Sunday, March 24, 2013

The Coldwell Revolution: Lunacy, Lechery, Sovereignty


Earlier this month, Not-Doctor Leonard Coldwell, the former Bernd Klein, aka Bernd Witchner, our un-favorite German import, fired yet another shot at his critics. Not content with calling those who disagree with him stupid and ignorant, or diagnosing them with all sorts of mental illnesses (generally using outdated labels for the various disorders), or accusing them of being criminals/former prostitutes/shills for Big Pharma, he has now decreed that his critics are "jealous, impotent losers." The screen shot above was taken from one of little Lenny's Facebook comments on March 15, 2013. It is apparently intended to make his critics swoon with envy over Lenny's popularity with the ladies.


Are y'all envious yet? Me neither.

The pic on the left, with the two brunettes, was actually taken at a Global Information Network (GIN) event in early 2012. That was back when Lenny was still b.f.f.s with serial scammer Kevin Trudeau. The pic on the right shows Lenny with two of his current female enablers. The young woman on the left of the pic (Lenny's right) is one of Lenny's personal assistants, Amy Chappell;
for her pathetic testimony and the story of how she renounced her family and dedicated her life to Saint Lenny, see here. The woman on the right of the pic is nutrition "expert" and former Miss Earth Australia Liana Werner-Gray. Here is one of several videos of Lenny and Liana.

Lenny appears to be fond of using young women as props, perhaps to shore up his sagging ego and convince the world (and himself) that he's a player. (The other thing he often does to prove his manliness is make fun of gay people, according to reports from several people who have attended his live events.) At about 4:51 in the above-linked vid with Liana, who is in her mid-twenties, Lenny says to her, "To be honest, I [have] reached a point in my life where I don't really care to be 100% the fittest and the trimmest. You, you, you have your emphasis in life on different points. And, uh, I still have beautiful friends like you in my life -- so it's not really -- um -- what I focus on any more is to look like Rambo. I just want to feel good, I just want to be as healthy and fit and energized as I can be..."

Translation: "I've let my body go to seed, but I can still surround myself with young hotties so I can look studly and virile."

My sense is that nobody who really does any research into Lenny is buying into the studly posturing. (And those who are aware of
various unpleasant allegations about him may find that posturing particularly repugnant.) The fawning comments on his Facebook pages are clearly from fans, followers and wannabes. For instance, look at the comments on this photo, taken at a February 7, 2012 GIN event:



At first I wondered why Lenny didn't use that photo as well on his March 15 post, in order to make the "impotent losers" even more jealous, but then I realized that Lenny's whole objective in writing the March 15 post was to glorify himself. In the "rockin' pink" photo he has to share the spotlight with another man.

And that other guy is none other than Lenny's twelve-years-younger half brother, Jens Wilhelm Anskohl, not-quite-world-famous poker player, reportedly a ladies' man in his own right, and on record as Lenny's business partner in several enterprises. Jens sometimes goes by the name Nicholas Coldwell; a friend of mine got his business card at a GIN event a couple of years ago, and sent me a snapshot of it. (Oddly enough, this person swore to me that Nicholas had been introduced to their group as Lenny's nephew, but most folks seem to agree that Jens/Nicholas is Lenny's brother.)


Jens/Nicholas is, as I noted, also partners with Lenny in several businesses, including a phony church, the Church of Inner Healing. Though the mailing address of the Church of Inner Healing is in South Carolina, it is registered in Nevada.




I noticed that The Church of Inner Healing was set up in 2009, the same year that GIN began. Apparently 2009 was a big, big year for Lenny. Besides GIN, it was the year that Lenny got into social media big time. He joined Facebook on January 25, 2009. He set up his Myspace page in March 2009, and filled his photo album with pictures labeled, "Dr. Leonard Coldwell Speaches (sic)", as well as semi-literate captions such as this one: "Celebrated by the world Dr. Coldwells speach lets Freedom Ring was broadcasted all over the world by clearchannel radio." Or this one, where he describes himself as a "Renouned Key not speaker":

Want more? Be my guest. But hurry, before he reads this and takes it all down.

