Friday, September 16, 2016

Agarwal exits amid points of disorder...


Last night, the crisis that seems to have eluded members of the Pacifica National Board brought it to a "Special" meeting to hear interim Executive Director Lydia Brazon's "recovery plans" and a final report from that body's sanest voice, resigned CFO Sam Agarwal. It is a study in contrasts that prompted the following from our friend, Indigopirate:

Agarwal made his point, as he has for months – that Pacifica is unwilling to contemplate, let alone address, reality.

I am being very brave but it is very important that everybody should understand the reality, the facts. I’m sorry to say the iED’s comments are removed from facts.

Let’s stick to the facts, let’s not get carried away with a lot of wishful thinking.

– Sam Agarwal, Pacifica Chief Financial Officer

The response was to ratify the ‘plan’ which Agarwal, as departing Chief Financial Officer has stated explicitly, is no plan at all, only wishful thinking.
~ ‘indigopirate’


For the completist, here, in its astounding entirety and way past its expiry date, is the whole enchilada in two parts: Part 1, Part 2

Only have 12 minutes? Here are 720 un-homogenized seconds skimmed off the top—or should that be the bottom? Audio mixologist indigopirate calls it "Failure & Fizzle".

71 comments:

  1. So our big money maker is to start a new internet only station in Chicago?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, and she seems to think that internet stations are local.

    These people are clueless schemers and this meeting was nuttier than anything we have seen emanate from Asylum Pacifica.

    ...well, there was that frenetic Festival de Mozart last January. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm not sure what the goal is here. Lydia has the authority to get reports from the stations at any time. The PNB voted to pursue a mortgage but no appraisals have been done so far. Without appraisals, there will be no mortgages or lines of credit.

    The statements about the Pacifica websites are particularly troublesome because they made a big deal about doing convention coverage as a fundraising tool. I liked the idea but heard little about it after the vote. I only noticed the link because I happened to go to pacifica.org. The issue is not the status of the websites but lack of coordination among the stations.

    I agree with her that the websites need to be improved particularly the donations sections of the websites. If she wants to centralize management of the sites, then that would make sense. There is money to be saved by consolidating services.

    OK so we want to grow the audience so naturally the solution is to start an internet station in ...Chicago? Really? Really?

    Offering memberships for donations to the archives and affiliates is an idea that I haven't heard before. I wouldn't rule it out but it needs to be expanded. It is not a substitute for the money lost from central services but its an interesting idea.

    Its not in the report but she floated the idea of a national programming council. Do you know anything about that Chris?




    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't recall hearing any mention of a National Programming Counsel before she brought it up, but there was a great deal of program sharing back in the day when Pacifica consisted of KPFA, KPFK and WBAI.

      Every program produced locally was submitted to the other stations if the producer thought it might be of interest in that particular area—it was up to the local PD or department head to use it, or not. We also had regular in-person meetings between the three managers where we discussed possible co-productions (which gave the programs a broader scope and saved money). If any of the stations was preparing to produce a costly program or series, the idea of making it a joint effort was discussed with the other two, in case aspects (interviews, for example) could be shared.

      When I resigned as manager, Hallock Hoffman (Pacifica's President) offered me a job based in Berkeley—he wanted to create a new Foundation-based position for me as a network production coordinator, so he obviously was thinking along those lines. At first, I accepted, but decided to go with the BBC instead.

      Last night's meeting was a perfect illustration of the cluelessness that makes nigh impossible the restoration of Pacifica.

      Delete
  4. Anyone know whatever happened to all the WBAI studio equipment, furniture, etc. from Wall street? Have they been making payments on storage? Has it been stolen, sold, or now part of Berthold's "other job?" Just curious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gone with the wind, I guess... and I don't mean Sandy.

      Delete
    2. There is at least one off-site storage room, the key to which is held by OPS Tony Ryan. The Pacifica person charged with inspecting and taking inventory has been denied permission to inspect it. I had planned to use "director's right of inspection" to enable this, but PNB refuses to recognize me as a director.

      Delete
    3. These people have too many secrets not to be guilty of serious infractions. There is a reason why Cerene and the PNB put so much effort into keeping you and other elected LSB members out. As someone commented here yesterday, there is clearly a double standard when it comes to barring board members from meetings—Adrianna and Cerene are consistent disruptors, but there is no hue and cry from the ruling faction. Yes, Cerene was barred from setting foot inside WBAI when she exhibited outrageous conduct (physical and verbal, I believe) at a WBAI LSB meeting, but Reimers let her in and straight to a live microphone when he thought she might e useful to him.

