updated 12-8-99

WTO

(WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION)

SEATTLE PROTEST

.

IT IS NOW ILLEGAL TO POSSESS, OWN, SELL, OR CONVEY
A GAS MASK IN THE CITY LIMITS OF SEATTLE!!!!

SPECIAL WTO COVERAGE FROM SEATTLE

LISTEN TO LIVE POLICE SCANNER FROM SEATTLE
SEE LIVE WEB CAM IN SEATTLE - DOWNTOWN
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Embattled police chief resigns

Tuesday, December 7, 1999

By KIMBERLY A.C. WILSON

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

http://www.seattle-pi.com/local/cops071.shtml

©1999 Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Stamper sent a letter yesterday to Mayor Paul Schell announcing his decision to step down as head of the city's 1,800-member force at the end of March, ending his six-year tenure as chief. Schell accepted the resignation.

The move, Stamper said, is designed to "depoliticize" the chief's job as the City Council, American Civil Liberties Union and others prepare to investigate the department's actions during the WTO meeting.

"I think in making this announcement, I've taken my tenure off the table. I will be leaving the Seattle Police Department," he said in an exclusive interview with the Post-Intelligencer.

He said he will stay through March so that he can help investigators sort out how and why police lost control of the demonstrations and can speak freely in doing so.

"I think it's poor form to just walk away, especially at a time when we're involved in some intensive review of last week's experience," he said.

Stamper said he had made up his mind last month that he would announce his retirement in January. But the events of last week changed his timetable.

"The irony is that I'll be leaving (the chief's job) two months later than I expected to," he said during the 90-minute interview.

In accepting the chief's resignation, Schell called Stamper an effective but unpopular leader who was misunderstood by rank-and-file officers.

"I think he's been a great chief and I tried to talk him out of it. . . . He's a man of absolute integrity," Schell said last night. "Anybody who is a change agent faces the challenge of being effective but not necessarily popular. That comes at a price. But history (will) judge him with a kind eye."

Stamper's decision caps a scandal-filled year that began with allegations that a Seattle homicide detective stole $10,000 from a crime scene and culminated last week as outnumbered police officers fired tear gas, pepper spray and rubber pellets at WTO demonstrators in downtown streets.

Seattle police and law enforcement officials outside the department -- including King County Sheriff Dave Reichert -- complained bitterly that Stamper and Schell were not prepared to handle the thousands of protesters who descended on the city for the WTO meeting.

As a result, WTO delegates were placed at risk, the meeting was disrupted, violence spilled out of downtown into the residential Capitol Hill neighborhood, downtown businesses sustained more than $2 million in damage and the city's retail core lost millions more dollars from lost sales at the height of the Christmas shopping season.

On Wednesday night, police officers yanked Seattle City Councilman Richard McIver from his car as he tried to drive into a restricted area.

McIver, who is black, said the officers ignored his business card, and he said the incident highlights problems in how the department deals with people of color.

Moreover, police officers complained loudly and publicly that the failure to anticipate violence left their ranks so thin that they could not do their jobs. Many said they were dangerously tired while on the front lines for nearly 20 hours without food, backup support or enough tear gas and pepper spray.

"I certainly do accept full responsibility that our officers did not get all the support they needed and deserve," Stamper said. "As the chief, it's fundamentally important for people to understand that we knew this was going to be big. We knew that there was a potential for violence and destructive behavior."

Stamper acknowledged for the first time yesterday that the mayhem on Seattle's streets Tuesday nearly caused President Clinton to cancel his trip to the city to speak to WTO delegates.

"We all had a very serious conversation about whether all the venues the president would visit were secure," Stamper said.

Stamper, visibly relaxed and confident during the interview, denied that politics had played a role in tactical decisions for handling the protests.

But he acknowledged that the department -- and the city -- had tried to negotiate with the protesters rather than confront them.

He said Assistant Chief Ed Joiner directed the tactical response to demonstrators practicing civil disobedience while negotiating behind the scenes with protest group leaders.

"Some of the leaders of the various demonstration factions were not able to deliver," Stamper said. "In other words, they were dealing with the wild card of demonstrators who are not part of their particular group, and who are not playing by the rules."

Stamper said police faced squirt guns filled with urine, chunks of concrete and soda pop cans filled with gasoline.

"The anarchists used techniques downtown that they were trained for," Stamper said. "They integrated themselves into peaceful demonstrators. They made it very clear to us that if we were going to get to them, we were going to have to come through people who were not destructive and violent.

"One protest leader reported to us that he saw anarchists change clothes three times a day to avoid detection."

Stamper said the Seattle Police Department -- and police officers called in from King County and elsewhere -- were trained and prepared to handle unruly and even violent protests. But they just did not have the numbers to cope with tens of thousands of demonstrators.

Cities like New York, with nearly 40,000 officers, and Chicago, with 15,000 officers, "can pour two to three to four times the number of officers that we can into those venues for dignitary protection," he said.

Seattle could not match those forces. "Even with mutual aid, looking at the entire state of Washington, we're asking other law enforcement agencies to literally strip their streets."

The National Guard eventually sent in 300 unarmed troops and the Washington State Patrol sent another 300 armed troopers after the violence broke out Tuesday. But they did not arrive until Wednesday morning.

Schell said he was disappointed that Stamper was leaving under a cloud. The chief, he said, had hoped to walk away from the job after guiding the city successfully through the WTO and the arrival of the year 2000.

"But it's his life," Schell said. "And it's not going to be fun for the next six months."

Stamper said he was under no pressure from the mayor to announce his retirement earlier. He said he informed Deputy Mayor Maud Daudon of his intentions Saturday. She arranged a meeting Sunday with Schell.

"I said this is categorical, it's unequivocal," Stamper said. "Does this look like the face of somebody who's indecisive about his decision?

"I think I have a responsibility to stick around and answer questions about WTO. It's no secret that there are officers who believe that they didn't get as much support for this as they needed and deserved, and I want to hear any and all concerns and answer every question that I can. "But I also want to be a part of systematically critiquing and debriefing the WTO experience."

In Vancouver, B.C., where police employed similar means to curtail looting and violence during protests against the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum held there in 1997, public hearings into whether the police responded appropriately are still going on.

Second-guessing takes time, said Vancouver Police Department Inspector Ken Doern, a specialist in crowd control.

Outside of WTO, Stamper said he hopes his legacy will be his advocacy of community policing, a concept some officers resisted and some community members have misunderstood.

"Community policing is not a touchy-feely police strategy," the chief said yesterday with a tinge of frustration. "That kind of a term attached to policing or my leadership position is kind of evidence of lazy journalism.

"Community policing is very tough to pull off. . . . And when it works, it sets the stage for the next phase of community policing, which is a deeper and deeper commitment" to working closely with the community.

In Schell's three-paragraph letter accepting the chief's resignation, the mayor credited Stamper's community policing formula for plummeting crime rates. And he praised the chief's unwavering focus on improving the department's record of civil rights.

"Under your leadership, our police department and its citizen partners have accomplished a great deal," Schell said. "Crime is down. Ours is the best domestic violence response police force in the country. Citizen complaints are down by two-thirds in your six years.

"You stood firm against racism, sexism, and homophobia. Human rights are stronger in our department and across our community because of you."

Since he arrived in Seattle in February 1994 after having been executive assistant police chief for San Diego, Stamper has taken an active and visible role in Seattle's diverse neighborhoods.

He was a regular marcher in the annual Gay Pride Parade. He also met regularly with representatives of the city's minority communities and invited controversy by speaking frankly about his own experience as a rookie cop who witnessed and participated in police abuse of civil rights.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

P-I reporter Kimberly A.C. Wilson can be reached at 206-615-1246 or kacwilson@seattle-pi.com

P-I reporter Mike Barber contributed to this report.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

12-7-99

From: GENESISOFLIGHT@webtv.net (lee Chin)

It was just announced that Seattle's Chief of Police has resigned because of the criticisms of his actions during the WTO. His resignation was accepted by the Mayor. >lee>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

12.6.99

'Roger and Me' producer on the importance Seattle protests

Here's some excellent commentary from film producer Michael Moore, on the historic importance of the demonstrations against the World Trade Organization conclave/debacle in Seattle last week; and how those massive protests helped torpedo the elitist, globalist WTO and their pernicious, anti human sovereignty AND anti national sovereignty agendas in a big way.

Moore was a first-hand witness during the street demonstrations.  

Do yourself a favor and check out this well-put article below.

NewsHawk® Inc.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: The Battle of Seattle
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1999 10:10:02 -0500
From: "Ronald T. Hannivig" <RonHannivig@compuserve.com>

All,

The following is from the uniquely accredited maverick journalist, Michael Moore - of "Roger and Me"; "TVNation"; "Canadian Bacon", et al well known credits, overall take on the Seattle demonstrations.  
---------- Forwarded Message ----------

From: "Michael Moore's newsletter"
TO: (unknown), INTERNET:MICHAELMOORE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
DATE: 12/7/99 1:39 AM

RE: The Battle of Seattle

Dear Friends,

They never knew what hit them. They had assumed it would be business as usual, the way it had been for decades. Rich men gather, meet, decide the fate of the world, then return home to amass more wealth. It's the way it's always been.

Until Seattle.

On the morning of November 30, 1999, as government officials from 135 nations attempted to meet with the largest gathering ever of corporate executives, tens of thousands of average everyday working Americans shut down the city of Seattle and physically prohibited the hoped-for historic and official merger of the earth's political and business elite. I was there. I saw it first-hand. It was a sight I had never seen.

But there it was. It was a massively representive body of Americans (and Canadians and Brits and French, etc.), all of us standing there on the streets between Pine and Pike -- Teamsters and turtle-lovers, grandparents and Gap clerks, the homeless and computer geeks, high school students and Alaskans, nuns and Jimmy Hoffa, Jr., airplane mechanics and caffeinated slaves from Microsoft. A few were professional protesters, but the majority looked as if this was their first exercise in a constitutionally protected redress of grievances. There were no "leaders," no "movement," no idea of what to do except stop the World Trade Organization from holding its secret meeting.

Only the anarchists seemed organized. They even had their own anarchist marching band!

The big labor march grew so large (that's what happens when so many workers are temps), it broke into six or seven separate marches, choking off the entire downtown area of Seattle.

The beauty of all this is that it just happened. And why should anyone be surprised? After two decades of downsizing, wage stagnation, lost health benefits and the deliberate destruction of the middle class, the bubble sooner or later had to burst.

The Fortune 500 brought this on themselves. If they hadn't been so greedy, if they had been willing to share even a sliver of the pie, then maybe Seattle wouldn't have happened.

But the rich decided to take a piss on their biggest supporters -- their loyal workers, those Reagan Democrats -- and there's nothing uglier than a Teamster who voted for Nixon realizing he's been had.

It was funny watching how the media presented the Battle of Seattle ("violent protests" was the mantra), and while a McDonald's and a Starbucks had their windows broken, the truth was that 99% of the participants destroyed no property and took great pains to treat the city of Seattle with endearing respect. Seattle is, after all, the only city in the history of this country to have a general strike (the entire town refused to show up for work back in 1919).

The liberal mayor of Seattle, who at first did not want to be known as a West Coast Mayor Daley, eventually lost his cool and let his police force run amok. Tear gas and rubber bullets started flying toward the grandparents and the nuns. All civil liberties were suspended. They even had the audacity to use the term, "no protest zones."

Hey, this is America, buddy! Seattle may be considered one of those groovy "Pacific Rim" cities, but that doesn't make it Singapore.

Clinton came to town on the second day. He was so badgered by the protests, he ended up committing a sin so serious, it was like he was burning his draft card all over again. He completely changed his position and called on all WTO countries to enact laws prohibiting trade with nations that use children in sweatshops and do not honor the rights of all workers to organize a union. Whoa! You see, free trade is an absolute with the WTO (e.g., trade must never be used as a tool to accomplish "social" goals). So, for Clinton to climb the space needle (or was he chased up it?) and then declare that the human rights of workers were more important than making a buck, well, this was nothing short of Paul being knocked off his horse and seeing Jesus! You could almost hear the collective seething of the hundreds of CEOs gathered in Seattle. Their boy Bill -- the politician they had bought and paid for at so many coffee klatches and Lincoln Bedroom stays --- had betrayed them. You could almost see them reaching for their Palm Pilots to look up the phone number of The Jackal.

It was a tremendous victory for everyone who lives from paycheck to paycheck. We owe a lot to those brave souls who got arrested and spent the rest of the week in jail.

This is by no means the end of Big Business. The richest 1% still own 90% of everything in this world. They will not go down without a fight.

But they have been put on notice that people from all walks of life have had their fill and will not let up until we have a fair, just, and democratic economy. This week, Seattle was the Lexington and Concord of a movement that now cannot be stopped. Mark it down, this last great, important date of the 20th century -- November 30, 1999 -- The Battle of Seattle, the day the people got tired of having to work a second job while fighting off the collection agents and decided it was time the pie was shared with the people who baked it.

Yours, Michael Moore

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

12.6.99

Fwd: Seattle's Sanitized Newsmedia

From Citizens For a Constitutional Washington

-------- Original Message --------

Subject: Seattle's Sanitized Newsmedia
Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 10:51:31 -0800
From: "CCW" <ccw@wolfenet.com>

Speaking from a 22-year background in radio & television broadcast, including stints as news director for several radio stations in the Pacific Northwest, I can with mature circumspection tell you that there was only ONE broadcast outlet in Seattle who was even close to the real happenings, and that was KIRO TV-7 in Seattle, a Cox Interactive Media station and long-time CBS affiliate - although I have nothing nice to say about CBS or Dan Rather-Biased. The rest of the newsmedia, including Fisher Broadcasting Company's KOMO TV-4 (ABC) and A. H. Belo Corporation's KING TV-5 (NBC) played the "fluff" tunes and coddled their viewers with more or less positive "spins" on WTO and negative on the protestors. KOMO TV-4's News Director, Joe Barnes, even went so far as to do an editorial that KOMO wouldn't be covering the protestor's actions or anything that basically wouldn't be considered "politically correct". KOMO didn't have much of anything, insofar as news reporting is concerned and the five "W's" ... WHO, WHAT, WHY, WHEN and WHERE, and how. They tended to be PRO-Mayor Paul Schell and PRO-Police Chief Norm Stamper, playing the dialectic cards and making it appear that the protestor's were all wrong and the police were right. One has to wonder what kind of political intrigue and money exists between the hierarchy of some of these stations and certain other key officials to get favored reporting. So much for a "free press". Both KOMO and KING made it appear that the downtown corridor of businesses were literally destroyed and boarded-up, and that was just not the case. The damage was not widespread.

KIRO, on the otherhand, tended to give "hard" news and last night's newscast at 11PM was perhaps the most superb reporting I have seen to date. If anyone wants to really see what went on during the "Battle in Seattle", KIRO's video coverage was par-excellence. And the still pictures most of your readership have now seen on the internet of the Ninja Stormtrooper kicking the young man in the groin and then shooting him at point-blank-range with rubber bullets was on last night's KIRO TV-7 Newscast. Here are a couple of links from their website for further info:

http://www.seattleinsider.com/news/1999/12/06/wtoresidents.html

http://www.seattleinsider.com/news/1999/12/05/wtoprobe.html

By the way, I've never worked for KIRO and this is totally legit with no biases other than what I personally observed throughout the week of the illegal WTO. Also, Mayor Schell and Police Chief Stamper have GOT TO GO, i.e., "RESIGN NOW!" Under Schell's tutelage, the City of Seattle ordered 500 sets of body armor and it was a RUSH order that had to be shipped no later than October. The black body armor came from Second Chance Body Armor, Central Lake, Michigan. So, for the Mayor and Police Chief to claim that they were "overwhelmed" is nonsense. They had PLANNED their little black Ninja stormtrooper party months ago! And who knows but what there were many agent provocateurs engaged in creating some of the mayhem in order to condition the people for what next happened on day 2 of the WTO - a MASSIVE show of force by police and MASSIVE POLICE BRUTALITY.

/s/ John R. Prukop, Legal Researcher

"Reason obeys itself; and ignorance does whatever is dictated to it."

--Thomas Paine, Rights of Man ("Conclusion")

"All laws which are repugnant to the Constitution are null and void."

--Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (2 Cranch) 137 (1803)

CCW Coalition
Concerned Citizens Of Washington
Citizens For A Constitutional Washington
John R. Prukop, Executive Director
11910-C Meridian Ave. E., #142
Puyallup, Washington 98373
TEL: (253) 840-8071
FAX: (253) 840-8074
e-mail: ccw@wolfenet.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Protesters packed up their rain-soaked tarps and gear after all arrestees were released.

What went wrong at WTO?

Reported by Arturo Santiago

SEATTLE, December 6, 99 – The WTO conference is over and Monday, Seattle’s mayor – the man who so eagerly hoped the talks would bring good attention to his city – may have to answer to the City Council about what went wrong. At the same time, protesters wrap up their vigil outside the King County jail.

PROTESTERS PACKED UP their rain-soaked belongings after several days of camping out in front of the King County jail, where they had been demanding the release of fellow demonstrators.

“We made an agreement that we would leave if all the misdemeanor prisoners were released, which they were – the last person just came out,” said Mark Taylor-Canfield, protestors’ spokesman.

Their original focus on the World Trade Organization has now been mixed with allegations against police. Arrestees complained of brutality, bogus charges and a lack of respect for their rights.

“It was wrong. Our constitutional rights were completely stepped on,” said one of the protesters.

“We did not engage in any violent activity and yet we had consistent violence committed against us and consistently our rights denied,” said protester Clare Buddinger.

“Obviously Chief Stamper needs to seriously consider whether or not he’s doing us a service by staying in our city,” said Judy Nicastro, City Councilmember Elect.

Across town on Capitol Hill, City Council members joined a neighborhood vigil with the focus on healing after the storm. Just days ago, police and National Guard in riot gear were occupying their streets, accused of making residents very uncomfortable.

While most police officers followed orders, some got carried away.

“Obviously we’ve all seen the infamous picture of the kid on the sidewalk, hands up, completely helpless, getting kicked in the groin. Unacceptable. That police officer needs to be found out who he is – who that renegade officer is – and he’s got to go,” said Nicastro.

Most still stressed their feeling that 90 percent of Seattle’s officers are decent people, taking orders. As for the others, City Council member Richard Conlin promised to seek accountability.

“We need to find out who’s responsible for the things people need to be held accountable for and prepare for the future,” aid Richard Conlin.

The group that attended a vigil last night on Seattle’s Capitol Hill have formed “Seattle Citizens Against Police Violence.” It plans a meeting Monday night to look into the police response last week to WTO protests.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap19991206_1744.html

WIRE:12/06/1999 22:49:00 ET

Fallout begins over handling of WTO protests in Seattle

SEATTLE (AP) _ City residents and officials on Monday demanded accountability for the mayhem last week from the World Trade Organization protests that cost merchants nearly $20 million and left many furious at police.

"If you don't have a police force that can handle an emergency situation rationally, then you have a serious problem," said City Councilwoman-elect Judy Nicastro, who was tear-gassed along with demonstrators and residents of the Capitol Hill neighborhood at the height of a police crackdown last Wednesday.

On Monday, the City Council agreed to wait until next week to formally create a task force to determine what went wrong, though it appointed three members to the panel.

Seattle was still recovering Monday from WTO protests that included widespread vandalism and looting by a few dozen people among the tens of thousands that crowded downtown streets.

The violence resulted in deployment of the National Guard, a curfew and more than 500 arrests.

Downtown stores suffered as much as $2.5 million in property damage and lost some $17 million in sales, said Lucinda Payne of the Downtown Seattle Association.

No deaths or serious injuries were reported, but protesters have alleged mistreatment at the hands of police officers and jailers.

Police Chief Norm Stamper has said his officers used appropriate force to clear streets and maintain order.

City Councilman Richard McIver, who is black, said he was pulled from his car by police on his way to a WTO reception and had his arms put behind his back before being ordered to leave the area. He said that occurred even after he had identified himself and given officers his gold-crested council business card.

The local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People demanded an investigation of police conduct.

Stamper should resign, said Nicastro, who does not join the council until January.

Meanwhile, all but nine protesters had been released from the King County Jail in Seattle Monday. More than 500 others were released on personal recognizance over the weekend.

Copyright 1999 ABC News

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Subject: Seattle Art Bell Chat Club - WTO review meeting

December 6, 1999

Hi Y'all!

Question: What do you call an emergency state that has the National Guard called out?

Answer: Martial Law

Yup, I was informed that technically that was what it was in latté land last week.

Video, photos and first hand accounts of the WTO.

Warning: You may experience a sudden urge to buy a gas mask after reading this. No kidding.

Reports were heard at the Club's meeting at Capitol Hill's Seattle Metaphysical Library overseen by Director Philip Lipson:

Tari - a Capitol Hill resident described how The Habitat Cafe on Broadway was gassed. She and a friend who were out having lunch found themselves in the middle of a confrontation and ducted in the cafe to avoid the riot police. She thought the police would respect a business. She was wrong. Her friend witnessed as a police looked straight at her and threw a canister at the opening of the door. It filled the entire cafe with gas and it reminded her of a Nazi gas chamber. People in there having lunch were throwing up including a family and their kid. Their options with the police at the front door it seemed were to stay inside with the gas or go outside and get gassed and beaten. They chose to stay inside with the burning gas. Later people came out with their hands up and asking if they could leave and received snide remarks from the police.

Can anyone say lawsuits? They are.

What did the gas feel like? She said like bathing in ammonia and having a firecracker in your mouth.

Margaret described the WTO workshops she attended, the intense lectures presented by some of the most prestigeous researchers and nations on everything from biotechnology to patents. That was what the this whole week was supposed to be about - international awareness and negotiations - serious meetings. She said she saw and met international people in everything from suit and tie to dredlocks - it was a very unifying event. There was even a description of a baby reaching out to play with a man's huge afro.

Margaret then dropped a bomb on us and played her video tape of the start of the police gassing. Truly it is probably one of only a handful of videos of what went on at the start because we saw KIRO's media van close their doors (probably ordered to).

The video showed a crowd was milling around and then the tone changed when police starting suiting up. (guess they were too busy changing to apprehend any anarchists and vandels). We heard the beat of the protest drumming increase - perhaps a communication signal to the other protestors. We then saw metal compression rods - riot sticks that force an impact like a forced slug into its victim were used repeatedly on the front line of sitting non-violent protestors. Yeh, I said sitting.

The video even showed one police use up his compression canister on one protestor and stop to recharge. The sitting protestors had their heads down trying to cover their faces with their backs to the police totally standing their ground and the crowd was shouting "Shame" to the police. It was hard to watch because these protestors took alot of abuse. I suddenly thought of what they would have done to Ghandi. Spray was being used directly into their faces and people were throwing water on the sitting protestors to help them wash the spray off.

A gentleman made a comment on camera how police were spraying inside peoples masks and holding the mask down. Masks were used apparently in conjunction with the street theater protest and street puppets. The video showed the burned faces - some red raw or white with residue.

It was disgusting to see officials in the backgound watching this.

