65 Comments »

TSarten said:
Am I the only one that thinks Megan and Josh are sisters?
Balance is bogus baby.
WINNER!! ::   +9
[Reply]

TimeManager Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 9:59 am
I thought the same thing. Or Butch Megan, maybe? Did they manifest their glasses at a 2-for-1 Vision Quest?
  +4
[Reply]
# 17 February 2010 at 11:35 am

wondering why said:
James Arthur Ray and Co. knew exactly what they were doing in the “Sweat Lodges” Here is a entry in Wikipedia on the symptoms of hyperthemia.The first of which James Ray TOLD them they would experience.
Other signs and symptoms vary depending on the cause. The dehydration associated with heat stroke can produce nausea, vomiting, headaches, and low blood pressure. This can lead to fainting or dizziness, especially if the person stands suddenly.
In the case of severe heat stroke, the person may become confused or hostile, and may seem intoxicated. Heart rate and respiration rate will increase (tachycardia and tachypnea) as blood pressure drops and the heart attempts to supply enough oxygen to the body. The decrease in blood pressure can then cause blood vessels to contract, resulting in a pale or bluish skin color in advanced cases of heat stroke. Some victims, especially young children, may have seizures. Eventually, as body organs begin to fail, unconsciousness and coma will result.
And he wanted this last one to be hotter than ever!!
WINNER!! ::   +10
[Reply]

stoic Reply:
February 17th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
The transcripts from Daniel Pfankuk and his then wife Michelle are damning.
Michelle tells of how after Daniel was hospitalised with heatstroke in 2005 (he was the worst of many casualties that year) no-one from JRI was interested in how he was doing but DeathRay summoned him on his release fron hospital.
He was bowled over at Daniels account of his experience of the altered state (delusions prior to coma and death) and considered it a cool outcome.
He questioned Daniel about it, clearly seeing the marketing opportunity in spinning this near death experience as a genuine spiritual experience…….the sweat lodge got hotter and longer by the year and the rest is history.
WINNER!! ::   +14
[Reply]

Yakaru Reply:
February 17th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Like Colleen Conaway, Dan Pfankuch was exhibiting classical symptoms of psychosis. The hospital didn’t pick it up koz they were more concerned with his severe dehydration and heat stroke, but he should have been institutionalised and properly examined.
Another life ruined by Death Ray.
WINNER!! ::   +11
[Reply]

Duff Reply:
February 17th, 2010 at 7:07 pm
Psychosis is a predictable side-effect of LGAT-style seminars in some percentage of attendees. The highly aggressive techniques and long schedules push people beyond their limits in psychologically risky ways.
Sometimes psychosis is in fact a positive experience for the person, in which case one should classify such an experience as a “spiritual emergency”:
http://www.realitysandwich.com/spiritual_emergencies
Stanislav Grof coined this term. Grof also created Holotropic Breathwork, which Ray used without certification and without permission on his Spiritual Warrior seminar:
http://www.examiner.com/x-11245-Philadelphia-Speculative-Fiction-Examiner~y2009m10d24-Interview-with-Dr-Stanislav-Grof-James-Ray-is-not-certified
Even when Spiritual Emergency is a positive experience overall for the person, hospitalization and therapy may be necessary, often costing tens of thousands of dollars. LGAT’s usually have aggressive legal teams in place to prevent victims from collecting any money to pay for such medical and psychotherapeutic expenses. When there is a settlement, it is always out of court with a gag order to not talk about the LGAT in any way publicly.
  +5
[Reply]

Yakaru Reply:
February 17th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Stoic:”the sweat lodge got hotter and longer by the year and the rest is history.”
And it seems like Mad Meg and Death Ray miscounted and added an extra round in 2009…And they were already walking way too close to an edge they thought was illusory.
WINNER!! ::   +8
[Reply]

stoic Reply:
February 17th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
To Duff,
Just want to point out that traditionally there were years of rigorous training to ensure that the person having the ‘spiritual emergency’ had the tools and expertise to navigate fairly safely through the experience and come out the other side reasonably sane.(still some casualties in the traditional paths but a lot of built-in safeguards— its a risky undertaking)
Heatstroke induced, drug induced or stress induced psychoses are much more dangerous emergencies with a very much higher risk of death or permanent damage.
  +3
[Reply]

