Thursday, August 6, 2015

Delusions at Dawn


I think "dummy" is putting it mildly in the case of Michael Haskins, the inarticulate WBAI morning fixture. They all sound as if they are trying to convince themselves that WBAI is a great station and that it will survive.

The fact is that you cannot tell listeners that what you are broadcasting is not for them and then expect them to not only stick around, but also pay for the crap you are offering. How dense are these "community" fools? Listen to Haskins' desperate pitch, made just before he left on a week's vacation. Is this racism, or not? Is he an imbecile, or not? And bear in mind, his is only one voice in this chorus of dummies.

As the seemingly permanent fund drive continues along its unscheduled path, turning listeners even more against the likes of Gary Null, Natalie, "Dr." Gwen Scott, The Amine (now Iodine) Sisters, and the racist speakers du jour, there no longer remains a light at the end of the tunnel. We are still not given any real figures as to how bad the financial crisis is, but what little we hear of via rumors paint a a picture of gloom and doom. Even R. Paul's WBAI Treasurer's Report, which he said he would post this morning, has not appeared.

It's all falling apart. Reggie Johnson arrived late yesterday morning, so the station was unmanned as one infomercial ended and 10 to 15 minutes of dead air followed. Then he suddenly showed up, out of breath and confused. Here's another instance of his confusion from this morning—imagine this sort of thing if there were any intelligent listeners left! I wonder what Null thought.

Of course, the word from Reimers' wastebasket tells us otherwise, but the mere fact that the begging continues supports a calamitous reality. In the meantime, it's mismanagement as usual, so they prepare for another election of LSB members. History veritably hollers for an abandonment of the current system, which wastes a good amount of money on elections and traditionally puts in place a voting majority of bumbling bozos. 

If you go here, you will find the list of candidates, so far, and their individual statements of desires and intents. It is quite disingenuous and depressing. Note, for example, that Kathy Davis thinks she can contribute to WBAI's welfare with her presence on the Board—was there ever a time when you heard her say anything that made sense? And how about Frank Lefever, a perpetual candidate with years of submitting naïve ideas, a huge ego, and an inability to owe up to his own shortcomings, such as being instrumental in the selection and hiring of Berthold Reimers. He used to brag about opening the door for Reimers, but you won't find that effort listed among Lefever's alleged accomplishments as he seeks another election to the LSB.

Here are six valid points made by Tex, a BlueBoard poster, after reading the statements made by this crop of LSB hopefuls:

1) Not one candidate addressed the root cause of Pacifica's dire financial situation: Declining listener support because the message is no longer relevant and the programming sucks.

2) The staff candidates think the problem lies with management and are blind to the fact that they are the ones producing an irrelevant message and programming that sucks.

3) Most do not care about the health of the Foundation as much as they care about promoting their particular faction's agenda and slate of candidates.

4) Only one single candidate has put forth a proposal which remotely accomplishes the goals outlined in the Pacifica Mission Statement.

5) Quite a few candidates are members of other "activist" organizations and it seems they are running for the sole purpose of promoting the goals of these groups.

6) Most of the listener candidates are from the JUC. The foundation is truly fucked if these are the only people willing to run for the LSB.

Looks like another bumper crop of cluelessness.

I think Tex's evaluation is shared by more people than WBAI has left in its audience.

10 comments:

  1. Reggie was trying his best - MTA caused his delay that morning. Reggie reads this board regularly and he was informed of your comments. Like before, he was very upset with your opinion. I have never heard him quite that angry. He plans to write a rebuttal on this soon

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    1. I like Reggie and fault so-called management for this sort of thing. It is part of Reimers' responsibilities to always have someone on premises who has the skill and authority to keep the station on the air or, if necessary, take it off. WBAI was obviously left unmanned.

      Having a skeleton staff is not an excuse Reimers or Pacifica can legitimately invoke, as is the practice. It comes down to a number of managerial deficiencies and--in this case--that includes warped priorities regarding the disposition of funds. If the income is insufficient to support basic requirements--as it appears to be--the solution is not to cut down on program and technical quality, as we hear every day.

      Pacifica's mandate was never restricted to keeping its stations on the air, per se, it was to offer its listener-supporters an honest, intelligent broadcast alternative. Failing that, the Foundation's alternative was to declare its mission un-accomplished and either rectify that or pull the plug.

      Reimers has had five years in which to fulfill the promises on which he wormed his way into office, but he has accomplished nothing. The quality and content of WBAI's programming (the "product", if you will) has steadily declined and gone off track; attitudes towards listener-sponsors have grown unhealthy, if not downright hostile; opportunism and self-serving agendas are allowed to thrive as is dilettante on-air behavior.

      I do not place the sole blame on over-worked staffers like Reggie, whose intentions I believe to be good, but there has not been anyone in charge to instill the pride that once characterized Pacifica's chosen representatives. I do fault the well-intentioned and potentially capable insiders for not uniting against the relatively small group of incompetents who bring everybody down to their own low level and--in the process--have reduced the station's listenership to the lowest number in its 55-year history as a Pacifica-owned outlet. Lately, a very serious, fatal path has allowed WBAI to morph into a third-rate soapbox for black retro activists who have made a mockery of Lew Hill's extraordinary concept of free-speech radio.

