UC61 October/November 1983 by Christopher Squire

E Y .-E

,^T^

M o s t communes are NOT hippy dope scenes or gurus exploiting innocent babies. That's just the media trying to sell papers to bored suburbia. There are a t least 100 communities in Britain already - why don't youlive in one? Someday most people will live in comrriunes -why are you waiting? ;^-A

ecome part of the future join the culture of the future you don't have to live in a bedsit you - don't have to get - married 'cos there's nothing else to do get lots of friends and work for your own leave the fossiled culture of the past All you have t o lose are your chains s t o p worrying about your security learn to make friends instead So what, you make mistakes those who don't take risks don't learn so what, you're shy so what, you're scared who's running your life know it all already. ck to sleep if you wish to grow find out about community living

why lock yourself in a house with one person, you could joi a commune? Worried about the standards of the local school? Why not join a commune and run your own school?

S t o p thinking about communes - join one Stop being put off by problems - solve them So what, the first one collapses - learn from it and ma sure the next one is better send off for more informatioi else you'll always be trapped by fear Alternative Communities Movement you only live once 18 Garth Road, Bangor, N.Wales (w$ /

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED Undercurrents subscriber Stephen Morgan writes: "In 1981 you decided to Issue the magazine ten times a year. Since then, thirteen issues have appeared - the same number which would have appeared had the magazine remained on a bimonthly schedule. Is it not time for the UC collective to admit that, for whatever reasons, it is unable t o issue the magazine ten times a year, and therefore to revert t o bi-monthly production?" Yes, it is high time. I n fact maybe it would be more realistic t o describe ourselves henceforth as sporadical. This is only our fourth issue this year, and every issue has been a struggle to produce. It's no secret that we're desperately short of funds - and no money means no magazine. Recently we've tried a fewschemes to boost our circulation, and our staff have foregone pay for several months, but our position isn't improving. Our friend John de Lorean offered to do a massive coke run for us, but unfortunately he got caught. Now we're running out of ideas. Should we blame the Tories for the mess we're in? A disproportionate number of alternative papers have gone under since Mrs Thatcher came to power. Should we perhaps blame our non-existent business manager who absconded with our non-existent funds? Or is it just down t o the fact that no one's interested in oxproduct? I f so, then what's wrong with us - and what's right? We'd be very interested to hear from you. Why don't you tell us what you'd like in the magazine? Should we have more A T, fewer poodles, wider political coverage, a campaign notice board. .. ? All correspondence will be read and choked over, and any cash which you may inadvertantly slip to us instead of the IR, we will eagerly bank. Without you we're in danger of rapid decay

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Letters.................................. 4

A Pain In The Gill.

Eddies .................................. 5

BeastNews .............................21

NIREX, City Stopped, US Peace Camp and other news

Workers Stop The Drop.

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Paul Todd's analysis o f the uneasy relationship between nukes and unions

Yanornano............................. 12 Tribal rhythms i n aid o f the, World Wildlife Fund

TheGenius ............................. 13

Andrew Tyler, who has an I Q a t least i n double figures, interviews Howard Brenton.

RedDeath.............................. 15

Greenpeace inform us of poisons i n the sea

Desert Island Discord

.................... .16

Laonie Caldecott on women's anti-nuke activity i n the South .Pacific, from Reclaim The Earth

John May's Animal L i b Colum I

Reviews. ...........

Briefing ................................28 Froth.................................. 30

Subscriptions. ...........................30 Undercurrents would like to thank John Bradbrook, Tom Burke, John Dame, Greenpeace International, Stephen Joseph, JondhanPorritt, Nick Hart-Williams and World Wildlife Fund-UK,who all kindly dug into their pockets to help finance this issue.

COPY DATE: All material for the next Issue (thank you) Should be With us by the last week In Nowmher. I f you have last minute copy, though, we'll try and create some space.

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Nigel Dudley's Acid Rain update

ACCESS: We meet at 7.30pm every Wednesday and all friends of the magazine are welcome. BULK

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mere 97 quidfor 13 day*. jacket for Angrt Wyhon's [t's nice to know that excellent novel "The Old people are willing to pan on Bear at the Zoo'. (Mektkiltheir knowledge and theming & Rum, Spoonbill peutic guidance for a Attic, Bucks. Â£23.50) fortnight's total income. Mo&*den will know the The average price of your original graphic which h u reviewed boob in between -:Â¥ :*. ,kcomnanied me on all AY B6-86, a tempting offer to 'q* lecture tour in this country. ' in out-of-work working However for the confined and clam hero, but peihap I ' m any foreigners amongat you, deftined to be uninformed. let me outline the vandalism U you wish to become an here. (No doubt you dogs affective movement reaching call it Art). Where I had delightfully depicted Offae the lower classes,you'd better think about straightDyke in m picture you have forward economic*, i.e.: substitutedtomb stones; we the unemployed cannot where the Moume Muntains Ãˆffor you! P.S. This is not a should be there in some general insult to UC itedf, unpleasant KurdMl hovel. which I'D always hold in To cap it all in place of my dear friend, the late Mr Ilidiregnrd. Goebbels, there is - if my Mmedley, Stonehaven. BSc in Zwlong ( B i i m terionw :..;.:<@&faidd [We, the unemployed, H o n e serves me correctly produce Undercurrents. If a m e m h of the family Triyou want a free copy come p o k tripolus. A myn~oset GENOCIDE nut work for us! Ed.) in fact. Vegantern in a bit extreme an I am cancelling my mbBADR EACTIONS overly preaching, there Iscriotion. I hone the Soviet good greens who go fishing union mistakes your ill^ I was dismayed tofind such and rabbit-hunting activtottion as a defilement of a grom andpuerile pastiche ities that help to comerve o u u that adorning the middle their furry national symbol, riven and hedgerow*. page* of my last copy of and takes appropriate steps I uersonallv trv to eat Undercurrents (No. 60 to control you. meat about once month, as Ed). I refer, of wane, to Yours, in jelly, I feel thin suits my metabolw.Mondde-MttdlcB your alteration to my book ism but I avoid battery - ezm -andproduce that has contributed to the destruction of ical rainforest. .! ' ?WBder why the biggest evkr.act.oÂ£genocidby man attracf'm littleiriicreot in the green movement. Surely timber merchants and barnburger stores should be leafleted or daubed with graffiti. Malcolm Samue1 Cdleraine Eco Seaehr 1 Â¥cpeatodlfound that the muior effects referred to are Â¥o&me with eye-~train, ritualdefects etc. although in several occuiona radiation s mentioned in patting. We live also discovered that n other countries (e.g. Sweden and Canada) there s considerable concern over .heponibilHy of unmonitorid effects of VDU's and here is an increasing wndency to limit hours of working with them. If anyone m m y i n f ~ t i o or n p e ~ ~ nexperience al which would help us to build a dearer picture of the harmtill effects of VDU's we would be grateful to hear kom you. Jo Adami

DARWINIAN PROCESS So you ate intending to change the look and feel of the lnfigdne?' I%ult' but fed apprehensiveabout this-flinty nodrastic changes are in the pipeHoe? Wthout willing to found like an old reÃ§ct ionary, it would be good t o ma the o d o n a l piece of practical AT and the sort of ndical/uurcho subjects you wed to cover. Otherwin content is generally food, though UC60 w= mmething of a diuppomtment. Graphic*and layout are OX. and coven have been getting better, good to, lee the return of the o l d q logo. So what is there to : change. ? All I'd advise to, a healthy continued &&tion without loeing continuity[ identity of UC as the e~entill forum for radicalpolitics1 technology/lifestyleÃ§ Adrian Howe Coventry

RADIATION SICKNESS A friend of oum who worked with Visual Display Units for 2 yeare suffered from increadngly debilitating Ã§ympton- dizzinem, headache,weight lor, acute tindneu and t k t and a general mme of her body being 'poitoned'. She became anxious that she was differing from mild radiation Â¥fafkne but was met with vehement denials of this by the occupational health doctor. She has now left ha job became of thk ill health. We here mad a range of article* on the subject, from +ntific journal., T.U. nuterial t o m rep& amd

are

(Lffleting is still I&, but is it illfoal tochub McOwldt with redpaint? d u c k up on this before you do anything rash. Ed.)

OUST THE WETS Have you wondered why the 'alternative movement' is often branded as guilt#tricken, middle-clau weto? Well reading through the l u t iuue of UC I think I've #tumbled upon the antwers . I turn to the clarified pace.IgeeIcanjoina community, just for Â£19,40 -a Â¥niat the price. Receiving Â£5per week supplementary benefit should enable me and my family to move in immediately. And what's this? a couw+hg coula at a

EDDIES

Nir:; tools up to tip w::te

THE NUCLEAR industry's next public inquiry after Sizewell will probably be in 1985. Nirex, the body set up to disnose of low and intermediate level radioactive wastes, will be under the spotlight as it puts its case for the selection of new sites to take irradiated materials.

At the moment Nirex is half a dozen people at the UK Atomic Energy Authority's Harwell office. They are looking for two locations for dumping low and intermediate waste on land. Nirex, owned by the UKAEA, British Nuclear Fuels Ltd, Central Electricity Generating Board, and the South of Scotland Electricity Board, will be disposing wastes additionally from other producers like Amersham International, and the MOD. The latter produce about 5% of Nirex's waste from nuclear submarines and from making bombs. The two new sites aren't yet announced. It seems Nirex is trying to minirnise the fuss publication of them would cause. However when they are announced detailed geological studies will begin, followed by design plans for the repository, its 'safety case' - and then Nirex's application for planning permission. One site will be similar to the one at Drigg, Cumbria - that is a trench 6m deep (actually it appears two metres shallower than Drigg's . .) filled alternately with waste and clay to a depth of 3m and sealed with compacted clay. Decay of waste (according to Nirex) to harmless levels of radiation will take two or three hundred years. A deeper trench of 20m with concrete floor will take intermediate wastes which will be either encapsulated or solidified into cement or polymer, and packed in steel drums or concrete boxes. The trench will be covered with

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ayers of concrete and clay md top soil. Nirex is also investigating the uses of deep underground repositories for long-lived intermediate wastes, with access shafts for 'servicing' md ventilation. Many local tuthorities, like Cleveland with its salt mines, are infur,ated at the proposal as Nirex s attempting to economise ay buying old mines instead if building new ones. Altogether Nirex could spend up to Â£8 million on ;he three repositories, most noney going to 'deep contracts bidded for by firms like Babcock, Northern Engineerng Industries and the Natonal Nuclear Corporation. The shallow repositories :odd be in action by 1989 md the deep pit a year or ,wo later - actually a priority ,ince drums of fuel reproces,ing waste are stacking up at Vindscale. There could be L00.000 tonnes of intermed-

iate waste this century. But in all we should be expecting to live with 500,000 tonnes of low and intermediate wastes -plus the high level wastes dealt with by DOE - in Britain over the next hundred years. Martin Ince

. A strange contradiction is afloat. British Nudear Fuels has announced a Â£1 million programme t o reduce its plutonium discharges into the Irish Sea, by 80% because Cumbrians eat more shellfish than they should. It has long been known that shellfish are suspectible to absorbing radioactivity and pass it on t o consumers. Since the mid70s BHFL says their press officer, has reduced plutonium discharges on the recommendation of MAFF's long term research begun some thirty years ago. BNFL

follow the International Radiological Protection Board's limit of 'safe' levels which of course are assessed now and again. In fact BNFL's just completed review reveals that they should add filter beds to treatment plants. The conundrum? BNFL won't retract its general statement that wastes in the sea 'cause no harm to ?Ian or environment.' And 'Even under the new standards we are still within the safety levels. The aim is to he as low as reasonably achieveably.' Why are lower levels 'achievable' now. Is it anything to do with the fact that BNFL has been pressurised by the recent Paris Convention on Pollution, or the Water Tribunal in Rotterdam; or, having refused to install costly treatment equipment in Magnox plant now being refubished, has come under Greenpeace's fire. ?

A WOMEN'S Encampment for a Future of Peace and Justice has opened a t Romulus, New York State, USA, home of the Seneca Army Depot (SEAD) where Perslung 11-is allegedly stored. Peace campers' relations with their neighbours in the rural area have however been strained. We heard an irate citizen ask, "Why aren't you flying the flag?" At at time when such big issues are in campaigners' minds did it matter and should the womer1 respect the value of good community relations? Or was it what women who maintain pride in some aspects of their country wanted? Would it be upholding the imperialism they were there to combat? In the end the lack of consensus on the matter decided it. No consensus, no flag. Still neighbours of Romulus find it hard t o forgive and forget. Many have been out in force at every opportunity. A 'feminists walk' from Seneca Falls, home of feminism since 1590,t o the Encampment 1 2 miles away was interrupted just four miles into the route, at Waterloo by a well-orchestrated counterdemonstration. It was headed by the right-wing Veterans of Foreign W m (VFW) who with their cohorts carried flags on long poles (they had at least one shot-gun) and set upon the women. A woman wearing a tabard marked 'unknown Jewish Lesbians' bore the brunt of a violent anti-Semitic and sexist attack and had t o tear off the clothing for fear of being beaten to death by the 300strong crowd. The Sheriff's Department was unable t o control the rabble. The women refused tc go to the court house for thei own safety since they had been carrying on a nonviolent protest throughout. Nevertheless 64 women were -netted, yet only one ounterdemonstrator. The lemon was carrying a shotu n but was later released. The August maaa demon-

to two arreiits. Two hundred and ' fort:y campaigners were found .digbing the SEAD fence. c o u nter-demonstrators again sericmsly threatened peace and only negotiations by some of the 200 peacekeel>erstrained at the camp and the drafting in of police for I% 'state of emergency' - d4d a r e d after the 'Bat tie of Waterloo' - avertec viol4snce. /although vocal and sometimtis violent reactionary grotips keep up their counterpro1;est the women continu ously approach their neighbows and various group; and churches, and seek any POSEability of dialogue, any poirits of agreement. It has finally proved successful. At leasttone man has handed in his Inilitary badge a t SEAD a s a result of conversations, and information made pub.lic by the Women's Eric,ampment. The State Governor hag demanded confirmation or denial of the Presence of nuclear weapons at ttie base. stration also led

Fiona Adamson

watchers' with the International Whal-

AMERICAN CONSUMERS

axe being asked t o resist filling ing Convention in August to their supermarket trolleys with salmon, trout and shrimps from Norway. As part of a boycott on the importation of all Norway's fish products, US and Scandinavian environmentalists alike are campaigning t o force Norway's government and fish industries t o abandon the traditional whale hunt. Several fish companies trading primarily in frozen fish,but also selling whale meat have been affected. FRIONOR, a multinational with subsidiaries in Europe and the US, which markets about 50% of Norway's total whale meat has lost 815 Illillion Of in the States over the last few months. Although Norway agreed I

limit the hunting of minke whales t o 635 animals next year, Greenpeace who initiated the campaign wants the government to accept fullythe moratorium on all commercial whaling which takes effect in 1986. They are some way to achieving this as firms see it in their interest t o lobby government for the ban while the boycott continues. Norway is also now having difficulty convincing the US authorities that her Barent Sea whaling activities are biologically defensible and that the industry is economically important t o her coastal ~o~ulations.

