MARCH 19 l983 FORTNIGHTLY RED RAG CND / BANC ACTION MARCH 31st - 1st APRIL ARMS ARE FOR LINKING! REFUSE CRUISE! STOP TRIDENT! From 31 March to 1 April a mass blockade of men and women will close the Burghfield Royal Ordnance Factory. At the same time, CND and the Greenham Common women are inviting women to come together in a major action to block all the gates of USAF Greenham Common. Please come along in groups which are as self-sufficient as possible, with all your own support and legal observers. At both sites, groups are asked to arrive the night before for planning, briefings and registration. Please bring your own tents, food, torches, etc. THE ACTIONS WILL BE NON-VIOLENT, EXPRESSING BOTH THE SPIRIT AND POLITICS OF PEACE. On Friday 1 April we will all join together to form a 14 mile human chain from Greenham, via Aldermaston to Burghfield, to link and support the two blockades. Then we will all gather at Aldermaston - and as April Fool's Day is a traditional time for celebration and festivities, bring entertainments of all kinds and enjoy yourselves. There will, so the rumour says, be some buses to the events, from Reading's Alder Valley bus station on Friday 1 April. (Contact Berkshire Anti-Nuclear Campaign, Neil Marsden on Reading 582668). Further information - a special issue of BANC Notes is due this week - look out for it in Acorn Bookshop, 17 Chatham St. Reading. - - - MAY DAY 83 Sponsored by Reading Trades Union Council May Day '83 (Saturday 30 April) is fast approaching and there are several things that you or your organisation can do to help build on the successes of past years. Firstly you will appreciate that the Festival is staged for you and not just for a handful of activists. It is a day to bring together all members of Reading organisations which are concerned to win a more just society and a better living and working environment. This means Trade Unions, political parties, women's groups, rights groups, race, ethnic and immigrant groups, unemployed workers, the WEA, the Ct-op, Woodcraft Groups, peace groups, environment groups, students and many other community groups (no one has been left out deliberately!). Some of the objectives of the festival are: ** To meet each other at the one and only event in Reading to bring together such a wide range of people and organisations; ** To encourage greater involvement in the Movement and our organisations generally; ** To provide a celebration and regeneration for activists; ** To publicise and support each of our organisations; ** To have fun and to find out what everybody else is doing. SATURDAY 30 APRIL '83 We would like you to tell your organisation, your members, comrades, colleagues and fellow workers that Saturday 30 April 12 noon, march from Old Shire Hall, jazz band leading, your banners, placards and people following; 1.00pm, rally with a very impressive line-up of speakers: Jim Mortimer, General Secretary, Labour Party Winston Pinder, General Secretary, Afro-Caribbean Organisation Greenham Common Peace Camp Representative Richard Evans, Labour prospective Parliamentary Candidate Jack Dromey, Secretary. S.E. Region TUC and National Officer for Public Services, T&GWU. 1.00pm - 5pm creche, films for children over creche age, a film about the Levellers of the 640s - 'Winstanley'. Food - no need to go home for lunch! 2pm - 5.30pm, stalls and events Book and stall for your organisation - large captive audience. Limited number, only £7.50. Ring Ray Parkes, Reading 22781 - - - TORY "NO WAY" FOR UNDER-FIVES! Perhaps the most scandalous aspect of the mammoth County Council meeting on the rates was the abandonment by Tory Councillors of existing Council policy to develop education for the under-fives. To quote Gareth "The Knife" Gimblett, leader of the Tory Group: "The major priority is to provide a service for those within the statutory age limits - in no way are nursery schools or rising fives within those limits." And his Education Chairman Frank Lewis (already under attack for grotesque mishandling of the Reading school reorganisation) added: "There is no doubt that the education budget must be spent on children of statutory school age. There is a far better way of dealing with younger children through pre-school playgroups. In other countries children don't go to school till the age of six." (A member of the Education Department next to me in the public gallery muttered that in France there is free nursery education from the age of three, and 96% of parents take advantage of it.) Be that as it may, and despite desperate and well-reasoned speeches from Labour and Liberal members, the Tories halted the nursery class programme, which had bean planned to produce five more nursery classes in the county next year, including one at George Palmer school in Reading. And they kicked out the proposal to allow summer-born rising fives into primary school, itself a compromise on the admission of all rising-fives that Tories and Liberals had rejected last year. So for another year the chance to give more of our children a better start in life has been lost. Or if you prefer the interpretation of Tory Councillor John Trimming, the county has wisely decided not to pay for middle-class mothers to play squash while the county looks after their children. The Tories, apart from Thatcher herself, seem really to be taking to heart her dictum that the woman's place is in the home and these cuts fit well within that strategy. Pete - - - SMALL AD Fender copy BASS GUITAR - still going at £50 - a bargain! Tel 867955 - - - READING HEALTH WATCH The WEA Industrial Branch teach-in 'Defending your local NHS' resulted in the setting-up of a new ad hoc committee, Reading Health Watch, to monitor cuts in the National Health Service in Reading and co-ordinate opposition to them. The Oxford Regional Health Authority is trying to "save" £8M off its annual budget, and few of the ideas which caused such a national uproar last year have been abandoned. More day surgery, 24-hour maternity care, and closure of wards or even complete hospitals are going to be needed to meet this target, and mean simply increasing hardship for patients and their families. The teach-in was addressed by Dr Peter Fisher, a hospital consultant from Banbury; Ruth Reid, from the Oxford Health JTUC; Alec Welch, the trade union member of the West Berks District Health Authority; and Colm Lyons, secretary of the Reading Voluntary Service Council. Peter Fisher made the