The Bloom Collective will be hosting a screening of the recently released documentary GasHole.
“GAS HOLE is an eye-opening documentary about the history of oil prices and sheds light on a secret that the big oil companies don’t want you to know – that there are viable and affordable alternatives to petroleum fuel! It also provides a detailed examination of our continued dependence on foreign oil and examines various potential solutions — starting with claims of buried technology that dramatically improves gas mileage, to navigating bureaucratic governmental roadblocks, to evaluating different alternative fuels that are technologically available now, to questioning the American Consumers’ reluctance to embrace alternatives.
Narrated by Peter Gallagher, hear from a wide range of opinions from representatives of the US Department of Energy Representatives, Congressional leaders both Democrat and Republican, Alternative Fuel Producers, Alternative Fuel Consumers (including actor Joshua Jackson), Professors of Economics and Psychology and more. Anyone who buys gas should see this film!”
Following the film there will be a discussion. Light refreshments will also be available. The Bloom Collective is asking for a suggested donation of $3 – 5.
GasHole
Saturday, May 14
3:00 PM
Bloom Collective
671 Davis NW, Grand Rapids
(The following information is based on a Media Release sent out this morning.)
Bartertown Diner and Roc’s Cakes a raw, vegan/vegetarian restaurant opening in a couple weeks in downtown Grand Rapids has decided to go “wobbly.” The seven-member team which constitutes the worker-run establishment have all decided to join the old and storied Industrial Workers of the World labor union.
“It just seemed like the perfect fit for us. After meeting with members of the IWW it was clear that we all want the same things and being that we really don’t want to be just another restaurant it seemed logical,” said Ryan Cappelletti cook at the new Diner.
Bartertown Diner and Roc’s Cakes, which will be located at 6 Jefferson St., joins a growing list of worker-owned IWW shops. The Red and Black Cafe in Portland, Oregon and Just Coffee in Madison, Wisconsin are the two other IWW worker-owned shops in the US.
“We are very happy that Bartertown and Roc’s Cakes has decided to go IWW and believe it can only help in our larger campaign to raise the standard of living and benefits for all food and beverage workers in Grand Rapids,” said Shannon Williams, Treasurer of the local IWW branch.
The Grand Rapids Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World has been involved in food service organizing for many years. The local IWW has been involved in campaigns with the Starbucks Workers Union and the IWW Jimmy Johns Workers Union.
The Industrial Workers of the World is a rank-and-file labor union open to all workers.
Bike Summit 2011 – What Are We Planning for?
On Friday, the Greater Grand Rapids Bicycle Coalition held its second Bike Summit in the Eberhard Center of the downtown GVSU campus. The one-day conference brought together bicycle enthusiasts, city planners, bike commuters and business owners to discuss the future of bike transportation in Grand Rapids.
This writer was only able to stay for the morning keynote speaker and the two breakout sessions, so these observations are limited in scope.
The morning kepnote speaker was Darwin Hindman, the former Mayor of Colombia, Missouri. Hindman began by saying he is impressed with Grand Rapids and mentions the Chamber of Commerce award for most Green Mid-sized city, how Grand Rapids has great philanthropists and Art Prize, all indications of sustainability for the former Mayor.
He says that a sustainable city will happen with a knowledge-based economy, with “engineers, scientists and poets.” Hindman said the sustainability of Grand Rapids will be with “smart people, people who are drawn to the arts.” In fact, most of his opening remarks seemed to be targeted at young professionals who might want to raise a family here.
Eventually Hindman stated that bicycling is also important for the future of any city since health care costs are a big part of the economic cost for any community. In addition, “more bicycling promotes more ecological sustainability, shorter trips, less pollution, less fossil fuel dependency.” Hindman also noted that it is just cheaper to bike. People will save money and more money will stay in the local community.
The former Mayor then shifted his presentation to talk specifically about what has happened in Colombia, Missouri. Hindman said they took advantage of rails to trails in the 1980s that resulted in the MKT Trail project. The MKT Trail project even led to an increase in bicycle commuting. Hindman said this was important since about 1/3 of most car trips are 1 mile or less. In fact, the former Mayor made the claim that cities have designed physical activity out of the lives of people.
Hindman went on to say the MKT trail gave people a reason to change these attitudes, which eventually led to the City’s creation of a walk-able city manual. The PedNet Coalition was created to look at the interconnectedness of all forms of non-motorized transportation, which Hindman stressed was essential for long-term benefit.
Policy was key to making this all happen, whether it was sidewalk policy, working with school routes and all new construction. The next component was a complete streets program, which is designed to stop the bleeding – meaning as new infrastructure is completed it will include sidewalks, bike paths and landscaping to connect to the rest of the city.
Another aspect of the larger plan is to have neighborhood parks for every half-mile of the city, with no parking to encourage people to walk or bike to these parks. The parks also include a bike trail system as another way to connect the city.
Colombia, Missouri also received a $25 million federal grant to build this system to be able to demonstrate a shift in people’s behavior from car use to walking and biking. Part of the money was used to rebuild intersections, created bicycle/walking underpasses and a broad interconnecting of these systems in the city. All new businesses are required to put in bike racks and the city will provide economic incentives.
They also have put in sharos, which is a bike image and sends the message to the car drivers that they need to share the road with those on bikes. These are areas where there is not enough width to have bike lanes. Some of the intersections have included artwork as part of the re-design and as a way of sending the message to the community about changing habits.
