{"id":28181,"date":"2013-08-10T21:28:08","date_gmt":"2013-08-10T21:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alternativejonestown.com\/?page_id=28181"},"modified":"2024-07-17T14:58:44","modified_gmt":"2024-07-17T21:58:44","slug":"590-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=28181","title":{"rendered":"Q590 Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary prepared by Fielding M. McGehee III. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you.<\/strong><\/i><\/p>\n

To read the Tape Transcript, click here<\/a>. Listen to MP3 (Side 1<\/a>, Side 2<\/a>).
\nTo return to the Tape Index, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

FBI Catalogue: <\/b>Tapes Not Summarized<\/p>\n

FBI preliminary tape identification note: <\/strong>One Audio Magnetics 60\/April 13 meeting<\/p>\n

Date cues on tape: <\/b>April 7, 1978 (birthday of Ethel Mathilda Belle)<\/p>\n

People named:<\/b><\/p>\n

Public figures\/National and international names:<\/i>
\nPresident Jimmy Carter
\nFirst Lady Rosalynn Carter
\nformer President Dwight D. Eisenhower
\nformer President Harry Truman
\nRep. Charles Diggs (D-Michigan)
\nSen. John Stennis (D-Mississippi)
\nAdolf Hitler
\nformer FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover
\nNelson Rockefeller
\nRuth Carter Stapleton, sister to Jimmy Carter (by reference)
\nGuyana Prime Minister Forbes Burnham
\nCheddi Jagan, head of the Peoples Progressive Party
\nFred Wills, former Guyana Minister of Foreign Affairs (by reference)
\nSammy Davis, Jr., black entertainer
\nWalt Disney
\nJane Fonda, actress
\nTelly Savalas, actor
\nJohn Wayne, actor
\nMae West, actress<\/p>\n

Unknown<\/i>
\nChristine
\nDoctor Emery, Oregon doctor
\nHarold Rogers, whistleblower
\n\u201cCongress Millerman, a New York Congressman\u201d<\/p>\n

Temple adversaries; members of Concerned Relatives:<\/i>
\nBeverly Oliver<\/p>\n

Temple members not on death or survivors\u2019 lists:<\/i>
\nGary Young<\/p>\n

Jonestown residents, full name unknown:<\/i>
\nMartin (probably Martin Amos)
\nRose (probably either Sharon or Shelton)<\/p>\n

Jonestown residents:<\/i>
\nPaula Adams
\nEthel Mathilda Belle (speaks)<\/b>
\nChlotile Butler (speaks)<\/b>
\nPatty Cartmell
\n“Moms” Mabley [likely Bertha Cook]
\nJames “Reb” Edwards
\nJudith Ijames
\nLee Ingram (speaks)<\/b>
\nLew Jones (speaks)<\/b>
\nMarceline Jones (speaks)<\/b>
\nStephan Jones
\nRamona Lamotha
\nAlfred March (speaks)<\/b>
\nJames McElvane
\nKay Nelson
\nBruce Oliver
\nShanda Oliver (speaks)<\/b>
\nAndrea Yvette Walker (speaks)<\/b>
\nTony Walker<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Bible verses cited: <\/b>None<\/p>\n

Summary:<\/b><\/p>\n

This Jonestown community meeting from the spring of 1978 includes many elements of gatherings from that period \u2013 discussions of the infamy of relatives, recitations of the news, and a political philosophy that seems shaped more by external events than by a consistent ideology \u2013 but there is much laughter and light-hearted play through most of the tape. Even when the conversation steers towards the serious, like the White Night the community finds itself in once again, the tone is conversational, almost routine, rather than fearful or threatening.<\/p>\n

