Cult News

CultNews reported the death of Sri Chinmoy in October of last year, the guru often called a “cult leader,” died of a heart attack at his home in Jamaica Queens, New York. He was 76.

Chinmoy considered a “holy man” by his disciples, was dubbed “sleazy Sri” by the New York Post, when it was revealed that he exploited some of his female followers for sexual favors.

The Chicago Tribune called Chinmoy the “gonzo guru” for his incessant publicity stunts, which included lifting massive weights with the help of a mechanical device.

Chinmoy seemed willing to do almost anything to get his name in print.

Despite their guru’s apparent egomania, Chinmoy’s devotees persistently attempted to spin him into some sort of selfless saint pursuing peace.

But it looks like a posthumous title for Chinmoy might be the “greedy guru,” denoting a man more selfish the saintly.

CultNews obtained a copy of the “Will of Chinmoy Kumar Ghose” (aka Sri Chinmoy) and rather than demonstrating that he had few concerns about the material world, his final testament proves that cash was often the focus of his consciousness.

Chinmoy left behind a financial residue totaling millions of dollars in net assets, which were held by him personally rather than the nonprofit he controlled called “Sri Chinmoy Centre Church Inc.”

The “estimated testamentary assets of the estate” were “in excess of $2 million” according to a statement filed by Chinmoy’s designated executor David K. Burke of Jamaica, Queens, where many of his remaining followers continue to reside.

According to Burke the guru had $150,000.00 in various bank accounts, and “six real properties” all under his name.

Four of the properties are located in Jamaica Queens.

Two properties appear to be private residences, one is located in Victoria, British Columbia and another in Tarpon, Florida.

Did these properties serve as Sri Chinmoy’s selfless seasonal retreats?

The guru stated in his will that he had no “surviving relatives” and left everything after his death to the “Sri Chinmoy Centre Church, Inc.,” which will continue to perpetuate his name.

Benjamin Spector, a former devotee wrote, “Many of Chinmoy’s disciples will go into their senior years with no social security and ineligible for Medicare…”

Spector says, “Most of us gave up college and our careers for him.” The former follower worries, “After ten, twenty, thirty years of living in a cult, who will look after these ‘weird’ people in whites and saris? They have no job skills, and most were too poor to ever see a doctor or dentist.”

Will any of the guru’s millions be set aside to take care his past or present disciples?

Or will everything continue to fuel an endless posthumous promotion of his name?

What about the living?

Spector recalls, “The Guru promised us all ‘a ticket to heaven’ and all we had to do was to become his devoted unconditional slaves and willingly sacrifice our current lives for the promise of a heavenly future.”

Maybe David Burke should consider offering some compensation for former and current Sri Chinmoy devotees interested in redeeming those tickets.

According to an obscure guru some call a “cult leader” living in Jamaica Queens, New York, saying his name can get you to a “very good higher world.” This sage advice and other supposed gems can be found in the book titled “The Wisdom of Sri Chinmoy” reports the Queens Chronicle.

Here is another example of the guru’s so-called “wisdom.”

Guru Sri Chinmoy writes, “A young wife was terribly afraid of staying alone at night, so the Master said to the husband…I shall take care of her. That night she saw the Master in a corner of the room, not the Master’s physical body but his luminous subtle body.”

Hmmm.

Chinmoy claims to be celibate, but persistent allegations have arisen that his “physical body” has wandered about a bit and it’s not so “subtle.” The guru apparently has a penchant for pursuing sexual favors from his female followers.

The New York Post once named him “‘Sleazy’ Sri.”

The now 74-year-old guru still has about 2,000 seriously committed followers. A core group composed of some of his most devoted believers has clustered around his house in Queens. They are known for frequently working long and hard hours at the guru’s businesses, at times for little more than subsistence wages.

New York businesses associated with Sri Chinmoy include the Smile of the Beyond luncheonette in Jamaica Queens and the Oneness-Fountain-Heart restaurant in Flushing.

Chinmoy has a long history of staging self-serving publicity stunts, which include everything from “Peace Runs” to his followers performing feats in their guru’s name to get him into the Guinness Book of World Records.

One devotee Ashrita Furman has held more than 86 Guinness records for such feats as pogo stick jumping, juggling while running 50 miles and playing the most games of hopscotch.

