Today is the day that the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be signed, but it won’t become law until Congress approves it, which means there is still time to stop it. The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is the largest trade agreement since the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the United States has been engaged in discussion with eight Pacific nations to come to an agreement on the terms of the TPP. It is a free trade contract that would, ostensibly, allow for a more open system of exchange between the United States and less developed nations, and it has been wrapped in secrecy since discussions began within the Bush administration in 2005. This is one of many examples of global economic/political partnerships and deals that are happening underneath public radar.

The benefits of writing extend beyond the way it creatively engages the intellect. Writing can be an emotionally rewarding way of letting go of pent up stress and sorrow. It’s good to control and override stressful emotional impulses but it serves no benefit if we keep them inside of us.  Exercise or talking to loved ones about how you feel can help in this regard, but you may find yourself in a situation where you might not have a voice to hear you or you prefer to keep how you feel to yourself but still need a way to release your emotions. Writing in this case can be very helpful.

“The truth is, there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al-Qaeda, and any informed intelligence officer knows this. But, there is a propaganda campaign to make the public believe in the presence of an intensified entity representing the ‘devil’ only in order to drive TV watchers to accept a unified international leadership for a war against terrorism. The country behind this propaganda is the United States.” – Former British Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook

A recent report issued by human rights organization Amnesty International exposes a large group of underage workers in the African cobalt mining sector.

In today’s tech-heavy world, the demand for key component minerals has been climbing rapidly. These precious minerals are commonly mined in developing countries, where multi-national corporations such as Apple and Samsung employ the locals for “economical” wages. What these mega-companies rarely speak about and what consumers usually do not see or hear about, however, are the deplorable working conditions and shocking number of underage children working within the mining industry.

by Rajie Kabli, Collective Evolution

Alex Repetski is your average dad, but to his three year old daughter, Gwenevere, he could be a hero. He’s spent the last 18 months and more than 800 hours reading through studies and medical journals, researching CBD and its healing properties, to help her with the tonic, myoclonic, and clinical seizures she was having — sometimes up to 50 a day. She was diagnosed with epilepsy and, as her EEGs revealed, was experiencing constant subclinical seizure activity throughout the day. It may not have looked like she was having a seizure from the outside, but at the brain level there were neurons firing constantly, and such activity can produce significant brain damage.