Archive for the ‘Society’ Category
Posted by Barry Pittard on July 2, 2010
This article continues from:
Relative Weightings of Allegation and Proof In Exposing Corrupt Institutions (Pt1)
Posted by Barry Pittard on June 29, 2010
Let us suppose that not all facts are uncovered. There are some distinct advantages of stating facts or clues such as they are understood at the time. One is dealing with a powerful institution bent on cover up. Excellent media investigations show how badly whistle-blowers and other dissenters who expose institutional corruption have been treated. The more one holds to telling the truth, the higher the price. But, then, truthfulness is deemed by many belief systems as priceless. It is therefore ironic to see the chasm of difference between preaching and practice.
One of the advantages of allegation (where it is not vexatious, defamatory and libelous) is that issues that are all too susceptible to dismissal and cover up can be brought out into the open. The unquestioning nature of human beings in general, so lamented for example by parents and teachers who make a stand for urbane attitudes of questioning, is badly exacerbated in the case of cultists. For example, the title of this blogsite is: Call For Media and Government Investigation of Sathya Sai Baba. That is to say, that the contentions of those who allege are under public scrutiny just as are those of an institution under question.
Repeatedly, media investigators and scholars who have tried to investigate Sathya Sai Baba and his international Sathya Sai Baba Organization. They have found that it is a monolith, strongly impervious to questioning – even my independent researchers no matter the excellence of their qualifications and note. As Sir Karl Popper has well described in his classic ‘The Open Society and its Enemies’, the foes of the open society are those who use its very openness to achieve their closed and devious ends.
A decided advantage of speaking out, even though one may not be in command of all material evidence, is that individuals who are well-positioned to know – or to ascertain more evidence – are then able to do their own sleuthing. Sometimes, this situation entails attempts, by the institutions, to further cover up trails, such as using threats to silence witnesses, hushing up leaders and rank-and-file members within their own midst, destroying paper trails or simply by letting crises blow over and attending to damage control by other means. See: ‘Secret Swami’ Cult Recruits At Prime Public Venues and The Quiet Weeding Out Of Sathya Sai Baba’s Embarrassing Statements
The additional evidence provided by strong allegations repeatedly confirms the sad experiences of those who had not thus known of, or at least heeded, the allegations.
Attackers of Sathya Sai Baba’s prominent critics do not face this fact. Without much stir from prominent critics, revelations concerning the turpitude of Sathya Sai Baba’s and certain of his leaders come to a head, sooner or later, in his centers round the world. Here, crises arise from revelations of abuses and anomalies which are uncovered in the centers themselves or in any corresponding center. Some centers have had professional, experienced psychological counselors, who have themselves led the exit from Sathya Sai Baba centers.
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The Public Petition
Information on the Public Petition for Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization
About the Petition For Official Investigation Into Sathya Sai Baba Cult
(Note: You may prefer to proceed straight to the Petition): Public Petition For Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization
Posted in Opinion, Rationalism, Religion, Society, South Asia, Spirituality, Uncategorized, World Religions | Tagged: Al Rahm, Alaya Rahm, Authoritarian Regimes, authoritarianism, Civil Society, Democracy, Dr Michael Goldstein, Liberalism, Litigation, Miscarriage of Justice, Orange County, Orange County Superior Court, Pro Bono, Sathya Sai Society of America, The Courts, William L. Brelsford | 1 Comment »
Posted by Barry Pittard on November 22, 2009
But soon never comes …
On November 23, 2009, he celebrates with enormous pomp and extravagance his 84th birthday. Sathya Sai Baba is haggard, weak and ailing, although on his 60th birthday he proclaimed that he would thenceforth not age. He long ago said that he will travel to other countries, actually naming some of them, and that he would perform these visits after first putting his “own backyard” (India) in order. In many respects, India is still in a parlous state.
How can India win the respect of the world when its successive governments actively cover up Sathya Sai Baba’s long history of dark deeds?
Would my reader wish to be ruled from a seat of power such as what you see below?
Sathya Sai Baba said at Brindavan, 14 December 1963:
“Let Me tell you this now itself: I do not like this pomp and show. I do not derive any joy out of it. Pomp, such as this, has become a fashion now, even among ascetics and monks who ought to know better. They profess poverty and simplicity and yet, they allow or encourage their disciples to waste much energy and money on pomp and pageantry which serve only to develop the egotism of themselves and their followers. The emphasis on show makes a thing hollow of all meaning.” (Sathya Sai Speaks Vol 3., p 228)
Video Resources
The Secret Swami (BBC Television):
(154 MB, Broadband)
Seduced (DR, Danish Broadcasting, Denmark’s national television and radio broadcaster):
(80 MB, Broadband)
http://home.hetnet.nl/~seduced/seduced.wmv
(21 MB, Modem)
Right Hand. Sleight Hand. Watch Sai Baba Cheat With Sacred Ash (Film clip)
BBC and Other Film Footage Shows India’s Top Guru Sathya Sai Baba Faking Miracles
BBC Footage Exposes Fake Sathya Sai Baba Miracle « Call For Media and Government Investigation
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Barry Pittard’s comments in regard to the Public Petition) -:
Petition For Official Investigation Into Sathya Sai Baba Cult
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Public Petition For Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization
There is a Spanish version available:
PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA ”INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL
Posted in Opinion, Religion, Society, South Asia, Spirituality, Uncategorized, World Religions | Tagged: Extravagance, Opulence, Poverty, Squalor, Wealth | 5 Comments »
Posted by Barry Pittard on September 15, 2009
There are, of course, more beautiful things in life than writing about Sathya Sai Baba and his movement. Duty can have its own beauty, though it is far from an absolute form of it. The exquisite and stereotype-challenging saga of Scots singer Susan Boyle affords something closer to the absolute. (And those who have come to this page who are simply interested in her can scroll down this page to the information about her).
Though the thought of my own engagement in anything significantly-other in life courts disbelief by a prominent Internet detractor and gross defamer, my work on Sathya Sai Baba constitutes but a minor part of my frequently delightful and deeply fulfilling days. Working quickly, and having other life interests, is native to a number of former followers of Sathya Sai Baba who have stood forth to call for media and government investigation of Sathya Sai Baba and certain of his core leaders.
