Sunday, January 29, 2012

Academy for Psychic Studies - Piling it Higher and Deeper

As there are no more culties to work at the Blue Sky Ranch,
Robin Dumolin and her friend are forced to work it themselves.
And it looks like Robin dragged a follower's child along
to shovel the stuff she's full of.


Looking back at my internment at the Academy for Psychic Studies, it amazes me how much unmitigated BULLSHIT flowed from the mouths of Rev. William Duby, Angela Silva and Robin Dumolin.  It was equally amazing (again, looking back) how they were able to use deception and idiotic and unprovable crap to make both Bill Duby and the Witches of Ellsworth Street look not only holy and on a spiritually elevated plane of existence, they were utterly unabashed about amplifying an event to cement their grip on power and on the minds of their followers.

I recalled the event where Rev. Bill Duby supposedly survived a serious bout with Type II diabetes.  Our information was Mr. Duby drank some kind of herbal health remedy which triggered a massive diabetic incident requiring serious medical care.  It was also said this incident was among the worst in medical history - which would result in death for a person less enlightened and less able than Bill to handle the severe energy of illness.

That no one ever saw the man in the hospital or saw his health records, nor had they seen any evidence of him being seriously ill (the bottle of medicine to treat diabetes sitting on Bill's desk does NOT indicate Bill's condition was serious) was never ever discussed.  That the Witches and Bill were the only source of the story was never brought up for question.  We just took it for granted that Bill was indeed as ill as he said - just like we all took it for granted Bill was a chihuahua expert (which one commenter still believes).

Bill's claim - and SRF lore, has Bill claiming his blood glucose levels were well over 2000 mg/dl, the highest ever seen by the medical staff and it was only Bill's spiritual strength that allowed him the chance to survive it.

Bill first claimed he was suffering from Type 1 diabetes - the insulin dependent type.  However, I never saw him with insulin and syringes.  He took pills.  Now, I know a few people who have Type 1 diabetes.  They never go anywhere without insulin.  One of them had a insulin pump implanted in her abdomen.  I know - I saw it frequently.  Don't ask how I saw it or what I did with it.  Later, he seemed to modify his claim saying he actually has Type 2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetes for which he only has to take pills.  I know that as well, as he kept repeating Type 2 diabetes to me like a mantra.

It's utterly impossible to have Type 1 diabetes then abruptly have Type 2 diabetes as those conditions have completely different causes (genetics and environmental trigger vs. eating crap food and not exercising) and come from different processes in the body (you can't make insulin vs. you are eating so much crap, your body can't process and detoxify it).  As there was intense secrecy over Bill's condition, there's no way of knowing what that crazy bastard really had.

While it is possible in theory to have a blood glucose level of over 2000, there's just no way anyone can verify Bill's levels were that high or if he took the actual level and edited it to serve his own purposes.  That secrecy thing still floated in the air.  If you asked a question, you would be pummeled until you were no more than a grease spot.  I personally believe, based on his habit of telling tall tales, Bill's blood sugar wasn't quite that high - but it was probably pretty damn high anyway.

The actual blood sugar level aside, that Bill amplified his health situation and exploited it to consolidate power and influence over his captive flock leaves a stench over the whole incident.

Recall the atmosphere at the Academy for Psychic Studies at the time.  People were running around in circles, convinced there was some kind of psychic attack on Duby, the Witches and the Golden Child.  Energy work abounded.  All followers, newer ones and veterans of the abuse alike were scrutinized for any dark energy and poor attitudes towards the Academy and all it stood for.  Those who were seen as dark servants of evil were immediately singled out.

Now look at the aftermath:  the troops were rallied, alliances were formed, loyalties were tested, those with the dark energy of evil were not only singled out, there were stripped bare and drawn and quartered in front of the gathered followers so their disease wouldn't contaminate the premises.

A global energy clean-out was prescribed.  All those affiliated with the Academy were cleaned out - of money as well as energy.  So, I guess that's the real reason the troops were mustered.

Anyway after Bill was released from wherever he was hiding out, he diagnosed everyone with diabetes.  To anyone's knowledge, no one actually had diabetes.

That didn't stop Bill from insisting everyone in his line of sight march directly to a physician for a blood glucose test whether they needed it or not.  Bill proclaimed those who were identified as holding dark energy be marginalized and immediately transported to the local emergency room for a blood test that could have been easily done at a routine physical.  Concerned followers purchased tests, special diets, herbal remedies and other useless items to control a condition they never had.  All in all, thousands of dollars were wasted for the quack remedies and unneeded medical expenses.

After Bill completed his grand rounds and diagnosed everyone he saw with diabetes, he approached me as I was chugging some water on a warm day.  Bill said thirst was a sign of diabetes and asked what my blood sugar looked like.  My reply: I just got a physical with a complete blood work-up.  All my blood chemistry is completely within normal range.  The look of disappointment on his face was unforgettable.

I guess his days as a diabetes doc were numbered after that.  There was no talk of diabetes ever again.

By then, Bill's perverted objective was reached and the damage done: wives were convinced their husbands were suffering from diabetes and were ascribing all manner of character flaws and personality disorders to not just their husbands but all men they encounter due to diabetes.  Even when physicians and laboratory results proved no medical problems, Bill and all the Academy women persisted in their assertion the men were stricken with diabetes and the odd and annoying behavior only they saw was the result of said disease.  Bill had succeeded in creating so much tension in relationships and among the followers using his own disease as a conduit, his grip on their reality and his Witches' grip on the followers money was assured.

Just like the chihuahua craze where Bill positioned himself as an expert on a topic he barely knew, he used the opportunity to press forward a secret and perverted agenda using another topic he knew not a damn thing about.  Rev. William Duby amplified and perverted a personal situation to reinforce his evil control over this followers and cemented his Witches' stranglehold on the assets and influence of the followers.

But that was all done in the guise of spiritual enlightenment and his dubious psychic prowess in identifying the energies that ruled our bodies.