Another project was to create a walking bus plan. A walking bus plan is getting adults to walk part of a route to school and meet kids along the way, so that kids are accompanied by adults on the whole way to school. This seems like a really creative project that has great community building potential and sends the message that all residents can take some responsibility for the safety and well being of children.
The former Mayor of Colombia ended his remarks by pointing out that promoting more non-motorized transportation was good for economic development. Hindman said that Real Estate companies have been including biking and bike paths as part of their sales pitch to selling homes in Colombia and IBM even recently open a facility in Colombia because of the City’s shift in developing more non-motorized transportation systems.
Planning for Bicycle Facilities – Breakout Session
Suzanne Schultz with the Planning Department of the City of Gran Rapids was the first presenter for this session. She presented a list of questions that they have been hearing from people and then responds to each question.
The first question is what has the city done since the last summit? Many people think nothing, but Suzanne says that the Green Grand Rapids plan has been completed, the city has been working with the bike coalition, a Complete Streets Solution is being developed and a Complete Streets Policy.
Question #2 addresses why the only bike lane in the City is on Lake Dr. Shultz argued that they are trying to get everybody involved with City Planning on the same page in order to make bike lanes happen. Once everyone is on board she thinks more bike lanes will happen, but no timeframe was provided on when new bike lanes would happen.
The next question dealt with road diets. Schultz said there have been about 13 miles of road diets, where there are one less car lane and now there are spaces for bikes to ride, such as E. Fulton St. They have plans to do the same for Division beginning in June.
Schultz also said the City is developing more sharos and are looking at what can happen since you need at least 5 feet on the outer part of a street for bike lanes to be added. The City has done traffic calming projects, some under/overpasses redesign, as well as adding new requirements for any new construction.
One obstacle to implement more bike lanes and other bike friendly projects is the lack of funds. Schultz admitted that finding money to pay for creation, operation and maintenance of bike facilities is a major challenge.
The second presenter in this breakout session was a representative with the Grand Valley Metro Council. They are trying to identify non-motorized transportation needs, identify gaps in existing facilities and develop prioritizing criteria. They are trying to help facilitate regional planning. There is a also non-motorized Committee, which is working on developing long range transportation plans for the region.
The Metro Council gets funding on an annual basis, about $1.3 million per year and nearly half of that is for non-motorized transportation. This money is used for sidewalks, bike racks and safety issues. There is also some State money through Fund Act 51, which is divided between MDOT, County road commissions and cities. She said there is a total need of $77.9 – 95 million for the next 25 years, but there is only $36 million identified so far.
The session ended with two representatives from the Downtown Development Authority (DDA). Both talked about the current economic conditions and the work they did to get public input. Based on the public input people said they want more retail downtown and the activation the river, particularly riverfront trails. They have divided the work into three areas – economic development, the environment and the cultural experience for people when downtown.
Some of the doable or “low hanging fruit” possibilities were then identified for the downtown area. The DDA spokesperson said there are currently 350 downtown bike parking spaces, some within the parking ramps and others along major roads downtown. They are looking at best practices from around the country, which may include bike storage shelters and other designs that would meet the needs of people.
Economic Development – Breakout Session
This breakout session involved 5 men all emphasizing the economic possibilities around bicycle use, but within a very narrow framework. All five of the presenters in this breakout session were businessmen who either sold bikes, sold bicycle gear or promoted bicycle events as a means of tourism.
Several of these speakers said that they specifically target a younger audience, what they referred to as Millennials, which they meant were young urban professionals who are less interested in owning cars and are part of the “knowledge economy.”
Two guys from Bike Friendly GR were part of this presentation. They both own a bike lifestyle company that is making t-shirts and looking to make other products that promote “Bike fashion.” The spokespersons from Bike Friendly GR acknowledged that it costs on average about $12,000 to won a car, but if more people could ride bike lots of money would be saved. They stated that if people only rode bike 31 days a year there could be a savings of over a million dollars in Grand Rapids. However, they both stressed that this money could just be spent on something else as opposed to people being able to live a more downwardly mobil and simple lifestyle.
The main presenter in this breakout session was Scott Chapin, with RJF Agencies in Minneapolis. Chapin talked about attracting tourists, both seasonal and permanent. He also said that bicycling attracts commerce and enhances communities, even though he gave no concrete examples.
Chapin said there is different types of economic impact such as direct initial purchase of bikes and bike gear, cross industry investment and induced investment, which is where people will go to bars, cafes and restaurants after biking on bike events. He talked about bike trips and the expenditures, which is where the “real money is.” In Wisconsin there is more of an economic impact from biking than hunting, according to Chapin. People are driving to Wisconsin for bike riding. He even said that Towns are competing for bike races, because they know there are significant economic benefits. Charity rides also bring in lots of money, according to Chapin.
Chapin also claims that land values increase because of bike infrastructure. He thinks that if communities made these kinds of investments they could also get grants to continue the process. Chapin concluded with pushing silent sports and bike races, which will not only have a big investment for the race, but people coming to train for the race thus spending more money in your community.
Much of this emphasis on economic development seemed problematic. Why so much emphasis on attracting tourists and starting companies to promote bike fashion? I understand that people are looking to develop new businesses, but there was so little information or discussion about making bicycle transportation a justice issue.
