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Cover". It's amazinghow youropinions can ch:::: :- :,--, benefit ofhindsight. Talk about embarasimenr I ::- r :- :: ,: So after all folders and

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Welcome to the first issue of"back2front". It all started one day m I was rinsing my Lady Diana souvenir tea cups when it suddenly dawned on me that the guts ofa decade had alrnost passed since I last produced hard copy.

Previous efforts in print "Eco-Runes" md "tr'ront Cover", along with the distribution I rm from 1988 onwuds had slowly fallen by the wayside as I begm to move in different directiom. That's life.

Producing magzines over the yem hm been a cosfly exercise, but being involved in the process has led to mmy differmt streets (as well as the odd culde-sac). I have met so mmy people through these ventures, experienced so many ideas, md it has been so much bettu tbm sittiag in a chair and ridiculing all md smdry for failing to inspire.

Creativity of any fom is m expression of the self md whm I'm alone with my old Rolf Harris 45's it empowers me. At its root creatiyity is tbe basis of organisation and as any salty old anarchist will tell you, orgmisation is the begiming of chmge and change is always a necessity to avert cultural stagnation

Comter cultue has sought m altemative to mainstream society fiom day one md has been dismissed by those who controlled not only the mems of production but also the means of commication. As a consequence it was marginalized md mismderstood Today infomation is so readily available thilfts to that fomer military tool the Intemet that we are able, for the frst

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had gone though m1 b::r the material I had collecr:c

was rubbing myself againsr at rhe rrr.e

Those were the good old days when *e Banted e\ en on. during the week and take AK47s against the state ar rhe r

Ideas have spread rapidly but what man-t once regarded as counter culture has been commercialised for the MTV generation and tendencies to rebellion have been neatJy packaged and targeted at specific age groups The idea ofchange has become as disposable as thc product that pretends to endorse Counter culfure is nou, available over the counter and it has ner er been so easrer to do

it

nothing Spice Giils ct Zirger le pam ar mr country retreat We wcre hard at it as you can irnagine \ hen ne\ s rcachcd LLs of impending rvar in Atghanisran We realiscd *e had been duped bv the spectacle ofconsumer socjety as u,e recalled the countless atroctties rn Rwanda, Palcstine and elsevhere We had forgoncn about it a1l in our desire to lile among lhe comfofiable middle class things a

This fanzine contains some very old articles and some r en .i .i : - : the contributorc at the time ofgoing to print find themselr es rr ;:r:: . -. . an age difference of50 yers between the oldest and younsesr .L-::-: -: -must be stated categorically that I do not necessarily agree u rth a.\:. .: within these pages or do I particularly endorse any staiements made r::: - :,: then you have to say that nowadays or people don't believe you \tr ih:: : : : : : swastika on page 16, look closely at what it says Thanks to Paul McCullough for the covtr trtwork md the cartoon otr pag6 23 and 24; to Dick Lucas of Subhumans, Dave Dictor of MDC, Bev & Steve of Lost Cherees and Sem McGhee fomally of Psycbo Faction for the interuiews; md of couse to Pope Rakinger, fomer Hitler Youth md exemplary pillar ofright wing ideology md a continual inspiration; to Ardy Martin, who wrote the essay on overpopulation on pages 05-06 md is the main creative force behind the Silo-Scot bmd Unit (w.unit-united.co.uk.) md to everyone else who contributed to tlis publication in my way. Thmks especially to everyone we stole from.

This zhe really took on a life of its own and tumed itself into m mho prmk zine despite my protestations. I wmted it to be a philosophical tra[- but thm I accidentally outwitted myself and fomd I'd gone ovr m1' osn bad Ran assued it won't happen again

Back2front is open to contributions so please send in }-ro ifu-_.trs- *1srants, drawings, interuiews, reviews md graphics to de ara: addrss- This issue was published in Jmuary 2006 by Front Corr Pntr:m. -\ coplright pleae quote remains with the respective authors othenis is &- !::r.:g!r the souce or the boys will be callirg 'm oo 1c ra *r=

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Iront Cor er Prod-. r : : r. .

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has always mmifested itself in the disguise of propagmda. Even the most blatant injustice is papered over with fake concem and doctored media What it comes down to is how reliable is the infomation you receive? Where does it come fiom? Cm you trust the views of the Fox News jomalist who has gotten all his infomation from the Pentagon desk clerk? Conversely cm you trust the report on the Intemet that confomds what the mainstream media has reported?

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Tannaghmore Road, Balll oahinch. contributions and order nrr" ) our co[e:londence c\f, - : - ,' r!'5ponre anJ Eenerdl i

The War on Tenor, the greatest misnomer in living memory, has begm. It is the smoke screen through which today's enpires will get their claws into the skin of the world's poor and mderprivileged. Even in the so-called free West erosion of civil liberty has begu il emest. We accept it because we're told it's for ou oM safety Look at the US Patriot Act; look at the Blair Govements desperate attempts to make ID cmds compulsory.

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You can bang your head against a wall for yeas but if you look uomd _r-'m will see a vast wave of chmge everywhere- The mti-globalisatiou mor-ml and the anti-war-on-teror movements,llnl' s the Atis of Eil to _vou and mare the largest md most organised ir history. From the Zapatistas ol\fei.-.- r the Fm Workers Udon of India; lrom the Battle of Sattle in de L S a.

White Overall Brigade in ltaly there is mass movemilr @ift-r roda] -s empires (For more info on any olthis find a little book elled -\(e -\Everfvhere" or hook up onlhe to lndymedia). Indiriduls sub - Je Brte Cindy Sheehan, Jello Bial?a or Arundhati Ro1' have shom a:-;: r#r in their worcls md deecls. And what of ou idea md deedsl Ol cour.< \\ J -.. . continue t,, L. .':.:.. -.-:' lifestyles of the stm md the bmlit-r oi reler'sioo for, like the cment admini<intion in rhe LS-\ ir--1 md over again it *-ill evmtualll' becom rhe ru.L Chomska refened to u th" mu{attue oiLo\r.a

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he is a scientist md science knows best. When we discover that the sme scientist works for the GM Company we begin to see things through new eyes.

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Well yes you cm but only if you're willing to exmine md probe a little deeper. When the scientist says that GM foods re safe we accept his word for

For 1,ears T looked through healy rimmcd glasses, cracked around the edge: and tainted rvith cynicism 1 see it when I look back at my carlr lritten u r.rk Life is shit, it said, instead ofasking why it was so and doing sonerhrrrr r!1.

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Some back issues of our older zines are available from the contacr adoress given below. Front Cover #,1 is alailable from Active Distribution. B\l -A.ctive, London, \l'ClN 3XX, U.K. for about !1/S2 for those rr:;r:.:::

on the global scale

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beyond our abilities and if you have read this l'ar -vou are perhaps rtondering why rve should head do$.n an avenuc that may be endless?

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The arsl,er i: nrtlold, Firstl.v -[ camot accept anything that reqlrires t]re thought process to La! do\\h its ams. I do not believe in god bccluse to do so requires me to suspend m,v thouuht process and accept a faith based on the hearsa-v of others atrd rlot upon reason. Thus I catrnot conclude it to be tl1re.

Similarll, I betieye that e\,en ihous.h this subject is vastlv dilficult it is just too easl'to concede- Secondlr, ase.drri.ia in the abor'e inslance is denying tile existence of lieedt m antl piw irq ibe lliloenin. in tbe mould of the dogmatic, Freedom becomls aa E+!.tii':q i,s*d Laa 3n illus-oq, belief and is therefore lnrme and delu:-iora! r:l il :::rl-..

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tfur-trdo.rsdfrhafieedon ts dFEt dlsic odrrGd a lot of acnaully becoe srore tnd dk b14r -: -t---be DlhEr's tLn'ery. Whst did il Lt-'r -ri& ra'iolls irdividuals aod it tH-.-!ir -t -t. r c roac 6a aa absnractnotiooof t r-lql dc tod.6E ir Isaiah Bcrlin the rnglich era- { d !. ncdc rhc distinction between'freedon to' r gr-d&r: F tu rr &E€&m to do whet I like and te€dom frorn F+t-p-rrfurcxmrylc.

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i!-€L-. -i r..E Feople seemed to espouse Aeedom, the less they smed to :irsd i:- The s'orld's libertines chanted the concept religioull'pohting to : =-awpe n'here u e all agree and never hght, a u orld that I never qish to so t}tre

i= pm oi. Imagine that, a world where everyone agrees on everything c rcthiag left to discuss. I would like to be fiee to challenge everlthing that dcn't fit, to challenge anlthing that appeiled to suggest stagnation of the riJl- to chatlenge ml.thing that meant an end to the thought process. When it cme dom to it, I wmted to know wm I myself free md also, do I have ftee

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Inevirqhly wc Intlrt agr€e to m .rrcnr $a! talguryt htc bccoma bagta[tliued. .{msrican fueippolicy sincc 194-s has hcco+edeadd byfiewods *kmocraqotd Fne&n'wbccas io ac*nl fu ilha beena policy of oonumeold barbrismand economic bullltg -Freadan'in this scnst ic t}acfore aoooqs. To avoid beiog trepped by tht guoc of laoguago we will Dot cuainue to prEue this avtaue. We mrst krow whar wc lhink lrre m€m.

The tieedoms s.e aspir'e to vary from one inciitiriisL io another aDd lhis most cenail!}, i:' : Froduct of the enviromelt. \\ri ]'.]okt 3'!our social and e-nr'ironmenrsl conditioning errlier. \\hat ri'e didr'r mention s,as hou socio:corLrrlic cc,ndi tion: are created- WheD w'e s-tald back ard glarce in\rarcls wc :-=. ihar po\'elt,v is a manufactured uecessity moulded ard :haped b1' capitalism Erd rhe captajns of irdustry, Did the caplains have a choice tLr create these areasl Could they have been avoided? Areas that are deprived Bre most often rh: c:ntres of \\,hat *e ca1 I crime. Why is an area deprived? Tf it i s created, in ihi: hsrence by capitalism, then it is an ar:ea bom ofconstraint. lt is an area bom un-tieeJ

s sel;/" (Shelley)

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Free rvill is one of rhe most diftrcult arcas in philosophy- It takes in uan-r' ar,enues and suburbs ofthousht, u)rinrately er-tirguishin-e itselfin thc dcad end ol .irqLristjcs- To understand thi:- rr'e nrust look briefl), to aucicnt hisror) and

f,XiaraiellJ to moral pbilosoph'r. Before Christianiry dominated \\'estem rltrrgii the rlain ethical docrrine or idea about hou we should lit'e l'as knou'n rr iroicisrr. Across the Greek and Rorran u'orlds lhe ideas ofXeno, foundcr of rtr: Sii.ics- deveioped the theory that there was no hope for social .tr@:-truction but fhat the self could be developed, In Xcro's ideas we see the tr-.girrlrg: oflhe concept olfiee thonglrt. Xeno propounded that the individual coulc rehieYe a kind of petonal salrntion in a crumbling worLd by becomirtg iodiilirent to its extcmal influences. But hou'could this rid the individual of lErlertation olcr worldly affnirs bi, simpl]' ss,itching oll tbc Lights'l How could ilr irdividual think he was free bf ignoring rhe pli-tht oiothers?

The Stoics moved that good or evil depended on the self, zuggesthg that the individual could make that free choice. Another Greek philosophr, Epicetm, mented that virtue resided in the will, and that only the x'ill could be good or bad. Could such a choice be made or was it still detmined by outside frctom? Could we will ouselves to freedom?

Stoicism moves still flrther. If an individual is imprisoned or tortued md m become indifferent to their situatioo, others cmot significatrtly have poq'er over them.

Significmtly they suggested that everything is predestined, a concePt developed further by the cult of Christimity. Predestination equates that all n-ents ue prefxed (by god or other forces). Becomirg indifferent to this wm rirurou. This is m echo ofTaoist thought from Chila, in which ignoring "The S-ay" is the only method to discover "The Way", Cracks in the theory are begiming to appeil, So q'hat then do we mean by predestination and how does it relate to freedom? to extemal affairs not have consequences?

Dos beomhg indifferent

Hstination

implies that all events are foretolci therefore nothing can be .{qnged. Acceptance requires submission. Therefore, within this concept, we re mt fiee but ile chained to fate md, by extension, eveq4hing we perceive to br vrcng with the world is as it is meant to be and camot be challenged. How a rc be virh:ous if we camot fimdamentally alter ou self or the world rmd u? If we can alter il then predestiaation is false. We can see, hopefully $'mn. r.hy freedom of the will is a most problematic concept.

L= N move to

say that we have fiee will, that we have the abiliry to make our derisiom, that we tre not controlled. Psychology might then argue that we .re nrting more than the product of ou enviroments and this is what dictates ry =d*L:im". Ou characters have developed by interaction with the world c= iur*l owlves in as children. Ou thoughts ue thus conditioned md

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ftat experience. Ou decision to make

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choice is already decided by

&e 1-1le of chmcter we have become. We must also take into consideration Eil.6og' md the 'genetic traits' associated with each ofus individually. Ou sex mi =ruli5'- ou shape and size, ou resistance to disease all play a role il rftr re re but $'e ile cmently limited in how we can alter these realities. As rca= begim to ucover the fnite details of genetics we appear to soon be 6ft l=prulme. for exmple. bodies free from disease or bodies of the desired frd4ir atr mne. but is this not also predestination hftirm by design?

is largcly tiom these areas that the greatesL calls for'Freedom" are rlade.

Freedom befomes an aspiration for equal rights and equal opportufities, Such rights we give ourselves but only wben they are all encompassitig do ther. become the beginnings of*hat "freedonr" might be, From the irequalitv oi lhis un-freedorn is injustice formed. By er tcnsion we could then suggest that our treedom lies i[ crealing equal ri-qhts in all areas and not j ust oLrr o\\,t1. We aspirc to licedom without becomin-s indiflcrent to extemal aflairs. The realisation of our commonaiity within this tactor must be imperatir.e.

There is enough tbod in the rvodd to f'eed irs curent populrtion. Thert is enough Llnd to accornrnodate our expalding nations and thcre ii erou-gh medicine to go round. There is enough rationalifl, to ensur; selirustaioabilitr,.

We have the capacitl to aclier.e these requirerrents ihoush rrr: qtrvenmerts are seli-motivated atrd lhe resultant imbatarce is mainiailed to leep po\rer in the bands of rhose who now wiekl it. This ir' the .::.ncc oi tieedorr and slavcry.

Okay Iet's boi I things down a little furtber. \\rhen you are raised as a child .vou are subjected to the cultrres and Leachings ofthe family group. h many rircumstances thjs familial culture can be severely lacking. Misguided o"r3nring and religious sectarianism are two other possible constraitrts placed rr riB cbild, Leck of education and bad diet - lhe list is endless but now rve rno prrhaps he,ar s(tne\s that until education and culture are free from ruvrairr i'r-y tll are no more thar mental slavery, "Emmcipale )'oulself from mqtal sloery, none but oursebes canfree our

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These comfaints outLined abo\ e resrict freedom in every way. The outcome is often predesthed. To back to Issroh Berlin we te xpiring to freedom from -qo these comtraiats. Bu1 q'e also want the heedom to do the things we desfue- Yet if we impinge upon the fteedoms of othe6 \ye mut brcome respomible for ow acts. Therefore we aspire to freedom to do m re u-ish without advesely affecting others. This is a fteedom bom offakhg on respomibility, To retm to ou earlier ides *'e en now add awaeness into the mix, I may not be free in the choices I make ir a philosophical seme but I can sit back and be aware that I have a decision to make. This awareness ia itself offers the fieedom to choose so ifwe chmse along a path that does not restdct ouselves nor impede upon othes we could suggest that we de aspiring for hue freedom.

To rvaste olr,'.- lirm stsrciirg llr rh; elusive conccpt oltiee will is too olien to philoscrphicallv derv ihe ntr::lbilities that rcsponsible actior may bring to the \\.orld ai large, \l irlportant part ofthis process, that we called ''irrlilidrial Ittntcntorion over teorllly oJJttit s' earlier. involves looking al what u'e consider orr o\rr fieedorr to be and n ha t impacl ihis may have if any on those uround LI

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"Do what thy wilt shall be the whole of the lm, And it harm none- " (Aleister Crowley) hope this cssay has ansu,ered sonre questions I do realise thrt it is limited in many rvavs. My intention was to raise awareness for I believe rhat is where lreedom bcgins. \Vithin this lies the morrl imperative ol'at least achier'ing a lerel plaving field for all to porder, t-rom rhat point on will be another bridgc to cross at another time, This is hou' tieedom and ethics rre

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fu6:4: =n-h of the problm u'ith discusing this concept is linguistic or rei.- 16 66 o'ords $'e ue to desribe this concept so loaded that they

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r-r-*r' .uvel meming? Dres lmguee make the world and is this why iisr ot fum appeas to be so eluir e? Ludx'ig Wittgenstein, when 3lmii.l +ir concepr believed that be had mched the cliff-edge of language q;r sE philosophm concu that de concePt of fteedom is cmently

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The libertjne is, wilh these criteria, morally bound to find hcr fiecdom b,v remov:ing the constraints placed upon her by socjetal. familial and social con)-traint. Awareness of our commonality is the next logical step, Those u'ho s'lug and dance about fi-eedom yet play no part in its realisation are pcrhaps the greatest slar'es ofus all.

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)krl . )'lu \r-\, rl'! tine iL, lllni rhoot thas! rhrns: bur thri r,ou eunn,l accepr rc\f\(rnstbilin t'or thc lrrld I prr,hlums Therc rs : drlllrr-rce beil(-cn ncc!'ptlnc rc\nnn:!bl11l\ t{rr d{atna li)rllr,dlng dtrecll} und lclt\r-)1 trlnrl rt on hut tn! hec,]rri J$ JIr, lil ris rnrplrcattotts \\ ltlln the conc(-pt (rf licadom. (

ln biolosical ile1ds rhere are a number ofvoices that assert that ou abilit), to reaso[. .onsrd.r af.i be parient is an evoirrtionatl trait that mark\ Ule lrcernnrng of biolosjcal lrec urll. This fascinatLngeonqgpt iemains iu irs rntrnc\ hrrsger.

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ill no doubt wonder why I have considered the concept of fieedom alons the tems mentioned above. In some ways then the pjece must be considered as an investigation into thinking itself and the nse of ones faculties for greater realisation. reatlers ri

There is a danger however in becoming so lost in the philosophical illusion of fiee u il1 that u,e become morally uncomected to \ hat lreedom mishr mean to nurselre. and rho.e around us. ereryuhere Feel free to Lake liom this what you will.

Problems & Polemics

By Sam Smith

damaged goods thmelves should be so presmptuou a - iFE ; life? Yet they will be the fint to mncede that some peqrle cn hE, futk -fE om sake, ought to be, bullied into getting better. Which is hm fu q ii nushg brutalises. Aside from sheer nmbers, bodies come, fm - - : patients get repaired, or die, go myway. Only the odd, the muffi[ olyftF become stories get remembered. The rest passes through. Leving tte slmpathetic at a loss to recall the face, the name - to question tte rzIE of what they do

Strictly Ilierarchical A consultant (god)

is not to be argued with. Not. Leastu als. br nurses (angels) Nor are nuses allowed to openly de! even those house docr.rri. :it:j placements always temporary, u,bo aflect a working cynicism in the hopc rh:r il actually will be mistaken for inside-out knorvledge. And while consuhanr: may acrrally say, have said, pulling rank, "Here I am God"; apafi ftom rheir salaries. disproportionate to their input (a[[ rvork from manuaJs), mosr consultants eam onlr,the contempt ofnurses Brunl-out on-duty consultants

diagnose or er rhe telephone. prescribe thev have never kroln Or, oilate irightened of the immediacr ol rhc rl:d atrer the briefest encounter (atrd pen'ersely ignorinr the reconrnren,j:iiou: Lrl rhe nurses who have 2,{hour contact, as ifto pror c themsel\:: ::r., :-rp:rlc oftaking charge) this overpaid suit will \rite up medrcation de:i5:r : -, :].. rr. keep the patient quiet Or

anotherconsultantmar harebecrrr-e:: ;:r':Llrclr afraidoftakingrisksthat he. knowing that mosr nsr chtatn c..r.:.:' : :li :nd-miss diagnoses, will keep his patients so long in hosltral rlat riel .,, i , ::. cl.rp illnesses they never had before. Or the consultanr hr:r:: l recome: .rf:.iir\ e, ascribes all and every s)'mptom tothis month'i :i::r. usualll'merelr beharioural due Lo a 'personaliry- disorder' \\i:::r::lLrses. again. allorvs the consultant to do nodrilg Or he she prescnrii :l: irrs of the month (came rvith free mugs, tiee

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One in Six One in six people you \i1l at some time in your life sutler a ntel::L tlir::: When the u,orld's failings are visited upon you what you s rll n::J r'r.r , : :else. is a philosophy. Do not expect a cure. CLre impiies beinv abl: ir :-:-::. : a pemanent and perfect state ofhealth, ofexistence. \\Ihich Ls seii-:r tJ:::-.. impossible. Any 'cure' on offer, therefore. and its concomirant ueau.cni. because impemaneot, because pemanetrtly incomplete, must pertbrcc becort; a part ofyour illness. A few olyou u'il1 be wise enoush to blame the c,-rr:' Most of you though, being unable to achier e. or to malntar0 it r..ii..: ::::: . l jstence. er yotr u ill come to regard r our.el'.. .,. r'.,...:.,1.. .1 .- - -: l,ourselves at fault, yourselves to blame The life philosophies that are available to most people ile contained sithin a religious fiamework. Now a hmassed priest might tetl you that religion is prone to the mentally ill, not the mentally ill to religioq but most religiom promote 'cures', as did Christ. Diagnosed i11, you have beq chmged- But ,ill. you ruy have been misnamed Because there nevtr w6 my retming to perfrct halth: medication was thersfore not a promise to be believed. And evm more so ttre vaguer promises of religion, with their mcertain sme ttrat seeru to accomodate you disordered thoughts, that can seem to uderstand you puzled wmt. You will, thougb, bmome ever more frutmted, distraught, by religion's pedmtic lack of specifics. There will come a time when, only il medicated euphoria, you will sfill believe youself able to believe.

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None of the above incomptmcies N'ill see any consultmt sacked, Rather they rill be quickly pmsed on witt fulsome references. (Nuse Grapevines, however, will errue their Ml reputatioro and nicknames go with them ) If old enough- of come. mp comultants will be retired erly; cm then take with them a glo*ing slf-stm md tales of in my day...' For nuses &is neu, da;-fiii nert dav, tte patimt is bere, now

Frurrrarion Lpon Frustration

l: ti.: .!ji, bet\ een medicine and politics is a prr.i:.. rL:rt:rh:omanrvariablesthatithaslo desptr:::::,: . . --,-. :r. i alJ:1 -:rcompassingteminology bebogLL: F::'i: .:, :: r: lr.,ner;r psvchiatrywillcotrtinuetobetheii.:.:tr,-i-rf.LL5 r

oi rarrh-healing (rLnprovable. taken on lurrl :::: Lthispilltaken,thishappens) Note laril:r:.

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oe *tracts from the book "Problems and Polemics" by Sam Smilh publkhed by Boho Press This book and other works by Sam are wailable

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more details)

Ouk Musquerade

Self Portrait by Sam Smith

By Mick Thynne

Second Thoughts The sympathetic. irho rr ork \ ith rheir self'-recognisation of rlte symptoms, can conlc to belier e thar the\ too mrsht ]rar e been abused the memory buried. The sympatltetic lho ri ork ri ith rhe rrentalh i1l. in their setf recognisation ofthe svmptoils. can cotne ro b.'liei e thar rhe\ ar e lbout to become merrtally ill ln this profession rhe s),mparhetic in the technical sense resollating to the same vibrations are further handicapped by their disinclinarion to interf'ere When telling others hoR to behave the\, see lhemsch es distaslefully as bullies, rvorry at rherr faltible intluence. that Lhey abuse cases. jLt

a singJe being has the same relerence for another alrcn or llos n. to theLlselr es. as shc bares the pain of indil iduals and canie: ther r lrLtlc lir cs her o\r She appears as the great forest oak chrldren garhcr brncarh to tell stoiles

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She lisrens. rllustrating their whispers byrusrLing her he:\1 l;ar c.. The children nrn alonc to her jn tears, paint their l oes ald ::l loi an:u ers, ivhich

:re dutil'ulLy dclivers

She is the one thing in which thcy can be sure; the one \ iLhin she is the u'eeping lillow without a rr er where teaLs may fl orv She takes and absorbs, hkes and absorbs. vithout --ornplaint, without a tracc ofanguish in hcr boughs.

::rng always there for therr Yet

In summer children come climbing. cxploring each brancb lD autumn they throrv out-stretchcd ams up into her leaves, making lhe acoms fhll tastcr than the,v should. Noblc, she u ithstands a long winter aLonc, agcing, frostbitten u ithout child, bird or inscct slrc croaks and groans, old branches like brittle bones.

She creaks irnd groans continuousl,v recalling thc children's treasure. the stories her memory. repeating olcr and over the tears friends and slrangers freely gave to her Without complaint even in the spring when a differetrl set of children rru across the field to her They came to collcct buds and \yere confuscd u,hen the-v gazed up into hcr branchcs and sarv nore They agreed that this could not be thc oak tree. but something that seemed rcry much likc onc.

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a supporter of any bizre cult that prophesises the end of ttre need ofany such idiosyncratic club since the pure discrnirr:: mathematics pror ide me with sufhcient data to make rre :: life, thco those ofall peoplebom atier 1970 These are thc likely to give birth to children whose old age will be hell

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When rve consider the rate ofincrease ofthe rvorld population. \hrr r.r actually have to confront is a geometic progression. Anyone lamiliar ri ril: :: , chessboard thbte will appreciate the power ofgeometric progression For iir,,.:ofyou not familiar u.ith this concepl, corsider this: thc cuncnt populrtiun Lrr the Eafih in I 970 was 3.5 billiou people. That rate doubles every 47 vears \\. can Lre eqLration 1 to iclentify the nmber of yeas (x) it uill take to reach a pafiicular world population (y).

ran ofT to fiud another

Shc watchcs them, strains to give them a sign. Thc small creaks and the children do not hear groans shc makes, fbr they are alreacly half u,ay across the next held.

