The Sexual Hypnotist from Las Vegas
Kari Chisholm
A few moments ago, I was on KPOJ chatting with host Thom Hartmann. The issue of Kevin Mannix and his campaign money shenanigans came up - and I referred to his biggest donor, Loren Parks, as a "sexual hypnotist from Las Vegas".
Thom nearly choked on his coffee: "Did you just say 'sexual hypnotist'? Please explain..."
I did, but since it's newsworthy, I thought I'd recap here at BlueOregon. One of the biggest donors in Oregon politics over the last decade is Loren Parks. According to today's Oregonian:
[Mannix] reported that Parks gave his campaign $50,000 on Nov. 4 and another $81,000 on Jan. 30, followed by the $250,000 on March 30. Parks earlier had given Mannix $625,000 during his campaigns for attorney general and governor in 2000 and 2002, which he did not win. ... In all, Parks has spent more than $5 million on political causes in Oregon, mostly conservative ones.
As for that "sexual hypnotist" stuff, that was detailed here at BlueOregon - Kevin Mannix and the Millionaire Sex Weirdo:
It’s a strange relationship, made even more strange by Park’s interest in – and there is no other way to describe it - sexual weirdness. How does Mannix, a social and religious conservative, reconcile himself to Park’s proclivities?Have you guys checked out his website: psychresearch.com? It's got audio files you can listen to online to help cure everything from dyslexia to fear-of-flying to sexual frustration and erectile dysfunction. It's also got WAY too much personal information about his own sex life, including his claim that one of his sexual partners once climaxed 57 times in a row.
It's worth checking out his site, but know that the audio files are WAY creepy and may not be safe for work. While you're at it, read the Willamette Week expose on the sexual harassment claims against Oregon's biggest political donor.
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2:37 p.m.
Apr 11, '06
We have written about Parks over at Loaded Orygun as well.
The creepiest parts of Parks' website are, in my view, reserved for when he discusses how to hypnotize women into thinking they're having sex with Disney characters.
(I'm not kidding)
3:08 p.m.
Apr 11, '06
Let me guess: Goofy?
3:45 p.m.
Apr 11, '06
He's also the father if the penile plethisometer, a great Late Victorian type of machine. Basically it's an engorgement measuring tool.
It's my understanding that Parks himself had a lot of input into designing the program and promoting it to law enforcement and legislators.
This has been of Mr. Parks' cash cows, and as I hear it, few heterosexual males would ever "graduate" from this program due to the nature of its design. The state pays for this "therapy" and both Oregon and Washington are firing this firm tens of thousands of dollars for his expertise and his program.
IMO this thing's about as scientific as a polygraph, or one of them biofeedback dealies that tells Tom Cruise when it's appropriate to jump up on sofas, but like the polygraph, science is no longer an issue. There are enough legislators, therapists, DAs, and cops that have bought into it, that it's real----whether it's real or not.
<hr/>From having read Mr. Parks various wacky assertions regarding healthy male/female relationships, I doubt seriously that he could ever graduate from his own program.
<hr/>Apr 11, '06
This is a first hand account -
Back in 1979, my then boss was contacted by Loren Parks. I worked at a residential treatment facility in the Tigard area for delinquent youth. Mr. Parks thought we ought to use hypnotism to help the youth.
So, we went over one evening, myself, my boss, my wife, and one other staff member to check our what Mr. Parks offered. We engaged in practice hypnosis sessions, all of us taking turns learning the rather simple technique. Mr. Parks gave me a copy of a book - Hypnotherapy by Dave Elman, and copies of a one-page document entitled "Rapid Accessing of Traumatic Events" by Loren Parks, B.A. -- I still have the book and Mr. Parks handout.
While that was one of the strangest evenings of my life, I have to tell you that back then, we didn't get any strange sexual stuff from Mr. Parks. He seemed to be a semi-wealthy guy with a strange obsession (hypnotism), but genuine in his offer to helping us. We turned him down, we didn't think teenagers would go for this type of thing.
Where Mr. Parks went from there appears to be downhill. Back in 1979 it was fairly clear that Mr. Parks had his own world and it became a strange world, kind of like Howard Hughes.
Strange, strange, strange.
Apr 11, '06
Loren Parks is a strange duck and given his neanderthal political views, and the impact he has had because of his money, I can readily understand why the community at this site might want to beat up on him with whatever cudgel is available. Sure, he's into hypnosis and so-called alternative health practices, vitamins and homeopathy and stuff like that. I looked at his website, he's boastful and pretentious - but when it come down to it, his ideas about sex are very conventional - unless you consider oral sex to be weird - the only unusual thing about his ideas is that he is willing to voice them uninhibitedly.
Haven't we had enough of the sexual puritanism? Isn't that really the province of the republicans and the religious right? So what if Bill Clinton got a blow job. So what if Daryl Foxworth wrote some emails about his sexual fantasies when he was engaged in a consensual sexual relationship. So what if Prince Charles talks dirty to his mistress. What is the point of dragging someone's sexual peccadilloes into discussions of public policy? I mean -- get a life.
A politician, even Kevin Mannix, as much as I hate to be fair to him, shouldn't have to be concerned about the consensual, adult sexual relationships of his contributors. To suggest otherwise is no more than outmoded, Victorian disapproval.
Apr 12, '06
As a former Portland TV news journalist I have heard ALL the Loren "Happy Hands" Parks stories.
My favorite is when the OEA challenged Loren Parks to open his own school with his own money and see what happens.
So, five years ago, Parks opened a private school in Gresham. Less than three months later, right before Christmas, Parks closed his school doors for good, right in the children's faces, in a driving rainstorm. I watched it happen and WW begged me for an interview, but I couldn't kick a sleazebag when he was down.
Wasn't it Barbie who said "school is hard"? Or was it Mr. Happy Hands himself?
12:57 p.m.
Apr 12, '06
Haven't we had enough of the sexual puritanism? Isn't that really the province of the republicans and the religious right? So what if Bill Clinton got a blow job. So what if Daryl Foxworth wrote some emails about his sexual fantasies when he was engaged in a consensual sexual relationship. So what if Prince Charles talks dirty to his mistress. What is the point of dragging someone's sexual peccadilloes into discussions of public policy? I mean -- get a life.
I totally agree with this statement.
I part ways on the next one:
A politician, even Kevin Mannix, as much as I hate to be fair to him, shouldn't have to be concerned about the consensual, adult sexual relationships of his contributors. To suggest otherwise is no more than outmoded, Victorian disapproval.
Kevin Mannix panders to the sexphobic, puritanical right wing. Pointing out that he gets a ton of money from this wacko, sex-obsessed dude is simply extracting some small payment for that pandering in the most appropriate way possible.
Apr 12, '06
Hypnotizing women to think they've had sex with a Disney character is a "very conventional" idea about sex? Puhleeze.