Thumbing through the Nxivm patent

Thanks to anonymous poster Macumazahn at the Rick Ross Web site forum, the Nxivm-curious have gotten a very fascinating inside glimpse into the mind and teachings of Keith Raniere: the  Sept. 1, 2000 patent application for Rational Inquiry as submitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Rational Inquiry is the basis for Executive Success Programs, Nxivm's education wing.

Macumazahn casually linked to this awesomeness in an old thread about Nxivm bringing the Dalai Lama to Albany, without, apparently, realizing the sort of dust-up that he/she was going to cause. This patent has come to light right at the right time. Sources say, it could have a great deal of impact on Nxivm and Raniere.

[This is the first time that myself--and many of my sources--have seen this document, which is surprising, considering, as Anon points out in the comments, this document was actually linked to back in '08 in that a cappella thread I blogged about yesterday. Go figure that the best information about Nxivm comes from an a cappella Web forum! Thanks for the heads-up, Anon.]

And I mean, it's all in there, folks: the handshake, the sashes, the titles, the bowing:

Bowing is a show of respect and is a form of sharing like the word 'Hello' only more intimate. Students bow when entering and leaving the Session Space as a show of respect for what it represents and the work done there. It is also a bow of gratitude toward the Vanguard and Prefect for creating ESP.  . . . The leading person then returns the bow indicating respect for the students and an implicit statement of interdependence.

Now that's not all that bizarre, the patent points out. If you study martial arts, you bow to your master. Of course, your master is teaching you something that has been handed down through generations and has a verifiable quality to it (if your martial arts master is full of it, it's pretty easy to figure out). But, you know, same difference.

Here's another fun topic explored by RI, pulsing:

If the practitioner [of Rational Inquiry] looks at an individual while they are communicating it is almost like there is a pulse or strobe-like effect. They go from expression to expression to expression. This pattern corresponds with the idea associations as the person thinks.

...

Human thought patterns go from intellectual associations through intellectual associations through emotional associations. ... With each of these transitions the physical body takes on a certain aspect of that physical transition depending on the emotion that is triggered  and the amount of ... emotional charge.  By watching a person's reflexes, or by listening to the stressors in the person's voice ... one can ascertain a tremendous amount of information about the person without the person conciously [sic] transmitting it. ... Learning to see these pulses gives the practitioner this type of information. These pulses can be seen on video and or heard on audio.

But more fascinating than all of this recycled pageantry and clinical obsession with facial expressions and body language is what appears to be outlined on page 7 of the application. As Macumzahn pointed out, what exactly this passage means could be very significant:

Basic features of the present invention [Rational Inquiry] are illustrated in detail in the accompanying drawings [see below] . . . Although the drawings are intended to illustrate the present invention, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to facsimile (or) reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office public patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights.

I'm not a lawyer (I wish I was--they get p.a.i.d.), but that last sentence piques my interest. If you have been following the Nxivm story for any length of time, you've heard the name Rick Ross. Ross was sued back in 03 by Nxivm after he posted analyses of Rational Inquiry training materials.

The NXIVM Corp., also known as Executive Success Programs, filed the $9.7 million civil suit Wednesday in U.S. District Court, naming as defendants The Ross Institute of New Jersey; its executive director, Rick Ross; California psychiatrist John Hochman; and Stephanie Franco, a former ESP student.

...

The lawsuit alleges that Franco delivered an ESP manual to Ross, though she signed a confidentiality agreement promising not to disseminate it. It accuses Ross and Hochman of causing irreparable harm to the company through Web site postings that describe the programs as dangerous and an expensive form of brainwashing. Franco could not be reached for comment.

"He's a fellow with a Web site who was paid to put out disparaging statements about this business," said ESP's attorney, Kevin A. Luibrand. "He's never spoken to them. His statements have been false, and we plan to aggressively and immediately correct the damage that's being caused."

I've never seen the materials that Ross was supposedly given by Franco, despite claims that Ross and I are involved in a conspiracy. I have, of course, read the materials that led to the suit. And I wonder, again without making any claims to having any idea what I'm talking about legally: how did Nxivm sue Ross for posting analyses of a training method that appears to have always been public information?

Comments

[anon]

Actually, Raniere's patent application was not linked for the first time on Rick Ross' forum which is surprising to me. It was linked in the www.rarb.org forum almost TWO YEARS ago when some concern was raised over participants in Acapella Innovations after they became aware of NXIVM's cult like characteristics. Here is the link: http://forum.rarb.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4412&highlight=nxivm

[Chet Hardin]

What a great catch, Anon. I read that thread back in aught-8 while it was going on, and recently revisited, but completely missed that link.
I need to go back and re-read that thread more carefully. It was really fascinating. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

How ironic that the world's self-declared "smartest man" has let his ego totally fuck-up what was already a very weak case. Let's hope that Rick Ross's attorneys can get the court to award damages to him for this obviously frivolous lawsuit.

