red rag fortnightly . free News..........666324/666681 Events..............868384 Going Out...........666324 Distribution........665676 Copy deadline for next issue Thurs 19 Jan. Send copy and also donations (collecting tins at outlets or cheques to "Red Rag" c/o Acorn Bookshop, 17 Chatham St Reading......... Happy New Year! xx - - - CITIZEN CAIN Knights and Players The New Year Honours List brings back memories of rumours current when Reading East M.P. now Sir (then Doctor) Gerry Vaughan was moved from the Ministry of Health (where he carried out the third of four Tory-initiated reorganisations of the National Health Service) to his banana skin-prone post as Minister of Trade (where he united the rather conservative Citizens Advice Bureaux against him in defence of Reading CAB Director Joan Ruddock). The story was then that he was moved, together with "Sir" George Younger (now responsible for proclaiming the Government's commitment to good race relations) because they wanted to take action to reduce smoking (just about the single biggest cause of ill-health) and the tobacco industry wasn't having it. Dr (now Sir) Gerry has learned his lesson - he spoke movingly in Reading last month about the virtues of the fourth NHS reorganisation - and perhaps now has his reward. Fact 1: BAT Industries (formerly British American Tobacco) gave £2500 to Aims of Industry and £2000 to the Centre for Policy Studies in 1982-3. Fact 2: Total advertising expenditure by the tobacco industry is about £100,000,000 a year - say £5M in the four counties covered by our Oxford Regional Health Authority. The ORHA, recognising the same links our Gerry recognised and desperate to find some way of reducing the cost of health care, is planning to go into health education in a big way and spend all of £100,000 a year on all aspects of it in 1984-94. Sites Vacant The Griffiths Report on the NHS ("It's really just like Sainsburys" says Sainsburys Director Roy Griffiths) calls for property to make a major contribution to NHS funds. The 0RHA and, round here, the West Berkshire Health Authority, seem anxious to comply. The WBHA Annual Programme suggests they should give up their Coley and Norcot Clinics. The Norcot Clinic, a the end of Lyndhurst Road, occupies a medium sort of site just next to another medium sort of site which used to have garages for tenants on the Old Norcot Estate but is now being sold off by Reading Borough Council as part of Cllr. Jewitt's Closing Down Sale. No doubt a coincidence but the two sites would go well together. And meantime the Old Norcot Estate will remain just about the most deprived Council estate in terms of facilities in the town. Greenhamgate There is probably also no connection whatsoever between the exclusion of the peace women from the Little Chef in Newbury and the support by Little Chef owners Trust House Forte for Greenham Common RAF Base owners Trust Heseltine Fortissimo as shown by their £37,500 donation to Tory Party funds. The Little Chef action seems far more likely to be a response to local vigilante groups who've been showing their support for democracy and freedom of expression by throwing stones, fouling water supplies, and a bit of mild arson. If these thugs are feeling frustrated help is on the way. The "Guardian" has revealed a nice little plot by which civil servants at the Ministry of Transport will get Berkshire County Council to do a road widening scheme that will sort of accidentally widen the road over the land where the peace women are now camping after being evicted by the Newbury District Council from what is laughingly called common land. And who thought that using civil servants in an underhand way against your political opponents had gone out with Richard Nixon? Mr Norris' Unchanging Refrains Berkshire Labour Leader Lawrence Silverman has claimed without fear of contradiction that Berks. now has the most expensive waste disposal system in the country and has cost ratepayers over £6M. The man most responsible for this contract with Grundons is widely felt to be Steve Norris, a County Councillor, now Tory M.P. for Oxford East, and Vice-Chairman of the West Berkshire Health Authority. In that last capacity at the April meeting ot the Authority he brandished brochures from Pritchards (who are doing - or sometimes not doing - refuse collection in South Oxfordshire) and demanded progress towards privatisation in the NHS in the West Berks district in view of the great benefits that privatisation could bring. The Authority agreed to a pilot scheme at Wokingham General Hospital, which may, on his track record, soon therefore have the most expensive hospital domestic services in the NHS. And Pritchards or somebody will presumably be laughing all the way to the bank. Though their account there is £10,000 the lighter as a result of a token of their appreciation to Margaret Thatcher's Paytime Band. It Still Rankles There is no connection whatsoever between the decision by the Department of the Environment (Tom King-of-all-he-surveys, prop.) to give the Rank Organisation permission to turn the Reading Top Rank suite into a bingo hall and the £35,000 the Rank Organisation gave to the Conservative Party and various front organisations last year. Citizen Cain - - - THE RED & THE BLACK In the early hours of 1984, the SWP in Reading hatched a new revolutionary plan to further the cause of free public transport in Reading. Based on the Dutch Provos' idea of free public access to bicycles (if you find a bicycle, use it and leave it where it is for somebody else to use) the plan was first put into practice