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Have all the debates you want about whether abortion is right or wrong. Should it be criminalized? With the new Bush court in place, we may soon be given new reasons to arrest people and throw them into freshly built jails.

In the same day (1) the Supreme Court announces it will consider whether Congress can criminalize ‘partial birth’ abortions and (2) South Dakota criminalizes abortions for the sake of instigating a Supreme Court reversal of Roe v. Wade. Doctors found guilty of breaking the law will be subject to fines of $5,000 or five years in prison.

I don’t know anyone who is strictly speaking pro-abortion. But to criminalize abortion is to attack a woman’s right to safely decide whether she will carry a pregnancy to term.

Sex ed, birth control, subsidized child care: these are the policies that will reduce abortions with freedom and dignity. Instead, we are being served an agenda hostile to sex ed, birth control, and child services (including cuts in children’s health insurance).  Add to this mix the criminalization of abortion, and you get a full scale hostility to what we used to call human progress.–gm

A roundup of web news about the high goddess of Texas environmental responsibility, Part One, Corporate Watchdog Radio.

Corporate Watchdog Radio:
Show 3, "Bhopal, India, 21 Years Later" ; mp3 audio.

"On the
night of Dec. 3, 1984, a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India emitted a
noxious gas cloud of Methyl Isocyanide. More than 20,000 people
have died as a result."

In addition to an interview with Wilson, attorney Sanford Lewis interviews Sathyu Satinath Sarangi, Managing Director of the Sambhavna Trust Clinic in Bhopal:

"We estimate there are 120,000 to 150,000 people who are chronically
ill from the gas disaster. And there are 10,000 to 15,000 people
who are sick from the contaminated groundwater. And also there
were tens of thousands of children who were born after the disaster,
and we have found that those children also carry the marks of Union
Carbide’s poison," says Sarangi.

"The women of Bhopal they have just got back last week. They were at
the Dow India’s Bombay headquarters where they demonstrated and they
pasted a proclamation asking Dow to clean up Bhopal and to stop
marketing and producing Dursban which was banned in the US, but is now being promoted and produced in India," says Sarangi

"So the women continue to fight. They are fighting for clean
water in the groundwater contaminated area. And they are fighting
for punishment to Warren Anderson and Union Carbide, demanding that the
US government send them to the Indian courts. And they continue
to fight for better medical care. . . ."

"So the fight for what they
call justice and dignity–that continues. And what is amazing and
inspiring is that the stuggle of these women becomes more powerful with
every passing year."

A Museum of Remembrance and a statue dedicated to the disaster was dedicated in December, with a march of children, a vigil in front of a Union
Carbide factory, and denunciation of the "crumpled life" that has been left to victims.

Interlude: "Flames not Flowers" by Movement in Motion, a Bhopal rap.

Developing a theme of women’s leadership in the global movement for environmental justice, Lewis next interviews Lois Marie Gibbs,
executive director of the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice,
who in 1978 founded the Love Canal Homeowners’ Association.

"It is perfectly logical and predictable," says Gibbs, "that if you
threaten the lives of children, mothers will stand up and be
‘unreasonable’ and do what they have to do to make it right," says
Gibbs. "If someone holds a gun to your child’s head and says it
may or may not go off, you have every reason to scream ‘unreasonably’ get that
gun away from the child’s head. That’s the way it is with
chemicals."

Turning now to Diane and Dow, Lewis says that both Diane Wilson and Dow
executive Warren Anderson are both fugitives of a sort (this was before
Wilson was jailed).

"Diane has been charged with criminal trespass for hanging a banner at
a Union Carbide Dow Chemical facility that said, "Dow: Responsible for
Bhopal. She received a six month jail sentence for that which she is due to serve.

"Warren Anderson was CEO of Union Carbide back in 1984 when the Carbide
plant in India blew up and killed more than 20,000 people. He
visited Bhopal shortly after the incident and agreed to return for any
legal proceedings. After leaving he was charged with manslaughter
for those thousands of deaths, along with Union Carbide. However,
Anderson and Carbide have refused to return to India to face the
criminal trial. In the eyes of the Indian courts, they are fugitives from the law."

