TMR's Year In Review: New Age Began Showing It's Age

TMR really got taken for a ride this year, with racial cultism dominating the blog for most of the last quarter, because there was simply no way for my post-racial ass to ignore the fact mulatto America's two biggest cults are (gulp) blacks and whites. 

That left NewAge - TMR's main focus - hanging a bit during, what should have been, a pretty triumphant year.

For instance, I'd already told you, the previous year, Mitt Romney was selling worthless supplements. And this year - BAM! - supplements, like Mitt Romney on the stump, were found to be less-than-worthless, for anything, but raising money for criminals.

Excuse me, did I say "criminals"? I meant, "the best human being to run for the White House in quite a few election cycles." 

Yes, I still find it amazing that anyone willing to write that about Romney couldn't also be bothered to report on the ramifications of Mitt's deceptions, or that Instapundit's readers (who are supposed to be smart) didn't demand to know how they were duped. But - Hey! - that's the always-reliable, and oh, so trustworthy and informative conservative blogosphere for you!

   

 In order to see what "real conservatism" looked like this year, you had to begin again - from the blog of a real professor, Edzard Ernst (MD, PhD, FMedSci, FSB, FRCP, FRCPEd and Yabba Dabba Do). Though started last year, Prof. Ernst has been gloriously knocking down one "alternative" medicine fallacy after another using science, and - not only did he invite TMR to write a guest post (which - though many would doubt it - I graciously declined) but, this year, he also started including cultism into his mix of factors that have kept the hippie's silly belief system, and practices, alive. 

 In other words, 2013 was the year Edzard Ernst stopped playing nice, and I, for one, want to thank him - specifically - for stepping into the breach and becoming MY big ol' bear. 

And, from the bottom of my blacker-than-black heart, I also want him to know this fact:

TMR has totally got "Fast Eddie's" back in 2014. 



Of course, when covering NewAge, I can go into so many directions it might make some wonder where the parameters are (if you're new, you'll just have to watch these videos, above and below, to learn how to spot believers or - to get my take and understand what they're up to - the rest of the blog).

Anyway, though I found an unusually large number of psychics, gurus, life coaches, "prayer warriors," and yoga instructors, etc., busted this year - and even with murderer James Arthur Ray getting out of prison - the biggest NewAge story of 2013 was, easily, the death of Sylvia Browne, scam artist extraordinaire.

I don't care how gullible I know mankind to be (see the videos above) that anyone allowed that ugly, crazy, deceitful bitch to convince them of anything is beyond me. But, she got away with it, and - with her death - still, somehow, left the world a better place. 

As Martha Stewart says, in the end, it's "a good thing".

I would say that, though:

Sylvia dying probably saved me a murder conviction, myself.

When I plan on watching NewAge die,...

She Got Away With It

Here's a fine example of crime paying - and handsomely:

"Renowned psychic, bestselling author Sylvia Browne dies at 77"

The scum of the Earth, finally reunited,...

ADDED:

 

Cold Reading Gone Bad: In Touch With A "J" Or An "M"

"Ahh, ooh, Peace On Earth,..."

ADDED:

 

What Tony Soprano's wife is doing after he's gone,...

And Howard Stern tells us what he really thinks,...

NewAgers Waited For News (To Hear They're A Fraud)

US News | Syria News | More ABC News Videos

Remember the height of American television programming? When Montel, and Oprah and Ellen and all the other reality TV con men had our country awash in X-Files nonsense - while crushing the weak and vulnerable at their most exposed, right before our eyes? Man, that was a wonderful time.

Unless you weren't buying any of it.

Then - despite the fact this wasn't the 70's, no one was wearing bell bottoms, and we'd seen this cult stuff all before - skeptics were labeled "energy vampires" to be shunned for not having an "open mind." These people said so, and also said others should do so, right on television and radio. To applause. This way, the leadership could view and use those inside, and outside, NewAge's circle as prey.

I remember those times vividly because, for me, this wasn't stuff that stayed behind our TV screens. This was part of what Grrrl Power! meant and means and, for some reason, nobody wants to do an investigation on that and what harm it's caused.