Unlike what the media portrayed or what officials said the gassing and beating weren't a result of vandles or anarchists of which they did nothing to apprehend. They were a lame justification for the police to use their sprays and artillery on the non-violent protestors and stomp our constitutional right to assemble and to protest. When the mayor outlawed the possession and selling of gas masks I thought you have got to be kidding. Our constitutional right is to bear arms but no gas masks which are not weapons but protection gear.

I don't think so.

Margaret had made sandwiches for the protestors sit-in waiting for their friends to be released. She said many businesses and people had brought down food. She also related how she saw a group of plain clothes people huddled and was asked to leave when she approached them as they said " By order of the police" - they were undercover cops.

This video and stills should be available on John's web-site shortly, address listed below. No doubt the AFLCIO will be receiving a copy to document charges and identify police. The Seattle Metaphyscial Library is also requesting a copy so you can see for yourself.

Mike who was with us at the Daisy Gathering recounted what went on at the Human Chain around the Kingdome with police that Monday, Tuesday's AFLCIO Peoples March and the standoff on Capitol Hill. Mike related how some guy was shot 17 times with rubber bullets because he was holding a flag and wouldn't move. (Talk about taking a bullet for your country) Mike also related what he saw at Capitol Hill.

The chants :

"Who's streets? - Our streets!"

"You go home - We'll go home!"

We asked Mike who grew up in Seattle what his opinion of the Seattle Police was now and he said quite frankly "It's always been bad".

Interestingly Mike mentioned Hopi prophecy and how he saw the North American Treaty Council there at the junction of 4th and 5th St. Prophecy - the transition from the 4th level to the 5th. and where the steel will meet with the clay.

No matter how you look at it - something was born that day with the joining of groups and people holding hands and locking arms. Also brought to the meeting were rubber bullets, pellets and wooden plugs. It is hard to think these were shot point blank at people, as seen on TV. Seems to me there is no honor in shooting people unarmed.

Yeh, we saw cell phones. KOMO news also informed me they did have reporters planted in the crowd. Reason - don't know. (odd as their statement the previous week was "We don't see a need to cover the WTO - Art Bell is giving that enough coverage")

Thanks to John Novak who has been following the WTO issues months ago and has an excellent website listed below.

Reporting live Charlette LeFevre

Seattle Art Bell Chat Club

----- Original Message -----

From: <Gj3447@aol.com>
To: <deuce42@uswest.net>
Sent: Sunday, December 05, 1999 6:47 PM
Subject: Re: Undercover Police at the WTO march on Tuesday (fwd)

In a message dated 12/04/1999 10:48:27 PM Pacific Standard Time,

deuce42@uswest.net writes:

<< I am trying to confirm if this is indeed your words and would like to ask your permission to post it on the website I have dedicated to this past week here in Seattle.

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Keep/4885/wto/index.html >>

Yes this is the message I posted at the MC List. We (my friend and I) are currently putting together at least 1/2 hour show for cable access in Portland. Any questions please e-mail. You can post it.

Greg Judkins

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

12-6-99

Clinton linked to collapse of talks in Seattle

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Charles Clover

LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SEATTLE

European sources yesterday said President Clinton instructed his negotiators to let world trade talks in Seattle collapse over the weekend, infuriating participants from Britain and other European Union countries.

The discussions among 135 countries foundered because Mr. Clinton decided the likely result would not have been favorable for the United States or have won support from the labor unions who are backing Vice President Al Gore's presidential campaign, said these EU sources.

Facilities were booked for the talks to run until 7 a.m. Saturday and the delegations were prepared for an all-night session.

But the Daily Telegraph has learned that Mr. Clinton spoke to U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky, the chairman of the conference, around 8 p.m. on Friday and decided to pull the plug on the talks.

While not commenting directly on the EU charges, White House chief economic adviser Gene Sperling boasted to reporters the United States had refused to give up its demand that the WTO address labor standards and that U.S. anti-dumping laws not be discussed -- both issues of concern to American unions.

"The decision was made that a better round could be launched by taking time out at this point and reconvening after [participating] countries and the WTO as an institution have a period to reflect on the best way to go forward," Mr. Sperling said.

Mr. Sperling also said, "We kept the president constantly up to date on the ups and downs in the [bargaining] process."

Mrs. Barshefsky, at her conference-ending news briefing, said the Americans had decided that many complicated issues "could not be overcome rapidly" and that "it would be best to take a time out."

Mr. Clinton's decision to let the talks collapse is believed to be linked to his surprise decision last week to call for core labor and environmental standards, backed by trade sanctions, to be inserted into the WTO rules.

The issues are important to labor unions and environmentalists, key parts of the constituency Mr. Gore will need for his election drive next year.

Many delegations from the EU and developing countries expressed anger at what they saw as Mr. Clinton's trying to use the talks as a grandstand for scoring domestic political points.

But it was at least a temporary victory for the estimated 16,000 union members who marched through the streets last week demanding that environmental protection and workers' standards be part of trade deals.

John Sweeney, president of the 13 million-member AFL-CIO, said yesterday the collapse of the Seattle talks was a step forward in the sense that "no deal is better than a bad deal."

"We all support trade, and we all recognize globalization. But it's about time that the WTO took into consideration worker rights," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Rep. Sander M. Levin, Michigan Democrat, also said trade had become a political issue for the 2000 elections. "The debate over the role of labor and environment in trade negotiations is inevitable and it is going to be part of the campaigns," he said.

The frustration of the Europeans was openly expressed Saturday by EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy of France, who had warned all week that the WTO's organizational flaws could doom the talks.

"The WTO really needs reform," he said after the breakdown.

Mrs. Barshefsky said the discussions would now move to the WTO headquarters in Geneva where talks next month would focus on two areas, agriculture and services, under an agenda set five years ago.

In the meantime WTO Director-General Mike Moore will consult the members to try to bridge their differences with the goal of reconvening the meeting of ministers at an unspecified date.

But Mr. Lamy said no one should be under an illusion it will be easy to change a process to conduct global trade negotiations that has been in use for 50 years.

The U.S. labor movement's success is expected to strengthen its hand in next year's battle in Congress over whether to give permanent trading status to China, a key requirement before China can join the WTO.

Mr. Sweeney said yesterday the labor movement would fight against normalizing trade relations with China "until there are some rules that the Chinese are going to play by."

"That was our argument with the WTO. Make the rules before you admit China," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

The Europeans, for their part, can be expected to begin acting independently to open up trade and to push for WTO reform.

British Trade Secretary Stephen Byers is expected to announce announce in the House of Commons today that the EU intends to proceed unilaterally to drop "essentially all" tariffs on imports from the world's poorest 48 countries, including Eritrea and Zimbabwe.

He will also announce that Britain wants to convene a ministerial meeting of critics of the WTO to discuss how it makes decisions, and to set up a forum of commonwealth trade ministers to discuss reforms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WIRE:12/06/1999 05:23:00 ET

http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap19991206_454.html

Protesters released, residents come to grips with WTO-related violence

SEATTLE (AP) _ Joe Martinez, a self-described materialist who had barely heard of the World Trade Organization until last week, found himself joining its opponents in a vigil outside the King County Jail.

"My whole life I've been about money and myself and my $800 stereo," he said Sunday as his Chevy Malibu blasted hip-hop to entertain protesters angry at their colleagues' detention.

"I came down because I saw people getting beaten up and tear gassed on TV," the 20-year-old mechanic said. Martinez said he was converted to the protesters' cause once he heard their concerns over the impact of free trade on the environment and human and labor rights.

Those arrested continued to trickle out of jail Sunday. No more than 50 people of the more than 500 arrested last week were still awaiting release.

Meanwhile, a candlelight vigil was held in the Capitol Hill neighborhood where citizens had been gassed along with demonstrators during a police crackdown following window smashing and looting downtown on Tuesday.

Activists Sunday were declaring victory over the WTO. Delegates had failed to reach agreement on an agenda for new round of global trade talks _ exactly the outcome "No New Round" demonstrators demanded.

"This victory has wildly surpassed all our expectations," said Jeremy Simer, 25, of People for Fair Trade, a local group formed to help coordinate WTO opposition.

"It wasn't just the people in Seattle," he said. "People all over the world recognized the opportunity to focus everyone's energy on stopping one of a handful of international organizations that's chipping away at our democratic institutions."

A number of activist groups have alleged mistreatment at the hands of arresting and jail officers. Direct Action Network, an umbrella group for activists, said all of those arrested would seek full jury trials.

City officials did not immediately return a call for comment.

Assistant Police Chief Ed Joiner defended the midweek crackdown and denied that officers overall were too aggressive in their tactics.

"If you're asking for perfection from a law enforcement officer, then you're not talking about a human being," he said, noting that there were more than 1,000 officers on the street, and any who did "cross the line" would be investigated.

Acknowledging that the department had not expected the scale or ferocity of protests Tuesday and initially had too few officers in the field, Joiner said, "I think the Police Department did an absolutely fantastic job under the most difficult of circumstances."

Shoppers returned in force over the weekend to a downtown that had been mostly boarded up and blocked by police a week ago. Just as in the previous week, they saw police blocking intersections Sunday while hundreds of people ran through the streets in stocking caps.

This time, though, it was for the city's "Jingle Bell Run."

Copyright 1999 ABC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

12.4.99

MD Testifies Re: SEVERE, Widespread Seattle Police Brutality

Here's what a medical doctor has to say about his first-hand experiences with victims of the the horrific and vicious brutality enacted by police and other law enforcement personnel against defenseless, peaceful protesters in Seattle this past week.

Severe and permanent injuries are said to have been sustained by a great number of victims; facts which went totally unreported by the dog-on-a-leash mass media outlets. Everyone from innocent children to helpless grandmothers reportedly bore the brunt of unbridled and unrestrained official, state-directed terrorism and thuggery--called forth to protect the ultra-wealthy, powerful globalist world trade authorities meeting in Seattle.

NewsHawk® Inc.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Subject: Seattle MD testifies Re: Police Brutality
Date: Sat, 04 Dec 1999 16:17:01 -0700
From: "Dr. Byron Weeks" <btw777@if.rmci.net>

Organization: Eschaton

Interview with Seattle MD

My name is Richard DeAndrea. I'm a medical doctor. What I saw up here was martial law. This turned into a police state. Everything you have seen on television regarding local news broadcasts including national public radio was a blackout. The police were using concussion grenades. They were using shooting tear gas canisters directly at protesters’ faces. They were using rubber bullets. Some of the damage I saw from these rubber bullets took off part of a person's jaw, smashed teeth in their mouth. I saw the police arrest people who had their hands up in the air screaming we are peacefully protesting.

The amount of looting that took place was so minimal I don't even know where they got the footage from. I am saying this beyond a shadow of a doubt. This is a definite sign that American is heading towards a police state unless people start standing up for their rights as individuals. I am actually shocked and ashamed. I am ashamed of the police force, I am ashamed of the mayor I am ashamed of Bill Clinton. I am ashamed of the whole thing.

Jared: These rubber bullets - what are they?

Dr. DeAndrea: They are made of polyester type material. They are like a hard plastic toy. The idea is to hit your body, do damage, not actually penetrate. But I did see penetration wounds, I did see people bleeding. I did see teeth loss, I did see broken bones. There were children present, there were families present, they were firing upon families, mothers, grandmothers. They were just firing at them. They came out in full police force. They brought out swat teams, they had the national guard up here, there was CIA surrounding the delegates' buildings. It was very obvious that there was an institutional control that had no regard of human rights whatever.

In addition we have video footage of protesters being taken away as well as human rights being violated. Prisoners were taken and they were tortured. There is a case, I believe his name is Holm, Keith Holm. He was tortured because he would not give his name. They handcuffed, laid him on the floor, they smashed his face against the concrete, they grabbed his hair, they ripped out a lock of hair. and then placed pencils between his fingers on them until he would give his name. They were also banging his head against metal objects. He was actually the first protester released because the Internal Affairs came in to do an investigation and they wanted him gone because he would be able to give testimony.

We're treating people in a studio loft downtown. I just treated an ear wound. People have been treated for concussion injuries. There have been people who have been treated for plastic bullet wounds. Lots of tear gas injuries, lots of damage to cornea, lots of damage to the eyes and skins. They were using a pepper spray, a tear gas and they were also using some sort of nerve gas. We had reports of many demonstrators winding up with seizures the next day. It causes muscles to clamp up, muscle contraction, seizures.

They have done several illegal things regarding these people in jail. They have been telling them that they would not be let out, not have their bail set if they didn't get their names. Its their legal right not to give their name. They don't have to speak at all. Attorneys came up and said we are representing these people. The police called their attorneys liars. At this point they have still refused to let any of them see their clients. There are close to 600 people who were arrested and they have been holding them for two days on charges that are mostly misdemeanors - refusal to disperse. A lot of people in there have not gotten medical attention, either. I have gotten calls from young ladies in there who have had all sorts of emotional problems as well as physical problems. They have called me for medical attention from inside the jail. There are people still sitting in there who have not even been processed.

Today there were fewer attacks by police, but they did arrest more people. And there was no violence today by the marchers and all through the day yesterday it was the same. What you are seeing on television about looting and anarchistic protesters - there's straight-out blackout they are basically pushing that. There is not much damage to property here. There are not many windows that have been damaged or stores that have been looted. Those are extremely rare cases.

I used to believe newspapers were telling the truth. But now I am no longer behind that.

This shouldn't happen in America.

This is still America, isn't it? I'm beginning to wonder.

Posted on 12/03/1999 23:11:12 PST by Arator |

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----Original Message-----
From: Gj3447@aol.com <Gj3447@aol.com>
To: <Mindcontrol-L@mail.sonic.net>
Date: Saturday, 4 December 1999 21:19
Subj: [MC] Undercover Police at the WTO march on Tuesday

I live in Portland, OR, about a two hour drive from Seattle.   I went to the Tuesday Labor rally that started at the Memorial Stadium and went through downtown Seattle. I went with a friend who works for the local community TV cable access station in town. Both of us were going with the expressed intention of videoing the affair but with one difference from most who were videoing. We decided that the theme of the video would be observing surveillance techniques used by the police.

Amazing enough we started observing a particular behavior by certain people who were not wearing any police uniforms.   They were all talking into the same type of cell phone. Upon further inspection we observed that these cell phones had no dial pads, they were radios of some sort. After that they started standing out. The police must have a clothing allowance for "street clothes" because the majority of these police were wearing brand new Levi's, wind breakers, and looked like they had just got a hair cut. The frightening part was that we saw at least 4 undercovers dressed up as union people with hard hats and the union windbreakers like most were wearing. They were using the same "cell phones" as the others. I purposely got close enough to hear one of them say on his radio "We are going to need reinforcements up here." Another frightening observation was when saw a young male who could have easily passed as one of the "anarchist" (dressed in old worn clothes and a hooded sweat shirt) pull out the same radio and talk into it. I would say just in a 3-4 block area we saw between 10-15 of these undercover cops. We of course videod them. They usually turned away when they observed us taping them.

The point I am making is that most likely the whole parade was infiltrated with undercover cops. Who knows they could have been ATF and FBI. I most likely can assume that there is a high probability that some of these could have been the agent provocateurs who did the damage also. The news tonight said that only six people of the 500-700 people arrested were charged with felonies. Gee what happened to the rest who were tearing things up.

Greg

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WTO Protesters Push To Free Friends

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS

.c The Associated Press

SEATTLE (Dec. 4. 99) - With the World Trade Organization leaving town in defeat, protesters today stepped up efforts to get hundreds of their comrades out of jail.

And the city moved to get shoppers back into the downtown core after a week of sometimes violent protests.

''It's a time to heal,'' said Mayor Paul Schell at a morning news conference in the Westlake Center plaza, where he restarted the holiday carousel.

''We're taking the city back to make Seattle again,'' he said, urging Christmas shoppers to spend money downtown.

Several hundred people launched a party in front of the King County Jail after learning Friday night that WTO delegates had failed to reach agreement on an agenda for a new round of global trade talks. Some were still there this morning.

As lawyers negotiated with government officials over terms for releasing some 300 people still behind bars after a week of sometimes violent protests, demonstrators chanted, ''Let them go! Let them go!''

Those talks resumed early this morning as the city's Municipal Court - which operated until midnight Friday - got back to work processing and releasing detainees.

An eclectic mix of people joined the jubilant protesters - from former 1960s radical Tom Hayden to King County Councilman Brian Derdowski.

''I never thought the time would come that a new generation of activists would part the waters,'' Hayden, a former California state senator, said to roars from the crowd.

Protesters were fortified by donations of food, water and warm clothing from labor unions and other sympathizers.

Bongo drums pounded out a raucous beat as people danced in the courtyard of the jail in downtown Seattle.

''It's the beginning of the end for the WTO!'' they chanted.

A handful of protesters chained themselves to one entrance of the Westin Hotel. President Clinton stayed at the Westin when he visited Seattle earlier in the week to promote the WTO negotiations. Some WTO delegates also were staying there.

Critics contend the WTO, a 135-nation organization that is based in Geneva and sets rules for world trade, disregards human rights, labor protections and environmental concerns in promoting international commerce.

The week's demonstrations led to the arrests of more than 580 people, an estimated $2.5 million in property damage and some $9.5 million in lost retail sales.

Inside the jail, protesters arrested during the week were being processed as quickly as the city court system could handle them. About 120 were expected to be released early today.

Derdowski said King County Executive Ron Sims and Seattle City Attorney Mark Sidran negotiated with lawyers for the jailed protesters.

Those negotiations broke off around midnight Friday, said lead protesters' lawyer Katya Komisarek. She said Sims assured the demonstrators they could remain outside the jail as long as the negotiating continued.

Komisarek declined to identify points of disagreement in the talks.

Ann Benson, another lawyer for protesters, said they wanted their clients freed with no fines, no restitution orders and only infraction notices. Infractions are not criminal charges, she said.

''We want to get everyone the same deal,'' Benson said.

On Tuesday, law enforcers were caught by surprise when tens of thousands jammed downtown streets to protest WTO policies. Police stood by as a few people smashed windows, sprayed graffiti, set fires and looted shops.

That night, Mayor Paul Schell declared a civil emergency and curfew. The National Guard was brought in and police arrested more than 500 protesters on Wednesday. No serious injuries were reported.

Quieter demonstrations continued Thursday and Friday.

Some shoppers ventured into upscale downtown stores on Friday, pleased by relative calm after days of demonstrations.

AP-NY-12-04-99 1351EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WTO Debacle Likely to Embolden Trade Opposition

By Donna Smith

Reuters

SEATTLE (Dec. 4, 99) - The collapse of a new round of global trade negotiations may strengthen the hand of labor and environmental groups as they press the U.S. Congress to reject President Bill Clinton's landmark trade agreement with China.

Clinton was already gearing up for a bruising fight in the Republican-controlled Congress over the deal, which would open a wide range of Chinese markets and clear the way for Beijing to join the World Trade Organization (WTO).

But analysts said massive street protests against last week's WTO meeting in Seattle and Clinton's failure to clinch a new round of global trade negotiations during the session bode ill for his ability to muster support in Congress for China and other trade initiatives.

"It will be perceived as a major victory for those who protested," one WTO participant said of the collapse of the Seattle talks. "It further raises the stakes on China and emboldens opponents."

Fresh from victory in Seattle, labor leaders said it was only the beginning of their campaign to raise the voice of workers in trade deals like the one struck with China last month.

"The breakdown reflects the first step in a serious coming to terms with pivotal issues," said John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO 13-million member labor federation.

Teamsters Union President James Hoffa said in a CNN interview it was clear labor had newfound clout in the trade arena.

"From here on out this is going to be a coalition that's going to have to be dealt with, that's going to play a role in any type of dealing with China with regard to the Normal Trade Relations (NTR) debate that's coming up," Hoffa said.

"I look for more demonstrations in Washington to bring out people and say, 'Hey, this is a serious problem, we're not buying it,'" he said.

OPPOSING THE TRADE DEAL WITH CHINA

Labor leaders have said they would join forces with environmentalists, human rights groups and consumer advocates in opposing the trade deal with China when lawmakers take it up next year.

Congress must vote to grant Beijing permanent NTR trade privileges as part of the deal that would open China's vast market potential to U.S. businesses. Currently China's NTR, which gives it low-tariff access to U.S. markets, must be renewed each year.

The annual debate often focuses attention on Beijing's record on human rights, nuclear weapons proliferation and the environment as well as the huge U.S. trade deficit with China.

Clinton is counting on the business community to lead the fight in Congress for the China deal even though the group has long been skeptical of his commitment to free trade and his push to bring labor and environmental issues into negotiations.

Free trade Republicans were confident Congress would come around and support the China deal despite the debacle in Seattle.

"I am ready for battle," Rep. David Dreier, a leading Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives and strong supporter of China's entry into the WTO.

But he voiced doubts about Clinton's ability to lead the fight. Clinton in the past went against labor unions and other Democratic constituencies to press for his free trade agenda. Now he appears unwilling to take on groups that supported him through impeachment, Dreier said.

"That kind of thing sends a signal, it empowers the opposition," he added.

Clinton will be under intense pressure to take labor and environmental issues into account during the Congressional debate on China.

"I look forward to working with the Clinton administration with the goal of fostering a progressive trade agenda that enhances global living standards and quality of life while opening markets for U.S. exports," House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt said in a statement.

09:02 12-05-99

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seattle Recovers From WTO Meetings

By LUIS CABRERA

.c The Associated Press

SEATTLE (Dec. 4, 99) - Children, not yellow police tape, ringed the downtown holiday carousel Saturday for the first time in nearly a week as this shaken city recovered from the mayhem that accompanied the World Trade Organization meeting.

''Let's heal the city,'' Mayor Paul Schell said at a news conference to mark the restarting of the carousel.

''I understand everybody's angry and offended. I feel offended myself by the things that happened here. But it's time to heal,'' he said, surrounded by shoppers at Westlake Park, which had been a sealed crime scene since mass arrests Wednesday.

Trade delegates were heading for the airport Saturday after negotiations to launch a new round of global trade talks collapsed, but not all protesters were ready to leave.

Scores remained outside a vacant downtown apartment building, waiting for an expected police crackdown on activists inside who were demanding that it be converted to homeless housing.

Several hundred more continued a protest outside the King County Jail, calling for the release of more than 300 protesters still awaiting processing after arrest.

Plywood that had covered entire blocks of storefront windows in the fashionable downtown shopping core was coming down, however.

''Being a Seattleite, I'm glad that it's all over and we can have our city back,'' said Monette Roberts, 31, who was strolling past the carousel with her 1 1/2-year-old daughter, Ilea.

''I'd like to see this city get back to normal as soon as possible,'' said Anna Aziz, 30, an employee of a downtown Washington Mutual bank branch who was helping other volunteers tie red bows. The ribbons, provided by the city, were being distributed to businesses as symbols of solidarity and renewal.

City officials offered free meter parking and bus service to draw shoppers back downtown, as well as 20,000 jingle bells.

''We're glad those protesters are gone,'' said Keith Taylor, 38, a homeless panhandler in a wheelchair who has staked out a spot outside the downtown Gap store.

AP-NY-12-04-99 1703EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clinton Singled Out in WTO Blame Game

By Adam Entous

Reuters

SEATTLE (Dec. 4, 99) - So much for the Clinton round.

Touted as one of President Clinton's top foreign policy goals, a new round of global trade talks that might have carried his name collapsed before it even got started.