by one particularly enthusiastic party member and some friends who needed to get across town to his brother's New Year's Eve Social. Unfortunately, the household from which he and his friends decided to 'liberate' some bicycles was not fully understanding of this project, and a couple of people in the house, known as 'self-confessed anarchists', were most irate to find an SWP member trying to 'nick' the household's bikes, and furthermore, that he'd cheekily stuck his bottle of wine in the bicycle basket! Unkind references were made to the SWP's 'dog eat dog' theory of economics; then someone said the whole occurrence was probably the result of a revolutionary new plan... Anna Key-Toyoo - - - HIGH WYCOMBE It was dark at 6.30am. on Monday 19th. December, and anti-nuclear protestors from all over the south of England were gathering in a carpark at High Wycombe, the War Capital of Europe, to take part in a demonstration to oppose the government's plans for our future. After struggling up a slippery and dark slope (had the police really been blowing out the candles which lit the way?) about 50 people sat down in the gateway to USAF Daws Hill where cruise missiles are controlled. Many more 'peace people' were taking other roles such as watching the movements of the police, making hot drinks, setting up toilets, observing and supporting the blockaders, taxi-ing people around and taking messages. (Two roving Red Rag reporters were also spotted). At about 7.10am. some vehicles arrived and wanted to enter the base. So far the police presence had been fairly small and jovial. One of the officers in charge now stood in front of the singing blockaders and announced that they were blocking the highway and warned them that they would be arrested if they didn't move. The singing continued. One woman stood up and walked away from the blockade. She was immediately arrested, but after some protest was released. Suddenly several teams of police arrived from vans which had been parked further down the road. They swiftly started to drag the blockaders away into their mini-buses. This was a fairly chaotic time as it was still dark and everything was happening so fast. About 10 vans full of protestors left the site after this first clearance. Somehow the blockade managed to hold together, and the police began to have a hard time as new groups of blockaders arrived and sat down. Now they didn't know who had already received a warning and who hadn't. Up till now the police had been quite fair and friendly, although some were obviously enjoying making arrests. More protestors were arriving all the time and taking up positions sitting in the road, standing on the verges and generally milling around. The police were beginning to lose their cool and a ban on crossing the road came into force. I saw one incident of police brutality when a blockader was picked up and thrown against a solid wooden fence - crunch! The blockade had been broken, but the spirit was still there and continued until 11.00am. Meanwhile, all those arrested had been taken to Wycombe police station, and a continual presence was maintained inside and outside by friends and supporters. Those arrested had been split into men and women and kept in seperate areas of the building. We could see a lot of women at an upstairs window, but we were kept as far away from them as possible. There was a lot of singing, and a few messages were passed on to the women by way of written signs held up in the air. The young constable on duty outside the station was quite sympathetic to our cause and spoke of "we" in the peace movement, not "you". The police inside the station were not giving anything away, apart from saying that all those arrested were still in Wycombe, and that they would be released on bail as soon as they had all been interviewed and "processed". A solicitor acting on our behalf arrived at about 9.30am. but wasn't allowed to speak to any of the people being held. Supporters outside the police station were increasing in number, and vans full of arrested protestors continued to arrive. About 300 people had been at Daws Hill during the morning, and there had been a total of 152 arrests. In the police station, two women, presumably police officers, were spotted behind the counter chatting to some of the uniformed men. They were dressed in jeans, anoraks, wellies and woolly hats covered in badges. Would they be trying to infiltrate the rest of the days events? They would have to be watched for! I arrived back at the carpark at 11.15am. where a silent procession would soon be starting a march around the town centre. A police officer approached me and asked if it was true that the march would no longer be taking place now that so many people had been arrested. I suggested that he had a look over his shoulder at the entrance; cars and vans full of people were arriving every minute. Banners were being put together, stewards being recruited and signs being made : "There are 150 of us in the cells". The march set off at about 11.45am., led by the Wycombe Peace Council banner. Slow drum beats by the Buddhist Monks of Milton Keynes set the pace, and 400-500 marchers dressed in black formed a long tail behind. A special assignment of anti-cruise placards from Reading arrived on the way and were hurriedly unpacked and distributed. Thousands of leaflets were handed out to shoppers and pedestrians on the route to explain why we were there and what was going on in and around High Wycombe in preparation for nuclear war. The rain poured down but we were all warmed by the strength we had created by