news

 obituary Jason Muir: 1971 - 2002
by Mairtin Gardner, Wullie McGartland and Graham Martin

As we go to press members of the SSP across the whole of Scotland and beyond were shocked and saddened to hear of the tragic and untimely death of Ayrshire SSP activist Jason Muir in a car accident.
Jason was, along with hundreds of others, a founding member of the SSP. We first met him five years ago in 1997, when, while living in Glasgow, Jason joined the SSA General Election campaign in the Govan constituency.
He immediately made a big impact on the campaign - well, as those who knew him will know that with feet that big he couldn't help it.
He very quickly made easy and great company.
His sense of humour was shared and enjoyed by many both within and outside the party.
No one who ever attended an SSP function where Jason sang will ever forget his genuine talent on a guitar or unfortunately his steadfast commitment to sing beautiful songs as out of tune as possible.
In his own eyes at least he was our very own Ian Brown.
Perhaps not surprisingly given his height - Jason was an unmissable six foot plus - he was a talented basketball player, to the extent that he proudly represented his country as a schoolboy internationalist, spending some time playing the sport in the States.
As well as basketball, his other big sporting love was - mystifyingly for many of his friends - Ayrshire junior football, and especially Auchinleck Talbot, or the 'Bot, as they are known.
One thing comrades and friends will always remember about Jason is that he wasn't afraid of colour - as anyone who saw his retina-burning attempts at interior decoration will recall.
Jason was immensely proud of his job as a drugs worker, latterly in Lanarkshire, where he was also an active member of UNISON. He was also active in the socialist movement in Dublin, and comrades there well recall his huge passion for life.
As a candidate for the SSP in last year's general election he gained more than 1,000 votes in the Kilmarnock and Loudon constituency, a vote which pleased him immensely.
He grew up in a mining community and saw for himself the decimation of the pits. He witnessed first hand the devastation capitalism wreaks on working class communities and this helped steel his commitment to change society.
The socialist movement will miss Jason not just as a friend, but also as a tireless fighter for socialism.
The biggest love of Jason's life, even more than the copious amount of food he was known to put away, was his young son Ciaran, of whom he was immensely proud.
Our thoughts and our heartfelt condolences go out to his parents, his family, his friends and especially Ciaran.
See you later big man and away the 'Bot.

 In memory of a special comrade, Tony Southall. The campaign for a world free of poverty goes on.
Jim, Ella Friel and family
Obituary on page 5

 Dumbarton rebels over private cash for schools

by Dave Sherry

West Dunbartonshire Council will defy the Scottish Executive by rejecting its flagship policy of Private Public Partnership (PPP) funding for school rebuilding programmes.
Councillors point out the work can be done faster and cheaper by other methods.
According to New Labour PPP is the only game in town.
The first education PPP funding was in Falkirk in 1998 when a £340 million contract was put out to tender.
The partnership idea is attractive to the Treasury. It avoids increasing local authority borrowing and avoids taxing the rich.
Glasgow council has embarked in the country's biggest PPP programme for schools.
Its partners are some of the largest companies in Britain, including Miller, Amey and Hewlett Packard.
It has been a disaster. The consortium will be paid over £40 million in 2003, rising each year to over £58 million in the final year-2032.
The total cost is estimated at £1.2 billion - at least £34 million more than if procured through the public sector - hardly value for money.
In Glasgow pupils and teaching staff are paying the price. Ceilings have collapsed while classes were being taught.
School fire alarms failed to go off and pupils had to be sent home after a series of electrical explosions.
The EIS union has complained that PPP means a reduction in capacity, bigger class sizes, and the loss of important facilities.
West Dunbartonshire Council's decision has local support, including the unions and community groups.
Bill Speirs of the STUC says PPP is 'an expensive and damaging way to deliver key public services'.
The GMB union has threatened to back independent candidates pledging to fight for public services at next year's Holyrood elections.
On Monday even The Herald was prepared to defend the Dumbarton rebels:
"What started as a Tory-inspired way of building and upgrading bridges and motorways in the early days of the party's Private Finance Initiative (PFI), has moved on to become the Labour government's favoured method for creating new schools and hospitals.
"West Dunbartonshire may be opting out of the only game in town, but councillors can claim there is plenty of support on the terraces for their stance."

