Saturday, May 6, 2017

A must-read letter


The following letter from Finance Committee member N. Martin Jamison to WBAI LSB Treasurer R. Paul Martin is an important read.

R. Paul,

As you are aware, at last night's Finance Committee meeting it was revealed by the general station manager, Mr. Berthold Reimers, that World Financial Group, Incorporated an affiliate of Aegon N.V., a multinational life insurance, pensions and asset management company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands with revenues in the tens of billions  has been an on air premium provider of financial services to our listenership  and that the Mr. Reimer's son, Yoan Reimers, apparently works for World Financial Group, Incorporated. When Mr. Reimers was further questioned about the relationship and the nature of the WBAI’s agreement with World Financial Group, Inc. the general manger's response was essentially that his son was in Florida (!?) Putting aside for a moment the issues of how this group was vetted and by whom, the appropriateness of them being allowed to ultimately market a multi level marketing product to our listenership  and whether or not the Financial Institution Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has approved  the  relationship, approved the apparent rebates being offered and approved the script  or content for the on air discussions it is apparent that the general station manager was either unaware of the obvious conflict of interest and possible breach of his fiduciary duties to Pacifica and WBAI or he did not care............this is most troubling and has several possible legal implications for all involved!

It was further revealed that the general manager had apparently hired and paid a consulting firm, Yellow Magnet of New York, a $10,000 retainer for social media, online fundraising and other marketing related consulting services. Per usual the station manager could not (and/or would not produce the contract) and could not sufficiently described the total compensation that was agreed to. This raises a number of questions including but not limited to was there an open bidding process for the services, who vetted this group, who drafted and reviewed the contract that was used,  does any member of  WBAI's  staff  or management  benefit from this relationship directly or indirectly and where did $10,000 come from, what was not paid because the consultants were paid and does the general manger have the authority to hire outside parties and pay them whatever he thinks appropriate for services that seemingly have not been purchased previously without review by  the finance committee, Pacifica or the Local Station Board? 

It has been clear to me that a conflict of interest policy is either wholly lacking or has not been adhered to. My experience as a finance committee member has led me to conclude that the general manager has consistently  refused to provide financial information  in  a standardized format as requested by a passed motion of the finance committee for a couple of years now and up until now I have wanted to chalk up most of his reluctance to provide the most basic financial information in a clear, concise and consistent manner to either his lack of financial  training and/or the fact that we have been operating in an ongoing crisis mode but these two recent events coupled with the apparent lack of even the minimum  adherence to reasonable policies and procedures for dealing with vendors, providing transparency and accountability make me  question my initial assessment.  

R. Paul, originally my intent in writing this was to resign my position on the finance committee as the current situation is completely and totally unacceptable to me  but I realized that quitting would not change the situation for the betterment of WBAI and it would make me sad about the situation so instead of resigning I am respectfully requesting that the you notify in writing the Local Station Board and the Executive Director of Pacifica on or before Friday May 12th of these developments and that you provide evidence of such notification to the finance committee members. I believe that these recent developments have risen to the level that the immediate direct involvement of the Local Station Board and/or the Pacific Foundation's executive director is required otherwise I feel my  only recourse is to notify and seek outside regulatory oversight of the situation as a possible means to remedy or rectify what is seemingly taking place at WBAI.  I base my position upon my belief that we have been entrusted  with the hard earned money from our listeners and by all accounts we do not adequately account for it and now we apparently engaged in obvious conflicts of interest with the possibility of some within WBAI profiting directly or indirectly at our listeners' expense; a completely and totally unacceptable situation!  

Respectfully,

N. Martin Jameson

Finance Committee Member

37 comments:

  1. Is Yellow Magnet associated with the two idiots who were on the last Report to the Dummies... err... Listener, talking about how they were going to make WBAI known to every man, woman and child in the world, or whatever their claims? Remember what I am referring to? The two guys who sounded like professional con artists?

    Reimers sure loves hiring consultants, doesn't he? Remember the fund raising tutor? I guess Reimers and bates can't come up with any ideas beyond offering stupid premiums and not sending them out.

    Anyway, someone go tell Mitch Cohen where $10,000 of that premiums' postage money went. I'm sure he'll love to know...

    SDL

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  2. Googled and answered my own question. Yes, Yellow Magnet is those two guys, Louis Songster and Aaron Green.

    SDL

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    1. Isn't there also a consultant-type premium connected to World Financial Group, Inc.?

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    2. That's the financial advice premium, isn't it?

      SDL

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    3. Yes, I think so—the one Kathy Davis pitched with some guy.

