Black Friday blowout: I'm back (and the scammers never left)

Well, November has come and almost gone -- for many of us, Thanksgiving flew by in a fabulous food-family-and-friend-filled flash (how's that for alliteration?) -- and once again some of you may have wondered if I forgot you. Maybe you thought that despite my protests to the contrary, I'd finally abandoned my Whirled. Maybe a few folks even hoped that was the case. 

Let's get the ultra-stupid out of the way first.
Apropos of the (hopefully) tiny group that wishes I'd just disappear, I'm thinking, for instance, of the stupidest man in Scamworld, who unwittingly offers a hint here about what might actually be wrong with him. But no, Lenny, I haven't gone anywhere, and you're still on my radar. I am not going away. By the way, for those of you who have no life and are going to be in the Charlotte, NC, area this as-we-speak-end, Lenny and his Supreme Partner Peter Wink of the IMBS-ing U Society are putting on another dog and pony show at the Duke Mansion, starting today. Actually it's night already, as I press the "Publish" button, so the bourbon should really be flowing by now. Hail Chumpions!*  

Maybe English grammar is one of the things they will eventually get around to teaching at IMBS-ing U. But that doesn't seem to be tops on the priority list. "One thing I always says is that the winners do whatever it takes to attend seminars..." Spoken like a true Chumpion, Loony.

 
And while we're on the topic of Not-Doktor Stoopid, he recently announced that he and two other "cancer cure heroes" (read: quacks) -- the infamous Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski and ex-physician and convicted criminal (wrongful death, fraud) Tullio "Cancer is a Fungus" Simoncini -- will be doing a Euro-tour this coming year, teaching people how to cure cancer. This post is from November 20, 2014.

Frankly, there's no telling when or if this "tour" will actually take place; I have found zero info about it online so far, other than Coldwell's boasts on various Facebook pages. There's no indication of "tour" dates, though Coldwell's listing of "tour" stops implies that it is a physical tour and not some Skype-ish thing. On one thread Coldwell indicated that one purpose of the Euro-tour will be to promote one of his new books, but I seriously doubt that either Burzynski or Simoncini would be building any of their own live events around this daft little C-list motivational speaker’s work. It may just be Coldwell’s ego talking again. It does a lot of talking. I'll keep you posted if I find out anything more, and you do the same for me, 'kay? [Mystery solved! See 3 May 2015 update at the end of this post. ~CC]

Finally, Loony took an opportunity on Thanksgiving day to post, on his personal Facebook timeline and several other Facebook pages he runs, a rambling screed about his splendidly successful year. He even says there's going to be a real Hollywood movie about him, "Life of a Healer," that will be in theaters! The screed is yet another blatantly transparent attempt to counter the growing body of criticism against him with a fake "living well is the best revenge" scenario.



He says 2014 has been his most successful year ever, neglecting to mention the major and comical failure of a lawsuit against two of the "co-conspirators" he says are acting in concert to defame him (the case, though a sham from the get-go, was ultimately dismissed "for want of prosecution"). Although he mentions none of us by name in his Thanksgibberish homily, he does make a mention of a "mentally ill women" [sic] who murdered his beloved dog Blue and is being paid by the pharmaceutical industry to harm his reputation. I guess he has returned to that lie, although just a few months ago he said I am NOT being paid and am simply writing about him because I'm angry over his sexual rejection of me (this is from July 15, 2014):



"Do you think a normal person would do this [write posts about Lenny] without a personal grudge since she is not making money on it?" wrote Lenny back in July.

Make up your tiny little mind, Lenny. You can't have it both ways. Well, I guess with some of your more idiotic, unquestioning followers, you can say anything you want, no matter how contradictory, and they won't question it. But the thinking world is waking up to what a fraud and a charlatan and chronic liar you are.

And for now, anyway -- though probably not for long -- there's this:



 
And now on to other things... 
At any rate I hope that most of you know better than to mistake my decreased frequency in posting for lack of interest. I have not forsaken you. And I'll try to make it up to you now, with a few updates on imprisoned serial scammer Kevin Trudeau, aka KT, aka Katie, and the club he originally founded to be his personal piggy bank, the Global Information Network (GIN). I'll also toss out some tidbits about some of the other scammers and frauduct and flopportunity peddlers who are, in their own ways, trying to carry on Katie's legacy while he cools his heels at Camp Cupcake.

I've posted a lot of this on various Facebook threads over the past couple of weeks, so you may have read it already. But since not everybody is on Facebook, here it is again, with extras.

Also please see my friend Bernie's blog, GINtruth.com, because blogging-wise, he has been a lot more on the ball than I have lately.

I realize that some of you are probably wishing I'd get off the Katie kick (even as you may have wished I would get off of the Not-Doc Stoopid track), and go back to reporting on some of the numerous other scams and scammers who have graced this Whirled over the years. The A-listers alone -- Abraham-Hicks, Access Consciousness, and Anastasia** -- are worth an extended revisit, not to mention some of the other sillies covered in the past and still to be covered.

And I still plan to do that. But Katie remains the low-hanging fruit, the easy topic for a hopelessly distracted blogger, and very much a "thing." He is if nothing else a consummate illustration of this blog's overarching theme: No Neat and Tidy Endings. Plus, he'll be the subject of a couple of media stories that are coming up; I'll give you more details when I have them. For now, I've got this...

GIN promotes killer
Thanks to a heads-up from Bernie a couple of weeks ago, I learned that GINster Nancy Ashley, a passionate long-time defender of Katie and GIN, was promoting James Arthur "Death" Ray's work earlier this month.