our silence and solidarity. Bewildered workers lined the windows of first floor offices, looking down at us; prisoners of the establishment at the bars of their "cells". For over an hour the traffic had been held up by the march, but no car horn or hooter was heard. I would like to think that this was in respect of our call for silence, but more realistically, the police presence made drivers feel safe and unthreatened enough to leave any hurrying along to the boys in blue. On arrival at the assembly point at the end of the march we were met by a man who had been arrested earlier and had just been released from the station. There was much jubilation at the prospect of the 152 being released, and many people went to the police station to meet them. Many others made their way to Nap Hill, just north of High Wycombe, where a NATO/MoD bunker is under construction to house our military leaders in wartime. At the police station people were being released at the rate of one every 5 or 10 minutes. All had been charged with wilful obstruction of the highway and ordered to return to Wycombe for a court hearing on 16th., 23rd. or 30th. January. As well as obstruction, one person was charged with criminal damage after he had written on the inside of his police van cubicle "I renounce war and will not support or sanction another" and signed his name to it! The McD police at Nap Hill were very friendly and helpful and allowed all the tree-planters to go inside both perimeter barbed-wire fences to do their bit in reclaiming the woodland. One of the police was quite an expert in forestry matters and was able and willing to give advice to anyone needing it. Everyone was able to write their name and message of peace on a tag and attach it to the tree they had planted. There was quite a variety of saplings, including oaks, beeches, wild cherries, ash, fir, pine and even a few "Buddleias against the Bunker". By dusk the tree-planting was over and people had started to make their way homeward. The last of the blockaders were released by 5-30pm; it was a shame that they had missed most of the day and all it came to be. I hope that everyone there enjoyed the day as much as I did, and experienced the warmth and caring nature of all the people I met who have the same basic ideas and aims for the future of our Earth. Let's do it again, soon!! warmthlovepeace, Bridge P.S. Thankyou Harold. - - - DAWS HILL TAKE-AWAY Dear Red Rag, I participated in the blockade at Daws Hill on Dec 19th in a simple way: I sat down and was arrested. At previous blockades I have, at one level or another, been involved with organisation and it was great this time to leave it all, confidently, in the hands of others. A big thank you to everyone who worked in advance and on the day in organising the event, especially to those who waited all day in the cold and the wet outside the police station with such dedication that requires so much more commitment than being bored in a warm stuffy cell. I found it worthwhile, although we did not prevent the base operating that day. What we did achieve was a calm deliberate defiance of the police force and the whole mentality which requires its existence. Given the explicit nonviolent and overt nature of the 'blockade, it would have required more people to close the place for the day. But despite that limitation, quickly apparent, more than 150 people were totally undeterred by the presence of the police and their policy of arresting those who persisted in disobeying their orders. I hope now we might collectively continue that defiance, to persist with what we have started. The court may conceivably acquit people who clearly argue the legal justifications for their actions. That, on much recent evidence, is extremely unlikely. So, if magistrates are to punish us unjustly anyway, there is no point in co-operating with their legal games. Let us demonstrate clearly to the people who operate the legal machine that we conscientiously and reasonably reject their behaviour, and will do all we can to resist it. The only questions left are the tactical ones of the most effective ways of doing this without incurring unacceptable harms to ourselves: I for one don't wish to waste any of my life in prison. I do want the magistrates to leave the court on 23 Jan knowing that there is no honour or dignity in their office, and that their "authority" rests fragilely upon no more than unreliable brute force. Cliff - - - MOLES & LEMMINGS At Greenham on December 11th, 30 000 women worked together to bring down the perimeter fence, not as the result of weeks of organisation, but of women acting spontaneously together, gathered at the fence for 3 o'clock only by word of mouth throughout the day. Those women not involved directly in pulling down the fence, or going into the base, were just as important in a supportive way, protecting those going in by coming to the fence, linking arms and distracting the police, and it was up to each woman to get involved only to the extent that she felt she wanted to. I was among 15-20 women who managed to get through the fence at the Green Gate. The violence at the Gate was excessive. I went in with a group of women when we saw progress had been made in cutting through the first layer of razor wire at one section. We were faced then with a row of paratroopers, locked up all day waiting and now very aggressive. (What it must be to be a gallant soldier, back from heroics in the Falklands, to protect American missiles on British soil against women peace protesters!) They pushed us into a corner with a sheet of corrugated