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You may have noticed that the WBAI Archive is frozen in its tracks, that Haskins could't get it up when it was time for Democracy Now, etc. Well, with listeners being lied to and urged to come up with money, wouldn't you think Reimers could have coughed up the relatively minuscule amount of even the highest Internet service?
Jim Freund, at least, told the truth in the early morning hours.
WBAI is a study in warped priorities and cluelessness.
I see Max was right last night. Jeez, and I missed TPCS, which had a guest and topic I really wanted to hear. I checked on the TPCS website and no audio archive for the episode yet. I hope they don't rely on the WBAI audio instead of independently recording the show? If I had a show, I'd always do an off the air digital recording, just to be safe.
ReplyDeleteIt's truly pathetic to not even pay something like your internet bill.
SDL
Pathetic and totally inexcusable.
DeleteThe ISP flipped the switch, now just waiting for the ESB to do the same.
ReplyDeleteI knew someone who worked in a car dealership that went under.
It too was a "well managed" operation.
The owner lived in CT and when he visited he'd sneak in the back door because he had an outstanding warrant in NYS.
I asked my friend how they handled the closing.
He told me the place never officially closed.
One day the manufacturer refused to ship parts due to outstanding debt.
The owner was nowhere to be found.
Shortly after the phones shut off and the employees figured they might as well grab what they could and leave before the lights were shut off.
I figure that's how WBAI will end.
Pacifica will likely end up dissolved in court by debtor lawsuits.
The archives go up to yesterday morning at 9AM. Do they have the recordings and just need to upload at some point or are they out of luck? BTW I just heard about Amy Goodman's coffee Grounds for Democracy. Catchy name. Now that is how a premium works. Amy is so fortunate that she doesn't have to wait on line at Dunkin Donuts like the rest of us. I can see why Sonali K. wants to emulate her. She has to put up with reduced hours from KPFK while Amy has her own coffee. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine that they have the recordings, but this is WBAI.
DeleteI Just checked the rates for WBAI's location. 300Mbps is $65 a month. I don't know if WBAI would require special service/rates, but it can't be all that much, considering how important it is to the overall operation.
"Pathetic and totally inexcusable." Permit me to add "unprofessional." Pacifica and WBAI babble about picking up internet listeners, remember.
ReplyDelete"that Haskins could't get it up when it was time for Democracy Now" is such a great double entendre.
So, no DN today? I know there was no Null. I guess that means no new Prescod or Jesserich later, unless the internet bill is magically paid. That's why I listened to Jesserich on my internet radio via KPFK.
I have the top tier of speed for my internet and pay about $75/month with the various taxes. I don’t know if a cable company would require a radio station to have a business class deal, but it wouldn’t be much more.
SDL
How many times does Gary Null tell that he gave Rick Harris a few hundred dollars to keep the electricity on at WBAI when it was broke about 30 years ago? Gary: WAKE UP. Here is your Chance for the Appalachian Schlemiel to gallop in on his white (European American) horse to save the day so you can tell it for the NEXT 30 years.
DeleteKGT
Schlemiel - stupid, awkward or unlucky person
DeleteSchlimazel - unlucky or accident prone person
Is Gary Null a schlemiel or a schlimazel?
Why would he of all people lend money to WBAI?
Why am I always grabbing my dictionary after one of your posts?
I'm not sure when the Prescod being aired on WBAI right now was recorded, but Prescod is doing one of those split pitches (like she did when ebola was raging) for the station and a victims' memorial over serial killings. I wonder if this time Pacifica, KPFK and/or WBAI filed the necessary paper work with the FCC to do this and received permission in advance. If not, we should hear about it in the future.
ReplyDeleteSDL
haha- Chisholm '72: Unbought & Unbossed (2004) which is being offered for $75 on this feminist show can be watched on YouTube for $3.99. DON'T BUY IT FROM THEM!!
ReplyDeleteKGT
Also available on amazon.com for $3.99 to watch.
Deletehttp://www.amazon.com/Chisholm-72-Unbought-Unbossed-Shirley/dp/B01B6X2T4Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463099588&sr=8-1&keywords=Chisholm+%2772%3A+Unbought+%26+Unbossed
SDL
The archives are caught up and the web stream is working suggesting the problem really was just financial. It occurred to me that they may not have easy access to archives of individual shows which could be a problem if they had an extended outage or if programmers wanted to have their own archives.