      Pacifica has become a very corrupt organization—I think that storage room situation ought to be scrutinized. There should be an inventory and the accounting records ought to reflect the storage fees.

      Thanks for pointing this out, Frank.

      Delete
  5. Gary Byrd ... One of the " wbai closet racist" . literally and figuratively.
    I tuned in today at 2 pm , to a show , i think is new about music . The host
    was dissecting lyrics from o town and britney spears . I mean could it get any more
    irelavant than that... geez

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The irrelevance that characterizes so many of the shows is a reflection of producers and hosts who either have not had the Pacifica concept explained to them or simply choose to ignore it. because it gets in the way of their personal agenda. Their presence, in turn, reflects mismanagement at the station as well as Foundation level.

      Most of these people, including Byrd, would not have been given regular time slots on the stations when they were operated as conceived in the late Forties. One does not have to listen to WBAI for long to discover that commercial advertising is, indeed, on the daily menu, and "free speech", has conveniently been reduced to a term used by the current occupiers to veil their hawking of products and services that benefit their private interests rather than the station. To "legitimize" their sales of tickets and services, they avoid citing actual prices, but giving out phone numbers and website or e-mail addresses is the same thing.

      There used to be something we called public service announcements—spots that made listeners aware of gratis events and services that benefitted the community, but urging listeners to support the Red Cross is not the same as "professor" Ron Daniels bombarding them several time a day with slick name-dropping registration drive info. Daniels, a smooth, albeit somewhat transparent, scammer uses race to fuel a gimmick and guilt to recruit recognizable attractions, some of whom may be participating in order to further their own agendas. Daniels and Byrd are by no means the only ones who shamelessly prey on the hero-starved remnants of a once-impressive listenership. WBAI is a has-been radio station, and thus not a direct source of income for these hustlers, but radio retains in many minds an aura of serious communication that the Internet has yet to catch up with. The illusionists at 99.5 use that to their own advantage—it lends a false sense of legitimacy to their game.

      In even the slightly larger scheme of things, Pacifica is totally irrelevant.

      Delete
  6. Hi Chris sorry I haven't been here is some time...not pod-casted either. In any event I've been reading your page, and am amazed that "the same old thing" continues at our beloved WBAI.

    Despite everything I sill wish it the best.

    Frankly I'm also amazed it still has the same management, and enforcers on duty throughout the network. I've always felt that the vast majority of persons within the Foundation in front of, and behind the mics are of good intention.

    However they are trapped within a management framework that demeans, and inhibits the best of them from shining. This was obvious when I was there. Good people allotted obscure slots while the hostile thoughtless intolerant few get prime time.

    This I've found is consistent throughout the network.

    However even at this late date there is hope. At least I think so. If for no other reason than believing in what Gandhi once said. This despite his faults that some enjoy pointing out. In any case paraphrasing Gandhi said, "...The cruel foolish, and violent can seem invincible for a time, but they fall. They always fall."

    "They Fall."

    "...Always."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Former WBAI newsman Eric Williams has passed....

      Delete
  7. PRN seems to have vaporized.
    This is the link that used to lead to the network--Try it.

    http://prn.fm/wp-admin/install.php

    Woe is Null.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not a good sign, but neither was WBAI being off the air through much of the past night.

      For that matter, what should we make of Bob Fass vaporizing in a mild whirlwind of vague, highly suspect excuses by someone named Arnold, whose claim of having helmed the S/S Fass before is belied by his performance this morning. He played the recent Krassner interview and seemingly random partials (a la Bob) while urging the imagined listenership to drop the absent host an e-mail. He also stuttered something about "a few weeks."

      It all adds up to the advertised "happy days" not really being here again... not even around the corner.

      Delete
    2. When I've tuned by Fass lately, he's sounded like he's knock knock knocking on heaven's door. I don't think he has the energy for the show anymore, even if it's just rambling incoherent nonsense for five potheads.

      Yup, no PRN. Unlike WBAI, however, I wouldn't worry. Null has it together enough that if PRN is off, there is a good reason for it. His ego demands it.

      Every time I hear Happy Days Are Here Again I think of those old 1970s TV bank robber movies and shows, like Melvin Purvis G Man and Manhunter. I don't know why that fits with WBAI.

      Anyway, been sick since Thursday and am just healing up. I'll play catch up on the list tomorrow or Monday.