Bicycling has significant justice implications. Biking can improve your health and cut down tremendously on health care costs. It reduces carbon emissions, which also reduces the risk of respiratory problems such as asthma.
Bicycling has tremendous implications for environmental protection. It lessens the need for fossil fuels, especially when there is a comprehensive bike-commuting infrastructure. High numbers of bike users means less traffic congestion, less land use by roads and parking lots, just to name a few.
While there were certainly some positive aspects to the Bike Summit, it raised many questions about the long-term goals of such efforts and who are the real beneficiaries of such planning. In looking at some of the sponsors of the event the emphasis on economic development seems clearer, with companies like Meijer, Atomic Object, Priority Health and the law firm of Varnum.
However, the largest sponsor was the Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation. This raises even bigger questions about why they would fund such an effort and how it fits into branding their image as philanthropists, especially while they fund campaigns to privatize government, social services and education, fund anti-gay campaigns and other religious rights efforts. These are important questions for the organizers of the Bike Summit and anyone who wants to promote greater transparency and shed light on the ultimate goals of such efforts.
The local group Healing Children of Conflict (HCC) will be hosting the 4th film in it’s spring series this Tuesday at Calvin College.
Little Town of Bethlehem “follows the story of three men of three different faiths and their lives in Israel and Palestine. The story explores each man’s choice of nonviolent action amidst a culture of overwhelming violence.
The film examines the struggle to promote equality through nonviolent engagement in the midst of incredible violence that has dehumanized all sides. Sami’s story begins as a young boy living in the Israeli-occupied West Bank; Yonatan’s starts on an Israeli military base; and Ahmad’s begins in a Palestinian refugee camp.
Their three stories are interwoven through the major events of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, starting with the 1972 massacre at the Munich Olympics and following through the first Intifada, suicide bombings in Israel, the Oslo Accords, the assassination of Yitzchak Rabin, and the second Intifada. Sami, Yonatan, and Ahmad each describe the events from their unique perspective, interjecting personal reflections and explaining how these events led them to become involved in the nonviolence movement.”
Following the film there will be a discussion with members of HCC.
Little Town of Bethlehem
Tuesday, May 10
7:00 PM
Calvin College
Bytwerk Theater, DeVos Center
On Saturday, local activists greeted people at the Fulton St. Farmers Market with information about a new campaign focused on improving the work and living conditions of migrant workers.
The campaign is called Fair Food and it is intended to educate people about where their food comes from, what the working conditions are for migrant workers and how people can work to promote justice for migrant workers.
The people involved had read the Michigan Civil Rights Commission report on migrant worker conditions last year and were so appalled at what they discovered that they began meeting and developing the Fair Food Campaign. The campaign is based on farmworker justice standards that the group developed by looking at other national campaigns. The nine standards are as follows:
1) Farmworkers should get paid a livable wage for their work and receive at least the federal minimum wage. Currently farmworkers are excluded from the federal minimum wage laws, which includes overtime pay requirements.
2) Farmworkers should not be subjected to forced labor or debt bondage.
3) Farmworkers should have access to educational information about their rights as workers under the law in both English and Spanish. When necessary, translation should also be provided for those whose first language is indigenous.
4) Farmworkers should have access to clean water for drinking, bathroom facilities, and regularly scheduled breaks that follow federal standards.
5) Farmworkers should not be exposed to pesticide application while working in the fields, should be provided proper protection gear when coming in contact with pesticides and should be provided full disclosure (in English and Spanish) when they are working with produce that has been sprayed with pesticides.
6) Farmworkers should be provided just and adequate housing conditions when that is part of the worker contract. Farmworker housing should always be voluntary for workers and not required by employers.
7) Farmworkers should not be intimidated or harassed when attempting to organize fellow farmworkers. The right to form a union should apply to farmworkers. All agricultural employers must provide a mechanism for workers to file any grievances related to the work or working conditions.
8) Federal Child Labor Law should be observed unless the children working on the farm are family members of the farm owner.
9) Farmworkers should not be harassed, intimidated or discriminated against based on their gender, ethnicity or immigration status.
During their time at the Fulton St. Farmers Market they handed out brochures about the campaign and encouraged people to sign a pledge of support. Many people were receptive of the campaign and not only signed the pledge but talked with organizers about other ways they could get involved in the campaign.
Campaign organizers are seeking organization endorsements along with individual pledges, but more importantly they want local grocery stores, restaurants and vendors to ask questions about whether or not migrant workers were involved in the food they purchased and what the working conditions of those migrant workers are. The campaign ultimately wants to nine farmworker justice standards to be adopted, but recognizes that will take some time.
Those involved also said that there is a great deal of interest for people to buy food that was grown locally and that this is a good thing. The Fair Food Campaign just wants people to take it a step further and get people to not only think about where the food was grown, but under what conditions.
The Fair Food Campaign is looking for people to get involved. They plan to go to the farmers market on a regular basis, contact local grocery stores and restaurants to get them to sign on and to try to get other organizations to support the campaign. People can sign a pledge online, join their Facebook group and contact them at fairfood@live.com.
New Media We Recommend
Below is a list of new materials that we have read/watched in recent weeks. The comments are not a “review” of the material, instead sort of an endorsement of ideas and investigations that can provide solid analysis and even inspiration in the struggle for change. All these items are available at The Bloom Collective, so check them out and stimulate your mind.