point that Britain was spending significantly less on health than other developed countries, and would need to increase its budget by 50% to get into line. But whatever the Government claims, health workers knew that there was less money, not more, available. And money wasn't been wasted in administration: in the NHS administrative costs, which included secretarial staff and those responsible for keeping hospital records, were only 6% of the budget, while in the private health service in the United States the figure was 20%. Other speakers and much of the debate centred on the myth that the voluntary sector could make up for lack of spending on the Health Service. Ruth Reid pointed out that shorter stays in hospital put an increased burden on families having to sustain patients through their convalescence, and Colm Lyons quoted the results of a recent survey showing that only 6% of the elderly, the biggest patient group, have any contact with the voluntary organisations. Those organisations themselves are mainly for mutual support and exchange of information, and their members rely on the NHS for many services such as meals on wheels, laundry and holiday homes, just the sort of services that are already being cut or privatised. The enthusiasm of the Chairman of the West Berks Health Authority for privatisation - he came along to the last meeting with an armful of brochures from one willing company - was condemned as likely to lead to reduced standards of service as well as a major loss of jobs. Private medicine too was a threat as it would not cover those most at risk, especially the elderly, who would be abandoned to a decaying state service in a pronounced two-tier system. Reading Health Watch will be meeting on Wednesday March 16th to develop the action programme resulting from this teach-in. If you would like to take part please contact us via VSC, 38 Caversham Road, or on 54123. Pete - - - GOING OUT GUIDE Sunday 20th Buddy Rich at the Hexagon cancelled! Monday 21st "All the King's Men" by Richard Rodney Bennett. Berks Youth Opera Group. Hexagon. 7.30 £2 + £3 also 22nd "Much Ado About Nothing" Progress Theatre. £1.80 7.45 till 26th "Courage of the People" + "Look back at Grunwick" - Independent films at South Hill Park. 7.30 free Tuesday 22nd Vip Code at Fives. 8pm free Gay Disco. Tudor Arms. 8pm free Reading Symphony Orchestra Sibelius + Grieg. Hexagon 7.30 Redgrave Theatre, Farnham "Cider with Rosie" by Laurie Lee (adapted). Tues - Sat 8.00. Also Thurs 2.30, Sat 4.00 "Fitzcarraldo" South Hill Park 7.30 £1.90 + cons. to 27th Sphere (jazz) SHP £1.90/2.10 8pm Wednesday 23rd Allegri String Quartet. Hex. 7.30 £2.75-3.75. Jazz. Grosvenor House, Kidmore Road, Caversham. 8pm free "The Real Inspector Hound" (Tom Stoppard) + "The Anniversary" (Chekhov). Reading School, Erleigh Rd, don't know time, 60p 10cc, Apollo Theatre, Oxford. 7.30 £4-6 Thursday 24th Reading Symphony Orchestra. Hex. 7.30 £2-3.50 Angies, Red Beans + Rice. 8pm £1 members, £2 guests "Post Horn Gallop" Players Theatre, Whitley Wood Lane, to 26th. 7.30 £? Details + booking 883515 Friday 25th The Waltons, Caribbean, 10ish £1.50 Shehnaz Sheikh Fund-Raising Dance with Urban Warrior, Ballistics, Still, + popular disco sounds,. £? "Come along + support Shehnaz!" Reactors, Angies £1/2 Park Recorder Consort recital, SHP, silver collection "The Elephant Man" SHP 11pm £1.90 + conc, also 26th UFO, Apollo Oxford. 7.30 £3.50-4.50 Saturday 26th The Volcanoes Caribbean £2.50 Marble Arch, Target Short Story, Angies £1/2 Panorama (jazz) 12.15 free Hex Batby (60's soul + rock'n'roll) Jack of Both Sides, free Mozart Requiem Mass, Town Hall, Blagrave St, 8pm £1.50 + £2, tickets 470280 Come All Ye (folk) SHP £1.20/1.50 Sunday 27th Moor Moods in Music 7.30 Hex £2-3.50 also 28th Juvessence, Angies £1/2 Headgames, Fives 8pm free "The Man from Nowhere" + shorts SHP 12.15 75p Monday 28th Exhibition of Paintings + Photos "Just Friends" Hex to 9th April Redgrave Theatre, Farnham - world premiere of children's musical "The Selfish Shellfish" by David Woods. Mornings + afternoons, times vary Independent film "Harlan County USA" 7.30 free SHP Tuesday 29th Pascal Roge (pianist) Hex 7.30 £2.50-3.50 Keylover. Fives 8pm free London Ragtime Orchestra. SHP 7.30 £2/2.20 Elkie Brooks, Apollo Oxford 7.30 £5.50-7.50 Wednesday 30th Dmitri + Tanya Alexiev 1.10 silver collection Hex The Black Sea Cossacks 7.30 £2.50-3.50 Thursday 31st London Wainwright III 7.30 Hex £3-4 Blackfoot Sue. Angies 8pm for 9.15 £1/2 Friday 1st Talent show at Central + Champagne Poffet Stalingrad International "E.T." 2.30 + 7.30 SHP £1.90 + conc -> 10th Tom Robinson SHP £2.50/2.75/3 on door 8.15 "The Long Good Friday" SHP 11pm £1.90 + conc -> 2nd Exhibitions by Charles Chapman, John Fergusson + Tony Rickaby all to 2nd May Saturday 2nd Bucks Fizz (coo!) Hex 5pm + 8pm £5 Jim Warnes Jazz Men 12.15 free Hex Caribbean - to be confirmed Crows (folk) SHP 8pm £1.20/1.50 Sunday 3rd Bournemouth Sinfonietta Hex 7.30 £3-5 Brothers of Beat, Fives Lunchtime free Monday 4th Jim Davidson Show, Hex 5 + 8pm £2.50-5 Tuesday 5th "A Nite of Fame" Generation Theatre + Berks Youth Orchestra. 7.30 Hex £2 + 2.50 + conc, also 6th Seychelles, Fives 8pm free Thursday 7th Clannad 7.30 Hex £3-4 Friday 8th Dave Brubeck 7.30 Hex £3.50-5.50 Ballistics, Caribbean £1.50 Parikian Fleming Roberts Trio £2.75/3 8pm SHP "Taxi Driver" SHP 11pm £1.90 + conc + 9th Saturday 9th Steel Band dance, Central £2.50 Focus on Sanity (jazz) Hex 12.15 free Planxty 7.30 Hex £3.50-4.50 Pat Ryan (folk) £1.20/1.50 SHP 8pm Sunday 10th Alexei Sayle, Hex 7.30 £3 Venues: Hex: The Hexagon, behind the Butts Centre 591591 SHP: South Hill Park, Bracknell's Arts Centre, a little way out of Bracknell's, tel 27272 Fives Bar: Queens Walk, in the side of the Butts, v near the Hexagon Progress Theatre: The Mount, off Christchurch Rd Tudor Arms: Tudor Rd corner near the station Central Club: bottom of London Street Caribbean Club: top of London Street Angies: Milton Rd, Wokingham tel 789912 Target: by Tescos, outside Butts Centre NB: no Reading Film Theatre till next university term - - - ARTS SPECTRUM is a discount scheme (membership £2) for those aged 11-25 (makes you feel oldm dunnit?). Anyway, you can get discounts off some events at the Hexagon (e.g. Dave Brubeck, Planxty, All Night Jazz Festival) plus various other joy like discounts off records, "invitations to open seminars, open rehearsals, etc." Send SAE to The Hexagon Marketing Office, Queens