Nafta Videos

For snack today, Will serves up a heaping helping of free trade. NAFTA is the campaign hot topic these days, so what's it all about and who's going to bring back the jobs?

The field of candidates grew larger over the weekend! On today's Lunch, Will introduces the newest member of the pack and explains the latest Hillary/Obama dust-up.

The field of candidates grew larger over the weekend! On today's Lunch, Will introduces the newest member of the pack and explains the latest Hillary/Obama dust-up.

"No More 16 Tons In America" Longshoremen's Union Hall in Tacoma, WA Congressman Dennis Kucinich announced he is withdrawing from the 2008 presidential race. While it is true that neither the PepperSpray Collective or "Indymedia Presents" endorses ANY candidate for ANY office, we have always liked Kucinich for raising the issues so clearly, and for his consistency. On the occasion of him withdrawing from the race, we reached back into our archives and dug out a speech he made at the Longshoremen's Union hall in Tacoma, WA four years ago. It was a great speech, and if we didn't tell you it was that old, you'd probably think it was right up to the moment. This speech was given BEFORE Al Gore came out with "An Inconvenient Truth," This speech was given BEFORE the exposure of the broken health care system in "Sicko." This speech was given BEFORE 80% of the American people had turned against the war. Dennis Kucinich has been there all along. http://www.dennis4president.com International Longshore and Warehouse Union ILWU Longshore Division Homepage http://www.ilwu.org/longshore BE THE MEDIA! Pepperspray Productions formed shortly after the WTO protests in Seattle, in response to the Independent Media Center's call, "don't hate the media, be the media!". We believe that the Corporate Media is not telling us the whole story, and that the people must make our own media if we want our voices to be heard. Related Free Speech Websites: Independent Media Center http://www.indymedia.org/en/index.shtml Indymedia NewsReal http://www.newsreal.indymedia.org Free Speech TV: http://www.freespeech.org Democracy Now! http://www.democracynow.org

Juncture moments.... there have been "juncture" moments before: Dr. Martin Luther King, in his 1967 speech at the Riverside Church, said he was "compelled to see the (Viet Nam) war as an enemy of the poor." After all the work to achieve passage of both Civil Rights and anti-poverty legislation, he said, then "came the buildup in Viet Nam," and King knew "that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Viet Nam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube." This week we reprise an analysis of the current juncture, presented at the Vets For Peace convention in Seattle, by David Korten, based on his most recent book, "The Great Turning." His previous book, "When Corporations Rule the World" was used by many WTO protesters as a handbook addressing the problems hidden in the corporate global dream. Korten outlines the "perfect storm" created by the concurrent crisis of a collapsing US dollar, end of oil, environmental disaster and war, and presents his ideas on how to turn this tailspin into an opportunity for humanity to reach a higher goal. He makes a persuasive case that we shouldn't be arguing how one issue is more important than the other, but need to see how all the issues are coming together, interacting, and how this calls for an "all as one" perspective. www.davidkorten.org www.davidkorten.org/Books/greatturning.htm Veterans for Peace http://www.veteransforpeace.org Related Free Speech Websites: Independent Media Center http://www.indymedia.org/en/index.shtml Indymedia NewsReal http://www.newsreal.indymedia.org Free Speech TV: http://www.freespeech.org Democracy Now! http://www.democracynow.org

