RED RAG READING'S ONLY NEWSPAPER. FREE ... FREE ... FREE ... Copy for next time: Thurs. 11 - - - The Story So Far: Yes, you too can be happy and successful like us. It's quite simple, all you have to do is follow the instructions in Red Rag's famous Going Out Guide... Meanwhile, somewhere in Reading! "Quick, get this address to Red Rag Distribution at Acorn (17 Chatham St.) or ring them at 666681. And may the Rag be with you. But: "Yes, chief, ever since I started reading Red Rag's Events page I've had this terrible averion to rooting out subversives." (To be continued) - - - Going Out: 663083 Distribution: 61257,66668l Or write to us c/o Acorn, 17 Chatham St, Reading. Donations desperately needed via Acorn or 31h Milman Rd. Getting in touch with the Rag: News: 599804,61257,666681 Events/Directory: 666681 - - - RED PAGES So far we have had entries for this, Red Rag's alternative directory to the Reading area, from:- WEA, WEA Industrial Branch, Rape Crisis Collective, Centre for the Unemployed, Legalise Cannabis Campaign, Samaritans, Reading City Farm, SWP, Thames Valley Natural Health Centre, Anarchists, World Education Berkshire, Animal rights contact group, Ecology Party, Pregnancy testing service, Friends of the Earth, FoE Cycle Campaign, Gay Soc, Pagans Against Nukes, Centre of Cernunnos and Ceridwen, Returned Volunteer Action, Development Society, Labour Party, Communist Party, "Drat", Animal Liberation and Hunt Saboteurs, Socialist Educational Association. We intend to bring out the first version of the directory together with the next issue: if you're feeling left out get your entry in THIS WEEK - by Sat 6th November. A form is available in Acorn, which asks for: name, address, phone no, aims, no of members, what heading you'd like to appear under, how to join or get involved, structure (who makes the decisions and how), current and past activities, meetings, services and info provided, whether you're part of a national organisation, how you're funded. There's no need to use this form or answer those questions. Send your entry in now to: Red Rag Red Pages, c/o Acorn Bookshop, 17 Chatham St, Reading. You could even dictate it over the phone (666681) if you're that lazy. Help is badly wanted with the production of the directory - design, typing, graphics, layout. Please contact James on 666681. You could come to the Red Rag Collective meeting on Nov 7th. - - - NHS NEWS..... HIPPOCRATIC HYPOCRISY ETC As we all welcome the opening of the "Ken Thomas White Elephant" (not quite clear how they will manage to afford to run the thing), that wonderful machine that has been subsidising EMI's multinational empire for years, and as we start to wonder what power struggles are going on to determine who will use the scanner for whose patients and for how much, - here are some thoughts on private treatment in the NHS. What do the patients get out of private medicine? (Apart from ripped off!) They cut out a lot of waiting: they do not have to go through the usual round of outpatient appointments, but get into hospital whenever there is a bed free in the private ward (Greenlands, at the Royal Berks). Most private patients are there for non-emergency operations. They are nursed by NHS nurses (on NHS pay) and with NHS equipment. For all this they pay a fee to the NHS. The fees for the consultants (typically, the one in charge of you and the one who does the operation) are a private business matter - and pretty astronomical. No-one else makes any money out of it. So, private patients jump the queue (the queue for a bed rather than on the surgical lists once inside); they also get more access to the consultants. E.g. they are more likely to get the consultant rather than his registrar, or houseman doing their operation: a consultant would never come in himself to do an appendix at night for an NHS patient, but might for a private patient. Maybe only the highest fees entitle you to be told: "If you have any pains in the night, ring Dr---- (at home!)" - but it happens. The nursing you get is probably inferior: the more conscientious nurses are less likely to want to work in the private ward. You get a little room to yourself in Greenlands, your own individual meals on stainless steel dishes and the nurses aren't allowed to come in without your permission.... If you go to a private clinic you will pay even more for inferior facilities: again, the point is to avoid waiting. To consider one example: Berkshire has a very poor rate for NHS abortions, (in 1979, 46% (only!) of abortions nationally were NHS; a Royal Commission report that year recommended 75% as a reasonable rate. Berkshire with 23% was 12th on a blacklist published by 'Reason'.) Is this because the DHSS here is more fussy about accepting reasons for abortions? Well no. There is a private hospital on the Bath Road called Dunedin, and the NHS consultants are lining their pockets doing abortions there privately instead. The following consultants at the Royal Berks also work at Dunedin: Ross, Rothnie, Goodwin (general); Greenhalf, Holt, Stallebrass (gynaecology); Cox (medical); McGuire (ear nose and throat); Theman, Chesterman and Copeland (orthopaedic). So if you want an abortion and can't get one, try there! Some nurses there are so part time they only work one hour a week. Facilities, when they are not primitive (the operating theatre is on a different floor from the ward - and the lift only holds one person!), tend to be ripped off from the NHS. One theatre sister at the Royal Berks is notorious for over-ordering materials which end up at Dunedin. On one occasion a taxi was sent round to pick some stuff up: maybe this was necessary in an emergency, but it shows up how the private clinic relies on the NHS. During a strike it has been known for consultants, required by union agreements to cancel non-emergency admissions and surgical lists, simply to lie to the porters to get their patients through. Their concern is rather less marked towards mere NHS patients. Private medicine is completely parasitic on the NHS (the "private sector" has no training of its own). Still and all, why people get quite so worked up about private medicine is a tricky question: it is a fairly natural extension of the feudal power structure of the Health Service, where the doctors are paid vast sums for using expensive toys and having their boots licked by everyone else. The NHS is not and never was run in the interests of the patients but in those of the doctors.... But at least there's a decent veil of hypocrisy over things in the NHS. Ignoramus - - - A CITY FARM FOR READING? This story begins back in February 1980 when a small group of people thought that it would be a good idea if Reading had a city farm. (Digression - a city farm is not a farm. It is a small scale, community-based venture designed to allow local people to get involved in and develop a variety of interesting and worthwhile projects together. There are around 36 city farms in Britain now - all 'grass-root' initiatives - and they have proved to be a really successful idea. Activities centre on growing vegetables and looking after a limited number of animals, but very often other associated activities and facilities spring up, depending on local skills and enthusiasm. The city farm acts as a focus and an opportunity for people to develop their ideas and use their skills together.) The Reading City Farm Group met every week for over two years to battle through all the red tape and procedural matters that have to be gone through. This involved negotiating with the Borough's Parks and Recreation, and Planning Departments, talking to Councillors, writing and checking a constitution, and applying for charity status. To cut a long story short, we were given outline planning permission on a site between 4 and 7 acres on the Cowsey, which is a large piece of uncultivated land bounded by the Rabson Recreation Ground and Blagdon Road, Whitley. More months dragged by while we waited and negotiated further for a lease and charity status. Meantime, delays and frustration took its toll of the motivation and enthusiasm of the group and it almost collapsed. But not quite. The latest news is that we have been granted a lease and charity status. This means that the boring groundwork is done and things can really take off now. BUT, WE HEED NEW PEOPLE to help turn the last 2 1/2 years work into reality. We envisage first an informal public meeting with displays, talks and slides about the city farm idea and showing what has been done elsewhere, followed by an "Open Day" on site when practical activities can begin. The idea has much exciting potential. If you can help, would like details or know of anyone else that might be interested, please ring Helen Tranter on Rdg 64907. (The next meeting will be on Monday November 15 at Helen's house). - - - NEWS INDIGESTION PIG BREEDERS ANNUAL The Thames Valley Police Authority, in its annual report, has announced its intention to increase the number of pigs in local farms from 3100 to 4000. A pity - at the moment we have the lowest pig to people ratio in the country. The reason for this vast breeding programme is apparently a staggering increase in the local crime rate. Funny that, because a Home Office report (optimistically called 'Clearing up Crime'- maybe referring to HM Govt.'s declared intention to eradicate