Here, parade updates, listener call-ins, the latest on Joe Doherty,
a Kate Borger Irish music special from 5 till 6, and much, much more.
So join us as we celebrate the 229th Historic St. Patrick's Day
as it's led by the first woman Grand Marshal, Dorothy Hayden Cudahy.
And WBAI here will be marking the day with progressive analysis.
That's Friday, March 17th, from 9.30 a.m. till 6 p.m.,
only on WBAI 99.5 FM in New York.
Good evening, and welcome to News of the World.
I'm your host, Emanuel Goldstein.
And what we're going to be doing for about the next hour or so
is taking a look at the many different broadcasters of the world,
at least some of the many different broadcasters of the world,
and the different ways of life, different views that are currently going out over shortwave radio.
There are a multitude of different cultures that all broadcast in English,
and they come over your shortwave radio.
Now, for those of you who don't know what shortwave radio is,
you have to pretty much take a look at your current a.m. simple radio,
and imagine yourself going higher and higher on the a.m. dial.
The highest number on the a.m. dial is 1,600,
and the shortwave spectrum begins at about 3,000 or 4,000
and continues all the way up to about 30,000.
And spread all throughout those magical numbers are radio stations
emanating from all kinds of distant lands,
speaking in all different languages 24 hours a day.
And what we'll be doing tonight is hearing firsthand
some of what goes on over the airwaves.
Now, historically, we in the United States don't really listen
to other radio stations from other countries.
We don't really have a need to.
Everything we need comes to us right here on the three major networks,
or so we think.
What I hope to do tonight
is show how there are other views, other stories.
And hopefully at the end of the hour,
you will ask yourself if a half hour or an hour
or however much news you listen to in a day is enough.
Are you getting the full picture?
Now, coincidentally, in today's New York Times,
there were a couple of interesting articles
articles about shortwave.
One article in particular about shortwave
called Governmental Candor, Now Shortwave Staple.
Unusual title with no byline either.
Seems to have been wiped right out of there.
From Radio Afghanistan to the voice of Zaire,
more official government radio stations than ever before
are broadcasting abroad on shortwave,
and many have started downplaying strident propaganda
and overt ideology in favor of more candor
in their official newscasts.
Basically, what that translates to is
countries like the Soviet Union
and the People's Republic of China
have been more open
in their shortwave transmissions.
Now, we'll be hearing an example
of each of those tonight,
and you can judge for yourself
whether or not they are, in fact, more open.
Now, people who monitor these international stations,
and you could very well be among them
if all you have to do is buy a radio
and start playing around,
they say this trend is evident
in other countries as well.
Now, because of shortwave radio's range,
countries have used it
to project their messages across geographic
and often ideological and religious divides.
And, of course, some countries have not been affected.
Extremely strident propaganda
can still be heard on Radio Tehran
coming from Albania,
and Pyongyang Radio,
which comes from North Korea.
And some analysts say that Moscow Radio
has not actually abandoned propaganda
and its broadcast messages
have simply become more subtle.
What we're providing for you tonight
on this program
is a chance to judge for yourself
and hear it firsthand.
We're going to start things off
with a commentary
that was taped tonight
off the British Broadcasting Corporation.
And it has to do with the elections
in West Germany.
An extreme rightist party
has won seven city council seats
in Frankfurt, West Germany.
That occurred yesterday,
and Chancellor Helmut Kohl's
Christian Democrats
lost control of the city government.
The extreme right
National Democratic Party
took 6.6% of the vote,
according to preliminary results,
winning representation
in city government
for the first time
since 1968.
Let's go to the BBC.
BBC World Service.
And now we come to commentary.
The elections in the West German state of Hesse
have provided more evidence
of the decline
of the ruling coalition
of Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
And as Donald Armour of the BBC
now explains,
it's the marginal parties
of right and left
who are benefiting.
West Germany has had
two decades of humdrum politics,
mirroring its relatively placid prosperity.
Now things are changing.
In January,
Chancellor Kohl's party,
the Christian Democrats,
lost control
of the West Berlin city government.
And it lost mainly
to an extreme right-wing party
called the Republicans,
who made a sensational breakthrough.
The Christian Democrats
lead a centre-right coalition
at national level
in the West German capital, Bonn.
They grew alarmed
at the Berlin result
and looked forward nervously
to the results
of municipal elections
in the state of Hesse.
Now the most spectacular result
in this election
was in the big city
and banking centre,
Frankfurt,
which is also
the capital of Hesse.
The Christian Democrats
lost 13%,
cropping from nearly 50%
at the last election.
In addition to the Republicans,
there is another extreme
right-wing party
called the National Democrats.
And in the municipal elections
in Hesse,
this party has now re-entered
Frankfurt politics
with over 6.5%,
gaining seven seats
at the expense
of the Christian Democrats.
The opposition left
of centre social Democrats
and the left-wing
environmentalist group
called the Greens
made marginal gains
and are expected
to form a coalition
city government.
Meanwhile,
the Christian Democrats
feel quite devastated.
They see a trend
against them
which could affect them
at the next national elections
to a new government
in West Germany
and these take place
in less than two years,
in December 1990.
The Social Democrats
and the Greens
have been profiting
by default
from Christian Democrat losses
and they are forming
their own coalitions.
But the Social Democrats,
who are the other
mainstream big party,
cannot take very great comfort
from the voting trend either.
Analysts are pointing out
that the trend
is away from the big parties
and towards extreme margins
on both the left
and on the right.
The right are doing
especially well.
