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The Seattle Riots
The Anarchist Liberation Front looks at the demonstrations against the World Trade Organisation (WTO) November 30th 1999 - Decmeber 5th 1999
	The night the news of the violence in Seattle broke Robot and myself went and saw "The Bone Collector" which is truly a shit film. It lacks in ways that can't be described by normal communication. The plot is increadbily basic and predictible with such cliche elements that the desire to cut ones foot off in order to advoid the rest of the move is enormous. The actors efforts in general are terrible, they fail to present a believable relationship between characters, with many B-grade appearances, also any efforts in the use of symbolism or filmanship are laughable. Many people sat through the movie intent on watching this, while our party giggled innecessantly at the films short comings. The script too fails with lines such as;                     "What do you know about aspestos?"                     "It kills hundreds of hard working americans each year" The characters, the one played by the sexy chick and the one played by Denzil Washington start off with an antoginistic relationship for no reason, and end the film falling in love... Infact its her that causes the crippled Denzil to regain his lust for life. There is one part that is so crap that it demanded immediate ridicule. She was mopping his brow after he fell unconcious from a siezure. Forever now the lines "Let me mop your brow for you Robot" will bring back memories of a wasted $9.00 and a pointless evening. For examples of lacklustre film making there is a cheesey Bird Motiff, I successfully predicted that the bird would `Fly away' when Denzel Washington if thats his real name dies at the end. But then he lives!!! This is going against the basic rules of plebian film making. In all honesty the film lost all its creadiblity when Ed Oneil appeared in opening the credits, but I hadn;t payed hard earned money to see a crap film in a while. It caused me to lose all faith in the human species much life the matrix did. This type of thing is good for my cyancism Back to Seattle, we sat in the movie theatre, and talked about these "anarchists" that had instigated a riot. Anarchists, -the ones that would actually go to a demonstration wouldn't do this. Yet another word the media has dropped to produce a public uproar and get people to write dissaproving letters. What we have here is news from seattle from a variety of sources arrayed in chronological order. THe CNN reports show the news as it was happening, while the usenet articles show the aftermath reported by people in the riot.                                              --Peace OmegaMole	Where you there? Add your two cents by clicking here Related Links -Emporers clothes For news that hasn't been hassled by the Man(TM) Emporers clothes -Seattle and Beyond: Disarming the New World Order -Credible Deception: The Times and the Sudan missile attack -Lies, Damn Lies & Maps -The Chinese Embassy Bombing -CNN News Fascists or Crackhors to the American Governments love honey? CNN -Thousands protest WTO in manilla. -Castro skips WTO to advoid 'humiliation' -Short-term pains, Long-term gains, predicted for China after WTO entry -Of the World trade and witches, What do the WTO's critics want?
	From CNN: Demonstrations may overshadow Seattle trade conference November 29, 1999 Web posted at: 12:33 p.m. EST (1733 GMT) From staff and wire reports SEATTLE (CNN) -- The streets of Seattlehave had their first taste of the protests expected to accompany -- and perhaps overshadow -- the meeting of World Trade Organization members that opens Tuesday. A port city heavily dependent on trans-Pacific trade, Seattle would seem a receptive host for the 135-nation WTO conference. But opponents of any loosening of international trade barriers already have launched a week of rallies in the northwestern city against the WTO. Seattle was planning to spend $6 million on security for the event, which could attract morethan 50,000 demonstrators who see the Geneva-based WTO as the embodiment of everything that is wrong with globalization. Critics say the agency, which makes international trade rules, is undemocratic and undermines social protections. Environmentalists have accused the WTO of weakening international environmental laws, while labor groups fear global abuses of workers' rights and low wages abroad. International officials hope the conference will lead to a new round of global trade talks aimed at reducing tariffs and other trade barriers in industries ranging from agriculture and construction to entertainment and telecommunications. "What we're looking at in Seattle is a debate over the rules of the game and how the environment and labor will be treated -- whether they will be debated elsewhere, or whether they will become part of the core discussions about trade," said Harley Shaiken, of the University of California at Berkeley. Activists said they intend to block delegates Tuesday from entering the conference site by lying down in streets or locking themselves to fence posts or to each other. Even before the conference's opening, several hundred