      Let Reggie speak up for himself, if that is not what's hiding behind curtain number one.

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  2. Audio clip 1: Racist? Not really. Pathetic? Absolutely. You can just hear the desperation in his voice as he worries about seeking new employment. It's understandable, however. WBAI took a gamble on the reparations/slavery thing and lost. It proved to be a financial flop that appealed to a small cult, driving many other listeners away. Anyway, I think Hay-tie deserves a vacation - a decade long vacation. He's truly a useless bullshit artist.

    Audio clip 2: I don't blame Reggie for being confused. How would you like to walk in and not know what the hell is going on, have an outdated extendomercial you have to explain away, etc. Isn't there an FCC rule about always having to have someone present at a station? I thought I heard there was.

    Who cares about the LSB candidates? The LSB should be eliminated altogether, to begin with, as should all these boards and committees. Anything less is unacceptable. They are just juvenile playgrounds for people to play political activist.

    I really hope WBAI keeps the beg-a-thon going. The more they ask for money and push the reparations crap, the less money they make, as listeners/supporters go away. If Null isn't pulling it in like he used to, then WBAI is truly in trouble. I'm not surprised, though. I know I am wasting my time tryig to explain this, but you just can't air the crap they do and expect to make money. It's just not going to happen.

    Oh, well. While typing this, I turned on Cane and simply can't believe a rambling moron like this is on the radio anywhere. The guy simply sucks. His entire technique is hate whitey, kiss ass to every other "people of color," then explain why native Americans have it worse than anyone else. Yawn...

    SDL

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    1. When I label Haskins' rant "racist" I mean in the sense that it excludes all but the people whose narrow, race-based horizon complements his own. He puts up with Mimi and Null, because they either echo his shallow thoughts or bring in money. The latter is apparently no longer the case.

      Apropos Mimi, did you catch her act this morning? She was kissing "Sir" Hillary's ass and screaming for reparations. I think the woman is demented, I know she's disgusting.

      Apropos disgusting, yes Cane is that, and more. A WBAI that attracts people of that ilk ought not receive any support from intelligent people.

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    2. Haskins is just lucky he found a gig at a station with no standards to speak of. After all is said and done, he'll be able to look back on "the good old days" of WBAI, while flipping burgers at White Castle.

      Sorry, but the moment I hear Mimi, I tune away. I've heard her dramatics and lunacy more than enough. She's some sort of psychotic with a extreme guilt trip or some such nonsense. I'm not interested in hearing her crap, which is as old as the Pyramids at this point.

      At this point, toss Prescod along with Mimi, as they are almost like twins, now.

      WBAI is just a burned out museum of antiquarian extremist ideologies. No one living in the 21st century cares about their nonsense.

      SDL

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  3. Oh c'mon guys -- don't be so coy about Haskins little rant. It was totally racialist -- he knows it, the few listeners he has at bai know it and so do you. "Our" story -- he's not speaking to a UWS Jewish grandmother or a WASP hipster in Brooklyn sipping some artesian coffee. He knows what he's doing. BAI is a microcosm of what's happening across America today -- from Ferguson to Detroit to Baltimore to the White (sorry don't mean to be micro-aggressive) House -- the racialists know what they're doing -- they're deconstructing -- and they do so without fear. Take a look at what Farrakan had to say this week about organizing a 10,000 strong black army to avenge grievances. Haskins, BAI et al are marching lockstep together with the rest of the racialists.

    rj

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    1. Absolutely, rj! I was being kind. As you observed, Michael Haskins' rants say it all. Apropos that, this afternoon I caught as much as I can stomach of Joy de Gruesome (a shameless exploiter of black people) ranting on yet another racist "premium". This time it was on Margaret Prescod's lopsided show, where outright lies and self-serving embellishments make up the fabric.

      A few years back, when I noted the obvious shift to an intellectually deprived focus on black street corner nonsense, miscreants like Robert Knight and his harebrained puppet, Pam, labeled me "jealous"—they saw no racism. Mitchel Cohen and other Reimers cronies still don't see it.

      The listener sponsors did, however. Their departure says it all, as does "management's" chronic dormancy.

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    2. The tone in these environs is so consistently negative that it seems it might suffuse even an even-tempered remark. Context if not all, certainly must be much. Michael G., in particular, seems to be taking it on the figurative chin.

      More substantively, it seems to me that the recent Dr. Mitchell Yass chronic pain alleviation premium ominously appeals to the very demographic that the Station alleges it is attempting to 'youthen'.

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  4. I can now clearly see the grand setup going on at WBAI (understanding the inevitable that the station will go under). It won't be because programming is beyond horrible and totally I hate whitey, racial-centric. It will be because all of us are stone cold racists who don't want to hear the truth about every white person being a color hating slave owner, and the reason whitey no longer support the station financially.

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  5. you only got the first half right . Second part , you are making assumptions

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