drug abuse by 1990?) reckons that more pigs don't lead to less crime (just more pig-shit)/ Meanwhile, after eight care-free years of what I presume must have been near Anarchy, Theale is to get its pig-sty back. Commiserations. LIFE, LIBERALS AND THE PURSUIT OF WARMTH It seems we have to make a choice. Avid readers of the Rag will recall that the Liberal group on the borough council was so opposed to the use of Brock Barracks as a shelter for the homeless that it took an unholy alliance of Labour and Conservatives to get the scheme approved. Now the Libs are delaying the shelter by procedural devices which are liable to drag on for some time. Last winter three homeless people FROZE TO DEATH on Reading's streets. The Liberals' pitiful whines about intrusions on the neighbourhood and the inconvenience to residents clearly shows their priorities: inconvenience outweighs frozen corpses. Nick MISUSE OF DRUGS WITH GAY ABANDON? A Reading man was recently arrested for possession of a small amount of cannabis; whilst in police custody he was questioned closely as to his sexual preferences, male or female? They asked in various ways, in fact they probably asked him more about this than about his smoking habits. Later they searched his room and started asking his landlord some very funny questions, not your usual delicate inquiry into personal concerns. No, more of a "That his bed then? Does his male friend sleep in it with him, eh?" Landlord: "Not him," the police are supposed to have looked really disappointed at this reply and just had to get on with the boring routine of wrecking the room in case they found something. Rather curious all this but then again it must get very dull for them and one way or another (AC/DC?) a little sexual ambiguity goes a long way on a night shift. Gay smokers of the weed watch out, you could get more than you bargained for in a body search, but then again it might not be s..oo.o unpleasant. I'm getting so long in the tooth these days that the boys in blue look young enough to be ahem well .... pretty enough to pet, or shouldn't I even think that sort of thing? Smacked wrists all round. Penelope (just waiting for my man but in the meantime boys will do) LETTERS - - - Dear Red Rag Co-ordinator (That you Nick? No, not me- is it you then Claire? Nah, ... well it ain't me...) A thought for your delectation (?).... During the interval of 'Cats'* I had cause to visit the Gents, where all men are equal (except the Americans... they will insist on playing with their ties while the rest of us just concentrate...), where I overheard two Germans decrying the production as "decadent". Having a strange sort of associative memory, I was reminded of Isherwood's descriptions in 'Goodbye to Berlin' wherein a Briton made similar claims about the Germans of the Thirties. The purpose of burdening you with this verbiage is the consequential thought: "If decadent Germany produced the Nazi Party, does this augur a General Election victory for Maggie (known to her diminishing number of employees as 'Attila the Hen')?" Name and Address suppressed in anticipation of visit from Y.C. Heavy Squad. - - - LETTER ANOTHER PRISONER For the second time this year an animal rights campaigner has been imprisoned. Brandon McNally was recently released after spending 2 1/2 months in Glen Parva Prison, Leicester on remand after taking part in a rabbit rescue raid on a laboratory. Now Patrick McFazean has been sentenced to 6 months imprisonment for his part in the demonstrations against the notorious Huntingdon Research Centre on August 30th. Most people who attended the demonstration against the Huntingdon animal torture centre were horrified at the excessive violence used by some of the police as they arrested, and attempted to arrest, demonstrators who were, quite rightly, trying to cross the fence and enter the grounds of the laboratory. Patrick McFazean (who is not a man of violence, but a vegetarian and worker at Cambridge Peace Centre) went to the aid of a demonstrator who was being roughed-up by the police as he lay helpless on the ground. As Patrick attempted to pull the police away from their victim he was himself arrested and charged with threatening behaviour and assault. When his case was heard at Huntingdon Magistrates Court on Tuesday October 19th Patrick was amazed to hear police officers telling the court a story that he had kicked and punched a police inspector. The magistrates refused to believe Patrick's evidence about what actually happened and sentenced him to 6 months imprisonment. We regard the sentence as absolutely disgraceful. We condemn the police violence at Huntingdon and fully support the right of animal rights protestors to self-defence and the defence of other protestors from police brutality. Patrick has put in an appeal and hopefully when this is heard at Peterborough Crown Court in the fairly near future the decision of the Huntingdon Magistrates will be overturned. He is hoping to get bail pending appeal but at the moment he languishes in Bedford Prison - another victim of the State's repression of animal rights campaigners. If Patrick has to remain in prison there will be demonstrations calling for his release. It is vital that all those who believe in animal rights make every effort to attend. Details will be sent to all animal rights groups and all local groups of the national antivivisection organisations. Twenty-one people altogether were charged in connection with the Huntingdon demo. Many have had to pay fines and costs. The total comes to several hundred pounds. Any donations should be sent to "SHUT" Defence Fund, c/o 5 Lowfields, Little Eversden, Cambs. FREE PATRICK McFAZEAN! DEFEND THE RIGHT OF ANIMAL RIGHTS CAMPAIGNERS TO SELF-DEFENCE AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY! VICTORY TO THE JUST STRUGGLE AGAINST ANIMAL OPPRESSION! Issued by the Animal Liberation Front. P.S. We do not support the use of uncalled for violence against the police. Neither do we support the throwing of stones at the police - as happened to a certain extent at Huntingdon. Such actions distract attention from the main objective - the entering of the laboratory premises - and are counter-productive. - - - RAINBOW PEACE TRAVELLERS ARE STILL HERE I'm sitting on Crookham Common surrounded by the remains of the Rainbow Peace Encampment, waiting for my cat to turn up, hoping she will turn up, cos she got very freaked out by this morning's eviction and ran off somewhere. So I'll take this opportunity to fill you in on what's happened to us since last week's eviction. After that spectacular event, we moved on to Crookham Common, three miles down the road, (the 'music gate') still next to the fence of USAF Greenham Common. We thought we might be left in peace there for a while. No. Within three days Newbury Council rushed through a summons to court. Two of us went, one of whom represented us brilliantly (still no lawyer will help us) but it was no good. We were required to leave immediately. Apparently the Council owns Crookham Common too - we didn't know that and were not convinced that they do. But the judge didn't want to know about that. So they gave us 48 hours to to go. Well that just wasn't enough and we explained that to Mr Harris of the Council legal department. We had to repair vehicles damaged in the first eviction. We had to get tow-bars fixed on all of them so that we could tow the caravans. Punctures needed repairing, new wheels and batteries were required, clutches were damaged... and we were practically penniless until Thursday. So we asked Mr Harris to be reasonable and he said he would be... He let us down badly. At 9.00 this morning, Thursday 8(?) October, the bailiffs turned up along with the usual crowd of workmen, policemen and one or two press. No time for breakfast (or dinner). Off now or we'll tow you off. Well, we had one battery between three trucks. One of the cars suddenly developed two punctures. The guy who's been in the nick since the last eviction, we had his caravan, car and trailer to think about - the car doesn't go, the clutch got damaged in the last eviction. The van with half a tow-hitch on it was allowed to go off to get the other half bolted on. But we did it. Somehow we got them all off the road. It's 1.30 now and they've rolled off down Newbury way, leaving me to wait for my cat. I hope none of them stalls cos they won't start again and they're all towing a lot... The chief policeman very generously says we can pull into a certain lay-by for a couple of hours while we collect our giros. Then we are to leave town. Who knows where we'll go, but we'll stick together. The Rainbow Peace Settlers are now the Rainbow Peace Travellers, spreading the message wherever we go, with music and good vibes. Contact us via the Women's Camp. P.S. On 16 October I'm adding this. At present a part of the Rainbow Peace Camp is camped in the lorry park just off the junction 13, Newbury, roundabout on the M4. They have been there over a week. One of our dogs was hurt on the road shortly after arriving there - now we are waiting for her to recover before moving on. There is a Rainbow presence hovering about Greenham Common still - and we are actively helping the Women's Camp, who are still there. Other parts of the Rainbow have sought sanctuary in other parts of the country, at other camps and