Owner: The Cyberbeggar Times URL:http://youandicandoit.blogspot.com Join Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2007 14:55:01 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: From Riches to Rags in this Globalized Economy. Site statistics:Click here
The Spread of 'Free Trade' 2007-06-19 09:51:00 Oxfam International has a great article on ‘free trade’ entitled ‘Signing Away The Future: How Trade
and Investment Agreements Between Rich and Poor Countries Undermine Development. Here is but a sampling of the summary but I encourage you to read the whole piece."Rich countries are using these bilateral and regional ‘free trade agreements’ (FTAs) and investment treaties to win concessions that they are unable to obtain at the World Trade Organization (WTO), where developing countries can band together and hold out for more favourable rules. The USA has called its approach ‘competitive liberalization’, and the EU declared its intention to use bilateral deals as ‘stepping stones to future multilateral agreements’. The EU argues that this new generation of bilateral and regional agreements is vital in order for developing countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific to maintain their access to European markets in a form that is compatible with WTO rules. It has al Read more:Spread
Free Trade and Immigration 2007-06-18 23:12:00 Immigration is a big topic these days. On the conservative side of the political spectrum, the tone is often fierce and vile against immigrants. The cries of 'they are stealing our jobs' and 'go home' are heard over and over again. To me this is a bit ironic since most of the politicians that these same people support have contributed to the current state of immigration today. How, you say? Easy- economic liberalization and free trade.In the days before NAFTA, Mexico was primarily a corporatist state under the leadership of the PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucional) which ruled from 1929-2000. State owned monopolies controlled energy, utilities and basic infrastructure and Mexico had stringent controls in regards to foreign capitol. This changed beginning in 1984 when the IMF required certain conditions be met when granting Mexico a loan. Such things as financial liberalization, the reduction of trade barriers and budgetary restraints were mandated. During these years, the val Read more:Trade
The Secret 2007-06-18 20:10:00 Have you seen the new DVD The Secret? I watched it the other day and was really taken in by its message. The Secret focuses on attracting more money, better health, and relationships. As is stated. 'thoughts become things'. It's a really interesting look at some of the dynamic forces in life and the way that they interact with your goals and desires. Have you seen it? What are your thoughts?
SICKO- An Encore 2007-06-18 20:09:00 The sad state of affairs in the health care system. Read more:Encore
America's Globalized Economy 2007-06-17 01:01:00 I will preface this post with a quote by Ross Perot back in 1993 during a debate with Al Gore, when he stated that America
was "in a race to the bottom". Looking back, it is remarkable just how true his statement has become.The pundits today talk about the economy in mostly glowing terms. The economy is strong, inflation is low, housing will bounce back in some future date which is always revised, unemployment is low, etc. Never reality, just the rosy projections that have no base in the economic world we actually live in.The economy of the United States is, in fact, becoming more and more globalized each year. This, in turn, leads to the globalization of assets and wealth. As the value of labor decreases due to competition with cheap foreign labor, the assets held by American workers falls in direct relation to their declining wage. Let's study this for a moment.Greg, a manufacturing employee had a job paying $55.000 but his company decided to outsource and he was laid off. He was t
Saturday Blog Roll 2007-06-16 14:21:00 Saturday Blog Roll is a chance to promote your own blog, visit other blogs that you may find interesting and make new friends along the way. Simply post a comment with a description of your blog along with the link inside the comments section. Read more:Saturday
Pick Him- He's A Lobbyist! 2007-06-13 22:37:00 Ed Gillespie was named as the new White House counselor today to replace Dan Bartlett. Gillespie is a partner in Quinn Gillespie & Associates LLC, a lobbying firm, whose clients have many issues currently before the government. I'm sure that good ol' Ed is going to simply forget about his former associates and clients and tend to the needs of the average citizen now. Let's take a look at some of Ed's clients to see if there could be any conflicts of interest.Qualcomm Inc., which last week said it would seek help from a federal court and President Bush to overturn a ban on U.S. imports of new cell phones made with company's semiconductors. The U.S. International Trade Commission imposed the ban because the Qualcomm chips violated a patent held by Broadcom Corp. The ban is also a blow to service providers, including AT&T Inc. -- another Quinn Gillespie client -- which relies on Qualcomm's technology for the phones it sells.Amgen Inc. and Genentech, biotechnology drug makers tha Read more:Lobbyist
