The Massacre is the second studio album by American rapper 50 Cent, released March 3, 2005 on Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records in the United States. Its initially planned release was pushed five days ahead to avoid Internet leakage. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling over 1.14 million copies in its first week. Upon its release, The Massacre received generally positive reviews from most music critics. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album,^[1] losing to Kanye West's Late Registration at the 48th Grammy Awards.^[2]

Background[link]

The Massacre has a music video for every track on the special edition version of the album. The original title for the album was St. Valentine's Day Massacre and was arranged to be released on February 14, 2005, but was postponed and the album's title was shortened to The Massacre. The album was also released in a "censored" version that censors out most profanity, violence, and all drug content. "Gunz Come Out" has inconsistency in the editing, and contains some profanity. This album wasn't as heavily censored as Get Rich or Die Tryin', but it is still a very highly censored album ranking in severity with albums such as Tony Yayo's Thoughts of a Predicate Felon and Nas' Stillmatic.

Reception[link]

Commercial performance[link]

The album sold 1.14 million copies in its first week of release, making it the sixth highest-selling album since SoundScan began tracking sales data in 1991.^[3] It is the third best opening week for any hip hop album in history, behind Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP which sold over 1.79 million copies in its first week and The Eminem Show which sold 1.32 million copies for its first week.^[4]

Critical response[link]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]
Robert Christgau	A−[6]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[7]
Los Angeles Times	[8]
The New York Times	(favorable)[9]
Pitchfork Media	(7.0/10)[10]
PopMatters	(8/10)[11]
Rolling Stone	[12]
USA Today	[13]
The Village Voice	(favorable)[14]

Upon its release, the album received generally positive reviews from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 66/100 from Metacritic.^[15] Vibe gave The Massacre a 3½ out of 5 disc rating and wrote "Full of finger-pointing panache, 50 delivers a taut, albeit less explosive, album aimed at both silencing his detractors and keeping the ladies satisfied".^[16] The Massacre was nominated at the 2006 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album, but lost to Kanye West's Late Registration. It was ranked the tenth best album of the year by Rolling Stone.^[17]

Track listing[link]

• All songs were co-written by 50 Cent.

Sample credits

Informations taken from The Massacre liner notes:^[18]

• "Intro" contains elements from "What Up Gangsta" performed by 50 Cent
• "I'm Supposed to Die Tonight" contains vocal samples of Spectrasonics' "Vocal Planet"
• "Gatman and Robbin'" contains replayed elements from "Batman Theme"
• "Candy Shop" contains a sample of "Love Break" performed by The Salsoul Orchestra (uncredited)
• "Ski Mask Way" contains elements from "What Am I Waiting For" performed by The O'Jays and resung elements from "Cell Therapy" performed by Goodie Mob
• "A Baltimore Love Thing" contains elements from "I'll Be Waiting There For You" performed by The Dells
• "God Gave Me Style" contains elements from "Each Day I Cry A Little" performed by Eddie Kendricks
• "I Don't Need 'Em" contains elements from "Nobody Knows performed by S.C.L.C.

Personnel[link]

Credits for The Massacre adapted from Allmusic.^[19]

Charts and certifications[link]

Chart procession and succession[link]

The Massacre (Special Edition)[link]

Background[link]

The album was re-released under the name The Massacre (Special Edition). It was re-released on September 6, 2005 with a remix of "Outta Control" featuring Mobb Deep. The re-release included a bonus DVD (with music videos for all of the songs, and the trailer for the movie Get Rich or Die Tryin') and excluded the G-Unit remix of "Hate It or Love It", clearly due to the ongoing feud between 50 Cent and The Game. The re-release helped it re-climb to number two in the United States.

Track listing[link]

• All songs were co-written by 50 Cent.

