Pacifica's KPFA Morning Show Axed: Show Host Edwards-Tiekert Had Enemies

On Monday, four employees of The Berkeley, CA-based, Pacifica-owned KPFA Morning Show, KPFA's most popular locally-produced program - were fired as part of what was called a "cost-cutting" move. That includes the two KPFA Morning Show hosts Aimee Allison and Brian Edwards-Tiekert, and Morning Show Executive Producer Laura Prives and Esther Manilla.

Oaklanders know Aimee Allison as the local personality for Comcast, as well as a former candidate for the Oakland District Two Council Seat that's currently occupied by Pat Kernighan, who won another four year term on election day. Meanwhile, Brian Edwards-Tiekert was pointed to as the person who made "enemies" on the KPFA Board of Directors.

According to a source via email, Brian Edwards-Tiekert's name was on a list of people to be fired that was created, reportedly, by three members of Pacifica's National Board.

The email states that Edwards-Tiekert was a "key player" in the "SaveKPFA slate" that is in power after October's KPFA Board elections.

Arlene Engelhardt Targeted As Problem

KPFA Executive Director Arlene Engelhardt was targeted by Save KPFA members as the person who made the decision to sack The Morning Show. Save KPFA reports that:

Engelhardt has rejected most of the alternative proposals put forward in a Sustainable KPFA Budget backed by workers, the local station board, and KPFA management, and refused to reveal her own salary and those of other high-level managers. While Pacifica’s plan would lay off a large portion of the union staff, the Sustainable Budget would reduce bureaucratic overhead and board expense rather than cut on-air programming.

Engelhardt let go of the KPFA Morning Show staff and replaced it with "piped-in" programming from Pacifica's KPFK station in Los Angeles.

Protest At 11 AM

There will be a protest of this move today at 11 AM at KPFA on 1929 Martin Luther King Jr Way , near the intersection of Martin Luther King and University Avenue in Berkeley. Save KPFA asks you to call Engelhardt. Her office number is (510) 849 - 2590, ext 208 and her cell number is (510) 402 - 9880.

One week later - NOT a post-mortem for Democrats

Democrats took a shellacking, and it's partly my fault -- not because I took time away from journalism to help manage a Congressional Campaign against an incumbent Republican in Minnesota's Second Congressional District, rather because I failed to engage more people in the process.

Look, both major parties have a collection of loyal supporters who consistently identify as a Democrat or a Republican, and many of them turn out reliably to vote even in non-Presidential elections. Polls prior to November revealed Democrats were dis-spirited, Republicans were angry, and those coveted swing-voters (and the capital "I" Independents) had largely lost their enthusiasm.

It wasn't about facts, of course, it was about spin. Logic would suggest (if not mandate) more voters would align with Democrats - Obama had wrenched the economy out of a death-spiral, lowered taxes for most people, lowered the deficit, lowered the troop presence in Iraq, started the process of restoring the cost-benefit ratio of our health care system, and jobs were finally being created faster than they were getting lost.

Meanwhile, the media gave play to every story blaming the state of the economy on Democrats or the White House (hey, they didn't say they believed the story-teller, they just reported that's what was being said, right?) and let the Republican talking points about lower taxes creating jobs echo over and over even though that correlation has been dis-proven repeatedly: it certainly hadn't done so while Bush was in office for 8 years (but hey, the media never said they believed that, or talked about the wealth-gap, and they even let a few people point out that demand is the more logical driver of job-creation, but lots of photogenic people with convincing smiles and voices were talking about how taxes and uncertainty kept rich guys from wanting to hire people. They "covered" what was being "said" right?)

Bush oversaw record growth in government? Well, obviously that's the Democrats fault for caving in, don't they know how to run a filibuster? I mean, big government is bad, right? Unless it provides for our military defense, or social security, or Federal disaster recovery funds, or interstate highways, or border patrols and immigration enforcement, or keeping our toys from being painted with lead, or.... oh never mind.

Earmarks, we all know earmarks are bad, right? They account for nearly 1% of the Federal budget, and if there's one thing we know it's that if we all had 1% more of our money that goes to taxes we'd be just fine now, right? Not so much?

The point is: voting is not about logic. Advertisers have known that logic lets us rationalize our choices for centuries, and modern politicians have long understood there are two fundamentally different parts of holding elected office: there's the campaign - which doesn't remotely test the skills necessary to govern, that's the GETTING into the office part though - and then there's the rest of it, the actual wielding of power while in office.  Successful politicians master both, although there's no one "right" way to do either.

I failed to engage or electrify enough voters in my area; so the cable-TV watching middle class, convinced to vote by a carefully-crafted message laden with buzzwords focus-tested by so-called Conservative strategists that Obama and his "agenda" were leading the country to ruin, elected Republicans in droves in Minnesota.

