F A C I N G S O U T H A progressive Southern news report November 19, 2003 - Issue 66
Published by the Institute for Southern Studies and Southern Exposure magazine. To join the Institute and get a year's worth of Southern Exposure and Facing South, visit www.southernstudies.org _____ INSTITUTE INDEX - Free Trade or Global Greed? Year North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was implemented: 1993 Number of jobs advocates said NAFTA would create in the U.S.: 200,000 Number of U.S. jobs lost to NAFTA according to federal statistics: 750,000 Amount by which U.S. trade deficit with Canada and Mexico has increased, in billions: $78 Amount by which number of Mexican workers making less than minimum wage has increased: 1,000,000 Number of countries proposed Free Trade Area of Americas would include: 34 Sources on file at the Institute for Southern Studies. _____ DATELINE: THE SOUTH - News Around the Region MIAMI TRADE MEETINGS FACE ENERGIZED PROTEST MOVEMENT; INTERNAL DIVIDES The anti-war and global justice movements will unite in Miami this week to protest the Free Trade Area of the Americas meeting in Miami. Tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected -- but little-noticed is the fact that the FTAA meetings are already crumbling from within, highlighted by a battle between the U.S. and Brazil. (Mother Jones, 11/17) http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2003/11/we_606_01a.html WAL-MART ACCELERATING U.S. LOB LOSSES TO OVERSEAS LABOR By aggressively underselling domestic competitors, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, the world's largest company, is revolutionizing labor/management relations and forcing more and more U.S. corporations to use overseas labor.(Fast Company, December 2003) http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html SOUTH ATTRACTS MORE PEOPLE THAN IT LOSES More non-Hispanic whites, blacks, Asians and Hispanics moved to the South between 1995 and 2000 than left that region for other parts of the country, according to a Census 2000 report released in late October by the U.S. Census Bureau. Meanwhile, the other three regions registered a net domestic migration loss for some or all of these groups. The net migration gains for these groups in the South were concentrated in Atlantic coast states. (U.S. Census Bureau, 10/30) http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/census_2000/001505.html DEMOCRATS WEIGHING "NON-SOUTHERN STRATEGY" Believing that winning the South will require too many resources for too little results, analysts like Prof. Thomas F. Schaller are encouraging the Democrats to leave the region to the Rpublicans and focus their energy elsewhere. (Washington Post, 11/16) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40359-2003Nov14.html THE MAKING OF THE CORPORATE JUDICIARY Since 1998, major corporations -- like Home Depot, Wal-Mart, and the insurance giant AIG -- have spent more than $100 million through front groups to remake the courts. By targeting incumbent judges, they have tilted state supreme courts to pro-business majorities and ousted aggressive attorneys general. At the same time, corporate lobbyists have blitzed state legislators with tort-reform proposals, overseeing the passage of new laws in 24 states over the past year alone. (Mother Jones, Nov/Dec 2003) http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2003/11/ma_564_01.html PERSONAL BANKRUPTCIES SKYROCKETING The record-setting pace of new personal bankruptcies continued in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, with their number rising 7.8 percent. Personal bankruptcies jumped to 1,625,813 from 1,508,578 during the same period a year earlier. The bankruptcy filings "are being overwhelmingly driven by individuals with household debt," said one expert. (Associated Press, 11/14) http://apnews.myway.com/article/20031114/D7UQJ2A00.html SOUTHERN DRAWL CONFUSES PHONE VOICE SYSTEMS Southern drawls have thwarted voice recognition equipment used by the Shreveport, L.A., Police Department to route non-emergency calls. The system asked people to name the person or department they wanted. More often than not, calls wound up at the wrong place. (Associated Press, 11/17) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=8&u=/ap/20031117/ap_on_re_us/brf_voice_unrecognition