Sample credits

Informations taken from The Massacre liner notes:^[18]

• "Intro" contains elements from "What Up Gangsta" performed by 50 Cent
• "I'm Supposed to Die Tonight" contains samples of "Warning" by The Notorious B.I.G.
• "Gatman and Robbin'" contains replayed elements from "Batman Theme"
• "Candy Shop" contains a sample of "Love Break" performed by The Salsoul Orchestra (uncredited)
• "Ski Mask Way" contains elements from "What Am I Waiting For" performed by The O'Jays and resung elements from "Cell Therapy" performed by Goodie Mob
• "A Baltimore Love Thing" contains elements from "I'll Be Waiting There For You" performed by The Dells
• "God Gave Me Style" contains elements from "Each Day I Cry A Little" performed by Eddie Kendricks
• "I Don't Need 'Em" contains elements from "Nobody Knows performed by S.C.L.C.

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Massacre at Discogs
• The Massacre at Metacritic

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Tagged since May 2012. It may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. Tagged since May 2012. It is written like a personal reflection or essay rather than an encyclopedic description of the subject. Tagged since May 2012. It may contain original research. Tagged since May 2012.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Anton Newcombe & BJM - Live at Coachella
Background information
Also known as	BJM The BJM
Origin	San Francisco, California, United States
Genres	Neo-psychedelia, indie rock, psychedelic rock, shoegazing, folk rock, experimental rock, acid folk
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Bomp! Records TVT Records Tee Pee Records
Associated acts	Black Rebel Motorcycle Club The Out Crowd The Dilettantes The Dandy Warhols Darker My Love
Website	http://www.brianjonestownmassacre.com
Members
Anton Newcombe Matt Hollywood Frankie "Teardrop" Emerson Collin Hegna Ricky Maymi Daniel Allaire Joel Gion Rob Campanella
Past members
see below

The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American eclectic musical group led by Anton Newcombe, whose music spans multiple genres including psychedelia, electronica, folk music, blues, and experimental music.

The group was founded by Newcombe, Matt Hollywood, Ricky Rene Maymi, Patrick Straczek and Travis Threlkel in the early 1990s in San Francisco.

The name "Brian Jonestown Massacre" is a portmanteau of The Rolling Stones' founder and guitarist Brian Jones and the infamous mass cult suicide in Jonestown, Guyana.^[1][2]

Releases[link]

1995 & 1996[link]

1995's Methodrone approximates the UK shoegazing sound of a few years prior to its release. Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request, one of three new albums released by the group in 1996, reflects a pastiche of 1960s psychedelia that continues to characterize the BJM sound to the present day. Newcombe defines the term 'psychedelic' as "mind-expanding," and BJM's output is generally referred to as such because of the revivalist nature of the music.^[3][4] Elements of Middle Eastern and Brazilian music are also apparent, along with influences by 1960s artists such as The Beatles, Os Mutantes, The Velvet Underground, Donovan, Love, The Byrds, Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones. In fact, Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request is an homage to the Rolling Stones' 1967 album, Their Satanic Majesties Request.^[5] The second album they released in 1996, Take It from the Man!, was recorded in the Rolling Stones' mid-1960s style of rock rooted in rhythm and blues.^[6]

Thank God for Mental Illness, their third record released in 1996, displays a country and rhythm and blues oeuvre with voice and acoustic guitar dominating the overall sound. This is a format that Newcombe occasionally resorts to when presenting live material during times of transition in the band. A further country/folk approach was applied to the Bringing It All Back Home - Again, the title itself an homage to Bob Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home.

[edit] And This Is Our Music (2003)

Electronic music crept into 2003's And This Is Our Music, evidencing more contemporary influences as well as name-checking the identically-titled albums This Is Our Music, each by the artists Galaxie 500 and Ornette Coleman. In 2005 the band released the EP We Are the Radio on Newcombe's label The Committee to Keep Music Evil, which featured a close collaboration with indie singer-songwriter Sara Beth Tuceck.

[edit] My Bloody Underground (2008)

My Bloody Underground was released on Cargo Records in 2008, and demos were available since September 2007 from the band's website.^[7] The title has been interpreted^{[by whom?]} to be a name-check to the bands My Bloody Valentine, and The Velvet Underground as well as referencing BJM's endless procession of bandmates and the "scene" they collectively created.^{[original research?]} Newcombe has down-played such interpretations, however.^[8] Music videos of the songs on the album have also been released, including a music video compilation DVD entitled 'Book of Days'.