Remember 2000, when we elected Bush? He was the sort of guy people thought they'd like to have a beer with. Now Minnesota voters face a recount for the Governor because they were reassured by a guy who tried to lower drunk-driving penalties after he got cited for that very offence, because he's told them the $6 BILLION deficit our current (Republican) governor proclaimed as a crisis is mostly just an accounting and spending problem... although he can't explain just how that's going to work, but it's very, very reassuring that somebody knows it can be fixed if voters just trust Republicans.

Post-mortem? No, if there was logic in the outcome of the November 2nd elections it might rise to that level; from here on the ground in Minnesota, looking at the numbers, and the facts, it's a wake-up call for Democrats: they were out-strategized. (Yes, I know, I made that word up. You're one of those logical people, aren't you?) Worse yet, there were voices they could have heeded.

Voters were, in a word, hoodwinked. Democratic politicians lost ground by losing lots of elections to a bunch of slick, experienced, successful Used Country Salesmen. And right here in Minnesota, it's partly my fault.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, political strategist, and photographer who recently worked as the Campaign Manager on the Madore For Congress campaign in Minnesota's 2nd District. He contributes regularly to a host of other web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community. He'll be more active again here at Zennie's now, unless maybe there's a vote recount in an important election in Minnesota.  Oh, wait...

Wade Phillips Fired? Cowboys' Jerry Jones Should Step Down

This blogger has nothing but complete admiration for Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones. Mr. Jones took a once-proud franchise and brought it back to Super Bowl glory, building the dynasty of the 90s, winning Super Bowls three times in 1993, 1994, and then 1996.  

But the Cowboys have fallen on hard times in the 21st Century, and in the matter of Wade Phillips, who was fired by Jones today, the real problem remains at the top: Jones himself.

Jones achieved success with Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer as head coaches, and the use of an offensive line that was the first majority-African American line, with each player over 300 pounds. The Cowboys used that advantage to build a power running game, and a stretch-the-field Ernie Zampese / Norv Turner passing game. All of this allowed Jerry Jones to look like a genius and be the face of the Dallas Cowboys - a behavior in direct violation of former Cowboys Owner, the late Clint Murchison.

Clint Murchison, or Mr. Murchison, did something that arguably established the organizational stability around which the Dallas Cowboys were originally built. In 1964 Mr. Murchison signed then young Cowboys Head Coach Tom Landry, their first, to a 10 year contract. And he did this as the Cowboys first four years were totally awful, starting 0-11-1, and the next three years with no more than five wins a season.

Clint Murchison, who believed in hiring experts and stepping out of the way, left management of the Dallas Cowboys to the NFL's first well-known tripplets: Coach Landry, General Manager Tex Schramm, and Vice President of Player Personnel Gil Brandt.  That group produced the NFL's longest winning streak, the best winning percentage in the NFL, and a mark of success that stands largely unchallenged today.

Jerry Jones Fires Wade Phillips

Jerry Jones fired Wade Phillips because he didn't see a positive future for the organization on the field after the Cowboys were pasted 45 to 7 by the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night.  Jones took the action after saying he would not make any decisions until after the season.  That Jones went against his own statement and bowed to media pressure is but one example of why he should remove himself from the title of "General Manager" of the Dallas Cowboys.

Jerry Jones' constant meddling with the organization has produced a climate of "win-now-or-else" which flies in the face of the actions one takes to create organizational stability.  Moreover, Mr. Jones is not a "system guy," and seems to have almost an aversion to developing system-based organizations.

None of his head coaches are known for creating innovative schemes or coherent organizational structures.  Indeed, the very placement of Jerry Jones at the general manager helm eliminates the development of such organizational systems and the selection of "system coaches."  In other words, coaches that are known for innovations on offense and defense.

One could go a step further and assert that such a coach would have a name that would overshadow that of "Jerry Jones" and Jones may not like that.  In fact, there's ample evidence to back such a claim in how Jones got along with Jimmy Johnson in the years before Jimmy left the Cowboys.

The best episode was told by Sports Illustrated's Peter King in 1994.  Jones simply had to be part of the action, even if he didn't know what he was doing in terms of running the organization. Consider this damning paragraph:

The day before the 1992 NFL draft, the Dallas brain-trust—Johnson, Jones and Ackles—formulated a trade to offer the Cleveland Browns. Late that day, after Jones had left the office, Cleveland coach Bill Belichick called back to say he would do the deal, and the Cowboys announced it. On draft day Jones came to the office upset that he hadn't been called when the deal was confirmed, and he asked to see Johnson. Their meeting droned on until, with only five minutes left before the start of the draft, Jones told Johnson, "You know the ESPN camera is in the draft room today. So whenever we're about to make a pick, you look at me, like we're talking about it." In other words, Make me look as if I'm a big player here, even though we all know I'm not making the picks.

