Back of the Book links for the June 8, 2013, program

We'll be pitching again on this program. Originally we hadn't been supposed to be pitching, but Management has informed us that we need to raise a certain, definite amount over this weekend. Given the recent pledger drives and the information given out during them I'm sure we can all figure out exactly what we need the extra spurt of dough for by Monday. So we'll pitch, and we'll mourn our friend and fellow producer Ibrahim Gonzalez and we'll try to do some interesting radio for you this morning, assuming that the rain and floods don't wash us away before we can get there. Check back in for the updates I plan to put in here. I really am planning to do those updates.

The next regular WBAI LSB meeting is scheduled to happen on Wednesday, June 12, 2013, at 7:00 PM at Alwan-for-the-arts, 16 Beaver Street, 4^th floor, in downtown Manhattan.

The WBAI LSB met on Wednesday, May 8, 2013, at Alwan-for-the-arts, 16 Beaver Street, 4^th floor, in downtown Manhattan.

I got to give a Treasurer's Report for the second meeting in a row. I had once again posted a written Treasurer's Report the night before because the LSB had passed a motion that I had to post one before every meeting. This one is very dire.

WBAI Management gave a report, or tried to. Faction operatives insulted Management, other LSB members and anyone not aligned with their so-called Justice & Unity Campaign political party. Eventually the WBAI General Manager and a number of his Staff just walked out of the meeting.

The entire meeting was boisterous and disrupted by the faction operatives. At the last meeting the faction had cheated and had spent more than an hour making believe that they were having a legal meeting. That nonsense got struck down at this meeting. As usual the faction didn't like it and got nasty. they can dish it out, but they can't take it.

At a previous meeting the WBAI LSB voted to hold its meetings on the second Wednesday of every month and/or the last Thursday of that month, subject to change by the LSB, which gives us the following schedule:

WBAI has a program schedule up on its newly revamped Web site. The site has gotten many of the individual program pages together to provide links and such, so check it out.

Because WBAI was forced out of its studios by the flood waters' destruction of the building's electrical system we still have this alternate, temporary stream for the radio station! I do not know how long this emergency stream will be up for. If this stream isn't working let me know.

New WBAI stream! WBAI has put up an experimental stream for the Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. This is a brand new, experimental stream. So if you have one of those devices you might try the link out. And let us know how it works for you one way or the other. That way the folks implementing it can iron out any kinks in the system.

Back of the Book is one of the programs that you can download, as well as listen to on line.

In the table on the archive Web page Back of the Book and Saturday Morning With the Radio On are both in the “Show” column. The “Date and Category” column shows the date of the program. After the program I go in and write the details of the program and say which program it is. Of course I'd recommend that you just listen to both programs in this time slot!

And the PNB has also met in Houston from Friday October 9^th, through Sunday October 11^th, 2009. The official audio archive of that meeting is here. It was not disrupted as the New York meeting was, although some of the same miscreants got out there to say stupid things.

The Pacifica National Board (PNB) met in Manhattan the weekend of October 1-3, 2010. The audio has been posted for the first day of the meeting, the second day of the meeting and the third day of the meeting.

Ibrahim Gonzalez
1956-2013

We've had some deaths in the WBAI family this past fortnight. Ibrahim Gonzalez had been a producer at WBAI for 23 years. Listeners would have known Ibrahim from the two radio programs he regularly did at the station: Radio Libre on Sunday afternoons, and In the Moment in the wee hours of Friday mornings. In addition he had done a number of other programs throughout the WBAI schedule, including Wake Up Call on Fridays.

I knew Ibrahim as a fellow producer. He went through all of the trails that all of we unpaid producers go through at WBAI, and he was one of those who was able to stick it out and keep on doing radio.

Ibrahim did more than radio programs at WBAI, he was one of us who was what you could call a WBAI activist. He spoke out about conditions at the station, he tried to make things better here, and he was recently a part of an off-air fund raiser that raised about $4,800 for the station. He was in the midst of planning another off-air fund raising event for WBAI when he passed away.

