National Penn-Faulkner Award for debut novel seeming to have come out of nowhere.
Her second, The Shipping News, won the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and shocked
observers as a story set on Newfoundland took up residence on the bestseller list.
With her brutal third novel, E. Annie Proulx surprised reviewers once again.
This time, it was not a sweet sensation.
Find out why Monday, August 19, at 10 p.m. as we present Accordion Crimes, portrait of
a novel with E. Annie Proulx.
That's Arts in the Evening, Monday, 10 p.m., August 19, only on 99.5 FM, WBAI New York.
It's American's sucking need for light, the darkness banished to space, and the crazy
craving for luminescence.
And this is...
Sorry, don't mean to step on you there.
This is WBAI in New York.
The program coming up next is Off the Hook.
The telephone keeps ringing, so I ripped it off the wall, I cut myself while shaving,
now I can't make a call, it couldn't get much worse, but if they could, they would, for
the best, expect the worst, I hope that's understood, but didn't it know?
It's off the hook, 
people who have seen them or heard them actually the red box tones they're
different or how do you describe them they use 2200 Hertz alone single
frequency same timing yeah so it's it's basically the same thing as a red box
yeah they just leave out the 1700 yeah and if you if you have a demon dialer
you will notice that those those frequencies are there already and I
always wonder what they were for somebody told me they were for Canada
which makes sense because Canada uses the Norton telecom phones the exact same
kind that Centel now Sprint uses so that was interesting because I threw a
quarter and yes I really did throw a quarter in and I heard those tones and I
was like wow this is different totally different system here so yeah they the
local phone company is Sprint it's it's just kind of strange to see Sprint phone
books you know that's what they wasn't wasn't Centel partnered with GT and I
was Contell Contell okay yeah that causes a lot of confusion out there
Contell Centel yeah so anyway the conference went without a hitch I guess
it was you know fairly interesting you have about 800 hackers gathered together
in a hotel in Vegas all kinds of strange things happened of course everybody was
very paranoid about what we would do you know they had extra security assigned to
watching us but nobody really did anything of note that I can find out
anyway people claimed to have control of the hotel phone system but I don't know
if that's that's really true and other things as well hmm so nothing nothing I
can really report that was absolutely phenomenal I mean a lot of interesting
things a lot of interesting people to meet things like that went to the Los
Angeles 2600 meeting which was fun really hung out with some people there
where's the Los Angeles it's at the it's at the train station not unlike
Philadelphia hmm so yes they they have meetings all over the place so far I've
been to I've been to the New York meeting in a while I was at the
Philadelphia meeting in June I was at the London meeting in July when in
England and I was at the Los Angeles meeting in August I'll be at the Boston
meeting in September hmm yeah there's a lot of meetings to go to you don't have
to stay in New York although I understand the last meeting guess who
showed up who you'll never guess I you're right I'll never go you will
never guess go ahead give a guess you'll never get it who showed up at the last
meeting you will never get this um the FBI I told you you'd never get it
Mario Cuomo showed up that's what people are telling me anyway he's he he
was well he didn't come to go to the meeting he he was in Citicorp for some
reason and he stopped and asked hey what's all this about and he hung out
for a while and basically I think he was told he was told that the hacker meeting
was actually a computer think tank which isn't that far from the truth when you
think about it but his last words upon leaving word I think we should follow
this keep it up really yes so for all you people out there Mario Cuomo wants
us to continue there I think he really would because you know I've I've I've
seen him in person a few times and he seems to be a relatively straightforward
now that he's a former governor he could say whatever he wants that's true
although he did say whatever he wanted when he was governor and that might have
gotten him into trouble but I don't know I think I think he's somebody that would
understand the spirit of hacking certainly more than the guy we have up
there in Albany now but never mind that okay we've got some interesting phone
company things and this actually was from the New York Times yesterday and if
you saw this there's always interesting articles you got to read the business
section because that's where the articles are hidden AT&T's cards caught
in shift to deregulation deregulating the telephone industry may usher in
lower prices and a wealth of new services as government officials and
telephone executives promise but for people who own telephone calling cards
from AT&T this new era is starting not with a bang but a busy signal isn't that
elegant prose all right well over the last three months now you were a part of
this fiber thousands of cardholders from New York City to Oklahoma City have been
unable to place local or toll calls using their AT&T calling cards correct
right all right the reason the AT&T corporation has been dissolving
agreements with the regional Bell operating companies and the GTE
corporation that provided for these companies to carry some of AT&T's calls
over their local networks now if you place a call from Manhattan to West
Chester County using an AT&T card you are referred to a 9x operator who
informs you that AT&T no longer allows its cardholders to use the 9x network
that is what they told you right originally yeah okay to complete this
call you must dial an 11 digit prefix 1 800 call ATT which transfers the call
from the 9x corporations wires to AT&T's wires nice and convenient huh
why would you want to do that well it's it's only convenient if 9x doesn't
reprogram their new co-cut style phones to reject the number don't even talk to
me about those phones I hate those phones I don't want to talk about what I
almost did to one of them the other day they look and smell just like real
phones yeah yeah and even say 9x on yeah they really can't tell the difference
