I Am a Dangerous Publisher
The Stranger's "I Am a Dangerous Terrorist" WTO baseball caps are a big hit. City council members like Jim Compton and lefty Nick Licata are sporting them at city hall, and P-I columnist Jean Godden came to our offices to buy up nearly 20. Now all 500 hats are gone. However, proud owners of the soon-to-be collectibles might want to take note of the label: Made in Bangladesh. Yikes. The Stranger news team checked out Bangladesh's labor record, and the picture isn't pretty. The average wage in Bangladesh is around 15 cents an hour -- one of the lowest in the world. Moreover, according to a 1996 survey by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, Bangladesh has 6.3 million working children between the ages of five and 14 -- most often doing unpaid labor. Says Stranger Promotions Coordinator Kevin Patnik, "We sold the hats for $5, but they cost $8.50 to make. So we're taking a loss, just like those people in Bangladesh." Stranger publisher Tim Keck, vacationing in Rio, would not return phone calls. NANCY DREW
It's a Gas, Gas, Gas!
I'd always been curious about what tear gas or pepper spray actually does to a person, and thanks to the Seattle Police Department, I now know. During the big morning protest on Tuesday (the unsanctioned one), the SPD used the stuff to clear the entire block on Sixth Avenue between Pike and Union -- where I happened to be standing along with 100 to 200 others. Evidently, the police were trying to clear the crowd before it got too big. After giving three warnings and giving the press advance notice, a brigade of a dozen cops sporting gas masks fired the canisters at the ground.
From a distance, tear gas doesn't look so bad -- just a white mass of smoke that gently drifts up off the street. But once it actually hits, you buckle over. You cough and wheeze and feel your stomach cramping. Your eyes immediately turn red and puffy, as every fluid in your head seems to be trying to escape at once. It only lasts for about 30 seconds, but it's completely effective. Like everyone else on that block, I was forced to drop back, giving the SPD the turf they were after. In the early evening, the SPD struck again, firing more rounds of gas and stun grenades to disperse protesters after Mayor Paul Schell declared a "civil emergency" and a downtown 7pm curfew. BRADLEY STEINBACHER
