Alleged cult's worst nightmare: a guy with nothing to lose
You sure haven't read any of this in The Saratogian, have you?
Support real journalism: pay for it
Saratoga Springs --- The most interesting Capital Region media story of the past year has been the ongoing battle royal between Saratoga native John Tighe and NXIVM, the controversial group that offers 'ethical humanitarian' personal coaching and seminars through its related Executive Success Programs. A number of critics (and former members) allege that the Saratoga county-based organization's practices qualify as cult-like.
Tighe, through his local affairs blog Saratoga In Decline, waded into these waters in pursuit of an alleged connection between NXIVM and the Democrats for Change political insurgency mob in his hometown. While that direct link remains at least partially unresolved, the eye opening, sordid history of the NXIVM gang became too much for Tighe to ignore, and he has since devoted the majority of his investigative reporting efforts to leading the ever-increasing worldwide media scrutiny against the group.
Each day promises a new round of "you can't make this stuff up" allegations on his site, with full doses of intrigue, including salacious allegations of fraud, sexual deviancy, child kidnapping, murder, brainwashing, harassment, dirty tricks, extortion, duped heiresses, courtroom battles, betrayal, money laundering, tax evasion, the Dalai Lama, hired goons .... hell, this stuff makes one's head spin. Mr Tighe is more than happy to do that spinning.
But churning out regular bites of this Made for Hollywood plot is not cheap, as Tighe incurs considerable expenses for everything from travel costs to court reporting subscriptions to phone bills for talking with his sources to more.
Those interested in supporting this type of attack dog journalism -- which is rapidly disappearing form the playbook of traditional media -- should SERIOUSLY consider making a small donation to his efforts. You can do so by tossing a few bucks at him through the proper button on his site. I did, and I am not scared to admit it!
Front and center to this story is the group's philosophical guru, one Keith Raniere , known within the loyal tribe as the Vanguard. A mysterious fellow --- with a supposed propensity for midnight volleyball games, brunette sex partners, making outrageous personal accomplishment claims and investing other people's fortunes in failed commodities & real estate schemes -- the man behind a past multi-level marketing enterprise that was shut down by agreement with various state authorities provides an interesting counterpoint figure to our local blogmaster.
So, in the spirit of properly framing this Mano A Mano face off, I present the Tale of the Tape between contestants Keith Raniere and John Tighe:
17 comments:
Funny as Shee-et. How much for the bobble dolls?
Nano,
You are very funny.
Linking to John's blog is another way to support him also.
http://saratogaindecline.blogspot.com
You both should check out Google Ad Sense for your sites.
Journalism has moved online for sure.
Funny. Nominate Jeff Bridges to play John and Woody Allen to play Raniere in the film.
Seriously, John really could be saving lives and really is putting his own at risk.
I love Saratogaindecline. Poor John has put up w/ a lot-weird guy going through his bag at the pool (the other pool goers who all knew John had his back), his glove compartment with stuff over the seat several times, people peeping in his apartment and then pushing their car out of the parking lot w/ the lights out, weird people sitting with his family at church, being questioned by police for being a terrorist, Pam Nichols jumping out to hand deliver a threatening leeter as John came home from a church picnic etc. He is a home grown hero. We love him! The guy in the basement with a blog and nothing to lose is, indeed, a nightmare for someone!
Yea Jeff Bridges is perfect for John's part.
But how about a grubbed-up Johnny Depp for Raniere?
When they make the movie, the casting director must sign Charlie Sheen for the Vanguard role. Jeff Bridges IS the ideal John.
The interesting ones will also be:
Steve Coffey -- Dom Deluise? Jason Alexander? Danny Devito?
The Bronfman sisters: Louise Dreyfus and Melissa Rivers
Daili Lama: Jackie Chan
Nancy Salzman: Rosanne Barr
It seems like everyone has taken its best shot at this group: ex-members, scorned gf's, court room litigants, Rick Ross, cult experts, many media outlets of influence, bloggers.