 Queen misses out on popular vote

by Keef Tomkinson

Amongst all the pomp and ceremony surrounding the Queen's golden jubilee Glasgow was one of the few places where an alternative voice could be heard.
The SSP's Citizens Not Subjects day saw around 350 of her subjects turn their backs on her.
In beautiful sunshine families enjoyed some music, comedy and a little bit of politics. Tommy Sheridan kicked the day off before authors Jim Kelman and Tom Leonard echoed his condemnation of the monarchy and its lapdogs in parliament.
A highlight of the day was an election for Scotland's very own Monarch For The Day.
Amongst the candidates were Sean Connery, Idi Amin and Lulu. Voters were invited to add their own suggestions and Henrik Larrson and Martin O'Neill featured heavily.
In the end it became a clear two horse race. Spiderman with 56 votes was just edged out by Dolly The Sheep with 62. A protest came in from Buckingham Palace as God had not been able to use his bloc vote for Lizzie Windsor.
By the end of the day Scotland had seen a great advert for democracy, socialism and republicanism.
In contrast the Queen's celebration saw the usual line-up of hangers on who come with the ageing, parasitic institution of the monarchy. Forward to a Scottish Worker's Republic.

 Join the anti-capitalist demo

The European Union Summit takes place in Seville in Spain between June 20 and 22.
Blair, Berlusconi and all the other European leaders are meeting to plan tougher asylum and immigration controls, anti-terror legislation and the opening up of our public services to global corporations.
Trade unionists, environmentalists and anti-capitalists from Britain are travelling to join hundreds of thousands of others in a series of protests against the neo liberal, anti refugee agenda.
A one day general strike is taking place across Spain on June 20, called by the official trade unions and on that day there will be a European wide trade union march through Seville.
The protests will culminate in a massive anti capitalist demonstration outside the EU summit on Saturday June 22.
Globalise Resistance Scotland is organising transport to Seville.
For information please contact GRS on 0793 986 3204. GRS website www.grscotland.net. Email: grscotland@yahoo.co.uk

news

 SSP steals a march on the Royal family

Two Scottish broadsheets have published polls that spell good news for socialists and republicans.
As the Queen celebrates 50 years of sitting on a big golden chair, throwing Champagne at boats and opening supermarkets, a new poll reveals that a resounding 57 per cent of Scots think the Queen is out of touch with their concerns.
And the vast majority - 85 per cent - believe that she should pay the same tax as everyone else according to a Scotland on Sunday poll.
While one third think Lizzie should abdicate, a staggering 63 per cent of Scottish 18-24 year olds back a republic.
It's a poll that's bound to upset royal brown-noses, as it was carried out during Queenie's high-profile visit to Scotland.
Scottish Socialist MSP Tommy Sheridan told Scotland on Sunday that the Royal Family's "days are numbered", adding:
"The monarchy is on its last legs. It is an out-of-touch and irrelevant institution and a symbol of inequality."
The Herald also published its monthly System 3 poll this week.
It shows the SSP on course for four regional list seats, with 6 per cent support in the second vote for the eighth consecutive month. Five per cent back the SSP in the first vote - a significant increase.
The Herald's poll also indicated that the Tories would drop to just nine MSPs at the next Holyrood election.
Labour look set to lose five first-past-the-post seats to the SNP, although they are likely win five back in list seats.

 Posties ballot for decent pay

The result of the postal workers' pay ballot is due as we go to press.
145,000 CWU members have been voting on an offer essentially the same as one they overwhelmingly rejected three months ago.
The national leadership has ditched the original claim of five per cent over twelve months without strings.
They asked members to settle for a lousy 2.2 per cent backdated to October and a further 2.3 per cent from October this year.
The failure of the national union leadership to fight for the full claim has created anger at the grass roots.
The new offer would leave posties on low pay and encourage management to accelerate privatisation and mass sackings.
But the vote could go either way. Activists report that many have voted to stuff the offer and want action in support of a decent pay rise.
If Royal Mail's lousy offer is rejected it could be the first step in taking on the bigger issues of privatisation and job cuts.