Taken as a whole, even the news is less serious than on most occasions. The people talk about entertainers like Sammy Davis, Jr. and Mae West, TV actors like Telly Savalas and the cast of M*A*S*H, and movie actors like John Wayne and Jane Fonda much more than they talk about U.S. imperialism or racism. Still, some of the community\u2019s views on issues of the day emerge, even as it discusses celebrity news. One item, for example, is that John Wayne is dying following open heart surgery, and has called upon President Carter\u2019s sister \u2013 evangelist Ruth Stapleton \u2013 so that he can convert in his final hours. \u201cJesus Christ is going to come out at the last minute, save him a spot maybe in heaven\u00ad\u00ad,\u201d says one Temple member, to which Jones replies, \u201cSaid he had a feeling in the hospital room that Jesus entered his heart. The poor fuckin\u2019 heart\u2019s been just opened [to] let a little blood in. I don\u2019t know how he got that big fart Jesus in there on top of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is not the only aspersion Jones casts on Jesus. Late in the tape, when a woman talks about the brightness from the satellites she sees during her nights on security, Jones follows up with a series of one-liners that evoke increasing laughter and applause. \u201cIt\u2019s a first signal that Jesus is coming,\u201d he says. \u201c\u2026And if he lands, he\u2019ll have holes in his ass bigger than the one he\u2019s got. And if we capture him, Reb will cook him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The people of Jonestown consider conspiracy, but it\u2019s not the conspiracy against the community. Rather, as Jones says, it\u2019s \u201cthe horrors of that TV business,\u201d a subject that recurs several times in the hour-long tape. The evils of television include:<\/p>\n

\n
  • The depiction of anyone who goes up against the capitalist system ending in failure or defeat;<\/li>\n
  • The use of TV to release pent-up revolutionary violence through its narcotizing effects;<\/li>\n
  • The diversionary aspects of TV that keep people from thinking about their plight;<\/li>\n
  • The isolation and alienation from the community fostered by television viewing;<\/li>\n
  • The sensory numbing aspects of TV, so that people forget they\u2019re hungry;<\/li>\n
  • Its ability to help people convalesce more quickly, which saves insurance companies money; and<\/li>\n
  • Perhaps, most ominously, cable television\u2019s ability to monitor the activities of its subscribers.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n

    <\/p>\n

    For the most part, Jones listens quietly as different people tick off the problems created or exacerbated by TV, but he picks up on the final point. \u201cTV on or off,\u201d he says. \u201cIt will monitor you\u2026 You worry about a little watching we do, how\u2019d you like being watched while you screw and watched while you blow your nose and watched while you wipe your ass or take your Tampax out, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n

    The conversation does steer towards more familiar ground during the discussion of TV, when one woman reports that the government would be able to turn on your set during a national emergency and give you instructions. And what would it tell you in a nuclear war, Jones asks rhetorically. \u201cHello, patron. The bomb is coming. You have 18 minutes to get ready to have your ass fried.\u201d Only the rich will be able to escape that fate, Jones says, to get to the tunnels and the underground shelters constructed for them.<\/p>\n

    The other subject in the news that returns for discussion several times concerns UFO\u2019s, and how the alien spacecraft have eluded Air Force fighter planes. As with the television discussion, Jones allows the conversation to unwind before he weighs in with his views \u2013 again relating to nuclear weapons \u2013 that Earth\u2019s arsenals would be futile against the sophisticated interplanetary craft.<\/p>\n

    In the midst of the conversation, Jones spends some minutes relating a dream that he had about his people being on a high bridge and jumping off one by one. \u201cI couldn\u2019t stop this one, I\u2019d try to catch that one, I\u2019d try to catch this one, and I\u2019d try to catch that one.\u201d Some he was able to save, some were left paralyzed, but, as he notes, \u201cI couldn\u2019t control the situation\u2026 [T]here wasn\u2019t an answer. There was no solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The success for him in the dream was that people were dying. Still, not everyone did. \u201c[T]here was folk back up there couldn\u2019t die, on the fucking bridge,\u201d he says. He \u201ccouldn\u2019t get everybody to jump off, \u2018cause there \u2026 was no guarantee everybody was gone die.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Afterwards he asks people about the dreams they have, and tells them, if they dream about fucking, they should work on their socialism.<\/p>\n

    The subject of dreams has come up in the context of how little sleep he gets, a few catnaps here and there. But he doesn\u2019t want to go to sleep \u2013 especially with those dreams \u2013 and as long as the medical staff checks on him during his sleepless hours, he\u2019ll be fine. But if they don\u2019t check, or if he has to constantly remind them, \u201cI\u2019ll tell you, subconsciously, you reveal something.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The subject of death arises in contexts other than that of the dream. He is so tired, Jones says at one point, that \u201canything would be pleasant. Any form of death right now.\u201d A few minutes later, as he urinates behind a sheet, he speculates how many times he\u2019ll have to do that before he dies. And, he adds, if the idea of \u201chold[ing] that ugly thing,\u201d as he describes his penis, or \u201cempty[ing] your bowels\u201d is miserable for them, \u201cThen you\u2019ll be ready for revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The news turns more serious when Jones talks about their supporters in Congress who are running into political trouble and allegations of scandal. One Congressman has been charged with molesting boys, something Jones knows can\u2019t be true. \u201cHe could pay and have boys come to him,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