More Information: Norwegian w n Ă&#x192; ÂŁ protection project, Stenersat. - . 16.. Oslo 1. Teleohone: ( 0 2 ) 4 1 93 11.

Five Australians pause in Czechoslovakia with their methane powered cycle on the World Bike Ride for Peace. Begun in Canberra in March '82, fifty bikers are now scattered over the world

City shares in rmn prc3 J

groups like Green CND, protestors were informed about strategies for the event by a chain letter circulating during July, and armed with lists of export firms, business directories, and company registers, were able t o draw their own conclusions about connections between the city, MOD contractors and other war financiers. Rio Tinto Zinc and BP were among firms ear-marked to be 'blockaded' by callers jamming their telephone lines. Activists against all war nuclear and otherwise - hope t o oppose the 'death machine* similarly a t a later date. Despite a police raid o n the newly established Peace Centre in Islington, London (at 1.30am o n the 29th September), meetings will continue there for discussion on future campaigns.

DEMONSTRATORS estimated to number two thousand took part in the Stop the City protest on September 29th to publicise t h e links between the financial institutions aid military funding. On the day the city's current summer profits were reckoned u p (and the new Lord Mayor elected) protestors highlighted the vast outlay of billion pounds a day o n the war trade controlled by the major UK and foreign banks, finance houses and insurance companies. Protestors with their carnival and theatre attracted some of the 400,000 city workers onto the streets during their lunch break and offered explanation by way of leaflets. Most activity however centred o n the Stock Exchange, the Bank of England and t h e Guildhall, the day ending with more than 1 0 0 people brought t o the Magistrates court charged with either assault o r obstruction; Behind the public face of the- demonstration manv ~ ~ activists were well briefed for the protest. Although loosely co-ordinated, by ~

City resisters mill at the steps of the Royal Exchange trying not to be slaughtered by war

THE HUMBER oil disaster is already known to have polluted an area stretching from the confines of the Trent and Ouse as far seawards as Cleethorpes. Since the tanker Sivand collided int0.a mooring point at Immingham on the 27th September shedding six thousand tons of crude oil, hundreds of birds have suffered oiling'. The number of birds at risk however is estimated t o be 20,000, and already there are a number of dead waders, duck and even seals. In the confines of the estuary such an amount of oil can wreak terrible havoc, since currents can distribute slicks rapidly over a wide area. Environmental groups recognise that industry

spends little time anticipating the effects of spills and so are emphasising the possible damage that could occur if greater discharges of oil or oil of the 'boot oil' type was spilled. These oils destroy the ecology of estuaries, particularly organisms on the sea bed, and a period of ten years might he needed t o reestablish the bird life of the area. Robert Taylor

. . . . Further north along Britain's east coast the only 'xtensive inter-tidal mudflats

between Lindisfarue and the Humber estuary are under threat. Seal Sands are a Site sf Special Scientific Interest but under the Tees Conservancy Act of 1920 the Tees and Port Authority is empowered t o reclaim the land. This they have done over the years - of the original 6,500 acres only 430 remain as essential feed-

Stop the City at 9 9 Roseberry Avenue. London. First meeting (for 2 9 Sept defendants1 15th October loam-6pm. planning meeting on Sunday 16th October. Telephone 01-809 1 3 4 6 .

ing grounds for migratory wildfowl. Time is now running out though as the THPA, realising its extension t o the Act may not be renewed in June 1984 is hurrying t o reclaim all of Seal Sands before that date. Contact F O E East Cleveland for more details. ~ e l e p h o n eRedcar 475078.

S -

A FLURRY of activity is expected at Rosemanowes quarry in the spring when the Camborne geothermal project recommences drilling into Cornwall's granite to exploit the 'hot dry' rocks which will eventually according to the Department of Energy -form our 'major new power source'. As Undercurrents readers know, geothermal is one energy source which has succeeded in attracting support from the government. This summer Peter Walker, Secretary of State for Energy, allocated nearly Â£1million to the Cambome School of Mines for their research on

WEST GERMANY: The world's first suspended cabin railway, the H-Bahn, will open at Dortmund University next year. The 1.1 km track -like an inverted monorail -is computer controlled and can carry, with single cabins, 1,000 to 4,200 passengers an hour (at 1minute train intervals). Financed by West German authorities it is a pilot project for public transport. Technology USA: Congress has authorised the spending of $114.6 million in the next fiscal year to build and equip a wartime poisons plant at Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The binary weapon will compromise a 155mm artillery shell carrying an odourless and lethal gas, and the 'Bigeye' aerial bomb with its persistent gas for combat regions. New Scientist NORTH YEMEN: Despite the government's ban on rhinoceros horn in 1982, traders are arriving at Sanaa airport with the much valued medicinal' product in their luggage. Other Asian ;ountries including Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macao, Philippines, and Singapore are also avid :ongmers. Less than 2,000 of the Asian rhino species

uranium, potassium and to date been considerably thorium in the rocks. cheaper than a similar project carried out by a Los Alamos The DEn is hoping for drilling to reach depths of team, and just as successful. They are now ensured at least between 4,000 and 8,000 another three years research. metres where rock "reserves' Even so they may -or may at these levels hold the not - care to look too far energy equivalent of 1 0 ahead. A DEn employee told 'extraction of heat from deep million tonnes of coal -in Undercurrents that the other terms ten years of rocks. technology does not exactly current electricity conSo far researchers on the exist yet for drilling to project have drilled two bore- sumption. 6,000 metres. "If all goes The Camhorne team is holes to a depth of 2,000 metres where the rocks sizzle optimistic too. They're happy well,it'll be the turn of the century before any power is to find their project, funded at 8WC. To utilise the heat jointly by EEC and DEn, has generated", he admits. the team created (with explosives from Los Alamos and Aldermaston. . .) a network of rock fractures between the wells, and pumped water through the rocks. It returns to ground surface heated, or as steam. The idea for the project was rooted in the observation of existing natural fractures in IS TOM KING, Secretary of in particular opposed 'borrow rock which facilitate heat pits' as environmentally State for Transport, tied to exchange; the heat being h i s Xerox machine this week? damaging, and submitted caused by the radioactive plans for importing colliery No-one at the DTp has let decay of the elements waste from Kent and Lancaout the compromising fact, shire for 'fill', and using the not even t o Undercurrents. Western Region BR line to Quite right too. But someone's got to mail eliminate road haulage by remain, and there are probheavy lorries. But the DTp ably no more than 18,000 of out the 3,000 compulsory has effectively overruled the African varieties of rhino. purchase orders for a 2.5 Ambia acre Oxfordshire field - all local planners by seeking an indemnity in case rail use over to Mexico, to Papua delays the road programme New Guinea, Iceland TONGA: The Rural Develop- before the DTp can legally (and claims from unfinished ment Centre (RDC) is aiming dissect it and Bemwood contracts arrive). By evaluatto create a 'consultative* Forest and shave off bits of ine mainlv r o a d - b i d network to support and intro- Otmoor in order to start the tenders for the job and duce appropriate technology emphasising the costliness of M40 extension. throughout the South Pacific. Saving the land by creating rail the DTp finally won It hopes to balance governinternational protest - and hands down. Under pressure ment aid for large scale causing havoc and delay for to allow the completion of the DTp roadbuilding prothe M25, Hilingdon has pergramme - is the innovative mitted working of a small scheme of Wheatley Friends pit, and Bucks County of the Earth (see UC57). Council has accepted reNow co-ordinator Joe Weston working of gravel pits left as has written to Tom King lakes. No rail is likely to be assuring him that 'Alice's used at all. Meadow' is indeed sold; the In turmoil also, thanks to DTp's purchase orders will mad planning procedures have to follow FOE'S 3,000 to give Tom King a break deeds of conveyance. are Odeas and Shepherdleas It could be a test case. woods in Greenwich, London. Already a further 70 acres of They are in danger of Otmoor are on offer to FOE. metamorphising into traffic Potential buyers number islands if the DTp pushes 10,000 so far. through its four-lane highway Other more complex DTp there. As ancient woodlands developments are on hand. of oak, sweet chestnut and By arrangement with the hornbeam they are integral DTp big holes will soon be to the ecology of the open modern ventures - from coconut plantations to 'duty appearing in the Colne Valley land 'Green Chain' running free' shopping - by helping t i Regional Park where deepened through South East London 'borrow pits' will provide 3m . London Wildlife Trust is arrest the decline of local cubic metres of aggregates and tackling this one. farming (of yams, cassava, 'fill' for the M4/M25 interSOURCES: Briony Jones, taro and sweet potato) and change at Colnbrook. The Transport 2000, London Wildlife the growth of rural poverty. Trust. Appropriate Technology local authorities initially fought this proposal. At the Â¥Juspublished: Oxleas Wood: *More Information: USP Rural time of the DTp's decision on what would be lost by Chariot Development Centre, PO Private Bag, Nuku'alofa, Tonga. South the construction of the M25 Pye-Smith, 75p from LWT, Pacific. (in October 1981) Hillingdon 1 Thorpe Close, London W10.

coming to rest. More coins fell at inter- There was already more than ten marks,

Weird

vals of five, ten or fifteen minutaee a considerable amount at that time. We

stuff

J L In 1917 or 1918 a Finnish woman,

Mn Ester Hallio, nee Jantti, was witnesi to the followingremarkabb events, and thin is a paraphrase of her account. 1 was studying at the Athenaeum and lived with my fellow student Miss Inni Siegbuig at her parents' home. The family was away In the country, except for Inni's sister, a nurse working at the eye clinic. I was at home with one of my fellow students. It was autumn, and the wind was blowing furiously. We rtuted to tell ghost stories. Suddenly a taint elide was heard, and then another one. We looked around and found two lanw overcoat buttons on the floor. We suspected each other, protesting that this was not a prom time for iokes. The next founded dear, metallie. A coin bad fallen on the parquet floor, lolling and revolving before

with feat we went next doortto a& an Estonian lady to join us and witness the miracle. By now coins were falling In the adjoining dining -, which also had a parquet floor, making the clicking noises deariy audible. With growing fright we went to fetch Mr Arttu Brummer who bad a planning office with Mr Topi Viksted nearby. They returned with a third gentleman named Vainio. The Estonian lady auggeited that her brother-in-law, a deeply religious man, d stop the phenomeshould be ~ k e to non. He came with his Bible, read some iip%ntationsand 'commanded the phenomenon to c w , but after his 'Amen' a coin fell on his Bible, he panicked and escaped. Some of the gentlemen auggested we call In Professor Anl Grotenfeldt, a member of the Society of Sdencea, and he came together with a couple of his students. The professor compiled a report. Including the names of all the witnesses, which is still in the Society's archives. The coins continued to pour down.

placed them on the mantelpiece. We dared not stay overnight, and spent the night in the office of our friends. In the morning the coins were still on the mantelpiece. Inni's sister, thi nurse, who bad been at work all night, telephoned and told us that she had been disturbed during the night at the clinic by curious noises resembling the tinkling of 'coins. I % told" her what had happened, and at that moment another fifty penny coin fell onto the telephone table. As soon as Inni arrived, we went to the Bank of Finland to show the money. The coins were genuine. As nobody claimed them, we went to Bronda (a popular restaurant) with all our Friends to celebrate, and had coffee with ipple pie. Arttu Brummer thought the coins were fine, but we should here isfced for some rustling (banknotes) too!

Source: Dunistledon rajamailla (On the hinge of human knowledge) edited by Mis Aikki Perttola-FUnk, published by Tammi, Helsinki, Second impression 1972. Thanks to Tuuri Heporauta. PAUL SIEVEKING

GREEN LEAF BOOKSHOP 82 Colston Street Bristol BS1 Td. (0272) 21 1369

HUMAN VALUES HUMAN SCIENCE BSSRS CONFERENCE 1983 A Conference ai

Radical Science and the Labour Movement including discussion on the Science of Sickness, how illness is both manufactured and manipulated.

26th-27th November, Edinburgh. Details: British Society for Social Responsibility i n Science, 9 Poland Street, London W1 V 3DG. 01-437 2728

we in i n environmmnti bookiho c o @ ~ * n t lnow n offwin i mili'ordw u r v l c ~ .iĂ&#x192;Â§allib ~ ~ ~ i on: Solar Wind & water ower; Heat pumps- Third World Issues- Peace ~ducat'ion'Disarmament*dtandh; cookery; Ian P O I I ~ I ~Wholefood Or anic Garden1 g &Self suf~iciencychildbirth ~ e a t t h& ~ n l l n ~ u i t h e lists r to foilow soon. Send SAE plus 30p for complete bookitst.

