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 -- who died as a result of participating in his marathon "sweat lodge" torture session 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.)

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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.

 

Colleen Conaway: fourteen years since her death at a James Arthur Ray event

 

Never forget. In case you have forgotten, or you didn't know in the first place, here's the story of Colleen Conaway's death, with links to further information.

The person responsible for the death of Colleen Conaway in July 2009, as well as the deaths of three other people at a subsequent event in October 2009 -- and the physical injuries and emotional traumas/spiritual crises of numerous others -- is James Arthur Ray.

Ray is still struggling to recreate his glory daze as an A-list selfish-help/McSpirituality huckster. Clearly he is not giving up, which is why I will continue to post warnings about him as long as he remains in the selfish-help/McSpirituality/motivational biz.

Colleen Conaway: thirteen years since her death at a James Arthur Ray event

 

Never forget. In case you have forgotten, or you didn't know in the first place, here's the story of Colleen Conaway's death, with links to further information.

The person responsible for the death of Colleen Conaway in July 2009, as well as the deaths of three other people at a subsequent event in October 2009 -- and the physical injuries and emotional traumas/spiritual crises of numerous others -- is James Arthur Ray.

Ray is still struggling to recreate his glory daze as an A-list selfish-help huckster, promoting his shticks on Twitter, among other platforms. But although he currently has more than 96,000 followers on Twitter, his posts get very few "likes" or retweets. That must be a real burn for an egomaniacal sociopath such as Ray. But clearly he is not giving up, which is why I will continue to post warnings about him as long as he remains in the selfish-help/McSpirituality/motivational biz.

Colleen Conaway: twelve years since her death at a James Arthur Ray event

Another year has gone by... and we've reached yet another sad anniversary.

On July 25, 2009, 46-year-old Colleen Conaway died during a San Diego event held by New-Wage/McSpirituality guru James Arthur "Death" Ray, of whom Colleen was a devoted follower. She plummeted to her death from an upper-level balcony of a San Diego mall during one of Ray's weekend "wealth creation" seminars, and when Ray and his top people discovered she was missing, and later learned of her death, they kept it under wraps and partied on.

Ray was later convicted of negligent homicide, not for Colleen's death but for the October 2009 deaths of three other people -- Kirby Brown, James Shore, and Liz Neuman -- in a phony and dangerous sweat lodge in Sedona, Arizona. He served less than two years in an Arizona state prison, and has been spending the time since he got out of prison trying desperately to make a comeback in Scamworld.

Today marks the 12th anniversary of Colleen's death. If you want more information, start with the post I published in 2019, on the 10th anniversary. I included a number of external links, including to content by bloggers who have told Colleen's story much more comprehensively than I have.

In that 2019 post I wrote about the connection between Ray and the Transformational Leadership Council, or TLC, aka the Trained Liars Cartel, a group of "elite" New-Wage/McSpirituality "thought leaders" who meet semi-annually, in late January and late July, at some desirable resort location. (Well, except for the past two meetings anyway, due most likely to the pandemic: the location for the July 2020 and the January 2021 gathering was listed simply as "Earth," so it was probably a Zoom meeting.) The most recent meeting began July 21 and wraps up today, according to the TLC schedule page, though the location has yet to be revealed on the TLC web site. I'm guessing... um... Earth again.

It was at a 2005 TLC meeting in Aspen, Colorado, Aussie film that producer Rhonda Byrne shot most of her infamous moviemercial, The Secret... and the rest is Scamworld History. At that time, Ray was a TLC member and so he became a "star" of The Secret, which shot him to new heights of fame and infamy, ultimately leading to the deaths of four people and the injuries of many more. I'm wondering if the TLC will have a tribute to Colleen during their wrap-up meeting today... but I'm guessing not.

As for Ray, these days he is (still) branding himself as "One of the World's Foremost Leadership and Redemption Advisors," explaining his qualifications thusly:

Because of his experience in building from humble beginnings and scratch, as well as rebuilding after hitting rock bottom post terrible crises, James has the unique experience and ability to help those at the top, those on the climb, and those who must put their life back together to get up and climb again.

It's too bad that Colleen Conaway -- and Kirby Brown, James Shore, and Liz Neuman -- won't have the opportunity to put their lives back together.

Never forget.

Colleen Conaway: 11 years since her death at a James Arthur Ray event

On July 25, 2009, 46-year-old Colleen Conaway died during a San Diego event held by New-Wage/McSpirituality guru James Arthur "Death" Ray, of whom Colleen was a devoted follower. She plummeted to her death from an upper-level balcony of a San Diego mall during one of Ray's weekend "wealth creation" seminars, and when Ray and his top people discovered she was missing, and later learned of her death, they kept it under wraps and partied on.

