FBI started surveillance of Occupy before it occupied

[G_j]

43. Seattle National Lawyers Guild: Report on WTO Ministerial

just a reminder of what it means to confront the 'powers that be'

http://www.ratical.org/co-globalize/nlg070700.html

(Jan. 2000)

The Seattle Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild has just released its report on the World Trade Organization Ministerial. The report examines what took place in Seattle as an example of larger trends brought about by destructive economic policies. The report pays particular attention to the thinning lines between law enforcement and the military and the adverse effects this loss of delineation is having on civil liberties. The report begins with an overview of the WTO. It provides the historical framework of the WTO as an institution born of the think tanks which were themselves created by the illicit fortunes of the robber barons. It provides concrete examples of the way the WTO has subverted democratic institutions, and had detrimental effects on human rights, the environment, safety and labor laws.

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The report then examines the thinning lines between the military, who are trained to kill, and law enforcement who are trained to preserve lives. It examines the way military tactics, training and weaponry have come to dominate law enforcement. Citing testimony of law enforcement professionals, the report then traces the disastrous effect this blending of the two has had on the fabric of democracy and members of law enforcement themselves. It examines the disastrous way this dynamic has played out in the past and the disastrous way this dynamic played out during the WTO Ministerial. Citing past work in the field, the report shows how such trends can endanger both the fabric of democratic society and the law enforcement officers themselves.

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