Web links related to the Back of the Book program of November 26, 2001


It's Sunday afternoon 12/2/2001 12:47:02 and I'm declaring this page finished! I have updated the latest information I got on the USENET posting below. I'm glad that we didn't have transmitter maintenance this week! On the last program we showed up and were told that the first 15 minutes of that program were not going to happen because the transmitter was going to be turned off at the Empire State Building, and then we had another 15 minutes of down time between 1:45 and 2:00 AM. They're apparently still getting things together at the Empire State Building as the TV stations move their transmitters and antennas back there.

In other news, the Pacifica National Board agreement outlined below still hasn't been signed off on yet.

On the program I covered the subjects below and also made another serious dent in the mail backlog. We're actually pretty close to getting caught up with the mail. I've put the E-mail that we got through on the air up here. There's the usual mixture of past and future tenses below from the updates to this page. I'll live with it if you will.

Here is the latest on the theft of Pacifica. There was a Pacifica National Board meeting last weekend and there may be a new deal happening in terms of the Pacifica Crisis. We're still waiting.

Here's my take on the current WBAI and Pacifica crisis.

And remember, there's still a gag rule at WBAI.

There have been some developments in the listener lawsuits, as well.

Some listeners are convinced that only open elections will provide a long range cure for the Pacifica Crisis. Here's an election proposal.

Our colleagues from Off the Hook have a RealAudio streaming web cast operating, and it was working at 7:44 PM last night. As I was updating this page I was informed that there's a new MP3 stream that's up and which is now the preferred feed.

As we go to air tonight we are still waiting for information on a possible deal to address the Pacifica Crisis. There is a possibility that the Pacifica National Board will change composition this next week. Whatever happens, I'll put the details I find out about on my Pacifica Theft Page. What will happen if this new Board does come into being is unknown. However, this change could result in very dramatic changes at WBAI and elsewhere.

It came out at the Pacifica National Board meeting that the Pacifica Foundation, which owns WBAI, is now $2 to $3 million in debt. This is after spending over half a million dollars on lawyers in Fiscal Year 2000 and spending an additional $1½ million on “miscellaneous” stuff. You can see more by looking at Pacifica's IRS Form 990 for FY 2000.

Well, the current assault on civil rights by the U.S. Government has gotten me paranoid. The below looked to me like the F.B.I. trying to entrap people on line. I also thought that it might be a hoax, but the F.B.I. loomed larger in my thinking. Turns out it's a hoax plus harassment. I found the following on an ordinary USENET news group, no it wasn't a porn news group.

Dearest Boy Lover,

My name is Nxxxx O'xxxxxx, I am a fan of child pornography, and for the past 13 years, I have been able to gather quite a collection of it. I have pictures, VHS tapes, posters, audio recordings, and games based on child pornography.

I am selling my products (or trading for other child pornography).

I have a complete color catalog of all products now available. You can purchase pictures (both normal kodak and computer JPEG's). Also, you can purchase posters, VHS tapes, and audio recordings.

There are many products and services. Here are some prices:

Complete Color Catalog (160 pages)...........................$5.00
100 Pictures Little boys age 7-12............................$9.95
120 Pictures Little boys age 13-17..........................$11.95
VHS tape, little boys "Bath Time for Clifto"................$49.95
VHS tape, little boys "Happy B-day, Clifto".................$49.95
Personalized Audio tape......................................$2.99

If you have child pornography, preferably little boys ages 7-9, I will trade or buy them from you. If they are action shots, of an adult with a little boy having sex, I am willing to trade big, or pay you a lot. Please write to me for more details. Thanks.

Thank God for Little Boys.

I have left off the contact information for the above, for obvious reasons, but it was there in the news group posting. A listener has written in and told me that this is something done by the idiot who perpetrates the “Hipcrime” crap on USENET. This is some guy who tries to actually destroy USENET and who apparently hates someone whom he calls “Clifto.” It looks like the person actually named in the above posting is another enemy of his. Seems he has a lot of enemies.

I think that the F.B.I may actually be looking for this “Hipcrime” character because he also puts out software that allows the less stable among us to also attack USENET with lots of spam, etc. He's costing people money and pissing a lot of people off.

For several programs now I've been talking about “The Smell,” which is the odor coming from Ground Zero in lower Manhattan. It's a mixture of burned plastic, pulverized construction materials, other particulate matter and decomposing bodies. In my non-expert opinion “The Smell” is not harmless. I've gotten tightness in the chest from breathing that stuff. It's also very pervasive. During one program the odor was in the WBAI studios. Some people who are working on or near the site of the collapsed World Trade Center are getting ill. Pickles of the North had to use an asthma inhaler while we were walking back to the subway after a recent program. My male ex had to go to a building on Broadway that's right across from what was Liberty Park and he was sick for days afterward.