Indeed, many former devotees, including those active in unmasking him and his powerful worldwide cult, have long had – as has Susan Boyle (see in the two photos below) – strong responsibilities in regard to family (she dedicatedly nursed her mother for many years), cultural activity – e.g., with involvement in bringing joy and loving company to those such as the elderly and other marginalized groups – (Susan Boyle was a member of her Church Choir and active in her small Scottish village community), and other worthy pursuits.
Susan Boyle, Wonderful Chanteuse
Belle Scots Chanteuse Susan Boyle Continues To Delight
Last April, deeply moved, as was so much of the rest of the world (she, by degrees of magnitude, broke all-time records for the number of hits on YouTube), by the Scottish singer Susan Boyle, I wrote of her in relation to having been the target of ageist discrimination not unlike, in its own way, that shown by the Sathya Sai Baba proxy defender on the Internet in relation to Robert Priddy, Brian Steel and myself. See:
Susan Boyle. Unexpected Divine Chanteuse. Sweet 47.
Sai Baba Internet Man’s Attacks Based On Age and Physical Appearance
Susan Boyle Sings ‘Memory’. Worldwide Audience Not Likely To Forget (See Video)
After some hardships in facing her possibly even more than meteoric rise to super stardom Susan Boyle has now re-appeared. You can hear this lovely voice and courageous personality singing ‘Wild Horses’ by clicking on Susan Boyle’s photo or the article title below, which is at the music-related website: http://www.undercover.com.au
Susan Boyle Covers Rolling Stones Wild Horses – by Paul Cashmere – September 14 2009
The first single from the forthcoming debut album from Susan Boyle is indeed an interesting choice. She has covered the Rolling Stones `Wild Horses`.
The original Stones version was from the 1970 ‘Sticky Fingers’ album.
Boyle has taken the Stones acoustic track and reinvented it into a haunting Tori Amoseque version.
The album will be released in November and last week outsold the new Whitney Houston album on presales alone at Amazon.com.
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General
(Note: You may prefer to proceed straight to the Petition):
Public Petition For Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization
There is a Spanish version available:
PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL)
Posted in Music, Opinion, Pop Music, Religion, Society, South Asia, Spirituality, Uncategorized, World Issues, World Religions | Tagged: ageism, Celebrities, Church Choir, Discrimination, Rolling Stones, Singers, Singing, Sticky Fingers, Susan Boyle, The Stones, Tori Amos, Undercover, Whitney Huston, Wild Horses | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Barry Pittard on May 10, 2009
Tony McNulty MP, the Sathya Sai Baba-partial British government Employment Minister is in still bigger trouble. He looks likely to face police investigation. It had seemed that McNulty was headed for close to the ultimate Ministerial portfolio, that of Home Minister. It is a far cry for him now.
Tony McNulty UK Minister. Finished? Is this a gun he's got in his finger?
McNulty’s plummet from political heights is not the only disgrace faced by those Sathya Sai Baba has ‘favoured’. After the fatal incompetence before and during the extreme Islamic terrorists on Mumbai, the (then) Home Minister of India, Shivraj Patil fell. See the article on this blogsite: Shivraj Patil Falls From Home Ministry. One wonders if Patil overhearkened to his likewise incompetent guru Sathya Sai Baba’s completely absurd prediction that there would be no terrorist bombs in India. See: Hasty Cover Up Of Sai Baba ‘No bombs in India’ Blunder. Apart from his many other failed predictions and promises, Sathya Sai Baba had said:
But in India, there is no fear of bombs. India will never have any such attacks.” Sathya Sai Baba, 22-10-2008.
UK Employment Minister Tony McNulty’s Sai Baba Connection
News of the last few hours shows that his disgrace factor continues to deepen. His friendship with Ashok Bhagani, the head of the UK Sathya Sai Organization, his employment in his Westminster office of Bhagani’s daughter, and his larger than might be expected attendances at Sathya Sai Baba meetings, I have blogged on in a number of pages in ‘Call For Media and Government Investigation of Sathya Sai Baba’. (See links below).
Quite beside scandal that surrounds McNulty’s improper use (which he was forced to admit) of government funds for his second house, in which his parents, and not he, have been residing, there are serious issues that former Sai Baba devotee interests would like to see him face. One of these relates to breach of privacy. Another to receipt of funds related to Sai Baba sources. Another to his role played in the setting up of powerful transmissions to beam Sai Global Radio across the British isles. A major presence, as well as Ashok Bhagani, in the latter is Dr G. Venkataraman, Sai Baba’s deputy head of the International Sathya Sai Organization, and head of Sai Global Radio via the WorldSpace Satellite Radio Corporation.
Dr G.Venkataraman. Sathya Sai Global Radio Chief (Left)
See my articles:
Sathya Sai Baba’s ‘Minister of Propaganda’ – Dr G. Venkataraman
Indian Nuclear Scientist Now Sai Baba’s Global Radio Chief
Venkataraman was a Sai Baba official with whom the Duke of Edinburgh’s emissaries had to deal in forcing the removal of false information from the official Sathya Sai Baba Puttaparthi website. See my article: UK Guardian On Sathya Sai Baba and Duke’s Awards. Quote from this article:
“Paul Lewis of The Guardian exposed links between India’s most famous and controversial guru, Sathya Sai Baba, and the Duke of Edinburgh Awards. Palace officials, after a slow start, demanded that Sai Baba’s officials take down incorrect information, and the Palace distanced itself from Sathya Sai Baba and his movement”
See Also: A Duke Stops An Emperor. Edinburgh Routs Sai Baba. Venkataraman, who has, without doubt, defamed Robert Priddy, former longtime head of the Sathya Sai Sai Organization, Norway, has been exposed in some detail in Robert Priddy’s and my jointly-authored four-part article (which contains many valuable links): ‘The Sathya Sai Organization’s Deception and Propaganda Exposed’
Has Tony McNulty Breached Serious Ethics Codes Re Sai Baba Dealings?
These former Sai Baba devotee concerns about McNulty – although it may be uphill to bring them to the fore, given the enormity of other issues McNulty faces – we are placing in the hands of the proper authorities and, as well, with Opposition parties in the House of Commons and House of Lords. We will provide the story for any well-reputed media, without any thought of payment – unless it were fully declared and donated to a mainstream, universally regarded charity. One of these issues – no mistake about it! – would, if proved in a strict sense, constitute a most serious breach of ethics for any Member of Parliament, much less a Minister of the Crown. Our sources are good indeed. Some eminent ones are available to reputed media.
