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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Nothing SUCCEEDs like success!

"I am one of the most successful stock and commodity traders in the world and one of the most brilliant minds on the Law Of Attraction. The reason I am a great teacher of the laws of the universe is due to my ability to explain a complex subject in the simplest way possible."

~ David Schirmer in Keith Leon’s book, Who Do You Think You Are? Discover The Purpose Of Your Life


You just can’t keep a good huckster man down. For the last year or so, a few little things have not been going so well for David Scammer Schirmer, the lone Aussie star of the hit New-Wage moviemercial The Secret. First there was that annoying little exposé on the Australian TV show A Current Affair. (Actually, it’s a continuing series of exposés – five so far; here’s a link to the latest one.)

Then there was the matter of the divorce between Schirmer and one of his idols (and former joint-venture partner), Bob Proctor. Proctor sued Schirmer in Australia’s Federal Court for deceitful practices, among other things, and doesn’t want anything to do with him ever again. Recently Schirmer found himself in Federal Court yet again regarding an intellectual property charge (JLF Corporation Pty Ltd v Schirmer Financial Management Pty Ltd, VID222/2008). An Aussie businessman named John Fitzgerald,* who seems to be authentically successful (well, rich, anyway) as well as genuinely altruistic (or conspicuously altruistic, anyway), has taken Schirmer to court for breach of intellectual property in regard to (or so I understand) Fitzgerald’s 7 Steps To Accelerated Wealth and Schirmer’s 7 Steps to Unlimited Wealth. While of course no one has a copyright on the admittedly overused concept of "7 steps" (or 3, 10, 12 steps/secrets/tips, etc.), it seems there are some uncanny similarities between Fitzgerald’s work and Schirmer’s – enough to justify a court case, apparently. The date of the hearing is May 2; beyond that, I know very little about the details, though I am sure they will be sorted out in court.

Despite all of this – the lies, the negativity, the false accusations against this good man, and oh, those pesky court cases – David Schirmer continues to be the Law Of Attraction In Action, as the quotation above indicates. He’s not just sitting around feeling sorry for himself and wondering what happened to that $250,000.00 dining room table he bragged about to the crew from A Current Affair last year. (Rumor has it that the guy who made the table doesn’t want anything to do with Schirmer these days. But that’s just gossip, and you know I don’t deal in that sort of stuff. Oh, wait. Yes, I do.)

ANYWAY, David Schirmer isn’t just sitting around admiring his ill-gained flashy BMW and spending other people’s money. No, he’s continuing to exercise his brilliant Law Of Attraction mind with such projects as his new publishing venture, Succeed Magazine, which regularly features great and inspiring people who have made it big in the New-Wage world. And even though his heart may have been broken when Scientist Bob cruelly threw him out into the cold, it seems that Schirmer is now finding solace by cozying up to another one of his "friends," Joe "Mr. Fire" Vitale.

Not only did Mr. Fire mention on his own blog that he had made the cover (well, sort of) of Succeed, Schirmer himself devoted not one but two blog posts to the new alliance. On his post of 23 April, titled "Opps [sic]! I’d better write another blog!", Schirmer writes:

At 7:30am the editor of our Succeed Magazine phoned Texas, USA. It was a special call to an amazing man, friend and co-presenter on The Secret, Dr Joe Vitale. I enjoyed immensely sitting in and listening to Joe's story.

Over the coming months we are sharing with our readers the story behind The Secret Teachers ... the real stuff of where they started and the key distinctions they learned on the journey that brought them to where they are today.

Joe's story is amazing - from homeless and poverty stricken to an international author, speaker and world acclaimed marketer. While on the call Joe shared something with us that he is doing which will make the world a better place - and Succeed will get to announce it exclusively in the next issue.