 Crime rate falls in hash trial area

by Simon Whittle

The south London borough which is piloting a scheme to treat cannabis users more leniently has seen a huge drop in the level of street crimes.
The number of robberies and muggings in Lambeth has halved in the last six months, and the trend is continuing.
The SSP has long been lambasted for its drugs policy - including legalising cannabis in order to fight heroin and reduce drug related crime.
Police have stemmed the rate of increase in the number of street crimes right across London. But the drop in Lambeth is considerable.
There were 468 robberies and muggings in the Lambeth area in April, compared with 916 in October. Robbery is down by 18 per cent this year - the highest street crime reduction in London.
Senior officers also acknowledge the contribution by the borough's former Commander Brian Paddick, who was removed from his post in March.
His scheme, to warn those caught in possession of cannabis rather than arrest them, was part of a plan enabling police to focus on street crime.

 Oil killers are beyond the law

The following article by Mick Parkin first appeared in the OILC magazine Blowout. For the full article see www.oilc.org

Nine men have been killed off-shore in the last three years, but the courts seem happy to just slap a fine on those companies found guilty of not taking adequate safety precautions.
Corporate killing is generally not considered to be as bad as a 'real' killing, but like domestic violence it needs to be brought within the mainstream of criminal law, rather than just being dealt with under Health and Safety regulations.
This is not a call for arbitrary or vindictive revenge against employees but for accountability and the deterrence of the minority who think workers' lives are cheap.
In a case of corporate killing, deterrence would probably be a lot more effective than it is for an ordinary case of murder, given that 97 per cent of murderers know their victims and don't have a generalised tendency to inflict harm on other people in society.
Some companies effectively do. True, most companies are run by decent human beings, but there is an underlying tendency to see everything in terms of the balance of profit and loss.
The prospect of a stiff prison sentence would help to re-focus that balance for that small group of bandits who consistently put people's lives at risk.
n Last week BP announced major cost savings to its North Sea operation to boost profits.
Jake Molloy of the OILC says this will destroy jobs and undermine health and safety.
Maintenance and repair work on oil installations will be shelved or reduced, making accidents more likely.

 editorial
comment

Kashmir conflict escalates

Scientists have claimed that up to 50 million could die if the India-Pakistan conflict spirals into a nuclear war.
Cities like Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, New Delhi and Srinigar would be wiped off the map.
Even a limited nuclear exchange would kill at least three million Indian and Pakistani people.
With both governments staring into the abyss, the Western powers are growing more and more nervous.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has already visited New Delhi and Islamabad. He will soon be followed by US Foreign Secretary Donald Rumsfield who will bring the same message: wars solve nothing.
The only problem is that for the past nine months, the British and US government have preached and practised exactly the opposite.
If war solves nothing, why did Britain and the US blitz Afghanistan for months on end, killing thousands of civilians?
Why are both powers now threatening to bomb Baghdad and invade Iraq?
And why are the 'peacemongers' of the West arming the 'warmongers' of the East to the teeth?
Despite the chilling stand-off, the Labour government has decided to forge ahead with arms sales to both India and Pakistan.
Britain recently tied up a £1 billion deal to sell 60 Hawk jets to India. It is also upgrading Jaguar bombers which it supplied to India last year. The upgrade will allow these bombers to carry nuclear missiles.
Over the past seven years, Britain has sold £15 billion of arms to Pakistan and India.
Thirty UK companies took part in India's bigest ever arms fair. But just to show even-handedness, these companies are planning to travel to Pakistan's arms fair in September - that's if Pakistan still exists in September.
The Kashmir conflict goes back over half a century. Since the late 1940s, most of Kashmir has been occupied and oppressed by India against the wishes of the majority Muslim population.
This provoked a heroic resistance movement with the aim of achieving an independent democratic Kashmir.

