Next time, RSVP

The organizers of Monday night’s official, august, exclusive, invitation-only opening reception for WTO ministers, corporate lobbyists and VIPs laid out a lavish spread for 5,000 expected guests inside the Washington State Stadium Exhibition Center. Oops. Maybe it was the rain. Maybe it was the rumored boycott by the Dutch delegation, who objected to the sponsorship of corporations like Boeing and Microsoft. Or maybe it was the 14,000 Jubilee 200 protesters outside who succeeded in circling the center with a human chain. In any event, says our spy (how’d he get in?) there were 1,000 people, tops, at the peak. Now, what to do with all that seafood, sushi and rack of lamb? The Observer bets the Seattle churches that set up encampments for the WTO-rousted homeless could make use of it.

Touchy, touchy

Apparently the WTO has seen fit to respond on its official website to a 10-point critique written and distributed by Juliette Beck of the California Fair Trade Campaign. Now that will be sure to silence her from speaking out for workers’ rights and the environment.

Free trade creates jobs for security guards

People going to the convention center Monday for the NGO forum say just that getting inside is an exhausting activity. Once you locate the single entrance to the convention center, you have to submit your bags for x-raying, your equipment for inspection, and your credentials for examination by a crew of uniformed guards.Not only is this level of security a pain, but it’s also a major disincentive for WTO officials ever to leave the enclosure. Which makes it less likely that the ministers will attend protests or teach-ins, or interact in any substantive way with civil society.

No horsing around

At a protest Monday in front of the convention center, mounted police officers were using their horses to force the demonstrators back. Turns out they picked the wrong group of protesters, most of whom were from the Humane Society. As the police mounts edged into the crowd, the officers had to bellow from their bullhorns: "Don’t pet the horses."

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