Bonum Certa Men Certa

Pretending Charlatans and Corporate Imposters

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Oct 20, 2023

Enjoy your croissant and "stock market"

Breakfast With Market Data: Cup of tea and a croissant on a plate on newspaper with market data

THERE is no "simple" or "polite" way to put it. Yesterday we wrote about the GNOME Foundation bringing in as a leader a person who, according to herself, is an "energy healer" ("One-on-one sessions for personal energy clearing and healing"). "One of the largest Linux organisations is now being ran [sic] by someone who believes in magic," someone explained. I cannot disagree*, but I try not to get baited into allegations of "sexism" (it can be spun or framed that way).

How did we, the programmers or coders of the world, let ourselves be oppressed by ruthless businesspeople via marketing charlatans like Jim Zemlin, who cannot even code but try to overcompensate with buzzword name-dropping?

That really needs to 1) be debated openly and 2) change. Remember that the former Red Hat CEO is now shilling Microsoft .NET. He's not a geek, he only pretends to be one, and the late 'Roblimo' (who knew him in person) told me the same many years ago. He's just a sleek businessman.

_______
* The GNOME Foundation's chief is a person whose homepage is an animal's skull (typically satanic rituals), offering to "create rituals and ceremonies to bring the sacred into people’s lives." (Like Marina Abramović)

Holly Million

Probably the work of nepotism or despotism:

My name is Holly Million, and I am a professional shaman, an artist, an herbal medicine maker, and a micro-homesteader. My greatest joy comes from helping people to free themselves and bring their gifts forward for the healing of people and the planet. I have made tremendous progress in my own healing, and more healing is possible. It’s all possible — and without being boxed up and pathologized. Mind, body, and spiritual wellness is a spectrum of function versus dysfunction. We are all healing. And we all can heal. The tools are there. Our brains are neuroplastic. They can heal. We can grow new neural networks. We can change our biochemistry. Life becomes wonderful after being hell. Everything changes. For me, my own high achievement and public persona wallpapered over the tremendous emptiness and suffering inside. I suffered from an undiagnosed auditory processing disorder, PTSD, and a borderline personality — so much shame, self-loathing, and suicidal impulses. So much pain. And I healed myself. Yes, I claim the credit. Many came who helped me along the way. But it was that strong, indomitable, inner spark of motivation to heal that made this possible. I am here as a model of what is possible. And I am here to provide a blueprint, roadmap, and motivation to others ready to start or now within their healing journey. I can say, it’s hard now, but there is a way to heal, repair, and reprogram yourself. You have all the power. Eight years ago, I realized the best word to describe me must be “shaman.” A shaman is a bridge between the material and spiritual worlds, between the seen and unseen worlds. I am now a professional shaman. I am a translator of the esoteric to the personal. I am a bridge between what is mystical and what is practical. I make the shamanic arts relatable and useful for the average person. I serve as a guide and sacred mirror and creator of sacred space to help people transform and transcend the fear and trauma in their lives, releasing what no longer serves, to make space for Beauty, Order, and Love to enter. I am now the Shaman Artist. I want to help others experience their own joy and freedom and to unite with their higher purpose and what brings them happiness and fulfillment. We need all of these gifts to be expressed in this world. You are needed! Here are just some of the things I do: I do energy healing work on behalf of individuals, land, houses, and businesses. I can do this work remotely because everything is connected. We live in a quantum universe. My clients for personal and land clearing are located all over the country. I help people overcome trauma and fear. I have worked successfully with individuals who suffered from recurring nightmares and chronic pain that were resolved through our work together. I create rituals and ceremonies to bring the sacred into people’s lives. I work with children who are sensitives, helping them to learn how to deal with their abilities so they feel empowered and not frightened. I enjoy working with teenagers who are ready to grow and connect with their own power. I train emerging shamans and those who want to bring shamanic techniques into their daily lives for pleasure and empowerment. I am also a practicing herbal medicine maker and love to integrate healing herbs with my shamanic work. I am converting my property in Oakland, CA into a working micro-homestead and herbal farm — Holly Wholly Farm and Sanctuary. The property grows sacred and healing herbs used for shamanic tools and herbal medicine. My products are estate-grown, organic, healing, and spiritual herbs. I sell hand-crafted, homegrown herbal products of my own design. This place is my joy! I am the founder of the Shamanic Arts Institute (SAI), which provides information, training, conferences, and workshops on shamanic topics. SAI offers three levels of a shamanic apprentice program each leading to a certificate. See the Shamanic Arts Institute page on this site for more details. I am planning to write a series of books, two of which are now works in progress. You can find more details on the Books page of this website. Thank you so much for visiting my website! I hope to work with you soon.