***********************************


Courtesy of Spiritual Perversion, here is a short account of the weekend Bill realized he had diabetes and found a way to stay out of sight and create havoc on what was said to be a weekend of trance and relaxation:




Everyone wanted to get out of there, but when all the beginning people had left, Ang called an emergency ministers meeting. We were commanded to attend. Ang admonished all the ministers for falling apart and being too dependent on Rev. Bill and not upholding the teaching without him. During the meeting we found out Rev. Bill had had a diabetic convulsion when he drank a bottle of some kind of new age cough medicine concoction Robin had made for him.

Ang said in severe tones, “His blood sugar count was up to almost 2000, which was the highest the nurses had ever seen. The doctor said he should have died with blood sugar that high. He didn’t die because his body can handle so much energy and because he has so much psychic power. As psychics we have to be aware of the energy on the planet. The planet is going through a transition, or in other wards, a growth period. Rev. Bill was under intense psychic attack from the astral planes. All weekend Robin and I were working on healing the planet, and healing Rev. Bill. The dark forces that can’t have it were trying to destroy Rev. Bill because he is one of a few enlightened people on the planet. You ministers let the dark forces run rampant through your spaces, competing with each other, backbiting and whatever.

“Mason, I don’t want you to ever talk to the women the way you did during the retreat in this house. We have to bond together now and show greater dedication to Rev. Bill and the teaching if we are going to survive. Those of you who can’t have it can leave. Rev. Bill is under a great deal of stress and has suffered. For now on I don’t want anyone coming to him when he is trying to relax at the computer upstairs. His room upstairs is his sacred space and you have to show him total respect. You women don’t be going to him to solve your little problems. You know how he just gets set off.”

It was clear Rev. Bill had coached her on much of what to say. Later Rev. Bill told us the same thing, except in his more intense and detailed way. After he had berated all of us in class, he called Mason to his back apartment to talk. Mason was very tense and on guard. He tried to stay on his best behavior because he knew he was the bad guy. Rev. Bill started speaking to him from his bed in buddy mode about diabetes and how Mason was exhibiting many of the systems of it. Rev. Bill said that Annie agreed with him and had confirmed that Mason showed many of the symptoms. Mason said that he felt tired and worn out but he didn’t think he had diabetes. Rev. Bill became very intense and began to rip into Mason for his inability to “hear him” and for his disrespect for women and the teaching.

“You are going to lose everything including your soul if you don’t listen to me on this one.” Rev. Bill told him. “You need to go the hospital to get checked out for diabetes.” Mason disagreed and tried to leave the room. Rev. Bill went into a fury, and some of us saw them as Bill followed Mason out onto the porch. We saw Rev. Bill yelling and Mason throwing his hands up, angry and resistant.

This was the beginning of the end for Mason. Rev. Bill characterized him as a full-on Judas. Rev. Ang confided in me—and others, one at a time—that she hated Mason because he was causing Rev. Bill a lot of stress, which was partly the cause of Bill’s diabetes. We all agreed with Ang. We felt Mason deserved to be shunned for his “selfishness and disrespect” and for “delighting in entertaining dark forces.”

Rev. Bill went on a crusade about diabetes. He taught us all about the symptoms of it and how most of us had them. He had everyone checking their blood sugar counts every day. At his suggestion, several people bought little diabetes kits to test their blood sugar. This all seemed a little weird, even pathetic, but as usual we were all eager to please him. He even started a cafe downstairs that served a properly balanced meal that the hospital recommended for Rev. Bill. Rev. Bill said he had Type 1 diabetes and the rest of us were borderline Type 2. I wanted to laugh at it all, but I needed to show my support too.

The day after he came back Rev. Bill asked me how I felt and I told him I felt tired and out of sorts. He sat down and took time to talk to me about all the symptoms of diabetes. Rev. Robin came in and sweetly reminded me that I had promised to fix her kitchen sink, so I left to work on it. As I worked on her sink, Robin kept zipping back and forth walking in her swift, focused manner. I loved it when she stopped in the kitchen for a time and talked to me. The friendly attention from an attractive woman did me wonders. After a while Rev. Bill came in and again gave me special attention, even confiding to me about how it was in the hospital for him. He said I had several of the symptoms the doctor had talked about such as being tired, pissing a lot, blurry vision, and so on. He told me that I could spend the night at the Academy for a few more nights to be in the healing energy. I didn’t particularly want to do this, but it seemed like a warm and approving gesture on his part, so I did.

The next day he came in and asked me how I was doing in a friendly manner. I told him I felt tired. He said, “God I feel this weird pain in my chest and my first chakra. Have you felt that? What is that energy?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I‘ve been kinda feeling that too.”

He ran through the diabetes symptoms and claimed I had at least half of them. I acted concerned, as it seemed very important to him. He insisted that the best way to cure oneself was to get hooked up to the IV units at the hospital. I told him I didn’t think that was necessary, that I was basically okay. He kept pressing the point. He said I could stay at the Academy a couple of more days till I felt better. I really didn’t want to do this.

  Both Linda came Bill became more intense in their insistence that I needed to go to the hospital and get checked out. When Rev. Bill said, “Linda, you really need to take care of this man; his ego is getting in the he way of common sense,” Linda jumped on the bandwagon, demonstrating great concern, and they both kept up the pressure. I objected saying it wasn’t necessary and the hospital would end up sending a big bill. I knew Linda agreed with this because she was always freaked out about money. But Rev. Bill said, “Money means nothing when it comes to your health, and besides, hospital bills are the last thing creditors go after. You guys have no havingness. You don’t believe I’m clairvoyant.”

I felt horrible, but I finally agreed to go. Linda took me.

Over the next week Rev. Bill kept up the pressure on me, and we went to three different hospitals. I seemed to have been chosen as some sort of guinea pig in his mind, although he was doing the same thing with the others. He coached me, in the presence of Ang, Linda, or Robin, on the right way to talk to the hospital staff so they would be concerned enough to hook me up to the IV. Linda took me each time, but the results of the blood sugar tests were always normal. The last time they actually took me in, but the doctor found no basis for hooking me up to the IV, and I couldn’t persuade him to do so. This was such a horrible waste of time and money, and I felt wasted.