Equationl&Equation2 long u ouJd bc rcquired befbre Lhe rvorld population attained 50 billion? If \ at 50.000.000.000 then log y : 10 70 and x: 182 1ears. Notice that in ..luarron I I harc assumed that the rale at u'hich the increase in population doubles lill remain constant. All empirical eriderce suggests the contrary In frcl rt i! nlost probable that this rate will also increasc since the factors lhat sLrr enr rhis increase remain unaltered today Therefore. ue sha[[ have a rvorld poprLlation of 50.000,000,000 by 2 l5 l, In ordcr simply to fecd such a populaLron *c shall need to have abolished rvar and implemented a global emment that is elficient and competent Does anyouc real)y belier'e rve can -qo\ .-stablish suctr a rational utopia injust six gencralions, based upon Lhc behrr iour o1'hLnraniry that u,e have witnessed over the prer.ious equivalent time period'?

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The total suface ofthe Earftr is - 200,000,000 square miles. Now consider the average population of Hong Kong md its imediate teritories at midday. At this time the rea is supplemented by all those additional people who have travelled into the city to work. 2,200,000 people then occupy this region that extends to 22 square miles. This is equivalent to 100,000 people for every squue mile Let us assme that human beings inhabited every area of the Earth to the same density as Hong Kong at midday. We cm hclude the deserts and the moutainou ueas for we can suppose these have been trmfomed into habitable regiom with the aid ofmodem technology that may be at ou disposl within the next 50 yeES. Then let u coat all the se6 and oceans with buge mfts to ruble pmple to mcupy every m previouly covered by water. \oq fie s hole suface of the plmet groam md st-ains uder an integment of hrm trrlis. How ml'people s'ould thre be if the demity of this tomidabh congregation mtched that of Hong Kong at midday in a typical u orkile rekl :

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Earth is Finite

By Andy Martin as flo swprise to lcam that the population of thc tvorld continues to encounlcr a significaut ilcrcasc That this is painfully truu is appareDt from the small number olplaces on the globe lhat are not inhabited by Homo sapiens IL is a situatio[ lhat no\\ threatens the survilal ofcrcry human bein-q on the planet This incr case in the nr mber of Irumau bei ngs u'ho inhabit the carth has already bcgur to ad\erseL\ aitccl Lhe qua1iry oflilt experience by most occlrpallts ofmajor cities and third r orld nations However, this is not ln itsel I lhe mosl critical issne The cler a:trttng problems generated b1 tbe 'population explosion' are exlrcerbatcd Lr] an isPe.t ofthis global malaise that is ofcrucial significance lo the irnnrcdiare furure r,irll mankind.

It should comc

We can calculalc lhe appro\iflate u orld popul arron in the prehistoric cra fi om data supplicd by ccologists. This siatcs that arrr pre a,llcultural nrcthod olfood supplv (hrurting, flshing, and the han'est ofiiuit and futs) couLd not sustxitr a rvorlcl population of more than 20.000,000 Hcrl er er. in the Stonc Age the actua[ tigure u,orLld have been uo more than hsl] af this once rve hale modificd thc tigure to compensate tbr the jnlant mtllrli tr r r tc and rlte a\ erage !!ge at u,hich pcople died., rvhjch was generally rarely older than 35 Thus by 6000BC thc gl obal populati on w ou I cl h aYe been betrvecl 6.000.000 a n d I 0.001 ).r)0U This is equilaLenl tothepopulationof Tok,vo todal ltuas dLtetothe introduction of agriculture that lbc first significant rise in the u'orld population occurred. Thc utilisation ofirrigalion enabled subsistencc in prliouslv urinhabilablc arcas. for exanrple.

From prchistoric times to I 00AD tlie population of the entire u'orltl clorLbled once everl 1400 ycars Hol'ever. tiom I00- 1600. this population ircrcasc occurred er ery 900 1'ears, Alter this, thc ratc olerpartsion exhibils a sLeatl-r incr casc as fbllorvs: 1 600- I 800: 250 l ears: 1 E00- I 900: 90 vears: 1900-1950: 7r years: 1950-1970:.17 y-ears Lr other \\ords- it r: drc titct lhat there is a continuaI aDd relcntlcss increase in the slale oflopulat]ott expansiott itr addjtion to thc popuLation expanse itselfthat l Lll re:ult in a nrajor political calastrophe b-v about the year 2l 50 Llou I atrir c at this figrn-e \1 ill be explailred soon cnough First. horvc!ct, lct ntc assure I ou that I hrvc ncver been

rn[]r.rn ) people \\'hrt 1s nr-r purposc bchind this serics ofarcanc ;ufl-rrr:itrrrnsl T simplv seek to rrake you appreciate the scale ofthis problem ri e shall tace unless l,e adopt radical (and frankly lotalitariar) measues irnmedialely lo address this issue. Iiwe take I999 as our base, how long would it take for the population ofthe Earth to attain tbis outragcous tigre? tJse equalion 2. [fyou are not mathematically adept. I can supply the answer lor you: 555 1,ears. By 2554 the enlire surlace olthc Eafih rvill be one huge Ilorg Kolg ifrve also assume lhat the rate ofpopulation increase remains static Ifjt continucs Lhcrl wc shall anive at this inglorious state ofaffairs rather earlier

From 1999 to 255,1 we shall nse up $ cry arailable space on the planet There rvill be no*hcrc to rxn and escape from the seething masses ofhuman ilcsh You ma.r believe this scenario to be absurd. Certainly it is absurd Betbre rve irttain this dizzy plateau ofpeople, le will harc long sincc rcsoflcd to violcncc. fanaticism and barbarism as the thin vonccr of civilisation evaporates and \eapons are drarln every Limc sornconc screarns for more room First. tllere will bc louhcrc to grov fbod Secord, in the absence ofthe manner in uhrch oceals ioteracl wiih the almosphere, the Earth uill ro Ionger be al efflcient hcat engine

At this poht there comes a cry from every science fiction enthusiast and utopian dremer in the land. 'We can export the surplus populatioD to Mm md tenalom the plmet. It works in Hollywood at least.' In realify, such a scenuio is simply not feasible. If only in order to maintain ou population at its cmr leve[, we would be required to trmsport 3.5 billion people to Mm itr the ne\i 47 years. With ou present level oltechrology md htemational co-opcniioc (which right now is a contradiction in tems in my case), does mrone ral-lr believe such m objective to be remotely possible? There is oprre*m ei &--3 is utter psychosis. We only have a little more than five centuies in s'Ech ;..

enjoy what remains of civilisatioo After that it's the way.

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took any notice ofthose erudite gentlemen so perhaps it is the height of arogance to assume myone will heed my words. Must the truth remain mspoken because its progenitor belier es nobody will listen to it?

Why do I state that the rarc ofpopulation hcrease must be reversed by the 2 1" century? Becaue there is a related issue that is pertinent to the problem. The total mms of livins mater oD the plmet is about 20 trillion tons Of that total mss, the proportion repreented by hmmity is 200 million tons We can then see that hrmiq comprises 1i100,000 of the total mass of life on Earth With the erception ofcertain bacteria, all life on Earth exists due to its relimce upon plmt photosmttresis. The total mass of an eater in a food chain must be no more thm 1 I 0 of the total mass that is eaten if all members of the chain are to wir-e in a stable population Therefore all mimal life exhibits a mass total mrus of2 trilLion tons ofwhich the mass ofhumaniq/ is 1/10,000 The degrees of sola radiation and the basic efficiency of photoslmthesis are imutable; the Earth can only sustain a specihc amomt of life. Here is the salient point: when the mms of hmanity increases by I ton, the mass of other animal life must decreroe by I ton il order for the food chain to function

\\harrsthelimedurationrequiredforhumaniLr torc.r.hLh!-fr:r::.rn- : :-.-: liltl 62,1 years So, by 2623 we shall hr\! ounil r::rp:JLrr: ir, render extinct all other animal life in order rhar u e r,a\ lun 1\ e \JI p1:;1, tr onLd be required to serue only onc purposei ro be 3i:llble Flo\ ers trnd rreer

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\r. ould become expensi\re, exotic and ifiele1 anr There \\ L]uLd srmplr be no place for them Every fish in the sea, e\ er) bird rn rhe :Lr and er ery horse on the tand will have been 'sacnfced on rhe alret ol hntan pro(redttail , asDr Asimov so astutely observed This is u hv I stringentll, maintajn thal any person who prefers to give birth to 'their own' baby rather than adopt one of the many millions of orphans who languish in foster homes is not merely selfish but a trailor to hmanity As for these despicable women uho imbibe fertility drugs and give birth to multiple babies, there are no words for my-

contenpt.

Of course, il'we coltinue lo ignore the peril all humanity currenth tices rhen the birfh rate u,ill decrease anyway *hen stanatioo and Lr\ er-.ro\\ dlns inhrbit the effi ciency of our ability to procreatc. bu t mus r rr c real lr rr rrt lor our species to stoop to such barbarism? It is plain and sunple lact rhar the cunent population of the Earth is already too high fbr the natural resources of lhe planet to sustain humanity. How do \ e manage dren? That is easy to answer: a small minodly of wealthy natioos r inual lv moropolise those rcsources at the direct expense ol a[[ the other nations. B.v wa1, of an example, bere is a futher plain and simple fact: Amcrica compises onll Li 16 ofthe entire population of Eafih yet it consumes rvell in excess oihall thc irepLaccable rcsources tlle planet is able to provide. Is thrs reasonablel ls this at all fair? I contend that it most celtainlv is not The problern hcre is that third world countries seek to attain the lelel of affluence enjoyed by Amcrica. Why should u e not'l Actually, there is a r crl good rcason why not: pollution- America u,ill doubLe its population b-v 2020 with a subsequent incrcasc in cncrgy consurnption by a factor of 7 The acquisition of affluence necessitates an incrcase in encrgl eonsumption. wiich in tum results in lhe depletion ofnatural resources. Empirical evidcncc rereals that the rate ofpollulion in anv lechnologically ad!anced industrial nirtion is basicall.v equir alelt to the rate of its energv consumption, therefore a 7 times increase in lhe fbmcr generales a 7 times jocrease in the latter

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any drama or histrionics the sbeer greed th.li i.:i: the world u ill lead to the demise of all lile on Eirr. no\\'.

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This talk of force and might will doubtless cause libemls to firss ad rn but then, safe in their middle class homes, they have virtually no ral cmceprt of the catastrophe that threatens us all - even people who live in detached hours il Smey They may desire a democratic world govement with a ftwly elected executive of limited tenue, representative legislattre, respmted B'orld 6uts md fim agreement by najority frmchise to abide by govement decisiom but ffi mv of\,ou seriouly believe tbat such a body can be created in the next 30 ym? No. neiths ca I. md it is my fim belief that 30 yem is all that rmim for u to mhe th* problems- In my case, democracy is for fmls and weaklhgs wio m tm mil1- Aightened of those people who are able to make decisiom md slelsis ar+mini.atrr-e skills for the benefit of hmmity ia the long tem- The concept of a miied q orld ,qovement many even seem less realistic thm a global dmorac5 - -\cda$r - one means by which such a body may be uccesfirlly @ted is fuuâ&#x201A;Źh the concetrtration of resouces and expertise on a particula prcje! pmrided ir G oi rrlAcimt glmou, contains enough drama for the media md kows cred-biliLr upoE i6 peticipmts The obvious choice is space resach- Even lhe mh lbr em-terestrial life would be acceptable in this context if it gmmred the fr:m.for ofs-orld govement htent to solve ttre real problem of popdatm :aJ pollurion.

Despite the absudity of such 'reseach', if thar rcpesms a d.rt b1'rhich to achieve the global mification of natiotr thm t srypon it-

In the 1960's intelligcntpeoplc rcalised thar

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:r:i:':- - l :r ::::' : uncompromi;rng !o\ .-mmenr \! be absolur:lr ::::::- , 'a- : praiirahl\ :Lronar- e\ en one musr ri)iriaa rheir r::: ::: na\1mun of one child per couple. Thr. nru\l 1r: . ii: pcopleercn\hcrcmLrstobservetotalobedrer.: : ., compul;ron rl necessary This rule oi lau ru.: ::: : 200 rears FenrLitr drugs mustbe made une:,; . .:: . are to a\en !lrr.:r anticipated bv DaDtc then irenl nrersLrres enlrrrai-

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these ru1es must receire conpulsory sterilr::,:l::: -l,ould }iar e theu sbot as traitors to human ::

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other l5/16 ofthe world achjevcd Lhe degree ofaflluerce atrained b!'

Amcrica. thcre would result an ilcrease in rhc ntilisation ofnalural rcsources by l5 times the arnount prcscltLy used. with a snbsequent enission ol I 5 times the amounl ofpollution The rate ofproduction o{ ojl, coal, mctals. minerals, papcr, plastics and motor car s u ould be required to experielce an ilcr easc E times that of the current level and this assurncs drc population level rernains static lhere \\'ould thus bc an incrcase il pollntion 8 tines that olthc prcsert lelcl, Ifthe present rate ofpopulation ilcrease seeks to satrsf, this e\lectrtr,rl ol afflucncc Lhel in 30 years, rvith a 7 times incrcasc in thc consumption of crlergy. ttrere Dust be a depletlon of nalLLral resources that is i0 tiltles that of the cuffert rale of usage By'latural resources', remember. I retir to that which is not replaceable. Wcl l, thcsc resources sinply do not exist to accommodatc such gratuitous plulder

Much of

orLr contemporary problems originate as a result of a public attilude that represents a paradigm that is both dangerous and compLetcLy obsolete I call it the 'intinite rvorLd' cthos. At the end of the 20'h ceLrrury, s hat happers in Osaka is importart ald relevaLrt to ]'hat happens in Britaitr, However, this has not histodcally always been rhe case, When the Egl,ptian Middlc Kingdom fell to the Hyksos inyaders in 16508C, the Grccks rvere 500 miles awa.v and the cvcnt u.as a matter of paltr,v concem to them, When Egypr fcll to Persia in 525 BC, hou,elcr, Greece was very concerned indeed ln 215BC, thc conllict between Rome and Carthage was ignored b1, peoplc vlto [r ed 100 miles away in Britain By 400AD, the Britons were acutelv au,are olthe tate oflraly with regard to the Cemanic invaders since the prescncc ot'Alaric in Rome cost Bdtain the Roman umy and the civilisation it accompaniecl ln 1935 Amcrica could disregard evenls in Europe but by I 960 rvhat bappcncd 10,000 nriles away in Saigon, Viet Nan, uas considered to be olsuch relerancc that tetrs of thousands of American soldiers were seDt to die there The maxirrnnr distauce bct*'cen 2 points on thc carlh is 12,500 nriles Our planct is simph too srra11 and too flnjte for any nation to jgnore events and incidents if anv othcr natiorll

Coulcl Arnerica prevcnt olltcr uatiols liom trying to attain its lc\el of alfluence'l Their record in Viet Nanr Iails to provide rre l,ith contrdelcc tn Lheir abilit) to impose their rvill on arlv othcr pail of thc rvorkL. l1ower er. u hile Arrer ica itsclf is un irnpofiant and d$ old of arl real culture. i r is rrcal thy and therefore has a duty to corrbine \\,rth Russia, Scandinavia, China and Japan (as typicfll and most obvious examp)es ol other powcrlill national entities) iD order

Illustration by Reza (Nil by Mouth)

Freedom: WheFe's it to be

foand?

By Tim Dummer

Somewhere outside my cell a mm is whistling. He's whistLing -87=.

Christmqs' and knows it won't be. Still he contirues, occqrfing his m his fingers methodically push and pull the needles ftom t'hich a dw-;

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the count{,at that iinre. The Black Cross has continued on an intemational level, at times ve^, sporadically, sewing its purpose oforganizine aid lbr

political pri,soners er,er since. r\o lears. There is just one emotion pemitted here, you can detect it in a cold stare, or iear it in a harsh rvord, but you will see no tears. The whistling stops and there is a subtle rise in thc ncedle's ring. The toll is ncarly hypnotic, bringing a hush-hush to the body and calm to the mind. A peace the likes of which can be found nowhere else behind these walls- We have tried all devices: television, radio, drugs, hatred and self-pity, and all have lallen short. OnJy in creativjty does the tide of pain seem to ebb.

Some wiLI tr-1'bobbies or musical instruments, dabbling in lhis and trying that, before stumbling onto that one art lbrm in which they find serenity. For others it emerges rvith a rurner's ease. They sit down with a paintbrush and canvas, paper and pcncil or charcoal. and poo/', as ifby magic, the day will have passed without emolional latigue or deep despair. and all can be accredited to art, In a ferv cases, a prisoner's hard work will lcad to a skitt,

For even feu,er, their nervlbund skill is the first indication of a truly gifted arlist. A hne example of this can bc found in the case of G,Z- a 28 year old rlan, who as a l6 year o1d boy was convicted ofthe parental murder many community members declared "jtrstiJioble". Alter his first altenrpl at pomait painting he rvas able ro dcmonstrale such a high degrcc ol aptinrde rhat rhe prison arts and crafts director, said. u,ith a good natured \\'irrk, 'Y r Lr r -1orucrl rr lake him under my wing' , Since that fateful day manv good hrnrs har.e come his rvay, lt began as a simple flawed porlrait bul soon came to svmbolise the advantage oDe staDds to gJitr through involvement u'iilr arts ard cratls. Tt didn't take Iong fbr those il1o knew him to realise that hcre \\'as ir ialent bound for success.

G.Z. soon found that through h1: ponraits and drawings he could not only escape the oppression of iris an rironnrcn l, but also eam a reasonable sum through the sales of his 11'gv|, pgr prison sralf and public. Most recently, he has seen his n'orks ltarured ar a rvell knorvn gallery and was soon after approachcd by another gallery interested in displaying his future works- With sales has come the lurancirT fi'cedom he has so long looked fon'ard to, and the abiliry- to attend college via conespondence courses.

This sort offinancial succcss is rarely seen in prison; bowever, manf inmrtr-s involved in ans and crafis relate that thc lbw dollars the,v pick up throueh their sales are essential to maintajning iheir most basic standards ol livhrg. Without doubt. the hnancial incentive is a convincing one. but again alrl again cooversalions among artists are replete u'ith mention ofthe tranquillitl achieved through the time-consuming tasks thc). engasc iu. Onc long-tem prisoner. J-R-. illuslrates this point Njth a clearly poignant anecdote.

A number of autonomlrui _qroups in the United States and elsewhere adopted the ABC philoiLrph], in rhc 19S0's and began working on a number ofdiflerent issucs in prisons. ABC srrurs have sprung up almost everywhere on a decentralised basis, s,orkin_r rndependentlv or occasionally in conjuoction with other ABC groups.

People have been and continue to be srirched up. The cases of the Bimingham Six or the Guildford ,1 need no introduchon. The c:-ses of \,Iumia Abu Jamal or Mark Bamsley are poignant reminclers. Pnson :raristics to rhe United States alone shows the racist bias towards individual s o l' c rhnic orisin. These people need a voice and are often denied it by thc state. lDdividuals \yririrs leLters of support are well received as several contriburors to this magazine can testifl.

injaiI for committing social "crimes", nor are they criminals, Some individuals have participated ir reactionary and revolutionary mofcrneuts at Yaruing levels: some in educational and commmity organizing, Prisoners are ofteD Dot

Lrtheri in clandcstine movemetrls often oonsidered terorist. All are incarceraled ts a re:ult of conscious political action, for crcaling resistarce, establishing and spearhcadin-u movements and reyolution... for making change. W'hile some rrar, tind the idea of supporling a 'tenorist' difhcult it is important to fully rnder:tand the motivation behind direct action while fully realising that many govemmcnls coutinue to be involved in state-sponsored lerorism al an intematronal lerrel. \\rhile :'ome poLitical deyialts are extremist, others are often labelled u'jth the terorist pin to subdue their activitl, or criminalize their political objectii,es.

Though some have a wider dehnition ofpolitical prisoners, we maintain that even if the definition was expandcd and widely accepted to include social prisoners of conscience, it needs to be clear that those prisoners who u'etrt to prison as a result ofpolitical action taken on the street would stjll demand our pdoity support. For rnol'ements to support other prisoners before we support the prisoners who haYe gone to pdson for building the very nrovements s-e no\\'participate in is backt'ards and criminal-

Belore vou understand the pol'er of his story t'ou need to klow a liLllc about the imposing persou from *'hom it conres, \\rhcn first conlrontcd by such a pou'erful figure one is imncdjaLcl,v srnrck b\,the massir,e red beard (grown during three years he spent in solitar) confltrencnt), the expalse of his broad chest (another indicator of Long hours passed in a bor rvhere push ups are your only exercise), and his e1,es. Dork and penetratirg, tbey leave orc with a

distincllyuneasysensatjon.asifthey little too irtetrtly.

lerestud)'irgthctobjectofjnteresta

"You knotL",he says,"l cume ta lhis joint telling mf;eA'l wqsn't going to tloct t nten t m) s lal || ilh mqt ks ott a tq l l, ot mv dqt v ith X' J cttt o cul endo r, contling hrick. For u wltile there I thought I B1.tt I got to tcll )'ct mctn, I ""tarled vas goitlg lo hdi'e to Lla somalhing, tou knov', do someone. Tlrcn I hookecl up *ith tha urts uncl crctJis utcut' lte'told me I ought to tlratt apicture ofmt, cell, l,otr knov', drott lltose tnlls, iil.l dt thdl poinl I was v'[lling lo tn anvthing. So I

tJrev'emandlkeplth-atting,itnil

nan,thosevall.'ain'lbolheredmesince!"

These experiences are clearl.r c\ceptiol1al. but what is lrue for C.Z. and J-R. is sometimcs 10 a Iesser degree reahserl bl many creative prisolers. and T sometinres rvonder ifnol b1' all crer tir e persons. Each time \\,e create. or enjo\ another's crealion. wc hrat ourselves ro a :ession ol therapr' lbr the soul. a piece ofspiritua] cand), to be sucked and se\'oured. For even notr'. as T u'rirc

and listen to the 'knit-knit-knit' ofneetlles clappinu time. I Krorv that tlrough a'llliire Christmq-r 'u'ith loved -v-ear erperience

not this year, I too will some ones,

Anarchist Black Cross

By Robin D. Hood People have taketr direct action against rhe injustices o1 tyrannical regirnes throughoul the centuries and have fonnd thenrseh es in prison as a result.

Others have bcen imprisoned b,v that fancy colloquial tem. tle 'misuaniage of justice'. ln both cascs individuals carr find themselves at the merc,v olthe albremcntiored rcgimes rvhile their fanrilies and loved ones may be suflering on thc outsidc. The Anarchist Black Cross \yorks to support these prisoners by highlighting their cases r nd exposi n-u inj u:-ticc or i n a nunrbcr of other v'a.vsThe beginnings ofthe Black Cross datc back to prc-r*'oJutionary Russia. The rrgrnisation was originally established as lhe ,{narchist Red Cross io Tsarist R.u:sia arornd 1905, to orgarize aid lor political prisoners and theil fanrilies as t.ell as organizing self-defence against political raids bv the Cossack amy. As rivil l,ar broke out in Russia, the name changed to the Anarchist Black Cross ir, avoid confusion with the IntematioraI Red Cross. also organizing reliefin

Both these addresses will provide links to ABC groups in other countries:

UK: ABC, P.O. Box 74, Brighton, BNI 4ZQ,UK - brightonabc.org.uk US: ABC-Network- www.anarchistblackcross.org

preaching to the converted? Ifsmiety can be changed isn't it about getting the ideas out further thm that by tryiag new foms of muic as u'ell 6 breaking away ftom the stranglehold of well-trodden fomulas?

Slete: Tltt:re',s alw^)s hcetj o Jt,lre c ol 'lra.tchifi.q lo the (:onrerle(l' dhout \\ lltt manj; of the olher bottls intolrcti iti rht' gdu'e tlo Bul .rot1le bands, oalselr,es inc:ltrded, till rry- to reoch Llilferent ilta; of ntr:ic and plq)ing I ith dillerant q,pes oj bands, atd I ha I v a1 broctclett i n g t c' to' torget Ludien( e ll'.t cttnozing thal;ometime,s people perceit'e rhis lo he'\.lliilg oltt'the notâ&#x201A;Źmcnt . . ../uck the litcking idiots ...1voulcl rarhet plal in li'ont offifty people lhor hatln't seen ut before than two huntlred people rltdt had.....-

te tttd

Lost Cherree: refinred in 2003 afler an almost 20 year hialus TIte group ongrfi3[\ appeared in the early 1980's UK anarchist punk scene under the frff.' rri Z\ cloo C but soou changed the name to Lost Cheflees alier rhe band esteblishcd a steady line-up and got some material together, hr I 9E2 the,y recorded their first six track demo and played in public for the first time. After some further line-up changes the group started to find their *ay and recorded a second demo. The fol)owing year they did a serics of gigs \ ith thc band Riot Clone and released their first record "No Ll'.n \o Trotthle ,\'o.ly'.rre" on Rrot Clone Records. Musically the band steered ari a\' ltom rlre bog :tandard t1u:e chord ttuash ofthe times and attempted Lo be nrore nrelod\-orientltad ard experimental uhile rhc Jyrics dcalt questiotritrgl\' riith thc politics ofrhe da,v in morc tcasoned vay than many other gronps ofthe perlod rvho tended to imitate the ideas ofCrass, and later Conflict By' I98.1 the band bad er.oNed into a 7 plece outfit with Sian on Yocals. Bev on \ocals. Debbie on r.ocals, Andy on guitar, Steve on Bass, \uts on drums, and Gail on keyboards. 1 was intereslcd to find out what Lost Chenees \vere up trowadays to so I got in contact with the band and foruld tltem ro be \eD,open and \yilh pLenty to sara

te

ttse bra.;s, keyboards, or acou,\lic or percussion insh'unenls il's us on as musiciqns il's nol q tqctic designe.l lo in.li I trote mdinslrcon mediut ... though il by developing a more broad range of iltu\l a .\ â&#x201A;Ź .tad u ire net'. li sreners. vho then go on b have lhoughls ne\| lo lhem ont hat itg ir.'rri,r ,r;r: ir ;'iir L4f re hove achievecl somelhing, Il's ohLats loid :.) rtJ( ii iri:' rJ/i J;r,, f,.ril;: rr ing out new lhings.