But in trecent years, Pakistan-based Islamic groups - which were initially armed to the teeth by the US, the UK and Saudi Arabia - have sought to turn the struggle into a 'holy war' with the aim of annexing Kashmir into the Islamic state of Pakistan.
Kashmir should not belong to either India nor Pakistan. Socialists worldwide should support those forces fighting for an independent, secular multi-ethnic Kashmir.
That means refusing to support either the right wing sectarian Hindu government in New Delhi, the miltary dictatorship in Islamabad, or the right wing Pakistan-based Islamic groups which have sought to hijack the Kashmiri struggle for their own sectarian ends.

environment news

one world
Rosie Kane

M74 holds hidden toxic waste threat

In a packed hall in Rutherglen last week I was heartened to see just how determined folk are to continue the fight for a safe, unpolluted community.
Joint Action Against the M74 (JAM 74) called the meeting as part of a planned summer of protest in opposition to the M74 Northern Extension.
Two hours before the meeting a woman called to tell me that she would be unable to attend. She is confined to a wheelchair and could not get transport.
However she did not call me to complain. She had gone to a lot of trouble to get my number because she was worried about the effect of the M74 on the people of Rutherglen.
She lives next to the existing M74 and I could hear the traffic thundering by her living room through the phone line.
Like so many people Maria suffers the din of the urban motorway day in and day out. She is desperate to make sure that others don't have to suffer the same.
The hall was packed with concerned locals who were worried about everything form demolition to CO2 emissions.
However the main concern was the toxic waste dumped deep underground decades ago by a local chemical works.
Whites were a local employer for as many years as most folk can remember. But ignorant and non-caring bosses had factory waste dumped underground in the surrounding area.
Kier Hardie even attempted to draw attention to the activities at Whites but then, as now, his concerns fell on deaf ears.
The factory was still operating and dumping up to about 40 years ago and some workers, who had survived to retirement, were able to tell us about 'fly tipping' at secret sites.
One man's nose had been so destroyed by the chromium he worked with that he looked like Eastenders actress Daniella Westbrook.
Many of his friends also suffered from the effects of various poisons - body burns and severe bronchial problems.
The chromium now lies in old mine shafts along with arsenic and lime creating a dangerous and largely unknown cocktail.
Walking in Rutherglen, Toryglen or Myrtlepark (near Hampden) it's easy to see this pollution.
Like a weed it fights its way through concrete. Scottish weather soaks the ground regularly causing the waste to leech up to the surface.
At this point it resembles yellow polystyrene.
The sun then dries it off and the wind finally ensures that particulates are blown in every direction.
Some sites are fenced off but they are right next to homes which have no gardens or swing parks. Children simply do what children do - they play and get covered in these toxins.
Figures show an unexpected increase in the incidence of cancer, particularly in the male population in the area. There are many other illnesses which have not been monitored.
The construction of the M74 will dig up the toxic waste, throwing it into the atmosphere.
Glasgow City Council have told the public they need not worry about this poison. Yet it turns out that workers laying motorway foundations will be sealed inside a huge tent, under negative pressure and with breathing apparatus - doesn't sound safe to me.
The crowd who attended the meeting were desperate for information about the motorway and decided to pull together to get that information and to fight for a safer community.
Pollution knows no boundaries, it does not discriminate and we must all concern ourselves with it.
Stopping the construction of the M74 would be great start but it would only be the beginning.
Making the toxic waste safe or removing it completely is absolutely necessary.
Then and only then could the folk living with the legacy of Whites breathe a sigh of relief without fearing for their health and their lives.

 green
news

Sainsbury's shares aren't pukka
Science Minister Lord Sainsbury - who donated £9 million to Labour - made £20 million on genetically modified food shares.
The value of his stake in biotech firm, Innotech, shot up from £26.9 million in 1998, when he became minister, to £42.6 million at the end of 2000.
But the government insist he's done nothing wrong.
The Department of Trade and Industry said his shares were held in a blind trust and he had no knowledge of any dealings in them as they are independently managed on his behalf.
It added that the billionaire peer had no part in GM food policy decisions.
The revelations came as a leaked Downing Street memo suggested ministers were preparing a campaign to promote the merits of planting GM crops.

