Independence Daze

First off, Dear Ones, I apologize for being away from the Whirled for most of June. Apart from real work and real life, I have been engaged on other forums discussing some of my favorite snargets (snark targets), but I know that is a poor substitute for tending my own garden.

Secondly, a belated Happy Fourth of July for those who celebrated it. I realize that I have friends and readers in Other Parts of the World besides the US, and for y'all the Fourth was just another day. Even if you didn't celebrate the US Independence Day, however, I think we can all use this time to celebrate another sort of independence: freedom from cults or cult-like organizations and their "leaders." After all, actress Katie Holmes is finally freeing herself and her little girl from that evil little Scientology gnome (though brilliant actor, I'll give him that). That's truly a cause for celebration.

And then we have another cult-like organization that seems to have some things in common with Scientology, and that some have even deemed evil: the Ponzi-like Global Information Network, founded by serial scammer Kevin Trudeau. People seem to be waking up en masse about that too. And I say it's about time. Rumors are flying now as some say GIN is on the verge of bankruptcy and True-dough's arrest is imminent, and others contend that what's going on is just a little glitch, part of the growing pains of a new-ish company.

But let's get back to the cult angle for now. It has been fairly widely speculated that True-dough has gone through Scientology training himself (here is but one of many threads; Google for more). At the very least, in some of his books for consumers, as well as in interoffice memos to his employees, he has recommended Scientology and its predecessor, Dianetics. So there's that. I don't want to appear to be overstating the Scientology connection because I realize that Scientology has become the new Nazism in some Internet discussion circles; some folks see a die-hard Scientologist (or ex-Scientologist) under every rock even if there is only a casual connection or none at all. Still, KT's history of recommending Scientology is worth considering when one is making up one's mind about GIN. (Worth considering, as in: Huge. Red. Flag.)

I have, of course, written snarkily and critically about Kevin Trudeau and GIN many times on this blog since late 2009 (see list of links at the end of this post), but for the most part I have taken quite the broad-brush approach, stating and even over-stating what seemed to me to be obvious points. Frankly, it is only within the past six weeks or so that I have become more aware of rebellion within the ranks of GIN members. I'm still sorting out the details and am not quite finished with the post I was really planning to publish today, but no worries, there's plenty of snark chum floating around in the GIN punch bowl. For instance, there is the matter of GIN indoctrination.

Before I go any further I think it only fair to mention that some defenders of GIN have said that the rebels represent only a very small minority, and some have told me that I am only focusing on that minority because their perspective is in sync with mine. I have been told that I am not looking at the big picture but only at distorted bits of gossip from malcontents. Defenders have also repeatedly stressed that GIN membership is not for everyone, but only for a few. They have patiently explained to me that the training and other benefits offered through GIN are truly invaluable, but that not everyone has what it takes -- mentally or financially -- to really climb the ranks.

Some defenders have even gone so far as to suggest that critics such as yours truly are doing a good thing, because we are attracting the riff-raff who don't have any business being in GIN, thus keeping the membership ranks pure. It seems to me, however, that if GIN really is only for a few, this would severely limit those pools of nearly endless residual income, as promised by some of GIN's top speakers (click on the pic for an enlarged view...

...but maybe I am overlooking something.

I have also seen Kevin Trudeau defended as a brilliant teacher, an ingenious sales and marketing expert, and a consummate professional.

On previous posts I have made fun of some of True-dough's followers and worshipers, particularly those who sounded robotic or over-the-top starstruck or just plain nutty. Some of the defenders whose perspectives I have seen recently, however, are obviously intelligent people who write and speak quite eloquently. So I cannot categorically dismiss every KT defender and follower as a semi-literate robot or a nutcase.

We'll leave the fine points of the pro-GIN arguments and defenses of True-dough for another post, but I will say here, as I have said in various discussions on other forums, that the real Kevin Trudeau is probably much more interesting and nuanced than either his critics or his worshipers paint him. He is, no doubt, a complex human being, just like everyone else, except perhaps brighter and considerably more on the sociopathic side than the average person. But I'll leave those details to his eventual biographer.

I will concede one point to the defenders: GIN is indeed not for everyone, and of course I do not say this from the perspective of someone who is using devious reverse-psychology tactics to manipulate a mark into signing up. GIN is not for everyone. From my perspective, GIN isn't for anyone, but obviously many disagree with me on that point. A casual Google search the other day led me to three documents created for GIN members and affiliates, and when I read those documents it really hit me just how pathologically immersed in GIN a good member is expected to become.

Or to put it another way: how extraordinarily cultish GIN appears to be.

