Approved Labor and Environmental Rights for New Trade Deals

After my previous post today, I serendipitously found this news that the White House and Democrats have reached agreements regarding future trade deals. These new agreements will be attached to future deals to protect labor rights and environmental right, thus making the approval by Congress easier. The following is from today's New York Times:

By STEVEN R. WEISMAN

Published: May 11, 2007

WASHINGTON, May 10 — The Bush administration reached agreement on Thursday with the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and other Democrats to attach environmental and worker protections in several pending trade accords, clearing the way for early passage of some pacts and improving prospects for others.

The unusual agreement, which came after weeks of negotiations, would guarantee workers the right to organize, ban child labor and prohibit forced labor in trading-partner countries. It would also require trading partners to enforce environmental laws already on their books and comply with several international environmental agreements.

While the understanding was a victory for Democrats, it also represented a shrewd compromise by the White House. The agreement is the first major bipartisan economic deal to emerge since Democrats took control of Congress in January. It has immediate importance for four countries — Colombia, Panama, Peru and South Korea — that are seeking to enter into trade pacts with the United States.

But officials in Washington predicted that the agreement’s effect would go beyond those countries and could be a template for all trade deals, including a possible worldwide accord.

Administration officials are hoping that the agreement will cause many Democrats to support future trade deals. They hope that enough Democrats will join with Republicans, who generally support such measures, to make passage of the agreements probable, if only narrowly. read more

NAFTA's Effect on Immigration

Wednesday evening was pretty exciting due to two long conversations about illegal immigration in the U.S. Look for my opinion on the issue in the near future, but for now, I want to share a very interesting article I found this morning.

We all know that immigration issues involve economic policy, human rights, national security priorities, and domestic public opinion. This article does a good job of discussing the U.S.'s history of immigration and refugee policy, major factors regarding immigration, and possible solutions to salient issues.

It's pretty long, but take a look. Also, scroll to the end to read some of McBride's suggestions. It deals with immigration and asylum issues. I am also interested in how NAFTA has impacted Mexican farmers and U.S. immigration. If you can give me some insight into these issues, please comment.

The evolution of US immigration and refugee policy: public opinion, domestic politics and UNHCR by Michael J. McBride (download pdf)

Defending Extraordinary Rendition

Follow this link to an article by The Nation's Bonnie Goldstein. In it, Michael Schueler, the founder and former head of the CIA's bin Laden unit, defends the Rendition Program in no uncertain terms. It's worth the time to read his opening statement at the bottom of the page. Denfending "Extraordinary Renditions."

Before You Buy a Mother's Day Card

I just read about this on The Nation's website.

In the United States, Mother's Day was originally suggested by poet and social activist Julia Ward Howe. In 1870, after witnessing the carnage of the American Civil War and the start of the Franco-Prussian War, she wrote the original Mother's Day Proclamation calling upon the women of the world to unite for peace. This "Mother's Day Proclamation" would plant the seed for what would eventually become a national holiday.

After writing the proclamation, Howe had it translated into many languages and spent the next two years of her life distributing it and speaking to women leaders all over the world. In her book Reminiscences, Howe wrote, "Why do not the mothers of mankind interfere in these matters to prevent the waste of that human life of which they alone bear and know the cost?" She devoted much of the next two years to this cause, and began holding annual "Mother's Day" gatherings in Boston, Massachusetts and elsewhere.

In 1907, thirty-seven years after the proclamation was written, women's rights activist Anna Jarvis began campaigning for the establishment of a nationally observed Mother's Day holiday. And in 1914, four years after Howe's death, President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother's Day as a national holiday.

Obama takes Secret Service detail

To my swarms of fans, I apologize for withholding my satiating snacks of wisdom for almost two weeks. On to Obama...

The only thing I can compare to the hype around Obama is the energy and passion surrounding Kennedy and Dr. King. I am too young to have lived with them, but they are the only public figures that have touched people so deeply and elicited such excitement? Obama has not reached this status, but he has also not reached his apogee.

While Obama could stand beside King and Kennedy one day, I hope he does not share their fate: assassination. I am glad he has received Secret Service protection and I hope this makes him more, not less, safe. If I were his wife, I'd be very concerned about his safety as a transformative public figure. Encouraging the power of each individual by redounding the attention one receives from the public back to the public
creates uncontrollable momentum. At the same time, I see Obama and is wife as part of a larger movement–bringing government back to the people–which requires them to surrender to life.

I try to remain openminded, but why do I find myself always coming back to Obama? I think it's because I don't see any of the other candidates trying to change the system, and that purpose trumps disagreements I have with Obama on some issues. Along with energy and health care, the public's loss of faith in government–national and local–is one of our biggest problems. Obama is the only candidate doing anything about it.