but why would anybody want to make an AT&T call on a calling card a local
call because I save all my quarters for laundry but why not use 9x isn't it
cheaper I don't have a 9x calling card well okay well I mean why don't you
have a 9x calling card I mean that's simple enough to get because I don't
want people who know my phone number to scan out the last four digits of the
calling card I say can't you request one that doesn't have the no used to be
used to be that you could use AT&T's or just a random 14 so when I was out in
California I was using my AT&T calling card right because my metro media card
no longer worked you my 950 number yeah they they sort of dissolved and said no
call the 800 number instead I said okay and the same rates well no it's 30 cents
a minute now instead of 15 cents a minute but it's just as easy to dial so
I told them where they could go yeah so they when I when I used it for a local
call out there it got routed over over Pacific Bell right so I guess the
agreement still holds there but if if if I had been in your shoes they would
have told me that I could only use AT&T I'd have to call 1-800 call AT&T yeah to
make that call okay so the only reason you would use it for a local call is
because you don't have a local calling card I mean I don't have a local calling
card and I don't use quarters for phone call the surcharge is more 75 cents or
something yeah AT&T well you should know you make all these AT&T calls yeah but I
never really pay attention just just write the check you know look at how
much it's for all right well now they they're implementing these these new
things let's see the FCC says is going to be a lot of confusion over things
like this and they certainly got that right in the days after AT&T's mutual
card honoring agreement with 9x expired in April AT&T even ran commercials
implying that 9x was blocking the calls of AT&T cardholders according to Gary
Scarrano the product director of 9x is calling card division that prompted 9x
to file a complaint with the FCC in which it coined a new word to describe
AT&T's action jamming yes mr. mr. Scarrano said that jamming was a
variation on slamming which is the industry slang for the illegal practice
in which a long-distance carrier switches a customer service without his
knowledge or consent jamming means they block the call then blame us and then
blur the line about who was carrying the call they were both about they're both
guilty of that seems like they're both trying to pull the wool over our eyes in
some some regard for its part AT&T denied that it misled customers at no
time are we trying to imply or did we imply that the baby bells made the
decision Ms. Kelly Statmore spokeswoman for AT&T said AT&T is advertising merely
educated customers about the benefits of the access code namely that the
cardholders call would travel exclusively on AT&T's reliable network
this reduces the danger of a call being routed to another long-distance carrier
which could charge higher rates without the callers knowledge
Ms. Statmore said this situation often occurred when an AT&T cardholder made a
call from the payphone leased by another long-distance carrier you know it's easy
to tell that though you know you don't hear the you hear like a fifth-generation
recording of the of the fading dial tone thing and some strange company name if
you hear a name at all which sort of alerts you that this is probably gonna
cost a lot so AT&T's policies provoke testy responses from the baby bells
because they're they're basically dissolving agreements all over the
country they've done it already with Bell Atlantic GTE Ameritech last Friday
SPC formerly Southwestern Bell right and AT&T plans to cancel its agreement with
Bell South and it expects to complete the process with Pacific Telesis early
next year Ameritech which serves five states in the Great Lakes region has
told its customers that its card was easier to use at AT&T's to place a local
tall or long-distance call with Ameritech's card one has only to dial 0
plus a number you know not that 11 digit prefix that's the other thing that's a
flip side to all this the local companies can now offer long-distance
right are you able to make long-distance calls and well you don't have a 9x card
yeah you'd be the last person to know well according to the your letter here
you are okay well that letter is something we're going to get to in a
second but 9x has added a twist the company recently came up with its own 11
digit access code now a 9x card holder can either dial 0 plus the number or 1
800 5 4 9x during the access code dialing access code ensures that a card
holders long-distance call will be carried over the Sprint Corporation's
network rather than AT&T's now they just let me throw this into the article here
but what does Sprint have to do with all this it just something brought
Sprint into it what why why is 9x routing over Sprint it doesn't make any
sense 9x has been promoting the access code in radio ads with the tag tagline
card 54 a none too subtle play on the vintage television series car 54 where
are you like AT&T 9x has been trying to reassure cardholders who feared that
their long-distance calls might be routed to an unauthorized carrier now
you've got some literature there on the card at 54 yeah so it seems that there's
a whole 5 4 conspiracy between 9x and Bell Atlantic two services that have the
numbers 5 4 in them that have nothing whatsoever to do with each other but the
the 1 800 5 4 9x is as you say it allows 9x calling cardholders to place
long-distance calls over Sprint and enjoy 50% off but the service in Bell
Atlantic has nothing to do with that whatsoever but it's called call 54 and
call 54 is their service mark for the new automated reverse directory service
and the phone number is 5 5 5 5 4 5 4 in 201 and 908 and soon to be in 609 which
was rather rather strange I think that they would both decide that they want to
use the numbers 54 I don't quite see the significance
all right thanks very much fiber I was trying to get somebody in the phone
could you maybe just talk about this a little bit more while I try to get them
because okay sure important thank you okay uh let's see call 54 well they have
instructions on how to exclude yourself from this new service it's basically an
automated reverse directory and it's accessed by dialing 5 5 5 5 4 5 4 and
