The Other News From England.

9th. October 2000.

Index of earlier issues - click here.

(Those who like digging about will find that there are hundreds of articles on many subjects to be found on this site.)

Old issues.

There are some much earlier Other News on this site. Click below.

early Othernews - 1992, 93, 94.

Bonnington Cafe and Bonnington Square.

This Saturday, members of LETSwing - the LETS band, comprising of Gabriele Gad piano, Steve Barbe flute, perc, vox etc, Hanna Heissenbuttel gtr and vox, Mark Treasure bass and Hugh Harris sax, with the odd stander-in. Quiet and old-fashioned pop and jazz, both own material and standards. Just when you thought you knew the style, something else comes up and changes your mind. No charge for the entertainment, but the hat goes round, and as seating is limited it is only fair that you should order something to eat.

Bonnington cafe is a communally owned cafe in Vauxhall, Central London. The atmosphere is somewhat Bohemian, international, friendly, educated, and much wine (bought from the corner shop across the road) gets drunk. Good quality vegetarian. Cheap. The only lighting is usually candles stuck in wine bottles, and the furniture is a collection of odds and sods that people have thrown out. The overall result is relaxed and pleasing. People tend to spend the whole evening over their meal, and engage in discussion with those on other tables, the caterer, the band and passers through.

The cafe gets very full, but sometimes there is a list of telephone numbers of the people who cater there fixed to the door in case you should wish to try to make a booking. Most Saturdays are catered by Marguerite - but not all.

Bonnington Cafe, Vauxhall Grove, London SW8 UK. Near Vauxhall underground and mainline station, and many buses. Booking is difficult.

Gabriele Gad's workshop to help you cope with computer stress.

Gabriele's computer stress course may help. I have never tried it, but doing things with Gabriele can be fun. Details of this course may be found by clicking below:

Gabriele Gad's computer stress course this October.

Joe Punter's Shakespeare.

King Henry the 6th. part 2.

ACT 3.

SCENE 2.

Bury St. Edmunds. A room of state.

Enter two or three running across the stage (from the murder of Duke Humphrey.

FIRST MURDERER:

Go to Duke of Suffolk and tell him we have carried out his orders.

SECOND MURDERER:

I wish to hell we hadn't.

FIRST MURDERER:

Here he comes now.

SUFFOLK:

Have you done it?

FIRST MURDERER:

Yessir. He's dead.

SUFFOLK:

Well done. Go to my house. I will reward you for this dangerous mission. The king and all the peers are here to hand. Have you laid the bed properly? Has everything been done according to my instructions and has it all gone well?

FIRST MURDERER:

Yes.

SUFFOLK:

Off you go then.

(Exit murderers).

Sound of trumpets. Enter king, queen, Card. Beaufort, Somerset, Lords, and others.

KING:

Please go and tell my uncle we intend to try him today - to see if he is guilty as claimed.

SUFFOLK:

I'll call him presently, my noble lord.

(Suffolk exits).

KING:

Please, everybody take your places - and try to be fair and just, and only take notice of proper proveable evidence. Behave like gentlemen. (The monarch was evidently just as much an unjustified optimist as one might be today about lawyers - ed)

QUEEN MARGARET:

God forbid that he should be unjustly found guilty. I pray to god that he may not be found guilty.

KING:

Thank you Meg. I am pleased to find you on his side.

(Suffolk enters)

What's up with you? Why are you shaking so? Where's my uncle? What's the matter?

SUFFOLK:

Dead in his bed Sir. Gloster is dead.

QUEEN:

How terrible!

CARD. BFT.:

God's secret judgment! I dreamt he couldn't speak.

(the king swoons).

QUEEN:

How fare you? Help! The king is dead!

SOMERSET:

Rear him up and ring him by the nose.

QUEEN:

Quick! Get some help! Oh Henry, open your eyes!

SUFFOLK:

He's coming round, ma'm. Be patient.

KING:

Oh heavenly god!

MARGARET:

How is he doing?

SUFFOLK:

(soothing tones)

KING:

What? You trying to comfort me now? Do you really think that such hollow insincere chat will make any difference? Out with it man! I know what you're about. Keep your hands off me. I'd sooner join hands with the very devil. I can see the murder in your eyes. Stand away from me.

Yet - perhaps not. Perhaps you should kill me with your poisonous gaze. I have little to live for now that Gloster is dead, and it would be a happy release from all this poison.

QUEEN:

But why do you rail at Suffolk so? True, they were enemies, but Suffolk is mourning like a true Christian. And as for me, he was an enemy of mine too, but I do regret his passing. I would do anything to bring him back. As it is, I am at risk of being accused of killing him.