Duff Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 12:48 am
To Stoic,
Not only were there years of rigorous training, but psychosis in premodern societies even today has a 10x greater recovery rate!
http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/cultural-psychiatry/content/article/10168/51596?verify=0
I wouldn’t recommend that anyone intentionally seek out psychosis or spiritual emergency. It is totally unnecessary for psychological and spiritual growth, and in fact is usually VERY dangerous, even deadly.
The reason I provided the information on Spiritual Emergency is that if someone has already experienced psychosis, a more positive framing of the experience can radically increase the rate of recovery (as seen in premodern societies).
  +3
[Reply]
# 17 February 2010 at 11:46 am

Herbs said:
Herbalife is a very serious MLM scam, that has many complaints against it. http://www.rickross.com/groups/herbalife.html
Herbalife also uses every technique they can to scam people and lure them into the Herbalife system, and keep them in.
Megan and Josh are the kind of people who get lured into these kind of scams first as the suckers, and then become the suckees.
Suckees, in more ways than one.
why did Ray want Megan so badly? Ray likes the ladies as he knows how to press all of their buttons, and get them to do anything, yes anything, he wants them to do.
they will even cover up for multiple deaths for him, and risk their own necks in the process.
Josh is a internet marketer scammer in embryo. if not for the deaths, he would have continued moving up the internet marketing scammer totem pole.
Megan and Josh are so deeply indoctrinated, they will do anything for Ray. Ray has used the most powerful techniques on these two, how far they will go for Ray is not known. but there have been many cases where deeply indoctrinated followers have even covered up crimes and deaths for their groups leader.
in other situations, maniac followers have literally poisoned people, and have done much worse on the orders of their leader.
Look at the image above, Ray represents himself as the sun. get it? Ray, a Ray of the sun?
The Droid should be in the center of the image of the sun above, and create a Droid eclipse of Ray, spraying salt over them.
Megan and Josh are so deeply indoctrinated by Ray, they have sacrificed their own lives for Ray, just as Ray wanted them to.
Ray also probably has some serious dirt on those two, so if they don’t play ball, the IRS could get a brown envelope from Ray, with details about Megan and Josh in it. jail is not a fun place, and the IRS knows that.
a little blackmail is also always part of the package, like Scientology uses all the time, and Ray was a Scientologist, but Scientology wasn’t harsh enough for Ray. Ray wants to be the God, not LRH.
Megan and her wife Josh are in this beyond their necks. their blind greed and self internet have ruined their own lives.
this is not the first time this has happened in a group, the techniques exist to indoctrinate senior followers so deeply, they will do anything you want from them. they will even cover up illegal activities, and once they do they are trapped and can’t get out, because they will go down too.
the lies told by these two are so blatant you can’t imagine they are not going to end up in contempt of the court.
WINNER!! ::   +14
[Reply]

Hobbes Reply:
February 17th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
Recced for ‘self internet’ :)
  0
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Hippo Reply:
February 17th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
I am wondering whether the immunity deal can protect them, or whether Ray might have something on them that Yavapai County can’t help them with.
Just off the top of my head, I am thinking that Ray is the big fish they want, and would be happy to let these two little fish go in return for their testimony. That’s “testimony,” not evasion and denial.
Or maybe I’m not thinking big enough. Maybe it’s way worse than I can imagine.
  +2
[Reply]
# 17 February 2010 at 12:55 pm

Yakaru said:
Latest document from Yavapai Sherrif-
Allegation of aggravating circumstances
1. Presence of an accomplice
(I wonder who that’s is referring to)
2. The especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner in which the offense was committed
(Couldn’t've put it better myself)
3. Defendant committed the offense as consideration for the receipt of anything of pecuniary value
4. The victim, or if the victim died as a result of the conduct of the defendant, the victim’s immediate family suffered physical, emotional or financial harm
–B-b-but sherrif, haven’t you read the White Papers?
http://apps.supremecourt.az.gov/docsYAV/Cases/State%20of%20Arizona%20vs%20James%20Arthur%20Ray/02-16-2010%20MISCELLANEOUS-ALLEGATION%20OF%20AGGRAVATING%20CIRCUMSTANCES.tif
WINNER!! ::   +9
[Reply]

wondering why Reply:
February 17th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Thanks for that Yakaru…I wonder also who they are referring to? The Fredrickson’s??? I guess we shall see..
  +3
[Reply]