Other 2008 work[link]

As of 2008, Newcombe has become increasingly interested in pastiches. The percussion featured in the song "Amazing Electronic Talking Cave" from the Just Like Kicking Jesus EP for example, was derived from The Rolling Stones' "Jumping Jack Flash". "Þungur Hnífur" was adapted from Goldfrapp's "Ooh La La". The percussion for "Feel It" was based on that of Anita Ward's song "Ring My Bell". "This Is the One Thing We Did Not Want to Have Happen" draws elements from Joy Division, combining the percussion on "She's Lost Control" with the lyrics to "I Remember Nothing" (both of which are featured on Joy Division's 1979 album Unknown Pleasures), as well as fashioning grating guitar-effects reminiscent of the anarchist-punk band Crass, which, for example, are found on the latter's "Mother-Earth" (from their 1979 album Stations of the Crass). "This Is the First of Your Last Warning" loosely derives its percussion from Michael Jackson's "Rock With You" (or Public Image Ltd.'s "Albatross" from their 1979 album Metal Box).

2009 releases[link]

The Brian Jonestown Massacre recorded both One EP and Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? in Iceland and Berlin in 2009. The One EP was released in November 2009. It features the songs "One" and "This Is the First of Your Last Warning" (which would also appear on Sgt. Pepper), an English version of "This Is The First Of Your Last Warning", and an exclusive track "Bruttermania". Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? was released in February 2010. The album features musicians such as Unnur Andrea Einarsdottir (who recorded vocals on the previous BJM album) and Felix Bondareff from the Russian band Amazing Electronic Talking Cave, as well as other musicians from France, Germany, and Iceland. Will Carruthers also appeared on the album. Soon after the album's release, it was confirmed that Matt Hollywood had returned to the band after an eleven year absence. According to Anton Newcombe, he will feature on their next album and is currently touring with the band. The group was scheduled to play the ATP New York 2010 music festival in Monticello, New York in September 2010, in support of the album, but canceled the appearance.

Newcombe's interest in cults like that of Jim Jones and Charles Manson is well known (and made apparent by the band's name), and songs such as "The Ballad of Jim Jones" (from Thank God for Mental Illness) and "Arkansas Revisited" (from Bringing It All Back Home – Again), which is a rework of Charles Manson's song "Arkansas" (which appeared on the album Lie: The Love & Terror Cult). Similar interests include a fascination with the Freemasons, Aleister Crowley, and Sufi mysticism.

[edit] Aufheben (2012)

Newcombe's latest Brian Jonestown Massacre release (out May 1st 2012) is titled "Aufheben," which he says in an interview with GoingThruVinyl, relates to Hegel's use of the term, the product when a thesis and antithesis interact, and the contradictory nature of nearly destroying something in order to preserve it.^[9]

Documentary[link]

Along with The Dandy Warhols, BJM were the subjects of the 2004 documentary film Dig!. The film captured a love-hate relationship between both bands, highlighting the interaction of BJM frontman Anton Newcombe and Warhols' Courtney Taylor-Taylor. It was recorded over the course of seven years by Ondi Timoner, and won the Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.^[10] Newcombe distanced himself from the film, stating that its portrayal of him was unfair.

Members[link]

Currently, The Brian Jonestown Massacre comprises Anton Newcombe and numerous long and short-term collaborators:

• Will Carruthers – bass. Member from 2006–present. Formerly of Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized.
• Matt Hollywood – guitar, bass, vocals. A founding member from 1990–1999, then from 2009–present. Also founder of the drone group Rebel Drones.
• Jón Sæmundur Audarson – guitar, artwork. Collaborates with Newcombe on installations, videos, and recording. Currently heads the DEAD clothing store in Reykjavik, Iceland, as well as leading the drone/experimental group Dead Skeletons.
• Henrik Baldvin Bjornsson – guitar. Collaborates with Newcombe with recordings. Also of the Icelandic band Singapore Sling and Dead Skeletons.
• Constantine Karlis – drums. Formerly of the New Zealand rock bands High Dependency Unit and Dimmer.

