April 8 in Scientology history

In 1997, when the death of Lisa McPherson had plunged the city of Clearwater into a frenzy of bad press and even the New York Times had come down to the Florida gulf town to cover the controversy, writer Douglas Franz found at least one local figure arguing that the town needed to find a way to appreciate the Church of Scientology, which had surreptitiously moved into town in 1975. Others argue for more pragmatism, contending that accepting the Scientologists is the only way to revive downtown. "The are not going to go away," said Elise K. Winters, a lawyer and former chairwoman of the Downtown Development Board. "You can either treat them like the boogeyman and give downtown to them or you can treat them like any other property owner. You've got to decide if you want downtown to succeed or you want to nurse old grudges." More than 23 years later, Ms. Winters showed last night just how much she was willing to help Scientology with one of its biggest problems in today's downtown Clearwater.

Tags: 1954, 1969, 1975, 1987, 1997, 1998, Aaron Smith-Levin, Amos Jessup, Brian Anderson, Clearwater, Committee of Evidence, Downtown Development Board, Elise Winters, E-meter, FBI, Festus Porbeni, Florida, Frank Hibbard, Gabe Cazares, Lisa McPherson, Mark Bunker, Mike Smith, New York Times, Office of Special Affairs, OT, Paris Morfopoulos, Shahab Emrani, Tampa Bay Times, Tracey McManus, Wally Pope

Here is an email forwarded to me from the VM's in LA. They are pitching to get "supplies" for the disaster, but attach a photo showing a cluster of VM's loading (or unloading) stuff... They are not 6 feet apart. They are not even 2 feet apart. Are they really meaning to advertise they are not maintaining the mandated social distancing? Is this an old photo because they actually dont have anything to take shots of? What is going on here?

Tags: Coronavirus, Facebook, Jesus, Kenneth Copeland, Muslim, Potential Trouble Source, Quicky, Tone 40, Twitter

(Ah, back in the day...) We've been telling you for years that Scientology is in trouble. From a height of about 100,000 active members around the year 1990 (Scientology has never had the "millions" it's always claimed), that number has steadily decreased until our most recent estimate from a recent high-ranking defector is fewer than 20,000 members around the world. And that was before the coronavirus pandemic shut down the orgs around the world. (Scientology is still keeping its "advanced" Orgs in places like Los Angeles and Clearwater, Florida going, and with the blessing of local government officials.)

Tags: 1954, 1955, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2010, 2014, Athens, Austin, Budapest, California, Chicago, Christmas, Clear, Clearwater, Comm Course, Coronavirus, Culver City, Dianetics, E-meter, Flag World Tour, Florida, Fundamentals of Thought, Houston, Ideal Org, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Louis Farrakhan, Melbourne, Mental Health, Mission, New Haven, New York City, OCA, Operating Thetan, OT, OT 3, OT 7, PAC Base, Quicky, Slovakia, Sydney, Tallahassee, Texas, Tone 40, UK, Whole Track, Worcester

Manuel Vianna Manuel Vianna, the Managing Partner of David Gentile's GPB Capital Holdings has suddenly left the company without any announcement. Both Gentile and Vianna are Scientologists.

Tags: 2018, Bahamas, David Gentile, Feshbach, GPB Capital Holdings, LinkedIn, Manuel Vianna, Matt Feshbach, Okyanos Heart Institute, Quicky

We're always very happy to receive replies to our stories from Jehovah's Witnesses who want to present their point of view. Yesterday, we posted a story by ex-JW Michael Paddock, who talked about being instructed to sneak around Red Cross officials in order to locate and help only Jehovah's Witnesses in the relief effort after Hurricane Katrina. With a counterpoint, here's Witness Jimmy Price... Your piece with Michael Paddock doesn't present the whole truth about our efforts to assist non-JWs during those hard and pressing times. The following links are from non-Witness sources, that demonstrate that we do not seek to help only our own: From 2001: "While most of the victims are fellow Witnesses, the repair effort has spread to include some families and neighbors of church members hit by Houston's most costly natural disaster. An estimated 50,000 houses were inundated when floodwaters hit in early June."