DeleteAs I'm enjoying a cup of coffee brewed from Amy's 'Grounds for Democracy' and listening to WBAI feminists struggle to justify their support for Hilary, I'm wondering if maybe they could add some more to the cart. For $75, they could throw in a membership card, some discounts, stationery, posters, tote bags, WBAI refrigerator magnets and maybe a calendar. After all, I just dropped $100 on a Cuba Africa documentary and that is even less relevant than Chisholm 72. :)
How about offering a group phototaken in Kathy's lap (levitation shot: $50 extra)?.
DeleteNow, if Amy's show was "Divorce Now!" what might the coffee be called?
I went to WBAI's site and see a gap in archived programs, from 10:00AM Wednesday to 12:27PM Thursday. Also, the TPCS website is still lacking Wednesday's show. I will be amazed if those guy's didn't have the brains to make an off-air recording. Of all the people, those guys! You know, the back-up, back-up, back-up your computer guys?!?!
DeleteFrom now on I will use my digital recorder and make off-air recordings of anything I want to hear when I can't listen live.
SDL
Are you making fun of this fine fair trade brew? According to the DN website:
Delete12 oz. bag of fair trade, organic "Grounds for Democracy" ground coffee, provided solely to Democracy Now! by Just Coffee Cooperative. This is a full-bodied, air-roasted blend of Co-op AIPEP-Bolivian Coffee and Las Diosas Nicaraguan Coffee.
..and she throws in a mug. How can you beat that?
Yes, back-up is never a bad idea. I have the WD My Cloud drive—it gives me comfort :)
DeleteAre the beans individually blessed? Is she charging $11 each for those beans? What is the Bolivian-Nicaraguan ratio? Is the mug made by underpaid juveniles in China? Many unanswered questions—I am not making fun of Amy's beans, but I have an inquiring mind. :)
DeleteI'm sensing a lack of faith in our good friend Amy Goodman. Why not ask her yourself? For a mere $2,000, you and a guest can join Amy Goodman for dinner, visit the studio for a live broadcast and get a personal tour. (travel and lodging not included)(Yes. This is a genuine offer on the DN gift catalog.)
DeleteIt's a great price but I understand spare ribs are not on the menu and if she starts reciting every little town and county at breakneck speed, I would lose my appetite.
DeleteThe way Amy looks, I don't think she'd make $20 on the street for anything, except, maybe, from a blind man, if you know what I mean...
DeleteI still think she's arrogant as all hell thinking she's worth $2,000 for company, even with the added attraction of seeing the studio and a coffee, which radio stations normally do for free, or a few Dollars. Anyone who spends $2,000 for her self-importance is a loser of the worst sort.
If I have to spend $2,000 on a woman, she better look like a mid 30s year old Catherine Deneuve and be as horny as Messalina.
SDL
Let's face it, Amy's not alone—at least she delivers a professional show. That said, I think it takes audacity to promote WBAI as it is today and to ask people to donate money to it. The station gives nothing in return... well some decent shows. but a lot of crap. If the latter were just bad, incompetently thrown together time wasters, it would be bad enough, but WBAI crosses the line into deception and fraud.
DeleteI am not talking about good people like Chris Whent, Chico Alvarez, Jim Freund, Mchio Kaku, Peter Bochan, Prairie Miller, Habte, the Morning Dew and OTH people, et al. Their programs may not be something we are wild about, but they aren't chronic liars, shameless egotists or ignorant hate mongers. WBAI is infested with that kind and anyone who pays as much as a penny to keep them on the air has a head ripe for examination.
I agree. What sucks is that there are people and shows that I like, but the moral revulsion I feel towards most of what is on WBAI prevents me from donating. I don't like not paying for what little I enjoy, however, I can't donate knowing what kind of horrid people and corruption would gain. Like someone said in a movie once: "You have to measure what you have to gain by what you have to lose." It kind of applies here.
DeleteIt always gets me that some leftist is going to pay $2,000 to meet someone instead of feeding some hungry kids. I have a better idea: give $500 to WBAI and use $1,500 to do some good to some needy people.
SDL
What really gets me is the disrespect for the listener-donors shown by these fools. Do they really believe they are performing a service when they spew and encourage racial hatred? Are they so dumb that they believe buying an over-priced disc of lies and historic misinformation is going to help people other than themselves and the scammers who created the product?