When we came back from the third hospital, Rev. Bill said, “You almost had it. Why can’t you just fake being sick, Steve? You need to be more convincing to get in there. You need this, but your ego just won’t let you get into it. Show him how to do it, Ang. You can’t acknowledge how sick you are and show it for the same reason you can’t go into trance—you have to be in control. To go into trance you have to be able to give up control. I’ve told you that a thousand times, but you can’t learn. You got your family in your head. Your brain stem is shot.” He became very heated and kept trying to get me to practice faking it. At this point I simply refused. It reminded me of being in my parents’ room one time as a child when they were trying unsuccessfully to get me to emote what my problem was; I felt too shamed, guilty, and embarrassed to do anything. I knew what he was trying to get me to do was absurd; I knew that even Linda didn’t want to go to another hospital with me, though she wouldn’t say anything.

Rev. Ang, Linda, and Robin were in the basement room while Rev. Bill kept working on me hour after hour. When Rev. Bill went to take a piss, Ang took me outside and said, “Steve, can’t you see this man is very stressed out? Can’t you just go along with this for his sake?”

“Ang, I am not sick. The tests are okay, it’s not necessary, and it’s a waste of money.”

She said, completely sincere, “Why don’t you just pretend to be sick to take the stress off this man?”

“That’s ridiculous!” This was so absurd I laughed. It was so unfair. I was fascinated by her blindness. She just got mad at me. She had meant it and refused to see anything wrong with what she said. In that moment I mentally shifted further away from her and all of them. I told them I wasn’t going to the hospital anymore, and that I was going to go home now.

They all got upset, but I took off and walked the two miles back to my apartment in the middle of the night, leaving the car with Linda. The next day at Rev. Bill’s behest I got word from Ang through Linda that I was being taken off of everything. They said I was too stressed out and my ego was out of control. For two weeks they said I should just stay at the Russell Street property and not go off it. I was supposed to just rest; I was not to go to work at Liberty, not to go to Santa Clara, not play basketball, not go to the movies, not go anywhere. Linda would take care of Santa Clara and make sure I had food; Don would take care of Liberty.

This was a sad, depressing, lonely time. My life was a nightmare. I couldn’t let them do these things to me, but it was all set in motion. I wanted to work and see people. That’s what kept me sane. I sensed the stupidity, humiliation, and insanity of my life, but it was excruciatingly painful to face it. I was devastated, lonely, and lost. I got away a few times to play basketball, take a walk, or get something to eat.

I slept a lot during this time when I was supposed to stay on Russell Street. One night I had an awful nightmare that repeated itself with variations. I dreamed I was captured by enemies. I was an officer being held in an underground place by three men, and at first it seemed I was going to be let go. But when I woke up from sleeping in my dream, I found myself bound up. They had wrapped my whole body in large bandages that were very tight. I was terrified. The wrappings over my face made it difficult to breathe. I could get air only slowly and with much effort. I painfully needed air, and I panicked. What was worse, the bands around my chest didn’t allow my chest to expand far enough to take in hardly any air. I couldn’t get enough air to satisfy my body. My arms and legs were wrapped so I couldn’t move them. It was maddening to not be able to breathe. I was suffocating and felt like going insane with rage toward my captors. I was enraged at the humiliation of my helpless situation. I wanted to struggle against my wrappings and my captors, but this caused intense pain, so then I pretended I was okay. I couldn’t breathe. My only recourse was to be very still, but I felt a horrifying humiliation of being faceless, as if my identity were being erased. I woke up from this dream in a fog. It caused a tired ache in my head that lasted a long time.

After two weeks I was allowed to go back to work for Liberty and to my Academy in Santa Clara. I felt tired than before.

**************************************

The whole diabetes episode, once exposed, amply displays the insane control exerted by Bill Duby, the complicity engaged in by his Witches and the unwitting enablement conducted by the followers (especially the wives).

Bill was so insane and so ignorant of a topic he believed he knew expertly, he attempted to manipulate Steve Sanchez into "faking" the results of a lab test as if Steve were taking the DMV driving test.  Worse, Angela Silva was complicit in Bill's insane demand and worked to push Steve into a waste of time and money that could have adversely affected his health - an unneeded treatment for a diabetic crisis.  Even worse, they pressured Steve's wife to go  along and ensure he went with the program. The situation is more than a shocking use of undue influence: that Steve could just talk a physician into an unnecessary treatment for a condition that didn't exist was just plain stupid and potentially dangerous.

Any physician who ordered a treatment for a diabetic emergency when no such condition exists is conducting malpractice, plain and simple.  That's not my ego talking, it's common sense and one of the legal standards for determining malpractice.  Even if the physician "hooked up" a bag of IV saline to Steve, he had no good reason to do it.  Would you want to have a doc like that in practice?

Further, what would you think of a "minister" and his spiritual wife who coerces someone into a unneeded medical treatment only because they want him to do it?

Yeah, I thought so.

The Academy for Psychic Studies - Whatever you call it, it's still a cult.

Hey, the Academy for Psychic Studies
is advertising again!


Rev. William Duby would always diffuse the claim his cult was actually a cult. Bill would make plays on the word "occult" (spelling the word "oc-cult") or using the Webster's Dictionary or an arcane historical definition of what a cult happens to be.

Bill would frequently say (even in print!) he didn't care if anyone called his cult a "cult" because everyone is already in a cult. He would define families, schools, places of employment - all the things we participate in every day as a "cult". Even his attorney would parrot the claim that everything else is a cult as well. Of course, neither Bill nor his attorney would ever directly answer whether or not the Spiritual Rights Foundation and it's subsidiary the Academy for Psychic Studies was a "cult" or not.

Bill took extraordinary steps to deflect and re-direct any inquiry into whether he was a cult leader or not, never answering yes but never saying no either.