Tags: 2001, 2015, 2016, Houston, Hurricane Katrina, Jehovah's Witnesses, Michael Paddock, Nepal, Quicky, Red Cross

Our correspondent VillageDianne was in the courtroom just now as Smallville actress Allison Mack pled guilty to two counts — racketeering and racketeering conspiracy — and broke down in tears twice as she did so. Dianne observed that Mack no longer appears to be starving herself on the Nxivm diet and looked healthier in court today, but she broke down as she began to giver her allocution to Judge Nicholas Garaufis. "I'm here to plead guilty," she was able to get out before breaking down. When the judge asked if she wanted a moment to gather herself, Mack said no and continued with her statement.

Tags: Allison Mack, Judge Nicholas Garaufis, Keith Raniere, NXIVM

We have a great new report from our man Graham in England... On a recent visit to Manchester we swung by the former Duckworth's Essence Distillery, Scientology's long neglected Ideal Org-to-be, to take a few photos. As a bonus we found public notices attached to lamp-posts pointing us in the direction of their current planning applications. Having scoped out the neighbourhood and dived quite deeply into a mass of over 170 documents, I'm going to summarise as follows... It's a beautiful building and I'm very impressed with Scientology's plans for it. They must already have spent a small fortune just on planning and if they follow through they'll have done the building proud. A pity then that the area's so grotty. Ultimately a building's only as good as its surroundings and this one is set in an urban wilderness. Opposite is a decent row of terraced houses all converted into offices, but to the rear it's all dereliction and fly tipped rubbish. Unlike Birmingham, this one is not set in the leafy suburbs, and when Scientology finally turns the lights out there are unlikely to be any serious buyers.

Tags: Birmingham, Duckworth's Essence Distillery, England, Ideal Org, Manchester, Paul Burkhart, Pitmaston House, Quicky, Wales

This is a follow up to yesterday's post about scientology promoting for 3 month old infants to get "auditing" and children being put through the grueling Purification Rundown. This is the next step in "get em while they're young." Signing up 10 year olds for the Sea Org.

Tags: Child labor, Facebook, Mexico, OT, Purification Rundown, Quicky, Sea Org, Twitter

Get your very own MIKE RINDER bobblehead (aka Mike Jr.) while supplies last! All proceeds benefit the Aftermath Foundation to help those leaving Scientology. www.theSPshop.com - - - -

Tags: Aaron Smith-Levin, Aftermath Foundation, Facebook, Leah Remini, Mike Rinder, Quicky, Twitter

The weekly show where I answer viewer questions left for me in the comment sections of my Q&A videos or sent to me by email at AskChrisShelton@gmail.com. This week, the questions I answer are: (1) I saw how much Tom Cruise made each of the last several years and I noticed something: his income, while high, goes up and down. Sometimes he might make $20 million and the next year it might be $15 million. As far as stats go, he is sometimes down stat. While this can be brushed off by Scientology, since he's a celebrity and the rules don't apply, if he is a serious Scientologist, how might he explain the fact that he is sometimes down stat? Shouldn't he be earning more and more money each year, in order to be "ethical?" (2) You talked about word clearing and people looking up the definition of a word, but as we know not all dictionaries define words the same and, in fact, do this sometimes in an effort to catch copyright infringement. What is the "Scientology" approved dictionary? I also find this interesting because it's another process that LRH wasn't forward thinking with. I mean the word cab as defined in 1850 has a totally different definition then 1950. One was a horse drawn carriage the other a yellow car on the streets of NYC.

