News from WBAI:: October 2011

I am a listener, and financial contributor to WBAI. I am also a faithful listener of The Gary Null Show. I am also a consumer of Gary's books and products. I am concerned about the negative comments that I hear from Gary Null and his associates on his show directed at the Pacifica Foundation, Wbai, and It's managers. If Gary Null's objective is tohelp WBAI which he claims is his reason for returning to the WBAI airwaves, then why does he constantly attack Pacifica and WBAI. It is counter productive.

Last week Louanne Penesi conveniently called Gary's show on air during the listener call-in segment and complained about the management of WBAI not being present at the screening of Gary's film. It was obvious that this was arranged in advance because of Gary's response, and because Ms. Penesi's call was the first call taken during the listener call in segment. Gary response was designed to give the listeners the impression that he would rather dwell on the positive and not the negative, and It made Ms. Penesi look bad, which she humbly accepted. In other words she fell on the sword for Gary. She allowed herself to look bad so that Gary could look good. You have to admire her loyalty to Gary for doing that. I think that a lot of the listeners of WBAI and Gary's show are very much aware of what Gary is trying to do which is to take WBAI's listenership however small he claims It may be. He constantly brags about how the PRN audience is growing. I wonder If he had so many listeners before returning to WBAI. For example, I only became aware of the Progressive Radio Network from listening to Gary Show on WBAI after his return to the air waves!

I admire Gary, and think that he is a brilliant man. I particularly enjoy the information he provides about the economy and the 911 cover up, but at times he reminds me of the same people that we are at odds with such as politicians and goverment officials, in that he needs to control everything. I have gotten this impression of him from listening to him for well over a decade. Another thing, one of Gary's employees, the British women who asks him questions on his show sounds like she is afraid of him. Again, this is just the impression that I have as a listener. I would like to continue listening to Gary on WBAI, but could the cheap shots at Pacifica and WBAI stop! I thought there was a rule in place to prevent producers from attacking WBAI staff.

Ronnie Mack

Bronx, NY

To: Geoff Brady (In Other News - Mondays,10-11pm)
Another great show. You handled that one "bury" caller last night with such finesse . And we love your voice. Agree with the caller who said your show should be longer. Many listeners look forward to your show every Monday night and 1 hour is not long enough. It really should be 2 hrs, or at least 11/2 hours. It seems you just start taking calls then it's over. The listeners are hungering for the type of info you bring them. Case in point; the one e-mailer in China wrote, "In Other News was the ONLY WBAI show" she listened to on the archives. This says volumes.
Laura
Montclair, NJ

Re: Sept. 27 Women-in-the-Making Career and Leadership Summit e-Notice
Let it be said that I am a huge Progressive and have fought for Civil Rights and equal treatment of all peoples, my whole life. I wonder why, then, in the email you sent around , are there pictured only women of color? Where's the inclusion principle? It smacks of elitism and, perhaps, a bit of patronization of women of color. Please, in the future, let's have a bit more inclusivity!
Dr. Ann R. Bleefeld

To: George Galloway (The Mother of all Talk Shows -Wednesdays 9-10am)
I enjoy your vigorous commentary about current events, but I must take you to task for your lead-headedness regarding 9/11. A young man was inarticulate today in trying to explain why we should take a second look at the actual 9/11 evidence. There are at least hundreds, if not thousands, of significant facts which don't support the Bush spiel about that fateful morning. This evidence is available in the public record. You don't have to search far for the truth. There is solid evidence the Bush spiel is a Big Lie.

There's no evidence a jumbo jet crashed anywhere near that Pennsylvania field. If you have a picture of this wreckage, please send me a copy. The hole in the Pentagon was originally 20' wide and 15' tall. The jumbo jet which allegedly made that hole was 128' 9" from wing tip to wing tip. It was 155' long and 44' tall at the tail section. Question: How did that giant plane make that small hole? Answer: It didn't. UA and AA painted the bottom halves of their jumbo jets blue in 2001. The bottoms of these two planes are silver or unpainted in the video tapes available. Question: Why aren't the bottoms of these planes blue? Answer: They weren't the hijacked jets. Mr. Galloway, those of us who made the effort to look at the evidence aren't kooks. We take this investigation seriously.