For instance, here is a link to the GIN Yearly Listening Checklist (you might want to get a screen shot before it gets removed):
http://mygin.ws/info/GINYearlyListeningChecklist.pdf


The Key Speaker Seminar list, which includes seminars by...

• Dr. Leonard Coldwell
• Ed Foreman
• Les Brown
• Dr. Ted Morter
• Ron Ball
• Marshall Sylver
• Mary Miller
• Blaine Athorn

...is now a bit outdated, since Lenny Coldwell was apparently booted out of the club (supposedly for violations of the GIN behavioral code, among other things), but I wouldn't count any of the others out just yet. No, not even longtime motivator and professed Christian Ron Ball, who back in the day was quite the KT and GIN supporter (this video is from August of 2011), but who was rumored to have tried to distance himself from GIN since the crap hit the fan. I'm still not sure what Ron Ball was doing at the Kevin Trudeau event in Chicago on the weekend of June 24-25. Some say he was there to promote his own stuff. Some say he was just in the audience. But why was he even there at all? More recent rumors have it that he is still very much a part of GIN and will even be on the GIN leadership cruise this coming January, provided, of course, that the world fails to end in December.

But I digress. Just a glance at the list below is a disturbing look at the making of an obsessive-compulsive. Between listening to up to six hours of GIN-related audios, reading from a list of recommended material for a set period of time, carefully avoiding all mainstream media but listening to Kevin's own radio show, "tapping" on various matters a certain number of times, repeating a series of affirmations out loud many times a day, "consciously laughing" a given number of times, and obsessing over a "dream board" or "dream book" -- and those are just some of the highlights -- it's difficult to see how anyone who seriously tried to put all of this into practice could become anything except a GIN-powered robot. And yet members are apparently expected to strive to accomplish all of these items, and to chart the whole thing. Every day.

Here for your perusal is the questionnaire, which I will leave up until and unless I am asked to take it down. (Note: YWIYC is Your Wish Is Your Command.)

Thinking Section

#	question	Yes	No	value	points received
1	Have you listened to at least 1 hour of "audios" today?	Yes	No	1
2	Have you listened to at least 2 hours of "audios" today?	Yes	No	1
3	Have you listened to at least 3 hours of "audios" today?	Yes	No	1
4	Have you listened to at least 4 hours of "audios" today?	Yes	No	1
5	Have you listened to at least 5 hours of "audios" today?	Yes	No	1
6	Have you listened to at least 6 hours of "audios" today?	Yes	No	1
7	Did you listen to "audios" for at least 10 minutes within 30 minutes of arising today?	Yes	No	1
8	Did you listen to "audios" for at least 10 minutes within 30 minutes before bed today?	Yes	No	1
9	Did you listen to any "audios" in the car today?	Yes	No	1
10	Have you "read" for at least 10 minutes today?	Yes	No	1
11	Have you "read" for at least 20 minutes today?	Yes	No	1