Llhen

realh onb becdu\e il lurns

\

i

\

B2F; Lost Cherees have always had a srong feminist slant in the lyrics and there have been a nmber of wometr in the band especially in the etrly years, Do you think women ae mistrated or Eisuderstood h the punk movement?

Is there a particulil philosophy oD this rhat -vou put fovard, such as Third Wave Feminism?

Stae: I don't really btow if woma te mistmled or mlswderstood wilhin lhe movement nol reolly in a position lo say. The only philosoph' ue prul fomrd is ore of equlity.

Ba:

The

pmk

mvmt h6 olwoys been 80/20 nale/fwla wybe lqs. I nilq bea mistrqted - hod the odd rclple lellitg ot me to but I un pretty much give u good c I gel I t*it*rom in

won'l say I hne get my tits out

punk are quite strong charocters qnd won't lqke thd shil- Wha rc hoe written about hre been lack of raputfor woma in gwal, rct jwt relded to the punk scene B2F: Does voting change anlthing? Ifthe 40% ofpeople who don't vote did it would swing the balance ofpower. Ifa radical party existed they could ger in; or is politics ultimately compt? What altematives to sr-stems of goYmme-e do you foresee?

Sincc gclting back together wilh a core rucleus ofthe original band (Bev, Steve, Andy and Nuts) Lost Cherrees have rclcased a compilation CD of their carl.v vinyl work"ln the Beginzirrg" and some new u,ork on the EP's"Arutther Bila oflhe Cherrees" and"Fcther;4Justi.'e". At ihc limc the inlerlieu,took place they rvere putting the final touches to their latest alhtrm. I staflcd by asking about the Fathcrs fbr Jusrice Campaigr, whjch had been ir the UK ne* s receutly follou,ing a publicity shrnt thar invoh,ed some pou der being thro$11 al Tooy Blair in the House of Clommons at the height of the anrlrrax scare \\ h.-n alJ poNdery substances s,ere potcntial \yeapons ofmass dcstluctior.

Bev: I sntggle with this one, I am conscious of the J'acr that iomen died lo give me the right ta rote and thqt there are monj' dictolorships in the world where people are still dying lor thal right Howa o I don't bel ieve il would ever change anything, they'll say alkorls lo get roted in then do just whqterer lhey like anyway I voted in the last election pwely because ifthe Tories gol in they would overtum the ban on hunling. I don't think ow s1'stem b right, I couldn't vote Green for example because there was no Greq cqdidale in mt qreq. I think I tumed up and walked away many times before lfirull'rent in Wat made me do it in the end was the fear thal the Tories would jul pip it . hunling would resume and I would hate myselffor not just walking in, Picking up a pencil and making a mark on a piece of paper Welher this 116 right or wrong I don't lotow but a fox's life was more important to me thqn try principles remaining intacl. One of them wqs gonna get in md the1"d all hoe taken us to war the NHS, blah blqh blah, but onl, one of them had q

fucked

chance of banning hunting. Wltether that ban gets enforced erery one ofus to take rdponsibility?

was recently inr.olved in the Fathers 4 Justice Campaign (r'ww.fathers-4-jusice.org) Can you telJ me a littlc more about the campaigo and how vou got involved? \\rhat is happening uith tIe campaign righr

now?

Sleve' Fathers 4 Justice i: o tloilrioleill direcl ctclion group detlit'ctted lo bringitt.q aboul chonges in LIK /hmilt- lon through peuce{ul detnonslr.)liot1 ttncl hi_ghlnlilt' sllttlls, dinle.l at r.titing ptrblic owareness. The band got inyolyed lhrough ntc bcing q member and activisl for F4J The campaign i! u)nliniling and u,ill do so unrti tlte law; are thonged.

According to the Lost Cheuecs rvcb site, the baLrd has l,ithdrarvn their single and suppoft for this cause, While they still supporl the origina) etLros ofthe group tJrey cannot abide tllc attiludc ofsome ofthe other people involved. For more details on this deveJopmenl chcck oul Lheir \\,cbsite. hsted belo\\.

-B2f: On one ofyour records, "Unwqntetl Childt er". from a ttu lears back you used a brass section. Do you think it is necessary tbr punk to deh e into re\\ instrumcntation, forms ofmtrsic and ideas rather thau rehashing the satnr olcl "stale caftoon"?

Sleye: h 's nal sh'icll\, n.ce\-\.111,' to ttse dilJbrent instrument,t qnd types of wttsir: y'e have done so bccttuse il inlerelt\ tLs to tlo,;o. Il sttit; soue boncls tct

ln, new lhings

untl

not

-so

nuch others

B2F: But uouldn't you say thal thc same old prLnk formula rvill only rnsprre the samc old punlt minds and in that rvav punk becomes nothjDg lcss thar

.\t

.

il's down to

beliqe lhqt voting has, will or could ever change anything. I have nner voted, I nqer will- Any tiable altemotive lo the cufrenL age-old system would require absolule respect on all levels andfrom *erybody. As this seeru impossible, no governmenl remains a dreom. To hold lhal drean, with a sincere and genuine passion is lhe frst slep towqds thal Steve: I personally do not

reality.

B2F: Lost Chcrrees

.

3lF:

You'r,e heard ofPunkroter (www.punkvoter.org) in the US? Although didn't change the outcomc and lhat asshole clown got back in, it did r:1 iticise the youth in certain parts of the US. Because pol itics and govemment i: boring and compt it mandges to distance itself from the rest of us but it is !his distance lhat allo\s thenr to gel away with murder. As people are nol lnterested in politics it seems they are easily swayed by consumerism and :* allow what they are told, Surely change will only come about lhrough politicisation and that may mean using whatever \ve have at our disposal. \ioting changes nothing as does not loting. What is lhe alternative. in your ,-!r;!

eves?

82F: In some of l our llrics you talk aboul tbe ideas that get pur inro children's heads bur don't you feel that children need to know $,here the borders lie in life? I m talking in rems ofwbat is right and srong, I know some parents that have never shouted at or scolded their children ard thcv are resultantly kids who think they cao get au'av \\ irh En\'rhing? What are your ideas on thrs?

Stew: I think thor pqretir: :hould bring their children up vith lote and re5pect, to loye and respecl- .\'o ret (tltrrionar'. riteori;s here . bLt I lhink lhat children carry their parent's baggage muclt nore thdn \\! hit)\\ ar cqre to dccept. Life's pressures cqn weiglllLtr too heoty on lhe minds ofour ciiiLit't'il il-\..'e are not care/ul.

B2F: Horv did you lccl rega dinu rh: er err: rrl 9 ! 1 and what followed? Do you think thar acts of terodsm are jusiifi ablclr Steve: Utlerly shocked, to this day Acts ofthat nature can n*er bejustifi.ed. That hwing been sqid, lhe act oflerrorism subsequently inJlicted on the people of lraq, like so many acts on so many nations before, cqnnol be justifed either. tha1, do you feel that solte animal rqhts acti\ists have laken things too far and u,her'e do you draw the line?

B2F: Follou'ing on from

5tete Ettrente prohlems call fbr ettreme \al1thotl\ Ottcc stepped lbrtcn'tl this t'etuldn't eyen bt: qn isyue by nott.

ogctin tlnugh. ifenou,qh people

BIF: But do rou think

lhen that it's acceptable to attack and caurse people ham in the name of anirral liberation and if it is, docs it nol a! ienate the maj oritl who are probably auainst ;Lrch tecticsl What do you mean by extreme measures?

.\lerc P.,r\onolh', I

tlo nol deem it oc:c eploble to horfi ollle1.\ tn lhe rutnte of qnimul liLterttion or fbr an: olher rett,run outside ofsell delbnce or the clefbncc of olhers

Sleve [t's not sa clifiicult to erilt outside ol the syslem q en i.l it's onlr in the moin. It's about pet'stttql honttlqries and slandards I think people :houlcl occept thqt lo thungc thc \ \teni, y-ou could starl b1, tryitlg to u\â&#x201A;Ź i to )n1n otrn qdrantoge. Esploit the rules /hal benefil breqk the an?\ thot dan'l '-otr, The defiuition ofpolitics has been grossly misquoted loo Personul or social politi(:s alfcct us all ond are impctrtanl beyond words. Politit's in itsel'l i; nor hctring or bod, Pqrty-politics i:, bul thol only lrub moke-s ttp u minule fi'action of the politic.\ which alJbct us dll dail,-. as Got'ernmenl goes, people undereslimol. rh.ir ottn ahilily to hring this. Toke rhe exumple of the Anli-War change, apathy plays o hig pdrt morch happened in Lonclonjusl prior lo the lraq intasion, million London in ?rotesl ogainsl o lteoltlc ,4 MILLION!!!, take ta the.ttreet.\

Asfor

tith

rhich

lbrthcoming conflicl....

al

q

of

llle poitlt. i/'rhose people, or eten hal/ oJ then hud

deci.ledlofollolt'lhroughuiththeirprotesl

dn.l tt'ul:, demandthqttherebeno

y,ho wottld hqve stopped thetn. tlte fet thousond police?? no fucking u'c4- .. .lhol dtr, lhe var cou ld ltet e becn slopped and the face o./ British Gorernnent qnd world politic s tttuld\e been c:hanged frtreter.,....btrl tto, they

*or,

ried their bunnars und chqnled thei slogans,.-,.lhen homefor lheir le.o,. qrul vht,).,..betouse they qre qll pacilists?? ..bollocks...it's ahto\,.\ â&#x201A;Źq,\ter lo do nolhing, lo slq tefe, lo put t'otn'.:elf Jir.:t ond go hone to )Dur .\of'e liltle erislence The re dre w.tvs lo change things, bul il de?end,\ on toli.lorit)", socri/ice ond determinqlion ....or ),orr totld leuye il utllil lomato\,und vyatch the TV tonight instettd...

But equally, I qccepl lJldl soma do h',s mt, hotndqn, qnd I am rcspettful rltat olhers haye lheir o\|n personal limils, Extreme measures are quonlfied by qn|thing on individual or group it preporetl to do qnd ac'tion is not lokenisftl, it can antl hqs v'orked through history. From EmeLine PankhursL, Mqrtin I tther king. Gandhi etc il lokes hugc persondl )-ocrirtce qnd itnnense slrength, but is protcrt ro be an eflettite tnethod o.f protest,

BIF: \\

hat is the most important thing iD the world lor you right now?

Slete: Personally, myJamily and n_vlriends, same as eyer.

B2F: The bmd is working on

a

new album

-

would you like to say

a

few words about that?

Steve: The music on lhe new qlbum is better lhan before in lhat il's betler ployed, it's prodtrced hy Brian Trowers who has wry- quicklt'picked up on the sound ve are seeking lo qchieye and hqs helped immensely. Sorgrrlse. tre still write .tboltt issues which coilcern us Il's u gctocl punk rock qlbum, people who huve heurd il ure genuineb gelting excited qbout it Wc still lry afelN things on il, pu;h ct/ew botndaries. The massage ls still very mtrc:h there qnd lhe music slill mallers veD much to us I think people are gonna quite like it, The next one is half written ond so il goes on.--..

v,aved their 1'lag.t, uu

vent

tl2t-: Whet rr etc vou all up to betueen splitting up and reforming? Did you find vou drifted a\\ay iorn thc anarcho punk Lhing and got into fhmily/rvork,rother routincs? \Yhat r as it in the end that brought you back togetber?

Stevc' Yeah, v'tt'k, jumilies .-... got hock topelher cos we had ntore.slt.r/[to do ,..,.shoulcln't hot,e s:pLit in the-firsr pluce.

Bev, We had afew beers and thought it sounded afine idea!

B2F: Do you tbink it's true that part ofthe reasol why the anarcho punk movement has become a shadow of its fomer self is due to the idolization of the older bands at the expense ofthe new, or is it becaue the new bmds offer nothing new in tems of music md ideas?

nt

oltl

houtl.; tLet c gctotl, sctnte Slonte Stere: Ain'1 noliced ary iclolisotiott w'ere not so grttd... ..some bond: ure .!ooLl, sofi1e nol sa good. I lholk

neh

lhol onv bqnds, wt'iling, rehettr.sittg. reconling und gigging ne\: nqlcriul dre vnrth a /islen. The onl); di/.lbrence /griess lr rhot the oltl bonds hate songs that rentind people of time: gone b.v, betler tintcs, vJten il wos all so good lo

bea

pctrto/it,Whcnllistentomusic,il'sLtsiloll.y,older

slulJ,utlh.l'snolto

suy that I dott't listen to a lot o/ new, bund,s loo.

B2F: Do you lbllow any particular theory towards ohanging societ,v? Do you rhink that only riolent direct action can ultimately overlhrow thc overlords or i; this tactic coutrter-productjve'l Is nonviolent direct action merely tokenism .rn the other side oltlre coin?

Stct

e

l,hlenl direcl qction could chqnge things hul trn1, ancl thul's lbr the besl, becuuse \tho uoultl say u'hen enough wa; cnough...b.t

:,robabl.v

i)iit loitlt

it',\ riolent people dealing wilh violent people .,.it's a potentiall.v :.i1..)-\\ible s tudt on, and lorgely dependonl on qn individuals se{-control !l,r;-vtolent direcl qclion is nol lokenism, il can ctnd hqs worltecl through it:-,:,:,r. Fr<tnt Emeline Pankhursl, Martin Luther king, Gandhi etc it lakes huge t:,:.,ttol socrrfice qnd imflense slrength, btl is proven to be qn effeclive ni.

!tad

ol prolesl.

Lost Cherrees Photos courtesy ofSteve B2F: Do you think there has been a bit ofresurgence in anarcho-punk during the last few years or do you think that it's been slowly disappearing? Do you think that people who are into this path now have leamed from the mistakes made in the past or arc we all simply flogging a dead horse/largc slice oftofu?

Slete: Inlere\lit1g question, qnd also hard to answer It i! c:lear that there has been resurgence in anarc:ho punk, from lhe pe$pectiye of original anarcho bands rejbnning.,....however, it is olso fair lo sq) llrul, cerhinlf in the UK more thdn the continent, and the lewl ct/'new band: oppearing i" tlottll in decline.

I lhink we

hqve all leqrned lots, qnd lhat's called getling older....... but l'm not sure w'e olw,ot leorn ./lom our mistqkes .....sometimes it's fiu to mqke

mlstokes afier-all.--..bn I

fune,

this moverent (if

thi*

vg qs

lm ro compromke Wen all is said md 6wg it sill aisls) is o way of life and a

y.e 16

but also o mrical gare

srote of mind, come olong @d get ima the

lt's no big deal

if people just

impofiant relolutionary erent of rhe lOth cenhrrv because rt rr a:n'r prnicipeted in by a single demographic, sLtch as rvorkers or racial minorities, but \\,a! rather

wdnna

purely poputar uprising, superseding ethlic, cultural. age and class boundaries. a

wic- rha get up md go off to work the next

moming. s@e 6 ir's -fw lipopie lne in squats, grow reg, dress in black and qtote ruchLct lk*ature a people_.--. it's all good, be who the fuck you wanna be

qd

resrycr tha

orha *ill

Borcdom and alienation are the first signs of thc creation of a political racuunr this il tum causes the backlash- Altlrough the rebcllion in Paris rvas crushed its spirit has lived on. In October ard November of2005 riots eruptcd across France and neighbouring countries as disalfected Muslim yorLths rose up against police oppression and cultura] marginatization- Tt *'ould have been nice if they'd had some company lhis time round.

do the sme.

aLrd

I bn't thial moe i\ JToging a deqd horse.-...when you,re young you think yu're charying the torld--. . but just cos you get older it don,l mean you stop

wizg ahn ksuu

it's a very human thing.

..

B2F: So is m1'ofthe band involved in any other political activities outside fre bmd? What plm does the bmd have in the future?

ol

Stae: I am involved with Fathers 4 Justice qs an organiser and actiyist 6 splained earlier, At this present time, no other members ofthe band are actively campaigningfor any other politicol group, though we support many mrmal lfieration and othar polltically motivated groups lhrough bnefit gigs ond releases. One, the Dlrca laioa Arkangal henefit CD conpilation hisjust been rcleared \,ilh the Cherrees track Nou'Shoving, on it. lt,t a gredt CD album and a just cause, so look it up and buy it! (w.arkangelweb.org).

HOW EIEHT

IO!

ABI

EOI]H5I. EULIUFE 5

BOD].5

THE OEAL C]VHOO TT THE ONE

TO 5TEAL EUEEY-

EIFTHEICHT

-

WhIEH IELFS

5ELL ALL THE OTHEFi5.

NO XONDEE YO! YIANT

Future plans are lhe album 'Free to Speak...But Not To Question' which will probably be relemed on Mortarhate by the time this is printed. A DVD 'There Are No Fucking Rules' will follow soon afler, also on Mortqrhate.

U5

We start witing and recording lhe next album u soon as Bey,s throal problems are sorted. We are scheduled to play dates in Europe this year with planned gigs in Gemany, Italy, and Czech Republic. Later in 2006 we are playing afew datu on the West Cout of the US. We hne discused launching our ownrecord label in 2006 with a short series of compilation olburc. We are releasing the next ltd editionfree CD sampler in Juuory, which featur* some nw trqcks, There's a track'Reolise not Analyse' on the Stig tribute album, which is neuing readinas. Ye did aversion of 'Safe Eworym Home. on the Mortqrhate Strummer tribute, which we recorded ov* a yw ago- We hwe a CD-R of the CBGB gig, nailablefrom the website md at gigs soon- It moy be a double CD set with the liye DI.D of the same show depading on production costs. We haye q nffi website being built as we speak which will be up and running shorlly There's other stuff loo, bul more news as we have it.

'Wotftizg'Nery"

-

ALLrc G!

FOR

]T

wtt to! car4l T}T INPPE.6AAf

q qcD'rr 5

Tlt *orld

srrs

m

tir-s

bndi raj

i.rl;ir anbnld f.-r.mss

rr t.-.

rrfFie ii i!

this eurior's bel:ei that -crs irarplc a fu qoriJ ur slanl FEr?l. rn iur ther qtal to !:i m wrth rbcs' lrlcs TLs rcrctcablr ii-ryp;i:lm nr6h :)s Ju-q imlude tbat teoea& rhi( siffial gudrs [a m a-srr,sru lry &ft_ ! dermrdmg of tb* rmposrbir iilou lilc,

Ihrs ,ieruc i: nelat:,j t,v ;h; .i ir::iol. iL: sar-ti.:!:- or';r :r.4* tfr q:-. olour lires are osneJ l,\'ih. !-rt!!iniat, lli sd cr:lc:lr rr:n:n

rh.:

best y-cars

something that \ye must purcha:-e in arG:i ilt:-1: a:l rri !i-t a;e i*:je;rirrj teLevision and our core condirir.nLn: crttre iitri b,:rr ir r ie hvpermarket where everything. I me :r :r':r-rritrlq. tl { 91.: 1*: ri;li.- :o purchase, to be the celebriN-, to ou.n rh: h:ur:, n,tr4 rL:,-,.;. io i-,: r,-r iir: u'inning leam, to be the superstar, to \\.:3r;l!. ,jrt= to rur iii: (-t!.rr aod 1n these dark vaults ou orvn lives and alI rr:ii ro::iirdi,::: i.:i,].ii ihadows.

Demo recordings on Bluurg Records

wilh

"No Fighting No lVar No Trouble No More" EP on Riot Clone 'A Man's Duly A ll/oman's Place" EP on Mortarhate Records

*All Part otGruwing Up" LP on Fight Back Records "Unwanted Children" EP on Mortarhate Records "1n tfte EeginarhC' CD on Mortarhate (2003 Compilatioa)

"Another Bite of the Cheryees" EP on A\temativeRecords " Fathers 4 luslice" EP on F4J Records

CANSEE IS THINGS AND THEIR PRICE..,

"Free to Ask but Not to Questiott " CD on Mortarhate (2006) These recordings and other info about the band are available

EEE

ftom

wwlY.lostcherrees.com

Be Rea/istic: Expect the Probable

By D.Fleskwater One ol the slogans daubed on Pari sian u,alls in the anarchist uprising of L 9t'S was"Be reuli.rtic demond the impos,;ible", This gral'1iti rvas in respect of Situationist thought rvhich was populrr amons artists and students at the time and uas one ofthe key ingredienis in the first prurk explosion of 1976.

Boredom and aljetration exist on the mass :cale_ Th: ri tl i ti. l;r bevond the spectacle is there bul is gift-u,rapped in the ribbrrn! .ri c..;r.:I.r:ris[ The wicked fairy Queen has dusted us rvith banaliq.: rhe Lor.i .rI ihe Wrongs has bound us to his ringpiece. \\/e are squeezed onto rhe durv he:rp.

We must be realistic and erpect that rlte bubblirs or er u rll :oon begin, the frothing aod loaming tidc of urrest rvil L iucr itablr nrake i t: course through histon'. Ts iL goodness rhat holds it all back:) asj dc e ren rhrng, become the director of Lhe situatiotr, steal the worldAlreadv r,ou rr I [[ hale said to yourself that rcvolution is a dream and an illrLsiol. Goodv tivo shoes, click those heals twice low.,.

Pur

Nlaybe it is possibLc to get under thc skir of societl, and slowly inltcr it s irir possiblJitl. To do so requires rapid nrolemcnr before a price tag crn L-< F!!:..: around yotu neck and you becorue a series ofrontines surrouncled bl Lillnccc\iirn lrou.ehold iterrrs. Ouick bo1r. quick...

The consequerces ofaction and inaction u,ill one dav become D..: !nr.*-(-ni than obscrvations of the weather. We are all good people urder:;.:'r rh: wrapping, just led astray, but why should we be patronised cl ihi: condescending diatribe; why should we see through rhc -rl:r:ii:,:l: q-rh ru i+ .:,r on another meny soug and daoce doM another gardel p;rit. riil ;al'r ut ,z left alone to row ou boats gently down the strea[

Other slogans tncluded"Dqre to Dream","No replastering: the Structurc is and the aboye ''Aboli.yh Alien WorE' and u ere inspired by the work of Raoul Vanegeinr and Guy Dubord tmong others but all in all it u.as anothcr rallying call to arns u,hich rcsulted in rebellion. ln NIa1, 1968 a general insunection broke out across France. lt quickly gained motncntum and staded to teach uear-rcvolutionary proportions before being discouraged bv the French Communist Part1.. and 1inallv supprcssed bv the govemment who accused the CoDmunists ofplorting the dosllall ofthe Frcnch Republic.

Sone comrrentators halc argued thar the rebellion s,as the single most

rotlen"

Nihilists

10

one more el-foft

if we

are to be

revolurir.r:r-

Static Bursts

"Hello.lriend! Sick ofsocien? Depressed by democrocy? Well rou're got it a whole lol better thctn these /blks! Oyer lhe nexl hour we'll be shoting t'ou clips ofvarious repeor o{fenclers undergoing humilioting lorture infa.scisr and communisl regitnes of lhe )olh Century. See ya later! "

By Neil Smyth

WATCE TT/11'.1TCH IT/II',ITCH IT,4YATCH IT/WATCH

IT

I arvoke to static. I bangcd my head against the side ofthe bed. That usually soded it out. Cheap.junk - who needed it?

Now I can ner,er be alone. I l'alk into an empty room and he's there. Selling mc this, telljng me that. ruLins mv lile and I can never be rid of him. I cannot resist the allure of eren the simples r of his products. I am addicted to I 0 1 different drugs. I shop ar the Supemarket one day. the Hardware store the next, I haye no control. I dol't dream,1 rvatcl T\r rrith mr. eyes shut.

I stretched and crawled out of bed. The pillows and bedclothes tumbled out u'ith me and unto the floor. T'd clean them a*ay later I kidded myself. I had a :plitting headache. It felt like a thousaud red aDls crarvling across my frontal lobes. Eyestrain.

Some day I think he's real. I talk to hirn. I can'r help nrrselt' He s got me so drugged up I hallucinate. I see bim in his loud, checked shin: his huge white couboy hat; speaking in his drau'ling American accent, He is seemingly unaware ofthe whispering lies that always accompauicd him, and I imaginc sbaking him wamly by the neck,

shavc bur the razor kept getting caught in the wires and I didn't want ro cul them. I daren't evel *,atsh that moming, as I was afraid I might cause a

I tried to sho11

circuit.

looked out of the u'indorv. Thc cathedral spire jutted up torrards the sky, a ofold and neu' I reflected. Ivy grew up al its peak but satellites and aerials masked the r'ery top. We had once called this place Chichesler, but as one ofthe very ferv sites left u,ith any historical monumcrt (rrost had been demolished and replaced u,ith stark skyscrapers and bland pvlonj) it had picked up tbe name Cothcdral City, T

"Hello Fricndl NeeLl a liltle prolet:lion? Tltink t,ou hear people on the stoi-s? and lriend.tl Ganha Magnunt 407! Sixlcen inches o.f solid pott'er! hn'll noer be afiaid ugain! See vd loter!"

BY MAGNLIM 407/BUY MAGNL,M 407/8UY MAGNL.M 407 I picked up my Magnum 407. I loaded it. I hetd it steadily to my right eye. Hc unred and Iooked at me. Soon he'd be nothing more than a vanishing rvhite

strange mix

With a sigh I gave up and slouched back into thc comfy chair. I could dial

llorried the,-'ll gel/amily

1or

dot-

breakfast later on"See ya laterl" I said

"Hello friend! Do 1,ou hotte trouble ge.tting out ofbed in the morning? Those early-in-the day blue.s gatting 1,ou dotnt? Then yott need PEP's! Proqctive Endo Proleins huttLe qll httttv'ltar PEP's reall-t tneans, don'lwe? PEP's neans QLALITY! Take PEP 's once o clur and vou'l I never ha,e o had morning

egqin

BUY

See ))0

P E PS/B

lqler!