To continue to deny the evidence and to reject those who make inconvenient statements which contradict the Bush blarney, is simply outrageous cowardice. The facts happen to speak for themselves. The only thing we know for a fact about 9/11 is we don't know what actually happened. The terrible truth is our own government was probably involved in the greatest acts of treason in US history. The Bush mob can't be allowed to get away with these heinous crimes. You may want to stay on the sidelines and remain in denial. I don't think you want to do this. The truth will set us free. Self-imposed cognitive dissonance is merely a cop-out.
Franklin L. Johnson

We had been planning the WBAI broadcast of the Clearwater Festival for months, planning as many logistics as we could ahead of time: Kathy Davis, me, Ken Gale, Tioksin Ghosthorse, Shawn Rhodes and Graceon Challenger, all from WBAI, and Roy Volpe , from Clearwater.. The festival was on June 18th and 19, a Saturday and Sunday. Graceon (WBAI Operations Dept.) had tried to arrange for an ISDN line to be placed to convey the signal and if when that wasn't functioning using something called a Comrex. Graceon took the train to the festival site early in the week to see how things were progressing. What he found was that there was no ISDN line established, and that the signal from the Comrex was going to be blocked by some tall trees. .... there could be no broadcast.   However, he had a plan.

On Friday, he called me up, asking me to get some metal piping that would reach   higher than the trees....and some duct tape.   So on Friday night during the rain storm I was able to go to Home Depot and get three pieces of ten foot pipe, each able to fit in the other.   Although our whole staff had hoped to arrive at the Festival early in the day, after driving for hours, they actually didn't arrive until late in the evening, in the rain. At that time I showed Graceon the three pieces of pipe that I had purchased lying next to the stage that Roy Volpe had built for us. Then Graceon showed me some gadgets that he had brought along, with which he planned to attach the Comrex antenna.   And as he was showing me, there in the dark, a nut from something else fell down to the ground in the dark. We looked around for it , but all we saw was grass.

I got to bed in the dark in my tent, not envisioning any way we we were going to be able to broadcast. How would those three metal poles convert to something to carry that tiny antenna? I couldn't imagine it . All I thought of was how much work had gone into our preparation, and with no broadcast it would have all been wasted.

With trepidation, I got up the next day, early and walked to to stage to see what could be done to salvage the situation. As I walked toward the platform, what I saw at that moment was like a miracle. As I approached the platform, I saw a pole erected, about 30 feet tall, with a tiny antenna on top of it. I couldn't believe it , but it was there and we were going to be able to broadcast. In amazement, when I got there I asked Graceon to explain how this all happened . He just explained they just put the poles together with duct tape and erected it...simple.

Then I asked what about the nut that had been lost. I said we were never going to be able to find it, and   I should go back to Home Depot and get another. He disagreed with me . He said we would find it . And that moment I looked in the grass and there was the tiny nut.

The Festival was the greatest success they have ever had. More people came than at any time in its history. And we were able to broadcast with a staff that worked together enjoying doing so at the same time. We were able to air environmental and peace and justice activists from our region, talking about issues that are all important to us all, and some wonderful music as well.

If you listened to our broadcast on Saturday, June 18th, you could have heard the "Storycrafters" , which was a group of storytellers from different cultures who presented at the festival. It was a very uplifting and , in my opinion, important part. The story tellers pointed out that throughout history, societies telling stories about their past, has helped them survive, and also helped individuals in them become happier........ especially positive stories. We need to hear them... and that is partly why I am telling this one.
Dr. Jim Krivo
Beacon, NY

Please send your comments, complaints, or compliments related to any program subject matter aired this month to listenercommentary@wbai.org with "Listener Comment" in the subject line. Submissions should be limited to 400 words and please include your full name and location. We reserve the right to edit where deemed necessary.