Category Archives: News

CAFTA Questioned at House Subcommittee Hearing

Posted on April 29, 2005 by | Comments Off

Yesterday’s House Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection hearing on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) featured some the most intense opposition to CAFTA expressed in any of the hearings thus far on CAFTA. While previous hearings in the House and Senate have featured a fair number of legislators voicing opposition to CAFTA, opposition at Thursday’s hearing was more intense with members of the Committee arguing that it is time to stop “failed experiments” with trade agreements like NAFTA and the similarly written CAFTA. Committee members focused many of their questions on the failed promises of NAFTA and CAFTA’s failure to incorporate strong labor and environmental standards. Of course, there were Committee members who expressed unbridled support for free trade, but their questions were limited.

The hearing, featuring two panels and a session with Assistant US Trade Representative for the Americas Regina K. Vargo, was considerably more balanced than last week’s hearing in the House Ways and Means Committee, which was heavily stacked with proponents of CAFTA. Whereas that hearing featured 11 panelists with eight in favor of CAFTA, yesterday’s hearing had an even balance at four and four, preceded by testimony from Assistant US Trade Representative Regina K. Vargo. Representatives from the Emergency Committee for American Trade, the Chambers of Commerce of Latin America, and the George Mason University Department of Economics, and the National Association of Manufacturers spoke in favor of the agreement while the folks opposed to the agreement were from the AFL-CIO, American Sugar Alliance, Friends of the Earth, and the US Business and Industry Council.

A transcript of the hearing is available online and regular updates on CAFTA are posted on the Stop CAFTA Campaign site maintained by Media Mouse.

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“Scare hell out of the American people”: a Tribute to Arthur Vandenberg

Posted on April 28, 2005 by | Comments Off

The front page of the Grand Rapids Press features an article about a new statue downtown honoring Arthur Vandenberg. Vandenberg, largely forgotten amongst the citizenry of Grand Rapids, was a Grand Rapids native and U.S. Senator during the 1930′s and 40′s. The GR Press article describes many of Vandenberg’s accomplishments, focusing particularly on his role in the creation of the United Nations. Surprisingly, (or perhaps not) one of Vandenberg’s most famous quotes was nowhere to be found in the article. Vandenberg was instrumental in formulating post World War II policy, particularly the implementation of the Cold War. In 1947, while the Truman administration was considering how to sell to the American public a policy of a permanent wartime economy coupled with aggressive interventions abroad. Senator Vandenberg told the President >”scare hell out of the American people.” This statement, in a nutshell, describes the general strategy that the government has used to justify U.S. militarism and imperialism over the last sixty years. Whether it be wildly inflated claims as to Soviet Military power, hysteria over communists taking over Grenada, or Saddam Hussein’s imaginary WMD’s, the U.S. government, regardless of whatever party happens to be in power at the time, has continuously used the specter of a foreign boogeyman to justify huge subsidies to corporate giants in the name of “defense” spending and military interventions to protect corporate profits.

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City of Grand Rapids Announces Wireless Internet Test Sites

Posted on April 28, 2005 by | Comments Off

The City of Grand Rapids, who has been working on plans for the development of a city-wide wireless internet network, has announced plans for the unveiling of demonstration networks this June. The demonstration networks will all run for eight weeks and will be free to the public in a variety of neighborhoods. The first test phase will go live on June 1st and will include wireless networks covering the areas around Calder Plaza and City Hall, the Police Department, Van Andel Research Institute, and Kent County’s Fuller campus. The second test phase will take place at Creston High School, the Leonard and Covell Fire Station, the Wealthy Theatre, Walker City Hall, and an undetermined location in Kentwood and will go live on July 1st.

In addition to the city’s plans for a wireless network, there are a number of other free wireless networks around Grand Rapids. A list of wireless networks is maintained at grwifit.net.

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Humane Society Supporting CAFTA

Posted on April 28, 2005 by | Comments Off

The Humane Society, who has a history of working in solidarity with organizations opposing neo-liberal trade agreements, is supporting CAFTA. At a Senate Finance Committee Hearing on April 13, the Humane Society delivered testimony supporting CAFTA and arguing that the trade agreement will help improve the environment in Central America.

A group of Representatives opposed to CAFTA are charging that the group was persuaded to support the agreement after receiving a $500,000 grant in October 2003 from the US Trade Representative’s office for agricultural and environmental work in Central America. The group points out that prior to receiving the grant, the Humane Society “was a strong opponent of all major trade legislation over the past decade,” including NAFTA. In the letter the group will also ask that the Humane Society be investigated by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) as some of the grant money was believed to have been used for lobbying in favor of CAFTA.

