Heads of states and heads of governments from the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are scheduled to be in Chicago for a major summit. The summit is the first NATO summit to be hosted in an American city other than Washington, DC. It has already received attention because “dignitaries” attending will be deliberating over what to do next to effectively wind down the war in Afghanistan, which will likely involve some kind of long term troop occupation even if some US and coalition forces are withdrawn.

Protesters in Chicago have spent many months planning demonstrations and events to call attention to what they call the “war and poverty agenda” of NATO.

Welcome to a parallel universe. A casual onlooker might mistake it for our own. The same people run their Congress and their Democratic National Committee. The same election results toss out half the Republicans in 2006 and the rest in 2008. But in our universe, those events were recorded as the triumphs of smart folks like Rahm Emanuel and David Plouffe, winning despite the ruinous work of the DNC. In Herding Donkeys, Ari Berman reports from a place where Howard Dean deserves the credit.

The Obama Administration recently announced the G8 summit would be moved from Chicago to the secluded Camp David. For most of Chicago, the announcement was confounding. The city had been preparing for months and now, just over two months before the summit was to take place, Mayor Rahm Emanuel lost the privilege to host the summit and show off the city to some major world leaders. But you can understand why they did this.

These days Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy sounds like an exception to the rule, a head of a police department who shows an unusual understanding of what can happen if police violate citizens’ civil liberties. As the NATO/G8 summits near, he is a sober voice who appears to be trying to calm down local reporters or business leaders in Chicago that believe chaos will ensue when people come out to demonstrate against the NATO and G8 summits being held May 19-21.

Chicago Mayor Emanuel wants to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on new policy shields because his police chief has an irrational fear that demonstrators at the G8/NATO summits plan to throw feces and urine at police. There is no evidence to support this fear or any reported incidents it ever happened. In fact, demonstrators even adopted pacts to assure police it was a fantasy.

A contracting firm that specializes in anti-terrorism and force protection training, consulting and management services has been hired to train Cook County Sheriff’s Police in the run-up to the NATO-G8 meetings that are to be held in Chicago in May of this year.

The selling and marketing of upcoming G8 and NATO meetings has fully commenced. The slogan has been unveiled for the meetings: “The Global Crossroads.” The meetings will be all about taking the “global stage.” But, as the host committee for the meetings and business organizations, which plan to promote the event, try to convince media to focus on the “benefits,” tens of thousands of people are expected to come to Chicago to protest the meetings that will take place May 19-21.

To help folks separate spin from fact, we’ve put together this analysis to help you understand how local rules have changed in ways that undercut protest and political speech. While these revisions will not deter us from speaking out and protesting, they do change the excuses the police may use to try to prevent us from protesting.

It’s also important that we understand these changes so we can educate our friends and neighbors – and fight for meaningful change that puts people’s rights and the greater good ahead of the fear-mongering and greed that drove Mayor 1%’s push for these changes.

Ahead of the overlapping G-8 and NATO summits in Chicago May 19th-21st Mayor Rahm Emanuel has ramped up the repression of principled dissent in a city that has quite the history of it. New restrictions on parades and demonstrations go far beyond current rules.

The city of Chicago has finally awarded a permit to Chicago groups seeking to organize a demonstration during an upcoming NATO/G8 meeting, but the city now claims the parameters of the permit awarded depend on the federal government.

Joe Iosbaker, lead organizer of the NATO/G8 Working Group in Chicago, reports the permit process will be scrutinized by the Secret Service. They may allow a protest in the location and a march on the route approved by the city or they may not. It all depends on the “security perimeter” that is set around McCormick Place, the convention center where the meetings are to be held from May 15 to May 22. And, it also depends on the “security perimeter” set around the five major hotels up and down Michigan Avenue where heads of state and other officials are expected to be staying.