Hippo Reply:
February 17th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
To Yakaru:
Thank you for that. I hadn’t realized that it was a more serious offense when Ray killed his clients in return for money. Now that I think about it, of course it makes sense, but I did not realize that until you posted the list.
  +4
[Reply]

Yakaru Reply:
February 17th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Yes, “heinous, cruel or depraved”…or all of the above.
  +3
[Reply]
# 17 February 2010 at 1:01 pm

wondering why said:
Salty-Love your pic with you,the little Droid, standing in the background watching all the nefarious goings on. Love what your cursor says when you place it over Corporate Clients..Cracked me up..
  +4
[Reply]
# 17 February 2010 at 1:38 pm

j said:
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
it’s enough already with james Ray….he’s going to jail…move on
LOSER!! ::   -18
[Reply]

stoic Reply:
February 17th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
He ain’t there yet, we’re going to watch over him until that cell door finally locks shut on him.
WINNER!! ::   +8
[Reply]

Carlon Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 9:55 am
The cell door may not lock if the universe sets him free….or brings everyone back to life…the secreters are waiting.
  +2
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stoic Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 10:48 am
The universe may indeed set him free, but my money is on the good sense of YCSO, the US legal system, the natural revulsion of ordinary people to this piece of scum–failing all that there is direct action.
Let the secreteers wait, the universe talks to me quite a lot too and always recommends a bit of doing to help the waiting along.;-)
  +2
[Reply]

Jean D. Reply:
February 17th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
@j Why are you here if you’re not interested?
  +6
[Reply]
# 17 February 2010 at 2:50 pm

Hippo said:
I have to ask–is Megan capable of any other facial expression besides that manic grin? She’s so creepy.
WINNER!! ::   +10
[Reply]
# 17 February 2010 at 3:46 pm

froylein said:
Herbalife? A pyramid?
Things are getting clearer and clearer. :)
  +6
[Reply]
# 17 February 2010 at 3:53 pm

b96d said:
“Tony Robbins :: Herbalife :: Scientology :: MLM :: Telemarketing … these are the mentor shaman of James Arthur Ray.”
Sounds familiar?
Tony Robbins :: Neways :: Christianity :: MLM :: Internetmarketing … these are the mentor shaman of yet another secret scumbag.
“Sickness and disease is caused by the mind being in chaos” quote by David Schirmer
“experts of all drivel, masters of none”
  +3
[Reply]
# 17 February 2010 at 4:03 pm

Yakaru said:
Another update: Bail has been reduced.
Death Ray will probably be on the loose again and no doubt with plenty more instructions for his doormat and his Director of Operations. Good luck M&J. Don’t say the Droid didn’t warn you. If you had’ve listened to a few of those “nasty negative comments”, your prospects would have been looking a lot brighter than they do now.
http://apps.supremecourt.az.gov/docsYAV/Cases/State%20of%20Arizona%20vs%20James%20Arthur%20Ray/02-17-2010%20ORDER%20GRANTING.TIF
  +1
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mirele Reply:
February 17th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Actually, that just looks like the court granted the state’s request to file under seal its response to the defense’s request for reduced bail. Ray’s not getting out just yet. A lot of documents in this case are now under seal.
  +5
[Reply]

stoic Reply:
February 17th, 2010 at 6:50 pm
The judge will hear the arguments on possible bsil reduction on Feb 23 according to this report:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2010/02/13/20100213james-arthur-ray-gag-order.html
  +2
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Hippo Reply:
February 17th, 2010 at 11:35 pm
I hope they know what they’re doing–this guy is dangerous and a flight risk. I’ll be disappointed if they lower his bail. However, I know that the judge has to operate within certain guidelines.
I was just watching a documentary about another defendant in a murder trial. He was in the military, and the commanding officer knew there was a possibility that the defendant would flee, but could not hold the person under the circumstances. The defendant actually faked his own death and moved to another state. He was caught eventually, but it would have been easier for everyone involved if he had been kept locked up.
  +3
[Reply]
# 17 February 2010 at 4:59 pm