In the background photo, at London Sathya Sai Baba center, it is Sathya Sai Baba who stands behind Tony McNulty. We know that prominent Sathya Sai Baba officials regard him as standing behind McNulty in more ways than one.
Articles on Tony McNulty MP in ‘Call For Media and Government Investigation of Sathya Sai Baba’
An earlier success of our network was to ensure that former Prime Minister Tony Blair (of the same government that McNulty is a part of) did not visit Sathya Sai Baba at his ashram, ‘Brindavan’, some 20 kilometers outside Bangalore, South India. Blair was within about 15 minutes of leaving for the ashram. See, Tony Blair Was to Visit Sai Baba. Plan Thwarted
Will Sai Baba Take Heat off Brit Minister Tony McNulty MP?
Articles From ‘The Guardian’ (UK) on Tony McNulty
8 May: Parliamentary authorities call in police to investigate how details of MPs expenses were leaked and by whom
Police called in as fresh expenses leaks embarrass MPs
8 May 2009: Parliamentary authorities call in police to investigate how details of MPs expenses were leaked and by whom
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8 May 2009: Employment minister Tony McNulty may have ‘obtained pecuniary advantage by deception’
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21 Apr 2009: MPs whose parliamentary allowance claims have put them in the spotlight
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27 Mar 2009: “The security and intelligence agencies do not participate in, solicit, encourage or condone the use of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment”
Tony McNulty, 1 May 2008
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26 Mar 2009: Parliamentary commissioner for standards to launch inquiry into minister’s £60,000 second home claim
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25 Mar 2009: Payments for second London homes, jobs for family members and interest-free mortgages in the firing line
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24 Mar 2009: Greg Hands complains to parliamentary standards commissioner over Tony McNulty’s Harrow home
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23 Mar 2009: Frank Field: The current system is so damaging to the political process that the most drastic reform is now necessary
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23 Mar 2009: As pressure grows for an investigation into Tony McNulty’s home allowance, Andrew Sparrow looks at eight other MPs who have come under fire over expenses
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23 Mar 2009: Michael White: It is getting ever harder for honourable members to resist calls for external regulation of expenses
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22 Mar 2009: Tony McNulty admits ‘discomfort’ at claiming on home in Harrow East constituency occupied by parents
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17 Mar 2009: Tony McNulty, Welfare Reform Bill: People’s skills and aspirations will be improved – and their lives transformed
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31 Jan 2009: Boris defends the finance sector, McNulty and Malthouse to debate on The Politics Show, spoof Twitterer mystery remains unsolved.
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21 Jan 2009: Conservatives criticise employment minister Tony McNulty for saying there was ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ after new data showed UK jobless total nearing 2 million
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17 Nov 2008: London mayor presents package of recession demands to Tony McNulty
Archive (16-24 of 24)
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1 Sep 2008: Tony McNulty says there is nothing unusual about leaked letter warning of effects of economic downturn on crime and extremism
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5 May 2008: Letters: I would like to thank Tony McNulty (Letters, May 1) for taking the time to respond to your leader of April 30
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27 Feb 2008: Home Office minister Tony McNulty says that new anti-terror powers would only be triggered on exceptional occasions
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28 Dec 2007: Letters: Tony McNulty’s attack on Gareth Peirce is unfair and self-contradictory (Letters, December 24)
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9 Oct 2007: Over 100 young people are today interrogating James Purnell, Tony McNulty and Helen Goodman and giving them each a mark out of 10
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9 Oct 2007: Over 100 young people are today interrogating James Purnell, Tony McNulty and Helen Goodman and giving them each a mark out of 10
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11 Jan 2007: A letter written by the Association of Chief Police Officers warning about the backlog of crime records was received by Tony McNulty and replied to by Joan Ryan.
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24 Oct 2006: Simon Hoggart: You might think that one John Reid at the Home Office was enough. You would be wrong. He now his own Mini-Me, in the form of the junior minister in charge of police matters, Tony McNulty.
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24 Aug 2005: A new appeal against the deportation of a family of five asylum seekers from Malawi was last night rejected by the immigration minister, Tony McNulty.
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5 Aug 2005: Leader: To his credit Tony McNulty, the Home Office minister, ignored the injunctions of GB Shaw, PG Wodehouse and John Wayne, all of whom advised: never apologise, never explain.
Posted in News and Politics, Opinion, People, Politics, Religion, Sai Baba, Social and Politics, Society, South Asia, Uncategorized, World Issues | Tagged: Ashok Bhagani, House of Commons, House of Lords, The Guardian, Tony McNulty | 3 Comments »
Posted by Barry Pittard on March 28, 2009
Via the news organization Silobreaker, Friday, March 27, 2009 8:23 PM, below are some links to major British media articles on the Tony McNulty expenses uproar.
McNulty has close ties with the wealthy and powerful Sathya Sai Baba sect, and with its UK leader Ashok Bhagani and other key members. The aim to set up a powerful transmitter in the UK for Sai Baba’s international radio satellite broadcasts has been a part of this relationship.
The Harrowing of Harrow East MP Tony McNulty
The Tangled Web
McNulty first said that he would not hand back the more than 60.000 pounds sterling that he had claimed for a house in which his parents live. Under closer scrutiny, he then said that he would. He also first said that he had done no wrong. But subsequently said that the “arrangement is indefensible”.
John Lyon, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, is to launch a formal investigation.
McNulty has been widely tipped to be the next Home Minister and also Lord Mayor of London for 2012. However, he is now under a cloud of approximately the size of the roof of his parents’ house for which he claimed expenses.
See also my related blogs:
Tony McNulty MP Expenses Furore. His Sathya Sai Baba Sect Ties Also Need To Be Probed
Posted by Barry Pittard on March 26, 2009
Posted by Barry Pittard on March 23, 2009
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Silobreaker List To Date
View Video Clips From BBC and Other Sources: Tony McNulty’s favoured Indian guru is exposed for his magician’s tricks. Also Sai Baba’s world head Dr Michael Goldstein and close colleague of Ashok Bhagani is exposed by BBC hidden camera in a fit of anger and denial of accountability, transparency and duty-of-care.
