Web links related to the Back of the Book program of April 14, 2003
Oh, Hell, it's Sunday night 4/27/2003 21:43:59 and this page is finally finished. I got through the below topics plus more, and Pickles of the North and I read a bunch of mail. The E-mail is below, and now I have to get the next program's Web page done!
Here is the latest on the saga of Pacifica. The big meeting of the interim Pacifica National Board was held March 7-9, in Los Angeles, CA, to discuss and possibly even pass the new bylaws for the Pacifica Foundation. Well, it was a big flop, the various schemers sank the bylaws again. I'll be updating this link soon.
WBAI now has a program schedule up on its Web site. It's not completed yet, they still haven't gotten the individual program pages together to provide links and such, but it's a start and it's official. Here's a schedule made by a listener who has Web links for various programs and producers.
Our colleagues from Off the Hook now have both a RealAudio streaming web cast operating, and a new MP3 stream both of which were working at about 11:08 PM last night. The MP3 feed is now the preferred feed.
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The Pacifica Foundation, which owns WBAI, has revamped its Web site and now has something called the Pacifica Lounge where you can post messages about Pacifica, WBAI and other Pacifica radio stations. This may be a good thing, and of course there are other, long term fora in which to participate.
WBAI also has a forum on its Web site now. You have to register to post messages, but anyone may read the messages.
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Hey, you've got to love the reality twisting spins provided by Iraq's Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf. Some news outlets described his final couple of news conferences as “surreal.” And he's gotten fans in America too!
I spoke about the war rather a bit on this program. Allowing the Baghdad Museum to be looted and ransacked is something that's going to be a stain on history from now on.
I also spoke about death in this war. There was the young Corporal who fired a round into a car that was refusing to stop and which continued to drive towards him even after warning shots were fired. He killed the two guys in that car. He felt bad about it, but I say he shouldn't. Things happen in wars and people have to watch out for themselves. I can't imagine what the two guys in the car were thinking when they kept driving towards the GIs who were firing warning shots. The corporal had no way of knowing if they were trying to kill him or not.
But then there's the attempt tp Kill Saddam Hussein by dropping four large bombs on a restaurant in a residential section of Baghdad. Okay, you want to kill Saddam Hussein, but what is the calculus of collateral casualties in such a case? How many civilian deaths are okay if you get Hussein? Who really names the number? Or were civilian casualties not even taken into account in this case? And in the end was this particular bombing attack “worth it?” We may never know, and this is also a part of the tragedy of war.
We also have the future to worry about. Who's going to end up in charge in Iraq now? I don't mean in the short run, I mean for the future, as in for decades to come. We could end up with the same bad news Mohammedan fundamentalists who run Iran running Iraq as well. Not a good scenario. And there are a multiplicity of other bad guys, bad organizations and detrimental creeps who could end up in charge over there. And I have to wonder if this could be sorted out even if anyone has given it some thought. We may be seeing a colossal crap shoot here in terms of a post war Iraq.
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Of course we got mail, both electronic and on paper. Pickles of the North read some of the E-mails, and we present those here.
We started with someone who was having a problem with getting the program over the Internet.
Next we have a missive from long time listener, correspondent and supporter Seth. I did a program segment about the building in question some while back, and then I had another bit on it later, and Seth has written to us about it before as well..
As it happens, I'm not really doing that exact sort of stuff these days. I would also feel really funny about getting gainful employment via my WBAI radio program. Yeah, i know. Others feel the opposite, but that's how I feel. Good luck, Seena.
Next we hear from Seth again, who was taking pledges at WBAI for our pitching shift in February.
On Back of the Book this past Monday morning you read a letter from a gentleman asking about the plumage of black capped chickadees and whether or not they have separate winter and summer colorations. I have just gotten back into trying to attract birds to my yard and these little fellers were about the first to show up. To the best of my rather limited knowledge they do not change seasonally but rather exhibit a difference in habitat preference during the winter months. If I may quote from The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds (Eastern Region): “Habitat: Deciduos and mixed forests, and open woodlands; suburban areas in winter.” It goes on to say: “Flocks of this tame and inquisitive bird spend the winter making the rounds of feeders in a neighborhood, often appearing at each feeder with striking regularity. Chickadees form the nucleus of mixed flocks of woodpeckers, nuthatches, creepers, and kinglets that move through the winter woods. Occasionally they move south in very large numbers, many thousands passing through even our largest cities. In spring, chickadees disband and move into the woods to nest. They often feed upside down, clinging to the underside of twigs and branches in their search for insect eggs and larva. Easily tamed, they soon learn to feed from the hand.”
I cannot, however, vouch for that last statement.
I hope this is of help to my fellow listener. Keep up the good work!
JimUnfortunately, there has been no archive for the WBAI radio programs, as some other radio stations have. However, it has been announced that we are going to have an archive of WBAI programs starting any day now. I am told that the archive will be there for something like two weeks after a program airs, so folks will be able to download them and listen when they please. I'll post an alert about this when it's finally implemented.
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There are a lot of issues that are considered hazardous to 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.
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