Outsourcing 120711

Extra on page 20, Van Jones at Davos

In the last three and a half year, Obama has added debt to the tune of $5.6 trillion to make our national debt $15.8 trillion.

Hawker Beechcraft announces $1.79 billion sale to Chinas Superior Aviation

Associated Press (Washington Post) ^ | 7/9/12 | Staff

After Posting $70 Million Loss, French Company Lands $25 Million from DOE [Is this Insourcing?]
heritage.org ^

Leaked Pacific Trade Pact Exempts Foreign Firms From U.S. Law?
Americans for Limited Government ^ | June 14, 2012 | Bill Wilson

Former Pentagon Analyst Says China Can Shut Down All The Telecom Gear It Sold To The US
business insider ^ | Jun. 8, 2012 | F. Michael Maloof

Panetta calls for deep U.S.-India defense ties, more arms trade
Reuters ^ | June 6 2012 | David Alexander

Layoffs to Begin Monday at RG Steel(4th Largest U.S. Flat-Rolled Steel Company)

WYTV.com ^ | June 3, 2012 | WYTV.com

3 Years After Taxpayer Bailout, Bank of America Ships Jobs Overseas[Philippines]

Mother Jones ^ | 29 May 2012 | Josh Harkinson

Medtronic to cut 1,000 jobs, including 250 in Twin Cities

pioneer press ^ | 5-22-12 | chris snowbeck

But Medtronic officials also said on Tuesday, May 22, that the company plans to hire 1,500 workers over the next 11 months. Many of the new hires will work in faster-growing markets overseas,

California-based Apple to build $210-million new manufacturing plant. In China

Orange Punch the political commentary blog of the Orange County Register ^ | 5-21-2012 | Mark Landsbaum

Fake Chinese Parts 'Found In US Planes'

Yahoo News ^ | 22nd May 2012 | Yahoo News

General Mills to cut 850 jobs

FT.com ^ | 5/22/12 | Alan Rappeport

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3d3cac24-a42e-11e1-a701-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1vctpmQf0

Wanda Group of China Buys AMC Entertainment [Second Largest US Theater Chain!!]
LATimes ^ | May 20, 2012 | Richard Verrier

HP mulls cutting at least 25,000 jobs: sources

Reuters via Yahoo News ^ | 5/17/12 | Poornima Gupta

Senator seeks expanded visas for foreign high-tech workers

Yahoo ^ | 05/16/12 | Richard Cowan Senator John Cornyn

Facebook co-founder Saverin renounces U.S. citizenship ahead of IPO

CBS NEWS.com TechTalk ^ | May 11, 2012 1:58 PM | David Hamilton

Chinese cities coming to America

rightsidenews ^ | May 10, 2012 | American dream A Chinese group known as "Sino-Michigan Properties LLC" has bought up 200 acres of land near the town of Milan, Michigan. Their plan is to construct a "China City" with artificial lakes, a Chinese cultural center and hundreds of housing units for Chinese citizens.

Here Comes the Made-in-China Cadillac

American Thinker ^ | May 9, 2012 | Howard Richman & Raymond Richman

Congress Revolts On Obama Plan That Would Ban Buy American

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/03/obama-trade-congress-buyamerican_n_1475277.html WASHINGTON A group of 68 House Democrats and one Republican sent a letter to President Barack Obama on Thursday urging him to reconsider an element of the controversial free trade agreement currently being negotiated by the administration. If approved in its current form, the pact would effectively ban Buy American policies in government contracting. (http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/BuyAmericanTPPLtrtoAdmin.pdf) Although the deal, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, has received relatively little media attention in the United States, it has sparked international friction among consumer groups and environmental activists who worry that terms demanded by the Obama administration will eliminate important public protections. Domestically, however, the deals primary source of political tension is from a portion that could ban Buy American provisions a restriction that opponents emphasize would crimp U.S. jobs.

US Companies Are Furiously Creating Jobs... Abroad

Zero Hedge ^ | 04/27/2012 | Tyler Durden

Poor 1st quarter for Hasbro Games; company announces 150 'temporary' layoffs now permanent
The Republican ^

U.S. Firms Add Jobs, but Mostly Overseas [Where's The RNC On This?]
Wall St. J ^ | April 26, 2012 | SCOTT THURM

GM to build 2013 Cadillac XTS in China

IBTimes ^ | APRIL 23, 2012 | BENJAMIN REEVES

WHAT is Scytl & WHY Should You Be VERY, VERY Concerned?