Stop t:.uI l l , s the sizewell enquiry resumed this September, it received a strongly worded report condemning nuclear power in general and Sizewell B in particular. It came from the National Union of Mineworkers. In July, the giant Transport & General Workers Union had joined with ASLEF, the NUR and the National Union of Seamen to black the dumping of nucleai waste in the Atlantic. These developments, coupled with concern over various aspects of the nuclear issue voiced from the floor at this year's TUC conference, highlight the gathering opposition to the plutonium economy emerging from a hitherto unexpected quarter: the trade unions. Until recently, attitudes on energy policy amongst trade unions and the left in general have been supportive of the nuclear option. There are historical reasons for this. Technologism and 'progress' have traditionally been key planks in the left's ideological platform; from Lenin's 'socialism plus electricity' through the 'white heat' of the Wilson era to Tony Benn's advocacy of AGRs, the need for unbridled economic growth had never been questioned. And the prospect of nuclear electricity was widely seen as they key to this Elysium. However, with a deepening economic recession and consequent energy glut allowing a Tory government to pursue selective 'divide and rule' policies with regard to public sector investment in this field, the consensus previously held in the TUC on nuclear energy began to break down. Trade union concern over the nuclear issue is very much a hybrid of 'genuine altruism and local self interest. There are three main currents:

opposition to nuclear power as suchp (the miners, the NUJ with elements of NALGO and NUPE); opposition to PWRs but fresh commitment to some sort of all-British nuclear programme, probably based round the AGR (the majority of the industrial unions) and the recently constituted caucus of opposition to nuclear waste dumping at sea supported by the NUR, ASLEF, T&GWU and the Seamen -which however leaves the general question of nuclear power open. The last two views, after much debate and vehement opposition from the EETPU's Frank Chapple, were adopted as official TUC policy at the recent conference. The very fact of such motions even being tabled points to a depth of nuclear safety concern inconceivable even a few years ago. "A nuclear programme would have the advantage of removing a substantial portion of electricity production from the dangers of disruption by industrial action by coal miners or transport workers." leaked cabinet minute 23.10.79 Although the 1981 TUC Energy Policy Review attempted to preserve the old consensus by advocating expansion in all energy related industries, the latter found themselves increasingly in competition for scarce public funds. Indeed, the political implications of selective public sector investment were by this time becoming apparent as shown by the witholding of electrification funding for the railways. In this climate the announcement of an unprecedented Ă&#x201A;ÂŁ15b expansion

programme for nuclear energy thus seemed especially ominous to the miners union, the NUM. The NUM had watched coal-fired stations being decommissioned in favour of nuclear ones (as at Tomess) and so was for long opposed to expanding the nuclear sector. With the chairmanship of Arthur Scargill, past ANC participant and advocate of direct action, it became the only major industrial union to call (in July 1980) for 'a halt to all future nuclear development'. The NUM demanded that, 'the present nuclear programme be phased out', in preference to a programme of conservation and development of alternative sources including coal and renewables. Although safety considerations and the lobbying activities of such union/ environmentalist crossover groups as SERA played a part, the main thrust of the NUM's objections remain political. Since the Heath government was, in effect, brought down by the miners, any restructuring of the energy industry that would weaken the economy's need for coal has had an almost magic appeal to governments in power. As a bonus, marginalising the miners would break for ever the power of the 'triple alliance' of coal, steel and the railways. It would replace them with the more pliable blue collar unions and radically alter the political geography of trade unionism. Disregarding economic or even strategic considerations, the expansion of nuclear power is probably irresistable to a Tory government for this reason alone.

'. . more people have died through printers ink poisoning than the number who have been killed in nuclear stations ' Frank Chapple 1981

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Despite the overall enthusiasm in the TUC for nuclear power expansion, concern about the danger of operating nuclear plant and interest in conservationist and combined heat and power schemes has grown in unions indirectly associated with the industry. At the 1977 Congress, NALGO the local government union tabled a mildly anti-nuclear motion focussing on safety and security difficulties. It was easily defeated, but the events of Three Mile Island coupled with a spate of accidents at Windscale and Aldermaston served to highlight the issue. So much so that by the 1979 congress the T&GWU was calling for 'a review of the future development of nuclear. . . so that a fuller debate can take place within the trade union movement.' UCATT the construction workers union had already, by 1978, called for 'the rapid development of alternative and conservationist technologies in preference to the expansion of nuclear power'. They were joined in 1979 by the NUJ (journalists) and in 1980 by USDAW (shop and retail workers),

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COHSE (hospital workers) and NUPE (public employees). he impetus behind these motions came largely from workers in the transport unions in direct contact with nuclear by-products. By 1980 dissatisfaction had also spread to the National Union of Seamen. This interest was aided by an intensive lobbying campaign at branch level undertaken by environmentalist groups like SERA and Greenpeace. The NUS read Greenpeace's 'Statement of Concern' - a study of marine nuclear pollution -in 1981 and subsequently hosted a seminar at which representatives of Greenpeace and NIREX (Nuclear Industry Radioactive Waste Executive) were able to present their case to the NUS executive. A motion for a moratorium on nuclear waste dumping at sea was narrowly defeated (by 7-6) on this occasion, but with the deliberate flouting by NIREX of the London dumping convention early this year and the suspicion that high grade plutonium waste was to be dumped covertly, the executive of the NUS reconvened and decided to black

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all marine nuclear waste dumping until further notice. It was an initiative adopted by other transport unions and endorsed by the TUC. emarkable as was the close cooperation of the NUS president Jim Slater with Greenpeace, nucleal power was not a dominant issue at the recent TUC conference. Even the miners remained uncharacteristically mute on this occasion. The pro-nuclear 1981 Energy Policy Review remains official policy and seems likely to continue being so given the decision making structure of the TUC. In such quarters, the desirability of 50's style economic growth is axiomatic and an increase in electricity production almost an end in itself. However, with the pro-nuclear camp currently split by the Tories' enthusiasm for American PWRs offensive to the patriotic instincts of many in the TUC - and with widespreac concern about nuclear waste and even Len Murray talking about post industrial society, perhaps the old cart horse may yet acquire a taste for greens. Paul Todd

AN ARTICLE FROM WORLD WILDLIFE FUND

The Education Dept of the WWF are getting tribal rhythms to put ovf.. their message. 'One of the most astonishing evenings I have ever experienced', said a transfixed David Attenborough. Over to the WWF to tell you about it..

hen songs from YANOMAMO were featured o n Breakfast Television for five consecutive mornings last summer,the viewers' response was fantastic: people jammed the BBC and World Wildlife Fund switchboards t o find out where they could hear the songs, especially "Hie Jaguar' and 'The Sloth', again. YANOMAMO is a dynamic musical entertainment which vividly illustrates the problems currently being caused by the destruction of the Brazilian tropical rainforests. The Yanomamo 'People of the trees' - is a tribe in the Amazon basin which has lived for thousands of years in harmony with nature. But everything changes. The pressures of unfulfilled aspirations, poverty, greed and population growth in the surrounding countries conspire to ensure this. It was commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund from St. Augustine's RC High School, Billington, Lancashire, following the school's success in the WWF song-writing competition in 1982. The music by Peter Rose, Head of Music at the school, with lyrics by A n n Conlon, Head of English at a neighbouring school exceeded all expectations; and the performance by the 180-strong choir and 30 musicians was extraordinary. 'One of the most astonishing eieninei I have ever exoerienced' saY David Attenborough describing

rshears/w for Yanomma .

Yanomamo, after narrating its first public performance in London on June 25th 1983. His feelings were echoed by the 1,000 strong audience who gave it a standing ovation lasting nearly 1 5 minutes. . In the audience was Jeremy James Taylor, Director of the famous Childrens Music Theatre, who immediately invited the performers to appear at the Edinburgh Festival - an invitation which the school and WWF were delighted to accept. Two further highly successful performances were held in Blackburn and Manchester, narrated by David Bellamy; and the Edinburgh performance on September 4 was narrated by Sir Michael Hordem of the Royal Shakespeare Company who flew tob Edinburgh especially for the occasion. Using the arts to create an environmental awareness is part of the World Wildlife Fund's Education programme. The Fund has already involved thousands of people through its song and play writing competitions, publications of song book and long-playing record ('Save the Animals'), and work with art colleges. Yanomamo, which has already inspired many people to join the m - d

-1

emotively illustrates the joy and beal of the tropical rain forests and its myriad of fascinating creatures, and contrasts this sharply with the sadneÃ and despair of the human inhabitants. Its message is simple -the laws which demand the greatest respect and adherance are the unwritten laws which lirL all living things. A tape of the music, price Â£ includi postage and packing, is available fror The Education Department, WWF-U Panda House,11-13Ockford Road, Godalming, Surrey GU7 1QU. The Jaguar Always alone find always avoided Nobody loves a lonely jaguar I have a strong and beautiful body But nobody loves a lonely jaguar In the moonlight of tropic midnight I secretly wander under the stare Needing to capture a capybara T o feed a hungry jaguar Why d o they run whenever they see n . Why am I such a lonely jaguar? I want t o be friends; I want to be needed But nobody loves a jaguar. By the river o f silent water, I steadily creep and quietly stare, Needing to capture a red piranha T o feed a hungry jaguar. Why do they run whenever they see me? I want t o be friends; I want t o be But nobody loves a jaguar

,.-

A scene from Howard Brenton's theQeni~ll

The Genius T

he nuclear arms race is the globe's terminal condition, paralysing the imagination of the bravest com' municator. It is easy enough to be pedantically apocalyptic -tallies of we'apons, the 'medical consequences' - Mt rfow to unleash clear, liberating , thought which, after all, is the prerequisite for solving or at least managing any crisis. For playwrights Big H (for Holocaust) sets up particular problems of from where and on what scale is the approach made. The arms race surely can't be methodically argued away since it is an insane manifestation, and pinning back the audience with extreme close-ups as does Raymond Briggs' When The Wind Blows leaves us wiser to the Home Office's supreme dislogic but not necessarily full of pep. Howard Brenton, angry old verbalist of the '68 school, has now thrown his quill into the ring with a full length piece called The Genius. And happily (judging from a couple of reads) it does

not lie at all heavily on the bowels even if it offers no Solution for the don't knows. It was Brenton who procured that act of gross legal indecency from Mary Whitehouse; vestal virgin of the suburban belt; with his briefly sodomistic The Romans In Britain. The Genius, however, is all good, clean heterosexual dialectics. Some trousers and tights do come down in a snow scene, but since the parties are consenting intellectuals, there's no opportunity for Whitehouse or Horace Cutler to perform what Brenton calls "a peculiar sideshift" and turn what is intended as a political affront into a sexual one. 'It was all typically mixed up, ' he says of The Romans furore. When the attack did come it was in code. There was a couple of weeks of someone going through the dustbins, which got very heavy. But some poor sod called Henry -listed in the directory as H. Brenton -got most of the phone calls.

And there was also some ugly stuff with Michael (director Bogdanov) with these firebomb threats from a fascist group. I think their complaint was basically dirty poofters in the theatre. So, you see, all the time you're getting called a sex fiend when really they should be flagging you off for having communistic ideas.' It is his communism ('Oh yes! I'd say I was a communist.') that flavours The Genius, not in the sense that it's an A-Z rhetorical argument, more the usual Brentonian clamour of voices and ideas, some great lines, sharp angles political impudence and a thin ending that adds up to a 'we the people, get up off our arses' proposition. It takes place in a concrete Midlands university that the American protagonist calls the edge of The Holy American Empire. He is Leo Lehrer (Trever Eve), a morally and culturally deficient mathematician, one third winner of a Nobel prize, banished t o this grey place for developing the maths for an unmentionably horrifying new generation of nuclear weapons and then witholding details from his Pentagon paymasters. The genius of the play is student Gllly Brown (Joanna Whalley) who, by osmosis, hits on the same formula then journeys from ecstasy, t o crack-up to political motion all in Leo's thorny, platonic embrace. The element of English soft-shoe tyranny comes from a bursar (Hugh Fraser) and vice chancellor (Ctive Swift; neither of whom are demonic but in the bursar's own words are 'the mild, decent men. . . who administer the nuclear holocaust. ' In the background are spies and a couple of shakily drawn student activists who nonetheless get some of the best lines. Like Andrea's The English revolution in male mouths begins to sound to me just like football. Something men shout about down the pub.' And from the not to be trusted student Tom, comes 'If I were an ideological agent working for the CIA trying to invent a creed to fuck the far left, I think I'd dream up Rod. Fem. a n d rnarxism. Divide the socialist camp down the old sex war lines. ' If there is a stand-out theme it concerns the power of knowledge and how it must be redistributed and acted upon out of moral and political conviction. 'The play is addressed, ' says Brenton, 'to anyone with an education, saying "we are the children of G a l W , that since the Renaissance knowledge

has been ripped off and turned into a death machine and that anyone with any kind of first rate education from 0 levels to first rate degree is part of that conspiracy, which really began when Galileo (who like Copernicus worked out that the earth was not the centre of the universe) said "Ok, I'll work in secret, I'll denounce my work in public, I'll do a deal with authority. " And the play is trying to say, "Cummon, all our names are written on these weapons. " ' But why, I wondered, fix on the moral agonies of a coke snorting maths professor and his young scion when for most people the question is not whether to spread it about but how t o stop feeling helpless and crushed by the madness of the arms race. Or is his play addressed to intellectuals? 'Yes it is! I t is! But this is an intellectual theatre (The Royal Court). And I don't think it should be ashamed to p u t on plays actually addressed to intellectuals, not touching them up and making them feel good but going on the attack.' He asks of his educated customers when they return, to their concretized groves of academe, that they encourage a university within a university: Alternative channels, 'just as there is a progressive theatre within a largely flatulent bourgeois one. It happens in all the institutions in this country. And I think it should be encouraged.' From his travels to East Europe, notably Bulgaria, he has found this world within world to be not merely deeply ingrained but actually operated by the same individuals, each with their official and alternative tasks.

It was in Sofia a few years ago, while attending an international theatre convention, that he rendezvoused in a smashed up flat with some dissidents who, knowing much of his work, wanted "a literary conversation." He got to them by playing hide and seek with the authorities on and off trams. The authorities paid him back with hartassing telephone calls and planting what were supposed to look like smuggled dollar bills in his luggage. He has great regard for the inventiveness and energy of Bulgaria's repressed populace. Back in England's slippered tyranny he finds things, by comparison, dull, muddy, trivial and getting worse. But if his view of England is sour, he has a Stalinist slant on America as the embodiment of cultural and political evil - a view strengthened by a recent trip there. His first. He believes 'to a certain level America loves the arms race' because it lifts the economy. Whereas the strain on the Soviets is enormous and this makes them more to be trusted around the peace table. ' I hate repression and that horrific, grim seamless authoritarian blanket thrown from the (Red Square) balcony with the old men on it. But any development will come from the East because in the end any country that is trying to run itself on socialist lines is morepeaceful by intent, by historical movement, than a country which is running on an endlessly hyped, classdominated capitalist system. ' The Genius, directed by Danny Boyle, is at The Royal Court until October 22. Andrew Tylel

Givethe Land a Helping Volunteer and ponds,plant it& repair drv stone walls and maintain footpaths Work midweek at weekends or during you holidays Details from BritishTrust fo ConservationVolunteers, 2 Selous st London N.W.1O.D.U. (sae please) 388-3946 h

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2 year contracts with modest living allow ance and flights. Regret no funding for dependants. Write for details including a short C.V. and s.a.e. to: International Voluntary Service, U3, 53 Regent Road, Leicester L E I 6 Y L .