Nobody really wants to report on any of it because, like the discovery of a "real U.F.O." or proof that homeopathy works, I think the revelation would turn the entire known universe - including the question of who has been America's good and bad actors - upside down. Completely. Hell, considering the quality of names, crimes, and just plain bologna, it might even sell some newspapers. You know, get us going again.

Baby steps,...

Y'know, I Do Believe I'm Seeing Double (Standards,...)

It's so weird, like we've never left The Dark Ages: 

A man who impersonated his dead mother was sentenced to prison for fraud, but the Mormon "church" is filled with people impersonating "prophets" who do all sorts of bizarre things, and they're respected members of society.

Or how about people who claim to talk to the dead? We know better, but Sylvia Browne and the like are walking around free. Psychics? Homeopaths, pretending to be doctors and ripping off the public?

Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

And why are San Francisco cops looking for crooks who targeted superstitious Asian women while Oprah, who's been "heavily promoting the work of New Age gurus Eckhart Tolle and Marianne Williamson," gets called "the moral force of the nation"?

Aren't the crooks and Oprah doing the same thing, but to different audiences?

Well, aren't they? 

It's just so fucking weird,...

 

Happy Birthday, Harry (And I'm So Very Sorry)!!!

Oh look - It's Harry Houdini's birthday! And even Google is in on the act with a graphic. Of course, they indulge in many things Houdini hated, but still,...newspapers and other journalistic organs (which can no longer be counted on to give us news) are running articles about everything "Houdini" but the obvious, especially to Houdini fans:

The great man would've been appalled by the world we've made in his absence.

Sylvia Browne on Montel pretending to talk to the dead? Oprah Winfrey and Ellen marketing "The Secret"? I could go on, but you get the point. What you don't get, though, is my real point:

The travesty on this day isn't that these con men and women and their scams, which have always been with us, are still trying to get away with this crap - the embarrassment is that, in 2011, they have an audience.

A huge audience. Of adults. Who ought to know better. But don't. So they're idiots. Because Houdini proved it was all bullshit before he died in 1937.

Even worse, the rest of you sit idly by and allow it to go on. Don't say you don't.

Are you fighting for critical thinking to be put in our school curriculum? No.

Have you told your local paper to stop it's Horoscope? No.

Have you tried to shut down your local psychic? Of course not.

But Harry Houdini would've been doing just that - that's what he did while he was alive, people.

So is Google, or anyone else, out there truthfully celebrating Harry Houdini's birthday? Or are they just doing more of what this era is becoming so disgusting for - mouthing empty platitudes backed by no convictions what-so-ever? Yeah, that's what I thought. But don't forget as you look on smugly:

You - yeah, YOU reading this - you're not left out of that statement either, and Harry Houdini would've told you so. That's why I'm telling you so. That's how you celebrate Houdini's birthday.

Suckers.

Busted: John Edwards, Rielle Hunter, And Bob McGovern (NewAge Reveals All, Truth Seekers)

We predicted it, and - after a new piece by The National Enquirer's David Perel - we're pretty sure we were right:

John Edwards was exposed by Lisa Druck/Rielle Hunter's "astrologer" and confidant (who also "works with energy in the area of emotional fields") the "intuitive" Bob McGovern.

Here's Perel:

When John Edwards showed up at the Beverly Hilton hotel to meet with Rielle on the evening of July 21, 2008, a large team of reporters and photographers were on the grounds for the Enquirer, and he was photographed secretly as he confidently walked into a side door at 9:45 p.m.

The Enquirer knew what room Hunter was in, as well as the room where her male traveling companion was staying. When Edwards came down to the lobby at 2:40 am the Enquirer was waiting for him, famously chasing as he ran into a public bathroom.

Behind the scenes we exerted pressure on Edwards, sending word though mutual contacts that we had photographed him throughout the night. We provided a few details about his movements to prove this was no bluff.

For 18 days we played this game, and as the standoff continued the Enquirer published a photograph of Edwards with the baby inside a room at the Beverly Hilton hotel.

Journalists asked if we had a hidden camera in the room. We never said yes or no. (We still haven't). We sent word to Edwards privately that there were more photos.

