RED RAG Free 9th - 22nd Feb Reading's Only Catalytic Newspaper Red Rag has been going now for over 6 years. Run by a varied collective it is free, free financially, free politically and free for anyone to help with. And help is what Red Rag needs. You can help in many ways: write articles, come to collective meetings every 6 weeks (the next being 2nd March) come to editorial meetings (the Thursday before Rag paste up), phoning the coordinator and asking if he or she wants help typing, pasting up etc etc or by coming along to Acorn the Sunday of an issue and help fold, distribute etc etc. Treasure Despite £100 from a recent benefit (thank you Life Can, Sometimes Sartre and Howard + friends) Red Rag is pretty skint! Each issue costs approx £80 so we are always on the scrounge. You can give us money by: donations, filling in standing order forms, paying for ads (£7 for a quarter page) or by coming to the benefits - the next being 17th Feb at the Paradise when Open Door, The Escapists and Barcelona Bus Company will play. So please, please come along and meet the faces behind the Rag. The gig starts at 9.30, don't be late!! Next Issue: Coordinator (Sat) Guy - 595605 Coordinator (Sun) Clive - 595605 Going Out: Mark 868488 Events: Paul 481081 Distribution: Pogle 599995 Copy Date 6.00pm, 20th Feb. Copy to: Box 79, Acorn, 17 Chatham St, Reading. If possible please type (12 cm. max width). NB: Red Rag is an open forum for ideas and discussion. Articles for the Rag 12cm wide if typed (the prod. team reduce). Please state if you don't mind editorial scissor work or if you want the article to remain untouched. Articles should be signed in some way. Without a contact phone no. or address then the editorial group can't discuss changes etc. Beware! Copy deadline is usually the Thurs. before publication. Red Rag Collecting Tins Acorn, 17 Chatham Street Elephant Off-Licence, Derby Street Harvest Wholefoods, Harris Arcade, Friar St. Pop Records, 172 Kings Road Eurofoods, Crown Colonnade, Cemetery Junction - - - MOLESWORTH BLOCKADE 6th February 1986 2am: Reading affinity group 'George' left Caversham to blockade the base at Molesworth. With 64 missiles planned to arrive in 1988 and construction work starting already - it was time for arrest... time to put our words into action! Twelve of us set off in a van and a car. It was dark and snowing, but despite the bitter cold and a couple of hairy skids, our spirits were high (unlike the temperature). We arrived at 6.20 am, and after a walk and a lift we finally sat down at 'Cockbrook' gate, with a couple of hundred early birds. The blockades were to cover the four gates at Molesworth, and groups arrived from everywhere to sit down and halt the construction work, which is going on in preparation for the arrival of Cruise missiles - as if 96 at Greenham weren't sick enough... weapons that could destroy the entire planet a hundred times over. The dawn broke and we livened up, joking and feeling much stronger, as yet more protesters arrived, from all over the country. How many turned up was anyone's guess. (The blockade continued until 3pm). The only TV report shown said 3,000 (and 5 arrests). But, however many, this non-violent direct action worked - Molesworth was closed for the day! Despite the low profile the media took, it felt good to break the law in a peaceful act of defiance, and let the 'authorities' know we weren't going to let a bit of bad weather stop us going 'mad' at Molesworth. Cliched though it may be - 'Together we will stop the bomb.' Thanks to 'George' and all those there in spirit. - - - FEDERATION OF ANARCHO-PACIFISTS The Federation of Anarcho-Pacifists was set up two weeks ago in an attempt to create a decentralised organisation comprised of autonomous local groups. Somehow the myth of anarchism as an implicitly violent destructive creed, perpetuated by both the state and some of the more nihilistic anarchists (greatly to the benefit of the former), must be broken down. The group aims to promote pacifist interpretations of anarchism and conversely to show the inherent link between statism and militarism. However, it is also essential that we develop practical projects; the first of these to be an anarchist radio station along lines similar to those that presently exist in Paris. The next meeting will take place at 1pm, Sunday 2nd March at 6, Endsleigh St., London. Anyone interested in more information or helping form a local group; write to F.A.P., Box 19, Acorn Bookshop, 17, Chatham St, Reading. "War is the health of the state" - Randolph Bourne - - - THE PSYCHEDELIC CONSPIRACY Presents Ozric Tentacles & Webcore Live at the Paradise: 25th Feb. 9.30 - 1.30 Just £1:50 Raffle!! - - - VIOLENCE & RED RAG Supporters of "Red Rag" seem to have a standby stock answer to criticisms of any particular piece: if you disagree, write something yourself presenting a different point of view. Openness to differing opinions is a great achievement, but it isn't everything. Leaving aside the problem that the Rag doesn't guarantee to print every thing submitted, this 'liberal' position is not always a sufficient answer. Articles in Red Rag are not just neutral academic exercises, containing ideas that may be rejected or supported (or ignored) in an abstract debate. Things printed and distributed to several thousand readers may actually influence someone's behaviour! (In a slightly different context, I expect there are some people helping to produce the Rag in the hope that they may be influencing others.) To wash one's hands of responsibility by offering anyone a chance to reply two weeks later is like standing back and watching while someone else slams the stable door after the horse has fled. There have been several items in recent issues which seem to be little more than indulgences of violent fantasias. Nobody appears to have acted upon these suggestions. Perhaps we can thank the responsibility - or the passivity - of the Rag's readers for this. But I hope nobody would seriously argue that we need not be concerned at all about what we include in the Rag on the grounds that no-one takes any notice. Assuming that the contents of Red Rag might affect readers' perceptions and behaviour, what attitude should members of the collective take towards 'violent' contributions? Violence hurts. In an ideal world, violence would probably be unnecessary and undesirable. But nobody pretends that we live in anything like an ideal world. Some people believe that violence can play a useful role, that violent acts can achieve worthwhile results. The overthrow of capitalism; self-defence against crime against the person: resistance against oppression; attacking specific injustices: totally committed statements of anger; may all be occasions that demand the use of violence. There are many conflicts in the world that cannot be resolved until both parties recognise the other's commitment. Many people will not throw off the apathy and impotence that paralyses them without going through a potentially violent catharsis. It would be inappropriate for Red Rag to refuse material solely on the grounds that it is violent, while many of its readers and producers may justifiably believe that there is a place for violence, however sad that may be. What possible role is played by 'violent' writings in Red Rag? Sometimes a particular piece can be a calculated (and often veiled) threat to achieve a specific goal. This doesn't happen often, especially in the largely peaceful pages of the Rag. 