I know there are many idiots who rely on that same technique to dispute claims that one group or another is a cult or not. They are either too deluded to see that Webster's only defines words in the context of general language usage or they have a purpose to deflect attention from the modern, accepted definition of "cult".

People like William Duby and others like him have a stake saying a cult is no big deal. He would frequently say he never set up a cult - he set up an anti-cult because it has radically different practices than the cults of our families, schools, workplaces, places of worship, supermarket or dance hall. He would tell us his cult was a better cult because it's not like any other cult - but it's not really a cult.

In fact, many "cults" say the same, then turn around and sue for defamation when anyone calls them a cult. Certainly, the Spiritual Rights Foundation filed a lawsuit claiming they were offended that I call them a "cult" and that it's not true anyway. However, their attorney was quoted in print saying "To a person, anything can be called a cult." essentially throwing a bucked of dishwater on their complaint. Bill Duby's incoherent ramblings saying he's got a cult because every other group is a cult anyway and it's kind of not but really is a cult just nailed that coffin shut.

So, I decided we should take a look at what makes a cult and how modern social science defines a cult.

That definition is, of course, very different from what you'd find in Webster's. So all you social science wannabe's who are going to cry out I don't know what the hell I'm talking about when you read the below, keep in mind that I have an education in Sociology. That's the study of groups. A cult is a group. Therefore, it's OK for Sociology to define a cult. You can ask the professional Sociologists (especially those who study cults) about it if you want. Clue: Sociologists are found in Universities. Those are schools. You know, those places you don't like anymore because they make you think and it makes your brain hurt - you fucking SRF troll.

Unfortunately, those culties who really need to read that above paragraph will ever understand what we all do: that there IS a definition of a CULT and that definition is well accepted and is under continually under review.

And those of us with experience with groups of this kind can tell we have seen and have been affected by the characteristics for a long, long time.

===============================

Marcia Rudin's 14 Common Characteristics of a Cult
  1. Members swear total allegiance to an all-powerful leader who they believe to be the Messiah.
  2. Rational thought is discouraged or forbidden.
  3. The cult's recruitment techniques are often deceptive.
  4. The cult weakens the follower psychologically by making him or her depend upon the group to solve his or her problems.
  5. The cult manipulates guilt to their advantage.
  6. The cult leader makes all the career and life decision of the members.
  7. Cults exist only for their own material survival and make false promises to work to improve society.
  8. Cult members often work full time for the group for little or no pay.
  9. Cult members are isolated from the outside world and any reality testing it could provide.
  10. Cults are anti-woman, anti-child, and anti-family.
  11. Cults are apocalyptic and believe themselves to be the remnant who will survive the soon-approaching end of the world.
  12. Many cults follow an "ends justify the means" philosophy.
  13. Cults, particularly in regard to their finances, are shrouded in secrecy.
  14. There is frequently an aura of or potential for violence around cults.

==================================

How do those criteria map onto your experience at the Spiritual Rights Foundation?

I don't know. Maybe this is a helpful, beneficial and benign spiritual organization. So maybe it's not a cult.

If you believe that, you may be a current cult member. If you are not, I have a bridge to sell you.

But if you do believe that the Spiritual Rights Foundation is a cult, just take a look at their "American Spirit Newspaper" of the inspired writing of Rev. Bill Duby. It's on the web right there on their site.

You'll find plenty of data there and plenty of support that even the Spiritual Rights Foundation has to believe it is a cult as well.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

It's a planet for slow learners

Crap! Wrong Picture!



This is the one I really wanted. Doggone this interweb thing...
Actually, I guess the first one wasn't so bad after all.


It's a planet for slow learners.

It's another one of those endearing homilies we heard at the Spritual Rights Foundation almost every day. We never heard what it meant - that was said to be evident. We did wind up hearing it a lot.

I never recalled seeing any examples of what constitutes slow learning. Well maybe when I reflect on the wasted years I spent there. I did see a recent example, though: I'm reading the absurd cease and desist letter sent us by the Spiritual Rights Foundation.

First, since the SRF attorney, William J. (Will) Rogers, filed this letter in Superior Court as part of an idiotic libel complaint, it is public record. I and every other American are free to post, read, email, copy, print or use it to wipe up cat vomit.

Second, you'll see how low these people will stoop to silence the people's side of the story.

Third, in case you are afraid this letter caused this blog to close or become restricted in its activities, I can tell you: the cease and desist letter FAILED, the lawsuit filed by the Spiritual Rights Foundation FAILED, the plaintiffs were legally declared FAILURES and said plaintiffs were forced by the Superior Court to pay money to ME.  The court also declared ME as the prevailing party.

So, that's why this blog remains and I'm about to tell you how we responded (in a nutshell).

Now, on with the - uh, well, here's the letter:


His first paragraph is:
"The defamatory statements are numerous and wide-spread throughout your media. Your frequent and blatant references to SRF and ISHI as cults are actionable as libel. Your statements that Rev. Robin and Rev. Angela "scheme" to take money and property from church members, and that they "enrich" themselves from church funds, and that they are "continuing [Rev. Bill Duby's ] legacy of insanity and unrestrained hate", are false, offensive, and constitute libel."

The term "cult" was one that the SRF CULT brushed aside long ago. Here is a quote from the guy who wrote the above:
Petaluma attorney Will Rogers, who represents the Spiritual Rights Foundation, argues that according to the dictionary definition, any organized mainstream religion could be called a cult. "To one person," Rogers says, "the Catholic Church can be considered a cult." -- East Bay Express, "Consider the Children" By Will Harper, October 10, 2001
So, the guy who wrote that it is libel to say SRF is a CULT, is on record saying: Who gives a damn if you call SRF a CULT? So's the Catholic Church!

Libel is the action someone can take if a person tells a lie in writing. There's a lot more to it but that's it in a nutshell. We know that Robin and Angela don't have jobs. We know that the church is paying them a stipend. That, I don't have a problem with. I do know that as soon as someone gets a little bit of gain in their life, Angela and Robin have their hands out.