Tags: 1950, Cambridge Analytica, Critic, David Miscavige, Facebook, Janja Lalich, L. Ron Hubbard, Minnesota, New York City, OT, Quicky, Tim DeWall, Tom Cruise

Rod Keller continues to keep us up to date on David Miscavige's precious Ideal Org program as it continues to buy up empty buildings around the world. Scientology has announced the purchase of a building that will become the Brescia, Italy Ideal Org. Brescia will join Rome, Milan and Padua as the fourth Italian Ideal Org, leaving eight more non-ideal orgs to wait their turn. Located at the foot of the Alps between Milan and Verona, Brescia's many fine qualities will one day be advertised as making it a suitable home for the new org. Brescia is home to UNESCO World Heritage Sites for a well preserved Roman building complex as well as the monastery of San Salvatore-Santa Giulia. Brescia is Italy's manufacturing capital, with two steel mills and the Beretta, Fabarm and Perazzi firearms companies. It is the birthplace of Pope Paul VI. The current Class V org is known as the Church of Scientology dei Tre Laghi, or "Church of the Three Lakes" which are Lake Garda, Lake Iseo and Lake Idro, all within a few miles of the city. It is located on the narrow Via Fratelli Bronzetti, inside the ring road surrounding the city center. It hardly seems possible that a small storefront org could raise the funds to purchase a 50,000 square foot glass and steel Ideal Org.

Tags: 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, Africa, Albuquerque, ANZO, Australia, Brescia, Buenos Aires, Bulawayo, Canada, Chicago, Chicago Fire, Christian Stolte, Class V, Clearwater, David Miscavige, Europe, Gateshead, Ideal Org, Italy, Los Angeles, Milan, Montreal, New Haven, New Zealand, Pope, Rod Keller, Rome, Toronto, UK, Zimbabwe

This week, we continue our examination of Scientology's evolution from that of a self-help process, the origins of which were rooted in founder L. Ron Hubbard's pseudo-scientific epistle Dianetics, to that of a mafia-like Transnational Criminal Organization (TCO), essentially a criminal conglomerate couched as a "religion." In understanding Hubbard's motivations for wealth accumulation, it was clear from last week's examples that Hubbard's obsession with money was as much about funding the furtherance of his legacy as it was furthering Scientology. In continuing with our use of behavior within a given era to examine the evolution of Scientology's financial criminality, we now go from the era of Hubbard as tax evader, on to the transitional era of Hubbard as an established crime boss-like figure. Contemporary to Hubbard's transitional era is the seemingly inevitable rise of David Miscavige, from that of indispensable lieutenant to consigliere and in our final era, his eventual role as capo de tutti capi of Scientology. From Tax Evader to Mob Boss The loss of tax exemption in 1967 did nothing to impede Hubbard's (and thus Scientology's) abuse of the domestic tax regime, nor its rapacious quest for wealth. If anything, Hubbard's incorrigibility towards authority further entrenched Scientology's institutional disdain for any sort of regulatory oversight, a mindset that continues to this day. Hubbard's antipathy towards authority was not uncommon for the times; however, in combination with his demonstrably sociopathic personality, he began manifesting a variety of increasingly worrisome behavior. He was experiencing ever-increasing levels of paranoia that may have been compounded by undiagnosed mental health issues as well as ongoing experimentation with a variety of drugs. When coupled with his poor health in general, it's no wonder he demonstrated varying levels of irascibility and intransigence towards those around him as well as authority in any form. However, despite Hubbard's personal complexities, as well as Scientology's antagonistic, confrontational gestalt, the years from roughly 1965 to the late 1980s marked what many perceive as Scientology's "Golden Age."

Tags: 1965, 1967, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1984, Apollo, Bridge Publications, Chicago, Clearwater, CMO Int, Commodore's Messenger Organization, Creston, Criminal, David Miscavige, Dianetics, E-meter, FBI, Finance Police, International Management, Interpol, IRS, Jeffrey Augustine, Jesse Prince, Kingsley Wimbush, L. Ron Hubbard, Larry Heller, Loyal Officer, Lyman Spurlock, Mission, New York, Pat Broeker, Quicky, Rehabilitation Project Force, San Francisco, San Jose, Scientology Money Project, Sea Org, Squirrel, Stevens Creek, Suppressive Person, Tax, Tax exempt, Vistaril, Wendell Reynolds

Chapter 19 A couple of hours later, Brenda walked into the room followed by Doug, and four guys in blue coveralls. One carried two of gallons of bleach. The last guy in line held a big square of folded, gray plastic. I felt just about as dead as Joan. "These guys are here to take care of things," Brenda said. "Clean things up." She didn't include their name, rank, or serial numbers. Or tell me they were Sea Org members. They all pulled disposable plastic gloves out of their pockets and put them on. The guy with the plastic knelt down and began unfolding it next to Joan. Stretched out, it came to about seven feet in length and four feet in width. A zipper ran down the top from one end to the other.