The Patriot Update ^ | April 10, 2012 | Ann-Marie Murrell The United States of America has a brand new private VOTE COUNTING company that the Obama administration has personally handpicked. The company is called Scytl and it is based in Michelle Obamas most favorite vacation spot, Barcelona, Spain

Cessna, China's AVIC in JV talks to build Cessna jets

Al Ja Reuters ^ | 3/23/12

Hasbro cuts 170 jobs, mostly in U.S.

Yahoo Finance ^ | March 6, 2012 | Dhanya Skariachan

US Air Force cancels deal for Brazilian-made aircraft

Agence France Presse (AFP) ^ | 29 February 2012

Eight Industries the U.S. Has Lost to China

Wall Street 24X7 ^ | 01/24/2012 | Charles B. Stockdale, Douglas A. McIntyre

Remember when Obama gave Brazil money for deep water drilling?

Washington Times: China gets jump on U.S. for Brazils oil (Hussein fails again)
Canada Free Press ^ | 1/22/12 | S Milloy

Apple's Jobs to Obama: "jobs aren't coming back" to U.S. [Not just for Geeks]
NY Slimes by way of Herald Tribune ^ | January 23, 2012 | CHARLES DUHIGG and KEITH BRADSHER

Job Killer: Obama Admin Hands Big Air Force Contract to Brazil (video)
PJ Tatler ^ | 1/19/12 | fox news

U.S. Bridges, Roads Being Built by Chinese Firms

ABC NEWS ^ Cities hire Chinese instead of American workers for building projects.

Chinese Rocket Lofts Maritime [surveillance] Satellite for U.S. Firm

Space News ^ | January 10, 2012 | Peter B. de Selding

19 Facts About The Deindustrialization Of America That Will Make You Weep

http://www.businessinsider.com/deindustrialization-factory-closing-2010-9?op=1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001. 75% of which employed over 500 people while in operation. Dell Inc. has announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade. Dell has announced that it will be closing its last large U.S. manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. 900 jobs will be lost. In 2008, 1.2 billion cellphones were sold worldwide. We made none.

If our trade deficit with China increases at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone. We have lost 5.5 million manufacturing jobs since October 2000. From 1999 to 2008, employment at foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased 30 percent to 10.1 million. In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent. Ford Motor Company recently announced the closure of a factory that produces the Ford Ranger in St. Paul, Minnesota. As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941. In America today, consumption accounts for 70 percent of GDP. Of this 70 percent, over half is spent on services. The United States has lost a whopping 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000. In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per capita broadband internet use. Today it ranks 15th. Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually lower in 2010 than it was in 1975. Printed circuit boards are used in tens of thousands of different products. Asia now produces 84 percent of them worldwide. The United States spends approximately $3.90 on Chinese goods for every $1.00 that the Chinese spend on goods from the United States. One prominent economist is projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040. The Census Bureau says 43.6 million Americans are now living in poverty, which is the highest number of poor Americans in the 51 years that records have been kept.

GM announces EV development deal with Chinese partner

Gasgoo/Automotive News ^ | January 9, 2012 | MSN Autos

U.S. Firms Keen to Add Foreign Jobs

Wall Street Journal ^ | November 22, 2011 | DAVID WESSEL U.S.-based multinational corporations added 1.5 million workers to their payrolls in Asia and the Pacific region during the 2000s, and 477,500 workers in Latin America, while cutting payrolls at home by 864,000,

Adobe to lay off hundreds of workers (750)

Tuesday, November 08, 2011 5:54:20 PM by Cardhu 21 replies Mercury News ^ | November 8th 2011 | Jeremy C. Owens "will result in the elimination of approximately 750 full-time positions primarily in North America and Europe," the company said in a news release. Adobe reported at the end of its last quarter that it employed 10,040 people.

Congressman: Science 'czar' giving China U.S. technology

WND ^ | November 05, 2011 | By Bob Unruh

Whirlpool Unveils Plans to Slash Workforce by 10% (another company closing an American plant)
Fox News ^ | 10/28/2011 | Reuters Whirlpool Corp , the world's largest appliance maker, slashed its full-year profit forecast and said it would cut about 10 percent of its workforce in North America and Europe, to protect margins in a weak economic environment. The maker of Maytag and KitchenAid appliances will cut more than 5,000 positions and said it would close down its plant in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and reduce its overall manufacturing capacity by about 6 million units.

