As WBAI continues to suffer mismanagement, Reimers even sabotages his own fund drive, preferring, it would appear, to serve the dwindling listenership more of Tony Bates fund drivel. The following comment was posted by SDL, with a pertinent link to 2600 Magazine, the hackers quarterly:
No OTH again tonight, it seems.
The saga continues...
An honorable position to take, even if a little late. However, OTH did give WBAI every chance to make good on owed premiums, which it failed to do. OTH will be gone soon, but if they are smart, they will go to the Brooklyn D.A. and expose WBAI.
ReplyDeleteSDL
I hope they do that, and that it catches on.
DeleteSomeone on the @2600 Twitter account made a good point: "I don't advocate retribution, but @WBAI shouldn't piss off hackers"
DeleteI don't think we'll see anyone else stand up to Reimers because WBAI is a den of rats.
SDL
Good advice, but I think there are enough victims and sufficient evidence to get these bastards without resorting to anything that might get OTH into trouble.
DeleteAgreed, but what individuals not associated with the show do is out of the control of OTH. However, during my recent years of World Wide Web travels, I have run into a fair number of ex OTH listeners. This leaves me with the question as to how many people actually listen?
DeleteSDL
Another good point. Reimers has a knack for biting the hand that feeds him his $100,000 + annually..
DeleteIf what RPM responded to me when I asked about the tallies is true, Reimers has even made Null's magic fall into the former magic category. WBAI's tallies may be up slightly, but no where near what they should be with Null back at full pitching strength.
DeleteSDL
Yes, I think it's fairly obvious that Null's reason for clinging to the side of this sinking tub has more to do with personal interest that actually "saving" WBAI. Hypocrisy and hype.
DeleteHe is no idiot, so your theory makes a lot of sense.
DeleteListen, Null, with Steve Brown's backing, could pay the debt of WBAI and, probably, get to a break-even point for its operations. The pair certainly have more brains than anyone at Pacifica. The only thing standing in their way are the JUCs, probably. However, if WBAI is to live on as a Left Wing broadcaster, this is probably the only viable route available at this time.
DeleteSDL
Brown and Null are too smart to be Cerened.
Delete(JustAListener)
ReplyDeleteThey may be able to hack the website, but as far as WBAI's internal systems, I doubt they'll be able to hack those little slips of paper on, under and around Reimers' desk.
I hadn't thought of that, but you're right—Reimers probably keeps two books, neither of which has accurate figures. I'm sure the disposition of funds is in his head.
DeleteNo "Off The Hook". That's bad enough. What's worse is who was aired instead: Katie Halper. I don't know whether she or Julianna Forlano gives female comedians, and people on the left, a worse name.
ReplyDeleteWell, they contribute to making WBAI a sad joke.
Delete2:18 AM and WBAI is off the air again. Considering this has become routine, I am guessing that it's a way to save on the electric bill.
ReplyDeleteSDL
Again? Is there a pattern? Does it extend up to the morning show?
DeleteOnly when we're lucky.
DeleteOnly when we're lucky.
DeleteGenerally speaking, there is original programming up to about 3AM. I wonder if they're just not transmitting from around 3AM until the morning show starts.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like the transmitter is shut off rather than dead air from the studio. There is no carrier wave. Just static. This is at the level of the transmitter at the ESB. They may be following orders from BAI "management" but the transmitter is OFF.
DeleteMakes sense. There are records in the archives for the overnight period.
DeleteThe transmitter has indeed been off at night. If you hear static (and/or depending where you are, other stations on or near 99.5), it's off. If you hear silence, it's on but no audio is being broadcast.
DeleteSDL
Question: How old is this transmitter? Does it have vacuum tubes? Is it state-of-the-art or a Marconi special?
DeleteKGT
All I can tell you is that in 1966, when we moved to and hooked up to the ESB antenna, I purchased a new RCA transmitter to replace the old one. It was equipped for stereo and other technical improvements—did it operate on vacuum tubes? I really don't know, but it was state of the art in 1966.
DeleteIt may well have been replaced since then, but I don't know.
An unscientific poll: Who is more annoying- Screaming Sista Mimi or Nasal Bruva Scott- The Mazel Tov Twins?
ReplyDeleteKGT
Mimi is either blatantly dishonest or amazingly gullible. That Africans came to South America and the Caribbean 200 years before christ is nothing but a theory full of gaping holes that defy credulity and, indeed, depend on falsified information and customized quotes for "documentation." Ivan Van Sertima was a native of British Guiana who moved to the U.S. via the UK.
DeleteMimi, Bates, and whoever put together this $150 WBAI "gift package", do not seem to have questioned this guy's assertions, which makes them perpetuators of this fraud aimed at WBAI's dwindled listenership.
The people who operate the station have no moral code, no integrity, no pride.
It is called "Afrocentric pseudohistory," which is what the con artists at WBAI seem focused on these days.
Chris, it isn't a theory but a hypothesis, since it is gibberish.
DeleteMimi is just a middle aged psycho who thinks she's some sort Communist revolutionary.
