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As Trans-Pacific Partnership Falters, Opponents Go After Fence-Sitting Pols

Source: Yes Magazine

A trade deal likely to harm environmental and labor protections may be losing momentum. But it’s not dead yet.

Eric Ross spent much of the morning on Friday, January 31 standing on an overpass above Interstate 90 in Bellevue, Wash., holding a 30-foot-wide banner that read: “Stop Reichert’s NAFTA. Flush the TPP. Vote No on Fast Track.”

The “Reichert” called out in Ross’ sign is Congressman Dave Reichert, R-Wash., and at issue is his active support of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a sprawling deal that would change the way international trade is conducted in 12 countries around the Pacific Rim, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Vietnam, Peru, Australia, and Japan. read more

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Voices from Florida’s Occupied Capitol

Source: Yes Magazine

Daniel Agnew, Melanie Andrade, and Jabari Mickles are members of a group that occupied Florida’s capitol building after the Zimmerman acquittal.

On the night of Monday, July 15, members of a social justice group called Dream Defenders spent their first night on the hard marble floors of the state capitol building in Tallahassee, Fla. Last night, they spent their tenth night there. In the interviews that follow, three of them explain the most recent developments, their reasons for taking action, and what they hope to change. read more