Walk, Reading. - - - SHEHNAZ SHEIKH BENEFIT GIG Friday March 25th, 7.30 till late, Central Club Urban Warrior, The Stills, The Ballistics £2 admission - - - CLOWN COURT I haven't much news from the inside of a court this issue, but I have something else of rather more importance to announce: THERE IS A CONSPIRACY. - I don't know what it's about, but I suspect it involves the mass distortion of reality by the suppression of insignificant information. What is Public Information? I'm afraid this is a question I simply can't answer. There were 3 pieces of information I wanted, basically for this column; as yet I have obtained none of them. Firstly, I wanted statistics concerning recent arrests and reported crimes: How many murders, rapes or robberies were there in Reading in the last month? Secondly, I was interested in the No. of trials going through Reading Magistrates' Courts at present, and their nature. Thirdly, I wondered if it was possible to obtain advance knowledge of trials at the Crown Courts. As for the first: the release of this information is totally at the discretion of the Chief Superintendent of the Reading police. You have to send him a written request explaining your interests in the matter... I haven't written yet, but dishonesty is almost enforced; You can imagine the result if I were to mention 'Red Rag'. As for the second, I went to the Magistrates' Courts' office and asked a clerk if statistics on recent trials were available. At first he pretended that he didn't quite know what I meant - or whether such statistics existed. When this didn't work he referred me to the Home Office. Now, a moment before, I had been informed that this particular clerk was actually the person responsible for sending statistical data (relating to trials) to the Home Office. When I persisted he reluctantly admitted to this, but nevertheless, "You had better write to the home Office." And the third: At Artillery House (the Crown Courts) I was sent upstairs to a man named, I believe, Mr. Jobsworthy. I waited 10 minutes while he chattered to some court official, then asked him if it were possible to obtain advance information on the trials. "Well," he asked, "who are you?" "I'm Luke Psuedonymous," I said. I'm interested in watching a few trials and was wondering if I could some how discover what they're about in advance." "But who are you?" A little taken aback by his strange insistence, I mumbled deviously, "Well, erm, I'm an amateur journalist working for a small community paper." "But are you," Mr. Jobsworthy almost shouted, "a Member of the Public?" "Well, yes, I suppose I am." "In that case: sorry." "What?" "I'm afraid this information isn't available to the general public." And that was that. Some Random Statistics So the only information I'm able to forward to you isn't particularly applicable to Reading, and relates to 198l (the H.O. normally releases it, I am told, between 1 and 3 years late). It is this: In 1981 just under 3 million notifyable offences were recorded by the police in England and Wales, l0% more than in the preceding year, and higher than in any other year. Between 1971 - 79 the average annual increase was nearly 5% a year. In most years the No. of offences 'cleared up' is less than 1/2 the offences recorded. The No. of offenders dealt with for indictable offences is aprox. 1/2 of the offences 'cleared up'. In 1981, 568,000 offenders were found guilty of, or cautioned for, indictable offences. A little more than a 1/3 of these are likely to have been motoring offences, and these will have been the large part of those cautioned. Back to Greenham I attended Newbury Crown and Magistrates' courts on the 17th of this month. There were a No. of trials in progress, one being of a Peace campaigner from Edinburgh (though I think she was arrested at Greenham). It was a brief, magistrates' trial, but before sentence was passed the defendant was allowed a statement. I quote it in full. "On Feb 15th 44 women were tried here charged with breach of the peace. They had been arrested while dancing and singing on the silos due to house cruise missiles. At their trial they produced a mass of evidence justifying their actions by proving that the introduction of cruise missiles is a criminal step towards genocide. They were found guilty and sentenced to 14 day imprisonment. Their case was decided before their trial. "If their case had been tried by public opinion they would have been found not guilty. This court is unrepresentative of the people. It is upholding laws created by the government in their misuse of power to benefit their policies. Policies where military research or the planning for death takes priority. "We are being denied the right to have a say in the way we run our lives. We are being tried and condemned for protesting against nuclear weapons. We are denied representation and the validity of our arguments: Whether nuclear weapons are necessary or acceptable in our society. Our rights to think independently are being threatened. The powers of the military and the police are enlarging, increasing all the time. I don't agree with the power that these people have or the power of the courts to judge these issues. I am not going to accept them. This is why on March the 3rd, the day of our trial, we held a peoples' court in Edinburgh. We were found not guilty of any crime. The crime was found to be that of siting cruise missiles. "I am charged with 'Wilfully obstructing the highway without lawful authority or excuse.' With this stupid law it is impossible for me to be not guilty of obstruction, because I did stop vehicles from entering the base. It is not considered whether my actions were justified or not. "If somebody was on the way to prepare for or commit murder and you could do something to get between them and the victim, would you stand back and watch needless murder? Perhaps because it seems that by preventing it you might be committing a crime? There is something senseless happening, some senseless power. I don't accept this and we are going to change it. I think it's pretty pointless if I am sent to prison because it will not stop us. "You can put brick walls between us but you can't break our chain." The defendant's name is Jennifer England; she had 'jumped' bail; she was sentenced to 8 days imprisonment. Jeremy Barford is Sentenced Jeremy Barford was sentenced at Newbury Crown Court on the same day. Apart from your erstwhile reporter, there was no one else there from Reading to show their solidarity. The Defence first read from a Social Inquiry into Barford's past. It turned out that for the past few years Barford has devoted himself to helping children. He has worked in a No. of adventure playgrounds; and at the time of the Greenham Pence Demolition (last summer) he had been working on a farm where deprived and disturbed children from inner-city areas were looked after and encouraged. Barford was teaching them metalwork, woodwork, etc. The judge (Blumefield again) had read all about this beforehand; he mumbled something about chaos reigning if everyone took action in accordance with their principles} and read the sentence from a piece of paper. Jeremy Barford will spend the next 6 months in prison. With the 2 weeks imprisonment on arrest, and the two since his trial, that makes 7 months. 