12	Have you "read" for at least 30 minutes today?	Yes	No	1
13	Have you "read" for at least 45 minutes today?	Yes	No	1
14	Have you "read" for at least 1 hour today?	Yes	No	1
15	Did you "read" for at least 5 minutes within 10 minutes of arising today?	Yes	No	1
16	Did you "read" for at least 5 minutes within 10 minutes before bed today?	Yes	No	1
17	Did you look at your dream board, dream book, or pictures of your dreams and chief aim at least once today?	Yes	No	1
18	Did you look at your dream board, dream book, or pictures of your dreams and chief aim at least 2 times today?	Yes	No	1
19	Did you look at your dream board, dream book, or pictures of your dreams and chief aim at least 3 times today?	Yes	No	1
20	Did you look at your dream board, dream book, or pictures of your dreams and chief aim at least 4 times today?	Yes	No	1
21	Did you look at your dream board, dream book, or pictures of your dreams and chief aim at least 5 times today?	Yes	No	1
22	Did you look at your dream board, dream book, or pictures of your dreams and chief aim at least 6 times today?	Yes	No	1
23	Did you look at your dream board, dream book, or pictures of your dreams and chief aim immediately upon rising today?	Yes	No	1
24	Did you "tap" on the "6 Beliefs" today?	Yes	No	1
25	Did you "tap" on your chief aim today?	Yes	No	1
26	Did you "tap" while looking at your dream board or dream book today?	Yes	No	1
27	Did you log on and go through the GIN website for at least 10 minutes today?	Yes	No	1
28	Is your Priority Manager current?	Yes	No	1
29	Did you use your Priority Manager today?	Yes	No	1
30	When you woke up, did you make a positive statement spoken aloud today?	Yes	No	1
31	Did you look for the good instead of criticize or find the out points in most situations today?	Yes	No	1
32	Did you speak out loud positive things about people and situations today?	Yes	No	1
33	Did you consciously laugh at least once today?	Yes	No	1
34	Did you consciously laugh at least 2 times today?	Yes	No	1
35	Did you consciously laugh at least 3 times today?	Yes	No	1
36	Did you consciously laugh at least 4 times today?	Yes	No	1
37	Did you consciously laugh at least 5 times today?	Yes	No	1
38	Did you consciously smile at least once today?	Yes	No	1
39	Did you consciously smile at least 2 times today?	Yes	No	1
40	Did you consciously smile at least 3 times today?	Yes	No	1
41	Did you consciously smile at least 4 times today?	Yes	No	1
42	Did you consciously smile at least 5 times today?	Yes	No	1
43	Did you say "Thank You" to someone at least once today?	Yes	No	1
44	Did you say "Please" to someone at least once today?	Yes	No	1
45	Did you say say out loud, "I am thankful for all the good things in my life" at least once today?	Yes	No	1
46	Did you say say out loud, "I am thankful for all the good things in my life" at least 2 times today?	Yes	No	1
47	Did you say say out loud, "I am thankful for all the good things in my life" at least 3 times today?	Yes	No	1
48	Did you say say out loud, "I am thankful for all the good things in my life" at least 4 times today?	Yes	No	1
49	Did you say say out loud, "I am grateful for all the good things in my life" at least once today?	Yes	No	1
50	Did you say say out loud, "I am grateful for all the good things in my life" at least 2 times today?	Yes	No	1
51	Did you say say out loud, "I am grateful for all the good things in my life" at least 3 times today?	Yes	No	1
52	Did you say say out loud, "I am grateful for all the good things in my life" at least 4 times today?	Yes	No	1
53	Did you say say out loud, "I am appreciative for all the good things in my life" at least once today?	Yes	No	1
54	Did you say say out loud, "I am appreciative for all the good things in my life" at least 2 times today?	Yes	No	1
55	Did you say say out loud, "I am appreciative for all the good things in my life" at least 3 times today?	Yes	No	1
56	Did you say say out loud, "I am appreciative for all the good things in my life" at least 4 times today?	Yes	No	1
57	Did you say say out loud, "I am blessed for all the good things in my life" at least once today?	Yes	No	1
58	Did you say say out loud, "I am blessed for all the good things in my life" at least 2 times today?	Yes	No	1
59	Did you say say out loud, "I am blessed for all the good things in my life" at least 3 times today?	Yes	No	1
60	Did you say say out loud, "I am blessed for all the good things in my life" at least 4 times today?	Yes	No	1
61	Did you say say out loud, "I feel great" at least once today?	Yes	No	1
62	Did you say say out loud, "I feel great" at least 2 times today?	Yes	No	1
63	Did you say say out loud, "I feel great" at least 3 times today?	Yes	No	1
64	Did you say say out loud, "I feel great" at least 4 times today?	Yes	No	1
65	Did you say say out loud, "I can do it!" at least once today?	Yes	No	1
66	Did you say say out loud, "I can do it!" at least 2 times today?	Yes	No	1
67	Did you say say out loud, "I can do it!" at least 3 times today?	Yes	No	1
68	Did you say say out loud, "I can do it!" at least 4 times today?	Yes	No	1
69	Did you say say out loud, "I am a winner!" at least once today?	Yes	No	1
70	Did you say say out loud, "I am a winner!" at least 2 times today?	Yes	No	1
71	Did you say say out loud, "I am a winner!" at least 3 times today?	Yes	No	1
72	Did you say say out loud, "I am a winner!" at least 4 times today?	Yes	No	1
73	Did you say say out loud, "I am a champion!" at least once today?	Yes	No	1
74	Did you say say out loud, "I am a champion!" at least 2 times today?	Yes	No	1
75	Did you say say out loud, "I am a champion!" at least 3 times today?	Yes	No	1
76	Did you say say out loud, "I am a champion!" at least 4 times today?	Yes	No	1
77	Did you say say out loud, "All of my dreams are coming true!" at least once today?	Yes	No	1
78	Did you say say out loud, "All of my dreams are coming true!" at least 2 times today?	Yes	No	1
79	Did you say say out loud, "All of my dreams are coming true!" at least 3 times today?	Yes	No	1
80	Did you say say out loud, "All of my dreams are coming true!" at least 4 times today?	Yes	No	1
81	Did you say say out loud, "I'm going to do it, that's it, period!" at least once today?	Yes	No	1
82	Did you say say out loud, "I'm going to do it, that's it, period!" at least 2 times today?	Yes	No	1
83	Did you say say out loud, "I'm going to do it, that's it, period!" at least 3 times today?	Yes	No	1
84	Did you say say out loud, "I'm going to do it, that's it, period!" at least 4 times today?	Yes	No	1
85	Did you say say out loud, "If it is to be, it's up to me." at least once today?	Yes	No	1
86	Did you say say out loud, "If it is to be, it's up to me." at least 2 times today?	Yes	No	1
87	Did you say say out loud, "If it is to be, it's up to me." at least 3 times today?	Yes	No	1
88	Did you say say out loud, "If it is to be, it's up to me." at least 4 times today?	Yes	No	1
89	Did you say, "I like you" to at least one person today?	Yes	No	1
90	Did you say, "You can do it" to at least one person today?	Yes	No	1
91	Did you listen more than you talked today?	Yes	No	1
92	When in conversation today, did you ask more questions than you made statements?	Yes	No	1
93	Did you make at least one person feel important today?	Yes	No	1
94	Did you praise at least one person publicly in front of others today?	Yes	No	1
95	Did you have the feeling and intention, "I don't care if they get in or not," today?	Yes	No	1
96	Did you have the feeling and intention, "I don't care if they participate in GIN or the Affiliate program," today?	Yes	No	1
97	Did you generally look for the gold/good in most situations instead of the dirt today?	Yes	No	1
98	Did you feel free of financial pressure today?	Yes	No	1
99	Did you have fun today?	Yes	No	1
100	Did you feel good about the 2 to 5 year time frame to build your GIN Affiliate business and achieve total financial freedom and independence?	Yes	No	1
101	Did you have a mild sense of urgency without feeling desperate today?	Yes	No	1
102	Did you dress for success today when building your GIN Affiliate business?	Yes	No	1
103	Did you edify someone to someone today?	Yes	No	1
104	Did you edify something to someone today?	Yes	No	1
105	Were you TV-free today?	Yes	No	1
106	Were you newspaper-free today?	Yes	No	1
107	Were you TV news-free today?	Yes	No	1
108	Were you radio news-free today?	Yes	No	1
109	Did you listen to The Kevin Trudeau Radio Show at KTRadioNetwork.com today?	Yes	No	2