iron and because of their shoving a lot of women fell onto the iron. They then stood in rows, snarling and spitting; and with cries such as 'That one!', picked out one women at a time to kick, hit and pull about. I was dragged across the remainder of the razor wire by my hair and those with short hair were pulled through by their ears. However once through they were far too 'busy' with women at the fence to worry about us. We ran around inside the fence and pushed down the wire from the inside, to the cheers of women still outside and were put on a truck from which we could gesture triumphantly until we were carried into a police bus from which we waved, sang and shouted as we were driven off. They took us for a tour of the base and the atmosphere was like a raucous school outing from which they, the authority, were not able to control. We arrived at a security hut in the middle of the base, surrounded by pleasant little lawns, where we were obviously going to be questioned. We covered our faces with scarves, against photographs, and they carried us off the bus. We then started walking, obediently, towards the hut. They were fooled, we glanced at each other, and in groups of threes and fours ran in all directions. Confusion struck. This was not in the rules of the game. We ran around, hand in hand, and hid behind huts and mounds of grass, giggling, running again when approached and pursued by a bizarre collection of American civilians including one in a stetson hat and one Japanese man who seemed only concerned to take snapshots. Whenever they grabbed us we did things like stroke their hands lovingly which so confused them that they let us go, and we ran off again. This went on for about twenty minutes until we decided we'd had enough of this bit of fun and only then did we allow ourselves to be marched back. After this they became quite angry and a man arrived to pick out three faces he recognised for questioning (when will they learn there are no ringleaders?) and they expected us to climb into the van and be driven off without these women. We refused and lay down in front of the hut. They carried us one by one onto the bus, but to their irritation every time one woman was carried on another climbed out of a window to lay down again. They couldn't cover all the windows at once so this carried on, with them getting crosser and crosser until they brought the three women out. One woman had a window shut on her leg during this and was charged with criminal damages for breaking! They obviously didn't know what to do with us next, and so we want for another tour around the perimeter fence, where we could wave at the women outside, so we started shouting at them to pull down the fence, until they did. Then suddenly, even after this, we were carried through the gates and unceremoniously dumped without being charged. At the time we were shocked and surprised but now it seems obvious that they don't want to publicise the fact that women are getting into the base, and that without a charge there is nothing that can be done about police and paratrooper violence. This is quite worrying in the light of woman being taken into intensive care because she couldn't move her legs due to a back injury at another section of the fence and many more women in the hospital with broken fingers and bashed around heads and faces. Getting into the base was, however, very exhilarating and made us feel, as direct action should, very positive in the strength we got from acting together to achieve something, rather than being passive and feeling helpless and isolated. This contrasted quite strongly with the frustration I felt at High Wycombe the following week. I had planned to join the blockade and was willing to risk arrest, but to be arrested within two minutes of sitting down on the blockade and to spend 8 hours in a police cell unable to take part in any further action was vary annoying. The afternoon demonstration was, I was told, well supported and some people felt that the blockade was a success merely because a lot of people were arrested. I felt this was a bit futile and as an example of non-violent direct action the blockade didn't work, because it was removed before it caused any obstruction. The success of direct action at Greenham is due to its spontaneity and lack of hierarchical organisation. Action depends on those people who come initiating their own forms of protest, and getting involved in mass action to the extent that they feel able to at that time, and not on extensive planning and assignment of duties. Direct action should be about changing the rules and not about collaborating by planning for weeks in advance and therefore informing the police of the action so that they can organise to stop it. It would, at High Wycombe, have been so much effective if they had not known what was to happen and when, if we had maybe stood up when warned of arrest and then sat down again somewhere else, or if we had simply gone into the base. Instead we allowed them to have 19 vans ready to peacefully and easily remove the problem, keep us "out of trouble" for the day before issuing us with the ready printed charge sheets. Anna Kissed (the boys and made them cry) - - - STOP THE CITY On Monday, 12th December, Mike Dickenson appeared at the Guild Hall Magistrates Court charged with being drunk and disorderly and displaying riotous, indecent and violent behaviour in a church (i.e. St. Paul's Cathedral) on 29th September - the day of the stop 'The City' action. As I have told Rag readers on previous occasions, these charges were pure fabrication - Mike was arrested for standing in the pulpit and explaining to visitors the purpose of the action. His behaviour upon and after arrest was never less than admirable, particularly in view of the sadistic and abusive treatment being aimed at him by the arresting officer, a certain P.C. Shreeve who later proved to be a professional liar as well as a bully. Mike managed to contact me after hearing about the short article I wrote for the Rag about his arrest on my return from London that same day. He asked me to organise as many witnesses and supporters from Reading as possible for his court case on 21st October and six of us duly arrived at 10 that morning. However, after hanging around for a few hours we were informed that the arresting officer was sick (too true!) and we were requested to return the following week. At this time the charge was only drunk and disorderly, and the two witnesses stayed to give written statements before returning to Reading. None of us was able to travel to London the following week, but we didn't think it would matter too much because, after all, they had the statements and the charge was only drunk and disorderly... Not true! Mike phoned me that evening to say that he had arrived at the Guild Hall alone to find he was now being charged with riotous behaviour etc. in addition to the original charge. Up to now he had intended to defend himself, but he asked for another adjournment in order to seek legal advice over the further charge and to make sure that his witnesses turned up to help out as much as possible. Barney, Mike and I did manage to make it this time and the four of us hung around for 4 1/2 hours before the case was finally heard at 2.30. By the time the witnesses for the prosecution had finished weaving their web of lies it was getting on for 4.00 (there were three police officers and two vergers giving evidence for the prosecution - I gather that P.C. Shreeve and his friend insisted that Mike had "lurched" at then inside the Cathedral, causing his own arrest, and then struggled wildly while shouting a variety of obscene exclamations until the police van arrived to take him away. The young woman sergeant who had subsequently been present at the station told of shouting and swearing while in detention, but, when pressed, admitted that this could have come from any one of a number of detainees in the same area. The vergers said they did not get the impression that he was drunk and would not have described his behaviour as riotous). Eventually Mike Dickenson was given the opportunity to speak for himself, then Barney was called and lastly myself. The counsel for the prosecution, an extremely unpleasant and sarcastic character, was particularly interested to know how Mike had managed to contact me (he obviously already knew quite well!) and, when I explained that he had traced me through an article in a local amateur publication called Red Rag, he made much of the paper's "obvious political leanings" and little of the incident in question. The counsel for the defence asked a few more relevant questions, but by now it was quite obvious which way the verdict would go. There was a brief and predictable summing up, after which the magistrate retired to consider his verdict, reappearing 10 minutes later to find Mike guilty on all charges and fine him a total of £85 to be paid at £2 per week. Mike Dickenson would appreciate any financial assistance towards his fine. If you would like to help, please phone me on Reading 588459. Tracey - - - EVENTS Monday 9 Anarchists regular meeting. Contact Box 19 Acorn Bookshop Caversham CND Planning meeting, 5 Cakley Road Caversham, 8pm Henley Peace Group Greys Road, Annexe of FDTC, (Old Infants School) Victims of Crime: Who Cares? Talk by Helen Reeves National Officer, National Association of Victims Support Schemes, Whiteknights Park, 8pm Tuesday 10 Ecology Party Public meeting. Launching campaign for real democracy. 8pm St Mary's Centre Amnesty International St Mary's Centre. For more details contact Jean 472598 Planning meeting for women's conference in March. 8pm at the Women's Centre. Contact Michelle or Jo on 666661 with ideas on workshops, films activities etc. BANC General meeting Friends Meeting House, Church St, Off London St. Speaker April Carter (Member of the Alternative Defence Commission) will be speaking on possible non-nuclear defence strategies for Britain. 8pm Wednesday 11 Birth Centre meeting. For more details contact Electra 65648 Women as Workers: Resigning surveys and related problems. Talks continue; now held in the Women's Centre, basement of Old Shire Hall. 7.30pm. £6 for course of 8, 75p per session. For details contact Linda 61831, Anne 596639. Creche and help with lifts. Thursday 12 Local defendants meeting for those arrested on High Wycombe demo. Any witnesses welcome to come along. The Rising Sun 7-30 pm Vegans discussion meeting 'Do we believe that animal experiments can be justified in the name of medical research?' 