A couple of thoughts about blocking traffic:

1. Here in Toronto, the marches are held on streets in the downtown core, where there is plenty of subway service; I expect that this is true of most of the big urban marches. If, as many anti-war protestors believe, this war is being fought for oil, then our society's dependence on cars is part of the problem. So there is a certain appropriateness in causing inconvenience to the people who insist on driving into the downtown core. If they took the subway, they wouldn't be held up.

2. Some protestors want to be arrested; either to demonstrate the depth of their anger over this war, or to spite the system by clogging up the jails and courts, or both. The problem is, most actions that will get you arrested are unethical - so what's a person who wants to get in trouble, but doesn't want to do anything unethical, to do? Since they don't have draft cards to burn, one non-violent and non-destructive way to court arrest is to block traffic without a permit.

Oh, and about ambulances... I've seen an ambulance intersect a protest march once, and of course the marchers quickly parted to let it through. I expect that the dispatchers stay informed about what streets are blocked and tell the drivers to avoid them. What have been your experiences?

Marion