As the absurd Mimi Rosenberg crawls around in blackface spewing her toxic JUC drivel and advocating handing WBAI over to MNN, Reimers, Bates, and the rest of the scammers are pulling harder and longer on those udders. However, that alleged cash cow is feeling rather poorly these days, so there's but a trickle where it used to flow rather nicely.
Null is rumored to be the only one generating a mentionable amount of sales, which means that he is doing okay for himself. That said, the station's credibility is now such that nothing we hear coming out of there (on or off the air) is to be taken seriously.
The Pacifica National Board is no help—it spent its entire public meeting this evening (1 hour and 21 minutes) arguing about what to argue about.
We laugh, but it isn't the least bit funny.
Make a movie based on WBAI and/or Pacifica and it will be the modern day version of Network.
ReplyDeleteSDL
Who will shout down to the street?
DeleteId rather see a modern remake of Agatha Christie's "Twelve Little Indians".
Mimi, of course!
DeleteHow about Battle Royale? If you don't know this great Japanese film:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Royale_(film)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0p1t-dC7Ko
SDL
There would be sex scenes featuring Robert Knight and his girlfriends Valerie Van Isler and Lois Henry -having sex in the WBAI studios.
DeleteThe Pacifica Detective
Well, there was a sex scene in a porn movie that was filmed in one of the WBAI studios at 505 8th Ave when Jack Shugg snuck in a porn film crew without telling management about it. That's why he was fired.
DeleteSDL
Several WBAI staffers were involved in that infamous movie including Max Schmid, the late Paul Wunder, R. Paul Martin & Delphine Blue.
DeleteInteresting. I always thought the real reason Shugg was fired was because he worked in the porn business, and the filming was somewhat of an excuse.
DeleteSDL
I get home with my chicken gyro, snap on the radio to see what nonsense is on WBAI and get to hear about rectal ozone. Maybe next week at the same time they can discuss the health benefits of doing a bukkake session?
ReplyDeleteSDL
Are they offering rectal ozone as a premium? From what I understand, it can readily be captured right there at 388 Atlantic.
DeletePerhaps its already being sold and shipped... I hear a lot of talk about odeous offerings. Null can come up with a powder, or maybe he has one already: the Brown Stuff Kathy sanctifies. I may be all wrong about this... there is so much in the marathon mix.
BTW, rumor has it that Reimers and Bates inadvertently scheduled a commercial-free half hour before the end of the month.
John Stossel would have a field day with WBAI.
DeleteIt's amazing what crap they will sell on WBAI, but what's even more amazing is how dumb The Remnants are that they buy this stuff.
Imagine grandma, who finally received her premium after two years, asking her grandchildren to sit down and watch Zeitgeist instead of playing on the Xbox or Playstation? Yeah, me neither...
SDL
"Pacifica National Board is no help—it spent its entire public meeting this evening (1 hour and 21 minutes) arguing about what to argue about."
ReplyDeleteBased on the audio quality, it seems that many of the Pacifica Board members are calling from non-traditional phone lines (Skype and cells from the sound of it) Find a landline and use it!
There were complaints of being dropped. That might be the case, however you can share the presenters view (Screenshare) with the group. Doing so will allow everyone to see who is muted, who was dropped by the system, or the call simply failing due to the far end equipment and provider.
Roberts Rules provides for a Sergeant at Arms to maintain order. How about letting the SAA mute the board members who fail to follow the rules.
The complaints of being "dropped: come from Cerene Roberts, that's one of her ploys to delay meetings that aren't traveling along her very narrow, one-way paths to destruction.
DeleteShe will stay silent when called upon to vote and post a complaint "I have been dropped." It's quite a tired and transparent routine by now, but she does not have much imagination except when she twists facts out of shape.
Not only are they using inferior equipment to call in, they deliberately make themselves difficult to understand, as when Benito mumbles with the phone too close—then one of them (often Adriana) will claim sabotage.