Power and Terror: Conflict, Hegemony, and the Rule of Force, by Noam Chomsky – This is an updated book by Pluto Press that was originally published in 2003 that dealt with US policy after the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001. The book now includes revised articles, some new interviews and several articles by Chomsky from the first two years of the Obama administration. One of those new articles is the text of a speech that Chomsky gave at a national anti-war conference, where the author provides an excellent analysis of the brutal foreign policy of Barack Obama. While some of the essays in this book might be considered out of date, Chomsky’s analysis from the early part of the Bush II presidency is still relevant, since Chomsky does not make the mistake of making the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 out to be an action uncharacteristic of US foreign policy. Power and Terror reminds of that the current US policy is consistent with over a century of US intervention and imperialistic hubris.
At The Dark End Of The Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance – a New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power, by Danielle McGuire – We reported on the talk given by this author in Grand Rapids in March and after reading the book this reader was even more impressed with the analysis. McGuire blazes new territory with her investigation and analysis of how the civil rights movement was born. McGuire argues that it was the experience of black women who had been the victims of rape and sexual harassment from White men and had been organizing resistance. Rosa Parks herself was part of that organizing efforts way before the Montgomery Bus Boycotts. At The Dark End Of The Street is an important contribution to understanding not only the origins of the Civil Rights it also challenges the narrative of how movements are built.
A Poetics of Resistance: The Revolutionary Public Relations of the Zapatista Insurgency, by Jeff Conant – When one thinks of the PR industry one usually thinks that some corporate entity is trying to con us into buying something or do damage control for causing harm to people or the environment. However the Zapatista application of public relations is quite different. Writer Jeff Conant weaves for us tales of how a mostly indigenous movement in Southern Mexico, with limited resources, makes the most sophisticated PR Firm from New York City look rather ordinary. Conant provides not only sharp analysis he relies on his own observations from numerous trips to Zapatista communities. Having spent time in two different Zapatistas communities I was impressed with Conant’s detailed descriptions of a whole array of Zapatista cultural and political expression. A moving account of one of the most important political movements of the 21st Century and worth reading for those who have been to Chiapas and those who haven’t.
Big Noise Dispatches 07 (DVD) – This is the most recent collection of Big Noise Films fabulous documentary work. For years the Big Noise Films team has been producing powerful political documentaries and the Dispatches series is an amazing collection of analysis and profiles in political insurgency from around the world. In Dispatches 07 there are 5 documentaries dealing with the Marjah offensive in Afghanistan, the ongoing US occupation of Iraq, The US trained army in Afghanistan, US military recruiting of Latinos/as and the FBI’s use of paid informants in the US. All of these films are informative and could be useful tools to both politicize and organize dissent here at home. Highly recommended!
Yesterday, the local organization welcomed the arrival of Hamzah Al-Daeni and his father to Grand Rapids in order to receive medical treatment because of the injuries that the now 8 year old boy received when a US bomb exploeded outside of his home in Baghdad, Iraq.
Hamzah’s father spoke passionately about what happened to his son and other members of the family in April of 2008 when the US bomb exploded near their home. The Iraqi man said that he took Hamzah to a nearby hospital where they did work on his son, but initially thought that he would not survive the loss of his legs but the damage done to other parts of his body. Even today Hamzah has bomb shapnel lodged in his body.
Healing Children of Conflict has several doctors who have agreed to providing additional diagnosis for Hamzah and will for sure fit him for a prosthetic for his right leg, which he lost due to the bombing. Hamzah and his father will be staying at the Ronald McDonald House of West Michigan and numerous activities and speaking opportunites will be lined up over the next 6 weeks. If anyone is interested in volunteering, donating or becoming involved in the work of Healing Children of Conflict contact online at www.healingchildrenofconflict.org.
At yesteday’s arrival event there were numerous local news agencies there who reported on Hamzah and his father. The Grand Rapids Press ran a story that includes several pictures, along with each of the three local TV stations – WXMI 17, WZZM 13 and WOOD TV 8.
GRIID also produced a video that includes the presentation from one Healing Children of Conflict member and an interview with an additional representative who spoke to us after the welcoming event.
To many people in this country, Cinco de Mayo has become a day to celebrate the Americanized version of Mexican culture. Supermarkets have specials on taco shells, tomatoes, and salsa. Bars have Cinco de Mayo happy hours. Some communities have fiestas on the 5th of May. But most people here don’t know what event is being remembered on this day, and many Americans believe that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico’s “Independence Day.” It’s not; in Mexico, this day is not even a national holiday.
What Cinco de Mayo is, most compellingly, a reminder of the struggles that Mexico has endured against imperialistic interests, and how often those struggles have taken place throughout Mexico’s history. The day is the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla, a key event in an invasion by France to seize control of Mexico not long after the Mexicans had managed to free themselves from Spanish rule.
The Franco-Mexican War started in 1862, when the United States and the Confederacy were battling across the American South. The Second French Empire, ruled by Napoleon III, invaded Mexico with initial support from Great Britain and Spain. France’s excuse was that it needed to call in debts that Mexico owed to the Second Empire, but it soon became clear that France’s true intent was to conquer the country.
The French were enthusiastically supported by the elitists and wealthy landowners; by the powerful Catholic clergy; and by the most conservative political elements in Mexico.