Peace Camps. P.P.S. Found my cat!!! Jenny - - - Dear Red Rag If any of you Red Raggers are under the delusion that Reading University Women's Group are no longer, then I could use this opportunity to put you right. You may have heard that at the end of the last academic year the Women's Group were expelled from the Union because we were 'unconstitutional'; that is we did not allow men to attend our weekly meetings. People even went so far as to accuse us of being sexist! Despite all this, we haven't given up. We are still very strong, very determined, and more organised than ever, and on November 4 we have the chance to debate a motion which would change the constitution and allow us to have women only meetings with Union support. It is impossible to over-emphasise how important keeping the weekly meetings women only is. If the meetings were mixed, the group would be an anti-sexist rather than a feminist group, and would thus have a different function. To have women only meetings is not, as some would have it, to declare our hatred for the opposite sex, but rather to express our pro-women stance. As an oppressed group, women must be allowed to organise autonomously, to have a space where there will be women only, where women's issues are discussed, and where it is possible to realise a positive female image without the presence of men. We come into contact with men every day of our lives - why do they feel so threatened when we want to exclude them from such a small part of it? Women's Liberation obviously involves both men and women, but women must be allowed to explore their role as a woman and their own femaleness without feeling intimidated by the presence of men. Men must look carefully at their part in a non-sexist society, define their own sexist attitudes and prejudices. Having done this they will appreciate the importance of women controlling the Women's Liberation movement. We don't want our liberation to come from a man - we want to be responsible for it ourselves. The University Women's Group is still united in its aims, but it is imperative that on November 4 we win the vote, get ourselves reinstated in the Union, and are then able to use our energies for things other than merely fighting for the right to exist. If you are a member of Reading University, please attend the meeting on Thursday November 4, 7.30pm in the Union building, and vote for the Women's Group. Unless we recognise the need for women's autonomy we won't get any closer to achieving equality of the sexes. Yours sincerely Sara, Reading Uni Womens Group - - - READING ANARCHIST BOUND OVER Paul, Calcot's lone nihilist and Reading Anarchists' 'official telephone contact', was bound over to keep the peace for twelve months after having a charge of threatening behaviour against him dismissed at Wells St Magistrates' Court , London on October 26. The charge arose after he was arrested during the national CND demo on June 6. If you cast your mind back you will remember that certain speakers at the rally were calling for direct action and civil disobedience from the comfortable safety of the stage. A large group of anarchists, 300 strong, (police estimate) decided it might be a good idea to start some civil disobedience there and then, and broke away from the main rally via Marble Arch, intending to move on to the American Embassy, possibly doing a little 'redecorating' to businesses en route. As usual, Sod's Law applies and in Oxford St, they ran into some marauding SPG vans. The police, many with truncheons, attacked, grabbing 48 demonstrators and bystanders, and scattering every one else. The prosecution offered Paul the deal of dismissing the charges on condition of accepting a bindover as one of the police witnesses was unable to attend as he was in hospital with 30 stitches in his head. The bulk of those involved whose cases have come up so far have either got off lightly with conditional discharges and bindovers or acquitted outright. The magistrate gave a nice little talk about how necessary it was to have good manners and to demonstrate 'politely'. One of those lifted turned out, when he appeared in court, to be a lecturer at Bramshill Police College, a doctor in his subject and had written a book on community relations. Needless to say the police were too embarrassed to continue with the case against him and he was acquitted. Erik - - - HEALTH - INDIVIDUAL CONSUMERISM OR SOCIAL PROVISION? That was the first and perhaps the most fundamental question posed by Dr Steve Illiffe in introducing the WEA Industrial Branch teach-in on Health Care, and one that affected the crises in politics and ideology, in economics and in the very science of health care that the whole system was now suffering. He pointed out that private medicine, which the Government favoured ideologically, needed Government financial support to survive. BUPA had grown at 25% a year in the late seventies mainly because groups of employees had been enrolled as a fringe benefit, but when individual membership started growing, and those individuals claimed benefit before paying many premiums, it entered a major financial crisis. There was a big struggle going on between the insurance companies and the private hospitals about the pricing of health care, and because of this premiums were going up and hospital construction plans were being delayed. But nonetheless the ideal of public service was getting badly battered. That ideal was a difficult one anyway because both need and demand were difficult to establish. There was a clear need, for example, for cervical smear tests to be taken to all women over 35 who would agree to them, because early detention of cancer increases life expectancy, but that approach to need was co-operative, collective and forward-looking in contrast to the Government's plea to "look after yourself" which put all the responsibility on the individual. Good health could be best encouraged by preventive medicine, and by creating a healthy environment, but neither had priority in an underfunded state-run service within a market economy. Steve Illiffe believed that in the health service the demand was in effect in the hands in the hands of the professionals, not the patients, and stressed that whereas the old problems of infectious diseases had been largely solved the new problems were of degenerative diseases associated with people living longer and for these there were no ready answers and most of what there were was expensive. Our medical expertise was often inappropriate for these patients: we concentrated on hospital-centred curative medicine for people already badly damaged not on preventing the damage in the first place. And despite everything the NHS had accomplished the most unhealthy thing you could do was to be born into a manual working class family, where the Black Report had shown you would have a shorter life and an unhealthy one. Following that mighty survey was pretty difficult, but the teach-in did split into four workshops on the Black Report, on preventive medicine, on care in the community and on democracy in the NHS. The Black report recommendations - an enlarged school health service, free school meals and free school milk, more attention to the causes of accidents, much more work in factories on Industrial diseases - were well supported, and many of us saw control of atmospheric lead, food additives and smoking as important contributions to a healthy life for all. We recognised that care in the community needed expensive back-up services and was not the cheap option some would like. And are looking for greater democracy and for more collective bargaining to ensure collective health. Pete - - - UNEMPLOYMENT CENTRE - THE DEBATE CONTINUES (Or is this just a duologue?) Dear Laura, I wonder if you have answered some of your own questions in your last sentence? "it is better if people organise themselves", you say. You think there should be a creche at the Centre, why not set about organising one? You say little effort is made to discover who the unemployed are, why not start work on finding out? (Though the answer might have some surprises for both of us). You think women might use the Centre to get together to fight the cohabitation rule (which applies equally to all cohabiting women, not just mothers), why not have a go? The building is there and it is open all day, five days a week, and at least some of the Management Committee have a mandate to try to provide 'what the users want', or at any rate the facilities for that. There IS a problem with money - quite simply where does it come from and with what strings? If you ask for taxpayers' money for a specific purpose, is it reasonable for the taxpayer to want an interest in how it is spent? Same with ratepayers' money. Equally, if you want money from the people who have it, do you try to get them 'involved'? You could produce Red Rag for about 4 years on what it costs to employ one full-time worker for one year, on not very generous pay, so we are talking about quite a lot of money. On current benefit rates, the "users" sure ain't got that kind of money. In this capitalist society, buildings, furniture and fittings, and employees all require money from somewhere. Incidentally, I hope you are not suggesting that the unemployed do not include persons who are "male, 40, wearing a cloth cap and