Around the same time he set up the Myspace page, Lenny
also set up a page on a social media site called Mingle City, which actually seems to be more oriented towards African Americans. Apparently not wanting to be mistaken for one of "those people," however, he lists his nationality as "White." Not "German." Not "Naturalized US citizen." But "White." He doesn't appear to be trolling for booty on that site; he describes himself as "very happily married," and is clearly promoting his "cancer expert" shtick rather than his more studly qualities.



But of all of the social media sites, Facebook is the one Lenny has really chosen to focus on to spread his rants and actionable lies, including, of course, those he told about me. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't have quite as large an audience on Facebook as he might have hoped, since he has felt obligated to block so many people. He has blocked and deleted virtually everyone who has criticized him or even questioned or mildly challenged him. He seems to be a very paranoid little man.

Meanwhile, he continues to push his lunacy on the wingnut-conspiracy fronts. He and Peter Wink are still hosting their "anti-tyranny" conference calls, in which Loony Lenny spouts off every conspiracy cliche imaginable. They just hosted another one last Thursday evening, March 21, and have yet another one scheduled for March 28. That one will be devoted to the topic of brainwashing, or, more specifically, how to rid yourself of the evil influence of the mainstream media and loved ones who don't support you in your mission to put money into scammers' pockets. If you're interested in calling in, it will be on Thursday, March 28, 2013, at 8:00 PM Central Time, 9:00 PM Eastern. The number is 1-805-399-1200, and the access code is 966807. I don't know if you'll actually be able to participate or ask questions, or if you are only allowed to listen.

The calls, of course, are merely a recruiting tool for Winkwell's IBMS Master's Society scam, which I wrote about
here and here. So be prepared for that, if you're thinking of calling in.

On March 22, Lenny posted a video that covered some of the main topics discussed on the March 21 phone call. It is a classic example of Lenny looniness; you owe it to yourself to watch it. Among other things, Lenny puts Obama and other politicians on notice that "we the people" are coming after them with guns, but will be doing so lawfully. Lenny also makes reference to a citizen-formed "Grand Jury" of 27 people, who will "lawfully" indict Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and others for the crime of treason. Though he was no doubt inspired by the rants of the
Citizens Grand Jury movement, he's just peddling more bullsh-t. All of those "Citizen Grand Jury" things are political stunts and pseudo-legal entities, and their actions have never held up in any court. Here's one article on Snopes, regarding some Citizen Grand Jury hysteria: http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/indicted.asp

Still, his little vid is good for a few laughs. So pop up some popcorn, pour yourself a beer or other beverage of choice, and settle back for some rich entertainment from our favorite lunatic, pretend-ladies' man, and not-doctor. Here's the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vCCw-8a8qGc

You can also get to it by clicking on the pic below. (I did not embed the video in this post.) Not surprisingly, comments are disabled on this video, as they are on most of "Dr." C's vids.


Lenny and Peter are still planning on holding
their millionaire-militia meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina on May 25-26. They'll be teaching people how to become a millionaire, how to be healthy, how to rid their lives of useless people, and how to use guns and knives to defend their sovereignty against government agents and other authorities. Originally the event was listed at $199, but it is now down to $49.99. If you join the IBMS Master's Society scam for only $499, though, you can get in for free. Apparently certain attractive young women and selected followers and supporters of Lenny can also get in free. And if a one-day seminar isn't enough "Dr." C time for you, you can buy a VIP dinner with Lenny and pals for $199 ($299 for a couple). A three-course dinner and soft drinks are included. I guess if you want booze, though, that will be on you. (No doubt, a lot of booze will be in "Dr." C.)

In addition, people who join the IBMS Master's Society scam will be able to participate in an "initiation ceremony" that will render them a "fully functioning Sovereign."


Keep that popcorn popping, because the entertainment -- maybe "Len-tertainment' would be a better word -- shows no sign of letting up any time soon.

PS ~ I know I've linked to this before, but here again is a 2012 report on the Sovereign Citizens' Movement, from which Lenny and Peter have apparently borrowed heavily for their politically oriented IBMS Master's Society scam "teachings":
http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/combating-hate/Lawless-Ones-2012-Edition-WEB-final.pdf

Related to the above, and to the shtick that Winkwell are promoting via IBMS Master's Society scam: http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Freeman_on_the_land

UPDATE, 24 February 2014
I know that you Godly types will be really, really sorry to hear this, but as of this 20 February, 2014 Bizapedia update, it appears that the Church of Inner Healing, LLC, along with several of Loony's other business interests, have been dissolved. This doesn't mean that the Church of Inner Healing, Loony Version, is totally dead or that it won't pop up in another form somewhere else. Actually it still lives, at least as a creepy web page. But the organization listed on Bizpedia has gone poof. Here's the link to the latest listing, as well as a screen shot (click to enlarge).





