Back of the Book links for the October 13, 2003 program

Here is the latest on the saga of Pacifica. The big meeting of the interim Pacifica National Board (iPNB) took place in New York City, September 19-21, 2003, at The Synod House of The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue (at 110th Street), New York, NY 10025, moved from its previous location of a hotel in midtown.

As of September 15, 2003, the Pacifica Foundation has new bylaws! More about that here.

WBAI now has a program schedule up on its Web site. The site has gotten many of the individual program pages together to provide links and such, so check it out. 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 10:32 PM last night. The MP3 feed is now the preferred feed.

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.

We have received the news that we had another one of those close calls last month. On Friday, September 27, an asteroid passed less than 55,000 miles from Earth. It wasn't noticed until 11 hours after it had passed. It was only several meters wide, but it could have caused some damage. I guess we're just noticing more of these things lately.

Interestingly, a (luckily) very much smaller scale gamma ray event earlier this year involved gamma rays from an explosion that occurred in a distant galaxy billions of years ago which actually ionized some of the Earth's upper atmosphere! Now that gives you some idea of the power of these celestial events.

Subject: MTA vs-Verizon :whose the bigger Thief .......(could read on air)
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 2003 15:59:11 GMT
From: rich
To: rpm@glib.com

Dear R
Today i would like to discuss 2 of the biggest perpetrators of underhanded thievery pervading my and i'm sure other listeners lives -they are : the MTA and Verizon. I give the edge to the MTA , these creeps cry broke yet it was reported that they had a 180 million surplus yet screwed us for a 50 cent fare hike and still want to cut services , I also think something is amiss with the judgement that lets the 2$ fare stay while Alan Hevisi showed they were lying about their finances ,by the way where is Hevisi on this now ? I know the Straphangers Campaign has some ongoing litigation with the MTA about some of the service cuts but i don't know if they have the weight to pull off some victories for riders ... I think the MTA knows that they could give us the shaft because most riders have no choise ,even paying 2$ is cheaper than taking a cab...And i'm not to empathetic to the union either :i distinctly remember top union man Toussaint saying 'part of their fight was to prevent any fare raise' ,i don't think he was being sinscere ...when the strike loomed i said 'Screw the MTA, Screw the Union'. I would have walked over the bridge from downtown Brooklyn to downtown Manhattan where i work ,every day if need be, i know this would have not been possible for others who are not fit or just live to far but it would have been my stand...

Now Verizon: While they are a somewhat different puppy i juxtapose them to the MTA,, because i see parallels they both have similar underhand thievery tactics and treat customers with contempt ,and are somewhat on the same level of allround general scummyness.

Shortly after it was abittrated by a judge that the 2300 verizon workers be rehired i saw a spike in my bill with no change on my part with respect to added features or extra phone usage .HUUMM. Also they took away the 40 and 60% discount for calls made at off peak hours.

.....IT was recently reported that the top man at Verizon made 4.1 MILLION last year alone yet this scumbag wants to make even more $$$ at the expense of everyone else ,i refuse to help subsidise his next yaght or vacation house in the Hamptons somewhere. I am currently trying to drop Verizon but this could be tricky sinse i don't know wether the other phone services are just as bad ,also the area where i live - Verizon seems to have monopolised the wiring so even if i drop them i may still have some sort of service charge from them monthly ....i currently know people who did the drastic -NO PHONE- ,to some this may sound unfarthomable but thats life sometimes hard choices.
In closing ,a tip to listeners who may not know ,you can use most library computers free of charge to send and recieve email and internet use,this could cut down on your phone bill to some degree ...

So until my next correspondance , when i will take us back to some paranormal stuff : this will include my indepth research and interviews with ---Real--UFO abductees-. take care Rich ...

Yeah, they cheated, lied and broke the law and get to say “So what?” Other people go to jail if they cook the books, but not the MTA. Bad news all around.

Subject: R.paul, please talk more about your computer and technical things. and here's a good sound recorder program for your listeners
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 00:45:06 -0500
From: Toure
To: rpm@glib.com

Hello, R.Paul and Pickles!

R.Paul, I would like to request for myself and I’m sure, most of your listeners, that you talk more about your computer, software that pisses you off and how much you hate windows. I know that Pickles doesn’t like computer talk but your listeners love it! We also love when you talk about Vietnam, but I would have to say that computer talk is more interesting. Just think about it, we have been listening to you talk about technical things for years and we haven’t turned the dial so obviously we like listening to it.