I use MaestroConference with another NP. Once we trained everyone to use a landline phone where possible and if on a cell, stay the heck off the speaker phone, it pretty much works.
DeleteThe "conductor’s interface" works on Windows, Mac, or Linux, with any Flash-enabled browser, and can be shared in view-only mode. It clearly shows who is talking, who is muted, and who hung up. It brings a big dose of STFU to the folks who are trying to game the process as everything is out in the open. No more accusations of people being hung up on, or muted so their voice is silenced.
The "Raise Hand" feature forces participants to queue to speak. It works very well when there are folks on the call who are there to disrupt the process, rather than working to fix a broken process.
Pacifica needs to man up and start using the features they are already paying for.
"Pacifica needs to man up and start using the features they are already paying for" implies that the problem with the PNB is technical. It is clear that the PNB does not have a majority of members who want to conduct business in an orderly way. If such a majority existed, the "disrupters" would have been shut down and ignored long ago. As long as the rest of the PNB tolerates them, the "disrupters" will always win, regardless of technology.
DeleteNot the intent at all - they are paying for a platform that gives them the tools to manage their meetings.
DeleteThey are choosing *not* use the tools they are paying for.
Listening to a pitch this morning, I heard Gary Null do his angry, unfunny, Rodney Dangerfield imitation ("I don't get no respect").
ReplyDeleteGary Null has been promoting himself all week.
DeleteA fake oral resumė. Much time in one of the fantasies was spent on the hypocrisy of Al Gore. Adding to the irony of this pot calling the kettle black was the fact that.Nnull's "yes" man was Tony "double Helix" Bates, who—it would seem—shares Null's intense dislike of hypocrisy when other people are guilty of it.
I thought the trademark on that belonged to the estate...
ReplyDeleteI tell ya, I don't get no respect. I tried to tell kids at a birthday party how good a black strap molasses and cucumber juice drink was and they kept drinking the Coke, instead of listening to my all self-importance...
ReplyDeleteSDL
There was a time I thought Null really was this genius who knew how to cure people through alternative medicines and therapies. I'm talking like late 90's. I had a girlfriend who was bi-polar and taking enough meds to choke an elephant. I told her about Null and how he could hep her get off those meds.
ReplyDeleteSo she called his office and told them about herself, the years of being in and out of hospitals, the mania, the depression, all the meds she took and how she was on disability.
They told her to come into the office for a consultation, just $180. Plus the green stuff and whatever that cost. It was all about money and the fact that she had none meant nothing. I honestly thought he was this maverick that was telling people the truth and helping the sick.
Seeing what an egotistical, money grubbing asshole he actually was and is, really is disappointing.
daniels and haskins talking about racism in Haiti, you know your not gonna hear this anywhere else,
ReplyDeleteThat's true , because NOBODY really gives a shit about this!
Daniels and Haskins are very bad for WBAI—the former is a stone opportunist, the latter runs on empty.
DeleteI have a friend who's a prosecutor in the national security section of the DOJ office in Manhattan. According to him, all prosecutors work on a quota system. What are my chances of taking this case and getting a conviction? Will this score me points and make me and the DOJ look good?
ReplyDeleteWhy won't the the NY Attorney General or NYC DA prosecute Null and finally put him away? He's small time. That doesn't excuse the shit he's done and continues to do. But ask ten people on the street outside of NYC if they know him. Almost all will say no. Same thing with Pacifica. When was the last time you heard corporate media mention them or Goodman? Years ago.
You have brought up some remarkable facts. We are talking about people and entities that today are essentially unknown. So, "Why" is a good question.
DeleteHi Chris. Just out of curiousity. Do you still do any BBC work?
ReplyDeleteNo, it's been many years. I listen, however.
DeleteI thought I would post this, in case anyone has use for old digitized 78s for their listening pleasure, a radio show they do, etc.
ReplyDeletehttps://archive.org/details/georgeblood
SDL
Thank you, I'll be sure to listen.