enables non-cellular callers in those areas those areas being 201 908 and
soon 609 to enter any Bell Atlantic New Jersey published telephone number and
receive the associated name and address as it appears in the Bell Atlantic New
Jersey telephone directory and of course non-published listings are not
provided and they have instructions on how to exclude your name and address and
if you are in New Jersey you might want to take heed and call 800 282 6002 let's
see yes I'm sorry well we got beat by somebody that that that was supposed to
be our guest this week ah and he wasn't in when I called back so I gave a number
he's probably gonna call back okay and I have a whole big story about that too
but I don't want to interrupt you oh no that I was just uh what do you know you
know it's the same number right now I got a call again actually no it's a
different number it's a different number yes so I since you were in the midst of
that I was why don't you continue with what you were saying or we may never get
this guest um gosh well I come kind of stretching this unless you want to try
to figure out how you use the phone system you can you're welcome to try
that but I think you might have more trouble with that because it involves
hitting whole buttons and right numbers of things like that so well do we want
to say who our surprise mystery guest no because we don't have him yet okay but
you know what I'll give you this story here okay came out over the net and this
has to do with Pepsi points have you heard about Pepsi points and you knew
this is gonna happen at some point Pepsi point yeah is that like camel cash yeah
it's very much like camel cash really yeah it's basically they they came out
with this thing a few months ago where you could collect bottle caps or for
something I remember this all right well you have some fun with that I'm gonna
get our guest on the phone this says that this came over Associated Press
from Seattle someone by the name of John Leonard collected his Pepsi points and
now he wants his prize a fighter jet and he's not kidding the 21 year old
business student sued Pepsi Co Inc on Tuesday demanding that the soft drink
maker give him a Harrier fighter jet like the one pictured in a Pepsi stuff
TV commercial I'm simply trying to take Pepsi up on an offer it made to the
public Leonard said Pepsi maintains the commercial was a spoof and says it has a
right to use the humor in its advertising if we have to put
disclaimers on spots that are obviously farces where does it end Pepsi spokesman
John Harris said Leonard's lawsuit filed in Dade County Florida Circuit Court
accuses Pepsi of breach of contract fraud deceptive and unfair trade
practices and misleading advertising in October Leonard a student at Shoreline
Community College saw a commercial about the Pepsi stuff promotion in which
customers who had racked up points by drinking Pepsi beverages could claim a
variety of prizes those who finish a 12 pack of 12 ounce cans for example earn
five points as a joke the company also offered the 70 million dollar fighter
jet for drumroll please 7 million points that means Leonard would have had to
drink 16,800,000 cans of Pepsi to earn the Harrier except during August when
all point values double and he would have had to finish only 8,400,000
cans what do you think about that that's that's pretty insane I figured
this would happen with somebody actually collecting cans right this guy actually
wrote a check so it's it's not really well yeah it's it's mentioned in there
he wrote a check he he actually bought his points right he wrote a check for
seven hundred thousand eight dollars and fifty cents for the remaining six
million nine hundred ninety nine thousand nine hundred eighty five points
that he needed I figured somebody going around collecting cans you know for a
year or so would be able to do this especially with the double you know
right point thing and I was hoping to see you know some poor homeless person
wind up with a fighter jet I could that could definitely change things
economically in all kinds of other ways those Harriers are really nice you have
a vertical takeoff and landing you park and I know it yeah it's convenient put
it in your in your driveway yeah great way to commute okay on to on to more
serious things now we have not heard from Bernie S for a while and there's
there's a reason for that well we haven't been around for a while it's
moving but also there's has been even more bizarre developments with his case
on the phone with us now is Rob Bernstein who is a reporter uh-oh
Robbie there yeah I'm here okay we're getting some you know we're getting some
some bad noise on that phone line okay what we're gonna do is we're gonna call
you back again and hopefully get a little bit of a better connection all
right sorry about that we will call you right back gee how are we gonna fill
this time now well five perhaps you can talk about the jet a little bit more
since you seem very enthusiastic about that oh here's here's another story okay
it's good thing I walk in here all these backup stories it's just in yes let's
try calling Rob again police prepare stunning end for a high-speed car chases
you sure this is the right story okay it could be the end of the car chase as
we know it with the automotive equivalent of a stun gun science fiction
is coming to the aid of law enforcement a high-powered electrical device under
development at the Pentagon's Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi
Maryland is to be tested by police and Border Patrol agencies you finished yet
no but this could be in use by next year okay should I maybe you should fill in
the gap a little bit just okay people don't it says that this car stopper as
they're nicknaming it works by focusing an intense electromagnetic charge hey
it's the hearth gun yeah yeah when you short out the animals on on the
electrical systems that manage most modern engines disabling them and
paralyzing the car in the in the jargon oh they have a new name for it in the
jargon of its inventors the 150 kilovolt charge is a NEMP N-E-M-P NEMP or non
nuclear electromagnetic pulse and it says contractors are bidding to produce
a police version what do you think of that I think it's gonna change change
every every aspect of of car chases as we know it now what if a terrorist got
his hands on one of these things and aimed it as at a passenger bus uh-huh