demonstrators from the Direct Action Network marched through Seattle's trendy Capitol Hill district Sunday. The activists included dancing stilt-walkers wearing monarch butterfly costumes, reflecting claims that butterflies are being killed by genetically engineered corn. Giant puppets of corporate executives also joined in. A plane trailing a banner saying "People Over Profits: Stop WTO" circled the Space Needle, which was packed with tourists on two levels. Union leaders say workers must be considered Though formal discussions do not get under way until Tuesday, WTO officials and U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky -- the chairman of this week's meetings -- began preliminary talks Sunday. The 135 member countries of the WTO will be able to participate in closed-door bargaining sessions, where the real work will be done of drawing up an agenda for talks expected to last three years. Trade ministers of the 135 WTO members must address the concerns of union workers who see global trade liberalization as a threat to their jobs, or "they could set in train the beginning of the end of the WTO," said Bill Jordan, general secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Meanwhile, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates -- Seattle's most prominent businessman -- weighed in with an opinion piece in Monday's edition of The New York Times endorsing the WTO's efforts. Gates said a third of the state's jobs are directly tied to international trade. "Our region is vivid proof that trade creates jobs and bolsters wages, stimulates economic growth, expands consumer choice and ultimately increases productivity and competitiveness," he said. Agriculture considered major dispute Agricultural subsidies are likely to be a big sticking point among conference negotiators. The Europeans and the Japanese say agriculture has cultural aspects -- that activities from family farming to wine-making to rice production go beyond mere commercial activities. That's why officials of those countries say generous government subsidy programs for farming should be allowed. European leaders could face revolt from farm groups if they agree to dismantle the European Union subsidy system, which provides $7 billion in export support to just 2 percent of the EU population. The United States has said it wants farm products to enjoy the same low tariffs as manufactured goods. "The Europeans are in conflict with the Americans, who would like to talk only about agriculture, very quickly, while we want to talk about everything, not just agriculture, calmly taking our time," French Agriculture Minister Jean Glavany told Europe One Radio. Congress could balk at proposals U.S. leaders say they are waiting to see what steps Europeans are willing to take. President Bill Clinton, who is scheduled to attend the conference, has a political tightrope to walk. Any agreement by his administration must also pass muster in a contentious Congress. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) warned that lawmakers may balk at other WTO agreements in the new round of trade talks if U.S. farm concerns are not addressed. "Unless Europe changes its mind on agriculture, there won't be much accomplished in Seattle," Grassley said. And Japanese officials want to talk about U.S. anti-dumping laws on productssuch as steel and textiles, which slap tariffs on products U.S. officialsdetermine are sold cheaper in the United States than in a country's homemarket. The last world trade talks, known as the Uruguay Round, wrapped up in 1993 after eight years of negotiations. Correspondents Rusty Dornin and Bill Dorman, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
	From CNN: Seattle mayor declares civil emergency as WTO unrest grows November 30, 1999 Web posted at: 8:19 p.m. EST (0119 GMT) SEATTLE (CNN) -- Mayor Paul Schell has declared a state of emergency in downtown Seattle as a result of violent anti-WTO street protests and will impose a curfew from 7 p.m. (10 p.m. EST) until sunrise. Police said anybody that does not have "legitimate business" in the downtown area where the World Trade Organization conference got under way behind schedule Tuesday will be immediately arrested. At least 19 people had been arrested Tuesday afternoon in the protests, in which anti-WTO demonstrators rallying for an assortment of causes broke downtown store windows, engaged in some looting, blocked major intersections, clogged streets and prevented delegates from leaving their hotels. "The whole world's watching," protesters chanted at one clogged intersection where a garbage dumpster was set afire amid volleys of tear gas from police. Earlier, police in riot gear fired pepper spray to disperse protesters attempting to disrupt the opening session. Activists representing a rainbow of causes have vowed to shut down the city with acts of civil disobedience. Police acted when they failed to persuade demonstrators to clear an intersection at Seattle's Union Square, near the Convention Center where trade delegates are meeting. Police report one arrest but no serious injuries following the clash. The use of pepper spray creates a smoke-like fog that resembles tear gas, but police said they