I certainly hope that “The Smell” doesn't join Agent Orange and the Gulf War Syndrome in the history of bad news delivered on the air.

I've spoken on the air before about a French judge who ruled that Yahoo! had to block French people from seeing some auctions on its site. It was a stupid ruling from a stupid judge. Well, Yahoo has gotten a United States District Court Judge in San Jose to rule that Yahoo! doesn't have to pay any fines to France.

But this still doesn't address the jurisdictional conflicts that are coming to light because of this case. At least it's going to get some legal attention.

We did make a serious dent in the mail backlog during this program. We're nearly caught up now.

With this batch of E-mail we get into the era after September 11th. Back of the Book was scheduled to air on September 16/17, 2001, but it was preempted due to 1) power problems caused by the destruction of the World Trade Center and 2) Management decision. I read some snail mail from a listener who had various things to say about the destruction of the Twin towers.

This program's E-mails started off with one from Fernando. It's his usual rant about vaguely right leaning politics, which he seems to oppose when the theory gets applied to his own self interest. I'll say it again, George W. Bush is not President. He was never elected. He is merely the usurper in the White House.

Subject: A Missive Of Disappointment
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 09:46:31 -0700 (PDT)
From: Fernando
To: rpm@glib.com

Dear R.

Now we have very never agreed on matters of politics and social concerns, but I have never been so disappointed in your performance as I have been for the past two weeks. In responding on your web site to one of my missives, you doubted the sincerity of my comments and you announced that you were going to edit my future letters or even omit them altogether. Now this is fine with me since I do not correspond with you for “airtime” or attention but rather for your insight and perspective. I viewed the mail portion of your show as a healthy dialogue and a TRUE expresion of COMMUNITY radio. Now, R. Paul, you are telling the community to shut up.
I am very disappointed that you are giving in to what is becoming an easy and increasingly common tactic in evading a debate. I am finding more and more that when someone is confronted with an idea that differs from their own...particularly if it RADICALLY opposes their own...that person will respond in one of the following ways:

1) “My ideas have been presented in such an ironclad irrefutable manner that no one can seriously counter them.”

2) “If your ideas are different than mine, you must be crazy and you are not making sense. I will not waste my time debating you.”

3) “If your ideas are different from mine, than you can not really be serious. You must be opposing me only to get a reaction out of me.”

In all of these reactions, it is the DEBATER who is being addressed rather than the debater's IDEAS. This is a very poor form of debating and it disappoints me greatly that you would engage in them. I thought, Paul, that you were above this. I have been unable to correspond with you recently because I have been inconsolable over this and I find myself wondering what is the point of our dialogue anymore. I wish things were as they used to be. I do not know If I can correspond with you again or listen any further. Please note, R, that even if you dismiss me, others may agree with my point of view and may be interested in hearing you oppose my perspective rather than just bashing me.

Regretfully,
Fernando
Florham Park, NJ

In this next missive a listener makes reference to Green Bay, Wisconsin. On the air I had forgotten the reference. However, Pickles of the North reminded me that Green Bay was where her parents had ended up on September 11th. They'd started out for a plane ride to an Alaska cruise early that morning and had been in the air when the planes were hijacked and crashed into buildings.

Subject: Absent Friends
Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 17:15:50 -0400
From: Bill in Manhattan
To: rpm@glib.com

Dear R. Paul & Pickles N: Very glad that you had good news from Green Bay. Bill in Manhattan .... I was in California on Sept. 11th, I was in California for my mother's funderal--I was holding her hand when she died very peacefully (although I almost committed matricide giving her too many atropine drops under the tongue to prevent congestion). My brothers and I conducted her remembrance along with our cousin, an ex-Vincention allowed to say mass under guarded conditions. September 11th was a week later and all that morning I was eight hours on Amtrack, San Luis Obispo to San Diego county, knowing that the news was going to be very bad by the end of the day. I did two years service, USMC 1968-70 (after college I was shanghaied in the best traditions of the sea). I could tell from the types of people on the train leaves were being cancelled. Before leaving for the west coast, I heard you reading “Ben's” letter, from which I gather you probably served as well. Belloc once said military service is a form of slavery redeemed only by patriotism and good humor (if possible!) I used to think war protestors a pretty scurvy lot and then I learned that some of my ancestors in colonial New Jersey were Quakers and when I read up on the Society of Friends I kind of changed my mind. During the Revolution some of the rowdier patriot elements used terror tactics because they felt Quakers were de facto supporters of the KIng. Or maybe George was a usuper but it all depends on whether or not you are Yorkist or Lancastrian, Jacobite or Hanoverian. I am glad we are enlightened modern folks without kings or usupers to plague us. Well, confusion to our enemies and all that. Some one named Frank paid you a nice compliment on the Pacifica non-flammable message board: he says you fight with everyone. Not all at once I hope. I noticed that the Pacifica station in Los Angeles after 9-11 shifted from what seemed like a music format back to public discussion. tihaoleesieerrtker s megriots used y llethat sa:

The Frank referred to above is Frank Fitzgerald who owns and runs the Goodlight Board that has WBAI as a topic. Sometimes it does seem like I'm fighting with everyone all at once.

Fernando is back with another beef about life in general.

Subject: A Missive on Red Tape
Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2001 21:23:25 -0700 (PDT)
From: Fernando
To: rpm@glib.com

Dear R. Paul,

I am a frequent listener to your show and I have corresponded with you before. While we do not agree on many political and social issues, I hope we can agree that life involves too much red tape. It is too much. It seems as though every aspect of living involves burocracy and endless forms. It is too much and I find myself drowning in it. Do you feel the same way?

I am always hit with hassles with my insurance companies. I never understand what my bank is doing and I am being sued right now. I don't understand any of the papers my lawyer sends me. Why is everything typed in such lofty, indecipherable jargon, R? Official papers put me off and make me nervous.

It is getting so bad that I yell at my mother every time she comes into my room to bring me my mail. I don't get it. Isn't there some way to live life free of this mess. Must I sign my life away because I want a car and some credit cards? I can't go into my lawsuit, but it involves a man who hit me with his truck, but because his knees are now ruined he feels that I should pay him a fortune. R, I'm not signing a damn thing and I'm not paying a cent. The guy suing me is a jerk. Strangely enough, I find myself embracing Thoreau and Ayn Rand more and more everyday. Please!

Thank you,
Fernando
Florham Park, NJ


Subject: Thanks
Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2001 02:18:56 -0400
From: Jimmy
To: rpm@glib.com

Thank you for talking sense about WTC issues when everybody is trying to make it “unAmerican” to do so.

Website: http://requa.net


Subject: good moon rising
Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2001 02:52:26 EDT
From: North American Shirley
To: rpm@glib.com

yes, THE Harvest Moon, October 2nd!

Next we have a missive about a conversation Uncle Sidney and I had as I was leaving Master Control on October 1st. We were talking about people protesting the war and I was telling Sidney that if the people protesting the war get cracked down on he's probably next. We started talking about Edward Carpenter, who was a gay Socialist and writer, but I got his name confused with Roger Casement. My brain is going, folks. This listener gives us some clarification on the topic Sidney and I were trying to discuss.

Subject: Sir Roger Casement
Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2001 11:25:42 -0400
From: Bill in Manhattan
To: rpm@glib.com

Dear Paul: Is this the name you were trying to remember last night talking to our neo-con? During Easter Rising of 1916, he attempted but failed to land munitions for the Irish rebels. He was executed for treason. Fair enough. We should be very careful about calling people traitors (especially in times like these). But the British Constitution wasn't brought up to speed on Ireland until 1921. The special circumstances of Casement's trial make the whole thing more complicated. George Bernard Shaw wrote in one of his prefaces (O'Flaherty V.C. perhaps or maybe in What I Really Wrote About the War) that he begged Casement to present a specific defence allong the lines of No Treason but he wouldn't agree. Casement had a world wide reputation because he had exposed the inhumane behavior of the colonial system in the Belgian Congo. Therefore the Crown privately circulated Casement's diary to expose him as homosexual and prevent sympathetic expressions for clemency during his trial. I believe that some research indicates there was forgery involved in the version of the diary given out. I do not think it involved public exposure. Be that as it may, while the others condemned were shot, Casement did die at the end of a rope. The real justification for this (if that's the right word) is that so many were dying on England's behalf in the war against the Germans. I personally admire the men and women who brought freedom to Ireland, but you gotta admit the Big Fellow also invented modern urban terrorism as we know it. Or as we knew it until fairly recently. Good show last night, as always. I think Dresden was an atrocity but what Russian alive in 1945 was griping about it? Never read Slaughterhouse-Five until just a few years ago, and was astonished to find that Vonnegut actually lived through that. Bill in Manhattan ....