Many delegates at this week's World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Seattle said Clinton was to blame.

He infuriated Japan by vehemently refusing to renegotiate anti-dumping laws that protect U.S. industries from cheap imports, and alienated developing nations by suggesting trade sanctions be used to punish countries that don't live up to core labor standards.

By standing firm, Clinton may curry favor from labor unions and other U.S. groups, but in the process, undercut U.S. leadership at the talks, some diplomats said.

''It was the Americans,'' said a European Union official. ''They were so determined to drive through their own agenda that they were blind to where this would lead.''

CLINTON ON THE DEFENSIVE

U.S. officials insisted that labor and dumping issues were not solely to blame for failure to launch a round after four days of fruitless talks, and pointed the finger at nations that refused to give ground on agriculture and other matters.

''Labor issues shouldn't be used to mask the fact that certain countries, other than the United States, were unwilling to be reasonable at the negotiating table,'' a U.S. administration official said.

Clinton had a lot riding on the Seattle meeting.

Launching a round would have given his legacy a much-needed boost following the humiliation of the Monica Lewinsky affair and impeachment trial.

It would also have helped dispel the notion that the United States had grown increasingly protectionist, and was shrinking from its global leadership role.

But Clinton's trade agenda clashed with the short-term goal of ensuring that his chosen successor, Vice President Al Gore, held onto the support of labor and environmental groups in next year's election.

The White House feared a backlash from unions, including the 13-million member AFL-CIO, had WTO member nations rejected a U.S. plan to create a working group on labor.

Clinton also risked a revolt from steelmakers and other U.S. industry groups and their allies in Congress if he agreed to a WTO-backed review of anti-dumping laws, which allow the U.S. to impose duties on foreign goods sold in the United States at below fair market value.

Clinton's position may look smart politically. A recent opinion poll showed 83 percent of Americans thought the United States should insist on other countries meeting environmental and labor standards as part of any future trade accords.

But Rep. David Dreier, a leading Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, said Clinton was too beholden to organized labor and other traditional Democratic allies that supported him through impeachment, and not committed enough to trade liberalization.

''I wish that the president would have had the same kind of strong and dynamic commitment that he did in 1993 when we worked so closely together to pass the North American Free Trade Agreement,'' said Dreier, referring to the accord that boosted trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman William Roth, a Delaware Republican, had predicted the Seattle talks could collapse if Clinton insisted on pressing for labor reforms, since the issue would alienate developing nations, which make up two-thirds of the WTO's membership. Developing countries saw the labor proposal as Western protectionism.

LACK OF POPULAR SUPPORT FOR TRADE

But trade experts said the failure of the talks reflected a lack of popular support for free trade in the United States and around the world.

''Countries discovered there was no real shared consensus on the need for additional trade liberalization at this time,'' former senior U.S. trade negotiator Ira Shapiro said.

A European Union diplomat added: ''It was very clear leading up to the (Seattle) ministerial that countries were not highly motivated to make concessions.''

Some U.S. officials singled out the EU for blame, saying its refusal to consider the elimination of huge farm export subsidies bogged down negotiations.

Clinton tried to put a positive spin on the what diplomats saw as an embarrassing fiasco.

''I remain optimistic that we can use the coming months to narrow our differences and launch a successful new round of global trade talks,'' he said in a statement.

Reut17:39 12-04-99

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nations Call for WTO Reforms

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER

.c The Associated Press

SEATTLE (Dec. 4, 99) - The collapse of an effort to launch a new round of global trade talks left the United States and 134 other nations searching for answers Saturday over what went wrong and how to fix it.

Anti-World Trade Organization demonstrators who thronged the streets and official delegations inside the convention hall agreed on one thing: The 5-year-old Geneva-based organization, created to referee rules of global trade, is a badly flawed institution in need of repair.

''The WTO really needs reform,'' an exhausted Pascal Lamy, the European Union's trade commissioner, told a news conference early Saturday. He spoke shortly after the talks had collapsed following four days of marathon bargaining.

Lamy, a Frenchman, pointedly noted that he was not a Johnny-come-lately to this view. He warned throughout the week that the WTO's organizational flaws could doom the effort to launch new negotiations for lowered trade barriers in agriculture, manufactured goods and services such as banking.

In the end, he was proved right. U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky was forced to concede as much in her own closing news conference.

President Clinton had pushed during his visit to Seattle for the WTO to open its now-secret dispute-settlement procedures to engender greater public confidence in the outcomes.

Barshefsky, who chaired the conference and came under heavy fire from Third World delegates for not keeping them apprised, said the WTO should be opened up not only to the outside world but also to its member nations.

''We found that the WTO has outgrown the processes appropriate for an earlier time,'' Barshefsky said.

In the old days, the WTO and its predecessor organization, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, conducted trade rounds mainly as the province of rich countries. But the organization, which started with 23 member countries in 1947, now has grown to 135 nations; three-fourths of them are from the Third World.

Some African nations became so upset in Seattle about what they saw as exclusion from the negotiating rooms that they threatened to walk out.

The WTO's newest member, Estonia, and its ambassador to Washington, Kalev Stoicescu, said he was surprised and disappointed by much of what happened.

''There had been little information about what was going on. It looked like most of the countries were uninformed,'' he said.

Barshefsky and Mike Moore, the WTO's director general, promised to fix those problems when they try early next year in Geneva to get a new round of talks off the ground. But Lamy said no one should be under an illusion it will be easy to change a process to conduct global trade negotiations that has been in use for 50 years.

Many of the protesters took to Seattle's streets not to reform the WTO but to abolish it. They see the organization as the embodiment of a global economy run amok, trampling over workers' rights, environmental protection and other issues.

The Clinton administration struggled to deal with those goals as well but could not overcome stiff opposition from poorer countries, who viewed Clinton's demands that WTO consider workers' rights in future trade deals as a subtle move to take away the advantage they enjoy over high-wage rich nations.

In the end, it was not just the fight over worker rights that doomed the Seattle effort. Wide splits erupted on a number of problems, from how to protect electronic commerce, the world's newest business, to how to tear down barriers for its oldest, farming.

Gene Sperling, Clinton's chief economic adviser, said the issues just proved too complex to be resolved in four days.

''The decision was made that a better round could be launched by taking time out at this point and reconvening after both countries and the WTO as an institution have a period to reflect on the best way to go forward,'' Sperling said.

Barshefsky promised talks would continue in January in two areas, agriculture and services, because those sectors were part of a negotiating agenda agreed to five years ago.

But Lori Wallach, director Public Citizen Global Trade Watch, was skeptical.

''Until they are willing to make fundamental changes to make the WTO system more broadly acceptable, they will face the same problems in Geneva that they did in Seattle,'' she said.

AP-NY-12-04-99 1228EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Subj: URGENT-Seattle Update/Pregnant Woman Miscarries After Beaten, Gassed by Police

Date: 12/03/1999 12:53:54 PM Central Standard Time

From: hawkeye@saber.net (NewsHawk Inc.)

12.3.99

URGENT--Seattle Update/

Pregnant Woman Miscarries After Beaten, Gassed by Police

John Prukop of Citizens for a Constitutional Washington (CCW) sends us this latest update on events in Seattle, and a very disturbing one it is, too.

A sickening, horrifying and heartbreaking example of the vicious, brutal tactics being employed by Seattle police against not ONLY anti-World Trade organization protesters but against defenseless citizens in general is the news that a four-months pregnant woman, who along with her husband was leaving her job in downtown Seattle, was beaten by police and pepper-sprayed/tear-gassed as she exited the hotel where both worked. The woman was taken to a hospital where her wounds stitched up--but not long after she miscarried and their child was lost.

The hideous details of the unconscionable outrage were made public by the husband on KIRO NewsRadio 710 AM in Seattle yesterday.

By ALL rights everyone from the mayor on to the cops directly responsible for the assault should have criminal charges brought against them for this tragic, needless death.

Another KIRO caller reported that cops were using a code word to alert each other to the fact witnesses and/or news media personnel and cameras were nearby or approaching, so that the inhuman, vicious Gestapo tactics being used against helpless civilians by law enforcement goon squads would be temporarily modified until no witnesses or media were present. Innocent people, OUR fellow citizens, are said to be getting beaten and gassed indiscriminately on the streets.

Welcome to the New World Order.

Included in the material below is an excerpt from one the the CCW's papers on the New World Order. Below that is a forward of a letter by a frequent Seattle visitor who won't be returning to the city for QUITE a while, and wonders just WHY the WTO was allowed to convene in Seattle ... or ANYWHERE in this country for that matter!

NewsHawk® Inc.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Subject: SEATTLE "POLICE STATE" TACTICS CLAIM FIRST FATALITY! ...

And the "WTO/International Program"

Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 15:31:02 -0800

From: "CCW"

NewsHawk, et al.,

Moments ago Seattle Mayor Paul Schell and Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper concluded a press conference "rationalizing" their actions the last couple of days. We learned that the Director of the Port of Seattle, Pat Davis, is the individual responsible for "inviting" the WTO to Seattle. During the news conference the Mayor and Police Chief "prided" themselves that the police had conducted themselves in a "lawful manner" and that no one, either police or protestor, had been seriously injured. We listened to the broadcast over KIRO NewsRadio 710 in Seattle, which was the audio portion from a live telecast over KIRO TV-7. Police Chief Norm Stamper said that some of the video he had reviewed of the police incidents with protestors in Seattle were "disturbing", and that if any of his officers were "out of line," they would be "disciplined".

After the press conference concluded, KIRO NewsRadio resumed its talk show, taking callers regarding the news conference. An individual identifying himself as "Todd" called in at approximately 1:45PM PST and stated that he and his wife were employed for a downtown hotel working in housekeeping, and when their shifts concluded, they departed the hotel to catch a shuttle home. Todd stated his wife was four months pregnant. According to Todd, his wife was struck and beaten with a police baton and pepper sprayed/gassed as she exited the hotel whereupon she collapsed. She was then transported to a hospital to have 7-stitches to close-up her wounds. Todd, in an extremely upset state, then stated that approximately 40-minutes later his wife miscarriaged and the unborn child was lost. He calls the Mayor and his police chief "murderers". Todd concluded by stating that he and his wife absolutely despise the City of Seattle and will move.

Perhaps someone has the audio portion of this broadcast to transcribe the exact comments from "Todd", and if this event can be confirmed, then it can be clearly stated that Todd and his wife were innocent victims of unprovoked police brutality, and an innocent child WAS murdered in Seattle because of the WTO, an illegal international organization. As to the authenticity of Todd's statements, the caller was in such a state of dispair and tearing, that there is no reason to conclude that what he was saying was untrue.

A later caller to KIRO NewsRadio at approximately 2:12PM PST stated that police were using a "code word" amongst themselves anytime television cameras got too close enough to film any details. The caller stated that people were being indiscriminately beaten and gassed, and fired upon at "point blank" range in the face, but police modified their tactics when cameras got too close. "Hamper" is the nickname the caller gave to Police Chief Stamper, because of the chief's "dirty laundry", and that there will be NO investigation of anything his officers did.

From our white paper, "International News: Human and Natural Resources And The New World Order":

To reach the "objective" of "sustainable development" and "enhance the means for doing so", the members of the WTO are funded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Department of Agriculture, Department of Interior, Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency, etc., and the several States of the Union are ALL specifically listed as receiving funding from the IMF's "Special Drawing Rights" (SDR) accounts. (See: Uruguay Round Trade Agreements, House Document 103-316).

THE FUNDING TO IMPLEMENT THE PROGAM THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY DOES NOT COME FROM THE CONGRESS OR THE STATE LEGISLATURES. The International agents in our public offices have received payment and assistance from their true master (principal), the International Organizations, via "The Fund" [IMF-UN] and "The Bank" [World Bank-UN]. Going into the public offices to complain about the adverse affects and damages being caused by the programs is a true effort in futility. People who complain are ignorant of the International policy, plans, programs and projects, and are denied remedy or relief without further explanation. The people who have complained either do not know, or have forgotten, that the projects and property falling within the "Exchange Stabilization Fund" [SDR Programs] "ARE NOT REVIEWABLE BY ANY OFFICER OF THE UNITED STATES". The people do not know about their Congressmen signing the "Declaration of INTERdependence" in 1976, whereby they pledged their allegiance to the UNITED NATIONS! They lack knowledge of the new "Constitution of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization", which was quietly ratified in 1980, and are equally ignorant about the U.N. "World Charter For Nature", and who actually dictate the policy. The situation presents a clear and ludicrous example of "DUMBocracy" at work. The people who thought they had rights and liberties secured by National and State Constitution's, are surprised when their socialist DUMBocracy runs into members of the International Aristocracy. The USURPERS in public offices are there to make sure that the domestic offices do not function in the manner intended; to the contrary, the international agents are there to roguely "enhance" the TYRANNICAL GLOBAL PLAN AND SYSTEMATIC SCHEME.

There is NO clause in the several international agreements which provide for "the support, protection, and defense of the natural rights of the people; the principles of where are Life, Liberty, and Property." Under the International Agreements, the Constitution and domestic laws of the United States of America, like those of the several States, are mere words on paper, A DEAD LETTER!

The International program is intended to recreate archaic "Roman...MASTER AND SLAVE ESTATES" upon and over the land and its use through "conservation easements" and other "concessions". [See: "The Easement: A Conservation Technique" -- IUCN Environmental Law Paper No. 1 by David D. Gregory (1972), pd. 10]

The move toward an International Monetary and Trade System surfaced through proposed legislation in about 1897. The several States of the Union at that time STILL had DIRECT CONTROL over their Senators in Washington, D.C. Some of these States passed Resolutions that directed their Senators in D.C. to veto the proposed legislation. The legislation was subsequently defeated and EXPRESS CONSENT was DENIED. However, in 1913, Constitutional Amendment 17 was passed that mandated Senators were to "be elected by the people." This REMOVED one of the obstacles that had blocked the first attempt to create an International Monetary and Trade System. At this time, the "Republic" became a "Democracy" and the nature of our political infrastructure became "National" instead of "Federal" because the State in its collective SOVEREIGN capacity had been REMOVED from DIRECT REPRESENTATION and CONTROL. [See Federal Papers No. 39 by James Madison]

Twenty two years after the defeat and denial of the movement to create an International Monetary and Trade System, the League of Nations was instituted under the Peace Treaty of Versailles (June 29, 1919). The treaty was intended to give form and credence to the global movement. The move toward an International Monetary System was not dead. In 1928, the League of Nations, the precursor to today's United Nations" held an International Conference Relating To Economic Statistics to encourage the collection and global dissemination of national information on economics and and resources. The contrived "Great Depression" gave them a reason to expand their collection of information. The Committee of Statistical Experts of the League of Nations (1939) continued and expanded their work of collecting information concerning: (1) indices on industrial production; (2) housing; (3) income; (4) international trade and balance of payments. [See: System Of National Accounts 1993 - "Perspectives on the 1993 SNA, pg xxxvii by U.N., World Bank, IMF, OECD, ISBN 92-1-161352-3] This project was later absorbed into the United Nations and continued with the combined efforts of the IMF and World Bank under the Bretton Woods Agreements. Under these International Organizations the project was expanded and renamed the "System of National Accounts". The people located within areas subject to the International Organization's system are ultimately liable to pay all of the expenses and debts of the system; as such, they are designated as "human resources" and "institutional units". Those citizens or residents of the United Nations -- now including all U.S. citizens who possess a Social (Communist) Security Number (SSN) are officially recognized internationally as INSTITUTIONAL UNITS of the International Monetary Fund, which is under the exclusive direction and control of the "Governor" of the IMF [See: 22 USC 286]. they are deficient of ALL RIGHTS under the Constitution for the United States (1787) or the Constitution of the United States (1868), having been USURPED by sequestration. The title of "U.S. citizen" or "Resident" is acquired by the signing of CONCESSIONS (governmental contracts) where therein create a state of HOMAGE. These acts of Homage therein create a status of the person (in law), being the U.S. citizen or Resident as a Subservient or Peasantry Slave Property to their new master known as the District of Columbia, and via international agreement, ultimately "The Fund" and "The Bank". It's no secret now why many corporations have a "Human Resource" department. It was planned that way.

Dr. Arthur J. Altmeyer, on November 27, 1953, commenting at a Hearing before the Subcommittee of the Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives, 83rd Congress, First Session, on the legal status of OASI benefits, concluded his remarks by saying that the Social Security System was not an insurance, nor a Trust fund, nor did it guarantee anything to anyone (unilateral contract), and that "someone had misrepresented something to someone"; and it was further determined that the special taxes laid and collected under the pretenses of Social Security were NOT earmarked for any special purpose and were placed in the General Fund under control of the Governor of "The Fund" and "The Bank" of the United Nations.

Welcome to the "global plantation" of the New World Order. The People still have the power to change all of this . . . if they will become educated.

/s/ John R. Prukop, Legal Researcher

CCW Coalition
Concerned Citizens of Washington
Citizens For A Constitutional Washington
John R. Prukop, Executive Director
11910-C Meridian Ave. E., #142
Puyallup, Washington 98373
TEL: (253) 840-8071
FAX: (253) 840-8074

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Charles C. Carter" wrote:

Wouldn't it be interesting to find out who allowed the WTO to invade the city of Seattle? If I were a resident of Seattle, I would make certain that the Mayor and City Council were recalled ASAP for allowing the WTO meeting, the millions of dollars that the taxpayers had to pay to quell the riots, the cost to the state of WA. for the National Guard to come, etc. etc. I do hope that the citizens of Seattle have already begun working on ousting these incompetents that allowed the WTO into their beautiful city. Also, the public relations nightmare created has become immense! We have always liked Seattle and visit frequently, but will not give Seattle any of our vacation money for several years to come because of their City officials' stupidity and lack of concern for the safety of their own taxpaying residents!!! SHAME, SHAME ON THEM!!! Char Carter, Monterey, CA p.s. We also know that Clinton and the "New World Order were also behind this destructive meeting in our Country!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No Deal Near as WTO Talks Wrap Up

By Adam Entous

Reuters

SEATTLE (Dec. 3, 99) - Trade ministers battled on Friday to overcome obstacles to the launch of a new round of trade liberalization talks as they entered the final frantic hours of a World Trade Organization (WTO) conference.

Ministers from the WTO's 135 member nations struggled to bridge deep-seated divisions on many issues, from cutting farm subsidies to imposing minimum labor standards on developing countries to reviewing trade retaliation laws.

The talks could deal a blow to President Bill Clinton's agenda. The latest draft of a final WTO declaration, still subject to intense debate, balked at a U.S.-backed proposal to set up a WTO working group on labor and called for a review of trade retaliation laws over U.S. objections.

U.S. officials scrambled to recast the document to avert a backlash from powerful U.S. labor unions, industry groups and their allies in Congress, who see the labor working group and preservation of U.S. anti-dumping laws as a top priority.

But diplomats said the United States faced difficult odds in achieving its own negotiating goals without derailing the launch of a new round of global trade negotiations at the meeting it is sponsoring here.

"It's the United States versus the rest of the world," a Japanese official said.

PROGRESS, BUT GAPS REMAIN

The European Union's chief negotiator, Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy, said major gaps remained between the 15-nation EU and the United States, the world's most important trading powers. They must bury their differences if a new round is to be launched at the conference, scheduled to end late on Friday.

In Washington, Clinton said he felt he was making some progress in efforts to launch the round, calling Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi. U.S. officials said he has also talked to a number of other world leaders.

"We're making a little progress," Clinton said.

Friday's last-minute discussions focused on agricultural subsidies, long one of the most contentious issues in international trade, an EU official said.

"If they get through ag, then that should break the deadlock," U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley said.

WTO members have been bitterly divided over the scope of the three-year round of trade talks ministers are trying to launch in Seattle.

The EU calls for a broad agenda and others, such as the Australian-led Cairns group of 18 major agricultural producing countries, want to keep the focus firmly on the EU's farm policies.

"This is the moment of truth," Canadian Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew said.

The convention center where the WTO delegates are meeting -- the target of angry demonstrations all week by thousands of protesters who see the WTO as a symbol of the ill effects of globalization -- buzzed with activity as delegates ran from room to room trying to hammer out agreements.

Six working groups set up to study some of the most controversial areas of the negotiations have turned in reports to U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky, chairing the meeting, and WTO Director-General Mike Moore, who were trying to merge them into a single text, trade diplomats said.

But intense horse-trading continued and some delegates said it was touch and go whether overall agreement could be hammered out by the 6 p.m. deadline for closing the session set by Barshefsky.

"Never underestimate the potential for breakdown," WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell said on Thursday night.

DEVELOPING COUNTRY REVOLT

The conference faced a revolt from developing countries, who complained that trade powers such as the United States, the EU and Japan have carved out deals behind the scenes while their views are ignored.

"There is no transparency in the proceedings and African countries are being marginalized and generally excluded on issues of vital importance," the Organization of African Unity said in a statement threatening not to sign any accord.

Developing countries are seeking more time to implement some pledges they made under an earlier round of trade liberalization that ended in 1994.

In agriculture, the main battle has been over farm export subsidies with the EU resisting demands from the United States and Cairns group to commit to the abolition of those subsidies.

Speaking at a summit on the French island of Reunion, French President Jacques Chirac said the European Union would not compromise on farm subsidies.

Many developing countries have opposed attempts by the United States and EU to get minimum labor standards on the agenda of the WTO, fearing the issue could be used as a protectionist tool against them.

European diplomats said there had been progress on labor standards, with a draft text drawn up along the lines of an EU proposal calling for a joint International Labor Organization/WTO working forum on trade and labor issues.

But Shipra Biswas, an official from India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said India was against any form of discussion of labor standards within the WTO.

"We are totally opposed to it and have no intention of yielding," she said. "We believe it is a Trojan horse for protectionism and our political mandate is to oppose it."

Anti-dumping rules remain a major stumbling block for negotiators. Japan and other critics want the WTO to renegotiate the rules, which allow the U.S. government to impose punitive duties and tariffs on foreign-made products it deems to be sold at less than production costs.

Tokyo says the Clinton administration has abused the rules to prop up U.S. steel companies and other cash-strapped industries facing stiff foreign competition.

REUTERS 17:10 12-03-99

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WTO Struggles for Compromise

By NAOMI KOPPEL

.c The Associated Press

SEATTLE (Dec. 3, 99) - Trade ministers narrowed their differences on farm policy but still had to resolve bitter fights over labor rights and a host of other issues before launching a new round of talks to reduce global trade barriers.

Wrapping up four days of negotiations marred by violent street protests, the 135-nation World Trade Organization hoped to reach the finish line today with a deal on the specific agenda for what should be covered by the new talks.

U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky, who is chairing the sessions, said trade ministers would work through the night Thursday with the goal of having a finished deal by the end of today, when the sessions are scheduled to wrap up.

She said the various groups were making ``quite significant progress.''

But other WTO officials cautioned there were still a large number of issues to be resolved, with all countries waiting until the 11th hour before giving in on long-held negotiating positions.

``Never underestimate the potential for a breakdown,'' WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell told reporters late Thursday. ``This could still fall apart. It is at a very delicate stage.''

President Clinton has infuriated developing nations, who account for more than 100 of the 135 members of the WTO, by saying rules protecting workers should be included in future trade deals - and that sanctions should be imposed on violators.

