A mishmash of informed snark, piquant opinions, refined nastiness, occasional schmaltz, & tawdry graphics, served up continuously since 2006 by COSMIC CONNIE, aka CONNIE L. SCHMIDT. Covering New-Age/New-Wage culture & crapitalism, pop spirituality & religion, pop psychology, self(ish)-help, alt-health hucksterism, conspiranoia, business babble, media silliness, Scamworld, politix, & related (or occasionally unrelated) matters of consequence.
Earlier this month, Not-Doctor Leonard Coldwell,
the former Bernd Klein, aka Bernd Witchner, our un-favorite
German import, fired yet another shot at his critics. Not content
with calling those who disagree with him stupid and ignorant, or diagnosing them with all sorts of mental illnesses (generally using outdated labels for the various
disorders), or accusing them of being criminals/former
prostitutes/shills for Big Pharma, he has now decreed that his
critics are "jealous, impotent losers." The screen shot
above was taken from one of little Lenny's Facebook comments on
March 15, 2013. It is apparently intended to make his critics
swoon with envy over Lenny's popularity with the ladies.
Lenny appears to be fond of using young women as props, perhaps
to shore up his sagging ego and convince the world (and himself)
that he's a player. (The other thing he often does to prove his
manliness is make fun of gay people, according to reports from several people who have attended his live events.) At about 4:51 in the
above-linked vid with Liana, who is in her mid-twenties, Lenny
says to her, "To be honest, I [have] reached a point in my
life where I don't really care to be 100% the fittest and the
trimmest. You, you, you have your emphasis in life on different
points. And, uh, I still have beautiful friends like you in my
life -- so it's not really -- um -- what I focus on any more is
to look like Rambo. I just want to feel good, I just want to be
as healthy and fit and energized as I can be..."
Translation: "I've let my body go to seed, but I can still
surround myself with young hotties so I can look studly and
virile."
At first I wondered why Lenny didn't use that
photo as well on his March 15 post, in order to make the
"impotent losers" even more jealous, but then I
realized that Lenny's whole objective in writing the March 15 post was to
glorify himself. In the "rockin' pink" photo he has to
share the spotlight with another man.
And that other guy is none other than Lenny's
twelve-years-younger half brother, Jens Wilhelm Anskohl,
not-quite-world-famous poker player, reportedly a ladies' man in
his own right, and on record as Lenny's business partner in
several enterprises. Jens sometimes goes by the name Nicholas
Coldwell; a friend of mine got his business card at a GIN event a
couple of years ago, and sent me a snapshot of it. (Oddly enough, this person swore to me that Nicholas had been introduced to their group as Lenny's nephew, but most folks seem to agree that Jens/Nicholas is Lenny's brother.)
I noticed that The Church of Inner Healing was set
up in 2009, the same year that GIN began. Apparently 2009 was a
big, big year for Lenny. Besides GIN, it was the year that Lenny
got into social media big time. He joined Facebook on January 25,
2009. He set
up his Myspace page in March 2009, and
filled his photo album with pictures labeled, "Dr. Leonard
Coldwell Speaches (sic)", as well as semi-literate captions
such as this one: "Celebrated by the
world Dr. Coldwells speach lets Freedom Ring was broadcasted all
over the world by clearchannel radio." Or this one, where he
describes himself as a "Renouned Key not speaker": Want more? Be my guest. But hurry, before
he reads this and takes it all down.
Around the same time he set up the Myspace page, Lenny also set up a page on a social media site called Mingle
City, which actually seems to be more
oriented towards African Americans. Apparently not wanting to be
mistaken for one of "those people," however, he lists
his nationality as "White." Not "German." Not
"Naturalized US citizen." But "White." He
doesn't appear to be trolling for booty on that site; he
describes himself as "very happily married," and is
clearly promoting his "cancer expert" shtick rather
than his more studly qualities.
But of all of the social media sites, Facebook is
the one Lenny has really chosen to focus on to spread his rants
and actionable lies, including, of course, those he told about me.
Unfortunately for him, he doesn't have quite as large an audience
on Facebook as he might have hoped, since he has felt obligated
to block so many people. He has blocked and deleted virtually
everyone who has criticized him or even questioned or mildly
challenged him. He seems to be a very paranoid little man.