He cracked.

First, the Enquirer "knew what room Hunter was in, as well as the room where her male traveling companion was staying." Who else would know that but "her male traveling companion" - who was Bob McGovern?

Second, Bob McGovern is an astrologer. Has anyone ever heard of an astrologer, mixed up in anything, who didn't immediately try to capitalize on their fame? Hunter's friend, Pigeon O'Brian, was on television as often as she could be, but good Ol' Bob was nowhere to be seen.

Third, McGovern is a NewAger. These people, because of their unstable belief system, have no solid morals to lean on. Consider this loopdy-loop:

Bob McGovern was deceiving/exploiting Lisa Druck/Rielle Hunter, who was deceiving/exploiting John Edwards, as they all were deceiving his wife, the cancer-stricken Elizabeth Edwards - and the press was deceiving everyone else.

Even Louise Hay, the so-called "Queen of NewAge" let it be known that Sylvia Browne - her best-selling author - was a fraud, but somehow, utilizing those values, we're supposed to believe Bob McGovern wouldn't sell out Lisa Druck/Rielle Hunter (AKA “Riddleydoo Spacepod Rainbow.”) for a payoff from the Enquirer? Puh-Leaze. As our friends at Death By 1000 Papercuts said at the time, "it’s likely that the Enquirer pays better than his regular day job in the mystic realm."

Forth, there was no one else who could've been in the room with Rielle Hunter and John Edwards, when the photo of Edwards and the baby was taken, but Bob McGovern.

And last but not least, since Bob McGovern was in the room when that photo was taken, Rielle Hunter had to know what was going on - either during Edwards' visit to see the baby or once the photo was publicized - making her an accomplice in a doublecross. Again:

Another NewAge liar engaged in betrayal - probably to end Edwards' marriage, so Hunter could live out her dream of becoming Mrs. John Edwards, or (since "Being" Isn't "Free") to get a settlement for child support.

So there you have it - Bob McGovern, the man who took out John Edwards, as both were sliding around on snake-oil.

And the destruction of everything NewAge touches continues,...

A Man Being Listened To (That No One Can Hear)

Bubba: Always Where You Least Expect Him

"There is no law against cults. Even in France, the only country where such legislation has been passed (the 2001 About-Picard law), the prohibition is restricted to 'registered organizations that violate human rights and the principle of freedom.' A number of provisos were softened in the wake of harsh criticism from politicians and observers both in France and abroad, among them former U.S. president Bill Clinton. They argue that the French law itself violates the principle of freedom."

-- Avirama Golan, reminding me of another good reason for despising Billary - who never met a guru/motivational speaker/cult leader, etc., that they didn't like - while also explaining the legal difficulties of bouncing weirdos in the can, even to Haaretz.

[Read the whole thing.]

Bill Clinton's name can pop up in the oddest places. I mean here I am, reading an article about a serious cult episode, written in Israel, that takes a turn into French law and - *boop* - My Boy Bill pops up, somehow defending cultism.

My brain registers these bizarre juxtapositions as "Wha-wha-wha..?!?" The actual position Bill took on cultism doesn't jar me nearly as hard as him just showing up in the piece, since I already know, nowadays, he also gives these self-help tours with the likes of Tony Robbins.

But do you see what I'm getting at, about it messing with my head? Come on. Think about it this way:

Montel Willaims and Sylvia Browne are pulling scams together, too.

But see that kinda makes sense, because he's a sleazy talk show host and she's a scumbag "psychic", right? They go together. Now does that same kind of symmetry occur, in your mind, when it's the President of the United States and a motherf*cking motivational speaker? I short out.

And when you've got Bill and Hillary quoting their "friend", Ken "The Theory of Everything" Wilber, plus the now-Secretary of State's past episode of hanging out with NewAge "psychics" in the White House,...well, you get what I'm saying, about some context making his political position more predictable than his presence, in a french debate? Billary's for freedom: surprise. Do I believe them? Nope.

