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KPFA's Union Members (CWA) Letter to Local Station Board about Flashpoints Crying Wolf
We the undersigned union members at KPFA are writing to express our concern about the partisan public stand that some members of the board have been making about who should get laid off or cut at KPFA and who should not. It is not the role of board members to advocate for special treatment for particular staff members—including those staff members who are your friends or allies. You are undermining our union by doing so.
Dear members of the KPFA Local Station Board,
We the undersigned union members at KPFA are writing to express our concern about the partisan public stand that some members of the board have been making about who should get laid off or cut at KPFA and who should not. It is not the role of board members to advocate for special treatment for particular staff members—including those staff members who are your friends or allies. You are undermining our union by doing so.
Flashpoints is not the only program that has been cut as KPFA attempts to balance its budget. KPFA programs and staff have been cut across the board, with apparently more cuts to come, including:
*The Morning Show, the most listened-to locally produced program on KPFA, which features hard hitting interviews and analysis
*The News Department, which provides head lines throughout the morning and afternoon, as well as an hour-long state-wide newscast
*Against the Grain, a program of radical ideas and action
*Hard Knock Radio, a youth oriented program in drive time
*Essential subscription and other union positions have also been cut
As you know, the Pacifica National Board said the station must cut $300,000. We may not like it, but we are all sharing the pain together as we all work to stay true to the mission of Pacifica to produce cutting edge programming that opposes war and investigates the causes of conflict, whether economic, religious, national, or racial. Therefore, it is very upsetting to us as union members that some members of the KPFA board have circulated public statements that privileges one program that airs five hours a week above all others. In case you have been told that this program has been hit disproportionately hard, you should know that even after the cuts, no program has more paid staff per hour than Flashpoints.
In hard times, we all have to stand together, rather than seek to save our skins at the expense of everyone else. That is the basis of worker solidarity and it's a principle we strongly believe in. If you would like to do anything to help us as workers at the station, fundraising for the station—which is a central part of your duties as board members—would be a good start.
Sincerely,
Eric Klein, Flashpoints, Communications Workers of America, Local 9415
Aileen Alfandary, News Co-Director, CWA 9415
Esther Manilla, Morning Show, CWA 9415
Kris Welch, Living Room, CWA 9415
Philip Maldari, Sunday , CWA 9415
Miguel Guerrero, Web Coordinator, CWA 9415
CS Soong, Against the Grain, CWA 9415
Bob Baldock, Public Events, CWA 9415
Antonio Ortiz, Engineering, CWA 9415
Mitch Jeserich, Letters to Washington, CWA 9415
John Hamilton, Evening News, CWA 9415
Lewis Sawyer, Reception, CWA 9415
Sasha Lilley, Against the Grain, CWA 9415
Max Pringle, News Reporter, CWA 9415
Chris Stehlik, Database, CWA 9415
Mark Mericle, News Co-Director, CWA 9415
Eden Tosch, Subscriptions, CWA 9415
Jan Etre, Crafts Fair, CWA 9415
We the undersigned union members at KPFA are writing to express our concern about the partisan public stand that some members of the board have been making about who should get laid off or cut at KPFA and who should not. It is not the role of board members to advocate for special treatment for particular staff members—including those staff members who are your friends or allies. You are undermining our union by doing so.
Flashpoints is not the only program that has been cut as KPFA attempts to balance its budget. KPFA programs and staff have been cut across the board, with apparently more cuts to come, including:
*The Morning Show, the most listened-to locally produced program on KPFA, which features hard hitting interviews and analysis
*The News Department, which provides head lines throughout the morning and afternoon, as well as an hour-long state-wide newscast
*Against the Grain, a program of radical ideas and action
*Hard Knock Radio, a youth oriented program in drive time
*Essential subscription and other union positions have also been cut
As you know, the Pacifica National Board said the station must cut $300,000. We may not like it, but we are all sharing the pain together as we all work to stay true to the mission of Pacifica to produce cutting edge programming that opposes war and investigates the causes of conflict, whether economic, religious, national, or racial. Therefore, it is very upsetting to us as union members that some members of the KPFA board have circulated public statements that privileges one program that airs five hours a week above all others. In case you have been told that this program has been hit disproportionately hard, you should know that even after the cuts, no program has more paid staff per hour than Flashpoints.
In hard times, we all have to stand together, rather than seek to save our skins at the expense of everyone else. That is the basis of worker solidarity and it's a principle we strongly believe in. If you would like to do anything to help us as workers at the station, fundraising for the station—which is a central part of your duties as board members—would be a good start.
Sincerely,
Eric Klein, Flashpoints, Communications Workers of America, Local 9415
Aileen Alfandary, News Co-Director, CWA 9415
Esther Manilla, Morning Show, CWA 9415
Kris Welch, Living Room, CWA 9415
Philip Maldari, Sunday , CWA 9415
Miguel Guerrero, Web Coordinator, CWA 9415
CS Soong, Against the Grain, CWA 9415
Bob Baldock, Public Events, CWA 9415
Antonio Ortiz, Engineering, CWA 9415
Mitch Jeserich, Letters to Washington, CWA 9415
John Hamilton, Evening News, CWA 9415
Lewis Sawyer, Reception, CWA 9415
Sasha Lilley, Against the Grain, CWA 9415
Max Pringle, News Reporter, CWA 9415
Chris Stehlik, Database, CWA 9415
Mark Mericle, News Co-Director, CWA 9415
Eden Tosch, Subscriptions, CWA 9415
Jan Etre, Crafts Fair, CWA 9415
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Thursday January 07, 2010
In the face of mounting deficits, KPFA this month began laying off staff. The cuts come as no surprise; in fact, they’re overdue, considering that the station has been running in the red for several years, in defiance of Local Station Board and Pacifica National Board mandates to bring expenses into line with income. Anger and protest were probably inevitable when the cuts finally came. But by implementing them in an abrupt and seemingly insensitive way, ignoring provisions of the paid staff’s union contract, and loading what looks like a disproportionate share of the pain on one program—Flashpoints—management has succeeded in turning a tough situation into yet another full-fledged crisis for the station.
