WPFW (DC) isn't in pledge drive mode (their drive starts June 3rd and ends June 16th). They are asking for volunteers during their upcoming pledge drive and the number to call for that is (202) 588-0999 (extension 344). WBAI (NYC) is in pledge drive mode and the number to make a pledge is (212) 209-2950. KPFT (Houston) is also in the midst of a pledge drive and to make donations, call (713) 526-KPFT (that's 713-526-5738). KFCF (Fresno) is in pledge drive mode as well. I believe their number for pledging is (559) 233-2221 (that's the main number and they can transfer you if it's not the number they're taking pledges at). KPFK (Los Angeles) will begin their pledge drive June 12th and it will end June 26 (the same as WPFW). Their pledge number is (818) 985-2711. KPFA has two phone numbers, (800) 439-5732 and (510) 848-5732. But if someone wants to pledge early, KPFK will happily take a pledge right now and they ALWAYS have their pledge number displayed on a special page whether or not they are in their fund raising cycle or not.
In fact, that point, that all Pacifica Radio stations will take pledges at any time is probably something that needs to be stressed. That's also true of the Pacifica Radio Archives and no link because the site is down. Right now search it online, use the link to Pacifica Radio, whatever, you will be taken to a page that is not the Pacifica Radio Archives. (The hint should be that the Pacifica Radio Archives has nothing to do with "Pacifica Mortgage," "Pacificia CA Hotel," "Real Estate Pacifica California," etc. All of which are currently displayed when you access the radio archives page.) To donate to the Pacifica Radio Archives you can e-mail P.O. Box 865, North Hollywood, CA 91603 and you should be able to call 1-(800) 735-0230. The Pacifica Radio Archives are the oldest public radio archives in the United States.
Before NPR ever thought up the term "tote bag," before it ever existed, Pacifica Radio was pioneering listener sponsored/supported radio. Once a year, the Pacifica Radio Archives has a fund drive proper, but they can accept pledges year round -- can and do. Currently, the primary project for the archives is preserving recordings. People may be more familiar with film restoration -- possibly due to DVD reissues proclaiming a restored print -- but oxidation and other factors (including simple usage) allows tapes to degrade. The Pacifica Radio Archives are very focused on preserving historic recordings. When the website is back up, you can find their "adopt a tape" program which allows you to look through their list of recordings they need to work on and contribute to it being preserved. That may be music (Buffy St. Marie, for instance), speeches (Malcolm X), discussions, etc.
In addition to "adopting a tape," the Pacifica Radio Archives are a wonderful resource. Recordings that are now preserved are available on compact disc and the purchase of copies of those recordings also provides income from the archive project. So, for instance, you could purchase Arundhati Roy's 2003 speech "Confronting Empire" (I believe that's $15), Breaking the Blacklist is a documentary that's been featured on From The Vault (that's a weekly program airing on Pacifica radio stations that highlights the archives) and it's a ground breaking documentary featuring Dalton Trumbo, Kirk Douglas, Bell Abzug, Martin Popper and many others (that was recently priced at $15). Another documentary availabe is The Karen Silkwood Story ($15.00). There are multi-disc sets (Malcolm X, a Democracy Now! best of -- both $69.95 for the six disc set) and programs on the arts, the environment, race, peace, etc. For $15.oo there's The Last Interview with Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero of El Salvador. There's Amy Goodman and Allan Nairn's reporting on East Timor.
When the site is back up, you can check it out (if you haven't already) and see examples of the strong history. And they are attempting to serve all communities. Transcripts either are up or will be going up. Dorothy Healy's interview with Malvina Reynolds is one that is either up or going up. So community members who are unable to listen online (due to computer issues or disabilities), the site has much to offer.
Point? There's a history and there's history that's being made today. (For example, Aaron Glantz strong reporting on the war resistance movement.) If there's a station you listen to, and if you have the money to spare, by pledging you are not just preserving the past, you are preserving the future.
If you don't have anything to spare, you don't have it to spare. That's nothing to feel guilty about, it's a Bully Boy economy. But if you do and there is a station (or the archives) that speaks to you, please consider donating.
Zach notes that Jonathan Nack's "Anti-war Pickets Shut Down Terminal at Port of Oakland" (Indybay IMC) has text and audio/video. Jeff Paterson's "Evening community picket again shuts down Oakland port" (Indybay IMC) notes:
For the second time today, Longshoremen honored an anti-war community picket line at the SSA Terminal in the Port of Oakland. Three ships sat at the SSA docks, and cargo did not move. Organizers accuse American President Lines (APL) and Stevedoring Services of America (SSA), which are both served by Eagle Marine Services, with war profiteering. Eagle Marine Services has a contract to run the Concord Naval Weapons Station which brings in $975 Million annually. Organizers also claim that the Port does $33 Billion in business a year, yet contributes nothing to local schools and social services.