Sleight Of Hand. The Sleightness of Sathya Sai Baba (Exposing film clips)
Right Hand. Sleight Hand. Watch Sai Baba Cheat With Sacred Ash (Film clip)
Censored Indian National Television Film of Sai Baba Cheating
BBC Cameras Catch Sai Baba Cheating With Gold Sivalingam. (Film Clip)
Sathya Sai Baba Chief, Dr Goldstein, Explodes. “I am the consummate professional” (See Film Clips)
The BBC’s ‘The Secret Swami’ (Sai Baba). Revealing Footage
Further Articles on Ashok Bhagani:
By Robert Priddy
(Former longtime head of the Sathya Sai Organization, Norway. Retired academic, University of Oslo).
(The latter article is valuable because of references and links concerning Ashok Bhagani’s ties with The Eastern Eye).
– BBC Acted “Totally Irresponsibly” Says Ashok Bhagani
– Ashok Bhagani, Sathya Sai Baba cult promoter in UK
By Barry Pittard:
– Tony McNulty Sathya Sai Baba Cult Supporter Tipped As UK Home Minister
– Ashok Bhagani – Footsying With Top Blair Minister?
– Ashok Bhagani – Blotting Out Conscience and Memory?
– Ashok Bhagani and The Secret Swami
– Ashok Bhagani Uses Race Card
– UK Sai Baba Head, Ashok Bhagani Exposes Himself
Tool For Media and Other Investigators
Exposure of Sathya Sai Baba. Media Source List
Posted in Morality, News, News and Politics, Religion, Scandal, Society, Uncategorized, World Issues, World Religions | Tagged: Ashok Bhagani, British media, expenses issue, Member of Parliament for Harrow East, Tony McNulty | 5 Comments »
Posted by Barry Pittard on January 20, 2009
India has an extraordinary respect for elders. When undistorted by other historic sociological factors, this is an admirable and powerfully cohesive social force. But in the areas of wealth and power it has also often become, over centuries, and in many ways, distorted into an oppression that renders India a land of both concealed and gaping wounds.
This respect for the elderly is found too in other old cultures from which, likewise, the West needs to learn a great deal in regard to the need to much more cherishing and caring for the elderly – not alone in material terms but emotionally and spiritually. How can each of us meaningfully approach our own ageing well if we have not been able to qualitatively connect with, and relate to, the elderly? I may add that former devotees in various parts of the world have by no means, although severing their connection with Sathya Sai Baba, lost their community involvement in practical endeavours that honor the elderly – not to mention other seviceful activities.
Tragically for India, a gerontocracy minus meritocracy riddled and mishaped the upper part of India’s social fabric, and gave it types of leadership (so-called!) very different to the shining exceptions whom the sold-out leaders tiresomely invoke in speech after speech – in base genuflection.
The ‘India Shining’ of whom today’s propagandists and over-eager technocrats speak is not a reality. When what glitters are some technological smarts, and when there is the headlong readiness to repeat the mistakes of a materialistic West, one can be sure that all is not the old, true gold.
The shining that I saw in my years in India is truly present, especially among the people at large, but is often profoundly obscured, although paid lip service to by her incredibly powerful and conscienceless cabals of go-getters.
Further Reading at https://barrypittard.wordpress.com
Two Indias. Barry Pittard Reflects On India Days
A Strong India Can Bless The World
India A Mature Democracy? BBC Probes
India’s Painful Experience of Corrupt Leadership
Many Power Brokers Follow Failed Prophet Sathya Sai Baba
India’s ‘Emperor’ Sai Baba. By His Lavish Spending Ye Shall Know Him
Indulal Shah and Indian Government Cover Up
Has Sathya Sai Baba Moved An Inch To Clean Up His Yard?
Human Rights World Report 2008. India In Sore Shape
Posted in Opinion, Religion, Sai Baba, Social and Politics, Society, Spirituality, Uncategorized | Tagged: gerontocracy, India Shining, meritocracy, respect for elders | 1 Comment »
Posted by Barry Pittard on January 14, 2009
The massive Satyam corruption scandal engulfs India in a sad and chilling way somewhat remindful of WorldCom, Parmalat, and Enron.
Sad, for example, because of the tens of thousands of talented workers whose future is under heavy cloud (any bailout for them?!), and chilling because it reveals but a small part of the disordered “backyard” that Sathya Sai Baba famously said he would first “clean up” before transforming the rest of the world prior to quitting it circa AD 2022. And, again sadly, because such scandals can also obscure many instances of probity and quality of service.
Note: In Sanskrit, Satyam and Satya (or Sathya) mean: Truth! Interestingly, the Raju family real estate company into which the self-admitted fraudster B. Ramalinga Raju poured money from Satyam Computers is called Maytas – which is Satyam spelt backwards. In short, and irony-filled, truth reversed …
India Now In Glare Of World Scrutiny
India’s many corrupt political and other leaders from across a broad political spectrum – the same figures who for decades have been complicit in the massive cover up of Sathya Sai Baba-related scandals – are now under intense world focus. Hundreds of Satyam clients are Fortune 500 international companies. Therefore, it is unlikely that these leaders can do other than join a sudden rush to effect matters such as accountability, transparency and due diligence. As far as it goes.
It will be interesting to see, as the rotten apples begin to fall from India’s old and gnarled tree, how many of them and their close affiliates have close ties to Sathya Sai Baba – for example, in financially supporting him.
It is too bad that India has no legal and other protective mechanisms for whistleblowers. Much is made about the need for government regulation. But what shall be the case when veniality – in the form of nepotism, casteism and gerontocratic clinging to power – exists so widely among India’s politicians and other power elites? Who shall regulate the regulators?
Far too much, therefore, will remain hidden.
The chief perpetrator, B. Ramalinga Raju, has admitted his crimes (at least some of them) and is now, along with his brother, B. Rama Raju, in police custody in Sathya Sai Baba’s own State of Andhra Pradesh. Ramalinga Raju has said that he acted alone but the credibility of such a statement is wide open to question and there may be more arrests. Indeed, CNN (see below) has just reported a third arrest, that of Vadlamani Srinivas, who was Chief Financial Officer in Satyam Computer Services.
Satyam founder B. Ramalinga Raju shown being sent to prison in Hyderabad
Reuters reports (Thu Jan 8, 2009):
“Chairman Ramalinga Raju resigned on Wednesday in India’s biggest corporate scandal in memory, after saying that about $1 billion, or 94 percent of the cash and bank balances on the company’s books at end-September did not exist. The company’s shares plunged nearly 80 percent”.