I would also like to add a tip to all of your listeners who can’t stay up till 3am listening to your show. There are two software programs that will record you radio show in the same way that a vcr will record TV broadcasts. They are called Polderbits and total recorder; I think they both cost fewer than 20 dollars each. I personally use Polderbits because it not only records like a vcr, but it will save the recording as either a wav or mp3 file…... (((((oops, sorry for getting so technical Pickles))))…..It will also cut the recording up into separate tracks by simply clicking on a graphical representation of the wav file. Let me explain that again, when you record a wav, it displays it as a long bar. The x axis of the bar is the time and you simply click on the bar where you want the track to start and end, then, when you click “save as” it will break it up into tracks for you.

I don’t use total recorder because I find Polderbits to be much easier to use, but it does pretty much the same thing. As always, with either program your listeners will need an fm radio source such as a tuner or walkman (with power adapter) to provide the fm input into the computers sound card. The reason why I’m telling you all of this is because I heard you talking about transferring some old tapes you had to your computer’s hard drive (how is that going anyway?).

Last but not least, I want to tell your listeners who don’t have a computer that a computer capable of recording several hours of audio, can be had on eBay for about 50 bucks now a days, I have seen many 300 MHz computers sell for about 50 dollars, and I have seen many old 13 inch monitors sell for about 10 dollars. Computers of this class will usually have about 4gigs of hard drive space which is capable of recording many hours of audio. Polderbits, by the way, can record at reduced bit rates which will reduce the file size substantially. I used to record on a 1.6 gig hard drive which still allowed me to record for over 10 hrs.

By the way R.Paul, I’m not in any way affiliated with the programs mentioned, I just thought I would mention this for the sake of your listeners.

Our old pal Seth, who's a regular listener, contributor and correspondent wrote regarding the emergency fund raiser in August.

Subject: Current marathon
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 13:12:29 EDT
From: Seth
To: rpm@glib.com

Monday, mid-day

Greetings.

Great show last night.

Is seems that we are now in a fundraising Marathon--I guess that you just missed being scheduled so that you could pitch in it. Is there a plot a-foot? HMMMM.

Of course, if it turns out that that changes, let me know and I'll come down to staff the phones during your show.

Will Sidney pitch? If so, I'd be happy to do phone volunteering for him.

Regards to our intrepid northern traveler (Pickles of the upcountry).

--Seth Joseph Weine

Subject: Re: Your August 18th Show...
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 03:46:23 -0400
From: Len/ Black Lotus
To: rpm@glib.com

Happy upcoming birthday, R. Paul.

Fernando is a jerk, but I think you could put together a decent video version of your show. You'd need cute Muppet-types of puppets to represent the characters you used to write about in the old Folio. “Hey, listeners, here comes Pope Weaselpenis!” (fanfare of trumpets and kazoos)... I miss those little “coming attractions!”

Pickles could appear on-screen in military garb to do battle with Santa Claws, in nurse's whites to draw blood from you, in a Cretan snake-priestess's dress to read about Neo-Pagan items. I can see you in a “Dr. Science” professor's cap when you do your science articles, chained amid brimstone and Hell-fire when doing an Atheist rant, and in a leatherman or drag queen outfit to reminisce about old Gay Activist activities...

When the Saddle pals come to visit, you all could be dressed in dusty cowboy outfits. (Cowboy boots make your tush look sexier.) Of course, Uncle Sidney would come riding in sidesaddle -- less wear and tear on the chiffon.

But best of all, when you read listeners' letters, and play “The Stripper,” you could actually strip! Maybe you could have body paint on different parts of your anatomy, like Goldie Hawn used to on “Laugh In?” “Pickles -- Poke here” over your pancreas, or “Prime Aged U.S. Beef” on your tenderloin. YOU may think you're ugly, but some of your gay fans LIKE rolly-polly, balding, short-statured Irishmen!

Where do you get diabetes-approved Eskimo Pies?

How come you weren't chosen as one of the advisors on “Queer Eye On the Straight Guy?” Image those fashionistas meeting with you at the Debris Preserve! Oh, Mary!