DeleteToday I heard Margaret Prescod do all but tie herself into a knot as she in a most hysterical fashion told listeners that we are all the victims of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, adding that she wished she had known about this when she was raising her little daughter. She spoke of this DeGru gimmick as if it were a major discovery. Surely Ms. Prescod knows that the Joyce DeGru scammer is just that, and nothing more.
Or does she know? Could it be that these hoax hustlers really are as vacuous as they sound? I still think Blosdale is horrid, but Tony Bates is even worse and sweet Kathy loves them and fits right in as she runs her little number.
It's all just to, too incredible. I would love to see the fundraising totals, but it would be even more interesting to see how much listener money has slipped into the pockets of these criminals.
Listen, these clowns claim they want to change/replace the racist/capitalist system and all that. Now look at how corrupt they behave. Who in their right mind would want a government run by people like this? Only another corrupt person.
ReplyDeleteIt may seem simplistic, but these people really are out for their own interests, no matter what the costs, moral or otherwise. They are people who live by a different moral code than we do - the end justifies the means. They will rationalize any action to get what they want. You have to understand that to understand them. Once you do, you will know why I have such contempt for them.
Today at her regular time slot, Prescod was trying to make some sort of connection between a supposed serial killer, who killed hundreds of black women, the political system that hasn't stopped him (she presumed it was a man, of course) and why you should donate money to go 50/50 to the station and a memorial to these slain women. To be honest, I couldn't really figure it all out with all her yelling. I can only say it was quite the stretch, and if there really is this serial killer, pretty fucking low!
Blosdale is the best of the hawkers, in my opinion. She's odious, but would be great hawking junk on late night cable TV infomercials. "Wow! Did you see how that cardboard tube just rolled across the floor?!?! Yup, uh huh, 'they' don't want you to know about the Magical Movable Tube, but we are bringing it to you today for only $49.95!"
Bates is a second rate scumbag and Davis is just a mental case.
My question is why even keep Null on the air now that he draws no money.
I say give Steven Rambam a show. He'll sell people fear, but a reality based fear.
On another note, I have KPFK's Safe Harbor show on now. I have no idea what the two "street" sounding morons were rambling about, but I can tell you is they didn't even do a proper frank language warning at the start of the show. Somehow, I don't think think what they spewed will save them from FCC regulations.
SDL
I listened to the first hour of that Safe Harbor junk and have to say it is some of the worst "radio" I ever heard in my life! Radford really knows her shit, and I mean that in the literal sense. One hour of morons cursing like 14 year olds to sound cool, rambling about censorship, sexism, racism, etc, then wanting to suspend accounts of everyone on Facebook who disagrees with them. Finally, the show ended with a hip hop song with a singer constantly singing about "My bitches" this and that. This junk makes Rebel Diaz sound moderately intelligent.
DeleteThey should send Radford to NYC to finish off WBAI...
SDL
I attempted to catch it after reading your post about it, bu when I selected "Listen Now" on the KPFK.org site, nothing happened. I don't suppose try archive this stuff. I'll make another attempt on Monday.
DeleteMaybe the KPFK site is out again. No, they don't seem to archive Safe Harbor at all. I can't say that I blame them, either. This really was that bad, and I have heard some lousy radio in my day.
DeleteOK, let me recreate it for you. Imagine Rebel Diaz with an added woman in the studio. They all keep referring to things and people as "the dope," until you lose count, and saying stuff like "that's shit," I ain't into dat shit," "ain't no fucking way that's dope," "he's a fucking racist," etc. on and on while trying to tell us all about the big bad racist, sexist society. These are stupid teens in a school yard trying to act cool by cursing with no point to it other than they can curse. One letter to the FCC and it's trouble for KPFK. This isn't safe harbor, it's indecency by FCC standards.
Anyway, I listened via my Grace Digital internet radio, which doesn't have an audio out port, so I didn't make a recording.
Now here is how you curse and make a point - George Carlin 7 dirty words:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMkNsMMvrqk
SDL
Thanks, SDL. This I have to hear and pass on as a key to the Pacifica worm pit. I bet it's on;y a matter of time before the racism at WBAI escalates to this sort of thing—one would think that at least one of the phonies who profess to have black pride might see how such things as Safe Harbor are detrimental to any positive effort.