Developing nations, whose economies have expanded thanks to cheap labor, say richer countries are only pressing the issue to protect themselves from inexpensive imports.

Some Asian nations have hinted they won't agree to a new round of trade talks if it includes any mention of labor rights, which they believe should be handled separately from WTO rules governing global commerce.

``If Clinton pursues the labor issue, it may make us wonder what's the point?'' said Asmat Kamaludin, secretary-general of Malaysia's ministry of international trade and industry. ``We cannot agree to the inclusion of labor in the WTO.''

The talks that began Tuesday have been overshadowed by violence in the streets, with almost 600 people arrested since demonstrators who view the WTO as a global menace successfully disrupted the meeting. Seattle police in riot gear are patrolling streets in a downtown area that is under curfew in an official state of emergency.

Businesses say they have lost $7 million in sales, and another $2 million in damage has been tallied, as the massive trade event that was intended to showcase Seattle was spoiled by the rioting.

Arriving Thursday evening in Philadelphia, Clinton said he was pleased that the United States had hosted the trade talks in Seattle, despite the disruptions. ``It was a good thing for our country to be part of the debate over the future,'' he said.

While some countries said the WTO might end up failing to launch even a scaled-down negotiating round, U.S. negotiators continued to express optimism that a way would be found to paper over huge differences that exist between countries.

Late Thursday, the working group on agriculture completed its work with a one-page draft declaration. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said he believed negotiations in this area represented ``significant progress'' for the administration, which is counting on big cuts in farm barriers to please American farmers and help sell a final deal in Congress.

The text calls for members to move ``in the direction of progressive elimination of export subsidies,'' a statement aimed at reconciling the European Union, which has a large subsidy program, with countries led by the Cairns Group of agricultural nations, and the United States, which called for complete elimination of subsidies.

Many Third World countries said Clinton's remarks on labor rights here this week confirmed their worst fears that the U.S. administration, bowing to pressures from American labor unions, would ultimately demand trade sanctions for their alleged labor violations. They say that would make them even poorer.

``Our people don't get as much as someone in New York, but living standards are completely different,'' said Jose Guillermo Castillo, the economics minister of Guatemala.

Embattled Seattle Mayor Paul Schell, at a news conference Thursday, offered apologies to innocent citizens who had been hit with tear gas or rubber bullets. Schell said the city was walking a fine line between enforcing its no protest zone and allowing normal business activities to continue.

AP-NY-12-03-99 0721EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WTO Protests Calm Down

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS

.c The Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) - (December 3, 1999) The battle in Seattle has given way to the civilized exchange of ideas city officials brashly promised before the World Trade Organization meeting began.

A few thousand demonstrators rallied at the Pike Place Market on Thursday, marched to the King County Jail 13 blocks south - with a police motorcycle escort, yet - and then dispersed after dark in relative calm when city officials agreed to allow jailed activists to meet with lawyers.

What a difference a day makes.

It was chaos on Tuesday, when the WTO meeting officially began. A few dozen masked, black-clad anarchists amid the 40,000 non-violent demonstrators smashed windows, spray-painted slogans and vandalized police cars. Outmanned cops took little action, though 68 people were arrested.

On Wednesday, authorities struck back with a vengeance. Hundreds of National Guardsmen, state troopers and police were brought in to enforce a strict downtown curfew. Tear gas use was widespread, 504 people were arrested and a midnight confrontation on nearby Capitol Hill alarmed residents and local officials.

On Thursday, the city eased up. There were no reports of tear gas or pepper spray use. Just two people were arrested, bringing the total number of jailed protesters to 587, including 13 people taken into custody before the WTO meetings began.

Critics contend that the WTO, a 135-nation organization that is based in Geneva and sets rules for world trade, disregards human rights, labor protections and environmental concerns in promoting international commerce.

Not all those who rallied outside the jail were happy to leave Thursday evening. They had been demanding release of all of their comrades, and some were not mollified when the city agreed to let lawyers meet with those inside if the hundreds outside would move on.

``I don't think we won anything,'' said a woman who identified herself as Willa Nelson when a reporter was unwilling to accept her first nom de guerre, Willa Cather.

``It doesn't feel like we got what we came here for,'' said Nelson, who smeared toothpaste under her eyes as a protection against tear gas.

The gathering outside the jail was almost festive, with street theater and spontaneous concerts. Accompanied by tuba and drums, the crowd sang the Bob Dylan anthem, ``The times they are a-changing,'' and chanted slogans.

When one protester smashed a bottle into the street, he was hounded out of the area by others who insisted the demonstration remain peaceful.

When some demonstrators took down the American flag outside the jail and wanted to hang it upside down, Steelworker John Goodman stepped in to protect it.

``Man, let me tell you something - that flag stands for freedom,'' he said. ``That's what we're standing for.''

Attorney Katya Komisarek with the umbrella group Direct Action Network said the activists had helped secure the deal for legal counsel. Mayor Paul Schell invited activist leaders to work with him to disperse the crowd, she said.

``We need to reach a plea bargain with 400 people'' being held at the jail, she said, and attorneys planned to work through the night.

``We've got to get our friends out as soon as possible,'' said her associate, Devon Haymes. ``We're going to work all night to get people processed and out. If this is not working, we'll all be back at noon tomorrow.''

``Let's go have dinner,'' Komisarek told the loud boisterous crowd, using a megaphone.

In fact, the city was under court order to allow those arrested to meet with lawyers.

King County Superior Court Judge Michael Spearman issued an emergency order early Thursday requiring authorities to give defense lawyers access within eight hours to protesters, except for those who are ``physically uncooperative with the booking process.''

``Access to counsel is not contingent on answering police questions, including 'What is your name,''' Spearman said in his handwritten order.

Also Thursday, the mayor reduced the 24-hour curfew area to the 17-block area immediately surrounding the WTO meeting sites.

AP-NY-12-03-99 0344EDT

12-2-99 The WTO, like all big and international organizations, is part of the diabolical stew of ploys manoeuvering man into a forced collective without any of the natural beauties inherent in a unity formed by the shared love of the members, individuals. These organizations like to do what they do under the rubric of law, but without the peanut gallery making any contributions. On occasion, such organizations have been stopped from facilitating the crafting of the NWO, by persons who happened to be in the galleries, and who began shrieking when they heard what was being done. .... zeropoint From: Brett Baugh <brett.baugh@cyberplex.com> (ZEROPOINTER) (old-timer) Subject: Seattle: the real story What Would Gandhi Do? This came across my desk today. It was written by someone who is out in the streets with friends of friends from Athens, Ohio, and gives a first-hand account of what was going on from a protester's perspective. I don't think I need to point out it's a slightly different view than what we are getting from major media channels. To contrast and compare with the "official" story, see: http://cnn.com/1999/US/12/02/wto.03/ ------------------------------------------------------------ I got on a Greyhound bus in Pittsburgh at 3:00am, the morning after Thanksgiving, and travelled 2 and a half days to Seattle to join the protests against the World Trade Organization. I arrived to see tens of thousands of activists from the widest range of causes I've ever seen in one place, united around a common concern -- their desire to have a say in the decisions that affect their lives, otherwise known as "democracy." I won't go into the WTO in great detail. The information is out there. You can find out for yourself that in the 4 years the WTO has been in existence, it has ruled against every environmental and human health and safety regulation that has come before it and, through economic leverage, has compelled countries to repeal these barriers to free trade. Such barriers in this country have been the sections of the Clean Air Act and the Endangered Species Act. But I won't go into that further. Instead I want to share with you what happened here, to me and thousands of others, yesterday. My friends and I woke up late Tuesday morning. One of the largest protests of the century, and we sleep in. We joined the protests at about 9:00 am, and joined a human chain of people blocking one entrance to the convention center where the first day of the WTO summit was to take place. This was the scene at every street that led to the convention center. The plan was to not let delegates enter and to shut down the meeting. This may sound drastic, but the purpose was to send a message that many have phrased as "No globalization without representation." The WTO meetings are closed to the public and the WTO is not subordinant to any national government or, more importantly, any democratic body. Yet it has shown itself to have more of a say in things as basic as the quality of the air we breath than we ourselves do. To me and nearly 50,000 others, this warranted the serious direct action. However, as serious as these demonstrations were, they were to be ALL non-violent. After being part of our own barrier to free trade and turning back WTO delegates for about an hour, we heard that protesters needed help at another intersection a few blocks away. Since there were more than enough people to keep up the barrier where we were, we left the blockade and headed for the corner of 8th and Seneca. When we arrived, we saw lots of demonstrators but no major media cameras. There was a smaller group of people sitting down on the street (which had already been closed) with police in riot gear standing behind them. Instead of the ordinary billy clubs, all of Seattle's police were holding 3 foot oak clubs that look more like basball bats than batons. When they began putting on their gas masks it became evident that they were planning to use pepper spray on the people sitting down. The rest of the crowd was pleading with the police not to use this cruel tactic. It was possible that if more people sat down, they police wouldn't spray them, so I joined that group. When it became apparent that they were going to use the spray anyway, we all locked legs and arms together and I pulled a bandana my friend had given me over my face, covering my mouth and eyes. Onlookers began yelling, "Get ready! They're going to do it! Get ready!" I heard the spray and people began screaming in pain. I was just expecting spray, so I was pretty surprised when I felt one of those big clubs land on the top of my head. The guy behind me took most of the force from the blow, so I wasn't hurt badly. I covered my head with my arm and covered my eyes with my hand, as the screams continued and it became obvious -even though I couldn't see anything from underneath my bandana- that the cops were not only spraying but beating the people as well. A police officer then grabbed my hand and pulled it away from my face and spayed me in the eyes with a cannister of pepper spray. I held my eyes closed tight and my bandana absorbed the spray, protecting my eyes and face. I breathed a little bit of it in and began coughing. The crowd started to break up as the police continued beating people. I pulled away and stood up, pulling the bandana away from my eyes to see the police beating the few people that remained sitting. One woman was trying to get up and they kept jabbing her in the side with their clubs. The rest of the crowd pulled those people to safety and began washing their eyes with a solution of baking soda and water to counter the effects of the blinding pepper spray. This was my first experience with the spray. I got a tiny bit of the spray on my forehead and it burnt very badly, was very painful. I can't even begin to imagine the pain the people felt who got it sprayed directly into their eyes. I think I was luckier than anyone else I was sitting with, having escaped the spray and only having been clubbed once. I screamed at the cops for a while, called them fascist pigs between plenty of other expletives. But when things calmed down a bit, myself and others began speaking to the police. It suddenly became evident that some of them were visibly disturbed by what they had just done. One female officer's hands were shaking as she held her club up to her chest like the rest did in the line they had formed. She kept blinking her eyes to avoid crying. We talked to other officers who wouldn't look us in the eyes, but their faces showed no signs of pleasure. After I calmed down a bit and got my emotions under control enough to speak, I said to them, "You probably think we're just fanatics with nothing better to do, or maybe vagrants who are too lazy to be working right now, or maybe spoiled college kids who don't have to work. You can think that we're idiots who came across a few statistics on environmental degredation or sweatshops, that we're out here today to be self-righteous and think that we're better than everybody else, but we're people just like you. And everybody standing here with me knows exactly why they're here today. We're trying to make the world better. And I don't think a single one of you even knows why you're here. How many of you support the WTO? How many of you even know what it does? We know why we're here. Why the hell are you here? I don't think any of you became police officers to beat people who aren't a threat to anyone's safety. Just who do you think you're protecting? We're unarmed. None of us have tried to attack you or anyone else today. You attacked us. You aren't protecting yourselves; there's no one behind you that you're protecting -- who do you think you're protecting!? If you have a good reason for beating us today, if you felt it was right, that's one thing. But if you didn't have any reason and you still beat these people anyway, I want you to ask yourself why you did it. Why you were willing to inflict violence on other people for no reason other than you were told to." I asked them to go home and think about that; what they did to make things better today by beating non-violent protesters; if that's what they became cops to do. They were all silent, turning they heads constantly to avoid eye contact with any of the protesters speaking. The commanding officer walked down a line in between the police and us, pushing protesters back. He ordered the crowd to disperse, saying that if we didn't leave they would remove us by force. We didn't leave. We just kept talking to the police more. I asked the commanding officer to explain to us why we ought to leave. He didn't acknowledge the question. I asked them all if that's what those clubs meant, that they didn't have to explain their actions to anyone, even themselves. Other protesters reminded them that even though they were trained to be robots, they were still people who were responsible for their own actions -- orders or no orders. I told them my name, where I was from, that I go to college, that I have family and friends. I asked them their names. None answered. We stayed there and the police didn't charge. Not because I think we convinced them not to, but because there were too many of us. Soon a group of people arrived with their arms chained together inside tubes wrapped in duct tape. 4 of these people were from Athens; 3 OU students and friends of mine. The police were still threatening to charge the crowd. I quickly realized that these people had no way to protect their heads from the police clubs. Being obviously violent had already proven to be no defense against police violence. Another OU student and I walked up to the police line to ask them about this. The line was now made up of different police officers. We approached one and asked him about this. He looked at us and said, "Well, if they're worried about getting hurt, they should have thought about that before they came out today." I asked him to show me his badge number. He refused. "Aren't you required to show your identification to the public?" He didn't answer. The officer to his left sneered at me and said, "Well you have all the answers, why don't you tell me?" Before I could, he raised his club and yelled at me to back up. I did and continued talking to him, but he looked away and ignored me. The first officer had no identifying number anywhere on him. No visible badge, no number on his helmet. I took his picture and got others to. Telling everybody that we needed to watch him. When I first spoke to police after they had beaten us, I was very encouraged that some had actually shown some signs of human compassion, but my hopefullness dissappeared after I talked to the latter group of officers and realized that many of them were quite happy to inflict harm on people. Reinforcements came and as protesters cleared the way for them, one cop pushed a protester, and said "Get the fuck out of my way," with a smile on his face. From time to time ambulances would come through and the crowd would clear a path immediately. Some protesters said, "What if WTO delegates are sneaking in on the ambulances?" But people came to an immediate consensus that, although that was a possiblity, it wasn't worth risking people's safety. Suddenly, a WTO delegate made it unnoticed through our lines. But when he made it to police they refused to let him enter. They turned back another delegate later. As it turned out, we were guarding an exit, not an entrance; that the police's orders were to not let anyone in -- whoever they were. Also, since police had shut down the street and no protesters had attempted to cross police lines, none of us were even doing anything illegal. -- which is probably why none of the people in the sit-down group were arrested. Though none of us were arrested, all of us were beaten and sprayed. Word soon made it to us that the situation was worse elsewhere. We made our way to the heart of downtown and found the streets full of tear gas. There was a large group of people sitting down in front of police in full riot gear with their gas masks on. Behind them was an armored tank. The police attacked protesters again. Against non-violent protesters, they used pepper spray, clubs, tear gas, and later fired rubber bullets and marbles at the people. In every single instance I witnessed first hand, police violently attacked non-violent protesters with no provocation whatsoever. That was the case when I was beaten and sprayed, that was the case when downtown was flooded with gas, with helicopters flying overhead shining spotlights down into the crowd. Thousands of police forced protesters out of the downtown area, firing cannister after cannister of tear gas into the crowd. My friends and I were split up in the crowd of people fleeing from the gas. Eventually, I made it back to the house to join them. The whole way to their house, I was hoping that this story would get out. Hoping that the level of violence inflicted on non-violent protesters, peacefully assembled, would wake a lot of people up and show them the level of democracy in this country. Hoping that people would see what the level of force aimed at people who peacefully oppose the interests that are dominant in this country and the world. I returned home to have this hope crushed. The local news stations were reporting on the broken windows of businesses and not the broken bones of protesters. They reported on things like police fatigue, which I assume is when your arms get tired after you beat people for hours. They talked -and continue to talk about- the extreme restraint, open-mindedness, and gentleness displayed by police. A state of civil emergency was declared and a curfew was set for 7pm. If anyone was downtown after that, they would be arrested. Police cleared the curfew zone of people, but we watched them on TV continuing to pursue them up Capitol Hill -- blocks past the curfew zone. The police chased them into a business area and fired tear gas into crowds that were now made up of shoppers and people getting dinner as well as protesters. Finally, after 12 hours of people being beaten and gassed, a small riot broke out. A Starbucks coffee store was damaged and looted. I'm amazed it took this long to happen, and I say this in all honesty from being here first hand, that, by repeatedly attacking and torturing non-violent protesters, the Seattle police sought to incite a riot and finally succeeded to a small degree. The news kept running the scene of Starbucks being looted again, and again, and again, at least a dozen times in under an hour. There were also quick clips of police beating demonstrators shown once and not again. A newscaster on KOMO, channel 4, said, "Look; earlier today we saw protesters carrying signs with clear messages against the WTO, but what you have going on now is an unruly mob just trying to cause problems. In the pictures we're seeing now, I don't see any signs at all. These people don't have any message." What the newscaster failed to notice was that people, myself included, dropped their signs when they were fleeing for their lives. They were dropped because you need two hands to guard your eyes from tear gas and your head from clubs. Talk of the police being too lenient has continued into today's news reports. And the lack of signs continues to be portrayed as a lack of any constuctive purpose among the protesters. One newscaster said, "Come on, get a life. We live in a prosperous country." In all honesty, the news is scaring me more than the riot police, because what it has done is justify further violence against the protesters. They have said that police have been too lenient. The police have used tear gas, pepper spray, clubs, rubber bullets, and marbles against peaceful civilians in downtown Seattle. The only thing they haven't done is used live ammunition. And in the event that greater violence occurs against protesters, the media will have justified it. Besides insulting protesters, the local media has focused on the disruption to traffic and holiday shopping. The National Guard is now occupying the city, a 50 block no-protest zone has been established, about 120 people have been arrested, and many have been hospitalized -- though that has recieved no coverage as far as I've seen. In other news, we succeeded in shutting down the first day of WTO meetings. The situation is still developing, so I encourage everyone to watch the news coverage and contrast it to what I've written here. AND PLEASE, do your own research on the WTO.

WTO Protesters Refuse To Give Names

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS

.c The Associated Press

SEATTLE (Dec. 2, 99) - Continuing their protest, many of the demonstrators arrested this week at the World Trade Organization conference have refused to divulge their names to law officers.

That has left many of them sitting in crowded cells at the King County Jail without legal counsel because they have yet to be officially booked.

King County Superior Court Judge Michael Spearman issued an emergency order Thursday requiring authorities to give defense attorneys access to protesters, except for those who are ''physically uncooperative'' with the booking process.

''Access to counsel is not contingent on answering police questions, including 'What is your name,''' Spearman said in his handwritten order.

A 26-year-old protester, identifying herself only as Shirley, described conditions in the jail during a telephone interview with the Associated Press.

''It's dirty and the garbage is overflowing,'' she said, adding that some of the people still had pepper spray on their clothes, which is causing breathing problems.

''There's an asthmatic person who has just thrown up and is being denied asthma medication because she will not give her name,'' said Shirley, who was arrested outside the Westlake Center in downtown Seattle on Wednesday morning.

She said she and other demonstrators held on buses for 14 hours, without access to their lawyers, before they were taken to the jail. About 25 women were inside a cell she estimated at 11 feet by 14 feet.

''We haven't slept in 32 hours,'' she said

She said prisoners in her cell were practicing ''jail solidarity'' by not giving their names to law officers. ''Right now we're calling ourselves Jane W-T-O's,'' she said.

Bob Boruchowitz of the Defender Association, which sought access to potential clients, said his attorneys still had not spoken with clients by late Thursday afternoon, and that two attorneys for a time couldn't get out of the Seattle jail building.

Meanwhile, lawyers for Direct Action Network, an umbrella group for a number of protest groups, were negotiating with Seattle Mayor Paul Schell, to try to get the nonviolent protesters released.

AP-NY-12-02-99 2132EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WTO Protests Calm Down

By LUIS CABRERA

.c The Associated Press

SEATTLE (Dec. 2, 99) - Billed as a ''festival of resistance,'' World Trade Organization protests Thursday for the first time seemed more like a party than a pitched battle with police.

After a Pike Place Market rally, at least 1,000 people marched to the King County Jail at the south end of downtown to express support for those arrested this week. Motorcycle police escorted protesters to the site, which is blocks away from the WTO meetings. A huge puppet on wheels, with a gag across his mouth, also led the throng.

''We're here because there are over 100 non-violent protesters (inside) who were arrested for exercising their right to free speech,'' said one man on a bullhorn. Most of those arrested are being held elsewhere. ''The guards are telling them they have no support.''

''Free the Seattle 500,'' read one sign.

''Let them go!'' chanted the crowd. People inside the jail waved to the cheering protesters.

Police were acting differently, said David Roman, 26, an organizer with the umbrella group Direct Action Network. Where Wednesday some were ''out of control,'' they were cooperative Thursday, he said.

The rally at the market was one of the first peaceful demonstrations since Tuesday's vandalism downtown and police response Wednesday with tear gas and rubber bullets.

''These people are standing up for a good cause,'' said market spokeswoman Sylvia McDaniel of the 2,000 or so who gathered peacefully in noon sunshine.

Activists were wary of renewed police efforts to distinguish between vandals and criminals and those engaged in peaceful protest and civil disobedience.

''It's never too late to say you're sorry,'' said Lori Lofton, 25, of Portland, Ore., walking with about 300 other demonstrators as the market crowd dispersed into smaller groups.

But then she added of police: ''Many of them should be punished. An apology is not enough.''

For activists concerned about WTO power to override national laws protecting the environment and workers, this week's meeting was supposed to be a historic showdown between civil society and the forces of corporate globalization.

Instead, the battle has been between protesters and police, with concerns about human rights, labor and the environment taking a back seat to allegations of police brutality.

More than 570 people have been arrested since Tuesday, when tens of thousands of protesters took over the city's core and some smashed entire blocks of storefront windows, spray-painted buildings and slashed police-car tires causing an estimated $2 million in property damage.

Mayor Paul Schell has imposed a 24-hour ''limited curfew'' through midnight Friday around the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, where trade delegates, media and interest groups from 135 nations are meeting. People in the area can be asked for identification and ordered to leave if authorities decide they don't have a valid reason for being there.

Activists made clear they did not condone Tuesday's violence and vandalism, which they said involved a very small percentage of the estimated 40,000 people demonstrating. Groups of people wearing black ski masks were witnessed smashing windows and kicking dents in squad-car doors.

But since then, they say, police have tear-gassed and arrested scores of people participating in non-violent marches and demonstrations.

Police spokeswoman Carmen Best said officers warned protesters before using gas or pepper spray, and contended they have acted appropriately.

''People cannot block the streets,'' she said. ''It's illegal to do so. For people to block a main thoroughfare in a busy area of the city is not appropriate.''

She said the department ''recognizes the fact that people want to exercise their rights to free speech, and we embrace that. However, if it's a violation of law, then we have been mandated to enforce the law.''