Jerry Jones inability to recognize when feeding his ego becomes a problem, is the problem. It's why Jerry Jones must, with all deliberate speed, fire himself as General Manager of The Dallas Cowboys. Otherwise, Dallas will never achieve Super Bowl level success, perhaps for decades.

Brian David Mitchell Pleads Insanity

The Salt Lake Tribune online reports that Brian David Mitchell is pleading insanity.

A back story about Mitchell is that he thinks that he is an angel sent from heaven to correct the Morman  Church by restoring its fundamental values. He and his wife allegedly kidnapped Elizabeth Smarth (14-years-old at the time) and held her captive for nine months.

The thought that this man could be insane does not seem too shocking, but he is just now pleading insanity. To back up this plea The Salt Lake Tribute posts information about Mitchell's early years.

The 57-year-old showed psychosis as a teenager according to Parker Douglas, Mitchell's attorney. Douglas tells The Salt Lake Tribune that Mitchell's grandfather was diagnosed and hospitalized for paranoid schizophrenia.

Insanity doesn't seem too far fetched.

Oakland Mayor's Race: Final Ballot Count Delay Due To Provisional Ballots

The much-anticipated final Oakland Mayor's Race ballot count that was to take place at 4 PM today (and had television media rushing to the Alameda County Registrar's Office at 4 PM just as this video blogger was leaving) has been delayed around 24 hours.

According to David Mac Donald, who was the hero of the Alameda County effort to handle the massive turnout for the 2008 Presidential Election that saw Barack Obama elected the first African-American President of The United States, the reason is a "crowded election."

"We've had more ballots to process in this election, than in any election in history," Mac Donald said. "And the reason is because with Ranked Choice Voting, every voter in Oakland, Berkeley, and San Leandro got three ballot cards. And so it's triple the amount of paper that we have to handle. So it's been a big effort, but we're making a lot of progress. We're getting there."

Mac Donald said that he's received calls and visits from "some of the candidates" who have been watching the count closely.

And for good reason.

When the first round Oakland Mayor's Race ballots were counted, Former Senator Don Perata was ahead of Councilmember Jean Quan 33.96 percent to 24.54 percent, with At-Large Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan close by at 21.48 percent.   Only a massive transfer of votes in the second round of counting to determine voters second choice could place Jean Quan ahead.  That happened.

When the second round and successive rounds were calculated to get to a 50 percent majority for one candidate first, (now former as of January 2011) Oakland Councilmember Jean Quan took the lead:

10th round (final)

43,825 - 51.09% - Jean Quan
41,949 - 48.91% - Don Perata

9th round
36,816 - 40.21% - Don Perata
28,399 - 31.02% - Jean Quan
26,333 - 28.76% - Rebecca Kaplan

(Transferred 15,426 to Jean Quan / 5,133 for Don Perata, which is the "impossible scenario" some observers offered.)

When that was reported, the Perata camp's collective head sunk, and the Quan supporters broke out the bubby:



And for good reason: Quan will be Oakland's first Asian and female mayor if the lead holds up.

Meanwhile, this blogger fielded calls, emails, and messages of concern that Quan, considered at times aloof and insensitive, was going to be Oakland's new leader.

The difference as of this writing is just 1,876 votes between Perata and Quan. And, according to the Registrar of Voters there were over 10,000 absentee ballots that were counted, but an unknown number of provisional ballots that are being counted.

It's the provisional ballots that are taking more time.

What are they? I can use myself to give an example. The information containing my polling location was incorrect, so in going to what was printed as the correct place, that was closed. In a rush, I went over to vote at another location, where I filled out a "provisional ballot."

The problem for David Mac Donald and his crew at the Registrar of Voters, is that a ballot that was filled out from someone who lives in Livermore, but dropped off in Oakland, creates more sorting work for that person. David Mac Donald's people have to separate those provisional ballots and then count the Oakland-based ballots that deal with Oakland, and those are "Ranked Choice Voting" designed.

Got it?

With all this, it's too early for anyone to celebrate. Still, we have to allow Jean Quan's supporters a moment of partying and drinking, considering their hard work. "Gaming" the Ranked Choice Voting system - telling supporters who to vote for - worked. Moreover, Kaplan and Quan teamed up to battle against Perata, who didn't try to "game" the system. In doing so they set model for future Oakland elections.

Good or bad for Oakland? That's for discussion.

Wade Phillips Fired: Cowboys' Jerry Jones Pulls "Tom Landry Card"

According to just one media source, Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Wade Phillips has been fired of today, according to CBS News Dallas and the AP.