Last year Chinmoy had his faithful gather more than 1,000 roses to commemorate his 73rd birthday, no doubt hoping to set another record.

The guru teaches that overcoming ego is a spiritual goal, but apparently this doesn’t include his own, which requires constant feeding.

Such staged theater took a dark turn when one of his disciples died apparently practicing a trick to please the guru.

In his latest book of “wisdom” Sri Chinmoy holds forth on the topics of “belief,” “doubt” and “worry.”

But Chinmoy doesn’t have much to “worry” about with all his followers taking such good care of him. He lives a life of relative ease often leaving New York in the winter for balmy weather elsewhere.

Beyond “belief” though are Chinmoy’s persistent claims that he can reportedly lift 7,064 pounds with his right arm and 7,040 with his left.

More amazing than this claim is that his followers don’t seem to “doubt” such preposterous nonsense.

Anyone interested enough to scrutinize the guru’s weightlifting will find out that he relies more upon machines to do the job for him rather than his muscles. But like so many devices used by this guru it seemingly serves to pumps up his ego.

“If one enters secret domains where the inherent powers of the cosmic realities exist, one can get the capacity to do anything,” says Sri Chinmoy.

But it’s hard to understand how the followers of this bizarre man continue to devote their lives to his various schemes and scams—is there some “cosmic” reason they seem willing “to do anything”?

Some say that Chinmoy’s “inherent powers” are a form of “brainwashing.” And that this is accomplished in part through a form of self-hypnosis, which renders them more suggestible and compliant, achieved through what the guru calls “meditation.” Then there is also the so-called “cult” lifestyle, largely dependent upon living within what can be seen as a controlled environment dominated and defined by Chinmoy.

Maybe his disciples have bought into the proposition that their rewards from the guru won’t be realized in this world, but rather in the next one?

In his book Chinmoy appears to cultivates this notion telling readers that as a teenager he followed his sister’s soul “for about three hours in the world of death.”

The guru also says he was once busy “fighting with three death forces that wanted to snatch away three of my close disciples…”

Hmmm.

Would those “forces” be families, old friends or maybe actually an attack of doubt and/or critical thinking?

Chinmoy wants readers to know that his “teaching is not a kind of miracle-mongering.” Instead, his “business is to help the aspirant to reach God.”

Perhaps it is a “business.”

Famed musician Carlos Santana followed Sri Chinmoy for almost a decade and then left that “business” behind him.

“This shit is not for me–I don’t care how enlightening it is,” he told Rolling Stone.

Maybe that’s a mantra that might help Sri Chinmoy’s disciples “reach God.” According to Deborah Santana, it didn’t hurt her life, or her husband’s life to get away from “Chinmoy’s controlling ways.”

By Benjamin Spector, New York

I am an environmentalist, liberal and former cult member and am very sad that you spoke at the “Ramtha School of Enlightenment.”

You may not be aware of this, but J.Z. Knight will take full advantage of your attendance at her school and use your name, your reputation and the reputation of your father and your family to promote her group.

Maybe you need an education about what a [destructive] cult is?

A [destructive] cult is the most fascist, dictatorial type of group known to man.

In America, you and I and all the liberals and environmentalists have the freedom to speak out against our government and to change that government in a democratic fashion.

Also, within mainstream religious organizations from the Catholic Church to the “Religious Right,” members may express their own points of view to a varying degree and debate the relevant issues.

At Riverkeeper, you and your associates probably debate issues and have disagreements.

However, there isn’t meaningful debate or disagreements in a [destructive] cult.

A [destructive] cult is an organization where typically one person is held as “God-like,” infallible and essentially above the law.

Followers do not seriously question leaders like J.Z. Knight, Reverend Moon, and Sri Chinmoy, who was once my leader. In fact no dissent is really tolerated. Either you swallow the group dogma, hook, line and sinker, or you are out and will be ostracized and shunned forever by all your former friends and associates that remain involved.

That is totalitarianism.

You were quoted in The Olympian to say, “Someone who doesn’t like you very much told me I was speaking at a cult”… “I guess it would be OK if I spoke at Bob Jones University.”

I don’t recall a Kennedy ever speaking at Bob Jones, but I remember your Uncle Teddy speaking at Jerry Falwell’s school. He was treated quite courteously, although everyone there knew he didn’t agree with Mr. Falwell.