I implore everyone who believes that this NXIVM farce needs to come to an end to file a complaint with the AG's office. The link to do that is at: http://www.ag.ny.gov/resource_center/complaints/complaints.html

[ben lives on]

This document which I posted a link to last week at
http://saratogaindecline.blogspot.com/
is a bombshell,it is the very heart of the case that Nxivm brought against Rick Ross.That they had published trade secret about Nxivm. Now it would seem these documents have been in the public realm for years.

[anonymous]

It seems that Raniere doesn't have any business actually in his name, so how can any legal claims be filed against NXIVM or any other business? In other words, I would assume Salzman and company get screwed over, whereas Raniere just laughs his ass off. Unless a civil suit could be filed? Where things might get hairy is if Bronfman Sr. and his lawyers enter the picture and says enough is enough for this clown stealing his daughter's money and lays the smack down on him. This clown Raniere seriously needs a beat down. By the way, he was owned by a bunch of acapella people in that thread.

[Macumazahn]

   I never meant to imply that I was the first one to find this document online, but operated under the assumption that anybody who was reading the Rick Ross thread had seen the link to the rarb.org forum in another poster’s previous message; if such an implication was perceived, I am sorry for that! I myself had first found the document there and am merely using the links to it to create, as good as I can, a factual, evidence-based foundation and accessible reference for my posts.
   In my opinion though, it is of little relevance in the grand scheme of things who first found the document, as much as I am grateful to that person, but rather that it is out there and, more importantly, what is in it. This should be on what we concentrate our energy and efforts: To use the insight we can gain from the materials as that we may help those that are enthralled in the organisation and may free them of this obstacle and diversion in their path to whatever goals they have.

[Monitor NXIVM]

Macumazahn (love that handle!) is absolutely correct. We all need to keep focused on doing the things that will ultimately put an end to VanPimp and his cancerous cult. Complaints to the NYS AG,Andrew Cuomo; complaints to the IRS; complaints to the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance (maybe we can keep some parks open if the state can collect all of the unpaid taxes from nxivm's various business operations); complaints to Child Protective Services; and complaints to any other entity that can put an end to this freak show.

I know it's a small point(no pun intended) but I suggest that, henceforth, we all use the term "nxivm" rather than Raniere's preferred "NXIVM". The name itself is so bullshit that it hardly needs to be in capital letters.

[Miss Ann Thrope]

a capella music is part of mind control. an annoying part, but still a corner piece in the puzzle along with bowing, fill in the blank note books and looking up to a nerd with post wedgie stress syndrome and a record for being a con man.

[The Horndog]

Whatever happened to the supposed photos of Raniere with a ribbon tied around his manhood, taken by the woman (ex lover) by whom he was being sued in yet another legal dispute?

[anonymous]

Macumazahn is Raniere you fools. He's just pretending to be someone helpful and who has a tremendous knowledge of the techniques of LGAT cults (duh, because he wrote the sh*t) to portray the us versus them mentality to his followers. The guy's an absolute nutcase.

[Chet Hardin]

Anonymous, I've spoken with Macumazahn at length on the telephone. I'd be pretty impressed if the person I spoke with turned out to be a member of Nxivm, let alone Vanguard himself.

[anonymous]

Yeah, then why does he spend so much time "dissecting" NXIVM? How does he know so much about these LGATs? What is his motive? Where did he come from? Why did he suddenly just appear due to more recent events even though NXIVM has been around for years and has had these issues?

[Chet Hardin]

Jesus--Anonymous--what's your motive?

Why don't you explain to me what you think Raniere would gain by spending all this time sock-puppeting as Macumazahn. Cause, so far, the only reason you have given us fools is that he, Raniere, is sick and gets some sort of thrill out of it.

Have you read the voluminous postings of Macumazahn on the Rick Ross Web site? Keith Raniere wouldn't spend that much time on such a complicated ruse.

Perhaps Macumazahn will jump on here to answer your questions, or maybe Macumazahn will be suspicious of your motives, too.

[anonymous]

I asked the question first.

Yes, I have read them. What makes you think Mr. Raniere wouldn't do such a thing? He's a person who's founded a cult, centered around his own self-inflated ego, written voluminous writings of the same standard as this person, conned people out of millions of dollars, and you're questioning what such a person would spend his time on? Are you serious?

