Where do we go from here?

[Anonymous]

I know my experience, and it was good. As to "all these kids" - AARC has had HUNDREDS of kids go through there, and I doubt more than 10 have posted on this site saying anything negative. Compare that to the huge majority of Straight or KIDS victims who have come out against those places. How long were those horror shows open? AARC has been around for almost 16 years! Where are the "abused" except for a few vocal people on this forum - the most vocal of which has never stepped foot in the building. Seems strange to me.

If AARC is abusive it should be closed down. I was not abused.

You don't know who I speak with away from these boards.


Are you going to answer the questions or just use your 'frustration' as an excuse not to?  Usually when ya'll get stumped its something along the lines of  'you're a disgruntled druggie/dry drunk.  it's not worth a response".

Yeah, right.  If you believe in your program so much, if it really saved your life, lets hear it.  It should certainly be able to stand up to the scrutiny of the likes of some angry loser who's obviously not applying her program like me, right?

Why would I get drawn into a debate where you have made up your mind? It is not up to me to label you or anyone a "druggie", or to judge your "program" It is not my job to convince you or anyone about whether AARC is effective or abusive or anything. I am letting you know it was good for me. Others can post whatever they like. Sadly, it is often abusive and harsh. I am not stumped, but I do not speak on matters I am unqualified to speak about. Talking in generalities about many people I do not know is unfair, and frankly, dishonest. I do continue to wonder at how few people with direct experience speak out against AARC if it is so horrible.

[Anne Bonney]

Why would I get drawn into a debate where you have made up your mind? It is not up to me to label you or anyone a "druggie", or to judge your "program" It is not my job to convince you or anyone about whether AARC is effective or abusive or anything. I am letting you know it was good for me. Others can post whatever they like. Sadly, it is often abusive and harsh. I am not stumped, but I do not speak on matters I am unqualified to speak about. Talking in generalities about many people I do not know is unfair, and frankly, dishonest. I do continue to wonder at how few people with direct experience speak out against AARC if it is so horrible.

I'm in direct contact with various people who have been in at various times.  Not much about any of their stories changes between them.  And they don't know each other, or even about each other.

If you're going to go on a website in defense of AARC, claiming it 'saved your life' and it is "not abusive', then you're going to be asked to back up those claims.  If you can't, just say so but don't twist things back around on us.  Taht's called deflection.  This isn't AARC.  That shit doesn't work here.

I'm asking you a direct question in response to what you posted.  You said that kids were free to walk out the door if they wanted to.   I asked if that meant that AARC was 100% voluntary.  If you did indeed have this personal experience with AARC that you're so proud of, I'd think you'd be able to answer at least that one.

What would happen to kids who did not believe they had a problem?  How was denial handled?

[Mel]

I know my experience, and it was good. As to "all these kids" - AARC has had HUNDREDS of kids go through there, and I doubt more than 10 have posted on this site saying anything negative. Compare that to the huge majority of Straight or KIDS victims who have come out against those places. How long were those horror shows open? AARC has been around for almost 16 years! Where are the "abused" except for a few vocal people on this forum - the most vocal of which has never stepped foot in the building. Seems strange to me.

If AARC is abusive it should be closed down. I was not abused.

The point of these kind of posts is to try to play damage control, which someone would do out of fear of outside interest. But it's slightly wasted key strokes. Any person outside of the cult who has been following AARC knows that staff members, graduates, and those who have escaped have all told the same stories. They know that we did not have the choice to leave, and the Calgary police and social services know that as well. It's laughable that an AARC member would then try to hide that.

[hanzomon4]

Anne is asking about what you saw:

• what would happen if a "client" decided to leave?
• How did they handle it when someone refused to admit they had a drug problem?

And guest you can talk behind backs, it's ok...

The wizard got his degree from the Union institute, same as Newton?