      SDL

      Delete
  8. (JustAListener)

    I also see the PRN site is "not found".
    And Null's other sites are down too - sorry no buying "stuff" online!
    Maybe Null didn't get enough money selling his dining set and couldn't pay the web host.
    When it was up I didn't see anything even mentioning the PCRS, nor is the PRN show on the PCRS archive (the Sept 14th WBAI show is).
    Come to think of it I don't recall Hank or Joe mentioning the PRN show on this week's 'BAI show.

    Wonder if on Monday Null will blame a plot by big Pharma or the cancer industry...

    ReplyDelete
  9. I do know that the PRN version of TPCS is posted here:

    http://thepersonalcomputerradioshow.podbean.com/

    Both shows, WBAI & PRN, are basically the same script, with the repeated information about Windows 10 from the past couple of weeks.

    I thought I heard them mention PRN at the beginning of the WBAI show, like they forgot which station they were on.

    SDL

    ReplyDelete
  10. (JustAListener)

    I don't see the Sept 14th PRN show (don't see it on the PCRS website either)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's right at the top on my screen at:

      http://thepersonalcomputerradioshow.podbean.com/

      However, it isn't posted at the show's own website. I guess they didn't get to it yet?

      SDL

      Delete
  11. (JustAListener)

    My oops, I didn't realize the shows on podbean were the PRN ones.
    Sounds like Joe is calling in this time.
    Looks like PRN site is still down.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Let's hope that Null sells that dining table and a sack of red stuff so that he can come up with enough green stuff to bring us the shallow profundities of Catherine the Grate again.

      I understand she is raising money to buy a crane with enough power to levitate her.

      Delete
    2. PRN's Facebook and Twitter pages must have some sort of automated program announcement app as they don't say anything about PRN being down.

      Anyway, the way TPCS is going, I should just go over to good old Leo Laporte's twit.tv site for computer and tech news. Jeez, I miss the old TechTV cable channel.

      And, yes, Chris, they have a Mac show there to make you happy.

      SDL

      Delete
    3. PRN is still down. Must be "an intentional act." sorry, couldn't help myself.

      SDL

      Delete
    4. It may be those chairs... are they a part of the $499 table deal?

      Delete
    5. Whatever happened to that dining set? We never heard anymore.

      SDL

      Delete
    6. Perhaps Null spilled some of his "stuff" on it and it ate through the class top?

      Delete
    7. "PRN is still down. Must be "an intentional act." sorry, couldn't help myself."

      I knew it!


      TPM

      Delete
    8. Inflated Internet-based stations never fade away, they just go into the farthest reaches of Cyberia...

      ...and die!

      Delete
    9. Well, isn't this interesting. Out of curiosity, I tried prn.fm again and it took me to their tunein page at:

      http://tunein.com/radio/Progressive-Radio-Network-s128061/

      I wonder if this is a re-route while the site is down or they are switching over to tunein as their webcaster.

      Someone else check and see if you get the re-route when you type in prn.fm.

      SDL

      Delete
  12. "It's possible to disagree with someone without being disparaging..."

    Who better to remind us of that than Cerene?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When push comes to shove, look for Cerene.

      Delete
    2. No, she just pulls the chair out from under you... literally.

      SDL

      Delete
  13. OK, so I listened to the PNB meeting. It's just mind numbing. Fuck the agenda, Cerene want to talk about WBAI. I loved when one person said, "Point of something." That tells you where it was at. A Chicago based internet station - great. It doesn't matter where the fuck you base an internet station. Do it out of your living room, like many people do.

    Good luck to Sam Argawal. He tried his best, but these clods don't want someone's best, they want someone to play along with their bullshit.

    But I must let the show go on...

    SDL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cerene is probably looking for ways to get physical over a phone line.

      Delete
  14. Old Microsoft DOS related joke for our tech-heads NET USE PRN> NULL

    ReplyDelete
  15. it's amazing to me how bai knows how much the new york area is so hungry for reparations and slavery
    coverage . So cutting edge . Unblievable!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I assume that you speak of "professor" Ron Daniels. That man is a certifiable, opportunistic fool.

      People who find a need to repeatedly tag themselves as "professor" and/or "doctor" are insecure—they know the title is without real merit. I see Daniels as a sorry example of a self-hyping sap who suffers that affliction.

      Delete
    2. Are you talking about Dr. Ron Daniels, Distinguished Lecturer at York College/CUNY and President of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century and 1992 Peace and Freedom Party candidate for President?

      Delete
    3. That's what the tag says, but it's crude and home-made.

      I think his anticipated walk across the Central Park lake was cancelled.