did not use tear gas. They also denied reports they used rubber bullets. Witnesses also reported seeing demonstrators hitting police officers and throwing what looked like wooden sticks at them. There was no immediate word on injuries from either side. The pepper spray succeeded in clearing the crowd, but other intersections around the city were still blocked by demonstrators trying to block access to the meeting's venue. "It was chaos in the streets," said Jerry Jasinowski, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, who is attending the conference. "I was struck by how loopy some of the protesters were," he told CNN. "I expected a more serious group that had some message ... but they didn't. They were sort of dancing in the streets, pushing people, acting crazy, breaking windows and throwing things. So it looked like a group that was out of control." Police temporarily stopped letting reporters into the giant convention center where the WTO meetings are being held after some protesters broke through an outer security perimeter before being subdued by riot police. Police dragged three protesters, two women and a man, off a stage and out the door from the Paramount Theater where the session was to begin. One of the women shouted anti-WTO slogans as she was dragged away. Protesters: Workers, consumers left out The mission of the WTO is to create a prospering global economy, increasing the flow of goods and services around the world. But critics argue most of the planet's population willnot benefit from WTO actions and may, in fact, be harmed by them. "The WTO is going to write the framework that will dictate how global commerce is done and our problem is that the vast majority of people in the world (have no representative to speak on their behalf at the Seattle conference)," said Chuck Collins, co-director of United for a Fair Economy. The Boston-based group hopes its presence in Seattle will spotlight what it sees as the dangers of growing income, wage and wealth inequality in the United States. Labor and environmental leaders who have been organizing the street protests for months have said they hoped to rouse tens of thousands of union members, environmentalists and human rights activists for a rally and march through downtown Seattle to coincide with the opening ceremony of the WTO meeting. The disparate groups have a unified point -- the WTO is not good for them or the world's population in general "We're here, along with a lot of other organizations, to say that the World Trade Organization is essentially writing the rules for a new global economy that really don't incorporate the concerns of workers, environmentalists (and) consumers," Collins told CNN. That's also the concern of Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based human rights and economic development organization. "We are seeing a race to the bottom in global standards, living standards, wages, environmental protections, and it's got to stop," said Juliette Beck, the group's WTO organizer. 'Trade is not a race to the bottom' "Unless Europe changes its mind on agriculture, there won't be much accomplished in Seattle," Grassley said. WTO supporters deny the charge. "Trade is not a race to the bottom," said Howard Lewis, vice president for economic policy of the National Association of Manufacturers. "The secret of success in trade is having the best workers, not the lowest paid workers." WTO General-Director Mike Moore appealed to activists to protest peacefully. "I believe a debate is good. I just hope it's peaceful," Moore said Monday. "It's difficult to maintain a dialogue if people do foolish things that disrupt the flow of information and advice." Chuck Mack, the Western regional vice president of the Teamsters union, wants organized labor included at future international trade negotiations. "We ought to have a seat at the table so we can protect the interests of workers." The protests will also be felt outside Seattle. The dockworkers union plans to shut down cargo movement at West Coast ports. Brian McWilliams, the president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, says the group is against free trade, while in favor of trade that shares benefits with workers. Correspondents Greg Lefevre, Katharine Barrett and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
	From CNN: White House says WTO protesters have 'legitimate point,' criticizes violent demonstrators November 30, 1999 Web posted at: 11:16 p.m. EST (0416 GMT) LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- As President Bill Clinton prepared to fly Wednesday to Seattle, the scene of demonstrations against the World Trade Organization, the White House said the protesters had legitimate concerns but criticized "a small minority" for using "non-peaceful methods to block access to meetings and destroy property." White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart said that a "vast majority are acting responsibly" but chastised the protesters who used violence. "That's wrong," Lockhart said. "The protesters have a legitimate point of view and should be heard, " he said. Clinton is to address the WTO ministerial meeting on Wednesday and attend a related event Thursday. The