10	When you dealt with a new prospect or downline member today, did you think of "What's in it for them" and "what their goals and dreams are," instead of how they could make you rich?	Yes	No	5
111	When you dealt with a new prospect or downline member today, did you think of "What's in it for them" and "what their goals and dreams are," instead of how they could make you rich?	Yes	No	5
Total for Thinking Section

Action Section

#	question	Yes	No	value	points received
112	Did you add to your prospect list today by writing down new names and contact details?	Yes	No	1
113	Did you do a three-way call with a new prospect ot explain the benefits of GIN and try to book a "meeting" today?	Yes	No	2
114	Did you follow up with a prospect in person today?	Yes	No	3
115	Did you follow up with a prospect via telephone today?	Yes	No	3
116	Did you attend a "home meeting" today (this is 'yes' if you personally gave the meeting)?	Yes	No	3
117	Did you call a Hot Lead or prospect to set up a "meeting" to "Share The Program" today?	Yes	No	3
118	Did you book a "meeting" today?	Yes	No	3
119	Did you do a "home meeting" today?	Yes	No	8
120	Did you "Share The Program" (have a meeting) and make a presentation with the PowerPoint or DVD at least once today?	Yes	No	8
121	Did you "Share The Program" (have a meeting) and make a presentation with the PowerPoint or DVD at least 2 times today?	Yes	No	8
122	Did you "Share The Program" (have a meeting) and make a presentation with the PowerPoint or DVD at least 3 times today?	Yes	No	8
123	Did you "Share The Program" (have a meeting) by showing the DVD with one new person in depth today?	Yes	No	8
124	Did you mail or hand out at least 1 "Intro to YWIYC" CD today?	Yes	No	3
125	Did you mail or hand out at least 2 "Intro to YWIYC" CDs today?	Yes	No	3
126	Did you mail or hand out at least 3 "Intro to YWIYC" CDs today?	Yes	No	3
127	Did you mail or hand out at least 4 "Intro to YWIYC" CDs today?	Yes	No	3
128	Did you mail or hand out at least 5 "Intro to YWIYC" CDs today?	Yes	No	3
129	Did you mail or hand out at least 1 "YWIYC" CD series today?	Yes	No	3
130	Did you mail or hand out at least 2 "YWIYC" CD series today?	Yes	No	3
131	Did you mail or hand out at least 3 "YWIYC" CD series today?	Yes	No	3
132	Did you mail or hand out at least 4 "YWIYC" CD series today?	Yes	No	3
133	Did you mail or hand out at least 5 "YWIYC" CD series today?	Yes	No	3
134	Did you mail or hand out at least 1 "Your Next Move" packages today?	Yes	No	3
135	Did you give at least 1 new person the "How to Get Started Fast" CD series today?	Yes	No	3
136	Did you mail or hand out at least 1 "YWIYC Guidebook" to a prospect or Affiliate today?	Yes	No	3
137	Did you mail or hand out at least 2 "YWIYC Guidebooks" to prospects or Affiliates today?	Yes	No	3
138	Did you mail or hand out at least 3 "YWIYC Guidebooks" to prospects or Affiliates today?	Yes	No	3
139	Did you hand out any books to your downline Members/Affiliates or to any prospects today?	Yes	No	3
140	Did you book an appointment to follow up with a prospect either in person or by telephone today?	Yes	No	3
141	Did you book an appointment to get a new Member/Affiliate started right today?	Yes	No	3
142	Did you take your KT Daily Supplements today?	Yes	No	8
Total for Action Section