The first victim of this new cutback campaign was Eric Klein, Flashpoints’ technical producer and engineer, whose half-time position was eliminated with no advance notice on Dec. 7; Dennis Bernstein, the show’s host, wasn’t informed until he went looking for Klein an hour before airtime. After co-host Nora Barrows-Friedman e-mailed station manager Lemlem Rijio seeking an explanation and making the case that the show requires a technical producer, Rijio invited her to “share her concerns” in person. When they met on Dec. 9, Barrows-Friedman argued (according to an account she posted on Facebook) that it was “unreasonable” to expect her to absorb Klein’s work on top of her other responsibilities, whereupon Rijio “casually” informed her that her hours were being cut in half, from 40 to 20 per week, effective immediately.
Then, a few days later, Robert Knight, a New York-based journalist who delivers a short news analysis (“The Knight Report”) at the top of the Flashpoints hour most days, received a letter by FedEx informing him that his contract would expire on Dec. 28.
Knight is not a member of the union that represents KPFA’s paid staff, Communications Workers of America Local 9415, but Klein and Barrows-Friedman are. According to the union’s contract, should staff cuts become necessary, layoffs are generally supposed to be based on seniority. Klein didn’t rank high on the seniority list, but Barrows-Friedman has worked at the station considerably longer than other staffers whose hours have not been reduced. The contract also specifies that “Those who will be laid off shall be notified as soon as possible, normally thirty (30) working days, but in no case less that fifteen (15) working days before such layoff is to take place,” yet neither Klein nor Barrows-Friedman got so much as a day’s notice—even though management has had literally years of advance warning about its budget problems.
Treating employees this way may be par for the course in the corporate world nowadays (see the new George Clooney movie Up in the Air), but even aside from contractual requirements, I think most KPFA subscribers expect better of their station. (Faced with union objections, Rijio later agreed that Nora, at least, will be paid her full-time wages through Jan. 8.)
To Flashpoints’ staff and fans (including me), the recent moves raise a larger issue: has management singled the program out for particularly severe cutbacks? When, after six days of silence, Rijio finally offered an explanation of the cuts in an e-mail message to subscribers and a recorded message now played incessantly on the air, she claimed that “Each department at the station—Programming, Operations, Development, and Administration—is being cut by 20 percent” and “All public affairs programs are being cut across the board and reductions have been made to bring each show’s cost into line with its income.”
So far, Rijio has not responded to requests for details from listeners and members of the station board. But information gleaned from staffers and data provided to the board when it considered the station’s budget last summer cast serious doubt on her claim of even-handedness. Certainly other public-affairs shows have also suffered cuts, but typically in the range of 14-18 percent, measured in paid staff hours.
In the case of Flashpoints, however, with the elimination of Klein’s job, the reduction in Barrows-Friedman’s hours, and the cancellation of Knight’s contract, staffing has been slashed more than 40 percent, from approximately 135 hours a week to 80 per week. (Bernstein works full-time, while “roving producer” Miguel Gavilan Molina and now Barrows-Friedman are each paid for 20 hours per week. Another full-time position was eliminated two years ago.) To the surviving staff, the cuts amount to a deliberate attempt to destroy the show. “There is no way we can survive at this [reduced] level,” Barrows-Friedman wrote on her Facebook page.
That prospect has sparked deep concern among Flashpoints’ intensely loyal listeners, who value the show for its outspoken radicalism—so different from the NPR-like tone of pseudo-objectivity maintained on most of KPFA’s news and public-affairs programming—and its focus on reporting the grassroots realities in hard-pressed communities rarely heard from in most of our media—Palestine above all (including Barrows-Friedman’s moving reports from her frequent trips to Gaza and the West Bank), but also Haiti, New Orleans, immigrant and Native American communities, and recently Honduras.
As word of the cutbacks spread, protest flared. Professors Peter Phillips and Mickey Huff of Project Censored and the Media Freedom Foundation (which just weeks ago gave the Flashpoints crew its lifetime achievement award) published a denunciation of the cuts, complete with supporting statements from such left luminaries as Barbara Lubin and Richard Becker. Arab-American community organizer Eyad Kishawi publicly threatened to organize a boycott of the station. Michael Parenti issued a call to a demonstration in front of the station.
And other prominent radical intellectuals who have appeared on the show—including Howard Zinn, Dahr Jamail, Anthony Arnove, and Richard Falk—signed an open letter declaring that they will “refuse to be interviewed or to allow prior work to be aired, or to give permission for our books, CDs, DVDs and other work to be used as premiums during KPFA’s fund drives” until Barrows-Friedman is reinstated to a full-time position and Flashpoints provided with a technical producer.
So far, there’s no indication that management will back down from its plans, but Flashpoints’ staff and supporters seem determined not to go without a fight.
To express support for Flashpoints, write to general manager Lemlem Rijio at gm [at] kpfa.org and turn out for the next meeting of the new LSB, now set for 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 11, 2010 (disregard dates announced earlier) at the Humanist Hall, 390 27th St. (near Telegraph), Oakland.
Henry Norr (henry [at] norr.com) was recently re-elected to KPFA’s Local Station Board.
In the face of mounting deficits, KPFA this month began laying off staff. The cuts come as no surprise; in fact, they’re overdue, considering that the station has been running in the red for several years, in defiance of Local Station Board and Pacifica National Board mandates to bring expenses into line with income. Anger and protest were probably inevitable when the cuts finally came. But by implementing them in an abrupt and seemingly insensitive way, ignoring provisions of the paid staff’s union contract, and loading what looks like a disproportionate share of the pain on one program—Flashpoints—management has succeeded in turning a tough situation into yet another full-fledged crisis for the station.