The BJM has undergone many personnel changes, with Anton Newcombe being the only consistent member (see comprehensive list of Brian Jonestown Massacre members).

Related acts[link]

• The Dandy Warhols
• The Black Angels
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
• Dead Meadow
• The Dilettantes
• The Quarter After
• Miranda Lee Richards
• Spindrift
• Sky Parade
• The Parties
• The Out Crowd
• The Warlocks
• MOTH
• Molecular
• Thee International Molecules
• Astral
• The Lovetones
• Sarah Beth Tuceck
• The Cindys
• The Morning After Girls
• The Three 4 Tens

The band has also influenced many other indie bands noted in the Brian Jonestown Massacre Covers Project.^[11]

Discography[link]

• 1993 Spacegirl & Other Favorites
• 1995 Methodrone
• 1996 Take It from the Man!
• 1996 Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request
• 1996 Thank God for Mental Illness
• 1997 Give It Back!
• 1998 Strung Out in Heaven
• 1999 Bringing It All Back Home – Again (EP)
• 2000 Zero (EP)
• 2001 If I Love You (EP)
• 2001 Bravery, Repetition and Noise
• 2004 Tepid Peppermint Wonderland
• 2003 ...And This Is Our Music
• 2005 We Are the Radio (EP)
• 2008 My Bloody Underground
• 2008 Just Like Kicking Jesus (EP)
• 2009 Smoking Acid (EP)
• 2009 One EP (EP)
• 2010 Who Killed Sgt. Pepper?
• 2012 Aufheben

In popular culture[link]

• The BJM and former friends/rivals The Dandy Warhols were the subject of the acclaimed documentary DiG!.^[12]
• "Open Heart Surgery" appeared on the soundrack to the TV series Rescue Me.
• A number of Jonestown songs were used in the improvisational film by Zak Penn entitled The Grand.
• "Servo" from Give It Back! was used in Spin (2007 film)
• All but one song in the 2007 film Broken,^[13] consisted of music by The Brian Jonestown Massacre.
• "Straight Up and Down" is used as the opening theme song for the show Boardwalk Empire on HBO.
• "Vaccum Boots" appears in episode 1 (season 2) of My Life as Liz
• The track "You Look Great When I'm Fucked Up" appears at the end of episode 5 (series 1) of teen drama Skins.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: The Brian Jonestown Massacre

• Official Website
• MySpace page
• BJM Archives
• BJM Covers Project
• Straight Up And Down - BJM Book Project

Jonestown

Georgetown

Kaituma

Peoples Temple Agricultural Project ("Jonestown", Guyana)

Jonestown was the informal name for the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, an intentional community in northwestern Guyana formed by the Peoples Temple led by Jim Jones. It became internationally notorious when, on November 18, 1978, 918 people died in the settlement as well as in a nearby airstrip and in Georgetown, Guyana's capital. The name of the settlement became synonymous with the incidents at those locations.

A total of 909 Temple members died in Jonestown, all but two from apparent cyanide poisoning, in an event termed "revolutionary suicide" by Jones and some members on an audio tape of the event and in prior discussions. This includes over 200 murdered children. The poisonings in Jonestown followed the murder of five others by Temple members at a nearby Port Kaituma airstrip. The victims included United States Congressman Leo Ryan. Four other Temple members died in Georgetown at Jones's command.