The Battle of Puebla came early in the war, and it was both the first significant battle and the first defeat of the French by the Mexicans. French General Lorencez was certain that the entire country would capitulate at the first show of French force. In this, he was seriously mistaken. The Mexican Army, bolstered in number by Mexican peasants and farm workers, managed to hold the line against the French army, even with the disparity of troops—approximately 5,000 Mexicans facing an estimated 12,000 highly trained French soldiers.
The Mexicans not only repelled the initial attacks, they dug in on the hills between Puebla’s forts to defend them. After its “shock and awe” beginning, the French army began to run out of artillery ammunition. Lorencez attempted at the beginning of the battle to hold back his reserve troops so that he would have a full force with which to attack Mexico City. But he found himself having to put all his reserves forward, unsupported by artillery fire.
Mexican General Zaragoza attacked both flanks of the French army at the same time, while peasant troops concealed themselves along the escape route out of Puebla to do the maximum damage to French troops as they retreated. Lorencez tried a second attack on May 7th, but was unable to make even the slightest headway against the Mexicans as they fiercely defended the city.
This remarkable defeat of European imperialists forces was not to last, however, despite some support from Abraham Lincoln, who had his own agenda in aiding the Mexican cause. Historian James Cockcroft has noted that Lincoln provided armed troops to keep the French from using U.S. Southern access points to enter Mexico, and even provided arms to the Mexican Army. Lincoln did this because he knew that a French-controlled Mexico would side with the Confederacy and might given it enough clout to win the American Civil War. He continued his support in order to ensure that a government led by Benito Juárez, strongly anti-Confederate, would end up in power.
Ultimately, the French seized Mexico City and conquered the country, turning its government into a monarchy. Napoleon III installed one of his relatives, the Austrian Archduke Maximilian Ferdinand, as the monarch. He chose the title of Emperor of Mexico, and ruled with his wife, the former Princess Maria Charlotte of Belgium, called Empress Carlota.
But the Mexican people continued to battle during the five years of French monarchy. Especially remarkable was the commitment of the Mexican working class, who were treated little better than serfs during this period of history. Their determination would not permit foreign invaders to swamp their country. In May of 1867, Mexico City was re-taken by the Mexican people, and the self-styled Emperor was executed. Carlota went mad, and was sent packing to Belgium, where she spent the rest of her life in an asylum-like seclusion.
One of the ironies of the supposedly liberal Juárez government once it took control was that it added, rather than detracted, to the power base of the Mexican landowners. Having switched sides and become de facto “liberal” supporters, the landowners gained additional resources when Juárez nationalized Catholic Church property. The consequential boom in real estate speculation further impoverished the working class and led to the development of an aggressively exploitative form of agrarian capitalism. The elite, having gained this additional power, ultimately installed dictator Porfirio Diaz. The Mexican peasants and workers would again have to go to war to topple Diaz in 1910.
Mexico also continued to fight off various powers as they tried to possess, to raid, to plunder the country’s resources. This included attempts by Great Britain to seize Mexican oil production in the 1930s. And today, Mexicans are waging another battle—against U.S. agribusiness and other capitalist maneuvers made seamlessly easy by NAFTA. Since the Mexican government’s acceptance of NAFTA, the wages of industrial workers in the country have fallen 25 percent. 700,000 Mexican farmers have lost their land. And the number of immigrants leaving Mexico for the U.S. has doubled.
Today, Cinco de Mayo, a largely commercial holiday made popular in the 1940s, is used today by American advertisers “as a marketing opportunity for corporate America.” It will be marked by the sale of tacky decorations, fiestas, tequila, parades, mariachi music, and Americans’ weird interpretations of Mexican food. (Can anyone say “wet burrito”?)
What would be a better acknowledgement of the Battle of Puebla is to honor the ánimo of the Mexican people, and stand in solidarity with them as they continue to struggle against foreign invasions and the capitalist agendas that fuel them.
Blackwater’s New Ethics Chief: John Ashcroft
(This article is re-posted from WIRED.)
The consortium in charge of restructuring the world’s most infamous private security firm just added a new chief in charge of keeping the company on the straight and narrow. Yes, John Ashcroft, the former attorney general, is now an “independent director” of Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater.
Ashcroft will head Xe’s new “subcommittee on governance,” its backers announced early Wednesday in a statement, an entity designed to “maximize governance, compliance and accountability” and “promote the highest degrees of ethics and professionalism within the private security industry.”
In other words, no more shooting civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan; no more signing for weapons its guards aren’t authorized to carry in warzones; no more impersonations of cartoon characters to acquire said weaponry; and no more ‘roids and coke on the job.
Ashcroft’s arrival at Xe is yet another clear signal it’s not giving up the quest for lucrative government security contracts now that it’s no longer owned by founder Erik Prince, even as it emphasizes the side of its business that trains law enforcement officers. In September, it won part of a $10 billion State Department contract to protect diplomats, starting with the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem. Ashcroft, a U.S. senator before becoming attorney general in the Bush administration, is a very known quantity to the federal officials that Xe will pitch. Even if he’s not lobbying for Blackwater, Ashcroft’s addition on the board is meant to inspire confidence in government officials of its newfound rectitude.
To some, Ashcroft will be forever known as the face of Bush-era counterterrorism, the official who vigorously defended the Patriot Act’s sweeping surveillance powers; told civil libertarians that their dissents “only aid terrorists“; and covered up the Spirit of Justice’s boob. At the same time, when Ashcroft was critically ill in 2005, he resisted a White House entreaty to his hospital bed seeking to reauthorize warrantless surveillance in defiance of the acting attorney general.