Bernie commented on the post, but his comment was soon deleted and he is now blocked from participating.

This promotion does not really surprise me. As reported here previously, some James Ray packets had been handed out at the recent GIN Family Reunion in Phoenix. Turns out it was the same content that Nancy has been promoting: the 16-CD "Harmonic Wealth" Home Study set.

Ask the late Colleen Conaway's family about James Ray and "Harmonic Wealth..."

But I digress. (Actually it is not a digression; refusing to let people forget about Ray's atrocities has become one of the purposes of this blog.)

You may be familiar with Nancy Ashley -- who seriously needs to pick her heroes and role models more carefully -- as one of the handful of women who showed up every day at Katie's trial and sentencing. She was also one of the members of the GIN Leadership Round Table while GIN was waiting to be sold or otherwise disposed of. I don't know if Blaine Athorn, Chris McGarahan, Troy McClain, Jeff Devine, and Greg Kramer retained the Round Table after they bought and took over GIN, but in any case Nancy is still very much involved with GIN. (And she is also very involved with Coral Thomas Grant's Secret to Life Coaching scam; see below. They're all related.)

GIN is apparently continuing to cross-promote with James Ray, if this comment from Linda Patenaude, wife of GIN "faculty" member Jacques Patenaude, is any indication:

...Everybody should listen to this [James Ray CD set] and stretch their mind. we highly recommend them We will be going to his event on Feb 21st. The Patenaude FSD / GIN group has a special price if you are interested message me we have almost 20 people going so far.

Whoopee.

Here's the Death Ray event that Linda P was apparently talking about (and here's another link).

And Ray himself is busily promoting it on his Facebook page:

This chance to have some of Ray's evil cooties rub off on you will only set you back $497.00 -- a discount of $200.00.

I sent a private message to Nancy Ashley asking her about her promotion of Death Ray.

Hi, Nancy, I saw that you promoted the works of James Arthur Ray on a recent Facebook post, and apparently GIN is promoting him too. Don't you even care that James Ray is a convicted killer? It's disgusting that this man served less than two years for his recklessness that led to the deaths of three wonderful people in his phony sweat lodge in Sedona (2009). In case you've forgotten... no worries. Some of us will never forget.
http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2014/10/james-arthur-ray-full-blood-moon.html

Her response spoke volumes.

Just because someone is "convicted" in this country, does not mean a thing to me any longer. I have personally sat in the courts and personally watched the "lynch mob" mentality the judges allow in the courts of this country. Do you know they won't even let defendant witnesses take the stand, etc. My eyes were opened wide and I was shocked!! It's a true "lynching" mentality at times and I wouldn't believe one verdict in one of our courts - there is NO justice there. There are other things at work here. I have to look at the overall good, and I believe James has an amazing heart, he's helped thousands of people and has the ability to help thousands more with his message - there are so many people out there hurting and he can help. It is not my place to judge him "guilty". I think what happened was a HORRIBLE and TRAGIC ACCIDENT and maybe he did't [sic] handle it well (he paid for his lack of judgement by going to jail), but it was an ACCIDENT, he did NOT intend to kill those people and he was made a "scape goat". I'm so in grief for families who lose their loved ones - but I also believe in all the teachings we've learned and know that there is a divine reason for everything and it's always for good. God doesn't make mistakes!!. My little pea brain can't begin to comprehend the DIVINE PLAN. I also believe we have all agreed as to how we will leave this world according to what we all agreed to before we even came here - we all came to learn lessons. Even Abraham/Hicks say we all choose our death and time. Everyting [sic] happens for a reason. It's not my place to judge, let alone judge God . But I will not believe someone is "guilty" just because our "courts" say so. Thank you for writing and know that we will probably always disagree ... But holding us all in the Light and Sending love ............ Nancy

My response to her:

Actually I think Kevin Trudeau was given too harsh a sentence, and James Ray was given one that was too lenient.

I followed Ray's trial as carefully as I did Kevin's, and I read transcripts and saw evidence that was not allowed in court (at Ray's trial) and that the jury was not allowed to see. Had they been, I am pretty sure that the charges they convicted him on would have been more serious and his sentence considerably longer.

I think Ray is a sociopath, an egotist, and a leopard who has not really changed his spots despite his new "I've walked through fire and come out stronger" shtick.

I also think that the Abraham-Hicks shtick is a fraud and that "Abraham" is a product of the imagination of Esther and the late Jerry Hicks. I do not think that James Ray intended to kill his paying customers, but his utter recklessness and disregard for their welfare should, in my opinion, have earned him a much longer sentence. If it makes you feel better to tell yourself that the people who died under James' tutelage pre-selected the time and method of their departures, go ahead. I am familiar with that belief but in the end it is simply a belief: a matter of faith/opinion, and not comforting or helpful to the vast majority of people.

But... yes, I think we will probably always disagree about these matters. Anyway, thank you for your reply.

I am pretty sure that Nancy is basing her observations about the courts on her perception of the way things went at Kevin's trial. As I noted above, she was one of the small group of loyalists who showed up at the court every day during the trial. But I am reasonably certain that she didn't follow Death Ray's trial like I did.

The purpose of writing this is not to single Nancy out or to pick on her. It is to illustrate the crucial point that many people don't even know -- and many who do know simply don't care -- that James Arthur Ray was convicted and served time for the deaths of several people. Unfortunately, followers and those who want to believe are willing to overlook little details like that. Whether the person they're following is a serial scammer, an alleged sex predator, a psychopathic liar, or a killer... it just doesn't matter if the guru has a good story to tell or a charismatic personality and a knack for making followers think that the guru holds the key to wealth, happiness, and success. (Once again, the facts don't matter if the story is good.)