in need of remedial reading". I admit to not having actually seen who it is that attends the adult literacy classes, but there must be some, as the Management Committee were recently told that two 'normal' height tables were not enough to cope with these classes! How would you like the Management Committee elected? Despite what you cay, at least some of the Management Committee are, after a fashion, elected. The seat reserved for an employee of the Centre is reserved for someone "elected by and from the staff of the Centre"; another two seats are reserved for "two unemployed persons elected from the Users Committee of the Centre"; Trades Council elected its four nominees; the first meeting of the full Management Committee elected the "three additional members who are interested in the objectives of the Centre" - who happen to be Joan Ruddock, George Clark of Reading Adult College, and Loretta Lawrence-Platt of the Central Club. How and whether the organisations holding the rest of the reserved seats elected their reps., I don't know - except that the 3 "Berks County Council seats are split up one per Party and somehow Councillor Stansfield-Taylor doesn't quite fit the image of Trade Unionist, Labour Council rep, or Voluntary Services rep? I wouldn't argue very hard against the Users Committee checking out the financial implications of their ideas, though I am slightly curious as to how the Management Committee continually stresses it at Users Committee meetings - I didn't know that the Management Committee had any right to attend... To end on a jarringly constructive note - the least exploited 'resource' left to develop the Centre seems to be its users. Accepting that some users are already providing 'cover' for staff absences, what is needed to get users committing their spare time and energy to developing the Centre? Christine - - - PIRATE RADIO In my last article in Red Rag I promised to deal with Offshore Radio, which I shall do now. Before I continue, it has come to me through the grapevine that Radio Caroline may he making a comeback. I say may, so don't bank on it. There have been many rumours in the past, and they have all come to nought. Rumour has it that the Caroline organisation have got a ship which is rigged out. What is more, photos have been taken of it. The trouble is that the ship is in dock somewhere in Europe, but apparently they have run out of money and can't get the ship out. Apparently, they have been testing their transmitter, too, somebody is supposed to have heard it. Something may be going on, I don't know, but I'll believe it when I hear it. On the land-based scene, try to listen to 'Our Radio' on 103.7 VHF. They broadcast on Wednesdays from 6pm to about 2am. You may not pick them up in Reading, but for those of you nearer London, you should be OK. They are very good sigs in Windsor and Slough. They have a women's programme, 'Women on the air', from 6pm to 7pm. From 7pm to 9pm is 'Gaywaves', a gay radio programme, and highly recommended, it's very revolutionary and very critical of the government. So you don't need to be gay to listen in. From 9pm to 10pm is 'The Message' which is more anti-government, revolutionary stuff, also highly recommended. From 10pm to 11pm the 'Utopia recorded programme, and more music from then until 2am. Right, now for the Offshore history. Offshore Radio can be divided into distinct periods from its inception in 1958. If you think that Caroline was the first, think again, there had been as many as eleven offshore stations before Caroline, many had broadcast to Scandanavia and had been closed down. The last free radio period is not really offshore in the true sense of the word, as the stations are land-based and in Ireland, but it is technically 'offshores' as it operates outside the law, and does not, I feel, represent a period worthy of comment on its own. The following is the categories that I would say represent each period of offshore radio 1 THE SCAKDANAVIAN PERIOD 1958-1962 2 THE FIRST DUTCH PERIOD 1959-1964 3 THE FIRST BRITISH PERIOD 1964-1968 4 THE SECOND DUTCH PERIOD 1970-1974 5 THE SECOND BRITISH PERIOD 1974-1980 6 THE THIRD DUTCH PERIOD 1978-1981 7 THE IRISH PERIOD 1980- I will deal briefly with each period in future 'RedRag' articles as well as any other free radio news that is current. I have kept this list to our area in Europe, as other countries (e.g. New Zealand, Israel,) have had their pirates too. It is legal, for example in Italy for anyone to broadcast if they want to, but it would complicate matters if I delt with these. In each of these periods there have been successful and unsuccessful ventures, but the period is not considered worthy of note if there hasn't been actual operating stations. Meanwhile if anyone has £70,000 to spare, get in touch with me quick. I hear that this is the figure needed to refloat Caroline! If you want any further reading go to your library and look at 'When pirates ruled the waves' By Paul Harris 'To be a pirate king' By Paul Harris 'Broadcasting from the high seas' By Paul Harris 'Radio Caroline' By John Venmore Roland So until next time me hearties, stay tuned and forever hopeful that Caroline will return for a third British period Curly - - - I was interested to read your articles on militant in the last issue. The criticisms your journalists made of it, its simplistic views, its blind faith in the Labour Party, were I think unfair. To say that Militants programme is unrealistic is to misunderstand why it is as it is. It provides a noticeable alternative to the other patchy policies of the Labour Party and these policies would need a social revolution to be applied. A £90 minimum wage a week is such a jump that control of the means of production would be essential. In France, Mitterand has found that unless he can keep his hands on all the capital in the country, men like Rothschild and other entrepreneurs will go on strike and defeat his socialist policies by the power of influence of their capital holdings. Militant predicted this when he came to office, subscribing to the politically realistic approach of Lenin that socialism is impossible without power. How will the taking of power come about? Through a conflict which is developing between us and the bosses. We saw it in Brixton, in Toxteth - now a Militant stronghold and the political forming-ground of this country according to that great brain and notable wit Michael Heseltine, and on the picket lines of Lawrence Scott and the NHS. Militant success relies on the future development of society as much as it relies on the individual enthusiasm of it s supporters. Enoch Powell's 'rivers of blood' are seen, although in less garish terms, by Militant as an inevitable conflict and whether or not you agree or disagree with that conditions your response to the comrades in the LPYS. We all know that the foundations of society are not so sure or so rooted in decent Arian culture as the Tories and the SDP glibly assume. Society is rooted in the subtle apparatus of phone-tappings, black lists, corruption and surveillance, and every day the Generals, the Police Commissioners and behind them the Businessmen increase the surveillance. What is today will change tomorrow and society could transform itself into something very different next week. Militant realizes this lesson and constantly prepares far the crisis. Hence the similarity that some comrades have to Jehovah's Witnesses waiting for the glorious day when we'll all be good socialists and wear cloth caps and read Karl Marx with an honest touching sincerity. Other comrades, however, don't subscribe to this form of adolescent inability to deal with the unpleasant side of human personality. Some Militants are experienced and knowledgeable political operators who know how to get what they want by the power of their voice (which express their eagerness to communicate the urgent need for socialism) and the appealing forcefulness of Militant's programme. These people are not evil or cynical just experienced, realistic and direct. They do not deal in worried self-analysis or apologies like so much of the left but communicate Militant's sole capability to change society-hence the anti-intellectualism. What they say may be simple. What they are doing is sophisticated. Your correspondent, like so many of the left, couldn't understand that which resulted in the scruffiness of thought that lay behind the article. As to the view of Militant to the register and the Labour Party:- simply, Militant know very well it is safe even if Ted Grant is expelled from the Party because of the comfy but mistaken assumption that there is a Machiavellian inner circle of comrades who, if expelled, will be unable to build up Militant. 