The ASD was of course, a busy event.   I  think it was the busiest  10  days for me so far --- ever.    A lot of good people, people with big hearts, and also some with mean intent.    The Convention Committee did an excellent job in spite of the obstacles the former executive board,  ----  tried to place in their way.     I think I recorded the sessions at the convention.   That, and our sales table and the politics kept me plenty busy.  Did not go to as many sessions as I would have liked to.    We have a lot of rebuilding to do.

     If you've been following the occasional ASD reportings in this newsletter, you know that every 2 years the members elect a Board of (about 20) Trustees and the Trustees elect the officers.  In the previous administration (June 2003-June 2005) we (I was a Trustee) elected 3 officers who --- well, we got snookered.  How could dowsers get fooled? one might ask.  Yup.  We're still asking.  The 4th officer, who was not part of their cabal --- was later on rudely shoved out of office and one of their mind controlled pod was brought in to replace him.

    That president hijacked the organization and the process and did whatever he wanted to do regardless of legality, morality, ethics or integrity.   It is similar to what is happening in the US, where there is a quasi legally elected president and administration but whose people are pretty good --- and the administration is spending resources on inappropriate and boneheaded projects, destroying the infrastructure and looting the treasury.  That's what's been going on at the ASD for the last 2 years.  See:  ASDBored for more background.

    So this administration started rewriting its rules, one of which are officer election proceedures, so it could continue to control the elections as well as the organization.    There was a process for the Nominating Committee to select new trustees.  They worked extremely hard, to get good candidates in this beleaguered but bighearted organization and did a fine job and found good people, who were elected. (Not all the new trustees were well intentioned.  A majority were.)  Best of all --- the current president was not re elected as a trustee, so he could not of course be an officer!   The cabal  had mandated that officer elections must take place before their first meeting --- which also happens to be before the candidates could meet one another.    The newly elected trustees did not want this.  Usually elections take place at the convention, where members and trustees meet one another.  Before this time, they did not know one another and would not know for whom they are voting.  The incumbents knew one another.

    What took place was that the new trustees contacted one another by email and phone and put a slate together.  Their slate won the election!   They won all 4 places!   The attempted manipulation by  the previous admin backfired tremendously  and they were tossed out of office.  This experience has taught me to believe in and trust the higher powers to take care of things.  They devised a solution way more elegant than anything I could have conceived of.   So now we have a group of officers who are moral and ethical.   They have a tough job ahead of them since the previous administration was pretty destructive.  Cleaning up after them is like cleaning up the European cities after the bombings in World War II.  There is a lot of rebuilding to do and they were not left with enough resources.   And there's no Marshall Plan to help them out.   There's also a lot of money missing.

     WHY?   These doings seem ludicrous (yes, they are).   WHY?  Why would 6 or so fairly intelligent people spend the better part of 2 years trying to tear down and take over this organization?    What's in it for them?    There's not a lot of money in the treasury (any longer) and there are no huge tangible assets.   It's not a huge group (any longer).   Membership has gone from just over 5,000 to under 4,000.   Nice size, but not enough for power mongers.

     Could it be their tax deductible status as a charity group?    Could it be related to one of our favorite dowser's  sayings: "Dowsers are Among the Most Powerful People on the Planet ...Their problem is, they just don't know it."?     Could it be that many of those involved are (ex???) US Military "Intelligence"? or have such connections?  In this Aquarian Age that we are in,  nothing can be hidden any longer.  Everything is being poured out.   The water is being poured out of the urn.  Faster and faster.  And we are dowsers.  We may not have the answers today, but we will, in the proper moment.

    One of the many problems was support for the 2005 Convention.  The Convention Committee makes all the plans regarding dates, location, speakers, exhibit hall, activities, lodging, etc.   The head office does all the support work such as printing and mailing registration information and taking care of registrations.

    This previous administration virtually ignored the convention --- the biggest event of its year.  They invented time and resource consuming activities during the time they should have been preparing for the convention.  It also did not help that the head office staff turned over 3 times in 14 months and the staff there did not have enough time to know what to do.   Registration materials were sent out over a month late.

