Terry Hall @bizsayer

With so many people are not working in regular jobs, many are turning to “self employment” or starting a business. In my opinion, starting a business out of desperation is like renting out a place you can’t sell or getting married because your pregnant.

The answer is… One that works!

Seems that Godaddy’s proprietary hosting dashboard has been hacked again. I love godaddy for domain registration and provocatively entertaining videos… Godaddy’s Shared and VPN hosting sucks (that’s a technical term by the way) for dynamic and php sites (WordPress, Joomla, etc).

• http://wordpress.org/support/topic/422548 (opens new window)
• http://premium.wpmudev.org/forums/topic/wpmu-site-hacked (opens new window)

Yep, the victims that lived and the families of the deceased have to wait until 2011 for James Ray’s day in court… I guess having the trial going on the one year anniversary of the deaths in Sedona is NOT great timing…

LMAO – When I read the headline “Dems get the Big Dog” to help in midterm election fund raising, I couldn’t help my free association with Bill Clintons sexing around. Bravo CNN…. http://twiturl.biz/2p

Today, I’m grateful for my good friends. You know the ones that accept you unconditionally and show it…. The friends who you communicate more completely when sitting together silently than most people do when they are talking.

When you realize that the God you’re looking for resides within.

Video Report: 2010 Gulf Oil Spill Looks Like same disaster different century…

Twilight Zone Stuff.

As a person who has NOT been kind in my posts and comments about James Ray’s and his Sedona actions, I regularly receive email and comments from James Ray supporters and fans who feel I am judging Ray harshly, wrongly and maliciously. This post is to the people in the James Ray Camp. Specifically I want to paint a different picture that may well have kept James Ray out of jail.

In this picture we will assume, as James Ray’s lawyers and PR people are stating, the deaths in Sedona were a “tragic accident”, but not criminal. If indeed this were true I propose an alternate sequence of possible events.

Reports out of Sedona on October 8 & 9 would have been something like:

• Speaker James Arthur Ray, presently at the hospital consoling his customers was heroic last night after after an tragic accident sent several people to the hospital and left 2 dead.
• Ray used his satellite phone to call authorities immediately upon seeing people were injured.
• In these initial reports, it would have been stated that “several people fell ill” during a sweat lodge. When authorities and emergency crews arrived on scene, Ray & his staff were tending to those who were ill. Rendering CPR, first aid and comfort.
• It’s would have been reported that the JRI staff have contacted the family members and emergency contacts of all seminar participants and informed this what happened, the status of their loved ones well being and which hospital they may be located.
• Ray has personally contacted the families of those who died and with the worst injuries and offered them comfort and offered to fly them to Arizona to be with their loved ones.
• In a statement from Ray’s PR Firm, he is canceling his events until he is certain he has done all he can. JRI will reschedule them as quickly as possible. Ray will be personally attending the funeral services for those who died and offering his full support during the grief process. Ray personally request your prayers and support.
• Ray has been and will continue to personally work with Yavapai County Authorities to investigate this tragic accident. According to YCSO Ray has personally facilitated the investigation by officials.
• Seminar participant Beverly Bunn, an Ophthalmologist and Medical Doctor commented on how well prepared the JRI staff was. She stated her admiration to James Ray and supporting participants to ensure their needs were met. Bunn also commented that if weren’t for James Ray’s preparedness & actions, there may have been more injuries or deaths.

This would have been in the initial reports. Followed by pictures of Ray at the hospital, working with the survivors, several press conferences and interviews on Oprah & Larry King.

BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT HAPPENED, IS IT?

Ray probably would have had to cancel the 2 free events the week following the Sedona Events and would have held his paid event the following weekend in San Diego AS A HERO.

Had this happened or anything similar James Arthur Ray who would be the hero and James Shore may be alive and not a posthumous hero. To those who feel I am judging Ray harshly, unfairly and unjustly, all I can say is go look at the pictures of James Shore’s children and widow who lost their father and husband due to the actions of James Ray.

The irony is, had Ray acted with love and compassion for others, he would have made millions more in sells and been a media sensation again.

Instead, James Ray did what he did. He acted (and still acts) to cover his own ass and protect his self-help business. James Ray’s actions led directly to his incarceration. When James Ray lawyered up October 8 and stopped directly speaking to investigators, he acted like a guilty man with something to hide.

Of course it came out very quickly about the death of Colleen Conaway in San Diego about 10 weeks earlier and the Ray & JRI’s cover-up of this incident was one of the main reasons the YCSO bumped the investigation from an accident to negligent homicide.