Not meaning to steal your thunder, Succeed, but would this thing Joe is doing to make the world a better place have anything to do with putting an end to homelessness in our lifetime? Yeah, I thought as much. You can read about that on Joe's blog for free now, though he'll hit you up for an Amazon gift certificate. I'm sure his Operation YES! will be every bit as effective at ending homelessness as The Hunger Project, co-founded by est founder Werner Erhard back in the late 1970s, was at ending world hunger. Whatever. Anyhoo, Schirmer followed up the next day with a post that supplied a link to a PDF of the Vitale article. He ended with a rather puzzling solicitation for subscribers:

Help us out by subscribing ... currently the magazine is only $69.70 for 12 issues (plus international postage). The June/July issue will be bigger and better and will be $99.70 for 12 issues.

So…are we to infer that each issue is actually 12 issues? I’m a little confused, I must confess. But anyway, Succeed Magazine sounds like a real bargain to me.

Word on the (cyber)street is that Schirmer put some of his own money into this venture (do I even need to add, "rather than using that money to pay back some of the people to whom he owes so much"?). Succeed has apparently been through a number of owners, but at one point was a joint venture between Schirmer and a guy named Michael Walls. Walls got royally pissed off at the Schirmers about something or other…goodness, I can’t imagine what; the man must just have a bad temper…and he resigned his co-directorship, so now it’s David and Lorna’s baby. Not that you’d really be able to discern that just by going to the Succeed Magazine web site…but Schirmer does list it on his Linkedin page.

By the way, I got a kick out of the disclaimer on Succeed’s About Us page. It’s another example of why you can’t successfully sue a New-Wage b.s.’er for b.s.’ing you, no matter how outrageous the b.s. is:

disclaimer

"No person or party should rely in any way or act upon any part or parts of the contents of this publication without first obtaining advice from a fully qualified professional person. This publication is sold or otherwise disseminated on the clear terms and conditions that:

* The consultants, authors, contributors, editors and other associated parties are not responsible for the results of any actions taken on the basis of information in this publication, or for any error in or omission therefrom; and

* The publisher is not engaged in rendering financial, accounting, professional, legal or any other advice or services of a professional nature. The publisher, consultants, editors, contributors, authors and other associated parties expressly disclaim any and all liability and responsibility to every person or party, whether a purchaser, reader or consumer of this publication or not, in respect of anything and of the consequences of anything, done or omitted to be done by any such person or party and being in reliance whether wholly or partially upon any part or parts or the whole of the contents of this publication. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, no publisher, consultant, editor, contributor, author or other associated party shall have any responsibility for any act or omission of any other consultant, editor, contributor, author or other associated party."

On the one hand, that's pretty much a standard disclaimer, perhaps necessary in today's sue-happy bidness climate. On the other hand...well, that disclaimer pretty much covers everything and everyone even remotely connected to Succeed, doesn’t it? It does raise one big question: If you need a "fully qualified professional person" of some kind in order to act upon any of the hustledorks’ advice in the pages of Succeed, why not just go to the professional(s) of choice in the first place, and save yourself the subscription costs? At the very least, you can be reasonably certain that the professionals will probably still be in operation next week or next month, should you need their services again, whereas given the Schirmers’ track record, I’m not so sure that the same can be guaranteed for Succeed.

Schirmer has many other irons in the fire these days, and is also dabbling in social networking, which is all the rage now. I'd be part of the trend myself if I could ever figure it out. [Memo to all of the people who have invited me to be one of your Linkedin buds: I'll get to you, I promise. I'm not being rude. I just have to figure out how to actually use Linkedin.] At any rate, Schirmer recently sent out a spam email inviting people to be his "friend" on Facebook:

Hi:

Are you using Facebook?…

… Facebook has recently been surging in growth and once you mess around with it for a few minutes you'll quickly realize WHY...

…It really is a unique communications tool – and the marketing uses are still in their infancy. Yet there are tons of ways to communicate, learn and even grow your business TODAY with it.

I've been using Facebook for over a year. I actually didn't see much of a reason to use it for my own business.

And, to be honest, I didn't want to tell people my personal account because I value my PRIVACY and was afraid I would get too many people hounding me with messages, and getting mad if I didn't reply, etc. etc.

But Facebook has really evolved in the past year and has added some great privacy features as well as other options to control your account.

…So I've decided to go ahead and share my facebook account – it allows me to share personal photos and videos as well as business-related ones with the "friends" linked to my account.