The North sea is fast catching upwith the Med as the most sea in the world. Greenpeace's campaign, like so many others they have mounted, is highlighting the problem. Here they tell us about it - and you don't always have a whale of a time being an eco-activist sq-miles of completely lifeless sea bed in Finland. Surrounding that discharge is an area of 250 square kilometres from which pollution-sensitive fish species have disappeared. The wastes are sometimes so acidic that fish kept in cages for research over six miles away have been 'boiled alive'. Eggs turn brown, fail to hatch, or if they do hatch the fry develop abnormally. Increased rates of diseases are well-documented in German dumping grounds. But what of the Humber discharge in England? In 1977 Tioxide UK were adamant that they caused 'no detectable pollution'. However in 1980 the A n g l i Water Authority, the body that permits the discharge to take place, admitted there was pollution but they couldn't assess how much and felt it was only local anyway. Greenpeace have been working steadily over the last eight months, gathering evidence from a number of different angles, and their view supported by scientific evidence, local statements and a specially commissioned survey, sees the situation somewhat differently . They found that a ten to twelve mile stretch of the south bank of the Humber was devastated by Ti02 wastes within three years of Tioxide discharging. Seaweed, shrimps, mussels lad all vanished in the path of the iffluent. Former breeding and nursery iites were destroyed as it had indeed been feared they would, nearly ten years before. Fishing gear had started ;o rot within a month of use so that man-made nets and lines were required. Greenpeace's evidence soon goes aefore a House of Lords committee ivhich is assessing the present common narket legislation which all countries, part from the UK, wish to see adopted n order t o achieve T i 0 waste >ollutionreduction in Europe. The CBI, the companies, DOE, and .he Water Authority will all oppose the egislation. Only Greenpeace and a landful of former fishermen -told by heir representatives in 1952 that 'if we bought for one moment they were wing to close down multi-million wund factories for a few fishermen, ve 'd had it', will be supporting it. WOULD YOU SUPPORT US? If o -then you can send for more letails of this and other Greenpeace oxic campaigns, from: 36 Graham St, ~ n d oN n 18LL Alternatively any donation will be ratefully received. Make cheques or wstal orders payable to GreenpeaceLtd

Greenpeace volunteer aims into path o f TiOy waste dump-ship.

arly in 1944, at a quarterly meeting of the North Eastern Sea Fisheries Committee, a chemical firm declared their intention to dispose of waste effluent into the Humber estuary. Since the Committee's by-laws could prohibit any discharges that proved detrimental to sea-fish' they sought further advice on the matter and were duly told by the public analyst that 'The

iischarge would destroy feeding material for at least two square niles and would cause the fish to 'seepaway from the area'. Since the Committee knew that nany thousands of pounds were iarned fishing the area and since it was I recognised breeding and nursery [round they were opposed t o the lischarge. The discharge was acid-iron wastes

from the titanium dioxide (Ti02) industry; the company was British Titan Products (now Tioxide UK). On the 1st January 1949 their discharge officially began -there had been no further mention of the issue in any of the Fisheries Committees meetings since 1944. Ti0 is mainly used as a whitener in paints, although increasing use is made of titanium's tensile strength in the aeronautics and space industries. It is simply the best white pigment and, being as far as known, harmless in itself, it is used as a whitener in toothpastes and salad creams:Producing Ti02, however, leaves vast quantities of deadly acid-iron wastes -as much as eight tons for every ton of end product. On reaction with sea water they form huge billowing 'rafts' of tiny rust coloured particles that smother the sea-bed, the life within it, and any plant or animal unfortunate enough to be swimming in the water at the time. This 'red death' as it has come t o be known, is responsible for five

Desert Island Discord

Belau means 'our land'. The Republic of Belau (known to many as 'Palau' from its Japanese pronunciation) was born in 1981, though it is still administered by the US, which also has control over the other Micronesian islands in what is designated by the United Nations a 'Strategic Trust Territory'. In other words, an area of immense military value. Treaty, they started using the lagoon he Belauan Islands, situated at the of Kwajalein as a test target for their westernmost point of the Caroline long-range missiles, evicting thousands Islands in the Micronesian part of of Marshallese from their homes on the Pacific, 500 miles east of the islands surrounding the lagoon in the Philippines, have for the last four centuries been anyone's land but that of process. 8,000 of these now live in cramped and dangerously insanitary their own, indigenous people. The conditions on the 65-acre island of Spanish controlled them from 1598 Ebeye. until 1899 when Germany took over Meanwhile women who have been until 1919. Then came the Japanese, exposed t o radiation from the who occupied the islands under a nuclear testing are left infertile, have League of Nations mandate; initially an abnormal rate of miscarriage or developing them commercially, then give birth to babies so horribly turning them into military bases during deformed that the women, in their the build-up to the Second World War. shame, will not show them even t o the Since the US won that war, they have men who fathered them. The babies taken over.

Trusteeship Agreement, drawn up in 1947 the US is meant to 'promote the development of the inhabitants of the trust territory toward self-government or independence as may be appropriate'. and therefore 'promote the economic development of fisheries, agriculture and industries; protect the inhabitants against the loss of their lands and resources'; 'protect the health of the people'. Uncle Sam allowed himself a liberal interpretation of these obligations towards the Pacific peoples, conducting over 60 atmospheric nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands (at the opposite end of the Micronesian group from Belau) during the 1950s; then, after the Test Ban

usually die within an hour of being born. Similar things have, of course, occurred in Mururoa, where France is still conducting tests for the neutron bomb. The Marshallese make repeated attempts to return t o their home islands, but negotiations with the US seem so far to have produced little improvement in their lot. They are paid a derisory sum for the use of the land from which they are forcibly exiled. The Kwajaelin Atoll plays a crucial role in maintaining the nuclear capability of its captors; they will not give it up easily. elau, too, has suffered from the effect of other nations' aggressive concerns. During the Second World War, one of its islands, Peleliu, was completely denuded of its lush vegetation, its white beaches

were turned into a bloodbath by the warring Japanese and American forces. The history books will tell you how many died on each side. They will not tell you of the thousands of Belauans who also died in a war which was not their own and which these essentially non-violent people would never have wished on themselves or anyone else. The population of the islands is now just under 15,000. Bernadette Bedor was born a few years before the Pacific War began. She has hazy memories of the war, but fairly vivid ones of the devastation it left in its wake. 'War is something very real to Belauans, not something we merely read about or see on television. We are also very aware of the health problems in the Marshalls - the highest rate of cancer and leukaemia in the world. I think this is what has

made us the first nation in the world to have a specifically anti-nuclear constitution, which the US has not liked a t all. They have forced us to vote on it several times over, but every time the people vote in favour - the initial mandate for it was 92 percent!' Bernadette will not tell you herself (it would not occur to her), but it is women like her who made that vote possible. Her brother, Roman Bedor, puts it very clearly. 'Belau is basically a matrilineal society. We inherit through the women's line and women have a considerable-amount of control over land rights. The reason we could have such a controversial and courageous constitution is entirely due to the strength of our women, who campaigned for months on the issue, going from door to door and talking to the

people. In our weiety, women are really powerftil- the m p cant do anything without their &mawit.That iswhyitisapeacefultoeiSty2- Bernadette if a biology teacher, and she became involvedto the political struggle through her hitenst in education, opecliUy u It rotate* to the indigenom &tun 6fher own people. 'Having@mntwow time in the US, InsedtoWnkthattheSriwymustba best. But then, as I began toteach ha back home, I realised that the U8influencededucation lyfttm um not necamrily pis their own country, done i f it is in to . become an independent,tidf-sufficient nation. I m f thatwewentodanbwof losing our own cultud valua. I have come to naBie that education has to be mom than just learning out of books. People nfed to know directly about what is affectinsthem, they need to learn how to exist in their own enwrOnment I became interested in educatingpeople about the specific problems that we as a people face in Belau, and that included flu nuclear h u e , since there an USplain toturn usintoaforwardbauforUnTridmt submarine and ttw 3apanwt want to dump nuclear wwtÃ in the Pacific. I guew that'I how I bt~ttnwpollthough originally I thought of it men& a*&arniiustout Of worid I ttw ln , WhenweflfttstartuScampalinlna against USÂ¥tominationrstbthg their an enormom superport

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peopleinruralwwa oonttillin OW touch with o w tradltioni. The r w o n they became octiw iwa prschtly became they see thou trttdition~being undermined by foreign Influence. Our ~Mtomaryextended familia and claw,for example, were btiinniw, in the developed area like Koror. to bmoft intosmall nuclear mUies. Instead at twins able to exist o f f the fruit and vegetables we grow ourselvet, andtheflthmcatch,atwehavedans for cdw'ia.people are h e made deptiutsnt on a money-bated economy. Ins&& of de@ thi- in order to seme OM another, we do them for money. Schoolchildren are fed on Amerikun imported junk fowl, tinned meat and fbh, instant noodle* and canned drinks, and suddenly we have all sorts of health problems we had never heard of before -ca&hing constant colds, getting cartes.

Our traditional religion, ' M o t e h i ' (which menm 'coiam~mty 7, teaches mpwt for nature. If you mine at a riverhthtntsht, youfirstthrowina Hone to the river of your orfUHce,then you go in yourself. You waybefonWinstheandandk to plantt beforepickins them. The mine n?+sct extends to people. When we arc CWWS^fttwwe don't hold big *sndhwanguepeoplefroma Wegaonfootfromvillage tovfllase,from Wend toisland, talking M M toons. That way people tiwt us, 'fttyknowmandAnowustellthe "ruth.It can't be hurried.If the tide k not you wait until &it,then let* boatandgo to the nextWand. We ham no phoutside Komr. io i f you want to sfwak to SOHWOM wu haveto #o younelf.

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1 Compact of Free Auociation, which

wilcally aim the US nfcftft to nftttwy qsmion on about two-thirds rfowbMLIt & a way ofgetting

round our constitution, which is not favourable to their interests. But how can wd do this and still be able tofeed ourselves?The water, which the Japanese want to pollute, and the land, on which the US wants to practise jungle warfare, is all we have. The knd is our life. You can't sell yaw life.' The right of the B e l a w to selfdetermination and the prwervation of their own culture if, in my view, a worthy cause for women who yearn to create a world in which we play a full and powerful role. l i l t s is a culture from which we may have a lot to learn. We mwt surely do whatever we can to enable it to survive. Further information on this most urgent h u e can be obtained from: Paciflc Concerns Resource Centre, PO Box 27692, Honolulu, Hawaii 96827. iLwmiewdecot

Edited hy Leo& Caidecott and Stephanie Leland. Reclaim the Earth if published by The Women'; PICK it Â£6.95

WWE 8WH

r onw magtrine to cowr the *nd in backaround in detail. mz-nil R w l o n has ~ bÃ§ÃpublIshBd Slnce the Inquiry

-& ' !frY,

O P m in January 1983, and wilt continue until it finifin, probÃˆbl in the summer of 1984.

A Pain in verybody's talking about acid rain nowadays. It affects Europe and North America and now many Third World countries are starting to notice pollution damage as well. West Germany's decision to cut sulphur emissions from major polluters and reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from motor vehicles, has taken some countries by surprise, especially Britain which argues that not enough is known about acid rain to justify expensive controls. Are the West Germans simply overreacting to the threats of forest destruction, or should other governments be following their example?

Long-term damage, combinations of pollutants, deaths of millions of trees; the list reads like an early doomwatch publication of the seventies. Unfortunately, pollution control has always proceeded in a number of distinct steps, and the chances of cutting out all pollutants at once can be discounted. We have to pick our best targets and work on these first. Sulphur and nitrogen oxides seem the obvious choice, and sulphur pollution being the greater of the two, has been the focus for most of the work to date. Every year, human activities cause the release of 75-100 million tonnes of sulphur into the atmosphere. In Europe, there is ten times as much atmospheric sulphur as would be expected naturally, with far higher concentrations in areas of heavy industry or large power plants. Sulphur Is implicated in the death of freshwater life and forests, in corrosion t o itone and metalwork, and in pollution ifgroundwater supplies. Scientists ;an trace back damage to the begin-

nings of sulphur dioxide release, and can go a long way to pinpointing likely trends in the future. Most people agree that acid rain controls should start with cutting sulphur pollution considerably in the industrialised regions of Europe and North America. One advantage in controlling pollution is that the bulk of a country's sulphur emissions are likely t o come from relatively few point sources. In Ontario, one of the areas suffering most acute damage, just six large smelters provide the bulk of the sulphur pollution, and in Britain the power industry, and a few industrial processes like brick-making, provide the largest proportion of our own emissions. If we can cut down these sources, it is argued, we will at least have made a powerful start in tackling acid rain as a whole. Cutting sulphur in existing power stations can be achieved by various means. The simplest, which is Sweden's

method, is to bum lo&sulphur coal. However, this is not possible for everybody, because supplies are limited and not evenly spread geographically. The problems in Central Europe may well be increased by the fact that most reserves are of poor quality lignite which has a very high sulphur content. Retrofitting itself involves cutting out sulphur from existing coal supplies, either before burning, during combustion or by filtering in flue gases. Of these the first is often practised to some extent, by washing coal, but not sufficiently to remove enough sulphur. The last (removal of sulphur from flue gases), is the method most popular with researchers, and likely to be adopted where controls are passed on operating power stations and factories with high sulphur emissions. The problem, as always, is the cost of pollution control. While costs have often been exaggerated (not least of

all by the Central Electricity Generating Board) they do run very high;

some estimates put them at 10.15% of current generating costs for a comprehensive reduqtion in sulphur dioxide emissions. It is important to realise that we must already be paying this -in the costs of damage to forests, freshwater and materials. Indeed a number of studies suggest that positive economic benefits would result from cutting sulphur. A comprehensive survey by the Environmental Protection Agency in the VSA put annual damage costs . at a staggering $6 billion a year, with $2 billion from damage to materials like stonework and metals alone. Canadian researchers believe that up to 60%of car corrosion may be due to add rain, and environmentalists in Masachuaetts put the costs of restoring just the bronze monuments in the state at $7-8 million. When the costs of irrevenible historic monuments, the fishing rivers, destruction of local timber industries and reduction of wildlife are also taken into account, we may already be at a &ge when pollution controls are a paaitive saving. nfortunately, the problems are never 10 simple. The vested intereets which cause damage are not usually the same as the onwho have to pay to have it stopped. Until recently, the official line in many cotintries has been slightly confused. People claim there are no dancers from mid rain. or use the th& of pollution to justify nuclear

power programmes. Anti-nuclear and safe-energy groups have been similarly reluctant to push the issue into the open and help the movement in favour of nuclear power. In fact it does nothing of the sort. Our problem is not with new power stations at all, because the technology for removing sulphur is now well known. Fluidw bed combustion techniques are being introduced into many countries, including Japan and the USA, which combine sulphur with limestone to make gypsum,and operate at low combustion temperatures to reduce nitrogen oxides. Whilst more expensive than conventional power stations, their price is dropping is techniques are being improved, and they are likely to be used innew coal power stations In most countries before too long. TTie catch 4 that most power stations today do not hue FBC built It, and it is these that we will be relying on for the next few decades, nuclear power programme or not. So it is with the retrofitting of existing power stations that the debate really heats up; it b here that many goveromenti and power utilities, including our own Central Electricity Generating Board o p p w any legislation very stro y. So actively have the %B resisted any hint-of pollution mm@ol they have secured the enmity of many scientists in the Scandlnaviin countries. Resewhers accuse the British of carrying out purely negative research, by looking for holes in the arguments of anyone who claims acid rain damage. "Every time Ipublish something I know the CE0B are going

to put six people onto disproving it" one Norwegian scientist joked morosely. Other Scandinavians point to a sudden change In attitude by the CEGB a few yea6 ago; after co-operatin1 quite amicably the CEGB suddenly reversed their opinions overnight and pooh-poohed any suggestion of damage. The recent Royal Society symposium, and the announcement that the CEGB and the rational Coal Board will jointly fund (Â£million) add rain research over the next five years, has done nothing but fan the flames of resentment in Europe. The symposium contained little that was new, and too many detailed studies which left no overall picture. CEGB workers in fact picked holee in every argument that came up, ignoring most controls except liming. (Limingis expensive and only possible for a few catchments, h d b f course it shifts responsibility neatly from the polluters to the polluted.)

e research programme, administored by the Royal Society and the Norwegian and Swedish scientific academies, is seen with a great deal of resentment in , Scandinavia."It'a just dirty money", one scientist said last week;the g&erd feeling is that the money is a cheap way of buying five year's respite, while research already carried out by the Norwegians and Swedes is repeated, or refined unnecessarily. People lie wonderingwhether tee Royal Society has any real idea about what it has let itself in for by getting mixed up with Such 8 hot politid potato. There Is no way that we can ever

ACID RAIN =Of

RETROFITTING -adapting exuting

boilen by fitting new technology, flue go* deÃ‡ulphuri*atio being the most common method. Thin involves making lime or Umcrtone react with the flue gu,removing up to 90%of the dphur. ThiÃ is d d l y done by wet scrubbing, which create*either a wet dudge difficult t o dupow of -or g y p ~ u m , which can be used for construction

BUIpOBU.

