The Treaty with Iran, Liberty vs Security and More on the Classical South Florida Mess

                                                     

The Treaty with Iran

No matter how much opposition to the "Nuclear Research Limitation / Removal of Sanctions" Treaty with Iran there is in Congress, and in Iran for that matter, the Treaty’s provisions cannot be stopped from going into effect. 

Even if Congress rejects it and overrides a Presidential veto, the European parties to the Treaty will still go ahead with it. and of course, Iran will.  Once they remove their sanctions, our continuing the ones we have imposed will be a waste of time and effort.  So for all intents and purposes, the Treaty is now a “done deal.”

Advocates of letting Iran keep its nuclear research on a track to fully develop into a program for the building of nuclear weapons would be well served by encouraging the defeat of the Treaty not only by our Congress and by the other parties involved.  That is because the treaty puts significant restrictions on their nuclear research program, without which its use to develop nuclear weapons would progress unimpeded.    The treaty, on the other hand, adds to the security of the rest of the Middle East and in addition, to mollify Israeli opposition to the it, the United States is augmenting its military assistance to that nation.  Bottom line is that opposition to the treaty is tantamount to giving Iran nuclear weapons as soon as possible, something none of us in the West want.

In most people’s eyes, Iran is a “bad guy,” supporting terrorism and undermining governments throughout the Middle East.  It supports Assad in Syria.  It supports Hezbollah there and in Lebanon.  It supports Hamas in Israel.  It supports rebels in Sunni states throughout the Middle East, as evidenced by its behavior in Yemen.  The only saving grace it has is its opposition to the Islamic State (ISIS).  The changes which the removal of sanctions will bring about in Iran's economy, particularly in its gas and petroleum industries, make result in other changes over the years.

Just as Richard Nixon dealt with Communist China and Ronald Reagan dealt with Soviet Russia at the height of the Cold War when it became clear to both sides that nuclear limitations were necessary to insure peace, Barack Obama similarly sees the necessity of needing this "Nuclear Research Limitation / Removal of Sanctions" treaty with Iran now. Just as our relationships with China and Russia changed over the years, those with Iran might change as well, and for the better, once the treaty is in effect.  It's a gamble, but so was the opening of China by Nixon and the Nuclear Arms Agreement with Russia by Reagan.

The removal of sanctions will strengthen Iran’s economy and help that nation become the dominant Muslim power in the Middle East, surpassing Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States.  In reality, however, even without the Treaty, Iran is already in that position.  For example, as pointed out in this blog recently, only with Iran’s military involvement can ISIS be defeated on the ground.  One cannot say that about Saudi Arabia for example, and of course, the United States and Israel are not willing to commit the manpower needed to do so.  Iran is.  And whatever happens in Syria will be determined by the extent Iran continues to support al-Assad, and only Iran is calling the shots in that game.  To insure peace in the Middle East, we must talk to Iran ... and this is a start.

Jack Lippman

Liberty Vs Security

It’s still the same old story … the balance between liberty and security which has teetered back and forth on the see-saw of government for centuries.  And we now are approaching decisions concerning that balance. 

In Greece, for example, the economy and the nation for that matter can only be saved if the people pay their taxes and follow the rules of doing business which the government will set out.  There will be austerity and sacrifice necessary in order to secure the resources necessary to save the Greek nation.  But making it a bit sweeter, it will be hardship imposed by the Greek government itself and not directly by the European community.  And in making Greeks pay their taxes and follow the rules, liberties will have to be sacrificed.  The government will have to spy on people to detect those who are not cooperating and the penalties for not doing so will be severe, very severe.  Liberty and freedom will be sacrificed for the sake of the survival of Greece.

And in the entire Western world, including the United States, the fight against Muslim radicalism will require that same loss of liberty in order to provide the security necessary to defeat Jihadism.  Phones will be tapped, the internet will be scrutinized and long-established freedoms will be violated.  People will be arrested, many of them innocent.  This is what will be necessary to prevent tragedy from overtaking our country.   Hopefully, when it is all over in Greece and the rest of the Western World, traditional freedoms can be restored.

Someone told me a story the other day of a man whose home electronic security system had broken down.  The firm who maintained it wanted $700 to repair it, and he didn’t want to pay.  So he shopped on line for an ISIS flag and hung it from a flagpole on the front of his house.  He is now very happy that every hour or so, the security of his home is carefully monitored by the FBI, the CIA and numerous other local law enforcement agencies.

JL

                                                       

More About the Sale of Classical South Florida

The sale of Classical South Florida’s three public radio stations in South Florida (in Miami, Fort Myers and West Palm Beach) has left many in those areas bereft of classical music on the radio.  NPR news and information programming remains available only where Miami’s WLRN (which doesn’t broadcast classical music) can be heard.  This is a tremendous loss to a relatively sophisticated radio audience of millions in these areas.

As some of you know, I have been battling Classical South Florida since 2011, going so far as to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission regarding the practical elimination of NPR news and information programming in most of Palm Beach County where WPBI totally devoted its 37,000 watt transmitter to classical music and relegated news and information to a difficult-to-receive 250 watt translator.  I felt this was not in the public interest, and was naïve enough to believe the Commission was there to act in the public’s interest.  It isn’t. 

Because the FCC allows station allows owners to broadcast whatever they want, my “informal complaint” ultimately resulted in a denial by the Commission, but only after six months of back and forth legal exchange with Classical South Florida’s lawyers and the Commission.