    The previous administration focussed on frivolous distractions such as trustee bylaws, obtaining grants and marketing managers --- all which came to nothing (which it was designed to do --- waste time, energy, attention and resources) rather than building membership, members, chapters, publications (2 of the 4 editors quit), convention support, etc.   When they left office they took everything with them, like the British did when they turned Palestine over to the Israelis --- they left the Israelis with nothing.   The new administration is still looking for information, assets,  that should rightfully be there.

     The enforcers of the previous administration attempted to extort funds from the new administration to record the speakers  for the convention.  Other lackeys in responsible positions were enabling them in this conspiracy through suave but empty assurances that everything is okay.  This plot was blocked and at the last minute a backup arrangement -- good but not perfect -- was put in to place.

     Due to the lack of support, lack or registration materials, a head office and support staff which was not 100% informed, trained or cooperative and pitiful administration, attendance figures at the 2005 convention were lower than they should have been.    Despite all the difficulty, the convention committee did an excellent job, the sessions were pretty good and the attendees had a wonderful time, as always.

    Let us hope and intend that this current well intentioned administration (2005-2007) and its committees can build up from a new place.

*            *            *            *            *            *

There's another sad wrinkle to this sad saga.   I'm including it in our newsletter because this newsletter is the only place this information is made available:

Just prior to the ASD officer's elections, Ralph Squire had been circulating emails warning of talk of dissatisfaction from ASD members in the more western US states and that he heard rumors that members might pull out if things got any worse.   He also said he was hearing rumors about a group out west that might start a group in opposition to the ASD --- if  the slate of officers that Ralph supported --- were not elected.

If it were not so serious this would be totally hilarious.  As it is, its only mildly hilarious.    Now I know why stereotypes are so lasting and popular.  Because they are so darned true!   If Ralph were an animal, he'd be an Ostrich.

Ralph runs the Mother Lode Chapter in California.  He's an octogenarian and spelunker.  He seems to have some good ideas in the way he runs and organizes his chapter.   He is also the recent past treasurer of ASD --- which could be debated because his position as treasurer is pretty illegal.   The cabal illegally threw out the elected treasurer and put Ralph in --- even tho those who supported him this time refused to support him the first time because his hearing is so poor.  Two years ago, this treasurer of the ASD told me "None of my personal businesses have ever succeeded financially."

Now --- all those rumors Ralph had been hearing and reporting on?  Guess what?!   Guess where they came from?!  RALPH!   He started them all!  Fancy that!

Two years earlier, when the Cabal thought I was one of them (I was in agreement with them as to what we were opposed to --- but I did not know what this group stood for),  Ralph and his buddies told me that if their guy were not elected --- then they, and people out west, were going to start a group out west that would oppose the ASD.   If they did, they hoped I would join them.  Their guy won (I even helped to elect him) and thus began the debacle.

Same strategy, this time Ralph's group lost, and they started their group.   A day after they lost the election.  All the pieces were in place.  They had been in place for some time.

Now here comes the sad part:   May 3, 2 days after they lost the election, an email is circulated from one of the most well respected and well known figures in Dowsing.   He said that  "it is not an organization formed out of hate or revenge, rather it is an organization to fill a gap and to create a sharing among people of like
interests.  ....  The organization ....  is a web based organization with a web-based e-quarterly Journal.  It will focus on the many aspects ....  from healing and dowsing to research and experiences, ....  we hope by reciprocally linking to other supporting organizations (like ORI, ASD, etc), we can create a community of sharing of ideas."

This strategem did not spring up all of a sudden.   This was one of their strategies they had in place for some time.  And ---- they had been controlling the ASD for two years.  Why didn't they offer these wonderful articles --- to the editors of the ASD Quarterly Digest?  They would have loved them!

Who is sending out this sad "news"?  The Santa Claus of the Dowsing world:  Walt Woods, author of "Letter To Robin".   "The whole world seems to have changed again!  Sunday night Ralph Squire sent out an email that a new organization is forming and that Walt Woods had volunteered to coordinate it!  That was the first we heard of it, but as fate would have it, Walt accepted the challenge."  This email was sent to dozens of people.  No one who I've spoken to believes the cheery statements Walt made.