To the extent the actions in Jonestown were viewed as a mass murder, it was the largest such event in modern history and resulted in the largest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the events of September 11, 2001.^[1]

Origins[link]

Los Angeles

San Francisco

Ukiah

Bakersfield

Fresno

Sacramento

Santa
Rosa

Some of the Peoples Temple's California Locations

The Peoples Temple was formed in Indianapolis, Indiana, during the mid-1950s.^[2] It purported to practice what it called "apostolic socialism".^[3][4] In doing so, the Temple preached to established members that "those who remained drugged with the opiate of religion had to be brought to enlightenment — socialism."^[5][6]

After Jones received considerable criticism in Indiana for his integrationist views, the Temple moved to Redwood Valley, California in 1965.^[7][8]

In the early 1970s, the Peoples Temple opened other branches in California, including in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In the mid-1970s, the Temple moved its headquarters to San Francisco.^[9]

After the Temple's move to San Francisco, it became more politically active. After Peoples Temple participation proved instrumental in the mayoral election victory of George Moscone in 1975, Moscone appointed Jones as the Chairman of the San Francisco Housing Authority Commission.^[10] Unlike other figures considered as cult leaders, Jones enjoyed public support and contact with some of the highest level politicians in the United States. For example, Jones met with Vice President (and later Presidential Candidate) Walter Mondale and First Lady Rosalynn Carter several times.^[11] Governor Jerry Brown, Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally, and Assemblyman Willie Brown, among others, attended a large testimonial dinner in honor of Jones in September 1976.^[12]

Jonestown established[link]

Selection and establishment of Guyanese land[link]

In the fall of 1973, after critical newspaper articles by Lester Kinsolving and the defection of eight Temple members, Jones and Temple member Timothy Stoen prepared an "immediate action" contingency plan for responding to a police or media crackdown.^[13] The plan listed various options, including fleeing to Canada or to a "Caribbean missionary post", such as Barbados or Trinidad.^[13] For its "Caribbean missionary post", the Temple quickly chose Guyana.^[13] The Temple then researched Guyana's economy and extradition treaties with the United States.^[13] In October 1973, the directors of the Peoples Temple passed a resolution to establish an agricultural mission there.^[13]

The Temple chose Guyana, in part, because of its socialist politics, which were also moving further to the left during the selection process.^[13][14] Former Temple member Tim Carter stated that the reasons for choosing Guyana were the Temple's view of creeping fascism, the perceived dominance of multinational corporations on the government, and perceived racism in the U.S. government.^[15] Carter said the Temple concluded that Guyana, a predominantly Indian, English-speaking socialist country, would afford black members of the Temple a peaceful place to live.^[15] Later, Guyanese Prime Minister Forbes Burnham stated that what may have attracted Jones was that "he wanted to use cooperatives as the basis for the establishment of socialism, and maybe his idea of setting up a commune meshed with that."^[14] Jones also thought it was important that Guyana's leadership consisted of several black leaders and that the country was small and poor enough for Jones to easily obtain influence and official protection.^[13]

In 1974, after Jones and Temple members traveled to an area of Northwest Guyana with Guyanese officials, the Temple and Guyanese officials negotiated a lease of over 3,800 acres (15.4 km²) of jungle land from the Guyanese government.^[16] The site was isolated, with soil of poor fertility, even by Guyanese standards.^[17] The nearest body of water was seven miles (11 km) away by muddy roads.^[17]

Jonestown before mass migration[link]

Houses in Jonestown

500 members began the construction of Jonestown. The Temple encouraged some of its members to move to Jonestown,^[16] which was formally named the "Peoples Temple Agricultural Project".^[18] Jones saw Jonestown as both a "socialist paradise" and a "sanctuary" from media scrutiny.^[19] In 1976, Guyana finally approved the lease it had negotiated (retroactive to April 1974) with the Temple for the over 3,000 acres (12 km²) of land in Northwest Guyana on which Jonestown was located.^[20]

In 1974, Guyanese government officials granted the Temple permission to import certain items "duty free."^[17] Later payoffs to Guyanese customs officials helped safeguard shipments of firearms and drugs through Guyanese customs.^[21] The relatively large number of immigrants to Guyana overwhelmed the Guyanese government's small but stringent immigration infrastructure in a country where most people wanted to leave.^[22] Jones reached an agreement to guarantee that Guyana would permit Temple members' mass migration. To do so, he stated that Temple members were "skilled and progressive", showed off an envelope he claimed had $500,000 and stated that he would invest most of the church's assets in Guyana.^[22] Guyanese immigration procedures were also compromised to inhibit the departure of Temple defectors and curtail the visas of Temple opponents.^[23]