AP-NY-12-02-99 1830EDT

From: APFN <APFN@lv.rmci.net> ???????? Subject: All is not as it seems! A letter from Seattle This is a fax (another one) that I sent to the Mayor of Seattle. Top 10 Reasons to Oppose the World Trade Organization Via APFNetwork apfn@lv.rmci.net http://www.insidetheweb.com/mbs.cgi/mb77532 Subject: Fwd: Fw: a letter from Seattle Date: Thu, 02 Dec 1999 10:31:10 PST From: "cliff kadmon" <ckadmon@hotmail.com To Whom It May Concern: I am a young man living in the Seattle area. I am not going to reveal my name, for reasons that will be obvious. Several weeks ago I was approached by the representative of a major company. I was offered a lucrative, temporary job as a demonstrator as part of a 'media event' that the company rep said she was involved in planning. I was offered $35 an hour, plus bonuses and meals, for a job that would last a week or so. Being a rather poor college student, I jumped at the offer. I was assured it was all legal. I signed a strict non-disclosure agreement. And I was given a few days paid training. All of this was before I had heard about the upcoming World Trade Organization meeting. In fact, I didn't really know what the WTO was. In the past few days I have carried protest signs and chanted slogans for various causes - whales, farmers, human rights, rainforests; I have blocked traffic, been shoved, kicked, tear-gassed, arrested (bail promptly paid), worn a panda bear costume, and been on tv; I've been well-fed on steaks and shrimp and pizza; had a hell of a lot of fun; made some good cash money and recieved some merchandise bonuses like vitamins and Pepsi stuff; - and become totally disillusioned with our political system. The company that hired me is Archer Daniels Midland, but Pepsi was somehow involved, too (and no doubt some others). The demonstrations this past week in Seattle are contrived and manufactured. I'm sure that many of the people out there are sincerely trying to further their cause, but many more are just nuts getting caught up in the moment, and some are paid agitators (like me and about another 100 or so that I know of). I'm not out there anymore, though, I took my cash last night and left, went back to school. Here's the thing: Have you noticed how the aims of many of the protestors for the most part actually go along with the aims of the WTO and the multi-national corporations? The 'event' is being portrayed as a demonstration against capitalism, but actually is about stricter environment and labor controls, and stricter international standards in many areas. This is the agenda of the WTO and the New World Order. It is all part of the one-world government thing. It is all about more CONTROL over people. When I saw this, I walked away. All of this should be obvious to thoughtful people, but the media are drooling all over each other covering this story as if it were some kind of spontaneous happening, instead of the staged drama it really is. People think the New World Order is just something some crazy person on the internet thought up, but I first heard it from the mouth of President George Bush years ago. The New World Order is alive and growing. I just wanted to put the word out on this to counter the prevailing spin. All is not as it seems! Just Some Guy - a NWO shill ==================================================================== From: Les Lemke <leslemke@earthlink.net This is a fax (another one) that I sent to the Mayor of Seattle. This letter is going to as many Congressman as I can send it to. What happened and CONTINUES TO HAPPEN in Seattle is totally UNacceptable. If you saw what I saw and wish to alter this letter and send it as your own letter to that scumbag in Seattle, or to your own Congressmen, go for it. What I say below I did in fact see via various media sources. This is nothing but NAZI GESTAPO ACTION AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY! ---------------------------- December 2, 1999 Lester Lemke P.O. Box 1524 Coos Bay, Oregon 97420-0332 Mayor Paul Schell of Seattle Washington 600 Fourth Avenue Seattle WA 98104 Tel/206-684-4000 Fax/206-684-5360 Mr. Paul Schell - or should I call you Comrad Schell? Over the last few days and nights I have witnessed in Seattle open and blatant abuse of power as well as complete and utter brutality by law enforcement against citizens of this country who have been protesting the totally UnConstitutional and rogue organization otherwise known as the WTO. I have witnessed a woman, who while kneeling down on the sidewalk, had a riot outfitted law enforcement officer (aka: JACKBOOTED THUG *CRIMINAL*) run up from behind her and kick her in middle of her back with his boot. Then that same CRIMINAL hit her with his baton twice. He then grabbed her by the hair and raised her to her feet by her hair. I have witnessed a protester who was grabbed by these legalized street THUGS hauled behind police lines and then beaten with batons EXACTLY like they did Rodney King down in Los Angeles. I have witnessed two individuals who were waiting for a traffic light to change who were suddenly attacked by three thugs. These *legal* THUGS beat the crap out of these two kids until their faces were all bloodied. These same THUGS of yours also kicked these two kids several times when they were down on the sidewalk. These SAME THUGS OF YOURS were police officers...undercover police officers who only announced their status as police officers when some OTHER riot police THUGS came over to see what was going on. I have seen a police THUG armed with rubber bullet loaded shotgun aim that shotgun and then fire that weapon at POINT BLANK range - three feet at the most! - at a woman's face while the woman was seated on the ground protesting the WTO meeting. I have witnessed police THUGS shooting some kind of gas or pepper spray into the face of a protester who was doing nothing but standing there facing police. I have witnessed police THUGS firing gas canisters and concussion grenades at people who were PEACEABLY ASSEMBLED protesting the WTO in Seattle. Today I found out that you have created a "No Protest Zone" around the WTO meeting place ....an area that extends out four or more blocks in distance around the site of the WTO meeting. I have read reports of citizens of this country being arrested for entering these "No Protest Zone" areas to protest the WTO. Tell me, Mr. Mayor, which documents governing the operation of a country are you reading from? The United States Constitution and Bill of Rights or the Communist Manifesto? Personally, from what I've seen thus far you are following the behavorial pattern of a Hitler, Stalin or Mao Se Tung-wannabe - CLEARLY not the path taken by our founding fathers of this country. I don't know what kind of country you think this is, Mr.Schell, but I will tell you this. I'm 52 years of age and I'll be damned if I will sit at home and do nothing while YOU remain silent and while YOUR "legal" STREET DOGS attack innocent citizens of this country who are USING, or TRYING to use, their Constitutional Rights and freedom of assembly to protest a bogus organization called the WTO. By your silence and by your failure to raise your voice to put a STOP to the police abuse of power and police brutality against citizens of this country who went to your city to protest the bogus organization called WTO you have made yourself complicit in THEIR crimes against The People of this nation. I don't know what good it will do, but I will tell you this: a copy of this letter to you is going to be mailed to EVERY House member and Senate member in Washington D.C. - as well as to every council member on the Seattle City Council - in the hope that what I saw take place and what I am reporting helps to put you behind bars where you DAMN well belong! I strongly urge you to resign from office before your disgrace grows any further. One last thing, Mr. Mayor. It will be a very cold day in hell before I **EVER** visit and stay in your city again. In addition I plan to urge everyone I know to BOYCOTT your city of Seattle AND to boycott ****ALL**** Washington State products. It would appear that your governor is from the same political school as you for he too has not said a word against the police atrocities in Seattle. With Contempt, Lester Lemke cc: Seattle City Council: Councilmember Martha Choe -martha.choe@ci.seattle.wa.us Councilmember Richard Conlin - richard.conlin@ci.seattle.wa.us Councilmember Sue Donaldson - mailto:sue.donaldson@ci.seattle.wa.us Councilmember Jan Drago - jan.drago@ci.seattle.wa.us Councilmember Nick Licata - nick.licata@ci.seattle.wa.us Councilmember Richard McIver - richard.mciver@ci.seattle.wa.us Councilmember Margaret Pageler - richard.mciver@ci.seattle.wa.ust Councilmember Tina Podlodowski - tina.podlodowski@ci.seattle.wa.us Councilmember Peter Steinbrueck - peter.steinbrueck@ci.seattle.wa.us ============================================================ LETTER - Circulation@Vigo-Examiner.com Top 10 Reasons to Oppose the World Trade Organization A friend in Columbus, OH sent this to me. Don Cook -  Vigo County, Indiana Take a second to read this, then think about it......... I'm not usually one to be a radical, tree-hugging, liberal, protestor-type, but the text of this flyer someone gave me on the street today was disturbing, take a minute to read it: (If this stuff bothers you go to: http://www.globalexchange.org/economy/rulemakers/wto.html ) Top 10 Reasons to Oppose the World Trade Organization 1. The WTO only serves the interests of multinational corporations The WTO is not a democratic institution, and yet its policies impact all aspects of society and the planet. The WTO rules are written by and for corporations with inside access to the negotiations. For example, the US Trade Representative relies on its 17 "Industry Sector Advisory Committees" to provide input into trade negotiations. Citizen input by consumer, environmental, human rights and labor organizations is consistently ignored. Even requests for information are denied, and the proceedings are held in secret 2. The WTO is a stacked court The WTO's dispute panels, which rule on whether domestic laws are "barriers to trade" and should therefore be abolished,consist of three trade bureaucrats who are not screened for conflict of interests. For example, in the tuna/dolphin case that Mexico filed against the US, which forced the US to repeal its law that barred tuna from being caught by mile-long nets that kill hundreds of thousands of dolphins each year, one of the judges was from a corporate front group that lobbied on behalf ofthe Mexican government for NAFTA. 3. The WTO tramples over labor and human rights The WTO has refused to address the impacts of free trade on labor rights, despite that fact that countries that actively enforce labor rights are disadvantaged by countries that consistently violate international labor conventions. Many developing countries, such as Mexico, contend that labor standards constitute a "barrier to free trade" for countries whose competitive advantage in the global economy is cheap labor. Potential solutions to labor and human rights abuses are blocked by the WTO, which has ruled that it is: a) illegal for a government to ban a product based on the way it is produced (i.e. with child labor); and b) governments cannot take into account the behavior of companies that do business with vicious dictatorships such as Burma. 4. The WTO is destroying the environment The WTO is being used by corporations to dismantle hard-won environmental protections, who call them barriers to trade. In 1993 the very first WTO panel ruled that a regulation of   the US Clean Air Act, which required both domestic and foreign producers alike to produce   cleaner gasoline, was illegal. Recently, the WTO declared illegal a provision of the Endangered Species Act that requires shrimp sold in the US to be caught with an inexpensive device that allows endangered sea turtles to escape. The WTO is currently negotiating an agreement that would eliminate tariffs on wood products, which would increase the demand for timber and escalate deforestation. 5. The WTO is killing people The WTO's fierce defense of intellectual property rights- patents, copyrights and trademarks- comes at the expense of health and human lives. The organization's support for pharmaceuti- cal companies against governments seeking to protect their people's health has had serious implications for places like sub-Saharan Africa, where 80 percent of the world's new AIDS cases are found. The US government, on behalf of US drug companies, is trying to block developing countries' access to less expensive, generic, life-saving drugs. For example, the South African government has been threatened with a WTO challenge over proposed national health laws that would encourage the use of generic drugs, ban the practice of manufacturers offering economic incentives to doctors who prescribe their products and institute "parallel importing," which allows companies to import drugs from other countries where the drugs are cheaper. 6. The US adoption of the WTO was undemocratic The WTO was established out of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations. On December 1, 1994, Congress approved GATT under Fast Track during a lame duck session of Congress. Fast Track limits public debate by not allowing amendments. The approval of the WTO required entire sections of US laws to be rewritten to conform with the WTO rules, similar to the way that treaties often redefine how the US will interact with other states. Had the agreement been voted on as a treaty, requiring a two-thirds majority in the Senate, it would have been defeated. 7. The WTO undermines local development and penalizes poor countries The WTO's "most favored nation" provisions requires all WTO member countries to treat each other equally and to treat all corporations from these countries equally regardless of their track record. Local policies aimed at rewarding companies who hire local residents, use domestic materials, or adopt environmentally sound practices are essentially illegal under the WTO. Under the WTO rules, developing countries are prohibited from following the same polices that developed countries pursued, such as protecting nascent, domestic industries until they can be internationally competitive. 8. The WTO is increasing inequality Free trade is not working for the majority of the world. During the most recent period of rapid growth in global trade and investment--1960 to 1998--inequality worsened both internationally and within countries. The UN Development Program reports that the richest 20 percent of the world's population consume 86 percent of the world's resources while the poorest 80 percent consume just 14 percent. WTO rules have hastened these trends by opening up countries to foreign investment and thereby making it easier for production to go where the labor is cheapest and most easily exploited and environmental costs are low. This pulls down wages and environmental standards in developed countries who are having to compete globally. 9. The WTO undermines national sovereignty By creating a supranational court system that has the power to economically sanction countries to force them to comply with its rulings, the WTO has essentially replaced national governments with an unelected, unaccountable corporate- backed government. For the past nine years, the European Union has banned beef raised with artificial growth hormones. The WTO recently ruled that this public health law is a barrier to trade and should be abolished. The EU has to rollback its ban or pay stiff penalties. Under the WTO, governments can no longer act in the public interest. 10. The tide is turning against free trade and the WTO! There is a growing international backlash against the WTO and the process of corporate globalization over which it presides. Movement-building by coalitions such as People's Global Action against the WTO in Europe and the Citizen's Trade Campaign in the US are growing fast, as public support for corporate-managed free trade dwindles. Recent polls show that 58 percent of Americans agree that foreign trade has been bad for the US economy, and 81 percent of Americans say that Congress should not accept trade agreements that give other countries the power to overturn US laws. (Too late!). This is why tens of thousands of people from all walks of life will converge in Seattle Nov. 29-Dec. 4 to confront the World Trade Organization head on at its ministerial meeting. Join us! ============================================================== I have created a website with words and pictures from the People in Seattle who are here and are seeing firsthand what's going on. You will definitely want to see the first image I have on this page of a Seattle police officer kicking and shooting a man at point blank range with a rubber bullet gun for not walking fast enough in the Capitol Hill area. http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Keep/4885/wto/ -Deuce deuce42@uswest.net ICQ#395993 Kill the WTO [Free Republic] SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER WTO Photo Gallery (click on each picture to enlarge it) Jamie W. "visualize honest media" Jackson, truth addict (try WorldNetDaily.com & LibertyWorksRadio.com for truly free news) "When men differ in opinion, both sides ought equally to have the advantage of being heard by the public; when truth and error have fair play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter." --Benjamin Franklin, printer Learn the law! taxfreedom101.com, lexrex.com, informamerica.com, constitution.org Hey, FBI/CIA/NSA/IRS/ATF/SPLC/"Sparky": I'm not anti-government, I'm pro-Constitution. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Joshua 1:7 We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, Timothy 1:9 The germ of destruction of our nation is in the power of the judiciary, an irresponsible body - working like gravity by night and by day, gaining a little today and a little tomorrow, and advancing its noiseless step like a thief over the field of jurisdiction, until all shall render powerless the checks of one branch over the other and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1821 http://www.fa-ir.org/ai/beginopen.htm APFN HOME PAGE <---- End Forwarded Message ---->

.

Seattle Cops Switch Tactics

By GEORGE TIBBITS

.c The Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) - (December 2, 1999)What Mayor Paul Schell wanted from the World Trade Organization meetings was a chance to showcase Seattle as a place where disagreements are aired ``Northwest-style, in a civil, reasonable environment.''

What he wound up with were three days of often-violent demonstrations, a downtown ripped up and boarded shut, and his decision to order some of the most sweeping public restrictions in a half-century.

On Wednesday, Schell, clearly shaken by what had happened to his city, ordered a second night of 7 p.m.-7:30 a.m. curfew for the entire downtown. He tacked on a 24 hour-a-day curfew for a smaller area surrounding WTO meeting venues until midnight Friday, after the conference ends.

Except for the boundaries, rules for the day and night curfews were the same: only people with residences or legitimate business downtown would be allowed out on the street. Credentialed conference-goers, shoppers and restaurant patrons would be allowed in the area.

It apparently was the first such curfew imposed here since the Army ordered Japanese citizens off the streets in World War II.

Schell, a liberal who says he agrees with many issues voiced by tens of thousands of peaceful demonstrators who marched in Seattle on Tuesday, said the chaos brought on by a radical few forced his hand.

``The police are having to do what they're having to do to ensure a safe environment,'' he told a Wednesday news conference.

Downtown merchants and other companies, many of whom endured broken windows, graffiti-smeared walls and other damage in the protests, already have suffered millions of dollars in property damage and uncounted losses in lost sales. In addition, there was the ugly image of scores of nightstick-wielding police and National Guard clearing streets of demonstrators.

``I'm very distressed to see videos of our beautiful city with tear gas and police dressed in riot gear,'' Schell said.

Police said 498 people were arrested Wednesday after police said their earlier, gentler tactics had failed.

``Clearly, in hindsight, the approach we used yesterday did not work, and we're going to have to take a different approach today,'' Assistant Police Chief Ed Joiner told reporters.

For the second consecutive night, demonstrators and police clashed late Wednesday night in the Capitol Hill neighborhood east of downtown. Police tried to scatter the crowd with tear gas, flash bombs and pepper spray. Protesters and neighbors stook on street corners and shouted at police and National Guard troops to leave the neighborhood.

Although police set aside $6 million for overtime and riot control gear, the initial plan was to stand by and contain demonstrations, letting people shout and march but not disrupt or destroy.

That quickly fell apart as a small group of protesters vowed to ``shut down the WTO'' - most pledging nonviolence, but some intent on using any means necessary.

Militant protesters broke off from approximately 40,000 peaceful demonstrators Tuesday, smashing windows, vandalizing shops, spray-painting obscenities and setting spot fires.

Protests forced the cancellation of the WTO ministerial's formal opening.

Police bolstered their ranks Wednesday with hundreds of unarmed National Guard troops and Washington State Patrol troopers. As thousands of shouting young people defied Schell's protest ban, police moved immediately to arrest them, carting away hundreds in transit buses escorted by an armored personnel carrier.

President Clinton, in town to speak to WTO delegates, was whisked past demonstrators in his motorcade to his hotel, which was ringed by a barricade of empty buses.

Police Chief Norm Stamper said most people praised police for acting more decisively on Wednesday. He said the huge number of demonstrators the day before prevented officers from making more arrests, since they had to concentrate on containing crowds and keeping key areas open.

Jerry Sheehan of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington said police were ``well within their rights'' to arrest people damaging property. But he said that restrictions on protests in some areas appeared to violate both the U.S. and Washington state constitutions.

Schell, who himself marched against the Vietnam War and in favor of civil rights, said that in the face of violence, he did the right thing.

``We are a city of free speech. We went through a very serious challenge,'' he said.

AP-NY-12-02-99 0722EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seattle Cracks Down on WTO Protesters

Clinton Pushes for Labor Rights

By DIRK BEVERIDGE

.c The Associated Press

SEATTLE (Dec. 2, 99) - President Clinton, urging that worker rights and environmental safeguards be included in global trade talks, is getting a chilly reception from Third World nations as trade officials open serious negotiations after a two-day disruption by street protests.

Demonstrators clashed with police early today in the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood, a mile from the convention center where delegates from 135 nations are meeting. Police used tear gas, flash bombs and pepper spray to scatter the crowd while protesters and residents of the upper-middle-class neighborhood shouted at police and National Guard troops to leave.

As an aside to the trade summit, Clinton today signed an International Labor Organization treaty aimed at outlawing the worst forms of child labor, including slavery and prostitution. The treaty was approved unanimously in June by the ILO, a United Nations arm.

With business and labor leaders looking on, Clinton said the treaty ``affirms fundamental human rights'' and emphasizes ``the fragility and importance of childhood.''

Clinton's call for more openness and attention to the environment and worker rights in trade negotiations echoed the demands of thousands of protesters who have been demonstrating peacefully. The president saluted those demonstrators but condemned the relatively small number tangling with police.

Protest groups held their own news conference today to say more marches are planned and to decry what some called an infringement on their right to assemble. ``I've witnessed things in the last four days that I didn't believe could happen in America,'' said John Goodman of the United Steelworkers of America.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Downtown Seattle Association said damages to some 2,500 city merchants and property owners from this week's disturbances will ``be in the millions range.'' And association marketing director Lucinda Payne added: ``That's just the physical damage - the broken display windows, spot looting, and the 'horrific graffit'.''

Payne said later that lost sales were estimated at $7 million. ``It's incredibly disappointing,'' she said. ``This is not Seattle. And the folks doing this stuff were not Seattle, by and large. It was just random and senseless.''

With a Friday deadline for wrapping up the World Trade Organization meeting, the commerce minister of Thailand, who takes over the top WTO post in 2002, said Wednesday that Clinton's tough stance on worker rights could jeopardize efforts to launch a new round of trade talks.

``I know it is an important issue for the United States administration, but to have trade sanctions linked to labor rights violations would be really ultimately highly detrimental,'' Supachai Panitchpakdi told reporters.

It could even prompt some trade ministers from developing countries ``to walk away from any agreement on a new round,'' Supachai predicted, responding to a Clinton interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Clinton said a new trade deal should contain provisions on worker rights, and countries that don't go along should face sanctions.

This has led to heated exchanges between U.S. and other delegates, forcing the Americans to try to placate angry trading partners before the talks can move forward, according to a senior U.S. official who spoke early today on condition of anonymity.

In a luncheon address Wednesday to trade ministers from the 135 member countries, Clinton pressed the U.S. case that the new trade talks should work to eliminate the secrecy that shrouds WTO deliberations and search for ways to tie trade agreements to worker rights and environmental protection.

``I implore you,'' Clinton said. ``Let's continue to find ways to prove that the quality of life of ordinary citizens in every country can be lifted, including basic labor standards and an advance on the environmental front.''

But Clinton received only lukewarm applause at the end of his speech, during which at least two delegates listened with their eyes closed.

After police cracked down on violent demonstrators who disrupted the WTO talks and left downtown Seattle in a state of emergency for two days, business at the trade meeting proceeded fairly smoothly Wednesday, even starting on time.

That was in sharp contrast to the day before when trade ministers found themselves immobilized by protesters chained together to block the streets.

Nearly 500 people were arrested Wednesday as Seattle police in riot gear abandoned a more hands-off approach that had let many run amok on Tuesday, vandalizing businesses and scuffling in the streets.

Only two arrests were reported after today's skirmish between police and demonstrators in the Capitol Hill area. The entire downtown was under an overnight curfew imposed by Mayor Paul Schell, who tacked on a 24-hour curfew for a smaller area surrounding WTO meeting venues until midnight Friday.

``I'm very distressed to see videos of our beautiful city with tear gas and police dressed in riot gear,'' Schell said.

The worker rights issue is an enormous sticking point among the 135 members of the WTO, the Geneva-based body that sets world trade rules. The European Union trade commissioner, Pascal Lamy, calls it the biggest hurdle the ministers now face.

Wealthy nations want their poorer trading partners to adopt more stringent regulations protecting workers and the environment, saying standards that lag behind those in the West amount to an unfair trade tactic that steals business from nations where workers get a better deal.

Developing nations in Asia and Latin America are upset, saying they can't afford such proposals. More than 100 of the WTO members are developing nations.

The WTO members are grappling with other big issues, such as U.S. insistence on elimination of tariffs on agricultural exports. That faces major opposition from the European Union and Japan - America's top rivals in the WTO.

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman met into the wee hours with EU officials trying to narrow differences between the economic superpowers.

AP-NY-12-02-99 1324EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

12.2.99

Seattle--A "Y2K/Martial Law Round-up" Warm-up?

© 1999 NewsHawk® Inc.

The question literally begs to be asked, so we're asking.

To clarify: is the present condition of wholesale and extensive abrogation/curtailment of what have been called "INALIENABLE HUMAN RIGHTS" that's now occurring in Seattle--those rights the inviolability of which is SUPPOSEDLY a primary cornerstone of our democratic republic's very foundations--in response to public protests against the anti-human, anti-national sovereignty, globalist World Trade Organization, merely a WARM-UP or test-run for what psychotic, demented feds may try and pull off during any potential Y2K disruptions, in collaboration with corrupted, compromised local politicians?