DeleteRather than worry about getting a convicted killer out of prison, these hateful people ought to free themselves and escape from their confined minds. They are a blight on humanity.
I've listened to a few minutes via Tracy's blog. They say they're representing their community (whatever that is) but they've been directly challenged on air by folks asking where is Roy of Something's Happening which continues to raise far more money from its 3AM slot and longtime listeners criticizing their language. Frankly, I think they're just trying to recreate what they hear on commercial radio and TV and dismiss any criticism as out of touch and/or racist.
DeleteIn the meantime, I have to try to get that song out of my head. Sh*t g*d*mn, get off your a** and jam...Sh*t g*d*mn, get off your a** and jam...
One of my favorite lyrics... I think it's from the impending remake of "Heidi".
DeleteThanks, I'm off to Tracy's blog.
(JustAListener)
ReplyDeleteSDL wrote:
" I don't like not paying for what little I enjoy, however, I can't donate knowing what kind of horrid people and corruption would gain."
Back when I started donating it was to keep the good programs on the air.
I knew some of my dollars would support some awful programs and pay some unsavory characters, but there is no pure entity, and I liked that there was a place where creaky old lefties and angry progressives along with their bizarre theories could be heard and studied.
When it comes to the question of more freedom but more venues for filth/hate vs. restricting freedom to make a "nicer place", I choose more freedom.
(Though when I heard about the Bernard White regime physically assaulting people in the station I had to hold back).
While there is still programming worth support, and the dreck can still be ignored, there is no point giving to the station because almost none of the dollars are being used to keep the place going.
I wanted to listen to the PCRS this week but the stream was down and the show was not archived because the ISP bill was unpaid. (Is the streamed archive the only aircheck the station has? The show was a fundraising show with a special guest, but the PCRS hosts don't seem to have access to a recording).
The manager gets his paycheck, BUT:
The ESB isn't being paid, the rent isn't being paid, there isn't money to pay postage to send out premiums that producers provide for free and volunteers help process.
And the manager doesn't produce the basic paperwork that was needed to bring in millions of CPB funding.
On the national level every semi-competent officer they've had figured out what had to be done, but as soon as they threaten to lay a finger on Reimers they're gone.
Let the PNB start paying Reimers from their own pockets.
I'll get better results giving cash to a panhandler or sending money to that "Nigerian Prince".
I basically agree with you. I can donate if it is only a matter of a lot of programs I don't enjoy. However, this is a matter of donating to a institution that is corrupt, commits consumer fraud, ignores by-laws, etc. To donate to that makes me part of that, which my morality won't permit. If Pacifica and WBAI were managed honestly, yes, I would donate, even if I didn't like 90% of the programs.
DeleteLike you, I choose more freedom. I like to say: "Offensiveness is no excuse for censorship." Remember Lenny Bruce, persecuted just for social satire.
I just checked The PC Show website and nothing is up for last Wednesday. I am still stunned they didn't make an off-air recording, especially for what sounded like it would be a good guest with an interesting topic. I guess WBAI uses the streaming in lieu of the old style log tape.
I asked on RPM's list if anyone ever heard of Reimers not getting his paycheck, but all I heard in return was the sound of silence. I really would like to know what Reimers has that people seem so frightened of him.
Anyway, do give directly to the homeless on the street, not only money, but decent used clothing in winter. They can use it all. Remember, we have the convenience to discuss Pacifica Follies here. They have all to do to scrounge up a meal...
SDL
Thank you, SDL, I wholly agree with you. Whether one gives to corrupt, self-serving leeches or a person in need of food and shelter is a no-brainer. Years ago, we considered a love-hate feeling about WBAI's program schedule to be a measure of success.
DeleteBerthold Reimers has not been in the office for at least a week
ReplyDeleteDon't worry. He's got direct deposit.
DeleteKGT
Who said he's MIA? Be grateful for small things...
Deletehttps://mfi.re/download/8t5tc945d5uh2b5/VooDoo.mp3
The missing PC Show from this past week is now up on their web archive.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pcradioshow2.org/2016/pcrs_2016_May11_44kbps.mp3
SDL
Thanks, SDL. I think I heard a blatant commercial message at 3PM today. If I can capture it, I'll post it.
DeleteCommercial for what?