Other Recent Techrights' Posts

Links 26/10/2025: Microsoft Spies on Gamers, Open Transport Community Conference
Links for the day
Links 26/10/2025: LLM Slop / Plagiarism Programs Continue to Disappoint, CISA Layoffs Threaten Systems
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/10/2025: Gemsync and Joining the Small Web
Links for the day
India.com a Click-baiting, SEO-Spamming, Slopfarming Heap
They do this almost every day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 25, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 25, 2025
Without XBox Consoles, XBox is No More, It's Just a Brand (More Rumours of Microsoft Ending XBox, Then Laying Off Lots of Staff)
All signs indicate that Microsoft wants to "exit" the XBox business (not brand), but it does not want to publicly admit this as it would alarm staff and shareholders
Gemini Links 25/10/2025: Portugal, Midnightpub, and "Tech Right Admins"
Links for the day
Almost 2026 Already (When We Turn Twenty)
In just over a year the site will turn 20
When "Sponsored Feature" in The Register MS Means Ponzi Scheme Promotion From the Communist Party of China (CPC)
the promotion of a financial scam
Week of EPO Leaks: Workers of the EPO Are Getting a Pay Cut While Prices Rise Fast
More to come in the next few days
Microsoft is Finally Giving Up on XBox, The Chief Says the Grapes Are Sour Anyway
Microsoft loses hundreds of dollars on each XBox that it sells
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, UbuntuPIT, and Various Slopfarms Propped up by Google News
Why can't Google News do better than this?
Links 25/10/2025: Two New Smokescreens for Scam Altman and ‘TikTok USA’ Remains in Limbo
Links for the day
Bad faith: can't change Debian Social Contract (DSC) without unanimous consent of every joint author
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Confirmed: Very Close Friend of Bill Gates and Microsoft's Biggest Patent Troll Nathan Myhrvold Flew the Lolita Express (a Gateway to Pedophilia), According to Bill Gates-Sponsored Seattle Times
There is no speculation or any "conspiracy theories" here;' those are verified facts
Gemini Links 25/10/2025: "The Highest Leader of The Global Civil Society Community", SSL Certificates Causing Bitrot
Links for the day
Links 25/10/2025: Target Layoffs and "Shutdown Sparks 85% Increase in US Government Cyberattacks"
Links for the day
"Big Data" Was a Big Lie
Remember "Big Data"? Remember "Data Scientists"...?
statCounter Has Been Broken for a Long Time
Considering the huge proportion of Web requests that come from LLM bots (more so this past year or two), statCounter may struggle to justify the operating costs
Techrights Anniversary Party on November 7th
Let us know if you need any accommodation-related arrangements
Trends That Must Alarm Microsoft and Mozilla
Expect Firefox to no longer be supported by various sites in the US
Why Microsoft Became the Layoffs Leader
The corporate media is projecting or signalling its own dishonesty when it tells us that Microsoft is a very "valuable" company while the data shows Microsoft is also a "market leader" in layoffs
Speaking for Ourselves and Letting the Facts Speak for Themselves
we've already published over 50,000 pages
For Second Time in a Day The Register MS Takes Money From Private Companies to Sell a Ponzi Scheme
Do not have empathy for those who have zero empathy towards you
IBM is Misleading IBM Shareholders
IBM is still all about vapourware and buzzwords
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 24, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 24, 2025
The Serial Slopper Starts Up - or Restarts - His Plagiarism Machine (LLMs)
Serial Sloppers like these don't belong in news sites. That's why he got sacked by BetaNews.
Links 24/10/2025: Esperanto Music History, Anxiety, and New Portals
Links for the day
[Video] Richard Stallman's Talk in Sweden, Attended by Nearly 700 People, is Now Online
The Web page is in Swedish, but the talk is in English
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity.com, Linux Journal, and Pet Slopfarms of Google News
Why does Google News still advance these fake sites to the top of search results?
Links 24/10/2025: Inequality Grows, Billion-Dollar Scam Center Industry
Links for the day
Links 24/10/2025: "Independent Media in Cambodia is Collapsing" and Serious F5 Breach
Links for the day
Coping With the Site Going More Mainstream
Fame is no laughing matter
They Never 'Put Down' Corporations
There are "pests" that are traded in Wall Street
21 Pages in Less Than 7 Hours is No Joking Matter
We've become a lot more effective and efficient
Correct Information is a Valued Asset in the Age of Slopfarms and Public Relations (PR) or Spin
Publishing suppressed facts is never easy
The Register MS Continues to Bag Money to Promote a Ponzi Scheme, Even Money From China
Today in the front page
analytics.usa.gov: The Only Supported Version of Windows (This Past Week) is Only Used by About 13.9% of People in the US, the Home Base of Windows
Even Vista 7 is still used more
Rust is Very Secure
If only Rust itself is secure
Who Will be Held Accountable for Breaking Ubuntu by Imposing Rust on Otherwise-Functional Programs, in Effect Replacing GNU With Proprietary Microsoft (GitHub)?
they're practical people who merely point out that a bunch of buffoons not only ruin Ubuntu but also every future distro based on Ubuntu
Generation Chaff - Phase VIII: In Summary
Like "Science" with a capital "S", what we see here commercial interests usurping everything
Generation Chaff - Phase VII: Curtailing Alternative Media
There was always an obligation - a collective duty of sorts - to uphold independent journalism
Generation Chaff - Phase VI: Centralisation of Information (X, Cheetok/Fentanylware)
Would you trust information when controlled by such people?
Generation Chaff - Phase V: Censorship of Dissent (Painted as Harassment or Terrorism)
Censorship is all around us now
Generation Chaff - Phase IV: Apps Only Few Companies Decide On
Tools are being collectively confiscated, under the premise or false prospect of "security"
Generation Chaff - Phase III: Slop and Plagiarism
A lot of the current so-called 'economy' is built upon false valuations
Generation Chaff - Phase II: "Cloud", Blockchains and Other Hype
For those of us who turned down those propositions there was a struggle; we needed to justify not having skinnerboxes or "social" accounts in some site run by a private company
Generation Chaff - Phase I: Social Control Media
IRC predates the Web
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 23, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, October 23, 2025
More Clues Shed on Collapse of Microsoft XBox
XBox is basically circling down the drain as Microsoft implements 2-3 waves of layoffs each month
'Vibe Coding' Doesn't Work
In a lot of ways, so-called 'Vibe Coding' is already considered vapourware or a passing fad promoted in the media by managers who try to justify mass layoffs, especially ridding companies of "very expensive" software engineers
Links 24/10/2025: Microsoft's Killing of XBox Connected to Revenue/Profit Problems, "How Elon Musk Ruined Twitter"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/10/2025: 86,400 Seconds and "Society's Task"
Links for the day