The “Ramtha School of Enlightenment” may seem like a “New Age” alternative education, holistic kind of place, but in reality the dogma is much more rigid and dissent is probably less tolerated there than at Bob Jones University.

You would never have been allowed to raise questions or encourage debate within the Ramtha group about its leader or her absolute authority.

[Destructive] cults expect their members to obey the leader at all times.

At the Ramtha School perhaps students feel they are not actually obeying Ms. Knight, but rather the 35,000-year-old spirit from the lost continent of Atlantis named “Ramtha” that she claims to channel.

Do you know what “Ramtha” has said?

In one channeling session Ramtha reportedly said, “Mother Nature” wants to “get rid of” gays.”

And “Ramtha” has recommended buying Ms. Knight’s Arabian horses as an investment.

It is said that you are considering running for New York Attorney General. Maybe one day you may even run for President. This is why I am so deeply concerned about what you said at this recent lecture.

You told the audience at the Ramtha School, “I was really excited; because I just really wanted to see this place…You’re good people with good values, and all the values this country is supposed to stand for.”

But to me the freedom to express one’s point of view and to speak out against injustices of any kind are the fundamental pillars of any democratic society. These are the “good values,” which forms the basis for our society.

However, at the Ramtha School the leader isn’t democratic and other views are not really tolerated.

How can you support and commend this, and then condemn George Bush or the Republican Party?

Please let me know where you stand concerning [destructive] cults.

Much like battered women, the followers of charismatic cult leaders often remain loyal unless they find some way to break free and begin to reason and reflect again independently.

Believe it or not, the followers of cult leaders are very frequently well educated, sophisticated and sensitive, but authoritarian leaders rob them of their ability to think independently as individuals and dominate them.

I urge you to examine the “Ramtha School of Enlightenment” and research its history.

J.Z. Knight has been called a “cult leader.”

It is hard to believe that a Kennedy would dine with such a person in a palatial mansion probably paid for largely though the pain and suffering of cult victims.

Her followers paid $1,000.00 each to attend the retreat you lectured at and an additional $30.00 to hear you talk.

They buy her tapes; books etc. and probably serve Ms. Knight in many other ways. Some may have left their homes, given up jobs and even their families to help her there. Whenever they finally move on many may not be employable and perhaps they won’t be able to afford health insurance.

My one-time leader Sri Chinmoy encouraged many of us to work below the minimum wage and without benefits, at businesses owned by senior group members in New York and other locations. Many workers were illegal aliens.

Do you think that this type of behavior represents “good values”?

As New York State Attorney General would you do anything to stop or prevent such bad treatment?

Or will you stand idly by allowing cult leaders to become rich at the expense of their followers, often illegally abusing and exploiting them?

Are these “the values this country is supposed to stand for”?

I really want to know where you stand on these issues.

Note: After repeated inquiries Robert F. Kennedy Jr. finally responded to Mr. Spector March 28th. His response read “Thanks for your note. I would gladly go to Bob Jones, Ramtha or Liberty College to spread my message, which is anti-fascist, pro-democratic and pro-environment. Ramtha School has been involved in several successful battles to keep developers like Wal-Mart out of Yelm. Those are the values I was applauding.”

The old adage “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts” may be useful to Tsunami survivors receiving attention from some specious sects and groups called “cults.”

Just like in the movie Troy something sinister and/or self-serving can be concealed in a “gift horse,” and it’s probably not Brad Pitt.

In recent days a growing array of controversial religious organizations, gurus and self-styled healers have launched efforts for Tsunami relief, but who are they really focused upon helping?

Do their programs reflect a genuine desire to assist the victims of the most horrific catastrophe of the 21st Century, or are they just there to play the disaster for publicity and possibly some new recruits?

South African Scientologists are using church branches as drop-off points for clothes and other goods targeted for relief reports IOL.

And Scientologists flying in from all over.

Scientology has sent volunteers from Australia to identify bodies reported the AAP.

English Scientologists and even a voluteer from Utah funded by an anonymous businessman are being flown in to somehow help reports Surrey On Line and the and the Salt Lake Tribune.

Scientology volunteers are known for their bright yellow jackets emblazoned with “Scientology Volunteer Ministers” worn when doing their charitable chores.

