;-) nicely done Terry, a masterful fusion of satire and serious commentary on
the very disturbing state of affairs in pacifica as reflected in the curious
deliberations of the national board. The questions that you raise and whatever
their answers might be are central to pacifica's future.
Joe w.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
-----Original Message-----
From: Terry Goodman <tgoodman@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2008 22:20:14
To:NewPacifica@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc:PacificaRadiowaves@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, fulcrumsofchange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [PacificaRadiowaves] Re: Re: 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
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