Ray was later convicted of negligent homicide, not for Colleen's death but for the October 2009 deaths of three other people -- Kirby Brown, James Shore, and Liz Neuman -- in a phony and dangerous sweat lodge in Sedona, Arizona. He served less than two years in an Arizona state prison, and has been spending the time since he got out of prison trying desperately to make a comeback in Scamworld.

Today marks the 11th anniversary of Colleen's death. If you want more information, start with the post I published last year, on the 10th anniversary. I included a number of external links, including to content by bloggers who have told Colleen's story much more comprehensively than I have.

Never forget.

PS ~ Very soon, I will post my thoughts about a powerful and beautifully rendered new memoir, This Sweet Life, by Ginny Brown and Jean Brown, the mother and sister of Ray victim Kirby Brown. Stay tuned.

Colleen Conaway: ten years after

July 25 marks the ten-year anniversary of the day that 46-year-old Colleen Conaway died during a San Diego event held by New-Wage/McSpirituality guru James Arthur "Death" Ray, of whom Conaway was a devoted follower. She plummeted to her death from an upper-level balcony of a San Diego mall during one of Ray's weekend "wealth creation" seminars, and when Ray and his top people discovered she was missing, and later learned of her death, they kept it under wraps and partied on. Ray was later convicted of negligent homicide, not for Colleen's death but for the deaths of three other people in Sedona, Arizona, in October 2009. He served less than two years in an Arizona state prison, and has been spending the time since he got out of prison trying desperately to make a comeback in Scamworld.
~ CC

Every year at about this time, there is a gathering, in a desirable location undisclosed publicly until after the fact, of an elite-ish group of self-appointed "thought leaders" known as the TLC, which stands for Trained Liars Cartel... I mean, Transformational Leadership Council (aka the Transformational Leadership Council...of Death). They hold semi-annual meetings; the other one always takes place in late January. Founded in 2004 by Jack Canfield, co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul (aka "Soup for the Hole" in Salty Droid parlance) franchise, the TLC made Scamworld history at its 2005 event in Aspen, Colorado. It was there that Aussie TV and film producer Rhonda Byrne, desperately scrabbling for a new money grab, filmed some of the TLC members for what was to become the mother(f---er) of all New-Wage moviemercials, The Secret. This year's summer meeting of the TLC began yesterday (July 24) and continues through July 28.

Though he is no longer listed as a member, or even mentioned, on their web site, convicted killer James Arthur "Death" Ray was a founding member of the TLC and was, as a consequence, one of the most flaming pants-on-fire "stars" of The Secret (he was the guy with the Genie). So you might say that it is bitterly ironic that the summer meetings of the TLC always fall around July 25, which was the day in 2009 that one of Ray's most faithful followers, Minnesota native Colleen Conaway, jumped to her death from an upper-level balcony of a San Diego shopping mall during one of Ray's "wealth creation" manipulation weekends. (If you follow the link in the previous sentence, you'll find some posts I've written on past anniversaries. And if the graphic on today's post looks overly familiar, it is because it is a repeat of the one I used for last year's anniversary post and which was originally created for the post I wrote the year before that.)

In a 2013 Verge article about Ray called "The Death Dealer," Matt Stroud explained:

As part of a two-day seminar... Ray had instructed his participants to pretend they were homeless. Soon after, one attendee, 46-year-old Colleen Conaway, jumped to her death from the fourth floor of a shopping mall. A yet-unsettled lawsuit in San Diego claims that Ray knew Conaway had gone missing, but ordered the group to leave the mall without her. He and his employees did not contact police until six hours after Conaway’s death — and after leaving concerned-sounding messages on her cellphone, which she’d turned over to Ray’s staff before the homelessness exercise. She’d also given up her driver’s license, which led authorities to label her a Jane Doe until Ray’s people eventually faxed over a copy of her ID.

Salty Droid had some cynical words for Ray and his peeps; here's one of numerous posts he wrote about the tragedy.

Colleen's family was bewildered by her death and said she didn't have a history of depression or suicidal tendencies. To them it was pretty clear that she had been unduly influenced by her idol, Ray.

Though James Ray was arguably a rising star in the motivational racket before The Secret, it was his participation in that craven franchise that propelled him to the A-list. He only grew more arrogant and ruthless as his star rose, and at numerous live events he recklessly subjected his followers to emotional abuse and physical danger. It isn't much of a stretch to say that The Secret -- and the TLC -- are at least partially responsible for the deaths of Colleen Conaway in July of 2009, as well as the deaths of the three people who died in Ray's Sedona "sweat lodge" the following October. It's very likely that Colleen's story wouldn't have gotten the traction it did had it not been for the Sedona deaths.

As I noted in last year's post and on numerous others, I've only covered Colleen's story superficially; some of my fellow bloggers, including the aforementioned Salty Droid, have written in much more depth about Colleen. (And for the next few paragraphs I'm just going to copy and paste a bit from last year's post.)