'Violent' writings tend generally to encourage acts of violence, or foster an atmosphere in which violence is more acceptable. Some publications set out deliberately to encourage violence, often attempting to direct it in a particular direction, such as the "Class War" broadsheet, which tries to channel hatred towards members of the ruling classes. Others, such as the daily tabloids, casually use excessively violent headlines in the pursuit of sales. (See the article in 'New Statesman', Jan 31st, '86, for more about the populist press's use of "Murder" and "Animal" language, and by so doing, how they serve reactionary purposes.) For papers that rely on horrific sensation, there is obviously no contradiction in encouraging an atmosphere of fear and violence. Red Rag couldn't compete! Some violent writings act as a comparatively safe outlet for frustration and repression. For some people, printing pictures of petrol-bombing can be a less dangerous release of the emotions that in other circumstances could lead to the actual thing. Much violence is a result of frustration, both personal and political. By providing an outlet for voices of opposition to the widespread repressions of this society. Red Rag may in fact be reducing the amount of violence that occurs. (Perhaps by so doing it serves the status quo; or on the other hand it may therefore be even more of a threat to the authoritarian-capitalist dominance of our society - take your pick according to your ideological preferences). The inescapable fact that repression and fear themselves engender violence makes it obvious that repression and censorship do not provide much of an answer. It may suppress or divert some specific outbreaks, but only at the cost of causing frustration and providing greater impetus for further violence. A common, comprehensible reaction to violence is to attempt to drive it away. It is then easier to ignore it, but this does not remove the causes or alleviate the problem, just to displace it. Putting more police or security guards in a "valuable" area might reduce "crime" in that area, but usually at some cost to neighbouring, more vulnerable areas. Channel aggression away from us towards sub-humans, whether "foreigners", "criminals" or "subversives". Refuse to allow violence into those few places where we do have some control. Censor it out of our publications. It might make us feel a little safer but it doesn't actually deal with the problem. To attack violence, or the violent, is no way to solve a problem. It has to be understood. Fight fire with fire, and you end up with destruction. Deprive fire of the oxygen it needs, by immersing it in water, and hey presto! It seems so obvious sometimes. How much of the violence in the world is fed by oxygen coming from us? to extend the metaphor a little. Consider that next time you are tempted to condemn someone else's violence because you don't fully understand it. To resist the urge to use violence, or to be critical of it in others is not to deny the reality or the value of anger. Anger in a world of hurt and suffering can be a very positive emotion. It can be a great source of energy. If expressed in the "wrong" way or at the "wrong" time, it can just lead to more hurt and suffering. But it it possible to learn, and become more able to use the energy we get from our anger in a positive way. In a world where we are repeatedly taught values dominated by violence and repression, it is not easy. It can be developed, but it is still a very rare quality. Does Red Rag provide a safe outlet for a few people's frustration? Or lead to mutual encouragement of a willingness to consider violence acceptable? None of this provides a neat answer to these questions. There are no hard and fast rules. Instead we need to deepen our knowledge of each other and how we live together, and to in crease our sensitivity to the effects of what we do. Each item must be considered on its own merits: the greater our understanding of the role of violence, the better we are able to assess how acceptable a particular piece might be. Anon - - - It's violence! It's not even music - just violence! That's what's affected the kids of today. Stanic, barbaric, savage, violent, African - it's horrible, horror noise! - - - MEN'S LIB - A Personal Viewpoint It's my firm belief that one of the best things that has happened to peoples consciousness in the past 20 years has been the issue of women's liberation. The fact that women demonstrably are oppressed creates a need for solutions. A lot of men want to be part of the solution and are looking for a viewpoint or a theoretical perspective that addresses us as men. A viewpoint that I have been steadily integrating into my life over the past several years concerns what human beings are really like. Really like as opposed to the screwed up ways we generally act. If we accept that basically humans are loving and cooperative to one another, are intelligent and flexible in their behaviour and are zestful, getting a sure kick out of life, then all the negatives:- the addictive stupid nasty things people do to themselves and each other can be seen as essentially "inhuman". I see this as a useful divide making it possible to separate people from the roles they play. The most obvious fact about sexism is that it is the systematic mistreatment of women by men. The term mistreated is meant to cover the whole range of ways men act disrespectfully to women - from rape to verbal abuse, to ways of disadvantaging women in the job market, to not recognising the value of housework and so on. By systematic I mean that the mistreatment is not a string of chance happenings but is something which is repeated, predictable and enforced. I suspect that the root and reason for it all is the economic system which thrives where women are principally wives and mothers, but who can be drawn into the job market in times of labour shortage - and then mainly to do the menial jobs. But I think it also spreads much wider than this both historically and shall we say, psychologically. A less obvious, but from the above viewpoint equally important fact about sexism is that men themselves have had to be systematically mistreated in order to play the oppressor role. I don't think men's mistreatment is simply a means of making them sexist though it certainly has this effect. I think rather that men can fairly be seen as an oppressed group in our own right. Not that as a group we are oppressed by women or by children, but we are molded and forced out of shape by social assumptions about how men should be, think and act. Generation after generation of men have been required to kill and die for "their" country, "their" cause, few of them had any objective choice about that in the face of shame, ridicule, prison or death if they refused. Again there is no doubt that men have been constantly exploited for our ability to work hard. Womens labour power too is exploited - a difference though is that for men the message is often that "this is all there is to life" - leisure, family, creativity, friendship - these are luxuries to be earned not our birthright. Men who are "unemployed" or "job free" (which implies a conscious decision) experience this oppression from a different angle; they don't escape it - because the question everyone asks a man is "what do you do?" Our status and identity comes not from who we are but from what we do - what we achieve. The social mobility machine which is serviced by the educational system conditions men to achieve and be responsible. But all this achievement and responsibility is rarely to do with nurturing and developing ourselves. On the contrary men's oppression works to separate us from ourselves. A man who feels the pain of life openly - who cries or asks for emotional support is seen as a failure and may be labelled mentally ill. It's around our sensual social selves that men are often aware of being frozen, stuck or damaged. There's an increasing awareness that physical closeness is a real human need. Babies don't thrive without it, adults become rigid obsessive and awkward without it. Yet for boys there's a long period in our lives where we are pretty universally denied physical closeness by the norms of our society. Some of the attention that adults put into making little girls pretty - tone of voice adults use and the advertising process which cynically invests little girls with adult sexuality may certainly be exploitative and trivialising. But the fact is that little boys do not get the cuddles or the admiration of adults either as much as girls or for as long; nor incidentally do little boys escape the uninvited sexual attention of adults. There's a fear by mothers that going on being physically close and loving with their boys will stop them becoming independent and "manly". For dads there is a downright terror of their boys turning out gay. Very early on at school the message gets home that boys are the ones to play with. You don't want to be seen walking to school with Mum and to be seen playing with girls is sissy. This "sissy" phenomenon is crucial to men's oppression. Every man, whether or not they identify as gay has told that its not okay to act in certain ways which are termed feminine and ridiculed or beaten up if they do. The notion of "sissiness" starts to govern our actions long before we make choices about what to do with our sexuality. Some people have seen the choice to come out as gay as being a deliberate rebellion against the male stereotype. Certainly the mistreatment of gay men strives to defer others from stepping out of line. Objectively there is nothing a man needs to do or stop doing to be more of a man. But the myth of diferentness or inferiority of gay men helps the rest of us to go on striving to fit an unreal stereotype. So boys grow up without real physical closeness to mother or father and are cut off from girls by the "sissy" business. Meanwhile their natural relationships with other boys get tampered with by competitive sports and aggression. Almost invariably get physical punishment - violence that is - for any kind of confrontation with the power of adults, teachers or parents. And suddenly at puberty, the propaganda changes. Pornography and sex are in. Girls are the people to be with after all! But only in a certain limited way. The route to closeness, the approved rote that is, is sex with girls. The whole edifice of the male identity has been built not on pride in oneself as a male human being but on denial of closeness and of feelings. Here in sex - or surrogates for real sex like pornography - is the "answer". Most men feel a degree of inadequacy, I suggest, in playing out this role into "courtship", love and marriage; but it doesn't feel like there's a lot of choice because the conditioning says that you're incomplete without a partner of the other sex. Most of the horrific and crazy things that men do around sexuality come from a craving for closeness; that is pretty universal for men. I don't accept that all men are potential rapists because the conditioning has not been identical for every man. Some of us have had more space than others to think intelligently in this area, to stand outside our feelings. But I'm sure the majority of men fantisize about self indulgent sex because that is what, sometimes subtly, sometimes blatantly, our culture conveys is the reward and the cure for male strivings. Men who want to sort out their sexism need the space to explore the hurt they have accumulated. That means the safety to share painful feelings, to cry and be angry. And it takes a lot of trust - not because the processes of emotional discharge are complicated or need to be learned from "experts" but because men simply have not been allowed to feel their feelings, the conditioning against crying for example has often been brutal. Men's groups seem a very good place for men to start doing this emotional work. I think we can begin to get our support from one another rather than following the addictive pull to turn to women. Equally though we need to remember that we are essentially decent human beings, we need to celebrate our genuine achievements and struggles and appreciate them in one another, we're doing our best! Greg - - - (paid advert) WILD THYME CO-OPERATIVE Vegetarian and vegan catering for Gigs, Parties, Events Tel: 662569 - - - Last Red Rag brought you the facts - even before the event had occurred!!! Before rejoicing in this 'prediction' it must be said that said that anyone could have foreseen it. MANSION MADNESS On Wednesday, February 5th our(?) council's Policy Committee confirmed that our open space and enjoyment of Prospect Park would be cut. This being done to accommodate the needs of the property developers (Robert Fleming & Co. of London) who will be making millions from office development of the Mansion House in Prospect Park. The astonishing claims of the Tories is that the scheme will restore former glory to the park. This is what would actually happen... The facade of the Mansion would be 'improved' to be 'visually attractive'... The rest of the House would be replaced by offices!!! and extended to the rear. A car park for 100 vehicles would be laid to the rear of the house with a six foot (plus?) security fence around the perimeter... also... The beautiful slope in front of the house would be 'lost' - becoming a 'keep out' area to park users. In sacrificing the best park in Reading, the Policy Committee has decided to take away your open space, your recreation and your enjoyment. Do you think this scheme is the way to solve the Mansion House problem? The Council will receive about £600,000 and will require changing rooms to be built by the property developers. They will then make many millions by leasing the house!!! The lease will run for 125 years!!! Your Views On Prospect Park Wanted!! What do you enjoy most about the park? What would you like to see in the park, which would add to your enjoyment? What would you do with the Mansion House? Please send your letters to:- Prospectus Mansionus, c/o Acorn Bookshop, Chatham Street, Reading. The campaign against office development in Prospect Park will continue--- find out how you can get involved in keeping Prospect Park for the public by writing to the above, address and go to the Planning Committee meeting on Friday, March 7th at 2:30 p.m. to demonstrate against the planning application for the scheme. - - - Direct Action Movement - IWA BRENDA DEAN GET OFF YOUR KNEES! By the time you read this, 6,000 workers of Rupert Murdoch's press empire will have been on strike for two weeks, but if you walk into any newsagent in Reading you will almost certainly be able to buy either of the newspapers involved. The dispute, which has been on the cards for months, if not years, has barely made the front pages. Most people will be familiar with the background to the strike. The fleet street printers have for years been one of the best organised sections of the British working class, and have successfully resisted attacks on their wages and conditions, as well as taking action in support of other groups of workers, often in direct conflict with the wishes of their own union bureaucrats. Now Murdoch, after years of preparation and millions of pounds of investment is attempting to break with the old Fleet Street methods of production - using the excuse of new technology to smash the union organisation. There should be no confusion on this point, the new technology is simply a cover, workers' organisation is Murdoch's real target. But the behaviour of the print union leaders has been disastrous so far, and looks to continue the same way. Finally after months of provocation they called their members out, only to see them sacked and production resumed by scabs at Wapping. Their only tactic now seems to be to expel the EETPU from the TUC and to call on the public to boycott the scab papers. It seems unlikely that Murdoch is having sleepless nights worrying about this. Even with this ultra-low key stance, SOGAT is the target of several High Court actions and it is obvious that effective action to win the strike can only take place if the constraints of legality are completely ignored - after all the whole point of the Tory anti-union laws are to make any effective action illegal. However, things are looking up. The 2nd Saturday of the dispute saw up to 1,000 pickets at Wapping. Obviously the rank and file are not quite as ready to acquiesce in the face of Murdoch's onslaught. This must be built on, and at the same time action must be taken to disrupt and halt the distribution of the scab papers. A meeting has been organised to which all groups and individuals who want to build effective solidarity action here in Reading, are welcome. The meeting is at the Paradise Club, off London Street, on Tuesday 11th Feb, at 8.30pm. Support the printers - or you're next in the firing line. Reading DAM-IMA - - - THE CONSPIRACY For Your Information There's more people working collectively in Reading with the genesis of The Conspiracy. An open collective (open=flexible; open=people coming and going) whose aim is to put on shows - Theatre, Video, Music, Film and Cabaret - to relieve the relative monotony of performing arts in Reading, and have fun doing it. We're looking at putting on shows of all sorts for all sorts, shows for you and your friends, evenings full of fun and entertainment, benefits for local groups, local groups doing benefits. With the collective putting on shows for you and others, and also people using the frame and "practical knowledge" - call it advisory service if it sounds any better. We feel Reading will have more to offer you in entertainment, certainly more regular than in the past. A brief word about excess money, benefits and what's left goes towards more shows and surprises. So people if the idea appeals to you or you want to arrange a benefit for your group or just a more in-depth analysis of the Conspiracy or even find out more, note these dates: 17th Feb - Meet the collective in action meeting, at the Paradise Club with Open Door, the Escapists, and the Barcelona Bus Company - a Red Rag Benefit. 