You know the routine: paid-off and/or mind-controlled government agents provocateur posing as "Anarchists", "Wankies" or whatever are dispatched into the heart of an already heated (though PEACEFUL, in the case of Seattle) situation to incite violence, mayhem and destruction; thereby incurring political authorities to declare states of emergency, unilateral curfews, suspension of human rights, brutalization of peaceful demonstrators, immediate arrest and incarceration in violation of ALL due process, etc.. etc.. etc.

Maybe THAT'S why the FBI over-reacted so outrageously and illegally regarding the admittedly non-genuine "Y2K Times Sq. Riot Video"; the subject of a couple of our articles last week. Because maybe there really IS something very similar "in the works".

We also have a feeling that it's certainly possible the Seattle shipyard shooting incident almost exactly a month ago may have somehow been connected to subversive government schemes to infiltrate and manipulate the anti-World Trade Organization protests, as evidenced by the clear presence now of subversive fed/NWO agents provocateur in Seattle. Perhaps the two people murdered at the shipyard last month knew something about this they "shouldn't have".

And it must be pointed out the demonstrations in Seattle, with the EXCEPTION of destructive actions taken by the government agitators/dupes (those "Anarchists" again... ), have been EXTRAORDINARILY restrained and non-violent in comparison to such events as the Rodney King riots, the race riots or Vietnam War protests of the 60s and 70s and a number of volatile labor disputes, to name just a few. The mobilization of the National Guard, the declaration of a state of emergency and the wide-scale human rights violations are WITHOUT QUESTION a tremendous overreaction to the real situation.

And WHY weren't the marauding, rioting "Anarchists" EVER intercepted by the police?

Now jackbooted, helmeted troops patrol near-deserted central Seattle: any demonstrators accosted are immediately attacked with everything but live ammunition and rounded up en masse.

The whole picture is starting to look remarkably similar to Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

Like it? Neither do we.

Welcome to the New World Order.

So: ARE the actions being taken regarding legitimate and peaceful public anti-World Trade Organization protests a prelude or test-run for implementation of the same kind of tactics on a WIDER scale sometime soon?

Well, you decide.

© 1999 NewsHawk® Inc.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

A report on the Seattle uproar from area resident Deuce. Some excellent points made here.

- - - - - - - -

Subject: Battle in Seattle: Corporate Police take the city
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 19:04:46 -0800
From: "Deuce" <deuce42@uswest.net>

Well, we here in Seattle today found out just exactly why the police pushed demonstrators into the residential areas of Seattle last night. The city was contacted by the Secret Service and told that if they did not lock down the city, the President would not come to Seattle.

A group of a few hundred peaceful protestors made their way towards the WTO meeting site early this morning with two clear messages: We do not like the WTO and we will show that we can protest without violence. They were met by Seattle Stormtroopers dressed to the nines and arrested immediately.

This is a sad day for, not only Seattle, but the whole United States. A precedent was set here that peaceful demonstrations and protests against the Global Elite will not be allowed. You may only protest if you get a permit.

I wonder if the WTO delegate who was caught on camera waiving a pistol around was arrested. Or the one who was caught on camera assaulting protestors with his fists. I doubt it.

Police officers are conducting searches in people's backpacks and being told that they will not be allowed into the city if they wear clothing or buttons that protest the WTO. One officer informed a citizen that gas masks are not allowed in the city. I heard one officer clearly state that "Protestors are not allowed in the city. Citizens are." Police are not even making distinctions anymore between gassing and concussion bombing groups of protestors and groups of average citizens going about their business.

We no longer have a police force here in the Seattle downtown area. We have a corporate military force that will not tolerate protestors without a permit.

The mayor of Seattle informed the press that he had no way of knowing the WTO meetings would bring this many protestors, so he was caught unprepared. Excuse me? That's absolutely the most ridiculous statement he could have made! The mainstream press has known! Anyone with an internet connection has known! This is completely inexcusable!

And I continue to wonder why police were not doing a damned thing about these black clad, hooded 'Anarchists' who were hell-bent on causing damage and destruction! The police chief decided that if they sent officers after the ones causing destruction, they might lose a foothold on the areas they had locked down against the peaceful demonstrations! What kind of idiotic thinking is that?

One of these 'Anarchists' was asked by a reporter why they were so violent. He commented that it was to take a few pennies away from the greedy corporations who have taken billions of dollars from us. Then they went on and defaced and destroyed the storefront of the NikeTown building. One camera caught the shot of the evening last night as the photographer got a close up of the feet of one of these 'Anarchists' as he was kicking down the Nike logo. Guess what brand name shoes he was wearing: Yep...you guessed it. Nike.

The protests are beginning to turn into protests against police violence instead of protests against the WTO, chanting, "NO MORE VIOLENCE!" and, "SHAME ON YOU!" to the police.

For those of you cynical types out there who think the youth of America don't give a damn anymore (and I'll admit I was one of them until just recently), these last few days should bring you great hope. Most of the tens of thousands of people on the streets these last few days are high school and college aged kids. The great spirit of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness lives on in America. And 99% of them were NON VIOLENT and are aware of the real issues that threaten those values we once fought British tyranny over to gain our freedom. Many risked their own health to stop the idiot 'Anarchists' from their indiscriminant destruction. And for this, we should rejoice.

So despite my sadness, hope springs forth.

-Deuce

deuce42@uswest.net ICQ#395993
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Keep/4885/
http://skywatch.iwarp.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1999 20:55:09 ET XXXXX

THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

Late on Tuesday evening in Seattle, such a commotion in the street.

Someone declared the end of globalism, broke a window, and someone's head got beat.

Who cares if CNNMSNBCFOXNEWS and all of the rest of the phony cable news channels did not have the guts to cover the globalism riots in Seattle in real-time.

They're yesterday's way. Late-century frauds that will get washed away like a bad nightmare in morning light.

[Didn't the same channels go live -- for hours -- to a Seattle shooting episode last month? That story was on message, I suppose. GEMURDOCHTURNER like shootings, don't like protests against world systems -- that they run.]

CNNUN was in a stock market report when a series of explosions rocked the downtown area as police cast a giant cloud of noxious gas over the core of Seattle.

Imagine, if you will, that an explosion rocks Pristina. You just know Christiane Amanpour would rush to the airwaves in breaking news urgency, with onions under her fingernails, reporting the sound of the atom splitting. Jamie would be feeding the script in her ear from State.

Ted Turner did not hear the boom -- after all, he sold it years ago for a few million TIMEWARNER A-class global shares. Who gives a damn about America when you are making a fortune with POKEMON profits?

Just as police were firing pepper spray into the crowds and protesters started blazes in the middle of a downtown Seattle street, NBC's concern was with officially launching its first public Internet company bearing its name and branding, NBC Internet, Inc. (NBCi).

In the Year of our Lord Dow Jones 11,000 -- Bob Wright, President and CEO of NBC and Chairman of NBCi made the announcement after the successful closing of the transactions to form NBCi.

As if Wright understands one thing about what is driving the Internet revolution?

[Has anyone checked MSNBC.COM lately? Safe and mushy and late to everything. If it were not for MSNBC corporate deals with WEBTV -- would anyone have this page as their default? Thought so.]

A wave of breaking bottles crashed across the city street, and someone cut a cable to a satellite truck that was feeding to a HANNITY AND COLMES on FOX NEWS.

Late in the day, the channel had exhausted all JonBenet Ramsey, Mexican graves and Monica Lewinsky topics and was reluctantly moving into Seattle coverage at the fresh speed of a FOX FLASH.

MTV NEWS was nowhere to be found in Seattle on Tuesday.

After all, MTV youth weren't programmed to get upset about their corporately conceived destinations. Isn't MTV really just a VIACOM production -- which will soon marry CBS -- which will own a 1/3 of everything on the dish and the box?

"This RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE world premiere video is brought to you by NIKE!"

MTV rebellion is an episode of LOVELINE between bong hits.

Next stop: suicide.

Tom Brokaw-aged Kurt Loder will pretend to be concerned, before he introduces the next Marilyn Manson, brought to you by PEPSI.

ABC's NIGHTLINE did not even mention Seattle Tuesday night. Viewers who thought they were watching anchor Ted Koppel -- quickly realized that he had left the building ten years ago.

There was no symphonic soundtrack, no spiffy 'Battle in Seattle' graphics to tell the story of tens of thousands of diverse protesters trying to scream above the satellites, trying to get the world to hear a story the media networks refuse to tell without a sneer on their faces.

"Not since the days of the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement has the entire downtown core of a major American city been seized by popular uprising; rarely has so diverse an array of groups linked elbows against a common enemy, in this case the faceless forces of globalization," a newspaper reported in fresh editions.

"Mad river of people floods the streets of Seattle. Once in a lifetime experience. Send it to your friends," newspaper vendor Paula Rozner called out, announcing afternoon headlines in the old/new-spirit of Extra! Extra!

Organizers credited the Internet with mustering widespread support. "It has allowed people to communicate at least as regularly as corporations do," said Denis Moynihan of the Direct Action Media Collective.

A protester dressed as a sunflower blocked a limousine carrying Secretary of State Madeline Albright on a Seattle street.

To think that she had once told students at a commencement address at Harvard: "Those who graduate today will live global lives!"

Albright must have been reassessing the concept, while sipping lattes, trapped in the lobby of the Westin Hotel as anti-globalism protesters raged outside.

Us Albright watchers have suspected for some time, that for Madam, The World is Not Enough.

Her raw lust to control on a geo-political scale is something beyond ego and ambition and a hot new St. John outfit from Neiman's that makes your Chinese counterpart forget that you bombed his embassy in Kosovo.

Strobe and Sidney and Tony and Hillary and all of the other "Third Way" basketcases should be writing books [that would never sell] about their visions -- not implementing a world policy.

"We think it's a great challenge to marry our conceptions of social justice and equal opportunity with our commitment to globalization," Bill Clinton declared at summit in Florence, Italy a few weeks ago, where his wife picked up a "global law" award.

"A way that requires governments to empower people with tools and conditions necessary for individuals, families, communities and nations."

Sorry, Mr. Clinton. Here, people empower governments.

We thought you knew.

Filed by Matt Drudge

Reports are moved when circumstances warrant (c)DRUDGE REPORT 1999

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seattle Cracks Down on WTO Protesters

Clinton Pushes for Labor Rights

By DIRK BEVERIDGE

.c The Associated Press

SEATTLE (Dec. 2, 99) - President Clinton, urging that worker rights and environmental safeguards be included in global trade talks, is getting a chilly reception from Third World nations as trade officials open serious negotiations after a two-day disruption by street protests.

Demonstrators clashed with police early today in the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood, a mile from the convention center where delegates from 135 nations are meeting. Police used tear gas, flash bombs and pepper spray to scatter the crowd while protesters and residents of the upper-middle-class neighborhood shouted at police and National Guard troops to leave.

Clinton's call for more openness and attention to the environment and worker rights in trade negotiations echoed the demands of thousands of protesters who have been demonstrating peacefully. The president saluted those demonstrators but condemned the relatively small number tangling with police.

With a Friday deadline for wrapping up the World Trade Organization meeting, the commerce minister of Thailand, who takes over the top WTO post in 2002, said Wednesday that Clinton's tough stance on worker rights could jeopardize efforts to launch a new round of trade talks.

``I know it is an important issue for the United States administration, but to have trade sanctions linked to labor rights violations would be really ultimately highly detrimental,'' Supachai Panitchpakdi told reporters.

It could even prompt some trade ministers from developing countries ``to walk away from any agreement on a new round,'' Supachai predicted, responding to a Clinton interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Clinton said a new trade deal should contain provisions on worker rights, and countries that don't go along should face sanctions.

This has led to heated exchanges between U.S. and other delegates, forcing the Americans to try to placate angry trading partners before the talks can move forward, according to a senior U.S. official who spoke early today on condition of anonymity.

In a luncheon address Wednesday to trade ministers from the 135 member countries, Clinton pressed the U.S. case that the new trade talks should work to eliminate the secrecy that shrouds WTO deliberations and search for ways to tie trade agreements to worker rights and environmental protection.

``I implore you,'' Clinton said. ``Let's continue to find ways to prove that the quality of life of ordinary citizens in every country can be lifted, including basic labor standards and an advance on the environmental front.''

But Clinton received only lukewarm applause at the end of his speech, during which at least two delegates listened with their eyes closed.

After police cracked down on violent demonstrators who disrupted the WTO talks and left downtown Seattle in a state of emergency for two days, business at the trade meeting proceeded fairly smoothly Wednesday, even starting on time.

That was in sharp contrast to the day before when trade ministers found themselves immobilized by protesters chained together to block the streets.

Nearly 500 people were arrested Wednesday as Seattle police in riot gear abandoned a more hands-off approach that had let many run amok on Tuesday, vandalizing businesses and scuffling in the streets.

Only two arrests were reported after today's skirmish between police and demonstrators in the Capitol Hill area. The entire downtown was under an overnight curfew imposed by Mayor Paul Schell, who tacked on a 24-hour curfew for a smaller area surrounding WTO meeting venues until midnight Friday.

``I'm very distressed to see videos of our beautiful city with tear gas and police dressed in riot gear,'' Schell said.

The worker rights issue is an enormous sticking point among the 135 members of the WTO, the Geneva-based body that sets world trade rules. The European Union trade commissioner, Pascal Lamy, calls it the biggest hurdle the ministers now face.

Wealthy nations want their poorer trading partners to adopt more stringent regulations protecting workers and the environment, saying standards that lag behind those in the West amount to an unfair trade tactic that steals business from nations where workers get a better deal.

Developing nations in Asia and Latin America are upset, saying they can't afford such proposals. More than 100 of the WTO members are developing nations.

The WTO members are grappling with other big issues, such as U.S. insistence on elimination of tariffs on agricultural exports. That faces major opposition from the European Union and Japan - America's top rivals in the WTO.

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman met into the wee hours with EU officials trying to narrow differences between the economic superpowers.

The Japanese, meanwhile, want to reform anti-dumping laws that Washington imposes on goods it says are imported below cost. Japan and other critics call the rules a disguised form of protectionism.

The negotiators have been meeting in various groupings all over town, often privately in hotel suites, trying to figure out a suitable agenda for new trade talks.

U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky reported progress on the agricultural dispute, as well as on issues surrounding the expansion of the global services industry and reductions of tariffs that hinder exports of many goods.

``I do think we are very much on track substantively,'' Barshefsky told reporters Wednesday night, predicting negotiators can resolve enough differences by Friday to start a new round of talks.

AP-NY-12-02-99 1149EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clinton To Sign Child Labor Treaty

By KEVIN GALVIN

.c The Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) - (December 2, 1999)  With protest-marred world trade talks in the background, President Clinton today signs a treaty that bans the worst forms of child labor.

The signing ceremony for the International Labor Organization convention comes in the middle of a tumultuous session of the World Trade Organization, of which Clinton's allies in organized labor have been outspoken critics.

Clinton's message around the treaty signing seemed aimed at reassuring labor leaders of his support for their cause, especially for addressing concerns about worker rights in the increasingly globalized economy.

``It is not wrong for the United States to say: We don't believe in child labor or forced labor or the oppression of our brothers and sisters who work for a living around the world,'' Clinton said Wednesday in a preview of his address to the trade ministers from the WTO's 135 member nations.

The Clinton administration played a leading role in negotiating the child labor treaty, unanimously approved in June by delegates to the ILO, which is an arm of the United Nations.

``This convention is a breakthrough for the children of the world and an important milestone in President Clinton's efforts to help us put a human face on the global economy,'' said Labor Secretary Alexis Herman.

Labor leaders were pleased that Clinton mentioned including sanctions in trade agreements to punish labor violations, a notion that is anathema to most WTO members. But administration officials were quick to characterize Clinton's comments as a future goal, not a negotiating plank for the current talks.

The treaty targets only the most egregious forms of child servitude, including slavery and bondage; the use of children for prostitution, in pornography or illegal activities such as drug trafficking; and hazardous work.

In his address Wednesday, Clinton urged trade ministers to begin considering such concerns in their deliberations over global trade.

``I believe the WTO should collaborate more closely with the ILO, which has worked hard to protect human rights, to ban child labor,'' he said.

``To deny the importance of these issues in the global economy,'' he said, ``is to deny the dignity of work.''

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney signed on to support Clinton's WTO negotiating agenda, which called for the establishment of a working group on labor standards.

But Sweeney and other labor leaders are skeptical about the benefits to workers of untrammeled global trade and they oppose including China in the WTO, a Clinton priority.

Sweeney met with Clinton Wednesday evening and laid out labor's concerns about the WTO's record on considering the impact of trade on workers. ``John Sweeney had a chance to tell him that no agreement out of the WTO is a lot better than a bad agreement,'' said AFL-CIO spokeswoman Denise Mitchell.

Labor and environmental groups led tens of thousands of protesters against the WTO on Tuesday, a march that was overshadowed by a smaller number of violent demonstrators.

Police in riot gear were on every street corner near the downtown sites where Clinton appeared on Wednesday. Tear gas wafted along the sidewalk as his motorcade returned to the Westin Hotel in the afternoon, and the Secret Service locked down the hotel for about 20 minutes, refusing to allow anyone to enter or exit.

The president strove to draw a distinction for the WTO ministers between the violent activists and the legitimate questions raised by peaceful demonstrators from organized labor and environmental groups.

``I condemn the small number who were violent and who tried to prevent you from meeting, but I am glad the others showed up,'' he said. ``They represent millions of people who are now asking questions about whether this enterprise in fact will take us all where we want to go. And we ought to welcome their questions and be prepared to give an answer.''

AP-NY-12-02-99 1053EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Troops sent to Seattle as part of terrorism contingency plan

December 2, 1999

Web posted at: 7:21 p.m. EST (0021 GMT)

http://www.cnn.com/1999/US/12/02/wto.05/index.html

SEATTLE (CNN) -- In addition to hundreds of very visible Army National Guard troops called-up because of the civil disturbances in Seattle, more than 160 active duty military personnel, including a small number of Special Forces troops, were sent to Seattle by the Defense Department for the meeting of the World Trade Organization.

The military mission, according to the Pentagon, is to "provide support" to the FBI, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Secret Service and other government agencies responsible for security there. The military specialists are in place largely to provide expertise and assist in coordinating a federal response in the event of a terrorist attack during such a high-profile event.

According to Defense Department documents obtained by CNN, 131 U.S. Army, 27 U.S. Air Force, and eight U.S. Navy personnel were sent to Seattle to perform roles from ordnance disposal to standing by for possible chemical or biological attack by terrorist groups.

Four special forces troops from the Joint Special Operations Task Force were deployed to Seattle to be on hand to advise FBI "crisis support" agents in the event of a catastrophic terrorist event involving chemical or biological weapons or hostage taking. Two of the four special operations experts have since left the city, according to an informed Pentagon official who spoke on the condition that he not be named.

Fifty-five military Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams, along with 25 explosive-detecting dogs and their handlers, were sent. The soldiers are "operating in civilian attire -- keeping a low presence," the Defense Department documents say.

Troops there are from various military fiefdoms including the U.S. Special Operations Command, the U.S. Forces Command, the U.S. Army Biological-Chemical Command, the U.S. Air Force Security Forces Command and the U.S. Joint Forces Command.

Eight divers, making up two Navy dive teams, were sent to provide support to the Secret Service for President Clinton's visit, which ended Thursday. The action is not unusual for presidential security.

The Department of Health and Human Services and FEMA have set up a "staging area" for their operations at the U.S. Naval Reserve Center-Lake Union in Seattle. Eight military personnel are assigned to that site. The HHS-FEMA site is pre-positioned to respond to major health catastrophes such as a biological agent attack, according to a well-informed source.

The "Domestic Military Support," or "DOMS" as it is known at the Pentagon, is provided through the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the request of other federal agencies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Demonstrators Wreak Havoc in Seattle

Civil Emergency Declared; National Guard Called Out

Dec. 1, 1999

SEATTLE (AP) -- City officials struggled to regain control of downtown streets ravaged by a handful of violent militants trying to disrupt a world trade meeting.

Mayor Paul Schell declared a civil emergency, imposing a curfew until 7:30 a.m. today across much of the business district after police battled protesters with tear gas and pepper spray.

"We're really urging people to give us the streets so that we can get ready for tomorrow," Schell said Tuesday.

At Schell's request, Gov. Gary Locke called in as many as 200 unarmed National Guardsmen with crowd-control experience to help restore order today after protesters defied police, lighted fires, smashed windows and scrawled graffiti throughout downtown Seattle on Tuesday.

Restaurants and stores attacked  

A few angry protesters smashed windows at a McDonald's, a Planet Hollywood restaurant, a jewelry store, a Nike Town store, a Gap clothing store, a U.S.Bank branch and other businesses.

"We are winning" was a prominent graffiti message.

About 300 Washington State Patrol troopers also were being pulled off duty to help relieve exhausted city police officers.

Chaining themselves together and lying down at intersections, about 5,000 demonstrators succeeded in preventing most of the delegates from getting to the talks and forcing a cancellation of the opening ceremonies of the World Trade Organization.

There were scattered reports of looting after dark Tuesday -- one incident at a Starbucks coffee shop was televised locally -- as police cleared the downtown streets.

Once police and the curfew cleared downtown streets of protesters, street sweepers and work crews worked through the night, clearing debris and boarding up broken windows.

As many as 40,000 people

Most of the tens of thousands of people -- as many as 40,000 -- who thronged downtown to protest the WTO's power and secrecy were peaceful, but the few exceptions were enough to throw the city into chaos. An AFL-CIO rally poured more than 20,000 people into the downtown core.

"Do I wish things had turned out differently? You bet," Schell said as he announced the curfew.

"I'm not happy about the property damages. Nobody can be happy about what happened today."

Police Chief Norm Stamper said members of his force met with activist leaders several times over the past few months and were assured the protests would be peaceful.

"We have demonstrators from all over the world who were not part of that planning process and have chosen to use much more aggressive means," he said.

Police made fewer than 30 arrests, and Stamper praised their restraint.

"If we find ourselves making huge numbers of arrests, then we drain off resources while we're making those arrests," he said.

Mainstream protest groups were unhappy with the violence as well.

"Today for the first time, students, people of faith, environmentalists, labor leaders and working families came together to send the message that the WTO rules do not protect workers or the environment," said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club.

"We deplore the violence exhibited in downtown Seattle," he said. "It is usurping the real story of ... people who stood together to demand respect for workers and the environment."

Violence quickly spread

Most were peaceful, but once the violence began, it quickly spread through the downtown shopping district.

Frustrated delegates cooled their heels at the Sheraton and other hotels for much of the day, unable to reach the convention center through the protesters and clouds of tear gas.

"I haven't been able to do anything," said Mohammed Asfour, Jordan's Minister of Industry and Trade.

"Unfortunately, I feel the whole thing has been disorganized. ... People like us who came from thousands of miles and to find no organization -- it's very sad," said Asfour, whose country is scheduled to be admitted to the WTO at this week's session.

Marijuana and tear gas

Protesters dominated several square blocks of the city for much of the day. The smell of marijuana mingled with lingering tear gas as activists danced atop overturned trash bins and spray-painted buildings, buses and police cars.