7 months for playing protest songs to massed police and to our Allies, across the ruins of a high-security fence at Greenham Common. - - - NEWS (all culled from local papers) MR SOHPAL, who denies the allegation of extremism, said the council's decision on funding would force the RCRE to cut back on members' training, travelling and campaigning on racial issues. Coun Jewitt said Mr Sohpal was becoming "increasingly arrogant and militant". "In the nine years I have been involved I have seen the RCRE turn from the pursuit of community relations to an intolerant pursuit of equality" CONTROVERSIAL plans to fill in one old Aldermaston gravel working and begin extraction on another site in the area will be discussed by Berkshire county councillors on Tuesday. The new gravel workings would be at Raghill. It is on agricultural land and the land would be restored after extraction. A report to the county councillors states: "The applicant is prepared to enter a legal agreement to improve and maintain the highway and the application has been amended to minimise the impact on local residents." At Barlow's Plantation, Silchester Road, plans to fill in old gravel workings with builders' waste, paper waste, garden rubbish and soil have met with strong opposition. A 218-signature petition has been sent to the county council from residents at the Ravenswing mobile home park. The residents fear the tip would encourage vermin, create noise and dirt and would spoil the area. This ex-meadow was dug out on similar conditions but is still a wasteland. See it for yourself. CND have hired, it for their rally on 1st April, after saying, "CND will pay for the use of a field and the land would be left clean and tidy afterwards, she promised." READING'S Top Rank Suite is to be boarded up after it shuts its doors for the last time as a nightspot on April 16. The news has brought calls from the town's Labour and Liberal leisure spokesmen for the Hexagon to fill the looming void in activities for young people. PROTESTERS have been daubing posters advertising a Reading circus with "cancelled" stickers. Circus press officer Mr Peter Norris said the phone had not stopped ringing with people asking if the circus had been cancelled. He called the people who caused the damage the "anti-brigade" and said they were "the sort who smash the windows of fur shops." POLICE WERE PUZZLED when Edward Lamb gave himself up, saying he had jumped bail a year ago. For, according to their records, they had not been looking for him. It was only when he said he had given them a false name at the time that they realised who he was. And at Maidenhead Magistrates' Court yesterday, Lamb was convicted of offences committed in 1981. THE SEARCH may soon be on for building land near Greenham Common for up to 300 new homes for American servicemen and their families. Faced with a crucial shortage of houses for their men, the USAF are conducting a series of meetings to try to find land and developers to build new homes for rent within 15 minutes drive of the air base. And with an influx of almost 2,200 servicemen and 2,700 dependants expected with the siting of the 96 cruise missiles at Greenham, the homes are high on the list for discussion. "The idea of the meetings is to inform contractors and financial institutions of our great need for housing with the hope that they will build houses near our bases." Some servicemen at present live up to an hour's drive from their base, which causes problems and inconvenience when people are needed in a hurry. "We must make our viewpoint clear," he said. "Oxfordshire County Council seems to believe it can pour vehicles towards the edges of its own boundaries and they will just fall off the edge of the world." There would soon be a war between Berkshire and Oxfordshire if nothing was done about the problem. 21-PENCIL SALUTE for the Pope Costa Rica welcomed the Pope on his arrival today with a "21-pencil salute" -- uniformed schoolchildren waving pennants and chanting. It was the nearest this Central American country could get to a 21-gun salute ... because it does not own a cannon, and has no army. But Britain has, and what an army? AN INVESTIGATION was launched today after two boys stole a bomb and exploded it in a children's playground. A massive police hunt took place yesterday after the boys stole the live explosive charge from a military training ground near Sandhurst, where members of the crack Ghurka regiment had been preparing for an exercise. Today, the two 14-year-old boys were back with their parents after being found by police. But now a full scale military investigation is under way to discover just how they got away with the plastic explosive bomb. JOYRIDE SOLDIER set for reprieve A young soldier who took a tank on an 80-mile joyride to show his parents in Basingstoke is likely to stay in the Army. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said that Sapper Philip Maton, aged 19, was regarded as a proficient driver and it is unlikely he will be discharged. DEMOCRACY? The protesters included Labour county councillor Alan Furley, who attacked the £85,000 shelter at a recent county council meeting. "They want to spend ratepayers' money on protecting a few local government officials." During the debate they the public seating area. One woman tried to join in the discussion but was shouted down by Councillors. GOOD GOVERNMENT? Chairman of Newbury District Council's recreation and leisure committee, Coun Cyril Woodard, explained the council's position. I'm only interested in upholding the law. Nothing else. "I would not want to prevent the women from protesting" he said. "But they are unsightly." - - - EVENTS Mon 21 Spring Equinox (and about time too) Apart from more spontaneous local celebrations there's a "traditional dance" to evoke the sun's movement and the passing seasons, at 3pm at White Waltham Parish Hall. (Where?) Bring food to share. £l (75p to Thames Vall. Nat. Health Centre members) Women And Babies Against Nukes: If you'd like to learn more about nuclear war, discuss such issues as the arms race, cruise and nuclear power, also to get away from home for a couple of hours one day and meet other women and children "then this peace group is for you". First meeting today 10am, 71 Hamilton Road. Creche provided. Anarchists meet every Monday at 9pm. You could try ringing 666681 for venue, this may not leave you any the wiser though. Ecology Party meets two Mondays per month at 3pm. Their venue is 38 Longbarn Lane for this one. Ring Maria Collins (663195) for details. "Courage of the People" is a dramatised reconstruction of a "historic" massacre of Bolivian tin miners and their families in 1967. This film is one of South Hill Park's (that's in Bracknell) Union Movement series. Also: "Look back at Grunwick", 7:30pm. (Free) Tues 22 "Biodynamic Methods of Gardening" - a talk by Karen Heme from Watford for the Berkshire Organic Gardeners. Coffee & bookstall; 7:30, St. Mary's Centre, Chain Street. Wed 23 Civic Society AGM - Dr John Punter, chairman, will revue major developments and proposals as they are likely to affect Reading. Vachel Room, Hexagon, 8pm. Free. All welcome. "Youth for Labour" (sounds fun) - LPYS public meeting with talk by Rod Fitch, Prospective Parliamentary candidate for Brighton/Kemptown. 'pm, St. Mary's Centre, Chain Street. Pornography. Meeting to discuss a week of action against pornography (May 14-21) at Women's Centre (Old Town Hall Basement, entrance through archway opposite Forbury Gardens). 3:30pm. All women welcome. Socialist Workers Party meet every Wednesday in the Red Lion, Southampton Street. 8pm. Thur 24 Henley Peace Group Speaker from the Medical Campaign against Nuclear Weapons. "The Only Treatment is Prevention". Henley Town Hall, 8pm. Exercise & Movement (in Thames Vail. Nat. Health Centre series "Help yourself to health"). Informal talk at Friends Mtg Hse, Denton Road, Wokingham. 8pm. 50p. Details: Ian, Bracknell 25343. OK, breathe a sigh of purified relief, it's "United Nations Clean Water and Sanitation Decade". This is also the title of a talk by Brian Jackson for the UN Association at 84 Waverley Rd at 7:30. Fri 25 "Threats to our Environment" - a selection of recent video and audio programmes, at the Conservation Soc. Resource Bank and Study Centre, c/o George Palmer School, Northumberland Avenue, 7-9:30. Sat 26 Your rights... East Reading Rights Group does a stall every Saturday from 11 till 1pm, outside the Baptist Chapell on Cemetry Junction. Girls Club: Disco and "creative work". Girls only, ages 9 - 12. 2:30pm-4:30. Every Saturday, Womens Centre, British Nationalist Party (offshoot of NF) will attempt to hold their AGM in Slough Town Hall. There will be "at least" a very noisy picket. Should we allow Fascists to organise themselves unhindered? If you need transport, ring 599597. Mayday Jumble Sale to raise funds for next month's shebang. Phone Ron Knowles 363437 with offers of jumble and help. I seem to have mislaid details of where this sale is actually taking place, with luck they're somewhere else in this Rag (he hopes). Music Club at the Women's Centre, all women and children welcome, bring guitars, recorders, etc. 11 am. Every 2nd Saturday. Sun 27 Campaign Against Racist Laws (CARL) demo in London. Assemble noon, Jubilee Gardens, near Waterloo Stn. "Repeal the Immigration & Nationality Acts. Stop race checks. Stop racist deportations. Unite the divided families now." "Stand Together" - Final stewards meeting for the CND human chain on Friday. Anyone who is intending to help in any capacity should be there (i.e. this is your "last chance" to get involved in helping, supposedly). AUEW, 121 Oxford Road, 2pm. Mon 28 Discussion of the "Truth Game" by the South Rdg Neighbourhood Group of BANC (Berks. Anti Nuclear Campaign). At the South Rdg Community Centre, Northumberland Ave, 8pm. Details from Deirdre Burrell (864059). Anarchists - see last Monday. "Harlan County USA" Last in the series of Union Movt. films At South Hill Park. Miners' strike, Kentucky, 1973. "They may shoot me, but they can't shoot the union out of me." 7:30, free. "Willows" talk by R.D.Meitle from Kew in Lecture Theatre 4, Old Library, London Road University Site, 7:30pm. There will be an exhibition of willows showing pink, grey and black catkins on violet, olive and terracotta stems. Bring a hand lens. (Tree Club.) "Halleys Comet 1986" - talk by Patrick Moore (as seen on TV), 8pm, Leighton Park School, Shinfield Rd. Tickets £1 in advance from Rdg Astronomical Soc, 30 Amehurst Rd or £1:50 on door. Ecology Party talk: Richard Hunt on Defence Policy. 8pm, St Mary's Centre, Chain St. Wed 30 Community Action Group (Wholefood Co-op, Peace/CND activities, mutual aid, new games, + more ideas welcome) - Fairview Community Centre, 7:30pm (George St) Women's Centre Monthly meeting, all women very welcome, 7:30 pm. S.W.P. - as last Wednesday. Education - a WEA Industrial Branch Teach-in. John Hughes from Ruskin College will talk on the future of education in Britain and the effects of cuts at all levels. Workshops on Youth Training, Education Alliance and Education in Reading, all featuring various speakers. Centre for the Unemployed, East St, starts 7:30, all welcome. Thur 31 RED RAG copy deadline and planning meeting for next issue. Ring 666681 for venue, or if you'd like to get involved in some way but can't make it tonight. Thur 31 - Fri 1 HUMAN CHAIN - BANC/CND for details; see front cover. Fri 1 Peter Taafe lays foundation stone for a 15 storey, 200,000 sq.ft. office block being built to coincide with the Marx centenary. Palmer Park, 11am, red armbands. Sat 2 RED RAG production weekend - lots of harmless fun with a pair of scissors and a tube of Pritt-stick. Offers of help in any capacity, or if you just want to pop in and see how it's done, ring 666681. Friends of the Earth Paper collection. Meet George St, 11:15 am, if you want to help, lasts about an hour "A New Games Happening" ... at the park at the bottom of George St. at 2pm. (It's a kind of fun rehearsal for an organised afternoon event at Palmer Palk on April 23) Phone John, 580563 or Paul, 587381 for details. ERRG stall as last Saturday. Sun 3 RED RAG collating and distributing - that's folding it and giving it away to all our avid readers (ie. you). Offers of help accepted with a smile, ring 666681 for a free demonstration. Mon 4 Anarchists - see 21st above. Ecologists' - regular meeting. 