State of the Media- Part 4 2007-06-12 23:47:00 Does it ever end? Everyday it seems that our 'prestigious' media figures find some way to create a new low in journalism. The latest one to do so is the so-called journalist Bill O'Reilly.The backdrop to this story begins with a poll done by the Project for Excellence in Journalism. When studying the coverage of the Iraq War, they found that Fox 'News' ranked far behind both CNN and MSNBC in coverage in the first quarter of this year. Ironic considering that this is the same network that provided non-stop wall to wall coverage of this back in 2003. Now that the war is not so popular, well...silence. In fact, Fox 'News' gave Anna Nicole Smith twice the coverage that Iraq received. Try explaining that to one of the soldiers sweating it out today.Anyways, back to the story. On his radio program, Bill O'Reilly had the usual tired excuses ready. He denounced what he called the Project for Excellence in Left Wing Journalism and called their study nothing more than an attempt to emba Read more:State
The State of the Media 2007-06-10 11:08:00 As I was surfing around the net, I came across a terrific post by Digby that got me to thinking about this whole Paris Hilton media frenzy today. We've all seen it-- Is she eating? Is she sleeping? What is her mental state?...Blah.Blah.Blah. This coverage is in the forefront of our current news cycle while other 'less important' issues such as Afghanistan (remember that one?), Iraq (yes, it's still going on) and the loss of civil liberties are relegated to page A-35 in your local newspaper. It is amazing to me that Americans are so easily manipulated to care about an issue that literally means nothing in the course of their daily lives. I think the following sums this issue up quite well...It is simply no longer possible to ignore the strangeness of our public discourse. I know I'm not alone in feeling that something has gone fundamentally wrong. In 2001, I had hopes it was an aberration when polls showed that three-quarters of Americans believed that Saddam Hussein was responsibl Read more:State
Free Trade and Child Labor 2007-06-09 23:06:00 On Bush's recent journey to Latin America, he stopped in Guatemala to remark on the great benefits that 'free trade' offered saying that ‘free trade’ can spread opportunity, provide jobs, and help lift people out of poverty. The reality is that in many countries in which these agreements have been signed, the use of child labor and the lack of worker protections are the norm. These practices have actually increased in the race to become more 'competitive' and attractive to giant multinational corporations. Let's explore this issue a little further by looking at Guatemala, where child labor is common, but is certainly not the only country where it is practiced.Guatemala, a signator of CAFTA (Central American Free Trade
Agreement), actively employs child labor in its factories. In fact, very close to where Bush made his remarks about free trade stood a food processing plant that employed children as young as 13 that worked in miserable conditions. These 'factories' have fine
The Story of Sonia 2007-06-09 23:04:00 A 15 year old worker in a food processing plant in Guatemala. Read more:Sonia
Saturday Blog Roll 2007-06-09 09:56:00 Saturday Blog Roll is a chance to promote your own blog, visit other blogs that you may find interesting and make new friends along the way. Simply post a comment with a description of your blog along with the link inside the comments section. Read more:Saturday
Diplomatic Relations- Highest Bidder Wins! 2007-06-08 23:48:00 Chalk one up for China this week. They have managed to convince the neutral country of Costa Rica to break diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan) after more than six decades and establish formal relations with them. As Taiwanese Foreign Minister James Huang said Thursday, China had offered Costa Rica "an astronomical figure" to break off relations with Taiwan. This move by Costa Rica is expected to have a sort of domino effect with countries such as Nicaragua, Panama and Paraguay possibly following suit. Due to the fact that Taiwan only has formal relations with 24 countries and many of these in Latin America, these moves could diminish the international standing of Taiwan.The Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias, made very blunt statements this week in announcing his decision to formally end his country's ties to Taiwan. He made it known that the move was dictated by his desire to improve the economy of Costa Rica but did not respond to th Read more:Relations