      Delete
  16. When your game is as transparent as this guy's is, you are not doing well.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Null & PRN - knocking 'em dead...

    SDL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's twenty past noon, Monday, and Haskins says he has not been able to establish connection with Null. This time, I don't think Haskins' ineptitude is in play.... Null may really be void.

      Are we surprised?

      I don't think so.

      Delete
    2. Yup! Null was hacked "repeatedly" since Friday. OK, Gary... Was it the infamous "They"?

      SDL

      Delete
    3. If Null's sudden disappearance is the work of hackers, one would think he'd at least call WBAI and dictate an announcement. Haskins was in the dark, so to speak.

      Too many artificial ingredients in this crumbling cookie.

      Delete
    4. So, according to Null, he was hacked because he discovered a secret conspiratorial group he's dubbed the Professional Elite Industrial Complex. This group took down his server, so he is moving to a new hackproof server. I wonder what Emmanuel Goldstein would say to that.

      Maybe Null simply didn't pay his server bill or some other such more practical explanation.

      As usual, Null provides no evidence of anything.

      I realized today that Null suffers from a martyrdom complex.

      SDL

      Delete
    5. I would like WBAI to produce a 14-hour documentary explaining how many homeless people and impoverished families so effectively pose as whites and, conversely, how and why some of the wealthiest caucasians manage to convincingly portray people of African origin.

      I think such a program might perk up ears of every hue.

      Delete
  18. Weaving anything that evokes white-generated racism into a show devoted to, say...gooseberry pie making, hopscotch sequences, or tutu design is becoming a prerequisite for time slot maintenance.

    ReplyDelete
  19. looks like prescod is trying to do a little "weaving" .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Prescod is a master weaver, but she is by no means the champ.

      Today, her roundup of usual suspects was but a preamble to another da capo delusion by Goebbels Prize contender Tony Bates: his morally indefensible glorification of two none-too-soon departed scam farts, John. Henrik Clark and "Doctor Ben". You know that tired fountain of falsehoods--the one built (though none too convincingly) around a cinematic cesspool called "Zeitgeist."

      Yes, as the hollow clang of the Pacifica dumpster's cover rents the stale air at 388 Atlantic Avenue, all but drowning out the silence of disconnected phones, the fat one prepares to hit some high notes for low times. The 2016 JUC production of Springtime for Berthold and the gullibles has been launched early.

      Desperation is rising at WBAI, the make-believe soap box. It is, we now know, made of simulated ebony.

      If I sound like selfie guru Catherine the Grate, I deeply apologize for my shallowness.

      Delete
    2. You left out "Professor" Ivan Van Sertima.

      KGT

      Delete
    3. Sorry 'bout that—it's a very large loony bin.

      Delete
  20. I'm listening to archive of Ralph Nader interviewing Jill Stein on KPFA. Why isn't this broadcast on WBAI? I repeat Why isn't this broadcast on WBAI? Its an election year. This is what we need to hear. This is what we want to hear. Meanwhile, Bates is on WBAI pushing Zeitgeist and some DVD which I would not receive even if I ordered it.

    ReplyDelete
  21. They're not running it because they believe the garbage that the corporate and the alt media believes.

    The Greens are a "fringe party".
    They're a waste of time.
    They're arrogant to think that they're ready to govern the country.
    Nader isn't relevant anymore. He's juts a comedy show punchline.
    Stein is a freakin' loony tune nutcase.
    Nader was a Green, and a spoiler. Now, Stein is the same thing. Voting for her is voting for Trump.
    Ajamu Baraka thinks Obama is an Uncle Tom.
    The Greens aren't "ready yet to be relevent".

    It's all about money and power. There are so many billions of dollars in the system that anybody who's seen as a threat (Stein and Baraka) are crushed. Really? They're not ready to govern? Then when the hell will they be? Does Stein have to beg the Comm. on Presidential Debates to be heard? Please rich and powerful people? Can I have a chance to be heard as well?

    Stein and Baraka will bring protestors to the first debate. They'll be arrested and not shown on screen. Instead, they'll get some 10 second blurb on the news ticker at the bottom of the screen. We'll say that they were there. But we sure as hell won't actually SHOW that they were there.


    ReplyDelete
  22. How would Stein suddenly become "relevent"? Answer: If she had mega millions like Hillary. But just because of that, she's a waste of time? Which leaves what? Voting for a warmonger is better than voting for a racist? It kills me how so many progressives try to justify that with a straight face. Then when you challenge them with facts, they're like a little kid screaming and covering their ears. I CAN'T HEAR YOU!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I'm sticking with Johnson/Weld 2016. No, not ideal, but not contemptible, either.