25 De Beauvoir Rd. Ring Maria Collins (663195) for details. Playschemes throughout Reading, until April 15. Ring Patrick Candler, 55911 ext2069 for details. (Borough council.) ROAR - Reading Organisation for Animal Rights meets at 8pm in the Crown, Crown St. More details in next issue of the Rag. Tilehurst CND - Peace Canvass '83 (whatever that is). 86 Devonshire Gardens, off Long Lane, 8pm. +++++ The Red Rag / Peace Week jumble sale last Saturday went very well: tons of jumble, nice music, cups of tea, pleasant company, nearly £60 raised! Red Rag received £29:50. Thanks to everyone who helped in any way, +++++ Centre for the Unemployed is open Mon-Fri, all day. Among other things, benefit and other rights advice is available all the time, so are tea and coffee; there are classes in silkscreening (Tues 10-1), Batik (Wed 2-4), Homebrew (Fri 10-12), Sewing (Mon 1-3), Writers Workshop (Thurs am), Managing money (Wed am), Music (Thurs all day), Bike Maintenance (Tues 11-1). There's also a Claimants' Action Group (Thurs 2-4) and Women's Sign-on Campaign (contact Edwina or Debbie). +++++ The Women's Centre is in the basement of the Old Shire Hall, Abbey Street... A place where you can get: - Cheap tea and coffee - A book to borrow - A sit down and a rest - Information about your rights - Someone to talk to - A chance to learn new things - A place for the kids to play Open every Tuesday (10:30-2:30), Wed(10-3), Sat(10:30-2). Also: Pregnancy Testing, every Tuesday, 7-9pm, bring morning urine sample. Share Childcare Group, every Thursday (10:30-12:30) for mothers and children. There's an open day coming up (May 7). Anyone interested in helping / putting on any entertainment, ring Sue Blake, 867355. +++++ Musicians wanted for the CND Easter Action. Contact Lindy Chatting at 52 Morgan Road or phone 873453. - - - DARE TO HOPE - DARE TO ACT! Inspired by the women at Greenham? Heard about Non-Violent Direct Action? Head about it? Thought about it? Talked about it? Time is running out if you are interested.... There has been some disagreement about the wisdom of the blockade of R0P Burghfield at Easter: it has been criticised on various grounds. The appropriateness of that sort of action at that time and place is obscure to many of us. But an occasion when radical action will be clearly appropriate, and well organised, will take place at the end of May: a four-day blockade of USAF Upper Heyford, starting at 6am on Tuesday, 31at May. There is wide opposition to the presence of foreign armed forces within the territory of "sovereign" states. At USAP Upper Heyford, just North of Oxford, there is a complete community, independent of British laws and practices. Warplanes wait ready to drop nuclear bombs on "targets", at the order of the Pentagon. While professing to support negotiations aimed at multilaterally reducing nuclear stockpiles, the British government is collaborating with the Reagan Administration in the expansion of the base: British police are assisting state-paid workers to fence off 30 acres, to be handed over to USAF control. The British press is deliberately NOT giving any publicity to the fact that each morning people obstruct the work as effectively as they can without sacrificing their principles, even when this entails being imprisoned. This is not a scenario of the future - it is actually happening now! while TV and Radio and national papers look the other way... What sort of "democratic" state ignores and misleads its own population in order to obey the wishes of a militarist super-power? Our government does. The people resisting this are confident that we shall succeed, and are successfully maintaining principles of non-violence, of opposing all oppression, of developing freedom and peace in their own lives. They deserve our support to be equally consistent with the freedoms we wish to uphold. To this end, it is hoped to make the 4-day blockade an event so big and so successful in remaining consistent to the stated aims of non-violence that it cannot be ignored. So there must be preparation: In Reading, it would be good to have a public meeting on the issue, a weekend "training school" to prepare participants for the blockade, and a Benefit Gig to pay for it all. If you are willing to help with any of this, contact Cliff. Rdg 667180, or Box 17, Acorn Bookshop. - - - SMALL ADS Double room available in shared house near Reading (Purley). Rent £14.50 per week exclusive of bills. All modem facilities. Suitable for young couple. Ring 37-4532 any evening. Friedly volunteers required for work at a hostel in Reading for homeless teenagers. Further details - ring 588681. - - - "Although an open society is part of the American tradition, we should close our doors a little more for our own safety." - Letter to Time. Red Rag's reply: "And everyone else's..." , - - - RECENT BETRAYALS BY THE CHURCH Today the Christian churches no longer have the power to humble the weak or tax the poor. Cultural memories of the Inquisition, of witch-hunting, or of sanctimonious pyromaniacs, are awakened only occasionally at the words of the over-bearingly meek. Now, the churches are able only to profess noble ideals, in the hope that one day they may regain their diminished power; but the route to this power lies, as it has always done, in the betrayal of these ideals. The Church of England The ineffectual and conservative Church of England has not been ineffectual in its betrayal of Christianity in recent months. Two examples come instantly to mind: the Falklands Fiasco; the vote against unilateral disarmament. Am I right in recalling that the Archbishop of Canterbury said, "There are occasions when one simply can't turn the other cheek..."