and and NEMP we'll call it the verb NEMP the bus how do you spell that N-E-M-P
N-E-M-P yeah NEMP and and that stands for what uh non nuclear electromagnetic
pulse now okay non nuclear they're sure about that that's what it says
150 kilovolts coming at you well that's that's something how I mean how focused
is the beam are they gonna stop all cars when they're chasing somebody or you
know well it says it focuses an intense electromagnetic charge they don't say
how narrow the beam is you can have a lot of fun if you got a hold of one it
just says that the the directed beams are very precise and if you're like in
an airplane or something you could you could really cause some turmoil oh yeah
well they they point out some of the dangers here it says that the pulse is
powerful enough to disable an engine at any reasonable range and it would also
be able to disrupt communications damage television and radio sets and disabled
computers and even stop hard pacemakers there you go
unbelievable so there are all kinds of little hidden things that I guess you
know you have to really be clever to think of yeah speaking of which you know
when I was when I was traveling around it was it was ridiculous the the airport
security that didn't exist yeah places like Las Vegas you know there's like
there might as well not be a metal detector there because they're just so
wax you know now my beeper always sets off metal detector right make sense sure
okay so how come it didn't set off metal detector in Las Vegas it never did real
back and forth yeah and you know there could be all kinds of things hidden
inside this and when I was in New York at least they asked me to turn it on and
off you know right doesn't really prove a whole lot except that they are aware
that it's a beeper but there you know my change has sometimes set off metal
detectors keys none of that did over there well you got to figure if the
metal detectors actually worked in Las Vegas how would the mobsters bring their
weaponry and I guess they they have to be more considerate of that but the
other thing was they didn't check to see if I had a ticket I was able to walk all
the way to the gate without a ticket you know no problem whatsoever we able
to walk right out on the tarmac I didn't try that okay I didn't have a reason to
but it was you realize you know everyone's talking about airport
security and how important it is but I think we should be realistic and either
just tell people hey there is no airport security and people can pretty much do
what they want or we should you know start implementing real security but
let's not pretend that we have security when we don't because it's kind of it's
kind of silly now those those those metal detectors do they detect gunpowder
gunpowder yeah that's not metallic I didn't think so so now if you strap
dynamite to yourself right walk through one of those things it wouldn't go off
would it um no unless there's some metal foil somewhere but ordinarily no no so
if you want to blow up a plane we have to you have to go yourself too but you
have to wrap all this dynamite to yourself walk on to the plane and you're
on I mean that's it there's you know nobody's ever gonna suspect a thing well
there's nothing stopping you from doing that but you can only do it once well
that's true unless unless you forget something and you somehow managed to
coyly leave all your dynamite on the plane and run out again to get whatever
it is you forgot right nobody notices I know you could dress as a construction
worker and say that they're flares well that's what really concerns me all the
people that have access to planes you know yeah I think you know my theory
about this whole flight 800 thing I think it's gonna be proven to be like a
random thing like somebody like this inserted something into say a duty-free
shop item or or maybe some food or something like that I was just sitting
there until somebody brought it onto a plane that it was triggered by maybe
altitude or something I don't know I still I'm still suspicious of the the
possibility that National Guard conspiracy then that what do you mean
that the missile that a helicopter from National Guard might accidentally shut
off a missile don't you think they would have figured it out by now though no I
think they know that that's why they haven't publicly announced it so you
think there's a whole big conspiracy I think they're not a conspiracy but a
cover-up but there was an accident but so many people would have to know that
and cover it up you say I mean they're there they're actively looking for it
for information and well they're making it seem that way what do you think they
all huddle together before the news conference they don't talk about this
you know otherwise they'll catch I think that the people that need to know what
happened know what happened and those that don't don't well I think we're
pretty much the ones that do and we we we should know and hopefully we will but
anyway it's just it's important that we realize that people talk about security
and it's it's not really as secure as you might think
well definitely not yeah I mean whether that means that we're at more danger I
don't know because it seems to me that that you know human nature sort of moves
us away from self-destructive things most times obviously not all times but I
think to a much greater degree than we give it credit for well just just as a
tip for all the listeners and this was told to me in from a reliable source and
now this person said okay this does not leave this this state no it does not
leave the station by listening you can't tell anybody and this is not an
endorsement all right okay I don't represent this company in any way shape
or form but I was told that the best airline to fly is United uh-huh and
nice United t-shirt you have on them by the way no it is not I'm kidding and the
reason for that just to give you a hint is that if I told you why I'd have to
kill you hmm I know why I mean I think I know why
all right obviously I'm not allowed to say okay but if you if you watch the news
you'll you'll find out really because you see it oh do you see it in certain
areas okay yes but I'll be one of our listeners reliable source maybe one of
our listeners yes but no I've heard that backed up as well yeah that it's the
safest but only if you subscribe to that train of thought that it's safest
because of that reason well I guess I mean just like security you can't say a