As soon as she was sure I would receive a modest inheritance, Angela reinforced the concept of the tithe. After I was gone, she ranted and raved that I left because I wouldn't tithe my inheritance to the church. I didn't tithe because I had serious doubts about what the money would be used for. It certainly would not be spent on me.

Instead, I saw lots of money going into church operations that had little to do with serving the church itself. Operations like the venerated Blue Sky Ranch.

We thought this ranch was "the people's place". A place for relaxation, meditation and recreation. Instead, we were told we were not welcome at the Blue Sky Ranch unless we were working or paying. Isn't that an unusual policy for "the people's place"?

I later discovered the Blue Sky Ranch - always represented as church property, was titled to Robin and Angela in the Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder's office. Many members of SRF, myself included, donated money to SRF for the purchase of the property and for maintenance. That money was paid to SRF, then tendered to someone to fund supplies and operations on a property Robin and Angela own. In fact, we donated money to SRF to support the purchase of the Blue Sky Ranch thinking it always was a church property.

I'm not the only one shocked and disgusted by that revelation. Everyone who heard it felt the same. I'm just the first to say it out loud.

Bill said to me several times that the church helped him attain personal prosperity and prosperity for Robin and Angela as evidenced by the nice vehicles they drive and their ability to buy anything they want. Bill bragged about having his women well taken care of financially. He told us we men were responsible for maintaining our woman's standard of living, which he demonstrated by showering his women with praise and riches.

Now, how in hell do you create that kind of wealth on a preacher's pay? And if you did, where did the money come from? The Lottery?

Do those two "scheme" to take property? Well, yes. Blue Sky Ranch. The Kawahara Residence.  Who else lost inheritances or other windfalls to the Witches of Ellsworth Street?  I remember one time when we all went to Lake Tahoe for a weekend of gambling and other perverted activities.  A member received a large winning from gambling.  Immediately afterward, one of Angela Silva and Robin Dumolin's tithe collectors appeared literally with a hand thrust out and demanded their cut.  It was paid.

Another ex-member was made SRF legend when she received property from her family as part of her inheritance.  She (wisely) vamoosed soon after and was from that day on, debased for preferring to raise a family and live comfortably rather than submit to selling the property and giving Angela Silva and Robin Dumolin a huge amount of cash year after year.  Not only did Bill Duby curse this person, so did Angela and Robin.

Angela Silva said to the gathered ministers: "Goddamn Kawahara doesn't want to tithe (his inheritance to the church)". A yearly ten percent tithe to SRF (over which Angela presides) would bankrupt me in a short time. And as SRF conducts no charitable activity nor does it endow any members who engage in long, dedicated service to them with stipends, I had a serious problem seeing Angela drive a Cadillac and own real estate while the rest of us bounced along in clunkers and swept cockroaches out of our SRF-owned apartments.

It's my money and I'll decide if I want to spend it on my wife and family or see it go to another luxury car for Robin or Angela. I chose family. Angela's track record of personal enrichment and outburst in front of the ministers shows clearly who she favored.

I know of others who lost property. And it's not just real estate. It's cash and other items given as a tithe. If could purchase land, own luxury cars and buy anything you want, travel as much as you desire and have no concern for your retirement and future while not working a day of your life, wouldn't your neighbors wonder how in hell you can do that?

As far as the unrestrained hate and so on goes, the snarl on Angela's face when she said to me "Sell that goddamn house!" was enough for me. Could you picture her face as she denounced me in front of the ministers? No one receives more hate than a person who doesn't give Angela money.

Others relate several times when Angela and Robin railed with emotion so high it reminded them of the insane anger expressed by Bill Duby himself. The Revelations Class students faced the brunt of that behavior then and continue to this day.

Unrestrained hate is their way of healing, you know. And if you object: well, you are just projecting you own spiritual shortcomings on the pure and humble servant of the church spitting in your face.

False? Not when several people have told me all the things I relate in this blog. Not when my sources are from print or court cases involving SRF. And especially not when my sources are ex-members hungering for the chance to come forward without repercussions.

Libelous? Not a chance.  That was proven when I beat their ass in court.

Offensive? Well, I'd be offended if my ill-gotten gains were threatened and the fresh young spirits I need to grow and sustain my dysfunctional organization never make it to my doorstep.

Besides, the First Amendment protects content a lot of people will find offensive.  I mean, Maury Povich is still on the air, isn't he?


Second Paragraph:
"The YouTube videos, some with pictures of _____, are clearly intended to destroy _____ reputation and business as a hypnotherapist. The references to _____ daughters demonstrate a reckless disregard for the rights of others, as well as a disregard of common decency."

You know, I always wondered why Angela, Robin and ____, demonstrated a reckless disregard of others or eschewed any semblance of common decency when they degrade, insult, ridicule, browbeat and otherwise berate the members of SRF and in some cases, their own life partners for imaginary and inconsequential infractions.


Has anyone at SRF been on the receiving end of an Angela Silva tirade?  Has anyone received the stink-eye from Robin Dumolin?  Of course, they have and of course all of us were upbraided in front of as many of our peers, spectators, innocent bystanders, children and chihuahuas as could be mustered.  I have seen men and women reduced to quivering and utterly destroyed ghosts of themselves at their hands - especially Angela's, for any kind of imaginary crime.

Maybe I should have some compassion for them. Perhaps I should understand their total lack of human decency and disregard for the rights of others are a product of emotional abuse, mind control from the evil influence of a madman. Perhaps their behavior is mere projection, or a result of receiving a vaccine as a child or watching too much Oprah?

Aww screw it. When was their own compassion any more than superficial? When was their own human decency any more than you would find in a crack house? When did you ever see them operate without a quid pro quo?

When they have to face the consequences and take their medicine, their bluster becomes silence. Their bravado turns to fear. Their inviolability reveals chinks in the armor. They become a giant with clay feet.

