“Heat Wave”, “Hot” is the way the weather is being described. How hot is it? 83 degrees. But around here, that’s something special. And for May 1 it is unusual, perhaps a record. I seem to be coping just fine, thank you.
A traditional May Day demonstration is under way in downtown Seattle, to emphasize issues concerning labor and immigration. Also traditionally, some violence and property damage is expected to downtown stores. Destructive demonstrations are fairly regular now in Seattle, with the SPD having advanced their response a long ways since the WTO 1999 riots.
It’s simple economics. An anarchist breaks the front window at the Nike store, it costs 5 thousand dollars to Nike. Arrest someone that breaks the window, they get off for lack of evidence or botched procedures, and the City pays 10 thousand for false arrest. If the window breaker has suffered injury during arrest, it’s a million.
So SPD makes a deal with the demonstrators: You can have the streets if you can keep the violence down, and might we suggest a better parade route? Buses are re-routed, businesses take a day off, and Nike builds a window replacement into it’s annual budget. It’s a helluva lot cheaper doing it this way.
So far, nothing too drmatic has happened, but it’s a scorcher this evening, you know?