For instance, here's my friend in Germany, Yakaru, writing on the third anniversary of Colleen's death.

Not every “self help” teacher shares Ray’s dangerous combination of stupidity and sadism, but it’s a slick and ruthless system that has been constructed and refined over decades. Every possible devious sales technique has been worked into these routines.

Colleen walked into this trap, hoping to learn how to fulfill her dreams and get the best out of herself. Once she had committed herself to Ray’s program and handed over her money to him, he had immense power over her: she would have felt he held the key to her dreams and hopes.

In essence, James Ray stole her dreams and then set about selling them back to her at the highest possible price.

Also cited in Yak's blog post is another excellent post by Salty Droid, written in 2009.

After Colleen’s death Lynn [Colleen's sister] found that she had been filling out 3x5 cards with what looked like James Ray’s sayings or directives. They were all over Colleen’s house :: Hundreds of them :: Along with spiral notebooks full of similar gibberish. Colleen had been directed to keep a list of her ‘old limiting views’ and her new ‘harmonic views.’ Lynn sounded anguished recalling her feelings at seeing that Colleen had lined though many of the values that 2008 Colleen would have treasured. Scratching off pieces of herself :: one at time :: replaced with empty lies.

And now, ten years later, Death Ray is still struggling to make a Scamworld comeback, as recently mentioned again on this Whirled. Recently he has been peddling "Crisis Coaching ®, a flopportunity by which he helps other presumably disgraced people with their own "comebacks." Trouble is, he hasn't exactly mastered the comeback feat himself, which is bad for him (yay!), but good for the world.

Not that Ray doesn't have his small but loyal fan base; he does. But if there's any justice in the world, his evil little monkey wings have been clipped enough that he'll never get the opportunity to kill someone again. As he continues to find new ways to make himself relevant again -- and as his former club-mates in the Trained Liars Cartel party it up wherever it is they're convening -- my heart goes out to the family and friends who loved Colleen Conaway.

Never forget.

PS ~ As I have often mentioned here on my posts about Death Ray, if you're at all tempted to give money to Ray or to any other Scamworld scammer for any reason, give it instead to a worthwhile organization, such as Seek Safely, which was founded by death lodge victim Kirby Brown's family to guide consumers and make self-help practitioners more accountable for their actions through legislation. (Here is the link to donation info.) So far, as I've also mentioned numerous times, more than 160 leaders in the industry have been invited to sign the "Seek Safely" promise, and not one of the A-list crew has yet done so. While some of them are now dead, such as Louise Hay and Wayne Dyer, the invitation has been open for years, but nobody who's really anybody in the industry seems very interested. That should tell you something.

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Now more than ever, your donation is needed
to help keep this Whirled spinning.
Click here to donate via PayPal or debit/credit card.
If that link doesn't work, send PayPal payment directly to
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If PayPal, be sure to specify that your contribution is a gift. Thank you!

Colleen Conaway: nine years after

July 25 is an easy day for me to remember, for several reasons. Some of these are happy reasons: It's my sister's birthday (Happy Birthday, Barb!), and it's the wedding anniversary of my friend Marie, a Colorado attorney and writer, whom I hope someday to meet in person.

But it's also a memorable day for unhappy reasons. For one, the summer meeting of the Scamworld cartel, the Transformational Leadership Council (aka the Transformational Leadership Council...of Death), always occurs around July 25. This year's summer meeting begins today and goes through the 29th. At the moment I can't tell you where it's taking place; on their public web site the TLC is always very cagey about the location until after the fact. But in the past they've held their seekrit klub meetings in places as diverse as Hawaii, Costa Rica, St. Martin, and Croatia.

Though no longer listed as a member, or even mentioned, on their web site, convicted killer James Arthur "Death" Ray was a founding member of the TLC. And this brings us to the second and most unhappy reason I remember July 25: it was on this day in 2009 that one of Ray's most faithful followers, Colleen Conaway, jumped to her death from the third-floor balcony of a San Diego shopping mall during one of Ray's "wealth creation" manipulation weekends. If you follow the link in the previous sentence, you'll find some posts I've written on past anniversaries. And in fact the graphic on today's post is just a repeat of the one I created for last year's anniversary post.

But I've only covered the matter superficially; as I've noted in previous posts, some of my fellow bloggers have written in much more depth about the tragic story of Colleen, who had no known history of depression or suicidal tendencies. For instance, here's my pal Yakaru, writing on the third anniversary of Colleen's death.

Not every “self help” teacher shares Ray’s dangerous combination of stupidity and sadism, but it’s a slick and ruthless system that has been constructed and refined over decades. Every possible devious sales technique has been worked into these routines.

Colleen walked into this trap, hoping to learn how to fulfill her dreams and get the best out of herself. Once she had committed herself to Ray’s program and handed over her money to him, he had immense power over her: she would have felt he held the key to her dreams and hopes.