18th Feb - Meet the collective sitting down meeting. (Contact below for time and place) 25th Feb - the collective in action with Ozric Tentacles and Webcore at the Paradise, a Conspiracy benefit. Hugo Conspiracy Box 1, Acorn Bookshop, 17 Chatham Street, Reading. - - - BLACKMAIL CORNER Question... What famous "so called" anarchist was seen applauding Dr. Death ON TV South, Monday evening... Answer... phone Bracknell 53421 - - - More Life Than Glitter Presents Open Door The Escapists Barcelona Bus Company Monday 17th February 986 9.00-1.30 £1:50 Paradise Club, London St. Reading. For Red Rag - - - THE SUN NEVER SETS ON BRITISH "JUSTICE"... On 10th November 1985, a jury at Reading Crown Court found a Rastafarian couple guilty of causing the death of their baby by neglect in the summer of 1984. Irma Smith was put on 2 years probation, and Patrick Tibbey sent to Fairmile Hospital for unlimited psychiatric treatment. The jury, which contained only one Asian person and no-one of Afro-Caribbean descent, found that neglect had occurred when the couple did not get a doctor to their child when it persistently refused food, and vomited. When discharged on the 9th of November, without having heard the (white) judge sum up, the jury were cautioned not to speak to anyone about the case. But they were left free to watch TV and read the local press, who sensationalised the case - e.g. "Rastafarian Couple Give Sick Baby Garlic And Bananas", and often contradicted the evidence given at the trial. What follows is a factual report of the case and the trial, based on the accounts of those people who know Patrick and Irma, and who were at the Crown Court. No account is wholly unbiased, but we hope that at least we avoid the hysterical misinformation of the system's media, which lumped the case along with recent violence/sexual attacks against children stories. Both Irma and Patrick belong to a relatively strict sect within Rastafari, believing in the minimum of contact with a white society which is fundamentally evil. Neither worked; before and after the birth of their third child, they moved from one bed and breakfast joint to another. Each place was damp or had heating problems, so they moved on again. For example, one place consisted of a single room with shared kitchen and bathroom, with no drying facilities. Their moves became more frequent after the birth - (Patrick delivered the baby at home himself, without complications) to get the best possible home for the child. But this lack of stability, and Reading's disgraceful housing situation, did cause the baby's weight to vary a lot. The birth was not registered for the same reason that Patrick delivered the child himself - mistrust of the white society. However, because they hadn't been in Reading for long, they were not fully involved in the Rastafarian community's own support network of advisers, elders herbalists and so on. This was to be very important when the child became seriously ill. The baby's health was generally good, considering the bad housing conditions. Patrick has some knowledge of herbalism and successfully treated a number of minor illnesses. The first serious problem was when Irma's milk dried up. Due to insufficient contact with other Rastafarians, they didn't know that soya milk would have been a suitable replacement which also fitted in with their basically vegan diet. About 4 weeks after this, the baby stopped eating - this had never happened before, and herbal treatments did not seem to work. Therefore, clear in his own mind that he had tried all the options open to him within his culture, Patrick tried to get help from the white system. In view of the couple's beliefs, this is a measure of their concern for their child: it also suggests that those beliefs were not "fanatically" held. Patrick went to the Registry Office, to register the birth and so, he believed, make it possible for an NHS doctor to treat the child. He was refused help because he didn't have a doctor's certificate for the baby. It could be said that he made a major move and was confronted by bureaucracy. After about 10 days of this illness the child died - which Patrick could not believe at first; but having spent hours trying to revive it in vain, they hid it somewhere near the Royal Berks Hospital. They told no-one. It was only several months later that their landlady, who lived in the same house as them, realised that she had not heard the baby for a long time - and reported her suspicions to the police. The circumstances of the child's illness and death (at age 11 months), and the relationship of the couple to white society, are inseparably linked. We do not propose to say anything more about the events of summer/autumn 1984. Instead, the police's treatment of the case is worth looking at in a similar way. This and the next Red Rag editorial group permitting, such an account will follow in 2 weeks time. some friends of Patrick and Irma. - - - (paid ad) Featuring those fabulous brass monkeys BEAT BACK BAND Hot Steel Teenagers from Outer Space Joint Benefit for Women's Centre Conference & Anti-Apartheid Group at the Paradise Club, London Street Monday 10 February 8 till jolly late: £2/£1 Red Rag calendars on sale cheap - - - WHY HAVEN'T YOU written an article for Red Rag? - - - PROPERTY IS THEFT... INSTALLMENT 1013... In the last Rag I suggested how building offices on the Star/Rag Doll block in Duke St would make a "development" company £2,000,000 profit - allowing £4 1/2 million to build it, and about £3 million to cover land buying, for a scheme which could bring in £650,000 a year to rent. That article also mentioned the conflict between this scheme and the Borough Council's plan for what happens in the town centre. However, there are a lot of other things to keep in mind about such a so called "development". *1 Traffic congestion: The 54 carparking spaces in the scheme would not be enough for the building's users. At 200 square feet of floorspace per person, 60,000ft means about 300 people working there - lots of extra rush hour traffic, and what about the parking? An "ideal" place would be the Queens Rd carpark next door, where a multi-storey is proposed. Are excessive raffic levels from office "development" being used to justify another MSCP in Reading? Or, if the offices carry on spreading, will there be a local crisis of Capital... as the congestion caused by "development" makes the town unattractive to office tenants... so demand falls, vacant buildings are everywhere and no more buildings go up in the blighted town centre. *2 Planning: Can a local arm of the State in fact control the uses to which the capitalist market puts land, if it has no influence over land ownership, or over the market which fixes the value of various uses?? *3 Money: The viability of a "development" scheme is decided by adding up all the costs, and taking them from the expected revenues. The difference is what's available to buy sites. That difference is much bigger for offices because they are big money earners. Sheltered housing is high cost but moderate revenue; community facilities cost a lot but earn little profit. So offices dominate over other land uses wherever they give the best profit - office developers can pay more for the sites. Flash offices can make high potential profits, whilst small shops cannot pay their existing rent. Hence the London Street phenomenon of creeping office horrors. *4 Decisions: This is what the rule of profit