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Friday, March 08, 2013

Ryan Kath at KSHB-TV does Trudeau/GIN update, Coldwell & Wink continue to scam with cheap imitation of GIN



By now you may have seen that award-winning investigative journalist
Ryan Kath at KSHB-TV (the Kansas City, Missouri NBC affiliate) has done an update on serial scammer Kevin Trudeau and Trudeau's scammy, Ponzi-like Global Information Network (GIN). Here is the link. Or click on the picture above. I am not embedding the video in this post, but you can watch the video and read the accompanying news story by clicking the links I have provided.

The big development is that Illinois federal judge Robert Gettleman has ordered Trudeau to appear at an evidentiary hearing on May 21. That means an in-person appearance. Trudeau supposedly has to drag his own physical self into that court room and appear before the judge. Here is the document (click on pic to enlarge):


That's just one of numerous recent court documents related to this case. The notorious Not-Doctor Lenny Coldwell was sharing all of them on his site for a while, but has recently quit doing that, and I'm thinking it's because he wants to make it appear that he has exclusive access to information that the rest of us can't easily get. As in, I know something you don't know. Neener, neener, neener. But, as I've mentioned here before, just about anyone in the United States can access these docs by signing up with the Pacer.gov case search site. Once registered, search for Case NO. 1:03-cv-03904: FTC v. Trudeau, et al., Robert W. Gettleman presiding. You do have to pay a nominal per-page fee for the documents.

Ryan Kath deserves credit and admiration for being one of the few TV journalists who has given Trudeau any attention at all in recent years, and certainly the first TV journo that I know of to tackle GIN. There's been plenty of online criticism of GIN, which seemed like a so-obvious-as-to-be-ludicrous scam to many of us -- I've been blogging about it since late 2009 myself -- but there have precious few mentions on TV. (Psst! National news shows, where in blazes are y'all?)

Actually, I know where they probably are. The investigative journalists who really care about people getting scammed are having to fight the powers-that-be who are all too cognizant of the ad revenues from Scamworld. They don't want to piss off their infomercial kings and queens too much.

Ryan aired his first investigative piece on
November 12, 2012. The person who started that ball rolling is Kansas City resident and ex-GIN member Abe Husein. Abe says he spent about $30,000 in GIN and didn't get the results he expected. Eventually it dawned on him that -- duh -- Kevin Trudeau is a scammer and GIN is a scam. Alas, although Abe and some of his greatest supporters (perhaps "groomers" would be a better word) -- particularly Lenny Coldwell -- predicted that this one investigative news story would mark the absolute end of GIN, that didn't happen. But it was a good story anyway, as even Salty Droid acknowledged in this December post.

Ryan's update aired on the evening of March 7, the very same date that Lenny Coldwell and his brother-in-harms, Peter Wink, hosted yet another teleconference to rally the troops against tyranny (using their own definition of tyranny), to share their wacko conspiracy-nut stuff, and, of course, to pitch their latest scam venture, the IBMS Master's Society. Here's one of several Facebook promos for this momentous phone call (as usual, click to enlarge):


A few of my friends listened in, and one wrote, "Amy [Chappell] couldn't even get through her intro without stumbling over all the absurd lies she was forced to read." Another said, "I only lasted ten minutes, my bullsh-t meter started smoking and I had to go out and get some fresh air." Someone else wrote, "Peter Wink is not really one to rally the troops, and he is using his PC mic or his home VOIP phone because the quality is awful." (See PS.)

But I suppose it doesn't matter, because Peter and Lenny, according to Peter and Lenny, are so popular it's scary!
And the more negative press they get, the more popular they get. According to Peter and Lenny.

Amusingly, Lenny Coldwell is still crowing about his former b.f.f.'s impending downfall, despite the fact that he and Peter are trying to pull the same kind of scam as GIN, but on a slightly smaller scale. Omri Shabat on the Glancing Web blog
said it quite concisely:
The GIN is dead, long live the IBMS!... the scam is the scam, the victims are the victims and the Trudeau is the Coldwell.
Yeah, that's pretty much my thinking, as noted at great length on my "Meet the new scam, same as the old scam" mini-series: here and here.