The first victim of this new cutback campaign was Eric Klein, Flashpoints’ technical producer and engineer, whose half-time position was eliminated with no advance notice on Dec. 7; Dennis Bernstein, the show’s host, wasn’t informed until he went looking for Klein an hour before airtime. After co-host Nora Barrows-Friedman e-mailed station manager Lemlem Rijio seeking an explanation and making the case that the show requires a technical producer, Rijio invited her to “share her concerns” in person. When they met on Dec. 9, Barrows-Friedman argued (according to an account she posted on Facebook) that it was “unreasonable” to expect her to absorb Klein’s work on top of her other responsibilities, whereupon Rijio “casually” informed her that her hours were being cut in half, from 40 to 20 per week, effective immediately.
Then, a few days later, Robert Knight, a New York-based journalist who delivers a short news analysis (“The Knight Report”) at the top of the Flashpoints hour most days, received a letter by FedEx informing him that his contract would expire on Dec. 28.
Knight is not a member of the union that represents KPFA’s paid staff, Communications Workers of America Local 9415, but Klein and Barrows-Friedman are. According to the union’s contract, should staff cuts become necessary, layoffs are generally supposed to be based on seniority. Klein didn’t rank high on the seniority list, but Barrows-Friedman has worked at the station considerably longer than other staffers whose hours have not been reduced. The contract also specifies that “Those who will be laid off shall be notified as soon as possible, normally thirty (30) working days, but in no case less that fifteen (15) working days before such layoff is to take place,” yet neither Klein nor Barrows-Friedman got so much as a day’s notice—even though management has had literally years of advance warning about its budget problems.
Treating employees this way may be par for the course in the corporate world nowadays (see the new George Clooney movie Up in the Air), but even aside from contractual requirements, I think most KPFA subscribers expect better of their station. (Faced with union objections, Rijio later agreed that Nora, at least, will be paid her full-time wages through Jan. 8.)
To Flashpoints’ staff and fans (including me), the recent moves raise a larger issue: has management singled the program out for particularly severe cutbacks? When, after six days of silence, Rijio finally offered an explanation of the cuts in an e-mail message to subscribers and a recorded message now played incessantly on the air, she claimed that “Each department at the station—Programming, Operations, Development, and Administration—is being cut by 20 percent” and “All public affairs programs are being cut across the board and reductions have been made to bring each show’s cost into line with its income.”
So far, Rijio has not responded to requests for details from listeners and members of the station board. But information gleaned from staffers and data provided to the board when it considered the station’s budget last summer cast serious doubt on her claim of even-handedness. Certainly other public-affairs shows have also suffered cuts, but typically in the range of 14-18 percent, measured in paid staff hours.
In the case of Flashpoints, however, with the elimination of Klein’s job, the reduction in Barrows-Friedman’s hours, and the cancellation of Knight’s contract, staffing has been slashed more than 40 percent, from approximately 135 hours a week to 80 per week. (Bernstein works full-time, while “roving producer” Miguel Gavilan Molina and now Barrows-Friedman are each paid for 20 hours per week. Another full-time position was eliminated two years ago.) To the surviving staff, the cuts amount to a deliberate attempt to destroy the show. “There is no way we can survive at this [reduced] level,” Barrows-Friedman wrote on her Facebook page.
That prospect has sparked deep concern among Flashpoints’ intensely loyal listeners, who value the show for its outspoken radicalism—so different from the NPR-like tone of pseudo-objectivity maintained on most of KPFA’s news and public-affairs programming—and its focus on reporting the grassroots realities in hard-pressed communities rarely heard from in most of our media—Palestine above all (including Barrows-Friedman’s moving reports from her frequent trips to Gaza and the West Bank), but also Haiti, New Orleans, immigrant and Native American communities, and recently Honduras.
As word of the cutbacks spread, protest flared. Professors Peter Phillips and Mickey Huff of Project Censored and the Media Freedom Foundation (which just weeks ago gave the Flashpoints crew its lifetime achievement award) published a denunciation of the cuts, complete with supporting statements from such left luminaries as Barbara Lubin and Richard Becker. Arab-American community organizer Eyad Kishawi publicly threatened to organize a boycott of the station. Michael Parenti issued a call to a demonstration in front of the station.
And other prominent radical intellectuals who have appeared on the show—including Howard Zinn, Dahr Jamail, Anthony Arnove, and Richard Falk—signed an open letter declaring that they will “refuse to be interviewed or to allow prior work to be aired, or to give permission for our books, CDs, DVDs and other work to be used as premiums during KPFA’s fund drives” until Barrows-Friedman is reinstated to a full-time position and Flashpoints provided with a technical producer.
So far, there’s no indication that management will back down from its plans, but Flashpoints’ staff and supporters seem determined not to go without a fight.
To express support for Flashpoints, write to general manager Lemlem Rijio at gm [at] kpfa.org and turn out for the next meeting of the new LSB, now set for 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 11, 2010 (disregard dates announced earlier) at the Humanist Hall, 390 27th St. (near Telegraph), Oakland.
Henry Norr (henry [at] norr.com) was recently re-elected to KPFA’s Local Station Board.
For more information:
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2...
Contrary to the lies of the Democratic Party lackeys listed above, the listeners strongly support Flashpoints and know that the primary force behind the attack on Flashpoints is the Zionists because of Flashpoints' pro-Palestinian news coverage. Since this new board has clearly not restored full funding to Flashpoints, we are not contributing to KPFA. There was some indication that Rijio was fired, but it is unknown when she will finally leave or who will replace her. All of the people at KPFA had better be aware that you are competing with the Internet for providing information and you all have to be at least as good as Flashpoints to attract listeners. You better restore full funding to Flashpoints immediately, fire Rijio immediately, and find a replacement that is in tune with the Flashpoints style immediately.