DeleteSDL
I may have been wrong, it was probably for a non-profit help group, but it sounded like one of those West Indian scam stations. I'll post it tomorrow (later today). Streamed a bit of a KPFK Latino music show a couple of hours ago. They said no fundraising calls were coming in.
DeleteActually, I have been checking up on KPFK out of curiosity, and that seems to be the case a lot. I wonder if they are doing worst of all the Pacifica stations. I can tell you that Safe harbor and the Spanish programs aren't earning anything.
DeleteSDL
I've only listened to a few minutes here and there of Safe Harbor and some of the Spanish language shows but its no surprise they don't raise anything. There is little if any pitching on these programs or even identifying themselves as program on KPFK. They've come to the point where they use the promise of ending the fundraiser ASAP itself as a fundraising tool which just makes people less likely to donate because it sounds like a chore.
DeleteI think every program should incorporate fundraising within the context of their program. Instead of periodic fundraisers, its constant fundraising without affecting programming. It would not be repetitive because it would take different forms depending on the program.
Anyone know about fundraising at Pacifica.org itself? I was wondering if there are any advantages to donating directly to Pacifica and if they're raising any significant amounts.
DeleteI think the idea of fundraising more moderately and doing it within the program is good. I also firmly believe that the ultimate "premium" should be the station's survival and never an individual program. The first step ought to be to raise the programming standard, weed out the ones that insult intelligence and/or foment racism, as well as those that bear no relationship to Pacifica's raison d'être.
DeleteThis is not to say that I think fundraising spots ought to be popped in like commercials—they should be as seamless as possible and could replace much of the self-serving drivel that they throw in on the hour. We all know that the lady from Istanbul doesn't stream WBAI whenever she's not in NYC.
Fundraising promos should also be truthful and the manager needs to make his/her existence known, especially through a weekly or bi-weekly live report to the listeners. Let them know what the station needs and ho their money is being spent.
I don't think Pacifica itself does any fundraising—outside of the periodic Pacifica Archive drive—and donating directly to the Foundation would be folly as long as it is so corrupt. Bear in mind that Pacifica's national board could curb much of the mis-hiring and abuse that is going on at the stations, but they either don't care or see some gain in the demise of stations like WBAI.
A sad but perfect example i Berthold Reimers, a barely visible entity who is paid $110,000 a year and is kept on in spite of the fact that his few moves have all had negative results.
Frankly, the Pacifica Archive is the most worthwhile thing Pacifica does, as it's an archive of history. Sadly, Pacifica's corruption will destroy that, too, no doubt.
DeleteSDL
Yes, I believe there was, in fact, a West Coast manager or board member who sold or threw away valuable tapes. The Archive programs are interesting and worthy because they reflect an entirely different mindset, one that centered around creating and airing good programs. Old Pacifica proved that great radio does not require professional broadcasting experience—some of the finest productions were done by people who showed imagination, knowledge, curiosity, concern and dedication. It was amazing to see how quickly some of them caught on and became professionals. Look at the dross that's at WBAI today—decades pass and they haven't learned a thing.
Delete(JustAListner)
ReplyDeleteListened to Max tonight.
He thinks they scraped up some postage to mail out his previous premiums but he had to warn his donors to insist the call center accurately take down their email address. Seems the call center was faking email addresses. Even premiums that cost zero dollars to the station, WBAI can't deliver.
Max's voice audio was cutting out at times - ironic that something broadcast over 70 years ago plays fine but the live host can't get over the air without a glitch (mike or mike cable?)
And BTW Max mentioned payroll hasn't gone out... (Does that include Reimer's check?)
Word has it that this fund drive is about as unrewarding as they get, but surely someone in there has sufficient brain to see that getting "premiums" out within a reasonable time is the sort of thing that encourages further donations. It still floors me that so many dumb people are concentrated in one place of work.
DeleteWill Reimers get his salary? Not seeming to have an interest in anything else, I would say that he'll make sure of that. This is, after all, not about WBAI's welfare or listener satisfaction—it's an out and out scam.
As I have said before, the best"premium" or "thank ui gift" (that's a good one) that WBAI can offer is a drawerful of pink slips... with Reimers' on top. I bet people would pay to see these con artists disappear.
Funny about the call center. RPM said that WBAI uses it because of the high use of credit cards by listeners, to avoid credit card numbers being stolen, I presume. So, fake emails, eh? WBAI has all the luck!
DeleteAnyway, WBAI is beaten out for the number of dummies concentrated in one place by the Government of the USA...
