The following notice was placed on the OBRL web site only after an extended period of malicious sniping at OBRL and James DeMeo by Mr. Jamerling Ogg at the PORE web site, which started in 1996. It is a conflict we did not seek, and do not like, but feel compelled to provide this minimal response and clarification.
Mr. Ogg presents a mix of Reichian and Reichian-offshoot materials at his "PORE" web site, which is mis-portrayed as an authoritative "public exchange" on orgonomy. It fills this role only to a limited extent given the general avoidance of association by the majority of authentic workers in orgonomy, and due to general censorship from PORE of activities and events undertaken by individuals or groups who previously had disagreements with Mr. Ogg. At first, the web site held the potential to be a common meeting ground for different groups and individuals with a positive interest in Dr. Wilhelm Reich's discoveries, but the organizer self-destructed this possibility by willfully introducing to the internet various slanders and attacks directed against different professional workers in orgonomy. A clique which formed around Mr. Ogg also worked to destroy the once-productive "Orgonomy Mailing List" (OML), an internet discussion group hosted by the Spoon Collective. At PORE, and on the OML, destructive gossip and slander was given the same public emphasis as facts derived from natural scientific research and hard work.
The Ogg-PORE attacks against Dr. DeMeo and OBRL began with Mr. Ogg's announced decision to post a smear article by skeptic-author Joel Carlinsky at PORE. A strong protest was raised privately by Dr. DeMeo, who pointed out the unfactual and concocted nature of the article, written by a well-known disinformation expert and emotional pest whose own stated agenda has been the destruction of orgonomy in total (see the article "Toxic Disinformation: Joel Carlinsky, CSICOP & Orgonomy" for background to this matter). Mr. Ogg, unfortunately, displayed no interest whatsoever in Mr. Carlinsky's past behavior and criminal activities, for which full documentation was mailed to him.
Since then, malicious and unfactual disinformation about Dr. DeMeo and OBRL has episodically appeared at PORE, misrepresented as legitimate information, including materials by Mr. Ogg and other discontented individuals who in the past unsuccessfully tried to gain Dr. DeMeo's approval for their own distortions of orgonomy (i.e., "Orgonomic Buddhism", the abandonment of Dr. Reich's emotional-sexual emphasis in therapy, grand-standing cloudbusting activities, etc.). Mr. Ogg was strongly criticized for these actions by many individuals, which prompted him to retreat, or to continue with attacks from a hidden position: some of the most offensive materials were at one point removed from the PORE web site only to reappear at another web site (with nearly identical source codes and formatting -- at the Geocities server), but still prominently linked to PORE. Later still, the materials were brought back to PORE, which as of mid-2000 hosted a special "anti-DeMeo" web page. Other sections of PORE continued to misportray Dr. DeMeo and OBRL in a horrible light, with all kinds of false allegations and malicious commentary.
Some specific examples:
* The PORE web site alleged that James DeMeo and OBRL were responsible for the termination of the Spoon Collective's "Orgonomy Mailing List". In fact, the OML was terminated by its organizer, Mr. Shawn Wilbur, as a response to a series of outrageous smears and lies attacking James DeMeo and OBRL, which were introduced into the OML by a clique of vocal anti-DeMeo "skeptics" (among whom Mr. Ogg was a prominent participant).
* The PORE web site alleged the OBRL-News posting service developed by Dr. DeMeo engages in copyright violations, revealing an ignorance about basic fair-use and limited-distribution, educational (non-commercial-use) provisions of copyright law. In fact, it is Mr. Ogg who has a demonstrated history of abuse of copyright law, reposting explicitly identified private emails onto public discussion groups, or onto his PORE web site. At one time, Dr. DeMeo was forced to contact the web server of the PORE internet site and demand the removal of one of his private email letters, after Mr. Ogg posted it to PORE without permission and then refused to remove it when asked to do so. He has behaved similarly towards other persons, such as Mr. Jim Martin of Flatland Publications. Mr. Ogg also liberally copied materials from persons attacked at PORE. For example, the original resource listing of orgonomy groups which appeared at PORE was apparently copied from Dr. DeMeo's Orgone Accumulator Handbook, and other materials (such as the keywords lists used at PORE, and PORE's citations of orgonomy books) were identical to what firstly appeared at the OBRL web site. Mr. Ogg claims a great background knowledge in orgonomy and the natural sciences, but much of this appears to have been plaigarized from those same persons he had been publicly attacking and sniping at for years.
* The PORE web site additionally sniped at Dr. DeMeo's publishing and book-distribution company, Natural Energy Works, for "overcharging" on the sale of steel wool reels as used in orgone accumulator construction (Mr. Ogg failed to consider the significant shipping charges included with the price), and he complained that Natural Energy Works sold other products "unrelated to orgonomy" such as herbal health products and energy-demonstration apparatus for students -- but Natural Energy Works was never focused only upon Mr. Ogg's narrow vision of orgonomy -- it has a broad natural scientific and environmental outreach. Such petty and sniping complaints against Dr. DeMeo's work litter the PORE web site. This is done, even as DeMeo's name, and the name of his institute are captured in PORE's "keyword" lists for internet indexing robots, so that persons looking to find "DeMeo" will invariably be steered to PORE. Mr. Ogg also has obtained the web domain name "orgonelab.com" (which brings you to the PORE web site), very similar to DeMeo's original "orgonelab.org" (which brings you to the OBRL web site), to additionally capture away people who might otherwise find DeMeo's Orgone Biophysical Research Lab. One expects this kind of behavior from cut-throat businessmen, but not from serious persons engaged in important social-educational work. [Postscript 2005: Mr. Ogg has relinquished the orgonelab.com website most recently, and so it was acquired by OBRL, and now more properly links to the OBRL website.]
