No, I have not just been sleeping in bed. Yes, it was a long night–again…the hot party of the night was at The Samba Room, courtesy of Planned Parenthood, where a darn good DJ kept the place hopping (I, of course, participated in the close-contact sport of dancing). It’s just hard to blog here first thing when you’re running from one place to another (and also trying to comply with the very dumb DNC credentialing procedure, which requires that you get your ass over to a hotel to get a new credential each day…what a waste of time).

   Anyway, just came from a panel discussion on a new movie called "The Battle in Seattle". The flick describes the events in 1999 when tens of thousands of trade activists, mostly union members, shut down Seattle during the meetings of the World Trade Organization. It was a turning point in the fight against so-called "free trade", which culminated in the collapse of the trade talks in Doha. The panel brought together Teamsters president Jim Hoffa and Steelworkers president Leo Gerard, both of whom lead the labor protests in Seattle; the director, Stuart Townsend, and actress Charlize Theron, who is one of the cast in the film.

   To get to the activism part right away, if you go the film’s website, you can actually arrange to have the film seen. Do it. People need to be reminded, as Gerard said, what happened in Seattle. As Gerard described it, the protests lifted the rock up that had covered up what the WTO was up to. Hoffa spoke positively about the "chaos" that was created–and essentially said we need more chaos these days to continue to shake up the status quo.

   One thing I liked about Townsend’s perspective–he wanted to do a feature film, not a documentary, because he wanted people to be entertained and inspired at the same time. Jeez, if only progressives could understand that there is not a contradiction between entertainment AND politics.

   To really make sure the stake is driven through the heart of so-called "Free trade", this movie needs to get wide distribution. Hollywood did not want it made–the financing came from outside the country and it was filmed in Canada. So, it’s up to union members. leaders anad activists to give it a home.

   Of course, in typical convention fashion, mojitos, margaritas and other drinks were served to the audience at the restaurant where the panel took place–at 11 a.m.!!! I declined to drink. I can’t start at 11 and make it the whole day–not at my advanced age.