If you have a Facebook account please put in a request to add me as a friend (when you're logged in) by visiting: http://profile.to/davidschirmer/
http://www.facebook.com/people/David_Schirmer/626721581


If you don't yet have a Facebook account I suggest you go create one RIGHT AWAY:
http://www.facebook.com.

After you create your account and you're logged in, then visit this URL and request to add me as your friend:

http://www.facebook.com/people/David_Schirmer/626721581

http://profile.to/davidschirmer/

Sign up and play around with it a little bit. You'll quickly start seeing how powerful it is.

I'll be publishing more information in the near future that you will find educational and helpful in applying The Secret in your life and some money making ideas with the stock market and business…

Yours in abundance,

David Schirmer

I just thought that y’all might want to know this, in case you are interested in hanging with Schirmer on Facebook.

But the really big triumphant news in Schirmerville is that David Schirmer is part of a new book by Keith Leon, whom I’ve mentioned here before. The book is titled, Who Do You Think You Are?: Discover The Purpose Of Your Life. It’s a compendium of advice from 64-count-em-64 successful sorts, and even has a foreword by Jack "Chicken Soup" Canfield (who was, of course, also in The Secret. And The Opus.** And so on).

Naturally, Schirmer is involved in a spampaign to promote this book. [Subject line: "A great new book from my friend Keith Leon ... And I'm in it!"] Not only can Schirmer's inspiring story be found within its pages, but he’s also part of the big promo package. Yes, with the purchase of Who Do You Think You Are? you get a passel of goodies from numerous New-Wage gurus; these offerings are free, and probably worth every penny. Included in this happy line-up is an amazing 49-minute CD from…you guessed it!…David Schirmer. Here's the scoop:

Learn What Faith Is and How To Apply It To Get Everything You Desire by David Schirmer (Value: $97)

Without Faith, The Secret is nothing! With Faith, you will overcome the mountains of sickness, disease and poverty. Come on a journey with The Secret Teacher David Schirmer and find out why Faith is the most POWERFUL unseen force know to man. He will teach you what Faith is, how to develop and grow it, and most importantly how to use Faith to create abundance and prosperity in ALL areas your life. Get this amazing 49 minute CD and transcript valued at $97.

As for Keith Leon, he seems to be riding the "life purpose" wave with Oprah:

Even OPRAH knows that discovering your life purpose is a priority, so much so that she has been holding the largest web based seminars in history about this very subject. Oprah has been speaking with one man about this topic; Keith interviewed 64 mentors just for you!

Pretty exciting stuff, eh, Dear Ones?

Perhaps the most excited person of all is Keith Leon himself, who says his book is already changing lives:

…We've been bursting with excitement about the release of this book, which many believe has the power to change the world.

The editor of the book didn't even finish the first of six sections before her life changed forever.

Ten days before, she had just started a job that she wasn't passionate about. She took the job for the money. While editing the book, she received an idea that would change the way her new employer's company did business.

The next day she went into the office of her boss, told him her idea, how it would increase their profits and said that she was the one who should lead the project because she had the experience and the passion to do so.

Her boss agreed with her, and before she left his office that day, she had a new position in the company, had doubled her salary and set herself up for stock options so that when her idea takes off, she will reap the financial benefits.

Don’t you just love miracle stories like that? And as it turns out, Who Do You Think You Are? may very well be the last book you will ever have to read or buy, because...

By the time you finish reading Keith's book, you will know how to access the answers to all the questions you could ever think to ask.***

What’s really remarkable about Keith Leon is that he has so much compassion for the unenlightened:

We know that if you have read to the end of this letter you are quite likely to buy Keith's book and receive the bonus resources and gifts. We sadly think about the unfortunate few who will just go on with their day and not order the book now.

Think of me sadly, then, Keith, et al.

By the way, if you’re really ready to change your life for the better, or at least fix what’s ailing in your intimate relationship, Keith and his lovely wife Maura will give you their undivided attention on a Weekend With The Experts, for a mere $10,000.00 USD.