WASHING COAL -sulphur in cod isput'fixedtomineralgrain*inthe form of iron sulphide (pyrite)and in put present in organic form. At the moment, coal is washed to remove sand,

clay, and other incombuitibleg thIs procea remove* aome of the S,but not a lot. To remove the pyrite, the cod mu& be cnubed and ground fine before

the d u g . Up to half the sulphur content of cod can be removed in this way.

FLUIDISED BED COMBUSTION -

thin Â¥yrte uw a kind of boiler with a perforated bottom. The cod is mixed with cod ash, limestone, sand,or other ~ubtance*that can aluorb eulpbur. Air la blown into the b o t h of the boiler, causing everything in it to float freely while the cod Is burning. The bed of fuel behave* like a fluid hence the term -fluidid bed'. The sulphur in the cod fix@ to the Imictone: 80 to 90% oftheScanberemovedinthisway. The wstem baa the advantage that it* lower combustion temperature lead* t o

fewer NOx emiwioiu. LIMING -the dropping of lime on lake*, from boat* or hdicoptec. Hu

the advantage of countering inctewed acidity, and enabling fidi life tb rorvive. Hu the disadvantage of npt countering the poisonom effect of heavy metab releawd into the laku born the >oil by the acidification procam. Liming is only

powible for a tow catchment* became of the expanse and difficulty of the operation. Sweden,tor example, Â¥pea $10 million a year on liming, and by 1982 had limed 1,600 UkÃ‘ The effects ~ f ~ m i n g l a a t t i v e y e aSwedenbua n total of 85,000 medium or large lake*. Limiugisalsomt~dentin~

withaQuickturnoverof water. & a ihort-tennremedy, liming can m e the fidilifein(omeUkÃ‘-butitbnot

long-term solution. The vut are^ of foretUand make liming of f o r d s impracticable.

finally prove the extent of acidification in time to prevent a major tragedy, if we ire to wait until all available work has been carried out. In North America, campaigners are comparing the reluctance to deal with acid rain to that with the Great Lakes Pollution incident where the polluters spent vast sums of money to avoid clewing up their act. Eventually, weKave to say the evidence Is good enough to act upon. And that we cannot hang about indefinitely until the damage has been done. The German initiatives are likely to help along the slow advance of widification control. In the words of the Canadian Minister of the Environment, "I agree that $I the facts are not vet in on acid rain: nor will they ever be. In science it is always possible to @her more information, to go on refining out judgements. To irocrattinate on the basis of so-called ack of knowledge would be totally ndefensible. Here we have a clear case where the need for action is urgent and dentific knowledge points to ippropriate actions."

EARTH RESOURCES RESEARCH are carrying out a research project to provide a general overview of the problem for anyone wanting to know what the effectoare likely t o be, with particular emphasii on material damage, economics of control and the UK'S legiilative obligations. Contact Nigel Dudley: 258 Pentonville Road, London N1: 01-278 3833.

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH UK are sponsoring part of the ERR research, and will be keeping a watching brief on acid tab), and starting their own action when tSf remarch is completed. Contact Claim Hotman, FOE, 377 City Road London N1: 01-837 Q7S1.

EARTH

FRIENDS OF THE &XTLAND) are runnine a Scottish &paign, and producinga regular . inter-group newsletter of events. They win be co-ordinating a meeting for anyone interested in Scotland in November or December, contact Audrey

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BETTER BADGES

14 WITAN STBEET.E2 6JX.

Boyle: 53 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 lEJ, 031-225 6906. G R E ~ C are E going to organise a series of actions, probably in cooperation with other European groups, next spring. ConUct Greenpeace, 36 Graham Street, London N1: 01251 3020. SOCIALIST ENVIRONME~~' RESOURCES ASSOCIATION (SERA) have already had two meetings,one in. the House of Commons and one coordlnatii meeting in London. Plan to run an all-Britain survey of acidification through local labour groups, to d a w attention to the problem, and win be lobbying labour MP's to put through an Early Day Motion on acid rain. Contact Anne Weigell, 9 Poland Street, London Wl: 01-439 3749. YOUNG LIBERALS are starting an acid rain campaign among members, and hoping to persuade the liberal party to take up the issue. Contact Stephen Grey, 25 Prae dose,St. Albans, Herb.

BEAST NEWS POISON WORMS The mole at British Leyland was almost overshadowed by the undercover agent from the League Against Cruel Sports who, for several seasons, infiltrated a number of prominent hunts with a notebook and a camera. Mike Huskisson, a Hunt Sab, who was jailed over the John Peel's grave incident, is currently writing about his experience for a book which will be published this autumn While we're talking about moles the Ministry of ~ ~ r i c u l t u rfresh e , from their 'successful' badger gassing programme are now planning to kill of moles who, they claim, are responsible for Â£million damage to agriculture each year. To this end they have put their researchers to work devising the best way to glue poison to earthworms, the mole's favourite food. There are two problems about this. Moles are fastidious eaters: they clean worms off before they eat them by drawing them through their front paws and so wipe away any poison. Superglue was tried but the moles, sensibly, just ate the uncontaminated half of the ~

Pandering -

The pandas on the planet are having a hardtime at present and the news stories about their plight, when taken together, reflect all aspects of the conservationist dilemma when it comes to saving endangered species. There's a lot at stake here. Emblem animal of the World Wildlife Fund with deep roots in the Chinese psyche, pandas are the ultimate in human-looking cuddly animals, tailonnade for a world starved of affection. Tabloid newspapers follow their breeding exploits almost as closely as those of the Royal Family, and they remain the ultimate diplomatic gift. The last 1200 wild pandas live in 12 reserves in China, the largest being Wolong in the Qionglai Mountains in Sinchuan Province. Here their staple food - arrow bamboo - is entering its flowering and withering cycle, an event which occurs every 50-60 years and the pandas will be threatened by famine as a result. Some years ago at the Wangland reserve a similar cycle occurred, resulting in the death of 150 pandas. Hoping to avert another crisis, Dr Yhang Zhong, the Forests Minister, has allocated

300,000 yuan (approx. Â£100,000to send in extra food supplies. Poaching is a problem. A peasant who strangled, skinned and ate a panda was jailed for two years. He disconnected the animal's radio ttansmitter - used to track their movements - to try and avoid detection. The Fauna and Flora Preservation Society claim to have uncovered an illicit trade in panda skins, which are being bought by a company in Taiwan for Â£33,00 and then sold to Tokyo. In the zoo world pandas are faring no better. At Washington DC's National Zoo, the first ever zoo-bred giant panda lived for just three hours, yet another tragic incident in the captive breeding saga. For those who missed last week's episode, Hsing Hsing finally copulated with Ling-Ling, who was then artificially inseminated, for good measure, with sperm flown in from London's Chia Chia Ling Ling will have to go through this whole charade again when she comes on heat in the spring. For now, she is left alone, cradling an apple.

Eun by exuding a fluid which partly iissolved the flue. As leading researcher Robin Redfern ~ u it: t 'The basic problem is to find an idhesive that will stick a powder onto ;he outside of a worm sufficiently iecurely to withstand the locomotory wrigglings of the worm and the wormÂ¥leaninbehaviour of the mole.'

ZOOS CONNING WHO?

You may or may not have noticed but there is battle going on over zoos and their future which shows no sign of flagging. There are several sides. First, there is the lobby which is trying to boost dwindling attendance figures at London Zoo by using promotional and marketing techniques which have paid off for stately homes. Second, there is the lobby that's trying to persuade you that zoos are a good thing. The first takes the form of a series of news reports fed out through a network of willing journalists. There are strategically placed picture stories of new arrivals (preferably photographed with a little girl), births, and other happy incidents. It's backed up by a wide

variety of TV programmes, mainly aimed at the children, emphasising the strong links the zoo world maintains with the TV naturalist industry, which acts as an unofficial public relations company. The zoo people though cannot control all the news and a series of tragic and embarrassing incidents are paraded for public view. The two brown bears shot at Zootopia in Bognor Regis when they escaped somehow; the picture of the four year old girl who'd been kicked in the head by a giraffe, which had six days previously, given birth at Longleat Safari Park; the John Aspinall trial which resulted in acquittal, but left a lot of questions in the air. Further problems arose over the publication of a long-awaited English Tourist Board report on how to save Britain's zoos. The DOE refused to allow the board access to r e ~ o r t on s London Zoo prepared by a firm of City accountants, because the Zoological Society - which wanted no interference in its affairs - felt that it should deal directly with the government when it comes to zoo planning. Accordinc to a Times leader. Lord I Montagu's tourist board report k i d : The Washington Post recently revealed that the Department of Defense planned 'zoos are not being marketed with half as much enterprise as stately homes, to shoot scores of dogs and other themeparks, sports centres, and other animals with high-powered weapons, competitors which have sprung up to so scientists could study their wounds, draw away demand.' Britain today has at the newly built $70,000 (Â£46,000 more zoos than the rest of Western Washington Wound Laboratory. ~urthermore,it was found that this slaughter of dogs, pigs, goats and other animals, had been going on for years. The Pentagon switchboard was jammed for days in protest and so great Favourite news stories: The f i s t was the public outcry that Caspar pictures of a 'guck' (goose/duck) Weinburger had to step in, extending previously unrecorded by science, the the ban already imposed on one such tale of the Russian elephant Batir that medical laboratory, to all other military talks, and the classic Fleet Street item research labs. (There's an object lesson about Mungo, the albino ferret, whose for UK campaigners here.) job is to ran 600 foot of TV cable Nor was this the only bad news for through a tunnel under the Mall when Caspar. He discovered that, due to a there're royal occasions. Incidentally, his owner is Mr John Hogsflesh. bureaucratic mistake, General Bill E. Goat had been killed A special goat, Footnote: Next year's International Whaling Conference is in Buenos Aires he had been adopted by US Marines in theLebanonand, scrubbedand - book now. decorated, air freighted back to the The most important book on the States for adoption by an ll-yearsubject since Peter Singer's Animal old girl. Officials at Kennedy Airport Liberation is the way I'd describe quarantine center however, decided he Animals and Why They Matter by Mary was an illegal immigrant and a disease Midgley (Pelican, Â£1.95)This slim and carrier - and had him destroyed inexpensive book is vital reading for

DOGS IN FIRING LINE

Europe put together. RSPCA inspectors claim that of the 200 zoos there are 120 'well below standard' and only a dozen are considered top quality. When the Zoo Licencing Act comes into force at the end of thisyear, qualified inspectors will be looking closely at our zoos. It is expected that many will close down The whole kerfuffle got me heated enough to dash off a letter to the Times on the real reasons for falling attendances - namely a rapidly growing change in sensibilities. I wrote: 'The Victorian delight in Zoological Gardens, full of exotic creatures from far-flung comers of the Empire has been replaced by a feeling of disgust a t the sight of twitchy beasts imprisoned in unsuitable cages. We no longer pay to stare a t human freak shows and we are less and less inclined to accept the spurious claims of the zoo establishment in the face of such obvious misery. 'A strong and powerful new ethic is urging us to adopt a different attitude , towards the other animal species on this planet. Zoos will be increasingly unacceptable, and no amount of smart marketing will alter their relentless decline, ' My letter didn't get printed but, a few days later, a personal communication from the paper arrived assuring me the Editor had read my remarks with interest. The Times they are a'changing and all that.