The reappearance
of the National Democratic Party
reminds one of concern
about them
20 or more years ago.
The reason for the new popularity
of the right
is the growing issue
of foreigners
living in West Germany
and West Berlin.
Both radical right parties,
the Republicans
and the National Democrats,
campaigned on an anti-immigrant ticket
and did very well
out of growing resentment
among German voters
at the large number
of foreigners
already resident
in the country
and still more
trying to seek residence
at a time
of high unemployment.
The extreme right wing
does not represent
a threat
to German democracy.
The latest vote
in Frankfurt
could be interpreted
more as a protest
at the way things
are going in Bonn.
So the signs
are not there yet
that the voters
are drifting irreparably
away from moderate politics.
On the other hand,
some commentators
fear that the Christian Democrats,
desperate to restore
their vote,
may be tempted
to copy
the more nationalist line
of the more extreme parties
in order to court
their voters
and adopt
an increasingly intolerant
attitude towards foreigners.
Meanwhile,
the Social Democrats
and the Greens
are already putting
the finishing touches
to the new coalition
in West Berlin.
Some observers
see the nucleus
of a new
red-green coalition
as it's popularly called,
which will run
the next national
German government
in Bonn
from next year.
Alternately,
the Christian Democrats
may yet find themselves
someday in coalition
with an extreme right party
instead of their present partners,
the liberal free Democrats.
It was a Soviet
prime minister,
Mr. Alexei Kusigen,
who some 19 years ago
once expressed concern
to the then German chancellor,
Willy Brandt,
about the neo-Nazis,
the National Democrats.
Brandt replied confidently
that the problem
would be resolved
at the ballot box.
It was,
then,
but now
they're backed,
the National Democrats,
hoping to make more gains
on the back
of a new mood
among many West Germans.
Commentary by Donald Armour
was broadcast
from the BBC London.
Well now,
if you're listening
in the Americas
and are finding
reception difficult,
this is the result
of an ionospheric storm
which is affecting
transmission
over the North Atlantic.
You may get
a better signal
by returning,
retuning to
a lower frequency.
Well,
in half an hour
from now,
you can catch up on...
And we're going to fade out
right about there.
That interesting
note as far as
a solar flare
or an ionospheric storm
is rather unusual
because of
the seriousness
of the situation.
In fact,
it even made
the paper today
a series of large
solar flares
each with the potential
to disrupt
radio transmissions
erupted in a wake
of an unusually
large blast.
One blast was
36 times
the size of Earth.
And there were
actually three explosions
on Saturday,
so we were affected
by that.
That was actually
the best signal
available.
A lot of us
have trouble
listening to
shortwave radio
for a long period
of time
because of the
reception
and the high-pitched
whining
and the various
difficulties involved
in listening.
But I think
you'll find
if you just
stay with it
for a while,
you'll become
used to it.
We're not using
entirely
material that
we've received
over the radio
in this hour.
We have some
tapes that we've
received directly
from some
broadcasters,
and we'll be
getting to that
a little bit
later on
in the program.
No, there's
nothing wrong
with your radio,
and there's no
point in smashing
it to bits
because of that
annoying sound
you keep hearing.
What that is
is an interval
signal, and if
you're a frequent
listener to
shortwave, you
would know that
interval signals
are used to
identify radio
stations.
What's the point?
Well, if you're
going down the
radio dial and
you're looking for
a broadcast from
some country, and
they're broadcasting
in another language
at that time, or
they're not on the
air yet, you would
have no way of
knowing when you
got to them.
This is an easy
way for you to
be able to tell
what station is
about to come on
the air.
In this case, the
station is Radio
Deutsche Welle, the
voice of West
Germany.
What they do is
they play a theme
over and over
again until the
hour comes up, and
then they stop
playing the theme
and usually play
the national anthem
or some time
beeps or something
to that effect, and
then they begin
their regular
broadcast.
This particular
one is...
the interval
signal for Radio
Prague in
Czechoslovakia.
And this rather
pleasant melody
comes from Radio
the Netherlands.
And other times
you may come across
continuous bells that
go on for as long
as 15 minutes, which
also indicate that a
station is about to
sign on in the air.
but these are only a few
of the sounds that you'll
hear on the shortwave
spectrum.
A lot of people listen
to shortwave, but they
don't really listen to
what is being said.
And as we mentioned
before, in this program
we hope to be able to
actually listen to some
of the things that are
being said on shortwave.
What we have now is a
tape that was sent
directly to us from
Radio Moscow.
It's called Moscow
Mailbag.
And what they do in
this program is answer
questions sent to them
by listeners in the
United States.
Some of the answers are
rather humorous, and all
of them seem to reflect
the new openness in the
Soviet Union.
But I'd be particularly
interested in hearing from
listeners as to whether
or not they believe it's
sincere, or whether, as
the article in today's
New York Times said, the
propaganda is just a bit
more subtle.
This is from Radio Moscow.
This is your program,
Moscow Mailbag.
And here's Joe Adamoff to
answer your questions.
The first letter is from
Reverend William Peake from
Buffalo Center, Indiana, who
is interested in Protestant
Soviet Christians.
Well, as far as I know, we
have two Protestant churches in
the Soviet Union, the
Evangelical Lutheran Church,
members of which are to be
found in Estonia and
Latvia.
The Estonian congregation is
governed by a consistory
headed by an archbishop.
The Latvian congregation is
governed by the Supreme
Church Assembly, also headed by
an archbishop.
Then we have the Methodists,
also in Estonia, governed by a
superintendent.