Al Gore wangled $529 million taxpayer loan for electric cars made in FINLAND
Coach is Right ^ | 10/22/2011 | Doug Book

Car Company Gets US Loan, Builds Cars In Finland --$529,000,000

Abcnews ^ | 10.20.11

Stimulus money pays for street, traffic lights made largely overseas
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ^ | October 16, 2011 | By Lou Kilzer

Lockheed offers Japan F-35 final assembly

Flight International ^ | 10/14/2011 | Siva Govindasamy

GM and GE Go All-In for Chinese Subsidies

National Legal & Policy Center ^ | September 26, 2011 | Paul Chesser

GM expansion in China a threat to U.S. jobs?

CBS News ^ | September 22, 2011

San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Controversially Made in China (Union Cost too high)
FOX News ^ | 9/20/2011 | Claudia Cowan

General Motors , SAIC agree to develop electric vehicles in China

Economic Times ^ | Sept. 20, 2011 | Reuters

Outsourcing Defense Contracts to Unfriendly Governments

Pajamas Media ^ | September 14, 2011 | David Williams

Obama to give 'jobs speech' at NC company that's shipping jobs to Costa Rica:
The Daily Caller ^ | September 13, 2011 | Matthew Boyle

Boeing gives guarantees to Brazil in fighters bid

CBS news ^ | August 18, 2011 | AP

W. James (Jim) McNerney, Jr., is chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of The Boeing Company. Bios of the following are at this link: http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/advisory-boards/jobscouncil/members/mcnerney Jim McNerney is a member of Presidents Council on Jobs and Competitiveness along with: Jeffrey Immelt, Chair, GE Ursula M. Burns, CEO of Xerox, Steve Case, AOL co-founder Kenneth I. Chenault, CEO American Express, John Doerr, lawyer, on boards of Google and Amazon Roger W. Ferguson, CEO of TIAA-CREF, Mark T. Gallogly, co-founder of Centerbridge Partners, an investment firm

Joseph T. Hansen, International President UFCW, pushing global union movement since 1994 Lewis Hay, CEO NextEra Energy, renewable energy generator Gary Kelly, CEO Southwest Airlines Ellen Kullman, CEO DuPont, moving closer to international companies A.G. Lafley, former CEO Proctor & Gamble, board member of GE, GM and Dell Eric Lander, Director Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard Monica Lozano, CEO of La Opinion and impreMedia Jim McNerney Darlene Miller, CEO Permac Industries, a machining co. Paul Otellini, CEO Intel, Richard D. Parsons, Chairman Citigroup, Antonio M. Perez, CEO Eastman Kodak, CEO of Diversity Initiative Penny Pritzker, CEO Pritzker Realty Group Brian Roberts, CEO Comcast Matthew Rose, CEO BNSF Railway Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer Facebook Richard Trumka, SEIU union boss Laura DAndrea Tyson, Professor of Global Management, Berkeley Robert Wolf, President UBS Investment Bank Christopher Che, CEO of Che International Group, creating a conducive culture of sustainable growth and properly allocating capital resources (Invironazi bent on wealth redistribution)

US Oil Giant Exxon Mobile Flees To Russia Over Obama Fears

pakalertpress ^ | 10Sep 2011

Ford building $1bn manufacturing complex in India

France 24 ^ | 09-06-2011 | AFP

AT&T, T-Mobile Pledge to Bring 5,000 Jobs to US [But Only On Condition...Blackmail?]

NYTimes ^ | August 30, 2011 AT&T, T-Mobile Pledge to Bring 5,000 Jobs to US August 31, 2011 WASHINGTON (AP) AT&T Inc. is pledging to bring 5,000 wireless call center jobs, currently based abroad, back to the U.S. if it is allowed to proceed with its proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA.