The tail end...

the following reasons: (1) At every challenge, the arguments either stand or fall, progress or die; (2) Movements are built on arguments and that is how they progress. There were many strong arguments that launched the animal liberation movement in the West, but in many cases, they slipped towards cliche. This book is like a mental spring clean Mary Midgeley has a sharp mind which handles all the arguments and sees the strengths or weaknesses of each. She rigorously dismisses some, finds unexpected strengths in others. In the process she ends up giving us some completely new thoughts and ideas, pointing out fresh directions and possibilities in the progress of protest. UNDERCURREP

Uncivil ir Plan UK. uuncan Campbell. Burnett Books. Â£6.95

Working for a Future: an ecologies approach to employment. Ecoloav Partv Publication. Â£1

IF THE British Government genuinely ' tended t o minimise the chances of ritain being subjected to a nuclear ' ick, and t o maximise the number of )pie who would survive such an ;ack if measures t o prevent it failed, iat kind of defence policy would it adopt? The answer t o that question, as :reasing numbers of people are ginning t o realise, is that Britain as a mere pawn in the struggle between the super-powers - should cease t o ike herself a prime target for Russian Lack by closing all US Bases here, cancelling Cruise and Trident, and phasing out all nuclear weapons on our soil. She should also adopt a nonnuclear defence strategy, involving not I the deployment of sophisticated ventional defensive weaponry but a iprehensive system of locally-based defence, aimed at making it prohibitively costly for a potential aggressor t o occupy the country. But the kind of defence policy we actually have, as Duncan Campbell's painstakingly-researched War Plan UK makes abundantly clear, is almost the exact opposite of the policy we need. Not only does the Government propose

'WE WILL work, but we shall not be employed' is an old anarchist slogan and it is not a bad place t o start a rethink on work and what it means both t o individuals and t o society, whether from an ecological, a liberal o r a socialist viewpoint. T o be 'employed' means t o be used, so a society in 'full employment' means that everyone is being completely used. That said, any political philosophy needs some kind of strategy of how t o get t o the promised land of the cooperative, non-hierarchical, ecologically sustainable society of the future. In this respect this pamphlet is a useful effort, with many interesting and serious ideas for the â€˜TransitionEconomy'. There is also a reasonably accurate sketch outline of the economic thinking of the mainstream political parties, all of them regarding North Sea Oil not as a valuable scarce resource t o be conserved. but as a heaven sent means for financing their pet follies. I t has, though, the usual feeling of

to increase our already extreme vulnerability t o nuclear attack by siting mobile Cruise missiles here, but it has a civil defence system that is grotesquely inadequate t o the task of protecting the civilian population - a policy that make! sense only as a system for protecting the machinery of government and as a means for suppressing internal political dissent. A comprehensive and effective civil defence system along the lines of Switzerland or Sweden, involving communal shelters, food, energy and material stores and mass-evacuation plans would, Campbell estimates, cost perhaps Â£70 million a year over 1 0 years - rather less than the cost of Trident and insignificant in comparison with our current expenditure on defence' of more than Â£10,00 million a year. In contrast, the 'Home Defence' offered by the Government is of the official-bunker-only and hide-under-thetable' variety, and receives a paltry Â£3 million a year. But a sharp increase in civil defence expenditure would not on its own significantly increase our national security, as Campbell is careful t o point

Ecology Party publications, that they are somehow above the political struggli - a disembodied entity that transcends the left-right spectrum. I wish as well that they would stop using the phrase 'post-industrial society' when what they mean is a different kind of industrial society. One last point, this pamphlet does have all the pomposity and worthiness that you might expect from an official publication of a political party. I t strikes me that the Ecology Party would have done better not t o have set themselves up as a political party at all, with their 'National Committee', 'joint Chairpersons' and the rest of the paraphernalia They might well have done better as a political ecology movement, supporting alternative lists of ecologically sound candidates and being prepared t o enter into a dialogue with those who were prepared t o listen. John Bradbrook

out, because 'a determined attacker can if necessary subject even massive civil defence expenditure to a law of diminishing returns by increasing the scale of attack. The Americans have responded in this way to Soviet civil defence efforts; the USSR could d o it to Britain '. War Plan UK ought t o be compulsory reading for the many thousands of volunteers who support Britain's civil defence organisation, most of whom sincerely believe that their earnest preparations will significantly improve nur chances of survival after a nuclear rttack. Campbell's book should convince them that, without radical changes n Britain's defence aimed at drastically iecreasing our vulnerability to attack md greatly increasing our spending on lefensive deterrence, their efforts will merely sustain a hypocritical Government public relations exercise aimed at :onvincing us that World War 111 will ust be a slightly more severe re-run of fforld War I1 - and after all, we iurvived that, didn't we? Godfrey Boyli

buiineus@emetwhichhare'become-

'SugfMted principle* and lcd* for

small bwlneiKigor Sdlla UcCl-n's lbt of ipontaneom Initiatives t d u n by group* of women from Kenya to Greenham to tackle problem* directly.

I also enjoyed more oblique articles, l i b that bv Sunnv Saliblan. and the occfonilfpteee of deliberate tub thumping, Ã‘pectall John Seymour's "Woeand Doom to the Agricultural DISMISS theinevitable temptation Empire*'. when faced with such a title to Invoke A mall run of the book hi been the Trades Description Act. Instead be Â¥elf-publlfhedb$he Fourth World. .,:< your own editor and select born over a Anodatlon and is obtainable directly. .. hufadred articles by, among other*, Leopold Kohr, I n n Illich. Geoigtna . 'from them at 24 Abercorn Place,,,: ;; ;'. London NW8 (add 81 for p0(t*ee and Ashworth, E P Thompson, John Seymour, Marguet Chisman, Kit Pedler, packing). Sufficient demand could lead to a deterred commercial publication, Hazel Hendenson, Kamla Bhasln, those and, who know, cheaper;cof>iei which address your own ititerest* or , ' .ll#?8fimlor catch your imagination. Penonally I couldn't read the section on the European Common Market without dozing even if the future of humanity was at (take, but there remains much to stimulate, Inform, challtn ,and liUtue. The genesis of this a conference held in London (or tboM concorned with the politics of scÃ§lt the centnl propdtlon addicÃ‘e was John Agributimn In Africa. Papworth's statement '[World] wan Barbara Dinham 81Colin Hinas. hap n despite our intention< not Earth Resource* Research. â‚¬4.9 bea% of them; they are an inevitable IN 1976 S u m George,author of How product of the general glantllt pattern .of our collective U r n and the (xploilv* the Other Half Dies, urged h a r ~ d e n to 'study the rich and the power!*~'. overspill of power It creates.' Thto threw up much that WM cranky Thii book ia wetly the kind of work she had In mind. or irrelevant; the best of the rest has Dinham and Hinn hare produced an been edited to form this volume. My favourite pieceÃˆwCTeth molt practical excellently nieuched; highly readable analysin of how tnmÃ§nÃ§tÃˆoagrifrom people withftetual and tuccessful buslnels corpontbni exacerbate the experience of what t h e wen talking underdevelopment of Able* while COBabout, such as Nicholas Saunden' trolling the Intaroittooil food market and raking nut profit*. In addition they +ow how banks, 'aid' agencies, and Western and even Atrican Gwemmenk facilitate the proceu. A b l a h u alwayf bun viewed In the 'North' as a source of cheap cornmoditlei and labour as well as a market for the producta of northern industry. Africa's condition ha* been trailsformed. in a period of a few hundred yean, from one of relative food c l f sufficiency and d t y hÃ‘* on ecologiolly balanced, (null-idle timing Into a chronic condition of dependency on the north; dependent not only for market* for i k undervalued cash crop* but also for importation of foodÃ§tu{foand the technology, capital and management needed for the i n c d n g number of environmentally d h t r o u , fodally dhniptiw @-

How to Save the World. Nicholas Albery & Yvo Peters. Fourth World PyDlicatiore. Â£5.90

n e c e ~ i y to ' feed thÃ (turinc million*.

TheprocÃ§~bopuwithtbedentt

atin( dive trade, followed by a flooding of the African market with cheap, imported goodt,therby &lmW to the tnduitrlal revolution In and tee United State. Thsa colonial nttiem, meidunk and conwtton companieswith'Mle right* to 'land, labour and wen ftuiti Of tlu and/owt'Inwrttntcttof Afldc*. Compuil**nich~UttilnBr,Brooke~ Bond and Fbettonewen Mtlbllitwdat thin time, with mmdm bf hmd born the pcuntry, m y Of whom were forced Into working OR the

came

bod-

button* corpontloni hineftcbllihed centrally or&aad Â¥wrtlclatMnttorf acmu the whole nilÃof food DM-., . . , . ,. duct&,,j from &+&, of

bouring Tanzania, &owing that w h w u agribuilneu In Kenya huIlloWed,

enrichment of the bourgÃ§olllat the o t the nml noor. attemDtt at Â¥rifÂ¥cufflcien Tanzania -been styraled by the bioÃ§Ã§ ~ f c py d the coiutraint* tapoied by the I n t e r n a t i d ccpftalbt iyitÃ§m

Â¥XDMO

Hereinlie*amajordilemmapoÃ‘d by the book. how to e ~ * p efrom the vidoul cycle of dependency. It m#ask no fadte Mdutlon* and neogniseithat. itany beneceuuyIntheihortwto continue with nudiineiy-iateniiTC tinning method* In order to W t h e

But the authon w&vt tIut '&form of political struggW h l . b e ' ~ & J .. before nil change* scv W v e d .

Adrimauk

VA-

PIiic~s

This useful stuff is backed up by a range of material on several aspects of the anus race. This year, nuclear

weapons predominate: nuclear weapons In Europe, intercontinental nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons tests, proliferation and the pressures on the World Armaments and fragile non-proliferation regime. There is Disarmaments:Si~riYearbook1983 also an abundance on the trade in Published in UK by weapons andon war in space, and on weapons in Latin America, with a Taylor & Francis. Â£26 chapter on the Falklands war. LIKE the aims race, SIPRI Yearbooks SIPRI's Yearbook has been show few signs of moderation. The first invaluable since the day it was first one, in 1968169,ran to just 440 pages. published: this year's is improved by a By 1979,pages were up to 698,and a piece on anti-nuclear weapons movebrief respite has now been replaced by a ments, breaking the usual emphasis on further round of escalation, with 681 weapons plans, which can give the pages in the present Issue. At the Londol impression that uninterrupted and press conference Introducing the 1983 lunatic military planners always get book, SIPRI director Frank Blackaby their own way. There is also much was und@uisedly gloomy about the materiaToh *s negotiations and offical arms race in all its forms. It asked, he disarmament attempts, although here would probably hare said that only an the ratio of words expended to apocalypse is likely to bring down the weapons programmes halted is dze f SIPRI publications. discouraging. d P R h 1983 Yearbook is valuable Note: SIPRI was set up bythe as well as bulky. At Â£26not many Swedish government to celebrate 150 Undercurrents readers will be inclined years of Swedish non-involvement in to put down their taxed income for it, war. Perhaps the British government but it is essential to pester libraries to will do the same - would 150 days be stock it, and to view it as the fust (and too ambitious a threshold to adopt? often only) stop for all kinds of arms Incidentally, anyone not needing the research As always, the Yearbook's huge bulk of data in the main Yearbook, core is its painstaking tabulation of add with only Â£4.4 to spare, can get world anus spending, covering all the essentials in The Arms Race and nations. This year this work is backed up Arms Control 1983, a stripped-down by articles upon weapons pricing, on edition of the main book, also published ditteient data sources, on military by Taylor and Francis. Even this budgets and burdens inLatin America volume has over 250 close-packed pages, and Israel,onthe aims trade, and on the including the key material on nuclear We of resources in military R&D in the weapons, the arms trade, and military USA and the USSR. spending. Useful argument-winning material. Martin Ince

War and Order (ed.) Celina Bledowska. Junction Books. Â£5.95

an excellently comprehensive directory of the Peace movement hew and abroad.

THIS is the book of the year for the constituency of Undercurrents readers devoted to worrying about police computers, official mail opening and phone tapping, and mysterious radio aerials in city and country. War and Order contains the papers lead at a t w o day conference, called 'Researching State Structures', held late in 1981. It covers all aspects of the technology of military structure and communications, contingency planning for war, police communicationsand control,and secret communications in the UK. The

papers breakconsiderable new ground and will have a place on the shelves of anyone interested in big brother and all his works. The book is improved, naturally, by the efforts of ex-Undercurrents figures. Duncan Campbell has two papers, one on strategic communications and one on mail opening and phone tapping. Peter Sommer has the longest paper in the book, on doIby6urself signals intelligence. Other outstanding pieces in the book include oneon the Official and Provisional IRA'S signals intelligence, which seems to have become surprisingly sophisticated with a minimum of expenditure. The most striking thing about the papers, on topics from nuclear war planning to present day police practice, is the extent to which they are united by common technologies and common policies. The spread of cheap computer power, for example, allows the collection of unprecedented amounts of data on people, and its ready access, in many ways from the introduction of easily-tapped computer telephone exchanges to the rapid flow of data from free text memories to police officers. In the same way, the spread of the micro offers af'least some scope for fighting back. So: read War and Order, give a copy to your local Tory (who will have an apoplexy at the amount of high grade information it contains about allegedly secret topics), and keep on spotting the state structures Martin Ince

The Entropy Exhibition: Michael Moorcock and the British New Wave in Science Fiction. Colin Greenland. Routledge & Kegan Paul. E l 1.95. The Retreat from Liberty. Michael Moorcock. Zomba Books. Â£2.25 IN 1964 the long-established science fiction magazine New Worlds came under the editorship of one Michael Moorcock. Hitherto SF had been a complacent genre, feeding off its pulp magazine past and endlessly sending Man to the furthest space frontier, there to engage in interstellar Cowboys and Indians. Moorcock fostered a 'New Wave' of 'Inner-space fiction', publishing young writers such as Pamela Zoline, Langdon Jones and M.John Harrison; many previously unpublished and many more unpublishable in the more conservative SF mags. Their work often dealt with subjects previously SF taboo: sex, radical politics and psychology predominated - charting the exploration not of the Universe but of the Mind As J.G.Ballard said, 'The only truly alien planet is Earth'. Colin Greenland - whose SF reviews will be familiar to Undercurrents readers - offers in The Entropy Exhibition a critical account of how New Worlds scarified and invigorated SF. The story is essentially sixtyish: Arts Council grants, charges of obscenity, questions in Parliament, and the inevitable W H Smith ban The centrepiece of Greenland's book is a detailed examination of Moorcock's own work and that of two of the most regarded writers to emerge from NW both now firmly ensconced in the literary mainstream - J.G.Ballard and Brian W.Aldiss. Greenland's judgements are fair and are delivered with the verve and knowledge of the enthusiast. More importantly, he brings S F out of the ghetto, treating it (as too many SF writers did not treat it) as serious literature, worthy of discussion. That S F should be gradually losing the 'poor relative' tag the pulps stuck it with is in great measure due to the pioneering efforts of Moorcock and New Worlds, and Greenland illustrates well how it took the special mood of the '60s to

bring forth such a beast as NW. His account of the emergence of sex in S F (until NW conspicuous by its absence) is a joy and my only grouch - apart from the price -is that he occasionally adopts an over-scholarly approach or lapses into pompous tones. Overall, though, it is a fine work depicting how, in the swinging sixties, between miniskirts and psychedelia, Science Fiction, at least, finally grew up. Moorcock's own political views - as he sets them out in The Retreat From Liberty - are very much derived from the libertarian optimism of the '60s and he sees the time since then as constituting a gradual (or, recently, distinctly hasty) erosion of the liberties gained in those halcyon days. Moorcock sketches the familiar story of our descent into 'Thascism' from the standpoint of a passionate anarchist. The most illuminating chapters in a rather patchy book are those which consider

Women in Development: A Resource Guide for Organisation and Action. Edited and published by ISIS Women's International Informatior and Communications Service. USS12. THIS COMPREHENSIVE guide leaves no stone unturned in its international coverage of people, places and publications concerned with the integration of women into Development planning in the Third World. It should be an essential reference book for anyone involved in Development, whether concerned specifically with the feminist perspective or not. It would also be a good general introduction to the issues for the non-specialist, as each section has an 'overview' on the topic in question (multinationals/rural development/health/education), before giving extensive lists of resources worldwide. It is also a beautifully produced book, A4 size with loads of pictures and graphics -ideal for dipping into, and a pleasure to read. Available from Left and Feminist bookshops, or direct from ISIS at PO Box 50 (Cornavin), 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland.