Will India’s Strengths Overcome Repute For Endemic Corruption?
Perhaps the high quality of services worldwide of giant Indian companies like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro and Satyam itself may help India weather the current storm, which comes at a time of global financial upheaval, and recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. See article: Hasty Cover Up Of Sai Baba ‘No bombs in India’ Blunder. Posted by Barry Pittard on December 7, 2008.
Some Saving Graces For India?
The prestige issue here is that international client satisfaction has been the yardstick, and not the say-so of India’s spin doctors. Even so, it is feared in many quarters, India may suffer grave challenges to its thriving outsourcing sector. Hasty international reactions need to be avoided.
Status of Indian Corporate Governance Gravely In Question
Huge questions are raised about corporate governance in India, including in Andhra Pradesh where the Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy is a notable supporter of Sathya Sai Baba, and complicit in the profound Puttaparthi and local, state and central government cover up of the many scandals involving Sathya Sai Baba and his core officials. Former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N. Chandrababu Naidu (see Press Trust of India report below) just claimed that the Satyam scandal was due to “greediness and mania for money” of Congress rulers.
Andhra Pradesh CM Y S Rajasekhara Reddy with Puttaparthi Sai Baba
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Extracted from BBC WORLD NEWS summaries of some major media reactions
Thursday, 8 January 2009
News that the head of Satyam, India’s fourth-biggest software firm, has quit after revealing false accounts including some $1bn (£663m) in fictitious reserves has made the headlines and editorials across the world’s prss.
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THE ASIAN AGE
Though Raju says he alone is responsible for what has happened, there has obviously been collusion on the part of the company’s accountants, chartered accountants, banks, and maybe even politicians, in the fraudulent financial engineering that he managed so adroitly quarter after quarter
THE NEW YORK TIMES
In the end, the scandal threatened to gobble up not just Mr Raju, who resigned, but his company, Satyam Computer Services. Far beyond Satyam, it raised fears that similar problems might lurk in other Indian companies, particularly in its vaunted outsourcing industry.
Further News Sources
FOX NEWS
George Russell. Monday, January 12, 2009
The World Bank, a cornerstone of the United Nations’ global anti-poverty effort, failed to tell the rest of the world organization that it had banned now-imploding Satyam Computer Services last February from further business following a corruption probe — and thus allowed the U.N. to enter into a $6 million deal for technology services with Satyam as recently as this July, FOX News has learned.
U.N. officials were still silent in the wake of questions sent to them by FOX News last week about the $6 million deal between the U.N. Secretariat and Satyam Computer Services, the Indian communications technology company that is embroiled in the largest financial fraud in that country’s history.
Details of the contentious contract, reference number PD/C0102/08, are prominently displayed on a U.N. Procurement Department website, commonly accessed by procurement officials from across the U.N. System.
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PRESS TRUST OF INDIA (PTI)
Hyderabad, Jan 13 (PTI) TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu today claimed that the Satyam scandal was due to “greediness and mania for money” of Congress rulers.
He told reporters that Maytas, promoted by former chairman of Satyam Computers B Ramalinga Raju, had grown into a big company in the real-estate sector due to the patronage of the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy government.
Greediness and mania for money are responsible for the Satyam fiasco, he said.
“Maytas was a small company in 2003 when I was the Chief Minister. But now it has grown manifold with the state government handing out multi-crore rupee projects on a platter,” he said.
He wondered why YSR was “so interested in Maytas”, saying projects worth over Rs 36,000 crore were awarded to the company without following due procedure.
“Nobody ever asked these types of favours during my tenure,” he noted.
It was only to divert public attention from the large-scale corruption under the current dispensation that his name was being dragged into the Satyam scandal, he claimed.
“I promoted not only Ramalinga Raju but also other businessmen from the state. I took them abroad to seek foreign investments into the state. My only objective was to improve the state’s industry,” Naidu asserted.
He said that Andhra Pradesh’s image has taken a severe beating because of the Satyam episode and wondered if any investor would come forward to invest in the state.
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CNN
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) January 10, 2009 — The chief financial officer of India’s Satyam Computer Services Ltd. was arrested Saturday, the third person taken into custody in a scandal that began when the company’s chairman admitted inflating profits with “fictitious” assets and non-existent cash.
Vadlamani Srinivas will appear Sunday before a special court, said A. Sivanarayana, additional director general of police in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, told CNN.
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Some Articles on the India that Sathya Sai Baba has long said he will rescue; – at: Call For Media and Government Investigation of Sathya Sai Baba
Shivraj Patil Falls From Home Ministry
Posted on December 2, 2008
Quote:
“A major follower of Sathya Sai Baba, Shivraj Patil, has resigned as India’s Home Minister. Grave questions have been asked about the competence of Patil and others who were meant to be guarding India’s security.
Comment: Whichever Indian government is in power, Sathya Sai Baba has many devotees who are in all ranks to the highest pinnacle of power. The same is true for the armed services, the judiciary, business and finance, industry, the arts and sciences, and so forth”
Two Indias. Barry Pittard Reflects On India Days
Posted on October 12, 2008
Quote:
“During the number of years I lived in India, I was able to see across-the-board social uplift work in some of India’s poorest villages. One of my strongest observations was the manner in which, for many years, one outfit refused to accept financial input from abroad. A great emphasis was laid on challenging the consciences” […]
Human Rights World Report 2008. India In Sore Shape
Posted on September 2, 2008
Quote:
“The Human Rights Watch World Report 2008 is in marked conflict with Sathya Sai Baba’s promises made over many decades. He has said that he would first save India and then the rest of the world – this within his own lifetime.
