Monday, February 8, 2016

Pacifica in beeping exile...




February 7, 2016
Who Needs A Vote?
Berkeley-Mozart did not make an appearance at the second disrupted national board meeting in a week, but while the sounds were less than musical, the outcome was the same: meeting interruptus. Doubling down on their outrageous stripping of all national voting rights from NY station WBAI and the seating of two bogus affiliate directors from non-affiliated stations, the rump majority did not even keep their promise to allow WBAI's 2015 directors to "participate, but not vote". They didn't send WBAI the meeting codes and hung up on them when they called in. In fact, they hung up on everybody, including duly elected directors from other stations, as KPFT director Bill Crosier stated: "I was repeatedly disconnected from the call. I have not been making any interruptions, but tried several times to raise a point of order and was never recognized, but my call was disconnected several times. This is highly improper.  Whoever is controlling the conference call has no right to just disconnect anyone they don't want to talk, even when making valid points of order".  Crosier provided a Skype log documenting 5 disconnections.

A sound clip of the meeting "highlights" can be heard here in a 26 minute version.  The full meeting (of about two hours duration) has been posted on a NY-based blog "WBAI Now And Then" and you can access that sound file here

New LA director Michael Novick, who announced he had been appointed the "sergeant-at-arms" for the intended meeting, was inserted in place of the network's technical employees and admitted he was randomly disconnecting and muting participants throughout the call, with no idea if they were disrupting the call or not. At one point, there were at least 28 individuals on the call, although there are 22 directors and only 18 have been seated by the Siegel/Brazon majority.

The Pacifica Foundation is currently without an executive director, as the last volunteer former director Lydia Brazon, was appointed with an end date of January 31st. The nominal successor would be the 2016 chair of the board, but the board has no permanent chair. The temporary chair, DC's Tony Norman, has not accepted the ED responsibilties and has his own problems as he is one of several director/delegates elected in 2012 who extended their own terms from three years to four years, without the required authorization of the network's members (Bylaws Article 17, Section 3(B)i). Network members who recently voted will recall their ballots contained no request for them to agree that half the network's delegates could serve for an extra year through December 2016. Other directors sitting on unauthorized term extensions include KPFA's Brian Edwards Tiekert and Jose Luis Fuentes, Houston's Adriana Casenave, and NY's Cerene Roberts.

How did the Siegel/Brazon majority deal with the no ED problem? They lied about it. After attaching the indefinite appointment of Brazon as volunteer ED to a completely unrelated motion, they pretended the motion had been voted on Thursday night, when no vote occurred, and at least three directors can be heard yelling over the cacophony that a) they can't hear what the motion is and/or b) they're objecting to it. Nonetheless, the board continued to pretend the vote occurred and declared the motion passed after the meeting in a descent into complete Orwellian surreality.

Possibly there should be no surprise that a fake board would stage fake votes. The rump group of 14 people that keeps declaring they are the Pacifica National Board and staging meetings that are disrupted, has no valid claim to be the PNB. This is what the organization's bylaws say about the national board (Article 5, Section I(c)):

There shall be a minimum of twenty-two (22) and a maximum of twenty-three (23) Directors of the Foundation. The Board of Directors shall fix by resolution, from time to time, the exact number of Directors within the minimum and maximum numbers permitted herein. The Board shall have equal representation from each of the Foundation's five radio stations.

The dispute that continues to render the national board toothless is the insistence of the NY wing of the Siegel/Brazon faction (the Justice and Unity Caucus) on preventing the seating of Kathy Davis as a staff delegate representative in order to deny a local majority to NY's independents. The faction continues to try to overturn the 2015 election results by national fiat and has twice eliminated all WBAI national voting rights, possibly in order to facilitate a sale of the NY signal.

In other news:
At troubled KPFK in Los Angeles, where a massive arbitration is underway with the SAG-AFTRA union, Pacifica lost the first round, resulting in the immediate payment of at least 18 months of withheld seniority pay to almost two dozen unionized employees. The arbitration is continuing. Several union employees have attempted to voluntarily terminate their employment, but have been told severance pay agreements will not be honored, forcing them to consider sacrificing thousands of dollars in order to leave the network's employ. (KPFK's union contract entitles union members to 2 weeks pay for each year of employment as severance). 

The LA station is experiencing a significant backlash from the unpopular late night program change that eviserated the Southern California station's trademark late night programming curated by Roy of Hollywood. The station has been inundated with calls and emails of protest and dozens of member donors saying they will never pledge again, as well as a landslide election victory for the slate opposed to the direction of current general manager Leslie Redford.

The first two days of the LA fund drive showed the station's listeners voting with their pocketbooks. 6 hours of "Safe Harbor" broadcasts netted $145 in pledges. 6 hours of "Something's Happening" broadcasts netted $2,983. 

Here's a sample of some of the emails/comments.