The Evangelical Christian
Baptists, which are very
numerous in our country, I
believe are considered to be
Christian sects, not part of
the Protestant church, or am I
wrong?
Well, you probably know that the
church here enjoys much greater
freedom nowadays, Reverend Peake.
It is now quite common to see
members of the clergy on
television or sitting in the
Central Election Commission
during elections to the Congress
of people's deputies, or say the
fact that over 600 Russian
Orthodox churches have been
opened of late, or that the
Prime Minister Rishkov visited
Catholicus Vazgen, the first of all
Armenians during the earthquake in
that republic.
These, in my opinion, are all signs of
the times.
Just the other day, there was a big
article in his Vestia saying that if a
choice had to be made when promoting a
person between, say, a religious person
and an atheist, a person's religious
views should in no way, directly or
indirectly, be held against him.
Reverend Peake would like your feedback on
a booklet he has sent, Training a Child,
which is Christian Literature.
Well, I've read the book.
I guess we both realize that to bring
up, to train a child is the most
complex thing.
I would say that we would subscribe to
80 or 90 percent of what that
booklet said.
I read it carefully.
The booklet says, parents are the
fashioners, the shapers, the trainers.
The child in adulthood will be the
person the parents have formed.
Then, let me continue quoting, children
who are withdrawn, uncommunicative, are
often surrounded by adults who are
strongly preoccupied with something
else.
Reverend Peake, we know in our country
that so-called problem children or
difficult teenagers often come from
divorced families or from families where
the parents are heavy drinkers or where
there was no understanding between the
parents and children.
I also agree that the maximum possible
demand or discipline must be enforced.
There must be the maximum possible
respect.
And we must show love and care,
forgiveness and mercy.
So, you see, we have very much in common.
In his letter, Walter Schlobaum from
Aptos, California, writes the following.
Let's consider construction standards.
In the U.S., we have very stringent standards
when it comes to how buildings are built.
Well, I have no doubt that you do.
An interest guide in Leningrad told us these
massive apartment-type structures are
completed in as little as 30 days.
Since the buildings are constructed without
concern for earthquake damage, it is easier to
house millions who need homes.
Walter, you live in California, which is a
seismic zone.
Our seismic zones are the Transcaucasus,
Central Asia, the Crimea.
I'll give you a few facts.
There were earthquakes in 1963 in Yugoslavia,
in 1970 in Peru, in 83 in the United States.
Now, the number of victims in these places
was several times less than in Armenia,
though the force of the quakes was the same
as in Armenia.
You see, in Armenia, all new buildings
crumpled like a house of cards.
But those built 25 years ago survived.
Why?
Because 25 years ago, in Armenia,
buildings were put up to withstand a quake
of that force, just like in other countries.
Then, some local officials decided it was
quicker and cheaper to ignore the seismic danger.
Nine-force earthquakes occur once in several
hundred years, they figured.
Nothing seemed to have taught them a lesson.
Even the nine- to ten-force quake in neighboring
Iran in 1978 didn't teach them a lesson.
Besides, much of the concrete used for the buildings
contained more sand than concrete,
as Mr. Gorbachev noted when he was in Armenia.
So, there was theft, there was corruption here, too.
Now, Mr. Schlobo, I do not agree with you
about the construction, say, in Leningrad or in Moscow.
Mind you, these are not seismic zones.
An author of an article in Pravda,
a scientist of the Hydrometeorological Institute,
says that all buildings not answering to standards
in the seismic zones should be torn down
to make them safe for people to live in,
and I agree with him.
More from Walter Schlobo.
While in the Soviet Union in 1987,
I coined a phrase,
the Russians could put 100 tons into space,
but can't hang a mirror straight in the restroom.
Well, I'm afraid that holds true
for many things that we did in the past.
I guess we have to live and learn.
Bruce Hightower from Greenville, South Carolina,
asks if any of the children's films by Walt Disney
have ever been shown in the USSR.
Oh, yes.
We saw the very first films in our country
back before the war.
Such films as Three Little Pigs.
We saw Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,
Bambi, and many others.
Mind you, we produce hundreds of our own.
Some are good, some are plain bad,
and some are excellent.
Very popular today is a series called
Just You Wait,
where a little hare always gets the upper hand
over the big bad wolf.
Gerald Cantlin from New Haven, Connecticut,
has this comment.
While it's an interesting ability
to hear you behind the Iron Curtain,
most of it does come under the heading
of disinformation.
I find it challenging nonetheless.
Well, Gerald, you're welcome to your opinions.
But I'm sorry, aren't you a little behind times?
Why not give me some examples
of this disinformation?
Have I disinformed you in this program today?
Do you call the unilateral cut of our army
by half a million men,
by 10,000 tanks,
6,500 artillery pieces,
and 800 planes,
do you call that disinformation?
Or our year-and-a-half unilateral moratorium
on nuclear testing,
is that disinformation?
Our 14% cut in military spending
and 20% cut in military production,
what is that?
Or take our pull-out from Afghanistan?
Or glasnost?
Are you sure it's all disinformation?
Come on, Gerald,
try to forget the past and be more fair.
Charlie Thomason from Longview, Texas,
who is a radio announcer,
wants to know how popular stamp collecting is in the USSR.
I cannot but answer a radio announcer.
Charlie, stamp collecting is exceedingly popular.
There are millions of collectors.
Not all are members of any clubs, mind you.
Why the stamp collectors are such a big public group
that they elected their deputy
to the Congress of People's Deputies
here in the Soviet Union.