Summary Section

Total for Thinking Section
Total for Action Section
Grand Total

And that is just the daily questionnaire. There is also a monthly questionnaire, which consists of 515(!) questions, and which I will not post here. But here is the link; read it and retch (and again, you might want to do a screenshot or something before it gets removed):
http://mygin.ws/q/monthly.php

I ask you, and not merely rhetorically: What is all of this but cult indoctrination? Some have said, in various ways, that the repetition and routine are important in order to reprogram one's mind from a "loser" mentality to a "winner" mentality. I am paraphrasing but that is the gist of it. Some people say that being in GIN and learning a new way of thinking has been truly helpful to them.

And yet someone recently wrote to me, "People have lost savings, marriages, family, friends, and their minds over this stuff." I can believe it.

So let's hear it for the people who have awakened and are shaking themselves free of all of that culty stuff. My silly Kevin Trudeau-style fedora is off to Katie Holmes as she escapes the clutches of Scientology, and to the newly awakened GIN and ex-GIN members as they awaken to the fact that they have been fleeced in a big way. May all of your futures be bright.

And it is my intention that you'll be hearing more from me on this subject very soon. But for now, I really have to get back to work.

PS ~ While you are waiting for more from my Whirled, there's plenty to read about some of the big issues plaguing the Global Information Network. As I noted above, GIN defenders have said publicly, and some have gone to great effort to explain to me privately, that the complainers are presenting a distorted and incomplete view of the issues. As I have also indicated, I plan to at least attempt to cover these issues in subsequent posts. For now, though, and for the benefit of those who are not aware of the issues, here are two sources which, though not unimpeachable (I am well aware of the Ripoff Report's troubles), are at least allowing and encouraging feedback from both sides.

• The Ripoff Report's page on the Global Information Network: http://www.ripoffreport.com/directory/Global-Information-Network.aspx
  
• Bernie O'Mahony's GINtruth.com site: http://gintruth.com

More True-dough on this Whirled:

• June 2012: Paging Dr. C: Bernd bridges in Deutschland?
• May 2012: Can alien DNA save Kevin Trudeau's GIN?
• May 2012: Does a canary with a GIN hangover sing as sweetly?
• April 2012: Viva Lost Wages: Sin City Become GIN City for a weekend
• February 2012: A. Rose by any other name would shill as sweet
• December 2011: True-dough updates: Bad poetry for KT, hate mail for CC
• November 2011: A jumpsuit for Jimmy
• August 2011: First Amendment Stuporhero
• August 2011: Calling all lazy men: let's build a pyramid together!
• August 2011: Everything old is Nouveau again (or, Neo-scam by any other name), Part 1 of 2
• June 2011: Holy Guacamole! True-dough's racist rants
• June 2011: For he's a jolly good felon: True-dough speaks out for Death Ray
• December 2009: Illuminutty: the secret brotherhood of the chronically gullible
• November 2009: How to take over the world
• July 2009: Horse farts and related matters
• January 2009: Mr. Fire meets up with true dough

* * * * *

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Live wrong and Prosper

We return today (and somewhat belatedly) to Utah, aka The Beehive State, which, apart from its reputation for bee-ing a honey producer, is also a busily buzzing hive of scammish boiler-room businesses -- some of the most insidious, efficient, and ruthless machines ever created for parting people from their money. Apropos of the latter, I have previously described Utah as the land of bilk and money, but I am painfully aware that my lame little stab at cleverness hardly does justice to what is really going on out there. My blogging colleague Salty Droid has been much more direct than I over the past couple of years and, holding his nose but keeping his eyes open, he has dug deeply into what he described in a recent blog post as "Utah's rotting fraud vortex."

In the opening salvo of his June 8 post, The Prosper Chronicles 451, Salty manages not only to pay passing tribute to the late great Ray Bradbury, but also to make another direct hit at Utah and one of its most notorious boiler- room operations, Prosper Inc.

