Comrades!

Being both an historical and a material creature, there is never a month in which the Turtle can rightly be said to be more conscious of history, for every month is history month at The Voice of the Turtle. Having said that, we mark an unusual number of anniversaries at the start of a new Red October. First, of course, is the birthday of Friedrich Engels. Had he lived, he would have been one hundred and seventy seven last Tuesday. And today, the first of October, is the fiftieth anniversary of the proclamation of the People's Republic of China.

But less remarked-upon in the international press is another important anniversary. The first of October also marks the date on which, in 1965, General Suharto began one of the bloodiest and cruel anti-communist campaigns of the Cold War, with the full support of the West. And holding onto an Indonesian theme, the Turtle's salute goes out this month to the people of East Timor, who have voted overwhelmingly for independence in the recent UN special consultation. The East Timorese have withstood the genocidal brutality of the Indonesian occupation, resisting for twenty-four years in the face of the Western countries' carefully-cultivated indifference to their plight and active support -- Hawk aircraft and all -- for the monstrous Suharto/Habibie regime. Even as you read this Bulletin, the violence in East Timor continues, but there is, at long last, reason to hope that this dark hour is the last before the dawn. Read more on the Turtle's Salute page this month.

Another, happier, anniversary is marked by the distribution of this message: the Turtle is pleased to celebrate a full year of Monthly Missives. The first Bulletin of the Turtle was mailed out to sixteen enthusiasts in October 1998, which in a sense marked the official inauguration of the Cyber-Turtle. One year on, our subscription numbers have swollen to eighty -- a fivefold increase -- with more joining our rank-and-file every month.

The Turtle is also pleased to acclaim Dave Renton as (appropriately enough) our October Stakhanovite of the Month. Dave has supported The Voice of the Turtle ever since its second paper edition in the Summer of 1993. Since the launch of the Cyberspace Incarnation, he has contributed to all three major Aspects of the Turtle -- its trove of articles, its Dictionary, and its Reviews. In fact, his Stakhanovism knows no bounds, for during the last 18 months he has also completed his Ph.D., taught for a term at South Africa's Rhodes University, published his book on Fascism: Theory and Practice (reviewed at length, of course, in The Voice of the Turtle) and has recently started a new teaching job at Edgehill College in Liverpool. Dave has exceeded his quota in fine fashion, and the Turtle is proud to inscribe his name upon the banners of Stakhanovism.

Congratulations are also due to the readers of the BBC's internet website. In the dying days of September (round about Engels' birthday, in fact), Karl Marx overtook fellow socialist Albert Einstein to win the coveted "Greatest Thinker of the Millennium Poll", with the reactionaries lagging far behind. Doubts have been cast over the scientific nature of this form of enquiry -- an earlier poll this year dubbed Paul McCartney the "greatest composer of the millennium" -- but in this case they are clearly unjustified. Well done to those Comrades Turtle who cast their ballots, and well done, Karl. No doubt a beautiful three-piece lounge suite will soon be yours.

With so much to acclaim, it is easy to overlook the fact that September has been quite a comparatively quiet month at The Voice of the Turtle, after the tumults of the summer. A small handful of new Dictionary entries have made an appearance ("Amazon.com", "Catholicism, Gramsci on" and "Naavu gedde gelthivee"), one of the gaps in the Summer Books Special was finally plugged, and the first offerings for the forthcoming Autumn Books Supplement have arrived in the post.

You, of course, can help to liven up the Turtle this October with your own contributions. Book reviews will help to make the Autumn Book Supplement of the Turtle (to be released in November) a triumphant success, and with luck we will be able to resume our extremely balanced diet of Articles, Dictionary Entries, Salutes and various assorted ephemera before too long.

Until we have built Socialism on One Website, we remain:

The Editors