Julie said:
I would be very disillusioned with life if James Ray goes free and is not held accountable for the deaths that he caused or the ruin he has caused in peoples lives. These secret people have done so much damage to peoples lives and have been diverting their blame to their victims since it all began. At what point do the authorities wake up and realise that evil has no place in a peaceful society. I am so disappointed in the choices that these people have made and I believe they should be held accountable for everything that they have said and done to people. Claiming you are a christian is an absolute joke and a cop out. It will get the revenge and hate it deserves.
  +4
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mirele Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
I’m thinking that if Ray goes free (even on bail), he’s stupid enough to try and run his seminars, etc., etc. He has to publicize those and I’m sure there are enough interested parties in the usual places who could make phone calls or show up to make his life hell.
I dunno, maybe Anonymous might want to raid a future James Arthur Ray “event,” just for the lulz, yanno.
  +2
[Reply]
# 18 February 2010 at 4:34 am

anon said:
I have just read the Susan Smyser transcript (or I attempted to) and I felt so sick in my stomach that people like James Ray and his “friends” endorse doing things like this and selling hype (hope) to people for such a ridiculous monetary value. It is evil and it is just so so so wrong. How that guy David Schirmer or any one of the others could bring christianity into this is so beyond normal its frightening. Does he have a psychological problem or something? Does James Ray have a psychological problem as a result of all this secret hype? I find it physically sickening to think that these people think they are “gods” in this life. Imagine what they have coming.
  +6
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stoic Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 7:19 am
What James Ray has is a greed problem and an entitlement problem. He thinks he is entitled to this kind of worship and power and to the entirety of his followers lives.
  +5
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Jean D. Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
If anyone wonders about his mental state and intentions,let these pictures speak for themselves:

  +5
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Yakaru Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
The god money sex /one photo says it all. Thanks for posting those. The guy is a full on sociopath.
  +4
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stoic Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
Gobsmacking–take some random words, draw a little grid on top and there you have it, total justification for sociopathic grandiosity and killing your customers.
I shall have to remember that little nugget of ‘sleight of alphabet’ for my own bag of tricks. Doh.
  +1
[Reply]

Yakaru Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
That transcript has a lot of interesting stuff in it. She did the sweat lodge in 2008 and collapsed and was literally expecting to die. She asked for James Ray to come to her to accompany her “to the other side”, but he couldn’t coz he’d already gotten in his car and left.
  +2
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wondering why Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
The detectives in this interview seemed pretty interested in what Michelle Goulet had to say to people..Haven’t seen an interview with her yet..I am wondering if is she getting immunity too, or is she the “accomplice”???
  +3
[Reply]

stoic Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Special Events Coordinator for JRI, Michelle Goulet
is allegedly one of the people who called Colleen Conaway’s cell phone after she was deceased, when they had her cell phone, and knew she was already deceased.
I believe that I read in another transcript(can’t remember which but will look it up) that Michelle Goulet had been co-operating with the investigators since late 2009
  +1
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Yakaru Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
Hey Stoic, I’d be interested to know if you can find where you read she’d been cooperating with authorities.
For new readers, here is Michele Goulet’s message to Colleen Conaway’s cell phone which she knew perfectly well was in JRI’s possession, and which she would shortly herself hand over to authorities. The message is followed by another message from Tina Hefner of JRI, left after Colleen’s death was confirmed. To be fair, Ms Hefner may not have been informed of Colleen’s death. That would be a question for the San Diego police if they ever get around to doing their fucking job.
http://saltydroid.info/messages-for-the-dead/
If Goulet is indeed cooperating with authorities, she must have undergone some deprogramming. It doesn’t excuse her from the evil she has perpetrated on Colleen and her family.
  +3
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stoic Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 5:42 pm
Sorry, Yakaru, my mistake.
It was Melinda Martin who was co-operating with the investigators–according to p70 of Megan Fredrickson’s immunity transcript.
No excuses offered for Michelle Goulet and her appalling behaviour, though I would encourage her to co-operate and try to salvage some basic humanity.
  +2
[Reply]