Guess Where Coca-Cola Is Investing $4 Billion

forbes.com/yahoo ^ | August 19, 2011 | Kenneth Rapoza

George Stephanopoulos Scolds Companies Who Relocate Overseas Because of High Taxes:
Newsbusters ^ | 8/17/11 | Scott Whitlock

Obama's State-of-the-Art Tour Bus Made in Canada

FOX ^

Bailed-Out GM Creates 800 Jobs In Indonesia

National Legal & Policy Center ^ | August 16, 2011 | Mark Modica

Honda to build Mexico car plant, opening 2014 (employing 3,200)

reuters.com ^ | August 12, 2011 | Bernie Woodall, Ben Klayman, Kevin Krolicki

Boston Scientific to lay off 1,200-plus

boston ^ In February 2010, Boston Scientific said it would pare 1,300 jobs worldwide, but similarly did not say where. Yesterdays move, a day after Boston Scientific disclosed it was investing $150 million and hiring 1,000 people in China,...

Baldwin Hardware closing, laying off 159 (Moving To Mexico)

readingeagle.com ^

Cessna, Others In Talks to Build Bizjets in China (more jobs outsourced)

Flying Magazine ^ | 7/15/11 | Goyer

Ford Investing $1.2B In Spain

manufacturing.net ^ | June 14, 2011 | AP

Mazda to End Production in the U.S.

Asahi Shimbun ^ | 06/05/2011 | Yukio Hashimoto and Kazuhito Suwa

Obama Adviser GE Shipping Jobs and Profits Overseas

http://nation.foxnews.com/general-electric/2011/05/23/obama-advisor-ge-shippingjobs-and-profits-overseas ^

Fellowes, American Stationery Giant, Brought to Its Knees in China

theepochtimes ^

Westinghouse surrendered next-generation nuclear plant specs

PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW ^ | Monday, April 4, 2011 | Lou Kilzer

Forget Obamatax. Are you ready for global taxes?

Hotair ^ | 07/07/2012 | Jazz Shaw

Is the Obama Administration Outsourcing Green Jobs to Africa Now?

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/townhallcomstaff/2012/07/06/is_the_obama_administr ation_outsourcing_green_jobs_to_africa_now ^

Obama in a Big Hurry to Sign Oppressive UN 'Small Arms Treaty' (Next Month!)
Reaganite Republican ^ | Reaganite Republican

Clinton announces $20 million clean energy program for Africa

The Hill ^ | June 23, 2012 | Julian Pecquet

Will Toledo, Ohio Be The First Major American City To Be Owned By China?
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com ^ | 6.21.12 | Susanne Posel

The U.N.'s Internet Power Grab

http://online.wsj.com ^ | June 18, 2011 | Gordon Crovitz

Pentagon Extends Kenya, Djibouti Military Support Contract

U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor ^ | June 10, 2012 | Steve Peacock The U.S. Dept. of Defense says it awarded a no-bid military facility support contract in Africa as a critical move in support of global counter-terrorism activities.

Asian electric car consortium in deal to buy Saab

AP ^ | June 13, 2012 | Staff

Obama Trade Document Leaked, Reveals More Broken Campaign Promises

Examiner.com ^ | June 13, 2012 | Mike Delrio A document posted online early Wednesday morning reveals the Obama administration intends to give new political powers to multinational corporations, contradicting prior campaign promises.

WTO Wants to Replace Made in the USA with Made in the World Labels
World Net Daily via thegatewaypundit.com ^ | June 4, 2012 | by Roger Simmermaker World Net Daily

Ex-Defense chief Rumsfeld to face off with military brass over Law of the Sea
The Hill ^ | June 8, 2012 | Julian Pecquet Donald Rumsfeld is returning to Capitol Hill next week to testify against the United States joining the United Nations's Law of the Sea treaty, pitting him squarely against the military brass that he used to command as former President George W. Bush's secretary of Defense. Rumsfeld's testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is especially relevant because he was former President Reagan's emissary against the treaty back in 1982, when international momentum was for it. Proponents of the treaty have been trotting out former Reagan officials former Secretary of State George Shultz, former Deputy National Security Adviser John Negroponte...

