Business is Business

In the April 7th 1987 issue of Red Rag: 150 officers, 20 vehicles and nine months of planning and undercover work go into a raid on Mandela Court which seizes a paltry amount of soft drugs; one local person comments that "...at the moment cannabis is virtually impossible to get hold of", but adds "almost every other drug is available". The Police and Criminal Evidence Act's authorisation of prolonged detention of up to 96 hours for questioning until the suspect breaks down is in flagrant contradiction of the right to silence; Reading students protest about government cuts in arts education, a block to any kind of education which encourages questioning, analytical thinking and curiosity; how handing out anti-fascist leaflets gets you branded a fascist yourself; and under the powers of the Public Order Act (only three weeks old) the police have can control the size and route of marches, and the CND footslog through London later this month will be their test case. What will happen?

On being challenged to reconcile his position as a trustee of the Vegetarian Society with the promotion of meat products he retorted that the Society's existing rules allow a butcher or even a slaughterman to serve on the Council.

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How to talk like a Situationist

In the March 10th 1987 issue of Red Rag: it's next to impossible to say how much of Reading will be trashed by "developers" over the coming years, but it seems like nothing short of a market collapse will stop the rot. In its first year The Conspiracy put on over 30 concerts and raised thousands of pounds for local organisations; working people must organise together, understand the full implications of attacks on their living standards, and fight for democratic control over their own affairs; International AIDS Day is on April 3rd; and why you might say that the formative mechanism of culture amounts to a reification of human activities which fixates the living and models the transmission of experience from one generation to another on the transmission of commodities: a reification which strives to ensure the past's domination over the future.

One might ask who exactly it is who gains - like one might ask how come there aren't any winos in the architects drawings of the latest Kings Rd office.

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International Women's Day

In the March 10th 1987 issue of Red Rag: the new Women's Information Centre has opened in style; the Night has been Reclaimed; Greenham women are everywhere. The USAF are asked to mark the anniversary of bombing Libya by suspending flights for the duration of an 18-hour vigil; the DHSS has no leaflets about the forthcoming changes in death and maternity benefits, but even if they had any they won't hand them out until the new rules have taken effect; an exercise in social control; another guide to safe sex; and Red Rag readers need "News on Sunday" - Britain's first national radical newspaper for a generation. [cover]

LW-P4: LispWorks / Perforce bindings

These bindings allow access from the LispWorks GUI to the Perforce SCM. 

   control-x p e           "P4 Edit"
   control-x p S           "P4 Submit"
   control-x p o           "P4 Opened"
   control-x p r           "P4 Revert"

It's been some years since I released version 0.2. Since then I've thrown out the COM bit and now it no longer crashes, even a little bit. Also, it's no longer confined to Windows.

I've been using this (or its predecessor) daily for years. If I have any other users out there I'll be pleased to hear from them as it might improve the chances of there ever being a 0.4.

Vote Labour & Still Die Slowly

In the February 24th 1987 issue of Red Rag: Reading Council's Health & Safety Executive agree that the old bus depot can be demolished by a crane swinging a ball and chain, so long as someone squirts a hose at the asbestos as it falls. Red Rag challenges borough councillors to stand on the site during the demolition and demonstrate their confidence in this method. The new Women's Information Centre opens; the all new risen-from the ashes like a phoenix veggie dining takes a nose dive; and the current state of advice about AIDS and the HTLV III virus that causes it. [cover]

More Actions at Greenham!!

In the February 10th 1987 issue of Red Rag: despite Parliament being told recently that there were no women at Greenham, no fence had been cut, and so no money was necessary for repairs, small groups of women have cut down parts of the perimeter fence at Greenham Common every night for a week. The Wildlife Garden, dismissed by some as a heap of rubble, wins an Environmental Award; the Job Training Scheme is only there to get the unemployment figures down in time for this year's election; a Free Mandela demonstration is coming to London; and Veggie Dining have had more comebacks than we care to remember, had their cutlery stolen and been banned from most of the suitable venues in Reading. [cover]

Meeting at the new Women's Information Centre

In the January 27th 1987 issue of Red Rag: while Harbax Singh goes on trial for the murder of Gurdip Kaur, her husband is still walking free; the Women's Centre moves into new accommodation; there are bailiffs at the Blue Gate; World Education Berkshire focus on AIDS; BT are double-charging a "takeover fee" to house movers; Blowzabella are down one tunesmith; and the community engineer will fix your hi-fi, although whether or not he'll do this with talcum powder is a little unclear. [cover]

Is Reading really such a bad place?

In the January 13th 1987 issue of Red Rag: the Job Destruction Agency comes to town; the Winter Solstice is celebrated at Stonehenge; a new 10 question "availability for work" test arrives and the Rag prints the answers; there's a demo in support of independent trade unions at GCHQ Cheltenham; maybe the Chatham Street carpark could be used as a playground; Red Rag readership has dropped by 90%; and there's something called Snorkmaster Grobblie.

The passengers in the passing buses sat with their faces glued to the windows. Here were hundreds of police with vans and horse, surrounding a group of people dancing and playing music. They were mystified. Was it a riot or a street party?

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Wolves In Sheeps' Clothing

In the December 16th 1986 issue of Red Rag: Two "Claimants Advisers" set up shop at the Wessex House UBO, tasked with forcing selected unemployed people to sign off; but if you're signing on and your home has central heating (including night storage heaters) then you're entitled to additional benefits; come along to the New Year's direct action at USAF Upper Heyford; when the present geriatric patients are transferred from Prospect Park Hospital in Autumn 1987, the site will be closed and sold off; the likes of CND (Changing Nothing for Decades) have lead people into a trap by convincing them that "nuclear disarmament" in isolation is the issue; there's a moral issue in upholding the law; and Dumbo receives its TV premiere. [cover]