The Other News From England.

19 March 2001.

(only 25 hours late this week)

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, either an act yet to be chosen or Gabriele Gad and Hugh Harris playing old-fashioned melodic jazz. HH plays saxophone, GG plays piano. Quite a popular act, and it gets very full in there. No charge, but the hat goes round.

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, passers through......

Bonnington Cafe, Vauxhall Grove, London SW8 UK. Near Vauxhall underground and mainline station, buses 185, 36, 2, 88, 322 and others. Booking is difficult.

Community economics.

Southwark Social Investment Forum is on the 7th. April at Clubland, Walworth Rd., London SE17 - near the junction with Albany Road. Community groups of many kinds, including LETS, green, musical groups, Sinclair Music School, choirs, theatrical, and etc. A free stall is available for your organisation as long as it is some sort of a community thing.

Not council sponsored, so it should be quite good fun.

Creative Rights Alliance.

These people met for the first time this week at the National Film Theatre. They are an alliance of 'creatives' of many kinds (mostly freelancers), including (my own part in it) British Music Writer's Council and the Musicians' Union.

The problem we met to discuss was the way the large corporations who have control of such media as television and newspapers have started only to offer contracts to pay a few pounds for somebody's creative effort and expect to be given the copyright of it to use forever apparently without payment (in perpetuity). If the creator refuses the conditions, the company offers them the choice of either having the work on those terms or they (the company) will offer the job to somebody else. As the creator these days is nearly always just about on the breadline they are (as it were) bludgeoned into acceptance of a completely unfair and barely legal contract. Many would call this a cheapskate swindle of the first order, and the group met to decide on ways of working together as a group to counter this. It was noted that in the rest of Europe this question is dealt with in a much more civilised manner (but then they are neither British nor American in Europe), but there seemed to be little confidence that the government here would legislate in a like manner to ensure a basic fairness. An MP had been at the meeting to express sympathy and to seem to express the intention of doing something, apologising for the minister who should have been there, who had disappeared because of the foot and mouth problem (maybe to see the mass extermination of thousands of farm animals for failing to stay fit and well in the unnatural conditions we keep them in - righteous stuff, indeed).

The media were invited, but of course the last thing they would want to do would be to report on this meeting. The BBC, for instance, still have the public believing that they use the public money they get (from our taxes) to treat their employees and contractors honorably and justly, and this illusion would be destroyed within minutes if there was any proper coverage of the meeting.

Copy this article and put it on your website!

Joe Punter's Shakespeare.

King Henry the 6th. part 3.

ACT 2 .

Scene 6.

Another part of the field.

A loud alarm. Enter Clifford, wounded.

CLIFFORD:

My candle, which gave king Henry light whilst it burned is now going out. Lancaster, I fear your overthrow more than I fear my own death! My love and fear glued many friends to thee, and now I am falling that glue melts, impairing Henry and strengthening York with his pisplaced pride. The common people swarm like summer flies, and where do gnats fly but to the sun? Who shines now other than Henry's enemies? Oh Henry, had you done your work and given no ground to the proud house of York, I and ten thousand like me would have left no widows mourning our deaths, and you would have kept the throne in peace, for what helps weeds grow better than gentle air? And what makes robbers bold if not too much leniency? Complaints are pointless, and my woulds cureless. I have no way to escape and no strength to fight, the foe is merciless and will take pity on nobody. The has got into my deadly wounds and much bleeding makes me faint. Come, York, Richard, Warwick and the rest - I stabbed your fathers' bosoms - stab me.

(faints)

(enter Edward, George, Richard, Montague, Warwick and soldiers)

EDWARD:

Let's have a breather, my lords. Good fortune gives us a pause. Smooth the frowns of war with peaceful looks. Some tropps pursue the bloody-minded queen who led Henry (despite his being a king). But do you think clifford fled with them?

WARWICK:

No. It's not possible he could escape, for your brother marked him for the grave, and wherever he may be he is surely dead.