hundred percent but if you had to make a choice I guess I mean you could say LL is
the safest for that reason too because they you know you have to go through the
third degree to get on a plane you can say Qantas is the safest because they'd
never crashed well I don't know if you could really say LL is the safest
because the Israeli government does not negotiate with terrorists uh-huh so if
you're a hostage on a plane that's been taken over by terrorists they're gonna
say okay blow them up we're not gonna negotiate yeah well okay let's let's
continue on with with our show and you know I can't believe this somehow we
lost our guest how do you lose our guest this makes no sense whatsoever he was on
the phone there unless some idiot picked up the phone in another studio okay can
you continue on with something while I call him yet again oh boy let's see
I'm really sorry about this oh the the global toll-free numbers the they're
supposed to be with the endorsement of the United Nations we're supposed to
have some sort of I guess I don't know if you could really call it
standardization but at least the way that they're gonna allocate global toll
free numbers is gonna be done I think through Geneva and 80 it says AT&T and
this is from a this is the New York Times yeah it's a Times article and it
says AT&T on March 1st AT&T and other carriers began assigning new toll-free
numbers with an 888 prefix and I'm sure lots of the listeners probably caught
commercials on TV already with companies advertising toll-free numbers where the
area code was 888 888 is supposed to be the same thing like an 800 numbers so if
anybody was confused by what that was it's meant to be the new toll-free area
code which we've mentioned in previous shows and of course they made it because
they were running out of prefixes in 800 itself and it says I I think this will
generate increased demand for international toll-free numbers said
Susan G Murbach the president of Belgium North America you don't have Belgium's
state telephone service toll-free service has grown into a vast and
lucrative business in the United States since it started in 1967 and AT&T
estimates that 800 numbers account for 40% of the traffic on its network or 80
million calls a day the telephone companies collect about 10 billion
dollars in revenue from this business every year okay you can stop reading now
okay I'm sorry about that you know what's weird is that Rob was on the line
and he heard us saying that he was disconnected really that goes to show
how totally messed up our phone system is here but but Rob Bernstein are you
there now I'm here okay great nice crystal-clear connection we're sorry at
this nothing else is gonna happen okay now you had a bizarre we haven't talked
about this at all yet but yes sort of bizarre instance sort of welcoming you
to the world of what's going on with Bernie yes sure in your own words tell
us what happened well I don't know if your listeners know or not but I work
for a magazine and we're doing a story on Bernie that we actually picked up
off the net I believe off of your site and so we contacted him for this piece
and I guess Bernie s and I have been speaking for the last month now to
develop the story which will actually be out real soon and at some point near the
end of the nearing the end of the story I wanted to send out a version of it to
Bernie s to sort of fact-check which we often do you know when we're completing
a story and I had known at the time I think that date was actually the 23rd of
last month just before deadline that he was working on a chain gang or something
to that effect at the Heritage Conservancy a chain gang still exists in
this country I guess they do I guess they do but I know he wasn't breaking
rocks I think he was pulling weeds but nonetheless a chain gang and I want to
know if I could fax him a document and didn't quite know the protocols for the
prison and I guess he was gonna go check and see if it was possible to send it
there well two days went by and I didn't I did not hear from from Bernie s so I
airborne expressed a copy of the story to him in prison and I faxed one I went
ahead and found out the fax number it wasn't too difficult and sent a copy of
it and I guess that got him into a little bit of trouble and I guess the
actual law is a community service rule the prison has and it says you you are
absolutely prohibited from meeting friends or relatives on the worksite you
will not use the telephone at the worksite to contact friends or family so
obviously what I did doesn't follow with that rule but they they slapped him with
it anyway I misconduct one so if you sound guilty of it I don't know how
people how familiar people are with the case but Bernie right now is serving God
I guess a sentence between 6 and 24 months so at any time I guess he was
supposed to receive a parole sentence with him at the fourth month but for
some strange circumstances I guess the parole office said they were having
computer problems he didn't actually get that parole hearing until the sixth
month so he could not possibly have been released at the earliest time of his
sentence and if you're found guilty of a misconduct one you cannot be let go for
parole for nine additional months so this misconduct one goes through he will
be in prison for at least 15 months of the 24 month sentence and I know he went
through a hearing and they found him guilty of the misconduct one and it is
now an appeal with Jim Henderson who runs the men's correctional facility
this is this really unbelievable because because he received the facts which he
did not specifically tell you to send him right he's facing nine months in
prison as a result of that yeah with our with I mean with our experience with
prisons in the past we've never really experienced this I've never dealt with
a story with a with a prisoner before but of course I received advice from
various other reporters who had done sort of prison reporting and never have
come across this kind of difficulty you know there's I can understand the
concern and in prison you know prisons are serious business but I sent in a
statement explaining what had happened now of late it after having spoken to
Jim Anderson myself he says that Bernie will not be found guilty of the fax
charge but there's another charge now that that almost mysteriously appeared
at the same time so my my explanation does not negate the misconduct one