I believe GM salaries come from Pacifica and not the local stations. If so, Reimers will not be affected by WBAI finances.
Well, don't worry about anything. "Cake" Davis and her UFO free energy nonsense will save the day. Tesla had nothing on her...
SDL
I would love to hear some details on this call center, including the fee. They sound somewhat shady.
DeleteRe the WBAI/Government dummy count, are we talking percentage? :)
I heard our lady of the healing helix water attempt to sell a scam "documentary" you speak of. It is called "Thrive" and is a tarnished oldie. Four years ago, when Amazon asked $20 for it (and streaming was even less), WBAI's price was $80. Now they have brought it down to $50. I posted the following on this blog four years ago:
http://wbai-nowthen.blogspot.com/2012/02/holy-thrivety-bamboozling-bates-cathy.html
One of the tall tales presented on this DVD without a shred of evidence is that several scientists have invented free or inexpensive energy sources only to have been murdered or silenced in some other way. One named culprit is J. P. Morgan, who had laboratories burned down because the invention would be wireless and thus eliminate the need for copper wiring, which he sold. Another culprit was the Rockefeller Foundation*. When these scam artists create their conspiracy scenarios, they never take into account the fact that the world does not begin and end with the U.S.
* A former President of the Rockefeller Foundation was Paul Hoffman, whose son, Hallock, was the President of Pacifica in the 1960s. He appointed me to the manager position at WBAI and, under very bizarre circumstances, pushed a former CIA person with no known qualifications into that slot when I quit. We called that jerk Mescaline Millspaugh.
From what I understand, the call center make a certain fee per minute they keep a pledger on the phone. Also, the time Forlano called in on the air, the woman on the other end sounded brain dead and taaaaking aaassss loooong aaasss sheeee coooould toooooo doooo heeeeer jooooobbbb. I heard or read somewhere that the average call price is several Dollars.
DeleteWBAI/Government dummy count: Believe it or not, the government has WBAI beat in numbers and percentage. I know it's difficult to believe, but rest assured, as evinced by the national debt.
You know what's so funny about the free energy thing? How, whenever I see documentaries about it, it is always some guy in his kitchen or backyard demonstrating the alleged free energy. I bet "The Amazing" James Randi could show them up if he were there. And, besides, who said it's free? They never tell you about the power plants, batteries, etc. needed...
OK, so now I want to know more about how Millspaugh got the job. Well, he couldn't have been as bad as Reimers (even Josephson wasn't), since they still had listeners then, although, I believe, Josephson stopped Folio for a while due to lack of funds.
SDL
As much as WBAI's callers like to talk and as difficult it sometimes is to figure out what they are saying, I bet BAI is paying more than they ought to... of course, the make up for it by not mailing the product out.
DeleteYes, where's Randi when we need him to be amazing? That was a terrific documentary. Can you imagine someone inventing a way to generate clean energy for little or nothing and allowing it to be suppressed? For that matter, can you imagine a corporation opting to kill rather than make money on such an invention?
Some conspiracies are real, but there are an awful lot of invented ones and those who dream them up wouldn't get anywhere if it wasn't for the fact that there are so many dummies out there.
Millspaugh was bad, believe me. Steve Post and Larry Josephson played him like a kazoo. To me, the $64,000 question is why Hallock cancelled all the set up interviews and hired someone so decidedly wrong for the job. I also wonder why Hallock wanted me to stay on, offering me a new position as a Pacifica-based Production Director for all three stations. Nothing makes sense.
Hey, forget the free, clean energy. I want to know how Gary Null has survived after curing many people of AIDS and no one knows it, but himself and the, probably, deceased...
DeleteI can go into an entire speech on conspiracies and their adherents, but I am now relaxed and not in the mood. All I'll say is that conspiracies provide answers, right or wrong. People want answers, right or wrong. There are and have been real conspiracies throughout history, but people seem to gravitate towards the ones that aren't proven or even possible.