does to us... ten "developers" doing these kind of sums for ten sites in Reading involves each one wanting to "develop" "just one more building"... the market will stand it, they say, trying to build as much as will make profit. All these people making profit based decisions on an individual basis... produce 10 extra office blocks, and the market collapses under its own weight. *5 What about the workers? It's enraging that these people take decisions on the basis of money and nothing else (eg traffic, fumes, lost history, visual intrusion, loss of community, social disruption and the like...); that is ,with no thought of the scheme as it affects our everyday lives. *6 What indeed? Because that's the real thing: someone else is controlling our world according to priorities and values which are not ours. There aren't many buildings you can go into without having to spend money inside or otherwise pay to use. But offices are a further restriction on our access to space... worse than shops, "private" individuals are every day sealing up bits of our world, tighter and tighter. We're stopped from using space, in the name of profit. As office buildings spread.. .both products of capitalism and a basic input into it elsewhere (office buildings used to service the successes of Capital; using people as similar raw material...) This only strengthens the grip of a property market where values are based on the rights you get (1) to use the property as you like, but also (2) to prevent others from enjoying that freedom. So next time you read about What They Are Developing, or how Silicon Valley is the Development Centre of a Boom Area ... just have a think about what that means for the people who have to live in it. Mark R - - - READINGS GAY Last June, the first issue of a free newsheet for gay people in Reading was produced. It was called Reading's Gay and its appearance began the process of bringing together gay people who felt dissatisfied with what there was on offer in Reading and who felt that something should be done besides buying a ticket to London. In January 1986 we produced the eighth issue of the newsheet. We have held six monthly discos at the Horse & Barge and we have plans for more discos, parties and outings. These plans should be firmer when we have sifted through the replies to a questionnaire sent out with the last two issues of Reading's Gay. The prospects are not all rosy of course. There has undoubtedly been some friction in the gay community over the past few months. Hopefully, that can be a thing of the past - we certainly want it to be so. Moreover, it isn't easy finding places that are prepared to have regular 'gay nights', or a pub that would be exclusively gay. Some people may raise their ideological eyebrows at the words 'exclusively gay' and mutter something about 'homosexism'. The fact remains that out of the scores of pubs in Reading there are few indeed where gay men and women can feel secure enough to talk freely and do outrageous things such as hold hands. We think that gay people are no longer prepared simply to be satisfied with a pub or disco, though. Ideally, we could do with a place that offered space for groups and meetings and entertainments - as well as cakes and ale. At least though things are being talked about and things are getting done. There are various groups in Reading and they complement each other and keep in touch. If you would like to contact the Reading's Gay collective write to Box 150, Acorn Bookshop. The newsheet is eager to print articles, letters, reviews, poems, drawings... Anything of interest to gay people in Reading. Misha. Box 150 Acorn Bookshop 17 Chatham St Reading 584425 - - - Once again I'm having a very enjoyable evening, staying in to compile the listing. What is "Going Out" about anyway? Market information to consumers? (Me included, of course.) Don't think so. GOING OUT Monday 10 February Paradise - Women's Conference & Anti-Apartheid Benefit with The Back Beat Band (soul / blues) & The Teenagers from Outer Space (rockabilly / blues) & Hot Steel (Steel Band). £1 / UB40, £2 / waged. Bulmershe College, Woodlands Ave, Woodley - Bridges Hall - "The Enchanted Bird's Nest" (Grimmelshausen), 7.30, £3 / £2 UB40. Sounds wacky actually. Bull Inn, Nettlebed - folk: Bill Zorn, 8ish free. Univ. Palmer Building G10 - "Time Bandits" (7.30) Univ. Wine Bar - Gay & Lesbian Youth Society open social, 8.30. SHP - "A Nightmare on Elm St" (18) 7.45pm, £2:50: bogey man terrorizes 4 US teenagers in their dreams - then in reality. Kennet Arms (Elgar Rd / Pell St) - Irish folk, 8ish, free. Silks Thatcham - folk nite. Thatchers, Fairwater Drive, Woodley. 'Allo Terry!! Ello Duane, mate!! Ow are ya? Jazz-funk & soul, 8-11pm, free in period elegance Woodley Ale House. Univ. Union - jazz, 9ish, free. Crowded bar, music often uninspiring. Albion Hotel, Oxford Rd - hectic jazz: Pete James Original Jazz Band, 8ish. Tuesday 11 February << Have you ever wondered how to get equilateral triangles form a cow? You need butter, milk, and an equilateral chainsaw >> Pancake day for all the non-vegans out there in the audience! St Peters School Hall, Earley - pancake party: party games, male voice quartet, & the Melodymakers Swingtime Band, 7.30pm, £1 / 50p kids: tel 62607. Majestic Ballroom, Caversham Rd - Guana Batz (Manchester's answer to the Birthday Party??) & The Krewmen (fairly local, v. good rockin blues band). Bulmershe College film: Poltergeist. 7.30 start? - not sure. Univ. Palmer G10 - Univ. String Quartet: Hadyn & Mozart - 1.10pm. Tudor Arms, Greyfriars Rd - gay disco, 8pm, mainly men. Out of Town Club, Padworth - rock night. BJ Moon, Kings Rd - Keith James (singer?) 8pm free. Hex - Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. SHP - jazz - Bill le Sage Trio, 8pm, £2:70, Art Themenon Sax. SHP cinema - "A Nightmare on Elm St" (18) 7.45pm, £2:50. Wednesday 12 February ASH Wednesday. One of my favourite poems. RCU: Women's Video Screening: 1-3, free, women only. Bulmershe College - Bridges Hall - "Much Ado About Nothing" 7.30, £3 / £2 unwaged. Univ. Faculty of Letters - German Dept production of Buechner's "Lenice und Lena", 7.30pm, tickets £1:20 from Dept. Also a 2.30pm matinee today only. Hex - Chinese magic Acrobats - from the Chinese Magic Circus. £3:50 / £4:50, 6pm & 8.45pm. RFT - "Andrei Rublev" (15) 7.15pm - the life of a 15th century Russian icon maker may not sound rivetting but the director (Tarkovsky) produces a masterpiece (it says 'ere). SHP "A Nightmare on Elm St" as before. Thursday 13 February << They've been cooking on Blue Peter, now they're sampling the dishes. "I don't normally like tomatoes, John, but this is delicious..." >> RFT - "Blood Simple" (18) 8pm - private eye hired to kill wife of Texan bar owner has his own idea & plots mightily. Sounds like Evening Postspeak... UB40s get in @ members' rate. SHP Cellar Bar - Undercover Club - The Family Vault (pschobillyish?) & support. £1 / 50p. No bar extension, I don't think. Univ Faculty of Letters - German Dept play as yesterday. Victoria Arms, Easthampstead Rd - jazz with All That Jazz, 8ish. Paradise - Valentine's dance in aid of netball team: 8-2, disco. The Rose Inn, King St, Maidenhead - folk - Jex Lowe - 8ish, free. Hexagon - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, electronic pop / rock - for 210's Give a Child a Chance appeal. 8pm, £6. Dire country music: Cross Keys (Butts) & Sportsman (Shinfield) Terry & The Casual Boys mixin' it down the Boar's Head with the Video jukebox, pro Falklands display - a live band. Univ Union - jazz, 9pm. Boring, usually, but free (bargain!) Univ Great Hall, London Rd - violin recital, w/ piano. 