In essence, James Ray stole her dreams and then set about selling them back to her at the highest possible price.

Also cited in Yak's blog post is another excellent post by Salty Droid, written in 2009.

After Colleen’s death Lynn [Colleen's sister] found that she had been filling out 3x5 cards with what looked like James Ray’s sayings or directives. They were all over Colleen’s house :: Hundreds of them :: Along with spiral notebooks full of similar gibberish. Colleen had been directed to keep a list of her ‘old limiting views’ and her new ‘harmonic views.’ Lynn sounded anguished recalling her feelings at seeing that Colleen had lined though many of the values that 2008 Colleen would have treasured. Scratching off pieces of herself :: one at time :: replaced with empty lies.

Nine years later, Death Ray is still struggling to make a Scamworld comeback (as recently mentioned again on this Whirled), years after being released from his far-too-brief prison sentence for the deaths of three of his other followers, James Shore, Kirby Brown, and Liz Neuman, in Sedona, Arizona a few months after Colleen's death.

Given what we've learned about Death Ray in the years since the 2009 atrocities, it isn't an exaggeration to call him a cult leader. And cults, as we know, can be very dangerous, causing irreparable emotional harm, injury, or even death to their followers.
 
Unfortunately, cults are not limited to the selfish-help/McSpirituality/New-Wage industry -- a fact that is becoming ever more apparent as America morphs into Trumpistan.

About a month ago, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) complained that too much of today’s Republican Party has found itself in “a cult-like situation as it relates to a president.” Soon after, Donald Trump Jr. appeared on Fox News and was surprisingly reluctant to reject the criticism.

“You know what,” the president’s adult son said, “if it’s a cult, it’s because they like what my father is doing.”

One of the problems with cults, however, is that its leaders tell its followers to ignore external sources of information – because in order for the scheme to work, the leaders must be seen as the sole authority for truth.

As it is in Scamworld, so it is in politix, and the line between the two is becoming ever more blurred.

My heart goes out to the family and friends who loved Colleen Conaway. Never forget.

* * * * *

Now more than ever, your donation is needed
to help keep this Whirled spinning.
Click here to donate via PayPal or debit/credit card.
If that link doesn't work, send PayPal payment directly to
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Another year, another moment of silence for Colleen Conaway

Eight years ago today, on July 25, 2009, a 46-year-old woman named Colleen Conaway died at a San Diego shopping mall after attending a "wealth creation" seminar by James Arthur "Death" Ray, convicted killer and star of the New-Wage moviemercial for magickal thinking and McSpirituality crapitalism, The Secret. Most of you who have been following this blog and/or the blogs of several others who have written about it -- especially Salty Droid and Yakaru of Spirituality is No Excuse -- know Colleen's story well. But it is a story worth mentioning again, in the service of never forgetting.

If you don't know the story, a good place to start is this 2012 Whirled post, which contains links to more detailed accounts. From that post:

Colleen, who reportedly had no history of emotional or mental problems, apparently had a psychotic episode at a James Ray event in San Diego in July 2009, and she leaped to her death from a third-story shopping mall balcony. After Ray found out about it, he and his top minions apparently worked to cover it up, shielding the rest of the attendees from the unfortunate event, and they all partied on that night. If you don't know Colleen's sad story, my pal Yakaru has written a good summary of this tragedy, linking to several Salty Droid posts.

At the time Colleen died, Death Ray was not yet a convicted killer. That distinction came in 2011, in the form of three convictions for felony negligent homicide, not for Colleen's death but rather for the October 2009 deaths of three other people -- Kirby Brown, James Shore, and Liz Neuman -- in a Sedona, Arizona faux-sweatlodge/torture chamber. For these three deaths, Ray served a disgustingly short term -- less than two years -- in an Arizona state prison. And while he has reportedly settled with Colleen's family (I still don't know all of the details there), he was never criminally charged, tried, or convicted, and therefore has never served prison time for, her death. In fact, Colleen's story, though reported in local newspapers, didn't really become widely known until after the Sedona story broke months later.

In the years since Ray was released from prison, he has been trying his best to make a comeback, and has worked the Sedona deaths into his narrative, painting himself as a hero/martyr who has survived a trial by fire and has emerged stronger than ever, prepared to charge others for his hard-earned wisdumb.

In 2009, after rising to the top of the industry, James was involved in a terrible incident that claimed the lives of three of his clients who he cared about deeply.

True to his own teachings, James maintained an attitude of personal responsibility coupled with resilience. James is constantly focused on extensive study of great philosophers, as well as an in-depth analysis of himself.   As a result, he has defined a new approach that will radically disrupt traditional thinking and present a fresh and dynamic approach to being successful in both life and business...