That's why there are... all together now...
NO NEAT AND TIDY ENDINGS in Scamworld.

I am still wondering if Peter Wink, co-creator along with Not-Doktor Stupid of the IBMS Master's Society, gave up on his attempts to woo Death Ray into the IMBS-ing U sales funnel. You may recall this from August of 2013. Maybe IMBS-ing U was too sleazy even for Ray. I wouldn't be surprised.

Just in case you want to visit and comment on Death Ray's Facebook fan page yourself, here's the link.

I did comment, though my comment is gone now...


... and for some reason I'm no longer allowed to comment there.

But Ray continues with his shtick, presenting himself as the humbled hero who has been through hell and back, and is now on a mission to help others through their own trials.


It just makes me want to throw up.

Daddy's gone, but the snow must go on
So let's get to Katie. As many of you know, his father, Robert Trudeau Sr., died on October 26, 2014, a death that was not unexpected, given his serious health problems. But the post that appeared on Katie's official Facebook fan page on the day of his father's passing did not even acknowledge the event. Instead it was all about promoting "Your Wish Is Your Command" -- the infamous upsell for GIN -- and one of the crap books by Rhonda The Secret Byrne. It's possible that the post had already been scheduled to go up on Facebook before the news reached the folks handling Katie's page. But still.

Not until October 28 was there a mention of Mr. Trudeau's death. Then it was immediately back to business as usual on the fan page, although on November 4 they managed to work the death into a promotion for a Katie Defense fundraiser in Paris (more on that below).

And this appeared a couple of weeks ago (November 12, 2014:)

As you know my Dad passed and transitioned into another dimension a few weeks ago. (in English, that means he died) The last time I talked to him, a few hours before he passed, he laughed and said he was going to croak! We both laughed. He had never read or listened to any of the Abraham/Hicks material, but it is funny that Abraham always referred to "dying" as 'Croaking". Dad was at peace at his passing and so was I. I was not sad, I was happy for HIM. I was not depressed, I was thankful for a marvelous life we shared. Thank you all for the unbelievable amount of the cards and letters I am getting. Thank you for you love and support. I cannot respond to you when you send mail, as I simply am getting too many letters/cards, and do not have the time! I love reading your letters. Most of you tell me your amazing success stories and how wonderful your lives are now and becoming, because of the Success Mastery Course training, GIN, Your Wish is Your Command, my books etc. Many of you ask lots of questions too! If you have read all the posts here, almost all your questions have already been answered. The rest are all answered in the books or the Success Mastery Course. Many of you fear I am grieving. I am not. I "know" that when one leaves his body he becomes totally free and more powerful than you could ever imagine, experiencing bliss and peace that surpasses all human understanding or comprehension. I love my Dad and it was simply his time. We all will have our time. I am celebrating his wonderful life as he would want me to do. He always wanted me to follow my dreams and simply be true to myself, as he instinctively knew that would put me in alignment with who I really am, and be totally joyful. I am thankful that he was my father. I was very lucky and blessed to have him as my Dad. I am happy as I joyfully recall our times together and all the wisdom I learned from him. Many of the lessons he taught me was by simply living his life for me to witness. Now as I think back, I am seeing his true wisdom in a much clearer light, and at a very deep level, learning the lessons NOW he consciously and subconsciously was teaching me his whole life. I am so appreciative for my Dad and for everything in my life. I am more joyful now than ever. His passing, as was his life, is a gift. Thank you all again for all your love and kindness and for reaching out to me in such a magnificent manner. Many of you ask so many questions about me, my daily life, how I am coping etc. Many of these questions have been answered in these posts. I encourage you to go back and read all the messages that have been left on this page. They are filled with lessons in real time that will help YOU. Maybe even print all the messages into a kind of book for yourself that you can refer to easily, and print each new message and add it in! Now remember, I will be posting some very powerful messages here from now to the end of the year. I should be posting 2 each week and maybe even 3. Check back here often and read and reread the posts… And if you have any questions you can mail them to me, or leave them here. Either they will be answered in a future post, or someone will answer them for you!
In the words of my dear departed friend Charlie "Tremendous" Jones, "Life IS Tremendous!!!"
Much love!!

And the awful specter of Abrascam-Hicks is raised again... As you probably know, Abe-Hicks have been a frequent guest on this blog. But there are have been many Abe-Hicks believers in GIN, and apparently in Katie's fan base in general. As I was telling someone else in a private exchange about this matter, it's not that I condemn people for having philosophical views about death, because we all have things we tell ourselves and others in order to help us make sense of a universe that sometimes seems to make no sense at all. We all have ways of comforting ourselves (and others) in order to make it all more bearable. And it may very well be that Mr. Trudeau was more than ready to go, after suffering from kidney failure and numerous other health challenges that Kevin's brother Bob told us he was having. But in the context in which Kevin wrote his thoughts, and so soon after his father's death, it seems like exploitation. It seems sociopathic. It seems... like a typical New-Wage guru or... dare I say it... cult leader.

By the way, Katie failed to mention that although "Abraham" preached against conventional medicine, Jerry Hicks fought fiercely for his life at the end. First he and Esther lied about Jerry's leukemia. But then Jerry went on to get aggressive chemo, and ended up "croaking" anyway.
http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/.../has-anybody-here...