There was no official press release as of this writing, and a number of media people are stumped and confused, even though this is the move many of them wanted.   They should not be surprised; Jones treated Tom Landry the same way, and he was The Dallas Cowboys.

 Fox Sports super-analyst Jay Glazer reflected the confusion when he tweeted five hours ago this:

Jay_Glazer Jay Glazer
Those close to wade who have spoken w him today says he doesn't think anything is going down w him today.

And for the next four hours, Jay's tweets reflected the total state of media confusion around the Sports world:

Jay_Glazer Jay Glazer
They have not yet fired wade but they are strongly leaning toward doing it but again, coaches have been told nothing

Finally, Jay, and everyone else, got the word that Wade Phillips was fired.

And still no official press release from the Dallas Cowboys. But the Dallas Cowboys website is up, reports were that it was down, and reflecting the news that Wade Phillips was fired from the team as head coach.

And the media's surprised over the approach. Why? Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones is pulling his Tom Landry card.

Yep. The legendary Tom Landry. Remember bim? In 1989, the season of the Cowboys worst year before this point in 2010, Coach Landry, this blogger's hero, discovered Jones fired him via a radio program, not by Jones himself.

What's even worse, Jones actually flew Wade Phillips on his private plane from Green Bay, back to the DFW Metroplex Sunday night.

In other words, Jones didn't have the guts or respect for Phillips to fire him personally.

Instead, Jones, who's business acumen I admire, but not his football management skills, asked, of all people, Cowboys Offensive Coordinator Jason "No-Merit" Garrett to be the interim head coach.

Why.  Word in the Cowboys blogsphere is the players don't like Garrett.

It's clear the one change Jerry Jones should have made, the one he needed to make, was to fire himself.  To take himself out of the decision making picture.

Unemployment News: The United States of Inequality

When it comes to the unemployment news in America, our country would more aptly be named: The United States of Inequality. The larger the disparity between the “Haves” and the “Have Nots” - the worse things will continue to get in America.

*From the year 1915 thru 1980, the yearly medium income in the USA rose over $13,000.00 per year. However, between 1980 and 2008, the average income only rose about $300.00 per year.

In 1980 the richest 1 percent accounted for 18% of the nation's income. Today, the richest 1 percent accounts for 24% of the nation's income. The distribution of wealth in America is as out of balance as it has ever been.

In his 2007 book The Conscience of a Liberal, the Nobel laureate, Princeton economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman labeled the post-1979 period the "Great Divergence."

"It's generally understood that we live in a time of growing income inequality, but the ordinary person is not really aware of how big it is," according to Krugman. During the late 1980s and the late 1990s, the United States experienced two unprecedentedly long periods of sustained economic growth—the "seven fat years" and the " long boom." Yet from 1980 to 2005, more than 80 percent of total increase in Americans' income went to the top 1 percent. Economic growth was more sluggish in the eighties, but the decade saw productivity increase by about 20 percent. Yet virtually none of the increase translated into wage growth at middle and lower incomes, an outcome that left many economists scratching their heads.

Today, incomes in the U.S. are more unequal than in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, not less so. It has barely entered the national political debate. Why? Because politicians are among the “Haves” and really do not give a damn about the “Have Nots” - period. Even the President has neglected to acknowledge the plight of the 99ers.

In the his interview, which aired on 60 minutes yesterday (see video below) - President Obama discussed the unemployment problem in the US, the political ramifications of last Tuesday’s election and the tax cuts he was responsible for giving to all Americans. But tax cuts mean NOTHING to those without any income.
Is there a reporter with access to the President with the “stones” to ask our President, point blank about the terrible suffering of 5 million 99ers in this country with no income now for 8 months and what he intends to do about that?

I am a 99er, so I feel that pain and panic everyday that I cannot find a job. Many, like me are at the point where we barely have gas money left to continue our futile job search efforts, let alone money to pay for rent, food and other survival necessities.

In my article: Tax Cuts for Rich or 12 Million New Jobs
I reported that, (per Demos - a nonpartisan public policy group) You can get 12 million people back to work in this country for the $700 billion a year that the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans would cost.

Isn’t it a much better use of that money to put Americans back to work, so we can begin to pay the income taxes required to eventually PAY DOWN THE DEBT? It is a concept even an idiot could understand, but apparently the Republicans cannot get it at all.

But, President Obama is a Democrat, right? So Mr. President, what will you do to save the millions of American 99ers? Please, whatever you do - DO NOT compromise with the Republicannots on this outrageous tax cut extension for the top wealthiest Americans!

* Source was The Dylan Ratigan Show, MSNBC 11-8-2010