UY

PE

'

PS/ B

LI

I'

P E P SIE

LiY

P E

PS/B UY PE PS

The monotolous ads l ere comiofiing- Sonre days I'd iust sit back and u'atch the flickering.el lrom darrf to dusk. I Nondered Bhy there *ere so many people though. Sonletitrres I thou_rht rher. simplv abolished programs bccause people had such short conccr[atior sp:nr. [ \'as one ofthe ferl u'ho could still remcmber the golden agc of teler.ision: I remember my- father hadiust bought a cable TV and was u,atchiug the Shoilper's Channel. ",\ chamel of adverts", he said, "Who'd want to walch that'l* Bur nLrl there s'as a natjon glued to a thousand channels ofadverts. Perhaps rr'e \\'era itr:l \\'aitins for tlle next program to comc on I thought jt unliklll'.

"Hello Frie nd! Is your life ctnc lcrrig .a':-.i liii r,ii.:isitnce? Do vou have ni-:it;tt0res uboul ttork, rett ctrttl pltt'l ll aii r"a)1'. t1o ntore! Toke Sh'ess-Free !\ tai- . '.ri.ek .tn.l bunish lhose bother: .i',t,it t'ctt, liJr -lbrc\'er - See \,o lqter! " B{I} STXE.'S--FR EE/BUY STRESS.FRE E/B LI )' S I R E SS I popped a pilt. Somc days

T

wondered hLr$'

l'.i :ur'iYl wilhout

took evew day, Vitamins in the moming. PEP':

*,cnirg, -[

a

:rI

all the tablets I bre:k1ait, Stress-Free in the

sleeping pill before bed.

smiled, a rvam rush of relief aud happiness s\\'.pl or'.r

rr.

ar the drug took

cl'l'ect.. I u,alked over to lhe windou,again- In mf induced calm I sarr'a cool breeze blowing a Icafdorvn an empB, street. The perfccL uorld - no cnme. no littcr, rro people. because the human race is sat walching television-

"Hello and

Friod!

"-crve

,1,,ri.,n t

You neecl a sh'ong healthy goternntenl one lhdl t1,ill prolecl t,ott. Thql goternmenl is the Jacob Nqlionql Pqt\,, Al the next .r, J\P .\.e \n l,tt"r"

VOTE JNP/I/OTE

J\P/'/OTE JNP/',/OTE JNP,'I/OTE JNP

Reflections on Sumuel Beckett

It s,as created in 20,13- The \tega Chamel. They promised a huge infomation network to scrve the people: they ga\'e us HELL I I was one ofthe first. My parents died rvhen I \\'as about ten and I was put in an orphanage. Five years Iater, mer ir black coats came ard took me a\\'av, Tlev rerroved my right eye, they said I l'as to be lhe tL:t ..f a ne\\' generatjon. The\' said they were goitrg to belp ne. HE said I s'r: r.r b< like hi:- :or. toie\tr tied in a link few rvould be able to achieve. Ther'put ih: trlcli:lor ir:ide rv head.

B-v Rob Colson '\Uhr,31s lou reading Samuel Beckett?" is a question I was askcd rccently bv m\r Tlatmate. Ar the time. I could come up wilh no better ans*'er lhan "Because t teel like doing it, there is no reason." Why js it that I read Beckett, Joyce and Sartre rather than Alislair Maclean or Joanna Trollope? What is my reason for reading g other than enjoyment? Who do anything for any reason other than

"Hello Friend! Let vourjttstration otri- IJttirrh!:t,trnri ol'tnerai agttittst ntetal

It'sa'Clasho[lheTitans'undonlyonrrr,,, cont.'outolile.Sarisj,l'evu /or blood ond wotclt Robo-ll/reslling. It'\ a kiLlcr Scc ta ldter! ' WA TC H

R OB

1r,t,

O-WR ES T LI NG/WA T C H RO B O,1I'/1 TC H

enjoyment'?

It was not aD ordinary television- Pictures \\'ert sent bolh u,ays. While I saw drivel, they read my rlind. Deep in some undergronnd Iaboratory someone was analysing my thoughts and seDding mc programs and adverts of interesl (they

When we are bom, the world is an as yet unexamined mysrery. utich leads to the child's tamiliar scream of WHY? at every twist and tum of it's young life.

People grow up, get jobs, get religion, and no longer have the time nor

lhought) to me.

inclination to use this most magical of words ir rheir Iir,es, I{'frr, is the mosr important and dillicult word ofall. Use ir too often and you rurl out oi answers and have to embark upon a course of discovery yourself. You can never find the ansrver of course, for the ultirnate ansrvers are beyond our reach. The realisation and true understanding ofthis fact alonc makes thcjoumc) towards its cliscoyery worthwhile. -A.nd herein Lies part of lhc arswer to my flatmate's question: I have come to undersund lhc arbitrarv naiure olall human inslitulions ald indeed o1'lil'c itseli thc house in which we all dsell was built lithout foundations and remains intact only through the collective force ol suspended disbelief. T also spent a great deal oltime living this state olrrind. living a non-reflective actire life of rvork, study. enjoyment, relatjonships. enjoymenL. and the like, T have rever 1ost, however, the child's sense of \onder and mystery nor the child's thirst tbr answers, For llris, ultirnatcl),, is

flel lo I riend! Feeling bitttt' uhctrl a racenl breok up rLilh a friend, or a diyorce? Heck, y,e've ull heen there! fcttr lhink no-one cores, right? llell, ,r'ou're vtrcng! L|/e t:are ! Tltat s rlt.t'ttte o'eqlt,d the neu, drug Painutral,. No more tedr.t before hecllimc vith lhi.\ litlle Ieltot,, One sip cran lhree hours qnd "

),Lttt'll ltavelrn'gollen all abotl it! Seeto larerl'' B UY PA NA WAY/B UY PA INA IIA Y/ B LII PA I N II A I /B

T]

Y PA

IN

I rvoke up crying alter thc operation. I remember that. They wotrldu't lel me look in thc minor, said I wasn't read1. But T could feel the cold steel and copper mask wcigh heavily on m), face.

'What hare you donc to me']" I crjed after the men in black coats.

"We'vc given you a little friend", rbey replied as the,v walked out of

the room.

ll

sbat makes u comcious beings: the ability to reflect upon existence and to comtruct a philosophy to mderpil ou actions md opinions. rng reaihec :l:r. : : l::, ttt ::;:::r ei arrnscioLrsness! and not har rug :racumbed r! :a: . - : :-i,i :::t: s :i::r har ;I of refuge, namely organised rtlrcion rhe:e :! i- : ta-: ::t :: :raa:ad olher than foruard I have accepted ii;rr rl:rc Ma : : :! - ::. .-: :ti+ els io $hy even slrive for them? The ansu er

By Jim Cunningham If you condescend to

see what is abor e you: or if 1,ou look h igh to gaze dou'n on wbat lies beneath; then you ma) flounder upor a flring thal is not there We must svaLlow our u,ords when we say \\,e know nothing, as to sa), it, means we kno\r, something Thus lakc hced wbcn the intuitir e rather than thc rcasoned nvists and tums, vhen naivety groans and reaches like a l,eed to strangle us.

irl:h:::::ri:r.:::: :trr'i.trseasr;itisnotthearivalthatisjmportantbLLt lri r :-:. l': . ;:r :::--: i re applied to life itsclland rhe applicatioo ofnv :. 'i:::: :: :::: :::.,::tcle questions is simply an engagernent with the ::: ::;r: :-: ;. ;.,;;3i:gx of rhc world of ideas which could happily keep me ::.::::: :.-: i.rr,, Lrierimes rvithout a single second's boredom along the u,ay r:ri,:: , 1.. i..{,si. 3nd it is a choice. to cut themselves offfrom the rvorld of :a;:: rr rie Lr aduLt lives, to instead pursue transient enjoyment and extemal .irmrli - rhose \ ho read Maclean or Trollope, those who do not read al all

Today confidence in humanity fails and some reach for all rhat is not human. ln lhe'non' . a baby wails and sulphurous e-ves 1eer, creeping to*ard, intent to gorge on its ror-non-flesh - u,hilst miniscuJe ja*s nibble upon its skin. The non is 'what is nol', compassion and cruehy- are meaningless In couftyards and moton'a).s 'rvhat is' flourishes Through a uindowpane I can drcam ofwhat is be;-ond, but also by its de1'ensive transparency I can relish my kind or despise it The prir.ilege is mine Share oot only in thoughts about the nor as words only lrip y,ou: P or not P, humanity or nature, all ualls we must de scend or climb; honour thy father and mother, kill god ifthy see him in the market place all roguish whispers we must decide upotr

rl,es< aie rhe people u,ho are bored They are model citizens ofmodem society,

ioniumersofthespeotatorsocietyandtheunu.ittingvictimsofit

Flux & the Teapot

The

]:r

Thatlrefuse

to be a \ rctim, to be passive, is misinterpreted by some as morbid - the 'angry r oung man' - nothing could be further from the rruth The seemingly

lmpenetrable jungle ofunanswerable parado\es that life seetls to create can indeed preoccupy me and 'get me dom', and this is *,hy I rvrite. I am a producer. not a consumer! in the dialectic ol lile: ideas occur io me tvhich I find it dilficult to convey in conversation u irhout causing offence so I write them down. Others paint, scuJpl, make fiLms. I ri rite: u1timatel1, we are all a product of the same pfocess The Argenrinean u rirer. Jorge Luis Borges, said that metaphysics was the only subiect \\ orth studr rng. on the lace of it an easy enough concepl to understand To trulr urdersrand rt ho\ er er. requires lhe rcader to follow Borges' Iine ofthrnkine ro rhrnk r rhc rr ar he thoucht u,hen }e a[ived at this simple statement simp]e \3r :nrrhrng bur easr It is the onJy subject worth studying because n is rhe onh rLL'c;:cr rrk the quastio[ ]rr_r, euough times and you will find it. .{nd. to r:ir.:l.i rr :-r rhe eramination ofthe question. not the ansr er that is * onhu hile Tij: e\:tru1:;1Lrn r: callcd an

Watching the sea in the cinema or by the sands, it still splashes.

"Excttse me", I said to the bald giant in front ofme, "could vort n1o) â&#x201A;Ź \ tttt egg , I mean head, so I mqv see yhqt is reaL?"

My lip bted after his hst cmbafiassment See

-

had licked it but pain did oot follo\\. onl\ obYiouslv tom flesh rvas not its antecedent

how l'ords trip you? Think ofhaving a cup [ather ofall that is meaninqful:

'Custonr'

If others are happl lir ins thcrr Iir es a: rher do. rh;r i llr rLa t:: t:rirrl r. u,ish to challenge this I klc,w no more abour rhe uiiirr:i; qu::i:.a: :; .rl: :;:rn anyone: in fact the deeper T delr e. the more I come ro ii:lr!. -,r:::1. .r l:i r: r: that l. we. do not klol \1r ignorance is in1-omed aod I c:-..: :t..,. ; .. . l aspire to unintbmed ignorance hos er er attractir e r r ma\ :atm I n;.. :: r :i.cat his black-and-vhite sight bur nrine is a riorld olcolour The dar brru:e he wcnt'mad', Nietzsche urote to an adntirer of hts ri ork "You har e found me: the problcm now is how to lose me '' By this he meant that many of his thoughts had far from comfortable conscquences Nietzsche had explored the dialectic of life and come to mderstand as no other exaclly \.hat it was that he did not know. To follow in his footsteps retrcading the paths ofthought down which he has trodden will lead you to bis heightencd stale of awareoess and to 'lose' him requires you to tread furlher upon the deep virgin snows f thought within rvhich Lie deeper mderstandirrgs u,hich mal,help combat the unpleasantness ofNietzsche's conclusions. Again. there is onty one direction along which to proceed. You canuot hold back time and you caunot nnthink thoughts; the intelligent people camot will themselves into stupidity.

oftea nu1ur.. rr:1...

'lf:hite yith no :ugar" "You Moon black', said a cow over a high fence as he rushed by u'ith his school bag. Cutom laughed md poued the tea. Crash!l !!

'Oh thot bms, damn leapoll" he exclaimed.

"Mr X what hwe I told you aboul coming inlo

the kitchen

qea? " a wNda

cried.

Custom

* ittingll,

replied:

"Bilt ir's ttsuall.t there I'm leJi unnoticedl" In the ri_shteous individualistic comunity

the JLrker

custom is locked a*ay

as

he mocks their x eak minds The soul, the I, and our specral pou,ers suffer u ben he is free -qreati.v

You can, ofcouse, deny the question by whichever mems available, usually sense-nmbing drugs I must again stress that I m not passing my judgement here there is nothing wong with living in denial, I myself used to take drugs to switch offbut I have now decided to face the world with a clear head It is an essentially arbitrary decision, but not one that I regret. I acknowledge that I am in many ways privileged to afford the luury of such thought I am well aware that the majority ofpeople on the planet me too busy conceming themselves with the day-to-day busiless of suwival to bother with it. I make no apology for this I was bom in a rich society and as yet have no dependmts for whom I m responsible I accept no blame for a situation which was not one ofmy om makilg. Most people in ou 'developed' society are il the position to make the sme choice I hat.e mde but do not. Thev spend most of their lives in a fom of unconsciouness, are sltrpq,alkffi- rhen they die. I cbmse to explore my consciousness while I am able to- rhen I I'ill die, It is an artiuar] decision, but I Seek stimulm from x.ithin r r ell a $ithoul Tbi is shl I m interested in the work of those who have mdertakm simlajomel--s. I ul.h rc leam from them ways in which to develop myself: b.v follouing rler thrughl processes through, I cm progress along my path util I m prmted siri altematives. As yet much of my work is but a pale imitation of rhose $hom l admire, but by applyhg their ideas to my om life md my om mique imer world, I hope to fnd my om truths

Hou cr cr do I. that is I see my poinl? Share many hours u ith Custom \{r -\ sho['s me hori to detine ml,selfto lhe point uhere I disappear and inlo I]rc tl!\ I go. Your hearen and hell 1,ou will find in a teapot

J

As lar as enteftairrnent is concemed, ofcourse there is a place ibr rr ilt m\ ltle as rnuch as an,vbody else's There is a place for thc Alistair Nlaclean's ofthis $ orld; everyone, not the lcasl mo, enjoys a well-rol d story Nobody is ureatrr e all the timc, but everyone has the capacity for it: the Crnrs axiom that all creativity is worlhwhile and all cm be creative is a ralid one Sadly, as socrctl js sel up at the momenq a few are anointed creative and their uork may well be considcrcd more worthwhile than the u,eekend dabbling olanother purely because the rvork may be more developed and one individual may be more adepl at self-expression thall anolher A11 humans are not equal: se ha\ e different capacities and capabilities; yet alI children are creatir e but not all adults How is it that these children lose their appcLitc for cnquiry? Who do I read Sarluel Beckett? Why don't_rori read Samuel Beckett? \\rhv is it that his work and that ofother artists no longer interests you? Why are vou bored?

Why is a wonderflrl word.

a

'i'-

,1

.

r

ln the course of providing a full answer to my original question, I hale nol decided that my original answer is perleclly sulficient. I read Samuel BeckeLt bccause I am iDterested in whal he has to say T read it bccause I feel like it: I have witten this short article because I fell like writing it That is no reason and the best reason of all

Illustration b1 Paul \[cCulloush

ll

They don't heor the voice thqt comes from above,' they hear lhe torce that is can'iecl ta them b\) lhewindfrom below, avoice that is born in the Indigenous heart of the mounlqins. Thit roice speoks to thâ&#x201A;Źn about

Zapatista Red Alert!

By Zap.lre@h otmail.

co

justice andf'eedont: it speaks ta them about sociali,sm, aboul hope.-.the onlt, hope lhat exists rn rhe rorld. The oldest oJ'the old in lhe Indigenous' comtnuniliâ&#x201A;Źs \.n tltat thett once tas a man numed Zapala'|ho ro\e up \ith his people uncl sang ott, "LJttd dnd Freedom!" These old campesinos ld)'thdt Zapata didn't die. thdi )1. niii:i i;.tnt These old campesinos olso sct!- thul the wind and rhe ruin anJ rltL -;ro: t:!i tl;t :cmpesinos when b cultiyqte lhe l.tnd, \|hen lo planl and tt*err ra /;rriliri lia' :a'rhal hope is also planted ond hqryested. They qlsct sa1'rhtr ilt; r, irr.i ,r.,rl i/re rain qnd lhe sun are nou saying .something tlifJbrenl: lhat \ut11 \o niirt'it !:',-r:iL't. iht ritne has come to hqtae,\l rebellion insteod oJ'dedth. That r rr'iur rli rll irnr!.Lilrr rar'. The potterftl don'l hear; rhey con't hear, they cn'e dectlin;ti !.r il:t'h'ri/;rlln' thul the Empire

m

In 1910 Emiliano Zapata 1ed a detemined revolution against rhe US-backed dictatorship of Porfiro Diaz in Mexico bul a new refomist govement under Francisco Madera prored that rcgime change did nor make problems go arvay. \'[adera was deposed in I 9l 4 but in 191 9 Zapala was lured lo a meeting and gunned dowu

shoulsinlheirear;."Zoputo,"insist:tlttriti,i

iit;v.':lti.i'ontbelov,ourv,ind.

I{ov v'ill this ney,t'oic:e make it,;elfheord in rlit'se lqnds otid .t.ross the counlry? Hot'tvill this hidden wind blov , rltis t: tntl. v hic h nor blotts onlt' in lhe moLtnlditls and conyrnt v,i I houl ),el de\. etcling to the ro I let s tthere ntonet, rules and lie.s gotern? This wind will L:onte.1t-otn rhe tttounrttins. Ir i.s alreody heing born under the lrees and is contpiting fttr a rietr ttrt'ld, so nql lhal il iJ ttdreh' un inluilion in lhe colleclive heorl lhdt inspirc-\ it Et enpne is dreaming

in lhit counh! Nov, it

is

line lo troke up..

The storm is here. From the cla.th of these twtr wind.r lhe :tonr vi I I be horn, ils hos urritcd. Now the windJionr above rules, but lhe tincl-from belotv is

liile

coming,.,

Tierra y libertad (land and freedom) (Photo courtesl of www.zapatistas.org)

The prophecy is here, When lhe \brm t:alms, when roin and Jire again I eate lhe counltl in peace, the world will no longer be the world but somcthing

Zapata had been inspired br,anarchist ideals and his o\\n stru,sgle \l'as Io prove an inspiration to revolutionaD'nrr!ements botll ir \'lericit and intematiotellr ever since.

Although Mexico had a lon-s hrston' ol irternal :truggle the Zapatista rebcllion bad bcen crusbed by l920. In 1 96t a popular studcnt uprising was crushcd and the cause of thc dispossessed tcll liom the agenda of those in porver. In 1976 huge oil rcsen es u.ere discovered in Chiapas in southem Mexico, rvhich brought Mexico to thc attention of the supetpou,ers u'hose economics and national superioriry depend eltirely on oi1.

199,1 duc to irrther land eviclions the Largelv indi-ucnorLs population of irrrpas. under the name of EZLN staged a rebellion- The Zapatista Amy of \arronal Liberation seized power tluoushout Chiapas demanding thc refoms that Erriliaro Zapata had fought tbr so nralv vears belbre. The revolution coiocjded s-ith the Mexican gor ernfrenr': acceptirnce of thc North American Free Trade Agreencnt (NAFT,\) The \ \FT.\ lrcatv has been opposed since jts inoeptjon lor i ls multiple ab rL;ts rr f srtral I -scale economy-.

In C

a bloody battle and oler 100 deaLl r ccasefire las erentually callcd and the Zapatista sh-ongholds ri'crc and colrinue t,r be surrorLnded bv an esLiilaled third of Mexico's 17--5.000 strong sLate amvl

Atier

While land rttbm discussion cnsued betl een the EZLN and the Mexican consolidated their strongholds and began to ttg.rnisc -govemrre[t the Zapatistas on a conrnunity lsel establishing food supplics, medical and educaLiotal laci I itics. Their achie\,erncnts [rave been remarkable. tt is their use of the lntenlct thrt has made them intematiotrally renorrncd and they havc become perhops the rnost srLccessful example olu'eb communicatiun at a grass roots lcvel- The spread crf poJicies orthestrated by the WIO (Wodd Tradc Organisation), NAFTA, Lhe CE and the \\rorld Balk caused a backlash across the world and the anti-globali:aron nro\ ement \vas born. Thc antiglobalisation movement was partlr rr;prred br d1c Zapatistas who har e in rum becn inspired by GE protcsts in Seanle and elselhere-

Subcommandante Marcos (Courtes)' of

![[!4t[glu!tE!g)

The Red ALert 0f 200-s transpired to be a mass intemal consultatior exercise and reveals the level of transparencl, between Ieadership and people, as well as denronstratins rhe lact thar the ordiDary person on thc strcet can havc a say ir their osn future. One ofthc rcsults ofthc consultation *'as a declaralion of solidaritv rrjrh other *orkirs clrss strugglcs in l\4exico (and intenrationallv) aDd the decrsror not to resLtrre ao armed struccle. These rvords are taken from the 6" Declaration ol the EZLN :

TntcrcontinentalEncounters\\,ereesteblii|edrn I996t'iththeaLruofspreadirtg the autonomous tlreorics olZapatista- Thi: has rc:ulr;d rn mass !omnLrlr!ati!n all across tbe globe betrveen groups ard indir idual: rr ho hale aud arc bcrng oppressed by overbearing capiralisnr. The Independert \ledia Net\\'ork (Tndymedia) has now spnutg up all global11' oflirjrg a difterent perspeetir < ur rvorld el'ents and e\posing the activities ol-govemment and tratrsnarional.

'Wlctt h,e y'Loi in the t orld is b tell of lhose vho are resi.\tillg ond rtghil]1g it1 lheir avn v o.t.s and in lheir ovn counh'ies, lhqt \,ou qre nol qlone , tlrut ve, lhe

Junc 2005 the [ZL\ ca]Led a Rcd Alen. .\ll insurgents u'ere rccallcd to ban-acks. Wbelhcr lhis action s,as inteniled as an oTganisation in defence of possible attack by state troops, or prcparation tbr rebellion in solidarity rvith the Glcncagles summit protcsls remained to be seen.

h

Zdpdlislqs, even lhough we .o'e rery :nul/, are .strpporting )nu qnd u't: qt'e goitlg lo look dl hotL to help y-otr in vour slruggle ond speok lo I'ou in order I eqrn, bec:ouse v hql v'e hat e, in fotl, lettrned i.: to learn,

10

"And v'e v'ont lo tell /l1e brothers and sisters f socictl Eto'ope, lhqt tthic h is digrtilied oncl rcbel, thqt you ore nctl alone. thti t'otu'great motilnents qgeiilsl lhe neoliberol v,qrs brings us jo,v, lhql w(!, ottentilireb watch vour Jbrfi,s o.f orgon isuion ancl nethods of slnggle so v'e ctn perhup: learn something. "

The EZLN has a symbolic leader in tbe nrasked, pipe-smoking SubcomLlandante Marcos. This euigmatic r isiouary has rvritten manr irt:piring lreatises on the Zapalista cause. llart phiJosophical. parL poetical. uto11y dcfiant.

lt is by comruuricating, b,," linking ideas together that Iots of small ruoverrents become a greater movemetrt. It is by Leaming and bcing willing to lcarn lhal it becomcs possiblc to create the intemational movemcnt envisaged by Zapatistas and their surppoders. This is what is happening today and nol,- Fot morc infomration conract the e{rail at the start ofthis article,

The tbllorring extracLs arc taken lrom Subcomtrrndttnte l\4arcos' 1992 essal "Chiapas: The Soulheosl in Twct Wittcls ,1 Sntu ,tnd u proplrcc.v" 'tNot eren:ana hcars lha roi(e\ of hopeles.;ncs.s und conJorntil',. Nol et'etlone is corried av,q) 11, hopelessness Tltere qrc ntilLions ofpeople tin continuc otr vitllout hearing lhe voices o[thc power/itl unt] the ineli//erenl. They g;rr'1 7"or, thev are dcafened by, the crying and bloocl rhol tleulh ancl pover\ are,sh<ttrlin,q in lheir ears, Bul, when lherc is q momenl ofresl, lh4, hear onolher I o G

"Consull yourself qnd do somelhing, god rhmn (lucabo Silva Nogales)

t3

il"

UB HUll r r:::

r:r::-: ::: : LK-based punk rock quartet

runy

w ith a long history in the rr ejrd Emerging at the begimilg ofthe earLl it.t : rr: :rembers had been involved in other groups The Nlental and Stupid Humans Th;ir tlrst few records appeared on the Spiderleg Label, founded by Flur of Pink Indians These were a series ofEP's highlighting a punk goup s ho u ere r astly more interesting than many of their peers through musical rechnicaLity and especially through lyrical obsen ation. The anarcho mor emenl that spewed itself from the corpse of the I 970's music l'ashion krcr$ n as pual tbrew up literally hundreds ofbands and indir iduals rhar l ould appear ::j disappear as lbey altempted to plagiarise the ideas rrf Crass

::i l:lc:::ri r Ltrld ofcounter-culture

r'r

. -? One thhg for sue is that the Subhmm still remin a subvenively loony but impimtional bmch even to dcrepit libertines like me.

::::l:cJ lol

r

tr

u o\ cr th e I ait

ll

r

\ ea:

;rr\br \ll\:t-.h,. :::l ::: lriIrc:l edLa h:]:'ocaf

j |r lrrr , t\-li lritilt il;c r; r . iuti!. grlrlg Dtr .J,r. i;r. r, I.:.,1 Bu:;,cochs ta ()rtr:n Do1 tht::' i:i -'',,.,rtt : 'l -- r"/ ;.i .: rrrrrn/ strilr l,r:lr/.,r' r,7/!,s r ilri i,. hciyrtJ tlitr rist' to rttiitii t;-i it,:i ' ,,1 1s,la1 y1t7,-7'trnl.l,rt.i'. .'1: ., : . ' llDlt tls riqiling lD,iltltil iJtt'i' i. i,.i-r .'/r! -' ..'.i,:: .' ii .