He was cosmonaut Viktor Gorbatko,
who's been up in space twice.
He is the chairman of the Philatelic Society.
We have won hundreds of medals and prizes
at no end of international exhibitions.
Are there many stamp clubs?
Well, you see, there are about a thousand clubs,
what we call circles and sections,
under the National Society of Philatelists,
which has about 400,000 members.
They publish a monthly magazine called USSR Philately.
But as I've said,
there are millions of unorganized philatelists
that are not members of anything.
And another question from Charlie Thomason
from Longview, Texas.
How does the USSR select topics for its stamps?
Stamps are issued by our Ministry of Communications.
Now, the ministry has a board in charge
of issuing and distributing stamps.
They decide what topics, what events ought to be chosen
for the various stamps at the issue.
Then they announce a competition among the artists
for the best design,
and they pick the best ones.
Ria Ward from Grove City, Florida, writes this.
I have listened to Radio Moscow for over 40 years.
Well, then, in that case, you deserve a medal,
which I would call for patience and stoicism
in pursuance of understanding.
During my November 87 visit to the USSR,
I was approached three times by teenage boys
who offered rubles for dollars
at 25 to 100% discount.
How are these dollars used?
I suppose one day when the ruble will become convertible
into hard currency,
these shameful acts will disappear.
I understand that the exchange rate,
the official exchange rate of the ruble,
will change very soon at that.
But I guess the kids sell them at a profit
to those going abroad
and are in need of hard currency.
Mind you, all foreign currency stores
for Soviet citizens have been closed.
So I don't see how they could use
this money inside the country.
Ms. Ward has this comment.
I believe some unsavory adults
are corrupting boys who could be more usefully employed.
Give them hell, Joe.
Well, you may be right.
I would not rule out that there may be some adults
running this little racket.
As for giving them hell,
you know, the press has been doing that for me
for quite some time.
But I personally feel that the police
and the public order squads
should clamp down on this business
in which maybe a dozen,
maybe a hundred or so are engaged.
But it gives us a bad name
and creates a very bad image.
And we're going to have to fade it down right there,
not out of censorship or anything like that,
but because we do have other things to get to.
That was direct from Radio Moscow,
and you heard it here on WBAI in New York.
The program is News of the World.
We're exploring the world
and looking at other views,
other news programs,
which many people don't know
are broadcast every day in English.
These come from virtually
every major developed country
and quite a few other countries as well.
and we'll be checking out a few others
in just a couple of minutes.
We'll be right back.
It's coming up
And I can't afford...
Africa, I can tell by the switchboard
that that has piqued the interest
of quite a few people.
What we heard was part of government-controlled
or government-sanctioned, certainly,
global news services out of South Africa.
America, the kind of thing you'll hear
every day, every night,
in your own living room,
in your own kitchen,
wherever you set up a shortwave radio,
this kind of material is occurring all the time,
and it's there for people to listen to
and to think about.
And we're deliberately not passing
any kind of judgment tonight
because we want our listeners
to actually listen to what is being said.
Now, what does the United States say
insofar as shortwave radio?
Does the United States even broadcast
in shortwave radio?
Yes, of course we do.
If you look in the New York Times today,
in fact, you will see
in the word and image section
a kind of a graph
as to who broadcasts the most
on the shortwave spectrum.
You'll find the United States is number one,
followed very closely by Radio Moscow.
Now, where do we broadcast?
Well, we're all over the place.
We broadcast in foreign countries in Europe
via Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe,
but we also broadcast from this country,
directly from Washington, D.C.,
over a service called the Voice of America,
and that goes into Africa and Europe
and Asia and South America.
The one place it does not go to
is the United States.
In fact, it is illegal.
It is illegal to rebroadcast
the Voice of America
in the United States.
This is not even
a federal communications guideline.
This is a law.
A United States Senate or Congress
or something passed way back in the past
dictated that the Voice of America
will not be broadcast in this country.
Now, why is this?
This is kind of an unusual ruling,
and the reason is to protect us,
supposedly to protect us
from any kind of propaganda
that could be crammed down our throats
by the government.
The exact rule, according to the FCC,
the way the FCC translates
the ruling that came from a higher authority,
programs originated by the Voice of America
and the Armed Forces Radio
and Television Services
cannot in general be cleared
for domestic rebroadcast
and may therefore be retransmitted
only by special arrangements
among the parties concerned.
Now, this presented a bit of a problem
for us here at News of the World
because we wanted more than anything else
to, well, not more than anything else,
but certainly we wanted to
very, very greatly, I guess,
we wanted to show our listeners
what the Voice of America sounded like.
Now, how can we do that
if we're not allowed to rebroadcast
the Voice of America?
Well, we asked some legal people
over at the FCC
who were very helpful and understanding,
and they suggested that
if the signal was received
in a foreign country
and then somehow sent back here,
then we wouldn't be breaking any laws.
So what you are about to hear now
is a rebroadcast of the Voice of America,
which came, I believe, last week sometime,
was received in an African country
that wishes to remain anonymous
and then sent back here via satellite.
So what you are about to hear
is part of that transmission
here on News of the World.
And after that,
we will be taking some phone calls
at 279-3400.
So if you want to give us
some quick feedback,
we'd love to hear from you.
A major concern of government
computer users,
and for that matter,
private users as well,
is keeping their systems secure.
This concern was underscored
by events one week ago
in West Germany.
Authorities there arrested
a so-called computer hacker
on charges that he had conducted
electronic espionage
by tapping into secret
military data networks
in the United States.