His millions of followers hear his blatantly untrue statements but remain silent and blindly” […]
Posted in News and Politics, Rationalism, Religion, Scandal, Society, Spirituality, Uncategorized, World Issues | Tagged: Accountability, B. Rama Raju, B. Ramalinga Raju, CNN, cover up, due diligence, Enron, Fortune 500, Infosys, Maytas, N. Chandrababu Naidu, Parmalat, ramalinga raju arrested, ramalinga raju arrested for fraud, sathyam computers chairman arrested, Satyam, satyam boss arrested, satyam chairman ramalinga raju arrested, satyam computer boss arrested, Satyam Computer Services, satyam computers chairman arrested, satyam head ramalinga raju and his brother arrested, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), transparency, Vadlamani Srinivas, Wipro, WorldCom | 1 Comment »
Posted by Barry Pittard on November 21, 2008
Sathya Sai Baba, who is on the brink of celebrating his 83rd birthday,
has said that he will first rule India (innumerable of whose top leaders bow down to him!) and soon the rest of the world. He also has said, December 14, 1963:
“Let Me tell you this now itself: I do not like this pomp and show. I do not derive any joy out of it. Pomp, such as this, has become a fashion now, even among ascetics and monks who ought to know better. They profess poverty and simplicity and yet, they allow or encourage their disciples to waste much energy and money on pomp and pageantry which serve only to develop the egotism of themselves and their followers. The emphasis on show makes a thing hollow of all meaning.” (Sathya Sai Speaks Vol 3., p 228)
Posted in New Age, News, Prophecy, Scandal, Society | Tagged: Citizen Kane, Extravagance, Hindu Community, Kingdom of Sai, Luxury, Megalomania, Philanthropy, Pomp, Sathya Sai Speaks | 1 Comment »
Posted by Barry Pittard on August 7, 2008
Vale Alexander Solzhenitsyn!
It may be argued that the genuine models of moral excellence are great and visionary but flawed individuals, rather than those such as Sathya Sai Baba, the failed ‘God’ who would be King of Kings.
One may find it surprising that people’s sectarian views could not be raised above, and a tribute paid to the wonderful qualities of a man like Alexander Solzhenitzen.
I asked a Russian friend of mine: why is it that one who, like so many other Russians, went through such persecution and privation would have such a poor turn-out upon his passing? Some went out in bitter cold so as to honour him. Why not many more, and what of a few hours of frostbite compared to the sufferings in a great cause such as Russians like Solzhenitsyn stood for? I asked.
In his second email, my friend wrote:
I searched the Internet and I was pleased to find the all the main points I mentioned in my first letter had been previously mentioned in a number of publications and reports.
When Solzhenitsyn came back to Russia, he criticized people and policies from different parts of the political spectrum and suggested rather utopian solutions for the country’s problems. Though relevant, his criticism was not new for people in Russia. They had heard all of that years before. It was no revelation. In fact, people were rather tired of so much criticism in their life. As a result, he found himself isolated from any political groups and movements in Russia but at the same time he still wanted to be a prophet in his Fatherland. Finally, after being number 12 in the list of the most influencial political figures in Russia, he lost his place in the top 100.
In his previous email, my friend said:
No doubt that Solzhenitsyn was a great hero as a writer of The Gulag Archipelago. Nevertheless, he was a rather controversial figure. After coming back from the exile he had a special TV programme which was not very popular. To the end of his life, he was a supporter of the Russian monarchy and wrote a book which was considered rather anti-semitic. (Honestly, I have not read it). Some time ago, he accepted a government award from the hands of Vladimir Putin, but previously refused the awards from the hands of Gorbachev and Eltsyn. He had very bad relationships with another famous dissident Varlam Shalamov, and he never cooperated with Memorial, a Non Government Organization which tries to restore the truth about Stalin’s repressions. So, I think that some people believe that it was a sort of a double standard from his side. In our country the more a public figure has an attention and support from the authority the less trust they have from people. It looked as if the government tamed Solzhenitsyn.
As for me, I think The Gulag Archipelago is a real contribution to the processes of historical justice. At the same time, as a personality Solzhenitsyn was a bit categorical and authoritarian for me compared to academicians Sakharov or Likhachev whom I’d rather accept as moral authority than he.
See,
Posted in Morality, Religion, Society, Spirituality, Uncategorized, World Issues | Tagged: Eltsyn, Gorbachev, Likhachev, Sakharov, Solzhenitsyn, Stalin, The Gulag Archipelago, Varlam Shalamov, Vladimir Putin | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Barry Pittard on August 19, 2007
Other group leaders from various countries who we know to have been informed that Sai Baba sexually abuses boys and young men still take groups of all ages to see him. There is repeated evidence that they still do not inform parents of global allegations concerning Sai Baba, nor that highly respected individuals, once loved and esteemed leaders and members of the Sathya Sai Organization, make them.
Sai Baba’s leaders tell rank-and-file members that those making the allegations are a small disgruntled handful. Blind to commonsense, deaf to basic reasoning processes, rapid to leap to worst case speculations about the motivations of Sai Baba dissenters, Sai Baba’s devotees typically believe that former devotees have become, in an instant, transformed into demons. Racing into deep denial, vacating all commonsense, these devotees chronically deny the good standing of those they have long loved and respected, and worked and worshipped beside. History is bound to ‘out’ those who do this. They cannot possibly defend themselves on the grounds of truth and compassion. They will need, above all, to express profound sorrow, and admit profound failure in duty-of-care, towards those Sai Baba has so criminally, and for so many decades, abused.
Perhaps some of the Truth Commission experiences and insights may assist Sai Baba devotees to pull themselves out of their dilemma. It would be a great pity if the good social uplift works done by many good and decent Sai Baba devotees were to be damaged by the revelations already so extensively available, with many more on their way.
Starting points are:
http://www.truthcommission.org/
http://www.doj.gov.za/trc/
Posted in Neglected/sidelined News, Opinion, Religion, Social and Politics, Society, Theology, Uncategorized, World Issues, World Religions | 1 Comment »
Posted by Barry Pittard on July 25, 2007
Many Sathya Sai Baba devotees assume that any questioning of him equates to a denunciation of Hinduism. However, Hindus at large do not make this assumption in the least.
A major national Hindu leader has emailed me (December 5, 2006) in the terms I quote below. (Except to those in the responsible media who may wish to obtain a statement from him, I will not disclose his identity). However, Hindus who wish to make enquiry in their own associations as to current views of Sai Baba will be able to establish the factuality of the strong trend inimical to Sai Baba to which my correspondent points):
“There is considerable concern among the Hindu Community, especially among the educated. It is very hard to get any action from the temples as they do not wish to cause difficulties with the Sathya Sai Baba groups. People are starting to distance themselves from Sathya Sai Baba. It’s going to be gradual process of education. The biggest impact it appears was the ‘The Secret Swami’ … it seems it has had a tremendous negative effect on the SSB”.