SDL
SDl
Agreed, hypothesis is the word. Your assessment of Mimi is spot on, but she must know that she is spreading pure nonsense.
DeleteDoes anybody share my distaste for Scott Somer and his Brooklyny nasal whininess and his knee-jerk ultra-leftism which he hammers on the listeners like Mimi? Scott: Daven a bissel and give the show to Vajra and retire. Quit the MISHIGOSS.
DeleteAntisemite- human-termite
KGT
They're having lots of fun over at the live PNB meeting at https:/kpftx.org
ReplyDeleteFights already broke out, and Reimers is there.
SDL
Thanks, SDL, I caught and recorded the last hour and a half. Will be posting.
DeleteThey ban WBAI LSB members from being on because they may cause disruption but allow Cerene and Adriana on who almost always causes disruptions...
DeleteSDL
What do you expect from a group that spends ten minutes debating whether or not to have a two-minute extension?
DeleteWasn't Berthold Reimers pathetic?
Yes, Cerene and Adriana appear to see their role as disruptors. Cerene is disgusting and I wonder why she always claims to be "driving"—is she a cabbie or, like Adriana, a truck driver?
The extension votes are always a hoot. They always take more time to vote than the actual time being voted on.
DeleteReimers is always pathetic. His next career should be as a voice of cartoon characters, as he sure sounds like a Loony Tunes cast member.
My guess is Cerene is always going to the drive through at McDonalds or some such place. She needs to keep up her figure, you know. Adrianna is a truck driver? I didn't know that. Her loads must be lots of manure.
Anyway, 2600 posted about the PNB meeting on their Twitter account. I hope some new people listened.
SDL
Off the air again , but the "race" to the bottom continues online . sad and pathetic.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we could bring back Bernie Fleshkin or Fred Hershkowitz. Maybe even Mary Houston. ANYTHING!! Anything but Max playing Jean Shepherd or Bob & Ray. UFFA!
ReplyDeleteKGT
I can do without Bob & Ray, whose humor sounds a bit passé to me now, but I think Jean Shepherd holds up quite well.
ReplyDeleteI like the Marcel Marceau specials they have been running during the overnights...
ReplyDeleteSDL
So do I. I have all his records in my collection. :)
Delete7:45 PM and Reimers is on the air again, telling us all about Haiti, He knows as much about his country's history as he knows about radio management. "Haiti is the most
ReplyDeleteAfrican country in the World."
SDL
He is extraordinarily dense. They say he was selected by a committee from 60 applicants—that makes one wonder about the 59 who didn't make it... they must have been in a coma.
DeleteObviously Reimers has friends in the right places or he'd be long gone, in the least. There's probably some fear there, too.
DeleteSDL
Listening to Reimers on the racist Byrd program. Is it any wonder why WBAI is going down?
ReplyDeleteByrd of course is licking up every word. They don't like whites, and it is palpable.
BUT- the more anti-white programming on WBAI, the more the guilt-ridden whites will give to WBAI to prove that they are NOT racist. It works- but in reverse. Only whites who have pride in themselves can resist. It is a genius strategy and has kept WBAI afloat for half a century. Why change it now?
DeleteKGT
Bear in mind that WBAI's listenership is the smallest ever, the overwhelming majority having spoken rather loudly by tuning out. The opportunists seem unaware of the fact that they are--increasingly--insulting the intelligence of the audience WBAI used to attract with its programming--and I am talking about a listenership that had in common open minds and a healthy hunger for knowledge, not merely ethnic background or complexion.
DeleteI think Berthold reads this blog. The transmitter was on between 3 and 6 this a.m. Don't ask me if I remember what was on- some "health" related mishigoss- antioxidants-Vit C to prevent cancer. When Gary gets some hideous disease, who's he gonna blame? Oh Yeah- NYC air.
ReplyDeleteKGT
What you heard was an old infomercial by Corinne Funari (Take Charge of Your Health), who has an amino thing going. The book she is selling for $90 can be had from the author for $24.99 (most likely with assurance of delivery)Her pitches are clumsy and insincere, but she probably doesn't know that.
DeleteChris, I keep forgetting to mention something. You know how I say there are no negotiations between WBAI and the ESB, right? Well, on last month's PNB meeting about WBAi someone said there have been no negotiations since John Proffitt quit. I just wanted to mention that.
ReplyDeleteSDL
Thank you Tracy. Then it is probably the one I purchased, which means that it is half a century old!
ReplyDeleteIf it is full of vacuum tubes, I wonder if it can be moved safely, if necessary. Also, if a vacuum tube blows, can it be replaced?
ReplyDeleteKGT
Tubes can be replaced and usually fail after a certain point in time as the filaments will finally quit emitting electrons as they have burned off all the material, or they become gassy, or have a short. Replacement tubes can be difficult or expensive on older models. Newer solid state transmitters run cooler, use less electricity and generally are smaller. Moving an older transmitter can be done, but sometimes the wiring has become brittle, and it can stress some other parts.
ReplyDelete