 Silent protest in GM fields
Protestors silently stood hand in hand last week against genetically modified food during the latest demonstration at Roskill Farm, Munlochy. About 350 people stood in line in the field among a GM crop of oil seed rape, before marching off.
The protest, organised by the Stand Quiet to be Heard Group, came a few days after the Prime Minister mounted a robust defence of the scientists who develop GM crops and condemned the activists who took direct action against them.
Anthony Jackson, a member of Munlochy GM Vigil which has been camping out at Roskill Farm, said the demonstration had been "superb".
"There were people from all walks of life and all ages and it showed the level of public opposition to GM and GM crops."

 Tobacco firms conspiracy outed
Public health investigators have uncovered a decades-long conspiracy by the tobacco industry to halt the spread of smoke-free pubs and restaurants.
Internal documents show how major cigarette companies bankrolled hospitality trade associations and even set up their own front organisation to pursue their goal.
The journal Tobacco Control showed how firms preyed on spurious fears that no-smoking policies would result in lost profits, promoting the idea that no-smoking sections and expensive ventilation systems would address concerns about passive smoking.
An industry analyst suggested that legislation would slice off nearly £700 million a year of revenue.
Maureen Moore, chief executive of ASH in Scotland, said:
"We have to cut through the rubbish produced by the tobacco industry. Most people in Scotland don't smoke so takings will go up rather than down if smoke-free areas are made available."

 Council fined for asbestos mistakes
Glasgow City Council was fined £50,000 last week after admitting potentially deadly problems in its asbestos testing procedure.
When an asbestos survey of Craigbank secondary school was found to have been botched, leaving workers who were renovating the school and the public at risk, the asbestos testing section of Glasgow Scientific Services was closed.
But on notifying other local authorities that the service had been closed, the city council failed to mention that asbestos tests carried out may have been suspect.
The other councils may now pursue Glasgow over the potential health risks and the costs of getting asbestos surveys re-done.
The fine already imposed on the council relates to failure to ensure adequate supervision of staff and the possible risks to council workers and the public.

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left and right

Royal Marxism

Most performers at the Queen's Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace are close to celebrating their own Golden Jubilees in the music business.
One exception is Will Young, the Pop Idol winner.
But Will isn't your average royalist. In an interview with the Sunday Times last week he described himself as an "anti-capitalist" and a "Marxist".
That's a step forward. Everyone has to start somewhere.
But usually people start out as anti-monarchy then maybe move on to Marxism and anti-capitalism, rather than the other way round.

 The bald truth from Tommy

As the Queen addressed the Scottish Parliament at its temporary home in Aberdeen, some MSPs were posted missing.
Naturally, these included Tommy Sheridan.
While the Queen was giving it la-di-da, Tommy was giving laldy on the streets of the Granite City.
The Herald's Scottish political correpondent, Robbie Dinwoodie, reported that Tommy had lashed out at the forelock-tugging culture that surrounds the Royal Family.
Not that Mr Sheridan has much of a forelock left to tug, added Robbie.

 Will your MSP vote to block free meals for all school kids?