But nothing has really happened to stop them. Sure, maybe all the web pages call up the many unflattering remarks when a prospective seminar student is investigating, but that's about it.
The question is WHY NOT?
There are a few possible answers:
1) Maybe the long arm of nxivm influence has made its way into some of the authorities. We've seen proof of that when it was discovered that the so-called cult 'legal liaison' was actually working in a DA's office.
2) Maybe some of the BIG power players are loyalists to Raniere and nxivm; maybe they drank the ESP Kool Aid?
Go read the NY Times piece on the 'Cuomo Dynasty' a few momths back, which wrote about the interplay between father and son.
In it, we learn of son Andrew's struggles in dealing with Dad's election upset. The solution? The story says it included "personal development training". Hmmmmmm?
3) The group's history of
"Litigate 'til They Drop" -- backed by the endless funds of you-know-who -- might scare off any DA. They might ask themselves: "can I really afford to tie up 3/4 of my staff while I also have people getting murdered in the streets?"
The legal war chest is so deep, that it might even raise the same question at the NYS AG's level.
If anything happens, it will likely be a tax issue: hiding money, not filing, un-reported income, laundering, etc. The IRS has the manpower to fight them.
So, if anyone has such ammo, feed it to these Fed Revenue authorities.
Any other direction might be a waste of timr.
I wanna be the casting director for choosing the brain dead cult girls! Send 'em over, Holiday Inn, Room 306
Also:
Kyra Sedgewick as Sara
Don Rickles as Steve Coffey. Is Don Rickles still alive?
Kristin Kreuk as Kristin Kreuk
John Goodman as Keith Raniere, 5 years in the future and sitting in jail.
Security Update:
- Rogue Spider attack @ 6:45PM EST
From the Site Traffic log:
- We see that someone in a certain building in Clifton Park got a new iPad. What a gift!
Nice to see you back on the NXIVM topic, and having John's back, to me he is a hero, a Superman, going were no man was willing to go, and I am putting my money were the support needs to go, to JT...Oh, and my vote to play VanFat is Danny DeVito, sorry Danny, you may need to chub up a bit for the part.
5:52 PM
Tuba raison, yes, you are comletely right.
Holy hell scary ain't it?
As you said IRS is the way to go, it's all there. Just a matter of homework, easy homework, extremely low hangin fruit. Just a matter of initiative, resolve. Not terribly hard, just takes resolve and a get her done attitudel.
Do you have connections? The trail is completely in the open. What did Deep Throat say during Watergate? "Follow the money" ......
Cuomo is busy and doing a good job. Let's do his homework for him on this one.
Today's Times Union newspaper reports that the NYS Attorny General might be FINALLY looking into the shenanigians.
Raniere's Consumers Buyline deemed a pyramid scheme years ago, and a non trial agreement resulted in its shutdown, a fine and an agreeemtn to never engage in a MLM practice again. The question now is whether NXIVM - ESP violates that agreement.
Raniere will likely walk free, however. He makes a habit of keeping his name off everything.
Shizzle
Great to see the support! The REAL news is happening off the grid, where appeasement is not needed and fast facts spread like wild fire! I love the romance of a Sunday morning news story, but let's get real... blogs trip along at record speed, and pay no mind to print cycles or special events. I mean seriously, if you are interested in a topic, do you care if its SuperBowl Sunday? You want the story, end of story, so bring it on.
God bless John T., and his dogged grit. That man is helping to uncover wrongs that run so old and so deep, it is impossible in one sitting to take it all in. Good work, y'all... see ya in a few ;-)
The INFO WAR has started.
NXIVM has launched a couter attack by unleashing a wave of phony blog posts, all of them singing the praises of the Executive Success Program.
Their goal? To replace search engine results that are exposing their evil ways.
Game on, suckers!
A Riot! HAHAHAHAHAHA
Check out the paper today. It appears Mr. Tighe may be in real trouble. Those who suffered through his lies and slander - and are NOT part of the alleged nxivm cult - are not unhappy about it.
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Search-darkens-blogger-s-website-4924458.php
Post a Comment