U.N. could tax U.S. - based Web sites, leaked docs show
CNET ^ | June 7, 2012 | Declan McCullagh and Larry Downes

Obama Lunges Toward Global Government

Town Hall ^ | 6/5/2012 | Phyllis Schlafly

China condemns U.S. gun ownership as human rights violation

Gun Rights Examiner ^ | 29 May, 2012 | David Codrea

Kenya Getting Navy SEAL Boats from Obama

U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor ^ | May 28, 2012 | Steve Peacock

Obamas 'Law of the Sea' Treaty Spreads the Wealth Around

fox ^ | 5/21/12 | Steven Groves The Heritage Foundation

Fed clears China's first US bank takeover

Yahoo! ^ | 5/09/2012 | Veronica Smith

Is the guy that Obama made his Jobs Czar

Jeffery Immelt, CEO of General Electric (GE) since 2001, parent company of NBC. In 2009, GEs number of U.S. employees dropped 18,000, GE has reduced the number of U.S. employees by 31,000 since Immelt signed on. Head of President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. This position was created by Executive Order, meaning, nobody but Obama had any say in this. Leader in the push for Cap and Trade, where businesses are fined for producing Carbon emissions and paid for reducing them. Delivered software and oil supplies to Iran until 2008 Gave orders to NBC news reporters to not say anything negative about Obama during election year. Partnering with China to build high speed rail in the U.S. Partnering with China to build commercial airliners GE was the source behind the outlawing of incandescent light bulbs. We now get our Mercury filled bulbs from China. Sold GEs precious metals mine to China, Americas only precious metals mine, and China promptly closed it. Now China is the major supplier of precious metals necessary for windmills, efficient electric motors, magnets, and solar. Enrons former CEO Ken Lay was pushing the Clinton and Bush White Houses to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. When Enron collapsed, AES and General Electric absorbed Enrons assets. Ken Lay had set up a plan to build coal fired energy plants in third world counties, not affected by the Kyoto Protocol.

The Kyoto Protocol would have closed the coal fired power plants in the U.S., increasing the cost of natural gas and decreasing the U.S.s dependency on coal, making it cheaper for their operations in Asia, South America and Africa. In 2010, GE earned $14.2 billion in international profits, $5.1 billion in the U.S., they paid no taxes. GE was given $36 million from the Obama administration for their early retirees. Immelts compensation doubled to $15.2 million. April 1, 2011 a report comes out that Obama gave GE $36 million to help out GEs early retirements. http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/ge-ceo-jeffrey-immelt-the-head-of-obamasjobs-council-is-moving-jobs-and-economic-infrastructure-to-china-at-a-blistering-pace GE is closing its 115 year old X-ray business in the U.S. and relocating to China. In 2009, GE employed 36,000 more people abroad than it did in the U.S. Ford is building three factories in Chongqing and another one in Nanchang. In 1979 there were 19.5 million manufacturing jobs in the U.S. Today, there are 11.6 million, a 40% decline. The U.S. has lost 32% of its manufacturing jobs since 2000.

That sign: IF NOT US, WHO? IF NOT NOW, WHEN? That was Andy Sterns sign-off in this speech. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXlXwV_QNrE YouTube title: Andy

Stern: Justice for All

Andrew Stern, from the SEIU YouTube page dated April 10, 2008. Listen to this guy as he lays out the Obama administrations agenda for a union governed America, a union governed world, with free healthcare for all. This is before Obama was elected. This shows you that the unions are running the country. 3:30 We affirm SEIUs commitment to changing this country as well as the democratic and free debate. 4:06 If we adopt the Justice for All program, by the end of four years, we will have won healthcare for every man, every woman and every child in the United States and Puerto Rico.

If we adopt the Justice for All program, We will rebalance the power between big corporations and people that work by adopting the Employee Free Choice Act. If we adopt the Justice for All program, we will finally have a pathway to citizenship for every immigrant in this country. 5:08 Ten percent of our members, nearly two hundred thousand people will be trained as leaders of our union to be the engine of change. 5:48 The gap between the rich and the rest of us is growing far too wide. Our candidate Barack Obama has seized on the opportunity of change. 6:45 Because if were going to win healthcare for every man, woman and child, and the employee free choice act in the first 100 days after we elect a new president, then were going to have to take this SEIU effort to a new level. 7:06 Thats why we are going to put ten million dollars in a bank account, to have accountability to every single politician who chooses to defy us on the pledges they made when they were running for office. 8:27 Its your talent, your skill, your passion, your dedication to help us elect Barack Obama and then win the changes we need for our country. 9:12 Many of you came here, not just to take care of our members, but to be a part a movement to change our country. We are on the verge of building that movement for justice for all, when we are on the verge of changing our country, we all come together and unite, and fight. And if not us, if not us, then who? And if not now, at this incredible moment of opportunity, an incredible moment of hope, then when?