DeleteTony Bates and Kathy Davis are on the air this morning, pitching a variety of nonsense. They are in high gear and sound really desperate. I suspect that the extended begathon is not going well and even the remnants have stopped going for the putrid bait that WBAI is using to attract suckers.
ReplyDeleteII heard some of it—the tired old everything-came-from-Africa crap. Bates and Davis are the "double helix" team—a more disgusting, unprincipled scam pair is hard to find. They have sold out any positive aspects they may once have had, so anything goes.
DeleteAccording to the RPM on the blueboard, they are averaging $8,500/day, which is $5,500 less than the $14,000/day projected (i.e. fantasized).
DeleteI'd recommend they take a binding poll at $1.00 per vote as to whether to fire or keep Reimers. That should bring in lots of money.
SDL
Looking at all these comments, I'm amazed at how much time, effort, attention and whatever work you all put into this radio station you dislike so much too. That is true dedication and loyalty. Strange how attached people become to what they liked-before and dislike-now and refuse to ever "let go" of the fantasy that the [radio station or whatever] can ever be re-vived, returned to prior mode, or saved. It appears to be nostalgia gone stale ?
ReplyDeleteNot criticizing all your clever comments and interesting observations written here. Just wondering how much of your lives are so connected to WBAI as is now, and as it dithers or fails or flounders or whatever ? Do the relevant leaders in or around that station realize how much you all care ? still ? and forever onward too ?
I believe most of us who are vocal regarding the avoidable destruction of WBAI began showing our concern a few years back, when the details were less apparent. Back then, the main problem appeared to be inferior programming, which was driving away the listeners.
DeleteWe were right about that, but the problem was much deeper. I don't think I need to go into that, but to answer your questions, the regular complainants, the ones you see commenting online, are almost all people who have done some work at WBAI and continued to listen after they left.
A variety of suggestions, including ones firmly rooted in experience, contacts and/or plain rational thinking, have been submitted to manager Reimers, but he neither answers his phone or email. This is a man who seems to keep more than one set of books, ad libs answers to pressing financial questions, and does not show up when his presence is needed/requested at meetings.
I have a feeling that what once was genuine concern for WBAI and Pacifica's survival has turned to into a waiting game, boosted a bit by a desire to see the vandals get their just dessert.
I share the dismay, but I might perhaps have added interest given the facts that I, as WBAI's manager, hired the first black staffers, got FCC permission to increase the power, purchased a new and then state-of-the-art transmitter, and moved our transmitting facilities from a 40-floor rooftop to the Empire State Building. I also created the fund raising marathon and had such success in NYC that Pacifica flew me out to introduce and conduct this approach at KPFA and KPFK. These changes are all pertinent to today's problems.
Our marathons were all live, 24-7, and there was but one short one each year. The premium was our promise to keep the stations on the air and vital.
The nostalgia didn't go stale, the organization did and the stagnancy/destruction comes from within.
KPFKcommentator does not understand (1) how amusing it is to listen (in small doses) to the self-parody of people like Null, Bates, Davis, Prescod, Haskins, Kane, etc.; or, (2) how enjoyable it is to watch these assholes sink into a latrine pit of their own making. So be it. Chacun a son gout.
DeleteA touch of Icelandica for Mr. Chris: 1843Magazine.com/culture/iceland-life.
ReplyDeleteJust read the article—thank you for passing it on. I wonder if Iceland still has no illiteracy, or identifying dialects.
DeleteI recall when they did a local production of "My Fair Lady" at the national theater. Since it hinges on the refinement of Liza Doolittle's mannerisms and speech, it posed a problem in a country where everybody sounds the same. They finally decided to give her a Danish accent!
This amused people like me, a half and half, so to speak. My Danish mother never lost her accent when speaking in Icelandic, which she often did. I probably advantaged by age, never had a detectable accent in either language, and I am told that my English is more midwestern than transatlantic.