Guyanese Prime Minister Forbes Burnham

Jones purported to establish Jonestown as a benevolent communist community, stating: "I believe we’re the purest communists there are."^[24] Marceline Jones described Jonestown as "dedicated to live for socialism, total economic and racial and social equality. We are here living communally."^[24] Jones wanted to construct a model community and claimed that Prime Minister Burnham "couldn’t rave enough about us, uh, the wonderful things we do, the project, the model of socialism."^[25] In that regard, like the restrictive emigration policies of the Soviet Union, Cuba, North Korea and other communist republics, Jones did not permit members to leave Jonestown.^[26]

The Temple's house in Georgetown

The Temple established offices in Georgetown and conducted numerous meetings with Burnham and other Guyanese officials.^[27] In 1976, Temple member Michael Prokes requested that Burnham receive Jones as a foreign dignitary along with other "high ranking U.S. officials."^[28] Jones traveled to Guyana with California Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally to meet with Burnham and Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Willis.^[28] In that meeting, Dymally agreed to pass on the message to the U.S. State Department that socialist Guyana wanted to keep an open door to cooperation with the United States.^[28] Dymally followed up that meeting with a letter to Burnham stating that Jones was "one of the finest human beings" and that Dymally was "tremendously impressed" by his visit to Jonestown.^[28]

Temple members took pains to stress their loyalty to Burnham's Peoples National Congress Party.^[29] One Temple member, Paula Adams, was involved in a romantic relationship with Guyana's Ambassador to the United States, Laurence "Bonny" Mann. Jones bragged about other Temple members he referred to as "public relations women" giving all for the cause in Jonestown.^[30][31] Viola Burnham, the Guyanese Prime Minister's wife, was also a strong advocate of the Temple.^[14]

Later, Burnham stated that Guyana allowed the Temple to operate in the manner it did on the references of Mondale, Rosalynn Carter, and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone.^[32] Burnham also said that, when Deputy Minister Ptolemy Reid traveled to Washington in September 1977 to sign the Panama Canal Treaties, Mondale asked him "How's Jim?", which indicated to Reid that Mondale had a personal interest in Jones' well being.^[32]

Investigation and mass migration[link]

In the summer of 1977, Jones and several hundred Temple members moved to Jonestown to escape building pressure from San Francisco media investigations.^[33] Jones left the same night that an editor at New West magazine read Jones an article to be published by Marshall Kilduff detailing allegations by former Temple members.^[33][34] Jonestown's population was just under 1,000 at its peak in 1978.

Jonestown life after mass migration[link]

Many members of the Peoples Temple believed that Guyana would be, as Jones promised, a paradise, or a utopia.^[35] After the mass migration, Jonestown became overcrowded.^[36]

After Jones arrived, Jonestown life significantly changed.^[36] Entertaining movies from Georgetown that the pioneers had watched were eliminated in favor of propaganda shorts on Soviet life provided by the Soviet embassy and documentaries on problems such as elderly life in the U.S. and returning Vietnam veterans' adjustment to civilian life.^[36] Bureaucratic requirements after Jones' arrival sapped labor resources for other needs.^[36] Buildings fell into disrepair and weeds encroached on fields.^[36] School study and night time lectures for adults turned to Jones' discussions about revolution and enemies, with lessons focusing on Soviet alliances, Jones' crises and the purported "mercenaries" of Timothy Stoen.^[36]

For the first several months, Temple members worked six days a week, from approximately 6:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with an hour for lunch.^[37] In mid-1978, after Jim Jones' health deteriorated and Marciline Jones began managing more of Jonestown's operations, the work week was reduced to eight hours a day for five days a week.^[15]