because he is also being found guilty of community service rule 2d which is you
will perform all tasks as directed by your supervisor now I guess after this
charge and had been laid someone wrote in a secret letter and they will not say
who who was written by but that and that Bernie had not finished his duties while
while on this chain gang and what he had not finished was pulling weeds now Bernie
says that he had finished it he actually you know made a point of going back and
finishing his duties but apparently someone wrote in said he did not finish
his duties so he's just spent another nine months in prison because a few
weeds weren't pulled so it's an appeal right now and you know we'll know in the
next we'll know by Thursday whether or not they changed their mind Jim
Henderson seemed to be positive about it but there's no telling I mean what they
tell one person than another and you know they obviously don't want bad
press but you know I think I hope they see reason well now they also said at
one point that it's illegal for for prisoners to speak to the press right
you hear that this is interesting yeah Bernie said that in a meeting that he
had had in an appeal meeting that the real reason he was being punished was
because he spoke with a press now I haven't actually received that statement
from anyone but there obviously was concern from the prison about about the
statement that was made because I was contacted by the prison and they
explained that they didn't want I know in California I don't know what the
ruling is right now but apparently there's there was a recent ruling or
still pending I'm not sure that California State is not allowing
reporters to speak with with the press and they're trying to distinguish
between you know your great television hardcopy and not allowing reporters to
speak to the press I'm sorry I'm sorry now I'm prisoners to speak okay right
I'm sorry thanks for clarifying no problem we can speak to ourselves but
yes I mean it's it's you know certainly an issue right now and I guess they were
looking for some kind of consistency and the prison said you know they have to be
consistent and I believe in the past they've allowed prisoners to speak to
the press so I think as far as that's concerned I think they've changed their
mind on that as well at least when I spoke with them they said he had every
right to speak with a press so I don't know if you know they're they're speaking
with two heads they're two-faced or not but you know I you know things might
look up we'll know by Thursday and you know I'm considering that you know he
really should have been out in June yeah because he served the time that he was
supposed to serve mm-hmm this is completely outrageous I mean do you get
the impression that they're they're just gunning for him looking for him to do
any minor things so they could they could really put the screws to him well
it's interesting it's hard to say who's uh you know who's after him some people
say the Secret Service you know have sort of bent the ear of certain prison
officials and so on and you know really you're trying to get him to serve the
maximum sentence certainly in the courtroom I mean in my opinion you know
Bernie was really made out to look a lot worse than he was I mean this is a guy
who has just a serious curiosity in hacking and in telecommunications and
ham radio and you know they held that against him and they're you know they're
it's just unfortunate a lot of a lot of the things that you know that transpired
with his case happened during you know periods of time in American history like
the Oklahoma City bombing where you know we were just this country was just
scared scared silly and the courts are scared and you have the Secret Service
telling them that this is a guy who potentially can create bombs even though
he didn't have any bomb materials in his home right but the Secret Service knew
that he wasn't building bombs for some reason though they chose to say that he
was so I don't think it was fear on their part no I believe it's here on the
courts part I don't believe it's fear on the Secret Service's part what do you
think it is on their part um well there you know there's rumors about the
photographs that were found in Ed's I'm sorry Bernie's file cabinet I don't
refer to him by his handle well you can call me Ed Cummings is his real name
okay we're all cool with that yeah so I mean I don't know if that you've spoken
about that on your show before but there were four photographs that were captured
on film by Fox Network at a local Philadelphia 2600 meeting right and it
was enough shown all over the air and I guess it was unfortunate it was an
embarrassment to the Secret Service well actually those pictures and you can see
those pictures on our website too right www.2600.com they were taken by
somebody from his home when Secret Service or actually I think from his
office when some Secret Service agents came to visit and he has surveillance
camera running all the time and it was within his right to do that sure and he
simply gave Bernie a copy of those pictures one of them included the the SS
guys picking their noses and things like that exactly I guess they were just
embarrassed silly about this so much to the to the point where they really were
gunning for for Ed yeah and then Fox Network didn't help out any by in their
program apparently said something to the effect that the Secret Service is
checking on hackers but it looked like you know the hackers were even better
investigating the Secret Service so you know it you know it was obviously an
embarrassment and it wasn't Ed's fault he just happened to have these
photographs and they were found in his file cabinet a year later a year after
the incident and you know it's very possible these guys said oh god why our
luck we found him this is the guy so that's a you know that's what some
people say and I don't know but you know they obviously pushed hard in the case
with evidence they found in his house one one piece of evidence was material
that they introduced as looking like c4 but was really dental putty that Ed had
and so it's a it's just kind of strange that you would introduce evidence that
you knew was not c4 or some kind of bomb making material because the c4 stays in
your mind you sort of forget that it wasn't c4 you just think wow he could
