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We Should Be There Right Now, But We're Writing These Dumb Headlines Instead

In one of the largest protests in recent history, tens of thousands are taking to the streets of Seattle today to demonstrate against the World Trade Organization, which officially launches four days of trade talks today. Some 2,000 protestors marched through downtown yesterday to proclaim their view that the WTO and its free trade policies […]

What the demonstrators are fighting for

SEATTLE, Wash. In the USA today, according to USA Today, the holiday shopping season opened with a 6.4 percent jump in sales from last year. The Labor Department reported that personal income rose at the fastest pace in more than five years last month. Donald Trump vowed to spend $100 million of his own money […]

Raj Patel, anti-WTO activist

Raj Patel has worked for both the WTO and World Bank, and is currently active in campaigns against them. He is based in Ithaca, N.Y., where he is a Ph.D. student at Cornell University and a co-editor of the Voice of the Turtle. Monday, 29 Nov 1999 SEATTLE, Wash. Seattle is a beautiful city, nestled […]

Where to go for the word on the WTO

216.122.30.133/wto This exhaustive calendar lists all the action in Seattle. www.worldtradeobserver.org The World Trade Observer provides daily coverage of the events in Seattle and includes magazine-style articles, as well as a very good list of links to other news resources. www.tidepool.org/id.wto.html Tidepool’s WTO coverage includes well-organized links to news articles and other online resources. thenation.com/1999/991206.shtml […]

There's a Place in France Where the Mad Protestors Dance

Some 5,000 environmentalists, farmers, and other French citizens marched through Paris on Saturday to demand that the World Trade Organization put people before profits at its ministerial meeting that begins in Seattle tomorrow. Activists in Seattle have already picked up the torch and begun demonstrating, holding rallies, and attending teach-ins. More than 50,000 protestors are […]

Whales Get a Really, Really, Really Big Sanctuary

France, Italy, and Monaco on Thursday created the first whale sanctuary north of the equator, an area in the Mediterranean Sea twice the size of Switzerland. Thirteen cetacean species live in the area for some portion of the year, including fin, pilot, and sperm whales and four dolphin species. The three nations signed a treaty […]

Dry Me a River

More than half of the world’s major rivers are polluted or are going dry, according to the World Commission on Water for the 21st Century, which is meeting at The Hague, Netherlands. The degradation of waterways and surrounding river basins threatens the health and livelihoods of people who depend on rivers for drinking water, irrigation, […]

Once Bitten, But Not Shy at All

Ukraine restarted the last working nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl power plant on Friday after almost five months of repairs, ignoring strong international pressure to shut it down. Ukrainian officials had previously agreed to close the reactor by the end of this year, but they have now pushed the date forward to sometime next year, […]

Exhortin' Us to Hear the WHO

Environmental degradation increasingly threatens the existence of the world’s 300 million indigenous people, as do disease and poverty, according to a report released Friday by the World Health Organization. For example, populations in the Arctic have been exposed to very high levels of industrial contaminants. Native peoples in Alaska often lack safe drinking water and […]

Ashes, Ashes, We All Burn Down

The world’s first solar-powered crematorium is being built in the Indian state of Gujarat, and it will save about 660 pounds of firewood for each body cremated. A 540-square-foot solar dish will reflect the sun’s rays onto a specially built coffin, taking two to three hours to reduce a body to ashes. The dish cost […]