WTO Riots in Geneva...

[GRG55]

Usually when one associates Switzerland with bankers, not burnt out cars in Geneva...:p

Spoke earlier today with a biz associate of mine who happens to be in Geneva this week. He said the protestors attacked the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues, where he's staying, and broke many of the ground floor windows before the police could stop them.

WTO Geneva Summit Prefaced by Riot

Cars Burned, Windows Broken in Protest of World Trade Meeting; Police Respond With Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets; 14 Arrested

(CBS/AP) Police with water cannon fired tear gas and rubber bullets Saturday to separate violent demonstrators from a protest opposing a meeting of top world trade officials, but the hooded "black bloc" activists were able to cause damage before 14 were arrested, spokesmen said.

The protesters set fire to at least four cars, broke shop windows and committed other acts of violence Saturday, police spokesman Patrick Puhl said...

...Police said the 3,000 protesters included three distinct groups of troublemakers who broke away to attack cars and hotel and shop windows, then rejoined the march, pretending to be peaceful. Organizers claimed there were about 5,000 protesters in total...

..."They also damaged 12 businesses, including a bank at Place Bel-Air and a jewelry shop and a hotel on the Quai des Bergues," he said...

[GRG55]

Re: WTO Riots in Geneva...

Two days in a row...Switzerland in the news again this morning...

Swiss projected to OK ban on new minarets

Right-wing initiative regards mosques’ spires as symbols of militant Islam


updated 8:57 a.m. ET Nov. 29, 2009

GENEVA - Swiss voters approved a move to ban the construction of minarets in a Sunday vote on a right-wing initiative that labeled the mosque towers as symbols of militant Islam, projections by a widely respected polling institute showed.

The projections based on partial returns say Swiss swung from only 37 percent supporting the proposal a week ago to 59 percent in the actual voting.

Claude Longchamp, leader of the widely respected gfs.bern polling institute, said the projection contracted by state-owned DRS television forecasts approval of the initiative by more than half the country's 26 cantons, meaning it will become a constitutional amendment...

[c1ue]

Re: WTO Riots in Geneva...

GRG,

I'm not so sure this is really new.

I did some work in Geneva in 1998; there were WTO riots then too.

Unfortunately it appears there is a significant demographic of 'free trade' related hooligans much in the vein as soccer hooligans - rightly or wrongly...

[Starving Steve]

Re: WTO Riots in Geneva...

Hooligans are a good word to describe the WTO-protesters.

Why protest free-trade? And recently we had protesters of the Olympic Movement and the Olympics at Whistler, BC. Why?

There is so darn much to protest now that ought to be protested, why protest positive things like free-trade, the WTO, the Olympic Movement, and the winter Olympics at Whistler?

I have big quarrels with the kids to-day. They have to really stop smoking pot and start to put the world into perspective; the things worth protesting are fascism, Hitlerism, religious fundamentalism, terrorism, poverty, inflation, devaluations, fiat money, central banking, corruption, dark markets, bail-outs, Hamas, the Taliban, Al Qaide, xenophobia, English-only, falling living-standards, over-population, lack of economic growth, the ridiculous curriculum in schools and universities, nationalism, etc.......... So many things to protest, why aren't kids protesting these things? :confused:

[Shakespear]

Re: WTO Riots in Geneva...

There is so darn much to protest now that ought to be protested, why protest positive things like free-trade, the WTO, the Olympic Movement, and the winter Olympics at Whistler?

Well said Steve !!!!

I would add, "It's so old fashion"

[KGW]

Re: WTO Riots in Geneva...

Could it be that "free-trade, the WTO," et al, are intimately linked with "religious fundamentalism, terrorism, poverty, inflation, devaluations, fiat money, central banking, corruption, dark markets, bail-outs," et al?

Naw, can't be true! Stupid kids!

Hooligans are a good word to describe the WTO-protesters.

Why protest free-trade? And recently we had protesters of the Olympic Movement and the Olympics at Whistler, BC. Why?

There is so darn much to protest now that ought to be protested, why protest positive things like free-trade, the WTO, the Olympic Movement, and the winter Olympics at Whistler?