_____ was not at all bashful when KRON came to shoot a pleasant, breezy segment on her World Hypnosis Day. But come back and ask her about Steve Sanchez's book "Spiritual Perversion" or raise questions about how she conducts her hypnosis practice (as KRON did), she suddenly becomes camera shy.

And if a humorous YouTube video contains a picture of _____ (the same picture she uses in her self-promotion materials and on the web) _____ is aghast.

Maybe she had a bad hair day when that picture was taken.

As for the intent to destroy the ISHI "business" - when is providing information to an otherwise unsuspecting public, speaking out truthfully about your own experience and those of many others unlawful, indecent and libelous?

It's not per law but apparently, it is to the squeaky hamster wheel in the noggins of Angela Silva and Robin Dumolin.

I guess they concocted their scheme while reading "Consumer Reports".

In Joy's blogs, there were no direct references to _____ daughters, as claimed by Rogers. Basically, Joy described the situation the "kids" were in without using their names.

When Joy retold that situation on YouTube, those "kids" later revealed themselves by posting critical and outright hostile comments under their own names and identified themselves as _____ adult daughters At the same time, posts from others (who we believe were SRF members or their adult children) were left with similar threats and hostility. Presumably, those comments were left at the direction of the sisters.

The two daughters (both in their twenties - certainly well beyond wearing footies and Strawberry Shortcake undies; in fact, one daughter describes her favorite activity as "going drinking") never offered any kind of correction or told their side of the story.

Instead, they hurled personal insults at Joy then left their true names and real, correct email addresses, daring others to respond using taunts, excessive profanity and invective. One such commenter even left threats to come to our home to deliver "spiritual retribution" in person. The others were satisfied with leaving the usual "bitch" and "cunt" comments to Joy.

Anyway, the comments left by the sisters were anything BUT an attempt to set the record straight. Instead, they focused their hate, their need for revenge and desire to silence any open commentary on the public lives of the very public Angela and Robin at Joy and myself.

The sisters accomplished exactly what they wanted: Joy and her viewers felt physically threatened, I felt physically threatened and commentary on YouTube was chilled (that's a legal term, not a street colloquialism) to the degree that no rebuttal was possible.  These comments were becoming very close to a terroristic threat.

It was because of the threats and unacceptable conduct of the adult daughters that all comments on the YouTube channel were deleted and the two adult daughters were banned from commenting on Joy's YouTube page.


The purpose was to restore a civil atmosphere for open discourse and stop the sisters from their efforts to incite not just hostility but to create fear among the participants and compel silence through intimidation - just like their spiritual godmothers do all the time.


Unsaid in Rogers' letter was that Joy offered reinstatement to any banned party. All they had to do was promise to refrain from leaving threats. As of today, there has been no reply. (and as of today, Rogers points to Joy's statement that the sisters were banned for threats attacks and bullying, and Joy's offer to reinstate banned persons as "proof" that JOY posted all the statements that were actually made by the sisters. If you can figure out what that does for the Spiritual Rights Foundation other than make them look like exactly the things their ex-members say about them, please tell me.)

Given all that happened, maybe Joy has a case against the sisters.

At any rate, the sisters moved on to Joy's blog where they continued their attack on Joy using similar language and the same hostile and combative posture. Only this time, there were two differences: their posts only flirted with unacceptable and threatening commentary and they were neither banned nor were their comments deleted.

Since our blogs on Blogger is an open and public forum, there is no way to exclude an individual from reading or participating in your blog. If your blog is public, anyone can read it. Anyone can comment on it. You still retain the ability to approve comments but that doesn't stop someone from commenting or reading.

So in the spirit of Blogger, the sister's choice words were left on the world-wide billboard of Blogger for public discourse. And boy did those two start hating it.

Their comments gained no support from their counterparts this time. Instead, after they left their taunts, their insults and basically pissed off everyone reading the blog, a return salvo was fired from the readers giving the sisters a taste of their own medicine. Neither Joy nor I participated.

I suppose the look on the sisters' faces was something like the look on my niece's face when she realized that needle the doctor was holding wasn't going in her ARM.

I stepped in to tell the sisters to stop acting like 5 year olds fighting for space in the sandbox and start acting like the smart young women they are. Joy stepped in to calm them down as well despite the degrading treatment she endured from them.

To her credit, one of them soon realized what she was doing and made a polite exit. I was happy to see she came to her senses. She was always the smarter one. The other remained defiant, vowing to keep fighting. But we never heard from her either.

All in all, the "flaming remarks" the Spiritual Rights Foundation has alleged Joy made on her blog and YouTube channel were posted by the sisters and others whom the sisters may have directed to make those comments. Not Joy, not me not anyone else.  The sisters and their colleagues were solely responsible for posting hostile comments intended to intimidate other participants.

Third Paragraph:
"The acknowledgment by Ms. Butler that her blog and video contain "flaming remarks", and Mr. Kawahara's boast that he "takes the credit" for SRF's cessation of the broadcast of church services, demonstrate malicious intent. You cannot shield your malice with your disclaimers that your speech is protected under the First Amendment. The First Amendment has never protected malicious speech."

Here, Will got everything just plain wrong. It is as if he never read Joy's blog or YouTube channel - actually, he did but he clearly didn't understand it or misrepresented it. Or maybe his clients read them and told him what to say. Either way, it would turn out to be a very bad move.

As I just described, the "flaming remarks" were left on YouTube and Joy's blog by _____'s own adult daughters and others believed to be SRF members or their adult children in a direct personal attack against Joy. Again, those comments never addressed Joy's statements but only insulted her with degrading and extraordinarily hostile and profane language.

In her statement, Joy only pointed out she had to remove flaming remarks from others and ban those who left them. She never made hostile or flaming statements to the members, staff or children of SRF.

In my "Drinking with the Woman at the Well" post, I joked that I turned the tables on SRF and commented on the craziest broadcast of a church sermon I ever heard.

When they learned of my commentary, SRF responded by pulling the plug on all broadcasts.