This past year has also seen
more problems with computer viruses,
the kind of electronic sabotage
that can disrupt machines
and destroy data.
A number of firms specializing
in computer security
were at Fosse.
One of them was Enigma Logic
of Concord, California.
Company Vice President,
Joseph Hootman,
says security is increasingly important
because computers operate
as part of interconnected networks.
Well, it used to be
that the computers
were standalone systems,
and we could put them
inside a room
that had a secure door,
or perhaps even a guard
associated with it,
and there were no outside
connections to the computers.
Now, with the advent
of telecommunications
and networking,
we find that there's
much interconnectability
between computers
and people not
in these so-called
guarded fortresses,
and certainly the advent
of the personal computer
and the addition
to the personal computer
of the modem
has really opened up
this interconnectivity,
and that's both the facility
of this kind of networking
and the avenue
for computer abuse.
This sort of technology
has become
very widely available,
and as we saw
with the arrest
of a West German
computer hacker
last week,
it is possible
to enter computer systems
from literally thousands
of kilometers away.
Is it indeed possible,
given today's networks,
to maintain
good computer security?
The technology to do that
is certainly there.
It's in place.
There is hardware
that is capable
of providing lots,
as it were.
There is software
that's available
that can do this.
The problem,
of course, again,
is that many of the people
have not really been aware
and have taken the time
and interest
and have spent the money
to provide adequate protection
for their computer systems.
This is starting to change
now that we've seen
some of these events,
such as the one you mentioned.
And if that sounds
surprisingly like
the kind of thing
you might hear
on regular commercial radio,
it's not surprising.
A lot of it does sound like that.
There is subtle propaganda
mixed in,
especially on a program
called Good Morning Africa,
which is sent out
every night
and beamed over
to that part of the world.
So that was
the Voice of America
as heard
over in Africa
and then beamed back
to us
to make it all legal.
The Voice of America
transmits
virtually around the clock
in all different languages
and it's a very interesting
service to listen to.
And I should point out
in case people
are concerned about this,
it is not illegal
to listen to
Voice of America
in your home.
It is just illegal
to rebroadcast it
directly live
over airwaves
or taped over airwaves
without special permission.
Now, as I said before,
we will be taking phone calls
at 279-3400.
So if you have any
feedback or comments
on some of the things
that you have heard,
we do have a couple
of minutes for that.
And we do have
one more feature
after the phone calls,
so if you do have
a comment to make,
please make it now.
279-3400.
Hello, good evening.
Is anyone there?
Apparently not.
Hello, good evening.
Hello, would you be able
to recommend
to your listeners
an inexpensive
shortwave radio?
Well, I can't actually
recommend a specific model.
I would say
it's a lot easier
to use a model
that has digital display
because then you can
focus in on
a particular frequency.
Frequencies on shortwave
are very specific.
I see.
Like they'll say
turn into 9070
and you have to find that.
You can't really find
that very well
on the dial
unless the signal
is very strong.
What are you talking
about price range here?
Price range,
I would say
probably for a good one,
probably you're talking
about $400,
but it is a very
worthwhile investment.
It's a fascinating show,
and thank you very much.
I really enjoyed it.
Okay, thank you for calling.
Hello, you're on the air.
Yeah, hi.
One thing I'd...
If I could just make
a couple of comments,
I enjoyed this show.
Go ahead.
The best thing
about shortwave radio
is that once you
buy the radio,
that's like the last
investment you make
in it,
and it's a lifelong hobby.
Just two quick comments
for people out there
listening who do
have shortwave radios.
The shuttle transmission
are rebroadcast,
all of them on
7185 kilocycles.
And for people
who might be into
other things,
the drug enforcement agency
has chase planes
on 8912 kilocycles
upper sideband.
Okay?
You touch upon
a very interesting point there.
There are many other things
to listen to
besides actually
the radio stations
that broadcast
information or propaganda.
There are ham radio operators,
but there are also things
on sidebands,
such as drug enforcement agency,
the FBI,
all kinds of things
are hidden in there.
So it's...
Yes, you're right.
It's a lifelong hobby.
And once you get the radio
and you hook up
what we call
a long wire antenna,
which is basically
what it sounds like.
You run a wire
from the radio
and attach it
to a fire escape
or telephone pole
or something like that.
That serves to pick up
the stations
from all over the world,
and you're set.
Okay, thanks for calling.
Sure.
Hello, good evening.
You're on.
Well, good evening.
I should preface my remarks
that I rarely agree
with what I hear
on WBAI.
I listen.
I'm calling for the car.
I listen on the way home.
But I congratulate you
on wetting
some folks'
imaginations
as to what's going on
on the shortwave dial,
including Radio Moscow
and South Africa
and whatever.
I think it broadens
some horizons,
which I think
has a great deal
to recommend it.
And I would also
I'm pleased
that you didn't editorialize
for the most part.
You kind of slipped
in a little propaganda remark
on the VOA.
But by and large,
you said,
we're not going to
try to color your opinion,
just let you know
what's around.
And I think
that's a good service.
Well, thank you.
That's our intention
to just let the news
of all these services
be introduced to people
because the average person
does not even know
that Radio Moscow
broadcast in English.
That's the biggest response
I get.
I didn't know
you understood Russian.
Almost every country
broadcast in English
to some degree
and they all have
something different to say.
English is the universal language.
A lot of folks
would like to think
that's French,
but that's just not true.
Well, they do broadcast
in other languages, too.