Meanwhile, he continues to push his lunacy on the wingnut-conspiracy fronts. He and Peter Wink are still hosting
their "anti-tyranny" conference calls, in which Loony
Lenny spouts off every conspiracy cliche imaginable. They just
hosted another one last Thursday evening, March 21, and have yet
another one scheduled for March 28. That one will be devoted to
the topic of brainwashing, or, more specifically, how to rid
yourself of the evil influence of the mainstream media and loved
ones who don't support you in your mission to put money into
scammers' pockets. If you're interested in calling in, it will be
on Thursday, March 28, 2013, at 8:00 PM Central Time, 9:00 PM
Eastern. The number is 1-805-399-1200, and the access code is
966807. I don't know if you'll actually be able to participate or
ask questions, or if you are only allowed to listen.
The calls, of course, are merely a recruiting tool for Winkwell's
IBMS Master's Society scam, which I wrote about here and here. So be prepared for that,
if you're thinking of calling in.
On March 22, Lenny posted a video that covered some of the main
topics discussed on the March 21 phone call. It is a classic
example of Lenny looniness; you owe it to yourself to watch it.
Among other things, Lenny puts Obama and other politicians on
notice that "we the people" are coming after them with
guns, but will be doing so lawfully. Lenny also makes reference
to a citizen-formed "Grand Jury" of 27 people, who will
"lawfully" indict Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and
others for the crime of treason. Though he was no doubt inspired
by the rants of the Citizens
Grand Jury movement, he's just peddling
more bullsh-t. All of those "Citizen Grand Jury" things
are political stunts and pseudo-legal entities, and their actions
have never held up in any court. Here's one article on Snopes,
regarding some Citizen Grand Jury hysteria: http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/indicted.asp
Still, his little vid is good for a few laughs. So pop up some
popcorn, pour yourself a beer or other beverage of choice, and settle back for some rich
entertainment from our favorite lunatic, pretend-ladies' man, and
not-doctor. Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vCCw-8a8qGc
You can also get to it by clicking on the pic below. (I did not embed the video in this post.) Not surprisingly, comments are disabled on this video, as they are on most of "Dr." C's vids.
Lenny and Peter are still planning on holding their millionaire-militia meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina on
May 25-26. They'll be teaching people
how to become a millionaire, how to be healthy, how to rid their lives of useless people, and how to use guns and knives to
defend their sovereignty against government agents and other
authorities. Originally the event was listed at $199, but it is
now down to $49.99. If you join the IBMS Master's Society scam for
only $499, though, you can get in for free. Apparently certain
attractive young women and selected followers and supporters of
Lenny can also get in free.
And if a one-day seminar isn't enough "Dr." C time
for you, you can buy a VIP dinner with Lenny and pals for $199 ($299 for a couple). A three-course dinner and soft
drinks are included. I guess if you want booze, though, that will
be on you. (No doubt, a lot of booze will be in
"Dr." C.)
In addition, people who join the IBMS Master's Society scam will be
able to participate in an "initiation ceremony" that
will render them a "fully functioning Sovereign." Keep that popcorn popping, because the
entertainment -- maybe "Len-tertainment' would be a better
word -- shows no sign of letting up any time soon. PS ~ I know I've linked to this before, but here again is a 2012
report on the Sovereign Citizens' Movement, from which Lenny and
Peter have apparently borrowed heavily for their politically
oriented IBMS Master's Society scam "teachings": http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/combating-hate/Lawless-Ones-2012-Edition-WEB-final.pdf
UPDATE, 24 February 2014 I know that you Godly types will be really, really
sorry to hear this, but as of this 20 February, 2014 Bizapedia
update, it appears that the Church of Inner Healing, LLC, along
with several of Loony's other business interests, have been
dissolved. This doesn't mean that the Church of Inner Healing,
Loony Version, is totally dead or that it won't pop up in another
form somewhere else. Actually it still lives, at
least as a creepy web page. But the
organization listed on Bizpedia has gone poof. Here's the link to the latest listing, as well as a screen shot (click to enlarge).