Guest Post/Commentary Published By Request from “Write On”

Hi Terry,

I don’t know how to add a comment to your Blog, can you post this? Or at least answer, or both? Thanks bunches! And keep on writing Terry!

Wow! This is the most comprehensive information I have found on the whole James Ray (and the seminar / self-help/ coaching industry … all in one place. Great job! And good for Amy for following her conscience right out the door of JRI.

I have a question for you – didn’t you attend seminars that were with a company built on the foundation of EST, called Landmark, or something like that? I remember having a conversation with you and another person in that group. You were very into the whole scene at the time. I was not. You were engaged in “enrolling” people for the group. Have you had a change of mind/heart? Correct me if I’m wrong. Actually, I bet you have no problem setting the record straight at you see it – I mean that as a compliment to your inner core of strength!

You are not alone in your idea of the need to regulate the seminar/coaching/etc industry. And I agree! Not sure what kind of license could be required for seminars, but surely there must be a way to make it mandatory for people to show their actual training and credentials. And yes, if they are going to employ psychological therapy techniques, they should show they have the training/certification to do so. Perhaps “coaches” of any kind should be held to the same licensing laws as counselors?

I have a Master’s of Science degree in Psychology. Not a Master’s of Art. Science. I worked hard for that degree, and had a lot of supervision during and after my training. Every professional field has the burden of being marred by idiots within that field. Psychology is not exempt from this dilemma. Hence: licensure. Even so, there are licensed idiots out there causing havoc in people’s lives. So I wonder sometimes if it is really possible to fully regulate any field that claims to help others. Ultimately, people will have to regulate themselves when they sign up for an experience (whether it is free or they are paying an obscene $9000+). But how can they do that without FULL DISCLOSURE? Doesn’t seem the attendees of JRI have full disclosure, nor did they receive their “waiver” in a timely manner!

Your Blog offered lots of reading… I was horrified by the “waiver” JRI attendees sign… AFTER their 3 day refund period. Yikes!!! I have never used a Waiver. Therapists are required to carry Malpractice Insurance. Ya know… in case of MALPRACTICE, in which case, the therapist must be responsible to the injured person(s). Certainly I would never expect anyone to sign such a blatantly irresponsible Waiver like the one from JRI. Yep, I bet the Attendees that went, even after signing, surely never expected to be baked in a make-shift oven. Where are his real credentials to conduct a Sweat Lodge??

So that leaves me wondering…. How DO we empower others using our trained skills but NOT charge money in order to live? I don’t think you are advocating that people work for free. You are decrying the greed attached to many so-called self-help seminars and guru type businesses, right? I want to work to help others. You work to help others. We all need to be paid for our work and held accountable for what we do.

Keep writing! Thanks for all your hard work on your Blog!

Melinda Martin is named in the James Arthur Ray white papers. The documents were prepared by Ray’s legal council and states that Martin is wanting money from Ray. We asked Melinda if it was true. Here’s what she said.

1. Melinda Martin did ask JRI to provide her an attorney. JRI never responded.
2. Megan Fredrickson filed a worker’s compensation claim for Melinda Martin without Martin’s knowledge. Martin learned of this when contacted for an interview about her disability. Martin declined Worker’s Compensation. Martin does not have a worker’s compensation lawyer.
3. Martin has not requested monetary compensation from JRI.
4. Martin has not received compensation from any of the news interviews where she has appeared.
5. Melinda Martin was trained in CPR.

As James Ray’s possible indictment looms near and the Death Ray Defense unfolds, I’m amazed by my naivety. I’m in my late 40s and still feel our legal system should be about what’s right and the truth and not some Golden Rule of Justice (he with the Gold gets the justice).

My wife Amy Hall worked for James Ray for almost 2 years. Like so many people, she wanted to believe that James Arthur Ray was a man who practiced what he preached. Amy worked for Ray to help people have a better and more fulfilled life. After James Ray killed 4 people during his self-help seminars, she realized that all he cared about was making money. Amy is questioning everything about what happened and why it happened. Amy is especially angry as she watches James Ray working so hard to cover his own ass instead of “transforming the planet” as he claimed he wanted to do.

At this time, Amy is not accepting any media requests.

My personal note on the matter. If these deaths were really an accident, why is James Arthur Ray acting so much like John Gotti? According to the twitter quotebots: James Arthur Ray is credited with saying “The content of your thoughts and personal beliefs can be proven by a single indicator – your current results.” Mr Ray, based on your current results, your thoughts and personal beliefs all point to the fact that you know your actions directly caused the deaths of 4 people and the deaths were not accidental.