Now, the Spiritual Rights Foundation may have pulled their broadcasts because of what I said about them but it was their decision to discontinue them. And their action was in response to one person (me) standing up on only one occasion saying "what a load of crap!".

Well, if a broadcaster has to dump his show after only one person says at only one time: "this is a load of crap!", we wouldn't have Rush Limbaugh on the air.

Apart from getting the kind of feedback a public statement will attract, the absurdity of one person bringing down a whole series of live broadcasts is a better joke than I could have ever made. They are on shaky ground just on that alone.

What is even shakier, is Rogers tries to say SRF does not control their broadcasts - I do. I didn't know I was their boss but since Rogers says I am: Robin, Angela, YOU'RE FIRED!

Anyway, he got the concept of "malice" totally wrong. When a law student read his letter, she said "this guy is not very good at all." I told her "unfortunately, he graduated from your law school."  She reached for a Tylenol.

In the context of the First Amendment, "malice" means the writer knew his statement was false or should have known it but wrote it anyway. And in context of the First Amendment, the actual term is "actual malice".

Jokes are not considered malicious.

Making a statement that someone finds embarrassing is not malicious.

Speaking your mind is not malicious.

The truth is not malicious.

All the above is malicious only in the mosquito-infested swampland of the SRF mentality.

The First Amendment does not protect "actual malice", it's true. But let's face it, even a first year law student knew the free speech exercised on this blog is anything but "actual malice".  I knew that through many years of college studying at the bar - Clancy's Bar on "L" Street. In fact, I'm late for class now - we're studying the effect of distilled spirits on, uh, well... All right, we're going to slam some Jagermeister, OK?

At any rate, this blog IS an expression of free speech. The only ones who think otherwise is the leadership of SRF.  Too bad for them, the Superior Court smacked them down as well.


Last Paragraph:

"You have ten days from the date of this letter to remove all references of my clients from your blogs and video posts. If you fail to do so, my clients have instructed me to assert all their legal remedies against you. The remedies sought will include injunctive relief, monetary damages, attorney fees, and punitive damages."


Obviously, I gave Rogers the finger while I assembled our secret weapon: a First Amendment attorney who was salivating at the chance to kick their ass.  A few days later, we received a badly photocopied pile of papers about the thickness of a slice of baloney, crudely stapled.

Their muddy complaint asked for damages at about $700,000.00. There was a single page printout of my blog - of a post that had nothing to do with their complaint. There was a single page printout of Joy's YouTube channel showing absolutely nothing related to their complaint. And a copy of his idiotic cease and desist letter.

They also wanted to determine the identity of the anonymous posters (how they would do that was unstated) and for what purpose was also unsaid.

Our response was a sledge hammer to the forehead: a Demurrer and Anti-SLAPP motion (which is called a Special Motion to Strike).

In support of those motions we clipped several articles in SRF's own American Spirit Newspaper, printed several pages of SRF's own website, reproduced several pages of news articles regarding SRF, added legal documents filed by SRF, included legal documents filed by persons with court cases involving SRF members, attached our own written declarations of our experiences with SRF - well, you get the idea.

Our motions and supporting information were almost four (4) inches thick. We didn't include a single slice of baloney.

Making unfounded, unsubstantiated legal claims only because someone said something you didn't like (or maybe didn't understand, in SRF's case) sounds very much like a reckless disregard for the rights of others and a disregard of common decency. Would you agree?

Our response, thanks to our brilliant and talented attorney, is intended to restore balance and affirm our rights by using the law as a shield, not a sword.

Judging from what happened lately, the SRF sword is getting mighty dull.


It's a planet for slow learners. And we are stuck with the slowest.


update: We won. They won't try to trample on your First Amendment rights any more.


New Update: they are trying to duck our demand to pay our legal fees. Not only will their argument not work, it can't possibly work. Film at eleven.

Even Newer Update:   We got a court order forcing them to pay our legal expenses.  As their tantrum cost them over $50,000.00, I would imagine they aren't going to pull a stunt like that again.

Monday, January 23, 2012

If you read this, get back in your body.

My wife thinks I like Tori Amos' music...


I had a conversation with a person the other day. We talked a bit about pulling people out of the cult and what it would take to do that.

We decided that for now, writing this blog is the best first step. I'm tracking down agencies and other resources that can help out cult escapees. Those resources are in the Cult Recovery Resources page. But before they can be utilized, the state of mind necessary to want to leave a cult such as the Spiritual Rights Foundation has to occur. And we pretty much figured that has to come about mainly through this blog.

It's a responsibility I will undertake with solemn pride. One of the things that came up for me was a recognition that my writing is a little pithy and filled with vocabulary that is uncommon and thick. I was told to simplify and streamline my writing so that the average SRF-ie will be able to understand it. Please let me know if this is easier:

SEE SPOT RUN
RUN SPOT RUN
RUN RUN RUN


I'm not really saying that the average cultie or even the average SRF victim is of lower intelligence. I am saying that after years of receiving incomplete, confusing and contradictory information from the leadership, after years of personal debasement, after years of degrading and humiliating punishment (in the guise of healing and personal growth) one's mind can just stop working. The skills of discrimination of thought, personal initiative, basic personal values, deduction, analysis and logic seem to fall away like leaves in autumn. You stop using your mind because there just isn't one left to use.

Frequently, if you were to take a critical look at the information presented to you by the Spiritual Rights Foundation and commented accordingly, the usual reply was "you have to get out of your analyzer". Or if you were confused because the information was incomplete or contradictory, the teachers and leaders of SRF would helpfully say: "get back in your body" or "you need to ground" or " your transmediumship is wide open".

Now, none of these helpful phrases even came close to answering your question or settling the contradiction or completing the missing information. It did put you in a state of mind that stopped, even briefly, your critical thought processes. When you stop thinking critically, you are wide open to accepting that which you would not accept had you been afforded the opportunity to just stop and think.

You just react. You just accept. You sit down and shut up so you won't wind up with a psychic dunce cap on your head eating your lunch alone in the playground.