70% of all Militant comrades could be part of the 'inner circle' and would fit very nicely there. They now the only way to get rid of Militant's is to expel every single Militant supporter from the party, hence the smugness. This does not mean Militant feels safe. It does not, but any move it makes will be carefully thought out and will ensure it keeps its independence from any other left-wing groups whose politics it considers the product of 'the thoroughly neurotic petite-bourgeois' (from an NC member of the LPYS). As to the Labour Party, it is enough to say that it has done more to change our lives than any other party in our history. Even its failures leave some small long term residue of welcome reforms. Militant respects it for its potential, embodied in its tradition and its role as the focus for the active layers of the working class. If the future is dangerous then Militant will be the first group around to offer a strong lead, while the SWP will be far behind, just rounding the corner while Militant is standing on your doorstep so to speak. So before you insult the only party which is built on the working-class, has done anything for working people, and before you criticise Militant for its acceptance of the labour Party on the mature basis that to succeed in politics you must dirty your hands with the workers, remember to look think and analyse. It is possible to say simple things arrived at through a complex understanding of society and say them with the intention of convincing others and not just yourself. Remember that too. Yours Jonathon Timbers Sec of Reading University Labour Club & ex-Militant supporter. - - - GOING OUT All venues in Reading unless otherwise stated Sun 31 Fives-Larry Miller Band lunchtime free Allied Arms St Mary Butts-Readifoik 8pm free Top Rank-Fat Larry's Band 7.30 Angies Milton Road Wokingham-Juvessence 9ish. All dates £1 + £1.50 membership South Hill Park (SHP) Bracknell- 12.15 Peregrine Hunters(U) + Project 'Z' Episode 2(U) 75p 7-30 Lilli Marlene(AA) £1.90 7.30 Halloween Fancy Dress Ball £2/£2.20 for adults,kids £l/£1.20 Mon 1 Hex-Wrestling 7.30 £2/£2.50 The Plough Tilehurst-Kennet Jazz Band 8pm free Progress Theatre-Hard Feelings 7.45 £2.50 SHP-Independent films 7.30 free Fives-Jazz/funk disco 7.30 free The Horn St Mary's Butts-Jazz 8pm free Tue 2 Hex-Philharmonia Hungarica 7.30 £3-5 Fives-The Geisha Girls 7.30 free Tudor Arms Greyfriars Road-Gay disco 8pm free Progress Theatre-as above Playhouse Oxford-The Bottom Drawer To 6th M-F 7.45 £3.90 + concessions,Sat 4pm £2.45,8pm £4.90 SHP-Lola(AA) 7.30 £1.90 To 4th " Welfare State presents two modern day mummer plays 7.30 £1.20/£1.40,kids 75p/80p.To 4th University-TDK Battle of the Bands (heat for semi-finals £1.50 tickets Students Union + Plop Records Kings Road - University-Palmer Building G10 The Holy Grail + The Life of Brian 7pm tickets Students Union/Clubs Office Wed 3 Hex-Endellion quartet (Mozart) 7.30 £2.50 Grosvenor House Kidmore Road C'sham- Jazz 8pm free University-Bonfire Hop starring The Pinkees £2.50,£2.75 on door.2pm bar, extension + disco Reading Film Theatre (RFT)-Kontrakt(AA) subtitled 8pm £1.50 £1 members Fulcrum Centre Slough-Shakatak 8pm £3-5 Thu 4 Hex-1.10 Guillermo Fierens (guitar recital) free 7.30 Geoff Love's Banjo Party 7.30 £3-4 Horse + Barge Duke Street-Folk Club 8pm 4 Horseshoes B'stoke Rd-Jazz 8pm free RFT-Stardust Memories(AA) 7.30 + 10pm £1.50 £1 members Angies Wokingham-Dangerous Age 9ish SHP-Lola(AA) + discussion on Fassbinder 7.30 £2 Bracknell College-Flute + piano recital 12.45-1.30 University-8pm Students Union meeting Motion to reaffiliate the womens group to the students union. Union cards needed to vote. Fri 5 Hex-Vienna Boys Choir 7.30£3-5 Tudor Arms-Gay disco free 8pm Progress Theatre-Musical Fireworks- 'Hot acoustic music' 6pm £1.50 Top Rank-Squeeze + OK Jive 7.30 £3.50 Caribbean London Street-Morrisey Mullen + Ian Campbell Blues Band 9ish £3.50 tickets from Caribbean or Hickeys Angies Wokingham-Alligators 9ish SHP-7.30 Doomsday Fair: Destruction by fire of the Tower of Babel 7.30 £1.20/1.40 75p/80p kids " 7.30 Montenegro(X) 7.30 £1.90 " 11pm Mysteries of the Organism(X) £1.90 Bulmershe College-Twelfth Night 8-1 Sat 6 Kings Meadow-Firework Fiesta 6pm Field by Maiden Earley Lake-Fireworks 7ish 40p kids 20p Hex-Singers lunchtime 11.30-2.30 free Huntley + Palmers Hall Kings Rd- Grenadian Association Dance with The Volcanoes 8ish £? Angies Wokingham -Blue Condition 9ish SHP-8pm Momeraths(folk) £l/£1.20 " films as Friday 5th Sun 7 Progress Theatre-King Alfred's College Brass Ensemble £1.50 7.45 Fives-The Nozes 7.30ish free Allied Arms St Mary Butts-Readifolk 8pm free Angies Wokingham-Ruthless Blues 9ish SHP-12.15 The Intruder(U) + short serial 75p " 7.30 Montenegro (X) £1.90 Mon 8 Hex-Princess Ida (G + S) 7.15 To 13th £2-3 Monday evening 2 seats for price of one The Plough Tilehurst-Kennet Jazz Band 8pm free The Horn St Mary Butts'-Jazz 8pm free Playhouse Oxford-Hard Feelings To 10th 7.45 £3.90 + concessions SHP-D.0.L.E (theatre) 7.45 £1.30/l.50 To 11th Tue 9 University-Blue Rondo a la Turk 8.3O £2.75/3 on door 8pm-l Fives-Daze, of Heaven 7.30 free Tudor Arms-Gay disco 8pm free University Palmer G10-1.10 Song recital SHP -7.30 Circle of Deceit(X) £1.90 To 14th " 8pm Tony Lee Trio + Lennie Best Wed 10 RFT-The Tin Drum(X) 8pm £1.50 £1 members Grosvenor House Csham-Jazz 8pm free SHP-Swiss Fondue Night 7.30 £10 in advance only Thu 11 Hex-1.10 Maldwyn Davies(tenor) free Horse + Barge Duke it-Folk club 8pm 4 Horseshoes B'stoke Rd-Jazz 8pm free RFT-as above Angies Wokingham-Deep 9ish Bracknell College-Recital 12.45-1.30 Fri 12 Tudor Arms-Gay disco 8pm free RFT-Manganinnie(U) 8pm £1.50 £1 members Progress Theatre-'The Mask' (Forbury Film Unit) 7.45 £1.50 Annies Wokingham-Vetoes 9ish SHP- 7.45 Hard Feelings (theatre) £1.90/£2.20 8pm Jeremy Ard + John Sharp (Baroque Recital) 8pm £1.50/1.70 8.15 Gordon Giltrap £2.50-3 11pm The Shout(X) £1.90 Sat 13 Central Club London St-Culture + President Sound System £3.50 in advance, £4 on door. Progress Theatre-The Mask University Great Hall London Rd- University Chamber Orchestra 7.30 £2 Christ Church-Reading Bach Choir 8pm £2.50 All Saints Church Hall Downshire Square Barn dance 7pm £2 including buffet Angies Wokingham-KKKhan 9ish SHP- 7.45 Hard Feelings as above 8pm Bob Walser(folk) £l/£1.20 11pm The Shout as above Sun 14 Hex-Royal Danish Orchestra 7.30 £3-50- £6 Fives-Larry Milier Band 7.30ish free Allied Arms St Mary -butts-Readifolk 8pm free Angies Wokingham-Laverne Brown 9ish Apollo Oxford-Hawkwind £3-4 7.30 SHP-12.15 Big Wheels + Sailor (U) + short serial 75p Mon 15 Hex-Endellion quartet 7.30 £2.50-3.50 The Plough Tilehurst-Jazz 8pm free The Horn St Mary Butts-Jazz 8pm free SHP-7.30 Chariots of Fire(A) £1.90 To 20th Apollo Oxford -The Nolans 7-30 - - - QUOTE OF THE WEEK In September, staff at the DHSS office at Erdington, Birmingham, gave up trying to cope with the work. Matters came to a head on the day that two out of the three receptionists were sick, the third opened the door in the morning and found a queue of two hundred outside; she went sick under the strain. Requests for at least 15 more permanent staff were met with a bland refusal and the staff of the office walked out (and are still out). On being told about this little local trouble at one of 'his' offices, Secretary of State Norman Fowler remarked "If the swine won't work, get rid of them". (in front of a junior Minister and several officials) - - - NOV 5-6 ANARCHY IN THE THAMES VALLEY! See 'Events' for details / Phone 52604 - - - CHRISTMAS PUDDING: VICTORIAN RECIPE (This recipe makes 6 or 7 2-pint size puddings, 7 or 8 if rounded up to metric) 2 1/2 lb Raisins; 1 1/2 lb Currants; 1 lb Sultanas; 6 oz Mixed Peel; 2 lb Moist Sugar (eg Barbados); 1 oz Bitter Almonds (or Sweet). Mix well together, allow to stand at least 24 hours. 2 lb fresh Breadcrumbs; 2 lb Suet (packet or shredded). Mix well, add to mixed fruit. Add: Rind of 2 lemons, 1 grated nutmeg; stir well. Add: 16 eggs, beaten; stir well, at intervals, preferably for some hours. Add: 1 pint Barley Wine (or Guinness); stir well, at least 3 sessions, over 1/2 hour period. Put in well greased bowls, do NOT fill to top; cover with 2 layers of greased greaseproof and fasten. Steam 6 hours. Allow to cool and drain. Store 4-6 weeks (or months). Steam 2 hours on day needed, serve with sweet white sauce, with brandy if liked. Comes out dark, fruity, and fattening. - - - MAY DAY 83 SUPPORTERS SOCIAL * Saturday 20 November from 7.30pm Committee Room, AUEW House 121 Oxford Road, Reading Entrance £1.00 (50p unwaged) Food, drink, music, company Activists, colleagues, friends, comrades, brothers, sisters all WELCOME - - - Welfare State International Presents: SCARECROW ZOO Celebrations For Halloween And November 5 South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell, Berkshire. Bracknell (0344) 27272. Welfare State International, with your help, will recreate a lost world of magical celebration and brilliant fantasies. Bring your scarecrow creations together with turnip lanterns and pumpkin faces for the epic Barn Dance Celebrations and processions of October 31, with roasted whole pigs, potatoes and bars (extensions applied for) and the Shadow Puppets of Autumn. On November 5 witness burning space stations and see the Collapse of the Tower of Babel. Burn your worst fears, and old chestnuts, set fire to your fantasies and join in the GRAND SCARECROW ZOO CELEBRATIONS. Scarecrow Programme Friday 29 October Private view of Scarecrows Exhibition. Sunday 31 October Scarecrow Processions for non-stop Honky Tonk Halloween Masked Ball. Tuesday 2 November Performances of Doomsday Colouring Book - an evening of magical brilliance featuring two mummers style plays performed by the company. King Real is a version of King Lear, and Belle Vue a surrealistic play about zoos. £1.20/£1.40 adults, 75p/80p children. Spectacular burning of Scarecrows. Wednesday 3 November Grand judging of Scarecrow Competition. Plus performances as Tuesday Thursday 4 November Performances as Tuesday Friday 5 November Burning of The Tower of Babel and Scarecrow celebrations. Saturday 6 November Party for participants and presentation of prizes. Bar and refreshments throughout. All performances at 7.30pm Except 29 October and 5 November from 6.00pm - - - RED RAGS FAMOUS EVENTS GUIDE Mon 1 First of the month meeting of Reading women's groups and Women's Centre. 