And
here's Bernie on GINtruth with yet another riff on IBMS. Bernie has accepted the little Teutonic twerp's "$100,000 challenge" to produce evidence that other people and organizations are getting even remotely the same "results" that the IBMS Master's Society scam is getting. Lenny bases his ludicrous claims about results on the dubious "testimonials" that appear on the IBMS Master's Society scam Web page -- many of which were written in response to various live Lenny events, and one of which even praised Kevin Trudeau.

So these "testimonials" were emphatically not all about the new IBMS Master's Society scam, and to define these giddy and in some cases semi-literate strokes to Lenny and Peter's egos as "results" is
either disingenuous or daft, or both. Here are just some of these stupendous "results":


But perhaps I digress. I really do hope Ryan Kath continues to stay on the GIN story, and I believe he will. But frankly, I'm not holding my breath waiting for the end of GIN and Kevin Trudeau's scamming days. A lot can happen between now and May 21. And even if GIN and Trudeau go down for good, the big sick machine of Scamworld will roll on and on and on.


PS ~ For sheer Lenny looniness, here's a link to the playback of the March 7 conference call. That's 72 minutes and 37 seconds you'll never get back. But time spent laughing until you pee yourself can be, I suppose, therapeutic.


More True-dough (and Lenny) on this Whirled:


  • March 2013: Coldwell and Wink target vulnerable women with IBMS Master's Society "coaching"
  • February 2013: Kevin Trudeau's GIN: The sky is falling (again)...yawn
  • February 2013: Loony Coldwell: Cheesy video and bad spelling
  • February 2013: IBMS Master's Society Supreme Loony Coldwell strikes again
  • February 2013: Faux heroes and hypocrisy in action
  • February 2013: Meet the new scam, same as the old scam, Part 2
  • January 2013: Vital signs: "Immortal" (former) breatharian Mony Vital dies on GIN cruise
  • January 2013: Meet the new scam, same as the old scam, Part 1
  • December 2012: 2012 ~ The Whirled goes on
  • November 2012: Kevin Trudeau: justice delayed...again
  • November 2012: Kevin Trudeau exposé on KSHB-TV: buzz, backlash, and big beginnings
  • November 2012: Alien nation: just how crazy is Kevin Trudeau (not to mention his sheeple)?
  • November 2012: Kevin Trudeau: KSHB-TV undercover investigation
  • November 2012: Kevin Trudeau gets some more mainstream lovin'
  • October 2012: Evil has not won
  • October 2012: Kevin Trudeau: Rats in our heads, GIN down the toilet...and life goes on
  • October 2012: Kevin Trudeau: The shape of things to come?
  • September 2012: Leonard Coldwell and Fred Van Liew: Pot, meet kettle
  • August 2012: Truth is better than GIN any day
  • July 2012: Drunk on GIN, and you can too!
  • July 2012: Kevin Trudeau's GIN: part of the big sick machine
  • July 2012: Independence Daze
  • May 2012 (updated September 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 (amended several times in 2010): 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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    Click here to donate via PayPal or debit/credit card.
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    Monday, March 04, 2013

    Coldwell and Wink target vulnerable women with IBMS Master's Society "coaching"

    “Will you step into my parlor?” said the spider to the fly;
    “’Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy.
    The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,
    And I have many pretty things to show when you are there.”
     

    Can you say "blatant targeting of vulnerable women," boys and girls? The above screen shot apparently was posted recently on the Facebook page of one of
    Not-Doctor Leonard Coldwell's proteges, business partners, and fellow freedom fighters, Abe Husein. It was also shared by a Facebook participant who calls himself Jared Schlehuber, not to be confused with the baseball player. Here's that one:


    But apparently Peter didn't post this on his own page.

    Now, given that
    the IBMS Master's Society is run by "Supreme Partners" Peter Wink and Lenny Coldwell, can anybody write a brief essay on why this type of relationship "coaching" is a really, really bad idea?

    Here is a link to get you started.

    From what I have seen, Lenny has a penchant for targeting women who are in circumstances that render them particularly vulnerable -- e.g., young, naive, inexperienced, abused, lonely, self-esteem-challenged, or emotionally unbalanced in some way. Or perhaps married, with children whose welfare the women feel they must protect at all costs. Many seem to be in some way susceptible to his manipulation, and intimidated by his threats regarding what he will do if they "tell."