* PORE asserted the orgone-accumulator fabrication company Orgonics was somehow related to Dr. DeMeo and OBRL, which is untrue. The director of Orgonics, Ms. Theirrie Cook, has been an invited lecturer at the OBRL Greensprings Seminars on the orgone accumulator, but there is no connection between her company and OBRL, or to Natural Energy Works or Dr. DeMeo. Mr. Ogg additionally sniped at her company, misportraying it as something less than competent, as he has done with other persons openly working with Dr. DeMeo and OBRL. He similarly assaulted the character and work of Mr. Jim Martin of Flatland Publications, a personal friend of Dr. DeMeo who also was a speaker at an OBRL Greensprings Seminar. This behavior appears very similar to Mr. Carlinsky, who routinely sends threatening hate-mail to, and tries to make trouble for nearly everyone scheduled to speak at the OBRL Greensprings Center.
* As late as 2004 and 2005, Mr. Ogg allowed smears against DeMeo to appear on his moderated "Orgonomy Mailing List" e-group. He additionally permitted a deeply mystical German Buddhist, Mr. John Trettin, to use his OML to misrepresent DeMeo's research as his own research, thereby promoting a theft of DeMeo's work.
More seriously, the PORE web site (and the apparently disguised PORE web site at Geocities) accused Dr. DeMeo of causing deadly global weather chaos with the cloudbuster -- but Mr. Ogg only cited the bald fabrications of skeptic-author Joel Carlinsky for "authority" on that malicious smear. Even when privately provided with clear refutations of the smears and documentation on Mr. Carlinsky's abusive and even criminal past behavior, Mr. Ogg was uninterested in changing his pre-established decisions that the Carlinsky smears were "good material" for PORE. For the record, Mr. Carlinsky has a long history of abusive dirty-tricks, criminal activities, and publicly-distributed smears and lies directed against not only DeMeo, but also against the American College of Orgonomy, Jerome Eden, Richard Blasband, and nearly every other research scientist who has engaged in genuine investigation of Reich's findings -- and, of course, Carlinsky attacked Dr. Reich also in his many articles in the skeptic publications. Mr. Ogg, however, apparently views Carlinsky as someone with important things to say about orgonomy, and PORE was abused as a vehicle to spread poison about other workers in orgonomy. Mr. Ogg additionally provides a link at the PORE home page to KeelyNet, where the original Carlinsky smears remain posted today -- significantly, at the bottom of this particular page (containing all sorts of false accusations and fabricated smears) Carlinsky gives a recommendation for PORE as a source of "information". Naturally, because PORE is the only internet web site claiming a dedication to Reich and orgonomy which will give any credibility whatsoever to Carlinsky's fictional missives.
The PORE web site thereby has become a direct participant in the long-time history of malicious and professionally-damaging attacks against Wilhelm Reich, James DeMeo and other orgonomic researchers. Mr. Ogg abused the word "controversy" to describe what were instead professionally and personally damaging, serious smears and attacks by the professional "skeptics", which are clearly designed to provoke some kind of "official investigation" by government authority. Mr. Carlinsky has openly stated that is his goal, and Mr. Ogg appears to have a similar agenda. There are other examples where Mr. Ogg used the PORE web site to diminish the work of Dr. DeMeo and OBRL via false and insulting exaggerations, or to otherwise introduce poison into the social dynamics of orgonomy -- but the above examples should suffice to make the point. Mr. Ogg's use of the cloak, hiding his involvement in circulating smears and apparent concealing of his name (as with the PORE-Carlinsky materials at Geocities) has thereby persuaded some to believe he is only undertaking a "beneficial service". At one time, this might have been the case, but no more.
PORE today posts both factual materials on orgonomy, and other materials which are subtle or complete distortions of Reich's work -- this is done under the banner of "everyone has the right to be heard" and "there are no authorities", etc., a motto which Mr. Ogg once used below his name on e-mails. Those with decades of clinical and research experience in orgonomy, who keep a clean and clear emphasis upon Reich's discoveries are thereby diminished, censored from or even attacked at PORE, while others who have lost sight of Reich's difficult path (or those who have an agenda of distortion and self-promotion) are highlighted. As such, the newcomer to orgonomy is greeted at PORE with a confusing blend of both factual and unfactual messages. This would not be a point of significant concern except for the fact that PORE is prominent on the global internet, and that Mr. Ogg misportrays PORE as a comprehensive, authoritative and public exchange on orgonomy. Sadly, it is none of these things.
For the record, neither Dr. DeMeo nor anyone associated with OBRL has ever done anything to attack or harm Mr. Ogg, either personally or professionally, and prior to his decision to publicly distribute the Carlinsky materials, Dr. DeMeo had supported Mr. Ogg's efforts with PORE. This "Note of Caution" was prepared only after Mr. Ogg began his war against Dr. DeMeo and OBRL, in the manner of a defense against irrational criticism and attack. For those wishing more information, Dr. DeMeo's positive accomplishments in the field of natural-scientific orgonomy, and his long-standing clarity, emphasis upon and open defense of central orgonomic principles are well-known, and documented in his many publications.
This "Note of Caution" will remain on the OBRL web site until such time that the derogatory attacks against Dr. DeMeo, OBRL, Natural Energy Works, and other honest workers following in Reich's path, disappear from all the PORE web sites.
Additional Articles and Materials:
* Click here to review and/or purchase books by James DeMeo.
* The Orgone Biophysical Research Lab: James DeMeo's Research Website.
* The Saharasia web page.
* The Complete OBRL / Natural Energy Works On-line Bookstore and Product Shop
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