Which brings us to the meaning of freedom. To me, using a defense of liberty to defend cult behavior - where brainwashing has definitely been used - is perverted. No surprise there, this being Bill Clinton's advocacy we're talking about. The man who told everyone Monica Lewinsky was a crazy stalker when it became apparent she thought those secret trips to the Oval Office bathroom could lead to something more. Yea, he can be trusted to help sort things out correctly. Seriously. I'm not kidding.

Everyone knows the man's a pro.

We Can't "Move On" Because We're Still Here

"He'll say, 'Let's just forget about this and move on.' And you can't just forget and pretend like the last few years didn't happen."

Wyntergrace Williams, talking about her absentee father, Montel Williams - and how he employs typical NewAge strategies when she does see him - which (surprise, surprise) don't appear to be working, in The New York Daily News.

Look at that face. And see the cross dangling around his neck? O.K., I just wanted to make sure we're on the same page about who we're dealing with here.

I've written several times about NewAgers imploring others to "move on" after they've hurt them, but this quote is golden because Montel is such a sleaze (and he's so closely associated with that "psychic" slime, Sylvia Browne, who also closely links him - whether he or she likes it or not - with "the mother of NewAge", that walking skullface, the one and only Louise Hay) it's just such a pleasure to see he's following the script to-the-letter - even with his kids.

That's the commitment of the bullshit artist, writ large.

And it appears Montel is full-time a bullshit artist. According to Wyntergrace, along with giving his kid an absurd name (with an even more absurd spelling) this man, who holds himself up as a role model for others, also engages in the very non-NewAge pastime of screaming at her, with his poor dear daughter asking, "Why should I talk if I'm just going to get yelled at?" (Sounds to me like somebody's not trying to bring much "harmony" to the household,...) But how could he not yell? The man's been "married" - you know: that thing you publicly promise a spouse and the community you're doing, once, forever? - well, Montel's done it three times. He must care about others so much it hurts.

Why, based on what his kids have to say - he's also got a son, imaginatively named MonteI, Jr. - I betcha Montel Williams risks losing it every time he has to look in the mirror. I betcha. I betcha he even has to force himself to take that look. I know I would.

That is, if I was as big of a scumbag as Montel.

THIS Is The Real Countrywide Scandal

"Famous psychic Sylvia Browne made numerous predictions at the end of 2008 about what would happen in 2009,...To put it bluntly, Ms. Browne failed miserably."

Charles McAlpin, chronicling the hair-brained guesses of that woman who looks like a baseball mitt - and never once mentioning Montel's role in publicizing her - because the rest of the media accepts this crap being foisted on us (and making them rich) except for The Examiner.

Uh-Oh: Kim Jong-Il Is, Like, Really Ill

So, as we all should know by now (don't we?) Kim Jong-Il reportedly has had a stroke, or died, depending on who's talking. What nobody's talking about - but should be of grave concern to us all - is what happens next:

Just like people (myself included) are predicting a very-negative reaction if the "Cult Of Obama" isn't satisfied this November, the people of North Korea are going to have a very-difficult time understanding how the sun came up if they discover there's no pudgy, bouffant-hairdoed, Yoko Ono-styled-aviator glasses-wearing, jumpsuited "Dear Leader", in elevator shoes, to make it happen.


In The Know: Kim Jong-Il's Approval Rating Plummets to 120%

No, seriously, this could get really ugly: I write a lot about the cults, and cultish strains, running through the western world, but the idea of an entire nation of radical "eastern" whackjobs, finally unhinged from their crazy belief system, is terrifying - and has the potential to cause a lot of trouble for the countries on their border. It's enough to make me feel sorry for China.

What's going to happen? I don't know. Depends on how long the regime can keep a secret (so far, so good) and how they handle it from there. Who knows: maybe they can convince the morons somebody else is The Sun King.

I'm using a lot of stuff from The Onion here, but don't laugh Democrats and NewAgers: you look just like these guys, but with a different set of fetishes. You flock to Barry, and Oprah, and Sylvia, without thinking, wore the robes of the Rajneesh, and still do everything the bogus Maharishi said (meditation, anyone?) and on and on and on. You're a bunch of freaks.

And really: it's not funny. (LOL)