7.30pm at the Women's Centre, basement of Old Shire Hall, Abbey Street (off Kings Road). All women welcome. Independent films 'It ain't half racist Mum' (CARM) + 'So that you can live' (Cinema Action). 7.30pm at SHP, Bracknell. All-party Debate (including Eco Party) organised by Bracknell CND. 8pm at Bracknell College. Gay Soc hosts a social evening for gay people in groups all over the Thames Valley. All gay people welcome 8pm, Council Room, Students' Union, University, Whiteknights. Anarchists weekly meeting at 8pm. Ring Paul on 52604 for venue. BANC South Reading Neighbourhood Group 64 Blandford Road at 8pm. BANC Caversham Neighbourhood Group Film show, 'The Bomb' at 8.15 at Baptist Church Centre, Church Road, Caversham. Tues 2 Tilehurst CND leafletting to advertise a showing of 'The Bomb', 7.30pm at The Plough, Tilehurst. Wed 3 SWP 'Portugal in 74' by Jack Robertson, 8pm at the Red Lion, Southampton Street. Henley Labour Party Ken Livingstone of the GLC and Ian Roxburgh (prospective Parliamentary candidate for Henley) speak in Henley Town Hall at 8pm. Reading Rape Crisis Support Group meeting - for anyone wanting to help. 8pm at the Women's Centre,Abbey Street. BANC, planning meeting for December 12th action. 27 Salisbury Road at 8pm. Thur 4 'The Animals Film' on TV (Channel 4) at 9.45pm. If you feel interested in following this up, ring 581805. Fri 5 Thames Valley Anarchist Federation getting together in Reading this weekend. Bonfire to commiserate with the only person ever to enter Parliament with honest intentions. Ring Paul on 52604 for venue and time. Sat 6 Anti-Nuclear Campaign rally and conference 'No more Nuclear Power'. Central Hall, Westminster, 11-4. Contact Theresa Hurst, 23 High Street Ascot. UNA meeting 'Disarmament - what now?' 10.30-3.30 at Caversham Church House, 59 Church Street, Caversham. Details from Dr Donald Hughes, 12 Woodford Close, Caversham. Tel 473122. Thames Valley Anarchists Workshops and more, probably including economic situation, squatting, anti-nukes, local support groups + whatever ideas people bring along. Anyone interested welcome. Probably 11-6. Coffee Lounge, Whiteknights. Ring Paul 52604 to confirm. (Creche if requested in advance). Incest awareness day Workshop(s) at the Women's Centre, Abbey Street. 11am till lunch probably. All women welcome. Sun 7 Red Rag collective meeting. 4pm, Acorn Bookshop, 17 Chatham Street. All welcome. Tues 9 University Public Lecture 'All creatures far and wide' by P.P. Ellis, director of Vet. Epidemology and Economics Research Unit. 8pm, Palmer Building (G10), Whiteknights. Berks Dyslexia Society 'On the Brink of the 1981 Education Act: an educational psychologist's eye view of special education', 7.45, Palmer Building, University, Whiteknights. 'Life or Death' Student Congress on nukes, peace, etc. 10.30-5.30, County Hall, London. Speakers, workshops. Send £1 to register to Phil Woolas, NUS, 3 Endsleigh St London Wc1. BANC General Meeting, Friends' Meeting House, Church Street, 8pm. Someone from Medical Campaign against Nuclear Weapons. Wed 10 SWP 'General Strike of '26' by Dave Becchan. 8pm at the Red Lion, Southampton Street. Women's Rights' discussion led by Victoria Ryan (Co-op Dist Cttee) and Linda Pennell (NALGO) organised by Nat Guild of Co-operators. 8pm at St Mary's Centre, by St Mary's Church, Butts. Tilehurst CND Film "The Bomb' at 8pm at the Methodist Hall, School Rd, Tilehurst. Contact Pat Toner 28263. Thur 11 Amnesty Speaker on South Africa. 8pm at St Mary's Centre, Butts. 'The Police and the Primary School Community' - a talk for parents, governors and teachers by Sergeant Simpson and Sergeant Smith of TV Police about their schools' education programme' (!) All welcome. 50p. 8pm at Maiden Erleigh School, Earley. WEA 10 week Housing Rights course starts. 7.30-9 at Wilson Rd Adult Education Centre. Enquiries to Mrs E. Worseley, 75 Northcourt Ave. Tel 862887. BANC East Reading Neighbourhood Group 8pm at 4 Talfourd Ave. La Leche League "The Family and the breastfed baby'. 10.30am. Ring 477899 for details. Red Rag copy deadline. Send your news, articles, pictures, etc to Red Rag, c/o Acorn Bookshop, 17 Chatham Street. Fri 12 Talk: 'Yoga - a practical way of living for now'. 8pm at St Mary's Church House in St Mary's Butts, 50p. Reading Centre for the Unemployed Exhibition of work at the Centre, 4-6 East Street 9.30-4.30. Sat 13 Women's Centre Jumble Sale. 11am at Caversham Hall, St John's Road, Caversham. Jumble to the Women's Centre. Red Rag layout: ring 61257 or 599804 if you'd like to join in. Hours of fun and games with a blue pencil and a Pritt stick. Sun 14 Vegans Talk with slides by Colin Lewis of the Hunt Saboteurs Association 2.30 at 72 Curzon Street. Red Rag collation Folding this rubbish is so easy you can even do it with a hang-over. Wanna try? Ring 61257 or 599804. Remembrance Sunday Protest. No details but try ringing Jan David 479191. Reading City Farm meeting for all interested. Contact Helen 64907. Mon 15 BANC Caversham NG Questions and answers on cruise missiles. 8pm at 70 St Peters Ave. 'Plogoff - des pierres contre des fusils' - film about anti-nuclear struggle in Brittany by Nicole le Garrec. University French Soc Cine Club, 7.30 in Room 109, Palmer Building, Whiteknights. Tues 16 University Public Lecture 'What is mathematics' by J. Wright, Dept of Maths. 8pm in G10, Palmer Building, Whiteknights. Tilehurst CND 8pm at 13 Wardle Ave Wed 17 Reading Bahai Faith 'The promised day is come'. 8pm at AUEW Hall, Oxford Road. Funding for Community Groups. Find out all about it. Meeting organised by Reading Community Work Training Group. 7.30 at Fairview Community Centre, George St. Civic Soc Talk 'Trees in the Urban Landscape' with special reference to Reading, by Catherine Oliver. 8pm in the Vachel Room, the Hexagon. Free. The End - - - HEFFER ON POLAND Eric Heffer, Labour spokesperson on Europe, will be the main speaker at a meeting on Poland organised by Reading North Labour Party on Friday November 19 at 8pm in the Small Town Hall. Also speaking will will be Naomi Kyamson (Secretary of the Polish Solidarity Campaign) and a member of the Polish Solidarity Trade Union Working Group. - - - Anyone living in or around Basingstoke interested in attempting to get a local "fanzine" off the ground please contact Pat Horan at 17 Doswell Way, South View, Basingstoke. Anyone got any ideas on where we can get cheap printing in this hole? - - - Red Rag Outlets Acorn Bookshop, under the Chatham St carpark Pop Records. 172 King's Road Centre for the Unemployed. East St (off Queens Rd) Our Price Records. Butts Centre (downstairs) Lazer Records, Butts Centre (upstairs) The Emporium, Merchants' Place (off Friar St) Ken's Shop. Students' Union, Whiteknights. Also somewhere in Friar St, where they don't want their name printed... To get the full benefit from our wonderful distribution system, get your copy delivered free to your door every fortnight by giving your address to Chris on 61257 or Nick on 666681. - - - Red Rag Events Your events diarist has been pretty lazy this week and why not. If you couldn't be bothered to- let us know your events, tough! Some people do; but really, I mean, we don't even get sent BANCNotes... Next time write to Red Rag Events, c/o Acorn Bookshop, 17 Chatham St; or ring James on 666681. - - - SUBLIMINAL CONSCRIPTION Although most inhabitants of Planet Earth are still blissfully unaware World War Three has bean going on for just over three decades now, and looks like going on for another ten years at least. While fears of an 'impending' World War Three between the Russians and-the so-called 'Free World' play a prominent role in the paranoid scenarios of Young Conservatives and the like - they are still unaware of the real war between nation states and the multinational corporations (MNCs). The governments of most if not all the countries on the planet have, since 1950, become increasingly subservient to the wishes of the larger companies who are able to transfer their resources and capital to wherever the "overheads' are cheapest. The Tory policy of relaxing the exchange controls has helped to put the MNCs search for cheap labour pools into top gear with masses of money being taken, out of Britain and invested in areas where weak or non-existent trade unions provide a strike free environment that guarantees such hallowed concepts as 'continuity of production'. Latest reports give details of the 'TOP SECRET' ultimatum given to all nation states by conglomerates of MNCs, big business and high finance, of which David Rockefeller's Trilateral Commission is the largest and most powerful. The Trilateral Commission is made up of businessmen, academics, media moguls and politicians from North America, Europe and Japan, and was started in 1973 by David Rockefeller, Zbigniew Brzesinski and the likes of Lord Carrington and Lord Harlech. Their meeting