7.30pm/ SHP - cinema - "The Death of Mario Ricci" (PG) 7.45pm, £2:50: TV journalist in a small Swiss village, starts making a film but finds out another story: road accident which killed a workman. Friday 14 February Well, how many cards did you get? SHP - The Boot Hill Foot Tappers - 8pm, £3 / £2: modern folk / bluegrass / country mixture. SHP cinema - "The Lady & The Tramp" (U) 2pm / 7.45pm £2:50. SHP recital of St V's day music, 8pm, £3:30. Have I bought any Easter cards / eggs / ducklings / moonrats yet? RCU Veggie Dining, 8pm: 3 course vegan blowout - plus - instance of participatory collectivism. Tickets £2:50 / £2 unwaged from Acorn Books, 17 Chatham St. Long live St. Gutterheart! Univ - Carmel, 8-1am, £3 / £3:50 on door. Rag Week starts. Univ Faculty of Letters - German Dept play as Thursday. Paradise - soul. Don't know what. Cap & Gown, King's Rd - Fair Exchange (rock), free, 8ish. Keep out of the Hexagon 'cos Courages are having a do. Lamb at Eversley: folk, 8ish: "not finger in the ear". Tudor Arms, Greyfriars Rd - gay disco, 8ish: mainly men. UB40 reductions this afternoon at the Odeon Cinema? Saturday 15 February Why not stay in & do something satisfying & useful? Or... << Jesus Christ - come on down!!! >> Paradise - Steve Walsh (DJ, soul & reggae). Univ - video disco for Rag Week. SHP Cellar Bar - folk - Roger Watson, £1:80, 8pm. Watlington House, Watlington St - Berks Folk Club, 7.30: Ivan Aitken; £1:25 to visitors (... from another planet? a different street?). Find out on 415578. Winnersh Community Hall - "The Trumpet Major" (Thos. Hardy), 8pm. £2 / £1, 784041 or on door. Bloddy Digital take over the Hexagon - a public building? Majestic Caversham Rd - jazz funk roadshow noon - 4pm £1. Well plush, well sharp. SHP - "The Lady & The Tramp" (U) 2pm & 7.45: is it ideologically sound? does this matter? SHP recital - The Tamar Piano Trio - Hadyn, Mozart, Schubert 8pm £3. Emmer Green Youth Club - West One & Tinzel Town & disco, 7-12, £2:00 to get in. Sunday 16 February A day of... Readifolk, Caversham Bridge Hotel (get there before it's removed to make way for the Cross Town Root. Sorry, route. Folk, this week it' "Innominata". 8.15 & free. Butlety, Chatham St - jazz - Clem Adelman (modern) 8ish free. Hex - Patrick Moore (dodgy politics) & Halleys Comet, 7.30pm. An unpleasant combination. SHP - "The Lady & The Tramp" (U) 2pm & 7.45pm, £2:50. << I'll give you fish; I'll give you candy. >> Studio Bistro - London Rd - folk club, 8ish, free. Victoria Arms, Wokingham - Graham Hewitt High Society Jazz Band, 8pm. Shire(?) Bar, George Hotel, Broad st - a new folk club called Cosmetheka. £1 / 25% OAP & UB40. 8ish. Monday 17 February Paradise Club, 112 London St - Barcelona Bus Company (anarchist post punk) & The Escapists (hedonist punk - garage band) & Open Door (Swindon, anarchist, post punk). Well political. Tickets £1:50: for Red Rag. (Despite the last benefit we were limited as to the size of this Rag by munny. So come along) - It's also the first thing put on by the formative collective called the Conspiracy - see elsewhere in the Rag for details! Same as last week at Silks, Thatchers, Univ (jazz), the Albion, the Kennet Arms & lots of other places too, perhaps. Bull, Nettlebed - folk, 8ish, free: Vin Garbutt. George Washington's birthday holiday in USA. SHP - Rupert the Bear, 1.30pm & 3pm, £2:00. Cap & Gown, King's Rd - Image (a band) 8ish, free. Univ - Gary Glitter £4. "More to life than glitter." SHP - "The Lady & The Tramp" (U) 2pm & 7.45pm, £2:50. Hex - "Strippers", Peter Terson (who did Zigger Zagger etc): 8pm; financial reality behind the show. £3:50 plus. Tuesday 18 February << And so he reached out for the jar: He swallowed all the pills and fell back on his duvet - A haliborage overdose is maybe not the right way, Wow - oh, to kill yourself >> Paradise - The Ant Hill Mob (fast funk) Univ - Rag Week jazz. Probably as useless as usual. Bulmershe - Tuesday is film day - "Breaking Glass" with Hazel O'Connor, 7.30 perhaps? Museum of English Rural Life, Univ campus - film evening, 7.30 start. Details from Bent Weber 68200. SHP - jazz. Pete Allen jazz band, 8pm, £2:90. SHP cinema - "The Lady & The Tramp" (U) 2pm & 7.45pm. Hex - as yesterday. Tudor Arms, Greyfriars Rd - gay disco, 8pm, mainly men. BJ Moons & Out of Town Club - as last week. Does a lack of interesting things in "Going Out" ever prompt you to want to do something yourselves? Please write and tell me, c/o Box 79, Acorn Book, 17 Chatham St. Wednesday 19 February RCU Women's video screening, 1.30pm - 3, free, creche: women only. Rag Week hits the pits with the Bierfest. All day bar from 10.30am - 1am virtually. Will there be black polythene on the floor this year. Cap & Gown - The Coffin' Nails - psychobillies. RFT - "Amadeus" (PG) 8pm - Mozart the "genius" & "rival" Sallieri, who tries to get him. An entertainment. SHP - making Easter decorations, 1.25-2.45pm 80p. SHP "The Lady & The Tramp" (U) 2pm & 7.45pm £2:50. Again. Hex - as yesterday. Thursday 20 February << The sweet pretty thing are in bed now of course The city fathers are trying to endorse The reincarnation of Paul Revere's horse - But the town has no need to be nervous... >> Hex - more "Strippers" by Peter Terson. RFT - "Amadeus" as last night but with UB40 discount. SHP Cellar - The Blood Oranges (new rock a la U2) & support, 8-11, 50p / £1 unwaged. Univ - hypnotist for Rag Week. Rose Inn, King St, Maidenhead - folk, 8ish, free. Victoria Arms, Wokingham - jazz, 8ish, free: Newbury All Stars. Red Rag Editorial in the evening - phone no. on the front cover. An excellent alternative to mindless pleasure buying! How come only a handful of people think so? Magic Mushroom Band at The Clarendon, Hammersmith. Same as it ever was department: Cross Keys, Univ Students Union Jazz, Sportsman, Boar's Head. SHP cinema - "The Lady & The Tramp" (U) 2pm / 7.45pm £2:50. Friday 21 February Lamb, Eversley: folk, 8ish: Hobsons Choice (not a trad club). Cap & Gown, Kings Rd - Back Beat Band (10 piece soul / r'n'b) 8ish. Univ - The Colourfield (Terry Hall, ex-Specials) 8-2am. £4+? Greenpeace Benefit, West End Centre, Aldershot - Magic Mushroom Band & lots of others. St Peters School, Earley, quiz, organised by Reading & District Welsh Society, 7.30. Tel 476216. Hex - as 17th. Odeon Cinema - UB40 matinee? Tudor Arms, Greyfriars Rd - gay disco, 8ish, mainly men. SHP - "Subway" (15) 7.45pm, £2:50. pink in the glossy metro underworld. "The most stylish French film since Diva." SHP - Howard & Ebere Dance Theatre - 7.30 - "vocal muscle". Saturday 22 February << Every Saturday I get the Chigley skins And then always do my windows Cos the home side always wins - Time flies by when you're the driver of a train... >> Rag Week ends with an early afternoon march-past in town & an evening disco. Paradise - The Cool Notes: slick funk / soul. Blues at East St. Centre after 4? - (soul / reggae all nighter) - not yet confirmed. SHP, Cellar Bar - is there any folk this week? SHP - Dance Theatre as yesterday. Red Rag pasteup - phone coordinator for details. No experience necessary. A worthwhile thing to do, or not? SHP - "Subway" (15) 7.45 & 10.30pm, £2:50. Hex - "Strippers" play at 8pm & 5pm matinee. Caversham Rd - Majestic - 12 noon - 4pm. Soul / jazz / funk, £1. Watlington House, Watlington Sr - Ceilidh, 8pm. £3. Sue & Terry Reeves and The Navvies. Folk songs & dancing for all abilities. Tel 415578. Sunday 23 February Fold, collate, label & distribute the Rag from 11am onwards, at Acorn Bookshop, 17 Chatham St. Phone the number on the front cover to volunteer!!! Anyone can come along. Usual: Readiflok, the Butler, the George, Victoria Arms (Wokingham), Studio Bistro (20 / 30s Slick Serenaders). SHP - Thames Voyages: Vivaldi, Bach & Bliss, 8pm, £3:50 / £2:50. SHP - "Subway" (PG) 7.45 - £2:50. Coming Soon Paradise, 25th February - The Conspiracy presents Webcore & Ozric Tentacles: played @ 1985's free festivals. Spacey music. Majestic, 4th March - Doctor & The Medics. Who knows where, 7th March - Sophia George (reggae singer) & Ranking Miss P (Radio 1 DJ) & Diamonds Sound & Aura Levi, Simeon Steven & Fashion Show. RCU, 28th February - the next Veggie Dining. Are Red Rag Collective people doing it?? Key Paradise - Paradise Club, London St: tel 576847 RCU - Reading Centre for Unwaged, 4-6 East St, tel 596639 Hex - Hexagon, Queens Walk, Reading tel 591591 RFT - Reading Film Theatre, Palmer Building, University Campus - shows open to all University - no union cards needed at gigs if you have advance tickets. Bulmershe College, Woodlands Ave, Woodley tel 663387. <> mostly Half Man, Half Biscuit, except "Give Me Back My Man" (B52s) and "Tombstone Blues" (Bob Dylan) To business: info on what's organised for the consumers of popular culture - and suggestions of what to do instead - would be gratefully received. Love & Valentine greetings, Mark 868488. PS Anyone who feels like doing "Going Out" is perfectly welcome to have a go!! - - - Standing Order Mandate To (your bank's name ad address) ............................... To (your bank's name and address) .............................. ................................................................ Please pay to the account of RED RAG, Co-operative Bank, Reading (08-90-16), a/c no. 50148637, the sum of ..................................(words), £............(figs) on ..................................(date), and on the same date every month / 3 months until further notice. Signed ....................................... Date............. Your name........................................................ Address.......................................................... Your a/c number................................................. Please send this form to Red Rag, c/o Box 79, Acorn Bookshop, 17 Chatham Street, Reading. NOT to your bank. - - - OUTLETS You can pick up your next Rag from any of the following: Acorn Bookshop, under Chatham St car park Central Club, London St Centre for the Unemployed, East St Continental Stores, Cemetery Junction Elephant Groceries & Off-license, Derby St Eurofoods, Crown Colonade, Cemetery Junction Fairview Community Centre, George St Fine Food Stores, 168 Oxford Rd Harrison's Newsagent, Caversham Rd Harvest Wholefoods, Harris Arcade, Friar St Jelly's Stores, Whitley St Kan's Kitchen, London Rd Ken's Shop, SU Whiteknights Ling's Chinese Fish Bar, Wokingham Rd Listen Records, Butts Centre Mo's Place, London St Music Market, Union St Number Sixty, Christchurch Green Pop Records, 172 King's Rd empty space? what empty space? Sanco Newsagents, Caversham Rd Sugar Bowl, Wokingham Rd Sutherlands, Erleigh Rd Tech College, King's Rd UB Cycles, London St If you wish t obecome an outlet then send a note to "Distribution" Box 79, Acorn, 17 Chatham St, Reading. - - - Legal Aid 585111 Release 01 603 8654 Alcoholics Anonymous 597494 Citizens Advice 598059 Unemployed Centre 596639 Samaritans 54845 Nightline 872268 No.5 Counselling 585858 NSPCC 479547 Rape Crisis 55577 Gay & Lesbian Helpline (also AIDS Helpline) 597269 Florey Unit (VD clinic) 863355 (appts) 875111 x299 (info) Womens Aid 01 837 9316 (24hrs) Anorexic Aid (High Wycombe) HW 21431 Reading Council for Racial Equality 868755 Age Concern 598097 Parents Anonymous 587154 DHSS 581261 Unemployment Benefit Office 594433 Housing Aid 55911 Squatters advice 01 359 8814 REAP Homeless Night shelter 54020 - - - EVENTS Mon:10 RCU - Prepare for self employment. 12.30-2.20 - Sign language. 1-3 There's nothing else in the diary. Tues:11 RCU - East St. Art & Design Workshop. 1-3 - Key English. 10-12 - Tasty cooking on a low budget. 1-3 at the Cookery Room, Kensington Rd. Tel. 55575 Women's Conference meeting - 7pm Women's Centre, Abbey St. BANC Open meeting - Friends meeting house, 8pm. Paradise Club - Meeting to coordinate action in support of the printers at Wapping. All welcome. Storytime for the under 5's. Palmer Park Library. Weds:12 RCU - Women's Day... - Womens self expression. 10-12.30 - Video screenings. 1.30-3.30 - Fabric & yarn craft. 10-3 Peace Pledge Union meeting - a collective of Reading Pacifists, anyone interested in putting Peace theory into practice, are more than welcome. 8pm 44 Gosbrook Rd. Details from Val or Derick. 483416 Thurs:13 RCU - Womens dance group. 10.15-11.45 at the Central Club. - Creative writing workshop. 1-3 - Wildlife garden project. 1-3 S.W.P. Public meeting: "Why Labour expels Socialists." Speaker Duncan Hallas. 8pm St Marys Centre. All welcome. Fri:14 RCU - Jobsearch - 1-4 A course which aims to instill new confidence. Sat:15 Nowt... Sun:16 Reading cycling club- Cycling to Windsor, Marlow, and Eaton (about 45 miles). Leave Caversham Bridge at 9.15. Further details from Lynne Clark, 414317 Mon:17 RCU - Prepare for self employment. 12.30-2.30 - Sign language. 1-3 Red Rag Benefit!! Paradise Club. 9pm - 1.30am. Featuring: Open Door, The Escapists, and Barcelona Bus Company. Be there or be square! Tues:18 RCU - East St. Art & Design Workshop. 1-3 - Key English. 10-12 - Tasty Cooking on a low budget. 1-3 at the Cookery Room, Kensington Rd. 55575 Wokingham womens studies group: Talk & slide on China, by Gill Flanagen, and H.Davies. 8.15 Women's Centre, 1a Milton Rd. Wokingham. Women's Conference meeting, 7pm. Women's Centre. All women welcome. Conspiracy Collective meeting - contact Box 1, Acorn (not just a) bookshop. Story time for the under 5's, Palmer Park Library. 2.30pm Weds:19 RCU - Womens Day... - Self expression. 10-12.30 - Video screenings. 1.30-3.30 - Fabric & yarn craft. 10-3 Meeting: discussion of last years anarchist activities and what we may learn from them. Contact Box 19, Acorn books for details and venue. 7.30 for 8pm start. Thurs:20 RCU - Creative writing workshop. 1-3 - Wildlife Garden Project. 1-3 Central Club - Womens dance group. 10.15-11.45 Meeting at RCU open to all who either use or work at the centre to discuss and launch a campaign against the "nothing-political guidelines" imposed on RCU by local fund-controlling tories. Further details at RCU. Fri:21 Jobsearch at RCU. 1-4 Check with RCU first. Sat:22 Auction of the assorted remnants of Billy Smarts Circus. Lions, tigers and tents already gone, but there may well be some interesting bargains about. Sun:23 Reading Cyclists club. Car/train assisted start a) Arrive at B/stoke rail station by car at 9.25 b) Train from Reading to B/stoke leaving at 9.00. Contact Mike Grimmer, Wargrave 2646 for further details. Mon:24 RCU - prepare for self employment. 1:2.30 - 2.30 - Sign Language. 1-3 Veggie dining: Cooks meeting, 39 Coventry Rd (on Friday) If you wish to help, phone Paul on 667085. for Red Rag. Please please please send in or write your events in the diary in Box 79, in Acorn Bookshop. After all, it's free publicity and there is 1800 copies of this Rag floating around Reading being read, so why not get your event publicised here?? Anyway, enough from me, it's taken me 2 hours to type this f*'@£/g thing... Take care, luv'n'hugs to you all. Paul xx - - - THE TECH FUN The Berkshire Viewdata Service is a growing network run from Berkshire County Council's mainframe computer at Shire Hall. As well as supplying information on sport, entertainment and local events the service also gives access to a wide range of non-classified public information held on Berkshire's mainframe. Three weeks ago a Veiwdata subscriber was astonished to find the Berkshire County computer expressing praise and admiration for the activities of Reading anarchists. (An incident believed not to be unconnected with a shutdown of the Viewdata service on the 27th January. Anyone attempting to access the service on that day met only a blank screen with the flashing words "Security Alert".) You don't need to be a computer wizzkid to fool around on Berkshire's mainframe computer. The terminal at Reading library is available for public use free of charge. It will give you experience in finding your way around a databank: and, with a bit of imagination... well, let's say you'll be pleasantly surprised. Even those with absolutely no computer knowledge whatsoever can play games on the Shire Hall computer. There is a public access terminal for Viewdata in the Shire Hall foyer. This is what you do... Assuming it is switched on, you will see a not very well done computer graphic of the BCC logo and some instructions ("if it isn't on, press the button marked "standby" and the terminal will come on). The keyboard is just like a typewriter keyboard but with an extra row of command keys along the top. Find the key marked "local edit". Press it. This will give you a screen with the heading "local edit" and a numbered list. 5ome numbers will have words next to them, some won't. Pick a number that doesn't and press that number on the keyboard (if nothing happens press the return key). Now you have a blank screen on which you can type your message to the world. Type in your message. (If you only use the top half of the screen then press the enlarge/expand key to bring the letters up to double size). Nonchalantly stroll out of the building. If anyone interrupts you, hit the escape (ESC) key or complain that it was like this when you found it - Berkshire's computer security is about as watertight