Yep, it's all those accursed "Zionists". They are under your bed, in your soup, and wearing your house slippers. It is exactly this type of anti-semitic fanaticism that has turned people off to Flashpoints. You have become what you decry: fascists.
It is like the old Pogo strip: "We have met the enemy and he is us."
Also, tip to the second poster. It's not very smart to post something whose facts are directly contradicted above it by the VERY PERSON you claim to be defending! It's like an "anti-rebuttal".
It is like the old Pogo strip: "We have met the enemy and he is us."
Also, tip to the second poster. It's not very smart to post something whose facts are directly contradicted above it by the VERY PERSON you claim to be defending! It's like an "anti-rebuttal".
"The Morning Show, the most listened-to locally produced program on KPFA, which features hard hitting interviews and analysis"
____________________________________________________
Give me a break! Soft ball neoliberal BS is the general tone of the morning show. Recently Brian ET interviewed a guy about the situation in Iraq and the discussion was about the tactics of what to do while being there, the value of the surge etc! With a mention that we shouldn't have done it but now that we are there. The clear message of the guest was that the US Military/State Department needs to be involved in the fate and future of Iraq. This was never questioned by BET. That would have been the "hard hitting" thing to do. Raise the fundamental question that Phil Oaks sang so well "Are we the cops of the world?" There are programs on all media discussing the tactics used in Iraq and almost nowhere is it ever challenged that USA INC. should be involved in Iraq's future much less controlling it!
______________________________________________________
*The News Department, which provides head lines throughout the morning and afternoon, as well as an hour-long state-wide newscast
___________________________________________________
If you like AP wire repeats our news department is just fine. I will never forget the day when Democracy Now! Did an exclusive on Haiti and the kidnapping of Aristide and the immediately following news cast was that he left the country, no mention of Marines with M-16s escorting him onto the plane, etc. And another one of my favorites was " The nation is mourning Ronald Reagan" etc., etc.
Whoever wrote that must live in a strange world away from reality. Perhaps that is why they are always anonymous.
____________________________________________________
Give me a break! Soft ball neoliberal BS is the general tone of the morning show. Recently Brian ET interviewed a guy about the situation in Iraq and the discussion was about the tactics of what to do while being there, the value of the surge etc! With a mention that we shouldn't have done it but now that we are there. The clear message of the guest was that the US Military/State Department needs to be involved in the fate and future of Iraq. This was never questioned by BET. That would have been the "hard hitting" thing to do. Raise the fundamental question that Phil Oaks sang so well "Are we the cops of the world?" There are programs on all media discussing the tactics used in Iraq and almost nowhere is it ever challenged that USA INC. should be involved in Iraq's future much less controlling it!
______________________________________________________
*The News Department, which provides head lines throughout the morning and afternoon, as well as an hour-long state-wide newscast
___________________________________________________
If you like AP wire repeats our news department is just fine. I will never forget the day when Democracy Now! Did an exclusive on Haiti and the kidnapping of Aristide and the immediately following news cast was that he left the country, no mention of Marines with M-16s escorting him onto the plane, etc. And another one of my favorites was " The nation is mourning Ronald Reagan" etc., etc.
Whoever wrote that must live in a strange world away from reality. Perhaps that is why they are always anonymous.
Greetings, Which one of our pro-management KPFA/CWA brothers and sisters--who signed the CWA public letter in support of management and Lemlem Rijio--wants to debate us in Public, in front of KPFA listeners!!! Your letter is wrought with false assertions, and full of fantasy and half-truth about what's going on a KPFA. We like to give the KPFA/Pacifica listeners a chance to decide what they think is the truth, based on a robust public debate.
We'll meet your CWA/pro-management rep at the People's Church at Cedar and Benita in Berkeley, or at the Day Labor Center in Oakalnd or San Francisco or Santa Rosa, or Haywood, or Graton, any day of the week!!! Yes! how about it our good brothers and sisters? How about we debate it in front of the people? Aileen? Marc? Mitch? Philip? Kris? C.S.? Or How about you, Sasha?--you can represent the union and management, since you've been going back and forth between them for the last couple of years. Which one of you would like to have a robust debate in front of the people, instead of your typical verbal gang ups in union meetings, three and four, and six to one. (Nora is still reeling from your recent verbal attack on her!!)
By the way, I noticed no one currently working for Hardknock Radio or Flashpoints or La Onda Bajita signed on to your letter? Why is that?
Fact: The Flashpoints budget was cut 50% under the current management(Lemlem Rijio). "No question about it" confirmed CWA shop steward, Philip Maldari, one of the signers of your letters, in front of there members of Flashpoints. "Flashpoints got hit hardest. "
Some questions: How did the morning show budget fare, during the same time period? Was it cut in half? Did it go up or down under Rijio? How did the KPFA news budget do under Rijio? up or Down? Does your unwavering support for current management have anything to do with the expanded budgets that the news and morning show experienced under current management. Did current management bust the KPFA budget and then try and balance it on backs of Flashpoints, even as it was giving one of its strongest supporters a brand new show?
Dennis Bernstein/ Executive producer, Flashpoints
Miguel Gavilan Molina, producer Flashpoints/Flashpoints in Espanol/Exec Producer La Onda Bajita
We'll meet your CWA/pro-management rep at the People's Church at Cedar and Benita in Berkeley, or at the Day Labor Center in Oakalnd or San Francisco or Santa Rosa, or Haywood, or Graton, any day of the week!!! Yes! how about it our good brothers and sisters? How about we debate it in front of the people? Aileen? Marc? Mitch? Philip? Kris? C.S.? Or How about you, Sasha?--you can represent the union and management, since you've been going back and forth between them for the last couple of years. Which one of you would like to have a robust debate in front of the people, instead of your typical verbal gang ups in union meetings, three and four, and six to one. (Nora is still reeling from your recent verbal attack on her!!)
By the way, I noticed no one currently working for Hardknock Radio or Flashpoints or La Onda Bajita signed on to your letter? Why is that?