Yakaru Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Thanks for the update, Stoic. It’s strange that she’s hardly mentioned in the docs. She’s told investigators the 2008 lodge had no problems, despite her boyfriend collapsing and freaking out. I guess minor details like your beloved having a medical emergency just kind of fade into the background.
  +3
[Reply]
# 18 February 2010 at 5:04 am

CJ said:
People will only remember the bad you have done. No matter how much good you think you may have done the public will only ever remember the bad so these people would be smart to go and live the quiet life at least for a while rather than continuing their tirade of stupidity and grandiose claims.
  +1
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Hobbes Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 10:47 am
Have they done any good? Has anyone measured the quantum warrior harmonic spiritual non-bogus success – however you choose to define it – of Ray’s happy throng of plastic waving customers?
A lot of people are going to be asking themselves if Ray is selling anything real – except maybe involuntary black stand-up comedy.
He’s always known it’s a get-rich-quick earner for him. If he does some seminar theatre and leaves people feeling hyped up and not too dead or injured, he doesn’t have to deliver anything real at all.
  +5
[Reply]

Yakaru Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 10:58 am
Saying James Ray has done good is like commending a confidence trickster for being extremely friendly 90% of the time.
  +5
[Reply]

CJ Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 4:20 pm
Well I just checked up on that Schirmer guy because hes another one headed for disaster at a million miles an hour and hes coming to the USA real soon. With certainty he is not wanted in Australia and with even more certainty hes not wanted in the US. I bet hes the type who is headed over to sort out the James Ray incident and milk it for what he can get out of it. An ex Ray employee has already accused him of that I see. We have enough idiots claiming to be experts of nothing without getting a loser from another country. What sort of delusional life does the guy live? He is heading into a hotbed of competition when everyone else is just doing their thing. Smart arses like him are not welcome so I guess he’ll have to accept what comes his way. I bet the aussies are glad to see his back end.
  +1
[Reply]
# 18 February 2010 at 5:35 am

Hippo said:
You know what it is? People remember the thing that carries the greatest emotional charge.
Things this bad carry a much stronger charge than anything good the person might have done.
  +5
[Reply]

stoic Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 9:33 am
There are very good evolutionary reasons that such things carry such a powerful emotional charge, in the interests of survival we tamper with these emotional charges at our peril.
  +4
[Reply]
# 18 February 2010 at 8:59 am

noodlebowl said:
If you want a description of what happens when people are indoctrinated to do ANYTHING and I mean ANYTHING to serve a leader and then that leader faces legal consequences and the underlings must cover up,
Run do not walk, let your fingers race across the keyboard, and do a google search for the book ‘People Farm’ by Steve Susoyev.
Susoyev survived being a member of a wilderness therapy cult in the 1970s. His descriptions of what it was like to have to find a lawyer for his leader (who had fled the country and was in hiding) and the image management he and the others had to do (rent smaller rooms to conceal the drop off in attendees) is fascinating and educational.
Caution. Do not read this before bed time because some of the material is graphic.
The author lives humbly with sad and steady recognition that he himself did things to serve that leader for which some fellow commune members will never forgive.
He accepts that.
He wrote the book wanting the world to understand how one can be groomed through love and loyalty to become a victim perpetrator and wrote this memoir so we could understand this process.
His leader had great instincts for sensing oncoming areas of social openess and change, and knew the precise moment when to begin supporting controversial social justice causes–just as they were about to win social acceptance. This enabled the leader to gain valuable networks of influential friends and enablers–most of whom did not know what went on in private.
Concentric circles.
Google the book people farm and read it. Though the events happened over 30 years ago, the topic is not obsolete.
The only reason the leader did prison time was, he had a license as a physician and in a professionl regulated by law.
Todays operators know better than to get licensed. In the grey area of spiritual entrepreneur or healer/unlicensed entrepreneur, there is a mide wider playing field.
WINNER!! ::   +7
[Reply]