KING:

Oh woe is me for Gloster, poor man.

MARGARET:

Be woe for me instead. I am more wretched than he is. What? You can't even look at me? Think of me! I was almost shipwrecked off the coast of England to get here, and blown back to see twice before we finally landed, and you want to erect statues to this man my enemy and turn me to nothing. I gave my all. I should have taken those winds that drove us off the coast as being an omen to be heeded, and gone back home again. I took all that risk, survived it and now you threaten to kill me with your flinty heart. You make me feel as though I should die.

(Noise within. Enter Warwick, Salisbury, and many commoners.)

WARWICK:

The rumour has spread my sovereign that Duke Humphrey was murdered by persons working on behalf of The duke of Suffolk and Cardinal Beaufort. The commoners are, like a hive of bees, ready to sting anyone in his revenge. I have asked them to stay calm until we have found out the truth of the matter.

KING:

It is true he is dead, good Warwick, but we are not sure how he died. Enter his room, look at his corpse and tell us what you think.

WARWICK:

I'll do that. Stay with the mob, will you Salisbury, til I return?

KING:

I wish I could work out how it happened. I would do anything to bring him back to life, but going in there to look at him I loved so well will only make my sorrow greater than it already is.

(Warwick draws back curtains and shows Duke Humphrey in his bed). WARWICK:

Come, sir, view his body.

KING:

I might as well be looking into my own grave, for I will miss him greatly. I wish I could be dead with him.

WARWICK:

It is very easy to believe that this death was not of natural causes but of violence.

SUFFOLK:

A ghastly claim, and made with such vehemence. What cause do you have to believe such a thing?

WARWICK:

See how the blood is settled in his face when in a death by natural causes the blood would be elsewhere and the face deadly pale. His eyeballs are sticking out, his face is almost blue, his hair is on end, his nostrils spread with the struggle, his hands still in the shape of those that struggle to continue the hold on life when he was being forcibly held, his hair is sticking to the sheets, his neat beard misshapen and awry. It seems to me the only possible explanation is murder, even if one only looks at the least of the signs.

SUFFOLK:

But who would want to do such a thing? Beaufort and I were protecting him, and I hope we are not murderers.

(THIS ACT CONTINUED NEXT WEEK. It is too big to completed in one week.)

Survival International.

The following email came in last weekend. The truth or otherwise of the information conatined therein I cannot verify. It is an interesting read, and you will notice there is a contact telephone number (an English one) and an email address. I have not edited it.

US scientists accused of conducting Nazi experiments on Amazonian Indians - hundreds killed

Eminent anthropologists, together with the geneticist James Neel, conducted a secret programme of experiments on Yanomami Indians for the American Atomic Energy Commission, resulting in the deaths of hundreds, claims a new book. Survival, the international organisation supporting tribal peoples' rights, received an advance copy of the manuscript this morning. Today Survival stated that one of the anthropologists involved was also responsible for racist theories that have seriously compromised Yanomami safety and welfare for more than 30 years.

American journalist Patrick Tierney produces evidence in his book, Darkness in El Dorado, that geneticist James Neel and anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon were involved in experiments for the American Atomic Energy Commission which greatly exacerbated, and 'probably started', a severe measles epidemic that killed hundreds of Yanomami in the late 1960s.

These experiments were designed to provide support for Neel's belief in eugenic theories. Tierney reports that Neel ordered colleagues not to provide medical assistance to the dying Yanomami, but simply observe and record the epidemic. If these allegations are true, they constitute a crime against humanity and Survival urges the Venezuelan and American authorities to launch an immediate investigation. The book will be serialised in the New Yorker from the 2 October and published in November.

During this research Chagnon was producing his book, Yanomamo: the fierce people, published in 1968 and still a set text in anthropology courses worldwide. The work focusses on supposed Yanomami fierceness and propensity for warfare, presenting them as an outstandingly violent and aggressive people. Tierney in fact says that Chagnon himself repeatedly created conflicts among the tribe in which people were both maimed and killed. 'People should know that you are a big liar', said Yanomami spokesman Cesar Timanaxië in a letter to Chagnon.

Several anthropologists have long condemned Chagnon's view as unsubstantiated and inaccurate. Fiona Watson of Survival International, who has worked with the Yanomami for over 10 years, says 'they are no more or less violent than any other society.' Survival published criticism of Chagnon's theories in 1990.

Much of modern anthropological and development thinking is still influenced by these racist theories. For example, the British government refused a request by Survival for funding for a education project with the Yanomami in 1997, stating that any projects with the tribe should focus on 'reducing violence'.