Scientology says that over 200 “volunteer ministers” are helping in tsunami-hit countries.

In a strange twist Scientology has trained Tibetan monks to help tsunami survivors through so-called “touch assists,” which seems to be Scientology’s version of the popular Pentecostal practice known as “laying on of hands” for healing. Scientology volunteers and the Buddhist monks using their method will touch survivors to help heal their trauma reports the AFP.

Another controversial group concerned about the trauma of tsunami survivors is the “Gentle Wind Project.” This organization is sending its so-called “trauma cards” to Sumatra, which supposedly have “the ability to forgive and [help users] move forward in life” according to one testimonial featured on the group’s Web site. But critics have dismissed the cards as “quackery” and a doctor warned that groups pushing such products often find “people who are desperate…and then take advantage of them.”

Madonna’s much-hyped “Kabbalah Centre” is shipping 10,000 bottles of its touted “Kabbalah Water,” which the pop diva seems to believe has spiritual properties reported MSNBC.

Wouldn’t regular bottled tap water be just as effective and much cheaper? But then that couldn’t afford a photo op with glitzy “Kabbalah Centre” labeling would it?

And then there is the so-called “Art of Living” organization led by a former associate of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi “Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.” He has dispatched his disciples to teach tsunami victims “yoga” and “meditation.”

Hey Sri Sri how about funding some conventional classrooms for children rather than pushing your “yoga”?

Another pitch comes from Guru Sri Chinmoy of New York. His followers are collecting for something called “The Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles” organization and say they are now “engaged in an urgent global effort to bring desperately needed relief to the survivors.”

But Chinmoy, who has been embroiled in sex scandals and called a “sleazy swami,” doesn’t seem to fit the “world harmony leader” title claimed at the group’s fund-raising Web site.

“Mata” the hugging mama guru has reportedly laid down some hard cash reported one news service.

But will she want a photo op hugging her check like “Summa Ching Hai” when she dropped some dough on the Red Cross for September 11th victims?

Meanwhile hate preacher Fred Phelps from Kansas wants everyone to know that he is “thankful” God killed Swedish citizens through this particular disaster, something about their collective sexual sins reported Raw Print.

Is that Fred smiling over there for the cameras with his “God Hates Fags” sign?

Who will land next with the next wave of volunteers?

Maybe some Falun Gongers will show up to teach exercise classes and pass out flyers, or will it be Sai baba the guru philanthropist and alleged pedophile?

Nothing new about such activities by specious groups after a disaster except the size and depth of this terrible tragedy.

Scientology volunteers were seen at Ground Zero not long after the Twin Towers collapsed. And John Travolta seemed anxious for his photo-op when he visited the site.

Then Tom Cruise launched the Scientology-linked “Downtown Medical,” located in lower Manhattan, which provided the so-called “purification rundown” for the detoxification of FDNY firemen and others that worked at Ground Zero.

People are the most vulnerable to undue influence and recruitment efforts by groups called “cults” when experiencing a personal crisis, loss and/or going through a difficult transition. When people are isolated from family, friends, their community and familiar support systems they are likely to be weakened and more susceptible.

Sound like Tsunami victims?

Meanwhile mainstream religious and relief organizations and government agencies are focused upon providing practical help to the massive numbers of survivors such as potable not magical water, medical care and the restoration of basic services through the rebuilding of infrastructure.

CNN reports that this is the largest humanitarian effort in recorded history.

Let’s hope that that these practical efforts reach the tsunami victims before any so-called “cults” exploit their vulnerabilities or use them as backdrops for some photo-op.

Journalism hit another low during November when Asbury Park Press reporter Dan Kaplan gushed about the antics of self-proclaimed “guru” Sri Chinmoy.

The New York City resident guru seems to do just about anything to see his name in print. This includes staging ridiculous publicity stunts and using a cadre of devotees to promote them to the press.

“Planes and one helicopter left the ground not by engine power but by the sheer lower-body strength of 73-year-old Queens resident Sri Chinmoy,” reported Kaplan to his readers in New Jersey.

But how could a 5 foot 7 inch 186-pound senior citizen accomplish this feat?

What Kaplan failed to tell his readers is the portly guru relies upon mechanics, not simply “sheer lower-body strength.”