-tlt spt'ech bdlloDil tltdt..iirl rxili; 1/..7ni \'- ,r: i/r',i:

Q,t'

'!E:r!i ss-c

On the other, more positive, hand, there's q lol ofbqn^ birt pla\ still refuse to play lhe corporate ego trip md cm be sea in lral p is like MW but bigger and in more dimewions i.e. 3 not I .

iF:

\

'

:1s for the politi.cal edge, r cll that's been I otet â&#x201A;ŹJ,1.,\'.,; i': :' -' politics itsell; tilh Thcttcher ancl Retrgon in pottet ,r:'- :-- -,. tLotpi;sedoff ondtoultodrctgetpolilical it6lta rI.r] -rr. ,r' j Clitil.)n l\hcte.l ttt;t:ct/iet tntage of leodership thili ) t i: ". . . lctlir,:ts it)..,,ti: ri public tlespotr. and etenone !i):'t:: : :' : .r,iri.l.,.!.r, ,rotL ve ltoe Bush,I /ully aryect tht i;.,: : . a.r,r,ir ri, ii bru :ring lhnr the billshil ctbout, tnt -: \ . -:. : . -.

\/cn 1cI

band: stood out fiorn the crowd, Now this is not mcant to bc an anack on DIY culture jtself \\ hich represcnted an honest and ersfl\ hr I e attemlr to create a culrure bevond greed and offer an altenratile \ iel olhow s..r ien could be A lot of people jumped on the u,agou and soon fell off again \\ hen the_v realised they mighl have to takc the reins from time Lo time. Subhumans stood out in that their Iyrical matter u as more obseryant, more self-searching and more angrily articulate thao many ofthe others. Their music became nore and more technical with complex shifts in timing ddfring into reggae and ska rvith occasional nods to jazz but they remained essentialJy punk in delivery and attitude. I remember when I first heard thenr and lisrened to the uords I felr that they really seemed to care about what they were doing: they rvere dedicated to their vision rather than attempting to attach a naive political manifesto with accompanying moributrd rhetoric to er en album sleeve like so many others of the time. What's more is thar the music still sounds fresh roday Here's a recent quote from another inten ieu:

.

:::--.

B2F: Why did the Subhmans refom after such a long

:: . :::r;

elsewherethatitwasduetotherecordscontiruitrgtosll:,'..-::.-':.-.:ri.r more motivating reasons?

"Phil and Trolsky both suggested it might befun to refon and do some gigs, so dxpite the reticence [didn't wonl to be q rury relic of ow fomer selv6, | -lnlv u-'s o marry refomed bands seemed to bel, me and Bruce soid \r el l we had a practice, to see how it feh, and it felt utr@rdinqy in am' sme of

6

-

lhe word, recolling the lunes and words was way e6iq th@ iilogited- qd I don't wanna sound immodest [although I'm about to] but it oll soun&d fucking brillianl! Reol time tr@el in the head sort of thing.. the raionole -fbr doing it again was, osidefrom'it felt good', was thefacl that *-e'd sold o shei load of records and CD's to people who'd never seen us live, nd*e tlnughr they might appreciate it [which they did!]

",lnarcho punk inlerqcl.\ music uilh ideas flike rcotling a hook, but more funl, and opens trp the world of rodical thinking to lhose who, wel l, don't like reading books,for instance, wllo don'I con.sider'po|i:tics'to he imporlanI..bul

still/eelpissedoflatthebullshitof

ways I thought it was otr its way out thmks to MTV and the

comercialisation of mdicalism but who hows

et,erydatlile Anarchismisasrealisticas

tutt olher form of existence, it jutt resisls deJinilion, y,hich nqkes il seem ethereal Under BLrsh and Blair all the anarchy we see on lhe screens is like lhat in ltaq, ||here the ststem really has collapsed. I think lhe poinl is lhal anorchy reloles nol so much lo lhe )|qy the swlem should be run, qs lo the wa, the mind shottld work, q deliherate queJlioning as lo the sourc:es ofbehayiour pqllerns, on insight into lhe causes ond e/Jicts of the vq, v,a act, and o redefining of 'nomal' It na.: nor deslrot lhe slale, bul free will ond personal responsibilit||eaken the po*u lhe.\late ha\. no;t ofthich i; in orr heqd.s As for 'anarchy:destructian qnd clleos', rhat s lhe nindset rhctt cannol loctk het-ond being controlled h,leatla.ship of's.)nie., .u1\ .(, t

Anolher reqson *'e hodn'l consciousb thoLtghl o/ wqs lhqt -to1tt .: I r -o.f our anli-tar/slate songs were sLill as relevqnl qs lhel et cr t.. . , .

B2F: Wbat do you meau by "The Threat by Example"l I re:d t:: wdtten an article or ar1 essay under this title, which I find r e:_' r::.

.

: -'

"'Threat by Example' was lhe title of the book that Mortin Sprowe [of compiled in 89 from a series of essays he'd wte.l ' lrom people in lhe pmk scene whose ideas he thought worth uplorhgfu' I repinted lhe one I wrote to go with a short slory twrite lhe Va Lp'n

Muimam RocknRollJ

B luurg Records alter SplderLeg and the band released rLrclr u,\ r albums o[ their own label Bluurg aiso put our records br other bands on a nocontract'trust basis. The DIY ethic of the band aod label ri as r en stronc tiom the start and has remained continually so to this day. SubhrLmaDs r|ould release 5 albums, 6 EP's and numerous cassettes, as u,ell as releases bv manv other bands on Bluurg before finally calling it a day in 1986. They.had performed 262 gigs in Europe and did tu,o US iours where lhev gained a considerable rcpulalion. Subhumans were considered timeless on both sides ofthe Atlantic!

Dick started

witten, along with a reprint of small odd zines I 'd done ovq the y6 ta ' acclaim whatsoever all this is still oailable for {5 from me- see adrh* somewh*e or here? Subhumans, 11 PathJicb Close/Roundswell/BamstaplelDevon/EX3 I 3XP - also the n*' oddrus ;

Bluurg mail order

"

,t

The various members did go on to othet things nrost notably Dick rvho fouled Culture Shock in I986 and Citizen fish in 1989 but Trotsky and Phil met up uith Dick again tlrrough Citizen Fish Apparently thcy refomed Subhumans bccause the records had continued to sell well and rhe.v t'elt they otred it to those who had follou,cd thcm. A few rcunion gigs in the earlr, 90's sparked a loL ofncw irlerest but it was their musical legacy that spoke tbr itselfand lasted the ),ears ulrilc many others galhered dust. Erentually they refomed pemaneotl), and began gigging again SeYcral new retcases llave cone out on Bhrurg Rccords since and the band no\ has yet another successflrl US tour under their belts But dcspitc thcir enduring popularity thel,har.en't released any nerv material (bar a couple oftracks) since 1986.

!]:i:'"

f. lr'

r

"-. : rt'J .t .'i.. '.-.L .-.

:i-,.-

-,-<?:{

-'

B2F: Many comentators have witten that the milchist prmk mrmr s dead and buried. They suggest, and I agree to m exten! that punl beffi a long list of pseudo-religious rules gleaned from Cms md Conflict album th. tumed it into elitist snobbery. Is the movement dead or is it jb-t br-tEmtiryl

I rvas kcen to discover what the SubhrLmans had in mind uorvada-vs, pretr]* much a quarter ofa cetrtury dowu the line but I u,asn't really lltat iDteresled itr asking thc usual cliclred and mundane questions that many lanzines seelt lo ask ofbands I was inleresled in how things had changcd ovcr the ycars within the anarcho-punk movement anrl rvhat political element, if any. u.as slitl lc1t. In

"Wo

are these 'commentators'? The greatTt uificism of Cru default all other'crus-like' i e anarcho bandsl wu ol*'q's rho dictatorial anddogmatic, andsetoulrules ofbehniow, but ali qer done is voice their opinion, and if lhat opinion sos that sa backs il up wilh qamples, and ideas for altqatives, qd undq

l4

:

.., i.

.

-l

lhe lwsic mestuge of 'be wtrst'l/'. lhatt those Jtttrlt is it il lhutscuttls ol ptrnks, ne inchtdad, slqrt bu'rottitlg lh<ir itleos? Fron n1 outsider's poinl of t'ia\t,

"If and when

we get enough time to get enough songs logether- v'ith Phil now in Spain and Trotslry in Germany, every normal band activi4t needs weeks ofplanning and costs loads to get together- I would like to hope the nu stuffwould be c powered up as the original stuJf, and the 3 songs sofar te

liting

thql lrunslales n tha \ighr of thdtsonds of diclatorittl dogtrtdli\tt in lhc nakitlg, ancl the whole scetle gels lLtgge.l '(l iti.\l'- dnd of (ourse thare: werc o ktt of. punks --ho ditln't go ony;furtht'rttilh lhose idec*-, htt ||ere coLtlenl b dLt d! It lhq h,erc pqrt of ''ome Peer gfl)uP, v'hich didn'l helP' I he Yo-t:tlled 'mles' ||ere inNented not bt Cras's or Cortfiicl, bul by ptmks who only got hulf tlrc nessqge, i.e thel' got lhe concept of so.v bting vegelorian, bltl fbrgol tllat the other bit, Be Yotrrse[f, included allov,ittg other punks the /iee will to eqt medl,

prelry) close"-

B2F: How do you construct a song? i know you largely write the llrics but how, as a group, do you mive at the filished product? r, /t.'ir L' let togcther bdngs il oul.[or dny "i otn' heLLtls r,trttd it ond see ||hdtlils, qller bils, adjltJt tempo inserl another tune [or u clorts--.1 hit'e to find lyrics thal scan and then persuade the others lhat notr tt'ttriLl he t qooLl ploce to insert x )' z.,,qnd so on, amix ofcompromise and insistence. attci repeut till it's deod right. "

"\4/hoever has d lltne up a s/rclt'

The norcffienl is neilher dead nor hibernating, nor really a motemenl, ex(ePl in peoples heatls, qnd thov anarchos from the 80s are all otrt there doing whqteyer, bul \|ith q mindset lhqt developed along lines lhat mqy neNer had

slarled had

lhe1, missed

olt

on it

comments ond lhe resl

all."

ofus

get

B2F: What is the most impoftant thing for,v-ou in the u'orld right nou'and why?

"My girlfriend!

Or on a more broqder \torld' level, stopping rhe ,4meriiani.otion ttlthe pldnet, Withoul Americq there would be no pre-emPtive imP.riulistic )t'qr ,\tralegies drer'sed up as delivering'freedom qnd democrac:,', no junk food naking 60'% ctfus obe,;e no oil cri:'is, less pollLtliut, smaller c:qrs, les: ctn's, less shile on TI'. less tnqcho histotl-bending Holll'wood aitural *hitetqsh ancl no Disney Or Tridenr. Or Bnrce Springsteen. " B2F: Wbat is your own personal favourile Subhumans song'l "'RealiD) it Waitingfor u Bus' [probLthly], I used to ctttt'h buse:s a lot, bqck when therc were q lol, and lhe NeD. dct of waiting Y'as a wry simple.fbrm of behayiourql conlt'ol, and being av'are ofthat led to axtropololing the ideo thot te hove less conlrol lhan ||e lhitlk oter our oclion-s, unless v'e lhink aburt il ntore. ond there tos a lot offree lime to think wh i le v'aiting lbr the bus.... I :'nttt, a lot ctf-ung: on buses."

B2F: Do vou hale anv plars to collaborate u'ith other bands or individuals? I know you did the Sponchestra aLbum with Chumban'amba years ago..'

Phil (bass), Trotsky (Drums), Phil (guitar,) & Dick (voice) B2F: ls there

a

"At the nlomenl collaborating with lhe others in lhe band

need for people to ''l-eel radical" by going to a gig or buying an

album and is this "safe haven" cxaclly lherc ihe Powers lhat be wanl them to be? How catr the politics of rhe Subhumans be caried onto the streers \\'here

!

"

mtrsic or gct to gigs lo holsler the hope thal ['m not the onl)' one who to sot:ial.ise wilh people v'ho are more likeh' lo he port oflhe reason lhal music cctn change things than porl of lhe reqson il never will' Music has the po||er to lurn o dull polilical slatenent inlo a cdlchv clbrtts, and make people feel not onll' enlhustdstic bul alsa not so itoldted in their thoughts: a gig can be the ideal point frtm which ta tqke the messqg(! otllo lhe streets tiqfanzines and info circuloletl al lhe gig. Behteen commtrnicrtlion frctm lhe sloge and the poge, nttd the itllerqction o[people who ma,v only ever go oLtt lo see d gig, lhere'.\ o lot a-finspirdlion b get things goingJirther and lbr bnger, so yes! DO /.eel raLlic'al then you go to o gig! It's nol lhe collopse of capilal ism, bul it'\ not os sldgtktn t .ts 5 tq'ing still [which IS vhere thq) wdnl bu1,

"l v'cts one of the 50ok who cotrldn'l beliet,e Chunrbas went on EMI, and fell really lel dovn: lheir orgufrent lhql EMI no longer made arms componenls vyqs beside the point [nuch like ioining the Tories cos Thatc:her': no longer in chorgel-this was the bqnd behind rhe 'lruck EMI' contpilotiut! Cctuldn'l thet' have chosen Sony or llarner',s? The point is thal anlt anli'slallts quo orcssdge loset ils inlegrit! dl best and il'r meaning dt ||orst whett it's chqnneled through the corporale mac:hine thut de/ines lhe slalus qlto of lhe musiL: indttslry, These ar e lhe suits lhql denand 'parental atltice' slickers qnd wanl lo limit /reeclom oJ ll,rical speech lo 'prolect' people's nilds [shudder] . So an.v lurger oudience acquired is Jac:ed with lhe conlrddiclion o/ radical irleas appearing through nlainslreqm chunnels, qnd ||ill cctme lo qssume lhdl eiLlrcr the nlestdge is ju\l prelend radical, or the ntctinslreom is now lhe cool ploc:e to buy into /br revoltrtionarl ideas! Ihis lalter assumption is o goldmine;for the fol cqts ilho then:lap lhe 'rttclic:al' label on anv :-emi-coherenl spika' tops and reop the profits frofi a ne|| generdlion of vannabes.

gives o shit, ancl

ttsl

hard enough

B2F: What do you think of bands like Chmbawamba or Bad Religion? Do you think a major label offers a means of communicating to a wider audience and do you lhink such ideas are flltered dov'n if they come from a major label source? Is DIY punk an exercise in selt'-limitation?

actions speak louder than words?

"l

is'

-"

B2F; You have been one of rhe fcrr votces to sing about Northem Ireland over the years. wlrat are yoru vieu's on the cuncnl situation therc? I realize that you are an "outsider" in respect ofthis sub.iect but ifis often very educalional for people like yourself to comeut on ;uch a topic- Do you think Norlbem Ireland has been treated poorly ri'ithirr punk over the years?

DIY punk or DIY arything i: an etercise in ;'elf-owcu'e ness and (t letnn in thP benefils ofcotperdlion, it is linited only inasmuch qs it refuse5 lo cross lhe line into lhc v'orlcl of big husiness,''

one line in'Htntan Erttr' ontl I Culturc Shock song meons I 'sing aboul' d subject, il indeed nust tlean N I has been largely mdcr covered in

"Ilell,

i;/

punktunes!Althoughforalllkno\\ ther!"sas'holelocallyconcemedpolilical

B2F: Hos'did the arti-war protests agajnst the iovasior ofTraq affeot yon?

You'r,c been silgine agains-t war for a quarter ofa century now. Do vou think yorLr voice has lallcl on deaf ears or do you believe that society as a u'hole is begirming to shit-t au,av tiom *'attare as a meaus ol settling jntemaiional

scene going on.,.. and '1br al[ ] klos about iums uP most mainlatd knovledgc ofwhat is really going on rt N lrelttnl, iu rltotet'er the poliricol leqeler.t lhere sq), qfler ils heen through the ntedia.lilkr anl :iippe.l in arnongst rlt, r,.tt ol lhe 'news': so tthat we'know' tttt one letel i: llQi lhâ&#x201A;Źre's u ten'strelclt pectce process tllal rcems lo be held togehet'by tlrc iclet ol ir qlone, lhc lkl or lhe Real Ik4 have or hqve nol disqnneLl ttrrl;or got arLzt'rli/h the lorgest bankiob eter, and may or may not he moreorle.t5 )1tr,ning the cottntt! dl d gra53 roQl\ level in any case..-.and the parties, likc the [er]rerrorisls ||ho suPPorl lhem, are so,far aparl in lheir ntindsels thql IIP .:urreill level ol'co-operalitn'- to this point o/'bonbs NOT going o/f- nut be the best ochiet'qble-"

disputcs?

vtt

lhttn " l wenl ttp to London Jor the narchcs tntl .lel t mora scared oJ'thi: un-t other, and mtt'e hopc/irl hal all lhese mar<'hing 2eople woLtld hqve tlt qs lhe Poll Tax mqrth, anLl lhal effecl, ewn' tvpe oJ'person to,s there, sane

worketl! So lhe proteil: were greol, hul Blair's sit kening 'l undersland hov l'ctu f'ee[' srulament [hefore lelting u; knott te were going lo wctr arrywo1] reeeeetautrlllly pissed ne of[, I guess thot ves the Jinul ilLutiou of detnocracy being shotlered.

llttr sttcks, \o lhare )\'Lts q lo/ of'anliwur sttng.;, orul if I tenl next door Lo ask thether the fanil1, there hqve shilietl qtvqv frottt ttrt os q meqn! lo Ln end, I'n] strrc lltelcl rc/ilte the nolion lhal lhq'erer thaughl ttcl'u'o; a good lhing,,.. unless a relulit'e hod LJied in one... ll/W) lhdt is; latel.t, oncl this is u good intlicator ol'chonging tinas,,fimiliet'ttho'te lost a son iu lraq are public.ctlh' herating Blair and threeletling to \ue lh.t gowrntnent [go rtn!] Tlte onlt

people who don't lhink trqr is httmttnilies worst evil o'e /hc leuder's thrt sentl trs to die in lhen, .1nd il's ull dboill possession. prolit antl tlominunce I\'OT freedom dentocrucy'antl the ruIe of lqt:.'...."

B2F: When can we cxpect a new studio album from the Subhltmans? Will yor try lo recapturc [1e earlier st]le and sound or can se expect something different, perhaps some hip-hop and jazz-fusion?

B2F: Docs Ceorge Bush make you Iaugh or do you think hjs destruction of the English language is a smokescreen?

15

night due to this clandestine acrivitv. In the USA, the Recordirg Lnor:ti.'

Association of Amcrica (including all the usual suspects) has made ::r':irl atlempts and some successfully, lo sue individuals for copyright infiincement.

Ofcourse they need a name first so they subpoena the P2P nenvorks demanding intemet protocol addresses- These are numerical codes rvhich idcntitl, a source online- Check out www.boycott-riaa.com for more detaiL:. In one casc a young teenage girl was sued for dounloading a nursery rh,vme.

"Neither! I sigh and grind rny leeth md hate a little more oery time I see Bttsh, whether he's talking or not His ue of Imguage is a mixture of his complete stupidi1t/ign ormce,hqchvqd redneck lo ads amoney sonofapr*id ent upbringing, md his advkors telling him to keep soying the buzmords like fteedom, democrocl'. us md thm, so no one can qrgue againsl himforfear of se%ing to be agairct such notions i e. unpatriotic, which in America is yer number

I moralfelom " Do rhe Record Companies have a point'l First of all there is a casc to be argued for tbose in the l orld of small-time, i ndepcndent and DIY music u4rere costs rleed to be recouped to avoid disintegration. however manv of thesc groups realise that ha\ing t)reir music spread il this u,ay, rathcr than Yia the dubious rvorld of corporate advcfiising, can be a good wa-v to get themselr'es klortn, Sonre har e seer tit to gile arvav a ferv N1P3's from their recordings as a kifd ol compr i,rrise.

lf the rec ordinc intlustn' j s so concerned tben why doesn't ir rvakc up to th c actualr:aliir'lLct':t'acairclcrr.bodl,knowslhalmostrecordinganistsrecerre

r a :mali froportion (less than ,10.r, in some cases) ofsales, tbe vast majuritl eLring to rhe Record Companies and theiL PR lackeys, Let's 1'ace it everyone lmo\vs that rccordins artists \rho are si-qned to major labels are generally irn

eamin-{ more than mosl ofus annyay. Tt's all about squeezing a ljrllc morc cash out ofthe poor, isn't it?

Subhumans photos courtesv

Besides all ol this u,hat about the product itself) The high street stores are selling CD albums at cxrortionate priccs, sometjmes ar t$ice the price ther are arailable in other countries or online. The general public knous hol'much it costs to make a CD so lct's be honcsL, ir's a hcking rip-offl Secondly' ifthe Record Companies relcasc a CD whose solc artwork consists ofa piece of paper l,ith a list of songs

ofDick

BZF: Where do 1ou dral-the ljne lith animal rights activists? ls itjustitlable do you think to injure or ki lJ orher hnman beirrgs in pursuit of such a goaL? What is l,our ansl cr rvhcn the scientist explains that his experiments will lead to life saving drugs for young children')

and a bunch of rvankcrs singiug rhc praiscs oJ'rvho made lheir guitar stnnv. and drum symbols, rather than a booklet of art, lyrics, photos, infomation and enhanced CD's rvith videos etc then they should realise we are going to dou.nload it ifwe bother with ir aL aLl. What about a decent sized booklet ah fuck it u,e knou,most ofthem have nothing to say anyrvay and who rvants loads of soft-focus photos of uilrappy rich people who are addicted to monc\' and fanre anway? If the product is reasonably priced, if the product i" interestlog thetr it is \vorth having. It's hardly rocket science.

'hjuring tt' killing people. v,ho arc also cuinqls, is qs bad as killing anintal:, Blockudes atld prolesl\ .tnd medio campaigns hate chonged a lot q/ things Jbr th.' betler olreah:. As Jbr cures, nicc one, bul when nlosl experimenl.\ hqye result,r lhot onfi, apph, to the oniilql being lesled on, and connot he sofelt presnnetl kt hove lhe satne eflecl ott htonotts, thql't nillirns ofanintals killed for no qdvance wllotsoercr.,Tnd il it lokcs ntora ntilliotts d.ting to get q cure-/br hunans, is lltol /iir? Hut e v,e nol poi,\otlcLl olt oir und loocl ancl fields and borlie,s so ntuc:h lhal we qlmost dâ&#x201A;Źseryâ&#x201A;Ź the diseqses tre're c:reqled? [fe fuck up ctclthing including rntrsebes, then decide lo po,\lpone thc kormic conscqu?nces ll'.slaughtering other:pecie\ in lhe seorL:h.fbr o cLu'e.... il's lhe opex

Tlyou look deeper and nfr to get under the skin ofthis you'11 notice that x'har's actuallY at stake is culture itselt. By controlling the output ofartists frorn the mnsic the_,.. make to the cLothes tbey wear the Record Companics crcatc fashions ri'hich ara thcn usc(l to tiugct audicnccs, Cultural control rnarkets elerylhing inc[Lding rcbc]lion in a safc consumablc packagc. What it does in rcali$ is alicnate nru:ic and audience and manufactute a plastic thgacl.- posing as art fiom-

of'vtnirv "

Older reaclers u,ill recall thc canpaign of the l970's and 1 980's uhen the notrce"HOPE T,7PI\G IS KII-LING MUSIC'adomed elerl LP sleeve in the da).s belorc CD afd conrputcrs utcn the Rccord companies watrted to stop us fiom Laping albrnr)s onto cassette. Yeah tlat one really worked guys. So here thev are at it again tq,ing to police the irnpossible by makilg an cxamplc ofrvhorlever thel- can get their mits on. Generalll, this results in a fine of some sofi and a slap on the udsrs. Campaigns havc recentl], been launcheil across Europe and elsewhere to try to curb the oultrLral shift tos'ards P2P rretworkirrg and file sharirg. BLLt there are many rcasons why P2P nenvorks are important and those uho seek to closc Lhem doulr must realise we cal see very clearly through their mask, lfal afiist creates a product it is a means ol' conrrunication iirr an audience. Ifan arrjsl andior lhcjr rccord conpaoy create a commodit), 1br the cxtraction of thc most possible profit then we must .cr ,"r.r\ r.k s'ho rt i. tlrat i. killing mu'ic.

ii 'lillr{iiri[=$.'.:]t;irfl$Il, f,-tL n f 1. J,;k&Jr .Jr.., tr,Fi r lif"i:'dkf.,1durr:f l:| .t i:(l:.i :i'.ira+ l,l. f,l, " ' lr-L:' ;r"tl'.: ! r. f.l 1 l*l I ,kkht:r: r., {-'l:-!-. I-.' , (' g1lIt (er, ir!'r I r.:: tl:i.ltiri rtl(,.(jlhJlli''i.lrrj, J t -1 :e+tc t.'-.(i ltr.-i Jr'l.L.l r i , :. ( J Lt'J[rr.il. {:- XL!'l }:flr Ylf)rr, t'".. 'J ,l r i t'lt ; i t [gffi t.,i: lr'rr : 15 s.I+l I ir ,i,lr r-Ji:L. gtrlii*J|Irlrrvr.,'ilAii .r"kl, I[!4Skrrlr 1,,:tr1, dr"#rrJI 'irl In.{i' M Lp..lili: fr.ri! f+ftA''sr I F r: L!. l*r'F,rif;.'ii i'elil ft ,[.[1; Fa ; ;rf f r'l I r=,.,t-{l r.h h:+r !i. -rc l;'z.r Ir ' ...,'FJt,': Itih' tf i-. .:: !d:ifhl,-Js i)'''{r: irlt- l.'f1. rIart4.lri'+riirlft:,f ,tr F*r'ln riLl i.Li:, !r;.'il i, :.1 ,,! ,.,,r. ,r..ri..1. ;"r1pl,\'.-L. ri,rr1,. ;q1r it.:, r3-'f; .i- "..i,,,- -!rfr::r. r-r,--'- .ll llr-fr.q:J: ii.q,5 '.(5 ll

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!.1

"Killing me softly tuith his song, killing me softly, Making my whole world with his song Killing me softly ... with his song."

.