have had c4 well I guess the way it was introduced was you know this just shows
good goes to show how important you know our finding of this dental putty and our
belief that it might have been c4 just goes to show you how serious this case
really is I mean that's how they presented to the court that we might
have believed that it was c4 shows you that this is a very serious case and
this guy could potentially make bombs I say I'd like to read to you a little bit
that something we published in this this current issue we printed the entire
transcript of Bernie's sentencing and it shows you just how outrageous these
people are this is part of the statement of Tom Barney Secret Service agent Tom
Barney from the Philadelphia office additionally your honor mr. Cummings
throughout his invest this investigation and throughout his federal trial made
various statements while in jail to a talk show WBAI in New York City
regarding this investigation mr. Cummings would call WBAI and make
statements regarding the Secret Service and other agencies and the courtroom
proceedings additionally your honor found in the search were copies of 2600
magazine and bulletin board statements regarding various issues who just to
make the court aware the 2600 magazines were originally founded by a group of
computer hackers your honor additionally covered in the 2600 magazine
the internet and various other bulletin boards electronic bulletin boards with
statements by individuals regarding both the federal case and this case currently
before the court today additionally there have been internet messages sent
to the White House and to the first lady mrs. Clinton regarding this case your
honor and also I would like to close with saying that mr. Cummings followers
have taken upon themselves to make this and that's where he was interrupted and
stopped from saying anything more by the judge but it just goes to show how
insane these people are they think that speaking out on a radio station putting
out a magazine those are real threats that's where you know where the danger
lies well I'd also say that I don't know this connection still still strong here
breaking up a little bit over there it breaks up that's okay yeah I have one
thing I would just add is I I mean I can understand to some degree with a Secret
Service after finding all the so-called evidence in Bernie's home why there
would be an initial concern just objectively I can understand if you saw
all these materials bomb make books about bomb making or or what have you
and and zillions of people have this kind of material but it just seems
strange after further investigation that it would have continued on so initially
I can understand why there would have been maybe an investigation to some
degree but obviously it's gone way past the point of reason in my opinion right
and they know everything we know they know you know what he did what he did
not do to continue this is just criminal it really is yeah yeah it's
unfortunate and I mean it's uh it just he's uh I mean he's either the
unluckiest guy in the world or you know someone wants to make him pay I don't
know yeah I think it's a combination but I think it's mostly the latter yeah you
have somebody who's being very vindictive and just wanting to you know
to screw you every way that that they can and these people have a lot of power
and when you have a lot of power you can basically do whatever you want like you
know in the prison he can be found guilty of you know of throwing a gum
wrapper on the floor and sentenced to a year in prison you know it happens it
can they can do whatever they want they can just lie they can they can do
anything well apparently now there's also laws going into effect so that
prisoners can now get due process because they can't right now in prison
the criminal system yeah the judiciary system in prison right now is extremely
crude and this is admitted by prison officials were Ed Stang it's just
extremely crude you know it's medieval and you know there are laws now going
into effect that hopefully prisoners will now get some rights and get due
process but unfortunately that does not exist right now there's a big anti
prisoner mentality that's being brought about today where you know it's it's us
versus the criminals and you know if they're criminal you're in prison and of
course there's more prisoners now than ever before in world history I think
it's over one and a half million people either in prison or on probation at this
point in time so yeah you're not going to get very much sympathy because of the
way it's being portrayed sure not when when you first stumbled upon our web
page and saw this story did you have kind of a doubt maybe that the story is
being a little exaggerated perhaps there are certainly parts of the case that
seemed exaggerated I have to admit but it's hard to say I mean depending on
who you speak to regarding the story I mean the story diverges into two
extremely different you know directions I mean you you're really talking I mean
if you know you want to tell the Bernie S story Secret Service versus Bernie S
you'd really have to tell two stories because they just don't match up in my
opinion I just believe that Ed got extremely unlucky and I think he he
pissed a few people off and I think I do believe that you know there's someone
out there to get him because there's just too much there's too much craziness
too many too many odd things in part was that the high bail settings were amazing
that the judges kept setting high bails that would put him into maximum security
prisons now you're talking about a guy who is accused of the intent to commit
telecommunications fraud so they're not even accusing him of committing fraud
just the intent okay now anyone can have the intent walking down the street I
could have the intent to commit fraud whether or not I do that is another you
know another story altogether so this guy's in a max he's received at some
point at two hundred fifty thousand dollar bail sentence and I mean that
puts him immediately into maximum security wings with with prisoners who
are have committed all sorts of horrible crimes and when I say crimes I mean
physical crimes including murder so it's just it's just strange it's it doesn't
match up and I don't understand I don't understand what the judges didn't see
this and and how they let this go by it's pretty amazing now the story that
you're putting out when will we be seeing this it's an internet