in Kyoto, Japan, in Kay 1975 saw the publication of a report entitled 'Crisis of Democracy' which concluded that big business efficiency and democracy were no longer compatible, if indeed they ever were. The plan of action from then on was to curb the power of free trade unions and any ether forms of organised resistance by subliminally stimulating all aspects of social unrest and disorder, thereby creating the sort of public opinion that would call for, vote for, and actively encourage, as much anti-democratic legislation against all those labelled 'extremists' as was possible. The first part of the plan was to get Trilateral Commission members and members of other similar groups like the Bilderberg group into positions of power in the governments of as many western countries as possible. Rocky and Zbig 'chose' Jimmy Carter as the 'ideal candidate to build on' for the 1976 election, and the power of the world's largest concentration of money went into the 'honest politician' image that 'rose from nowhere' to take the White House by storm. Once in, the Top 20 posts in the Carter administration were given to Trilaterals and the plan seemed to be unfolding in accordance to the wishes of its backers. In Europe, Bilderberg and Trilateral boys like Schmidt, d'Estaing and finally the Tories' Carrington, John Nott and Keith Joseph, manouevered themselves into positions from where they could push the desires of their financial masters on to the gullible general public. At the same time, and ominously coincidental with the publication of the 'crisis of democracy', social unrest/Grunwick style mass picketing/ suspiciously increased activity by fascist and anti-fascist demonstrators broke out onto the streets of almost every important capital city from Tokyo to Washington, from Rome to London. The public were outraged. Many said enough was enough and openly called for a tough government to deal with the unions, the lefties, the blacks, the fascists. Big business must have been pleased. The Tories were. Half of Britain called, and many of them even begged, for them to come back and deal with the rowdies. But there were many boys in the Labour Party who were pleased with tne developments too. Denis Healey was heard to support Keith Joseph's economic policies - but then, as Healey was an early and longstanding member of the Bilderberg Commission and Joseph was in the midst of criticisms from recently being invited to join - what more could be expected. Sunny Jim was also one of their boys, as was David Owen. Their business investments were bound to do well under the Tories. All that remained was to change the law in favour of more stringent anti-terrorist laws and, of course, to make sure the definition of 'terrorist' was sufficiently vague to encompass anyone who didn't fall into line. After a decade of successful experiments in Ulster, the mainland was ready for this operation, and the blissfully ignorant supporters of the NF/BM and the Scottish Orange Lodges on the one hand, and the ANL/SWP and average anarchists on the other, obliged by willingly becoming actors in the war-games of the business power elites they both claimed to oppose. None of the actors had, or even now have, any idea of the stimulation they react to, which keeps their minds off what's really going on. They haven't time to stop and wonder why so many western MNCs have offices and factories behind the Iron Curtain; HQs in Moscow for Rookefeller and Russian trucks taking troops to Afghanistan that were built by Ford and General Motors investments in Siberia, all go over the heads of those politicos who claim to know what's happening. Strike-free cheap labour in the Communist countries and joint business ventures between western companies and Eastern Europe state organisations in the Third World remain undetected by those who never look - and stories of Cuban mercenaries guarding Gulf oil plants in Angola are dismissed out of hand because it's often too difficult for most people to climb out of the left/right world view most are afflicted with. The vast unemployment created by the transfer of resources policies of the MNCs in the West has, with the lick of alternative employment, moved the subliminal conscription phase of the plan into top gear. Put simply, this entails raising the salaries of the armed forces and the police to such levels that the concept of compulsory conscription need no longer be considered. Knowing that small proxy wars between nation states will exist, the plans for internal 'disorder' needing 'security' forces on the streets go ahead with most people not even noticing. If they do, then they rarely see the source of the stimulation. To the left it is the fascists in the government; to the right it is the Communists in the government. Meanwhile, the young jobless looking for a fair standard of living have just two choices. Leave school, sign on, get bored; or get bored, sign off, join up. This mass brainwashing technique works well. Long periods of deprivation on the dole conditions jobless kids into believing that the only way they'll ever achieve the standard of living of the mythical 'average man', as portrayed in the TV ads, is to support the system - join the professionals - you know it makes sense. Many more are needed to cope with the increasing social unrest caused by the MNCs 'unemployment policies'. But the extremists who they might have to keep in line may not be the leftist terrorists or even the rightist terrorists. That lot will have outlived their usefulness by that time, and will no doubt be eliminated. A petition put before the Avon Council on 21st August 1980, which recommends on behalf of many Bristol Tories that the unemployed be put to work in order to earn their benefits mirrors suggestions made by leading Tories in the Thatcher government. It must be seen as part of a larger strategic plan apparently designed by the only group who could possibly benefit from it - the MNCs. These forced labour camps would be filled with the unemployed and all opponents of such schemes, and of course would be guarded by the idiots who joined up in hard times looking for the elusive future they will soon find it difficult to reject. No need for draft cards then; no need to impose restrictions on individual liberties when people delegate all responsibilities to the state, and support the state's efforts towards less freedom as a consequence. While existing in the nation states reality, the power of the MNCs is out of focus, and so only the squabbles of the nationalists seem to offer a way out. But things could be worse. The book Vodka-Cola, dealing with the unholy alliance of the eastern Communists state capitalists (Vodka) and the western MNCs (Cola) has shown the true nature of the detente cocktail; and the unpalatable consequences for everyone other than the unelected elites on both sides of what many still naively believe to be an ideological divide. The film documentary of the same name gave even more details of this real view of the world in the 80s, and now that the Polish workers are being educated regarding the true nature of the investment by their supposedly reviled enemies, the capitalists, there is much hope for the future. The rise of small businesses, for instance in the entertainment field, shows that more and more people are rejecting socialism - from the national socialist ideology of the far right, to the international socialist ideology of the far left - and the consequential lack of individual freedom that allows increasing numbers of people to be able to see the irrelevance of the differences between the two. The more the two lock themselves in mortal combat, spurred on by their own self-importance, the happier are those who would divide and rule. The con goes on, both large and small. In nation states internally, and the world as a whole. But if the Vodka-Cola scenario seems unreal, or just the product of a paranoid mind, then ponder on the fate of Salvadore Allende - the leader of the only Communist government in history ever to have been freely elected. It wasn't paranoia that killed him, but a Joint CIA/ITT-inspired coup that was helped actively by the Soviet/Cuban co-operative lack of interest. The reason? His speech to the UN in December 1972. Quote: "The power of these corporations is so great as to transcend all frontiers... We are witnessing a pitched battle between the great transnational corporations and sovereign states. For the fundamental political, economic and military decisions of these states are being interfered with by worldwide organisations that are not dependent on any state, and which, as regards the sum total of their activities, are not accountable to, nor regulated by, any parliament or institution representing the collective interest. In a word, the entire political structure of the world is being undermined". The Finger - - - £ £ £ £ MONEY £ £ £ £ £ Situation again desperate surprise, surprise. We have £22 before this issue is paid for. Donations of ANY size to Sue Clarke, 31b Milman Road. Lots of standing order forms available. - - - JUST IN CASE WE HAVE A RIOT And of course, we're not suggesting for a minute that we will, it's only that it's as well to be prepared, and no, pre-emptive strikes don't usually provoke strong reactions but just in case things get a bit dodgy you know we've bought