Dear Leslie Redford and Alan Minsky, As a listener-member of KPFK since 1982, and a proud wearer of a KPFK bumper sticker for the past 22 years, I always knew that just like all other good things that must some day come to an end, Roy Tuckman's exceptional line-up of nightly programs too would some day come to its end. But I never expected that this, or a severe reduction in its hours, would happen by someone's choice, and while Roy is still very able and active.  I can safely say this on behalf of countless other listeners that Roy's choice of programs, and KPFK's unique platform to air them, have changed the lives of so many of us for the better and made it richer. Please do not allow the Midight-to-6:00 AM program be cut. So far, the replacement has not been anywhere to the level, quality and substance of what Roy would choose to help us listeners help ourselves towards a better way of life and a better world. Please do not allow this program to suffer as a result of so much unpleasant things that have happened in the way Pacifica has been run, administratively and fiscally. I wish you all the best in rescuing this vital outlet --ever more important now that the programs are archived and could be accessed by so many others accross the country and around the world. Sincerely, Kasha

Hi Roy, When can we expect changes at KPFK now that the "candidate slate" group won most of the LSB seats? In fairness I thought I would listen to the trial program "Safe Harbor" from midnight to three. OMG!!!  No humor, no insight, no fun, but lots of expletives. I miss your first three hours. Thank goodness you are still there. Vicki Click here for 18 more letters.

Gary Null files suit against Pacifica/WBAI
WBAI host and alternative health author Gary Null, filed a copyright infringement, piracy and premiums fraud lawsuit in the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York (federal court). The civil action #1:16-CV-241 was filed against the Pacifica Foundation and individually against WBAI general manager Berthold Reimers, former ED Lydia Brazon, former ED Margy Wilkinson, former ED John Profitt and former local station board chair Mitchel Cohen. The suit requests injunctive relief, statutory fines and says the behavior has been ongoing for at least a decade. The complaint can be read here.

If you value being kept up to speed on Pacifica Radio news via this newsletter, you can make a little contribution to keep Pacifica in Exile publishing. Donations are secure, but not tax-deductible. (Scroll down to the donation icon). 
Pacifica in Exile readers may write to the board at pnb@pacifica.org.

33 comments:

  1. Not much to be said. If they can ignore their own bylaws, they can ignore anything, except bills, I guess.

    SDL

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  2. SDL--They ignored those, too. Look where it got them.

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  3. Well, they can ignore bills until they lose lawsuits over them and the sheriff comes and takes away their sound closet...

    SDL

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  4. Who will rid me of this troublesome nutritionist?

    KGT

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    1. Off buttons (or their equivalent) have always worked for me. :) Now, ridding WBAI of this guy is quite another matter—time will do that.

      Soon.

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  5. Can anyone explain this issue of unauthorized term extensions? JUC seated Vajra because
    Janet termed out in December but then claimed she had a one year term. The election results came in on Jan 13. Now I'm hearing Cerene has had her term extended? If true, that's at least three LSB members (all JUC) whose membership can be challenged. Also, the other names mentioned (Edwards-Tiekert, Casanave and Fuentes who works for Siegel) are key members of the PNB. Is there a question about their terms?

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  6. I just listened for 30 seconds to some slave crap and shut it off. Any white person who gives to WBAI should have his head examined.

    KGT

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  7. @kgt That is the number 1 reason that bai is gonna go away . NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR IT EVERY OTHER SHOW !
    I don't get it , why they don't get it . But then again i'm not running a radio station , they are .
    I barely listen anymore , along with many others that have dialed away . MORONS !

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    1. "NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR IT EVERY OTHER SHOW!"
      but if you stop supporting it, you are a racist. That is the big Catch-22. And Reimers know it. So they pile it on and the guilt-ridden whites cringe but are scared not to support it because HaShem will not find a place for them in "the world to come". Chas v'chalila. I believe Berthold Reimers has rabbinic training and gives Metzitzah B'peh with oral herpes.

      KGT

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    2. Only the great one, Thomas Sowell, is repulsed by it.

      KGT

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    3. Powell is a certifiable a-hole. Is he still around?

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  8. Sowell- not Powell
    I agree, if you meant Colin Powell.

    KGT

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    1. I meant Sowell, the rightwing ranter. Powell? I have mixed feelings about him—my impression has improved somewhat in recent years.

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  9. I really dislike when this gets into a racial discussion. I don't think of what WBAI plays as "Black" programming at all. I think of it as a fringe "Black Nationalist" ideology, of which there is too much too often. I'd be fine if it were for a few hours a week, as the ideology does, indeed, exist. However, all the time spent on it causes other worthwhile programming to not be aired. Personally, I think most of these Black Nationalists are disingenuous people trying to make money from and obtain power in the small milieu in which they circulate. These are modern Black Nationalists and not the old Black Panthers and the like, who told whitey to fuck off. These modern dregs of the dumpster are all about their hands out for whitey giving to them. No, not the same self-sufficient rebels of the 1960s.

    Well, this beg-a-thon is giving me a lot of time to study Dutch, so it's good by me...

    SDL

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    1. Agreed that this current WBAI theme is more aptly described as fringe ideology than as racism, although I believe that it is that, too. Were it not, we would be given a broader, more correct "lesson" by these opportunists.

      The real fault lies with the foundation and station management, who allow—sometimes encourage—this extreme departure from truth, responsibility, and Pacifica principle. The bottom line is that these self-serving neer-do-wells have in very large measure contributed to the demise of WBAI. Demise that soon will become extinction.