by Kath Kyle

The Health Committee at the Scottish Parliament recently took evidence from a number of experts on the Free School Meals Bill.
Tommy Sheridan's Bill calls for free, nutritious meals with milk or water for every school pupil in Scotland.
Dr Wendy Wrieden, a lecturer in nutrition, spoke in favour of the Bill. Here she talks to the Voice about why.
"I support the Free School Meals Bill because Scotland has such a poor health record.
"Cancer, heart disease and stroke are all diet related illnesses. Free school meals, if they are of an appropriate standard, can only help."
Dr Wrieden is particularly concerned that the nutritional content of school meals must be up to scratch.
"I couldn't agree with this Bill if there wasn't the emphasis on nutritional standards.
"We won't get anywhere unless children actually eat the school meals - they must look good enough to eat.
"But another way to encourage children to eat food that's good for them is to make it free."
In 1999 the Scottish Office produced a report - Towards a Healthier Scotland. It clearly states that, next to smoking, diet is the single most significant cause of poor health in Scotland.
Obesity related illness costs the NHS in Scotland £150 million every year.
Despite this tidal wave of statistics on Scotland's diet-related health, there are still opponents to the Free School Meals Bill. Dr Wrieden told the Voice:
"At the Health Committee there were those who are not convinced of the benefits of free school meals.
"It is difficult to prove that they will have an impact on health because they would be just one of a series of preventative measures that Scotland could take.
"But there is evidence to show what a difference an improved diet would make, especially to children.
"No one would oppose a no-smoking policy and this is very similar."
It has recently been revealed that Westminster plans a programme of free fruit distribution to every school in England and Wales in the future.
Pilot schemes show that 80 per cent of children took the fruit provided.
"Obviously this is a great for child nutrition and should be extended to Scotland as soon as possible."

 Roll of shame

Who is opposed to free, healthy meals for our children?
n The Tory Party... surprise, surprise.
n Another surprise - the Liberal Democrats apart from the honourable exception of Donald Gorrie.
n New Labour have refused to back the Bill - also with a few honourable exceptions which so far include John McAllion and Elaine Smith.

 How can you think that providing free school meals over 38 weeks will have an impact on the health of young people?
Bursts of nutrition - good, hot food followed by periods without - can have an adverse effect on children's bowels.
Margaret Jamieson, labour msp, deputy convenor of the health and community care committee, during the discussion on the free school meals bill

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cultural resistance

English Lords and ethnic cleansing

Unfinest Hour: Britain and the Destruction of Bosnia by Brendan Simms. Penguin, £8.99

by Andy Watson

Milosevic, Karadicz and Mladic are names associated with the atrocities of the Bosnian war.
Hurd, Rifkind and Owen are not names usually associated with the horrors of that war, but Brendan Simms explains the central role these politicians played in the British Establishment's attempts to ensure a Serbian victory in Bosnia.
Serbian plans for a 'Greater Serbia' involved the Bosnian Serbs seizing large areas of the multi-ethnic republic of Bosnia Herzegovina and 'ethnically cleansing' them of Muslims and Croats (and Serbian opponents) through a campaign of mass murder, rape and torture.
While Europe agonised about what to do about these atrocities, the British government hoped for a swift Serb victory as a dominant Serbia was seen as a guarantor of regional 'stability'.
What enraged the Establishment and Major's Tory government were not Serbian atrocities, but the Bosnians' refusal to accept 'political reality' and the destruction of their secular, multi-ethnic republic by racist murderers. Consequently, Britain did all it could to undermine Bosnian resistance to force it to accept Serbian gains.
To this end Britain consistently referred to the multi-ethnic (Muslim, Serb and Croat) government, populace and army of Bosnia as 'Muslims', blamed the Bosnians for provoking the Serbs and consistently implied that all sides were equally responsible for atrocities and that the Bosnians were just another 'warring faction' in a tribal Balkan conflict.
While trying to diplomatically isolate the Bosnian government, Britain backed an international arms embargo that penalised the Bosnians who had plenty of willing fighters but little heavy weaponry, their main disadvantage when fighting the undermanned, but heavily armed and armoured Serbs.
Britain opposed all efforts to lift this embargo, to use air strikes, or to arm and train the Bosnians.
Britain backed a humanitarian operation where UN troops were sent to Bosnia in a non-combatant role to help food and aid reach civilians.
This was a cynical move to make it difficult to initiate military action that could provoke Serb retaliation against UN soldiers.
Often the UN force merely fed Bosnians until the Serbs massacred them.
Simms is also scathing about David Owen's disastrous attempts at mediation, which, through the Vance-Owen Peace Plan, legitimised ethnic cleansing through its ethnic cantonization of Bosnia and actually sparked a new wave of fighting as Serb forces tried to expand areas under their control and the Croat-Bosnian alliance crumbled as Croatian forces turned on the Bosnians to guarantee control of certain cantons.
When eventually the arms embargo was lifted and air strikes were used, the Serbs were rapidly defeated by Bosnian and Croat forces who regained much of their lands. They would have retaken more, but due to an immanent Presidential election, Clinton enforced a peace agreement that still left much of Bosnia in Serb hands (but an agreement which the Serbs were now forced to agree to).
Simms points out that decisive military action (or even a credible threat of military force) would have stopped Serbian aggression in the early stages of the conflict and would have saved the lives of tens of thousands of people.
Unfinest Hour presents a challenge to the left. Are there circumstances in which the left should agitate for military action by Britain or by other countries?
Brendan Simms' extremely well written book posits Bosnia as one such case.