...James’ personal and business experiences have caused him to be considered an expert in leadership, entrepreneurship, mental toughness, resilience and emotional strength. His experience has proven time and time again…that it’s the challenges, adversity, and often crisis, that present the ultimate opportunity for growth and greatness if we’re only willing to utilize them in that way.

Ray even tried to get his three negligent homicide convictions overturned, but he was unsuccessful. He did get his rights to vote and hold office restored, however. Meanwhile, he continues to push his shtick, and though his crowds are considerably smaller now than they were in those heady post-Secret, pre-Sedona days, he still seems to have a loyal following of dolts who either don't know, don't remember, or don't care about his reckless past and unrepentant ways.

And in other, related news, the Transformational Leadership Council, the New-Wage/selfish-help cartel that Ray helped found but that booted him out after the Sedona story broke, is getting ready to convene in yet another seekrit place on July 26-30, 2017 to bolster each other's egos. Their summer event always takes place around the time of the anniversary of Colleen's death, which is why I remember it. The TLC used to publicize their events, and the locations, well in advance, but in the past few years have been much more circumspect -- at least on their official site. But another co-founder, Jack Canfield, reveals on his site that the event will be in Tucson, Arizona.

And so it goes. Death Ray natters on, and the TLC continues to hold events where members congratulate themselves on being masters of the universe, and Scamworld hums away: the dogs bark, but the caravan goes on.

But that doesn't mean the dogs should give up on barking.

And once again, my heart goes out to the people who loved Colleen Conaway. Never forget.

PS ~ While some folks have all but given up on the self-help industry having any integrity, there are good people working to improve the industry. One example is the Ginny Brown, mother of Ray victim Kirby Brown. Following Kirby's death, Ginny and the Brown family founded a non-profit called Seek Safely to try to make the industry more accountable, guide consumers to make safe decisions, and track legislation affecting the industry. Check out Seek Safely here.


Related on this Whirled:

• http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2016/04/en-blight-en-us-death-ray-stars-in.html
• http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-moment-of-silence-for-colleen-conaway.html
• http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2014/10/james-arthur-ray-full-blood-moon.html
• http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2013/07/remembering-colleen-conaway-victim-of.html
• http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2013/07/killer-james-arthur-ray-is-nearly-free.html
• http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2013/07/james-arthur-ray-deadly-devotion.html
• http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2010/10/musings-on-tragedy-and-its-meanings.html

Trumpdeau redux: Kevin Trudeau is excited about Donald Trump's vibes

As the Democratic National Convention kicks off today in Philly, with wild buzz about the potentially disunifying, even shattering, effects of the Debbie Wasserman-Schultz scandal, one of this blog's favorite snargets, imprisoned serial scammer Kevin Trudeau, aka KT, aka Katie, is holding forth on social media (with a little help from his proxy) on the presidential campaign and his own spiritual superiority and prognostication skills. It's all in the service of selling some of his frauducts so he can keep feeding money to the lawyers who are trying to spring him. 

On a Facebook post today he boasts about having all but called the election results over a year ago. And he brags that he sent his prediction to the New York Times (they've been strangely silent about it, but I'm sure he would say that this is just because they're part of the liberal establishment that has worked so hard to shut Katie up).

Katie has never made a secret about his admiration for the GOP nominee, Donald Trump. I discussed that here a few months ago.

And now here he is again, boasting about making his predictions to an elite group of his fellow prisoners, a group that he takes time to assure us "included former billionaires, CEO's of major US Corporations, a judge, former Politian's [sic], Washington DC insiders, lawyers and others."

Katie outsmarted them all. As he tells it:

In May 2015 there was talk about a possible Trump run for President of the USA. Immediately a group of men here got together and began discussing the upcoming primaries. I was invited to participate.

The group included former billionaires, CEO's of major US Corporations, a judge, former Politian's, Washington DC insiders, lawyers and others. On the Democratic side, Clinton was a foregone conclusion. Everyone agreed it would be a coronation for her. As for the Republicans, they talked about Bush, Rubio and others, but at the end. everyone agreed 100% that Bush would win easily. No one mentioned Trump.

I remained silent for over an hour as each man made their points and gave their opinions. They all sounded smart, knowledgeable and rational. They all made intelligent comments. After all, these are amazing men with amazing backgrounds. I knew I could learn a lot from them.

As the discussions were winding down, someone mentioned that I had not said a single word! I was actually listening intently, taking some notes, and during the discussion wrote a short prediction about the primaries that I intended to send to the NY Times.

Everyone turned and looked at me as I was asked for my opinion and what I thought about the primary elections. I sat quiet for a moment.

Everyone just looked at me in silence. You could hear a pin drop. I smiled and thanked them for asking for my opinion.