All

Subhumaos back catalogue and reu,releases are available in various

fomrats fiom Lhe address gilel in the ioten'ierr. Also available is a line range olother rrnsic ald stuft. Writc olf lor a crlalouue or check the rvebsite:

w-rvw.citizenfish.com

MP3 Rant

By Rip Van Winkle MP3's are rnusjc

11les stored on colnpLllers tltat can be trnded via file-sharing (P2P) netrvorks on the Inter]et. Poor rccording afiists and norcso their undcrprivilcgett Record Conrpanics have apparcutly bcen losing billiuls in profit annually as tcrrorist irclividuals dorvnloads whole alburs, na-v entire recording collections at r1o cost to themselves. Thel, can then brurr these stolen rccordilgs onto CD and trade thern rmlau,lilly. Tl brcaks lny hcart whcn Eminem or Nletallica have lo cr_v into their reassuringly expensiYe beers at

16

the altemari\ e ideas to norlem society. Much of it ho\\ ever \!as ilere sLoganeering and pulk becarre a convenienl srLbculttrrc. Crass rcittr entcd thc rrodem Stonehengc aud liee lestival movement in the UK Together \ rrh rhe Poison Gir'ls ther resuscitated the dying corpse ofthe UK peace mor emerrt. in parlicular CND But it \\ as thc cstablishment of lhe DIY ethjc that was pcrhaps their most imponant trchier ement Anyone can make a record or a larzrne. r piece of art or a poen- a[d distribute it themse]ves. This was their message.

The modem $ orld distauec: the artist ftom the audience and ar1 becomes nothing morc tlran conrmodin Crass l ould describe themsclves philosophicalll' as Dadaist that rs being based upon deliberate irationality and

A Philosophy of Punk

By Danny O'Rawe When tle rvord 'punk.' is mentioned i1 can convev ser eral different meauittg' deperding on thc conte\t in which iL is used. ln Americatr dictjonaries it will describe a character ofill repure, in UK fashion and pop culrute it describes tlre late I 970's nihilism of thc Sex Pistols et al. As you, dear reader, are a[[ too aware therc is so much more to punk. The radio olten blasts out that it is going to do a history ofpunk but ends up covering the same old lircd tenitory and totally neglects the rise of lhc anarchist punk movement from I 977 onwards, as if it were somehow insignificant.

negaLion of traditional artisti c r al uc

Across the Atlantic lours by the Sex Pistols and tLre Clash in the late 1970's had awakened a generation. Bands spnurg up cr cnl hcre. such as Dead Kennedys, MDC, Bad Brains and DOA among odrers Dead Kemedy's front man Jello Bialia established Altemative Tentacle; Records in 1979. Magazines such as Maximum Rock n Roll sprang up by 1 982. Nlaximum Rock n Roll began lit'e as a radio shou in 1977 The brainchild ofTim Yohanon and Jello Biafra among others, it became rcnowned lbr its ritality of music as well as coverage of local and intemational events, helping to politicise the rapidly expanding punk community in the US.

Why should someotre want to bolher trying to wrile a philosophy of punk anyway? Ifpunk can be said to have a pbilosopby then it is surely the philosophy ofthe individual. "Do rvhat thy will and ham none" rvas one ofthe mottos of that old anarcho-necromancer Aleister Crowley. Draftiug up some kind ofmanifesto aod calling it the pbilosophy of punk is thus seJf-defeating and yet lhat is in many ways how the movement started.

There have been assorled attempts over the years to conr ey the ideas of anarchisl punk but again these have olien been individualistic or geographically Iimited. "The Philosophy ofPrmk" by Craig O'Hara. for example, has an American perspeclive but also doesn't touch much on aclual philosophy. Rather it descr ibes lhe activities of various people and their bands over lhe years. (lneritably \\,c rvill hale to follow a similar pattern to a degrec)While this is of itrtercsl to some it isn't hittiDg the nail on the head; it jsn'l making any philosophica! sense.

As punk is so individualistic one carmol lhcn describe atr ultimate set ofcore values espoused by the movemetrt. Instead t rvill attempt lo cover the many beliels, and ifthe idea ofa central core set ofbcliefs does appear to emcrgc thcn we will begin to see lhc reasons u'hy punk is still alive roday. But bciore s,e go atry further it is vital to diflerentiate b)'what we mean by punk. ln tliis casc I am reftning solely to the socially and politically morivated intemational movelnent, not to the spike topped Ieathcr-iackets rvho cause old ladies heads to flutter, nor tbe grcen mohicans uho like to pose on street comers tbr the tourrsts.

First olf. it's time for a little history, Back in I976 whcn punk took off it was Iargely about imagc and shock value. It u,as The Clash, and particularly Joe Strummer and Bernic Rhodes, rvtro poliliciscd the burgeoning movcmcttt and gave it a social conscious. Years atter thc Clash rvould be called a sell-out due to their involr emenl with rnajor record companies atrcl the punt mor ement often forgets about their ideas as a result. The Claslr rmplodcd for the same rcason but left a rital legacY.

Craphic by Gee (Courtesy of Crass Records) Politicatty the Reagatr regime had become infamous lbr draconian fbreign policy. South and Central America werc in nLins. Thc Rock.{gainst Reagal gigs from I 9E3- 19S7 brorrghL lhc emerging prurk movemetrt inlo coDlac I $ ith thc pcace nrovenent. In Lhc UK the Stop the Ciq/ demonstrations instigated by Crrss and others brought punks into contnct with riot police Tt became clear that tuming thc other cheek merely' rcsulted in a broken ja\ These protcsts ululd bccome the catalyst lbr tbc modcnr anti-globalisatior protcsl\. But by 191i5 itr thc UK the Miner's strikc had slapped the thce ofthe pacilist anarcho club and debate ensued as to \\ cather anarclusm rvas trtt[y a continuation ofthe idcas ofBakrLnin. NIlhtr'sta et al. io that armcd ilsrLu'cclion Ias the onh real r av to chrltcnge the state Bands srLeh as the Apostles raiscd uncomfortable questiolrs about pacllist ideology particularll'. Onc wouldn't call it a split iD the ro\ eucnt but that difttrcnr people headed in ditIerent tlirections.

The -A.ninal Liberatiol Frolt bad also raised its head around tbc samc Inne lnspired by the rvritings ol thc Australian philosopher Peter Sitrgcr. the ALF dcscribed itself as a sctics of autotromoLLs groLLps who aitlcd to aloid all cruelt) to animals Allhough describing thcmselves as non violent. many of their actioos wcre regarded otheru'isc and rhey are regardecl as terrorists by lhc ntainstream.

Punk basicall.v launched the nodem aritral righls movcmcnt. TIre idea that compassion tbr aninal; firough regetrrianistl tould lcad to cottpassiol 1br humanitl' aLrd thus end u ar. altllough rornantic aLrd idealistic is neither Lurtenahle Lror der oid of rcasor. Tlle Deatrs to achicr e animal liberatior have beer considered both as a bane and an inspiration.to others but debate is important in any- movement.

Joe Strummer 1980 (Original photo by Gasp)

By the mrd 1980's the anarchist punk rrovement vas in a state ofdeclinc.

Crass, Dead Kennedys, SrLbhumans and man1, ofthe founding and inspirational bands of the earLy movernent had spLi1, aLtllough manv olthe indiliduals

Punk, the fasJrion, died in 1977 as many a London punk rvill tell you. Phrases srclnasposlpunkand rEw urn,e began to emerge to describc the music ofthe lime and so-callcd culturaI historians describe tlrat pun]< had died out by 19?9 This early incamalion olpunk had been concemed with cultural rebellion, selfparody and iconoolasm. It has been described elsewhere as 'dole-clueue rock".

In 1 977 howevcr thc emergence of Crass and the Poison Cirls in Englald gavc birtb to the anarchist punl( molcment and this is tlle mo\emer( I wanl to look at and urravel.

inr olved wcnt on to other things of a similar nature. Yet many ofthe bantls emerging aL the tirle were merely carbon copies olu4rat had gone before and many othcrs rvho had battered thcir heads againsl the rvall lor years had sccn little results from tbeir effods. The s1-stenr seemed to be getting worsc. OLhcrs slilI had beerr purely molirated b-v greed and tres's ofconstant rip-ot1's soon spread throughout the movelnert. In fighting rvas rife and bands 1e11 in and out offarour in certail circles tbr breaking uhat had become al unspokcn codc.

Crass dressed in military style black clothing and toured with a banage of intensc music and industrial noise. augmented b-v political bamers and homcmade film. They inspired a generation ofbands such as Zounds, Subhumans, Chumbawamba and Conilict among nrany othcrs. These bands became the

somc circles you had to bc legan. in otbers you had to be non-prolir rvhilc in others you had to distribute your owtr matcr ial, Sonte were pacifist. soDe \r ere nrilitant. and many more sat on lhc leuce. The philosophies and ideas * ere that .[n

purk

meclium of comunicaLion of traditional anrrchist ralucs, \lhere once books and pamphlets had spread the rvord, nou music and DIY culrue would offer

t]

was against war. against organised religion. agairst animal exploitation,

'*]:.::Jesst?i.

contemporary Blanqui ( I 805- 1 88 1) however believed in spontaneou,i and violent insunection. Their disagreements divrded anarchiim in I 9 " centun France.

oc* A$$$i';t6"'oi+

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In Russia similar arguments were ongoing. Bakunin ( 1 8 1 ,1- 1 876). who loundcd tbe First lntemational, believed in propaganda by deed, that is violent revolution. By the tum ofthe centwy anarchism had petered out as a major political influcnce due to its lack olcohesive direction but it never realll u'enr away. In Paris itr 1968 the anarchists rose up insprred bv the Situationist texts of\ranegeim and Dubord. The late 1960's had seen the rise ofmany movements across lhe world. The Civit Rights campaigr irr America inspired events in Paris, Thc IILA began its originally popular campaign in Northem lreland and several extreme left wing organisations such as the S'eathemren in the US:the Baader'N{einhoff gang in Gemany and the Angry Bri-gade in rhe UK took up amrs \\'hile ciril rights demonstrations and the Antj-Vier Nanr \\iar demos l,ere larrelv organised bv pacifists, these other extrentc left organisations were militant to The corc. Thev were largel) unpopular and therr campaians s,erc briel.

t

,A.narchism, as has been mentioned. rvas Lelaunched bl,the so-called secondrvaYe olpunk- The same mistakes u'ere ofier rnade and disagreerncnt mcant tirat organisation suffered- Bl,thc carl_v' 1990's it seemed as if, once again. rhc movement u,as on lbe u'aDe- The Anti-Poll Tax rno\'emenl however. rejuvenated dre belief Lhat the people in solidariry- could challenge thc government and rvin, Mass non pavment culminated in the Poll Tar riots. The tax B'as defeated and fir al L! Thatcher u as orerthrowt and the Tory pafiy rclegated to the politlcal ri ildemess. Since this time popular demolstration has neYer becn -greirtcr as reen n receot moverrents u4rile the IDtemet has allo\\,cd

Rock against Reagan Fl1,er from 1987 against hornophobia ard racism, against coryorate capitalism and although many lived according to these ideas, others lrid tr,ithin them.

Ji.p.rr.t. :,,u1 .

r,

.rLk

-p. and.o it gru\v\.

A condescending

attil.ude could be seen deveJoping ald some ryere alienated bv elitist attitudes wherc ifyou didn't strictly adhcLc to this code r ou * ere somchorv not on the team l\'[an], fl qured that those beneath tltetr \\ ere r ot doing enough to rnake clta[ge on the societal lcr c]. or on anorhcr level thev u,crc merely doing it the l.rong s ar' The band Thatcher on \cid succilctly captured thls fiagmenlation in their ss arsong "The lllusion ofBeing Togethcr". They spoke ol buildlng a prison in *hich u,e "can help each other to sluy the totne".

As the I9E0's becarre the 1990's the philosophl,ol'punk had bccome more nrareinalized. The comrrercialisation ofpunk ideals by MTV had showed the ne\r generalion that it $,as cooL to be argrl, as long as 1,ou realised it u as Just r phase you u'ere going through, as long as you didn't actually challenge the status qtro. and as long as there was no swearing on T\r.

Curiously anarcho-prutk seems to be separate from thc modem movcnenls for chatrge it helped to instigate Anarchists were alual,s unsure of l,here thelr stood $ith groups like Grecnpcacc or Friends of the Eanh and anytlring that gaincd anl serrblance ofmainstream popularity. Anarchjsts, particularl), the Black Bloc, ifprescnt at such demonstrations, hale been asked to keep their protests peacefu[. It is not withil thc span ofthis essay to debate the poLiLics of direct action. hol eler sufficc to say split movements are less elfective than

Manv ol rhe morc popular ard inflnential punk bands had moved over to rnrjor Iabels and were sccn as being outcasts. har ing givel up l,hat. to others. had bccone a fascist code. A good example uas Cbumbat,amba wbo. desprte conrrnercial success, haYe not toned down their attitude. That signing on lo a big companl rvill open up ideas to a l,ider audience is feasible. white desn-o1,inr the system fiorr u,ithin has )ong been a rool of the lcft. flhumbau amba jn prrticular have donated considerable amounts ofmoncy rvithin the rnovemcnt. Several oftheir songs have been sold to major corlpunies and lhe rcvenue has been given to e!erythitrg from lndymedia and South Aliican Anti-Capilalists to pirate radio stations in Italy. In the case of Tndynedia, the band had sold one track to Gcnerrl Motors 1br $70.000. Thc money \\'as given to an hrdyredia atd CorpWatch campaign againsl General Molors. Ho\\, manv bencfit gigs or cotrpilation albums would it take to raisc such tigures ofmoney'l And _vet it relrains to be secn \.cather anarchism and lhe market place rvil I make long-tem bedlel lori s

popular ones Punk has dug a bole for ilsellin this way. It has created a code olethr.-s $'ithout profcssing ro have one. [t is otien unsurc as to what these ethics are and hou lar thev should be takcn. Nevedheless it's as ifthere is a central demand for every bodv on thc plancl to iblloq, these ethics ancl ifthey do not or cannot tbey are somehorv inl'erior. It begins rvith the musical fascism ofthe music itself- ifits'not thrash-and-scrcaming-in-vour-face-thetr-it -isn't punk' approach belies the idea thal punk is an attitLLde towards lilc rather thar an exclusivc fan club lbr a certain musical swle.

The people who pcrpetuate srLch inconsistencies are also the people rvho tell you that private propefv is \!rong; that rve should all share our stuff, while at the same time helpine rhemseh'es to your stulf in a curious absence of their onD. Those *ho allorr themsel\,es ro be walked ovcr in sucb a wav arejust as tbrrlish

This is sacriLege to sone \.ho hale long tbllor ed the DTY code and there has alrvays been a distrust ofan.vthins'sYSrem'. \ndr'\{anin of Liril has pollted out that it's all very well slaggrng ofTEN,IT lor their militan D\ enhons \ hrle playiug the lalest hardcore punk CD's on equipment inlented and d:r eloped

\\

rrhrn rvhar I percen e to be the puok movetnenr, and backed up by many orhers rr ho har e bccn paft ofthe movement for considerable periods ol timc. there is r icious sexrsm and Lromophobia to a marked degree. \\/hile man1, rvil1 jump to the collclusior that I aD over-generalising, l am not. Womcn a[d ga) s are stilI treated Like shit iu the punk movement and it is an indicarion ofu,hat was mentioned earlier. lhat there are people hiding u,ithin the movement,

by the same company. The question remains, hou' tar do r ou \\'anr to rake itl Thc answer is always individual but for some twisled hLcks this is never sood enough- I rvill retum to this later but let us continue u,iLh our historical atralyses.

The lare 80's had seeu the dl,clopment ofhardcore punk. Hardcore was punk played at speed bul Do\\' elements of thrash metal were introduced but the hybrid u.hiLe a furious expression of anger u,as almost exchLsively white, middle-class ard male. ln reh'ospect it actuall)r alienated a lot ofpeople. There rvere 1000's ofband playing \\,hat arnounted to ljttle more than 30 sccond bursts ofnojse and screarring. Meaningfu[ lyrics ryere pointless as they couLd not be discenred and musically many bclieved you conldn't really teLl one band tion anolher.

Some rvho are perhaps scared of looking too closelv at who and what thev might be hide behind thc image of punk. hide in its ideas without actually thinking what the_y. mean. Did they stop eating meat because the band told them to or was it Lhei r o$ Lr conscious decision? Did Lhcy think i t tine that they'd j ust helped to orqanise a Lapc crisis benefit but it was okay to punch their girllricnd in the lace later that Dight'l Was it cool to describe ho\v arvesome the nel brutal-core CD was ruhile slagging ofTthe lblk band with the gay singer'.'uf these people who is the oppressor and who is the oppressed?

Sincc lhese tirres anarchist punk has to a large e\tent been abont music and little elsc. The politics ha\.c to a degree taken a back seat. This is a gross generalilv - T do realise that many people kept social consciorLsness at thc fbre, and uill alq'als continuc Lo do so. This is *,hat anarchism, or at leasl the hl,brld ol anarcholurrk s';rs ahvays about- Punk has spcarheaded ntost of the ntodctr protest mo\ enrcrts It has made it clcar rrbat it is against but not what it ls acflrall)' llr. Being against is a purely Degati\c rrait }las punk really dug a hole 1br itselt-l Anarchisur concenred itsclfrvith the abolirion ofrhe state and the rcplacement association and voluntary co-operation of groups and indir iduals. Anarchists rvere ahvays particular)y hostile to prir ate property. The English anarchist Codrvin (1756-11136) called tbr lhe'euthanasia of got,enment" and moral indir.jclual retbnration- To some extent French anarchists echoed his ideas. Proudhon ((1809-1E65) also sought to bring about change by peaceful means and called fbr collectile commrmities ofequals. His

ofall loms ofgo\emnrent bl,free

l8

B2F: Can you first jntroduce yourself ard give a little background on Ps1'cho Faction and your invoLvernent in thc anarcho scene. Can ytru tell us a little abour Overground Rccords?

I have looked at a briclhisbry olanarchist prLnt and showed what it has achieved in being the catalysis ofmoden prolcsr and I have compared it ro tradilional anarchist movcments to sho\\'that 1t has fragmented along similar Iines. Some of the old anarcho bands have relomcd and are bringing rhe ideas to new generations but rrodcm )1)uth has never been so polarised.

The distraction ofcousumcil-it einrmickry has nelerbeerr a more powerliLl forcc among y-outtr. Protest ij still there but often it mcrcly takcs ihe ghost-like tbm that the establishrent permits, naurely that which follou,s its own agenda to a greater or Icsscr cxtent, It was fine to 'Make PoYerty Ilistory' and one should nof chide lhe etlbrts of others, no malrcr how token, to instigate change.

Bul, looking closer, is the so-called resuJting aid-package notjust another can,ing up of thc Afiican continent between transnational companics in nccd of sweatshop labou and Westem govcmmcnls seeking to impose lheir corporate philosophies? Sanirised pop protest is the cruellest ofironies.

The anti-globalisation rnovement has proven that groups and individuals tiom the most diverse backgrounds car come togelher and agrce on a single issue and tbat change can be broughl about in popular solidariq/- The Ioternet has allowed comunication between these disparate groups, allowcd rhe ss apping of ideas, lactics and resotrces. l| this way 1he first truly intemational movement has come aboLLt. There has, horvever, always been a movement for change. As long as there is philosophy that treads on the poor there will be a movement against it- Thc phrJosophy of the market place has long been the dominant lorce in modem cultue. When one realises the dystopian realjty behind this whitervash one begins to see that mass cullural change can only oome about through

a

information.

A philosophy of punk is to provide altemative idcas to mainstream culture, The oentraI core ofthis philosophy is an elhical one. An imperative ofpun]< is to offer an altemative to itself when it realises its own dead ends and drat is a moot pointAs I writc this essay I can already lhink of ways in rvhich il can be criticised but that is as it should be. Debate is the central core and this isjust a series of' ideas that ask questions anlvay.

I do lhink that punt is a philosophy of the individual. It is secing through social programming and cultural marketirg. lt is uncovcring the lies beneath the guisc ofmodern imperialism- It is finding ways ofconducting relatiotrships that are based on mutuality and autonomy- It is a discovery of values lhat do not need to be based on inequality and injustice. lt is a voyage of self-discovery and above all it does not need to bave a label that says 'punk'-

Psycho Faction's Sean McGhee in action back in the day Sean McGhee- I was the singer oJ'Psycho Fuclion, u'esl Cttmbrion punk band, from I 979-81- We promoled most of the punk gig.s in the orea throltghout thqt period, which included appearqnce\ in ott secluded rural town, by Crass

I'm

(three times), Contlict, Flux ofPink lndions, A-Eeads, The $,slem, Dirt, Poison Girls ond a plethoro oJ lctc:al bonds. The hund, turd myself in partictllar were politicised by the debtrl Crq;s record 'Feeding ofthe 5000', that was giren lo m), brother hy the Pete Stennet of Smqll Wonder rec'orclt. The bqnd savv Crat; plq; lhal silmmer in anolhet'bqck-end-of-notrhcre lown like our own, agoin irr Cttmbriq, ctnd il opened our e1'es and reinvigoroled our inleresl in pttnk. At the time punk lblt like lasl y-eors lhing, or ||orse slill a silly liule fitshion tagged on lo an increasingb insipid neu,wate, Cras.s denonslraled thcrl punk cotrld be much nore lhon clolhe.t, music and getting pissed, although there isn't trnything partic:ularly wrong with those lhree, I ond mont other,s /ell

Most jmportatrt of all is that it should all be fun, for if the hutrour is nol there, if it all gels Loo serious then uhat is tllc point'l Mischief is fun after all. And Iaughtcr is free. I remember standjng on a street in Seattle a few ycars back and a group of guys walked past. One of them stopped and said. "Hey, you've dropped your snrile". After smililg at him (and inuardJy calling him all the smaft fuckers ofthe day) I laughed and laughter is the best mcdrcitre.

There is nolhing to stop atrybody from getLing up and going outside. brcatbing in thc air and looking out across the streets or the fields and seeiug horl' differcnl a place the world could be. lt all begins in the head, in thc belty-laugh.

lh.)/ il

in the refusal.-,

\nsn'l

re.allj- lending anyv,here.

Psl,cho Faction pla|e(l lhrougholn CLtmbrio qt qlmosl exclusivel! sell: promated evenl\ qnd plat,ed alongside some ofthe 'ntone' octsfromthal ttould loler he tugged tlte Anart:ho-punk scene- The bond sort d.fizzled oul in 198t1, oJier x'e trll grev a bit ctlder ond cold hord realiry' hit in, People got jobs: people had kid,s, olhers moved in di:fJerent tircles I conlinucd to work in ntusic qnd qfler discovering the delights of Clrisry* trIoore, Ihe Pogues, coil The l{olfelones, ond redisc:overing my lrish roors I lotnchcd an ccleclic nlust. magazine in 1988- Cqlletl Rock'n'Reel. thc ntog gretv fron 24 45 pages uttil it wtt a 118 ptge glosst' corered ontl pcn't c'olour pthlicalion Iilh fi'ee cover mottnrt,cl CDs. !ft-ottorchist politics stillleotued hcttrilywilh the nag incltdittg o hosr o-l politicul :ongtt rirer,slbonds fi'om tlrc 1950s until lhe prc:cttr. Tltt'tt.t\ thc nlag frLttul't'tl tere increclihl.t, diverse /i-on Hotuhwind kt lte Chiefruins lrotr Jlsrxnrcn ta Marlin Carllry Jiom Chwnbawamba n Dub ll ar lronr tlte Drtblitcrs ro Johruty Cush etc etc. Rot:k'n'Reel,lblcled in 2003, but I hqcl bt,trr tn rouch be.fbre thol i,ilh John Esplen, who ltqs rwt Otergnttutd Recortl: :itre 1987. John ancl mt,sel/ usecl lo hctve Iong chats tttt the tubjat:l of rhc eorly 80s Anorchct punk sc:ene, antl he sugge.slcd lhol pcrhaps he'd like to do a compilaliott co),erin,q lhe scene He suggested he uight be inleresled in includitg a [',sy-< ho FLtclion lrack on the comp ond I kept rentintling hint of'the idea Jbr a good few )'eurs. The loc't thdl he trd.s alw6)s very, bus1,, und ol though wus o l'an of lhe A norchct punk sltrlJ he didn'l hure Lt huge anloilnl of'cotlldcts in that ared. h Feb 2001 cfter onother ofnry'phcne calls he suggestetl I compile on ulbtrrn oJ Antn'cho ltutrk. I slartecl lhal day.

B2F: \\hat got you inlo the idea ofdoirg this serics olcompilations'/ Can you dcscribe hou you rvcnt about selecting the tlnaI track Iisls and what crjteria you used? Can you girc us some info or l'hat's coning nexl in rhe series (or is it a surprise)?

PSYCHO FACTION By chance Sean McGhee and I stumbled across each other on a certain file-sharing network and got talking. Sean has recently been active in compiling a series of retrospective anarcho-punk compilation albums released by Overgtound Records (rvrvw.overgroundrecords.co.uk) to rave reviews. I wanted to get the lowdown on this great series... here's what

the icleo, ond I really rewr let it drop, lf ilhin q veek or so proled I qltickD redlised thql il ttus wn r.rttlikel.r, thqt all trqcks/hunds I'd like to include vtere going to fit onto one, t\o ar eret lhrcc

John cane up

ofsldrting

t'ith

lhe

C'Ds! The CDs ore generollv themed ctround a suhiect lha lirst .4nti-lfar', se(ond Anti-Stste'uncl third Anti-Sociery'. ond lhe,fouflltwill be 'AnliCtpilalism' I selecrecl utt:ks b) listening throltgh lhou-vlntl; tyf xng; finut well oround 150 bands/perforners, (ancl il's still qn ongoing lhing) I chose

happened next:

trqcks tllot /'itled the lhenle, stoo.l aul. soundecl

l9

grelt

untl

I

thought others

ltould enjo)) The series feolures .4ncu cho punk bond.;/petlbrners li.ont the LtK the )980s period only, not becottst I rhink rhtu ther're particulorlf befier

I'm nol lhal up on conlempo ary punk s tfl but reolll, like the r or k oJ Rtncid and Anli-Fhg. These days I hote a yeD) wide ta\te in music .ft'otrt f olk ntttsit, vith lhe qccent on lrish folk, to punk My /'ave band though has to be the Closh

lttn

rhanonctlherperiod,htlbettu:tlt,.|trr:tltoshotthotlhisitilporlanlp{illo1 punk, thut had preyiou:h bectt tt,lt Lrrltt'tl oul o.[punk histot], existed qnd rros o httge inlTtrencc on ta nloti.\ Th. tltit L1 CD Anti-Sociery' is due in Febnrun' and features RE lLIn CO \ TROL ICO)"S OF FILTH/ SEARS/ A.O.A/LIBERTI'.. D 1 I E lSGROI'E BA\D/ K4RMA SUTRU ICON A,D./ EXITS T1 \ C E 1 L TE R \.1 T] I' E / LOO K .IT UM MY C LOWN S/ RE A L ITY/ THATCHER O\ ICTDi P,1RT I/ANDY T/ REVULSION/ APOSTLES/ T\IERIIE \ SCH H 1 G 1 R TH E WO M B/ S TALA G 1 7/ OI POL LO t/ A,\ TI STlTE CO\TROL .tnl THE MENTAL. The f<ntrth CD 'Anti-Copitqlism' ir ri./,;: :.. ;, :.,i:.:;ute itt )()06

EIF

lot'e their slufl.