Fact: The Flashpoints budget was cut 50% under the current management(Lemlem Rijio). "No question about it" confirmed CWA shop steward, Philip Maldari, one of the signers of your letters, in front of there members of Flashpoints. "Flashpoints got hit hardest. "
Some questions: How did the morning show budget fare, during the same time period? Was it cut in half? Did it go up or down under Rijio? How did the KPFA news budget do under Rijio? up or Down? Does your unwavering support for current management have anything to do with the expanded budgets that the news and morning show experienced under current management. Did current management bust the KPFA budget and then try and balance it on backs of Flashpoints, even as it was giving one of its strongest supporters a brand new show?
Dennis Bernstein/ Executive producer, Flashpoints
Miguel Gavilan Molina, producer Flashpoints/Flashpoints in Espanol/Exec Producer La Onda Bajita
To support the Zionist, fascist, racist, theocratic, US puppet military government of the US military base called Israel is to be an anti-Semite as Israel is a deathtrap for Jews as well as Arabs. It exists to protect US oil profits in the Middle East and to perpetrate US imperialism around the world, all to maximize the profits of the capitalist class.
The Zionists are notorious for silencing all dissent which is why the capitalist press, TV and radio are all 100% pro-Israel. This is nothing new and should not surprise anyone.
The Zionists are also well-known Nazi collaborators, collaborating with Nazi Germany to save their own skins with the Transfer Agreement to break the worldwide boycott of Nazi German goods, and today, they collaborate with Nazi USA imperialism. They were the proud anti-Communists of the 1940s and 1950s, supporting Nazi USA's destruction of labor unions and supporting the frame-up of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (both murdered by the US government on June 19, 1953) and Morton Sobell, originally arrested in 1950 by Democratic President Harry Truman, to, as Julius put it, make Jew, Communist and traitor synonymous so as to justify the US anti-communist war against Korea, the same as the later US anti-communist war against Vietnam, both attempts to invade China and destroy the 1949 Chinese revolution, which attempted to build socialism in China. The Rosenbergs were "tried" by Judge Irving Kaufman and prosecuted by Roy Cohn and Irving Saypole, all anti-Communists who happened to be of Jewish descent. The whole frame-up and phony trial stank of anti-Semitism.
The frame-up of the Rosenbergs and Morton Sobell is one example of why we call this backward country Nazi USA. You could and should go back to its inception with the genocide of Native Americans, enslavement of Africans and vicious exploitation of the labor of all nationalities, including child labor. This is fascism; the phony parliamentary democracy is a facade, and a very weak one at that. Where there is no economic equality, there can be no political democracy, so there is no capitalist society that is democratic.
Many of us from Holocaust families view both the Nazis and the Zionists as anti-Semites as they collaborate to perpetrate the same genocide, all to maximize the profits of the capitalist class.
For more information on the horrors of the Zionists and their collaboration with Nazis, read the following and view one alternative, Daniel Barenboim's West-Eastern Divan Orchestra:
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe
(2006) Oneworld Publications, ISBN 978-1-85168-555-4
(Has full details on the 1948 to present mass murder of boys and men, rape and murder of girls and women and theft of Palestinian land all planned by David Ben-Gurion, first president of Israel, and cohorts, as Ben-Gurion described in his diary quoted in Pappe’s book.)
Israel-Palestine on Record by Howard Friel and Richard Falk
(2007) Verso, ISBN 978-1-84467-109-0 (Contains eyewitness testimony for 2000 to 2006 of Israeli destruction of Palestinian homes and the horrors of daily life in Occupied Palestine due to daily Israeli terrorism, all paid for with $6 billion US tax dollars annually, making Israel the 4th largest military gang in the world).
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/
Zionism in the Age of Dictators by Lenni Brenner at
http://www.marxists.de/middleast/brenner/
The Iron Wall by Lenni Brenner at
http://www.marxists.de/middleast/ironwall/
The Hidden History of Zionism by Ralph Schoenman at
http://www.marxists.de/middleast/schoenman/
51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration with the Nazis edited by Lenni Brenner
(2002) Barricade Books, New Jersey, ISBN 1-56980-235-1
The Transfer Agreement by Edwin Black
(1984, 2001) Carroll & Graf, NY, ISBN 0-7867-0841-7
The Third Reich and the Palestine Question by Francis Nicosia
(1985) University of Texas Press, ISBN 0-292-72731-3
DVD-Warner Classics: The Ramallah Concert: Knowledge Is The Beginning with West-Eastern Divan Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim. Ramallah Concert program: Mozart Sinfonia, Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, Elgar’s Nimrod from Enigma Variations. Orchestra consists of young Jewish Israelis and Arabs of many countries, including Palestine, plus some Europeans.
The Zionists are notorious for silencing all dissent which is why the capitalist press, TV and radio are all 100% pro-Israel. This is nothing new and should not surprise anyone.
The Zionists are also well-known Nazi collaborators, collaborating with Nazi Germany to save their own skins with the Transfer Agreement to break the worldwide boycott of Nazi German goods, and today, they collaborate with Nazi USA imperialism. They were the proud anti-Communists of the 1940s and 1950s, supporting Nazi USA's destruction of labor unions and supporting the frame-up of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (both murdered by the US government on June 19, 1953) and Morton Sobell, originally arrested in 1950 by Democratic President Harry Truman, to, as Julius put it, make Jew, Communist and traitor synonymous so as to justify the US anti-communist war against Korea, the same as the later US anti-communist war against Vietnam, both attempts to invade China and destroy the 1949 Chinese revolution, which attempted to build socialism in China. The Rosenbergs were "tried" by Judge Irving Kaufman and prosecuted by Roy Cohn and Irving Saypole, all anti-Communists who happened to be of Jewish descent. The whole frame-up and phony trial stank of anti-Semitism.