CJ Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Very interesting.
  +1
[Reply]
# 18 February 2010 at 11:14 am

boarding said:
the board breaking nonsense is stolen from Tony Robbins who stole it from early NLP seminars, when they used it as an example of a way to copy martial artists with NLP. of course its a sham, its not hard to do if you have the right board and know how to do it.
and james ray just twisted it upside down, where he encouraged people to hurt themselves and break bones in their hand. that is the opposite of the original intent of the exercise.
this is part of setting up the system of disconnecting people from their own healthy self protective mechanisms. you start with getting people to hurt their hands, break bones, risk getting an arrow through the eye.
then you get them to max out their credit cards and mortgage their house and give james ray all their money.
then you get them to risk their lives by going into the death lodge.
its a process of seduction, james ray works it up one step at a time.
  +4
[Reply]

Jean D. Reply:
February 19th, 2010 at 2:53 am
The first link to the picture of Ray that I found on flickr is of a woman crying from the board break while Ray is screaming and trying to high five her. He has the most insane look in his eyes! That was March,2009,and he looks absolutely crazy!
  +2
[Reply]

stoic Reply:
February 19th, 2010 at 7:25 am
And Death Ray knows exactly how far he has seduced them down the rabbit hole by whether they come back for more after breaking a bone or suffering any kind of injury in his care. The injuries are essential to Death Ray, they feed his megalomania.
  +2
[Reply]
# 18 February 2010 at 3:52 pm

CJ said:
And it seems if you claim to be a Christian people will trust you just that little bit more. maybe. surely. no they won’t. they will be all the more suspiscious especially post James Ray. I get the feeling that these guys will do ANYTHING to support their lifestyles no matter how destructive it is to anyone or anything including their own reputations.
  +3
[Reply]

208-577-6210 Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
I think some of them still will. The art of bypassing conscious faculty is the only area where these guys seek to hone their skills. For perfectly good reasons, we all have short-cuts in our judgements, and so we’ll make more positive assessments of some people quicker than others. So conmen know that if they:
(1)Claim to be a good religious man
(2)Are seen to give to charity/care for others
(3)Claim a background in the military/education, or a similar ‘non-commercial’ field
..they WILL bypass the critical faculties of many. That’s why they have to be watched when they do this kind of thing.
Unless he’s selling religious material, a salesman’s religion is his own business, so mentioning it in the sales pitch is very often just cynicism and manipulation. Same goes for the other points I mentioned, and several others I didn’t.
While the downfall of JAR has been awesome for many reasons, I doubt it will put conmen off using such claims to manipulate their victims.
  +4
[Reply]
# 18 February 2010 at 4:26 pm

noodlebowl said:
Note about People Farm and Steve Susoyev:
He became involved with this now defunct cult because he was seeking healing.
Steve was in his teens, knew he was homosexual, and was under pressure from his parents to do electric shock aversion therapy.
He himself was on the point of planning his own suicide when he met the charismatic healer-physician who led this wilderness center.
Desperate for healing, and seeing this man as a lifeline, Steve Susoyev
persuaded him to let him join him.
So, here was a young man who had sincere intentions, was planning his own suicide, but deep down, wanted to live.
His leader saw his capacities and hand picked him to be a member of the inner circle. And one thing the leader did was find ways to get information on everyone that could be used to scare them into remaining compliant if, later on, they dared have misgivings.
Later on, when everything imploded (it helped that Jonestown was in the news and that the public was, temporarily outraged and concerned about the hazards of unregulated charismatic leaders and groups), Susoyev
turned himself in to the authorities and was willing to face the consequences.
It was mere good luck that he was told ‘Go and sin no more, kid’.
In loyalty to his leader (who had fled the US and then was arrested when
he foolishly returned), Susoyev had committed federal offenses. He was lucky that he had not, as an inner circle member, been thrown to the wolves.
It was through reading People Farm, that I understood how hazardous it can be for someone to be selected to become a member of a charismatic, risk taking leader’s entourage.
Due diligence: This book is not for kids. Lots of horrifying stuff in it.
  +1
[Reply]