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    4. Yes, the guy was selling a premium of financial advice. basically, he would meet with you once and do a sales pitch to get you to subscribe to their service because, of course, with their regular advice, you would keep making money, as they also would off you.

      By the way, I love when WBAI producers tell the listeners about subscribing for a year. Subscribing to what? They haven't issued Folio in years!

      SDL

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    5. What I loved about that scam was the irony of financial advice being sold to listener-victims by a station and staff that routinely and without a hint of moral consciousness steals and spends their money.

      Yes, that term is ludicrous, but so is the notion of fomenting a segregation-based "community".

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  3. (JustAListener)

    PS when you spend money on a marketing/fundraising consultant shouldn't there be a resultant increase in membership/donations/premium sales?
    Sigh, why do I bother asking, we know how tough it must be for Reimers and Bates to live on their salaries alone... wonder if they declared the "vig" on their tax forms.

    This Jameson guy seems way too dedicated, someone has to explain to him that any attack on WBAI management is a racist act and a victory for Trump!

    Too bad Reimers and Bates didn't bring in these guys. They sure knew how to raise big money and they seem like just the kind that would fit in to the WBAI management circle.

    https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-05-supplement-industry-flies-radar-poses.html

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  4. Surely all this constitutes one of the longer lingering deaths on record.

    ~ 'indigopirate'

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  5. Mamma Mumia. yes indeed! We know that WBAI's spirit was snuffed out a few years back, leaving the station as aimless as a headless chicken. What lingers is that final crash. Those bologna sandwiches will be post rigor mortis by the time Reimers is handed his first.

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  6. WBAI has long been infested with crooks, from Mario Murillo, Dred Scott Keyes, Marjorie Moore and now Berthold Reimers. WBAI is a flea market of thieves.

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  7. The bigger question is why does R. Paul Martin still keep his show?

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    1. That is a question I have had for years. He is a horrible host and the show is a bottom of the trash can scrape. That said, it has strong competition for schlock of the litter status.

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  8. According to the WBAI newsletter, Randy Credico will be appearing on Nicleodeon as the voice of H.R. Pufnstuf, from the children's TV series of the same name that ran from 1969-1972 and is coming to "Mutt & Stuff".

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  9. Chris,

    Noel Jameson always supported R Paul Martin. When I requested information (index number, venue and parties named) of Bernad White's lawsuit from R Paul Martin, Martin said that the information was privileged. I replied that it is public information because it is a federal court case. It is public information.

    Martin, the little jerk, refused to provide the information. Jameson supported him- and Jameson knew that the information was public information. Jameson told me to go the federal court house and use the PACER system to research the public information. That statement in itself proves that the information is public.

    To Jameson's credit, he has resolutely requested a balance sheet, income statement, check register- and I mean for at least 7 years. For 7 years Berthold Reimers has refused to supply the requested information. A Balance Sheet and Income Statement are public information. As a not for profit, Pacifica is supposed to permit the public to inspect the financial records. In the Tanakh slaves are freed after 7 years. But not WBAI's financial information.

    Ed Manfredonia

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  10. I wonder if people actually receive and use Null's Brain Stuff if they will get smart and stop donating to WBAI...

    SDL

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    1. If they use it and get smart, they stop donating to WBAI but if they never receive their premium, do they keep giving to WBAI or stop? Mama Mumia.

      H.R. Pufnstuff (Randy Credico)
      Who's your friend when things get rough?
      H.R. Pufnstuff (Randy Credico)
      Can't do a little cause he can't do enough.

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  11. Search for "World Financial Group complaints" to find comments from agents recruited by WFG, who characterize it as an Amway-style pyramid scheme, primary purpose of which is to promote Aegon-backed financial products, and enrich the agent.
    Or start here... https://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/world-financial-group-c376833.html#comments

    Any reader here with eyes open will recognize this as anything but a "premium" for the listener, but rather a slick rip-off scheme preying on the vulnerable. Do we have to wonder which WFG agent would be benefitting from this arrangement - could it be "Financial Life Coach" Yoan Reimers? (See https://yoanreimers.wfgopportunity.com)

    Maybe someone can pick apart the implications of the General Manager using our non-profit station's resources to steer listeners into a business deal with his own family member, selling products of a for-profit global mega corporation.

    The mendacity and hypocrisy are beyond belief.

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    1. Supposedly, WFG will make a $100 donation to WBAI for every person who goes for the consultation.

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  12. Another Gary Null retreat for only $2500. The only question is who gets the tax deduction. It seems you have to pay Null the money and he will pay WBAI $500. Not that anyone would want to worry about such things when they can get the full Gary Null experience.