I have big quarrels with the kids to-day. They have to really stop smoking pot and start to put the world into perspective; the things worth protesting are fascism, Hitlerism, religious fundamentalism, terrorism, poverty, inflation, devaluations, fiat money, central banking, corruption, dark markets, bail-outs, Hamas, the Taliban, Al Qaide, xenophobia, English-only, falling living-standards, over-population, lack of economic growth, the ridiculous curriculum in schools and universities, nationalism, etc.......... So many things to protest, why aren't kids protesting these things? :confused:

[marvenger]

Re: WTO Riots in Geneva...

well said. As EJ has said there never has been free trade. The WTO's idea of free trade is for US and Europe with their information asymmetries to persuade the developing world to open their markets while they themselves as part of the negotiation reduce their direct agricultural subsidies but up their indirect subsidies which they allow and know the developing world can't compete with. End result being cheap food dumped in developing countires from the developed, small developing world farmers left with debts they can't pay as they adopt western methods to try to increase yields but can't produce financial surplus due to artificially low prices, therefore no investment to increase yields, therefore losing land, therefore poverty and starvation, all the things starving steve has problem with but has no idea what causes them. The agricultural revolution created the surplus that allowed the industrialisation in the developed world, with resultant surplus labour then spreading around the world. The developing world isn't being allowed to have their agricultural revolution and the displaced have no where to go. Free markets aren't the solution, fair trade maybe, so the south can generate surplus to invest how they deem appropriate. 3 billion people have their livelihood dependent on small scale agriculture, and a few million free trade proponents in the developed world are hell bent on making their lives a complete fricken misery.

[Diarmuid]

Re: WTO Riots in Geneva...

well said. As EJ has said there never has been free trade. The WTO's idea of free trade is for US and Europe with their information asymmetries to persuade the developing world to open their markets while they themselves as part of the negotiation reduce their direct agricultural subsidies but up their indirect subsidies which they allow and know the developing world can't compete with. End result being cheap food dumped in developing countires from the developed, small developing world farmers left with debts they can't pay as they adopt western methods to try to increase yields but can't produce financial surplus due to artificially low prices, therefore no investment to increase yields, therefore losing land, therefore poverty and starvation, all the things starving steve has problem with but has no idea what causes them. The agricultural revolution created the surplus that allowed the industrialisation in the developed world, with resultant surplus labour then spreading around the world. The developing world isn't being allowed to have their agricultural revolution and the displaced have no where to go. Free markets aren't the solution, fair trade maybe, so the south can generate surplus to invest how they deem appropriate. 3 billion people have their livelihood dependent on small scale agriculture, and a few million free trade proponents in the developed world are hell bent on making their lives a complete fricken misery.

Bravo Bravo - for anyone interested Vandana Shiva discusses in this video, along with other distressing issues.

Vandana Shiva: The Future of Food and Seed - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

[marvenger]

Re: WTO Riots in Geneva...

awesome video, couldn't agree more. love the parts on how dominant world focuses on the yeilds of these these few crops and forgets the overall productions of all the species in the soil involved in recycling and creating micronutrients etc and the importance of diversity and the only way to have large production, not large yield, is to have small scale agriculture where this abundance be nurtured in the complexity specific to its own environment. Awesome!

[DToM67]

Re: WTO Riots in Geneva...

well said. As EJ has said there never has been free trade. The WTO's idea of free trade is for US and Europe with their information asymmetries to persuade the developing world to open their markets while they themselves as part of the negotiation reduce their direct agricultural subsidies but up their indirect subsidies which they allow and know the developing world can't compete with. End result being cheap food dumped in developing countires from the developed, small developing world farmers left with debts they can't pay as they adopt western methods to try to increase yields but can't produce financial surplus due to artificially low prices, therefore no investment to increase yields, therefore losing land, therefore poverty and starvation, all the things starving steve has problem with but has no idea what causes them. The agricultural revolution created the surplus that allowed the industrialisation in the developed world, with resultant surplus labour then spreading around the world. The developing world isn't being allowed to have their agricultural revolution and the displaced have no where to go. Free markets aren't the solution, fair trade maybe, so the south can generate surplus to invest how they deem appropriate. 3 billion people have their livelihood dependent on small scale agriculture, and a few million free trade proponents in the developed world are hell bent on making their lives a complete fricken misery.

Thank you! Every now and then I am pleasantly surprised by a post from someone who 'gets it'.

Steve: you forgot prohibition... of marijuana :p ;)

[Supercilious]

Re: WTO Riots in Geneva...

Why protest free-trade? And recently we had protesters of the Olympic Movement and the Olympics at Whistler, BC. Why?

Things are a little bit more complicated. The so called free trade of the WTO is not really free (China and many other countries have not opened their markets while they export like there is no tomorrow) and has little to do with trade in the classical meaning of the word.
The WTO (which has been born out of the unholy union between GATT and the destruction of the Glass-Steagal act, with investment banks acting in the role of incubus ) is nothing else than a scam intended to destroy the middle class of America, send the people of thirld world countries (especially China) into dollar slavery, and pump up the corporate profits of large FIRE entities to the sky.