Drain Pig and the Glow Boys in 'Critical Mess'. Dan Pearce. Junction Books. Â£1.95 THIS excellent cartoon stria tells the story of a pig who gets caught up in a nuclear power station where things are going wrong. The strip covers the evils not only of nukes but also of police, law courts, prison warders, newspaper editors, bigoted middle class parents and Ministry men; the 'baddie' caricatures are brilliant, although the one 'goodie' - a woolly-hatted domeresiding ex-nuclear scientist turned peace camper - is a bit weak. the advance of Feminism - for Moorcoci Let's hope we get some more from this new cartoonist soon. as for many of us the only beacon of hope to set against our many retreats and the subsequent channelling of protest into 'safe' areas. This book is a polemic in the true pamphleteering tradition; angry rather than studied, and well worth a few hours of anyone's time. Some may come away disagreeing with much that he says but even they will surely agree that Moorcock, the '60s man, is still a stimulating and relevant writer in the '80s. Pete Whittaker

CLASSIFIED COMMUNITY MAN, 26, seeks share in cooperative. Smallholding and business. Not into religion1 politicsltherapy. Into meaningful non-competitive existence. John Mason, 164 Ingram Road, Berwickhills, Middlesborough. NEW community needs lively committed members. Interests organic farming, F.E., restaurant, music, conference facility. Some capital necessary. Age no barrier. Children particularly welcome. Reply 01 -778 3403 or 0705 754 247. GLANEIRW is an income-sharing rural community started in 1975, comprising 8 adults and 3 kids. Our activities include running a self-sufficient organic farm, pottery and craftshop, plumbing and heating business, cooking and childcareand maintaining a large house. We are very busy and would like to expand. If you're interested, write for details to: Glaneirw Housing Co-op, Blaenporth, Cardigan, Gyfed. THE Boat Co-op. Living working collective keeping freight off the mads. Latest project, buying and restoring Canalside house for living space. More people needed. 15 Greenheys Road, Liverpool 8.

FOR SALE ANIMALandvegan badges.11 p wch or less. Various colours and designs. Two sizes, 1in and 1%in. SAE for sample to Mrs B. Lovell, 50 Anderson Road, Wyke Estate, Hackney, London E9. HOUSE for sale with organic garden. Bristol. Organic since 1944. Garden 99feet. Small greenhouse, shed, 3 bedrooms. Many improvements completed. Grant for kitchen renovation. Â£30.000 Ring 01-994 8255. VICTORIAN castellated cottage in rural position with large studio fully insulated throughout. Large tiled kitchen,sitting room, study, bathroom, utility room, 2 bedrooms. Garagelcoach house and stables plus garden. 4 miles from Diss and main line station t o Liverpool Street 110 mint. Â£33,600 Phone 037974 626.

Suit couple or small group. 32 year lease at Â£3.50pa. Turnover Â£65,00 pa. Good relationship with city co-op, west Cork organic farmers. Price Â£19,00 sterling. Mary and Richard,26 Paul Street, Cork. 'After 5 years - we want to travel!' UNDERCURRENTS nos 7-37 for sale. Offers tel. 0302 539609. FREEHOLD cottage partially modernised with barn and workshop on over 2 acres by salmon/trout stream in lovely secluded wodded valley 7 miles from St Clears &fed. Main electricity, own well, herb garden, easy access and ample parking. Great potential, Â£26,000.0094 463.

similar with small amount of land Any area. Please write: Brew 49, South Road, Grassendale Park, Liverpool L19 OLS. WANTED, pre-1978 Undercurrents t o buy or borrow. A. Howe, 52 Tiverton Road, Coven: try CV2 3DJ.

WORK ARID area forester with experience of water-harvesting construct ion for desert reclamation work in very remote wadis in Sudan. TWOyear commitment initially. For details contact Green Deserts, Rougham, Suffolk,

EVENTS FRIENDSof the Earth 3rd World delegates to 1983 International meeting need travel funds. Please sponsor me to cycle from Aberdeen to Lisbon 12500 miles) in October. Please send money plus a small token fo support e.g. badge, postcard, sticker t o give t o the delegate. Nancy Woodhead, FOE Travel Fund, 52 Nelson Street, Aberdeen.

COURSES HANDWEAVING in Pembrokeshire (weekly, April to October) on secluded organic smallholding. Spin, dye and weave your own rugs, furnishings, wallhangings, clothing, accessories etc. Learn tomake your own simple equipment. Expert tuition, friendly atmosphere. SAE Martin Weatherhead (UC), Snail Train Handweavers, Penwanallt Farm, Cilgerran, Cardigan, Dyfed. SHORT residential courses October 1983 - June 1984: Blacksmithing; Small Woodland Management; Hedging; Householder's Guide t o Saving Energy in the Home; Solar Energy; Passive Solar Buildngs; Wholefood Vegetarian :ooking; Self-build Workshop; 3iofuels; Windpower; Waterpower; Healing Herbs; Natural Gardening; Birds of Wales. SAE for details from Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynlleth, Powys.

EXPERIENCEDsmall holders would like t o rent a cottage or

inns, and bikes are available as required. Joyrides, The Old Station, Machynlleth, Powys 0654 3109.

PLEASE MENTION UNDERCURRENTS WHEN REPLYING TO ADVERTISEMENTS!

PUBLICATIONS 1984 wholefood calendar from SurreylHants Border Group Friends of the Earth,47 Fellows Road, Farnborough, Hampshire. Farnborough 51 7567. Â£1.1 post paid. Bulk discounts. THE Book of Rhianne: the definitive introduction to matriarchy and the feminine tradition. Â£ from An Droichead Beo (U), Burtonport, Donegal, Eire.

WANTED SMALL wholefood shopand bekary in old Cork city centre.

SMALL ADS COST 10 PENCE PER WORD ANDMUST BE PRE-PAID. BOX NUMBERS ARE Â£1.2 EXTRA.

ARTEMIS: the new magazine for women who love women, El. BM Perfect (7). London WC1N 3XX.

ETCETERA

MORE collective members needed t o run eco-shop. No wage initially but limitless possibilities! ~nquries~ a r t h'n' Wear, 389 Cowley Road, Oxford. Tel. 776628.

HOLIDAYS SET your own pace through Mid-Wales. A cycle holiday gives you a chance to explore the beauty, peace and quiet of this little-known area. We book accommodation for you, mainly in working farms and village

SOMETHING playable inspired by Herman Hesse's 'Glass Bead Game'. Non-competitive. A mapping of thought sequences. For information write to Dunbar Aitkins, 1460 SW'A'St.,Corvallis, Oregon 97333, USA.

FOLKIROCK. OPERA, unproduced, urgently requires performerslanyone to bring it to life for 1984. Very ~reenloptimistic/nihilisticwith nagico mythical story-line. Highly recommended. Ideal sommunity theatre. Please :ontact Stella Small, Holly bttage, Pugeston, Montrose. re1067483 480.

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D a t a for peacemolw to celebrate and to mark with protd F*oturÃ o n pÃ§a h u u through the Thi<isthe31Ã§tMillionofourPw Diary. Houanazu is a meznbÃ§of the P- N e w l h h m a qroup. ISBN 0 86283 204 4

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courses 1; The British Trust for conservation Volunteers are running over thirty courses this autumn i n different parts of the country. Most are a week long and provide an opportunity t o develop conservation skills in beautiful surroundings. The full programme is available from BTCV, 3 6 St Mary's St, Wallingford, Oxon. Telephone (0491 I 39766. Autumn courses at Lower Shaw Farm start on 7-9 October with Food - Fact & Fiction investigating the connections between food and health..Weekends later i n the year deal with permaculture (14-16 Octl, a walking weekend (28-30 Octl, peace and nonviolence (18-20 Novl, drama (2-4 Decl, and a New Year Celebration 130 Dec-2 Jan). All events Â£2 except New Year - Â£27 concessions available. For details send SAE t o Lower Shaw Farm, Shaw, Swindon, Wilts. Telephone (07931 771 080.

'he Network for Alternative

Reclaim the Earth, a Women F o r Life On Earth Weekend, is being held at County Hall, London on October 15-16. The Women's Press will announce the publicatior of the book Reclaim the Earth: Women speak out for life o n earth with international speakers (entrance Â£1.5 unwaged 75p1, followed by an evening of celebration and live entertainment (Â£1.5 unwaged 75pl. On Sunday, for women only, there will be a choice of workshops dealing with ecological and feminist issues (Â£1.5 unwaged 75pI. Special price for all 3 events Â£3.0 unwaged Â£1.50 Tickets and full details are available from Liz Butterworth, Mandala, Bermuda Lodge, Lambseth St. Eye, Suffolk. Please send SAE.

1.30pm t o 2.30pm and from 5.30pm t o 7.1 5pm t o catch the two military festivals. The evenirKl uigil will be held by torchlight. C)n November 1 3 a procession will form alongside St Martin's in the Fields, Trafalgar Sq. at 1.45pm ts0 go t o the Cenotaph i n Whitehall and lay a wreath of white poppieIS. For Christians the South Aisle of St Martin's has been set aside fro m 1pm on the Sunday for prayer prior t o the wreath-laying. Further information from LPA, c/o 6 Endsleigh St, London WC1.

J'ethnology and Technology assessment is holding a conferencf sn innovation and employment uhich will considerwhether techological innovation can create jl sbs. The conference will take lace at Parsifal College, 527, Finchley Rd, London NW3 on cIctober 15, from 10.30-4.30. 1ickets are Â£1.5 and Â£ (NATTA nnembers & unwagedl on the door, f.4 full programme will be available ntearer the time from NATTA, acuity of Technology. Open Jniversity, Walton Hall, Milton Ceynes, Bucks.

'he 1983 Schumacher Lectures uill be given by Petra Kelly, igmund Kvaloy and Rupert Sheldrake on October 22 on the heme of Dimensions o f Change. %om 11.00-6.00 at Bristol Jniversity Union, Queens Rd, Iristol; tickets at Â£ are available r o m Schumacher Society, Ford iouse, Hartland, Bideford, Devon 'elephone 023 74 293.

lectures A one-day conference entitled Development, Disarmament, Environment: Linked Paths to a Peaceful World on October 8 has been organised by Quaker Peace & Service. The speakers are Frank Barnaby, Nicholas Gillett and Richard Sandbrook. Tickets at Â£ (Â£1.5 unwagedl are available from Development Education Officer, Quaker Peace & Service, Friends Hse, Euston Rd, London NW1.

CND Demonstration on October 22 - an opportunity t o show the government that they don't have a mandate t o introduce Cruise missiles i n December. No Cruise, No Trident, Freeze the Arms Rag:e, Nuclear Weapons Are No Defenia, i r e the themes of the demo, whil:h will coincide with a week of peaceful activity around the wor Id. Assemble on Victoria Embankment f r o m 11.00am between ondon Peace Action are Embankment and Blackfriars t u tx. rganising events over RememTransport is being arranged from ranee Weekend t o oppose the orification of war. On Novembe~ every part of Britain. Contact yCbur 2 there will be vigils opposite the local CND or peace group, or ring Ibert Hall, Kensington Gore f r o r 01-263 0977. Be there, or ains t o the October 22 demo, illing at Wolverhampton, Walsall, udley Port, Birmingham, oventry, Leamington and tratford. For further details, intact WM CND, 54 Allison St, igbeth, Birmingham. Telephone 21 632 6909 or Mark Darby h d l e y 234970).

...

rurning Point, an international ietwork of people with varied :oncerns, are discussing People m d Institutions: A Shift o f /slues on November 26 at :onway Hall, London. Join them or a look at the shifts f r o m instiutional t o personal values, from he masculine t o the feminine, ind from exploitative t o ecoogical values. I f y o u can manage I that in one day, you can )btain tickets at Â£ ( Â £ unwagedl rom Alison Pritchard, Spring cottage, 9 New Rd, Ironbridge, Shropshire. Telephone (095 2451 '224. And finally - for those of idequate means - the 2nd fleeting of the World Congress Uternatives & Environment will ake place onNovember 20-25 i n Fel Aviv, Israel. Further infornation can be obtained from Secretariat, 2nd Meeting of World congress Alternatives & Environnent, PO Box 50006, Tel Aviv i1500, Israel.

A-Z of Feminism Spare Rib 136 (November) out October 20 Spare Rib 137 (December) out November 17 Spare Rib 138 (January) out December 17 Sendall subscription enquiries t o Spare Rib Subscriptions, 27 Clerkenwell Close, London EC1. Cheques/POs t o Spare Rib.

The International Conference on Alternative Energy Systems, to b held at Coventry (Lanchester) Polytechnic in September 1984, I inviting contributions which deal with interesting aspects of electri. cal integration and utilisation of alternative energy. Shortabstract; should be submitted before 1st December 1983. Further details from: Carolyn Hall, Faculty of Engineering, Coventry (Lanchestc Polytechnic, Priory Street, Coventry. The Council for Environmental Conservation has produced an Environmental Press & PR Guide which lists over 70 periodicals covering environmental issues, an1 includes contacts in the national news media who deal with environmental issues. Available at Â£1.3 (inc. p&p) from CoEnCo, Zoological Gdns, Regents Pk, London NW1.