    Towards the end of the tape, Jones eats a piece of chicken. It is something he is uncomfortable doing \u2013 perhaps because, as many accounts claim, the people of Jonestown weren\u2019t eating much meat then \u2013 but Jones says he needs the protein to help with his blood sugar problem. He adds that he hasn\u2019t eaten in quite a while, that the chicken is \u201cage-old,\u201d that it\u2019s cold, and that as a result, \u201cI can assure you, I\u2019m not enjoying it.\u201d He also expresses resentment that he has to defend his eating chicken. \u201c[You] have to explain everything you do. Everything you do, you gotta explain. I\u2019m so tired of it, I don\u2019t know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Jones is most animated when he talks about news out of Guyana. The country\u2019s two main political figures \u2013 Prime Minister Forbes Burnham and opposition leader Cheddi Jagan \u2013 have talked about forming a coalition government, but the Soviets have told Jones, he would be ill-advised to meet with Jagan right now. The Temple leader seems both deferential and uncertain in his concern over Soviet perceptions. The superpower respects their community \u2013 \u201cwe were real, we were genuine revolutionaries like they were in the days of their revolution\u201d \u2013 but the USSR has to be careful, because the reality is, one misstep can lead to nuclear war. Jonestown doesn\u2019t have to worry about such political implications. \u201cThey told us \u2026 don\u2019t make these statements about the USA. Well, shit. Fuck that\u2026 I don\u2019t think have to make the same kind of compromises.\u201d When someone else expands upon that underlying consideration and asks whether they might become \u201cpawns\u201d for the Soviet Union, to be used against the U.S., though, Jones downplays the concern.<\/p>\n

    Still, another woman asks how the Soviets would respond if Peoples Temple conducted its White Night drills while after migrating. The people of Jonestown have made demands of the government of Guyana, and achieved them through the use of White Nights, she says, but how would the Soviets respond if they resorted to similar tactics in the USSR? The tape ends before Jones can answer the question.<\/p>\n

    FBI Summary:<\/b><\/p>\n

    Date of transcription: 3\/9\/79<\/p>\n

    In connection with the Federal Bureau of Investigation\u2019s investigation into the assassination of U.S. Congressman LEO J. RYAN at Port Kaituma, Guyana, South America, on November 18, 1978, a tape recording was obtained. This tape recording was located in Jonestown, Guyana, South America, and was turned over to U.S. Officials in Guyana and subsequently transported to the United States.<\/p>\n

    On March 7, 1979, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered 1B47 31.<\/p>\n

    This tape was reviewed, and nothing was contained thereon which was considered to be of evidentiary nature or beneficial to the investigation of Congressman RYAN.<\/p>\n

    Differences with FBI Summary:<\/b><\/p>\n

    There is nothing to compare between the two summaries, since the FBI did not write anything for this, or 64 other tapes which bear the notation \u201cTapes Not Summarized.\u201d These tapes seems to have little on them which the FBI could use for its purposes of investigating crimes arising from the Jonestown tragedy, but then again, that describes many other tapes as well. The difference seems to be that one or two FBI agents catalogued this set of tapes \u2013 as evidenced by the typewriter used in writing the reports \u2013 and that generally, the transcriptions were made early in the process, before someone may have asked for greater detail in the reports.<\/p>\n

    Tape originally posted May 2004<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Summary prepared by Fielding M. McGehee III. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you. To read the Tape Transcript, click here. Listen to MP3 (Side 1, Side 2). To return to the Tape Index, click here. FBI Catalogue: Tapes Not Summarized FBI preliminary tape identification note: One Audio Magnetics 60\/April […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":27996,"menu_order":374,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-28181","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28181"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127889,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28181\/revisions\/127889"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}