    I have to wonder why this post by Peter Wink, if it is in any way well-intentioned, is targeted to women. After all, many men are in abusive relationships too -- relationships in which they are abused emotionally or even physically by their intimate partner, whether that partner is a woman or a gay male lover. (Lenny likes to make fun of gays, though, according to reports from people who have been to some of his live events. Whether that's a cover-up for latent tendencies or just ugly prejudice is anyone's guess.)

    Frankly, this is one of the most blatant and disgusting posts ever written in the short time that the IBMS Master's Society scam has been in operation.

    But it is not really surprising. After all, look at one of the scheme's poster children, Amy Chappell, whose big contribution to the IBMS franchise and the Lenny Coldwell mythos seems to be a series of heartfelt confesstimonials* about "the ones who have to go." In Amy's case, the ones who had to go from her life were, at one time, her parents --
    see this September 2012 presentation -- although apparently she now has a surrogate momma, whom she met at Lenny's horsey camp in January 2013. In a testimonial on one of the horsey camp videos, Surrogate Momma referred to Amy as "my baby." (Note: Previously I erroneously referred to this woman as Amy's mother, but apparently Amy really has abandoned her birth parents in favor of the Coldwell cult.)
     


    But I digress. By posting that Facebook link targeting women, Peter has, in my opinion, taken another giant step towards proving that he has no conscience,
    despite his earlier attempts to paint himself as a heroic advocate for women (particularly single moms). Call me naive, but even at this point, I would have thought better of him.

    And now, dear little children, who may this story read,
    To idle, silly, flattering words, I pray you ne’er give heed;
    Unto an evil counselor close heart, and ear, and eye,
    And take a lesson from this tale of the Spider and the Fly.

    PS ~ If you really are in an abusive relationship, there are many other resources to which you can turn. If you are in the US or Puerto Rico, start here.

    PPS added 5 March 2013: Will the exploitation never end? A friend of mine just alerted me to the fact that Peter Wink posted the targeted IBMS promo on a Facebook page for abused women, the Battered Women's Legal Advocacy Project. Fortunately, as you'll see, his comment was countered by someone who provided this very useful link.




    PPPS added 6 March 2013: Bernie weighs in on "Unqualified therapists looking for young, abused women."

    * Props to Salty Droid for coining the word "confesstimonials."



    More True-dough (and Lenny) on this Whirled:



  • February 2013: Kevin Trudeau's GIN: The sky is falling (again)...yawn
  • February 2013: Loony Coldwell: Cheesy video and bad spelling
  • February 2013: IBMS Master's Society Supreme Loony Coldwell strikes again
  • February 2013: Faux heroes and hypocrisy in action
  • February 2013: Meet the new scam, same as the old scam, Part 2
  • January 2013: Vital signs: "Immortal" (former) breatharian Mony Vital dies on GIN cruise
  • January 2013: Meet the new scam, same as the old scam, Part 1
  • December 2012: 2012 ~ The Whirled goes on
  • November 2012: Kevin Trudeau: justice delayed...again
  • November 2012: Kevin Trudeau exposé on KSHB-TV: buzz, backlash, and big beginnings
  • November 2012: Alien nation: just how crazy is Kevin Trudeau (not to mention his sheeple)?
  • November 2012: Kevin Trudeau: KSHB-TV undercover investigation
  • November 2012: Kevin Trudeau gets some more mainstream lovin'
  • October 2012: Evil has not won
  • October 2012: Kevin Trudeau: Rats in our heads, GIN down the toilet...and life goes on
  • October 2012: Kevin Trudeau: The shape of things to come?
  • September 2012: Leonard Coldwell and Fred Van Liew: Pot, meet kettle
  • August 2012: Truth is better than GIN any day
  • July 2012: Drunk on GIN, and you can too!
  • July 2012: Kevin Trudeau's GIN: part of the big sick machine
  • July 2012: Independence Daze
  • May 2012 (updated September 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 (amended several times in 2010): 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

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

    scrivener66@hotmail.com
    or to
    cosmic.connie@juno.com
    If PayPal, be sure to specify that your contribution is a gift. Thank you!