"Wilson has now pulled a similar maneuver to Anderson’s. For now, she has refused to return to Texas to serve her sentence. Instead, on Nov. 15 she began a search for Warren Anderson, to discuss their common fate and as she says to try to talk some sense into him."
DIANE WISON: "I’ve got criminal trespass and I’ve got five months in jail. And I imagine for refusing to go to jail, one time I kind of looked into it, and that they can definitely increase the penalties for my refusing to go to jail, so I could possibly be looking at a year’s jail time…."

"They do not want me out there talking, and I know even they talked with one of the plant managers down there and they said all she wants to do is talk about Bhopal. That is right and I will continually talk about it.

SANFORD LEWIS: So now instead of returning to Texas you are going to go on a hunt for Warren Anderson.

DIANE WILSON: I just decided to bring out the very blatant inequality between corporate crime and just little old blue collar crime like me like criminal trespass. As an ‘unreasonable woman’ I’m going to try to talk some sense into him.

LOIS MARIE GIBBS: Diane is absolutely right. You know this is a double standard in this country. People like Warren and corporate executives get away literally with murder, while someone like Diane who is standing up for her community, for her fisher people–that’s how they make a living–for the country. You know they are being chased by the police for speaking out and doing what America prides itself on–the freedom of speech, the freedom of expression.

In November 2005 concerned shareholders of Dow Chemical, led by New York pension funds, filed a formal resolution in advance of the May 2006 shareholder meeting asking the company to address its responsibilities for the Bhopal disaster. The resolution follows previous requests from the investment community, including formal request for an SEC investigation into misleading representations made by company officials about legal responsibilities and liabilities pending from the Bhopal disaster, dioxin contamination in Michigan, Agent Orange exposure among military veterans, and the pesticide Dursban. Stanford Lewis, the host of Corporate Watchdog Radio, authored the August letter to the SEC.

For information on student activism see: http://www.studentsforbhopal.org/

What are the chances that a Bhopal type accident could happen in the USA? Director of the toxics campaign for Greenpeace, Rick Hind, recalls the Texas City explosion that killed over 500 people in 1947. Because of the Bhopal tragedy in 1984, the USA Congress in 1986 asked for an inventory of hazardous risks and then in 1990 legislated Bhopal amendments to the Clean Air Act, requiring federal oversight over Risk Management Plans.

"We know that the chemical companies’ own self reporting indicates that there are 4,000 facilities in the USA that threaten more than 1,000 residents and workers," says Hind. "Approximately 100 of these threat

en a million people and the workers on site…. Every major city remains on those lists. And even according to Bush administration security experts, nothing has been done to reduce our vulnerability to this hazard since 9/11. And at least one top advisor says this should be our top priority over the next two years."

Chlorine is the major risk, but we know safer and more effective alternatives, not only for chlorine, but for amonia. Instead of reducing risks through alternative chemicals, "the industry is preferring higher fences, more guards, and meaner dogs," says Hind. Meanwhile, commonsense solutions such as alternative chemicals, reduced amounts, or relocations are being held up by the oil and chemical lobby that has essentially controlled both houses of Congress since 9/11.

For more info see the Greenpeace Toxics Campaign website.

Corporate Watchdog Radio: Show 5, "Christmas for Corporations" ; mp3 audio (move the play marker a little past half way).

The United Farm Workers and the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation are proud to support the grassroots efforts of the “Cesar E. Chavez National Holiday Coalition”. Go to petition page at:

http://www.ufwaction.org/campaign/chavezholiday/ UFW Founder Cesar E. Chavez, stood as one of the heroic figures of the 20th century who inspired millions in our nation into action for economic and social justice, civil rights and political empowerment. He led the historic non-violent movement for farm workers’ rights and was dedicated to building a movement of poor working people that extended beyond the fields and into cities and towns across the nation.

The legacy of Cesar E. Chavez, like the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., serves to educate, inspire, and empower people from all walks of life. Cesar Chavez is a role model for all Americans and the generations to come.

Ask Congress to designate March 31 as Cesar E. Chavez Day to ensure Chavez’ legacy is recognized and celebrated throughout our nation with a federal paid holiday and a day of service and learning in our public schools.

Chelsea Green is the publisher of Diane Wilson’s book Unreasonable Woman and the publisher is quite proud of its author’s legal troubles. An archive of articles related to Wilson may be found at the site. Flaming Grasshopper is the publisher’s blog, where nifty updates and tidbits on Diane’s doings may also be found.