As repeatedly reported by more credible sources this unlikely weightlifter actually uses a “machine” that “gives him leverage, with the fulcrum around the middle of the airplane.”

According to the designer of the machine Chinmoy “is not lifting the total weight” reported the New Jersey Star-Ledger.

The Wall Street Journal once dubbed the guru “Stunt Man Supreme.”

Never mind.

Kaplan prefers to call Chinmoy a “a fitness advocate, author and philosopher,” though others in the media have offered decidedly less complimentary descriptions.

The New York Post gave him the title “sleazy swami…sex pest.”

Sri Chinmoy has also been called a “cult leader” and has maintained his following and a cluster of devotee-run businesses in Queens since the 1970s.

On occasion it seems Mr. Chinmoy may also take in more than just a journalist that doesn’t do his homework.

No less than the Head of the Vietnamese permanent mission to the United Nations recently presented a medal “for the cause of peace and friendship among nations” to the “sleazy swami” reported the Voice of Vietnam News.

However, what Chinmoy actually has accomplished for the cause of peace is an interesting question.

That is, other than placing peace plaques in public places, which feature his name. This accomplishment is largely achieved through an on-going public relations effort by his devoted followers.

One such plaque created controversy in 1996, when the guru’s disciples found a place for it near the Statue of Liberty reported the New York Times.

Like many so-called “cult leaders” Chinmoy’s following once included celebrities, such as Olympian Carl Lewis and musician Carlos Santana.

However, it is unclear whether Lewis remains so deeply devoted, since he became a Christian. And Santana told Rolling Stone Magazine, “This shit is not for me,” after breaking with Chinmoy some years ago.

Deborah Santana, the wife of the multi-Grammy award winner made the break even more explicit this month. She reportedly cut 200 pages from her recently released memoir that specifically spoke about the couple’s nine years with Chinmoy before publication.

“We’re over the guru thing,” Ms. Santana told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Now if only some reporters who produce puff pieces based upon press releases could follow her lead or at least seriously research their stories about “sleazy swami” Sri Chinmoy.

Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, called “Sri Chinmoy” by his devoted followers, has made something of a career through publicity stunts. His favorite appears to be phony power lifting that he uses to attract attention and feed his seemingly insatiable ego.

The latest newspaper to be sucked in by the guru’s antics is the New York Times.

In a long piece today titled “They’re Not Heavy; They’re His People,” NY Times reporter Cory Kilgannon gave the guru enough space to make him blush, perhaps for the sake of humor.

However, though the NY Times correctly reported that the guru’s group has been called a “brainwashing cult,” it gave much more attention to his self-serving public relations ploy than the people he hurt.

Readers were regaled with a long list of celebrities that Chinmoy has lifted in the past, which reportedly includes Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Muhammad Ali, Jesse Jackson, Eddie Murphy, Susan Sarandon, Roberta Flack, Yoko Ono, Sting, Richard Gere, Sid Caeser, 20 assorted Nobel laureates, sumo wrestlers and a headhunter from Borneo.

Actor Jeff Goldblum was the latest celeb slated for the 70-something guru to hold up for a photo op.

It all sounds like fodder for a good laugh. That is, unless you know the details of sexual abuse allegations that have spun around “Sleazy Sri” as reported by the New York Post.

Nothing was mentioned in the NY Times article about this.

According to former Chinmoy devotees the guru is not only posing as a celibate, he’s also is a bit kinky.

Chinmoy apparently likes to watch but not always weightlifting events.

He also reportedly has paid for at least one of his female follower/sex partners to have an abortion.

This is hardly the stuff of humor.

Guru Sri Chinmoy has been called a “cult leader” in the US, but it appears the Vice President of Indonesia thinks he is worthy of the “red carpet” treatment.

The guru from Queens, New York will be received officially by Vice President Hamzah Haz in the capital city of Jakarta this week.

Chinmoy will have hundreds of his followers in tow for a tour of Indonesia that will include rural areas and the island resort of Bali reports Antara.

Billed as “peace promoters” the “cult” tour will more likely promote the guru and his group, which is known to recruit amongst young people.

Sri Chinmoy also has allegedly taken a special interest in female devotees, according to allegations on the Internet about the supposedly celibate guru’s sexual exploitation of women.