Something wicked this way comes :: let’s be blunt … it’s Utah. You’d think they’d be extra not wicked :: what with even their underwear wearing codified and regulated :: but no … they’re totally wicked. Utah is the heart of darkness ...

Well, in the interest of accuracy, not everyone in Utah wears codified underwear. Only just a lot of Mormons, and for that matter, not only Utah Mormons. It's possible that even presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney wears "the garments." Not that I want to think of Romney in any kind of underwear. Not that I want to think of Romney much at all.

But I digress.
 
I've made no secret of the fact that Salty Droid is kind of one of my heroes because he has boldly gone where few bloggers have gone before. Salty's Prosper Chronicles post is particularly significant because he slams the not-not-evil Google for the insidious ways in which Google enables Prosper and other scammy boiler rooms and their "strategic partners" to continue flimflamming the unsuspecting. Google accomplishes this through their AdSense program, which the little fake robot describes as... 

... a dirty f---ing trick :: and one that Google has run on f--king millions of vulnerable Americans during a horrible time for us … and a f---ing sweet ass profitable time for them. Yes that sentence has three f---ks :: but I mean … come on!

For the Google commentary alone Salty's post is well worth reading.*

As of early last month, another one of my journo heroes is Joseph L. Flatley at The Verge, whose May 10 piece, "Scamworld: 'Get rich quick' schemes mutate into an online monster' caused quite a ripple in the online world. If you have not yet read it I urge you to do so. Or go back and read it again. I'll wait.
 
On June 8, Joe Flatley came out with another piece, "Mitt Romney goes to Scamworld: Prosper, Inc. and its powerful friends." This newer piece is a continuation of the same theme, with a few additional features and benefits, one of which was that it pays loving tribute to one of this blog's favorite snargets, Joe "Mr. Fire" Vitale. But its real focus is Prosper, which, as it happens, is the company that currently handles Joe's Miracles Coaching program.

Who is this man (and his heroes)?
Joe Vitale, as many of you no doubt recall, is one of the "stars" of The Secret, and among his many other accomplishments he is also The Buddha of the Internet, due to his rare combination of spiritual and marketing acumen. At least that's what his marketing material says. One of the things that this rare combination has delivered unto Mr. Fire is the knowledge that spiritual figures such as Buddha and Jesus want us to be rich. Or at least Joe V has figured out that convincing people that Buddha and Jesus want them to be rich -- and that he, Mr. Fire, has the secret to helping them do so -- is a way to get him richer. In one 2009 blog post tantalizingly titled Buddha's Money-Making Secret, Joe praised a book called The Diamond Cutter by Geshe Michael Roach, which, he wrote, mirrored Joe's own views about the Buddha's teachings on wealth.

Roach, as you may or may not be aware, was recently in the news for a grisly death associated with an extreme retreat he was leading. Unlike James Arthur "Death" Ray's infamous Spiritual Warrior retreat, this one did not involve a phony sweat lodge, but another type of trendy indigenous -- or trendigenous, if you will (I LOVE making up words) -- structure, a yurt. This snippet in the piece tells you pretty much all you need to know about Roach's brand of Buddhism:

The monk who ran the retreat, Michael Roach, had previously run a diamond business worth tens of millions of dollars and was now promoting Buddhist principles as a path to financial prosperity, raising eyebrows from more traditional Buddhists.

But Roach's teachings apparently didn't raise Joe Vitale's eyebrows, at least not in the you've got-to-be-sh-tting-me way alluded to above. Joe does not claim to be a Buddhist himself (he's more of a Transcendentalist, he says), and in fact in his blog post about Buddha's Money Making Secret, he confesses that he is not Buddha either. But he does apparently believe that Buddha would approve of his apparent obsession with material wealth.
 
But I digress again. The misappropriation of Buddhist teachings is not what Joe Flatley was targeting in his piece. Rather, he wrote about Joe Vitale's Miracles Coaching program, for which, as noted above, Joe V. partners with the aforementioned Utah boiler room Prosper. You will probably not be surprised to learn that I thoroughly enjoyed the piece.
 
Granted, Joe F. is more than a little snarky (my kind of guy!), basing his snarkasm upon some of the things Joe V. has most proudly promoted. Apparently he did not interview Joe V., which Joe V. may very well jump on as an example of poor journalism, as he did when Barbara Ehrenreich snarked him out in her book, Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermining America. Joe V was not pleased about his write-up in that book. But I am thinking that the point of Joe Flatley's piece wasn't really to present an in-depth portrait of Mr. Fire (any more than it was Ehrenreich's purpose); rather, it was merely to give some perspective of Mr. Fire's role in what Salty Droid has often called "the big, sick machine." In any case, I suspect that when the article came out there was some heavy drinking in Wimberley, Texas that night.