White House says the president's schedule won't be affected by the demonstrations and increased security. Early Tuesday, before leaving Washington, the president said he was "sympathetic" to the concerns of the protesters, and said he hoped the WTO would give labor and environmental groups a voice in its trade decisions. Lockhart made his comments as the president attended events in Los Angeles, before traveling to Seattle. Lockhart said U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshevsky and White House economic adviser Gene Sperling had reported that substantive discussions were taking place despite the protests. "Despite the problems with the ceremonial events, the substantive work goes on," Lockhart said. "Our team believes we've made some progress today." Sperling said that while the protesters were the focus on Tuesday, he said Clinton would succeed in seizing the policy high ground today. "The president is very much looking forward to his visit here, to speaking to the people of Seattle, to the people of the United States," Sperling told reporters. Some labor unions and environmentalists view the Geneva-based trade body as a threat to worker rights and environmental protection. Clinton said Tuesday he hopes the Seattle meeting will help create a path toward slashing trade tariffs and keeping barriers away from Internet commerce. "I also strongly, strongly believe that we should open the process up to all those people who are now demonstrating on the outside," the president said. "They ought to be a part of it. And I think we should strengthen the role and the interest of labor and the environment in our trade negotiations. This is not going to be easy to do, partly because some nations, particularly a lot of developing nations, see our concerns for the environment and labor standards as a way to sort of keep them down, but that is not true." Teamsters union President James Hoffa Jr., whose organization declined to join the AFL-CIO in endorsing Vice President Al Gore for president, said the United States is losing jobs due to the WTO's trade policies. "The good jobs are leaving this country, going overseas, and what we have left is some guy running a computer in Silicon Valley or you're cleaning toilets at the Holiday Inn," Hoffa said Tuesday in a CNN interview. "We have to make sure we keep good jobs in this country." Hoffa did give the United States credit for forcing the WTO to address the labor and environment issues raised by the protests but said a level playing field is needed. "If people want to belong to the WTO, they have to be good citizens of the world," he said. "We can't have these renegades that have low standards trying to compete with countries like the United States, that have has good standards. So if we can level this out, then we have a level playing field and then we can go on from that. We believe in fair trade and that's the most important thing." Reform Party presidential candidate Pat Buchanan agreed with Hoffa, saying that trade deals are exporting American jobs for the benefit of transnational corporations. "What happens in the kind of trade environment we've got is an exchange of high-paying manufacturing jobs for lower-paying service jobs," he said. Buchanan and Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer also criticized the WTO for the pending admission of China into the trade body. Bauer, running as the conservative Christian candidate in the 2000 GOP race, said in a statement that the "conventional wisdom" is that WTO admission will cause China to change its trade policies and produce new opportunities for American business, particularly agriculture. Bauer is campaigning Tuesday in Iowa, where farmers have been faced with falling prices. "It is far more likely that China will change the WTO than the WTO will change China," Bauer said. "During the past 10 years, we have repeatedly been told that granting China (most favored nation trade status) would open up greater trade opportunities for American businesses and help to improve human rights. Both of these claims have proven to be unfounded." Clinton's deal to allow China into the WTO calls for the U.S. to grant permanent most favored nation (MFN) trade status to China, but Buchanan said the support in Congress is not there for that provision. China's trade surplus with the U.S. has exploded, Buchanan said, while the persecution of Christians, Tibetans and dissidents has increased as has China's militancy toward Taiwan. Granting permanent MFN status would eliminate using access to the U.S. marketplace as leverage against China, he said. "Offer that to China but get something in the way of building down missiles opposite Taiwan," he said. "Tell them to ease up a little bit on the Tibetans and the Christians. Tell we want their cooperation in certain areas like North Korea. Let's cut a deal with China. That's all I'm asking. Don't give it away for free." Bauer said that if China violates the WTO agreement, the United States would be powerless to impose sanctions and would have to submit complaints to "an international bureaucracy that is reluctant to even criticize China, much less sanction it." Buchanan's harshest criticism was aimed at the Republican Party, the traditionally free-trade party he abandoned to run for the Reform nomination. He said the GOP has "become the bellhops of the Business Roundtable," a business group, and refuses to stand up to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "They have become chemically addicted to soft money, the Republicans have in Congress," he said. "And if they don't stand up for what they traditionally believe -- human rights, national security, putting them even ahead of trade -- they're going to lose their majorities in both houses (of Congress)." CNN's John King and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