I told them I had written a prediction that I was going to send to the NY Times. I said I would like to read it. Here is what I read (as I still have the original),

"I make the following prediction as to the Democratic and Republican primaries. This is what is going to happen.
On the Democratic side, Sanders will push Clinton to the very end. But the fix is in, and the system is rigged. The insiders choose the candidate, not the people.
Candidates are selected, not elected. Clinton will win, because the Democrat insiders will make sure she wins. On the Republican side, Gandhi's 4 step process of breaking the status quo will be obvious. Trump will first be ignored. Then he will be laughed at. Then he will be attacked. And then he will win.
Trump will win the Republican nomination easily, even though the system is designed to 'elect' the 'chosen' candidate. Trump will win because the overwhelming energy of the people is consistent with Trump's vibration.
He will resonate with a powerful energy, and activate and awaken a dormant energy in people. This energy is very intense. I know this because I can read the energy of the public."

The group just laughed. I did send my prediction to the NY Times, and also to Janine and some other close friends. I also shared it with Donald. I say this not to brag or show off. I share this with you to point out the power of being able to read "group energy".You too can release this power.

You too can be able to "read group energy". All you need is desire, and the right training by a person who has this power released. (I also predicted the UK vote to leave the EU). I am not saying who will make the best President. The group energy, intention, and desire will determine the outcome of the election and how our government is run.

The play of consciousness that we are all a part of is a "perfect" play. Sometimes it is a drama, sometimes a horror show, sometimes a comedy, and sometimes a romance. Rather than be a part of it and feel all the emotional ups and downs, you can observe and witness the play and simply enjoy the show. Much love..KT

So. There is Katie, blathering away from the confines of Camp Cupcake (his fake-fond nick for FPC (Federal Prison Camp) in Montgomery, Alabama), telling us some things that everyone already knows about American politics (the behind-the-scenes maneuvering, the fact that the fight is fixed in many ways, and so on). [UPDATE October 2016: Please note that this post was originally published a few months before Donald Trump started mouthing off about the election being rigged specifically against him due to voter fraud and whatnot. When I say "the fight is fixed" I mean it in the sense that singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen wrote about in his 1988 song, "Everybody knows," i.e., "Everybody knows the fight is fixed/the poor stay poor and the rich get rich/That's how it goes/Everybody knows." Money plays much too large a role in American politics, but I do not buy into Drumpf's hysterical conspiracy theories about rigged elections.]

But Katie's boasts about his keen insights were not what grabbed my attention enough to warrant a whole blog post about the matter. What made this Whirled fodder is that Katie, currently serving a ten-year sentence for criminal contempt related to fraudulent advertising -- is posing as the serenely detached prognosticator and McSpirituality guru who can see the human condition so much more clearly than most of us fast-asleep sheeple, and even more clearly than the other elites in Cellblock B -- but never fear, for he is willing to gift us (for a price, of course!) with his special training so that we too can be able to "read group energy."

And the proceeds from sales of this special training will presumably all go to his legal defense fund, so he can continue his fight to get out of that blissful retreat in Alabama -- a fight that has already cost him and his followers many millions of dollars. He loves it there so, so much, but he so wants his freedom.

By the way, Gandhi's "4 step process of breaking the status quo," which Katie referred to in describing Trump's road to victory, is bogus. There is no evidence that Gandhi ever said that. It is one of several phony Gandhi quotations that people love to pull out of the hatbox of cliches (along with "Be the change you wish to see in the world") when they are trying to be inspirational or profound or something. Trump has used that phony quotation about the four steps himself, but in all fairness so have Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, according to Politifact. But more than likely the veracity or lack thereof is is a non-issue to Katie, who has never been shy about invoking Gandhi when attempting to polish his own hero/martyr image. Gandhi seems to be quite popular in Scamworld.
 
At any rate, Katie constantly touts his relatively newfound serenity as being the result of his ability to transcend emotion and judgment. He begs us to believe that he has achieved that consummate state of detachment so vaunted by Buddhists and practitioners of other spiritual paths. He encourages us to be like him, to eschew participation in the "perfect play" and simply to look upon the events around us as entertainment.

But it's pretty hard for anyone who actually participates in American life -- unlike Trudeau these days -- to be entertained by the prospect of a Trump presidency, to dismiss it as a mere play. Granted, it was entertaining at first; now it is mostly terrifying, and only becomes more so as the resistance weakens and more people fall into lockstep with Trump's scary vision.

And heaven forbid if the "overwhelming energy" of America as a whole is "consistent with Trump's vibration," as Katie claimed about the throngs who pushed Trump to the nomination. Fortunately there are many folks in this country whose vibes aren't consistent with Drumpf's. (And lots of folks in other countries are similarly unaligned with the Trump vibration.) I don't think I like the "dormant energy" that Trump has awakened in his followers. As far as I'm concerned, Cheat-o Jesus' crowning achievement has been to fuel the hatriarchy.

And I guess I am just not evolved enough to dismiss this as mere entertainment.