Politix, schmolitix
Joe Flatley's article isn't just about Joe Vitale and Miracles Coaching. It also touches on a couple of Prosper's other "gurus," and tells the story of a former boiler-room salesman who says he worked at Prosper. Then the piece gets into dodgy Utah politicians, such as Utah's Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who has accepted many thousands of dollars of campaign donations over the years from Prosper and other Utah boiler rooms. Flatley mentions another matter that Salty had previously written about -- that of Utah's Chief Deputy Attorney General, John Swallow, who is running for AG and has vowed to change things so that the AG's office will have control over Utah Consumer Protection. Talk about a case of the fox guarding the henhouse....

Mitt Romney is arguably the pièce de résistance of the article, as Flatley wraps up with the mention of a fundraiser held in Utah for Romney on June 8 -- a fundraiser hosted and promoted by boiler-room and MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) heavyweights. All told, there's not a whole lot about Romney in Flatley's article, but there's more than enough smoke, in my opinion, to indicate that there's a real fire (as opposed to a Mr. Fire).

Nevertheless Joe F. got some flak for his article because some people thought the headline, which Joe himself apparently did not write, was misleading. Others criticized him because they thought he was insinuating that only Republican politicos are dirty. Here's how Joe addressed that on the discussion on Salty's Prosper Chronicles blog post:

...Sure, I characterized the people behind Romney’s Super PAC money as “super-rich supervillians.” Because they are. And because it has a nice ring to it. (One of the benefits of being a senior editor at The Verge is I get to indulge in wordplay from time to time.)

Do I have to even mention that neither the Republicans or Democrats have the exclusive on political corruption? Because I will if I have to, but I thought that was so patently obvious that to make a big deal out of it would be to insult the intelligence of my readers.

The obnoxious commenters at The Verge (who are a statistically insignificant number — something like .02% of our readership) perceive me as saying things that I did not say. Based on the fact that Mitt Romney’s name is in the headline. They’re ignoring the real problem, which is that these boiler rooms rip people off — and that they’re allowed to get away with it. Who allows them to get away with it? Exactly.

Someone on the same discussion reminded us that if anything, Joe Flatley understated the scammer-Romney connection. That person cited this article from the May/June 2012 issue of Mother Jones. The MJ piece emphasizes the Utah connection with MLMs such as Nu Skin. "By all appearances," the Salty participant wrote, "without [Romney's] personal intervention, Nu Skin wouldn't have been allowed to become an Olympic sponsor."


The MJ article attempts to explain why Utah is such a ripe garden for MLM schemes:

Utahns have a joke about multilevel-marketing companies: MLM really stands for "Mormons Losing Money." The notion of selling to one's friends and neighbors is so intertwined with the culture that the final season of HBO's Big Love featured an MLM subplot. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Utah has the highest concentration of such companies in the country.

There's a reason why MLMs, many of which peddle natural health products like Nu Skin's dietary supplements, have thrived there. Mormon scripture encourages the use of herbs as God's medicine, and the faith has a strong tradition of turning to alternative medicine. Its founder, Joseph Smith, reportedly shunned traditional doctors, believing a physician had killed his brother. The tight-knit Latter-day Saints community, and the trusting nature of its adherents, have made Utah a lucrative terrain for multilevel marketers. Mormons, who typically spend two years serving as missionaries, are also natural recruits for companies that need salespeople with a high tolerance for rejection. And finally, MLM firms often pitch themselves to women as a way to stay home with their kids while still earning substantial incomes.

You get the drift.

But let's get back to Prosper...
As I've noted, Salty Droid has written about Prosper's misdeeds on numerous occasions, and both he and Joe Flatley cited articles such as this one from Salt Lake City's "alternative" weekly newspaper, City Weekly, and this one from the Salt Lake City Tribune. If you haven't read the articles already, you should. Then go wash the slime off of your hands and come back to get re-slimed.

The knowledge of boiler-room shenanigans, and Prosper's shenanigans in particular, goes back for years. In the past Salty has also cited information such as that in this 2009 piece from City Weekly:

Prosper Inc., located in Provo, gained some notoriety on Feb. 28, 2008, when The Salt Lake Tribune reported that former employee Chad Hudgens had sued his former supervisor for using a method of torture on him that dates back to the Spanish Inquisition as part of a company exercise. The tactic induces psychological trauma by convincing the body it is drowning. Hudgens alleged his boss waterboarded him, explaining to watching employees that they should put the same amount of struggle into making sales as Hudgen’s body did as it struggled for air. Prosper, which markets business coaching to customers in areas such as real estate, investing and Web commerce also donated $15,000 to Shurtleff in 2008. Despite repeated attempts to contact representatives of Prosper, City Weekly was unable to obtain comments about an administrative citation issued against them by the Utah Division of Consumer Protection in 2007 for deceptive trade practices.

