At this moment, I would like to add my disclaimer to all information posted by me from other resources re:TPP or any other information tracking Trade Policies negatively toward or against President Barack Obama. We all should know there is no TPP deal yet, so, be aware that we are hearing what Pundits and Politicians want us to hear. I do not support the negative behavior by progressives or those holding seats in either Chamber of Congress re:TPP who seem to believe they can talk down or disrespect the POTUS on any Trade Policy. I believe the Democratic Party and members of Congress in both Chambers should be a part of Trade Policy Solutions for the 21st Century! STOP the fear mongering and shoving the horrors of NAFTA at us like it’s what POTUS wants! This President has spoken on 21st Century living, telling voters that being out in front instead of letting others lead us is best ~~~ NAFTA was at least 30 years ago.
President Barack Obama meets with senior Defense Department, national security advisors and military leadership regarding the campaign against ISIL, at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., July 6, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
This week, the President signed a bipartisan trade deal, welcomed the President of Brazil to the White House–and showed her one of our national treasures–hosted 50 girls in green on the South Lawn for a campout to celebrate the great outdoors, answered questions about healthcare in Tennessee and online, and traveled to Wisconsin to announce new overtime protections for hard-working Americans. That’s June 26th to July 2nd or, “Amazing Grace.”
Demand a healthy, affordable, sustainable food system.
Nearly 20,000 people have already signed our petition urging President Obama to establish a National Food Policy that will ensure healthy, sustainably grown food for all. It’s not too late to add your name! Sign today.
“I read your call for an executive order to create a national food policy. I heartily agree that our food system is broken. But how would a national food policy be any different—or better—than the backward set of policies we have now?”—O. Day, Oakland, CA.As things stand today, the federal government already addresses a range of interconnected agricultural issues—diet-related disease, environmental degradation, farm subsidies, food safety, pesticides, immigration and farm labor, workplace safety and health—with a patchwork of regulations and standards across at least eight agencies. Not only is this approach uncoordinated, all too often agencies work at cross-purposes. READ MORE
Rubbish left at one of Mount Everest’s base camps.
Image: Mary Plage
By Brian Koerber2 days ago
Nepal has a stinky situation on its hands.Human waste left by climbers on Mount Everest has become a major problem, and is even threatening the spread of disease, Ang Tshering, the chief of Nepal’s mountaineering association, said, The Associated Press reports.Everest’s climbing season only lasts a measly two months, but nearly 700 climbers brave the world’s tallest peak and not all of them dispose of their trash, urine and feces properly.
None of Mount Everest’s four base camps, which are located at 17,380 feet, have proper facilities. The camps have tents, equipment, supplies and even cooks, but no toilets. The waste is collected in a drum in a toilet tent, where it is then carried to a lower altitude and disposed.
But not all climbers use the camps’ facilities to do their business.
“Climbers usually dig holes in the snow for their toilet use and leave the human waste there,” Tshering told The Associated Press, adding that waste around the base camps has been accumulating for years.
Away from the base camp, as climbers head toward the 29,035 foot summit, human waste is also an issue.
“It is a health hazard and the issue needs to be addressed,” said Dawa Steven Sherpa, who has been at the forefront of Everest cleanup expeditions since 2008. Some climbers carry disposable toilet bags with them to the higher camps that don’t have any facilities, Sherpa said.
The advance base camp for people climbing Mount Everest sits on the mountain’s north slope at about 21,000 feet.
Image: Dave Watson/Associated Press
Last year the Nepalese government imposed new rules, which requires climbers to return to the base camp with 17.6 pounds of waste. The weight is an estimate of the average amount of trash climbers accumulate en route.
The government does not currently have plans to deal with the human waste issue
The government does not currently have plans to deal with the human waste issue, however Puspa Raj Katuwal, the head of the government’s Mountaineering Department, said officials will strictly monitor it, adding that climbing teams must submit a $4,000 deposit that they will lose if regulations are broken.
Human fecal waste and trash isn’t the only thing left on the mountainside. According to an article released in 2012 by Smithsonian Magazine, more than 200 human bodies remain frozen on the mountain. Some of them are even used as landmarks.
More than 4,000 climbers have braved the mountain since its first expedition in 1953.
The Greeks have been badly served by their oligarchs who avoid responsibility and taxes and by their governments that have been corrupt and incompetent. But this catastrophe is Europe’s failure. It is a failure, as economists from Paul Krugman to Milton Friedman argue, of design: a monetary union without a political union to provide unified fiscal policies. And it is a failure of ideology: a rigid insistence on austerity policies even after their failure has been acknowledged.
Greece Goes Over The Edge
Greece misses IMF payment. W. Post:“The $1.67 billion missed payment to the IMF was unlikely by itself to spur immediate problems for the global economy, since it affected only a government-backed institution, not private investors. But if Greece is ultimately forced off the euro, other troubled euro-zone economies such as Portugal could be seen as more vulnerable. The exit could also weaken the goal of ever-closer European integration.”
Tsipras extends olive branch. NYT:“…Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Greece was ‘prepared to accept’ a deal set out publicly over the weekend by the creditors, with small modifications to some of the central points of contention on issues like pension cuts and tax increases. Mr. Tsipras linked Greece’s acceptance of the terms to a new package of bailout aid that would need to be negotiated.”
Poll shows Greeks will vote “No.” Bloomberg:“. The survey, in Efimerida ton Syntakton newspaper, showed 54 percent would vote ‘no’ — rejecting austerity in exchange for aid — and 33 percent would vote ‘yes’ — accepting austerity as the price of staying in the euro.”
Overtime rule “only scratches the surface of the bigger problem” says NYT:“… the affluent have captured a rising share in recent decades, leaving the wages of everyone else to stagnate … there are two main approaches that promise to increase middle-class wages considerably. The first would be to improve the bargaining power of workers … The second type of policy change would be to limit the incomes of those nearest the top of the ladder…”
Unskilled labor seeing wage gains. Bloomberg:“Average hourly earnings in industries paying less than $12.50 an hour a year ago rose 3.2 percent in the 12 months through April, about 1 percentage point more than wage growth for the job market as a whole … It is being driven in part by state governments raising their minimum wages, and also through voluntary decisions by companies to raise employees’ pay.”
Scott Walker’s union busting hasn’t helped workers. The Atlantic’s Donald Kettl:“The $3 billion he saved in his first term was certainly something. But that amounted to less than 1 percent of overall state and local government spending over that time period. Those savings came from the pockets of teachers and other public servants who are also taxpayers and whose compensation, by most measures, was not out of line. The law Walker signed didn’t contribute to the fiscal health of the state’s public pension fund.”
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