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  13. Word on the street is that Berthold wants to triple WBAI Buddy enrollment by using Yellow Magnet to promote shows on social media. Wait a minute. Are they taking Katie's show or H.R. Credico Pufnstuff's show, telling everyone on it online and then expect folks to make regular monthly payments to WBAI? Someone must be really puffing stuff at the station.

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  14. I had to laugh this morning when I heard Brady & Bates hawking those silly zappers as a means of curing viruses. It reminded me of the old days of decoder rings hawked on TV science fiction shows.

    Maybe the double helix water will, in fact, return. maybe it will be a new and improved version - triple helix water.

    SDL

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    1. Yes, I can see it:

      TripleHelix Water, now endorsed by Gary Null—comes with 4 different flavors of NullStuff™.

      I came in towards the end of the Brady/Bates pitch—heard the latter say that he sleeps with it in a sock, gathered that it eliminated AIDS, but was otherwise left in the dark as to what the hell they were pushing. Bates, of course, went on to his African history scam (a frequent encore presentation) and the day started with Pammy and the Idiot hawking slavery for kids, or something like that... it included a documentary on Shirley Chisholm, which Pammy described as vary rare and not likely to be found elsewhere. This was the cue for Haskipoo to do his only on WBAI routine. That hard to find film, BTW, is available for immediate delivery from Amazon.

      They should all be practicing the Pacifica perp walk.

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    2. They were replaying that horrid zapper segment. So disgusting to hear. The out and out lies, preying on the desperate. And they kept saying over and over again how WBAI is so "brave" to allow this ridiculous segment to air. What a sleazy, disgraceful station. How can they sell this crap and sleep at night. Supposedly you can use the chunk of orgone to lower your energy bill. I was driving and was so shocked by the lies I almost drove off the road!

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    3. They become more disgusting and morally bankrupt with each fund drive. Tony Bates has only made things more outrageous. They all lie, even the Pacifica Archives guy who claims that the John Coltrane interview is the only one extant and that it was conducted by a WBAI guy. It was actually conducted by the late Frank Kofsky, who was not a WBAI producer. Furthermore, there are about fifty Coltrane interviews known to exist.

      I'm sure the Archives guy is speaking from ignorance rather than making a deliberate lie, but the fact is that these desperate people will tell the listeners anything to extract money from them.

      WBAI has not been an important radio station for many years, so the agencies are as disinterested as were the majority of listeners (they tuned out). If the truth weren't so, WBAI would have lost its license a long time ago and some of its self-claimed celebrities would be behind bars. They belong there for consistently swindling the public that once was.

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    4. It was amazing to listen to - all it takes is a few minutes on Google to disprove all of it. I was jotting down notes at each light. The most bizarre twist: Brady claims someone ripped open his package that contained the zappers and left it there opened (without stealing them). He then alluded to other episodes where "they" have tampered with his mail. The other guy in the studio with him then said "do you mean they are trying to scare you"? The two concluded that "they" were trying to silence him. Why wouldn't "they" have stolen the stupid zappers if the really want them to remain hidden? It was such a strange segment. The hosts may be as far gone as the people buying the items.

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    5. I think Geoff Brady is naïve beyond the legal limit. The other guy, Tony Bates, is not naïve—he's just crooked and unscrupulous.

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    6. Can I use the zapper to get rid of Bates and these quacks? Its supposed to get rid of parasites and there are plenty of them at the station.

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    7. I don't think the zapper will do that (it may depend on your socks), but I find a tune-out to be quite effective.

      Null's survival kit may contain a de-zapper.... with looking into.

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    8. I heard this crap again when I tuned in to see if TPCS would be on. In all seriousness, hawking something like this is going to the lows of scam artistry and snake oil. This Zapper thing is more akin to something one finds at the Walgreen's "As Seen on TV" aisle, or in a toy store. In fact, it may even be lower than a preacher selling a prayer cloth. It may make a good party prank, though - walking up behind someone and zapping them for a laugh.

      For WBAI, and Pacifica, to sell such a blatant scam item shows how much contempt these entities have for their audience.

      As far as Brady goes, he's both a coward and a lunatic in need of mental help, even more than maybe Kathy "Cake" Davis. He's a wannabe Art Bell or George Noory, without the talent.

      Bates is just a con man, with a thing for talking about "they." I remember the time there was a click on the phone and he started on about how "they" were interfering. Of course, "they" didn't cut off the call.

