KPFA has been around since 1949. It was started by an anarchist pacifist in our beloved Berkeley, CA. I’m sure you can see where this one’s going. It has a pretty strong signal throughout Northern California, you can listen to it on this newfangled internet and, if some of it’s programming is carried on the Pacifica Network so you can hear the shows which are carried on some of the NPR stations. What does all of this have to do with anything? Not much. Other than the Berkeley angle.
Not much comes out of Berkeley that is relevant to the rest of civilization. Occasionally, I get a chuckle out of their stupidity. I did have a pretty good laugh about the Berkeley city council’s brilliant decision to allow a bunch of out of touch nutjobs with too much time on their hands to completely disrupt a business district whilst protesting in front of a Marine Corp recruiting station. Well, I didn’t laugh at the Marines or the unfortunate business owners who had to endure the drama orchestrated by the treasonous council. I laughed at said traitors who tripped over themselves backpedaling when they realized they how foolish they looked.
But the latest from KPFA puts a smile on my face. There was drama there in the late 1990′s because somebody or other felt that Pacifica and KPFA were becoming too mainstream. Essentially, that’s what it came down to. There were protests, firings, arrests, etc. 10 years later, does anybody remember or care? I don’t. And normally, I don’t pay too much attention to anything related to KPFA until I saw this little tidbit in the paper.
In case you have no desire to read the entire article, allow me to summarize. There was a black woman (that doesn’t seem to have any bearing on the story until “Minister of Information” is quoted as saying, “The station reports on police terrorism. Police should not have been called to deal with a black woman”) who was a volunteer at the station. She wasn’t wanted there anymore and there’s some question as to whether she was told she was unwanted. Either way, management told her to leave. She didn’t. They called the police and when officers arrived, she started acting a fool. When they tried to remove her, she punched and bit the officers. Personally, if you bite me, you’d better have a very good dental plan because I’ll kick your teeth down your throat. Regardless, she went to jail. And now the bellyachers at KPFA are doing their thing. Here are a couple of highlights:
In an e-mail two days after the incident, interim General Manager Lemlem Rigio said Foster had been banned and called a staff meeting to discuss what had happened.
“It is important for you to know that the Berkeley Police acted independent of direction from KPFA,” Rigio wrote. “We are extremely concerned about this incident and are deeply committed to hearing your important comments and feedback.”
I wasn’t aware that KPFA directed the police. You call the police and tell them you want somebody gone, then when they start fighting the officers, you call time out? Right.
Dan Siegel, an attorney for Pacifica Radio, said management felt afraid when Foster refused to leave.
“Everyone is appalled at what occurred, but I’m not sure I would blame the person who called the police,” he said. “Our staff people have the right to work in a safe environment.
“It does seem that the big number of armed police officers could have escalated the situation.”
The police escalated the situation? No, I think the idiot who started punching and biting escalated the situation.
No end in sight to the funny stuff oozing from Berkeley like shit from a broken sewer pipe.