New wave demonstrators strike at Tampere

HELSINKI. If you were to witness a representative of the WTO lecture at a prestigious textile seminar dressed in skin tight, gold-colored overalls, would you believe your eyes?

Would you accuse this man of being a charlatan if he advertised his overalls as representing "the most efficient possible method of labor control, where the management receives a continuous stream of impulses from, depending on how business is going"?

At least the organizers of the Fibers and textiles of the future -seminar and the 150 people in attendance last thursday seemed to believe that Hank Hardy Unruh, a representative of the WTO who delivered the opening presentation, was the real thing. The same seminar was addressed by EU commissar Erkki Liikanen the next day.

"Hank Hardy Unruh" of the WTO was featured in a large picture in the financial section of Friday's Aamulehti. At the end of the rather businesslike article on the textile seminar, Hank expounded voluminously on the advantages of the suit. "By using this suit, a manager can stay in constant contact with his subordinates, who are all carrying tiny receivers. This is strongest possible kind of leadership, the paper quoted the WTO representative.

No doubts were voiced even when Unruh ripped open his overalls. An object the shape and size of a baseball bat rose out of his groin area, inflated by a carbonic acid cartridge.

"The lecture was a success. He started out dressed normally. Everyone was wonderibng why he had a zipper down his back." says professor Pertti Nousiainen from the Institute of Fibre Materials Science, who organized the seminar. He says no one opposed the man's opinions, not to mention suspect him of being a fake.

Nousiainen contacted Mike Moore, the general director of the WTO, via the internet and asked for someone to give a presentation at the institute's 90th anniversary seminar. Moore e-mailed Nousiainen to inform him that he could not attend personally, but could send Hank Hardy Unruh of the WTO in his place. Unfortunately, the e-mail was not sent by Mike Moore.

In reality, Hank hardy Unruh is a member of the Yes Men, an organization that operates on the internet (http://www.theyesmen.org). The members use pseudonyms in their artistic endeavors. The members of the Yes Men occasionally receive invitations to give presentations at seminars and conferences, because they own the internet address of GATT, a predecessor of the World Trade Organization. The pages look very much like the WTO pages, with their contact information, although the cheery attitude and loads of anti-globalisation links would seem to indicate otherwise.

"We don't see this as pranks or performance art", Hank HArdy Unruh says when reached in Paris. "It's more like a stylish way to demonstrate. And a way to show that the people making the decisions are all mixed up." The purpose is to get people to think about how much hogwash they are willing to swallow as long as it comes from a reputable source. "By appearing in the name of the WTO, you can present murder as a justified course of action, regardless of the intelligence and educational level of the audience," Hank Hardy Unruh says.

The Yes Men -organization says that the presentation and video from the Tampere seminar will be available at their website late Wednesday evening.

http://www.helsinginsanomat.fi/tuoreet/juttu.asp?id=20010822OL24&pvm=20010822