Little more than a joke in the US, apparently this peripatetic guru has found a fan within the Vice Presidential Palace in Jakarta.

A guru in Jamaica Queens, New York names races after himself such as the “Sri Chinmoy 3100-Mile Race” and the “Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence Race.”

The annual events were reported in the Fresh Meadows Times and Ultramarathon World, which seems to be the point, the aging guru wants recognition and likes to see his name in print.

Other publicity stunts historically have included Sri Chinmoy reportedly lifting sheep and fantastic weights, but always with the help of a mechanical device.

The guru’s followers at times have broken world records in his name, such as the most consecutive summersaults, or hopping on a pogo stick underwater—anything to draw attention to their guru.

Some say such extreme devotion reflects “cult” control. One young man allegedly died practicing for a stunt to honor Chinmoy.

This is one event the guru wants forgotten and there are other issues he hopes will be ignored.

Former members have repeatedly accused the guru of sexual abuse and exploitation of his followers. They say the self-proclaimed “celibate” actually takes in more than exercise to meet his physical needs.

And like many “cult leaders” this guru has restaurants, which can be quite profitable since devotees often work for little pay. Chinmoy runs several vegetarian eateries; one thrives within Flushing Queens.

A New York food critic recently raved about Chinmoy’s low prices though she admitted, “The place is run by…a cultish group.” But then advised, “Don’t let this stop you from trying their restaurant.” Adding, “You get used to the Sri Chinmoy music in the background,” reported the Queens Chronicle.

The guru business continues to pay well and Chinmoy apparently can count on the press to promote his pet projects and business concerns.

This is one guru that likes to meditate comfortably.

Who has the longest pencil in the world?

Sri Chinmoy.

It is “20 feet, 6 inches long and weighs over 560 pounds,” reports The Arizona Daily Wildcat.

This guru, that some call a “cult leader,” has a penchant for publicity.

In 1998 the gurus “Marathon Team” built the wold’s longest pencil. And his disciples have set other records such as pogo hopping underwater and doing the most successive summersaults.

Chinmoy has also indulged in feigned weight lifts of livestock in New Zealand and almost anything else imaginable to see his name in print.

Some contrived efforts orchestrated by the guru have made it into the Guinness Book of World Records.

It all sounds pretty ridiculous doesn’t it? And it hardly reflects the supposed spiritual focus of a self-proclaimed “God man.”

However, one stunt wasn’t so funny and ended in tragedy.

A devoted disciple of Chinmoy so wanted to please his guru he apparently attempted to set a record through his duration underwater on one breath. He drowned in a bathtub.

But that sad incident didn’t stop the attention hungry Chinmoy, who still pushes his people to do whatever it takes to feed his apparently insatiable ego.

Some say the mark of a true “guru” is the loss of ego, but in Chinmoy’s case it seems to be an artificially inflated one.

The devoted followers of a controversial guru in New York City are apparently engaged in an ongoing Internet spamming campaign.

Guru Sri Chinmoy, often called a “cult leader,” has been the subject of repeated allegations of abuse made by his former followers.

Most recently some say that the supposedly celibate spiritual leader exploited them sexually. This disturbing information has been posted on websites and within discussion groups.

But it seems that Chinmoy’s devotees, in an effort to suppress that information and/or anything critical about their beloved guru, are now spamming search engines and weblogs to swamp search results.

One blogger claimed, “This would appear to be a sinister cult organization abusing Weblogs.com to generate traffic for their propaganda.”

If you enter “Sri Chinmoy” on Google the result is largely a litany of “propaganda” links. This means that Web users will largely see what Chinmoy and his followers want seen.

The guru has a reputation as something of a narcissistic media hound and appears willing to pull almost any stunt to gain press attention. This has included outlandish claims, such as his ability to lift 200 sheep simultaneously.

But Mr. Chinmoy doesn’t like negative attention. So despite the growing presence of critical reports about him on the Internet, that information is seemingly being suppressed through the “sinister” use of spamming.

The guru once had a celebrity or two involved in his group, which included musician Carlos Santana.

But the multiple Grammy winner walked away and later said in a Rolling Stone interview, “Everything about [Chinmoy] turned to vinegar.” And added that after he left, the group became “vindictive.”

Well, it looks like the guru and his group are still “vindictive” and now they are turning out their “vinegar” on the Internet.