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Excellent idea. Larry On 8/11/10 4:53 PM, "Mitchel Cohen" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Wouldn't SftP want to have a program on WBAI? I'm surprised no one has gotten > around to proposing this, yet. I think it would be a very welcome antidote as > well as conducting actual debates within science and its relationship to > capitalism. > > Mitchel > > > At 04:14 PM 8/11/2010, you wrote: >> To all involved in this topic: >> >> Despite Michio Kaku's program, I don't believe this relates enough to SftP to >> be continued on this list. In the light of that, I will keep my own complex >> views on Pacifica to myself. But I again urge everyone to try to be civil, no >> matter what the topic. Remarks about the nature of a person's specific >> comments can be stated civilly, but negative comments about someone on this >> list as a person I think are not helpful. Please monitor yourselves in this >> matter. >> >> >> Best, >> >> Michael >> >> On Aug 11, 2010, at 11:41 AM, Phil Gasper wrote: >> >>> No, that's precisely the direction that Mary Frances Berrychair of the >>> Pacifica Board until she was ousted in 1999took the network, supported by >>> the likes of Marc Cooper. Under her leadership, local oversight by community >>> advisory boards was eliminated and the five-person national board made >>> itself self-selecting. Board meetings were held behind closed doors and >>> policy and financial documents were no longer made public. Local stations >>> had gag orders placed on them forbidding them from reporting on these >>> changes and the stations were also told to tone down criticisms of the >>> Clinton administration. There was a lot more, but this gives an idea of what >>> was happening. The breaking pointwhich led to massive demonstrations in New >>> York and the Bay Areacame when word leaked out that the Board was seriously >>> considering selling one or both of WBAI and KPFA. >>> >>> For anyone interested in the history, I recommend two books by Matthew >>> Lasar: >>> >>> Uneasy Listening: Pacifica Radio's Civil War, London: Black Apollo Press, >>> 2005. >>> >>> Pacifica Radio: The Rise of an Alternative Network Philadelphia: Temple >>> University Press, 1999; Robert Dawidoff, series editor; updated edition in >>> paperback, 2005. >>> Figuring out how to sort out the current mess is tricky, but it isn't helped >>> by falsifying the past. >>> >>> --PG >>> >>> On Wed, Aug 11, 2010 at 11:54 AM, Michael Balter <[log in to unmask] > >>> wrote: >>> The statement that Cooper et al. advocated a corporate NPR-lite was a lie >>> when it was made during the original struggles and it's a lie when it's >>> repeated today. But it is a good way of obfuscating the real issues, and the >>> real causes of the decline and fall of Pacifica. >>> >>> MB >>> >>> >>> On Wed, Aug 11, 2010 at 5:35 PM, Larry Romsted < [log in to unmask] >>> <mailto:[log in to unmask]> > wrote: >>> Phil: >>> >>> Well said. >>> >>> The struggles at WBAI, I will avoid characterizing them because that can >>> lead to more disagreements, have not helped. Some way is needed to get the >>> various people involved collaborating to stabilize and grow the station. >>> How best to do this is difficult because the animosities, which have been in >>> place for at least a decade, run soooooo deep. At the same time, the >>> politics of the people involved in terms of the kinds of social change they >>> care about are not so very different. They need to see that in each >>> othersomehow, let the personal and smaller issue stuff drop, and focus on >>> strengthening and rebuilding the station. For example, were I on one side >>> in the WBAI struggle (which I am not), I might (probably would actually) >>> take offense at some of the characterizations that Mitchel makes below. >>> Things are that bad. >>> >>> Larry >>> >>> >>> On 8/11/10 11:47 AM, "Phil Gasper" <[log in to unmask] >>> <http:[log in to unmask]> > wrote: >>> >>> It would be a shame if we had to choose between the corporatized NPR-lite >>> version of Pacifica advocated by Marc Cooper and others in the late 1990s >>> (which is precisely why Amy Goodman opposed it, and why she worked to >>> establish Democracy Now! on an independent footing) and the shambles that >>> currently exists at WBAI and (to a slightly lesser extent) the four other >>> Pacifica stations. MIchio Kaku does an excellent program on science for >>> WBAI: >>> http://wbai.