More about the Scammy Awards...and Guru-Free Week

First up: Just in case the link to the official voting site for Dr. John Curtis' Scammy Awards got buried in my past couple of posts, I'm announcing it again. The categories have apparently been solidified, and yes, I know I wrote the other day that categories were still open, because at that time I thought they were. While there doesn't seem to be a way to write them in on the official survey form, perhaps you can still suggest categories by writing directly to John Curtis at the email address appearing on the Self-Help Fraud web site, jcurtis@iodinc.com.

Here are the categories:

1. DUMB SPEAK AWARD: given for the most unintelligent thing uttered by a Self-Help Guru
2. HYPOCRITE AWARD: given to the Self-Help guru with the biggest gap between their professed values and how they actually behave
3. DADDY BIG BUCKS AWARD: given to the Self-Help Guru whose lifestyle shows that they are only in it for the money
4. HOODWINKED AWARD: given to the Self-Help Guru who did the best job of tricking a celebrity into being their sponsor
5. BI-POLAR AWARD: given to the Self-Help Guru whose promises got the opposite results
6. BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MIS-LEADING ROLE AWARD: given to the Self Help Guru who did the best job of deceiving the public
7. BERNIE MADOFF LIFETIME MIS-ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: given to the best, all around Self-Help Guru who did the most to diminish the human race

According to information on the official ballot site, the deadline for nominations is 21 March, 2009.

So go ahead: cast your vote here.

John Curtis is a social science researcher and the founder of Americans Against Self-Help Fraud. He is also the brains behind the second annual Guru-Free Week, (April 1-8, 2009), a proposed week-long moratorium on watching or listening to any of the self-appointed gurus who so influence American life, e.g., Oprah, Dr. Phil, or any of scads of self-help, new-age types.

Actually, in one of Dr. Curtis' email blasts he included Rush Limbaugh in the rogues' gallery of gurus to be avoided during Guru-Free Week. While that's getting more into politics than selfish-help/New-Wage stuff, and therefore is normally beyond the scope of my own blog, Rush's influence is undeniable. (My new pal Xanadu Xero recently weighed in, so to speak, about Rush on her blog.)

Anyway. Even though Dr. Curtis calls his organization Americans Against Self-Help Fraud, you don't have to be American to join, or to participate in the Scammys or the Guru-Free moratorium. After all, as we all know, the gurus' influence is worldwide.

So... spread the word...around the country, and around the world!