Web links related to the Back of the Book program of 10/4/99

It's currently Thursday, 10/7/99 05:44:18. Some idiots have been attacking WBAI and its Staff on some mailing lists (actually, the ones you can subscribe to at the bottom of this page), and I've been spending my time answering them. Hmmm, maybe that's not the best use of my time.

I'm checking out the Internet World '99 show at the Javits Center right now. There are a lot of interesting things, along with some boring things, at this show and I'll be reporting on all of this on the next program. Meanwhile it added to the distractions to getting this Web page beefed up. I suspect that this page is done now, but a check back over the next few days wouldn't hurt, just in case I find some other links related to the program that I think need to be up here.

You can keep up on the fight against the Theft of Pacifica here.

As usual it's something of a crap shoot as to whether or not the Web cast of tonight's program is going to work. But here are your choices:

Paul Williams of UFO Desk is arranging for this feed. And we thank Porus dot com for this feed.

“Emmanuel Goldstein” of Off The Hook is maintaining this feed.

Oh crap! I am so bummed out that the Mars Climate Orbiter has been destroyed. And NASA's official reason is really awful! I guess this is what we get for having all ignored the standardization law that was supposed to make the entire U.S. metric by 1979.

This stuff with the Brooklyn Museum is so stupid.

There's an exhibition called “Sensations” at the museum right now and it features some objets d'arts that New York MayorGiuliani has declared Kultur Kampf against. This is probably more related to his upward political aspirations than anything else.

WARNING the graphic on this next page may be offensive to some. Having said that, some folks have their own images of Mayor Giuliani.

And then I got this E-mail press release regarding something else that's happened around this issue. I haven't heard Giuliani's side of it yet, but if he has one I'll link to that as well.

Subject: Giuliani orders artist arrested outside Brooklyn Museum 10/2/99
Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 16:53:08 EDT
From: ARTISTpres@aol.com
To: undisclosed-recipients:;

Giuliani Orders Artist Arrested Outside Brooklyn Museum 10/2/99

Robert Lederman, President of the First Amendment rights group A.R.T.I.S.T. (Artists’ Response To Illegal State Tactics), was arrested at 10:35 AM today outside the Brooklyn Museum of Art only four minutes after his arrival. This is the 40th time the street artist/activist has been falsely arrested since Mayor Giuliani was sworn into office. He’s never been found guilty on any charge.

Lederman was quietly speaking with a group of reporters and photographers who were questioning him about his Giuliani portraits that had appeared in the previous days television coverage of the museum protest and in Saturday’s NY Times Metro section directly across from a photo of the Mayor endorsing George W. Bush. One portrait in particular that Lederman was carrying, a wide-eyed grimacing Giuliani with a large piece of dung attached to his forehead entitled “Giuli-anus”, was the particular focus of conversation.

Lederman, who was standing on the sidewalk and holding two of his acrylic on cardboard portraits of the Mayor, was surrounded by police, handcuffed and forcibly dragged to a car while yelling “censorship”. He was taken to the 84th Precinct and charged with disorderly conduct. The arresting officer was Lt. Richard Murphy of the 78th Precinct.

On the way to the precinct Lt. Murphy, who has never before met Lederman, admitted he knew exactly who he was and told the artist, “You understand, We’re just doing our job”.

After being released Lederman returned to the museum. Throughout the day police officials on the scene allowed protesters who were picketing the museum to scream anti-semitic insults at museum supporters without interference. Many of the same protesters were also allowed to walk up and down in the street with pro-Giuliani signs, to aggressively confront museum goers and to picket outside of the police barricades without interference of any kind or any threats of arrest.

After being released Lederman issued the following statement in front of the museum:

“This Mayor has a long and very well-established habit of violating freedom of speech, retaliating against his critics and selectively enforcing the law. Rather than being the upholder of the law, Giuliani is actually the City’s biggest criminal. Giuliani’s insistence on ordering yet another false arrest like his attacks on the Brooklyn Museum, is proof that he like many authoritarian despots before him, sees artists as a threat to both society and to his political future. His understanding of the art inside the museum or outside on the sidewalk is as defective as his understanding of the First Amendment.

“Before Giuliani became Mayor I had little knowledge or appreciation of the First Amendment. Thanks to his concerted efforts over the past six years to censor my speech and destroy my art I’ve come to understand the real value of both the constitution and art. Thanks to Mayor Giuliani I’ve learned to make my art serve a higher purpose than mere decoration or visual pleasure. I will continue to use my abilities to expose this criminal Mayor and his criminal administration. Long live the Brooklyn Museum, long live art and long live freedom of expression.”

Lederman can be reached at 718 369-2111.

The A.R.T.I.S.T. website is at

http://www.openair.org/alerts/artist/nyc.html

I am looking for more information, that I can give you a link to, regarding the gay soldiers who won their case at the European Court for Human Rights. That court has issued a ruling that they can't be cashiered from the British military. This ruling affects European nations that need to be part of the European Union, but it has only moral weight elsewhere.

I got through some of the backlog of mail on the program. Here's one piece of mail that needed addressing.

Subject: webcast?
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 1999 02:22:49 -0400
From: monya
To: rpm@glib.com

Hi!

I appreciate all that you are doing to try to save our beloved station- But-is it my computer or what-I cannot hear WBAI any more through RealAudio. I would like to get people I know who live out-of-area to tune in but don't know what to tell them to do. Is there a site which still works? Can it be announced on air somehow?

Thanks for helping.....Monya ....

Monya is running into the problem we all face: WBAI Management's indifference to Webcasting. Many of us feel that it's important that WBAI get Webcast, and soon. The latest Unpaid Staff efforts to accomplish this are of course totally unfunded and very difficult to sustain. The fact that they're a strain on individuals doesn't lend these Webcasts an air of permanence. So for now all anyone can do is check back here and see if the Webcasts are in fact happening at any one time. I will keep the latest Webcast links on my latest program page.

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.


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

You can also send me E-mail.



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Union bulletin #12

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The contents of this Web page and subsequent Web pages on this site are copyright © 1999, R. Paul Martin