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=395&Itemid=141 . >>> --PG >>> >>> On Wed, Aug 11, 2010 at 9:37 AM, Mitchel Cohen < [log in to unmask] >>> <http:[log in to unmask]> > wrote: >>> Hi Larry, >>> >>> Yes, the rent at WBAI is a major problem. >>> >>> HOWEVER, WBAI's gone through 7 General Managers in the last 7 years and only >>> the one that our INDEPENDENTS fired had taken the very first steps to >>> renegotiate the lease with Larry Silverstein (you wanna talk conspiracies >>> here, Michael?), the building's owner. >>> >>> The lease should have been renegotiated at least 5 or 6 years ago. Real >>> Estate people I've spoken with tell me that WBAI is paying almost DOUBLE >>> what we could and should be paying these days, which is upwards of $37 >>> thousand A MONTH. It's insane. That that has not been made a priority >>> despite my own and others' attempts to get management to do what they're >>> supposed to be doing is extremely troubling. >>> >>> Mitchel >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: Larry Romsted >>> Sent: Aug 11, 2010 9:20 AM >>> To: [log in to unmask] >>> <http:[log in to unmask]> >>> Subject: Re: Doug Henwood on the state of WBAI >>> >>> Good to read that you are still your same ignorant and arrogant self >>> Michael. >>> >>> I suspect that you have little if any idea of what has been and is going on >>> at WBAI and that you donıt give a crap. This is clear when you bring up >>> Marc Cooper who was at KPFK a long time ago and had little to do with WBAI >>> then or now and write as thoı everyone should have listened to him because >>> he is so obviously wise and WBAI would not be in its current problems if >>> everyone had only listened to him. We know of course the Marc always >>> expresses himself in a caring fashion that does not alienate others. >>> >>> I appreciate Henwood speaking out and Mitchel circulating his letter. In >>> some ways the situation is worse at WBAI than Henwood indicates because he >>> not fully characterized some of the struggles at the station and within the >>> station board. At the same time a whole variety of people are working to >>> improve the situation. One insane and difficult problem is that over 10 >>> years ago the station was moved to offices on Wall street (Wall street????) >>> and WBAI has a huge rent every month and a contract that runs to 2012. >>> WBAIıs rent is much higher than at other stations. This is an enormous >>> problem that has nothing to do with premiums, food fights (personnel >>> issues), or politics. Bad move made BEFORE the ³coup² in 2000. A terrible >>> legacy. Would have been nice if the great and wise Marc Cooper had helped >>> prevent that bad move, which was not done by anyone currently on the station >>> board or is part of the staff or management at the station as far as I know. >>> >>> So, get off your high horse and figure out what you can do to help in some >>> small way instead of just preaching. >>> >>> Larry >>> WBAI member >>> >>> On 8/11/10 5:28 AM, "Michael Balter" < [log in to unmask] >>> <http:[log in to unmask]> > wrote: >>> >>> When, several years ago, Marc Cooper and other sane minds tried to reform >>> Pacifica and its stations into something other than an umbrella over every >>> ridiculous fringe tendency, they were accused of being CIA agents, >>> capitalist roaders, and hounded out of the organization. Mitchel was on the >>> other side of this debate; so was Amy Goodman. Today, as Doug so rightly >>> points out, we see the results of those great "victories" for the masses: A >>> bunch of stations very few people want to listen to. Democracy Now is one of >>> the few exceptions, a generally excellent program, but its example needs to >>> be followed across the board if Pacifica is to survive. And that means >>> discriminating between progressives and nut cases. >>> >>> MB >>> >>> On Wed, Aug 11, 2010 at 5:20 AM, Phil Gasper <[log in to unmask] >>> <http:[log in to unmask]> > wrote: >>> http://lbo-news.com/2010/08/10/the-state-of-wbai-dire/ >>> The state of WBAI (dire) >> >> >> Posted by: Doug Henwood | August 10, 2010 >> >> [I just sent this to Mitch Cohen, chair of the WBAI local station