Can one explain the motive of the insane?

[Monitor NXIVM]

Chet,
Sounds to me like "Anonymous" may be Raniere. That's a lot more likely than Mac being him.
Lots of things have been going on lately with NXIVM but, oddly enough, none of them have been reported on. I have a feeling that's about to change.
PS/Anonymous' comment that Raniere has "conned people out of millions of dollars" is a little off the mark. According to publicly available documents, the Bronfman brats have already pissed away more than $100 million on NXIVM-Raniere all by themselves.

[anonymous]

I'm as close to being Raniere as a frog is close to ever being a prince when it is kissed. I just compared Raniere's writing style in the rarb.org thread to Mac's and noticed a non-random similarity. Also, I found it quite odd that someone of his intellectual capacity suddenly appeared on the scene to criticize the group when its been around for years and had these issues. And no, that comment isn't off the mark, unless you think the Bronfman sisters freely decided to invest their money by studying Raniere's mathematical model and determined that it couldn't be horribly worse than random.

[sandy]

Monitor NXIVM, what type of things have been going on at NXIVM that haven't been reported on but you think is going to change are you talking about? Please reveal...

[NXIVM Monitor]

Anonymous,
Do you seriously believe that Raniere has a "mathematical model" fro commodities investing? Like everything else about this total fraud of a man, this also does not exist.

Based on everything that I've read and heard, I think Raniere is a compulsive gambler with psychopathic and sociopathic tendencies; a con man; a delusional and egotistical little man who probably got beat up a lot growing up; and, quite likely, a former victim of sexual abuse by his mother (That's the only way to explain his relationship with the various female members of his inner circle). Other than that, I think he's a swell guy.

[pinkuni]

I don't think Macumazahn is Raniere. I think he's a fan of Kristin Kreuk and is concerned with her involvement in NXIVM. I think he has a little bit of a crush on her, but that line is pretty long.

[bigskeptic]

I'd be interested too in any recent news about nxivm. How about it, monitornxivm? Or Chet- got anything interesting?

[someone]

Monitor is probably just speculating, otherwise he would have said something already.

[bigskeptic]

Here's a little something...

Seagram sisters
Last Updated: 4:05 AM, June 5, 2010

Posted: 11:38 PM, June 4, 2010

Comments: 2 | More Print
Seagram heiresses Clare and Sara Bronfman have hit a roadblock in their quest to silence a former pal who exposed their $100 million support of a controversial upstate group described as a "cult." A California judge has told the sisters he's waiting until July 28 to decide whether they can go ahead with a suit against their former financial adviser, Barbara Bouchey -- or whether he'll grant Bouchey's bid to drop the litigation altogether. The move is a setback for the Bronfmans, who want to keep any more financial documents from being made public. They sued Bouchey in February, after she turned over "sensitive" records that revealed their $100 million donation to NXIVM, an Albany-based "self-awareness" group, from 2005 to 2009. The sisters' dad, Edgar Bronfman Sr., termed the organization a "cult." The records were turned over as part of a different lawsuit involving NXIVM and a failed real-estate deal.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/setback_for_seagram_sisters_Ges0zfQlHpjAJ7ymWq9QwN#ixzz0pywhVbOn

[Monitor NXIVM]

Recent filings in several NXIVM-related lawsuits have lots of new info. Check out the Bronfmans pending lawsuit against Barbara Bouchey,Case No.BC-432595 in L.A. County Superior Court (https://www.lasuperiorcourt.org/OnlineServices/CivilImages/index.asp); the Bronfmans pending lawsuit against Raniere's former commodities broker, Yuri Plyam,Case No. BC-384285 in L.A.County Superior Court; and the Bronfmans pending action against Ohara (Case No. 09-90006 in local bankruptcy court). Looks like Raniere and the Bronfmans will do just about anything to suppress all of the documents concerning the $100 million that he pissed away.

The end is near for Vantwerp!

[sos]

What do they hope to achieve by suppressing such information? Transactions of financial securities are highly regulated, documented, and are public information anyways. The man exposed (in more ways that one) and revealed himself for who he really is in a way that can't be rewound. Apparently, his ethical ideals consist of building his own self-created dominion where he's the leader with absolute authority and all the benefits that come with it: power, ego, wealth, and women. I think I need a shower now.

[Monitor NXIVM]

The Bronfmans had to have been embarassed when all this info came out - and Raniere has to be concerned that if they get too embarassed, they'll leave NXIVM. Without their money, all the lawsuits go away, all the buildings go away, all the toys go away, etc., etc., etc.