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    2. I agree that the ideology is based on racism. What I meant in the opening of my comment above, which I could have worded better, is that I don't like how the discussion itself of the programs representing this particular neo-Black Nationalist ideology tends to veer off into a racial discussion. I believe going to that level actually fuels the fire of the said neo-Black Nationalists.

      Oh, well. We won't hear Twit Wit Radio on WBAI, since they are mainly twits with no wit to speak of. Yeah, it's my favorite Pacifica program.

      SDL

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    3. Some people refer to this sort of thing as "reverse" racism, but I don't buy that. Racism is racism and to call it "reverse" is to say that direction matters.

      Not much real fire in the neo-Black Nationalists—the flames are mostly feigned, fueled by greed, ego, and intellectual deficit. In Haskins' case (to take an example), I think it is a combination of slow-wittedness and a need to belong. WBAI has brought him into personal contact with people who are above his intellectual/educational level, and smart enough to use him for their own benefit. It's all quite pathetic and I would care less if it wasn't for the fact that they have destroyed WBAI in this sick process.

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    4. Hay-tie Haskins, ultimately, gets a paycheck out of it all from WBAI. Other idiots get to push their businesses, organizations, products, etc.

      Friendly was right at the (RPM gang's) LSB cheesecake party when he said WBAI was the most commercial radio station. So many people there are selling something, whether directly or indirectly.

      SDL

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    5. Yes, it's all about sales, but have you ever wondered how spending $75-300 purchasing a hateful, fantasy-laden "documentary" (take your pick) is going to enrich a listener's life? They want you to believe that these distortions of fact are proof of WBAI's courage to tell the truth. Ironically, in making that assertion, they lie!

      One can't make this up, can one?

      Speaking of Hay-tie Haskins, he announced this morning that management had asked him to stop pushing THAT fairytale, because it has been stricken by "listener fatigue"—in other words: it ain't selling'!

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    6. People buy the items because they fulfill their paranoid needs. These DVDs, books, whatever act as reinforcement to the beliefs they already hold. It's pretty simple, really. If they want to be 9/11 trufers, they will buy something telling them all about the big bad false flag conspiracy, etc. I think few people are like us and enjoy being confronted with differing opinions and having to actually think things out.

      Interesting about Haskins, since that is one documentary that seems to be about success in self-sufficiency and not handouts. Maybe that tells us something about the listeners' mindset? Also funny is how that documentary has been missing for about a year in the beg-a-thons.

      SDL

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    7. SDL has hit on the main thing missing from WBAI. For a station that talks about diversity, there is very little diversity of views. Would it really be so terrible to hear different views on the station? Would it be a catastrophe if someone actually interviewed a (gasp) Republican on air? Would it actually be terrible to talk about such mundane matters as the economy, health care, presidential elections in between rants on slavery? Who knows? You might actually gain an audience, donations and even grants so that beg-a-thons are no longer required.

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    8. That is too logical and honest for them to grasp it. Right now, Binkley and the JUCs are occupied with rigging in their own favor the election that never was, part of which they simply made up.

      These people belong behind bars, not a microphone.

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    9. Its a shame. I would enjoy listening to Mimi debate some chamber of commerce type, Bob Lederer talk to pro-Israel groups or perhaps city officials being interviewed about local issues.

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  10. It's just too ironic that Cake & Casanova (Davis & Bates) are pushing this one hour sit down with "an actual financial adviser." Maybe Reimers should buy the premium, also? Maybe the PNB should? That anyone at WBAI has the nerve to talk about making people money is hysterical.

    SDL

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  11. bai... bringing back a three year old Hugh Hamilton show to talk about (you guessed it) slavery .
    Gonna re examine the slave trade for the umtheenth time. There goes ANY potential listeners
    and most of the existing listeners . Mind boggling

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  12. i wonder how many people called that old 516 number , imagine the poor smuck who has that number now.
    But than again it's most likely that phone isn't ringing at all .

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  13. Remember the old joke about the dog that chases fire hydrants and can't understand why it has bumps on its head? Yeah...

    SDL

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  14. You obviously didn't read what I said clearly. I reiterate "I agree that the ideology is based on racism." Their Neo-Black Nationalist ideals are all about getting what they can for free based on racial credentials.

    Discussing the programming decisions as nothing more than white vs. black is nothing more than racial mudslinging. If it were, in fact, all about race, then there wouldn’t be any classical music, Jim Freund, etc. on WBAI. It’s a multi-faceted mess, not caused by any one thing.

    Furthermore, don’t presume my status, as you don’t know me. Leave the immaturity for Pacifica, as they are quite adept at using it for entertaining PNB meetings.

    SDL

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  15. Amy now giving coates a platform for more whining . How sad .

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    1. I don't hear him "whining." We need to hear all points of view on WBAI.

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  16. respectfully disagree. This may have been interesting the first 1 or 2 times i heard it .
    After the 38th time , not so much .
    I guess it's just the cummulative effect that listening to bai can have on you .
    Instead of trying to sway you to their point of view , it has the opposite effect.

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