And if you want to be accepted by the leadership, your peers, the ministers and students, you'll join in when a fellow member is marginalized, debased, isolated and insulted. You are just thankful it's someone else.

There's no such thing as personal ethics at the Spiritual Rights Foundation. This organization tells all members to let go of their "false morals and ethics" so they can embrace a whole new set of morals and ethics appropriate to your spiritually enlighted persona. In my observation, I was being told to let go of the good morals and ethics that all of us who function in American society observe. You know, like love your neighbor, help a guy when he's down, play fair and clean up after yourself.

SRF would have you take advantage of your neighbor, kick a man when he's down, play dirty, and blame a mess on someone else.

So much for a new set of ethics.

As far as SRF goes, the less your mind works, the more they can get out of you. Did you realize that SRF bought a farm in Bethel Island, CA? And were you aware that the staff was required to pledge money towards the purchase of that farm? And, according to the county recorder's office official records, the actual owners of that property are Angela Silva and Robin DuMolin - your fearless leaders. Would you want to just give away your hard earned money so two people with no jobs can buy a farm? Would you ask who would own the farm?

No one bothered to ask. No one wanted to. Their minds were just turned off.

And even if you did ask who would own the property, what would you be told? "get back in your body"? "you need to ground"? "your transmediumship is wide open"? Would you have been told the truth? Have you ever been told the truth?

Now don't let me discourage you if you are interested in a spiritual organization like the Spiritual Rights Foundation.

If you do decide to join up with SRF, ISHI Hypnosis or anything related, leave your ethics at the door. In fact, leave your brains at the door.

But drop your wallet in the jar marked "SUCKER!"

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Tell me about the rabbits, George...

Uh... I guess there's not much I can say...
except I'm tired of seeing you dicks
searching for Kim Kardashian's ass.


There's something I just heard about lately.  Honestly, it's serious this time - although the outcome makes me laugh my ass off.  It's called the Dunning-Kruger Effect.

The Dunning-Kruger Effect says something like: the dumber you are, the more confident you feel in all you do.  Conversely,the smarter you are, the less confident you are.


Here's an example: some dummy in Pittsburgh robbed two banks in a single afternoon.  He did not wear a disguise nor did he do anything to hide his appearance.  When he was arrested moments after the second robbery shocked the police found him, he muttered over and over: "but I wore the juice".


It turned out the man spread lemon juice over his face, believing it would prevent the bank's cameras from photographing him.  In his case, belief was actually a delusion.


You see, the incompetent have no ability to recognize their own mistakes.


So how about we just rub their faces in it - show them their mistakes and they'll realize how stupid they are?


That actually had the opposite effect.  Dunning and Kruger tested that theory with students.  As expected, the incompetent thought they performed well above average while the competent well underestimated their performance.  Dunning and Kruger found when the incompetent students were shown how well the competent performed vs. the incompetent, the incompetent thought they performed even better than estimated earlier.


It turns out the incompetent were unaware, oblivious to what a good result looks like.  So showing the incompetent his actual standing vs. a real result just reinforced the incompetent's delusion he did well.


Don't think grabbing the incompetent by the shirt collar and giving the idiot a good shake around the room will help, either.  The incompetent have no way to become aware of their shortcomings until they become more competent.  All you'll do by arguing with him is reinforce his belief he's a lot better than he is.


How about that?



Now how about the most incompetent of all:  The Academy for Psychic Studies.


Despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, The Academy for Psychic Studies presses forward with their own brand of psychotic information and their own brand of delusion.


Yes, they fervently, devotedly and unfailingly believe in all the things they teach.  Their confidence in their teachings are so strong, so sure that the teachings must be true and they must have a warm and nourishing presence here on Earth.


If you believe that, I have a few lemons you can squirt on your face.



Look at the facts:
  • Membership has dwindled from nearly 50 active members to maybe 14 8 2 or maybe just the old guy who curses while he sweeps the grounds - and only a few none of them take part in Academy-sponsored activities regularly.  The rest are just too weary beat down to keep marching stick around.

  • Public interest in the Academy for Psychic Studies is at an all-time low.  How many students attend the Clairvoyant Training Program?   How many attend the ISHI Hypnosis Training class?  How many members of the public attend any damn classes at all?  Nearly none.

  • The Academy has been pulling back their public outreach efforts.  Their newspaper is no longer published, the blog is abandoned, the YouTube videos are erased, the public-access cable programs are gone, the website says even less about them and presents them as even more secretive and isolated than ever.  Their silence leaves this blog as the main source of information on the Academy.  What idiot would want to do that?  Oh, right... the Academy for Psychic Studies.

  • People are listening to our side of the Academy story.  Despite the passage of time, page views on this blog have remained steady.  There is just plain nowhere for the Academy for Psychic Studies to hide.

Of course, those facts are meaningless to the Academy.  In fact, they are fully aware of all of the items I listed (how could they not?) but they remain ignorant and as unaware of their plight as an ostrich hiding in the sand.


Sure, reality has kicked them in the head and shook them by the collar.  They lost their lawsuit against this blog.  They face the reality that almost no one is interested in their poison.  They are feeling the effects of mind control going out of control.


But like the idiots Dunning and Kruger encountered - hell like that lemon-fresh bank robber, the Academy for Psychic Studies are ever confident their psychosis is the right psychosis for a world in need of the psychosis only they provide and they are carrying on peddling their poison to the unknowing public as if they are more popular than ever.


Not only are they carrying on pretending nothing has happened, they remain iconoclastic and unwilling to make even small adaptations to their approach to make them more relevant and accessible.


Is there hope?


Well, Dunning and Kruger took those same confident but incompetent students and taught them how to solve the tests and problems given.  It was like a light bulb turned on.  The students finally realized how dumb they really were.


Only when the incompetent became, well, less incompetent did they begin the step of realizing their real standing in the world.


With some simple learning and education, the incompetent were able to embark on a path that would help them increase their awareness, raise their skills and become competent, humble, even considerate.


So I guess in the Academy for Psychic Studies' case, there is no hope.