G8- Final Thoughts 2007-06-08 23:44:00 How do you feel about the G8 Summit that just wrapped up? I personally felt that about the only thing accomplished was that they agreed to agree to talk about many important issues at a later date (same old song and dance). What are your thoughts? Read more:Final
G8 and the Environment 2007-06-08 08:57:00 Greenpeace took their protest to the seas and one of their boats was literally run over by the German police. Take a look. Read more:Environment
Those Wayback Comments 2007-06-07 22:43:00 "That's a source that didn't even exist 10 years ago," Cheney told an audience in Cincinnati on Thursday. "Four hundred thousand people make some money trading on eBay."Dick Cheney, 2004 when asked about the stagnant economy.How's the economy where you are? Read more:Comments
Putin Calls Bush's Hand 2007-06-07 22:35:00 Vladimir Putin
- 1George W. Bush- 0In a surprise move today, Vladimir Putin responded to Bush's call for a missile defense system in Europe stating that it not be located in the Czech Republic or Poland, as Bush proposed, but in Azerbaijan using existing Russian radar bases. Oh the irony of it all! As Bush has claimed over and over again that Russia is not the enemy and the missile defense shield was really directed towards Iranian missiles, this move by Putin forces Bush to prove that Russia is not the target. Putin is demonstrating keen political and diplomatic skills with this proposal and shows that he is a force to be reckoned with. He did not back down to Bush and it remains to be seen how Bush with his ‘master diplomacy skills’ will respond. God help us!
The Old is New 2007-06-06 23:00:00 The old is once again new. Go figure. Bush, in typical fashion, refuses to budge on his plans to install a missile defense shield in Europe. Russia, on the other hand, is not very pleased with this idea and the fact that the sites for this project include the Czech Republic and Poland. In response, Putin has warned that if the United States continues with its missile defense plan, Russia will once again point its nuclear warheads at Europe. This controversy has overshadowed the G8 Summit in Germany.This type of talk is eerily similar to what I remember growing up. The Cold War, that sad relic of the 20th Century seems to be poking its ugly head around the corner again and the consequences this time could be grave. The world is not the same as it was back then with many more countries now in the ’Nuclear Club’.It would be wise for both sides to stop this escalation as the spector of a nuclear arms race and possible nuclear conflict yields no winner. It’s time to close this sad cha
He's Laughing at You! 2007-06-06 22:49:00 It's the poor conditions of the refineries...no, it's the unrest in Nigeria....no, it's storms in the Gulf of Mexico...no, it's the political instability in the Middle East....no, it's the cyclone in the Arabian Gulf.....the excuses never stop from this crowd for the ever increasing price of oil. Meanwhile, the big oil companies are raking in record profits year after year. It’s time to get off the oil crack pipe and develop reasonable and sustainable sources of energy NOW! Read more:Laughing
Nobody Doesn't Like Sara Lee 2007-06-22 21:30:00 Our globalized food supply chain. Not a very appetizing topic, I know. This is something that I personally knew little about until recently but after scratching under the surface a bit, it is a topic that I am afraid we all need to look at a little closer.A recent article appeared in the New York Times which looked at the issue in regards to one company- Sara Lee. As the piece describes, "In a glassed-off area in the headquarters of Sara Lee, a handful of specialists study computer screens and flat-screen televisions beaming the latest weather reports and commodity prices. They are sourcing ingredients from all over the world to make Sara Lee’s assortment of breads, deli meats and microwaveable desserts."With the advance of free trade and the lowering of trade barriers, food companies have started to search the globe looking for the cheapest ingredients in which to make their products. Food imports more than doubled in the last few years topping $79.9 billion dollars. Pick up a box o Read more:Nobody
Up, Up and Away! 2007-06-22 21:20:00 Oil prices were higher today as talks to end a strike failed in Nigeria. Prices rose a dollar to top $71 a barrel. Brunt crude and US light crude also showed increases. I am afraid that this cycle will not be ending anytime soon especially with the 'crisis' brewing with Iran. Stay tuned....
The Energy Bill 2007-06-22 12:51:00 The Senate passes 'pro-renewables energy bill' the headlines proclaim. They are finally taking steps to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, they read. I only wish that the bill was as good as it sounds. Sadly it seems like it is really more of the same. Read more:Energy
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