Hillary puts her faith in Texas and Ohio to retain hope of nomination By Leonard Doyle Thursday, 14 February 2008 As news of her defeats in Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC sank in, Mrs Clinton was as far away as possible, courting Hispanic voters in El Paso, Texas. She did not mention Tuesday's defeat, even as the wheels started coming off her campaign. Mrs Clinton's deputy campaign manager Mike Henry, who ran her field operations, quit in an internal power struggle. But by yesterday morning, her campaign was on the offensive, demanding Barack Obama engage in more televised debates and accusing him of misrepresenting her positions. Part of Mrs Clinton's strategy is to build a "firewall" in the Ohio and Texas primaries on 4 March, to hold back the prairie fire of enthusiasm driving Mr Obama forward. But staking everything on one or two important races is a very high-risk strategy, one which failed Rudy Giuliani in Florida, forcing him out of the Republican race. In her desperate attempt to wrest the Democratic ticket for the White House from Mr Obama, well-heeled backers of Mrs Clinton are now expected to turn to the dark arts of the political playbook, including discrediting her opponent. It would be a role reversal for Mrs Clinton who once complained that there was "a vast right-wing conspiracy" out to get her. But if the fight turns ugly, Mrs Clinton could end up wrecking both her and Mr Obama's chances of winning the White House in November. The Clinton campaign has already suffered badly by trying to raise the issue of Mr Obama's use of cocaine as a youth and then attempting to use the race card against him before and during the South Carolina primary. But more is now expected and the Obama campaign has said all along that there will be a lot of turbulence before it clinches the nomination. Mrs Clinton's latest strategy could be to discreetly encourage independent organisations to fight on her behalf a variation of the "Swift Boat" campaign that helped destroy John Kerry and win George Bush a second term in 2004. Some of her wealthiest backers are drawing up plans to skirt around election laws and run their own independent advertising campaigns attacking Mr Obama ahead of the primary battles in Ohio, Texas and elsewhere. Susie Tompkins Buell, the founder of the Esprit clothing company, is considering paying for advertisements that would deliver a harder punch than the bland, uplifting advertisements the Clinton campaign is running. "We're just trying to figure out things to do to help," Ms. Buell told The Wall Street Journal. "We all feel very passionate about it, so the question is, what is the best thing we can do to get her across the finish line?" Mrs Clinton and her staff are forbidden by law from talking to anyone running an independent campaign on her behalf. But in an extended television interview on the eve of her defeat in the "Potomac Primaries" she did the spadework for anyone contemplating running "attack ads" on her behalf. "We still don't have a lot of answers about Senator Obama and his dealings with Mr [Tony] Rezko," she said referring to a former political backer who is facing trial on federal corruption charges. The danger for Mrs Clinton is that attack ads by independent organisations could backfire. Mr Kerry has already warned against the sort of tactics employed by the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" group that questioned his record in Vietnam. Hillary Clinton greets supporters during a Solutions for America rally at Saint Mary's University, San Antonio, Texas Keywords: Hillary Clinton, Ohio, Texas, Solutions for America, workers, jobs, unions, foreclosures, NAFTA, trade, Barack Obama, overseas, debate

Clinton Remained Silent As Wal-Mart Fought Unions Tapes Reviewed by ABC News Show Clinton As a Loyal Company Woman By BRIAN ROSS, MADDY SAUER and RHONDA SCHWARTZ Jan. 31, 2008 In six years as a member of the Wal-Mart board of directors, between 1986 and 1992, Hillary Clinton remained silent as the world's largest retailer waged a major campaign against labor unions seeking to represent store workers. Clinton has been endorsed for president by more than a dozen unions, according to her campaign Web site, which omits any reference to her role at Wal-Mart in its detailed biography of her. Wal-Mart's anti-union efforts were headed by one of Clinton's fellow board members, John Tate, a Wal-Mart executive vice president who also served on the board with Clinton for four of her six years. Tate was fond of repeating, as he did at a managers meeting in 2004 after his retirement, what he said was his favorite phrase, "Labor unions are nothing but blood-sucking parasites living off the productive labor of people who work for a living." Wal-Mart says Tate's comments "were his own and do not reflect Wal-Mart's views." But Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and other company officials often recounted how they relied on Tate to lead the company's successful anti-union efforts. An ABC News analysis of the videotapes of at least four stockholder meetings where Clinton appeared shows she never once rose to defend the role of American labor unions. The tapes, broadcast this morning on "Good Morning America," were provided to ABC News from the archives of Flagler Productions, a Lenexa, Kan., company hired by Wal-Mart to record its meetings and events. A former board member told ABCNews.com that he had no recollection of Clinton defending unions during more than 20 board meetings held in private. The tapes show Clinton in the role of a loyal company woman. "I'm always proud of Wal-Mart and what we do and the way we do it better than anybody else," she said at a June 1990 stockholders meeting. Clinton would not agree to be interviewed on the subject but now says she no longer shares Wal-Mart's values and believes unions "have been essential to our nation's success." The videotapes do show that Clinton used her role to push for more environmentally friendly policies and better treatment of women. "We've got a very strong-willed young woman on our board now; her name is Hillary," said Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton at a 1987 stockholders meeting in describing Clinton's role in pushing for more women to be hired in management positions. Critics say Clinton's efforts produced few tangible results, and Wal-Mart is now defending itself in a lawsuit brought by 16 current and former female employees. "I don't doubt the sincerity of her efforts, but we don't see much evidence that conditions for women at Wal-Mart changed much during the late 1980s and early 1990s," said Joe Sellers, one of the lawyers suing Wal-Mart on behalf of the women. Wal-Mart declined to comment to ABC News about the lawsuit, but the company has said previously that it is confident it did not discriminate against female employees. According to the New York Times, Sen. Clinton "maintains close ties to Wal-Mart executives through the Democratic Party and the tightly knit Arkansas business community." The May 20, 2007 article also reported that her husband, former President Clinton, "speaks frequently to Wal-Mart's current chief executive, H. Lee Scott Jr." and held a private dinner at the Clinton's New York home in July 2006 for him. He did not directly respond when asked why she did not quit the board over the conpany's anti-union efforts. "Wal-Mart was Arkansas's largest employer when Sam Walton asked Sen. Clinton to join the board," he said. "As the first woman to join Wal-Mart's board, she worked hard to make it a better corporate citizen." In its statement, Wal-Mart described Sen. Clinton as "a valuable contributor" who "pushed us to be a better company." WI, Wisconsin, Hillary Clinton fights, Barack Obama, workers, unions, American jobs, overseas, foreclosures, NAFTA, trade agreements, corporate lawyer

Yesterday hundreds of tractors and thousands of people from rural Mexico came to Mexico City to protest against the lifting of trade restrictions on agricultural commodities like corn, rice and oats. The farmers say lifting these restrictions will put them out of work, because they won t be able to compete with powerful U.S. agri-businesses, and they re pressuring Mexico s government to renegotiate portions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States and Canada. We were there, catching it on film for the Los Angeles Times.