* Apropos of the scandal regarding the leaked emails and hacked DNC accounts, there's this speculation about Drumpf and Putin's friendship. It sounds like a wild conspiracy tale on first glance but may not be.

PS ~ I don't want to let this day go by without mentioning that today -- July 25, 2016 -- is the seventh anniversary of the day that Colleen Conaway died at a San Diego shopping mall during an event hosted by another one of the scoundrels that Katie has defended (and vice versa): star of The Secret James Arthur Ray. Although Ray served a brief prison sentence for the deaths of three people -- Kirby Brown, James Shore and Liz Neuman -- who died as a result of his gross recklessness at an October 2009 event in Sedona, Arizona, he was never charged, tried or convicted of any criminal wrongdoing in Ms. Conaway's death. Here are my past blog posts about this sad anniversary. I haven't written a blog post on every one of the anniversaries but I have acknowledged it on my social media and on the blogs of others, such as Salty Droid.

• 2015: A moment of silence for Colleen Conaway
• 2013: Remembering Colleen Conaway: victim of James Arthur Ray's recklessness
• 2012: Tears for Colleen, jeers for the big sick machine
• 2011: July 25: a day for remembrance

And finally, although this isn't specifically about Colleen Conaway, here's the post I wrote in October 2010 on the one-year anniversary of the Sedona travesty: Musings on a tragedy and its meanings.

Never forget.

A moment of silence for Colleen Conaway

Six years ago today, on July 25, 2009, Colleen Conaway died at a San Diego mall during a seminar hosted by James Arthur Ray, the infamous star of The Secret and now a convicted killer (though he was convicted, and served a much-too-short prison sentence, for the deaths of three other people in Sedona, Arizona in October of 2009).

Here is my post about Colleen from two years ago. It has some good links, including a link to a post by my pals Salty Droid and Yakaru.

Reportedly Ray, who had a history of recklessness and arrogance where his followers are concerned, has paid civil penalties for Colleen's death, but he has never been charged, tried, or convicted on any criminal charges for same, and more than likely never will be. And since his release from prison a little over two years ago, after serving time for the Sedona "sweat lodge" deaths of James Shore, Kirby Brown, and Liz Neuman, he has been making lame attempts to become the selfish-help star he used to be. Not surprisingly he has been exploiting the deaths of his followers, and his own time in prison, as something of a hero's journey (with himself as the hero, of course).

In 2009, after rising to the top of his industry, James was involved in a terrible accident that claimed the lives of three people he cared about deeply. The anguish of that event would have been enough… but it didn’t end there.

James subsequently lost his business that took 20 years to build, his entire life savings, his home, his reputation and many so-called friends and colleagues deserted him. Simultaneously, his Mother was diagnosed with cancer, his Father with dementia…James eventually lost his freedom.

Through all of this, James states, “In the process of losing everything…I actually found myself.”

His experience proves that it’s the challenges, difficulties and austerities of life that we reset ourselves, reboot, reassess and realize once again what’s truly important. It’s our challenges and crisis that present the greatest opportunities if we’re only willing to utilize them in that way.

Of course, Colleen is not among those "three people" whose lives were claimed in the aforementioned "accident." She rates no mention at all in Death Ray's world, apparently.

Colleen may have been all but forgotten by many, but some of us will never forget. My heart goes out to her family and friends on this sad anniversary.

Related on this Whirled:

• http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2014/10/james-arthur-ray-full-blood-moon.html
• http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2013/07/killer-james-arthur-ray-is-nearly-free.html
• http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2013/07/james-arthur-ray-deadly-devotion.html
• http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2010/10/musings-on-tragedy-and-its-meanings.html

Remembering Colleen Conaway: victim of James Arthur Ray's recklessness

It seems like just a year ago today that I was commemorating the death of Colleen Conaway, faithful follower of New-Wage guru, star of The Secret, and convicted killer James Arthur Ray. Of course at the time Colleen was following Ray, he wasn't yet a convicted killer. And he has yet to answer for her death.

Colleen, as many of you may know, was attending a James Ray "wealth" weekend in San Diego in July 2009, and ended up jumping (or falling?) to her death from a third-story balcony in a San Diego shopping mall. As noted in last year's blog post, Colleen reportedly had no history of emotional or mental problems, but apparently had a psychotic episode at the event. The circumstances of her death were tragic and puzzling, but what happened afterward was appalling. If you don't mind my quoting myself:

After Ray found out about [Colleen's death], he and his top minions apparently worked to cover it up, shielding the rest of the attendees from the unfortunate event, and they all partied on that night. If you don't know Colleen's sad story, my pal Yakaru has written a good summary of this tragedy, linking to several Salty Droid posts.

In early August of last year, Salty Droid commemorated Colleen's death with a heartbreaking interview with Colleen's sister Lynn. Here is that link.

And so another year has gone by, and here we are at another sad anniversary. Four years.