Travel widely across India and you will know the exceptionally widespread disdain for Sai Baba – whatever may be the praise for the undoubtedly good social uplift work his devotees perfom in his name. This is especially due to his:
– emphasis on miracles
– his claim to be the prime manifestation of God in all history. Quote: “The whole world will be transformed into Sathya Sai Organisation and Sathya Sai will be installed in the hearts of one and all.” (Sanathana Sarathi, January, 1999. page 16). For many more examples, documented in his own official publications, of Sai Baba’s self-deification, see HERE
– the vast pomp and circumstance that surround him, his fleet of luxury foreign cars. See commentary and incredibly revealing pics, Sai Baba, Kubla Khan, Citizen Kane, Bill Gates et alia
– his cultivation of the rich, his giving special seating positions at darshans to the rich, his flattery of the rich and famous … See, Dare Songstress Nora Jones Touch Sai Baba
His flattery of various visiting Indian Prime Ministers is – embarrassingly for his cause – unwittingly, documented across issues of Sanathana Sarathi (the official Sai Baba organ distributed worldwide), including the case of Narasimha Rao, who was sentenced to years in jail, convicted on a slew of corruption charges relating to kickbacks from secret arms deals with the Swedish firm Bofors. It was the Narasimha Rao government which inititiated the profound Indian government cover-up of the circumstances surrounding the police killings in Sai Baba’s bedroom on June 6, 1993, a suppression that has been strictly maintained by each succeeding Indian government to this day. See, Robert Priddy’s The Unresolved, Covered-up 1993 Murders In Sathya Sai Baba’s Bedroom Revisited
Further Reading
The BBC’s ‘The Secret Swami’ – A Revision
The Genesis of the BBC’s ‘The Secret Swami’ (Sai Baba)
Serial Sex Molestation and Bedroom Killings. But Much More
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Posted in Neglected/sidelined News, New Age, Opinion, Philosophy, Prophecy, Rationalism, Religion, Sai Baba, Skeptics, Society, Spirituality, Theosophy, Trends, Uncategorized, World Religions | 2 Comments »
Posted by Barry Pittard on July 24, 2007
I think that the following list – which is suggestive rather than exhaustive – will contain pointers to behaviours repeatedly found by any who expose a powerful cult.
* Legal manipulations, so that a leader or his organization cannot be further proceeded against
* Use of a cult’s considerable financial resources and political, religious or civic clout to suppress testimony, rather than to address the issues honorably, compassionately and responsibly
* Production of false witnesses and a connived avoidance of legal accountability
* Ignoring the sheer weight of the evidence, and strong, psychological denial
* The claim that criticism is coming from only a mere handful of malcontents
* The attribution of mental illness to those who criticise
* Misconstruing what is being alleged, distorting it; ignoring it; laying a worst-case interpretation on virtually every word of critics, bending words in a procrustean way to suit the purposes of the cult’s protagonists and to belittle those who speak out
* Missing the points being urged and instead highlighting peripheral issues
* Derision, defaming and shunning of former followers, no matter how well their character and integrity were regarded when they were members, and still is so regarded in their professions, trades, wider communities, etc
* Use of guilt-by-association, ad hominem arguments, infraction of the ‘Aristotlean’ law of the undistributed middle, argument from a low poll, misinterpretation of facts that have another explanation altogether, tu quoque retorts, and other impoverished forms of argument …
* Terrible and relentless vilification of primary witnesses and of those former followers who attempt to bring the allegations to light
* Threats of litigation – that can prove to be sheer bluff
* Stalking and harassment. Attempting to blacken the characters of critics in their workplaces, families, friendships, universities, and so on
* In some cases, threats against life or limb
* Muckracking. Keeping of dossiers against critics, with the intention of harming them
* Interference in the private, personal lives of those who have spoken out. Intrusions are sometimes pursued against others who know the former members but who are only most peripherally and tenously involved
* Depictions of hell (whether psychological, real or both), shockingly bad “karma” for those who have made revelations of improper conduct within a cult
* Cult members can ignore those who criticise the cult but this means that the abuses being reported ever more seriously unadressed
* Spurious justification of the teacher’s misdeeds. E.g., claiming that he is raising the kundalini; balancing the devotee’s sexual energy; ‘ironing out sexual kinks’; rapidly expunging the devotee’s bad karmas; stating that, as we are not our bodies, the guru has not violated anybody; disporting in the divine role as Shiva the destroyer
* Blaming of the Media or any institution in every instance where it writes critically of the cult
… And so, woefully, on ….
Further Readings
International Cultic Studies Association
The Genesis of the BBC’s The Secret Swami (Sai Baba)
Guru Sex Abuse Testimony to BBC – After Years of Silence
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Posted in Morality, New Age, Opinion, Protest, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychotherapy, Rationalism, Religion, Sai Baba, Skeptics, Society, Spirituality, Trends, World Issues, World Religions | 7 Comments »
Posted by Barry Pittard on July 23, 2007
A great irony of cover-ups is this – that once they have been exposed, the initiators of the abuses sustain a cost far greater than would have attended the prompt admission of the initial misdeeds – and genuine, exhaustive measures to address the abuses. Tragically, “cost” may be multiply defined – and in far from money terms alone.
And is there any Faith, major or minor, that is not sorely complicit in profound cover up of systemic sexual abuse?
The present repercussions of the Los Angeles Catholic Diocese afford us a ready example. Questions are being raised about whether there is enough – after insurance and money from other Orders have been paid – for even a rich Diocese’s coffers to afford such a vast pay-out. This is but one diocese, and yet many others face, or have already faced, a similar predicament. Is there even a single one (as a BBC television news report would indicate) in which such allegations have not been raised?
The Editorialist in The Boston Globe, July 17, 2007, writes:
“The Los Angeles and Boston money could have been spent on other important projects if Mahony and Law had adopted a zero-tolerance policy against abuse when it first became a national issue for the church in the mid-1980s.
Catholic dioceses across the nation, including Los Angeles, have initiated thorough policies to prevent future abuse, and Mahony apologized to the victims on Sunday. Yet new policies and regrets aren’t enough. In the eyes of victims, the scandal will never be fully resolved as long as bishops who put the interests of their fellow priests over the protection of children remain in positions of leadership”.
‘Or who shall ‘scape whipping’?
But is there any organization – anywhere – which has not covered up serious allegations? Can it be a good thing that when exposure of sexual abuse is discussed the Roman Catholic Church is so often the tarnished exemplar?
