Re: battle in seattle: we win round one1

>> ...it was the success of the massive 
nonviolent civil disobedience which successfully shut down the opening of
the meeting yesterday morning that originally provoked the police to use
force and tear gas against the protesters, some of whom then reacted with
violence. I can't verify that ...<<

I was in Seattle on Tuesday attending the labor-sponsored rally and march.
I talked with several people who had been on the barricades Tuesday morning
and they said it went down just as you characterized it.

>>...the intensity that the violence signifies sends a
loud and clear message that there are lots of people who are SERIOUSLY
opposed to the WTO and what it represents.  This message has been
transmitted around the world, and the fact that it comes from the U.S. is
incredibly important...<<

I agree. I was very impressed on Tuesday with the way that the main issues
resonate with such a broad spectrum of people. The thoroughly undemocratic
structure of the WTO, and the effect that its decisions have on workers,
the environment, human rights, and many other areas, seems to be something
that people can readily grasp and unite around. I think we might be seeing
the beginnings of a broad-based mass resistance movement to the WTO and the
ravages of "free market" capitalism. 

Pat Loy
Baltimore, MD