Subject: your legs
Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2001 17:26:25 -0400
From: Nathan
To: rpm@glib.com

My wife has had good luck drinking tonic water. The quinine dilates the blood vessels, improving liquid reabsorbtion & decreasing swelling (water retention)
Good luck
Nathan

The above was about my mentioning that I've developed swelling of the ankles. We're still trying to find out why that's happening, although it's a lot less right now than it was some months ago.

Here's another Fernando missive on the same song. I still say that George W. “The Usurper” Bush was a coward on September 11. It should be noted that the Secret Service serves the person in the White House, it does not have actual power over that person.

Subject: Broadcast of October 1 2001
Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2001 15:14:55 -0700 (PDT)
From: Fernando
To: rpm@glib.com

Sir,

While your stance on political issues are regularly leaning to the left, your remarks made on your October 1 broadcast are extreme even for you and given the timing, they were appalling. I am referring to the gaul you displayed in claiming that President George W. Bush acted in a cowardly manner following the tragic events of September 11 because he took refuge in a secure bunker. This is very niave, ignorant, and given the prsent atmosphere, very insensitive and simply disgusting.

Now I disregard your insistence on crudely refering to our President as “the usurper.” I have explained to you previously on how every way you look at it, he won the 2000 election legitimately and you simply entrench yourself and refuse to accept the reality. Politically, R. Paul, you are an ostrich with blinders on.

Now as to the President's performance on September 11, please consider:

1) It is the President's responsibility to preserve the Executive branch no matter what. On the 11th, U.S. soil was under attack and inparticular the Capitol. There is now evidence that had the fourth plane NOT been crashed into Pennsylvania, it would have hit the White House. The President needed to maintain a continuity of Government had more of the Capitol been decimated. It would have been reckless of him to place himself in a position of danger.

2) It is the Secret Service's responsibility to protect the President...WHETHER HE LIKES IT OR NOT! Even if President Bush wanted to fly directly to Ground:Zero to dig up survivors himself, the Secret Service would STILL whisk him away to the saftey of the secure bunker.

President Bush has been exemplary. His speech on September 20th has been the best of any President since President Hoover. Clinton would have responded with a weepy TV appearance and a meaningless bombing run televised on CNN to appease his brain-dead followers and then it would have been back to business as usual for that guy. You should be investigated for your unAmerican activities and for giving the Enemy aid and comfort at this time. How can you sleep? I recommend you open your mind a bit more and give a listen to Sean Hannity.

Fernando
Florham Park, NJ


Subject: an email without any value or meaning whatsoever
Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2001 20:53:13 EDT
From: Blue
To: rpm@glib.com

Dear R. Paul,

I am, for some reason, am a loyal listener to your show. (Listener number 24, I believe) On one episode, you briefly alluded to an episode of 'futurama,' a show on fox, regarding subway trains turning into U-boats off Delaware. The exact quote from Bender, (who reminds me of you) says:

Fry: All right, team, let's go find that clover.
Leela: Which way to your house? The sign says we're at 71st Street.
Fry: 71st Street? Hmm... Never heard of it. Downtown could be in any direction.
Bender: No sweat. We'll just take a spin on the B-Train. [Steps on the rail sparks fly] Ooh, that feels funny. [Takes out a microphone] This is the Brooklyn-bound B-Train making local stops at wherever the hell I feel like. Watch for the closing doors. [Makes closing door warning sounds]

Anyway, I also wanted to mention some websites I found which you might be mildly interested in. If you have mentioned these or been to these already, I apologize. They are:

http://www.forgotten-ny.com/Home%20page/index.html
http://www.nycroads.com/roads/
http://www.levity.com/alchemy/home.html
http://www.cc.columbia.edu/~brennan/rails/disused.underground.html

Thanks and keep up the good work. And remember, there's only two types of people out there: assholes and bigger assholes.

Regards,
Tom
(from brooklyn)

“I once wanted to become an atheist but I gave up. They have no holidays.” -Henny Youngman


Subject: It's Time To Play...
Date: Thu, 04 Oct 2001 18:50:26
From: Esquizito
To: rpm@glib.com

...Stab From The Past!

Hey R. Paul,

This is Esquizito, BOTB listner (former) and letter writter. I have been living in New Orleans for almost three years now, and have only recently learned of the latest WBAI... “mess.”

Thank you for your archives of various reports, and while I commend you being thourough - I will say that it is challenging to navigate this... “mess.”

I suppose it's pointless for to try to find a “side” to take in this. I will continue to sort through and inform myself the best I can. Regardless, the distance I've chosen has helped.