“This is a company with a strong history of service to its country, and a reputation of best-in-class offerings to its public and private customers,” Ashcroft said in a statement. “I look forward to helping USTC enhance its governance and oversight capabilities as the company moves forward,” referring to U.S. Training Center, another of Blackwater’s many names. Like scores of other senior security officials, he’s spent his post-government career running a Washington consulting firm.
Xe is still sorting out its permanent leadership and searching for a permanent CEO. For now, the investor team that bought the company in December assembled and empowered a board of directors to run the shop along with the existing management. That board includes former National Security Agency director Bobby Ray Inman. Its chairman is a Clear Channel co-founder, Red McCombs.
Ashcroft and his new subcommittee will report to the board. “With the formation of this subcommittee, and with Ashcroft as its chair,” the firm says in the statement, “USTC aims to set the bar for industry standards against which all other companies will be measured.”
Democracy on Hold in Benton Harbor
This story by Ryan Harvey is re-posted from TruthOut
Michigan emergency financial management law “a violation of constitution,” say residents.
While the country watched the protests in Wisconsin spill into the State Capitol Building, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder was passing a controversial bill that many consider a direct attack on the constitutional rights of the citizens of Michigan.
Public Acts 4-9, also called The Emergency Financial Management bill, gives already existing “Emergency Financial Managers” (EFMs) sweeping new powers, allowing them to literally suspend the entire elected bodies of municipalities they deem to be failing, and suspend collective bargaining agreements with unions for up to five years.
Immediately after the bill passed, an EFM took complete control over the city of Benton Harbor as well as Detroit’s public school system. EFMs are also in power in Pontiac and Ecorse.
As many as 400 accountants, lawyers, school employees and city workers are taking classes as part of the new law, studying corporate-sector strategies for municipal application. One class, “Dealing with the Unionized Workforce,” alludes to union-busting techniques.(1)
Having studied, these teams are ready to attack the local governments of Michigan to restructure their finances. “A SWAT team is an OK way to look at this,” Michigan State University economist Eric Scorsone told Bloomberg last week of the trainees.(2)
Many Michigan residents, especially those experiencing poverty or hanging on to medium-income jobs, are outraged. Protests, lawsuits from the American Civil Liberties Union and local municipalities and calls for Governor Snyder to be recalled have unfolded with the bill’s passing.
“It’s a dictatorship,” Marian Kramer of the National Welfare Rights Union in Detroit says. “They are restructuring the government to protect the interests of corporations, that’s what this is all about. It’s not about us.”
“They have violated the constitution for the residents of Benton Harbor,” says Rev. Pinkney of Benton Harbor. “This is a constitutional issue.”
He and hundreds of others have been organizing and participating in demonstrations, lawsuits and other forms of protest against the bill.
Benton Harbor residents say that Whirlpool, the world’s leading manufacturer of major home appliances, and which once employed many in Benton Harbor in manufacturing jobs, might have a role in the EFM law as well; State Rep. Al Pscholka, who introduced the bill, formerly sat on the board of a Whirlpool-funded nonprofit in Benton Harbor now behind a controversial development on the town’s beach. And his former boss Rep. Fred Upton is a Whirlpool heir who owns property near the development.
Protesters listen to a speaker at a rally in Benton Harbor against EFM and Harbor Shores, on April 27, 2011. (Photo: Protect JKP)
Sucked Down the Whirlpool
Benton Harbor has long dealt with abject poverty, job loss from outsourcing and low-level corruption.
Earlier this month, former City Manager Richard Marsh settled a $192,000 lawsuit accusing other city officials of conducting fundraisers in the name of the city, but not turning over the money, and of burying a report on the city’s financial situation.
The city government has been profiled for government accountability lapses in the past as well. But many residents say that appointing an EFM with no legal accountability whatsoever will only makes such problems worse.
“You as a citizen have no rights,” Marian Kramer says. “The EFM only responds to the governor and his committee, not to the people.”
Benton Harbor residents point out the state government’s two-faced approach to their community. They see Whirlpool as the real criminal, overshadowing anything a city commissioner could do in a lifetime.
Whirlpool, which has its global headquarters in Benton Harbor, has long controlled the city. In 1986, at the behest of business leaders, Benton Harbor was designated as an “Enterprise Zone” to give tax exemptions to the private sector. Whirlpool quickly ate up the exemptions.(3)
At the same time, the St. Joseph-Benton Harbor area was losing over 5,000 jobs.(4) Whirlpool continued layoffs into the ’90s, until in 1996 they laid off half of the workers at their Evansville, Indiana, plant.
Today, less than one-third of Whirlpool’s workforce is inside the country.(5)
In 2003, as anti-police brutality riots broke out in Benton Harbor, Whirlpool was complaining that further tax incentives in a proposed energy bill were not enough to keep them from moving more jobs overseas. Apparently, the $17.40-an-hour jobs at Evansville were too pricey.
