report back from "The Peoples Summit" after the second sunburnt day of the gulf coast's people's summit, we here in new orleans are acting like we have months left before bush comes to town, when in fact he is here enjoying the city, comforted by air conditioning and motorcades. we are already witnessing the effects of his Security & Prosperity Partnership: with the mississippi river bridge's on and off ramps blocked, I-10 was made into an express highway, directing flows of traffic and people, conveniently out of his way, inconveniencing everyone else from having access to the city.
The canal street ferry, shuttling internally displaced traffic across the mississippi river, was circled through the day by coast guard boats fully armed and ready to fire mounted machine guns, in full show of force and what bush intends to mean by 'security,' we on the docks agreed was menacing and intimidating. the imminent, historic, and nation-altering meeting about to take place between the leaders of the "free world'' is being met with little, hardly any, noticeable resistance. Due at least in part to the crippled condition of new orleans, where 3 years after the hurricanes people continue to face daily struggles to survive, with no surplus resources, time, or active community members to lend to what would likely be, in any other city in the hemisphere, an equally historic People's protest to the executive meeting.
Civilian resistance and protest to massive free trade agreements seems to be planned for more by bush than by the american public or the "progressive left", and so new orleans is the perfect backdrop for the announcement of the spp: sweeping decisions adversely affecting millions of people are met with a strangled cry, gone unheard by the rest of the nation.
"Understanding who profits and how: NAFTA + and Katrina Profiteering" was a misnomer, a vague power-analysis turned roundcircle discussion, facilitated by the people's institute for survival and beyond. The session was attended by community organizers, international public service workers union representative, mexican trade unions, activists from chiapas, american and canadian youth, citizen journalists and media activists, farmer union representative, social workers, non-profit organizations, and new orleanians, served more as the critical race theory workshop that the Peoples Institute is known for, and not as any attempt for a coordinated approach or discussion on how to challenge bush, calderon and harper at this critical moment.
ironically, at this international summit, facilitators asked that we divide ourselves into national groups to notice similarities between new orleans and wherever we were visiting from, something that would have been manifold more useful to hear from each other, as it was a rare opportunity to hear voices from across the heavily guarded borders. discussion was derailed and became about how we are gate keepers, moving further and further away from any plan of action. the 6 hours were used as an introduction to social inequality, as if people signed up to take a class on the internalization of inferiority/superiority. in fact people came to act together in the face of big brother government.
for all of our talk on giving voices to disenfranchised people around the world, taking queues from these communities, learning from eachother, creating access to decision-making, none of the mexicans who traveled the long distance were asked what they thought should happen at this summit. there was no mention of their very successful strategies for organizing resistance to destructive neo-colonial economic policies. nobody asked "what can we do now that all of our presidents are in town?" instead was the same old, painfully ineffective naval-gazing
speaking with a gentleman from mexico after the looooong winded sessions were over, he asked what the break-out group of americans discussed, and i said they were just talking and not saying much, like americans do. and he laughed, agreeing said i should have been sitting with the mexican delegation because they were discussing that very point.
Going well beyond the Port of New Orleans, Security and Prosperity Partnership plans for "North American Integration" endanger port, trucking, and railroad jobs, as well as investments, incomes, and State revenues all over the country. The SPP is coming to the Big Easy, why should you care? Let's have a look...
Here's what you can expect.
Go to New Orleans and DO SOMETHING Monday, 4/21 9am – 12pm Community Tour of New Orleans & Story Circles in Congo Square 12 – 1:30pm Opening Ceremony & Lunch in Congo Square 2pm – 5pm Understanding Who Profits & How: NAFTA+ and Katrina Profiteering 6pm – 9pm Understanding Who Profits & How: NAFTA+ and Katrina Profiteering
House Representative Marci Kaptur on Cintra's involvement with the North American Union that will give this Spanish corporation control over a massive swatch of US land. They will divide our country, literally, in 2.
When something is bad for us often people from the right AND left can agree that it is bad for us even though we will have different reasons for thinking so. This video is from The Conservative Caucus and explains why right wingers are against the North American Union. BTW the state run web site Snopes.com claims the North American Union is an URBAN LEGEND; maybe someone should tell the leaders of these 3 countries that they don't need to meet to discus it then.
You can express YOUR disagreement with the North American Union on April 21st & 22nd in New Orleans when the "3 Amigos" (Bush, Calderon & Harper) meet to discuss their plans to make our 3 countries ONE country.
Online policing of politically unreliable web sites (Senate Bill S-1959) will bring to the US internet what Yahoo has already brought to China: Internet related censorship services and jailed dissidents. It also will apply to real life demonstraqtions of dissent that are generally accepted and ineffectual.
The bill, (S-1959) misleadingly called the Homegrown Terrorism and Violent Radicalization act of 2007 is a thought crime bill. The bill was passed in the house under a curious suspension of the rules usually reserved for non controversial issues like the naming of a post office.
A Senate Vote is imminent. Obama sits on the Senate committee responsible for moving it forward or sending it back to nazi Germany. As of December 27, 2007, Obama says he hasn’t yet decided how he will vote.
The bill is being pushed by the Pentagon through it’s think tank, the Rand Corporation. If passed it will be another step toward completely totalitarian fascist "democracy".
Go Large ~ Phil Schneider was a geologist, structural engineer, and underground tunneling expert who participated in the construction of many deep underground cities and bases in North America and abroad for the government. In May of 1995, suffering from terminal cancer, he began giving talks in Las Vegas describing in detail the underground cities. He was an extraordinarily brave man who knew that he was going to be killed because of the information he was revealing to the American public. He survived 13 attempts on his life in just a fews months after going public with this information. He did not survive the 14th attempt.
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