Oil Company Profits, Oil Prices, Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
Tagged: Ben van Beurden · BG Group · Oil Prices · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell · The Motley Fool

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

Greenpeace protesters confront Shell Arctic drilling rig off B.C. coast

Greenpeace protesters confront Shell Arctic drilling rig off B.C. coast

Jun 18th, 2015 

by John Donovan. 

No comments yet

Greenpeace protesters confront Shell Arctic drilling rig off B.C. coast

Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig left Seattle Monday en route to offshore oil drilling in Alaska

Protests against Royal Dutch Shell’s Arctic drilling program continued Wednesday, with Greenpeace activists confronting the drilling rig off the coast of B.C. on its trip north from Seattle, Wash.

First Nations activist Audrey Siegl, who lives in Vancouver, wore traditional Musqueam regalia while drumming in front of the 90-metre tall rig, according to photos and video provided by Greenpeace.

The Greenpeace video also showed swimmers in wetsuits, holding a protest sign that said “People vs. Oil,” appearing close to the massive rig as it kept plowing through water about 40 nautical miles west of Vancouver Island.

read more

Share this:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Email
• Print

Like this:

Loading...

Posted in: Alaska, Arctic, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, Environment, Greenpeace, Oil, Oil Spill, Pollution, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell, United States.
Tagged: Alaska · Arctic Ocean · Beaufort Sea · Chukchi Sea · Environment · Oil · Royal Dutch Shell Plc

The TRUTH will set you FREE.