But I digress. You’re probably wondering what Keith Leon’s book reveals about David Schirmer. Well, you can be sure it doesn’t say a word about exposés on A Current Affair, nor about the rancorous split with Bob Proctor, nor about the intellectual properties actions, nor about the tons of angry investors, nor about any of the skeletons in the Schirmer family closet. Instead, in response to Leon’s question "What event or series of events lead [sic] to your discovery?", Schirmer begins with the standard "I-was-once-flat-broke" story. He explains how he and his brother were once successful manufacturers of a piece of farming equipment that they had invented. "Things were going extremely well," he writes, "until greed set in."

According to various sources, the truth of the matter – and the story you won’t read in Keith Leon’s book – is that the Schirmer brothers were merely working on the farm of the man who had actually invented and patented the machine. The brothers decided they could make money from the invention, so they left the farm to begin their own manufacturing company. They didn’t have the permission of the inventor, but he was a good Christian man and apparently not a litigious sort so he didn’t pursue it. Evidently the business folded when David Schirmer’s brother went to prison for a spell.

Schirmer goes on to tell his version of his amazing success story, wrapping it up thusly:

A friend loaned me some Bob Proctor cassette tapes of his seminar You Were Born Rich. As I listened, Bob explained to me how the mind works and why we get the results we have in our life. The reason I was drawn to his work was because Bob didn’t just tell me what to do, he also showed me how the mind works and told me why to do it. Within thirty days of listening to Bob and doing the things he said, things started to change. I went from broke to ten thousand dollars a month within 3 month, then over a million a year within three years.

Thus it was that Schirmer set his sights on Scientist Bob, and wormed his way into the man's good graces (or at least bought the rights to market some of Proctor's material). The two even did some workshops together. It was lovely while it lasted…

Schirmer concludes:

I became a very successful trader once I realized that the stock market is just a vibration, like everything else. Once you tune into the vibration and really notice the way the energy moves, you can see its patterns and cycles. All you really need to successfully trade is the right knowledge, a rule, a pencil and a half an hour a week.

This from the man whose broker, according to more than one source, refused to work with him any more because Schirmer lost so much money.

But you probably won’t read that in Keith Leon’s book or, for that matter, on any of David Schirmer’s web sites. Well, I suppose the variance in the stories is really no big deal. Perhaps Schirmer is only exercising his skills in "explaining complex subjects in the simplest way possible."

Be that as it may, it looks as if Mr. Fire, for better or for worse, and whether he likes it or not, has a new best friend.

PS added on April 25: I just revisited Keith Leon's Gaia Community profile. Formerly David Schirmer was the second name under his "My Heroes" listing. Schirmer seems to be missing from that list now, though Keith still gives him credit as one of his teachers.
PPS added on May 7: Here's your chance to subscribe to Succeed Magazine and save big! Remember, the next issue will feature Mr. Fire!

* I've been informed that Mr. Fitzgerald is one of Australia's most notorious spruikers. I confess to not having known much about him, or even to have heard of him until recently, but I do understand the "birds of a feather" concept...
**It's really too bad Schirmer apparently wasn't chosen to be in The Opus, since I understand the story is framed around the tale of a famous violinist, and as it happens, rumor has it that David Schirmer fiddles about...er.. plays the violin! The movie could have featured footage of him playing. Talk about a missed opportunity...
*** What if one of the questions turns out to be, "Why the hell did I waste my money on this crap?"?

30 comments:

  1. I have been absent from posting here for a time. I am actually watching the Oprah / Tolle webcast with my SO (significant other) Citizen Prime.

    It's ambitious, but completely self serving to her O-ness. Tolle comes across as benign, with momentary sparkles of scary authoritarianism (TV is evil, for example).

    I browsed around her website and message board. It's remarkably restrictive - likely to avoid liability issues - but populated with the usual lost souls and New Wage predators.

    What was interesting was a set of posts from an Aussie about the many self-help / discovery books she had read over the course of her life. It seems that there has been a NEVERENDING stream of this writing since the beginning of the written word - except then it was more hardcore religious dogma.