? And I wonder if even God knows what occurred in the minds of assorted bishops and priests as they reached the majority verdict that perhaps it is fine to kill, after all - as long as you have been killed first. But whatever thoughts they entertained, it is clear that the benevolent smile of the C. of E. has cracked to reveal a mouth dismally lacking in teeth. The Protestant Missionaries Not long ago there was an article in the Sunday Times Magazine white-washing the missionaries: their strenuous task; their bringing medicine and education to the natives. This is only a half of the matter. In Paraguay an Indian reservation described by Norman Lewis of the Sunday Times as a 'Death camp' is run by U.S. fundamentalist missionaries, one of whom is known to have participated in 'Indian hunts' in forest areas, and even in the lucrative sale of captives in his charge. Jack Stolz of the New Tribes Mission, perhaps the most influential of the North American missions in Paraguay, was known for the fear which he inspired in the Indians. Others are reported as having raciat feel ings of superiority. It is probably for this very reason they were selected by the Paraguayan government to run the reservations. In Guatamala last year some 90 villages suffered massacres during President Rios Montt's campaign to eliminate resistance among the country's Indian peasant population; approximately 3,550 Indians died between March 23 (the date of Rioss Montt's coup) and the end of June. The Guatamalan Human Rights Commission stressed that the majority of these were women and children. As these atrocities occurred, Protestant missionaries continued to strengthen their position in a country where even the President is a convert. Even in such comparatively peaceful places as Malawi in central Africa, where, in bad years people often die of starvation, I have been told that "the missionaries appear well fed; get driven around in cars (cars are only owned by the government and the wealthy in Malawi); have servants; and live in large houses." The Catholic Church The Catholic Church, in its great beneficence, implicitly supports many horrendous regimes throughout the world. The pope has visited the countries of Central and South America, and shaken the hands dripping with blood of assorted despots. In El Salvador priests even begged the pope not to visit; their pleas were ignored. But each time he visits such countries he shows both to the world and, more importantly, to the people of the countries involved, that to some extent he supports the pernicious regime of their oppressors. But the pope is only a figurehead for a vast beaurocracy: individual priests are supporting repression in far more obvious ways. An incident similar to the recent slaughter of journalists was reported some time ago from Peru. A priest informed the inhabitants of an obscure village that any strangers were communists (such places are likely to become the hide-outs of anti-fascist guerrillas). When two Americans working on an agricultural project arrived on the scene they were hacked to death. In El Salvador there is a bishop who is a colonel in the armed forces. A priest writes, "...the people see him dressed up in his uniform, accompanying the troops as they commit genocide..." A picture of this bishop appeared in the Salvadorian newspapers, showing him blessing helicopters supplied by the U.S.: now become instruments of repression imbued with the holy spirit. Another priest, presently in charge of the information office of the archbishopric of San Salvador, was for many years chaplain for the national police... All these incidents, concerning all of the churches, are no doubt duplicated throughout the Third World. Expediency, and the hunger far power, must be the name of their betrayal. Christianity should be a religion for the people, in support of the people; the Christian churches claim to be its voice - but they have betrayed the people; and they have betrayed Christianity. - Luke - - - BLACK MARKET? Something had to be written about the Black Beauty competition to take place on 15 April at the Old Town Hall, organised by Burton Richard's from Central Club. Burton is promoting the contest with the purpose of getting black beauty recognised - the idea being that at the present only white European beauty is recognised through beauty contests. The way the women will be judged is by a points system, concentrating on: personality appearance beauty I would like to ask - is this all women are about? The winner will represent Reading on 2 July at another male organised beauty contest - and after that, who knows? My personal opinion is that it is very degrading for any woman to put herself in that position, and even as a black woman, I feel a lot of damage is being done to all women by contests like these. I feel that it contributes to the unnecessary vanity that we as women are swallowed up in. How can women let themselves be manipulated to the point where they parade around a stage (for the pleasure of men) to be told that one woman is more beautiful than another? Women are exploited as sex symbols, which is acceptable in this society. But it is women who suffer the backlash in many ways, although in society it goes unnoticed. In the media women are divided into two stereotypes - the housewife or the page 3 model. Beauty contests encourage men to think that women are like P3 models, that they are sexually available, and that this is a woman's most important role. If the media and beauty contests are constantly giving men this message, is it surprising that they don't take women seriously and that rape is such a vast problem? I wonder how much longer women will let themselves be abused in this fashion before they take a stand and show men what they are made of? Maddi - - - Black £20? Leb £17? Rocky £14? Are you tired of the upward spiral? How does devastating bush at less than £5 for several ounces sound? Pretty good huh? Well lend an ear to ....... HERBERT HERBSON'S HERB GROWING COURSE You will need some seeds (Hawaiian, Columbian, Californian, Jamaician, African, Thai or preferably Nepalese). If everyone you know has spent the winter cursing fate and throwing these things away, it is possible to go to your local pet shop and ask for some hemp seeds (for your budgy!) - a couple of ounces will do. But these seeds would be largely infertile and produce low quality blow, so it's best to scavenge some from imported grass. This is what you do ......Very soon.....