Van Jones
Behind Enemy Lines: Inside the World Economic Forum By Van Jones

Van Jones founded the Bay Area Police Watch, which has been key in organizing effective challenges to police brutality. He is the national executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and an organizer with Books Not Bars. Have you ever heard someone declare that the entire world is run by a small handful of people? You probably dismissed that person as a lunatic, right? Well, I have some disturbing news for you: Yes, Virginia, there is a Global Ruling Class. I saw it myself, up close and personal, with my own eyes on the rich folks side of the police barricades that surrounded the Waldorf-Astoria hotel during the World Economic Forums (WEF) Davos gathering in New York City in February 2002. Having spent a few days in their company, I have two observations about the global elite. First: it is a remarkably self-confident class-absolutely assured of both the correctness of its free market course and its ability to carry forward that program on a world scale. In person, the global rulers maintain an easy confidence and grace, despite a global economic downturn. Despite the threat of terrorist violence from right-wing Islamic fundamentalists. Despite rising protests from anticapitalists on the Left. Despite the political and economic meltdown in Argentina. Despite corporate implosions like Enron. Despite various shocks to the system, the global rulers remain absolutely self-confident, genial, self-assured. One get the impression that they are just a few hundred old chums, playing a fun and leisurely game of golf-with the entire earth as their green. Second, the global rulers are not wed to any of the present institutions of global governance (WTO, IMF, World Bank) that we antiglobalizers have targeted. Thy are committed to one thing and one thing only: the continued success and long-term stability of capitalism as a world system. In fact, leading intellectual elites and business leaders were freely debating at the forum how to reform or abolish all of those institutions-but for reasons that would horrify most people of conscience. How I Got In Before I elaborate on these themes, let me explain how I gained access to one of the most exclusive gatherings in the world. Every year the heads of the top 1,000 global corporations, members of parliament from dozens of nations, heads of state from several countries, and celebrities and notables from around the world gather in Davos, Switzerland, to mix and mingle over the course of an extended weekend. There are parties, galas, workshops, and speeches. And every year, the WEF selects 100 people (under the age of thirty-six) from around the world, declares them Global Leaders for Tomorrow (GLTs) and then invites them to attend. As someone who inhaled tear gas in Seattle and got hit by a police car protesting the World Bank in Washington, D.C., I was shocked to be one of the few U.S. citizens to get the WEFs award in 2002. I did not seek out the honor, nor did I apply for it. (I dont think Id even heard of the WEF before it sent me the award letter.) My only claim to fame is that I earned a law degree from Yale University in 1993 and then helped to found a human

rights organization opposing U.S. police abuse and prison expansion. But most of the other GLTs were successful business leaders or elected officials in their own countries. The selection process is highly secretive, so I dont know why the picked me. My best guess: The selection committee wanted to add some token social justice flavor to the mix-and then picked my name off a list of people who have won other prestigious national or international awards. To Accept or Not to Accept? Whatever the rationale, I wound up with a coveted invitation to the ruling elites biggest schmooze-fest. Of course, given what the World Exploiters Forum stands for, it is not obvious that a Left activist like me should accept one of its awards. Many smart, hardworking progressives would just say no to any honors from the global rulers. And I fully respect everyone who feels that way. But I took a different view. I looked at the award as a series of golden opportunities: to get on the other side of the barricades, to steal a first-hand look behind the ruling classs curtains. And possibly to use the WEFs own platform against it. Most activists have some degree of privilege, which we use as best we can to help build the movement. I saw the award as a special privilege that I could put to good use. Plain and simple: I knew that, in the eyes of the media, someone being honored by the WEF would have the perfect standing to criticize it. Some of my colleagues worried that the WEF would try to pimp the fact that it was honoring someone from the protest community, to bolster its stodgy image. But the WEF never sent out one press release (or did anything else) to single me out from the other ninety-nine awardees (most of whom were mainstream political and business elites from around the world). Therefore, I was free and clear to go to New York and single myself out-by loudly challenging corporate-led globalization, from inside the WEF. Media Coup In that regard, my colleagues at the Ella Baker Center and I succeeded beyond our wildest expectations. My EBC colleagues worked overtime to get the media to spotlight my dissent at the super-elite gathering. Thanks to their efforts, literally millions of people around the world heard a searing critique of the WEFs elitism and exploitative agenda-from someone whom the WEF itself was honoring. Our little media coup has earned us a tidal wave of positive feedback from all over the country, as well as from Europe and Africa. I got spots on CNN, NPR, and national Pacifica radio. I got to call the WEF corporate cabal of economic royalists on National Public Radios Marketplace. And I sang the praises of the progressive World Social Forum in Brazil on CNNs Business Unusualwhich reaches an international audience of several million people. (A friend got a call from his wife in Ghana, who say she saw me on TB in the motherland!) And for my acceptance speech, I challenged the delegation with a hard-hitting poem that compared cops to

