Rather brilliant for an essayist. Not too sure helpful for our organization. Apparently, in some minds, puting a bad idea next to the word "activist" is all you need to know. My question is; why is everything in the New Pacifica done in secret? K ----- Original Message ---- From: Terry Goodman <tgoodman@xxxxxxxxxx> To: NewPacifica@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Cc: PacificaRadiowaves@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; fulcrumsofchange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 12:20:14 AM Subject: Re: [Fulcrumsofchange] Dear Carolyn...... On Sat, 29 Mar 2008, Nalini Lasiewicz wrote: <snip> > Bottom line....nothing was said tonight - not one word - that will > strengthen Pacifica Foundation or improve any one of it's stations. Oh, I don't know. Yosh Yamanaka, a California judge, pointed out that under California law an individual surrenders an expectation of privacy when conversing on a speakerphone; and Nicole Sawaya, Pacifica's new Executive Director, appeared surprised at efforts to invoke confidentiality rather than promote transparency. Those comments could strengthen the Foundation if more Directors learn over time to pay attention to expert advice and to think independently. Such a trend was not apparent at this one meeting, but we're only just finishing the first quarter of the new term. > I don't know how you put up with it. It helps to maintain a perverse sense of humor and so to recognize that Pacifica meetings are a variety of performance art -- part soap-opera and part unintentional lampoon. It also helps to be familiar with the extensive background story information provided by Pacifica fan sites such as wbai.net. Personally, I think that the actors' portrayal in this last teleconference of muddled politically-correct leftists unable to accomplish any progress in actual governance due to in-fighting over arcane interpretations of various competing principles of personal and group conduct was a powerful and spot-on satire of the general disorganization of alternative institutions in the U.S. Overall, the impression that each performer actually knows how to be a board member was generally quite convincing and well-played. True, the actor currently in the role of Chair doesn't seem to know the rules of procedure yet, but perhaps this was intentionally part of her character and will become a future plot point. The revealing surprise of correct parliamentary advice coming from the actor in the Lisa Davis role was likely missed by those in the audience unfamiliar with the rules-flaunting behavior of this character in past seasons, and I missed the grandstanding rant that is a typical highlight of any episodes that feature the Margaret Prescod character -- but the way that the crafty Bob Lederer character consistently appears to be a voice of sanity rescuing the assembly from total chaos irrespective of the actual impact of his suggestions or votes is, I think, simply masterful scripting giving great depth to that role. "Pacifica National Board Meeting" is a complex, fascinating, original, and contemporary radio drama series. I definitely want to hear how the several newly-introduced characters develop during this current season in counterpoint to the continuing cast of characters that have already staked out firm positions on various internal issues. Will the new Directors succumb to the clever manipulations and tempting progressive rhetoric of the Secret Agents of the Dark Side? Will WBAI be allowed for another year to spend more than it raises? Will KPFK finally be revealed to be following the same pattern so that the network eventually is threatened with loss of assets at auction after a default on a future loan? Will KPFT management covertly transition to more music and less talk during prime time? Will the KPFA staff openly revolt against the station's interim local management? Will the WPFW website ever publicly reveal its LSB meeting times and locations before the fact and so allow those meetings to be legal? Will the new ED hire new GMs with new ideas? Will it be romance or warfare between Lonnie and Nicole? How long will Counsel Dan Siegel be allowed to misinterpret the California Corporations Code? Will Pacifica win or lose the employee-initiated lawsuits it is fighting with his expert assistance? Will new director inspections uncover anything that can be reported in a public session? Will the PNB even notice any of this, or will they be too busy policing themselves and adopting resolutions condemning various authorities and supporting various political prisoners? We'll have to keep tuning in to find out ... or to be teased by an unfinished meeting agenda. --Terry Goodman, former KPFK Delegate _______________________________________________ Fulcrumsofchange mailing list Fulcrumsofchange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://lists.pacificana.org/listinfo.cgi/fulcrumsofchange-pacificana.org ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