After the day's work ended, Temple members would attend several hours of activities in a pavilion structure, including classes in socialism.^[38] Jones described this study as like that of the North Korean system of eight hours of daily work followed by eight hours of study.^[39][40] This also comported with the Temple's practice of gradually subjecting its followers to sophisticated mind control and behavior-modification techniques borrowed from post-revolutionary People's Republic of China and North Korea.^[41] Jones would often read news and commentary, including some from Radio Moscow and Radio Havana,^[42] though concerning the Sino-Soviet split he often criticized Chinese foreign policy initiatives he (and often the Soviet Government) viewed as anti-Soviet.^[43]

"Discussion" around the topics raised often took the form of Jones interrogating individual followers about the implications and subtexts of a given item, or delivering lengthy and often confused monologues on how his people should 'read' the events. In addition to Soviet documentaries, conspiracy theory movies such as Executive Action, written by Temple attorneys Mark Lane and Donald Freed, and The Parallax View (incorrectly attributed by Jones to Lane and Freed) were screened and minutely dissected by Jones as primers on the 'true nature' of the Temple's capitalist enemies.^[42]

Jones' recorded readings of the news were part of the constant broadcasts over Jonestown's tower speakers, such that all members could hear them throughout the day and night.^[44] Jones' news readings usually portrayed the United States as a "capitalist" and "imperialist" villain, while casting "socialist" leaders, such as North Korean leader Kim Il-sung ("great leader of the revolution, is in the vanguard of the Korean working class"^[45]), Robert Mugabe ("long known for his communist inspiration to the people of Zimbabwe… one of the revolutionary heroes"^[46]) and Joseph Stalin (disturbed by people criticizing Stalin^[47]), in a positive light.

Jonestown's primary means of communication with the outside world was a shortwave radio.^[48] All voice communications with San Francisco and Georgetown were transmitted using this radio, from mundane supply orders to confidential Temple business.^[48] The FCC cited the Temple for technical violations and for using amateur frequencies for commercial purposes.^[48] Because shortwave radio was Jonestown's only effective means of non-postal communication, the Temple felt that the FCC's threats to revoke its operators' licenses threatened Jonestown's existence.^[49]

Jonestown, being on poor soil, was not self-sufficient and had to import large quantities of commodities such as wheat.^[50] Temple members lived in small communal houses, some with walls woven from Troolie palm, and ate meals which reportedly consisted of nothing more on some days than rice, beans, greens and sometimes meat sauce and eggs (more on others).^[50][51] Despite theoretically having access to millions of dollars in Temple funds, Jones also lived in a tiny communal house (pictured below), though fewer people lived there than in other communal houses.^[51] His house reportedly held a small refrigerator, containing, at times, eggs, meat, fruit, salads and soft drinks.^[51] Medical problems, such as severe diarrhea and high fevers, struck half the community in February 1978.

Although Jonestown contained no dedicated prison and no form of capital punishment, various forms of punishment were used against members considered to be serious disciplinary problems. Methods included imprisonment in a 6 x 4 x 3-foot (1.8 x 1.2 x 0.9m) plywood box and forcing children to spend a night at the bottom of a well, sometimes upside-down.^[2] For some members who attempted to escape, drugs such as Thorazine, sodium pentathol, chloral hydrate, Demerol and Valium were administered in an "extended care unit."^[52] Armed guards patrolled the area day and night to enforce Jonestown's rules. Some local Guyanese, including a police official, related stories about harsh beatings and a "torture hole", the well into which the children were placed when they were perceived to have misbehaved.^[53][54]

Children generally surrendered to communal care, addressed Jones as "Dad" and some at times were only allowed to see their real parents briefly at night. Jones was called "Father" or "Dad" by the adults as well.^[55] The community had a nursery at which 33 infants were born.^[56]

Up to $65,000 in monthly welfare payments from government organizations in the United States to Jonestown residents were signed over to the Temple.^[57] In 1978, officials from the United States Embassy in Guyana interviewed Social Security recipients on multiple occasions to make sure they were not being held against their will.^[58] None of the 75 people interviewed by the Embassy stated that they were being held against their will, were forced to sign over welfare checks, or wanted to leave Jonestown.^[58][59]