As I think I've made abundantly clear over the past year or so of reporting on Katie's Facebook posts, he continues to massage his fan base even from behind bars. Many of his posts are sermons about the magickal power of his posts, and the importance of reading them repeatedly and in order, because of their magickal infusion and the "nuggets of gold" he has embedded in them and whatnot. For instance, there's this one from November 9. "Watch this page often as I am going to be leaving very powerful messges that will have a life changing effect on all those who read them as they will be embedded with energy that WILL positively effect [sic] you." Uh-huh.

And on a November 6 post, he invokes Scientology's notorious dictionary fetish (without mentioning Scientology, of course).

In several messages on this page and in trainings, I used certain words without ever really defining them for you. I did this on purpose. When you read something and come to a word that has not been clearly defined, it can cause confusion. It can also force YOU to investigate and define the word, which brings about knowingness and clarity. Here are the words that have been used and not specifically defined. I suggest you get a massive dictionary and read the definitions, AND find other sources to define the words, and discuss with others the true definitions of the words. THEN go back and reread the posts/messages on this page, and watch a miracle happen right before your eyes! You will experience MAGIC! I am so excited for you! Then report here what happened so others can be motivated to do this simple yet an all powerful process. Here are the words: Ego; Self; Higher Self; Truth; Mind; Thoughts; Enlightenment; Feelings; Emotions; Knowingness; Awareness. Enjoy the mind blowing experience and feel your inner Self expand beyond your wildest imagination.
Love..........

Yup... pretty Scientology-like, I'd say. At various times Katie has recommended Scientology, and clearly has been influenced by its teachings and dogma, so this is not surprising.

Also not surprising is the fact that every post on Katie's Facebook page continues to get hundreds of "likes." Cage or no cage, he seems more popular than ever.

We'll always have Paris...
The big to-do in Paris I mentioned above was to help raise money for Katie's defense fund, and the star of the show was one Coral Thomas Grant, whom I've mentioned on this blog a few times. As I've also noted a few times -- including on this post -- Coral reportedly has a sweetheart deal with Katie: she'll raise a certain amount of money for his legal fund, and in return he'll let her exploit his brand.

In promoting the Paris event, Katie's Facebook proxies didn't hesitate to milk the sympathy cow regarding the elder Trudeau's death.

COME JOIN US IN BEAUTIFUL PARIS!!!
As you may have heard, Kevin lost his Father last week and we all know this must be an emotional time for him. They did not allow him to attend his own Father’s funeral. In support of Kevin, and to help raise his spirits just a bit, we are planning a European Rally for his Defense Fund.
Television and radio star Coral Grant wowed the crowd in Colorado last month and now she wants to do the same for you in Paris! I don’t know how many of you are aware that Coral is actually one of the very few personally mentored and trained by Kevin Trudeau. She receives one on one coaching from him. Come to the rally and find out the secrets only Coral has learned from the great Master himself. There will also be a special and private message from Kevin sent to you.
(If you cannot make it we will send you the video, not just an audio!)
We have a tremendous “early bird” offer! You will receive $50.00 off when you make a contribution of $150.00 to the Defense Fund and then we will send you a complimentary ticket to the Rally! The price will go up to $200.00 after one week so don’t delay!
The Rally will take place on Friday, November 21st in Paris, France from 1pm-5pm. (For those who cannot attend in person we will send you the very special video) EARLY BIRD SPECIAL is good for one week only so don’t delay… Take advantage of this discount now…Go to the website below and make your $150.00 contribution and join us for an explosive afternoon! Expires in one week – Hurry! Let’s help support our friend Kevin! Thank you!
(Hotel details sent after you make your contribution)
###

Here's Bernie's post about the continuing scam and the apparent disregard for the death of Kevin's dad.

The aforementioned Nancy Ashley was all excited about going to the City of Lights to participate in the scam.



But then Nancy had a medical crisis -- some issue with her heart, apparently -- and couldn't go to Paris. But she has apparently recovered and is back to promoting the Secret to Life Coaching scam, as indicated in this post from a few days ago, which seems to concern an October 2014 coaching retreat...

Who knew that Chris "Voldemort" McGarahan -- one of the new owners of the GIN scam -- was also a relationship expert? What is apparent is that Chris and Coral and gang have a very cozy relationship. And somewhere, somehow, Kevin Trudeau is benefiting from that coziness.

As for the Paris retreat, which took place on November 21, it was a huge success -- at least according to Coral. Those of you who lost thousands of dollars (and maybe much more) in GIN, and/or who were screwed by any of Katie's other scams, or for that matter, those who may have invested in some of Coral's schemes and are still wondering where your money went...all of y'all can just eat your hearts out. They partied in Paris like there was no tomorrow. I wonder how much money was raised towards Katie's defense fund.


Here, for your entertainment, is a little vid about Coral and her new-ish hubby and scam partner, Mac. You can find more info here.

New-ish Katie court docs...
As some of you may know, I have temporarily lost my major PACER patronage so unfortunately I haven't been able to grab the latest Kevin Trudeau court documents, although just before the big loss I was able to get some transcripts of the trial and the sentencing. I did share them here and also put them on Scribd; if you haven't seen them already you can find links on this September 29 blog post (see under "Camp may be fun, but Katie wants out: the appeals process continues"). 