board, to >> be read at tomorrow nightıs board meeting.] >> >> To Mitch Cohen and the WBAI local station board: >> >> Iıve been around WBAI for more than two decades. I started as a frequent >> interviewee on Samori Marksmanıs show in 1987, moved on to regular >> commentaries on his show a few years later, and then began doing the Thursday >> editions of his Behind the News in 1995. Iıve watched the station go through >> considerable turmoil over the years, but the current situation has me more >> worried than ever. I was very relieved and hopeful when Bernard White and Co. >> were removed from office. But Iıve lost that feeling completely. >> >> Our financial situation remains dire. Indeed, itıs hard to see how we can go >> on like this much longer. Not only are we not paying our bills, weıre >> dragging the whole Pacifica network deeper into the red. In this context, >> itıs easy to understand the temptation to offer sensational fundraising >> premiums to raise a lot of money quickly. But this strategy is proving >> disastrous. >> >> A few words about those premiums. During the last few drives, WBAI has >> offered a variety of rather embarrassing videos and publications. Weıve now >> moved well beyond the familiar 9/11 conspiracies. Now we also have miracle >> cures (which, it wouldnıt surprise me, could put us at legal risk for >> offering, since they make claims about curing disease that, to put it gently, >> would be very difficult to prove), stories about chemtrails (the theory that >> the government, for some mysterious reason, is poisoning us by spraying >> chemicals from the sky), and most recently, a series of videos explaining how >> the Illuminati are about 90% of the way to taking everything over (itıs only >> a matter of time until they plant microchips in our heads and solidify a >> regime of total control). (Tastes of that stuff here < >> http://www.jordanmaxwell.com/ <http://www.jordanmaxwell.com/> > and here < >> http://100777.com/nwo/wakeupcall <http://100777.com/nwo/wakeupcall> > .) Iım >> told, though I havenıt heard this stuff myself, that weıre also hawking the >> work of Kevin Trudeau < http://www.ktradionetwork.com/ >> <http://www.ktradionetwork.com/> > , whoıs been convicted < >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Trudeau >> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Trudeau> > of credit card fraud and has >> been fined for making false and misleading claims and whoıs been frequently >> sued by disgruntled customers. Of professional interest to me are stories >> about financiers and the Federal Reserve which have no basis in historical >> fact and I say this as someone who knows more about Wall Street and central >> banks than anyone involved with Pacifica. Many of these narratives have deep >> roots in far-right politics the Wall Street/Federal Reserve stuff has long >> been associated with crypto-fascist organizations like Willis Cartoıs Liberty >> Lobby (e.g. the works of Eustace Mullins < >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eustace_Mullins >> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eustace_Mullins> > ). Trudeau is a big fan of >> Matt Drudge and the odious Michael Savage. >> >> None of this stuff can be taken seriously by anyone with an ongoing >> relationship with Planet Earth. For that reason alone, itıs a disgrace that >> we give it such prominence. The health claims expose us to prosecution and >> litigation a legal risk we canıt possibly afford. But, that aside, airing >> this sort of stuff drives away sane and solvent listeners. Given the recent >> drop in our fulfillment rate, it seems reasonable to surmise that people who >> pledge on this stuff are more likely than most not to come through. So this >> strategy fails even on purely monetary grounds. But by driving away the >> audience, weıre undermining the stationıs future. Do we really want to be >> known as the nonprofit telemarketing arm for lunatics and convicted >> criminals? >> >> Iıve shared these concerns with interim program director Tony Bates and he >> dismisses my concerns as mere ³outrage.² >> >> We urgently need to figure out why weıve lost listeners and how we can build >> the audience back up. This is not the way to go about it. Itıs a guaranteed >> route to insolvency and ridicule. >> >> >> >> >> > > > >