cavemen and opposed the mass incarceration of youth. I did everything I could to forward the cause against corporate-led globalization, from the inside. Massive Security Lockdown, Inside and Out With practically the entire global ruling class in one building, security was tighter at the Waldorf-Astoria than anything Ive ever seen or heard of. There were 4,000 police actively engaged in security for the event. To get into the Waldorf-Astoria, you had to have a special photo ID badge, with a computer chip embedded in it. After showing your badge at numerous police checkpoints just to get to the building and then into the foyer, you then had to press your badge against a translucent white panel. Your photograph and all your personal information would then somehow pop up on a computer screen that security guards would scrutinize. Only then would they wave you through the metal detectors and into the forum itself. Inside, I noticed that every one of the hotel security guards looked very formidable-and that each one had the same small, red emblems on their lapels. Hey, I said, pointing to the starlike pin on one guards suit jacket. Whats the name of your security firm? He gave me a sly smile. Secret service. Men in suits with bomb-sniffing dogs would come sweeping through the corridors of the ultra-posh hotel at random intervals. Once, a swarm of Israeli secret service came rushing through the huge lobby, instantly parting the scores of people casually assembled there like the Red Sea. In the center of the swarm: Shimon Perez. The massive security presence had a huge psychological effect on any would-be dissidents (like me) inside. For instance, at a big breakfast meeting. I wanted to publically challenge former U.S. President Bill Clinton for doubling the U.S. prison population during his tenure. But the session ended before the moderator called on me. And-finding myself essentially alone in a strange place that was filled with hundreds of secret service agents, patrolled by dozens of police dogs and surrounded by 4,000 cops-I was too chicken-shit to just stand up and yelling at him. Having been tear gassed in Seattle 1999 and hit by a police car at the year 2000 anti-World Bank protests in D.C., I like to think of myself as a fearless protestera true bad ass. But inside the locked-down Waldorf, I found myself acting as polite and cooperative as a choirboy. Comic Relief Of course, I saw all kinds of other famous people, the whole while. Bono, Bill Gates, Bishop Desmond Tutu, George Soros, Lauryn Hill, Andunforgettablyacting legends Sidney Poitier and Ossie Davis walking through the main lobby, arm in arm, like two shining Black Gods in a sea of pale faces. And there are certain bizarre and laughable scenes that will be forever etched in my mind. For instance, I saw Bill Clinton bending all the way over at the waist to hug a small child. I