underground relatively news if Davis publication and it will be out probably
in a couple of weeks and you'll to read the full story I mean to really tell the
entire story it would take pages or volumes right but it's a you know it's a
good story and it I think it goes through pretty carefully all the
instances of the case up into the point just before this incident with a faxing
of a document actually went to press and then I found out about that after the
fact also the fact since then it isn't in there at all not it will probably put
up on our website underground-online.com updates about what's
happening certainly on Thursday will will post what happened to Bernie S and
whether or not he he received his appeal and I mean he's already served I think
seven eight months of his state sentence he's already served a seven month
federal sentence and it's crazy it is I understand from from people telling me
that he is back in the minimum security place now after serving 19 days of a 10
day sentence so yeah well it was weird there was a there was a legal precedent
that in the prison with with it always seems I mean with the Zutick plea in
regard to his case I guess he was first tried under this federal intent to
commit telecommunications fraud and he was also the first to set the legal
precedent in Bucks County prison in regard to this misconduct charge I sent
in a notarized document they read it and I guess they weren't sure how to
decide so they they decided to not decide for another five days so of
course he's in prison for another five days until they in the maximum security
wing until they they come up with their decision they found him guilty and then
it's gone into appeal so I you know they can they can find ways to make someone
stay over a prescribed sentence rather easily it's unbelievable okay Rob
Bernstein from Internet the Underground I thank you very much for being with us
this week and hopefully we'll speak to you again we'll update this case next
week absolutely the hearing is this Thursday right yeah it'll be this
Thursday okay all right well good luck and may all your stories be as
interesting as this one I hope so maybe not as sad yeah thanks a lot you bet
take care I was a Rob Bernstein from Internet
Underground it's an article I'm certainly gonna look forward to to seeing
there should be lots of articles to be articles in the New York Times about
this this kind of thing and maybe if listeners out there feel they can help
in some way getting publicity speaking to reporters yeah you know he really got
the shaft this time because they didn't want him speaking to this reporter but I
think in the long term I think in the long term he's he prefers it this way
that's that's my my impression that he would rather speak to this reporter than
not speak to him Farber nothing like when you were in prison no it was a lot
easier to talk to media people you were called CNN in fact that was you know at
least at least from a couple of people anyway but um the it's the same sort of
Mickey Mouse logic at work that never ceases to amaze me and probably sounds
completely ridiculous to outsiders but in fact it's kind of scary when you're
actually living under it that's true and we are all living under it in one form
or another even if we don't see it just just now unfortunately we have to leave
a little bit early tonight we have an update coming your way from San Diego
where all the Republicans are right now however we'll be back again next week
with updates on this case and all kinds of other things that are going on there
a couple issues we wanted to get to this week which we didn't and you know what
else we didn't get to we didn't get any phone calls we're sorry it happens
sometimes but we'll be back again next week with another fun-filled edition of
off the hook till then for fiber optics is Emanuel Goldstein good night
Oh
Oh
49% of Americans feel things are going in the right direction does not very
very early although getting later when the Republicans hold their national
convention in San Diego there'll be plenty of conventional wisdom on the
airwaves but not on unconventional coverage I'm Julie light and I'm Norman
Solomon direct from San Diego you'll hear voices infused that rarely make it
into the mainstream media tune in to unconventional coverage August beginning
Tuesday August 13th at 2 p.m. over listener-sponsored non-commercial WBA I
99.5
and you were tuned to listen to sponsor WBA I FM in New York it's 859 in the
evening my name is Scott Somer and normally at 9 o'clock we'd be going
directly to a housing notebook but instead what we will be doing is we will
instead be going out to San Diego for a report from the Republican National
whoop-dee-doo so why don't we do that uh why don't we do that as soon as they
bring that to us they'll be coming in about 30 seconds from San Diego we have
Larry Bensky in the Pacifica team sitting there to bring you the latest
scintillating tidbits of republicanism and joy and wonder the world housing
notebook will be with you at 915 next week on housing notebook we will be on
tape with a memorial tribute to Leslie Holmes who passed away in July as many
of you know and now we bring you out to San Diego for the Republican National
Convention update brought to you by Pacifica news you return to WBA I FM in
New York 99.5
from San Diego and the 1996 Republican National Convention this is Pacifica
radio's evening news update we need lower taxes we need less government we
need less nonsense and more common sense these are the principles for which we
stand with your help and with Bob Dole as the next president of the United
States we will indeed begin to rebuild the American dream Illinois governor
Jim Edgar continues the rhetorical superfest from the podium here in San
Diego good evening I'm Larry Bensky national affairs correspondent for
Pacifica radio with this evening news update tonight's session the second
session of the second evening session of the Republican National Convention will
feature three speeches one by House Speaker Newt Gingrich one by New Jersey
Governor Christy Todd Whitman and the keynote address by Susan Molinari
congresswoman from Staten Island New York that's scheduled to begin at around
740 p.m. we'll have a preview of that speech in a few minutes but first just
moments ago a Latino summit ended here in San Diego with over 40 Latino civil
rights organization