(how about the Equinox? If you miss this then there is a full moon next weekend. At any rate, don't let it drag on till summer before you get your act together, these plants need lots of time in which to do there stuff)........Get a flat plate, fold a paper tissue so that it covers most of the plate, sprinkle the seeds on to the tissue and follow it up with another tissue. Pour enough water on to get everything wet (but not flooded out) and put the plate somewhere moderately warmish for a while. Add water every couple of days to stop it from drying out and watch out for seeds which have started to sprout (takes 1-3 weeks). When (and if) each seed wakes up it should be planted. My method is to use small (say 2 inch) peat pots with potting compost, but this combination isn't essential. Anyway, plant the seeds, one to a pot otherwise you'll only have to thin them out later, about one inch down, and sprout end more or less up (yes I know its a root, it curves round eventually and levers the seed up above ground). Be gentle during this operation or you'll damage the roots. Keep the pot somewhere light (just below a window sill so it can be seen from the sky but not the road). Keep it well watered, but don't flood it; avoid Baby Bio at this stage. Turn the pots every day or 2 so they don't grow over to one side. Don't they look sweet? They'll grow quite rapidly and will want larger pots and a permanent site to grow in before long, watch for this column's continuation in further issues. *** Reading LCC *** (c/o Box 23, Acorn Bookshop) - - - ENTHUSIASTIC BOOK REVIEW Spectacular Times no.11, "More of the Shame" Delightful little booklet/periodical... it defies description! Following on after the immensely popular "Animals" issue (running to a third, pirated, printrun in Australia!), this handy collage of expressions, literary and visual, of our predicament must surely get lost between larger publications in book shops, but still it crops up like a hidden treasure. I couldn't attempt to paraphrase contents, explain argument, or analyse "message"; just say that I can go back again and again and be both disturbed and reassured each time I look at it: disturbed at the awfulness of it all, reassured that somebody can express so well what it is that disturbs each of us deep down. I still don't know of a solution, but we know we aren't alone anymore. A funny, niggling little tool for breaking down those atrociously solid barriers that surround us all. cjj. (I have to admit slight bias - I know the compiler - but give it a read anyway. *just 40p_!!*) - - - ANARCHIST DISCUSSION MEETING - A REPORT On March 7th there was an anarchist discussion meeting on "The benefits of a nuclear holocaust" - this was the basic introduction: 1) The nuclear holocaust - one sure way of changing society. Potentially for the better: historically hunter-gatherer societies have been among the most benevolent and anarchic ever, an efficient full-scale holocaust should reduce the population of developed countries by about 95%, thus giving the correct densities for these. 2) Prime Chance - the best time for a revolution: After the bombs the present power structures will be in a disorganised and relatively weak state. Some years back on the island the idea of stockpiling arms and surviving the holocaust in a strong position was floated, however lack of resources and interest aborted this. 3) Deprogramming - there is the possibility that in the aftermath of such a massive trauma, the need for people to organise their own lives, divorced from the former consumer society and public services, would spontaneously create localised pockets of libertarian communities. The religious significance of the holocaust and the link with millennial sects was also explored. The response to these ideas was mostly negative - the point was made that the discussion was irrelevant since no realistic action could be developed from it, and that 2) especially was false. 6 people were present (10 had come to the origionally advertised talk), one of which was new to anarchist meetings. This was the first in a series of monthly discussion meetings deliberately designed to be more accessible and attractive to strangers (a suggested idea for the next one is the links between feminism and anarchism- probably in about a months time). KCL - - - (CREEPING) RAMPANT TEBBITRY? Apart from the coordinator, all staff at the Centre for the Unemployed are Manpower Services Commission funded. The following is an extract from MSG's Agents' & Sponsors' Handbook - (Berkshire County Council is a local agent of MSC): 'Projects must not involve political activity or have political objectives. In particular projects must not provide for or encourage: any action to be taken in support of a political party; the organisation of or participation in marches or demonstrations of any kind, or the use of the project for these purposes; any action to be taken to intervene in industrial disputes; the undertaking or printing or distribution of posters, leaflets, booklets etc. in connection with the above activities.' Do we need any more proof that MSC jobs are nothing more than a cosmetic exercise designed to keep the unemployed quiet, if not muzzled? - - - CND/BANC ETC. MESSAGE CENTRE If you need to get a message to somebody who is not on the phone, or if arrangements break down and unavailable people have to be told, phone Jenny Maxwell on Reading 581509. She will take your message and pass it on to whoever needs to know when they ring in - so make sure your friend friends know the number too! Peace activities only please, not personal mess- ages except in cases of genuine crisis. Like 'I have just gone into labour', not 'I've forgotten to buy the coffee'. - - - MUSICAL CROBBLE-WORD The winner of the last Rag's music crossword (I use the description with some flexibility!) is:- -----. If none has been finished, the one nearest completion does. The first prize of 1 gallon of home brew may be located by contacting Acorn Bookshop...or Mike Pursell, 15 Stanley Grove. - - - GETTING IN TOUCH WITH RED RAG: PHONE 666681, 662302, 666324, or write c/o Acorn Bookshop, 17 Chatham St, Reading. GET YOUR COPY AT: Acorn- 17 Chatham St Pop Records- 172 King's Rd Centre for the Unemployed- 4-6 East St Emporium Merchant's Place, Friar St Central Club- London St Our Price Records- Butt's Centre Lazer Records- Butt's Centre Ken's Shop- Students' Union Mace Grocer- 2 Crown Colonnade Or ring 666681 for delivery to your door. MONEY We're doing OK - but not brilliantly. Some of the above outlets have collection boxes, or send cheques made out to Red Rag c/o Acorn. "Your faultless typing has saved yet another issue of this otherwise dire publication, Carruthers." - - - $Id: //info.ravenbrook.com/user/ndl/readings-only-newspaper/issue/1983/1983-03-20.txt#3 $