The frame-up of the Rosenbergs and Morton Sobell is one example of why we call this backward country Nazi USA. You could and should go back to its inception with the genocide of Native Americans, enslavement of Africans and vicious exploitation of the labor of all nationalities, including child labor. This is fascism; the phony parliamentary democracy is a facade, and a very weak one at that. Where there is no economic equality, there can be no political democracy, so there is no capitalist society that is democratic.
Many of us from Holocaust families view both the Nazis and the Zionists as anti-Semites as they collaborate to perpetrate the same genocide, all to maximize the profits of the capitalist class.
For more information on the horrors of the Zionists and their collaboration with Nazis, read the following and view one alternative, Daniel Barenboim's West-Eastern Divan Orchestra:
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe
(2006) Oneworld Publications, ISBN 978-1-85168-555-4
(Has full details on the 1948 to present mass murder of boys and men, rape and murder of girls and women and theft of Palestinian land all planned by David Ben-Gurion, first president of Israel, and cohorts, as Ben-Gurion described in his diary quoted in Pappe’s book.)
Israel-Palestine on Record by Howard Friel and Richard Falk
(2007) Verso, ISBN 978-1-84467-109-0 (Contains eyewitness testimony for 2000 to 2006 of Israeli destruction of Palestinian homes and the horrors of daily life in Occupied Palestine due to daily Israeli terrorism, all paid for with $6 billion US tax dollars annually, making Israel the 4th largest military gang in the world).
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/
Zionism in the Age of Dictators by Lenni Brenner at
http://www.marxists.de/middleast/brenner/
The Iron Wall by Lenni Brenner at
http://www.marxists.de/middleast/ironwall/
The Hidden History of Zionism by Ralph Schoenman at
http://www.marxists.de/middleast/schoenman/
51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration with the Nazis edited by Lenni Brenner
(2002) Barricade Books, New Jersey, ISBN 1-56980-235-1
The Transfer Agreement by Edwin Black
(1984, 2001) Carroll & Graf, NY, ISBN 0-7867-0841-7
The Third Reich and the Palestine Question by Francis Nicosia
(1985) University of Texas Press, ISBN 0-292-72731-3
DVD-Warner Classics: The Ramallah Concert: Knowledge Is The Beginning with West-Eastern Divan Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim. Ramallah Concert program: Mozart Sinfonia, Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, Elgar’s Nimrod from Enigma Variations. Orchestra consists of young Jewish Israelis and Arabs of many countries, including Palestine, plus some Europeans.
For more information:
http://www.marxists.de/middleast/schoenman/
As a listener supporter of Flashpoints in particular and KPFA in general, I think that Dennis's idea of a public debate is a great one. And while we are at it, why don't we hear an explanation for how a check for $375,000 was "forgotten" for about a year and how and why it went from different people on the LSB and to the GM- Lemlem Rijio where it lay "forgotten" for about a year. Also where did the money come from to send not one, but two people to Copenhagen all the while that there is a financial crisis, and these cuts were coming down the pike for Flashpoints?
I really think that after KPFA went back on the air after the lockdown in 1999, things went back to business as usual, and no real analysis or introspection was done within Pacifica as to what laid the basis for the situation for such a crisis in the network to arise to begin with.
I think that Lemlem Rijio needs to go.She has proven herself to be an incompetant and unfair manager who viciously attacks those who disagree with her and favors those who she is chummy with. The incident in which the police were called into the station in the Nadra Foster (happened on her watch)matter should have NEVER been allowed to happen in the first place and should NEVER, EVER be allowed to happen again in the future.
The crimes against people of Iraq,Pakistan, Afghanistan ,Haiti and other countries and with the rising fascist forces like the "tea partyers", we need Pacifica out there more than ever searching out and bringing the truth to people so that people can mobilize and resist the crimes that is going on in our names.
Clearly this posting alleged to be from KPFA union staff to the members of the LSB did not come from the staff of the station. Staff members know quite well that our email address is not indybay.org. They would send an email to us directly and none such contact has been made with the board.
Further, many of the staff who are supposedly signatories to this posting came to the LSB meeting recently and expressed their concern for the stability of KPFA particularly as we are now in fund drive time. They would never have posted in such an inflammatory manner. They are far too smart and concerned about the station to seek to publicly harm KPFA.
I ask that all ignore the posting sent by a mean-spirited imposter.
Sasha Futran
Chair, KPFA LSB
Further, many of the staff who are supposedly signatories to this posting came to the LSB meeting recently and expressed their concern for the stability of KPFA particularly as we are now in fund drive time. They would never have posted in such an inflammatory manner. They are far too smart and concerned about the station to seek to publicly harm KPFA.
I ask that all ignore the posting sent by a mean-spirited imposter.
Sasha Futran
Chair, KPFA LSB
In response to typical i would like to state that being anti jew supremacist is not racist or antisemites. Zionism is nothing less than jew right wind supremacist born in the deranged mind of europeem jew. zionism like nazism is an extrem form of supremacism.many jew stand against zionism (do that make them antisemites) . most europeen jews are not even semites since they europeen , look europeen , act europeen and the semites people are from the middle east(minor asia)
"The Invention of the Jewish People" by Shlomo Sand
A leading Israeli historian shatters the national myth of the Jewish exodus from the promised land. A historical tour de force that demolishes the myths and taboos that have surrounded Jewish and Israeli history, The Invention of the Jewish People offers a new account of both that demands to be read and reckoned with. Was there really a forced exile in the first century, at the hands of the Romans? Should we regard the Jewish people, throughout two millennia, as both a distinct ethnic group and a putative nation—returned at last to its Biblical homeland?
Shlomo Sand argues that most Jews actually descend from converts, whose native lands were scattered far across the Middle East and Eastern Europe. The formation of a Jewish people and then a Jewish nation out of these disparate groups could only take place under the sway of a new historiography, developing in response to the rise of nationalism throughout Europe. Beneath the biblical back fill of the nineteenth-century historians, and the twentieth-century intellectuals who replaced rabbis as the architects of Jewish identity, The Invention of the Jewish People uncovers a new narrative of Israel’s formation, and proposes a bold analysis of nationalism that accounts for the old myths.