 Scotland laid bare by two socialist writers

Naked Thoughts That Roam About by John McGrath. Nick Hern Books, £14.99.
Scotlands of the Mind by Angus Calder. Luath Press, £9.99

by Hugh Kerr

Two books were published recently by writers who have had a big impact on Scottish political and cultural life.
The first, Naked Thoughts That Roam About, is the last book from John McGrath.
McGrath was the great socialist playwright and producer who created the 7:84 Theatre Company.
This book, edited by Nadine Holdsworth, collects together John McGrath's essays on the theatre and politics over the last 40 years.
It covers everything from the first essay in 1958 where he talks about developing a socialist theatre to his last play, Hyperlinks, which deals with globalisation and terrorism.
You can see Hyperlinks soon at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow.
John always wanted to connect theatre and cinema to the big issues facing people.
He died of leukemia in January and will be sadly missed.
One of his obituaries in the Voice was written by Angus Calder, one of the best writers on history and culture in Scotland.
Angus launched his new book Scotlands of the Mind at the radical book fair recently and it is already being favourably reviewed.
It is a collection of Angus' recent essays which focus on the development of ideas on the New Scotland.
It also looks at a number of thinkers who've had a big impact on Scottish culture from David Livingstone to Irvine Welsh.
Like all of Angus' writing it is elegantly written, well informed and wide ranging.
It also asks many of the important questions in Scotland today.
These questions of Scottish culture, identity, nationalism and internationalism will be a vital part of the debate leading up to the Scottish Parliament election next year.

 hacked off
Sonic

Protect your PC
The press is always full of discussion about virus attacks and hackers, making the Internet seem dangerous and threatening.
But if you take a few simple precautions the problem can be drastically reduced.
A virus is a program or piece of code that is loaded onto your computer without your knowledge and runs against your wishes.
Viruses can also replicate themselves.
All viruses are man-made. A suspicion shared by many is that security companies create them to drum up business, but this has never been conclusively proved.
Most computers now come with anti-virus software.
Don't just let it sit there - new viruses are created every day.
The best programmes come with free updates, if yours doesn't, delete it and get a free anti-virus programme, something like AVG anti-virus which is available at http://www.grisoft.com and update it at least once a month.
You should never go online without using a firewall programme - a piece of software designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from your PC.
All messages pass through the firewall, which examines them and blocks those that do not meet the specified security criteria.
Download the easy to use, very secure and totally free Zonealarm programme at http://www.zone labs.com/
Ninety nine per cent of viruses spread through people opening email attachments.
Scan attachments first, even if it's from your best friend.
Finally, searching.
The Internet is huge and contains ten times as much junk as it does useful stuff.
There are hundreds of search engines available on the web - all sell themselves as the best.
But their results are based not on what you are looking for but on who has paid the site owner to ensure that their company comes top of any list.
The notable exception to this is Google (www.google.com).
It remains the top engine online.
Site of the week is http://www.electronicintifada.net/new.html
It's the best news source on the Palestinian view of the current Middle East conflict.

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