They don't just broadcast
in English.
What's interesting,
if you do have
a shortwave radio
and you're able
to pick up
the European service
of Radio Moscow,
which broadcasts
in the daytime,
it's not hard
to pick up either.
You'll hear them talking
in very crisp
British accents
and then when they switch
to the North American service,
suddenly they have
American accents.
It's an interesting
thing to notice.
Radio Moscow
has changed
rather dramatically.
I remember
a million years ago
when I was in the military
and I was
an intelligence type.
Radio Moscow
wished me happy birthday,
which was supposed
to have unnerved us
and we know where you are
and that sort of thing.
Uh-huh.
Things have changed
a little bit now
with Glassnust
and whatever,
I guess.
Well, with the advent
of Glassnust,
I think shortwave radio
is going to be
a very interesting place
to listen.
It's always been interesting
and I think
it shall continue to.
Congratulations.
Okay, thank you
for calling.
We'll take one more call.
Good evening.
You're on.
Hi.
Yeah, back in the early 60s,
my friend Barry,
his father got him
a Halicrafters
vacuum tube
shortwave radio.
Beautiful black radio
with a chrome rim
around the dial
and we used to listen
to radio Moscow
and many broadcasts
from many countries
and stayed up late
listening to it.
It was fascinating.
Well, I was up in Maine
about two years ago
visiting my brother
and at a garage sale,
there was the Halicrafters
black radio,
vacuum tube radio
for $4
and there's probably
a lot of them
sitting around
and the only thing
that was wrong with it
was that the filter capacitors,
the electrolytic capacitors
inside,
had to be replaced
because those are the things
that deteriorate over time.
So if you can find
one of those,
just replace
the electrolytic capacitors
and they work fine.
Yeah, if you're
an electronics person,
you can find
shortwave radios
all over the place,
old ones in garage sales.
For the person
just being introduced to it,
I would recommend
something a lot easier
to understand,
mainly the digital models
and that way
you can get the most fun
out of it by exploring.
Yeah, you said
it's like $400
for a good one
and that might
discourage some people.
I thought I saw
some Sony portables
for about $100
that had digital displays.
I don't know.
The last time
I checked the price
was a couple of years ago
so they may very well
have come down since then.
I would suggest
checking in an electronics store
and just picking up
a copy of maybe
Popular Communications
or something.
They have the latest
models there.
By the way,
let me ask you,
a warm wire antenna,
about how long
should it be
and does the orientation
east-west
or north-south matter very?
Yes, the orientation
makes a difference
as to which stations
you'll get better.
East-west,
I believe you'll get
stations that are
to the north
and to the south
whereas north-south
you'll get vice versa.
The length,
the longer the better
generally
but any amount
of wire will help.
Any amount of wire
is generally good
and you'd be surprised
at what you can pick up.
If you're stringing
across the room
say 15 feet
from one corner
to the other.
You can try that.
You can try that
and just play around with it.
You'll probably pick up
some different things.
Well, thanks very much.
I hope this show
keeps on.
It's very good.
Okay, thank you for calling.
We have one more feature
coming up.
Before we get into it
though,
there's two books
I'd like to recommend.
to the listeners
who are interested
in pursuing this.
They are
the World Radio TV Handbook
and what that is
is kind of a guide
to all the different services
that are out there.
There are,
as I said,
many, many hundreds
of radio broadcasters
that have things to say,
that have news to read
and features
and interviews.
You'll hear exclusive interviews
with people
that you won't hear
over here
like an interview
with Mikhail Gorbachev
for instance
that you would never
hear the transcript of
in this country.
The World Radio TV Handbook
gives you a guide
to the different services,
how to recognize them,
what their interval signals
sound like,
and where to write to them.
And the other book
I recommend
is formerly called
Radio Database International.
Now it's called
Passport to World Band Radio.
If you have a shortwave radio,
it's very important
that you know
when something comes on
because a service
may be broadcasting
in English
at 8 o'clock
and then at 8.30
they'll switch
and start speaking in Spanish
and it can get very confusing
if you don't know
where to look at what time.
This book
I think
captures it
in a better way
than any other
attempt I've seen
at it.
And I'll give the address
to both of these
organizations
so that you can
look into
more information
on this subject.
World Radio TV Handbook
can be written to
at 1515 Broadway
New York, New York
10036
and Passport
to World Band Radio
at P.O. Box 300
Penn's Park, Pennsylvania
that's P-E-N-N
apostrophe S
Penn's Park, Pennsylvania
18943
And we'll be giving away
a couple of copies
of those too
at the very end
of the program
but before we do
let's listen to something
from Radio Beijing
here on News of the World.
Shortly after
the normalization
of Sino-U.S. relations
Chinese leader
Deng Xiaoping
visited the United States
During that trip
the China Central Television
provided extensive coverage
showing for the first time
to its hundreds of millions
of Chinese audience
a seemingly
spotlessly clean country
where everybody
was rich.
Truthful or not
every evening
the television program
brought every Chinese
with access
to a television
to the tube.
With their eyes
glued to the screen
they commented vehemently
on such lovely scenes
as the Disney World
and the rodeo show
where Deng Xiaoping
wore a 10-gallon hat.
Ten years later
that romantic feeling
still exists
for most Chinese
although many of them
have come to a sober realization
of their differences
with the Americans.
Last weekend
I went to the
Purple Bamboo Park
where English learners
practice the language
every Sunday.
I talked with about
20 of them.
My questions
ranged from
who the next
American president
will be
to where Hollywood
and Broadway are.