a brand new, UP TO DATE, really neat all mod cons riot van. It's got all the gear, it's got so much protection that you don't see them before you hit them, you don't hear the screams or the crunch either when you run them over PLUS it's immune to the usual restrictions about killing people on the road. All in all a nice little number but at the moment we can only use it for picking up the gas supplies, which is a waste really, I mean it would be nice if we had a real riot on our hands; we could use it to conquer the bastards, but I fear in dull old Reading we'll end up lending it to Readibus. Perhaps Koo would like to borrow a little security it's just as good with reporters as it is with rioters- same material really you see Commie scum TUC - - - NEW BOOKS AT ACORN BOOKSHOP Instead of saying what has been selling we thought we'd tell you what was new this month. (Besides the bestsellers list won't be ready before the Rag goes to press.) For all you graffitists there's Posener's SPRAY IT LOUD, a collection photos of mainly billboard graffiti. We found it disappointing, most of the examples are from London presumably all the lead in the air stunts their creativity. Or perhaps it's just that Reading spraycanning is so good. In either case the book isn't nearly so good as her postcards (If this lady was a car etc). For the chicken lovers amongst you the ideal book to give your chicken eating friends, the latest in the SPECTACULAR TIMES pocketbook series, guaranteed to put all but the most unthinking carnivores off their dinner, is on ANIMALS. Why animal rights is a political issue presented in the usual highly readable style. Funny how much a Nobel Prize for Literature does for your popularity. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, for example, who previously went unread by you lot out there. Suddenly his books are walking off the shelves, notably AUTUMN 0F THE PATRIARCH. Why not try reading some fiction by someone less well-known, then you can feel superior when they win a prize and you're the only one around who's read anything by them. For the peace campaigners, Hilary Wainwright and Dave Elliot's oft delayed THE LUCAS PLAN, about the Lucas workers' plan to switch from military to socially useful production, has finally appeared. It covers not just how the changeover could be made but the history of the struggle to implement it and the reasons behind the failure to make any real progress. (With management, the government and even the Trade Union hierarchy against them it was an uphill battle from the start) That's all for now, watch this space for more goodies. - - - SMALL AD! Drum Kit For Sale. Premiere Olympic 4 Drum kit & Accessories Good condition £130.o.n.o. Andy 669694 - - - VIDEO Video is a classic example of misuse and mismanagement of technology. Video's value surely lies in the field of education and community arts, but all the public sees is the commercial side. Video is treated as a commodity, a toy, not as a resource available to all. Papers are full of advertisements for video recorders and cameras. Videos so you can watch blue movies in the comfort of your own home- this is one of the most lucrative sectors of the market. (See below.) Video is used merely for endless dire films originally made for the cinema or as a sort of instant home movie system. (But at £600+ for a camera, it s an expensive toy for the privileged few.) What about video for all? For those who have access, video is a cheap, compact easy-to-operate medium, with almost instantaneous results; no sending the film off for developing, it is ready immediately. A half-hour video tape (b/w) will cost about £10, compared to £6 for 3mins of 8mm film. But who has access? Whether Reading is typical of the country as a whole, is debatable; but for those with an interest but no money to buy a system, South Hill Park seems the only local alternative to hefty HP payments. Equipment hire is reasonably cheap, but lugging it to and from Bracknell on the train can be tiring. Also, if you're keen and want to make a video say 15 mins long, camera hire and and use of the editing suite bumps the price up pretty quickly, and £50 is about the minimum you'll end up spending. They do have good rates for worthy causes. The only other places in Reading that have videos to hire seem to be Bulmershe College and the University. Their use is, of course, very restricted. Video is another casualty of technologists' mystification of 'elaborate' equipment. Striving to protect their knowledge, they emit a forcefield of condescension. The equipment is expensive but it's not difficult to use; with a little instruction the average ten-year-old could operate a black and white camera. Video is becoming cheaper all the time, which should have the effect of diversifying its uses, but creativity is not the main criterion used in selling video equipment, and for the moment, it remains the preserve of commercialism. When we think of video we think of the elaborate (and expensive) videos on 'Top of the Pops', and that is the yardstick, inappropriate as it is, by which video is judged. What is good video? Ever since the rock band the 'Police' pioneered wandering around exotic locations miming to their latest hit, it has become the norm in promotional videos for records. I find this approach (which occurs again and again) tedious and about as original as the Tories cutting education spending. Machines worth tens of thousands of pounds can make people turn funny colours, invert the image, split it into a thousand fragments etc., but these are all ten minute wonders; gimmicks are no replacement for originality. Professional artists (sic) often use video when a slide/tape show would be more appropriate. A video of a dance, play or concert is no match for the real thing. Video is a medium with its own limitations and possibilities, like any other art form, and not something to be used purely because it's new and it's there. Community video: video on a shoestring outside of pure 'art' normally means community video. Local issues make good local viewing- but when cable TV arrives, will there be channels available to local groups, or will we have to suffer the same old crap: a Reading edition of 'Thames at Six', or 'Coast to Coast'; stories of cats up trees and mayors opening fetes. This is what we get now in the Post, Chronicle, Radio 210 etc., because this is what the people with the purse strings want us to see. Will locally made videos about rent strikes, unemployment, picket lines, housing., racial prejudice , ever shown- and will they still be made only by people with determination who have to find the money out of their own pockets. Local video, while lacking the slick production of most expensive TV pap we are fed, has the advantage of greater immediacy and what is more important, greater relevance. Video and your TV set: images are powerful, which is why TV as it stands is so dangerous- there it is, in your front room, just another piece of the furniture, a part of everyday life, but it's the TV's very ordinariness which hides its subtle, pervasive influence. We accept the violence and stereotyping (especially sexual) as 'normal'. The implications for the future are alarming, where the wider availability of video equipment is concerned. Porn movies are already on hire in the shops; will blue movies, the ultimate in sexual stereotyping, now become 'part of the furniture'? Recent government commissions of inquiry into cable TV recommended no severe restrictions on cable TV, but suggested that children should not be able to watch porn- ie. sexism is OK if you're grown-up, yes? The porn industry is already bigger than the record industry and the film industry combined; the captains of this particular industry must be rubbing their hands at the thought of all those additional royalties. Channel 4; soon we'll have another TV channel. There's not much balanced reporting now (ie. reporting left-wing view as well as the right-wing view). How will things improve when cable TV's run by multinationals where will the air time be for CND; gays; blacks; reds; and the like. If there is to be any, it'll probably be at 2am on a Monday morning. If this sounds pessimistic you can bet your Channel 5 on it. But the idea of local people with access to video- you + I could do a lot. Demystify video! Everyone takes photographs; making videos is fun, as long as we don't get bogged down in commercialism. On the appalling Noel Edmonds programme on Saturday, some time ago, viewers were asked to send in their videos. Not surprisingly, we got people talking to their pet goat in Latin in the back garden, and how the establishment laughed at our incompetent handling of the medium. In a recent TV programme about sexism, I was trying to work out what was odd about the images. Then I realised that they were pictures of men COOKING. Not chefs but ordinary men; hold it a minute, what's so strange, all the men I know cook. I couldn't remember a man cooking on TV before. But then TV's just like real life, isn't it? Clive not James - - - AND WHEN YER SMASHIN' TH' STATE KIDS... DON'T FERGIT T'KEEP A SMILE ON YER LIPS AND A SONG IN YER HEART! ... that Shakespearean Rag It's so elegant! So intelligent!" (T.S.Eliot) - - - $Id: //info.ravenbrook.com/user/ndl/readings-only-newspaper/issue/1982/1982-10-31.txt#2 $