Recently, though, I had the brilliant idea of going to the web site of the court appointed receiver Robb Evans to see if there were any further developments in the matters with which the receiver was concerned. There hadn't really been anything of significance that I knew of since the sale of GIN was approved in late May of this year. But I knew there were other assets still to be sold, and that Robb Evans' work was not yet done. They don't publish everything on their site -- certainly not the docs where they're begging the courts for money -- but they do publish a record of their activities, and sure enough, when I paid them a visit I saw this document filed on September3, 2014.

This is interesting because it is a motion for the sale of the Natural Cures entities, most of which were allegedly sold to longtime Trudeau buddy Lee Kenny in late 2012. The receiver says it believes the sale was a sham (duh) and had refused to turn the assets over to Lee Kenny, though Lee demanded they do so. (The receiver had also previously asked Lee to provide info on Katie assets, and Lee had been less than cooperative.) Ultimately, of course, the receiver took it to the courts.

Note that the document linked to above is only a motion; supposedly there was a hearing on September 9. I have a feeling the sale was approved but don't have a way to check at the moment. Still, the September 3 doc linked to above is pretty interesting.

What's most interesting to me (though not surprising) is that the "investment group" wishing to purchase Natural Cures, as well as the Trudeau Approved Products (which include all of those unsold KT Supplements) includes Blaine and the Morters. (Blaine and the Morters... that sounds like the name of a really awful rock band.) And the receiver clearly does not care that they are all long-time Katie buds. This is from the above-linked court doc:

12. Upon information and belief, the Proposed Purchaser consists of an investment group including Blaine Athorn, who is the president and founder of the Memory Training Institute which produces professional development seminars and related materials. Mr. Athorn is also one of the principals of the entity that purchased the GIN Club assets.
13. Upon information and belief, the Proposed Purchaser also includes the owners of Morter Health Systems, an Arkansas-based health and wellness company.
14. Upon information and belief, the proposed purchasers are not affiliated with Trudeau or any Trudeau affiliates and are not persons “acting in concert” with Trudeau (as defined in the Receivership Order). Rather, each of the principals of the Proposed Purchasers has run successful businesses separate and distinct from Trudeau.

So they've had businesses apart from Katie. That doesn't make them any less scammy, but perhaps the receiver is tired of messing with this crap and just wants to be rid of it.

At least this explains why the Natural Cures web site was down for a few months, which I mentioned in this May 2014 post (see under "Natural Cures is feeling poorly these days").

The Natural Cures, etc. sale is all part of the civil case and the ongoing effort to milk Katie's assets, to be put towards that $37.6 million fine (as well as, no doubt, to put money in the receiver's pockets). The criminal case is the one currently in the Appeals court, and I really need to get back to PACER to find out how that's going. I don't anticipate that any decisions will be made until early next year, but I have no doubt that more documents have been filed since the initial ones I shared in September (again, see this post).

In any case the Natural Cures main site back up for now, and some of my pals report that they are getting emails promoting the infamous Baccarat scheme.

The ongoing battle of the GIN ripoffs
Which GIN ripoff is the most successful? If you're judging by Facebook "likes," I'd say SciWINtology, run by former safecracker Perry Kiraly, has it over IMBS-ing U, run by Loony Lenny Coldwell and Peter Wink. Then again, WIN may have a boost from the actual Church of Scientology, so there's that. (Note: This isn't idle speculation on my part. See this July 22, 2014 Whirled post, under "Elron would be so proud...maybe: SciWINtology updates.")

Plus IBMS has a less than professional "Supreme Partner" at the helm, so there's that. At any rate, a glance at the respective ripoffs' Facebook pages earlier this month indicated that Perry's gang is WIN-ning over IMBS-ing U.

Over Halloween weekend, WIN had a big "Family Reunion" event they were able to piggyback on to some Vegas appearance by New-Wage rock star Gregg Braden (who was a guest on this Whirled way back in its early days). Gregg is still peddling his New-Wage paradigm-shattering malarkey, but his apparent willingness to be associated with WIN might reek a bit of desperation.

Some other GIN notables were there too, including Mary Miller (aka Mary Milker -- and thanks to my pal Kenneth Reimer, former GIN member and ex-Katie fan, for the latter nick).... 

 
...and Fred Van Liew (aka Fred van Loony -- shown here being nearly-photo-bombed by a waiter's butt)...



There's more about both of these incorrigible frauduct and flopportunity peddlers immediately below.

Here's a link to some fabulous foto ops from the event. More pics and vids will be posted to the WIN site at WINDDN.COM. I see from the Facebook photo collection that Cowboy Perry and the gang got to ride horsies. Eat your hearts out, IMBS-ing U! (See the first part of this February 2013 post.)

 

And by the way, in case you're interested, here's a link to the details about WIN's current MLM scheme. Don't worry, it has the FTC's blessings, or so sez WIN. Or so sez their MLM lawyer, Thayer Lindauer. Remember, the FTC is pretty easy on MLMs for the most part.



What's that smell? It's Mary Milker passing her "gentle wind" throughout Scamworld
I've never really devoted a whole blog post to Mary Miller, though she deserves one. I have mentioned her a few times on this Whirled, however. She is perhaps best known in scambusting circles for the spot of trouble she got in for her "Gentle Wind" scampire.

[Update: My friend Mirele just pointed me to a good source of background info about Mary and her past troubles. One old-school-looking but information-rich link shared on that resource is the Wind of Changes site, which outlines some of the tactics Mary et al. have used against critics and whistleblowers. "Most people understand that cult leaders fling out desperate and amazing fabrications to demonize whistleblowers." Sounds a lot like the stuff that Loony Coldwell is doing or has threatened to do to his critics. And if you want more info, here is a direct link to a document with personal stories of apparent abuse by Mary Milker and gang.]