And it contains multiple photos. Paterson will be online tonight:
Monday, WeThePeopleRadioNetwork.com airs Questioning War-Organizing Resistance from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm PST and will address the issue of war resistance with guests including Pablo Paredes, Michael Wong, Jeff Paterson and Camilo Mejia. More information can be found in Carol Brouillet's "Questioning War- Organizing Resistance- War Resisters Radio Show" (Indybay IMC).
That is tonight. Tomorrow on The Sundance Channel:
Tuesday, May 22nd 9:30 pm e/p
Forest For The Trees (U.S. Television Premiere) -- Directed by Bernadine Mellis. Mellis follows her father, civil rights lawyer Dennis Cunningham, as he goes to federal court in 2002 on behalf of his client, the late environmental activist Judi Bari. A leader of EarthFirst!, Bari was injured in a car bombing as she prepared for 1990's "Redwood Summer," a peaceful action protesting the logging of old-growth redwoods in Northern California.
Arrested for the crime but never charged, Bari believed she was targeted in order to discredit her organization and sued the FBI and the Oakland Police. A suspenseful chronicle of an important trial, Forest for the Trees is also a profile of a dynamic and funny woman, who earned the respect of loggers as well as environmentalists.
Turning to Iraq, AFP reports another mortar attack on the heavily fortified Green Zone. They quote Sheik Sabah Saadi saying of today's attack, "The rocket landed on the roof of the Parliament right above the speaker's office." And AP notes an attack on a bus enroute to Baghdad that has left at least 7 ("including a child") dead.
In news Dahr Jamail told us of months and years ago, AP reports:
The new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad will be the world's largest and most expensive foreign mission, though it may not be large enough or secure enough to cope with the chaos in Iraq.
The Bush administration designed the 104-acre compound -- set to open in September in what today is a war zone -- to be an ultra-secure enclave. Yet it also hoped that downtown Baghdad would cease being a battleground when diplomats moved in.
[. . .]
The $592 million embassy occupies a chunk of prime real estate two-thirds the size of Washington's National Mall, with desk space for about 1,000 people behind high, blast-resistant walls. The compound is a symbol both of how much the United States has invested in Iraq and how the circumstances of its involvement are changing.
That was noted by a visitor. Billie notes this from Danny Schechter (News Dissector) and this is a link within a link:
US MILITARY UNITS RFUSING TO FIGHT: UNCONFIRMED REPORT
Rebellion by US Army in Iraq
Reports from Russian Military Analysts are describing what they term as a "rapidly declining will-to-fight" among American Soldiers fighting in Iraq , with the greatest concern being placed upon US Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division who reportedly this past week refused orders to ‘take to field’ against their Iraqi insurgent enemies.
According to these reports, the unprecedented rebellion against their Commanders by these US Soldiers was prompted by an Iraqi insurgent attack upon their fellow Soldiers wherein 4 of their comrades were killed and 3 captured by the enemy forces, and which many of these Soldiers believed could have been prevented if they had had more support.
Billie also notes this from that entry: "I am in Washington State and then off to New Mexico later this week for In Debt We Trust screenings (see indebtwetrust.com for the schedule) and will blog as I can."
The New Mexico dates are May 24th at 6:00 pm, Center for Contemporary Arts, 1050 Old Pecos Trail, Santa Fe, NM, May 25th also at 6:00 pm and also at the Center for Contermporary Arts in Santa Fe. On May 26th and May 27th, at the Guild Cinema, 3405 Central Ave NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106, the documentary will play at 5:30 pm and 7:30 pm (Saturday will also include a 3:30 pm showing) and Danny will be at least one show. If you're in the area, call (505) 255-1848 for more information on the Friday and Saturday shows and to find out which showings Danny will be participating in.
Two visitors and Martha note Ernesto Londono's "Baghdad's Theater of War" (Washington Post) report on The Intensive Care Unit, a play being staged at the National Theater in Baghdad
by "university students and recent graduates" and we'll emphasize this:
"Our play is a miniature of our reality," said Rita Casber, 24, the only woman in the cast. "It conveys the reality the people in Iraq are subjected to."
The cast lost two actors after rehearsals began several months ago. One man, a Sunni, was displaced from his neighborhood by Shiite militia members. The woman first cast in the role of the crippled girl backed out after opening night because she received an anonymous threat for wearing a tank top onstage.
It says a great deal about Iraq that a woman was forced out (and the "why" says a great deal as well). As to the one woman in a large cast? Considering the US's own token representation on stage and on screen (or, for that matter, in the pages of The Nation) . . .
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
the washington post
ernesto londono
danny schechterkpfk
kpft
wpfw
wbai
kpfa
pacifica radio
questioning war organizing resistance
jeff paterson
michael wong
pablo paredes
camilo mejia
ruths report
forest for the trees
judi bari