1 Orrin Close, Tilehurst 8pm. Come and air your views. Saturday 14 Peace Pledge Union Peace Action meeting 12 onwards at the Hexagon - bar downstairs. Tel 599995 for details. Stop the City 'Mark 2' Following last year's success another wonderful day out is being planned. Countrywide planning meeting 12-6pm at Ambulance Station, 306 Old Kent Road, SE1 (Elephant and Castle Tube). Creche, social in evening. Sunday 15 Red Rag Collective Meeting 4pm Newtown Community House, 117 Cumberland Road. All very welcome. If you have any interest in the Rag come along. Please bring enthusiasm and new ideas. A new system of production groups is needed to prevent the current ones breaking up or breaking down. Stop the City 'Mark 2' London region organising gathering 12-6pm. Martin Luther King Day. Do something: any ideas contact Paul 479042 Monday 16 The Societies Showcase various stalls by local groups - go and see what they're all up to. At the Hexagon FREE 6pm -10.30pm Anarchists regular meeting. Venue contact Box 19 Acorn Bookshop. Caversham CND meeting 70 St Peter's Avenue 8pm. John Nadely 'Just Defence - Strategy for non-nuclear defence'. Wednesday 18 WEA Industrial Branch Planning meeting - to discuss the setting up of a women's therapy centre in Reading Centre for the Unemployed 8pm. Contact Margaret Keys 872464. See article elsewhere this issue. Peace Pledge Union meeting The Willows, Nunnery Fields, 8pm Women as Workers Collecting information and designing questionnaires 7.30pm Women's Centre 75p Talk Employment and Unemployment in Reading organised by National Council of Women, 24 Woodcote Way, Cavesham. 8pm Thursday 19 WI minimarket see regular events. West Reading CND meeting 19 Hollins Walk 8pm Red Rag copy deadline and editorial meeting. Phone 666324 for details. Friday 20 Grill a Vegan: Panel discussion 'Is vegetarianism a slow death or a diet for the super-fit?' organised by the Thames Valley Natural Health Centre. Friends Meeting Rouse 8pm Saturday 21 Alternatives to 1984 one-day conference at Friends House, Euston Road London Wl. Jehan Galkung: Institute of Development Studies Berlin; James Robertson, author of 'The Sane Alternative'. 10am-5pm cost £3 £1.50 unwaged. Red Rag pasting up; phone 666324. Sunday 22 Red Rag folding and labelling; phone 666324 for offers of help. BANC notes Planning meeting, 6 Cranbury Road 5pm. If you want to play a part in writing designing or producing Banc notes in the future come along. Saturday 28 Reclaim the Night march; meet 6.30 Women's Centre with banners and candles. Afterwards a (women's) disco at the Centre (bring a bottle) to raise money for the conference in March. Regular Events Photography - 2 sessions every Tuesday (10-12, 1-3) at Reading Centre for-the Jobfree. Housing and Welfare Rights - sessions on Thursday evenings at Community House, 117 Cumberland Road. Share your problems and knowledge. Women's Centre - opening times Tues 10.30-2.00 Weds 10.30-2.00 Sat 11.00-3.00 Also free pregnancy testing Tues 7-9pm. Bring urine sample from first pee of the day. Reading Gay Switchboard ring 597269 between 8+10 Tuesday and Friday evenings. Your rights - East Reading Rights Group stall outside the church at Cemetery Junction. Every Sat 11am-1pm SWAG (charity paper collection) skips at Superkey Palmer- Park, Northumberland Avenue, St Martin's Precinct, Great Knollys St Recreation Ground, 8-30 to 12-30 every 1st Sat of month. Minimarket stalls of handicrafts, fruit, veg, plants 5 cakes, marmalade, flowers etc organised by Women's Institute, St Mary's House by the church at the Butts Thurs am 9-1. Groups - Peace Pledge Union Fortnightly small friendly group meets to discuss issues and plan actions Pacifistic. Contact Box 10 Acorn Bookshop or tel 588459. - Ecology Party meets 1st and 3rd Monday of the month at 25 De Beauvoir Road and 38 Long Bam Lane respectively. - Socialist Workers Party Meets every Weds at the Red Lion, Southampton St 6pm. - Reading Anarchists meet every Monday; for venue contact Box 19 at Acorn Bookshop. - History of Reading Society 3rd Tues of month Abbey Gateway. - Woman's Peace Group 1st Monday of month, Women's Centre. - Amnesty International 2nd Tuesday of month St Mary's Centre. - Reading Autonomists contact via Reading Anarchist Group. - - - ACORN'S BIT Way back last April, Acorn Bookshop was raided by the Drug Squad looking for "obscene publications". Seven boxes of books and comics were seized, plus files, invoices and sales records. Some of the books were returned in August, a couple of days after a "Newsnight" TV programme about the series of raids around the country. The nervous pair of officers who returned them "knew nothing about" the rest of the books and comics. On Tues 13 Dec, just after the last Rag came out, we were served with a summons, dated 9th Nov, to go to court on Monday 9th Jan, just after the next Rag comes out, to prevent the forfeiture of most of the remaining books. We're getting the case adjourned, but it will still come to court at some point. Watch this space. It's all costing money too - hint hint - there's a collecting tin in Acorn. The books and comics up for destruction under the obscene publications act include:- All the Freak Brothers comics All issues of Home Grown magazine available Thoroughly Ripped (Freak Bros annual) Peyote (about N. American Indians) various technical books about cannabis and psilocybin Hallucinogenic Plants of N America Junky, by William Burroughs, in Penguin Electric Kool Aid Acid Test, by Tom Wolfe, in Corgi Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S Thompson, in Granada Millbrook, about Leary et al Books still unaccounted for include:- Snowblind, by Sabbag, in Picador Hell's Angels, by Thompson, in Penguin Legal Highs Marijuana Laws of the World (Try the police library. Sounds like they could do with it. Typist) - - - WOMEN'S THERAPY CENTRE Last year the WEA Reading Industrial Branch held two workshops on Women's Mental Health and Coping with Stress. Those present thought the idea should be floated of setting up a Women's Therapy Centre in Reading on the lines of those in London and Oxford. Such a centre would involve professionals working in counselling and related fields, and self-help therapy groups and co-counselling groups. The Women's Sub-Committee of the WEA decided to convene a meeting to discuss these ideas. A meeting has been called for Wed 18 January at the Centre for the Unemployed, East St, at 6pm, which will elect a steering committee to look into the practical ways of setting up such a centre. It is hoped as many professionals and interested individuals will attend. For help with lifts or babysitting contact 872464. Reading Centre for the Unemployed will be having a social evening at the end of January for the unemployed and friends of the Centre. Invitation only so if you want to go get in touch with the Centre. Donation of food and drink very welcome. - - - GOING OUT Key To Venues: Hex: the Hexagon, Queen's Walk. Box office: 591591. Targets by Tescos, Butts Centre. 