      For even The Remnants to support crap like this shows that they (not "they") should be held in contempt, too. For people to fall for this shows an utter lack of any intelligence in this remaining audience. You know what? Let Bates fuck them over. They deserve it for being so incredibly stupid.


      As for the imaginary orgone, just go listen to Hawkwind - Orgone Accumulator for free and get something that is real, at least.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPISXvQwm_E

      SDL

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  15. Chris,

    There has not been much discussion concerning the incompetence of Andrea Katz; most probably because she is so close to Steve Brown.
    of
    I was the first individual to comment upon the incompetence of Berthold Reimers; and I was excoriated for analyzing Berthold's corruption.

    Thank you.

    Ed Manfredonia

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    1. Andrea Katz is seen or heard from even more infrequently than Berthold Reimers. That may be one reason—out of sight, out of mind. Then, too, there is little or no evidence of her doing anything for WBAI, certainly not anything that she is allegedly getting paid for (promotion, for example).

      I can readily relate to being excoriated for pointing out holes in this breadbox. I was not aware of the corruption when I first expressed by disrespect for Berthold—I think that was after his first year, one that he is said to have spent "straightening out" the outrageous premium backlog. I recall him declaring that his year spent in something they referred to as the "premium room" had all but eliminated problem. In the meantime, WBAI continued to sink deeper into the gutter. My first thought was that the work he supposedly wasted a year on should have been done by a volunteer.

      I don't think he did diddly-squat that year nor in the ones that followed. I am talking about positive efforts—he has been pretty good at vandalism.

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  16. Chris,

    The number of premiums not shipped varies considerably. I was recently told that more than 1,000 premiums were in arrears.

    Having attended meetings of the WBAI Finance Committee and the WBAI Local Station Board, I long ago concluded that many of the individuals involved were suffered from serious mental health issues. And most added 40 points or so to their IQ.

    I once attended a meeting where a woman said: "I'm a professor; but, I am not good in math." They were discussing the area of a circle. No one knew the formula for the area of a circle; let alone that the difference in area between two circles with different radii was r^2/r^2.

    One individual ventured that the difference in area between a 100 mile radius and an 80 mile radius would be 20%. Instead of 36%.

    Andrea Katz once boasted to me that she had 3 Masters of Arts Degrees. I replied that a basic understanding of accounting is all that one needed.

    What WBAI needs is less Hegelian philosophy and more basic accounting knowledge.

    Thank you.

    Ed

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  17. @Ed Manfredonia

    Precious few prodigies or polymaths amongst them, granted, yet surely they’re possessed of particular experience and expertise as to non-standard deviations, particularly of the ‘progressive-political’ sort, and even more extensive expertise as to the novel applications of imaginary numbers to both single- and double-entry systems of accounting.

    Who, after all, would have imagined that imaginary numbers were valid for accounting purposes?

    Surely only a Pacifican!

    Now, I’m a fairly simple sort, and I’m far from expert in the arcana of Hegel, and Marx, but weren’t they, after all, of that school of neo-quasi-Platonic idealism which eschewed the corruption of any actual or meaningful consideration of the material world so as to maintain their conceptual purity, such conceptual purity a sort of Materialist Immaculate Conception dedicated solely to the prophecy and celbration as to the Wonders of The Revolution Soon to Come?

    In a way such purity reminds me of the Gnostics in their loathing for and contemptuous rejection of ‘reality’ and their eagerness to move on to their favored non-material imaginary world.

    Some would call it madness, some would call it idealism.

    Some might, more accurately, call it a gender-neutral-as-opposed-to-patriarchal verion of Laputa...

    – or, simply, cloud-cuckoo-land…

    Mathematically, I suppose it’s the Land of Black Swans and Long Tails.

    ~ ‘indigo, pirate’

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  18. Chris,

    Indigo means Fat Tails, which defy a standard normal distribution.

    But I have known about that since 1981.

    Steve Brown and Mitchel Cohen had an original idea. They were going to do linear regression on a year to year basis- using only two years data. That is correct two points. Remember a straight line can be drawn through two points. They wanted to show the difference in scamming money from one year to the next year.

    I remember R Paul Martin accusing me of a slanderous libel. Slander is spoken; libel is written.

    The reason for the dearth of criticism of Andrea Katz is simply that she is Steve Brown's personal friend. So no one will criticize Katz.

    I have even heard members of the WBAI LSB speak of the mysterious power of a torus- yes, the mystical power of a donut, albeit one with a hole in the center. Jelly donuts and boston cream donuts do not qualify.

    Ed Manfredonia

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    1. Actually, indigo, however playfully, meant long tails, also non-Gaussian :)

      ~ 'indigopirate'

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