After a long stay on Israel’s bestseller list, and winning the coveted Aujourd’hui Award in France, The Invention of the Jewish People is finally available in English. The central importance of the conflict in the Middle East ensures that Sand’s arguments will reverberate well beyond the historians and politicians that he takes to task. Without an adequate understanding of Israel’s past, capable of superseding today’s opposing views, diplomatic solutions are likely to remain elusive. In this iconoclastic work of history, Shlomo Sand provides the intellectual foundations for a new vision of Israel’s future. .
A leading Israeli historian shatters the national myth of the Jewish exodus from the promised land. A historical tour de force that demolishes the myths and taboos that have surrounded Jewish and Israeli history, The Invention of the Jewish People offers a new account of both that demands to be read and reckoned with. Was there really a forced exile in the first century, at the hands of the Romans? Should we regard the Jewish people, throughout two millennia, as both a distinct ethnic group and a putative nation—returned at last to its Biblical homeland?
Shlomo Sand argues that most Jews actually descend from converts, whose native lands were scattered far across the Middle East and Eastern Europe. The formation of a Jewish people and then a Jewish nation out of these disparate groups could only take place under the sway of a new historiography, developing in response to the rise of nationalism throughout Europe. Beneath the biblical back fill of the nineteenth-century historians, and the twentieth-century intellectuals who replaced rabbis as the architects of Jewish identity, The Invention of the Jewish People uncovers a new narrative of Israel’s formation, and proposes a bold analysis of nationalism that accounts for the old myths.
After a long stay on Israel’s bestseller list, and winning the coveted Aujourd’hui Award in France, The Invention of the Jewish People is finally available in English. The central importance of the conflict in the Middle East ensures that Sand’s arguments will reverberate well beyond the historians and politicians that he takes to task. Without an adequate understanding of Israel’s past, capable of superseding today’s opposing views, diplomatic solutions are likely to remain elusive. In this iconoclastic work of history, Shlomo Sand provides the intellectual foundations for a new vision of Israel’s future. .
Dennis Bernstein says no CURRENT staff called him out...ignoring that the board op he screamed about to begin with -- eric klein -- signed this letter. well how convenient the former board op is not CURRENT.
dennis is the epitome of the "entrenched staff" he and his supporters have bitched about for year.
Free speech for me, but not for thee.
Dennis, eat shit you ENTRENCHED STAFFER. and hey phelps, there's a meme for ya.
a former listener.
dennis is the epitome of the "entrenched staff" he and his supporters have bitched about for year.
Free speech for me, but not for thee.
Dennis, eat shit you ENTRENCHED STAFFER. and hey phelps, there's a meme for ya.
a former listener.
sasha you lame ass sellout.
how sad for you, you got used by the "coalition" and now you have no vote. But hey you got an ego stroke. Lovely.
Flashpoints err Dennis is the biggest crying entrenched shit at KPFA, cost the station at LEAST $300k -- ask Noelle -- and now thinks his water carriers on the board are in control.
good fucking luck with that GM firing. Dennis won't contend with anyone with more power at the station than himself, and you all who THINK you are "anonymous dissenters" (looking at you, Tracy) are now targets.
have fun with that.
how sad for you, you got used by the "coalition" and now you have no vote. But hey you got an ego stroke. Lovely.
Flashpoints err Dennis is the biggest crying entrenched shit at KPFA, cost the station at LEAST $300k -- ask Noelle -- and now thinks his water carriers on the board are in control.
good fucking luck with that GM firing. Dennis won't contend with anyone with more power at the station than himself, and you all who THINK you are "anonymous dissenters" (looking at you, Tracy) are now targets.
have fun with that.
“The real problem with professional journalism becomes evident when political elites do not debate an issue and march in virtual lockstep,” the authors write. “In such a case professional journalism is, at best, ineffectual, and, at worst, propagandistic. This has often been the case in U.S. foreign policy, where both parties are beholden to an enormous global military complex, and accept the right of the United States, and the United States alone, to invade countries when it suits U.S. interests. In matters of war and foreign policy, journalists who question the basic assumptions and policy objectives and who attempt to raise issues no one in either party wishes to debate are considered ‘ideological’ and ‘unprofessional.’ This has a powerful disciplinary effect upon journalists.”--Chris Hedges
The above serves as the perfect definition of "management" and the minions who support them, all operating under the cloak of authority in order to maintain personal power. They enlist and then claim union authority to legitimize their phony, self serving agenda which is in direct opposition to true journalistic ethics and the KPFA Mission.
"American society, once we lose a system of information based on verifiable fact, will become disconnected from reality. All totalitarian societies impart their propaganda through manipulated images and spectacles. And the death of traditional news is one more stage in the terminal illness that is ravaging American democracy. The rise of a totalitarian capitalism will follow, and we already have many of the new system’s information networks in place. Corporations, as the authors point out, “will be better positioned than ever to produce self-promotional ‘information’—better described as ‘propaganda’—that can masquerade as ‘news.’ The technology actually makes it easier. A major development in the past decade has been video news releases, PR-produced news stories that are often run as if they were legitimate journalism on local TV news broadcasts. The stories invariably promote the products of the corporation which funds the work surreptitiously.” --The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution that Will Begin the World Again
By Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols
This disease of self promotion, personal power grabs and rip and read news is a form of mental illness and a link in a chain of inept and ineffective management and administration, that is responsible for the corruption and subsequent downfall of KPFA. It is a mirror of todays' larger society. Lemlem Rijio, Aileen Alfandary and opportunistic union affiliation emerge as a matched set of tools used by the Oppressor to maintain personal power by entrenched staff, failing managers and false directors. Oppression in any form, affects the oppressor as much as the oppressed.