stoic Reply:
February 19th, 2010 at 11:02 am
You’ve convinced me, my Amazon order is in.
  +1
[Reply]
# 19 February 2010 at 10:51 am

noodlebowl said:
Susoyev described the networking (and cut throat competition) that took place in the Seventies when various contending leaders of Human Potential groups met at hotels for conventions. His leader rubbed shoulders with, and competed with Werner Erhard, among others.
PR, marketing, how to select a wardrobe of different outfits depending on the social venue where one would go and put onself on display–its all there. You’d have one type of outfit if you wanted to schmooze with the rich, but crunchy granola set, and a quite different, more tailored suit if you schmoosed with the professionals or rich potential clients.
Steve’s former leader accepted a fancy car and house in lieu of cash and there are descriptions of what had to be done to convert all this into liquid money when, all at once, the business suffered PR problems. Steve and the underlings had to man the phones and make the excuses when their leader went into panicked seclusion.
All this, and infinitely more, is in People Farm, by Steve Susoyev.
He had to live on tranquillizers in order to function while the worst of this was going on. In those days it was Valium. Today it would be something
different.
http://www.peoplefarm.com
(Full disclosure: Noodlebowl has nothing to gain, financially, or business wise, from recommending this book. Noodlebowl only gives this kind of review if NB considers something a truthful, shit-hot read.)
  0
[Reply]
# 19 February 2010 at 6:24 pm

noodlebowl said:
From the http://www.peoplefarm.com website:
“The author dropped out of five prestigious colleges and spent his twenties in the wilderness therapy community that appears as “Rancho Vista” in People Farm.
In 1980 he stumbled back into the world and learned who Fleetwood Mac was.
In 1985 he graduated from UCLA law school, but the driving force of his adult life has been his passion to tell the world what happened at the psychedelic Shangri-la without getting himself killed or hurting other people.
This book is his best effort.
Steve practices law in San Francisco, specializing in the needs of
people with life-threatening conditions.
“
  +1
[Reply]
# 19 February 2010 at 6:26 pm
» Inside Dot Con Secrets said:
[...] While Russell didn’t have the nads to respond :: the same can’t be said for everyone else at Dot Con Secrets.  Over the last four months the sales staff of Brunson’s BoilerRoom has decreased from 42 to 11.  I’m not a numerologist to the fake stars like Tania Gabrielle :: but that sounds pretty bad to me. And of course :: some pissed off employees talked to The Droid.  Because eventually :: EVERYONE ends up talking to The Droid {Do you hear me Joshua Andrew Fredrickson?}. [...]
  +1
# 23 February 2010 at 6:37 am

Bryan Neuman said:
To Megan and Josh, I hope you think of Liz Neuman and what you put my family through every time you see your own Mothers and I hope you have problems sleeping every night like I do. You deserve everything you’ve got coming. You had a chance to make things right, share the truth, and honor your immunity contract, but completely blew it in my opinion. I can’t believe I ever shook your hands.
  +5
[Reply]
# 23 February 2010 at 9:17 pm
» Four Funerals and a Wedding said:
[...] it was love at first site.  For Joshua :: that was fine because he has no balls of his own.  So Megan and Josh began their Journey of James Ray [...]
  0
# 2 March 2010 at 5:06 am
» Messengers of the Light said:
[...] his “pay to be in my inner circle” club the Messengers of the Light.  Take your Journey of Power :: become an initiate into the MOTL :: get yourself a beautiful thumb ring.  According to [...]
  0
# 2 June 2010 at 6:50 am

dlf - wedding photography minneapolis said:
Well I guess people will do anything for the love of money. Some people make desperate decisions to join in the pyramid scheme with the hope that they too will gain financial freedom. There are hundreds or thousands of websites that are nothing but scams and lure people to earning dough just by clicking and referring.
  0
[Reply]
# 31 August 2010 at 1:09 am

brittany said:
It is easy to see how a pyramid scheme can work, but participating in it (regardless of the form in which it is presented) involves deception and fraud because not everyone will receive the money that is promised in return.
  0
[Reply]
# 6 October 2010 at 1:40 am

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