"I'm really happy with this," said a Portland, Ore., college student, Catherine Booth, 18, as  the crowd swelled Tuesday afternoon. "It's mass revolt, but with a purpose."

Officers warned protesters over a loudspeaker several times before using "chemical irritants," including tear gas and red-pepper spray, or oleoresin capsicum, delivered by spray canisters and pellets fired from riflelike devices.

"They sprayed me right in the face. We were just sitting there chanting to the delegates and they sprayed us with tear gas," said Tom Wilson, 54, Viroqua, Wis., who spoke with his eyes closed, grimacing in pain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Downtown Mayhem Shocks Seattle Participanats Debate Meaning of Violent Protests

Dec. 1, 1999

SEATTLE (AP) -- Shattered store windows. Dumpsters burning. Protesters fleeing tear gas and rubber bullets fired by police. What on earth is happening in laid-back Seattle?

Violent political demonstrations have rarely been seen on U.S. soil since the Vietnam War era, and most people here -- protest organizers and city officials alike -- were surprised by the mayhem that erupted Tuesday as thousands of demonstrators marched against the World Trade Organization.

Apologetic authorities blamed a few troublemakers "from out of town." Protest leaders pointed fingers at overreacting police and a few bad apples within their own ranks. Some demonstrators, meanwhile, saw something deeper -- the awakening of a new brand of activism among a new generation of activists.

'Now they have an issue'

"Young people -- Generation X or whatever you call them -- haven't had an issue. Now they have an issue," said Christopher Krohn, 41, a city council member from Santa Cruz, Calif., who came to Seattle to protest peacefully. He said many youth see hard-won environmental safeguards being threatened by a WTO focus on free trade above all other values.

"That's why a lot of people are angry," Krohn said.

It's not as if civil unrest is unknown in America. Race riots stemming from the beating of Rodney King erupted in Los Angeles in 1992. But most political demonstrations in recent years have become controlled, predictable events, permitted and monitored by authorities. Demonstrations are a regular occurrence in Washington, D.C., but are generally peaceful.  

To find violence, one must generally go overseas, such as to Greece, where thousands of left-wing protesters chanting anti-American slogans clashed with police last month and set dozens of stores ablaze as President Clinton arrived for a visit in Athens.

Clinton was addressing the WTO meeting this afternoon, his hopes for a triumphant day as a leader of world trade jeopardized in a city left shaken by a day of violent protest and bracing for more.

The violence clearly caught Seattle officials off guard.

To find similar unrest here, "you have to probably go back to the '60s and '70s, in the days of the Vietnam marches and civil-rights marches," Mayor Paul Schell said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

City hoped to avoid violence

Schell said city officials had worked with protest organizers for months before the WTO meeting, hoping to prevent the kind of violence that broke out.

"You need to understand that this administration had people who marched in the '60s. We've been on the other side," Schell said. "The last thing I want to do is be mayor of a city where I had to call the National Guard, where I had to see tear gas in the street. It makes me sick."

Protest organizers said they, too, were saddened by the violence.

"A small band of egotistical, misdirected young people" who broke windows and spray-painted buildings diverted attention from an otherwise peaceful protest, said Dennis Moynihan, spokesman for the Direct Action Network, which helped plan the demonstration.

"We take responsibility for our actions. We specifically risk  arrest," Moynihan said. "The people who broke windows cloak themselves in masks and then flee as soon as the damage is done. If we knew who they were, we would turn them in."

Use of tear gas faulted

Moynihan also faulted police for unleashing tear gas and rubber bullets on protesters sitting in the streets.

"There was an element of festivity in the air," he said. "There was drumming and dancing. It was a beautiful, reclaim-the-streets party. The police used an inordinate amount of weaponry and firepower to enforce their version of civic order."

Not everyone thought the violence was a bad thing.

"The corporations commit way more heinous crimes," said Mark Bowers, 25, a protester from Eugene, Ore., who was roaming the streets Tuesday night after authorities declared a curfew.

Protesters are "alienated, beat down," said Bowers' friend, John, who refused to give his last name.

"They don't have a voice," he said. "You can only beat people down for so long. To write it off as meaningless violence is totally unfair."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WTO Protesters Attack McDonald's Demonstrators, Police Cordons Disrupt Downtown Seattle

Nov. 30, 1999

By Gary Seidman

SEATTLE (MSNBC.com) -- The windows of a downtown McDonald's became casualties of anti-globalization ire on Monday as a handful of ski-masked demonstrators attacked the restaurant as a symbol of all things wrong with the direction of world trade under the purview of the World Trade Organization.

On the eve of the formal start of the WTO's Seattle summit, the McDonald's attack was the most violent incident in a day that saw sweeping demonstrations, a suspected break-in at the main meeting venue and unprecedented discussions between WTO officials and opposition groups.

The McDonald's incident occurred just four blocks from the convention center where the WTO meeting is to be held under tight security. Police immediately cleared customers from the restaurant and locked it shut.

The demonstrators were part of a crowd of 400 to 500 that  ripped down advertising placards and pasted their own signs on the outside of the restaurant, which is in the heart of Seattle's busiest shopping area.

Screaming profanities

As the windows were being broken, other demonstrators -- carrying a banner protesting the genetic engineering of food -- jumped on the roof of a city bus. Police, some in full riot gear, stood by with their face shields down and batons drawn as a group of masked protesters, dressed in black from head to toe, screamed profanities at them.

The McDonald's disturbance occurred as French farm leader Jose Bove -- who gained fame in August when he led a group of farmers on an assault of a McDonald's in his village to protest against bioengineered food and various sanctions -- was giving a speech.

"We don't want to eat any more of that kind of food," Bove said to the Seattle crowd. "You've got to throw it in the sea."

Marching in the streets

Earlier in the day, hundreds of demonstrators -- from steel workers to bioengineering opponents -- marched through the streets of the city in a largely peaceful protest against this week's WTO summit. The march was continuously punctuated by a chant of "No to the WTO."

The WTO's critics contend that the Geneva-based organization puts trade promotion above other legitimate interests such as human and worker rights and environmental protection.

"I'm supportive of trade, but not trade that trades away our environmental protection," said Robin Denburg of the Asia-Pacific Environmental Exchange.

"I'm a locked-out steelworker," said David Reid, another marcher in the demonstration. "I'm here because the importing of metals from overseas is hurting steelworkers."

Preparations for terrorist attack

Seattle police had cordoned off numerous streets and were visible in all parts of the downtown. They were supported by more than 400 federal emergency medical and operations personnel -- both civilian and military -- who have set up in Seattle to handle any "terrorist attack," including a chemical attack, officials said.

Indeed, at the start of the day, armed police teams with bomb-sniffing dogs carried out a painstaking 5-1/2-hour search of the convention center where the WTO meeting officially opens today. Helicopters circled overhead, and at one point two fire trucks arrived with sirens blaring.

Showing how nervous authorities are about attacks on the  WTO meeting, police said the shutdown was in reaction only to a potential security breach. "We had reason to believe someone may have entered the building," said Clem Benton, a Seattle police spokesman, giving no further details.

Dock workers threaten shutdown

Late Monday, a union representing thousands of dock workers voiced its opposition to the WTO meeting, saying it would shut down cargo movement at all U.S. West Coast ports today in solidarity with protesters demonstrating against global trade talks in Seattle.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union said 9,600 of its members would participate in the daylong action. Brian McWilliams, president of the union, said the action was meant to demonstrate the importance of workers to the global economy. "We are not anti-trade," McWilliams said. "We are against free trade and for fair trade."

Clinton headed to Seattle

World leaders appear to be a rare commodity at this meeting. An attempt by the White House to assemble a small Group of Seven-like gathering at the Seattle summit has largely failed, putting into question the significance of the get-together.

President Clinton himself is expected on Wednesday, though he will not directly take part in the talks that aim to launch a new round of trade negotiations to free up trade in goods and services. Instead, he will seek to make the case for the issues that the United States wants to see taken up in the new round -- above all reducing farm subsidies -- and argue for the broader benefits of free trade.

WTO responds to criticism

In an attempt to confront a severe criticism -- that the WTO is a closed and elitist organization -- WTO officials held daylong discussions with non-governmental organizations Monday.

U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshevsky said much was learned from the get-together. And she vowed that the WTO would work hard to develop a relationship between labor, environment and trade. "The greatest threat to trade liberalization is lack of public support for it," she said in a press conference.

Indeed, with the look of Seattle's streets just one day before the summit begins, public support may just be the WTO's biggest hurdle this time round.

Gary Seidman is an MSNBC correspondent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seattle Declares No-Protest Zone

WTO Presses On Despite Protests

By GEORGE TIBBITS

.c The Associated Press

SEATTLE (Dec. 1, 99) - Stunned by violent street protests resulting in scores of arrests, delegates to a 135-nation trade gathering insisted they would push ahead today with efforts to launch a new round of talks aimed at breaking down barriers to global commerce - and the city officials vowed to back them up.

President Clinton was scheduled to address ministers today in the conference he has been banking on heavily, but was heading into a trashed downtown where officials sought to restore order with an overnight curfew and officers in riot gear.

Washington Gov. Gary Locke ordered as many as 200 members of the National Guard and 300 state troopers to the city, where they will serve as backup to police who battled rampaging protesters with tear gas and pepper spray Tuesday.

Today, city officials declared a no-protest zone for nearly all of the city's downtown core, about 50 city blocks, acknowledging they were caught unaware by the magnitude of the disturbance.

``Clearly, in hindsight, the approach we used yesterday did not work and we're going to have to take a different approach today,'' Assistant Police Chief Ed Joiner told a news conference.

Police, who arrested 68 people Tuesday, moved in swiftly this morning to break up pockets of demonstrators and arrest them, bringing in transit buses to take them away. Most of the protesters were nonviolent, going limp as police tried to pick them up.

``This conference will be a success. The issues are far too important to be ignored,'' said Mike Moore, director general of the World Trade Organization.

Police chief Norm Stamper told a news conference: ``The downtown area needs to be and will in fact be made safe today for everyone.''

Mayor Paul Schell, interviewed on NBC's ``Today,'' said, ``I think we've secured the town.''

He said Guard troops will ``be used primarily for backup. They are not armed.I don't want armed personnel in the streets. I think that might even be more provocative.''

WTO delegates long had expected protests, but nothing like the storm that hit Seattle when at least 40,000 activists took to the streets on the day the conference was to open. Some 5,000 protesters confronted police, with a handful launching an assault on the downtown business area.

Windows were shattered everywhere from NikeTown to Santa's Village outside of Nordstrom. A Starbucks coffee shop was broken into and looted.

The protests threatened to become a major embarrassment for the Clinton administration. News of the violence generated headlines across Asia today: ``Demonstrators overrun Seattle,'' said a page-one headline in the Times of India, one of India's top national newspapers.

In Tokyo, Yasushi Abe, an official at Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry said he had anticipated protests. ``But the scale of demonstrations and reported violence were beyond imagination,'' he said in an interview in Tokyo.

The dissension even surfaced in the presidential campaign. In Nashville, Tenn., at the campaign headquarters of Vice President Al Gore, some 30 protesters gathered to show their dismay with the WTO Tuesday night. There was no violence, although at one point demonstrators entered the reception area and chanted, ``No, no, no WTO ...'' to stunned members of Gore's presidential campaign staff.

The protesters are unhappy with the Geneva-based organization that sets the rules for global trade, charging that it too often considers only the needs of giant multinational corporations at the expense of protecting the environment and worker rights.

Some of the more moderate opponents want the WTO to include tougher labor and environmental standards in any trade deal - an idea strongly opposed by developing nations in Asia and Latin America that depend on cheap labor to make economic gains.

Disappointed WTO officials scrapped morning speeches Tuesday by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and they headed straight into the first of a series of plenary sessions where all the trade ministers are able to air their concerns. Albright flew back to Washington after being unable to give her speech.

``We need to reach out and explain the link between the local, the national, and the international,'' Annan told members of the Seattle Rotary Club Tuesday night.

Later, as trade ministers dined at a gala miles away, police in body armor and gas masks fired tear gas and pepper spray to clear demonstrators from the downtown core. Hundreds ran choking from heavy clouds of gas. As of early today, 17 minor injuries were reported, and Schell said 68 people had been arrested.

White House press secretary Joe Lockhart said Clinton ``has said that he believes the people there protesting have a legitimate point of view and should be heard inside and outside the hall.'' While the vast majority of protesters were peaceful, Clinton condemned those who chose violence. ``That's wrong,'' Lockhart said.

Mohammed Asfour, the Jordanian minister of industry and trade, said he was kept away from the opening ceremony Tuesday. ``People like us who came from thousands of miles and to find no organization - it's very sad,'' Asfour said.

The administration has pushed for the WTO to consider environmental and worker safeguards when trade agreements are negotiated.

``Nobody could be happy about what happened today,'' said Schell, who apologized to WTO ministers ``for their inconvenience.'' And Stamper defended the response of the Seattle force, saying it showed ``remarkable restraint.''

The wild protests drew angry responses from some WTO delegates. Colombia's external trade minister, Marta Lucia Ramirez, was jostled and shaken up, officials said, though apparently she was not seriously harmed.

Union members were more orderly, though they brought strong message.

``We're going to change WTO or we're going to get rid of WTO,'' said James P. Hoffa, president of the Teamsters union. The union throngs stayed to their designated parade route, finishing their march without incident.

AP-NY-12-01-99 1205EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clinton Enters Fray Over WTO Talks

By KEVIN GALVIN

.c The Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) - (December 1, 1999)  Undeterred by violent demonstrations, President Clinton wades into the fray over global trade today, saying the World Trade Organization should heed the legitimate complaints of many protesters.

White House officials blamed a small number of activists for a riotous day Tuesday that provoked state authorities to call out unarmed National Guardsmen. They promised that the violence wouldn't force Clinton, the only head of government attending the conference, to curtail his schedule in Seattle.

Joe Lockhart, the president's press secretary, lamented the clashes with police and vandalism that delayed the opening of the WTO session. But he said Clinton still believed the protesters' ``legitimate point of view ... should be heard.''

``Despite the problems with the ceremonial events, the substantive work goes on,'' he said.

About 100 protesters who refused to clear an intersection within view of the president's hotel this morning were disbursed by police and some were arrested. Tactical police, some toting automatic weapons, were stationed outside the hotel.

Nearby, commuters hustled past McDonald's, J. Crew and others stores with boarded-up windows. Workers scoured storefront walls with sponges and rags to erase spray-painted symbols and epithets directed at the WTO.

White House staffers were called in to Seattle to buttress the work of the U.S. Trade Representative's office in responding to the vocal criticism of administration trade policy. Clinton's chief of staff, John Podesta, accompanied the president.

Seeking to build support for his trade agenda, Clinton was visiting the Port of Seattle today and meeting with students of trade and with farmers. He was expected to discuss how opening markets would help the agricultural industry, especially Washington state's apple growers.

Later in the day, he was delivering a keynote address to a luncheon for trade ministers from the 135 WTO member countries. On Thursday, he is to sign an International Labor Organization treaty on child labor.

Labor officials who often ally themselves with Clinton helped organize a massive rally and march in Seattle to express their skepticism over the benefits of more unfettered trade and to protest China's inclusion in the WTO.

While labor leaders were disappointed that their event was overshadowed by the violence, AFL-CIO spokeswoman Denise Mitchell said the turmoil made clear that ``this WTO doesn't have support, and we hope people will take that to heart.''

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney has signed on to Clinton's WTO agenda, which calls for a working group within the organization to address workers' rights. But he has been a harsh critic of bringing in China, given Beijing's human rights record.

About 5,000 demonstrators clashed with police who tried to clear a path for delegates to enter the conference center on Tuesday. Tensions escalated when officers fired tear gas and used pepper spray to disperse the crowds.

By nightfall, police had arrested some two-dozen people and Seattle Mayor Paul Schell had declared a civil emergency. He placed most of the downtown - including the area around the Westin Hotel where Clinton was arriving early today - under curfew until dawn.

Washington Gov. Gary Locke ordered about 200 unarmed National Guard personnel to begin patrolling this morning. The Secret Service tightened already high security around Clinton's hotel, limiting the comings and goings of guests.

Earlier, Clinton expressed sympathy for demonstrators who want the WTO to be more open about its decision-making and give greater protections for workers and the environment as markets open wider to trade.

``I also strongly, strongly believe that we should open the process up to all those people who are now demonstrating on the outside,'' Clinton said before the violence. ``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.''

``I think, you know, more people are going to demand to be heard,'' he said. ``And I think that's a good thing.''

AP-NY-12-01-99 1201EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: PSG <skyelight@freewwweb.com>
Subject: HELP THE CAUSE IN SEATTLE
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 18:14:26 -0800
From: Hayduke Rocks! <hayduke@efmedia.org>
From: Steve Holmer <wafcdc@igc.org>

To: All Activists From: Jim Jontz

Make Two Calls to Protect Global Forests from Our Government. Tens of thousands of citizens from all around the globe have convened in Seattle today to call attention to the public opposition to economic globalization at the expense of the environment, workers, and human rights. The adverse impact of the WTO on forests is in the spotlight. See today's New York Times front page photo to see the giant "Protect Forests, Clearcut the WTO" banner that U.S. forest activists marched with yesterday. In addition, there was an excellent article forests and WTO tariff liberalization in the Seattle Times today (www.seattletimes.com).

The energy here in Seattle is incredible -- labor, environmental, and church groups marching together -- enormous commitment by tens of thousands of young people on the streets around the official meeting places, forest activists here from Canada, Mexico, Chile, Indonesia, Japan, the U.K., Denmark, and many other nations.

What is most alarming, however, is that the U.S. continues to pretend that the WTO wood products proposal they are advancing doesn't have any environmental impact. Indonesia is losing 1.0% of their forests a year, illegal logging is so rampant there that even National Parks are being logged, 70% of Indonesia's forests are gone, and the U.S. pretends that there is nothing wrong with a trade agreement that their own study predicts will increase logging in Indonesia by 4.4%.

Does the Clinton Administration think that no one would pay any attention? I'm certain that when the U.S. Trade Representative decided to make this Wood Products Agreement a priority (at the urging of the American Forest and Paper Association) that others in the Administration weren't aware of its importance.

That is no longer an acceptable excuse, however. The agencies of our government such as the Council on Environmental Quality and the State Department who are supposed to be standing up for the environment have, to date, gone along with this proposal. The Clinton Administration and Vice President Gore talk about "balance" and protecting the environment.

However, the Wood Products proposal isn't balanced at all -- there is nothing to protect forests, only to increase trade.

Please support the efforts of the thousands of people in Seattle by making a pair of phone calls to two of Administration officials who should be standing up for forests: Undersecretary of State Frank Loy at (202)647-6240, and CEQ Chair George Frampton at (202)456-6224. Explain to them that people want the U.S. take a position that protects global forests, not liquidates them. Thanks!

Steve Holmer
Campaign Coordinator
American Lands
726 7th Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
202/547-9105
202/547-9213 fax

E-mail : wafcdc@americanlands.org

http://www.americanlands.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: PSG <skyelight@freewwweb.com>
Subject: News From Downtown Seattle!
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 11:29:11 -0800
From: Hayduke Rocks! <hayduke@efmedia.org>
To: earthfirstalert@onelist.com
From: GlobalizeThis! <gthis@globalizethis.org>

The protesters and police have clogged the entrance to the convention center, delaying entry of some delegates.

Police have begun using teargas on protestors and in one case, a radio reporter. Check the Globalize This! homepage for online radio listings to tune in. I just listened as the teargas canister fell at his feet - he was obviously affected.

Stay tuned to the website for details - and think good thoughts for the safety of our fellow souls in the streets.

Sam  for Globalize This! and Ruckus

*****************************************************

Addition from Andy Caffrey at Hayduke Rocks!:

I just watched CNN interview the Seattle Chief of Police who insisted that teargas was not used, that it is pepper spray thay are shooting at protesters. When asked why they resorted to this response, and asked if it was because police had been attacked in some way, the police response was that in fact, all that happened was that they legally asked people to disburse (from a public area!) and they refused, so they used pepper spray to clear them out. Chemical agent police work in action! We don't like you or want you around, and we will spray you with a chemical toxin if you don't like it and torture you in the streets of America! So the police chief himself admitted that it had absolutely nothing to do with vandalism or violence of any sort on the part of the protesters. Nothing to do with it. The  Police Chief also denied that any rubber bullets were shot, which many news sources had reported earlier.

***************************************************** EARLIER:

Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 21:28:46 -0700
From: Globalize This! <info@globalizethis.org>
Subject: Banners, Live Camera Views, New Articles and Video

Greetings! The Globalize This! website now has a list of live camera views of downtown Seattle.

<http://www.globalizethis.org>

<http://www.ruckus.org/news/GlobalizeThis/index.html>

A dozen or more articles have been added to the Ruckus Society Globalize This! News page. CNN video and New York Times articles are new.

Banners and marches and protesting, Oh My!

Be sure to check in all day tomorrow (November 30) for news of the big opening day.

Globalize This!

*****************************************************

Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1999 14:51:39 -0700

From: Globalize This! <info@globalizethis.org>

Subject: Converging on Seattle!

The Convergence is happening in Seattle!

<http://www.globalizethis.org>

Activists hung a banner from the Old Navy in Seattle last Monday. Two activists hung a banner from an I-5 overpass Saturday.

The debate on Globalization is coming up soon - do you have a ticket?

Maps of the marches planned by the AFL/CIO, Sierra Club, Steelworkers, and Students are all online.

Get all the latest information and tools you need to get downtown at: <http://www.globalizethis.org>

Globalize This!

***************************************************** END FWD

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Civil Disobedience Threatened in Seattle Protesters Mass for Larger Anti-WTO Demonstrations

Nov. 29, 1999

SEATTLE (AP) -- Activists turned up the heat on the World Trade Organization, taking their message to the streets and announcing plans for mass acts of civil disobedience when the ministerial conference begins Tuesday.

At least 500 protesters -- some on stilts and wearing butterfly costumes, others wielding massive papier-mache puppets -- marched through the trendy Capitol Hill district Sunday under blue skies and record temperatures in the high 50s.

Later, they protested at two stores owned by The Gap clothing retailer, saying the stores sell clothes manufactured under sweatshop conditions overseas. The company has denied the allegations.

Plan to block streets

A spokesman for Direct Action Network, which sponsored the rally, said demonstrators on Tuesday intend to lie down in streets and lock themselves to fence posts or each other. Their goal: preventing delegates from entering the downtown convention center for the start of the talks.

Activists even took their message to the skies. A plane trailing a banner saying "People Over Profits: Stop WTO" circled the Space Needle, which was packed with tourists on two levels.

A group of about 60 activists occupied an abandoned downtown apartment building Sunday night, saying housing for the homeless and poor has been a casualty of global free trade. They said the homeless would be welcome, and they called on the city of Seattle to do more to help those who live on the streets.

No police officers were at the scene an hour after the takeover occurred, although a precinct station is a block from the 12-unit building.

50,000 protestors predicted

A total of 50,000 anti-WTO activists -- with interests ranging from the environment to farm subsidies -- are expected to arrive here this week for what they're calling "The Battle in Seattle" or alternately, "Carnival against Capitalism."