    I would love to see a Cosmic Connie take on the evolution of the modern self help tome.

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  2. Hi, CD, it's really good to see you here again. (For the most part I've been absent from *blogging* for a couple of months now, so don't feel bad.)

    So far I haven't been able to bring myself to watch the Oprah & Tolle show, but I did take a peek at the message board...and...whew!

    I agree with you that the selfish-help book has deep roots, and I think it's important for people to realize this. More than that, I appreciate your vote of confidence, but my first reaction is to point out that, IMO, others have already covered the topic of how this genre evolved. Steve Salerno and Micki McGee are two examples that come to mind (although they don't specifically focus on self-help *books*, they do present their take on how all of this evolved).

    At this point, I think I'm more interested in examining snapshots, if you will, of various aspects of pop psychology / McSpirituality / selfish-help, than on elucidating the whole wicked history of this stuff. That could just be because I'm kind of lazy. But hey, I could change my mind tomorrow.

    Anyhoo, thank you for sharing your thoughts.

    (And oh, that Eckhart...TV is evil? Hmmm.... seems he's pooping in his own nest, then.)

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  3. About the picture, Connie... How can I put this delicately enough to be published???...

    Let's just say that after seeing your latest graphic creation, I'll be skipping lunch today, and it'll be a long time before you'll have to say you have a headache. Reminds me of the basketball scene in "Along Came Polly." Even Jennifer Aniston failed to inspire me after seeing it! Blecchh!

    On the other hand, your picture does pretty well capture the essence of its subjects.

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  4. "...it'll be a long time before you'll have to say you have a headache..."

    Oops. Looks like *I'm* the one who crapped in my own nest. :-)

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  5. Never ending stream of self help from the beginning of the written word?

    'Be Your own Gilgamesh- Overcoming Fear with Seven Easy Monsters'

    'Golden Rules for a Golden Harvest- Entrail Reading Secrets the Professionals Won't Tell You'

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  6. Anon, I think you just might have a couple of bestsellers there!

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  7. CD wrote:

    "You are a photoshop goddess.."

    Hey, try telling that to Ron!

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  8. Well don't they look cute together.

    I can't imagine what the dynamic duo will be churning out.

    (Note to RevRon: Always, always put on your boots before visiting Connie's blog!)

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  9. Looks like Schirmer's penchant for plagiarism is still going strong!

    I thought his Facebook spam sounded vaguely familiar. But with all the marketing gurus and wannabes squealing about Facebook right now, I didn't bother to read the excerpts you quoted at first. Now that I have.....hmmmm.

    Compare your snippets of David's email to the mass email below I received from marketing guru John Reese on April 1, which I quote in its entirety. (Sorry for the formatting. I'm sure you can find a gazillion other subscribers to John Reese's emails for verification.)

    It would be interesting to see Schirmer's email in its entirety, line by line, next to Reese's, since I assume the ellipses mean you took stuff out.

    Sounds to me like Schirmer can't even be bothered to come up with his own Facebook email spams. And some people wonder why he's being dragged to court again for intellectual property issues...

    ******

    From: John Reese (john-reese@reesereport.com)
    To: (email address)
    Subject: Can I be your friend?
    Date: Apr 1, 2008 3:45 AM

    Are you using Facebook?

    By now you've probably heard all
    the "hype" about it.

    You've probably seen the stories
    about its 23 year old founder
    that's now a billionaire on paper --
    which makes him the youngest
    self-made billionaire ever.

    Facebook is another one of those
    "social networking" services like
    MySpace. But Facebook is very
    different from MySpace...

    If you've ever messed around with
    MySpace then you probably realize
    it's used by teenagers and young
    people more than anything else.

    MySpace is also a bit "junky" looking
    in my opinion and reminds me of
    'flashy' graphics and web design
    from 1995.

    Now don't get me wrong, MySpace
    is HUGELY successful -- it's bigger
    than Facebook. But Facebook has
    recently been surging in growth
    and once you mess around with it
    for a few minutes you'll quickly realize
    WHY...