I continue to work on the Anqrcho Punk series, which will conclude rirh rlte /i/ihcompilctrion I'nworkingonthe/ourth(/nti-Cqpitqlism)andlifrhtustet unlilled) h lhe serias, \rhi& tdke a lot of tinle and e/fort (ompiling, not least

Do _rrru rhrrk the series uillmerely comer a small niche market of is part ofthe plan to rc-itrtroduce sortc ofthe ideas

-::rr:;lo- no.talsia-isrs or -tgJ10

)

Punkfrom the 80s, qnd particularly the Anarcho punk scene, is neyer going to achieve huge sales Indeed it'll take a lot more sol6 than thq) have to dqte to cover the cosls ofall lhe remaslering, research, booklel printing elc. That said the CDs haw been selling lo people who weren'l aen bom when the mwic wu recorded, who seem hugely enlhusiastic about the whole oflhe seriq and fascinaled and inspired by the Anarcho punk scene back lhen. fhere isn't q plan parlicularly, apartfrom really, as I wrote eolier, to perhaps point out to people raised on a diet of LIIV punk that long before computers, mabile phones, broadband etc lhere wqs q whole pttnk scene commitment and a financial shoestring.

aisling

on

pqssion,

B2F: Horv imporiant is ir to sotnebod\ rr ho's becr about in the scene fbr a IoDg time to kick stad the dlrlrmlc asain'] Can I ou pinpoinr what it is that has kept you itrspired?

f'nnolstttat,oucr.tulcl ltittetn lnutclto-ptmkst,eneasitwasagoin Basicolly tht'pttnk sce:nc rotlct is htgt,h rt ognrcnted with an endless amount ofsub,

graups, (nlt) ttt ettnta oi, \rreclpunk, skd-punle, lhrash nelal. punk nelal, (rt6l el( eta ,11\a the \ccne \td\ ter\, noiye orgdnisqtionollt ond polilicollt lte.ouse th( \'u\t m.Ljoriry ofthose involyed were teenuger! and o/ course pcople hat'e grovtr trp and v,idened lheir 'sot:ial circles' and listening tostes,

thc hugeh, detailed 21 page booklets Also olreodt'finished and recentll released on Overgtound records are The Sy'stem CD I'te olreacly mentioilad and o ilt:\, compilotion fntn The Disruplers-'Gd\ Tlte Punx' I'm ttlso wotking on CD qlbums b),The Allernqlive antl lcon AD, Dunfennline ond Leeds bdsad

|ie\\'poinlsetc TharsaidtheinspitotionoftheAnarchopunkscenecanstillbe

t

sccn in o lol ofunderground political movement!, the more dtnomic wing of lhe current punk st:ene qnd eyen the gtoJfiti art ofthe likes o.[Banks], Ilthqt hos kepl me inyolved is the fact thot I'te been inyolyed in music oj tariou.t genres, wrilitrg, promoting, ptrblic:ising ond booking since then and I're ohtoys renembered llte Anarcho ero with o Jbndfres\ th;lt has mode redi.scotering and hooking up agoin with old acquaintontes on ubsolute jctlt

cstpeclilelf

B2F:

,

80.s

An0rc:ho hqnds

world of political mayhem do you think trying to rer ir e sonre ideas is necessary. having Iearned tionr past misfakes'l ln what way do you think such a movement might be different frorn rhe past? 1 ask this orLt ol a growing concem that political protest is now too often confined withirl the safe parametcrs of haflnless lokellisn?

Tn todav's

ofthe old

B2F: Was it difticrllt gettjng the original rccordings notjusl for the aoarchopurlk series but fbr the othcr reissues you've put together for Olerground'/

I'm nol reall.y thar r et tuitr thot you mean b.v 'tt) ing to revive some of the old idea;', btrl mosl people tr ho werc invtlyed in the lnarcho st:ene bqck then have grot'n up ctnd I knor, it night be a clichl, htt age does bring kttctwledge Conseqtrerrh il's unlikelv tha/ o lot ol people --ould apprr.tach things ft om the

fcn: let oflhe originol recording,t lt ott lhe ,lnarcho \cene exist an),more. lt r'.ts t)cta r.tre to discoyer an originul quorter inch masler tapeJi,orn btrk then So many of tht: buntls don't eten hove copies oJ their otn rccotdings! Lutkilt tone gt edl people tho hqd lctotls of contacts und had kept o lot ol

stnne ongle as pra,knsly That said thet e is a Jdscinating and healtht protet ntovenenl loday /t om the sites on the lfiternet to the rudicql slreet artisls like Bunksl' Also il'; alya.\:s heqrleni1g to see thLtl peapl.' dren't prepurad b be letl 'up gu'den patht' qs thc Anarchist blatk bloc shorcd or the Edinburgh G6

tdpes,'si ngl es

B2F: So whel Rock n Recl bccame the big gloss_v that it did. did you fiud people accusing you ofsellilg out? Do 1,ou thirk therc is a Iine betrveen Lhe cr cativity process aId rnakitrg lnone), and rvhere does it lic fbr you'/ I4:ell it uas g/oss oa the cctter ttlrhotrgh still quite inL,- inside! Interettingll noboti,eter accttsul ntt ct/ selling ctul I ditl endeqrcur to keep the mug al cheop o . (r et pt /er/er \Lr./1rlr

ic;

tl'trtt

'.1,t

ds

as

for t eurs and il altays ittclutled the biggett LKnttsicmog Witheach i\\Lte inthttlingot,er 150,00()

et:

po: ti

l: le

tn,i nt.,:ei.i lttntlltttg subscriptioil\, eLliting, udrertising, latntt,

,rirr/iAririrTr;|t,lctlotofthettritingpeoplethoknevurceithcrthoughtlv,at iltlJ ot !.:,:tt t,Dt(h contmiledt For the t ecord though I v:ent bonkrupt in 2003,

t'

I tctrrldtt r ntctka cnough uonel regularh,y,ith lhe mag to coyer qll thc ttotnrring pt odttction costt ond liing cost,t ofm,lantily and nDte[. I qgree t ilh t ou t t: crecttit'it.t, and mqkhg money, but I think it's not tllLt hard b \pot paople rho cn'e only into thc 'creotilit!- proces,\' for e(onomi(: gains As qn

dnatchistlhdt,enoproblent\:itllhardyvork

IthinkthrnlnLtrchists,whotealb,

heliete i n lhe idt us, tnoke grcot trn-kers in so mcmt lorms o;f work because by their vc4' tttrrt e thet) cu e qnti-exploitatiye and rrutc h ntore detennined to do q job to the be:r oftheit abilh, I hqt'e read Proudhon's ideas on labotu.and ttdgc'\. dn.l a)n nol \ut e I ugree totally vith hir onoh,.yis o[produclion and revqrds ctnd tentnet otion, bt.rt i/ I prctduce something I'm proud ofl lhink I te a righl to he poid u lit'ing ttage fbr it Thdt doetn'/ chdnge my yiew thqt I think the huge dl.fet ence in wuge letels i,s completefi'uzong.

B2F: What was your tavouite intervicw/experience from thc Rock n Reel years? Do you think vou'd crer get back into jt agaitr? llte periotl assisted mc in my seqrch fbr udterial A /av oJ tha btmds were otnttzed ontone v,ould still be interested all these yeot s do1ll tht, line, antl aftcr chciting o /ev line\ lo thett thel, firfu, t,, rec]isc.\er tecot'dtngt rh.,v- thoughf they'd lo"/, or tutpes firtnr the dark recesses ol their oilic The System CD

lron

Speaking to Shane MacGowan, qnd trling to under,stand \hut he r il\ \./r r//.< t,as always a laugh. One of the het things wqs neeting the people tt ho reatl and bottght the mag over the years and to hear ol theit enthusiasm untl inltt est for Rock n Reel That reqllv made all the hard ||ork seem r orththil e ottl in all honestv seem ||orlhwhile. It was also really good in o strdnge sotl o/ \1o.1 to

I

contpiled collcd ' ..ls Still Murder', i\ q cqse in point A./ier speokfug to Andy lhe gLtiloriJl .t good leu limet, we gol reolly friendly and I eventually t ent down lo lfigan to see him He managed to unearth previous\- unreleased Syslen dentos thql hqd sdt in his attic for around 20 tears

seebigpublishingcornpanyproclucedmqgazineslikelv[tjo nickinglou] i.let\ lmilqtionislhemostsincereloruofflattery,apporenlll,Thetetereloatl.sol' other greal lhings Gelling the chance to heqr some exceprionol mutic rhat I would almctst cettainly neyer hqye had access to, and moking sotne real ft ienLls in the form ofthe mogs ttriters who included Bof/./ront Chuilbas atttl tlte gi eor

B2F: Are you interested in,/inlolved with any new bands with similar ideas?

What's your plans for the near future?

singer/song||titer Robb Johnson, (Contact Sean

20

via ttsl

ffilitttons o[ WEnil W,opH In 1982 the rvell-respecred punk rock label,\ltenrative Telitacles

norvada,vs. (We don'L lrear trro much o\,er here about that parlicular strugglc

released an

albur

called ",\'or 5o Qli'.2 ort tlrc ll'aslo'n Front" rv-hich l'eatLLred the cream of West Coast LiS pulk bands at the time. Of the many acts on that album very ferv are srill around toda1.. and even lewer atc trying to bring the same hardhitrirg philosophy as MDC. I caught up tith Jong sun'iving frout matr Dale Dictor at a gig itr tselfast, but first a little background on the band.

alymore.)

"Aclually I hwe slid away from Native peoples struggles in the US. W'e were involved with the Big Mounlain movement lot a decade, btck some years ago. Il involved lhe Government buJ)ing lhe Navajo peoples offtheir landfor a litlle money and a house in the middle oflhe deserl in returnlor uranium righls and the minemls under lheir land. The Goyernmenl inrolyed other nalives (The Bureau of Indian Affiirs) in lhe coercion process to get them off thal land- As fqr as I know only a small minori6) ofpeople were still holding oulwhik the Goyernment still goes afler lhe uranium. Many Indian groups, being so desperste for mone!, actually signed long lerm conlracts to bury nuclear wasle on the land in big landfills. Natives per cspila are the pooresl of tny sizeable minori4t in the Slales. Tltey suffer fron large alcohol qnd sabstance sbuse. I do kno|9 lhat The Mohawk Indisns have had successes in buring the Federal Governmentfrom their reservation snd collecting btck owed money on land swindles tnd broken cofrlracls from lteors back, As a ctuse-celebre in general though, nalives havefallen offthe radsr screen in the past 10 lests."

MDC came out ofTcxas around 1980. Their first siugle "Jolu Wqvne llos u rVo;/" was a \itriolic attack on "True Gril" America. including its f,gurehead at the time, that batral actor who stood for the patriotic paranoia that helped flrcl US foreign policy then as norv.

The trext a1bum "-4llllions ofDontn Christiqns" steered lar liom the fasrpunk thras} people e\pected and shorved a versatility lacking in most of their conlcrrpLrrarier-. Christiaritt" geLs a dcsen ed kicking on this album,, (The lollorving recordirrg in l9Eli was a live effort "E/r'r in lhe Rheinlontt'. l'n not big on live albums and this one seems Iike it w'as assembled in a studjo- A boollcg recording "Lit'e ot Moribor" rvas recorded in Slorenia in I 990 and is maybe a better album but is very hard to get (lfyou'r,e got it let me knorr).)

The Clhristians album is superb though aod has a sarcastic elemcnt remiliseent of Dead Kermedys at their peak. "B_r'e-Bt'e Ronnie" indeed. (\\rhile \ plrrg up this piece Reagar passed au,ay. T}e rnedia made the so called "Creat CormLrricator" into some kind of superhero detbnding thc world agrinst tyralry-, Actually he \vas' a L!vo-bit B-moyic actor u,ho wrccked Sourh Arrerica, slaughtertd millions and helped begin modem gJobalisation. \\re look fom,ard 1o the day Mrs Thatcher. l'ho spok.e so eloquelll,v at his funeral, joios him,)

In a I 982 intervierv with 'Ir.) Cdr.!.r./b r Concent ' tanzitle s jnger Da!e Dictor was asked rvhy he had started thc band:

'lVe're a political punk band. We were in Auslin, Tm, and I fell inelfective in the direction I was going, I was bei.ng a student and doing liltle political lhings on the side like "No Nukes" qrul helping oul people in qn snti-Klan group tnd lhe Txas Farm lvorkers groap tnd Ifell like I wffn't rcally mednt to be a pamphleteer or a telephone solicilor. more wilh lhe energy."

I

wanled

n

do somelhing

Iudeed this militant approach \vould contiDue on their-first seltltitled record "Millions ol'DeaLl Co2s" w,hich came out in I982 on their owu label R Radical(Radical rccords u,ere ripped off several tirnes aDd eveDtual lv ceased aronnd I 985). Regarded by many as olre of the best albums to come out of;\merican Punk it contimLed the bel ligerent edge both Iyrically and musically bringing frierds and focs alike. Very fel balds ti'cre prepared to grab poLitjcs by the balls at the time, For many it was a passing phase. tbe rebellion ofyourh soon lost in a cloud ofmortgagc and 9 to 5 rvage slaver,v. For olhers MDC u,ere too aggressive but it rvas this hard political stance that originally got me interestcd back in the dav, This excellent album is rvell u,orth checking out and is still rvidely availablc.

Also that same year MDC releascd an EP on C-'R-ASS records, one of onl.v nlo US bands to do so, called "MLtlli Death Corpotztions".NIDC u'ere playln-l faster and louder than many other acts at the time and ttete soon rcsPccted on both sidcs of rhe Atlantic for drcir geruine approach to lhc injuslices ol the da1 as well as their innovalive, jf caustic. musical style.

Reagar rvas ir power in lhe US. Thalcher in Britain. These govcmments. in the pockels ofNfultinational companics, uere moling in on the Thitd World. faking coups and replacing democratically elected go!emments rvith puppet dictators who u,ould (oe the US economic line. Millions of people died (and continue to die) as tbc world is carr,ed up irto econornic sectors. ln lndooesia, Nicaragua, C'hite and Viet Nam, among rnan.v otlters, the story rvas the same.

People rvere units, buman resources, as they likc to call it nou', ''Llpeople" as ticelance joumalist Johr Pilger has since called them. If they did not obey or if they criticised these "regime changes" they were oiten dealt with teminalll,.

Thjs is not some letlist propaganda but the testimony of those who halc sunived, a disgusting rcrninder that humanity has yet to comc out ofthe dark ages. The World Conrt fbund lhe US guilty ofslale-sponsored terorism in the case ofNicaragua as ifaryone needed olficial prooi'.

"Millions ol'Deqtl C'lilr/rerr"

19t9 sau,the re lcase of "rtle/.// -tlcr,1/ CoAe.i'. Hatf thc album is old st.vle MDCI. Check out "DirD, Hontlir Prcsitlent" atd"I Was a DnpeJitr the RCP". The rest ofthe albnm is er'erything trom coun[]'through fblk and standard pop.

Tlre Puo-k purisrs couldn't haldle the diversit.v and some ofthe tracks arc not stroDg. This u'as a tuming poinl for Diclor and co. I nefllioned to Dave that many of lhe punk puists grve up on thc band because they rvorLldn't keep plafing the hard male oilentated punk rock the,v \'anted. Tbe latc eighries sarv the beginniug ot'tbe pnnk mor,ement Iimiting iLsetl in so nrany ways uith nrles atrd slandards taken to religious exlrernes. I wondered if N4DCI rcgretted the album in any $,ay and Iorld it influence the sould thcy are trf,ing to make today parliculirrly rvith the original Iinc-up now back together.

'I think we're going prett! hardcore on the new album (I am also working on a siile project lo pul my rcoustic and blues oricntsted stuff inlo (Boxcar Dave),) Ron wrote a lol of lhe new album ud il's nice to gel hh sound baclc About "Metal Doil Cokes", thtt wss 1988. Many people throughout the yeurs abandoned us, and sometimes punk altogelhu, as thqt grew older. You really have lo make the musit you like or il shows... I wouldn't change a single song on that album and I know il has punk, folk, blues and counlry and westsn,..thal is who we are."

rvas NIDC-s follow up single, The cover depicted

staruing chiJd lying dou'n to die. Tbe implications were obvious. Also featured was lhe Cajun tlavoured parry-piece "Chicken Squarvk". Their second album also sarv a big srving in musical lems. a

"Smoke Signals" incorporated folk and blues stylcs among the standard hardcore elements. lf a thcme is Lo be tbund on this album it is the plight of Native American lfldians- A large insed came wilh the original album concemirg the Big MounLain Elders Relocation Resistance March. The rrarch

Fair crlougll lt is versatilirr- that makes rock music itrtercsting at the end ol the dal'. Who rraDls 50 albrurs by bands thal all sound rhe same anyutay, the same old minor chords and lbe same old subject mattcr? I99l sarv the release of "l'ley CoO y 1 Oo, u Fuca lilrc -forar'. pcrhaps a strorrger albun tlral irs

tookplaceinArizonain l9lt6.laskedDavef)ictorifhcwasstillinr'olvedwiih the todiatr resistancc moYerrent and u'hal the nain issLLes of slruggle u,ere

2t

predecessor. The band had changed line-up several times by this stage, with n01 one consistent line-up on more than one album. This has a lot ofthe old-st_vle sarcastic humour but lhe message is still most definitely there.

mates

*ho

have been suing and counter-suing each other for several y'ears

now. " lle are friendly yel I don't get inlo their business between ,hem As a fan I think i/'s really sad...but I woaldn't be surprhed to see them back togelher in d yedt or two...you heard it fusl tighl herc and it h based on no solid

I993's "Slrades ofBrotrn" $ as to be the last album for several years. Again an ecleclic blend of musical stvles stamped with trademark MDC is on offer with metal, hip- lrop and lblk rock added to the mix. A couple of singles followed but MDC sccmed to disappear at this stage. Drugs and other personal problens. including tinre in jail put paid to activities lor a while. Dare collaborated ir a [rand called Sabmis.siyes with Pig Champion ofPoison ldea

ilidence."

(Legal activity between the fonner Dead Kennedys ceased in mid 2004....)

fame around 1996 but generatly things were quiet. When long-tem drumrer A1 Schl.itz u'as jailed lor car thelt it sccmed as ifthat u,as the end olNIDC but in 2000 Dale released "Nor More Than Ever", a kind olgreatelt hit. retrospective. lt's a good place to start for a first timer but l'd hale mede a \ en dificrent compilation myself. Repackaging ofold material, Like the ohli_caton livc album really doesn't do it for me but the non-album tracki \\'ere \\'rrfih the !3 (S5) Dale charged me at the gig.

I has changed the face ofUS and world history. There have been two illegal invasiors (Afghanistan and Iraq) and tens of thousands dead despite ovenvhelnring anti-\'ar sentirnent intemationally- Wtat would a long-tem anri-\\'ar actiyist like Dictor make ofit and what did he think could be done to Fre\ eDt flrfihrr \lissile Destrol,ed Civilisations?

9i I

" ll ox.. x.har con be done.. .I beliete lhe progressive Americon people have to organi-:c and ger thc ne-rsage oill to loke bock lheir counl1'. We need lo vise up to their tricks, llichael lloore, lhe documenlary* mtker. rrole a cotple of greor books but rlte last one "Drtde, IIhere's M)'Coriltt1"'realll hirs ilte rttil on lhe head. The right ring has bought up q lol oflhe medio - rhett lie and distort llrefacls at even'turn, thel bnr lhe elections by outspending rlte nore liberal Denrocrils:, two and lhree to one. llte need to get *ell-lil;ed liberqls lo runfor office. It's clichdd to sq it brrr x'e need lo get actite.,.join conpaign:. drire people lo elcclions and net'er again run tlte Greens aguirr:r the Democrols in s nalionql election.

Over rhe years I've heard things about \{DC. Ihe usual rumoLrrs thar fo I lou anv

well-known act around, that they are in it lor rhe monev and rhe iau: \lDC': rccord label was ripped offand several distnhutiofs sho tr'er: iru:rtt ivlrh records ncvcrpaid up- The group got irlo dabl Cirf,r!'on \\e 3lI kni.s Ihar on.

I camot sa), if any of lhe rumours are tnle rrr i!sr rhe product of lad lrr:.r backbiters who har'e nothing befter to dtr bur tv al accounrs \'fDC. in rheir r.arious foms har e beer ver\ honest anLl Lrpen pe.ple. \\ en 1 spoke rvith Dave after thc shoR, I \\,is lteling c1'ric:1 :ro I askcd, no\\'that he was the only original member, rvas he jnst ndrn-e on the Dand\\ agon of past glories.

Shouldn't he call it a dav not that he l a: the onlr- one left?

It's a pret4tfucked

up world, with globol worming and rhe Pole: melring. animal species being loslforever, bye-bye rtinforests,.)t'e cqn po on and on, I sm trying lo express lhtl il's noljusl sn irrqtional Islont attacking ts 'innocenl' weslerners. There is a greal dispsri.!* of hob' *eoltlt is lividcd otr lhis planel and lhere is nolhifrg innocenl or democrqtic qbout it. '

nerer fired an) oile ". \\'as the reFl\'. I thinl I ri'as a bit rude to the guy bul he if his stridc and cven !a!e nre a tiee record. Hejust wanted to bring the rnessage thit ther. ii af alrematiYe to the madness out there. After me slagging bim ofl about beins the onlv one. the original line-up has since got back together and are toLrrinq aeain, Anyu'ay I scnt some questions to Dave to complete the inten'ie\ miss-stafied at the gig in order to get an idea what \{DC rvas up to norv. The replies were open and honest. So wbat was it Ijke berng back on the road again?

"I

took it

Too true but how can you go up against the might of the US. Nlighr is ri_chr ar every tum. Did Dave think that an itrtemational boycott, for example. ofLiS goods in protest agairlst the f'akc war on tc[orism u'ould bc counterproductile'.)

"No. Boycott American businqs The Right Wing organised a boycoll of French and Belgian products in lhe US, and Congras aclualb had a campaign to change the tem 'tFrench Frix" to "Freedom Fries" Oeca$e the French had been tgainst lhe US invasion oflrag). Anyway, monq) k the bottom line and it is the lafrgaage of bilsin*s everywhue. Hit lhem whue il hurts.

"MDC toured us the Dead Cowboys in 2002 with Molotov Coctail. lle did 35 Euro gigs and htd a gred rtma Il was m! rtril euro lour since I 993. I didn't lour for various reasons from line-ap changes lo drug addiction, getting clean and being a single parent I am through it all now. My son is 19, which enables me lo tour a lol more now, Following that we did the "Escape from America Tour". We did Ireland and the UK in May and lhen did a msd dash scross the mainlsnd playing Nelherlanh lo Croalia and back over lo Spain in 29 days with only one day olf. We did Florids in lhe US snd s lol of East Coasl USA dales belore tild in between, Il wrc a lol offun and I love lhe aclion. Il's sweet lo slill draw t crowd and be able lo tour 23 years aJler lhe band slarled. Thank you all you people that support us. Really!"

Right before the war starled there was an aircraft business conviltion in France and all lhese Ameiun companies wenl lherc wilh all this pro-wat blusleL European airlinu and businesses snubbed the American companies like Boeing and McDonald Aircrafl You'll beflying European airbusu a lot in Europe soon Those Amqicsn business peoplc came home and complained to Bush and lhe ight wing media (Fox Nus Network) about the hurl caused to US business overseus.

Dictor is also a tcachcr ofdevelopmentally disabled studcnLs in Ncu,York as as beirg MDC front maD. I wondcred what thc most impofiant thing rvas 1br him after all this time in the u,orld of punk and allemative culnrre.

['ell

Hey don't ealfrom US fasllood oullets and tuA people why. Il is bttlfor you and il's very ctuel lo animals. It is one ofthe onlylreedoms you actually have... deciding how lo spend lour monq,."

"Communicution with young people, lhrough being in lhe band, creating music and louing,,,it is to gelthe message oul that lou don't have to buy into the consumerist bullshil sociely that ralaes |9eallh and slnt6 on an aduh loel and, on a teenage loel, wilh MTV and lhe like trying to make you want lo have that look and be so facking hip. My son is 19 and I see him having n deal with it all Trying to nol have to compare himseU lo aU lhe beautiful people all the time. I also believe the gap between rich and poor is horrible. f was reading 3 7 million Africans are fscing sldruation on a daily basis and the workl's leaders all such My countr! is the worsl Unplug Brch

Yes folks don't gjve them your mone),- lnyestigate elery producl bclbre ),ou buy it. There are u\vays altertrativcs. That's l mcssagc that's eas_v lo digest. T don't takc ordcrs from Coloncl Sandcrs- do vou l

MDC hai,e iivcd all or,cr thc US so T was intercsled to discorer ilthere was much difference in grass roots activism, say between Texas and New York u here tire rroup is noiv based:

- dutroy Amuikkka!"