For those of you who remember the heaven promised by GATT and 'free trade', I believe this clip would bring back sweet memories ;)
(This is an extraordinary Charlie Rose interview with Sir Goldsmith and Laura Tyson)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...5078176641728#

I have big quarrels with the kids to-day. They have to really stop smoking pot and start to put the world into perspective; the things worth protesting are fascism, Hitlerism, religious fundamentalism, terrorism, poverty, inflation, devaluations, fiat money, central banking, corruption, dark markets, bail-outs, Hamas, the Taliban, Al Qaide, xenophobia, English-only, falling living-standards, over-population, lack of economic growth, the ridiculous curriculum in schools and universities, nationalism, etc.......... So many things to protest, why aren't kids protesting these things? :confused:

Well said. In truth, probably most of those kids, simply needed to indulge in some vandalism and have a heroic and good ideological excuse for their parents...

(We really talk like old people )


(I've just seen Mega has posted this excellent interview on another thread. Sorry for repetition.)

[medved]

Re: WTO Riots in Geneva...

Why protest free-trade? And recently we had protesters of the Olympic Movement and the Olympics at Whistler, BC. Why?

There is so darn much to protest now that ought to be protested, why protest positive things like free-trade, the WTO, the Olympic Movement, and the winter Olympics at Whistler?

I have big quarrels with the kids to-day. They have to really stop smoking pot and start to put the world into perspective; the things worth protesting are fascism, Hitlerism, religious fundamentalism, terrorism, poverty, inflation, devaluations, fiat money, central banking, corruption, dark markets, bail-outs, Hamas, the Taliban, Al Qaide, xenophobia, English-only, falling living-standards, over-population, lack of economic growth, the ridiculous curriculum in schools and universities, nationalism, etc.......... So many things to protest, why aren't kids protesting these things? :confused:

There is nothing good about free trade, just like there is nothing bad about English-only.

Currently “Free trade” is a con game, it is just a continuation of the same con we have in the financial markets. I see no obligation on the part of the US to be totally open for the Chinese exports. It is equivalent to living organisms exchanging body fluids with each other without limitations. Reasonable trade barriers are necessary. I would imagine, US will need e.g. lower barriers towards Canada and higher barriers towards Russia. The closer different countries get to each other in terms of political and economic cooperation, the lower the barriers.

In the current situation any “open” and “international” cooperation is a way for the companies to get away from their shareholders and for the politicians to get away from their voters. This violates any notion of sovereignty.

English-only is necessary for the same reason, you cannot make this country to be everything for everybody. People need to have some respect for the country and its traditions. If you want to live in the US, learn English. I know tons of immigrants that did it (including my not so young parents). English is the official language of the US, period. For those who disagree I propose to require knowledge of Russian (it is just as good as Spanish).

[Shakespear]

Re: WTO Riots in Geneva...

I never heard about him :-(

The Sir Goldsmith interview is like a thunderbolt. Simply amazing how well he explains the issues as is able to deal with Ms. Tyson. In light of what is going on today I would say he was right. 35 min. into the video he makes his most sensible argument why it is all bad, GATT.

It is interesting observing Tyson and how with her "image" she sells GATT. As she says "The facts speak for themselves", yehh, which set of facts. That matter of fact and squeaky voice has its own drug like effect.

Charlie Rose November 15 1994

In the 1997 election, Goldsmith stood as a candidate in the London parliamentary constituency of Putney, against Tory cabinet minister David Mellor.
Goldsmith stood no chance of victory, but the declaration made for one of the most memorable moments of the entire election - Mellor lost his seat to the Labour candidate and was subsequently taunted by Goldsmith (who clapped his hands slowly and chanted "out, out, out!") and other candidates.

Goldsmith died in 1997 of pancreatic cancer, aged 64.

PS: This video is simply amazing. At 50 min. Sir |Goldsmith in 1994 says what is wrong with the Stock Market and hits it on the head !!!!! This is Just Too Much !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Chomsky]

Re: WTO Riots in Geneva...

Symbols sighting!

[renewable]

Re: WTO Riots in Geneva...

I have big quarrels with the kids to-day. They have to really stop smoking pot and start to put the world into perspective; the things worth protesting are fascism, Hitlerism, religious fundamentalism, terrorism, poverty, inflation, devaluations, fiat money, central banking, corruption, dark markets, bail-outs, Hamas, the Taliban, Al Qaide, xenophobia, English-only, falling living-standards, over-population, lack of economic growth, the ridiculous curriculum in schools and universities, nationalism, etc.......... So many things to protest, why aren't kids protesting these things? :confused:

How does one protest against Al-Qaida? Attempt to storm the CIA headquaters?

Article written by the former UK secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/ju...y7.development

Bin Laden was, though, a product of a monumental miscalculation by western security agencies. Throughout the 80s he was armed by the CIA and funded by the Saudis to wage jihad against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. Al-Qaida, literally "the database", was originally the computer file of the thousands of mujahideen who were recruited and trained with help from the CIA to defeat the Russians. Inexplicably, and with disastrous consequences, it never appears to have occurred to Washington that once Russia was out of the way, Bin Laden's organisation would turn its attention to the west.