Presidential Candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich July 1st, 2007 Portland, Oregonhttp://www.dennis4president.com Dennis was interrupted numerous times to thunderous applause and standing ovations, and deservedly so. He understands and laments the corruption of Democracy as it has been slowly and deliberately undermined by the present administration. He sees clearly and speaks, I believe, from his heart. Listen to Dennis' words for yourself: "This is the beauty of this country, because as we, we know that we can reject the entire basis that has formed this government that currently exists of war, fear and poverty. And we see the connection, what this campaign is about is standing for the truth, it's about being able to challenge the corruption that underlies what's wrong with America today. Let's look at the links, okay?" "War, oil, corruption, so that's one; we have war because of a corrupt government which is all about oil. Let's look at the next connection here. Lack of health care, private insurers controlling our health care system, corruption; that's the link, think about that...........and then you think about so many people out of work, or not having the jobs they once had, and you think about NAFTA. It's about a race to the bottom and even slave labor." "And you look at the Immigration issue. At the root of the Immigration issue is corruption; it's the use of slave labor and exploitation of people. So, does any of that represent who we are? What this election is about, this is a moment to explain who we are, the deeper meaning of 'We the People.'"http://www.dennis4president.com

"9/11 Conspiracy Blues (slight return)" (c)Ralph Buckley greetings 2 one and ALL...!!! can u dig it! welcome to the next edition of the 'blues explosion' of 'FREEDOM' strap yourselves in cause we've only just begun the fight. 2007 saw a lot of Americans open their eyes to the 'man behind the curtain'. No shit sherlock!!!! Yes indeed~ but man it doesn't just end with the awareness and the awakening. Now we have to pick up the torch's...all of us. Hold that 'freedom flag' high...yeah man that's it... KEEP IT UP! --------------------- I want to thank everyone for listen/watching and spreading the word. We all doing what we can... "9/11 Conspiracy Blues" has been, by far, the most successful CD to date. it's allowed me the opportunity to advertise and keep the ball rolling. I am doing everything I can to put this show on the road and tour, so if I get a chance to pass through your neck of the woods...you gotta come on out and join the revolution. Bring your guitar, your pen, your voice...but most of all....bring yourself. ------------------------- http://www.ralphbuckley.com "9/11 Conspiracy Blues" CD http://cdbaby.com/cd/ralphbuckley2

Members of the Chicago Trade with Justice Working Group paid a visit to the Obama for America headquarters in Chicago on Dec. 15, 2007. They wanted to tell Senator Barack Obama that they are concerned with his failure to appear at the recent Senate vote on the US-Peru "Free Trade" Agreement. They left a statement for Obama, a current candidate for U.S. President, and expressed their disappointment that he skipped the vote on the Peru trade pact. They were even more concerned that Obama, along with Sen Hillary Clinton, made public statements supporting the Peru Trade deal and that Illinois Senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin, voted in favor of it. Produced by Labor Beat. Labor Beat is a CAN TV Community Partner. Labor Beat is affiliated with IBEW 1220. Views expressed are those of the producer, not necessarily of IBEW. For info: mail@laborbeat.org, www.laborbeat.org. 312-226-3330.

Bert discusses the Clinton years, NAFTA and his thoughts about Hillary

Crowd reaction after a screening of Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price by the Newbury Democratic Town Committee. Newbury, MA. October 2007.

Crowd reaction after a screening of Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price by the Newbury Democratic Town Committee. Newbury, MA. October 2007.

Following last night's debate, we're having the Democrats for lunch today. Obama takes more flack, Edwards gives as good as he gets, Kucinich rallies the crowd, and Clinton wants to be "your girl".

It s a PREMEDITATED merger. North American Union plan headed to Congress in the fall. A powerful think tank prepares the report on benefits of integration between U.S., Mexico, and Canada. This is scary stuff folks!!

This stylish film is not just for food faddists and nutritionists. It is a look at something we might not want to see: Monsanto, Roundup and Roundup-resistant seeds, collectively wreaking havoc on American farmers and our agricultural neighbors around the world. In the end, this documentary is a eloquent call to action. http://www.thefutureoffood.com