[Anonymous]

See that is the great thing about being free to do as I please. I don't have to do what you, Anne, or anyone else demands that I do. As I have said, I only have the right to talk about my experience. You can attempt to browbeat and bully all you like. I also asked direct questions which you choose to ignore, go right ahead.

[Anne Bonney]

See that is the great thing about being free to do as I please. I don't have to do what you, Anne, or anyone else demands that I do. As I have said, I only have the right to talk about my experience. You can attempt to browbeat and bully all you like. I also asked direct questions which you choose to ignore, go right ahead.

I'm not demanding anything sweetie.  I'm asking for your opinions, what you saw, what you experienced.  Again, YOU came HERE.  WE didn't come looking for YOU so if you're going to post in defense of your program if you're going to make silly claims like kids can leave whenever they please, you WILL be asked to back those up.  If you can't, just say so.  There's no shame in it.

This turned out just as I expected.  When you start pinning them down to specifics, they run or clam up.  Sure, they can throw out all the generalities, hit all the talking points, use all the fun buzzwords but god forbid they engage in any real conversation about it.  Ya know, the two way kind where we ask each other questions and the other answers.

Now you run along, secure in the knowledge that all is well in the land of Oz.  Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
 :roll:


And ask me anything.  I must have missed yours.

[hanzomon4]

What questions? Really I probably missed it.

Like I said no one is asking about anything other then what you saw, nothing else. I'm not trying to bully you and I doubt anyone else is, just asking about what you mentioned earlier. You don't have to answer any questions, but why be here if you don't want to talk about anything?

So again Anne is asking about what you saw:

    * what would happen if a "client" decided to leave?
    * How did they handle it when someone refused to admit they had a drug problem?

[Rachael]

Huh... that's a new one. I've seen some pretty interesting attempts at dissembling here, but this is takes the cake. We were allowed to leave?!?!?!?!

You know that is not even close to true. Maybe the +18 kids who signed themselves in (even though at least a few kids in my group had a hard time leaving when they turned 18). But certainly, none of us under 18 could leave. And it's not like we didn't try.

[Rachael]

How long were those horror shows open? AARC has been around for almost 16 years!

Ms. Bonney, correct me if I'm wrong, but here is how I understand it. Officially Straight was opened in 1976 and officially it closed in 1993. So that there is 17 years. SAFE Inc. and Pathway Family Centre were both opened by Straight officials under new names with many of the same inmates on the same day that their respective Straight franchises were closed down. Both of those are still open.

So, having been around for 16 years doesn't save AARC from the scrutiny of the law. Indeed, it should be a lot easier from here for us in Canada than it ever was in the States. Here what AARC does is clearly illegal, and they know it. It is called kidnapping. If your parents locked you in their basement for 6-18 months, it would be a crime. It is still a crime if they hire someone to do the same.

[Anne Bonney]

Ms. Bonney, correct me if I'm wrong, but here is how I understand it. Officially Straight was opened in 1976 and officially it closed in 1993. So that there is 17 years. SAFE Inc. and Pathway Family Centre were both opened by Straight officials under new names with many of the same inmates on the same day that their respective Straight franchises were closed down. Both of those are still open.

Yeah, those are correct I think.  1993 is when they 'closed'.  (Yeah right, sure :roll: )  1976 I believe was when Straight officially split off from the Seed.  Funny, then the reason given for splitting from the Seed was to create a 'kinder, gentler' version.  Just like AARC, HLA and all the others claim to be.  We see how well THAT worked out.  

So, having been around for 16 years doesn't save AARC from the scrutiny of the law. Indeed, it should be a lot easier from here for us in Canada than it ever was in the States. Here what AARC does is clearly illegal, and they know it. It is called kidnapping. If your parents locked you in their basement for 6-18 months, it would be a crime. It is still a crime if they hire someone to do the same.

Yep, that's what is so unbelievable about this.  If parents did the kind of shit that programs do, they'd be locked up but quick.  For abuse.  Why is it OK for programs to do what parents are legally prevented from doing?

