RSID: <<2025-08-28T23:31Z MFSK-32 @ 9265000+1500>>

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Welcome to program 415 of Shortwave Radiogram.

I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Arlington, Virginia USA.

Here is the lineup for today's program, in MFSK modes as noted:

  1:47 MFSK32: Program preview (now)
  2:59 MFSK32: Kim's September 2025 NASWA column
  7:02 MFSK64: Kim's NASWA column continued
12:21 MFSK64: This week's images
28:07 MFSK32: Closing announcements

 

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And visit http://swradiogram.net

We're on Bluesky now: SWRadiogram.bsky.social

And X/Twitter: @SWRadiogram

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Note from Kim: During the past week, I had two tasks: 1)
Preparing this program 415 of Shortwave Radiogram. 2) Writing my
monthly column for the North American Shortwave Association --
naswa.net. In accordance to the Parsimony Principle, and for lack
of time, that NASWA column will be the content of this Shortwave
Radiogram.



Greenville staff returns. VOA staff wins in court.

Glimmers of hope among mostly bad news

The news about U.S. international broadcasting continues to be
bad, as the Trump Administration perseveres in its campaign to
destroy most of U.S. international broadcasting. But there are
some instances of good news. One is close to the hearts of NASWA
members: The Edward R. Murrow shortwave transmitting station near
Greenville, North Carolina (actually in Blackjack NC) is on its
way back to full staffing. The facility was visited by a senior
official of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio Martí) and an
aide to Kari Lake, the self-described acting CEO of the U.S.
Agency for Global Media. They were impressed. And Radio Martí
executives have stressed that their audience in Cuba missed the
absent shortwave transmissions.

After the "Bloody Saturday," March 15, 2025, when the Voice of
America and Radio Martí were yanked off the air, and almost all
employees placed on administrative leave, the Greenville station
went idle. The station manager, Macon Dail, was there alone, in a
caretaker role, making sure the ventilation systems and such
continued to work. By late June, Greenville came back to life,
with eight hours a day of Radio Martí on shortwave, first on two
frequencies, eventually on three. Some staff were allowed to
return, because Macon could not keep those transmitters operating
on his own. Now, since the VIP visit, another two technical
employees are returning, along with an administrative person.

Radio Martí has been something of the black sheep of the USAGM
family of broadcasting entities, because of the obviousness of
its stance against the Communist regime in Havana. And it is
because of this tendency that the Martís have incurred less wrath
from Donald Trump, and have enjoyed support from Secretary of
State Marco Rubio and Republican members of Congress, not to
mention Florida Democrats wishing to retain the votes of Cuban
Americans. And so Radio Martí and martinoticias.com have largely
resumed output. Radio Martí's medium wave transmitter in the
Florida Keys (1180 kHz) fairly quickly came back on the air. And
now shortwave, more difficult to jam than the medium wave, has
returned.


Kim's NASWA column continues after this change to MFSK64 ...


 

RSID: <<2025-08-28T23:37Z MFSK-64 @ 9265000+1500>>
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This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64

Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net
 

Kim's September 2025 NASWA column continues ...


Kari Lake tries to throw VOA director into the briar patch

On the subject of Greenville, self-described acting CEO of USAGM
Kari Lake, based on no known authority to do so, reassigned VOA
director Mike Abramowitz to become the chief management officer
of the Murrow transmitting station. We NASWA members know that
this would be like being thrown into the briar patch. The station
and its environs are not bad places to be. But Abramowitz refused
what has been described as a demotion. I don't know if it
involved a cut in pay, but it certainly would have eliminated his
involvement in VOA content. Lake, responding to his refusal,
fired him. Abramowitz is, of course, challenging this in court,
because the laws of international broadcasting state that no
USAGM entity head can be appointed or dismissed without the
approval of the bipartisan International Broadcasting Advisory
Board. Trump fired all the members of the IBAB and has not moved
to replace them. (tinyurl.com/233tpbma)

Other VOA employees, led by White House Bureau Chief Patsy
Widakuswara, in a court challenge to the shutdown of almost all
of VOA, asked senior federal Judge Royce C. Lamberth to place
Kari Lake in contempt of court for not providing the information
that the court has specified. In a hearing on August 25, Judge
Lamberth held short of doing that but said that Lake was "verging
on contempt." He "repeatedly asked why he was not told of the
plans to fire Voice of America Director Michael Abramowitz, how
former U.S. Agency for Global Media Acting CEO Victor Morales was
ousted, and who was currently serving as Voice of America's
acting director." (tinyurl.com/27ojqd68)

