Build Date: Wed May 1 21:50:08 2024 UTC
No one wants to eat after the faeries have slobbered all over the cookies.
I do not avoid faeries, Mandrake, but I do deny them my vital essence.
-- The Compulsive Splicer
Pacifica Board Ousts KPFA Staff; Hammers Down on Protesters
1999-07-14 00:51:27
In an update to our earlier piece detailing the savagery which has ensued since the Pacifica National Board has tried to force unwelcome and restrictive new management and policies on its San Francisco-area flagship station, KPFA, Pigdog has learned that KPFA's entire staff was ejected from the radio station's building tonight, and riot police were called in to forcibly disperse a crowd estimated at approximately 500 protestors gathered in support of the troubled franchise.
And, as if the current shenanigans weren't enough bad news for KPFA, uncomfirmed word is filtering in regarding a possible sale of KPFA and/or sister station WBAI in order to create an "endowment" for Pacifica's national operation, which would almost certainly mean re-programming, total staff turnover and a complete format change for a non-Pacifica KPFA, or in other words, the end of the station as its listeners have come to know it.
In response to the possibility of such a sale, a group of concerned community members is poised to file a lawsuit challenging Pacifica's right to disgorge KPFA's management, which it has already done, and ask for a reversal of recent management changes.
The forced changes in KPFA's management is the lightning rod which attracted the recent controversy leading up to tonight's demonstrations. A chronology of events can be found at the Save Pacifica site, which, along with Free Pacifica, is providing breaking information on the brooding radio storm.
As for tonight's
confrontation, a post on Usenet described the forcible removal of KPFA's
"Flashpoints" host Dennis Bernstein and news anchor Mark Mericle, while yet
another post, from ultimajock@eudoramail.com, detailed the chaotic scene:
At a few minutes after 6 pm Pacific time this evening, the KPFA BerkeleyAlthough later reports suggested that Bernstein, Mericle and other KPFA staffers had been arrested during the "siege" (charges unknown,) conflicting reports have emerged which suggest Bernstein and others thought to have been ejected had managed to work their way back into the station's building, where they remained as of the time of this report ensconsed inside the studio with as many as 20 protesters, and where they reportedly plan to remain until forcibly removed by the Berkeley Police Department.
evening news was interrupted by the sounds of Dennis Bernstein resisting
being expelled from the broadcasting studio by the armed guards recently
hired by the Pacifica National Board. The confrontatiuon was also
broadcast on KFCF Fresno, which directly sattelites KPFA programming.Bernstein had been in the course of delivering a report on the current
dispute between KPFA staff and Pacifica, including a statement by
imprisoned commentator Mumia Abu-Jamal and a recording of the press
conference held this afternoon at which representatives of the steering
committee of the Coalition for a democratic Pacifica told the press about
an e-mail message from Micheal Palmer to Mary Frances Berry, both Pacifica
board members, discussing the possible closing of KPFA and the sale of
WBAI New York. FreePacifica lawyer Dan Siegel was also heard speaking
about a planned law suit by KPFA listeners opposed to Pacifica's recent
policies and the legal implications of what Palmer's message proposed.At this point, while microphones were open, Bernstein was apprehended and,
according to KPFA newscaster Mark Mericle, "dragged from the studio" by
the guards. Bernstein was heard over the air shouting that the guards
would "have to shoot me then to get me out of the building." After a few
seconds' silence, an audibly shaken Mericle continued the broadcast,
explaining that Bernstein had been "placed on administrative leave" and
that KPFT Houston station manager Garland Gatner had been brought to the
Bay Area to take over operations at KPFA. As Mericle then attempted to
continue Bernstein's interrupted report, the KPFA signal went silent;
after a few minutes, a taped lecture by Eric Mann was broadcast.
Clearly, the strange saga of KPFA has not yet reached its
final chapter, and Pigdog will stay on the story as further details emerge.
T O P S T O R I E S
In 2010 Dr. Cheng-Huai Ruan discovered a way to cause a patient with an abnormal heartbeat to get back into a normal rhythm by sticking a finger up the patient's ass. (More...)
WKRP in Cincinnati aired from 1978 through 1982. Howard Hesseman played Dr. Johnny Fever, a DJ from Los Angeles who was fired from his previous job for saying the word "booger" on the air. In the show Hesseman would do some dialogue, introduce a song, and start the song. You'd hear a few notes, but never the whole song. (More...)
SF Hippies Can't Get Their Act Together
The annual 420 Hippie Hill event in Golden Gate Park, where large crowds of hippies, wannabe hippies, and hippie poseurs drape themselves in tie dye t-shirts and gather on a hill on 4/20 to smoke weed, was cancelled this year because the organizers couldn't get their act together. (More...)
Mozart to be inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame
Joining such hard-rocking inductees as Abba, Chet Atkins, Nat King Cole, and Neil Diamond, the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame is proud to induct Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. (More...)
Gary Busey definitely involved in a hit and run accident
Gary Busey was definitely involved in a hit-and-run accident, but won't face any charges because he's rich and famous. (More...)
Gary Busey allegedly involved in Malibu hit-and-run
"Sir! You hit my car! I need your information!" the woman yelled at Gary Busey driving a battered Volvo station wagon before he sped off. (More...)
C L A S S I C P I G D O G
We here in SMRL's Beverage Research Lab realize that there is more to life than just drinking spocktails. It's important to have other activities. One such activity that we wholeheartedly support is dancing six or more hours to Trance music. So we have designed a drink to accommodate this. (More...)
High Availability Guinness Stress Test
All too often we forget the incredible depth of technology behind the weekly ritual of TNiPN@*. We tend to only become aware of the strategy of High Available Guinness (HAG) when it rises to the forefront during a complete and utter venue failure. Yet we should all be super grateful that this system exists. (More...)
Poor Metallica. All they want is to continue to put out the same weak "Heavy Metal" they've been churning out since the "And Justice For All" days? and make gooey wads of cash in the process. The problem is, people aren't buying their bound for the heavy metal scrap heap, over-produced, uninspired, tired crap. And let's face it, their various commercial endorsements won't pay for the lifestyle they've become comfortably accustomed to. Resorting to lawsuits makes perfect sense, when you need spending money. But just one lawsuit isn't going to pay their bills. So, to aid Metallica, I've composed an open letter to the boys in the band, with suggestions as to whom else they might sic their lapdog lawyers on... (More...)
Clowns Take on God in Mysterious Annual Ceremony
Last Sunday's (the 6th) Grimaldi Service at a small church in East London was a red-letter day for clowns worldwide. About a hundred old-school red-nosed clowns made the sombre trip to darkest Dalston to pay their respects to clowns who died in the last year and to thank God for the gift of laughter in a bizarre ceremony presided over by the eccentric Reverend Clown Roly, resplendent in a garish red lumberjack shirt with oversized gold lapels. (More...)
One of our star reporters was sent to Comdex by his employer. El Destino reports live from the biggest, geekiest trade show in the world. (More...)
Pigdog dispatched special correspondent Ratsnatcher for a holiday reconnaissance of America's frozen hell. After ten days of silence, our shortwave radio cackled with Ratsnatcher's static-filled transmission. (More...)