    Facebook was just designed better,
    in my opinion, and has some really
    cool features. And now it has 60+
    million people using it, and many
    of those users are ADULTS of all
    ages, AND...

    Many of these adults are categorizing
    themselves based on their INTERESTS
    and the odds are good that YOUR
    target market (regardless of what
    niche your business serves) is probably
    already using Facebook right now --
    with more on the way everyday.

    There are currently THOUSANDS of
    Internet marketers using Facebook
    to communicate with other marketers
    as well as to drive traffic to their web
    sites and blogs and to build relationships
    with their customers.

    Facebook is really developing into a
    POWERFUL marketing tool.

    You can drive a lot of traffic from it but
    the 'value' in it goes way beyond that.
    It really is a unique communications
    tool -- and the marketing uses are
    still in their infancy.

    * Yet there are tons of ways to
    grow your business TODAY
    with it.

    I've been using Facebook for over a
    year. I've been running all sorts of traffic
    and marketing tests. But I was doing it
    with someone else's account (I was
    consulting someone in the real estate
    niche) and I actually didn't
    see much of a reason to use it for
    my own business; especially not
    for Income.com and serving the IM
    niche.

    And, to be honest, I didn't want to setup
    a personal account because I value
    my PRIVACY and was afraid I would
    get too many people hounding me
    with messages, and getting mad if
    I didn't reply, etc. etc.

    But Facebook has really evolved
    in the past year and has added some
    great privacy features as well as other
    options to control your account.

    So I've decided to go ahead and setup
    a personal account -- it will allow me
    to share personal photos and videos
    as well as business-related ones
    with the "friends" linked to my account.

    If you have a Facebook account please
    put in a request to add me as a friend
    (when you're logged in) by visiting:
    http://www.trafficsecrets.com/facebook.html

    If you don't yet have a Facebook account
    I suggest you go create one RIGHT AWAY:
    http://www.facebook.com

    After you create your account and you're
    logged in, then visit this URL and request
    to add me as your friend:
    http://www.trafficsecrets.com/facebook.html

    Sign up and play around with it a little
    bit. You'll quickly start seeing how powerful
    it is.

    I'll be publishing more information in the
    near future about tapping into Facebook
    to drive traffic and generate sales from it.

    You'll want to have a live account
    you can use. Go get one now. You'll
    be glad you did. Just go to:
    http://www.facebook.com

    Yours For Online Profits,

    John Reese

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  10. Lana, I don't know if the dynamic duo will actually be performing together. As for Ron... I think a blindfold would have served him better in this case. Men are soooo visual, you know... ;-)

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  11. Anon, that spam is VERBATIM what Schirmer sent... so it was probably created by some spam-meister for his or her affiliates. But it's just as well, because it's infinitely more readable than the stuff Schirmer writes on his own.

    Rolling my eyes...

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  12. Well I supposed we have all the evidence we need now that Schirmer is by and large a CON. I can't believe that the two emails are practically verbatim. Does that Schirmer guy do anything but STEAL everyone elses stuff?

    I have also heard that Herriot is suing Byrnes now too so in my view the Secret is a piece of crap that is getting what it deserves becuase it was stolen work. I have no real proof, it's just my gut feeling that Rhonda Byrnes even stole the whole concept and content from someone else. If that IS the case, then the secret is dead. Why don't the whole damn lot of them get a real job that really does change peoples lives. If they are so clever why don't they train got be doctors, dentists etc. so the can go to the poor countries and REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Instead of screwing prople over to line their own pockets. I absolutely believe this all had to happen and thanks for keeping up the news. The public MUST be kept informed.

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  13. I have been told that David Schirmer did not invent the Hay machine that he claims to have invented in his 7 Steps program. He apparently stole the idea from a previous employer who had patented it, a fellow he used to go to church with. He and his brother changed it a little bit to make it appear like it wasn't stolen and started manufacturing it but he apparently stole the whole idea from a guy and if that is so and if Schirmer really does understand the law of attraction that is exactly why that business did not succeed along with the fact that some of them were up to serious no good....