Away from WBAI Ibrahim was an accomplished musician and composer, he was also a community activist and he did a cable access TV program on Bronxnet.

It's late Spring this radio program is doing its second pitch as a part of the WBAI Spring 'thon! If you can please call 1-516-620-3602 during the radio program and pledge some amount of money to help keep Back of the Book on WBAI and help keep WBAI on the air.

If you want to pledge to the program via the Web it's best to do so while we're on the air, you need to go here and pick the amount you want to donate, then click on “Add to cart,” and then be sure to pick Back of the Book as the favorite show from the drop down menu. Otherwise your pledge won't be counted towards the program.

Of course we plan to talk about the discoveries over the past few days of the latest incursions of the National Security State on the privacy rights of americans and everyone else in the world.

The summer solstice will arrive on Friday June 21, 2013, at 1:04 AM (ET), which is only the day before our next program. Oh, I enjoy this time of year. For more on the seasons, sub-seasons and their dates go here.

Pickles here. The Sunday of Memorial Day weekend I went on an expedition with my pals Melissa, Martin and Iris to Cornwall New York. We entered the Black Rock forest (ah, that coincidental name would have meant so much more to me if everyone from Lost hadn't ended up in Purgatory) and we spent several hours hiking through the woods, still full of mud ponds from the heavy rains the day before.

We hopped, skidded and tiptoed from one rock and fallen tree to the next - and it was fun! But kind of scary too, especially when we began to climb - Mount Misery! Which I think is the baby sister of Mount Doom. And to get up to the peak of Mt. Misery we ended up scaling an almost dry waterfall bed. Did I mention I wore sneakers - probably not the best thing for waterfall climbing.

But we made it and had a nice sit down and snack at the top. Where the wind was blowing REALLY HARD, so I mostly sat on a boulder away from the edge of Misery. But what a view! It was a great afternoon out in nature with good friends.

There are a lot of issues that are considered hazardous to talk about on the air at WBAI, even though the gag rule was lifted in 2002. However, there is the Internet! There are mailing lists which you can subscribe to and Web based message boards devoted to WBAI and Pacifica issues. Many controversial WBAI/Pacifica issues are discussed on these lists.

One popular list the “NewPacifica” mailing list. Founded October 31, 2000, this list is sometimes lively and as of mid-2011, has 687 subscribers coast to coast.

Being lively, of course, it sometimes also gets a bit nasty. All sorts of things are happening on this list and official announcements are frequently posted there.

You can look at the NewPacifica list here, and you can join the list from that Web page too. If you subscribe to the “NewPacifica” mailing list you will receive, via E-mail, all of the messages which are sent to that list.

There is the option to receive a “digest” version of the list, which means that a bunch of messages are bundled into one E-mail and sent to you at regular intervals, this cuts down on the number of E-mails you get from the list. You will also be able to send messages to the list.

This list also has a Web based interface where you can read messages and from which you can post your own messages.

There is also the more WBAI specific “Goodlight” Web based message board. It is sometimes referred to on Back of the Book as “the bleepin' blue board,” owing to the blue background used on its Web pages. This one has many people posting anonymously and there's also an ancillary “WBAI people” board that's just totally out of hand. UPDATE: The bleepin' blue board has had to add a step for folks to get onto it because it's under attack by spambots. When you click on the above link you may be asked for a username and password. Type in Username: poster Password: enternow

When the computer in Master Control is working we sometimes have live interaction with people posting on the “Goodlight Board” during the program.

Our very own Uncle Sidney Smith, whose program Saturday Morning With the Radio On alternates with us, has a blog these days. You can reach his blog here.

My voice mail number at WBAI is no longer functional. This is probably a permanent situation. It was nice while it lasted.

You can also send me E-mail.

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WBAI related links

WBAI Listeners' Web page

WBAI Management's official Web site

Back of the Book — June 8, 2013