That is really just the tip of the slime pile, as you'll see if you read the article, which details more Prosper misdeeds from the early 2000s. If I were running a coaching program, I don't think I would want a company with Prosper's abusive record to handle it. However, to the best of my recollection, Mr. Fire began partnering with Prosper for Miracles Coaching in early 2009 -- quite some time after Prosper's problems had become public knowledge. Did he not do his homework about Prosper, or was their sales pitch just too sweet to resist? Word has it that his then-Director of Sales and Marketing (and now ex-Kevin Trudeau/GIN employee), Peter Wink, had something to do with pushing Joe into Prosper. If that's the case... nice work, Peter Wink!

Another story Joe Flatley tells in his Verge piece about Miracles Coaching and Prosper is that of Jonathan Timar, a friend of this blog who, in 2010, wrote on his blog about his own experiences with the Miracles Coaching hard sell. (Fortunately, Jonathan did not take the bait.) I've mentioned Jonathan here and on other forums before, and have linked to his article numerous times. I am glad Joe Flatley included Jonathan's experience in his piece too, because it accurately illustrates the boiler-room M.O.

In May of 2011 Jonathan finally confronted Joe Vitale about this matter on the latter's blog. I've also previously mentioned this on my Whirled, but it seems only proper to mention it again. Jonathan told Joe about the troubling experiences he'd had with Miracles Coaching. The dialogue begins here. Joe pleaded ignorance to any wrongdoing on the part of the sales team, but he did apologize to Jonathan for any negative experiences Jonathan had had.

I’m sorry for whatever the sales team said to you. The program has been around more than four years but I switched sales a while back. I believe all is fine now but again, I apologize.

Joe was correct about having "switched sales." Previously his Miracles Coaching cash machine had been handled by a Texas company called Northstar Ventures, about whom there had been numerous complaints, and not just regarding Miracles Coaching.

But, as I noted above, apparently Joe didn't do his homework when looking for a company to switch to. Or maybe he did do his homework (or let Peter Wink do it for him), and the potential bottom line looked so attractive that he was willing to overlook Prosper's little problems.

In any case, this is what Joe told Jonathan after doing some "research" about what Prosper was doing (you have to wonder why he didn't bother to educate himself about their methods before signing up with them):

Dear Jonathan, I appreciate your input regarding my Miracles Coaching program and how it is being sold. I did research so I could answer you.
We do have a two-step process that qualifies individuals for our program and then explains the different options that are available to them. My program isn’t for everybody and unless a person is willing to put in the time, effort and frankly the money, they won’t get the results they are looking for. Our interview process has been set up to determine if a person is serious. As you know, unless you are really committed to something, you won’t make the changes that are required in order to make a difference in your life. Our intent is to help individuals clear their blocks and limiting beliefs so they become what they really want to become. Thousands of people have found tremendous success in our Miracles Coaching Program and have ranked us an average of 4.3 out of 5 in whether the program has made a difference in their life.

I apologize if you felt you were being “high pressured” into our program. We often find it to be a fine line between encouraging people to make a change that they need to in their life and being “too pushy”. I hope you can understand.

Oh, yes, Joe, we understand. And thanks to the efforts of people such as Salty Droid and Joe Flatley, we now understand even better.

PS ~ I wasn't the only one who enjoyed Joe Flatley's Prosper article. My old pal at the Pyre, who had been away from his blog for months, popped back in with a post about it as well.

PPS (27 June 2012): More about Utah's hive of corruption and scum from another sharp journo, Eric Peterson at Salt Lake City's alternative newspaper, City Weekly.

• http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/article-77-16068-dialing-for-dollars.html?current_page=all
• http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/article-77-16096-phone-predators.html?current_page=all

* Yes, I participate in Google AdSense myself, and I blog on a platform owned by Google. My friends have been telling me for ages that I need to transfer my Whirled over to Wordpress, and perhaps I will. I've had the placeholder set up for years. As for the ads, I signed up for the free default version of AdSense a couple of years ago, which is why you often see ads on my blog for the very things I snark about. FYI, though, I've made a grand total of less than $105.00 since I've been with the program. I am but a minuscule part of the big sick machine, but even that is prolly too much. Mea culpa.
2015 UPDATE: I no longer participate in Google AdSense. I never made more than a couple of hundred bucks in the several years in which I participated in the program (which as noted above was was the free default version), so I canceled.

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