* * * * *
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By now you may have seen that award-winning investigative journalist Ryan Kath at KSHB-TV (the
Kansas City, Missouri NBC affiliate) has done an update on serial
scammer Kevin Trudeau and Trudeau's scammy, Ponzi-like Global
Information Network (GIN). Here is the link. Or click on
the picture above. I am not embedding the video in this post, but
you can watch the video and read the accompanying news story by
clicking the links I have provided.
The big development is that Illinois federal judge Robert
Gettleman has ordered Trudeau to appear at an evidentiary hearing
on May 21. That means an in-person appearance. Trudeau supposedly
has to drag his own physical self into that court room and appear
before the judge. Here is the document (click on pic to enlarge):
That's just one of numerous recent court documents related to
this case. The notorious Not-Doctor Lenny Coldwell was sharing all of them on his site for a while, but has
recently quit doing that, and I'm thinking it's because he wants
to make it appear that he has exclusive access to information
that the rest of us can't easily get. As in, I know something
you don't know. Neener, neener, neener. But, as I've
mentioned here before, just about anyone in the United States can
access these docs by signing up with the Pacer.gov case search site. Once registered, search for Case NO. 1:03-cv-03904:
FTC v. Trudeau, et al., Robert W. Gettleman presiding. You do
have to pay a nominal per-page fee for the documents.
Ryan Kath deserves credit and admiration for
being one of the few TV journalists who has given Trudeau any
attention at all in recent years, and certainly the first TV
journo that I know of to tackle GIN. There's been plenty of
online criticism of GIN, which seemed like a
so-obvious-as-to-be-ludicrous scam to many of us -- I've been
blogging about it since late 2009 myself -- but there have
precious few mentions on TV. (Psst! National news shows, where in
blazes are y'all?)
Actually, I know where they probably are. The investigative journalists who really care about people getting scammed are having to fight the powers-that-be who are all too cognizant of the ad revenues from Scamworld. They don't want to piss off their infomercial kings and queens too much.
Ryan aired his first investigative piece on November 12, 2012. The person
who started that ball rolling is Kansas City resident and ex-GIN
member Abe Husein. Abe says he spent about $30,000 in GIN and didn't get the results he expected. Eventually it dawned on him that -- duh -- Kevin Trudeau is a scammer and GIN is a scam.Alas, although Abe and some of his greatest
supporters (perhaps "groomers" would be a better word)
-- particularly Lenny Coldwell -- predicted that this one investigative news story
would mark the absolute end of GIN, that didn't happen. But it
was a good story anyway, as even Salty Droid acknowledged in this December post.
Ryan's update aired on the evening of March 7, the very same date
that Lenny Coldwell and his brother-in-harms, Peter Wink, hosted
yet another teleconference to rally the troops against tyranny
(using their own definition of tyranny), to share their wacko
conspiracy-nut stuff, and, of course, to pitch their latest scam
venture, the IBMS Master's Society. Here's one of several
Facebook promos for this momentous phone call (as usual, click to enlarge):
A few of my friends listened in, and one wrote,
"Amy [Chappell] couldn't even get through her intro without
stumbling over all the absurd lies she was forced to read."
Another said, "I only lasted ten minutes, my bullsh-t meter
started smoking and I had to go out and get some fresh air."
Someone else wrote, "Peter Wink is not really one to rally
the troops, and he is using his PC mic or his home VOIP phone
because the quality is awful." (See PS.)
But I suppose it doesn't matter, because Peter
and Lenny, according to Peter and Lenny, are so popular it's
scary! And the more negative press they get, the more
popular they get. According to Peter and Lenny.
Amusingly, Lenny Coldwell is still crowing about his former
b.f.f.'s impending downfall, despite the fact that he and Peter
are trying to pull the same kind of scam as GIN, but on a
slightly smaller scale. Omri Shabat on the Glancing Web blog said it quite concisely:
The GIN is dead, long live the IBMS!...
the scam is the scam, the victims are the victims and the
Trudeau is the Coldwell.
Yeah, that's pretty much my thinking, as noted
at great length on my "Meet the new scam, same as the old
scam" mini-series: here and here.
And here's
Bernie on GINtruth with yet another riff on IBMS. Bernie has accepted the little Teutonic twerp's
"$100,000 challenge" to produce evidence that other
people and organizations are getting even remotely the same
"results" that the IBMS Master's Society scam is
getting. Lenny bases his ludicrous claims about results on the dubious
"testimonials" that appear on the IBMS Master's Society
scam Web page -- many of which were written in response to
various live Lenny events, and one of which even praised Kevin
Trudeau.