Not surprisingly, Mary is also a long-time pal and defender of Kevin Trudeau, and has even been to see him in the clink a couple of times. In return for her loyalty she apparently gets carte blanche to use his Facebook fan page to continue to peddle her frauducts and flopportunities, such as her Ka Ching... I mean I Ching, card frauducts. There's this, for instance, from November 26:

Maybe a bigger picture????
“Hey all, this is Mary Miller of I Ching Systems, Kevin’s good friend for many years. As you know I visited him 2 times in the last 2 months and plan to see him again soon. Many people ask me about Kevin and why I think a man with so much power and success in life could end up in a correctional facility. And I am sure there are many explanations. In our work, I could probably make the argument that these events were planned thousands of years ago. And this is part of a greater journey. On this journey, we think that each of us has within us a higher consciousness, a “Witness” or “Presence.” This aspect, the Spirit if you will, must ultimately end up in the driver’s seat of our lives with the personality sitting in the back seat, going along for the ride. All too often the human personality suffers from hurt and harm, and gets caught trying to resolve the harm instead of moving forward and up in vibration.
From our view, Kevin may be transiting from the human personality to the Presence or Witness. The best way to explain this is through an ancient astrological system called the Destiny Cards where each of the 52 Cards in the deck is assigned a psychological profile. In this system, each of us has many cards that describe different energies. But the key aspects are represented in two Cards, the Birth Card which is your Path in Life and your Planetary Ruling Card which is your Personality. In the end, the Birth Card must prevail as this represents the Witness or Presence.
In Kevin’s case, we have an Ace of Clubs in the Planetary Ruler or Personality Card. Aces are all about the self. Their world is self-oriented and aimed at making sure oneself is comfortable. If we quote from the work of one of the greatest authors in this field, we find Robert Lee Camp saying the following.
"Aces are masters at creating and manifesting. They are natural conduits for new ideas. They bring many things into being that were not there before. Aces are not known for their patience. The Ace of Clubs has a love of knowledge and is also a student of love, always learning about relationships. They never lose that natural curiosity and desire to learn good things...The challenge of all the Aces is to use their ability to manifest things in the world for something greater than their own personal wealth and comfort."
With this Card in the Planetary Ruling position, the personality has to overcome his own tendency toward self-centered thinking, but only after they have fulfilled their dreams in the material world. And getting this aspect under control can make it possible for the Birth Card, the Destiny energy to rule.
In Kevin’s case we have the Six of Spades in the Birth Card position. All Sixes are about world service, improving the lives of other people. According to Camp, your potential for success is enormous. If you are willing to listen to the voice within you, you can find your own destiny. Sixes have come here to fulfill a special and unique purpose. Their mission is to change the lives of others, uplifting people from their difficulties and helping them find better pathways in life.
So maybe if we consider Kevin’s case from a bigger view of life, maybe we are watching a man in transition from a life that was blessed with personal comfort and self-fulfillment, to new life based on how to improve the quality of life for others…It is just a possibility….”
Mary Miller MSW
If you would like to learn more about your own Destiny Card information and other aspects of I Ching Systems technology, feel free to email her at marymiller@ichingsystems.info or visit their website at www.ichingsystemsmembers.com.

The friend I mentioned above, Kenneth Reimer, wrote this on a thread on our public GIN Network Truth Facebook group:

Am I seeing this right? Is Mary "Milker" using new-wage jibber jabber to admit that Katie is a selfish, greedy POS?

To which I replied:

Good lord, Kenneth, that made my head hurt. You're close, but mostly she is using New-Wage blather to JUSTIFY what some judgmental, narrow-minded sorts might interpret as greedy, selfish, POS behavior. I have been observing New-Wagers for many years and that's how they roll. But thanks for sharing this link; I shall add it to my new blog post (which I hope to finish and get up today -- finally).

Well, I didn't make good on my promise that day... but here you are today. My point was that for the most part New-Wagers are all about appearing not to be judgmental. Behind the scenes, I noted on a subsequent comment, they are often vicious back-stabbers, but the public face is all about being non-judgmental and looking at "the bigger picture and the Greater Good."

For Mary, the "Greater Good" is clearly about selling more overpriced frauducts.

And let's not leave out Fred van Loony!
Fred Van Liew, aka "the Water Doctor," whom you have encountered on this Whirled a few times, has been defending Kevin Trudeau all along, and as far as I know he still is. And he may very well still be involved with GIN in some way, though he has said he isn't. He is not listed on their "Faculty" page, but until very recently his stuff was listed in the GIN store (at this point, however, you get a "page not found" message when you follow that link). The newly redesigned GIN Store page seems to be wiped clean of its Freddy/eWater presence, though his legacy may live on in some of these water frauducts.

Anyway, with Katie in a cage and GIN arguably a shadow of its former self (though it does seem poised for regrowth), the "Water Doctor" has to keep on keeping on with other schemes and scams. As indicated above, he's apparently quite involved with Perry K's SciWINtology group, and of course he's still deeply involved with the Youngevity/Livinity MLM, and his own "Wealth Building Seminars." Here's a scrapbook of what Freddy has been up to recently. A friend of mine took these and sent 'em to me, since I can't get to Freddy's page on my own. For some reason he has blocked me. I don't know why so many of these hucksters block me. 