585887. Tudor Arms: Greyfriars Boad. Caribbean Club: 112 London Street. 51312. SHP: South Hill Park arts centre, near A322 Bagshot roundabout, Bracknell. Tel 91 427272. Angie's: Milton Road, Wokingham. Tel 789912. Progress Theatre: The Mount, Christchurch Ed. Bookings: 874230. Mon 9 - Sat 21 Exhibition: work of Oxford Print Makers' Co-op. Museum, Blagrave St. Mon-Sat. Free. Mon 9 Pantomime: Aladdin. Hexagon, till Sat 14. 2.30 & 7.30. £3.50/4.50, kids £3.50/2.50. Play: A Christmas Carol, adapted from Dickens. Progress. Till Sat 14. 7.45. £1.80, kids £1.50. "Unsuitable for misers." Folk: Soaring Jelly. Bull Hotel, Nettlebed. 8pm Film: The Quack (Hoffman, Poland 1983) SHP 7.30 £2, various concessionary rates. Tue 10 Xmas Carol, as 9th Aladdin, as 9th, 2.30 only Gay disco: Tudor Arms, 8pm, free. Film: A Question of Silence (Gorris, Netherlands 1982 - superb!) (Women and film series) SHP. 7.30. £2 (OAPs, claimants £1). Wed 11 Musical play for children: The Plotters of Cabbage Patch Corner. Woodley Players. Woodley Playhouse, Headley Road, Woodley. 7.30. £1.50. Question of Silence as Tues 10 Xmas Carol as Mon 9 Aladdin as Mon 9, 2.30 only Thu 12 Lunchtime concert: Hex, 12.45, free. No details Film: Maeve (Murphy & Davies, GB 1981) (women and film) SHP, 7.30. £2 + conc. Band: Icemon. Target, 8ish. Band: Loose Talk. Angies. 8-12. £1/2. Folk: Reading Folk Club. Horse and Barge, Duke St. 8pm, £1.50. Don't know who's on. Beware: white and drunk is OK but not black and drunk. Music often good. Plotters... as Wed 11 Xmas Carol as Mon 9 Aladdin as Mon 9, 2.30 only. Fri 13 Pantomime: Rumpelstiltzkin. Shinfield Players' Theatre, Whitley Wood Lane (next Shire Hall). 7.45. Kids 75p, adults £1.25. Booking: 883315. Films: Heat and Dust (Ivory, GB/India 1982). SHP, 7.30, £2 + conc Klute (Pakula, US 1971) SHP 11pm £2+conc Band: The West (formerly Short Story) Angies. 8-12. £1/2. Gay disco: Tudor Arms, 8, free. Hot discos: Jason Paul. Target. Caribbean Club, London St. Comedy? The Greatest Show on Legs. ("The biggest bawdiest and hairiest men on the Fringe.") SHP 8pm £3. Recitals Jenny Thomas (flute) and Geoffrey Chew (piano). SHP, 9pm, £3. Central Club is not open till the 24th Xmas Carol as Hon 9th Aladdin as Mon 9th Sat 14 Becitali piano duo Bernard Roberts and Tolande Wrigley. "A programme of delightful music by Mozart Dvorak Brahms and Schubert." 7.30, Chiltern Edge School, Sonning Common. £2.70. (students 1.70, Oaps 2.40) Band: Burning Hart. Target 8ish. £1.50 Band: John Spencer Band. Angies. 8-12 £1/2. Disco: Caribbean Club Folk: soloist Andy Lavery. SHP, 8. £1.20/1.50 Xmas Carol as Mon 9, also 2.30 matinee Aladdin as Mon 9th Plotters... as Wed 11, 2.30 and 6.45. Rumpelstiltzkin as Fri 13, 2.30 and 6.30 Heat and Dust as Fri 13 Klute as Fri 13 Sun 15 Folk at Caversham Bridge Hotel, Bridge St, Caversham. 8, free? Band: The Beat Back Band. Angles 8-12, £1/2 Films: Up in the Air. SHP 12,15 children's matinee. 80p. Heat and Dust as Fri 13 Jazz: Ramada Hotel, Beauclerc Bar. Graham Hewett and his High Society Jazzband. 12-2pm, free. Mon 16 Movies: "The ten best amateur films of the year" 7.30, Abbey Gateway. £1.25 (Heating Movie Makers) Folks Keepers Gate Band. Bull Hotel, Nettlebed. 8pm. Film: An Epic Poem and other films on women's roles in society. 7.30 SHP, free. Tue 17 Recital: double bass and piano. 1.10. Room G10, Palmer Building, University, Whiteknights. 20p Recital: London String Quartet. Schubert Haydn Schostakovich. 8. SHP. £2.95/3.20 Film: Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (Oshima, GB/ Japan 1983) SHP 7.30, £2+conc. Band: No Justice. Target 8ish. Gay disco: Tudor Arms 8 free. Wed 18 Tea dance: "Glide around the dance floor to the strains of a Palm Court Orchestra". 3-6pm, Hex. £1.75 includes tea... Talk: Churches: Redundancy or Conservation? by Rev Brian Brindley. Plus organ recital! Civic Society. 8pm, Holy Trinity Church, Oxford Rd, free. Film: Merry Xmas as Tues 17 Thu 19 Lunchtime concerts Hex 12.45, free, no details. Concert: "Avena" ("an evening of music for the clarinet family incl saxophone"). 8pm Univ Great Hall, London Rd. £2 (£1 students, OAPs) Band: Lazy. Target. 8ish. Pink champagne pyjama party: "An excellent opportunity to display your latest range of slumberwear" Hex 8-12. £3.50. Band: The Watusi Brothers. Angies 8-12 £1/2 Opera: Amahl and the Night Visitor (Menotti, 1951). Based on the three kings story. SHP, 8pm. £2/2.25. Park Opera Group. Till 24th Folk: as 12th Film: Merry Xmas... as Tues 17 Fri 20 Eclectic folk; Spredthick (Hilary Jones and Simon Mayer - very excellent!) Progress. Time, price not known. Gay disco as 10th Punk poetry; John Dowie ("one of Britain's foremost purveyors of filth") SHP 9pm £2.50. Film: The Deer Hunter (Cimino, US 1978) SEP 11pm £2 + conc. Band: Between the Sheets. Angles. 