Birther who helps run USAGM to be deposed

Lamberth ordered Lake and two other Trump-appointed managers of
USAGM to sit for depositions, by September 15, "to explain why
Lake's U.S. Agency for Global Media has effectively defied [his]
April order to restore VOA's programming." The two other
officials are "Frank Wuco, a contributor to the Heritage
Foundation's Project 2025 report … along with Leili Soltani, who
headed the VOA's Persian-language division that covered Iran.
Wuco is a conservative former talk show host who promoted the
birther conspiracy involving former President Barack Obama and is
credited in the 920-page Project 2025 report for help on the
chapter critical of USAGM and its organizations, including VOA."
(tinyurl.com/2ywv48ed)

Thus, the Trump Administration, in its onslaught against VOA,
continues to reap rulings against itself in court. These rulings
often are reversed or modified by appeals courts. And,
ultimately, contempt and other enforcement mechanisms may not be
executed, because Trump's Department of Justice would have no
interest in doing so.

Emotional videos as VOA employees clear their desks

In late August, VOA employees were called back to the
headquarters building in Southwest Washington DC, but only for
the purpose of removing their belongings. Patsy Widakuswara
tweeted: "Dear VOA colleagues, I know it's humiliating to clear
out our desks while being watched by security like we're
criminals. But you heard the judge at the hearing - it's THEM
he's deposing & threatening to slap with contempt, not us. Now is
not the time to give up." The accompanying video, showing Patsy
taking her stuff out of the building, includes a rare recent
indoor shot of the VOA corridors. (tinyurl.com/23by2s2o)

Another video features VOA employee Vero Balderas Iglesias
shortly after she left VOA HQ, perhaps for the last time.
(tinyurl.com/2yllsawm) And in a third video, we hear from a VOA
listener named Robert, who wanted to take the tour of the VOA
building, but could not do so because of the current situation.
Robert had a VOA 25th anniversary first day cover, with the 1967
Voice of America five-cent stamp. He wanted to give it to VOA
during the tour, but instead he gave it to Vero, who produced the
video. She was emotional upon receiving the gift.
(tinyurl.com/2887tml8)

The clearing of desks appears to have been preparation for Kari
Lake again, based on no known authority, attempting to terminate
(in federal parlance: RIF, or reduction-in-force) 600
now-inactive VOA employees. (tinyurl.com/275c73x5) Any such move
would certainly be added to the ongoing legal complaint by the
VOA plaintiffs.


This column in its entirety will eventually become available at
kimandrewelliott.com.

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Image: VOA Chief White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara
removing her belongings from the VOA building.

Sending Pic:139x196C;
 

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This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64

Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net

 

This week's images ...
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A tanker aircraft drops retardant on the Garnet fire in Sierra
National Forest, California. tinyurl.com/22nfzyvd ...

Sending Pic:208x138C;




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A bloom, or smack, of Pacific sea nettle jellyfish in Monterey
Bay, California. tinyurl.com/25rryymk ...

Sending Pic:203x145C;


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A swan and sunset over Gaddon Loch in Fife, Scotland.
tinyurl.com/2749lhfu ...

Sending Pic:150x199C;
 

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A Rhapsody in Blue (actually purple) rose at the Hatanpää
arboretum in Tampere, Finland. tinyurl.com/27rvhspx

Sending Pic:143x200C;


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Sunrise in Annapolis, Maryland, August 23. tinyurl.com/2xk2xkuv
...

Sending Pic:202x139C;


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Vivid Creatures is large-scale sculpture the Morton Arboretum
near Chicago. It's on top of a hill, overlooking an interstate
highway. tinyurl.com/2b7hg5fw ...

Sending Pic:202x134C;
 

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Rose hips, with green insect, at the Lewes Urban Auditorium in
England. tinyurl.com/26x48y6e ...

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A neon Canadian maple leaf. tinyurl.com/2yonx977 ...

Sending Pic:187x164C;


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Our painting of the week is "Icarian Flight" (1952) by Seymour
Fogel (USA, 1911-1984). tinyurl.com/28o9g3gr ...

Sending Pic:209x138C;


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Shortwave Radiogram returns to MFSK32 ...




RSID: <<2025-08-28T23:58Z MFSK-32 @ 9265000+1500>>
 

This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK32 ...


Transmission of Shortwave Radiogram is provided by:

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and

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I'm Kim Elliott. Please join us for the next Shortwave
Radiogram.
 

RSID: <<2025-08-29T11:30Z MFSK-64 @ 15770000+1500>>

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Robert “Bob” Welch Jr. of Fleetwood Mac was born August 31, 1945.
He died in 2012.
 

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Welch_(musician)

Please report your decode to themightykbc@gmail.com.