I love Freddy's claim that the WIN training is incredible and condensed and that you should be ready for "mental growth." Yeah, that training is fueled by Scientology. You should be ready for mental SOMETHING, anyway.

I wonder if the person in the number 1 spot on the Youngevity Leaderboard pictured above is THE Alex Jones, the paranoia-porn radio guy. And why are the Coldwell Bros. still on the list at all? See number 481 on that same link. They're listed as being on "Invitation" status, anyway.

But... but... but... didn't Lenny Coldwell have a temper tantrum last year when he reamed out Barb and Dave Pitcock? The following three pics are from a longer conversation that took place in April 2013:

... and so on, and so forth. Many of you may recall this beer-and-popcorn-worthy exchange. Did Peter Wink (who is part of the Coldwell Bros. org too) smooth it all out? Inquiring minds want to know!

But once again, I digress. Back to Freddy. There's also this, which more than likely has something to do with an MLM of some sort..

It seems clear that Freddy is still busily pushing his flopportunities and frauducts, and is even having a Black Friday special. Browse around the site and you're sure to find something you can't live without. Worried about over-stuffing yourself during the holidays? Try Freddy's Appetite Control Mug, "your weight management buddy," which "helps reduce cravings and overeating, while improving hydration properties and coherent energies in fluids or foods" placed in or around it. It uses Freddy's scientifical Quantum Harmonic BioSupport ® Technology, which is permanently infused in the silicon dioxide structure of the Appetite Control Mug. And all this for only $84.50! Tell you what, one look at Freddy's mug is enough to put a damper on my appetite. Which is why his picture was not displayed anywhere near our feast table here at The Ranch on T-Day.

Well, that's it for now, Dear Ones. I apologize again for having been remiss in my blogging duties. I have been preoccupied with work and life (good things) and of course the evil that temporarily took over my blog, LoonyC (a bad thing). But I haven't forgotten my basic mission to inform and entertain, so bear with me.

And thank you, as always, for reading.

* Though nominally equals in the IMBS-ing U Master Baiters club, Peter Wink and Lenny Coldwell still seem to be basically engaged in a pimp-n-ho relationship, as touched upon in this October 2013 blog post (which was published before Kevin Trudeau's criminal trial and conviction). See under, "So let's get to the pimp-n-ho already."

** Speaking of Anastasia, the imaginary Russian nekkid blonde babe-in-the-woods, an alert reader sent me a link to this hilarious 2010 video review of Vlad Megre's first book in the "Screaming Cedars" series. Even if you haven't read a word of my own posts about Anastasia, or haven't even heard of the cult, you'll get a kick out of this:
 
 

Update, 3 May 2015 (with some more updates on 4 and 5 May): Mystery solved regarding the "Heroes of Cancer" European book tour that Lenny Coldwell was supposedly going to be doing, along with Stanislaw Burzynski and defrocked doc Tullio Simoncini. On April 30, 2015 Coldwell began boasting on his Facebook timeline about what a huge success he was on his "European book tour." Only... he sort of made it look as if he were the sole star of the show -- much like he did in the past (and is still doing) with Kevin Trudeau's old GIN events, photos of which he doctored to make them look as if they were solely "Dr." C. events.



"Europe on fire with Dr. C!" he proclaims. (He also mentions something about people sitting on flour, leading one to wonder if it was a book tour or a cooking show gone horribly wrong.) Well, I don't know about Europe being on fire. The only "fire" I can see is coming from Lenny, as in "pants on fire."

I'm not saying he wasn't in Europe; clearly he was, no doubt talking about his book. And no doubt there were crowds there, and no doubt they applauded him a few times, because that's what audiences usually do when someone is standing on his or her hind feet and performing in front of them. And I don't even have trouble believing that he sold out of his books at the event; his subsidy publisher probably printed only a limited number (with print-on-demand technology it's easy to... well, print on demand on short notice) -- and people are easily whipped into a buying frenzy at live events. It happens all the time.

But this wasn't a purely Coldwellian event by a long shot. In truth, Lenny was only one of numerous speakers at the Spirit of Health Kongress in Kassel, Germany last month. Burzynski and Simoncini were also speakers. In the course of the conference proper, each of them had ONE presentation that lasted an hour and a half. And again, there were numerous other speakers. Here is a Google-translated version of the event description.

Coldwell was also part of a panel discussion at the end of the conference. Neither Burzynski nor Simoncini participated in the panel discussion; at least their names aren't listed. Also, Coldwell was apparently part of an "intensive" workshop that was an adjunct to the main event. So was his publisher, Jim Humble, who is also a dodgy supplement peddler and promoter, and apparently one of the big moving forces behind this whole conference (more about him in just a moment). But from what I can see, neither Burzynski nor Simoncini participated in the intensive class. And it appears that this Kongress is actually little more than a traveling snake oil show, the main purpose of which is to promote and sell quackery, such as Jim Humble's "MMS" frauducts/info-frauducts (more about MMS below).

But being just one of numerous speakers at a multi-day event didn't stop Lenny from boasting about it as if were the "Dr." C. show, and implying that "tens of thousands" of fans attended his seminars and workshops, and stampeded the book stalls so that his new book sold out in 20 minutes. He even boasted about it to his little buddy Abe, who (so far at least) doesn't even seem to care.