8-12. £1/2. Disco: Caribbean. Opera: as 19th Panto: 7.45 as Fri 13 Rumplstiltzkin that is. Merry Xmas... as Tues 17 Sat 21 Talk: "Burial in Antiquity: Berks Barrows in Context and Perspective" by Leslie Greensell. (Berks Archaeological Soc) Friends' Mtg House, Church St. 2.45. Talk: Meteors and their Observation, by Dr Masson (Astronomical Soc) 7pm. Anderson Church Sail, Amherst Road. Multi-cultural swap-shop variety show "A colourful, fast-moving show presenting the very best in entertainment from the myriad of fascinating cultures which make up Reading's great cosmopolitan community." (!!) £2 (U16, students OAPs UB40s £1). Hex, 7.30. Band: Bullitt Proof. Target, 8ish. Band: Fair Exchange. Angles, 8-12. £1/2 Disco: Caribbean Folk: Elecampane (electric folk theatre group) SHP, 8pm, £1.20/1.50. Opera as 19th Rumplstz. as Fri 13, 2.30 and 6.30 Merry Xmas... as Tues 17 Sun 22 Concert: The Sylvan Players. Music for flute, clarinet and strings. 3pm, Christ Church, Christchurch Ed. £2 OAPs students £1.50 Concert: Rg Youth Orch. Beethoven Brahms Chabrier Faure Shostakovich. Nex. 7.30. £3.50 or less or £1 for all sorts of people... Recital: Pamela George (cello) and Malcolm Davies (piano): Chopin, Beethoven Schumann. SHP, 8pm, £2/2.25 Band: Zenith, local band. Angies Film: Wreck Raisers. SHP 12.15 80p kids matinee Merry Xmas as Tues 17 Folk as last Sun Jazz as last Sun Opera as 19th Mon 23 Films: New York women film directors: Empty Suitcases (Gordon 1983); Touthe Better (Beckman 1983). SHP 7.30, £2 Opera as 19th Tue 24 Talk: K2 the Savage Mountain, by Doug Scott. Hex 7.30 £3/2 Gay disco as 10th Film: Friends and Husbands (von Trotte, V Ger 1983) (women 4 film) SHP 7.30 + conc. Also Wed 25th Opera as 19th Sat 28 Women's disco: Women's centre after reclaim the night march (see events) South Hill Park Clapperbus: free bus service runs Fri and Sat to link with trains from Beading. Ask for details when booking: Bracknell 427272. Help! Help! Help! Bed Rag desperately needs somebody to compile the Famous Going Out Guide. It involves telephoning the regular venues and trying to wheedle information out of them, looking through programmes, checking noticeboards, and generally keeping an eye open. Helen, who has been doing the Going Out Guide for the past year and a half, and who made it Famous has left Reading. We wish her well! - - - PPU MEETING Reading Peace Pledge Union held a meeting on Wednesday 4th January. We talked about our replies to our letters encouraging shops to reduce their war-toys displays. Most stated that in their opinion there was no truth that these toys helped promote violence and that they only formed a very small percentage of stock and were not normally given prominent display. Predictable, I suppose, but these replies were courteous and often quite lengthy... with a notable exception. One major store considered the writer's comments to be 'of too personal a nature' to be worthy of serious consideration! We hope to produce a new war toys leaflet soon. Our next meeting is on 18th January at 8.00pm at 'Willows', Nursery Gardens, Purley, Readng. Contact Bridget, Pangbourne 4532. - - - SMALL ADS Wanted - accommodation for southbound male vegan (27) from Worcestershire. Preference for a self-contained flat or bedsit or sharing a house with fellow vegans or vegetarians. Please contact Alan Godwin c/o Liz and Steve Shiner, 1 Orrin Close, Tilehurst, Reading RG3 4DB Tel 21651 Tai Chi Class. Anyone interested in learning Tai Chi Weds lunchtimes starting 18 Jan, St Lukes Earley Road. Phone Geoff 669281. Double room available from 14/15 Jan in shared house in Purley (4 miles from town centre). Suit young(ish) couple, pref. veggie. £17.50 p.w. each. Phone 374532 after 6pm. 1 single 1 double mattresses cheap. Contact 666681 Wanted! somewhere to live, preferably shared house or flat. My name's John, I'm 28 and have just returned to Reading after living in Denmark for six years. I'm a simple living soul, who doesn't smoke and prefers not to eat meat, envoys a good laugh, serious conversation, grassroots activity and cycling among other things. If you know of anywhere/have a room to spare please phone me on Reading 694294 evenings only. Make your mark on Red Rag People wanted to help print Bed Rag! No experience necessary, but some commitment desirable, as it's a lot of work teaching people. - - - RED RAG Red Rag, Reading's Only Newspaper, hasn't sold a copy in four years. It's produced and printed by a nebulous collective. It has no connection with any political party or line or with the University either. It depends entirely on donations from its readers - that's one reason why it's a bit thin sometimes. Another reason for that is that it largely depends on its readers for news and articles. There are maybe 4,000 readers ( allowing three per copy). Its aim is to encourage people to take control of their own lives. Or something. If you'd like to help with the next issue, please ring 666324. Money Money. You've got it, we need it. Thanks to phenomenal sales of the Red Rag calendar - completely sold out - we are just about solvent at the moment. That's before this issue. It would be nice for a change to produce an issue knowing that we can pay for it... When did you last give a donation? There's a box in Acorn Bookshop. Cheques payable to Red Rag most welcome. Best of all from our point of view fill in a standing order form (ask for one!) That gives us some sort of regular income. By the way, we need a new treasurer. Any offers? - - - $Id: //info.ravenbrook.com/user/ndl/readings-only-newspaper/issue/1984/1984-01-08.txt#3 $