E F I

exhibition of the working designs &photographs of the murals i n progress will be shown in the Entrance Chamber at County Hal October 3-31, and they should al be complete in the early spring. Marx & Feminism is the title of a talk by Selma James, author am founder of the International Wages for Housework Campaign, to commemorate the centenary o Marx's death, and the anniversary of the women's general strike in Iceland in 1975. 24 October at North London Polytechnic, Ladbroke House, Room 08 (ground floor), Highbury Grove, London N5. Admission 50p. Organisedby Wages for Housework Campaign and North London Poly Women's Group.

r ---r info The latest Spectacular Times situationist pocketbook is a doubl issue called The Spectacle: The Skeleton Keys. It gathers togethel ideas from authors whose work is difficult to obtain, and sometimes only available in French, and expresses them clearly and relevantly. Excellent value at 50p (post free) from Spectacular Times, Box 99, Freedom Press, B4B Whitechapel High St, London El. Dne of the atomic gamekeepers turned poacher sets out the case against the Pressurised Water Reactor at Sizewell in Under "ressure, a new pamphlet from the Anti-Nuclear Campaign. The author, Dr. Don Arnott, is a former consultant to the Internationa l Atomic Energy Agency and is low Scientific Adviser to ANC. The pamphltt, which lucidly axplains why the PWR is more dangerous than other reactors, is 50p from the ANC at PO Box 216, Sheffield S1 1BD. rhe GLC has commissioned five Peace Murals' as part of their ponsorship of Peace Year activiies in London: watch out for hem at the following locations ianfords StIColdblow Lane, )eptford; Creek Rd, Greenwich; fining StIRushcroft Rd, Brixton; Ixbridge Rdlcunningham Rd, hepherd's Bush; Dalston La., alston Jctn, Hackney. An

Films at Work is a new socialist ilm group who are showing a .cries of films at Jackson's Lane 2ommunity Centre this autumn. Fhe films deal with various aspects )f working-class life, inside and wtside the workspace. Various peakers have been invited, and here will be discussions. Films nclude: Harlan County USA, Saturday Night and Sunday torning, Salt of the Earth, iorinage, Mysteries of the Irganism. Full details telephone 11-986 9218. 'oison Girls, Britain's most inimpeachable band, embark on heir Big Brother Cabaret Tour in ktober. Janice Perry, Toxic Shock nd Mark Miwurdz support them I18 towns including Hereford, Urexham, Shrewsbury, York and lolchester - but not London. )etails from Martin (01-582 50861 r Angus (01-361 1393). dea for a Pre-Cruise Event. Why lot plunge in with the Ecology t r t y and like them with-hold our nuclear arms tax. It grabs 0% of your income tax (an to's estimate of 115th of the lefence Budget). For guidelines ing the Ecology Party on 0135 2485.

The Westminster Ecology Party is organising a Green party (the festive kind, not an alternative to Porritt & Co.) on Armistice Day, November 11, 7.45pm at Porchester Hall, London W2. Dres in splendour and dance t o rock, reggae and folk; diversions will include games, competitions, clowns, and children's events. It's all in aid of War on Want, FOE, the Westminster Play Association and ITDG. Tickets are Â£ for adults and Â£1.5 for children, available from Gaby on 01-286 0544. ANYTHING PLANNED FOR THIS AUTUMN? We have and i t looks like fun and hard work. We're staging exhibitions, installations, dance work, playschemes, workshops with young people, all night discos and many, many opportunities t o learn and create. We're an inner city project and share cooking, cleaning ,administration and ideas. Volunteers welcome minimum one month. Accommodation provided. Contact 'The Blackie' Great Georges Street, Liverpool 1.

"Socialism end the Green Movement" i s the title of a conference being run by SERA -the Socialist Environment & Resources Association - and Green CND at Coventry Polytechnic on 12-13 November 1983, price Â£ (unwaged Â£3 Further details from SERA, 9 Poland Street, London W1V 3DG (01-439 3742). The conference marks SERA'S 10th anniversary as a link between reds and greens; it will discuss the mutual interests of labour and green movements, and the changes in traditional socialist thinking needed to bring in the insights of the green movement.

Help Blow the Whistle on Windscale Highlight the radioactivity by joining a chartered train leaving Barrowin-Furness 7.30am on 12th November. Stops at Alverston Grange, Carnforth, Lancaster, Preston and Crewe, and arrives in London midday. March to Downing street from Euston. Tickets are Â£ return (train leaves 6pm1, and can be booked from Barrow Action Grouo. & Slater St., Barrow. ~elephohe Barrow (02291 33851.

.....".,. . ..,Ã£.Ã£.-,. .

I I

Hello, good eveni, u.iu ,.. ,. .;>ng time. The news this month i s that simply everyone is turning 'green', darlings. There was that article in Harpers entitled Why you will vote Green a t the next election' which had a full colour pic of hunky Jonathan Porrit reclining under a tree, not t o mention Gerard Morgan Grenville, looking mean, moody and rural. The upshot was that the UC HQ has been completely over-run by Sloane Rangers. Clerkenwell is the new Kings Road, dungarees are right out, and we've all bought Gucci bags. . . . If that wasn't enough, the Guardian ran a piece entitled 'The Pope Goes Green' in which the Polish Pontiff pontificated that science had t o be seen in a social context and we shall all use recycled bog-paper. ... Religious minded readers know that there i s great rejoicing i n heaven when a stray sinner returns to the fold. The sheep in question is none other than GLYN ENGLAND, ex-chief of the CEGB, who from being number one nuclear apologist is now chairman of eco-campaigning group CoEnCo. He also has one of the most advanced 'solar' houses in the country. . . . Question:- what do you do with a beautiful Victorian building used by theatre groups, a couple of reggae bands, photographers, and artists? Simple: you turn it into an office block. At least, that i s the plan of the DOE. The Diorama, 14 Peto Place, London NW1 gets an unsolicited plus in Froth partly because it has been the venue of a couple of benefits for UC under the aegis of the Partyzans Club, which have slightly eased our, er, financial difficulties. The line-up included the unbilled ode of a drunken Scottish poet t o Glenfiddich, the funky Japanese duo the Frank Chickens, as well as Parisian Comics Theatre de Complicite, Rick Kemp dressed as a policeman, the Desperate Men who appeared in gold lame G-strings, an Irish folk band, and the Balkan systems music of peasant orchestra the Third Chance -the hottest thing this side of the Danube (unbiased ooinion). You shoulda been there (if vou .weren't). ~ e e your p ear t o the ground - I know it aches i f you keep it there for too long, but think of it as a kind of yoga - f o r the next one, and drop a line t o your friendly Environment Minister about the Diorama, won't you? . . . Meanwhile the Animal Lib story of the month has been the uproar caused by Julian Critchley, the Tory MP who compared our dear leaderene t o a she-elephant. Elephant lovers have been protesting vigorously about this slur on this intelligent, beautiful animal. And Heathcote Williams, Renaissance man of our time, has produced a suitably large newspaper-format publication devoted to Jumbos in all their glory. Reviewed in detail next time. One way t o spend an amusing morning is t o read Col. Gaddaffi's 'Green Book'. The Col. did drop i n with a view to investing a million or two in UC, but objected t o 'having t o wear the new U C uniform of Hermes scarf, Husky

...

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COMTEK79, Wave power; Teamwork Training Trust; Campaign for the North; DIY Woodstove design; Decentralising AT. Children & the Environment; Future perfect; City jungles; Flysheet camps, Ma Gaia; Commumty schools & services.

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Third world energy F A 0 food conference- Street fightin: man; DIY biogas; ~ c o t o 6 o l y Environmental ; education.

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Communes: Co-operative work- Christians' Communes & anarchism. Pearce's polemics; US ~ i n d p o w ' e Inc. r Fusion: Wave Power- Viewdata" Deprogramming Ecoropa; Third World ~ i p - o f f , ' C a n a l s.lobs ; & Social Change.

Protopia Convivial computing' Manifesto f o r the 80s-END: N A T T A - ~ e s l aDarrieus ; windmill design: Pirate ~ a d i o .

AT round the world: Building with natural energy; DIY i,nsulation; Win~mills. Who needs nukes? Biodynamic gardening; Radical technology; AT and job creation.

Co-operators Fair: Suma' Winds of change' Working collectively; Orgasmic labour; Macho nations; capitalism and Co-ops.

Bombs into windmills Atoms f o r peace- Land reform - n o thanks; Greentown; ~ i f without e TV; EST: Propertarians.

44 4

Media Special- Pen pushing- 4th world- Arts Council- Open radio campaign; Derek ~ a r & a ninterview; Ruff Tuff h e m Puff.

Dowsing, Ley lines; Christopher Wren's beehive; Saving your own seed.

Women against missiles' Free Sexuality Nukespeak- Edward Bond o n Democracy; William ~ u r r o u g h sinterview; CB Mania.

Intermediate Technology issue: Chinese science; IT and the Third World.

49 50

Alternative defence-DIY Super 8 films- Illich o n Sexism' The new West Coast; Co^op impact on the labour movement:

Garden villages; Wood food guide; DIY new towns, Self-sufficient solar terraces; Citizens Band.

Women in Co-ops: Their Experiences and Roles: Childcare in Co-ops; Building without Men; S American Collective report.

Tenth Birth Issue; Disarming Thinking: Planning for real; ChemIBiological Warfare; AT Revisited. 10 years of Eco-Action.

Special health issue; Alternative medicine; Findhorn; National Centre for AT.

'0 3

Tony Benn o n the Diggers; Farming; Solar energy; Broadcasting; Canals.

Pirate T V Socialist Radio- Animal Lib- Nuclear Power guide; Wave power; Timothy L&Y; the new Alternative London.

Nuclear power and Trade Unions; DIY woodstove; Small-scale transmitter; Paranoia power.

Cartoonist Against the Bomb' Feminist Radio- Stuart Hood on TV; Technology in ~ e p a l : ' ~ e y o nthe d B&.

Eavesdroppers; DIY; Cheese and cider; Compost and communism; Alternative energy; Planning; Magic mushrooms.

Citizens Intelligence- Nuclear Disease- Hompathy; Isolation Tanks, Tantric Sex; East-west Peace Exchanges.

AT & the Portuguese revolution- The Russians aren't coming; Boat repairs, New Age Access; 0rkney crafting; Growing dope.

Environment S ecial: Acid Rain' Land Reform; Safe Energy Savaged, ~loba!underclass; ~ e s ~ v a l s .

Women & Energy; New Clear Energy; Feminists against nukes; Women & Science, Womanthought: Alice & ATman.

Windscale; Ecofeminism; Solarcal; AT & the British State; Muscle powered revolutionary samadhi. Greemng sociahsm.

57 58

Rudolf Batao Interview; Mount Fuji Peacecanap; Lucas Aerospace; Europe's Green Parties; Women for Life on Earth.

Dora Russell; Petra Kelly and the German Greens; Lead; Drugs;Plant power; Nuclear-free Pacific.

Food politics: Factory farming; Additives; Wholefood co-ops; Commodity campaigns; Common agricultural policy.

Eco olitics; British road t o Ecotqpia; Larzac: Nukes & unions; workers' plans; DIY VHF transmitter; Shotton; Micros. Planning. Garden cities' Urban wasteland. National parks; ~ h e t l a n d Country , l i f e , ' ~ ~ ~ ~ FAt i nworkshop. g;

551 Electric bikes- Zoos- Greenwork: 2.4.5-T; Acupuncture; Petra Kelly 0; ECO-#eminism. Green Breakthrough; Computer Paranoia; CHP: Sizewell, White whales; Space Wars.

Festivals issue; Cynics guide t o Sizewell; Green Rally; Conservation strategy; Beast News.

INTERNATIONAL POSTERS, STICKERS & BADGES

Caarofc Institutefor InternationalRelations .

HONDURAS AGRICULTURALIST 8~ck.m w g ~ ~Ão f r * . . i ' ~ ~ ~ ~ i d g ~ a ~ a ~ < ~ Ã § Ã § r AN Ã ‡ EXPERIENCED,GENERALAGRICULTURo GreÃ§ on h a yellow r d lettern background @ Grey on awhitelettern red background

1%"BKigM WtHln on n bnckflroiind

1%" XTICKERS

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4op per Ã§hw lus SAE. (20 on ~ h e e t ) 30p each for 16 or more sheets fine 25p par sheet for 30 or more aheeta &!)wP)

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POSTERS ARE:-

60p each or 34p each for I 0 OI mom

ALEXANDER CROAL Dept. u,11 LUÃˆld AvenuÃˆ London N10

ALIST is needed to Joinan agricultural ormotion project in Hqnd&as. The-agricuttur&t will train local agricultural promoters, and ctevelop new productionand Storage methods. Applicants should have a broad training as an agricufturalist - BSc or HND -and a t least 2 years postqualificationexperience including graim, vegetables, pigs and cattle; they should alto have experience or an interest in training other people. 2 year contract on basic salaryfor a gingleperson, with return flights to Britain,insurance,equipmenand other grants. Larif&agetraining and local orientation course are provided by CIIR. For job description and an application form, pleaso lend brief details of your qualifications and experience to CI IR Oveneas Programme, 22 Coleman F i e w London N1 7AF. Please endose a large SAE and quote ref U12.

Working for Peace? But you are paying for war. Every adult contributes Â£7.7 every week to fund the military budget.

d !. '

Shouldn't you be paying that for non-violent Peace-Building? For more information please write to

Peace Tax Campaign 26 Thurlow Road, Leicester, LE2 1YE

Undercurrents 61 October/November 1983 4 Letters 5 Eddies - NIREX, City Stopped, US Peace Camp and other news 10 Workers Stop The Drop - Paul Todd’s analysis of the uneasy relationship between nukes and unions 12 Yanomano - Tribal rhythms in aid of the World Wildlife Fund 13 The Genius - Andrew Tyler interviews Howard Brenton. 15 Red Death - Greenpeace inform us of poisons in the sea 16 Desert Island Discord - Leonie Caldecott on women’s anti-nuke activity in the South pacific, from Reclaim The Earth 18 A Pain In The Gill - Nigel Dudley’s Acid Rain update 21 Beast News - John May’s Animal Lib Column 23 Reviews 28 Briefing - Activists’ info 30 Froth & Subscriptions Undercurrents would like to thank John Bradbrook, Tom Burke, John Dawe, Greenpeace International, Stephen Joseph, Jonathan Porritt, Nick Hart- Williams and World Wildlife Fund-UK, who all kindly dug into their pockets to help finance this issue. YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED Undercurrents subscriber Stephen Morgan writes: “In 1981 you decided to issue the magazine 10 times a year. Since then, 13 issues have appeared - the same number which would have appeared had the magazine remained on a bi-monthly schedule. Is it not time for the UC collective to admit that, for whatever reasons, it is unable to issue the magazine 10 times a year, and therefore to revert to bi-monthly production?” Yes, it is high time. In fact maybe it would be more realistic to describe ourselves henceforth as sporadical. This is only our fourth issue this year, and every issue has been a struggle to produce. It’s no secret that we’re desperately short of funds - and no money means no magazine. Recently we’ve tried a few schemes to boost our circulation, and our staff have foregone pay for several months, but our position isn’t improving. Our friend John de Lorean offered to do a massive coke run for us, but unfortunately he got caught. Now we’re running out of ideas. Should we blame the Tories for the mess we’re in? A disproportionate number of alternative papers have gone under since Mrs Thatcher came to power. Should we perhaps blame our non-existent business manager who absconded with our non-existent funds? Or is it just down to the fact that no one’s interested in our product? If so, then what’s wrong with us - and what’s right? We’d be very interested to hear from you. Why don’t you tell us what you’d like in the magazine? Should we have more A T, fewer poodles, wider political coverage, a campaign notice board ... ? All correspondence will be read and choked over, and any cash which you may inadvertently slip to us instead of the IR, we will eagerly bank. Without you we’re in danger of rapid decay . . . _______________________________________________________________________________________