So these "testimonials" were emphatically not
all about the new IBMS Master's Society scam, and to define these
giddy and in some cases semi-literate strokes to Lenny and
Peter's egos as "results" iseither disingenuous or daft, or both. Here are just some of these stupendous
"results":
But perhaps I digress. I really do hope Ryan Kath continues to
stay on the GIN story, and I believe he will. But frankly, I'm
not holding my breath waiting for the end of GIN and Kevin
Trudeau's scamming days. A lot can happen between now and May 21.
And even if GIN and Trudeau go down for good, the big sick
machine of Scamworld will roll on and on and on. PS ~ For sheer Lenny looniness, here's a link to the playback of the March 7 conference call. That's 72 minutes and 37 seconds you'll never get back. But time spent laughing until you pee yourself can be, I suppose, therapeutic.
“Will you step into my parlor?” said the
spider to the fly;
“’Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy.
The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,
And I have many pretty things to show when you are there.”
Can you say "blatant targeting of
vulnerable women," boys and girls? The above screen shot
apparently was posted recently on the Facebook page of one of Not-Doctor Leonard Coldwell's
proteges, business partners, and fellow freedom fighters, Abe
Husein. It was also shared by a Facebook participant who calls himself Jared Schlehuber, not to be confused with the baseball player. Here's that one:
But apparently Peter didn't post this on his own page.
Now, given that the IBMS Master's Society is
run by "Supreme Partners" Peter Wink and Lenny
Coldwell, can anybody write a brief essay on why this type of
relationship "coaching" is a really, really bad idea?
From what I have seen, Lenny has a penchant for targeting women
who are in circumstances that render them particularly vulnerable
-- e.g., young, naive, inexperienced, abused, lonely,
self-esteem-challenged, or emotionally unbalanced in some way. Or
perhaps married, with children whose welfare the women feel they
must protect at all costs. Many seem to be in some way
susceptible to his manipulation, and intimidated by his threats
regarding what he will do if they "tell."
I have to wonder why this post by Peter Wink, if it is in any way well-intentioned, is targeted to
women. After all, many men are in abusive relationships too --
relationships in which they are abused emotionally or even
physically by their intimate partner, whether that partner is a
woman or a gay male lover. (Lenny likes to make fun of gays, though, according to reports from people who have been to some of his live events. Whether that's a cover-up for latent tendencies or just ugly prejudice is anyone's guess.)
Frankly, this is one of the most blatant and disgusting posts
ever written in the short time that the IBMS Master's Society
scam has been in operation.
But it is not really surprising. After all, look at one of the
scheme's poster children, Amy Chappell, whose big contribution to
the IBMS franchise and the Lenny Coldwell mythos seems to be a series of
heartfelt confesstimonials* about "the ones who have to go." In
Amy's case, the ones who had to go from her life were, at one
time, her parents -- see
this September 2012 presentation --
although apparently she now has a surrogate momma, whom she met at Lenny's horsey camp in January 2013. In a testimonial on one of the horsey camp videos, Surrogate Momma referred to Amy as "my baby." (Note: Previously I erroneously referred to this woman as Amy's mother, but apparently Amy really has abandoned her birth parents in favor of the Coldwell cult.)
But I digress. By posting that Facebook link targeting women, Peter has, in my
opinion, taken another giant step towards proving that he has no
conscience, despite his earlier attempts to paint himself as a
heroic advocate for women (particularly
single moms). Call me naive, but even at this point, I would have
thought better of him.
And now, dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly, flattering words, I pray you ne’er give heed;
Unto an evil counselor close heart, and ear, and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale of the Spider and the Fly.
PS ~ If you really are in an abusive relationship, there are many other resources to which you can turn. If you are in the US or Puerto Rico, start here.
PPS added 5 March 2013: Will the exploitation never end? A friend of mine just alerted me to the fact that Peter Wink posted the targeted IBMS promo on a Facebook page for abused women, the Battered Women's Legal Advocacy Project. Fortunately, as you'll see, his comment was countered by someone who provided this very useful link.