Sir Edmund Leach, the leading British anthropologist of the 1960s and 1970s, was influenced by Chagnon when he refused to support Survival's campaign for Yanomami land rights, claiming 'the Yanomamo would then exterminate one another.' He has been proven wrong. Survival has been campaigning in support of the Yanomami since its foundation in 1969 and was instrumental in persuading both the Venezuelan and Brazilian governments to recognise their land rights in 1991 and 1992 respectively.

The Yanomami are the largest isolated tribe in the Americas. They number about 23,000 and are hunter gatherers and agriculturalists living in communities of up to 400 people. The Yanomami's history has in fact been (and still is) one of extreme violence against them. They still suffer high mortality rates from diseases introduced by goldminers who invaded their lands in the late 1980s. Many have also been killed by goldminers - this month a tribunal in Brazil rejected an appeal by five Brazilian miners against their conviction of genocide for massacring a Yanomami village in 1993.

Stephen Corry, director of Survival, says 'The Yanomami have suffered horrendously at the hands of miners and officials, as well as unscrupulous "scientists". It is time to ensure that they are properly protected and respected by recognising their right to own their own land, a right which Brazil still refuses to all Indian peoples.'

a.. Fiona Watson, who has read Darkness in El Dorado, is available for interview.

b.. Survival's picture library contains numerous photos of the Yanomami.

c.. Survival also has recent Betacam SP footage of the Yanomami.

For more information contact Iona Singleton on (020) 7242 1441 or 07974 924372, or email is@survival-international.org

------------------------------------------- Survival is a worldwide organisation supporting tribal peoples. It stands for their right to decide their own future and helps them protect their lives, lands and human rights.

Also this info on the real effects of petrol consumption. Siberia's tribal people pay the ultimate price for oil they pay with their livelihoods and their lives

Whilst British motorists protest about the price of fuel in the UK, the reindeer herding tribal peoples of Siberia are paying, sometimes with their lives, for the oil industry which blights their homes. Their lands are destroyed, their reindeer are killed - their situation is so desperate many are driven to suicide.

As oil prices rise, the pressure mounts for tribal peoples such as the Khanty, who live in oil rich areas. The oil companies often deceive them, telling them they don't have any rights to stop them drilling on their land. Occasionally the tribes sign an agreement allowing access to their land in return for compensation, such as a skidoo or boat engine and some rations. However, once their land has been destroyed, the oil companies invariably fail to give what they promised.

Life expectancy for Siberia's tribal peoples is significantly lower than for Russians. 37 year old Khanty reindeer herder, Demitri, was one of 27 pupils in his class at school. Only six or seven are alive today. Two hanged themselves and many others died of drink related incidents. Those Khanty who lose their land to oil companies and can no longer herd reindeer, hunt or fish are often driven to alcoholism, drinking the vodka which is brought in by oil workers.

Today Survival is launching a campaign for the rights of the tribal peoples of Siberia to the ownership and protection of their lands. Survival's Director, Stephen Corry, said, 'While British motorists complain about the price of petrol, the exploitation of oil is a matter of life or death to many Khanty people. If people here knew the true costs to the Khanty people of the petrol they put in their cars, they would put more energy into campaigning for a fairer deal for Siberia's tribes.'

a.. Survival's campaigner, who recently returned from Siberia, is available for interview.

b.. Our photo library contains images of the tribal peoples of Siberia, please contact us for further details.

Miscellany.

The following is the content of a letter sent from an English prison by a person who was convicted of murder on the strength of what has always appeared to me to be extremely shakey evidence. It gives a rather extraordinary insight into how we treat people who by our own law the prison service is supposed to be preparing for re-integration into British society. Having tried to negotiate a way of providing prisoners with tuition and entertainment I find it particularly moving, because it sums up so very neatly what happens to these people and those who try to help them, and the attitudes the public and prison staff seem to have towards them (which is not expressed in the letter, but by the letter). It has not been edited:

(1996)

Dear ///,

First of all to say thank you for your letter also say sorry in replying. I have just got back from Strangeways prison. I went there for visits on the **** and got back here today **** so your letter among others were waiting for me in the office.

It was nice to get your letter also showing some support as I don't really get much from the outside with being in prison nearly 8 years now and as each year goes bye you become more forgotten and my family can't afford to send anything. my family are serving a life sentence as well as myself.

///, I would be Very grateful for the computer you have offered me. please let me know if it will cost me anything for the postage and I sort it someway, with a computer I'' be able to learn how to use one and use my time while. in prison to much better use, theres nothing at all to do in prison so I really need to find something to fill my time.

Good luck in getting on the INTERNET the things you can do with computers these still amazes me.

/// whatever help you offer me is very much appreciated so thank you.

I'' finish for now, look forward to hearing from you. Kind regards.