	From Usenet: Collateral Damage in Seattle by Jim Desyllas To: alt.society.anarchy Subject: Collateral Damage in Seattle by Jim Desyllas (posted 12-2-99) The author is a student in Portland Oregon. This report was called- in from a pay phone outside Seattle. Wed. 7:30 pm Pacific time. www.emperors-clothes.com urges the widest possible distribution of this article. Please copy it in full, including this note. Thanks. I just spent 4 days in Seattle. The "information" people are getting from the mass media is false. This was not, as President Clinton claims, a peaceful protest marred by the actions of violent protesters. This was a massive, strong but peaceful demonstration which was attacked repeatedly by the police with the express purpose of provoking a violent response to provide photo opportunities for the Western media. I know because I watched it happening. I'll tell you how they did it. As Michel Chossudovsky says in his "Disarming the New World Order" (See Note # 3 at end for link to that article) - the government put a lot of effort into making sure the protesters in Seattle were a "loyal opposition" who wanted to reform the WTO, not get rid of it. But the people in Seattle - American steel workers, Canadian postal workers, college kids from all over, environmentalists from Australia - you name it - were not for reforming the WTO. They were for getting rid of it. And this wasn't just true of the protesters. I interviewed delegates. None of them had anything favorable to say about the WTO. Two delegates from the Caribbean were angry about job loss. One delegate from Peru took a bullhorn and got up on a car and spoke to the protestors against the World Trade Organization. He said it hurts the workers and farmers. I interviewed a Norwegian guy from Greenpeace. Totally against it. Even a delegate from Holland said it had hurt the farmers there. He said though it is supposedly democratic, that's actually a lie: the US, England and Canada and a few others get together and decide what they want to do. Then they ask the rest of the countries to vote and if they vote wrong they threaten,"You won't get loans," or whatever. They get them to do what they want by blackmailing them. The Italians we interviewed were upset too. I couldn't find any delegates who were in favor. So the government instigated a "riot" to discredit the movement against the WTO because they couldn't dilute it. I am not guessing about this. I was there. I saw it happening. And I will tell you I am frankly shocked to see, close up, just how little our leaders care what happens to ordinary people. Clinton can pose and speak a lot of flowery stuff but the truth is - we are nothing to them. I saw this with my own eyes. Sunday and Monday, there was no violence. None. The people were aggressively non-violent; they were self-policing. Up until Tuesday at 4pm there was one window broken in the whole city - a McDonalds window. This compares favorably to the typical rock concert, let alone a demonstration of people who were non-violently barring entry to the World Trade Center! At this point, a new group of police - tactical police - moved in and started gassing people and shooting rubber bullets. Is it any surprise that people got mad? Of course, the young kids hit back by breaking some windows in retaliation for being gassed, sprayed with very painful pepper gas, and shot with dangerous "rubber" bullets. The police instigated these kids, plain and simple. Sunday and Monday they had young cops, using them to block the streets. These were trainees. But Tuesday they had the real cops; none of them were young. They were trained to attack people. A small group, maybe 100 people total, struck back. Then these cops herded that group around the city, making sure there were plenty of photo ops of "violent protesters." A number of times they had these 100 or so protesters caught between buildings and walls of police. They could easily have arrested and detained this small number of people and gotten it over with. Instead they would gas them and let them go. Then trap them again, gas them again, and again let them go. The cops made no arrests that I know of until late Tuesday night though the skirmishing was going on from three till 9:30. The cops would blockade three or five blocks of an area, give the angry kids room to operate, keep gassing them - when you gas a person, let me tell you, it gets them fighting mad. Tuesday night the police gassed all of downtown. This was going on from 3 PM, till 6 PM.. Gas everywhere. The kids broke a few windows - McD's, Starbucks - small stuff - burned a few garbage cans. The police were using these people as extras. It was staged. I believe also the police had their own people in there, encouraging people to break stuff - if people think I may be exaggerating, I saw supposed protesters - they were screaming and so on - and then later, when everything was over, the same people tackled other protestors and put handcuffs on them. At 6pm they issued a State of Emergency. At that point they had pushed the 100 people outside the city limits, so the police went outside the limits too, and they started gassing that area too, gassing the neighborhoods where the regular people live. I am not exaggerating. The police were relentless. This was in an area from the city limits for about 10 blocks to the Seattle Central Community College. If you were alive, the police gassed you. People coming back from work, kids, women, everyone. People would go out of their houses to see what was happening because these tear gas guns sound like a cannon - and they would get gassed. A block away there was a Texaco gas station - they threw tear gas at gas pumps, believe it or not - they were like vandals. They gassed a bus. I saw it with my own eyes. A bus. The driver, the riders, the people just abandoned it. I was sitting in a little coffee shop called Rauhaus, Jim did not spell this - the spelling may be wrong.] They were shooting "rubber" bullets at the glass. I picked up a dozen of the things in a few square feet. They were also shooting this paint that you can only see with a florescent ight. They would paint anyone and everyone and then go hunting them. Anyway, because they were gassing everybody, the local people got mad too and they joined the 100 who had been herded out of the city. So soon there were 500 including the neighborhood people and all very angry. Naturally. Because they had been gassed and hit with pepper spray, that stuff does a number on you. And shot with these damn bullets. Then people set up barricades at Seattle Central Community College. The cops organized themselves for about an hour and then moved in and gassed that area. Today they started mass arrests. That was because Clinton - the Greeks call him the Planitarchis, Ruler of the World - was coming. Weeping crocodile tears about how he just LOVES peaceful protest, which of course you'd have to be two years old to believe he had nothing to do with the police action. This whole thing, this police attack, this was US foreign policy, not some action decided by some bureaucrat in Seattle. This was the State Department. They wanted to discredit the people. Sunday there was a protest of solidarity involving people from different walks of life. Monday it got even bigger. Tuesday there was a big sort of carnival where people were doing different things, a band was playing music and people were blocking the World Trade Center. And about 3 PM the cops started throwing tear gas. The thing that drove Clinton crazy was that on Tuesday the protesters had succeeded in making nonviolent human chains and had therefore stopped everyone from going into the World Trade Center. Only maybe 27 delegates got through, mostly US and British. There were what seemed like tens of thousands of protesters involved. So the police did their gassing number against these nonviolent people to break up the human chains and make the protesters look violent. Today (Wednesday) I followed the union protest put together by the Longshoremen's Union. They went down to the docks and had a rally then marched to Third Avenue. As soon as they got there the cops started gassing them. There was an old lady there. She had gone downtown by bus to buy something. This lady was in her 70's and I saw her trying to run, but she couldn't breathe. She was in shock. I carried her to a building entryway. She was gasping, terrified. She had been in Germany, and it was like she was having flashbacks. The tear gas sounds like gunfire and there were helicopters overhead, sirens, cops on horses, everything. They had clearly made a decision to destroy this movement. So anyway there I was with her in this building and she wanted to go to the hospital but there was tear gas everywhere and I was afraid if I tried to move her she'd be gassed again. I went to this line of cops and begged - I mean begged - these riot police to help her. They ignored me. A girl told me later that a one year old had been gassed. And I myself saw a girl no more than 18 - a cop had busted her lip wide open - she was bleeding - and then they gassed everyone including her. After that she was kneeling on the ground crying like a baby and praying for 15 minutes, Hail Mary, Hail Mary. Over and over. She was in a state of shock. They just gassed these people who were sitting down non-violently and doing nothing. Nothing. At one point the Seattle Mayor said his boys were not using rubber bullets. Miraculously, by then I had ten in my pocket. I could open a little market, sell the things. They are everywhere. I and other people started giving them to delegates and stuff. "See what they're doing? They're shooting "rubber" bullets and lying about it." We showed them to the media. I guess enough people and the