The most revealing
answers however
were on what
they thought
were the best things
and the worst things
about the United States.
For the first question
these are some
of the answers.
Well I think
students in America
started to work harder
than students in China
I think.
As we came here
a friend told me
and a friend
and American students
didn't watch TV
in their spare time
they just work hard.
I think Americans
do things
it's very effective.
I think
their peoples
have a very good character
they are very friendly
to the foreigners.
I think
the best thing
in the United States
is democracy
and freedom.
Work hard
spirit
manager system
I don't like
to say the system
I just say
the manager system
maybe the
important point
I think.
But what about
the things
they dislike the most?
Maybe the
rug
maybe
the
yes
maybe the
sex liberation
I don't think
that
we can obey
from
our traditional
culture.
Maybe
it's
just
another guy
I listen
to
sex
sex freedom
maybe
it's
a bad
sight
we all know
the AIDS
disease
right
this is
also
a kind
of freedom
right
it's
yeah
it's one
aspect
of freedom
but I don't
think
this freedom
is truly
good.
When I
asked
which American
author
they best
liked
none of them
could come up
with a name
although all
said
they read
American
novels
finally
somebody
shouted
from the
back
of the
crowd
oh
Henry
I
then
asked
if anybody
read
Li Iacocca's
book
which had
been
translated
into
Chinese
one girl
made
these
comments
I
read
several
pages
of it
but I
think
no I
don't
like it
because
it's
meaningless
sometimes
because
that
he is
American
and he
lives
in American
society
that society
is completely
different
from
Chinese
society
and
his
managed
his
managed
method
doesn't
fit
Chinese
situation
on the
question
whether
they thought
Chinese
media's
coverage
of the
United
States
truly
reflected
that
country's
reality
one
young
man
said
no
adding
there
were
too
many
negative
reports
but
another
man
immediately
disagreed
he
thought
the
media
coverage
of
the
United
States
had
been
far
too
rosy
all
the
people
I
talked
to
did
not
have
any
difficulty
answering
the
question
who
the
next
American
president
will
be
but
none
knew
the
name
of
George
Bush's
running
mate
well
that can
probably
be said
of
quite a few
of us
here
in
America
unfortunately
we have
to end
the
program
on that
note
obviously
that
report
from
Radio
Beijing
came to
us
from
last
year
we get
tapes
on Radio
Beijing
on a
fairly
regular
basis
but
I
thought
the
viewpoints
of
Americans
was
certainly
interesting
and
revealing
as
Beijing
People's
Republic
of
China
goes
through
opening
of
relations
with
the
United
States
and
with
other
parts
of
the
world
as
well
now
as
I
mentioned
earlier
we
are
giving
away
some
books
some
copies
of
some
books
for
the
first
nine
callers
we
have
copies
of
the
World
Radio
TV
Handbook
and
your
choice
actually
World
Radio
TV
Handbook
or
Passport
to
World
Band
Radio
so
hopefully
that will
get some
people
started
listening
to
shortwave
and
exploring
the
dials
for
alternative
opinions
not
just
on
FM
if
you
listen
to
WBAI
you'll
hear
all
kinds
of
alternative
opinions
here
but
there's
all
kinds
of
things
going
on
all
over
the
world
and
I
like
to
say
that
there's
just
so
much
happening
out
there
you
really
owe
it
to
listen
thanks
for
listening
to
news
of
the
world
my
name
is
emmanuel
goldstein
i've
been
your
host
for
the
last
hour
and
if
you
like
the
program
please
write
to
us
and
tell
us
you
like
the
program
and
maybe
the
folks
upstairs
will
make
it
into
a
series
who
knows
the
address
is
news
of
the
world
care
of
WBAI
505
8th
Avenue
New
York
New
York
100
018
again
the
first
nine
callers
we
will
give
their
choice
of
one
of
those
two
books
and
just
ask
that
you
be
patient
because
it'll
take a
while
to
answer
nine
phones
so
we
might
have
to
let
the
phone
ring
for
about
ten
minutes
we
will
answer
all
the
calls
that
come
in
even
if
you
are
a
loser
again
thanks
for
listening
this
has
been
news
of
the
world
and
hopefully
we'll
see you
again
sometime
stay
tuned
for
a
rebroadcast
of
the
evening's
news
from
Pacifica
and
from
WBAI
newsroom
this
is
WBAI
New
York
Good
evening
in
the
news
tonight
South
Africa's
ruling
party
backs
the
cleric
and
his
challenge
to
President
Bota
skeptical
reaction
to
the Bush
administration
plan
on
the
occupied
territory
a
settlement
in
the
feud
against
the
teamster
union
the
Salvadoran
military
admits
to
a
massacre
and
how
the
Sandinistas
are
dealing
with
aides
in
Nicaragua
with
these
and
other
stories
I'm
Amy
Goodman
and
this
is
the
news
for
Monday
March
13th
1989
first
to
Tara
Seiler
in
Washington
with
tonight's
top
stories
South
Africa's
ruling
white
national
party
today
backed
party
leader
F.W.
DeClerc
and his
challenge
to
President
P.W.
Boita
as
Ruby
Lloyd
reports
the
leadership
crisis
in
the
ruling
party
has
deepened
following
a
surprise
interview
with
Boita
on
state
television
last
night
where he
pledged
to
return
to
work
on
Wednesday
President
Boita
who
suffered
a
mild
stroke
earlier
this
year
announced
on
TV
last
night
he
would
stay
in
power
until
at
least
March
next
year
his
announcement
has
reportedly
dismayed
members
of his
party
and
smashed
speculation
he
could
resign
soon
after
his
stroke
the
president
handed
over
leadership
of the
ruling
national
party
to
F.W.