(signed with the first name.)

Upon writing to the prison to find out who to send the computer to and any regulations that needed to be complied with, /// received a brief reply from the governor's office telling him that prisoners were not allowed to have computers as they might hatch escape plans upon them. He then wrote to his correspondent telling him that it was not possible to send the computer and explaining why, but offered to try again if the rules got changed. That was 1996, and no further letter has been received.

Integration with society? How?

.......................................................................................................

The stuff that doesn`t often get changed now follows:

Biotechnology

Click here for an email that arrived in January 2000 concerning a proposed reasoned approach to this tricky subject

This website is about accounting investigations and fiddles. If you like to look at financial scandals (both hidden and public) this might be worth a look. I have not been there myself, but the books produced by these people, although difficult to follow, cover a lot of mysterious ground.

This website is about the destruction of countryside and agriculture. Worth a visit if you want to find out about how it is thought the British countryside will fair under the ongoing creep of the multinationals.

This website is one to do with monetary reform.The British Association for Monetary Reform. If you are interested in economics it is worth a look. http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~bamr1

This is a website about alternative currencies.Might be worth a look to those who have realised that you don't necessarily have to have money as such to be prosperous.

This is a website for something called The Green Guide. I know nothing about it, but am hoping it is something worthy. Please let me know if it is questionable.

This is a site concerned with one of the most unpopular planning decisions ever made in Greater London, the Crystal Palace Complex. It is so stunningly awful that only a handful of people who do not live near it appear to approve, whilst the rest are not entirely uninclined to mention such things as payola, freemasons....you name it! The site belongs to the London Borough of Bromley, but the aggro generated by it and the destruction of amenity caused by it will be almost entirely suffered by residents of adjoining boroughs and not the people of Bromley themselves.

This is a recycling site based in London, and offering materials to anybody. The organisation is a charity seeking to link suppliers of surplus materials with users. Especially good for the more ingenious designers amongst us.

The email of the people who run the above site is cs@london-recycling.demon.co.uk. They are called Creative Supplies. Look them up for more info.

Here's an interesting education site - particularly for those who have young children and are not quite sure what to do to avoid the worst of what`s on offer in the mainstream of education.They are called www.edrev.org.

early Othernews - 1992, 93, 94.

Early Other News essays.

There were a few essays that went out with the early Other News as a freestanding item. You can read these by clicking below.

Essays.

The Soup Designer`s Handbook.

The Soup Designer`s Handbook.

London Journey - a trip from Docklands through Beckenham and back to Docklands.

Friday Woodworkers.

(Friday Woodworkers are suffering a temporary break due to some of the episodes not having been fully edited at the time of writing. It may take some timne to fix this problem.

Episode 17.

(These articles were written in 1988, and were my first attempt at writing. Some people when shown these fell about laughing, some smiled faintly - and some yawned. I thought I was going to write a technical book, but it soon became apparent that I was much more interested in the people than the technology - and that is the main reason there are no drawings - although it might be rather good to do a couple of caricatures sometime.)

Index of Friday Woodorker articles (and a means of access).

Index of earlier issues.

Gabriele Gad on alternative therapy.

A READER COMPLAINED that it was not possible to go back more than 6 articles in Gabriele`s area. Regrettably this is because there is no index, and I have not the time to organise one yet. However, for those determined enough to find the early ones, they should be accessible by going to an early Other News and clicking through from it. This will not be fast, but I think will do the job. They started about November 1997 I think.

editor@othernews.co.uk

Cartoons and graphics.

drawings click here.

sheet music click here.

Consumers.

LEXMARK 3200 PRINTER.

In an earlier issue I told you about my feelings regarding Tempo retailers and the Lexmark 3200 printer I bought from them.

The Lexmark 3200 printer I got from Tempo must surely be the most uneconomical printer I could possibly have bought. The black cartridge only does about 250 pages of ordinary type - for £28! That makes each sheet cost 11.2 pence plus the cost of the paper and probably another 11.2 pence more if any colour is used! - ABOUT 22.4 PENCE A SHEET! Nearly a pound for every four sheets!

I wouldn`t recommend you to buy it - but also look at my earlier article for an idea of Tempo`s service.

Wanted

A person to help make up a subject index for the growing numbers of articles on The Other News From England. Email editor@othernews.co.uk

8- or more-track tape recorder. email pcj@gn.apc.org

All material on this site is copyright. Contact me if you want to use it. I am quite flexible. Educational non-profit use is free - but ask for permission and print an acknowledgement. If you can`t think what to print, put:

From The Other News From England. http://www.othernews.co.uk

Even better if you print the date of the article.

editor@othernews.co.uk

That`s all this week folks