(Clifford groans and dies)

EDWARD:

Who's soul is that which just departed?

RICHARD:

A deadly groan, like life and death paring company.

EDWARD:

See who it is, and now the battle has ceased, treat him gently.

RICHARD:

Revoke that request, for it is Clifford, who killed both young Rutland and our father, duke of York.

WARWICK:

Take his head off the gastes of York. Your father's head, which Clifford placed there, and instead put Clifford's head there. Measure for measure must be answered.

EDWARD:

Bring us the body of that dreadful screech-owl which sang nothing but death to us and ours. Now death shall stop him and his tongue will speak no more.

(soldiers bring the body forward).

WARWICK:

I think his understanding may have disappeared. Speak Clifford - do you know who speaks to you? Death has overtaken him and he cannot see nor hear what what we say.

RICHARD:

I wish to hell he could - and perhaps he does. It must be his policy to sham dead to avoid the kind of bitter taunts he gave our father in death.

GEORGE:

If that's what you think, vex him with eager words.

RICHARD:

Clifford, ask mercy, and obtain no grace.

EDWARD:

Clifford, repent pointlessly.

WARWICK:

Clifford, devise excuses for your faults.

RICHARD:

You did love York, and I am his son.

EDWARD:

You pitied Rutland. I will pity you.

GEORGE:

Where's captain Margaret to look after you now?

WARWICK:

They mock you, Clifford. Curse them.

RICHARD:

What? Not a single oath? My god the world is turning hard when Clifford cannot spare his friends an oath. He must be dead. An if I could sacrifice this hand of mine in exchange for two hours of life so that I could rail at him I would gladly chop it off to do so, and with the blood stifle the villain whose thirst young Rutland and York could not satisfy.

WARWICK:

Aye, but he's dead. Off with the traitor's head and put it in place of your father's. And now let us march triumphantly to London, to be crowned England's royal king, and from there I will go to France and ask for the hand of Lady Bona for your queen. Thjat way, you will sew these two lands together, and having France for a firend there will be less fear of further uprising, for they cannot have much effect thereafter. But first I will stay to see your coronation, and then I will leave for Brittany to effect this marriage, if it pleases you, my lord.

EDWARD:

As you will, sweet Warwick, let it be. For in your shoulder I build my seat, and will never undertake to do anything where your council is needed but lacking. Richard, I will create you duke of Gloster, , and George, of Clarence, Warwick can make his own choices as suit him best.

RICHARD:

Let me be duke of Clarence, George of Gloster, for Gloster's dukedom is too ominous.

WARWICK:

That's a foolish observation. Richard, be duke of Gloster. Now, to London, to see these honours established.

(All exit)

More next week.

POLITICS.

The two parties (for, let's face it, the others don't stand a chance) in preparation for a supposed May election, have both chosen the option of slanging their opponent instead of suggesting that they (themselves) might have any useful contribution to make to politics. Presumably this is because both sides have doubts about their capacity to do anything at all or have any useful ideas. It's a ghastly choice, but I suspect most people would still just about prefer the alleged incompetence of New Labour to the alleged (not always just alleged either) thief-like activities of the Tories.

What fun elections can be.

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

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

Alternet News.

Alternet News might appeal to some readers as a regular list of goings-on in the human rights/green areas of life. You can receive it by email. I have put one copy on this site so that you get an idea of what it is about and how to subscribe.

For sample Alternet email click here.

Biotechnology

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

Goforth's social justice e-zine.

This interesting email magazine comes at fairly regular intervals and is of interest to almost anybody who is interested in human rights and green issues. In November 2000 it was going out to about 10,000 addresses. Try it. It won't cost you anything, and you can reproduce the contents without paying. You can subscribe by writing to them at: sjzine@netscape.net, or visit: Goforth's site

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 (this may now have been provided, but please email if you might like to join in in some way - ed.)

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