SAFE in Orlando opened up the same day that Straight closed there.  In the same building.  With the same staff.  But it wasn't Straight.  :roll:  Pathway, Growing Together, KIDS, AARC.  Jesus fucking christ.  That was one of the hardest things to fathom when I first found these boards.  I thought the nightmare ended when Straight "closed".  How wrong I was.

[ajax13]

Is that you again David?

[ajax13]

[Please don't waste your time feeling sorry for me! I have a good life, great kids, loving spouse. I make great money at a job I love. I have been sober for a long time. AARc was good for me, but I have little contact with them. I know everyone has their own perspective on AARC. Mine is good. But it was also just one year in my life. I don't blame them for the bad things that have happened since then, or celebrate them for the good things that have happened.[/quote]
David it is you!
 For those of you following at home, David let his mother put him in AARC when he was a full-grown adult.  His step-dad brought AARC to Calgary. David later wrote a book consisting of prevarications about AARC with a little homoerotic worship of his cult leader thrown in for fun.

[Anne Bonney]

David it is you!
 For those of you following at home, David let his mother put him in AARC when he was a full-grown adult.  His step-dad brought AARC to Calgary, and then he wrote a book consisting of prevarications about AARC with a little homoerotic worship of his cult leader thrown in for fun.

 ::bwahaha::

[ajax13]

[Why would I get drawn into a debate where you have made up your mind? It is not up to me to label you or anyone a "druggie", or to judge your "program" It is not my job to convince you or anyone about whether AARC is effective or abusive or anything. I am letting you know it was good for me. Others can post whatever they like. Sadly, it is often abusive and harsh. I am not stumped, but I do not speak on matters I am unqualified to speak about. Talking in generalities about many people I do not know is unfair, and frankly, dishonest. I do continue to wonder at how few people with direct experience speak out against AARC if it is so horrible.

Now what is abusive and/or harsh?  The Wizard worked at Kids.  The Wizard was set to run Kids in Calgary.  The Wizard did not attempt to have Kids closed after he saw what went on there.
The Wizard is not a psychologist, but he has often lied about being one.  The Wizard refers to himself as "doctor", but he got a PhD paper from a diploma mill, the same one that gave Miller Newton his PhD.  The Wizard wrote his PhD paper about AARC, the place he started and was running at the time.  At this time AARC had only been open a couple of years, meaning that there were very few graduates, so what would be the basis of any legitimate research?  As the Wizard was running the centre he could not very well have been doing research.  And who the fuck writes a PhD dissertation about a project they started and run themselves?  The Wizard has no academic qualifications whatsoever to treat drug addiction.  The Wizard used former prisoners of Kids as his initial group of peer counsellors.  These people had no training other than having been in Kids.  The Wizard used a number of other clients of the Union Institute, his diploma mill alma mater, to sell AARC to the Legislature of Alberta.  The Wizard now uses a study that he wrote, along with a staffer who was an inmate of AARC as an ADULT, to sell AARC.  This study was also created with the help of yet another UNION INSTITUTE crony of the Wizard's.  The Wizard uses the same techniques that were used in Kids and Straight, from the raps to the host home scam.  
As the papers and television in Calgary have sold AARC for over fifteen years, to whom would one speak out?  The same goes for our judiciary, where a certain zeppellinesque judge sent children to AARC.  And the police are complicit because they have illegally returned children to AARC.  And the politicians have backed it as well.  One vulgar, semi-verbal but relentless little swindler sold his machine that turns bullshit into gold to everybody who could advance his agenda, and now these people have to back All About Receiving Cash, or they look like fools.
These facts about All About Receiving Cash will be posted over and over again on this site until AARC is a thing of the past like it's ancestors Straight and Kids.

[Anonymous]

How come no-one addresses this point? If AARC was so consistently horrible, I'd love to see a list of so-called "victims". Help me to believe.