At issue is the Geneva-based WTO's sweeping power to enforce international trade agreements. Trade ministers from 135 nations will attend.

At an international labor conference at the Port of Seattle on Sunday, union leaders said the WTO could be damaged irreparably if it does not address workers' rights at this week's trade negotiations.

"If the trade ministers fail to act ... they could set in train the beginning of the end of WTO," Bill Jordan, general secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, told the gathering.

At the same meeting, WTO director-general Mike Moore defended global free trade and warned against what he called a "false debate" between working people and the WTO.

"Trade is the ally of working people, not their enemy," Moore said. "As living standards improve, so too does education, health, the environment and labor standards."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seattle Mayor Sets Curfew, Declares Civil Emergency

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER

.c The Associated Press

SEATTLE (Nov. 30, 99) - Clashing repeatedly with police, protesters shut down the opening session of a global trade conference Tuesday and forced authorities to declare a state of emergency and call out National Guard troops.

Police fired tear gas and red pepper spray at roving bands of protesters throughout the day and well into the night, seeking to halt violence that included attacks on unoccupied police cars and store windows in the downtown area.

The disruptions forced the World Trade Organization to cancel its opening ceremonies because dignitaries'' motorcades could not make it through protesters who chained themselves together and lay down in intersections.

Mayor Paul Schell declared a civil emergency and imposed a curfew from 7 p.m. PST to 7:30 a.m. PST, a period that will cover the scheduled arrival of President Clinton, who is flying here to address the World Trade Organization on Wednesday.

Despite what could only be seen as a major embarrassment for Clinton, who had picked Seattle to host the event to showcase the benefits of global trade, the president will continue with his planned schedule, White House officials said.

Schell told reporters at city hall, ''Do I wish things had turned out differently today? You bet, don't you?''

Presidential spokesman Joe Lockhart, traveling with Clinton in California, said the president continued to believe that ''people there protesting have a legitimate point of view and should be heard inside and outside the hall.''

Lockhart said the majority of protesters had been peaceful but that Clinton condemned those who had resorted to violence.

Locke, appearing with Schell at the news conference, said he decided to call in 150 unarmed members of the National Guard to provide relief to weary Seattle police.

''It's really critical that that we provide some relief for local law enforcement, many of whom have been on duty for more than 24 hours,'' the governor told reporters.

Clinton, before the protests turned violent, had told reporters early Tuesday that he was ''very sympathetic'' with the concerns being expressed by labor unions and environmental groups.

''I think we should strengthen the role and the interest of labor and environment in our trade negotiations,'' said Clinton, who is scheduled to address the WTO ministers on Wednesday.

Disappointed WTO officials said that the Geneva-based trade organization decided to scrap plans for U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to address an opening session, which was to be held in the ornate Paramount Theater.

Instead, the WTO went straight into the first of a series of plenary sessions, where trade ministers from different countries are allowed to address the meetings.

A disappointed WTO Director General Mike Moore vowed that, despite the rocky start, the assembled nations would succeed in launching a new round of multinational trade negotiations to lower tariffs and other barriers on agriculture products, manufactured goods and service industries such as banking and insurance.

''This conference will be a success. The issues are far too important to be ignored,'' Moore maintained.

Police Chief Norm Stamper defended the way the Seattle force had handled the protests. He said the small number of people arrested showed ''remarkable restraint'' by the police.

By late Tuesday, police were confirming 22 arrests.

Moore said official delegations at two downtown hotels had been advised that the police ''were not able to guarantee a safe passage'' to the theater where the opening ceremonies were to be held. U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said in New York that Annan hadn't been able to get out of his hotel room to deliver his speech because of the protests.

After a three-hour delay in the morning opening, WTO officials finally gave up and broke for lunch. They reassembled in the more-secure but less ornate convention center for the afternoon talks.

But only a handful of the hundreds of official delegates had managed to get through the protesters and clouds of stinging tear gas to the theater.

''We regret any inconvenience that you may have experienced,'' U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky told the few gathered delegates. ''...It is unfortunate that some of the protesters did become unruly, but that does not reflect the views of the people of Seattle or the United States.''

Some officials from other countries expressed outrage that protesters had been allowed to delay the proceedings.

Mohammed Asfour, the Jordanian minister of industry and trade, said he was unable to get to the convention center because the odor of tear gas was wafting over the official entrance designated for his use.

''People like us who came from thousands of miles and to find no organization - it's very sad,'' Asfour said.

Third World countries strongly oppose a world trade regime that includes the labor and environmental standards advocated by the protesters, saying it would take away their competitive advantages of lower wage scales and more lax environmental regulations.

But Pascal Lamy, the top trade negotiator for the European Union, said, ''The reason why a number of protesters are here is because they believe that trade liberalization is working against a number of values they care about.''

In the view of protesters, the World Trade Organization puts profits for multinational corporations over other concerns, forcing nations to engage in a ''race to the bottom'' to compete in the global economy with low wages and lax environmental standards.

''We're going to change WTO or we're going to get rid of WTO,'' Teamsters union president James Hoffa Jr. told a union crowd that swelled during their afternoon march to as many as 50,000 persons by some estimates.

That march, sponsored by the AFL-CIO, did not begin until after a morning of sporadic violence from protest groups who defied police orders to stay clear of the giant convention center and downtown theater where the WTO meetings were being held.

The union throngs stayed to their designated parade route and returned to the staging without incident.

The Clinton administration had picked Washington state, home to exporting giants Boeing and Microsoft, to highlight the importance of trade for the U.S. economy. One of every three jobs here is tied to international trade, the most of any state.

But the Pacific Northwest also has strong ties to labor unions and environmental activists, and they showed up in large numbers to voice their grievances.

During the morning demonstrations, protesters broke windows at several downtown businesses and vented their rage at unoccupied police patrol cars, spray painting them, kicking in doors and slashing their tires.

''We are winning, don't forget,'' someone sprayed on one downtown building.

Police said they fired tear gas and red pepper spray into groups of demonstrators who chained themselves together and lay down in the streets to prevent delegates from making it to the opening sessions.

Dockworkers up and down the West Coast shut down some cargo movement Tuesday in solidarity with the anti-WTO protest. About 9,600 workers of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union were expected to take part in the action at about three dozen West Coast ports, including the nation's largest, Long Beach and Los Angeles.

AP-NY-11-30-99 2301EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

London Station Closed by Protest

.c The Associated Press

LONDON (Nov. 30, 99) - Authorities closed a busy London train station Tuesday after hundreds of demonstrators protesting against global capitalism attacked police officers and set fire to a police van.

Police were concerned about safety at Euston Station in north London after demonstrators attacked police with bottles, cans and sticks, Scotland Yard said.

The protest was called to coincide with the opening of the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle. At issue is the Geneva-based WTO's sweeping power to enforce international trade agreements.

As evening set in, hundreds of demonstrators attacked riot police who had gathered outside the station. Several demonstrators were led away bleeding from facial cuts before police corralled protesters.

Five people were arrested, police said.

The violence followed peaceful demonstrations throughout Britain's capital, including a march to the gates of Downing Street, where Prime Minister Tony Blair has his home and office.

''I am worried about violence, but more worried about the violence of multinational companies on people and nations,'' said Norma Rana, 61, one of the protesters.

In Seattle on Tuesday, police fired rounds of red pepper spray into groups of demonstrators who had chained themselves together and were lying in the streets in an attempt to prevent delegates from attending the opening sessions.

Police said the ceremonies were delayed because the official motorcades could not get through the protesters.

AP-NY-11-30-99 2056EDT

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Iowa Governor Caught in WTO Protest

.c The Associated Press

SEATTLE (Nov. 30, 99) - Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, trapped in a screaming mob as he headed to a World Trade Organization meeting, was dragged to safety by bodyguards as protesters pummeled a state trooper bending over Vilsack to protect him.

''It was a little bit more frightening than the earthquake I was in,'' Vilsack said in a telephone interview. ''You could see the faces of people screaming at you.''

Vilsack found himself in the middle of a deadly earthquake in September while on a trade mission to Taiwan. He was caught up Tuesday among protesters trying to halt a conference of the 135-nation World Trade Organization.

The governor said neither he nor security aides were injured, but he was shaken by the events.

In the interview, Vilsack said he was accompanied by an Iowa Highway Patrol trooper, who routinely provides his security, and by two officers provided by Washington state authorities.

They were headed for the WTO session by car but found the road blocked by protesters.

''The auto route wasn't going to work, so we decided to walk,'' Vilsack said. He said the crowd initially showed no inclination toward violence, until his contingent was in the midst of the demonstrators.

''We got right in the middle of them, and people started screaming,'' Vilsack said. A trooper moved to protect Vilsack, the governor said.

''He was hit, he was kicked, he was punched,'' said Vilsack. ''He was punched and kicked as he draped himself over me.''

The other troopers pulled Vilsack from the crowd, and he was hustled back to his hotel room.

AP-NY-11-30-99 2110EDT

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WIRE:11/30/1999 10:13:00 ET

Clinton Says Sympathetic to WTO Protesters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton said on Tuesday he sympathized with protesters at the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle and that trade agreements should take into consideration labor and environmental concerns.

"I also strongly, strongly believe that we should open the process up to all those people who are there demonstrating on the outside. They ought to be a part of it," Clinton told a media briefing. "And I think we should strengthen the role and the interest of labor and the environment in our trade negotiations."

Clinton is scheduled to attend the WTO meeting on Wednesday.

Activists vowed to shut down Seattle with up to 50,000 demonstrators to protest against what they see as a negative effect of free trade on U.S. jobs and the environment.

WTO ministers were meeting to set the agenda for a new round of negotiations aimed at cutting tariffs and other barriers in a wide range of sectors from agriculture to electronic commerce.

On Monday, the United States, Japan and the European Union clashed over the shape of a new round of global trade talks, with agriculture being one of the major sticking points.

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From: GENESISOFLIGHT@webtv.net (lee Chin)

The beginning meetings have been put on hold. Access to the convention sites are blocked by various protest groups. O.C. Spray (same effect as tear gas) is now being used by police to keep city streets open.

All hotels are on lock down and entrances under police guard. All streets are now closed. Downtown city businesses are closed and protestors have sprayed graffiti on several store fronts. The windows of McDonald's have been broken.

Molitav cocktails (?) are being thrown by protestors and police responding with OC Spray.

Newspaper boxes and large dumpsters turned over to form barricades.

Protestors are protesting the actions of other protestors and cleaning up the messes others created. They are also passing out handkerchiefs to cover faces during the continuing OC and pepper spraying.

An earlier report said a couple of WTO delegates trying to make their way through the crowds were thrown to the ground. A large flotilla of buses are parked bumper to bumper forming a barricade for police to escort delegates, one by one, to the convention center.

It is now 11:30 and the WTO mtgs. are still on hold. The rain forecast did not happen and the sun is out and sky is a clearing blue. News rpt. the meeting will begin sometime today. Some WTO delegates are now moving freely in the Paramount Theatre, next to the convention center. All WTO delegates were expecting these protests.

I am receiving hourly reports from the Space Needle where about 10,000 visitors are peacefully enjoying the site. A large broadcasting truck is now playing the ART BELL Bumper Music beneath the Space Needle.

There are many splinter protest groups marching independently on all streets.

Some playing music and dancing. All in all, there have been no serious conflicts by either the protestors or riot control police. Alot of hugs being shared as Seattle's typical response to visitors.

12:pm - The large front windows of the Beautiful Nordstrom store are now being broken. These vandals are being sought for arrest. Tires of police cars are now being slashed. A new black (?) chemical cloud is being dispersed and blocking out the sun.

The large AFL-CIO march of 20,00 will begin soon. They are already gathered at the memorial stadium and intend their march to be one of a show of solidarity, with no violence.

One sad missing element is evident with no LATTE COFFEE CARTS on the sidewalks of downtown Seattle. With that knowing, many will not want to come to the party. >lee>

SHARING LIGHT, LEE GUILMETTE CHIN

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Pepper Gas Fired at WTO Protesters

Start of WTO Talks Disrupted

By DIRK BEVERIDGE

.c The Associated Press

SEATTLE (Nov. 30, 99) - Police fired red pepper gas today as thousands of protesters took to the streets in a successful effort to disrupt the opening ceremonies of the 135-nation World Trade Organization.

The Clinton administration had hoped the event, the largest trade gathering ever held in the United States, would showcase the benefits of free trade. But demonstrators loudly protested the Geneva-based organization, which they contend has a lack of concern for environmental and worker rights issues.

Police said they fired rounds of red pepper gas into groups of demonstrators who had chained themselves together and were lying in the streets in an attempt to prevent delegates from making it to the opening sessions.

WTO officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the opening ceremonies were delayed because U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was unable to get to the ornate downtown theater where the starting sessions were being held.

Police inside the hall, which had only a scattering of delegates more than an hour after the appointed start time, said the ceremonies were delayed because the official motorcades could not get through the protesters.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and WTO Director General Mike Moore were also scheduled to talk at the opening ceremonies.

Police used red pepper gas on several hundred protesters after warning them that they were violating city law by blocking an intersection.

``We're basically putting a human face on the WTO. It has to consider human rights and worker rights along with trade,'' Teamsters union President James Hoffa said, speaking at the organizing point for the march, a football stadium near the Seattle Space Needle.

But some officials from other countries expressed outrage that the protesters had been allowed to delay the proceedings.

Mohammed Asfour, the Jordanian minister of industry and trade, said he had not been able to get to the convention center because the odor of gas used by the police was wafting over the official entrance designated for his use.

``People like us who came from thousands of miles and to find no organization - it's very sad,'' Asfour said.

Up and down the West Coast, dock workers began shutting down cargo movement in solidarity with the anti-WTO protest. About 9,600 workers of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union were expected to take part in the action at about three dozen West Coast ports, including the nation's largest, Long Beach and Los Angeles.

``By taking time out from work to voice our concerns, the ILWU is telling the transnational corporations that they cannot run the global economy without the workers of the world,'' union President Brian McWilliams said in a written statement.

Julia Harrington of San Francisco, who was walking with her 7-year-old son and pushing her 3-year-old daughter in a stroller, said she was marching ``to protect the environment ... and to protect other children in the world from unfair labor practices.''

In Washington, President Clinton, who had wanted to hold the WTO meetings in the United States to spotlight the benefits America receives from international trade, said of the protest marches ``I am very sympathetic'' with the concerns raided by organized labor and environmental groups.

He spoke to reporters in the Oval Office before flying to San Francisco and Los Angeles before traveling here early Wednesday to conduct meetings and address the Geneva-based conference of 135 nations.

On Monday, Clinton's special trade representative, Charlene Barshefsky, told reporters she believes ``it is critical to launch a new round of global trade negotiations. We think the time is right.''

Labor unions and environmentalists - traditional Democratic Party constituencies - view the Geneva-based trade body as a threat to worker rights and environmental protection.

Clinton said today he wants the Seattle talks to chart a path for 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,'' he said. ``They ought to be a part of it. And I think we should strengthen the role and the interest of labor and environment in our trade negotiations.''

Some of the more radical activists began lying down in the street along the march route to try and carry out their threats to shut down the WTO by clogging up streets so delegates can't reach the meeting hall.

Police temporarily stopped letting reporters into the giant convention center where the meetings are being held after some protesters broke through an outer security perimeter before being subdued by police in riot gear.

Despite all the uproar, delegates to the WTO insisted the protesters would accomplish little more than making lots of noise. Business will go on despite any disruptions, they said.

``Sadly, I think it's a bit futile,'' said Leigh W. Purnell, an Australian business lobbyist. ``It achieves the publicity factor, but clearly, governments will be making their decisions in other venues.''

AP-NY-11-30-99 1436EDT

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Longshore Union Shuts West Coast Ports To Protest WTO

SAN FRANCISCO (Nov. 30, 99) -- The International Longshore and Warehouse Union began a partial shutdown of U.S. West Coast ports to protest the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle.

The San Francisco and Seattle ports will be closed from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time, union spokesman Steve Stallone said. Television network CNN reported trucks were lining up outside the Port of Oakland in California. Most other ports will be shut for three hours, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. local time.

The ILWU and other unions are protesting the five-year-old WTO, whose free-trade policies they say have degraded the environment, encouraged child labor and eroded workers' rights. A work stoppage would come on the heaviest shipping day of the week in Southern California ports, the nation's busiest.

``Today is going to be more costly for the shippers,'' said Art Wong, a spokesman for the Port of Long Beach, California, which expects 12 ships today. The three-hour shutdown won't create a major backlog, he said, though shipping companies may have to pay overtime to make up for the lost labor, he said.

West Coast ports handle more than half the U.S. container cargo, with an estimated value of $285 billion this year.

Seattle police yesterday shut the convention center where the WTO talks are being held for more than five hours because of a ``potential security breach.'' Authorities expect as many as 50,000 protesters to demonstrate against the organization.

The Pacific Maritime Association, a San Francisco-based maritime employer, declined to comment on the WTO-related job action. CSX Corp.'s Sea-Land unit, the biggest U.S. maritime shipper, couldn't be reached for comment.

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Protesters Target WTO Meeting

By DIRK BEVERIDGE

.c The Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) -(November 30, 1999)  Protesters worked today to disrupt global trade talks formally opening here, but officials from both rich and poor nations vowed to work quietly on an agenda for a new round of negotiations. President Clinton said ``I'm very sympathetic'' with concerns raised by organized labor and environmental groups.

Speaking at the White House today, Clinton predicted that ``more people are going to demand to be heard'' and said he thought that was ``a good thing.'' He spoke to reporters in the Oval Office before flying west for stops in San Francisco and Los Angeles before traveling here early Wednesday to conduct meetings and address the conference of 135 nations.

On Monday, Clinton's special trade representative, Charlene Barshefsky, told reporters she believes ``it is critical to launch a new round of global trade negotiations. We think the time is right.''

With Clinton's visit looming and the world's news media focused on this high-tech city, protesters also figured the time was perfect to broadcast their objections to the WTO. Labor unions and environmentalists - traditional Democratic Party constituencies - view the Geneva-based trade body as a threat to worker rights and environmental protection.

Clinton said today he wants the Seattle talks to chart a path for 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,'' he said. ``They ought to be a part of it. And I think we should strengthen the role and the interest of labor and environment in our trade negotiations.''

Organizers say some 50,000 activists will descend on Seattle. Among the more mainstream demonstrators, the AFL-CIO has hired 200 buses to bring in thousands of union members who were gathering in a football stadium today before marching to the civic center where the trade ministers were meeting.

The more radical activists said they would lie down in roads and chain themselves to railings in what they billed as a ``festival of resistance'' to try to shut down the WTO by clogging up streets so delegates couldn't reach the meeting hall.

Police with riot gear have been guarding the entrances to the convention center where the trade ministers are meeting - and a special session Monday for various interest groups was delayed for several hours by an apparent breach of security that occurred just after the Secret Service had combed through the building, forcing another careful search for bombs. None was found.

Despite all the uproar, delegates to the WTO insisted the protesters would accomplish little more than making lots of noise. Business will go on despite any disruptions, they said.

``Sadly, I think it's a bit futile,'' said Leigh W. Purnell, an Australian business lobbyist. ``It achieves the publicity factor, but clearly, governments will be making their decisions in other venues.''

Trade officials were holding countless private meetings in hotel suites and elsewhere around town through Friday as they sought consensus on a formula for starting a new round of trade liberalization talks expected to take about three years to complete.

Big areas of contention among trade ministers included Western suggestions that any new trade deal should include labor standards.

Wealthy nations, and their labor unions, characterize cheap wages and shoddy working conditions in developing countries as an unfair trade practice. Many Asian and Latin American nations have been upset by the suggestion, saying they cannot afford quickly to conform to the standards of richer nations.

The European Union trade commissioner, Pascal Lamy, has called labor the most difficult issue at these talks.

Barshefsky voiced partial agreement.

``I do think the issue of core labor standards is perhaps the most controversial one, but it is not the only one to be resolved,'' she said late Monday. ``Agricultural issues remain critical.''

AP-NY-11-30-99 1056EDT

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PREPARING FOR TERRORISM

Hospitals And Emergency Management Office On "Code Delta"...

10/13/99

by Mitch Battros (ECTV)

I can confirm from a source close to the case, local hospitals in the Seattle area will be on "Code Delta" (which stands for code disaster) during the World Seattle Summit which occurs just after the Thanksgiving holidays.

To a terrorist, everything is perfect. High ranking dignitaries from around the world, the busiest time of the year for airports and travel, a perfect set up for people from countries around the would to bring home a virus released in Seattle.

Officials have stepped up their training for epidemiologist, nurses, doctors, volunteers, emergency personal, i.e. police, fire, red cross, and other assorted government agency's. It was quoted from an source close to the case "It could be either a anthrax type disaster which would be immediate and at the scene, or even worse, a virus that is release (in deadly silence) in which people from all over the world have gathered in one place (Seattle) exposed and then take the virus home with them".

I think there is no coincidence related to the "Urgent" funding presented by president Bill Clinton for "Bio-Terroism" and the immediate funding for a Level 4 biotech engineering plant near New York.

This is an extremely fluid story. Stay tuned for more breaking news on this issue. For now, please visit the CDC web site for information on biological agents.

CDC Web Site: http://www.cdc.gov/health/diseases.htm

Protesters From Around World To Flock To Seattle Trade Summit...10/13/99

Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles and John Vidal

It is the worst nightmare of US conservatives. Hundreds of protest groups, tens of thousands of political activists from all over the world, plus Fidel Castro and the Mexican Zapatista revolutionaries, will gather in Seattle next month for the biggest protest against global capitalism ever held.

The demonstrations during the summit meeting of the World Trade Organisation from November 30 to December 3 are being labelled "the apocalypse", and the federal authorities are nervously considering how to defuse the tension at an event the world will be watching.

"It will be a historic confrontation between corporate rule and civil society," said Mike Dolan, field director of Global Trade Watch.

Every day new groups, ranging from mainstream US trade union federationssuch as the AFL-CIO to the People of Colour Against Aids Network and radical Christian organisations, register their intention to join the activities at the edge of the stage where the world's most powerful decision-makers will meet. Preliminary demonstrations offering a taste of what will happen next month have been taking place this week in Seattle.

About 5,000 delegates from 150 countries will attend the official event.

President Bill Clinton will represent the US and Bill Gates of Microsoft and Phil Condit of Boeing are heading the host city's delegation. They will be discussing - although many of the decisions will already have been made - the further liberalisation of trade, the cutting of tariffs and subsidies, the introduction of GM foods, and the patenting of nature, to open the global market to greater investment.

People with grievances ranging from the sweatshop workers of Mexico to the small farmers of India see it as their last chance this century to register their dismay at the globalisation of the economy, which they claim has already had a disastrous impact on the economies of weaker countries.

The WTO believes it has been singled out unfairly. "In the absence of global conflict between 'isms', some people have chosen to focus their fury on globalism," said Michael Moore, the organisation's head.

British environmental activists, who are considered some of the most experienced in the world, have been helping to train some of the American groups.

In the past few weeks representatives from Reclaim the Streets, which was involved in organising the street parties and "Stop the City" protests in London that ended in riots, have been holding workshops about non-violent direct action and mass demonstrations.

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