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CAFTA Action Caucus Senator Comes out in Support of CAFTA

Posted on April 27, 2005 by | Comments Off

Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota, a Republican who joined the CAFTA Action Caucus, a caucus opposed to the Central American Free Trade Agreement, has come under fire recently as result of comments indicating that he supports CAFTA. The Senator has been targeted by the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition who last week sent hundreds of people to protest outside of Coleman’s office in St. Paul after the Senator said that he wants to see the agreement passed. While Coleman describes himself as a “pro-trade guy” who “wants to see CAFTA passed” his position is at odds fair trade activists and sugar-beet growers who are urging him to vote against CAFTA.

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Terror Attacks Tripled in 2004

Posted on April 27, 2005 by | Comments Off

The number of terrorist attacks around the world tripled in 2004, calling into question the Bush administration’s claims that the United States is winning the so-called War on Terror. The new numbers, compiled by the National Counterterrorism Center, reveal that there were around 650 “significant” terrorist attacks in 2004, a substantial increase over the 175 reported in 2003. “Significant” terrorist attacks are defined as those that kill or seriously injure someone, cause more than $10,000 in damage or attempt to do either. Of the 650 attacks, 300 were related to ongoing tension between India and Pakistan.

As Media Mouse reported in last week’s Iraq Watch, the Bush administration announced last week that they would no longer be including the numbers in its annual terrorism report. Some have speculated that the numbers are being kept out of the annual terrorism report because they contradict administration claims about the efficacy of Bush’s “War on Terror.” Last year’s State Department report on terrorism contained falsified numbers claiming that terrorism was at a 34-year low and later had to be retracted when it was revealed publicly that terrorist attacks were at a 20-year high of 175.

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Michigan IMC Site Hacked

Posted on April 27, 2005 by | Comments Off

The Michigan Indepenent Media Center web site has been hacked. According to a message posted on the defaced web site, a group calling itself “g00ns” hacked the web site in response to the Michigan IMC’s alleged promotion of left-leaning ideology. As would be expected, the statement, which appears to have been drafted by someone with minimal grammatical and analytical skills, is riddled with inconsistencies:

You have lied to the American People over and over again. You attended The Fifth Hope and spread your wicked ideology there. Expect more of this. American Imperialism is non-existent. Our soldiers are dying over sees to give men, women, and children a taste of freedom and you call them imperialists. You are nothing but pigs. You are not against Bush you are against Republicans, you are against anyone who has a different opinion and way of thinking than you. Your box got rooted for lying to the American people.

A screenshot of the defaced site is available here.

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Vigilante Border Patrols in Michigan?

Posted on April 27, 2005 by | Comments Off

The “Minutemen” project has announced plans to expand their “border patrols” to Michigan. Saying that they are going to continue their patrols indefinitely, the Minutemen have declared their intention to patrol the Canadian border in Vermont, Michigan, Idaho, and North Dakota. Considering that Michigan has only bridge/tunnel connections to Canada that already are monitored (Detroit, Port Huron, Sault Ste. Marie, etc.) the Minutemen plans to engage in border patrols seem rather silly. More threatening is the other part of the Minute Men agenda, which is “to launch protests of businesses with a track record of hiring undocumented immigrants, to bring attention to the lack of enforcement in the nation’s interior.” It is not hard to imagine that this could turn into vigilante groups taking immigration enforcement into their own hands. Considering the relatively large population in Michigan of “Michigan Militia” types and of undocumented workers, the potential for serious civil rights violations exists. Fortunately, the Minutemen movement so far appears to be more media hype than a viable, long term organization.

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Hope College Professor Forced to Leave for Being “Too Liberal”

Posted on April 26, 2005 by | Comments Off

According to mainstream media students at Hope College in Holland MI are planning to protest the resignation of religion professor Rev. Miguel de la Torre. The students allege that de la Torre was forced out of Hope College because his socially liberal writings had alienated certain influential conservative donors. De la Torre was told by college officials said he wasn’t “a good fit” at Hope. In particular de la Torre noted that his columns which ran in the Holland Sentinal were a source of tension with the administration. In particular a column in which de la Torre criticized Dr. James Dobson and Focus on the Family and also a letter to the paper in which de la Torre criticized some Christian schools for a lack of racial diviersity. De La Torre’s recent books also garnered criticism from Hope administrators, particularly his writings on Liberation Theology and his assertion that homosexuality is not a sin according to Christian scriptures. De la Torre plans to accept a position at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. Reflecting on the controversy, de la Torre said “I am, believe it or not, theologically conservative. Because I take the Bible literally, I have to take a liberal stances on social issues.”

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Facts and Myths about CAFTA Factsheet

Posted on April 26, 2005 by | Comments Off

An excellent new factsheet on the Facts and Myths about CAFTA has been created by Vince McElhinny. The factsheet adresses the many myths touted by politicians when supporting CAFTA–that it will benefit the US economy and US citizens, that it will benefit the people of Central America and their econmies, that it is a good deal for farmers, that it will protect US textile and apparel producers from Asian imports, that environmental protections are extensive, and more. The factsheet, while good for outreach and popular education, should probably be forwarded onto politicians, who like our own Representative Vern Ehlers, believe that NAFTA-style trade agreements are good for the country.

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