Now that both the musical and news aspects of Classical South Florida are going down the tube, I wonder if things might have been different if they included a measure of news and information programming on WPBI in West Palm Beach, along with its classical music, as I had suggested to them in my complaint.

Here is copy of a letter I sent off to the FCC the other day. 

                                                          * * * * *

July 13, 2015

Peter H. Doyle
Chief, Audio Division - Media Bureau
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, DC 20554

Re:  1800B3-VM

Mr. Doyle:

Back in October of 2012, when my “informal objection” to the license renewal of WPBI-FM (File No. BRED-20111003ALA) was denied by the Commission, one of my rejected arguments was that the “Station’s format change from public news to classical music demonstrates a ‘disregard’ for the public interest and fails to serve the needs of the local community.”  The Commission made it very clear that “It is well-settled that the Commission does not scrutinize or regulate programming content,” and offered extensive precedent for this position.

By now you must be aware that the licenses of WPBI-FM in West Palm Beach, WKCP-FM in Miami and WNPS-FM in Fort Myers are being assigned to a new owner who will, as the Commission will certainly allow them to, change the format of these former NPR stations to a different format, which definitely will not be public radio. Although the Commission would certainly not agree with me, I see this as not being in the public interest.

Despite the reams of precedents which the Commission included in their denial of my “informal objection,” I still feel that the public interest was not being served by the renewal of WPBI’s license back in 2012 anymore than it is being served by the assignment of its license at this time.  It leads me to the conclusion that the Commission’s position, upheld by the Supreme Court in 1981, can only be changed legislatively.

Somehow, I think things would have worked out differently if WPBI’s license had not been renewed back in 2012 unless and until they effected the kind of changes in their programming which I felt were in the public interest.  Resultantly, the station’s financial position might even have been such that its current sale might not have been necessary.

Sincerely,

Jacob E. Lippman 

Cc: Representative Ted Deutch

      Representative Lois Frankel

      Senator Marco Rubio

      Senator Bill Nelson

                                          
                                                      * * * * *

I do feel that the only solution to this problem are changes in the structure and operation of the FCC, which only Congress can mandate.  I will recommend specific changes when those to whom I sent copies of the letter reply to me, and certainly they will.  The FCC has already outlined a desired budget appropriation of $418,000,000 for its 2016 operations.  That will have to be passed by Congress, and I intend to ask my representatives in Congress to make that appropriation contingent on changes in the way the FCC operates.  At a minimum, a more specific definition of what is in "the public interest" must be provided by Congress for the FCC to follow in their licensing and regulation of radio stations, where, often, their failure to assert itself has resulted in "the public interest" not being served . Note that in my letter, I told the FCC exactly what my thoughts were.


Meanwhile, public opinion in regard to the sale of Classical South Florida is appearing daily in letters and in articles which are appearing in the local papers.  I am sure what is happening in Palm Beach County is also happening in the area served by the Fort Myers station as well as that served by the Miami station.  This includes the loss of classical music programming as well as the loss of news and information programming in areas where that is not available from another source, such as WLRN in Miami.

Here is the text of a letter I sent to the Palm Beach Post the other day (I am not certain if they will publish it) on another aspect of the sale of WPBI in West Palm Beach.     I am not making any of this up.

"The Post's July 15 article reporting the sale of Classical South Florida's three NPR stations to Educational Media Foundation did not include the following information found at www.current.org , an editorially independent service of the American University's (Washington, DC) School of Communications.  It quoted a member of WPBI's Board as saying that "time was of the essence: EMF imposed a one-day deadline on its offer and included a confidentiality clause preventing both parties from seeking other bids during the 45-day due-diligence period."

Now what kind of businessmen would agree to a deal where the buyer said their offer was only good today, and wouldn't be available tomorrow?  If you were selling your house or car to such buyers, let alone a property worth twenty million on which you were taking at least an eight million dollar hit, wouldn't that raise your suspicions a bit?  Even the Iranians, in dealing with John Kerry, didn't resort to such tactics.

And if the buyers further stipulated that once they determined that you were hungry enough to agree to their one-day offer, it was not okay, under the guise of confidentiality, for you to look around for another buyer to turn to within 45 days if you found that they didn't meet "due diligence" standards ... now, wouldn't that cause more alarm bells to go off in your head?

The answer could be that in checking American Public Media Group and Classical South Florida's finances, which EMF certainly did before tendering an unsolicited offer for something that wasn't on the market, they must have uncovered something which amounted to a "gun to hold to APMG's head."  Otherwise, no sane person would accept such an offer.  But APGM did and even went so far as to threaten to replace the entire WPBI Board if they did not go along with the sale as reported in the Post on June 24.  Something's rotten in the state of Minnesota."

 

The story continues.


A footnote:   Right now, there are at least seventeen NPR stations in Florida.  There actually are a few more, but some merely carry the signal of another station, so let’s just stick with the number seventeen, which will be reduced to fourteen when the three Classical South Florida stations bite the dust this weekend.  As for the ownership of these fourteen stations, four are owned by community-based private groups or foundations while nine are owned by colleges or universities and one is owned by a major public school district.  If the University of Florida, Florida State University, University of South Florida in two locations, University of Northern Florida, Florida Gulf Coast University, University of Central Florida, University of Western Florida and Indian River State College all own NPR stations, might that not be an appropriate direction in which Palm Beach County, home of Florida Atlantic University, Palm Beach Atlantic University and Palm Beach State College, might look?

JL

                                                

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