And in October, we'll be looking at the fourth anniversary of the deaths of three other people -- Kirby Brown, James Shore (October 8), and Liz Neuman (October 17) -- who also died as a result of Ray's recklessness (although actually he was charged with -- and served an outrageously short prison sentence for -- negligence, rather than recklessness). He is now out of prison, serving out his probation in Arizona, and no doubt preparing to re-enter Scamworld in a big way.

It seems that prison did little to put a damper on his elitism. A couple of months before his release, his brother was whining about the possibility that Jimmy Ray Jumpsuit might have to stay in a halfway house with riff-raff. No word yet on exactly where JAR landed, but I'm sure there are people digging around for that information.

And in related news, the summer 2013 meeting of the Transformational Leadership Council (TLC) began yesterday, July 24, and lasts through the 28th. There is no word on the TLC site about where this one is going to be; they're usually pretty coy about that. This is relevant because Death Ray was a founding member of that cartel, though rather unceremoniously dropped from the membership roster after the sweat lodge debacle. I wonder if they'll let him back in, now that he's out of the joint.

I do know that good people are pursuing justice for Colleen Conaway's family, trying to get answers and doing everything they can to see that James Ray is held accountable for her death.

And meanwhile, the big sick machine grinds on -- mostly taking people's money, time, energy, hopes, and dreams, but sometimes taking their lives as well.

Related and recent:

• http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2013/07/james-arthur-ray-deadly-devotion.html
• http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2013/07/killer-james-arthur-ray-is-nearly-free.html

* * * * *

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Tears for Colleen, jeers for the big sick machine

Today, July 25, is the three-year anniversary of the death of Colleen Conaway, the James Arthur Ray victim for whom there has still been no justice. Colleen, who reportedly had no history of emotional or mental problems, apparently had a psychotic episode at a James Ray event in San Diego in July 2009, and she leaped to her death from a third-story shopping mall balcony. After Ray found out about it, he and his top minions apparently worked to cover it up, shielding the rest of the attendees from the unfortunate event, and they all partied on that night. If you don't know Colleen's sad story, my pal Yakaru has written a good summary of this tragedy, linking to several Salty Droid posts. [Also see PS below. ~ CC, 8-06-12]

My friend Mariah at the Post-Aber blog (dedicated to people who are emerging from the Abrascam-Hicks trance) also commemorates Colleen (and relates Colleen's story to the larger question about the true body count from New-Wage gurus. Yes, there's a body count with Abrascam too.).

Here are more links. Take your pick.

And in related news (yes, all of this is related to the "big sick machine" -- see links below), the summer 2012 meeting of the Transformational Leadership Council (TLC) begins today as well. Death Ray was a founding member of that scam cartel, though rather unceremoniously dropped from the membership roster after the sweat lodge debacle. (Here's Salty's take on the TLC.) This confab is being held in the resort municipality of Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.

More soon.

PS added 6 August 2012: Salty Droid commemorated Colleen Conaway's death with a post that featured his poignant interview with Colleen's sister Lynn. Here is the link. And the good news is that Salty is helping Colleen's family pursue the civil case against Ray, which is finally underway. Salty wrote:

I’m here to fight this fight … however f--king long it takes. Gonna use all that we’ve become to help with this important case :: gonna have all that and a bag of chips waiting for James Arthur Ray when he exits the Arizona penal system … 25 years too early.

And the TLC meeting that commenced on the anniversary of Colleen's death was apparently fairly well attended, if the video of Joe “Mr. Fire” Vitale’s presentation is any indication. If you choose to watch it, it’s 45 minutes you’ll never get back, but then again, Colleen Conaway, James Shore, Kirby Brown, and Liz Neuman will never get their whole lives back.


In his blog post about the video, Joe, using an “advanced” Law of Attraction technique in which one “remembers” the future, writes that he “remembers” that I loved the track from his new CD, which he played at the end of his presentation while he wiped sweat off of his head and attempted to look spiritual and profound. His future memory is apparently not so good.

More on this Whirled about "the big sick machine" (both from July 2012):

• Back in Time with the big sick machine
• Kevin Trudeau's GIN: part of the big sick machine

More about the New-Wage body count:

• January 2011: Men, men, men, men, manly men (the Man Kind Project)
• September 2009: Not to be confused with a leap of faith (Turning Point)
• July 2008: More dark than snark today ("Doktor" Dragan Dabic, aka war criminal Radovan Karadžić -- who apparently didn't kill any of his New-Wage followers but, due to people's need to believe and the New-Wage credo of open-mindedness and non-judgmentalism, was able to disguise his true identity as a killer for years) 

* * * * *

Now more than ever, your donation is needed
to help keep this Whirled spinning.
Click here to donate via PayPal or debit/credit card.
If that link doesn't work, send PayPal payment directly to
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