Kronberg is predicting that Republicans will compete to be "most restrictive" on the issue. State politicians, says the article, are following the lead of the US House of Representatives in calling for more fences and criminal penalties.

One fascinating fact: 4,207 babies out of 5,775 born at one Fort Worth hospital were delivered of undocumented mothers. After citing this fact, the newpaper next quotes a Republican politician about "the crisis". But what constitutes these babies as a crisis? Does Texas have a zero-growth population policy?

More sobering is reference to a report by the Center for Immigration Study in which author Steven A. Camarota argues that the meager growth in job opportunities between 2000 and 2004 went largely to immigrants. Strangely enough, Camarota reports this was least true in Florida (where Camarota gives 15 percent of new jobs to immigrants) and California (where he gives 49 percent). In Texas, Camarota’s figures show that 86 percent of job increases went to immigrant workers.

At first glance, it is not clear why Camarota’s working totals are somewhat different from numbers reported at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For "number working in 2004" Camarota reports 19.7 million "immigrants" and 115.3 million "native born" whereas the BLS reports employment of 20.3 "foreign born" workers and 119 million "native born". At the BLS table, unemployment for both sets of workers is tied at 5.5 percent.

Also not mentioned in the newspaper article is a Bureau of Labor Statistics report that foreign-born workers earn 75 percent of what native born workers earn and their increase in earnings is lower than native workers.

If we compare BLS earnings to Camarota’s totals, we might think that job growth between 2000-2004 offered earnings at substantially lower rates than what native-born workers were used to, with diminishing promise of advancement. Indeed, this offers a likely reason why immigrants will move to the front of the line when it comes to Republican scapegoating strategies. As voters come to the polls with the feeling that things are not getting better in the employment sector, Republican candidates can blame the very people who hold the worst jobs. This strategy will attempt to keep everyone’s eyes off the deeper meanings of employment stagnation. Meanwhile, with the scapegoats in focus, Halliburton stands ready to build the "concentration camps".

More than half of the foreign born working-age population in the USA are non-Hispanic says the BLS. Of 31.3 million foreign born people over age 16 in the USA, 14.6 million are Hispanic.

We’ve clipped the full Star-Telegram article:

By JOHN KIRSCHSTAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

Illegal immigration is emerging as a growing issue in the 2006 state elections, with several polls indicating rising public concern.

With an estimated 9.7 million immigrants living in the country illegally, including 1.3 million in Texas, constituents worry about competition for jobs and the effect on social services, according to lawmakers and political analysts. And some candidates, most of them Republicans, aim to take advantage of voter discontent.

State Rep. Vicki Truitt, R-Keller, said a recent poll she conducted indicated that immigration was the No. 1 concern of residents in her district, which includes most of Northeast Tarrant County. State Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville, said immigration is also a top issue at town-hall meetings she holds in her district, which includes parts of Denton and Tarrant counties.

Across the region, far from Texas’ 1,200-mile border with Mexico, other candidates in the March 7 primaries say they see the same concern.

"It’s going to be the single biggest issue, along with property taxes, in state House and Senate races. And pretty much every candidate, both Democrats and Republicans, ignore it at their peril," said Harvey Kronberg, editor of an online political newsletter in Austin.

Border concerns

Kari Harris, a neighborhood watch leader in north Fort Worth, echoes the concerns felt by many Texans. She said she is concerned about jobs, and she worries that the state’s porous border with Mexico makes it easy for terrorists to enter the United States.

A recent Scripps Howard Texas Poll indicated that 79 percent of Texans believe the government is not doing enough to stop illegal immigration. Eighty-six percent also believe that U.S. businesses add to the problem by hiring illegal immigrants, the poll indicated.

That’s consistent with a national Rasmussen poll in November, in which 75 percent of respondents said they believe immigration will be somewhat or very important in influencing their vote on Election Day.

"I do think it should be a priority," Harris said. Truitt said state officials must demand more action by federal officials who oversee the U.S.-Mexican border. Federal officials should consider sanctions against Mexico if the tide of immigrants does not stop, she said.