Another irony is that first whistleblowers are scapegoated but then public scapegoating can too easily turn on discretely ‘easy’ targets. And what more ‘easy’ than arguably the biggest religious monolith on the planet?
Does convergence of attention on a big institution help to prevent a much wider focus?
Naturally, of course, there is, at least, a chance for other organizations – before it is too late (if it is not already far too late!) for them to act without the courts forcing them to act – to learn from the fate of those churches or other organizations already strongly exposed?
Today, most societies are multicultural. Would it not make sense to take the broad approach, with not a single organization acting as though it, too, is unaffected? Or a wider public permitted to think that it has not its own accountability?
Further Major News Media Readings on the LA scandal and pay0uts are HERE, HERE and HERE. Website of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) is HERE
See, Robert Priddy’s article ‘Spiritual’ Abuse. Quote:
“One US lady who has been raped by a priest broke down in tears on worldwide TV News (22/7/2007) while telling how she was not believed by her very own church community, which ostracised her. This ‘turning a blind eye’ has been very common, also in the Sathya Sai Organization”.
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Posted in Morality, New Age, News and Politics, Opinion, Philosophy, Politics, Protest, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychotherapy, Rationalism, Religion, Sai Baba, Scandal, Sex, Skeptics, Social and Politics, Society, Spirituality, Theology, Theosophy, Trends, Uncategorized, World Issues, World Religions | 3 Comments »
Posted by Barry Pittard on July 21, 2007
Some devotees of Sathya Sai Baba – the ‘God’ worshipped by so many of India’s top power brokers (and others beyond) who faces worldwide accusations of large-scale, serial sexual molestation of boys and young men – claim that he could not possibly offend, if he ever did, because of his age and physical incapacity, and that therefore his current accusers are caught in a palpable deceit.
L. Ageing multiple rapist Wayne Chapman still Dangerous. (Boston Herald Photo Pool). R. An Ironside Sai Baba – not one to easily push around.
They offer no evidence concerning the nature of sexual capacity and ageing. Yet there is a mass of readings on the topic ‘ageing and sex’ in the popular press, let alone a wealth of information from Gerontology and Geriatrics. As ever, the Internet is an abundant source. But why go looking for facts when there is a guru to defend at all costs? And the word ‘costs’ is more than appropriate, since Sai Baba’s worldwide cult has to defend many billions of dollars of investment in its notion that Sai Baba is about to rule the earth. Any dear reader who happens to be a billionaire, watch your money – Sai Baba is a consumate master in extracting it from you – without seeming to want it. See my article: Sai Baba, Kubla Khan, Citizen Kane, Bill Gates et alia
Of course, making Champion of the World may require Sai Baba to take a little more than Viagra or Cialis.
Extract from: Judge warned: Crippling disease won‘t stop pervert
By Laurel J. Sweet
Boston Herald. Friday, March 23, 2007
‘Aging and Sick Sex Offender to Be Civilly Committed?
Whatever the wisdom of civil commitment laws it would seem that this fellow might qualify. Increasingly, though, the states are going to have to contend with the high cost of health care in keeping aging and sick convicts behind bars.
Even though his aging, bloated body is confined to a wheelchair, a judge was warned yesterday a 59-year-old convicted sexual predator remains dangerous to children. A forensic psychologist assured Lawrence Superior Court Judge Howard J. Whitehead that convicted child rapist Wayne Chapman, who bragged he had sexually molested between 50 and 100 boys and even fantasized about killing some of them, “presents a high and unacceptable risk to re-offend.” “It just doesn’t go away,” Christine Schnyder Pierce testified. Chapman, an interstate predator, has been incarcerated for 31 years. Having served his time, he is hoping to retire in Massachusetts, but the Essex District Attorney’s Office is fighting to have Whitehead civilly commit him for life as a “sexually dangerous” person’.
Further Resources
Wikipedia, Sexuality in older age
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Posted in Medicine, Morality, Neglected/sidelined News, New Age, News and Politics, Opinion, Pediatrics, Philanthropy, Protest, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychotherapy, Rationalism, Religion, Sai Baba, Scandal, Sex, Skeptics, Social and Politics, Society, Spirituality, Successful People, Theosophy, Uncategorized, World Issues, World Religions | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Barry Pittard on July 9, 2007
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh is pictured before and after his harrowing linking with Sathya Sai Baba
It is intriguing to find that a mere Duke can stop an Emperor in his tracks.
To their considerable cost, the “secret swami” – as the BBC (see HERE for video footage and other important links) has called India’s and the world’s would-be Emperor Sai Baba, the core leaders of the Sathya Sai Organization know too well the stark factuality of the following. Rank-and-file members cannot be expected to be told the facts. (The details below, including sharing some direct sources, I shall confirm for well-reputed, bona fide investigators, such as media and academics or their supervised thesis students):
1. Officials of The Duke of Edinburgh Awards and Buckingham Palace were upset by the boasting of those such as Dr G. Venkataraman and Shitu Chudasama about the Award connections. (Dr. G. Venkataraman is Sai Baba’s deputy world head, who also directs Sai Baba’s international 7 days 24 hours propaganda satellite radio service via the WorldSpace International corporation. See HERE. Shitu Chudasama is the UK Sai Baba national youth coordinator.
2. Superiors to Peter Westgarth, the Director of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards, were of the view that he lacked, in this issue, both judgement and experience
3. When matters were finally taken in hand, both Awards and Palace dropped connection with the Sathya Sai Organization
4. The official, Puttaparthi website – that is to say, a Sai Baba website senior to all other Sai Organization websites – was asked by the Royal authorities to take down the embarrassing and untrue material. The request was promptly complied with
5. Advice was received from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with a view to both avoiding any blowbacks in Anglo-Indian relations and further embarrassment to the Royal Family. The advice was: drop them but not publicly.
6. Legal advice was also canvassed
Click on Link to see related story by Paul Lewis in The Guardian – The Indian living god, the paedophilia claims and the Duke of Edinburgh awards
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Posted in Neglected/sidelined News, New Age, People, Propaganda, Protest, Rationalism, Religion, Royal Family, Sai Baba, Sex, Skeptics, Social and Politics, Society, Spirituality, Uncategorized, World Issues, World Religions | Tagged: Buckingham Palace, Duke of Edinburgh Awards, Heavy News Insider, Peter Westgarth, Royal Family, Sri Sathya Sai Service Organisation United Kingdom, The Queen | 7 Comments »