The people Walt said are going to run this organization --- are those responsible for the problems within ASD, one of them  has been called "The most Dangerous..." or "The most hated person in the ASD".    These are his new partners, those who have been vilified for sabotage, for treason, etc. for the last 2 years.  It's like going in to partnership with Michael Milliken or Al Capone.

I spoke to 2 long time long time dowsers --- also well respected award winning contributors --- who have known Walt and his work for over 20 years and looked up to him as a mentor.  They are despondent over Walt's activities.   So am I.   I talk about Walt at the dowsing classes I teach.   I make "Letter to Robin" available.   His charts are on our Daily Dowsing Vitamin cards.   And highly prized.   I took his 2 day workshop last year and learned so much and loved it and wanted to learn more from this sage.

At the annual ASD membership meeting, in the main auditorium, where Walt's pronouncements were always greeted with applause, he tried to explain that this new group is a good thing, but he was met with stony faces and derisive hoots.   The President took away the microphone from him because it was obvious that Walt was going to be deluged with angry comments and questions.

Did you read the article in our May2005 newsletter about Disinformation?    That's what we can expect from this new organization.  And... oh yes.  Ads.  Plenty of advertisements --- to sell --- because these folks were not allowed to advertise their shlock in the ASD Quarterly Digest, a scholarly publication.

We've all been duped in our lives.  We've supported the wrong side, we've been taken advantage of monetarily, we've been disappointeded, perhaps even betrayed,  by someone close to us.   Some of the tough things about growing up and learning lessons that are supposed to be good for us and character building.

We are hoping that it Walt's  personal  loyalty to his friends are what has caused him to be duped this way and used for his name and reputation and taken advantage of.    We hope that it won't take too long for him to see through the machinations and perfidy of his partners --- although from experience we (me too) know that they are very very very good at flattering those they want to use.

Why can't Walt and others see what's going on?  These are supposed to be powerful dowsers.   This is a kind of discernment that not everyone possesses.  For a partial answer  see the 8 Veils article that begins:

From the December 2001 Idaho Observer:
Slavery and the eight veils
by Don Harkins

Over the last several years I have evolved and discarded several theories in an attempt to explain why it is that most people cannot see truth -- even when it smacks them in the face. Those of us who can see “the conspiracy” have participated in countless conversations amongst ourselves that address the frustration of most peoples' inability to comprehend the extremely well-documented arguments which we use to describe the process of our collective enslavement and exploitation. The most common explanation to be arrived at is that most people just “don't want to see” what is really going on.

Extremely evil men and women who make up the world's power-elite have cleverly cultivated a virtual pasture so grass green that few people seldom, if ever, bother to look up from where they are grazing long enough to notice the brightly colored tags stapled to their ears.

Finally, I understand why. [SNIP.  CONTINUED IN THE ABOVE LINK]

Walt!   We all hope you and Mardi return to us --- eyes wide open, aware, wiser and on the side of the angels.  It took me 6 months to see the true intentions of these folks.  I hope you learn faster and less painfully  than I did.  We long to welcome you two back home. *            *            *            *            *            *

Back to the Convention, and the [non] membership meeting, chaired by then Vice President MaryMarie Satterlee.   The previous (then current) President could not bother to attend the convention.  He sent word ahead that he would be sick.  He made a miraculous recovery from his mysterious illness shortly after the convention was over.  He apparently was well enough to be on the telephone to his cohort at the convention, telling them what to do.

This was the 2nd membership meeting (the 1st one was a year ago) where the members were given no time to ask questions and bring up new business.  In fact, MaryMarie abruptly adjourned the meeting.  So abruptly -- because the several hundred members in attendance had issues that they wanted to raise and wanted answers, because they've been too long ignored.   Furor erupted in that room for about a half hour, concerned and active members having been disgusted with the lack of useful data presented in Ralph Squire's "modified"  Treasurer's Report, his inability to produce concrete numbers for the financials, and, although he said he is in charge of Membership as well, he did not know any membership figures.   MaryMarie ignored the very obvious wishes of the members as she proudly proclaimed that according to the rules she had every right to adjourn the meeting.  (She didn't, but that's another story.)