was touched. But then I reaized he wasnt embracing a kid. He was hugging sex expert Dr. Ruth. (No comment.) And, one time, I was standing at a urinal, between two older white guys. I looked to my right and recognized one of the guys as GOP Senator Orrin Hatch. The guy to my left: failed GOP presidential hopeful Steve Forbes. I couldnt decide which one to turn to and salute first. So both of them escaped, high and dry. Political Observations As surprising as I found some of the sights inside the Waldorf-Astoria, the things that I heard during the innumerable workshops, panels, and discussions were even more surprising. First of all, the ruling class more or less understands itself to be a ruling class. Behind the closed doors, there is no pretense to democracy or humility. Countless sessions and workshops started with a discussion leader standing before a room of thirty to fifty power players and casually stating: Okay, so were here to make the world run better. Right now weve got in this room together everybody who can make a difference on (issue X). So legs get started. The idea that a few dozen CEOs and government officials should get together in a posh hotel and solve every problem from trade to AIDS did not seem to strike anyone as odd or undemocratic. Second, everyone loved the protester. In fact, most attendees took the demonstrationsand the huge police responseas an affirmation of their own self-importance. It was almost as if a bunch of really nerdy kids were chanting and marching around outside the coolest frat house on campus. All the frat guys and gals inside would occasionally peek out the window and chuckle. But mainly they just kept their own party going. While most attendees dismissed the demonstrations as festive irrelevance, they did feel some need to speak occasionally to key issues raised by our movement. Clinton himself said with a wry smile about the demonstrations: Ill be most of you sitting in here actually agree with about 80 percent of what the protesters out there are saying. I looked around and saw dozens of heads bobbing n vigorous agreement. Well, unlike them, you have a real opportunity to do something about it. So wha are you going to do? That was the attitude among a lot of the power elite. So it quickly became a clich for a speaker to say, You know, I must say that the protesters have gotten a few tings right. (Dramatic pause.) For instance, we have to do better on the issue of (hunger, the environment, whatever). But the way to do that is through more free trade, not less. In other words, we are enough of a factor that the global elite cannot ignore us. But we are too small and marginal still to make them really bite their nails and worry about s. So they give us just enough attention to dismiss us. Third, I was surprised to hear repeated and very candid discussions of the problems with the World Bank, IMF, WTO, and other institutions. A number of workshops began with

one dignitary or another saying, Well, clearly, the institutions of global governance are not working properly. How do we fix them, or what do we replace them with? I had to remind myself that these were the people who created these institutions in the first place. To us, organizations like the WTO are huge monsters that terrorize the globe. But they are house pets to the global elite and they could easily imaging themselves trading them in for something better, Just like they do with their luxury cars and spouses. But, lastly, I was horrified to learn the reason that the global rulers may seek real reforms of their institutionsbringing in civil society and labor unions, creating more transparency in their dealings, better incorporating human rights and environmental standards. It is not because of a concern for justice, ecological sustainability, or anything else admirable. It is because the present system is too unstable for them to plan well and earn their profits. It turns out that instability (their code word for everything from stock market crashes to terrorist attacks) is bad for business. One greatly respected Harvard professor summed it up: We can no longer export our capital to important parts of the Third World. But the Third World can still export terrorism and disease to us. Therefore, for our own safety and security, we must take serious steps to reduce hunger and poverty in the global south. (Truly heartwarming stuff, I know.) So be forewarned: we are not the only people saying fix it or nix it about the WTO and other institutions. Sections of the global elite are saying the same thing. But for very different reasons. Remember that when they come offering us the peace pipe and a smile. Mainstream Media, Radical Message My mission, as I saw it, was not to play politics on the inside, I wanted to use the platform to get a subversive message out to as many people as possible on the outside. And I did my best. On CNNs Business Unusual (worldwide broadcast), I said: if I were not invited on the inside, I would be on the outside [protesting] We are really I think at a point in history, we are going to look back and say, this was a point of global crisis in democracy. The World Economic Forum, 3,000 people with more decisionmaking power than 6 billion people on the planet. Thats not democracy And I added: [The] mothers around the world who are trying to figure out ways to raise their children have as much wisdom or more than any CEO, but they are not being included in this process at the World Trade Organization, or the World Economic Forum. Our point is, include everybody. We need the wisdom of the whole human family to solve these problems. And thats the point were making on the outside and the inside. On National Public Radios Weekend Edition, I said: This is a tiny, elite gathering of global, economic royalists. Three thousand CEOs sipping martinis do not have more wisdom than the working people and the mothers around the world who are solving real

problems every day with very few resources. Thats the wisdom that we need to solve these problems. And these CEOs need to take their place at the table with the rest of us. On Pacifica Radios Democracy Now show with Amy Goodman, I said: We have one, small, green soap bubble called planet earth. All of the life support systems are failing us. And we have 6 billion people who are locked out. We absolutely must speak truth to power. And we must build power to combat this global elite that is dominating decisionmaking for the rest of us. And I added: The World Economic Forum is a symptom of a global crisis in democracy. And the World Social Forum is the antidote. And I think that there are certainly some honest people at the World Economic Forum. But the reality is that until the basic power relations have changed so that workers and ordinary people have the power to solve their problems at the grassroots level, the World Economic Forum is going to continue to be a corporate cabal, trying to run the planet, hoarding power at the top. And no amount of passing out awards and cookies and PR snow jobs is going to cover that up.