    ....I'm sure a bit of investigating would get the truth out there but I dare say it is nothing like what Schirmer says. Now it looks like his 7 Steps program is no different and that is why he is to appear in court on Friday in Australia. It had to happen, you cant continue stealing and hiding from people without the truth getting out eventually and this guy seems to be a master at it.... People like Schirmer get a taste for stealing from other people and they get more and more brazen all the time. They seem to be bent on taking everything from everyone else and not giving anything back. I reckon there are a lot of people who would be keen to know the truth about all these issues with this guy and I also think that now there are a lot of people talking who he never thought would. Thats what happens when you are not honest in business. A promise is a promise no matter how it's made otherwise what the hell are we teaching the next generation? For Christ's sake we would not want them to act like this guy otherwise there would be no point anyone doing anything because you would just know that everyone you dealt with was screwing you over.

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  14. Anon from 9:05 PM: Regarding "The Secret," the DVD and book really do not explore any new ideas at all. Although it was presumably Rhonda's idea to make a New-Wage infomercial exploring the Law Of Attraction, she couldn't have made the film or the trailer without the help of a creative mind like her original director and screenwriter, Drew Heriot. And she couldn't have gotten the word out, and made The Secret an unprecedented bestseller in the months before its release, without the marketing expertise of someone who knew their way around the Internet -- such as her original online marketing strategist, Dan Hollings. (There's also still some controversy about whether or not she "borrowed" certain concepts from one of her countrywomen, Vanessa Bonnette.)

    Though it may not be apparent from my snarking, I do feel that there is a legitimate place in society for self-help and motivational types. Not everyone can become a doctor or dentist, and truthfully, would you want someone of Schirmer's ilk being in the healing professions -- either in your own country or in some poor country?

    Some self-help pros, in my opinion, are genuinely good people with advice worth listening to. It's just that there are so many scam artists and b.s.'ers in the industry that it's hard to single out those good folks. (And some may start out as good and sincere people, but once they become successful they let the accolades go to their heads and they become little better than the scam artists and b.s.'ers.)

    At any rate, I believe that even as there is a place in society for self-help, there is definitely a place for snarky blogs like this one. There's enough "work" for all of us. :-)

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  15. Borris: Thank you for your comments. I did mention in my post that Schirmer and his brother had falsely claimed to have invented that piece of farming equipment. My understanding is that the Australian media are well aware of this. However, I didn't want to publish the name and location of the man who invented the machine because I also understand that he values his privacy and doesn't want his name publicized. I am sure that when and if he wants to jump on the bandwagon and sue Schirmer, he will.

    In any event, the Schirmers' farm-equipment business is no longer in operation; it apparently failed while Schirmer's brother was incarcerated (and my post contains the links to details about *that* too).

    Even without revealing all of the details about the farm-equipment incident, it is, as far as I am concerned, another big red flag regarding Schirmer.

    Yet he is far from the only person in "The Secret" who has, to put it mildly, engaged in deceptive behavior.

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  16. LOL all good comments, I think it's pretty clear without digging up the past on this guy that he's been up to no good for a very long time. How anyone could claim what he is and actually look people in the eye is a miracle but then he does believe in miracles doesn't he. Wonder what miracle he will pull out his hat to get out of the next problem. I feel for his kids, they must not know what to think because in the tecnhologically advanced society they can read it all in full view whenever they want to. Rather sad really.

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  17. If Keith Leon's sales arent quite what he expected he might like to take a look at who hes hanging with. He was smart enough to remove Schirmers name but is he smart enough not to recognise him as a qualified teacher?

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  18. oh Gawd that pair look so IN LOVE. No doubt there will be a divorce there sooner or later. These people seem to have a problem with infatuation and their relationships never last because their narcissitic tendendacies don't let it. What I think is hilarious is that they are both so love struck that they just don't see it coming. Keep up the great work Connie.

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  19. Connies posts never seem to include the fact that "A Current Affair" used to be in the United States, but they were kicked out of Hollywood because they destroyed too many lives and too many families by fabricating stories and creating false reports. Then ACA moved to Australia and picked up where they left off in Hollywood. It seems as though this rag mag has people who will believe them without checking out the facts.