"ll

ell people diJfer btr aclivisls ure generally a similar breed, ln Texos 1ou do feel ruther isoluled with your views .from a rery lorge part of lhe poptlation r hcreas in Ssn Frqncisco ond New fork there are lols of very octh e ond polititol people."

really

IrJloBt

DIffI

Horv did the Dave and Ron find working togerher after all this timc and do thc1, have an.u. lmmediate plals for the band in the near flLture?

c0Ps

"It's qaite diflerent now than il was 20 years ago. Back then we all lived in the same music sludio. We ale together al soilp kilcheils, praclicing almost daily arul making flyers for gig* ll/e live opart and have separate lives now.

Ron lives in Yenezuela and arrives in Nw York to start the toars. It is nol qs intense or 24/7 as it was, sad bat t ue. Il is nice wilh the Intemet lhough, because we stay in touch about all kinds of songs and political thoagh* on a near daily basis. I hope our distribution will get betler as we lour mote dild more.

As is the rvay u,ir)r DIY cnlnrre several months passed and this inten ierr rcmailed o[ a shelf while NIDC had gole back into the studjo with alrnost the complete original lirre up and recorded their llrst album ofnew material in or er a decade "ilagnrs l)orninus Corpsus" manages to sound likc old IVIDC Lrut ficsh and rroderr at thc samc lime and they arc still not afraid to stick their neck oul either ard that's encouraging. Dave sent some details of aroLher inten,ierr' (for Mnr hnunt Rock n Rolh so that th is one l,oulcl be nrore ralc\ JnL.

ln

198E NIDC had broucht out ",rl.'/ore Deod Cops", a compilation album of the tirst LP l'ith various sin-gles and oLt takes. The album rvas re{nastcrcd b), Klaus and East Bav Ray olDcad Kcrmedys. Coincidently Je1lo Biatia had aLso appeared on au N{DC albunr (."Shctdes is tr-iendly u,ith tLrcm, u,hat he thought

ofBrovn")- -tt got me wondering. as oftlrc Iift between the former band

So

hc

ho*

did thc originaL band membcrs gct back togcthcr and record a ne\\'

albuml \\rhar influenccd thc politics olthe album?

22

Sleep Furiously ry Ruth Less :rlrl called "A Christmas Carol rn I S-.{ I rr called S;rr...:e L: :htrl ecl through his past, present and lutrLre by a scries ofghosts to hrs :r;;t i:.rrrrr and trepidation ,.and I arl u:in_q rll rlr occult porvers to irnagme all rhe rrr:mers belng shown round every grar e and corpse and dismembered btr.I p:r :r rhejr theatre of war, then being taken br rhc skeletal hands of dead childrrn io r' :1 hrrral \\'hcre they must stand and \\ ittress the collapse of sonc.l anrl rhe br.akdo\\ n that is loss. and then on to the rotting corpses ofthose rLnaccourrcJ 1or ir rhc sands ofcollateral damage, therl further through hills and mountains in all u earher and in all seasons to the bedsidcs ofthose dismembered ald broken. slurr elled and lifeless ghosLs that haunred their way out olthe graveyard into a [rfe oihaLl--remembered times \\ hetr they could still walk and talk and sing aod thrill to the heaft beat of life, thef into the long dark nightmare oihistory where a figuLre ur the hcavy chains olpoor diplomacy will show them tbe results oftheir tbolisb agenda Until then sleep luriously colourless green dreams Charles Dickens

\\hich

MDC on the front cover of Maximum Rock n Roll #1 'Al, (the original MDC drummer), had kgal problems and I was doing lhe Submissives wilh Tom Pig of Poison Idea Afier lhal I wenl lhrough a period of quitting drugs. All this time lhe idea of a nm record required a cohesive unil for pulling forth good ideas. It wasn'l really Jlowing righl in lhe last len years. Ron (lhe original guitsrisl) and I aclually found etch other ogain through lhe Internel There were a lot of lhings lo ranl about politically in the 90's - Christians saying the worlcl is only thousands ofyears old and those dinossurs went inlo utinction through humans hunting lhem. Its fsith-bqsed science as opposed to reqliy based science. These people wafrl to drire us to Armageddonjust to prove the Bible is right.

"Magnus Dominus Corpus" means Corpsa of the Ultimate Dictalon Il was Latin term used lo describe the hsted betweil Christian and Islamic

s

smi6 intheMildleAges Enjoy your $e. Everything you do does counL ft's okay to be dilferenl arul apartlrom the mdin crowd - Even lhe hip punk crowd The golden rule is do onto olhers as yoa would have them do to 1ou. And kill the cop in your head and hopefully the resl willfollow.

Contact MDC at PO Box 142, Glen Cove, NY1111542, U.S.A, or at

www.mdcpunk.com

23

a charactL'r

srirti r Lr.ri

*

l.s

i.-'v

Liberate the -4nimal Right

\lanyacres and the horurds are :lauvhtering the beastie up ahead It :o poinlless

Movement,l

Then there was the other cro\\ d ri ho treatcd animals as deities and gar e people a really hard time iostearl \ ou cL]uld see thejr 751b cats sitting on heated. la\ etrder-scentcd cusbLon: in their desicner sanctuaries; or their manicurcd loodles trotting down the red carper ri hrl.- \lozart revelled in the background Didn t they realise thal lhis \\ as crue lt_r to animals too?

By A.L.F. Harris

alL seemed

\rsr av now t have the chance to set nr\ ou n back on all yon bastards BrLm ::1 animal righls magazines irunediateLy .\s ibr all ofthese lists ofprodncts

Vegans are strange creerl::: : r : : ., r:) a\ ake at dawn each day and go scavenging 1'or seeds ari : .-. -: . ::.- -::-: 01 many observers they are fiom

r,: renotsupposedtobuy *honeeds

Itismo:; .:: : :::r ii.omefromanothergalaxyjudging by the reactions they gei : ::r : . .

-:: ::\ r3staurants. Often they will have to translate this bizafie 1r.:. :] : ::: :: nr dumbfounded waiting stafl Apparently most *aitrr: . =:: :.:..::: iire \\ ord as meaning, "stir-fr.v", which anolherplanet

em?

lll'mhungryenoughI'11eat

::r:hins

be it sheep's bollocks marinated ln o\:ter spem sance or a blue'.Lrie burger with extra lat trimrnings (Apafi tiom sausages I'll never eat :: r::ge: under any circumstances).

really doesn'r help mattcr.

HUNT S,A.E'DT E U ES

So what are Vegans then' T.' : :,:. ::e: called Donald and Elsie fomred the Vegan Society inNoreube:,:: I.::r ;aid lhatvegetarians could1ire without dairy products ani ri:.. :, :.:rnued to educale the public uith their findings. It is not krorr l ri l:: : :r:i Donald and Elsie wbere originallr from but despite all this vcganr:n ii ri r:ii as the hills, the hills where the dodgl, lactory is now built and tiom rr ier: irttle piggy is sent lo marker

1fi.s-t se- i-s t i rrm "'*1-'v

(Yikes I'd better take off rnr l:atLer boots while l'm witing this in ca:e I set letter bomb in the postl )

a

Graphic courtesv of HSA It seems Iikely that we were sathercrs before we were hunters and medlcal research from the NeolilhLC peritrd :hc,\ s rve were much healthier tbr n I stopped eating flesh ol er 500 \ ears !go myself and people say I doo-r [io], a day over 2 1 | I originaLlv stopped eatrne decaying flesh because I had L,ecome educaled in the antics ofmodem capLtalism. You see, ifI had an acre oliand I could grow beans or grains upon il and the amount ofprotein I u ould c;nerate would be at least four tinres seater than ifT allowed beasties to saze upon ri.

As for those of y'ou * ho think anyone who isn't a vegan is somehow inferior well herc's a slicc of histoq Can y,ou imagine lrying to force your silly theory on Lhe Caribou Eskimos ofpre-1950's Canada/Alaska? These people had no vegetables apart from a few berries that appeared in the summer when the snows had melted What do you expect these people should have done - pack their benies in ice and open polar bear sanctuaries?

cut their throats and pop them offto the abaftoir where sinister du an e: u ould drink rheir blood, shjte iIrL] rheir intestines and send them otT a: sau:ase: to rhe supemarket.

And rou can blame those compt regimes tbr those olher parts of the world in lhe modem dal rhere local people are forced to Ilunt animals into extitrction bccause the go\ emnrent srole their Iand and sold it to the nice company from America and they thus har e no income with which ro brry food nor land to grow it upon thank Jrou vcry mLLch So fuck Vegans!

You see the West 01 er consumes meat. and land lhat could be used to feed peopte is utilised to i-atten beasties instead This js rn part wh.v there is a third u.orld Anywa-r- I got a bit political back in those da1's lt u.as trecessary to saye at lcast 3 foxcs a u,eek and avoid bul,ing any products made by that corrpany u,ho once donated f,5 to the Research Lab s annual tea party

Ultimately if veganism has to do with compmsion md ethics then why support the capitalist society in which you live in any way? Every single product in every single shop exists for the monetary system. As money is the root ofall evil, including evil done to mimals, then should true Vegans use money? Right - well send all you money to me imediately.

(Botlocksl I'm begiming to f'eel guilty lookitrg at that tub ofholey on the kitchen shelf.)

Eventually I started to like all the small and fum crearures It \\as a pleasuc to see them doing alJ the things they do, especLally dogs *hen they ha\e s,oms as they scrape their arses along the ground $ ith Lheir Iegs il the air and it does make me chortle

(Shite Ijusl otlrvith

I otrce Liberated

a

think that eating decayirrg flesh is rvrong? I don't believe there's anything mong rvith eating decaying flesh. I don't eat it myselfbecause itjust isn't healthy in lhis day and age no matter u,hat atry industry-rvaged expcrt might say Dccaying flesh smothered with bactcda and bormone is never fully digested Red meat in particular leaves a residue in rhe bowels, rvhich can build up to causc cvcr,v. thing tiom constipation to cancer Meat also adds rutncccssary fat$ tissue to the bodv Nluch ofmodem disease. lrom obesity to cancer to hearl tailure. is tlirectll attributabLe to over consumption ofmeal But why should 1 ou belier e someonc tiom anothcr planet? Go look it all up yoursell il you've the gtrts

that I had trappcd undcr a honel lar (sorry it rvas really a and vomited over m-v dinner, so orcrjo,vcd $as it with its

111,

jar?) lt fleu off

remcmbered tbat the fly 1 liberated actually had all its legs pulled pair ofzircon-encrusted twcczcrs )

So whrt is thc most cthical uay to eat'? Wh1 do a growing mrmber of people

Back in those days I went out once or tu,ice a u,eek to sabolagc foxltunts I did some other things. rrhich I shouldn't metrtiotr such as the setting tiee olcaprivc beaslies. This is lh.v- this ar-ticle is wriricn undcr a pseudonym (My real name is actually Ralf, not A1l that'U fox 'em)

.jam

a

nervtbund tieedom

Not cnongh for ya - okay then a lot of the rneat you eal comes from animals that are \ cgctarian by rature yet modern farming being concemed u'ith maximising prolrt has been feeding cows bits ofothcr cows (This directly caused BSE (N4ad Cow Disease) Nou'there's CJD that's uhat humans get and there'LI bc a lol rnore ofit in coming years) The actual vegetatjon these animals do ger also contains numcrous agrochemical residues (as do vegetables that arc not organic), which are uscd to boost prollls at the expense oflocal ecosystems. This cocktail of chemicals and honrones tinds its rvay into the camivorous lbod chain. The 'experts' don't actually knorv what this cocktail docs to the body and even if they did, s,hich they probably do, tbey wouldn't tell you. Why should thel' there is far too much cash at steakl So thcrc you harc it There is absolutcl-v nothing wrong with eatiog meat

But it is crtrcl whaL thosc nasty 'experts' do to the lovely furry beasties.

Everyone krou,s the dreadful condjtions lhey're kept in Animal experimcntation is quite simply a waste of time Why test substances on animals that are a corrplelely different species than us and have a completely different physical and anatomical make up and then say it is sale to use on us I resl my (\'ery lcather) casc.

That's \\tat they do Prof'essor Pscudoscience, who works for Huntingthemdorvn Sciences Ltd. sticks pil ls into some puppies for tu o years, uiltes a nice repoft tbal allhough all the puppies are blind and only four died, they are in rcmarkably good health Next the goYenrment ministcr rvho sits oo the board ofthe same conrpany autboriscs thc use ofthe pill lt is only raken

Jobless delinquents like this were dragged out of bars, paid f,10 and given a packed lunch so they could mess up an oflicial sporting event. A proper disgrace! seriousness, though, I soon began lo realise that I was parl of a club To be in the club you had to tu.o albums by the punk band Conflict, lon) army surplus clothing and a hangovcr (dreadlocks u ere actually still optional in those days) And you really had to be vcgan 1br at Ieast a century lfyou were namby- pamby vegetarian theu it rvas crrlains and Satatr hclp those spotted catjng crap il a McDonald's bugger bar.

ln all

gets too high So how do Nc get drugs to propose that \\e carry out human experimerts. We cal use repeat offenders as their way ofpaying back their debt to socieb/ N{ass murderers might bc a good place to startl

offthe market when the body count save our babies lrom dving? WelJ

Erentually I had to Iear e this club and I decided there and thcn T wantcd nothing more to do s,ith the animal rights movcment. You see Dost of the pcoplc in the club hadjoined because it was the fashionable lhing to do in those days but * orse - they u,crc morc intent on havitrg tights u ith hunt suppoficrs than thcv wcre u,itb saving lbxes Imagine lhis mass ofdreads and am,v sutplus haling a go at Lad), Snooty and blocking the road whilc Lord

T

You could alu,ays gather up all that free food that largcly goes to uaste each year. a1[ the tungi, roots. beries, herbs. nuts and fnrjt But you krow I'm not

25

really bothered. I couldn't really gi\e a damn u hat -vou want to eat. l'm har iug baked parsnips u ith minted neu, polatoes and u'i1d muslrrooms with a courgctte and thyme sauce follorved b1, drubarb and apple crunrhle. T wi[[ then have a glass oltincst Chateau du Deliriun Trcmens and settli do\\n rrith a good animal story by Roger Scruton or some suclt,

This article has mcandered through diflerent aspccts of a pointless dcbalc betq,eel weather we should eat meat or not, The thing is howerer is that the animal rights movement has adopted a holier thal thon credo, often coldescending tou'ards people who don't intmediately cotrfonn lo their standards. People's dieLs are based on l hrt thc) were brought up with so it comes dos'n to education. Many idcas espoused b}' afjrnal etrthLtsiasLs are \\ orth anyone's consideration, apart frorr those u ho recommeLicl you buy a certain range of producls by the lare wife of a lbmer pop stJr l)on t tnrst 'em. their sausages are -iust as dodgy.

pointle:. Eltherloudo Finallyitisuorthmenlioningthatthisdebateisfairlr or you don't eat meat and ),ou will no doubt defend vout comer lt ncar; notiring Preachitrg \e[etarians, vegan police aud crusadins ca!] \ ores all havc orle thing in

comon.

The-r''re more concerncd with gettitt-u the ir

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russ

lvithoutasinglecareasto\\hatishappeninginsidetheiro\\nbrrdir.oricross this fragile planet

feel so much befter with heroin. Buy some today" (Photo courtesy of Grinning Planet)

"I

And this brings me on to the subject ol anrmal liberation, You really need a home for those animals bcfore vou set them lree Thcre's no point in keeping hundred fealherless chickens in.v. our old bcdroo:r as your mothct ma1 norice the sLre[[. It isn't too much fun for the chickcr s either and j ust thi n k of l our tu o Conflict albums they could gct ruined

Now u,atch the fury legan. gather up its seeds and take r[rerr r-:;lr l.r the ]in c hole in the ground. Look nou as it rubs the tumip oil jntL, rt: n:r:it.'\: rlird prepares to send a message back to the planet. What's rbar i!'!r' :l {.f,kesl Irrl't Lhat parot food stLLck in its whiskers? a

Look here comes

a

whole bunch ofthem hoppin-t around rhc ir.'ior llle rabbits,

ultil

sonre nasty lamcr comes and blasts "Bright Er es-' .'1 all scupper off to safcty ofthe local health food shop

i';

:1;1;.r 31i thqy

(This essal'is a relised vcrsion ofthe'demo'that appeared in Front Cover#.l.,{ sequel is undcr consideration...)

say that thcsc animal liberatlon t\pcs cortldn't care too nluch about human rights abuses. What aboul human liberation.'

Is it okal to spray acid over Professor Ramsbottont because Ilc likes his sheep'?

Is it cthical to min the career ofNfiss Tess T Edonmice and blorv up her

Il's true to

childreu to teach her a lcsson? Didu't that rice Pcter Singer tell you that infliction ofpair on any creature rvas bad?

No[ ifyou

wanl to eat mcat, that's finejtrst as ]ong as you don't havc to have haYc to sla 'e some humans but perhaps that \\ on't bother )-ou too rnLrch l But if .vou $,an1 to cat meat responsibly therl von r lll wan I to go out and get it r-oursc I l'. Using dogs is cheating and besides voLr rnav u'a[t to experimenl on lhe]n later. E\ eD' paft of the kill shouLd bc rutilised. Of course i t's dead easy ancl muclr handier to buy a packct of bacor instead. You get to avoid rvatching tJre throat being slrshed and anl possible comection that this Nas once an animal has literalll' bccn ser ered.

it all the Lime lfyou do the[ \\,e'll

Then again why put yourself through the anguish. No\ don't get too e\cited.

Evcr woniler u,hal happens rvhen an auimal gets killcd It releases a lot of adrenalin and n'here does thar adrenalin go? Nou stop it, you'rc getting o\ ercrciLcd. Why don't youjust oat vcgetables instead? Bur hey man, isn't it crucl to kill vegetables too man? What a load ol okl ha iry bollocks. Ever hear of that cult u,ho sit still and don't do anytlring all day lor ttar oftreading on some bacteria? Oh deary me

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N'lost edible planLs gcminarc, t)over and producc tbod and then buggcr otl lcar ing a seeds, lfyou're really bothered about beirg cruel to vegetables (and it hurls rvhcn I laugh) then save those seeds and be a martyr for thc \ cgctablc kingdom I

iel

Nol.u,e're getting somelhere. Imaginc in one 1bul swoop you can avoid taking alI that chemical crap into Iour bodr The Yeuer diet. the diet t]raL's out ofthis worlcl, is bascd upon firsr hand energr Vcsctarion Ls rhe ttrp of the tiod chain. It drag,s minerals from the -grorLrd and mamtlactLire: ih!'rr in a 1\ 3\ xseable to us Decaying flesh is second hatrtl energr \ eSei35l.s !iIt !r,iilirr crap too and that's Nhy),ou can al\avs do it lour sel1. Erperimcnt

sr:-NN3S/\r-:

(irorving vour orvn food is realll quite siLlple but it s bcrt to .tan lrtT sJtrilil Grorr somc herbs in pots on your s indorr sill and teach lourscl the oestc: oi ho(icultrLre, rvhich is Lhat p)ants need uater and ibod. Then. shen r rru ice I tad morc ad\erturous, gel some land- Usc your gardeo, check 1 our loca1 allotmetrt socielv, c[Lb togcther u,ith friends and bu,v sotle, take over an nr uscd piece ol lancl 1br guenil [a gardcning Prepare it by di ggin g i t rn to sods ln autumlr or early spring. Break dou n uith a fork. Removc all traces ol l eeds (),es alL thosc s'hite bits). incorporate some corupost (kitcher waste $ ill do it's possible to grot food rvithout shitctmannre) Let the weatller at it. When you have a t-rnc wced ficc tilth put sorle seeds il. lluy a book and Ieam, Yon oould alrvays stcal your own fbod but ifall shops rvere shut and there was mass crop failure Iou shouldrl't be afraid to gel out there aud kill an animal.

You don't need a dog, and anlavay that's cheating. It's quite easy Lo make your ol,n fishing gcar or projcctilc such as spear orbow and anox,. (Vegans nse laser guns from their home world to kill alimals u,hen there's no othcr food, and [ ]ren r0 one's looking), Oncc you have caught sontething press the area at the base olthe spi[e to get rid ofthe shitc. Rcmole feathers or ltLt u,hen the kill is still lresh Skinning takes practice but you'll lcam quickly ilyou're

'

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The Contuct List Compiled by Tess & Pnut The follou,irrg list ofweb-sites and addresses l'ill hook lou up to a s'or1d of infomation Remembcr that infomation is pos'erl Of course this doesl t meatl lhat like our owner you should wastc your life in fton t ol a computtcr screen.

There's a big rvorld out there,..

desperatc cnough. RemoYe guts, gristle and excess far. Shove a stick through it and cook over an open flLre. (Meat is almost indigestible uncookcd u ith the exception oflish.) To catch lish you need patience- That's why trost fishemen are rcrl,cahr people, apart t}om the ones oD trawlcrs but lhey dotr't catch llsh theyjust han,est seas until there's nonc lefr - and the1, smell real bad Ifyou caD't get an,y animals. kill a hurnan- They're easy to sneak up on, aud hey its all Uesh so don't worry about human rights and alJ that mumbojumbo. Humans give themsel\es rights, rememQer, so go ahcad punk ..

lndl medra - rr wu ,indr media.org An allematire view ofthe u'orld's events from eles'ttne!s srrurccs

MadPride w.madpride.net

26

Provides infomation on irru:rrc:: ',r'ithin the menlal health system Mad pride, Box 26. 1-16 Kingsland High St. London E8 2NS, UK

Nuco News - ww,narcone\r's.com Remember the War on Drug: Find L'ul $'hat's happening

Redeeming Qualities

By I. V. Hadenoff

here

Sorry, I looked really hard but I cmot fmd any redeeming qualities about what you ile proposing. You wmt me to walk dom the street with you expensive bmer and you tell me it will stop tbe war. What will stop the wr is breaking through those skulls that hold the mindset that sends kids to shoot famers and 0reir children. Wlrat will stop the wu is when we collectively break into the mment factories md destroy every fucking weapon there is.

Let's face it a gun has only one use. The word deterent is a joke gm touts tell their critics. What if we had the gms and we stomed the palaces and stopped nmcying about cold streets with ou middle-class feel- good camPaigns to save the world? What if we took a lesson from the kids of Pais or Belfast md organised a persistent onslaught against the state paratroopus ofthe capitalist generals whose mandate is to protect capital interest before hmm lives md once we've driven them to the conidors ofpower we cm have a few salutary llnchings to show that we mean business. Yeah I know, you will tell me that m eye for m eye makes us all go blind but let me tell me you this, that when I cmot see you I can still hear you breathe and I will know where to swing my club. Ald I hope you will tum you other cheek. It'll make me smile as I wipe yous from you face. You still hector me that I m just mother example of brutality wishing to assert my petty ego and flex my biceps; you tell me I am just as bad as the enemy. When you call me the enemy you ue taking sides. No I do not know what I would do ifthe conidors ofpower were over-m by excited rebels. No I don't know what would need to be done; I have no idea how to build a new world. I am sorry I cmot answer a1l you questions. I have kied to read you Gandhi books and I tell you that man died by violence. I hied to see if there were my redeeming qualities in you method md I found none.

So let me tell you this when they come lookhg for you md yous I want you to know that they will frst strike ftom afu. You will not see them coming. Can you imagine what it must be like as you have your mti-wa meeting in the safe cafes? They will destroy your buildings and you dignities, they will rape and they will maim and they will kill md they will be the whole of the law. They will rewrite you history; destroy you arl and culture. Will you keep tuming the other cheek? Sory, I've had enough.

Adbusters wwt,adbusters,org A refreshing altematile tr. the 'r'orld of corporate advertising Democracy No$' u]N.democrac]'now.org US media and radro programme \\'ith guts and attitude

No More Censorshlp Dettnce Fund, Box I 1458, SF, CA94f01, USA Must fund for r,ictims of censorship in USA

Hman fu ghts Watch - w.hrw.org It does what it says it does

AKPress www.akpress,org For all you comttr cultual reading matuial Amesty Intemational - www.amnesty'org Established hman rights maimfieam orgmisation Reclaim the streets: w.gn.apc.org/rts/ Grass roots antrchist activists

WTOWatch www.wtowatch.org Keeping a watchful eye over the World Trade Orgmisation Global Exchmge

- www.globalexchange.com

Infomation on global economic injustice

Alti-Wu - www.stopwar.org US mti-war site with opinions contrary to the Pentagon,

A-lnfos - www.kcdirectaction'tret Anarchist resource web site with tons of hfomation Anti-Racist Action: rm.antiracistaction.com Until every Nazi's died Cmpaign Against the Ams Trade - www'caat.org Ongoing cmpaign to rid the world of weapons Legalise Camabis Campaign, BM Box 2455, London WC1N 3XX' Camabis is notjust about behg stoned apparently - yeah right Earth Fhst -

UK

ww.earthfrst.org

Intemational enviromental direct action movement Greenpeace - www.greenpeacâ&#x201A;Ź.org Mainstream but effective direct action and cyber activism Greenpeace. Cantonbury Villas, London

Nl, UK

Anti-Sweatshop: www.asm.wisc.edu,/usas United students against sweatshops

Alti-McDonalds Cmpaign: www.mcspotlight.org London Greenpeace, 5 Caledonim Rd, London N1 9DX, UK

Allimce for Global Justice, 1247 E St' SE Wash DC 20003,USA Rendenous of Victory: ww.antislavery.org Today's fight for tomonow's fteedom East Timor Aler1 Network: www.etim.ca Site with info on the East Timor situation Covert Action Quarterly: ww.caq.com Magzine of dubious md clandestine activity

No Compromise: m.nocompromise.org Direct action maguine Animal Liberation: w,a oimalliberationfront.com The ALF website with tlre low-down on animal liberation

There are mmy more but this list should be a good place to start for myone wishing to get involved in the various movements md struggles' All these addresses me in the USA md the IlK. There re, of couse, loads of other movements in other comtries and we will attempt to create a more intemational feel in ou next list in the next issue. It's all about finding out whZrt's going on. Some ofthe sites above are intemational and will often have links to other sites in different comtries.

Networking is a way of linking people in different places with similar ideas and orgmising in solidmity with each other. Leming about what goes on a thousand miles away can teach mmy things, principally how we can overcome the obstacles we face as we search to find a path. Go on, smile, it's all starting to fall into place slowly but suely. We ue everywhere.

27

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