The Temple's wealth was estimated in late 1978 to be approximately $26 million.^[60]

Events in Jonestown prior to Ryan visit[link]

White Nights[link]

Jones made frequent addresses to Temple members regarding Jonestown's safety, including statements that the CIA and other intelligence agencies were conspiring with "capitalist pigs" to destroy Jonestown and harm its members.^[46][61][62] After work, when purported emergencies arose, the Temple sometimes conducted what Jones referred to as "White Nights".^[63] During such events, Jones would sometimes give the Jonestown members four choices: (1) attempt to flee to the Soviet Union; (2) commit "revolutionary suicide"; (3) stay in Jonestown and fight the purported attackers or (4) flee into the jungle.^[64]

On at least two occasions during White Nights, after a "revolutionary suicide" vote was reached, a simulated mass suicide was rehearsed. Peoples Temple defector Deborah Layton described the event in an affidavit:

"Everyone, including the children, was told to line up. As we passed through the line, we were given a small glass of red liquid to drink. We were told that the liquid contained poison and that we would die within 45 minutes. We all did as we were told. When the time came when we should have dropped dead, Rev. Jones explained that the poison was not real and that we had just been through a loyalty test. He warned us that the time was not far off when it would become necessary for us to die by our own hands."^[65]

The Temple had received monthly half-pound shipments of cyanide since 1976 after Jones obtained a jeweler's license to buy the chemical, purportedly to clean gold.^[66]

Stoen custody dispute[link]

In September 1977, former Temple members Timothy and Grace Stoen battled in a Georgetown court to produce an order for the Temple to show cause why a final order should not be issued returning their son, John (five years old at the time), to his mother Grace.^[67] A few days later, a second order was issued for the arrest of John by authorities.^[68]

The fear of being held in contempt of the orders caused Jones to set up a false sniper attack upon himself and begin his first series of White Nights, called the "Six Day Siege", where Jones spoke to Temple members about attacks from outsiders and had them surround Jonestown with guns and machetes.^[69] The fiery rallies took an almost surreal tone as Angela Davis and Huey Newton communicated via radio-telephone to the Jonestown crowd, urging them to hold strong against the "conspiracy."^[70] Jones made radio broadcasts stating "we will die unless we are granted freedom from harassment and asylum."^[71] Guyana Deputy Minister Ptolemy Reid finally assured Jones' wife Marceline that the Guyana Defence Force would not invade Jonestown.^[72]

Exploring another potential exodus[link]

After the Six Day Siege, Jones no longer believed the Guyanese could be trusted.^[73] Jones directed Temple members to write to over a dozen foreign governments inquiring about immigration policies relevant to another exodus by the Temple.^[73] He also wrote to the U.S. State Department inquiring about North Korea and Albania, then enduring the Sino-Albanian split.^[73]

In Georgetown, the Peoples Temple conducted frequent meetings with the embassies of the Soviet Union, North Korea, Yugoslavia and Cuba.^[74] Their negotiations with the Soviet Union included extensive discussions of possible resettlement there and the Temple produced memoranda discussing potential places within the Soviet Union in which they might settle.^[74] Sharon Amos, Michael Prokes and other Temple members took active roles in the "Guyana-Korea Friendship Society", which sponsored two seminars on revolutionary concepts of North Korean leader Kim Il Sung.^[75]

On October 2, 1978, Feodor Timofeyev from the Soviet Union embassy in Guyana visited Jonestown for two days and gave a speech.^[76] Jones stated before the speech that "For many years, we have let our sympathies be quite publicly known, that the United States government was not our mother, but that the Soviet Union was our spiritual motherland," which was followed by extended cheers and applause from the Jonestown crowd.^[76] Timofeyev opened the speech stating that the USSR would like to send "our deepest and the most sincere greetings to the people of this first socialist and communist community of the United States of America, in Guyana and in the world," followed by cheers and applause from the crowd.^[76] Timofeyev also stated "I’d like to wish you, dear comrades, all the successes to your great, to your very big work you’re doing here."^[76]