    Of course you'll never read this information in a Whirled Musings article because it's the truth.

    Perhaps Connie would fit right in at "A Current Affair."

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  20. Anon 8:29 PM -- I agree that it's sad that Schirmer's kids have to suffer. As for the "next miracle" he pulls out of his hat, take a look at the latest posts on his blog. He's really Bible-thumpin' now!

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  21. Anon 8:50 PM: If Keith Leon's book doesn't do well, I'm sure there will be other factors besides Schirmer to blame, but Schirmer's presence couldn't have helped any.

    BTW, as I write this comment, Keith's book is at #82,704 in Books on Amazon.

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  22. Cherie: I have a feeling that the "love" is a bit one-sided, but unless Mr. Fire takes Schirmer to court like Bob Proctor did, the "affair" will continue. :-)

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  23. Anon 11:03 AM: Thank you for the history lesson. Unfortunately, it's wrong. The American "A Current Affair" and the Aussie "A Current Affair" are two completely different shows, with different broadcast histories. Look it up. But I appreciate the effort.

    (Besides, since when did anyone get "kicked out of Hollywood" for "fabricating stories and creating false reports"?)

    PS ~ You don't by any chance work for David Schirmer, do you? (Natalie?!?)

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  24. the aca "historian" sounds like the wackadoo crackpot who was vandalizing any wikipedia mention of aca about a year ago--right around the time the first aca exposé on schirmer took place. hmmmm, i'm sure that's just a coincidence. other people took the vandalism down when there were no citations to back it up, but you can still see the insane screechings in the page histories if people are remotely interested. not too many are, except for the entertainment value.

    i find it funny that schirmer supporters will occasionally show up on sites that allow both sides to talk about it, but on schirmer's own blog--which is moderated--dead silence.

    c'mon, schirmer! if you're gonna invest your valuable, valuable time writing all the sock puppets--like your seriously lame attempt to sock-puppet on youtube a few months ago--why on earth can't you sock-puppet a few positive comments on your own blog? it just looks sad with you all ignored like that, especially since you keep talking about your many, many thousands of fans and supporters!

    i'd look forward to his pitiful attempt now to start forging comments on his blog, but truth is, like most intelligent people, I don't need to "attract" that sort of sweaty desperation into my life. so i'll pass.

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  25. A Current Affair in Hollywood is an entirely different show. Keith Leon of all people should know that or perhaps it was just a convenient association for the purposes of covering up for being fooled by a con or conned by a fool.

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  26. Nobody posts on any of Schirmers sites because he doesn't like anyone saying anything about him and you are right despite all the thousands of supports he claims WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY? He just can't handle the facts. Is that a perfect sign of narcisstic disorder or what? And I think he has been doing it so long that he thinks is perfectly normal. The problem is that the results just don't stack up to support it.

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  27. Do I get the feeling that Schirmer is getting rather desparate. Maybe an idea would be for him to sell his houses and cars and pay his OWN bills, oooooooh that would be novel. Saying that people should GIVE FOR LOVE is saying what? That they should give to him and not expect it back? That is exactly what the problem is with the people who are his "investors" isn't it?

    A post like that can only come from someone who is really very low and beat. It smacks of desperation and what qualifications does a person like David Schirmer have to start bible thumping? He has been charged in a court of law for MISLEADING AND DECEPTIVE CONDUCT ooooooh, Pastor David maybe you should go back into your black hole and really read your bible. Someone please check his bible will you it's possibly full of female images and quotes he made up to read to himself but I bet the cover is pristine. Much like Schirmers whackadoo life really. What you see ain't what you get.

    Keith Leon is not a wise man it seems. Do your homework Keith, I mean really do your homework.

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  28. Schirmer desperate? Now that is a bit of an anticlimax for the secret isn't it? Well I suppose he did have a whole 3 seconds of air time and all he could say was I get car parks by closing my eyes and pretending and I get checks the same way too.

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  29. There's one image I don't think Schirmer will pinch. Excellent work.

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