The three candidates for the GOP nomination in Tarrant County’s state House District 99, incumbent Charlie Geren and challengers Chris Hatley and Colby Brown, said they applaud Republican Gov. Rick Perry’s recent decision to spend nearly $10 million to beef up border security. Perry, who is seeking re-election, said the money will pay for more border personnel, training and equipment.

But Geren said more needs to be done. He said he would like a state House committee to convene and hear testimony from border law enforcement officials about how the state could stop illegal immigration.

In Tarrant County’s House District 91, GOP primary candidate Kelly Hancock said the state should work with citizen volunteers to increase border patrols but was undecided whether the Minutemen group should serve as a model.

The state candidates are taking a page from their congressional counterparts who passed legislation in December calling for building more fences on the U.S.-Mexico border to keep out illegal immigrants.

U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Flower Mound, who supports the bill, described the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States as an "invasion" that is burdening social-services programs, including local hospitals.

Babies born to women living in the country illegally made up nearly three-fourths of the births at Fort Worth’s public John Peter Smith Hospital this year, the Star-Telegram reported. Of the 5,775 deliveries during fiscal year 2005, which ended in September, 4,207 were the children of women without immigration documents.

"The crisis is so severe that it’s imperative that we simply secure the border," Burgess said.

Illegal immigration has also fueled concern about jobs for native-born Americans. The Center for Immigration Studies reports that immigrants account for almost 44 percent of workers in farming, fishing and forestry and almost 26 percent of construction and extraction workers. The unemployment rate for native-born Americans in those industr

ies is 12.6 percent and 11.3 percent, respectively – about twice the national unemployment rate.

Steven Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies, said that not every job taken by an immigrant costs a native-born American a job.

"But it would also be a mistake to assume that dramatically increasing the number of workers in these occupations as a result of immigration policy has no impact on the employment prospects of natives," Camarota wrote in his December 2005 report.

However, Michele Waslin, director of immigration policy research for the National Council of La Raza, a Latino civil-rights advocacy group, said a "disconnect" exists between the nature of the U.S. work force and growing sectors of the economy. Workers are getting older and more educated, but most new jobs are in low-wage service industries that require little advanced education, she said. More immigrants will be needed to avoid labor shortages.

"You don’t see a lot of people raising their kids to be farm workers and work in meatpacking plants," Waslin said.

‘Immigrant bashing’

The Texas Democratic Party’s 2004 platform supports stronger border security. But it also opposes "immigrant bashing." Amber Moon, a spokeswoman for the state Democratic Party, said Republicans were exploiting immigration for political gain.

"Instead of proposing real solutions, it’s a race to the right, as they compete to see who can come up with the most inflammatory language," Moon said in a written statement. Truitt rejected that argument, saying she is responding to her constituents’ concerns.

The political risk among Hispanic-Americans may be minimal. They rank education, healthcare, the economy and jobs as bigger issues than immigration, according to a survey released in August 2005 by the Pew Hispanic Center. Although a majority of Hispanics surveyed nationally express positive attitudes toward immigrants, relatively few favor increasing the flow of legal immigration from Latin America.

"These findings clearly indicate that in a policy debate Latinos will not automatically or unanimously adopt what might be commonly perceived as the pro-immigrant position," the survey report states.

Locally, state Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, whose district is more than 60 percent Hispanic, said his constituents rarely ask him about immigration issues. Burnam said Republicans could still suffer some backlash from Hispanic voters if they back punitive measures.

That happened in California after Gov. Pete Wilson, a Republican, backed Proposition 187. The measure, approved by California voters in 1994, would have barred illegal immigrants from attending public schools and receiving social services from the state. Court challenges have prevented the proposition from taking effect. But Hispanic support for Republican candidates fell, helping Democrats gain power in California. And some Texas Hispanics are paying attention to the rhetoric.

"If candidates talk about shipping everybody back to Mexico, we’re certainly going to be aware of that and make sure the community knows," said Alberto Govea of Fort Worth, a former district director for the League of United Latin American Citizens.

But for now, many candidates see little downside in backing get-tough policies as they seek ways to gain advantage over rivals, Kronberg said.

"There will be a race among Republicans to be the most restrictive on immigration," Kronberg said.

This report includes material from Star-Telegram archives.

John Kirsch, (817) 685-3805
jkirsch@star-telegram.com

"Posted on Feb. 21, 2006"