media got the information because the Mayor made a new statement then that they were using them. As if he hadn't known. They shot rubber bullets from four feet away into the face of a guy next to me, broke all his front teeth. When that happened I lost it. I forgot I was supposed to be getting the news for all of you and I started yelling at the cops, "What the hell is wrong with you? Are you sick, man?" So this cop aimed his gun right at me. That was his answer. So I first put my hands in front of my face because I didn't want to lose my teeth. And then I thought, to hell with it. I was wearing my target shirt that said "Collateral Damage", you know? With a bullseye target, like they wore during the bombing in Yugoslavia. And I told this guy, "Go ahead, shoot! Here! Here's the target!" He didn't shoot me. I want to emphasize, these protesters were NOT violent people. They were the most non-violent people I have ever seen. Even when I was screaming at the cop, this girl came up to me and said, "Do not scream. This is non-violent." These people were too much to believe. They must meditate all the time, I don't know. Clinton said he supports nonviolent protest. That is baloney. Today (Wed.) the protesters were causing absolutely no "trouble". In downtown the cops had people running who weren't even protesters - like that old lady or just people going to work or shopping - everyone was getting gassed. The busses weren't running because of the gas. I was lucky to catch one with a driver who could still see. I begged him to drive the old lady home - the driver changed his route especially for her. If you want to find human decency, stay away from the Planitarchis. Go to the to regular people. They have some. The Planitarchis lost all his years ago. Now he wouldn't know human decency if it came up and bit him. So now I have made personal acquaintance with the people who run this country, and they are quite simply scum. There were people at work, people with babies, they were all getting gassed because the government would not allow an assembly of people speaking their minds. It is the same as what happened in Athens. Clinton's requirements on the Greek government created the riot and he did the same thing here. And then he says he supports nonviolent protest? How? By shooting rubber bullets? And today they outlawed gas masks. They want to make sure everyone gets his money's worth. Today, just like yesterday night, the police were in the residential neighborhoods. People in cafés were getting gassed and shot at, you could hear it on the windows, bang, bang, bang. A guy trying to cross the street to go to his house got gassed. First a drunk guy outside a bar yelled at the cops "Get out of here!" so they gassed him. And then this other guys was just crossing the street to go home so the cops figured, might as well gas him too. People got gassed for coming out of restaruants and bars and coffeee shops. I'm amazed that nobody died who had asthma or something. Or maybe somebody did die and they didn't talk about it. I mean after all, it's just collateral damage.. Note # 1 - for an in-depth look at how the media misinformed Americans about another situation, the US bombing of Sudan in 1998, go to Credible Deception: The Times and the Sudan missile attack http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/jared/sudan.html Note # 2 - for an analysis of government-media distortions on the Chinese Embassy bombing go to Lies, Damn Lies & Maps http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/jared/Lies.html Note # 3 - For a critical look at the World Trade Organization, go to Seattle and Beyond: Disarming the New World Order http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/chuss/seattle.html If you would like to browse articles from Emperors-Clothes.com, go to: http://www.emperors-clothes.com
	From Usenet: Ain't No Power Like the Power of the People.... To: alt.society.anarchy Subject: Ain't No Power Like the Power of the People.... Date: Fri, 03 Dec 1999 01:00:51 PST ...'Cause the power of the people don't stop! What's that? Ain't no power like the power of the people 'Cause the power of the people ain't cops! After two very long days and nights of being gassed, sprayed, and shot at, I was pretty exhausted and not too happy to get up this morning. There was a rally and procession downtown, and I had pretty low morale, feeling like we could just be gassed, beaten and arrested at the perimeter downtown. But as we marched, with music, huge puppets, signs, and all kinds of people, my heart swelled. We sang: We have come too far We won't turn around We'll fill the streets with justice We are freedom bound The sun was shining, after two murky rainy days. It was incredible, and we passed lots of people at work, on their way to school, in the streets, who expressed lots of support. With 500 in jail, lots of people already gone home, and less organizing, I figured we were in for trouble in this police state. But thousands ended up meeting peacefully by the water, and heard Ralph Nader and some awesome farmers speak. Then we proceeded through downtown, to the jail, to demand the release of those jailed (still held without access to phones or legal