“A tax credit that creates a benefit for our refrigeration business is certainly welcome, but isn’t sufficient to eliminate the need for us to consider the possibility that we move some production to Mexico,” Tom Catania, Whirlpool’s vice president of government relations, threatened at the time. (6)
The threats worked and more favorable legislation passed in the 2005 Energy Policy Act. Thanks in part to the hundreds of thousands of dollars it poured into lobbying, Whirlpool has since received over $500 million dollars in tax breaks.(7)
After the new tax incentives started, Whirlpool announced it would soon be moving its Evansville and Fort Smith, Indiana, plants to Mexico, laying off another 1,200 workers(8) and leaving up to 1,500 more out of jobs through the overall “ripple effect.”(9)
This year, the job-exporting mega-manufacturer will receive multiple government handouts once again, including over $300 million in energy tax credits from the federal government – which will account for one-third of its annual profit(10) – a $19.3 million grant from the Department of Energy, $19 million in tax incentives from the Michigan Economic Growth Authority(11) and almost $1 million from the State of Ohio.(12) The company has also received over $500 million in tax credits in the last six years from the Brazilian government.(13)
And, like General Electric, Whirlpool’s effective tax rate for 2010 will be zero percent.(14)
Subsidized by these tax incentives and government handouts, Whirlpool last week announced a three-percent rise in first-quarter profits, up from $164 million to $169 million.(15)Whirlpool’s sales last year topped $17 billion.
Residents See Whirlpool Role in EFM Law
Whirlpool has often used the “job-creation” myth as a mean of getting government handouts and calming Benton Harbor residents. But, according to the Detroit Economic Club, Whirlpool’s Michigan workforce is almost 100 percent white collar. Benton Harbor is a blue-collar town. (16)
Whirlpool CEO Jeff Fettig exposed this recently, describing the new Whirlpool headquarters project for which the company has been promised $19 million in tax breaks from the state. “We have historical reasons [for staying in Benton Harbor], as well as having 4,000 good people here,” he told a crowd in March. “All that could change that equation for us is whether in the future we can continue to attract talent to the state.”(17)
A rally in Benton Harbor, Michigan is held against EFM and Harbor Shores, on April 27, 2011. (Photo: Protect JKP)
So, the “knowledge economy” jobs for which Michigan is paying are being marketed to people outside of Michigan.
To keep a clean public image, Whirlpool funds and largely controls a nonprofit in Benton Harbor called the Cornerstone Alliance, which has a revolving door with Whirlpool and the Whirlpool Foundation for its staff members and employees.
Cornerstone has long served the interests of Whirlpool in Benton Harbor, creating a façade through which the company can pass off its actions as being in the interests of “the community.”
“They’re an arm of Whirlpool,” says Carol Drake of Friends of Jean Klock Park.
Carol has been fighting for the preservation of the historic park against a consortium of developers led by Whirlpool. Her organization has tracked the evolution of developers’ plans to seize the public park, which she says have been in the works for decades.
Their current project is called Harbor Shores, a $500 million golf resort to include luxury homes, a water park, high-end condominiums and other similar upscale amenities.
Both Whirlpool and Cornerstone are partners in this development, which will span Benton Harbor’s public beach. Jean Klock Park was deeded to the people of Benton Harbor almost 100 years ago, but the central area of it was turned over to developers in 2008.
While the city government of Benton Harbor was complicit in this deal, newly elected commissioners have officially withdrawn the city’s support. “I don’t think any good government would show their support when we’ve given much more than any other entity,” Benton Harbor City Commissioner Duane L. Seats II said.(18)
But those commissioners no longer have any power due to Joe Harris’ recent suspension of all local government activity through the Emergency Management law.
This has led some to believe that the EFM bill is being used here to ensure that the Harbor Shores project continues.
“The true intent of the Emergency Management law here is so that the Whirlpool Corporation can complete what they started long ago,” Carol says, “the takeover of the park and of the City of Benton Harbor.”
Residents point out that Pscholka, who introduced the bill, was vice president of the Cornerstone Alliance’s Chamber of Commerce from 1996 to 2004.
“To say that there’s no connection between Harbor Shores and this legislation is absurd,” says Julie Weiss. “They are the ones who need to explain themselves.”
Julie has been active for many years in the fight to protect the park. Her organization, Protect Jean Klock Park, was founded in 2008 to support federal litigation against the National Park Service, The Army Corps of Engineers and the City of Benton Harbor.
“Pscholka was also a staffer for U.S. Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI),” Julie says. Representative Upton owns over $1 million in Whirlpool stock and pushed hard for the privatization of Jean Klock Park. His grandfather was a co-founder of Whirlpool.
For its part, Whirlpool has donated former factory land appraised at $20 million in anticipation of development at Harbor and has offered over $15 million in economic assistance and loans.
Meanwhile, the state of Michigan has offered up to $120 million in tax breaks for the project.(19)
The Harbor Shores plan is being run through a nonprofit called Harbor Shores Community Redevelopment, Inc., a collaboration among Whirlpool, Cornerstone and a new formation called The Consortium for Community Development.
The company in charge of developing Harbor Shores, Evergreen Development, was formed in 2005 in anticipation of the project. Evergreen’s Chief Financial Officer Jeffery Gilbertson is the former senior director of Financial Operations, International at General Growth Properties (GGP), one of the largest mall owners in the United States.
While Gilbertson was joining up with Evergreen in 2008, his former employer, after amassing $27 billion in debt, was filing what has been called the largest real estate bankruptcy in US history.(20)
Meanwhile, workers at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor were announcing a major campaign against GGP, which parallels the fight in Benton Harbor in many ways. A new report released this week shines light on these issues and perhaps puts the Harbor Shores project in Benton Harbor under a new light.
