Ten years ago tonight, I was sitting in a spokescouncil in a warehouse in downtown Seattle, surrounded by a sea of dreadlocked youth, preparing to rise at dawn and hit the streets the next morning. Was it that night or the next I went with my friends Margo Adair and Bill Aall with whom I was staying, to the late-night grocery store for some emergency vinegar to soak our bandannas in case of tear gas?

An article written for the Project South Fall Newsletter

It was still pitch dark outside and a thin, cold mist was in the air when the affinity groups charged with blockading Sixth Avenue and Union Street met for the last time. Scouts reported that the coast was clear. Sitting in the wooden pews of an old downtown Seattle church we reviewed our target once more. After days of nervewracking preparation, we were ready to do our part to shut down the World Trade Organization (WTO).

What I Learned At The WTO Protests In Seattle...
by Pete Tridish,

A Ruckus I Couldn't Miss:

What I Learned At The WTO Protests In Seattle...
by Pete Tridish,

A Ruckus I Couldn't Miss

Showdown in Seattle, the WTO, the Protest of the Century… Well, it’s been more than a month since the exciting events in Seattle. Many of us who wre there are still energized by it, but there’s no mistaking the sense that it’s all fading away. What seemed so remarkable and so unprecedented on November 30, the physical stopping of the WTO meeting by thousands of protesters clogging the streets of Seattle, has been reported, discussed, analyzed, argued, categorized, marginalized, and subjected to the self-serving spin of everyone from network pundits to leftist militants.

GATT: Rich Men Attempt to Officially Take Control of Everything

[This commentary published in the June/July, 1994 edition of the Washington Free Press.]

The law officially requiring all tuna sold in the United States to be dolphin-safe was only in effect one week before those wonderful rich men associated with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) declared it illegal. They claim the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which has reduced the dolphin kill from 500,000 annually to 4,000 in 1993, is an illegal, non-tariff barrier to trade.

The (No Longer) Phantom Menace

[published/posted Nov 29, 1999 in Raptorial 'zine]

As you know by now, the World Trade Organization (WTO) is a broad-based, extremely powerful institution that wants to influence and/or trump the rules sovereign governments have created to run their nations. The WTO favors wealth and profit over things such as the environment, human rights, and unionized labor. The WTO has operated behind closed doors since its inception five years ago and, unfortunately for all of us, it has never developed anything resembling a conscience.

A Phoenix Will Rise and Vanquish the WTO
Former members of Dead Kennedys, Nirvana, and Soundgarden will once again take up arms (aka instruments) as the "No-WTO Combo"

concert preview by Mattro

[published/posted Nov 25, 1999, in Raptorial 'zine]

-------------------------------------
No-WTO Combo
(opening for)
Spearhead
Tuesday, November 30th
8pm $12-
Showbox Theater
1426 First, Seattle
(206) 628-3151
-------------------------------------

The Battle of Seattle
Hey protestors: Have your soundbites ready!

by Mattro

[published Nov 20, 1999 in Raptorial 'zine]

An old tradition is coming to the United States. Publicly demonstrating against the periodic World Trade Organization meeting of fat cat billionaires (and the politicos who enable them) who seek to make the world a safer place to become rich beyond reason or sanity. The WTO gathering (a spin-off of the GATT) will take place Nov 30 - Dec 3 in Seattle, WA, USA. This is the first time the meeting has taken place in North America.