    SDL

    ReplyDelete
  24. Gary Null has announced today that he has cured Cytomegalovirus from patients using natural, holistic methods, a "gazillion times". Mazel Tov. Gary: You forgot to mention that Cytomegalovirus infection is naturally self-limiting in patients who have a normal immune system, i.e., the patient cures themselves. Only those with HIV/AIDS and other debilitating conditions need targeted anti-viral therapy. But if you want to give them your multi-colored glop and claim that it/you cured them, caveat emptor,even though you almost blew out your kidneys on or around Aug 15, 2010 by taking that fecal matter.

    KGT

    ReplyDelete
  25. OMFG. I was just referring to the lack of such programming on WBAI especially in an election year. Instead, we get a hysterical anti-Green rant. Fine. Listen to Bates promote his DVD Pack for only $125. Make sure you get a receipt if you order. You'll need it.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Why is WBAI not airing it? Are they black? Are they making reparation priority #1 in their campaign?

    ReplyDelete
  27. here is bai's priorities, white supremacy ,slavery, reparations, mumia, and letting you know at all and any occasion the list of blacks that have been harassed or killed by cops.
    Because it's our history , your history , and we must hear it as much as humanly possible .

    ReplyDelete
  28. It's 12:23AM and I have NO idea who this person on WBAI is or what she is rambling about.

    SDL

    ReplyDelete
  29. Mimi ... doing her part to repel any potential or existing listeners tonight .
    Is it possible for this many people to be collectively brain dead at the same time?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is indeed possible, as demonstrated by them every day.

      Delete
  30. I have to wonder why TPCS does two live shows on Wednesdays when their WBAI show is exactly the same as their PRN one. They should save some effort and just record and replay the PRN one on WBAI.

    SDL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perhaps hey feel that their smalltalk and petty arguments deserve a repeat performance. One of the two old guys, the Apple hater, is a boring fool, i.m.o.

      Delete
  31. the cop in charloot was black .... just saying

    ReplyDelete
  32. even prarie miller jumping on the slavery bandwagon today.
    maybe didn't meet her quota for the week ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Slavery played a major, role in the history of our country, and the subject should not be bypassed any more than Hitler's "final solution" in a discussion of WWII and event that led up to it.

      WBAI's opportunists shamelessly use slavery—and racism, in general—as a sales tool to exonerate themselves from their own considerable shortcomings. They promote and perpetuate the hate-based scams of con artists like Joyce DeGruy, John Henrik Clark, and "Dr. Ben".

      Exploiters like Ron Daniels are not only given air time to foment and spread their mercenary hustles and bigoted babble, but also to sell it to an indoctrinated listenership. Lately, we have heard several lengthy pitches for events that benefit the hawker rather than the station—whose wallet do you think will be fed by income from Daniels' upcoming, heavily pitched "State of the Black World" conference in Newark?

      That, of course, is only one of several hustles given free access to WBAI's microphone. Not all are of a political nature, but all fly in the face of Pacifica's principles and contribute to the organization's destruction.

      Prairie Miller shows remarkable restraint in her on-air presentation—her intelligence defies the new norm, she conducts excellent, informed interviews with people whose accomplishments often exceed their renown, and her "Arts Express" program is a delightful weekly example of selfless priorities.

      It is my impression that Ms. Miller neither needs to nor does jump on any bandwagon.

      Delete
  33. People like Kane are driven by often misguided personal agendas. Like Ron Daniels, he circumvents facts that don't jibe with his own slant on history.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I happened to tune in on "Education at the Crossroads" tonight and heard Basir Mchawi bragging (as he regularly does) about his graduating from "Bronx High School of Science". I find it interesting that the Black Nationalists/Culturalists/etc who bash white institutions constantly brag about their credentials and titles (Sir, Doctor, etc.) from such "dastardly" places (in their words) while black colleges and universities are exact carbon copies. This same phenomenon exists in so-called independent African and Carribbean nations where barristers (lawyers)still come into courts with white wigs over afros while criticizing and condemning so called European values. I'm saying this and I happen to be bonafide, "from the hood" black and prefer being anonymous to avoid hostile retaliation from those hypocritical members of my race who advocate "freedom of speech" but have nothing but an aversion to it at every level of "black life", including committing black murder to make their point. And I do not have self-hatred Ms. Degruy.

    ReplyDelete