The history of the CIA in Central and South America is rife with conspiracies that are real and were implemented. Operation Gladio in Italy was real and documented, as crazy as it was. I always tell people to study Italy from the 1950s-1980s to truly understand how the USA manipulates the internal politics of a nation. Once you understand Italy under Operation Gladio, you will basically understand the world. A classic must read is:
http://www.amazon.com/Puppetmasters-Political-Use-Terrorism-Italy/dp/0595246974/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1463451544&sr=1-1&keywords=puppet+master+%2B+italy
So, even in the mid 1960s, WBAI had "the system" or "they" involved in the station. Funny thing is that now I don't think "the system" or "they" give a crap or even know that WBAI or Pacifica exist. The interesting thing are the drug accusations against Millspaugh. It is known that many major drug dealers had ties to the intelligence community in the 1960s. Can you say Ronald Stark? I'm sure this had a trickle down effect.
Another great book is Acid Dreams:
http://www.amazon.com/Acid-Dreams-Complete-History-Sixties/dp/0802130623/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1463452101&sr=1-1&keywords=acid+dreams
SDL
I, too, have to wonder about Null's cures being such a secret, just as I am beginning to wonder why all that financial advice High Priestess Davis and her guests are selling hasn't helped WBAI get into that other kind of black.
DeleteI once mentioned the CIA in relationship to WBAI and Nat Hentoff brought it up in an article for the Voice, adding that it was common knowledge that the CIA was not involved in any domestic affairs. Well, he was wrong, wasn't he? BTW Nat got me the job at Riverside Records, which made me move to NYC from Philly—there are indeed good people in the non-playing end of the music business.
Haven't tried your links yet, but I will. Twice a year, I get busy doing the guides for the Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit—their Spring show is coming up.
(JustAListener)
ReplyDeleteSDL, thanks for the notice about the PCRS.
I had given up and stopped checking their site.
Anytime. I guess they found a listener who had recorded it, luckily.
DeleteSDL
More than once, I've heard a show asking for pledges. Then hours later, the exact same segment is run. Pacifica wants me to donate. But they can't be bothered to have actual live people asking for money? Mitch Jeserich hustling for money and playing a taped number message is one thing since he's sick of always saying the number. But an entire hour?
ReplyDeleteHas BAI ever been sued by listeners for failure to deliver the pledge gift they were supposed to send out?
ReplyDeleteHas Pacifica ever gotten any offers to sell BAI or any other part of the network? I wouldn't buy it. But somebody else must have made an offer at some time.
ReplyDeleteIm sure there has been at least one offer—for one thing, there was a time when FM did not have the new technology to compete with, a time when a middle-of-the-dial location as perfect as 99.5 increased the value considerably. Radio thrived and WBAI was flanked by WNBC and WCBS. Lou Schweitzer—who gave WBAI to Pacifica—used to advertise: "On your way from CBS to NBC, stop in for refreshment."
DeleteThere was an offer of a million dollars for that frequency alone in the mid-Sixties, when I was WBAI's manager. That was considered a generous amount back then, but the station was worth much more to a Pacifica that followed and materialized Lew Hill's concept. Now that dummies have brought it down to their level, that offer is looking attractive again :)
Sued, not that I have heard, but small claims court would be the place for that. I do know that there have been clawbacks of payments from people complaining to their credit card companies. I think there has been more of that than we know, since it has been brought up by RPM and the NFC several times.
ReplyDeleteAs for sales, I never heard of any concrete offers, but wasn't Inner City Broadcasting trying to get WBAI into a position where they could buy it? Or were they just trying to gain control over programming without actually owning the station?
SDL
There was much speculation at WBAI at the time when Sutton’s aka Inner City Broadcasting people came to control the local station board, which is what I presume you’re referring to – never any objective indication, though, beyond Sutton’s inner circle.
DeleteIt’s clear from the real estate records that there’s an extremely high probability monies were redirected from the sale of 359 E 62nd, but I’m not aware of any way to easily track down their ultimate allocation – nor have I tried.
~ ‘indigopirate’
Well, Inner City wasn't there out of the goodness of their hearts. They wanted something, no doubt.
DeleteOK, any idea how Pacifica itself plays into the church sale scenario? They must have gotten a cut.
SDL
Pure or impure speculation:
DeleteThe station scuttlebutt/speculation at the time was that with Kosof and Guzman the intent on Sutton’s/Inner City’s part was that WBAI become the Hispanic complement to WLIB / WBLS.
I can’t imagine Pacifica being savvy or sharp enough to need be cut in on anything from Sutton’s people.
I sure as fuck wouldn’t cut them in.
As I say, pure speculation, just the way I see the lay of that fortunately now very distant land.
~ ‘indigopirate’