After a weekend of protest and controversy, it’s clear that the TransPacific Partnership, the secretive and far-reaching international trade deal negotiated in Addison, Texas is under fire. The more sunshine we let in, the less attractive this deal looks to world leaders.

From a direct action perspective, the highlight of the week was the major disruption caused by Yes Lab pranksters with support from Occupy Dallas. Their efforts, which included replacing the toilet paper in the hotel with special ‘TPP’ message paper, culminated in a major infiltration and the presentation of a fake “Corporate Power Tool” award to US Trade Representative Ron Kirk.

Fatster continues news roundups, with links to stories about London whale, German austerity, Spain’s Indignados, Israel, Occupy, Yglesias, Rand Paul, Scott Walker, fracking, whooping cough, surfer’s wave, Agenda 21, Agent Orange, Accretive Health, Guttmacher, Institute, and much more.

Today I join Occupy Austin and members of Occupy San Antonio (in its newest incarnation as Occupy Bexar) travel to Addison, Texas with a wide coalition of unions and activist organizations at the Out of the Shadows Rally and March. This protest is a demand for transparency and accountability in the negotiations of the TransPacific Partnership.

Member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will be sending heads of state and leaders in their governments to Chicago in about a week. They will be coming to Chicago for a NATO summit on May 20-21. It will be the first NATO summit to be hosted in an American city other than Washington, DC, and those in attendance are expected to discuss Afghanistan along with missile defense plans.

At a press conference at Occupy Chicago’s headquarters, representatives from various groups outlined what they plan to do during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Chicago on May 20-21. They also addressed how Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the city, along with the Secret Service, have not fully respected the First Amendment rights of people planning demonstrations.

t’s a rainy day in Austin, but we’re still planning to stage a small action for the executive nondiscrimination order, and our livestreamer promised to attend. The action is due to start at 4:30pm Central (5:30pm Eastern). Here you’ll find the Occupy Austin stream which we’ll be using today.

Heads of states and heads of governments from the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are scheduled to be in Chicago for a major summit. The summit is the first NATO summit to be hosted in an American city other than Washington, DC. It has already received attention because “dignitaries” attending will be deliberating over what to do next to effectively wind down the war in Afghanistan, which will likely involve some kind of long term troop occupation even if some US and coalition forces are withdrawn.

Protesters in Chicago have spent many months planning demonstrations and events to call attention to what they call the “war and poverty agenda” of NATO.

Gil Scott Heron said it best; we cannot rely on so called journalists in the Mainstream Media to share our stories. Fortunately we don’t have to rely on the Media, because blogging and social media have given the individual the power to create his/her own media. Blogging allows for the instant publication of your story according to you, and with social media you can spread that information to millions of people instantaneously. Tonight’s panel can help you do that. Sign up here.

Twitter has moved to quash a court order requiring the company to hand over data on one of its users. The user, Malcolm Harris, an Occupy Wall Street protester who is being prosecuted in New York for disorderly conduct, has been battling a government subpoena for his communications, even though a court held he had no standing to protect his own privacy rights.

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current issues that may be of interest.