Gotta go,

Esquizito
wwoz.org


Subject: Long Time Listener
Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2001 19:00:52 -0400
From: John
To: rpm@glib.com

It's been many years that I've listened to your show, you bring a refreshing afterthought of current events and history. I wish that I could listen more but the hour and work seqeduals sometime prevent that. I like the alternate show, but if I want to hear that kind of stuff, Art Bell is the one. And that just for laughs anyway. You were one of the people I've listened to that got me to checkout computers, I learned graphics and eventually made my own website. Of course I'm never going to blame you for that, but a voice familiar voice in the night is cool. I must say I've fallen to sleep many occasions while listening. Now on other things, never before other then seeing Oswald shot when I was a kid, or just the thought of how President Kennedy was killed have I've been so traumatized, after seeing the second jet hit the TradeCenter. I live in Jersey, and work in the movie business, I haven't been back to the city yet. I at some point I have to go back, It just brings up memories, of Nov, 22, !963, sitting in my thridgrade class, waiting to go home, it's Friday, watching the clock and seeing then Miss Howl crying, she gave us the news. If you want to check out my site it's www.jamografix.com thank for being there on those Sunday/Monday mornings.
Jamster

There certainly are parallels between September 1, 2001, and November 22, 1963. I was in my high school English class, right after lunch period, when the news came over the intercom that Kennedy had been shot. We said prayers, since we were a Catholic school and Kennedy was the first Catholic President. And then the announcement came that he was dead. More prayers. As for the latest tragedy, I told about that on the September 17, non-program page, and on the October 1, page.

Subject: hear ye! hear ye!
Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2001 12:41:38 -0400
From: Bill in Manhattan
To: rpm@glib.com

CONFIDENTIAL: [....] After sending you the Roger Casement msg, I checked further into Edward Carpenter by consulting a who who's in the gay/lesbian section of my local Barnes and Noble. Usually I consult one of my neighbors, who talks freely about sexual matters since I don't ask her a lot of ultra personal questions anyhow. But I have a background in English, so I can do my own research if I have to. Casement was the one who was hanged, but I'd say based on what I read that Carpenter was significant for making the first public defense of homosexuality in England. And he did this without being hanged. The name was new to me -- but I have a friend who teaches what goes by the name of queer studies and no doubt Carpenter is very well known in academic circles. Without trashing the academy, that kind of writing is pretty tough to take. The sub-text of Hollywood films is very interesting & no doubt could be dis cussed at great length by gays and non-gays alike. For the record, as a non-gay, the first writer to make a favorable impression on me was John Cheever and the book was “Falconer.” Not exactly a hardball pitched at tremendous speed, but if you are a conservative reader, that one is definintely right over the plate. the fi2


Subject:
Date: Sun, 14 Oct 2001 14:15:18 -0400
From: rich
To: rpm@glib.com

...hey.R
.
.....tuned.in.to.listen.to.the.show.only.got.static.was.the.station.knocked.off.the.air?....

Oh, we were sort of on. These transmitter disruptions may still occur from time to time, although I hope not as bad as the one that made a mess of the October 15, 2001, program.

There are a lot of issues that we can't talk about on the air at WBAI. But there is an Internet list called “Free Pacifica!” which you can subscribe to, and these issues are discussed there. If you subscribe to it you will receive, via E-mail, all of the messages which are sent to that list. You will also be able to send messages to the list.

If you want to subscribe to the “Free Pacifica!” list just click on this link and follow the instructions, and you'll be subscribed. Could open your eyes a little bit.

The above list has occasionally produced a high volume of E-mail because of the attention that these issues have drawn. If you would prefer to subscribe to a low volume list that only provides announcements of events related to these issues then subscribe to the FreePac mailing list.

Another list that's sprung up is the “NewPacifica” mailing list. This one is very lively and currently includes over 400 subscribers coast to coast. Being lively, of course, it sometimes also gets a bit nasty. All sorts of things are happening on this list. With that warning in mind, you can look at the NewPacifica list here, and you can join the list from that Web page too, although you'll have to deal with Yahoo! to do so.

There is also the more WBAI specific “Goodlight” Web based message board. This one has a great many people posting anonymously and there's also an ancillary board that's just totally out of hand.

The “Goodlight” Web based message board has expanded to cover all Pacifica stations.

My voice mail number at WBAI is 212-209-2996. Leave a message.

You can also send me E-mail.



WBAI related links

Free Pacifica Web site

WBAI Listeners' Web page

WBAI Management's official Web site


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The contents of this Web page and subsequent Web pages on this site are copyright © 2001, R. Paul Martin