In any case it seems that the event is being held in several locations in Europe, including in the Netherlands this weekend (as I write this on Sunday, May 3, it's probably winding down or has already ended). The link in the previous sentence is a Google-translated piece from a skeptics' site about attempts to stop Humble et al. from spreading their potentially dangerous quackery all over Europe via this event. It's worth reading, even with the awkward translation. But the point is that neither Coldwell, nor Burzynski or Simoncini for that matter, seem to be in the lineup for any but the Kassel, Germany event that was held in late April. So much for Coldwell's claim that the three of them were going to be touring The Continent together as "Heroes of Cancer." It appears Lenny is back home now, Facebooking away with his usual nutty conspiracy crap and other nonsense, and, of course, his boasts about how successful he was setting Europe on fire with his "Dr." C-ness.

Interestingly enough, as of this writing, not one of Coldwell's boast-posts/photo albums about his Euro-tour even mentions Burzynski or Simoncini, and he has posted no photos of either man's performance at the Kassel quackfest. That may change, and I'll let you know if it does, provided I am informed about it, but so far... nothing. So far, Lenny has framed the whole shebang as being a "Dr." C event, even insinuating, in at least one post, that other featured speakers, such as Billy Best, were there to support his book tour.



Billy Best may or may not be a Coldwell supporter. Anyone can pose and smile together for pics, and even people who loathe each other often do, for the sake of making a Scamworld event look like it's all one big happy family. But Billy wasn't at the event to support Coldwell's new book tour. As you can clearly see if you look at the event schedule (here is that link again), Billy was in fact one of the featured speakers at the Kongress, along with Gaston Neassens, the inventor of the controversial "natural" cancer treatment that Billy used to help "cure himself" of cancer 20 years ago (more about that in a moment).

Here's Billy's story, in a nutshell. He's perhaps "Best" known as The Boy Who Ran Away (from chemo), and wrote a book about it, years later. Lenny says Billy cured himself of cancer. In truth, Billy had lymphoma as a teen and received several rounds of chemotherapy. The chemo was making him miserable, and he literally ran away from home. The story goes that he replaced the chemo with a regimen of the aforementioned controversial cancer treatment, 714-X, along with Essiac tea (another controversial "natural" treatment for cancer). Today, more than 20 years later, is is reportedly still cancer free. Good for him. 

But some experts speculate that the five rounds of chemo he received, even though not the complete recommended treatment, was largely if not solely responsible for the healing. (See, for instance, Orac at the Respectful Insolence blog; this May 2009 post about another "runaway" mentions Billy's story too. )

And here -- for those of you who don't turn your nose up at everything the "cancer establishment" publishes -- is the American Cancer Society's take on 714-X. Both 714-X and Essiac tea are discussed in this entry on the Skeptic's Dictionary site. And here's a 1999 CBS News piece about 714-X, that takes a mostly skeptical view.

As is the case with many health care controversies, I am somewhat on the fence about this matter. (For more of my ruminations on the gray areas of health choices, see this August 2014 blog post.) While I think it is probably difficult if not impossible to say for sure whether Billy Best's cure came from chemo, the "natural" remedies, or both, I do think that teens (and even younger people) have a right to have a say in their own medical treatments. It's a touchy -- and deeply personal -- issue, and it's one that won't ever be resolved by hype or shouting on either side of the controversy.

But I digress. Where the Kassel event and others in the series are concerned, I think it is impossible to overstate the role of Jim Humble, an American ex-pat who is now living in... jeez, I'm not sure (Germany? Dominican Republic?)... anyway, he's the big driving force behind this quackfest. First there's the publishing/book connection. Besides a new German-language book about stress penned by Coldwell, Humble, through his enterprise Jim Humble Verlag (Publishing Company), also offers books by/about Burzynski and Simoncini (and of course those two were also featured at the Kongress in Kassel, Germany). I believe that this pretty much forms the basis of Lenny's late-2014 boasts about going on a huge European book tour with those other two "heroes of cancer."

A friend of mine pointed out that Humble also stocks books by Hulda Clark, "that parasite woman who died of cancer a while ago" (as my friend put it), and Andreas Moritz, who also died of cancer a while ago. And, speaking of Anastasia (which we were above, with that silly video), Humble also offers books and products by Vladimir Megre of "Anastasia" infamy (who, as also indicated above, was covered on my Whirled a few years ago); and he peddles all kinds of other airy-fairy, woo-ish, and quacky stuff.

He knows his market, obviously.

But here's some more scoop on Jim Humble. Or... make that ARCHBISHOP Jim Humble. Somewhat like Lenny (who has/had his "Church of Inner Healing"), Humble formed a phony church a few years ago, apparently for the purpose of spreading his quackery with relative impunity and, possibly, to avoid taxes. Here's a piece from April 2010 that covers some of that, and another one, from August of the same year, that discusses some of the blowback the author caught for daring to criticize the not-so-humble Jim Humble.

And here is a more recent (March 2015) article about Humble's magnificent obsession, MMS, which, when used properly (that is, combined with citric acid) becomes... well... bleachy. This is particularly disturbing because MMS and similar "protocols" are being recommended for treating children with autism.

More about Jim Humble can be found on this page on a flawed but informative anti-MMS site (and there are links to still more information). And here is a transcript of a 2008 interview he did in Germany.

Of course, I wouldn't be the wonderfully fair-and-balanced journalist I'm famous for being if I didn't give ol' Jim a chance to defend himself, so here you go.

But I still think he's a quack and a crackpot, cynically exploiting the gullible and the desperate, and what's even worse is that he is providing a platform for other quackpots like... you know. That phony not-a-doc from Germany. That pants-on-fire moron whose boasts about touring Europe with other "heroes" are just that: empty blowhardery, and, as usual, much sound and fury, signifying nothing.