representation) and a public apology for the police brutality. By nightfall tonight, after what just felt like a huge public party, the mayor agreed to let out activist legal representation in to work with the organized solidarity prisoners (only about 5% of the hundreds jailed would give their names; we also heard about people getting themselves out on bail and getting back on the streets). Although that was simply a concession of their constitutional rights, in the face of what was going on it was no small display of the power and solidarity that we showed. I was really amazed by a group of over a thousand to treat each other with such respect as to be able to make decisions concerning direct action tactics, etc. overall, I have been simply amazed with the organizing, most of all by DirectActionNetwork, who held workshops, have food, housing, activist space, legal... it's really amazing. The solidarity of those arrested as well, refusing to leave their buses even in the cold nights with no food and water, for hours. There are reports that gas was used to force prisoners off of one bus. It seems like at least fifty percent of the city of seattle has become politicized around police brutality. Lots of the protesters out today seemed to be people who have gotten involved after seeing what happened over the last two days. Entire neighborhoods of residents, shops, and students, are pissed off at the military occupation of their space by cops. Many people have been telling them to "just go home." this isn't to downplay that there are still lots of people who feel fine blaming everything on the protesters, who have such faith in cops and the system that they protect, that they that we must have done something to deserve it. A public opinion that puts the value of store windows over heads being kicked in. That would rather feel safe to come shop for a day, even if that means military occupation. Okay, I'm exhausted and can't write anymore. This is just tiny bits of it, will I ever be able to process everything I've seen these last few days? I feel shellshocked, every loud noise alarms me. As I fell asleep last night, sirens ringing in my ears (some real, some imagined), I just kept seeing squads of riot cops marching at me, passersby being gassed, people just trying to get home being pepper sprayed in the face. But also, the support is amazing, activists and sometimes just people off the streets bringing food, water, the slight medical supplies that we can get... I must say, the canucks that I've been running with are incredible, and there's not anyone else that I'd rather have by my side when risking life and limb against riot cops!!! (although, I guess you can't ever know that kind of thing until it actually happens, anyway...) again, please pass this on, and I'm happy to be sending a much more relaxed and peaceful email, although the whole city is still on edge, and who knows what can still happen? In love and struggle, John From My Head: Seattle a retrospective We are now looking at the whole ugly Seattle WTO riots with the wisdom of hind-sight, not because it is a wise, sagely thing todo. No but because I am far too lazy to have done it any earlier. What did Seattle accomplish? Well it promoted the wide spread of non-existant pepper spray, and rubber bullets. It also shows that peaceful, non-violent demonstrations are a blight on the potato of society, and must be broken up wuth extreme force. The Seattle police department should also be forced to make amends, the level of police brutality is apalling -the general rules for the demonstrations were: Form peaceful human chain in the street Police arrive Police don riot gear and beat the human chain. As it is a menace and could turn ugly at any moment People get opposed to being beaten, and pepper sprayed (but the pepper spray doesn't exist, nor do the rubber bullets according to the Mayors office) People forceably (unsurprisingly) dole out retribution Police start gassing *everyone* even those people at home, and conference delegates as well. The organisations that organised the demonstration should be congratulated, they presented a largely unified front showing the displeasure of a large number of world citizens with regards to the action of the WTO. The organisers were planning a non-violent rally, the first day of the demonstration was non-violent. Why did the national guard get called in? They haven't done that since the Vietnam war protests, this could be regarded as a might suspicous. There have been statements that the violence was instigated by corperations/the feds. These claims may be reasonable, as if anything the USA doesn't want free trade in agricultural goods, they could not compete. A number of the demonstators represented farming interests, by instigating a riot it would effectively bring disrepute to the protestors. The mass public will now view the protestors as 'anarchists' in the media-hype way -protestors have nothing to say, and there is nothing wrong with the WTO, it is good to go on with my narrow little hygenic life in the middle of suburbia. Any way these are just my views, they are probably wrong                                                                         -Mole