Blessed be,

-- Len/ Black Lotus

Subject: Blackout 2003
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 15:23:46 EDT
From: Sharon, the wicked witch of Flatbush (formerly the east side)
To: rpm@glib.com

Hey, R. Paul,
I must be in Flatbush, too, because we didn't get power back for over 28 hours. Like you, I was on-line when my computer suddenly crashed; naturally, my first impulse was to blame Bill-gatus of Borg, but he's off the hook this time. It was rather amusing to hear you griping about the heat, when long-time listeners know Nurse Pickles had to drag you kicking and screaming to the store to buy an air conditioner. I thought you loved hot, disgusting weather. Gets old in a hurry, doesn't it? Especially without water. And reading by flashlight is exciting when you're twelve, but my eyes won't take it any more.

Bloomberg is so inspiring. He kept telling people they could get information by going to the city website, which is difficult without electricity. I don't think it has occurred to him yet that there are actually people who don't even have computers. He was full of helpful advice of the “bleeding obvious” variety, like open the window, drink water, wear loose clothing. But judging by the number of kids who have died while locked in cars this summer, I guess people need to be told the obvious. Because “YOU OF EARTH ARE IDIOTS!” (Wouldn't it be great to find out the Martians did this to slow down our invasion of their world?)

Keep your knees loose,
Sharon, the wicked witch of Flatbush (formerly the east side)

Subject: Judge rejects Fox bid vs. Franken book
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 18:58:51 -0700
From: Sharon, the wicked witch of the east side
To: rpm@glib.com

Your friend's message: Hallelujah! a judge with a brain! Sharon (w.w.e.s.)
- - - - - - - - - - - -

Judge rejects Fox bid vs. Franken book
By ERIN McCLAM

http://www.salon.com/ent/wire/2003/08/22/franken/index.html

Good point about Bloomberg telling people to log in without electricity! What a mess that blackout was. I'm not sure if Sharon moved or if she's metaphorically in Flatbush.

Subject: When will you be on more often?
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2003 20:58:40 -0400
From: Elizabeth
To: rpm@glib.com

Paul,

Do you know how annoying it is that you are not on every weekend? How's a person supposed to remember every OTHER Saturday night? It's so aggravating to discover on Sunday that you were on the previous night, and that I forgot to check your website to learn this.

Here, I keep hoping that things will stabilize and you will have a more regular schedule, and here you are giving off dire warnings that, in the near future, you might not be on at all! I keep hoping you're exaggerating, but you're right there in the middle of it all, so you've got to know more than I ever could.

Oh, for the good old days! Or were there ever any “good old days” at BAI?

Regards,

Elizabeth

P.S. Are both of the addresses above correct...?

Egad! I'm not on Saturdays! In any case, we'll be lucky to stay on as often as we are. As I explained on the air, this radio program has been at odds with management and various factions for all but about nine, non-continuous months of its existence. Pickles of the North and I suggested that Elizabeth also listen to Uncle Sidney Smith's program Carrier Wave, and Pickles said the programs complement each other. And the address shown above is the one to use.

Subject: I'm one of the 19th!
Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 02:16:49 -0400
From: geeda_man
To: rpm@glib.com

I'm one of the 19 tenth . Hi!, how the hell are you back!

Subject: Check out Satan, "ha-satan," Lucifer, and the Nephilim
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 05:48:17 EDT
From: Sal
To: rpm@glib.com

Satan, "ha-satan," Lucifer, and the Nephilim

Hey guys I found this sight interesting and I got to thinking of you .. Anyway I hope you and pickles of the North find this to be a good read .. anyway hope you get better with your diabetes love ya Bye Bye ..Sal ................

Well, of course Geeda Man is one of the listeners! As for diabetes, unfortunately you never get better with it, you can only hope to control it. So far I'm controlling it all right.

There are a lot of issues that are considered hazardous to talk about on the air at WBAI, even now that the gag rule has been lifted. 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.

Probably the most popular 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 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.

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

And then there is the historic “Free Pacifica!” list, which has been used to help organize resistance to Pacifica Management hijackers since the mid-90s. It's become a low volume mailing list because it's been eclipsed by some of the newer, more technologically advanced, lists. Just click on this link and follow the instructions, and you'll be subscribed. This is a mailing list only, it doesn't have a digest option nor does it have a web interface.