as a teabag, so they won't be able to blame you. Anyway - you haven't done anything illegal. For those who are daunted by even this level of technology, there is still a lot of fun to be had from the simple telephone. In the USA, Edward Johnson programmed his home computer to telephone the Freephone number of Jerry Falwell's right-wing "born-again" movement - every thirty seconds! During the nine months it took them to track him down he increased their 'phone bill by an estimated hall a million dollars! Now they are trying to sue him - but if you invite people to 'phone you... In the UK things aren't so advanced, but direct dialing Freephone has recently been introduced by British Telecom (a private corporation). And - whoopee - one of the first to go on to it is the Territorial Army Recruiting Office on (0)800 555555! Someone, somewhere wants a call from you, and you can run up an enormous bill for whoever is paying - or even open up a dialogue on militarism. We are told that some enthusiasts can't pass a 'phone box without dialing this number and then forgetting to put the receiver back on the hook. It doesn't interfere with the public callbox service as the next person who wants to use the 'phone can just replace the receiver and continue as normal - but that could be hours later... Zed Feecher - - - POSTIES Hello to all Red Rag readers and others. I am Veronique and I have just taken over posties from Paul. Bye Paul! Posties is a service provided for readers who live out of Reading. Although Red Rag is free we ask for a donation to cover postage costs. A pound is sufficient for 3 months. When your donation runs out I will send you a reminder so that you don't miss out on any issue. If you are interested, write to: "Posties" box 79, Acorn, 17 Chatham St, Reading. P.S: You can send your donations by cheque or cash to the above address. - - - LETTERS To The Rambo With The UB40 I was shocked to see the letter on the front of Red Rag, what may have been experienced by the authorities, as well as the people witness to it (by no means representatives of those authorities) as mindless violence was clearly shown in that detailed and triumphant-toned letter as such. A mindless letter indeed. Strange. Use your noodle, articulate fellow claimant. Your response to your experience puzzles me. You seem to have been so entertained by your own outburst that you proceeded to write about it in a very reactionary way indeed. Who do you direct your anger at? was it anger? As a claimant I take umbrage at your tone - I don't see myself as you see me. Yeah, I cheer when people kick out at the state and the bosses - yours seems to have been the opposite action - ending up as an undignified tantrum, celebrating impotence rather than condemning it - because you don't seem to understand who's screwing who. Look at the Jobcentre cards for the pay for a civil service clerk, eh? When recently the staff at the DHSS walked out over a management decision about access to the building, the scummy bosses claimed it was "for their own safety". However a) the workers weren't consulted b) they are now in an infinitely more dangerous position anyway c) since when did management give a fuck about well-being of employees? - just study the wages! The conclusion is - of course - that management used it as a kick in the teeth for the employees who must be fucking demoralised now! Do you see what I'm getting at? Come on little rebel, think a bit. Whose side are you on? Or are you of rich parentage - "like many of the upper class, who like the sound of breaking glass"? (I don't know who said that, but it fits better than "workers of the world unite" at the bottom of your unfortunate article! An Unemployed Worker. Dear Rag, What a load of puny and pathetic drivel the "discordians" (ha!) were talking in their letter. Contrary to what these mystery merchant and pseudonihilist poseurs think absurdity is not at all the enemy of authority. Absurdity, disorganisation, disorientation and confusion tactics are in fact precisely the weapons the state uses against those who try and build an organised revolutionary alternative. Chaos and disorganisation are the enemies of anarchy and social revolution. Paul Petard - - - SMALL ADS are free! Wanted - Old cine film (Super 8 or Standard 8) for the creation of a vision. Phone Paul 869157. Free: oven to good home - 667085. Drummer wanted (l6-2l) for lively, melodic, modern band. Ring Craig Reading 696913 (after 6pm) - - - READING ANARCHISTS FRIENDS OF DORIS etc 1985 saw several projects in Reading of a more or less anarchist nature. Some of us intend getting together to take a look at these projects and see what we might learn from them. Hopefully the meeting will include a wide range of individuals involved in, for example, the South St Dole Office Squat, the "Doris's 20th Birthday Party" Free Festival and the "Abiezer Coppe Solstice Celebration" Bus Garage Squat. After reflection, how do the people involved feel about these activities? What did they achieve ? What mistakes were made? What can we learn for the future? Anyone who wishes to contribute to the meeting is welcome; all are asked to come in a spirit of openness and co-operation. Wednesday 19th February. 7.30pm, structured meeting to start at 8pm. Contact me via Box 19, Acorn Bookshop, or through the grapevine, for more details, venue etc. C. Hanger ps The Reading Anarchist Navel Review 1985 still edges towards publication. - - - NICARAGUAN RELIEF Students and staff at Bulmershe College of higher Education are contributing towards a cargo container full of educational supplies to be sent to Nicaragua. The project, the idea of World University Service, is being organised jointly by AUT, NATFHE, NUS and NUT in this country. Since 1979 nearly 3,000 new schools have been established and illiteracy is already down to a quarter of the pre-1979 figure. However the success of universal education has made schools front-line targets for the USA-backed 'contras'. Over three hundred schools have been destroyed and 160 teachers have been assassinated. The WUS container, which is planned to leave at Easter, will breach the U.S. trade embargo and bring much needed basic supplies to some of Nicaragua's schools and colleges. The organisers are appealing not just for donations but for serviceable typewriters and duplicators as well as essential supplies such as duplicator stencils and ink. Much serviceable equipment has been made obsolete in this country with the introduction of computer technology and photocopiers. Curing the week beginning 17th Feb there will be activities organised by the students union, including a Nicaraguan speaker, films and videos, and a benefit disco. - - - THERE & THEN The amazing atmosphere at the 'Here & Now' final gig, was marred only by the fact that about two hundred and fifty people who had come from all over the country, were left standing outside in the freezing cold, being hassled by the police, because the band didn't think that a bigger place might be needed; or if they did, they were more worried video than their mass of adoring fans. But aside from that, the music, the people, and the journey down were all wonderful. Here & Now lived up to everyone's expectations, and played superbly just about every song of theirs you can think of, and the privileged few who got in thoroughly enjoyed themselves. - - - CHRONIC STITCH UP - BEAT IT TOGETHER! Beat it together - That's the message behind The Chronics Stitch Up campaign. Stitch up is free, and is intended to encourage people to protect capitalism, property and exploitation. Regular reports will appear in The Chronic on how you can shop your neighbours, bug telephones, construct man traps and set up security cameras for free. Send now for your free information pack that includes stickers, leaflets, the Reading police manual, a set of handcuffs and a truncheon. Order Form Please send me .... (number) free stitch up packs. Name ............................................ Address ......................................... ................................................. Send you completed form to: Central Police Computer, c/o The Chronic, Stitch Up, Reading. - - - $Id: //info.ravenbrook.com/user/ndl/readings-only-newspaper/issue/1986/1986-02-09.txt#3 $