Working Life

    Yesterday, I mentioned the protests in Costa Rica over the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). From our friends at the Citizens Trade Campaign comes a reminder that there is a so-called "free trade" deal pending with Peru. They ask you to take action to stop the deal and here are the main reasons […]

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Yesterday, in Costa Rica, 100,000 people marched to protest the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). You thought that was a done deal, huh? Well, not as far as Costa Ricans are concerned, as a Reuters report tell us: More than 100,000 Costa Ricans, some dressed as skeletons, protested a U.S. trade pact on Sunday […]

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    No, I haven’t turned this into a sex advice column (hmmm…maybe the readership would skyrocket? Memo to NW–put on "to consider" list). From way back during the fight over NAFTA, there was an interesting–and, for some, uncomfortable–alliance between "left" and "right." The "left" saw NAFTA as a disaster for workers and the environment, whereas […]

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    It’s a fascinating spectacle reading the news reports about Mattel’s recall of 19 million toys sent from China. Most of the reports and editorials focus, rightly, on the low level of safety standards in China. But, it’s foolish to simply blame the Chinese for the lead in toys. The fact is that those dangers […]

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    Sometimes I read The Wall Street Journal and just laugh…it’s kind of a derisive, you have to be fucking kidding laugh. Many of the reporters do a great job but when you get to the ideologues who write opinion pieces, oh, lordy…to wit: today, Josh Kurtzman has a piece which looks at Mexico’s "job […]

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    So, nice to be back home and I hope to get a better report out on the Edwards poverty tour. But, since it will take a little time to look at my video results, here’s something for now: Tom Friedman has written a lot of dumb things in the past. It’s worth separating the […]

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    You can’t hardly turn on the boob tube or read a newspaper or look at a mainstream website without hearing the clamor about the benefits of “globalization” and “increased trade” blah, blah, blah…if you try to contest that nonsense, you’re just a dumb protectionist (trust me, I have the scars to show it…oh, sorry, […]

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I was just going to spend a nice Sunday just reading, and not blogging and even avoiding the computer but leave it to The New York Times to mess all that up. As I flipped the page, tucked neatly in the lower part of the next page was an article that warned all those unsuspecting […]

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   If you are among the enlightened group of many millions of people who have spoken up (either in elections or real organizing) for a world where people can expect a decent standard of living and trade takes place under conditions that values communities first, you can pat yourself on the back for sending the […]

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    Here is another piece of evidence, from today’s Wall Street Journal, that the Doha global trade talks are in a state of permanent collapse: BRUSSELS — Brazil’s exploration of a free-trade deal with the European Union highlights an important shift in the trade agenda of emerging economies: They are drifting away from a comprehensive […]

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