When the organizers of the World Economic Forum decided to move their annual meeting to Manhattan they did it to show "solidarity" with New Yorkers. Anti-corporate globalization activists say they also did it to quash dissent as in these times, anything that might upset New Yorkers is seen as unpatriotic--even terrorist-like. Not all activists are letting themselves be manipulated or cowed by the heavy police presence in the Big Apple though.

NEW YORK--You expect to see a lot of them whenever you enter the United States, but in New York these days they have become so ubiquitous you can spot them on every corner.

They are everywhere: fluttering from the antennas of taxis, hanging off fire escapes, taped in the windows of laundromats, displaying the colorphotocopying capabilities of stationary stories and helping to sell everything from Levi's jeans to Arizona Ice Tea.

"If you think there are a lot of (American) flags now, you should have seen New York right after," says Lailah Bragin, a 21-year-old anarchist who was born and bred in Brooklynn.

By "after" she is of course refering to time following the bombing of the twin towers; an event that has changed the psyche of New Yorkers as much as it has changed the skyline and the city's lexicon.

Obviously, the destruction of the twin towers and the loss of five thousand people was a traumatizing experience for a city that had never before been attacked—or even thought anyone would try and attack it "before 9-11."

The flags are like colorful Band-Aids both protecting and drawing attention to the city's wounds. It seems that patriotism—and the mostly-unquestioned belief that the United States is responding in a just and expedient way to the attack—is what has helped the majority of New Yorkers pull through the ordeal.

Negative side-effects of the rise in nationalism have also been documented though: including that people who question the extent of the US's war on terror are viewed as unpatriotic, and those who try to explain what might have prompted the terrorists to attack the World Trade Centre in the first place are almost viewed as traitors.

In the days leading up to the 30th annualWorld Economic Forum, anyone planning to protest the January 31 to February 4 meeting is being similarly tarred—or even being accused of being terrorist-like.

According to the WEF website, the forum is where “1,000 top business leaders, 250 political leaders, 250 foremost academic experts in every domain...and some 250 media leaders come together to shape the global agenda." A company's "size and economic impact