DeClerc
this
led to
speculation
that
Boita
might
also
resign
his
presidency
due
to
his
health
his
latest
announcement
however
has
made
it
clear
he's
prepared
to
fight
hard
to
cling
to
his
leadership
position
even
in
the
face
of
strong
opposition
from
within
the
ruling
party
almost
all
national
party
parliamentarians
have
called
on him
to
hand
over
the
presidency
to
the
clerk
and
last
night's
announcement
is
sure
to
trigger
off
a
bitter
power
struggle
within
the
party
meanwhile
the
South
African
government
is
facing
further
pressure
as rumors
grow
that
detainees
here
could
restart
their
hunger
strike
this
week
yesterday
thousands
of
South
Africans
marked
national
detainees
day
and
prayer
services
were held
all over
the country
to honor
detainees
some of
whom
have been
held
for over
1,000
days
without
charge
Libby Lloyd
in Johannesburg
for Pacifica
Radio News
Israeli Foreign
Minister
Moshe
Ahrens
met in
Washington
with
President
Bush
and
Secretary
of State
James
Baker
today
the
administration
reportedly
gave
Ahrens
several
recommendations
for reducing
the violence
in the
Israeli
occupied
territories
but
Foreign
Minister
Ahrens
isn't
expected
to
embrace
the
U.S.
ideas
Laura
Kanoy
has
the
story
the
Bush
administration
is
reportedly
asking
the
Israelis
and
the
Palestinians
to take
steps
it calls
confidence
building
measures
according
to the
White
House
if
each
side
sees
the
other
making
step
by
step
concessions
it
will
be
encouraged
to
follow
suit
and
the
current
political
deadlock
will
break
President
Bush
and
Secretary
Baker
were
expected
to
ask
Israel
to
ease
its
grip
over
the
Israeli
occupied
territories
those
measures
could
include
an
end
to
Israeli
destruction
of
Palestinian
homes
and
property
nighttime
curfews
forced
closings
of food
markets
reopening
schools
and
releasing
some
Palestinians
arrested
in
connection
with the
16-month-old
uprising
or
Intifada
Secretary
of State
James
Baker
didn't
outline
any
specific
steps
he
discussed
with
Foreign
Nations
position
that
the
Palestinian
people
should
have
political
freedoms
we
can
and
must
find
a
way
to
move
ahead
which
at
one
and
the
same
time
meets
Israel's
legitimate
security
needs
and
addresses
the
legitimate
political
rights
of the
Palestinian
people
we
reviewed
the
current
situation
in
the
West
Bank
and
Gaza
and
considered
and
we
considered
various
reinforcing
and
reciprocal
steps
which
might
be
taken
to
diffuse
the
tensions
there
but
Foreign
Minister
Aarons
didn't
publicly
endorse
any
of
Baker's
proposals
Aarons
reminded
Americans
of
his
government's
view
that
Israel
is
in
a
tight
spot
we
certainly
want
to
reduce
tension
that
is
an
interest
that
we
have
quite
aside
from
the
interest
that
the
United
States
government
has
on
that
subject
and
I
think
that
we
will
find
common
ground
on
how
to
do
that
it's
not
easy
to
do
that
considering
the
violence
in the
area
at the
present
time
the
U.S.
is also
reportedly
asking
the
Palestinians
for
considerable
concessions
unnamed
State Department
sources quoted
over the
weekend
said
the
administration
wants
the
Palestinian
Liberation
Organization
to end
violent
demonstrations
in the
occupied
territories
and stop
distribution
of so-called
inflammatory
leaflets
but a
high-ranking
Palestinian
official
in New
York
yesterday
dismissed
the U.S.
proposals
as not
serious
Palestinians
believe
the U.S.
is only
asking
Israel
to soften
its
handling
of the
occupied
lands
while
telling
the
Palestinians
to give
up
everything
Nabil
Shahf
chairman
of the
political
committee
of the
Palestinian
national
conference
said
yesterday
quote
it is
impossible
to ask
us to
stop
the
intifada
just
to build
confidence
the
intifada
is our
only
weapon
American
Jews
appear
split
over
Israel's
rough
tactics
in the
West
Bank
and
Gaza
Ira
Silverman
vice
president
of the
American
Jewish
committee
agrees
with
Baker's
premise
that
of
Palestine
is
another
question
we
believe
that
the
1967
lines
are
no
longer
tenable
for
various
security
reasons
from
Israel's
point
of
view
and
therefore
there
will
have
to
be
some
readjustments
but
we
believe
that
that's
exactly
the
kind
of
issue
that
the
parties
have
to
negotiate
rather
than
listening
to
outside
suggestions
such as
our
own
the
West
Bank
and
Gaza
were
not
part
of
Israel
prior
to
1967
while
trying
to
cross
the
border
from
Lebanon
into
Israel
the
conservative
Shamir
government
said
the
incident
shows
the
PLO
can't
be
trusted
to
stick
to
its
renunciation
of
terrorism
that
promise
made
in the
last
weeks
of
the
Reagan
administration
prompted
the
first
official
talks
between
the
PLO
and
the
U.S.
in
13
years
Israel
is
bitterly
opposed
to
the
meetings
and
during
his
Washington
visit
Foreign
Minister
Ahrens
is
expected