Listeners' best interests have been forced out, ripped off and forgotten amidst dirty pool station politics and power grabs. Listeners respond by leaving and taking their money with them. From the above letter and its set of signatures, this may be the only way to dislodge the determinedly divisive. They exist to control the station and promote themselves. By succeeding at self promotion and having lost sight of the KPFA Vision and replaced it with their own, they have thus succeeded only at driving the station into the ground. This downward spiral continues because the agenda is false and creativity has left the building.
Count on this: without accountability to Listeners, not only will it get worse but KPFA will continue to lose funding and listeners, and fall into bankruptcy. Decent people will continue to leave or be layed off to offset the unexplained debt (350K missing? Note the lack of explanation). So goes the gradual and continued corruption of KPFA. Expect a total loss of integrity and with it any pretense of real news coverage by community oriented reporters.
The above serves as the perfect definition of "management" and the minions who support them, all operating under the cloak of authority in order to maintain personal power. They enlist and then claim union authority to legitimize their phony, self serving agenda which is in direct opposition to true journalistic ethics and the KPFA Mission.
"American society, once we lose a system of information based on verifiable fact, will become disconnected from reality. All totalitarian societies impart their propaganda through manipulated images and spectacles. And the death of traditional news is one more stage in the terminal illness that is ravaging American democracy. The rise of a totalitarian capitalism will follow, and we already have many of the new system’s information networks in place. Corporations, as the authors point out, “will be better positioned than ever to produce self-promotional ‘information’—better described as ‘propaganda’—that can masquerade as ‘news.’ The technology actually makes it easier. A major development in the past decade has been video news releases, PR-produced news stories that are often run as if they were legitimate journalism on local TV news broadcasts. The stories invariably promote the products of the corporation which funds the work surreptitiously.” --The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution that Will Begin the World Again
By Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols
This disease of self promotion, personal power grabs and rip and read news is a form of mental illness and a link in a chain of inept and ineffective management and administration, that is responsible for the corruption and subsequent downfall of KPFA. It is a mirror of todays' larger society. Lemlem Rijio, Aileen Alfandary and opportunistic union affiliation emerge as a matched set of tools used by the Oppressor to maintain personal power by entrenched staff, failing managers and false directors. Oppression in any form, affects the oppressor as much as the oppressed.
Listeners' best interests have been forced out, ripped off and forgotten amidst dirty pool station politics and power grabs. Listeners respond by leaving and taking their money with them. From the above letter and its set of signatures, this may be the only way to dislodge the determinedly divisive. They exist to control the station and promote themselves. By succeeding at self promotion and having lost sight of the KPFA Vision and replaced it with their own, they have thus succeeded only at driving the station into the ground. This downward spiral continues because the agenda is false and creativity has left the building.
Count on this: without accountability to Listeners, not only will it get worse but KPFA will continue to lose funding and listeners, and fall into bankruptcy. Decent people will continue to leave or be layed off to offset the unexplained debt (350K missing? Note the lack of explanation). So goes the gradual and continued corruption of KPFA. Expect a total loss of integrity and with it any pretense of real news coverage by community oriented reporters.
The leaders of this last missive rely on union authority to make a show of power, a point about management, lay offs and cut backs. But managers like former Program Director Sasha Lilley, News Co-Editor Aileen Alfandary and many others who signed on with their union membership stapled to their names, were silent while Lemlem Rijio disbanded and then refused to reinstate KPFA's Unpaid Staff Organization.
And what staff member could have dared refuse a request from a manager to sign?
UPSO reinstatement was denied the 200 Volunteers who work shoulder to shoulder with paid staff to keep the station running. This letter serves not as a show of solidarity but a slap in the face to those denied the right to unionize.
This false show of union force is opportunistic and hypocritical, it disrespects true union authority, insults UPSO Members and and smacks of petty partisan politics. It speaks of union strength without union depth and consciousness. It speaks of "Concerned Listeners'" desperation. It backfired!
How dare they use union might as ammunition to justify their own positions while denying others the right to organize. Unprincipled, cheap and weak. Not unlike present news and programming. Same mind set is doing both jobs. And these people want others to send them MONEY! ?
To the 'Entrenched' it is political football and another opportunity to exclude. But since when has union been synonymous with elitism? It takes hypocrites and hardened liars masquerading as progressive liberals and union rank and file to pull that off.
People who kill one union while hiding behind another cannot make for true and enlightened community unity, news or information. It will all come out in the wash.
Nothing wrong with wanting to keep your job. There is something wrong with trying to keep it at the expense of honesty, decency, state and federal law and in violation of law concerning unions, unionizing and ethics and all, for all.
And what staff member could have dared refuse a request from a manager to sign?
UPSO reinstatement was denied the 200 Volunteers who work shoulder to shoulder with paid staff to keep the station running. This letter serves not as a show of solidarity but a slap in the face to those denied the right to unionize.
This false show of union force is opportunistic and hypocritical, it disrespects true union authority, insults UPSO Members and and smacks of petty partisan politics. It speaks of union strength without union depth and consciousness. It speaks of "Concerned Listeners'" desperation. It backfired!
How dare they use union might as ammunition to justify their own positions while denying others the right to organize. Unprincipled, cheap and weak. Not unlike present news and programming. Same mind set is doing both jobs. And these people want others to send them MONEY! ?
To the 'Entrenched' it is political football and another opportunity to exclude. But since when has union been synonymous with elitism? It takes hypocrites and hardened liars masquerading as progressive liberals and union rank and file to pull that off.
People who kill one union while hiding behind another cannot make for true and enlightened community unity, news or information. It will all come out in the wash.
Nothing wrong with wanting to keep your job. There is something wrong with trying to keep it at the expense of honesty, decency, state and federal law and in violation of law concerning unions, unionizing and ethics and all, for all.
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