“The Inner Harbor,” the report reads, “has become a glaring example of poverty zone development, with low-quality jobs and abusive wages and conditions. As in other poverty zone developments, the private developers – General Growth Properties and Cordish Companies – and their investors insisted on secure profits through access to public subsidies and advantageous leases with the vendors who run the businesses in the development.”
That might sound all too familiar to the residents of Benton Harbor.
Development vs. Fair Development
It was recently announced that the 2012 and 2014 Senior PGA Tournament, brought to you by Whirlpool’s own KitchenAid, would be played at Harbor Shores.
“The Senior PGA, KitchenAid brand and Whirlpool Corporation’s alliance presents an opportunity to show how business and golf can help to strengthen and transform lives and communities,” said Jeff Noel, corporate vice president of Whirlpool Corporation.(21)
Instead of hiring locals whose taxes have helped fund the golf course’s development to work the tournament, the PGA is asking for 1,500 volunteers.(22)
This is a bit ironic since one of the big promises with the Harbor Shores development is that it will, according to their numbers, create 4,739 jobs. This number has been used in both the media and in the community as the great defense of the project.
The figure was first announced in an impact study conducted by students from the Kelley MBA Sports & Entertainment Academy with assistance from the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
But there’s a catch. When the W.E. Upjohn Institute conducted their own in-depth study afterwards, they found that the previous study’s numbers were skewed. The authors had computed the employment numbers as “job years,” which, according to the new report, “is not a reporting technique generally used by professional economists.”
“In essence, a ‘job year’ is one year of employment,” the report states. “By this measure, a solitary individual who works at the same job for 10 years would be reported as 10 ‘job years.'” The Upjohn Institute reports all employment impacts in terms of conventional jobs or employment levels, which is compatible with standard, publicly-reported employment statistics.”
It turns out the numbers were off by as much as 3,123. The second report puts the total employment count during the highest employment year (which in the report is 2012) at 1,616 jobs. That includes projected tourism employment and development construction.
These numbers also don’t account for how long those jobs will last, how much they will pay and how much skill they will involve. What we do know from the reports is that the majority of the jobs created will be in construction, meaning they will only last a few years.
Again, the Baltimore report describing working conditions at the Inner Harbor gives insight into what these kinds of developments mean when they talk about jobs: “The vendors, many but not all extremely powerful and wealthy companies themselves, maximize their profits by minimizing their unfixed costs (in particular labor), which creates a downward pressure on wages and working conditions for the vendors’ employees who work at the very bottom rung of the economic ladder.”
“In short,” it continues, “the development’s profits do not trickle down, but are instead squeezed upward from the workers.”
The promise of low-paying jobs and temporary employment will not lift Benton Harbor’s current residents out of poverty. Residents say they have been hearing similar things for years, but little has changed.
“They aren’t going to bring any jobs that are going to sustain a family,” Carol says.
Though there have been some improvements since the harsh years of the late 1970s, unemployment rates in Benton Harbor are still far above the national average (15 percent today with unofficial claims as high as 70 percent) and almost half of the city’s residents are now living at or below the poverty line. While the unemployment rate is lower than it was when the 1986 tax incentives started, almost half of the city’s residents have moved out since then, which helped bring that percentage down.
“They had to run the city down as far as they possibly could so [Whirlpool] would qualify for all the state money,” Carol suggests, “so they could create this development.”
One typical pattern with this type of development is that, after completion, property values rise and renters must move on to cheaper areas. For instance, while Fred Upton and Whirlpool CEO Jeff Fettig will see their property values rise in St. Joseph, the 60 percent of Benton Harbor residents who rent their houses will not.(23)
If poor residents are priced out and forced to other places, the result on paper will be that the overall income of Benton Harbor rose as a result of the Harbor Shores development.
“They want us to leave here as soon as possible,” says Reverend Pinkney.
As the Baltimore model has shown, developers in positions like Harbor Shores often masquerade as an economic engine for a city while leaching public money to make big profits.
“Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is a sad example of what broken promises for economic prosperity and jobs can do to a community,” says Ashley Hufnagel, a leadership organizer with the United Workers.
“It is workers and the community who end up paying the price for poverty-zone developments through poverty wages, lack of healthcare, barriers to education and more. That’s why harbor workers in Baltimore are holding the developers accountable and calling for Fair Development, an alternative model that respects human rights, maximizes public benefits and is sustainable.”
A demonstration has been called for in Benton Harbor on June 18, the anniversary of the 2003 riots. Another larger demonstration will take place during the 2012 PGA Championships at Harbor Shores.
Footnotes:
1. See here [3].
2. See here [3].
3. See here [4].
4. See here [5].
5. See here [6].
6. “Good Jobs First, Layoffs at Whirlpool: Costs to the Evansville Metro Area and Indiana Taxpayers.” Commissioned by IUE-CWA Local 808 and AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council Washington, DC. April 2010.
7. See here [7].
8. See here [8].
9. “Good Jobs First, Layoffs at Whirlpool: Costs to the Evansville Metro Area and Indiana Taxpayers.” Commissioned by IUE-CWA Local 808 and AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council Washington, DC. April 2010.
10. See here [9].
11. See here [10].
12. See here [11].
13. See here [12].
14. See here [13].
15. See here [14].
16. See here [6].
17. See here [6].
18. See here [15].
19. See here [16].
20. See here [17].
21. See here [18].
22. See here [19].
23. See here [20].
[21]
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 