Re: RAT Hello Seattle

["chris mac" <cmacdona@adobe.com>]

Jonathan. I am an idiot. You are not. 

I must tell you Seattle is very surreal at the moment. Aside from shutting
down most of downtown Seattle, the police went marching through my
neighborhood last night spraying pepper spray, and exploding concussion
grenades.

I believe there will be a sizable protest on Capitol Hill this evening. It
may have little to do with the WTO, and more to do with the antagonistic
behavior of the Seattle police force.

It is strange to see Seattle front and center on the news. But somehow
fitting in that we have a fine tradition of union protest here which goes
back to the Wobblies. (They were in well represented in the demonstration on
Tuesday).

One of the best vantages for the protest was Annex Theatre. And indeed many
theater folks stopped by during the protest. It was a very RAT place to be,
and I think many of you would have been proud to be there.

See you in Iowa.

Love...Chris

----------
>From: jonoh1@juno.com
>To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
>Subject: Re: RAT Hello Seattle
>Date: Thu, Dec 2, 1999, 11:55 AM
>

> But what does this have to do with MEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!?????
> Selflessly,
> Jonathan
>
>
> On Thu, 2 Dec 1999 10:20:48 -0800  "Sylvain, John"
> <jsylvain@station.sony.com> writes:
>>Well I think the whole thing is just plain wonderful. It might seem
>>petty
>>and awful when you're in it and it might seem annoying that the news
>>is
>>focusing on the violence but here's the point: THE MESSAGE IS GETTING
>>THROUGH 
>>
>>What has happened in Seattle has moved globalization and trade to the
>>center
>>of the nations attention. What has happened in Seattle has
>>re-legitimized
>>Labor as a force to conteract Capital, over night.
>>
>>What has happened in Seattle has galvanized the various and disparate
>>threads of liberalism and progressivism and fused them into a
>>coherent
>>whole. No longer will multi-national corporations tromp along telling
>>world
>>governments what to do with relative impunity.
>>
>>IT CAN NO LONGER BE TOLERATED!
>>
>>From the outside the tear gas and rubber bullets didn't just sting the
>>eyes
>>and skin, they inspired those of us who have grumbled by the side of
>>the
>>road as amoral multinationals destroyed our grandchildren's planet and
>>eaten
>>the children of the third world. There are other things that are
>>important
>>besides money. That may sound like an empty, obvious aphorism but in
>>fact,
>>for the past 20-30 years the world has been opporating as if a free
>>market
>>is the very best thing since sliced bread. The worth of anything is
>>measured
>>in US $. CEOs justify downright evil behavior by saying "we are
>>responsible
>>first and foremost to our shareholders."  NO! Stop it! Fuckers!
>>
>>As artists and as liberals (I can respect all you conservative
>>theater
>>artists out there but you confuse me, kinda like Gay Republicans, so I
>>chose
>>to pretend you don't exist) the Battle of Seattle is a wake up call.
>>It is
>>time to do something.
>>
>>I don't know what, but something.
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: mkleinhans@juno.com [SMTP:mkleinhans@juno.com]
>>> Sent: Thursday, December 02, 1999 6:51 AM
>>> To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
>>> Subject: Re: RAT Hello Seattle
>>>
>>> What a week!  From my point of view (living in downtown Seattle)
>>the
>>> whole thing got out of hand when a parade of looters and thugs ran
>>> through Seattle breaking windows and stealing things from the
>>stores.
>>> (there was also a scheduled peaceful protest going on as well) On
>>that
>>> day, the police didn't do much at all. (some tear gas and pepper
>>spray to
>>> try and get the out of control people to go home)  Now, the whole
>>cause
>>> of the WTO protestors has basically been lost, because of the crowds
>>of
>>> people coming to the area who just want to fight the police.
>>Overnight
>>> the police seem to have lost all patience and are taking no small
>>amount
>>> of force to get people to stay out of the area. I'm really of two
>>minds
>>> about the whole thing, and honestly believe that the law enforcement
>>has
>>> been simply trying to keep any more riots and damage to innocent
>>stores
>>> and people from happening, but because people are so excited to
>>have
>>> something new to protest every day it just keeps getting worse.  I
>>think
>>> there have been over 500 arrests and as of last night there were
>>large
>>> crowds in many different areas of the curfewed area (of which I
>>LIVE!)
>>> Egad...I'm living in a war zone.  I just wish people would go home
>>and
>>> find a better way to make their point.
>>>
>>>
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> ___________________________________________________________________
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