She was also on a different page in at least one other area.   Although there was an agenda, which is supposed to be adhered to, more than one person saw that MaryMarie was reading from, and conducting the meeting, from a totally different [written] agenda.   And, one of the uncooperative trustees, who used to write ASD minutes as if they were to be published in Pravda, was whispering to her to close the meeting, and quickly.

We wanted to ask Ralph about a message he circulated to:  trustees, chapter chairs, speakers and heads of organizations right after losing the election that appears to be in violation of his responsibilities as a trustee, an officer and even a member of the ASD.   This message shows his intention to damage the proper conduct of ASD business and to encourage and engage in conspiracy with others to do so.

       "As a reminder, we had agreed to all stay as members of the new Board (rather than resigning enmass), do a lot of smiling, but not get too involved, at this time.  I plan to attend the convention in VT, present a Treasurer’s Report (somewhat modified), but not sit in on the Sunday Retreat.  If we stick together, then with our 9 votes we can keep the others on their toes.  If aat any time an insufficient number of them show up at a meeting we can out vote them."

The complete message, the list of cronies he believes are engaged with him, can be read at: RALPHLET

Ralph, you and your accomplices had it your way for 2 years and you blew it.  You had everything you wanted, you took everything that wasn't nailed down , you did a rotten job, you and your group, although you were elected, you received the lowest number of votes.   In an open trustees meeting, a majority wanted you removed  from your position immediately (but there was no procedure to do so) for malfeasance, etc.   There is no confidence in you.   Show a modicum of decency and get out.  Now.   You have shown, you have written that you will effort in opposition to the Executive Board.   Resign.   Now.

It could be helpful to the ASD Administration if members were to contact their Executive Board and trustees to ask them questions, to find out what's going on on all levels and tell them what they would like done.

A deficiency in ASD governing regulations is that there is no facility in place for accountability of trustees and officers.  If someone does a poor job --- if they do a terrible job --- there is no procedure in place for penalty or discipline or removal from office.    The previous Caligula's Cabal knows the rules.  Rules, bylaws, procedures, etc. are beneficial when used justly by just people.   They are used as weapons, obstacles and obfuscations when used by those engaged in deception and subterfuge.

The ASD Preamble to the ByLaws, and their Code of Ethics --- 2 beautiful documents created by founders who could not conceive of the level of evil that has invaded and pervaded their beloved organization, can be found at:   www.dowsers.org.

Next year I hope to report about the content of the sessions and the workshops and the speakers we met and new information.

Dear Toronto Dowsers:  Thank you for allowing me to post this information here.   The ASD membership, and most of the dowsing world, has been kept in the dark about what was taking place administratively.   They saw their  proud group deteriorating and did not know what was going on, or who was doing what.  We have many ASD members within our group --- their number is growing thanks to the damage caused by the previous administration and many more read our newsletter on the web.   This is the only place this information is presented.

I just finished my term as ASD trustee within that previous administration.  I have been on the governing boards of 2 dowsing organizations and both have been experiencing these kinds of problems, where a noxious element gets in and, working behind the scenes, it grows.  Like cancer.  Which is one of the big reasons why our group is run the way it is.   It has been known for some time that dowsing groups have been under attack by detrimental energies for years.

The ASD is responsible for our start the way we did, and many of our speakers come from that organization.  A healthy ASD will make a better Toronto Dowsers.

Writing this article created a lot of sweat.  I had to say things about some people here who I genuinely like, the problem is they have been unduly influenced by some sort of maliciousness and are being used.   They are not bad people, on the contrary, they have accomplished high achievements for dowsers and are being used because of their reputation.

If you have any corrections, additions  or updates for this article please send them to me at your earliest convenience for inclusion in a following issue.

I think a good joke could be useful right about now:
A cardiologist died and was given an elaborate funeral. A huge heart covered in flowers stood behind the casket during the service.

Following  the eulogy, the heart opened, and the casket rolled inside. The heart then closed, sealing the doctor in the beautiful heart forever.

At  that point, one of the mourners burst into laughter. When all eyes stared  at him, he said, "I'm sorry, I was just thinking of my own funeral...I'm a gynecologist."

The proctologist fainted.