Christmas in July? Bah, humbug!

 

It has been yet another busy, crazy, scary month on what one of my favorite online wits, Jeff Tiedrich, likes to describe as the stupidest possible timeline in the dumbest country, but Real Life has occupied much of my time this month once again, taking me away from my blogging duties. And now the month is almost gone.

But I did want to make a passing mention of a few items. First up is the sad occasion that I've covered on this blog every year since 2010: the anniversary of the death of Colleen Conaway, a faithful follower of a sociopathic huckster named James Arthur Ray, at one of Ray's live events in San Diego. This is the 16th anniversary of Colleen's death on July 25, 2009. (Here is more information, from my 10-year anniversary post.)

Ray was never charged or convicted for his part in Colleen's passing, although he was charged, convicted, and served (far too little) time for the deaths of three more followers -- Kirby Brown, Liz Neuman, and James Shore -- in Sedona, Arizona in October of 2009.

All of this might seem mostly moot now that Ray himself has passed away; as reported here, he died in January of this year. He can do no more damage. And after I write my annual post in October, I may very well retire my own yearly observations of the deaths of people at Ray's live events.

But I don't want anyone to ever forget about these people, nor do I want them to forget that while Ray is gone, others will almost certainly rise up in his place, to deceive and possibly harm new generations of followers. This is true of the New-Wage/selfish-help/McSpirituality industries, as well as fringe religious organizations, as well as political groups; due to the very human desire for leaders and heroes and saviors, cults -- and charismatic, cult-like "leaders" -- remain a danger and probably always will.

(Many would contend that MAGA is a cult, though some would argue that it's not quite a cult... but in any case, the devotion heaped upon Cheeto Jeezus has had an enormous impact on the US and arguably on other countries as well, and there seems to be a growing sentiment that this impact has been overwhelmingly terrible.)

* * * * *

July 25 is also a sad day for me personally because it would have been the birthday of my only sister, who died in March 2024, as a result of health problems that were poorly managed because of our broken f-----g health care system. It was on his own birthday last year that my brother -- and the police -- found her in her home. She had been gone for some time. I'll leave it at that.

And yesterday, July 24, was the five-month anniversary of the death of my husband, Ron Kaye. I'm still reeling from that, and still trying to process the years-long nightmare of his illness, while tending to dozens of practical details, most notably finances.

There is a long tradition of informally celebrating "Christmas in July." For me, this month has been, for the most part, the opposite of a reason to celebrate, both on a personal and political basis. Still, I look forward to better times ahead. I haven't entirely given up hope, especially now that it seems MAGA is finally splintering over the Epstein scandal and other matters. And besides, this blog's 19th (!) birthday is coming up on July 27. So I'm just going to keep on keeping on, and I hope you will too.

Before you leave...
While money cannot make some nightmares go away, be they political or personal, it can make them far easier to bear. With my husband Ron's passing in February 2025, I have experienced significant income loss and am scrambling to find more work, but in an industry increasingly being taken over by AI, it has been a challenge. Now more than ever, donations are urgently needed and profoundly appreciated. Here are some ways to do it:

• New: Venmo -- username @Connie-Schmidt-42. Here is a direct link to the Venmo page.
• New: PayPal -- Here is a direct link to my PayPal page.
• Old but still good: You can click on the "Donate" icon that currently appears on the right-hand side of every page of this blog on the Web version. There's also a donation link at the end of many of my older blog posts. In the case of both the icon and the links on the older posts, as well as the link in this sentence, this is also a PayPal link, but it references the email account RevRon -- which is cool, because it all ultimately goes to the same place.

NOTE: If you are donating by PayPal, please specify that your contribution is for "friends and family," which will waive PayPal's substantial transaction fee.

Whether you can donate or not, thank you for visiting this Whirled.