Tags: 2011, 9-1-1, Advanced Org, AOLA, Beverly Hills, Case Supervisor, Dianetics, E-meter, Ethics, Ethics Officer, Google, Hollywood Boulevard, L. Ron Hubbard, L. Ron Hubbard Way, Los Angeles, Master at Arms, Mission, Operating Thetan, OT, Purification Rundown, Reactive Mind, Registrar, Republican, Santa Barbara, Sea Org, Terra Cognita

The show where I answer your questions. Please leave any comments or feedback in the comments section here below. I see everything and want to hear from you. My Critical Picture channel: https://goo.gl/zzKx7p SHOP FOR CRITICAL MERCHANDISE

Tags: Audio, Critic, Quicky, Scientology: A to Xenu

LRH wrote, "When a person is not functioning well on his post, on his job or in life, at the bottom of his difficulties will often be found unknown basic definitions and laws or false definitions, false data and false laws, resulting in an inability to think with the words and rules of that activity and an inability to perform the simplest required functions." HCOB 7 August 1979, False Data Stripping. [All subsequently quoted passages refer to this bulletin.] I found the full text here LRH declared, "There is no field in all the society where false data is not rampant." Lucky for us, he added, "Now, however, I have made a major breakthrough which finally explains and handles the problem of inability to learn and apply."

Tags: 1979, Ashtrays, End Phenomena, Ethics, False Data Stripping, Google, Hubbard Communications Office Bulletin, Keep Scientology Working, L. Ron Hubbard, Quicky, Rundowns, Sec Check, Terra Cognita

For this Saturday morning, we're going to take things easy and let you do the work. We'd like to get your thoughts on a question that's come up a few times lately. It's a question that comes up on occasion, and perhaps it's getting talked about more now because of David Miscavige's apocalyptic recent moves in Clearwater. That question we're talking about: Is the Church of Scientology imploding or isn't it?

Tags: 1970, 1977, Bijou Phillips, Call Me, Catholic Church, Cathy Schenkelberg, Chris Wadhams, Clearwater, Danny Masterson, David Miscavige, Denver, Edinburgh, Emily Jones, Facebook, FBI, Freewinds, Galaxy Press, IRS, John Goodwin, Mexico City, Michael Peña, Mike Rinder, Paulette Cooper, Quicky, Squeeze My Cans, Terra Cognita, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely, Willie Jones, Writers of the Future

(Brian Sheen meets Miss Lovely, journalist Paulette Cooper) Last July, we told you the complex saga of Brian Sheen, a Florida man whose grown daughter cut him out of her life on instructions of the Church of Scientology for reasons that were maddeningly murky. Sheen had been very active in Scientology decades ago, but had left it in 1979. Since then, he'd never been antagonistic toward the organization, and he never discouraged his daughter Springsong from being a member. In 2014, he happily attended as Springsong married into a wealthy Scientology family — the Atkinson-Bakers, who own a national court-reporting business.

Tags: 1979, 2014, Allison Hope Weiner, Atkinson-Baker, Boston, Brian Sheen, California, Clearwater, Disconnection, Flag Land Base, Florida, Fort Harrison, Fraud, GoFundMe, Guy Fauteux, Master at Arms, Miss Lovely, Nora Crest, Paulette Cooper, Private investigator, Suppressive Person, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely

Since erecting a billboard near Dodger Stadium on Monday, April 4, Phil and Willie Jones, a 60-something married couple from Las Vegas, have drawn a great deal of media interest — including an appearance on Today — to a deeply personal cause. The Joneses want to speak to their two adult children, Mike, 42, and Emily, 38, whom they say they've lost all contact with through a process known within the Church of Scientology as "disconnection." The family was once deeply enmeshed in the organization, but the parents began to have doubts about it five years ago, whereupon Phil's sister, also a Scientologist, allegedly reported them to church leaders. They were swiftly excommunicated and communication with their children immediately reduced to a trickle, the Joneses say. They have neither seen nor heard from either of their kids for over two years. The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Phil Jones about his "Call Me" billboard campaign. How did you choose the location for your billboard? We had first chosen a billboard location on Hollywood Boulevard down by the [church's] "Big Blue Building" complex. At the last minute they shut us down. I'm pretty sure Scientology got to them on that. Then we found one on Hollywood Boulevard closer to La Brea, not far from where [Scientology leader] David Miscavige lives. We paid them in full, had the printing done, were one day from installation and Scientology shut us down. They had one of their people call and offer to buy millions of dollars worth of billboard space all over the area just to shut us down.

Tags: Academic, Author Services Inc, Big Blue, Billboard, Brainwashing, California, Call Me, Celebrity Centre, Clear, Clearwater, David Miscavige, Disconnection, Emily Jones, Fair Game, FBI, First Amendment, Florida, Hemet, Hollywood, Hollywood Boulevard, John Travolta, Lamar Media, Las Vegas, Mike Jones, Orange County, Phil Jones, Quicky, Scientology staff, Sea Org, The Hole, Tom Cruise, Willie Jones

Regraded Being is taking a day off. Might surprise us with something on an odd day, depending on schedule, but otherwise will be back next week bigger and better than ever. In the meantime, we have some interesting insight into scientology's "groups" - the entities that "introduce" people to dianetics and scientology. Scientology claims there are "More than 11,000 scientology orgs, missions and groups" in the world.

Tags: 2000, Africa, ANZO, Auditing, Australia, Bangladesh, California, Chairman of the Board, China, East Grinstead, England, Field Staff Member, Google, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Life Improvement Center, Mission, Mongolia, Nepal, New Year's Eve, OT VIII, Pakistan, Power FSM, Quicky, Regraded Being, Rohn Walker, Scotland, Sec Check, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, UK, Wales, Wealden House, Well Done Auditing Hours

Scientology leader David Miscavige was apparently so paranoid he hired two private detectives to keep tabs on his father and advised them to "not intervene in any way" if the 79-year-old had a heart attack. According to the Los Angeles Times, police records indicate the church paid two detectives $10,000 a week to read the old man's email and tap his phone calls. Miscavige was reportedly worried his father, Ron—who had left Scientology two years prior—might divulge negative information about the church.

Tags: 2013, David Miscavige, Dwayne Powell, Florida, Los Angeles Times, Private investigator, Ron Miscavige Sr, Wisconsin

The Frederick County Council voted Tuesday to postpone a decision on a historic designation for the Scientology-affiliated drug treatment center planned for Thurmont. Leaders of the Narconon program, which uses rehabilitation methods developed by the Church of Scientology's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, want to open a "residential drug rehabilitation center" at a 40-acre camp named Trout Run, off Catoctin Hollow Road. Social Betterment Properties is the current owner of Trout Run and the real estate arm of the church. The property owner and Narconon requested that Trout Run be added to the county's historic registry — a decision the County Council voted to postpone until April 21 — to allow more time for consideration.

Tags: Billy Shreve, Bruce Dean, Bud Otis, Denis Superczynski, Frederick County, Frederick County Council, Jerry Donald, Jessica Fitzwater, Katherine McBride, Kirby Delauter, Lesli Summers-Stay, Linowes and Blocher LLP, M.C. Keegan-Ayer, Maryland, Narconon, Narconon Eastern US, Social Betterment Properties International, Tony Chmelik, Trout Run, Yvonne Rodgers

Geoffrey Lewis, the bucolic character actor known best for the 1970s Clint Eastwood movies he appeared in, died in his son Miles's arms Tuesday after suffering cardiac arrest during a morning workout. He was 79 years old. Lewis had suffered ill health and dementia for some time, but had been cared for by his children, including Miles, who posted a notice to his Facebook page Tuesday evening. "We were at our Tuesday morning workout at the Motion Picture Hospital in Woodland Hills and he experienced cardiac arrest. He stopped breathing in my arms. We'd had a good morning, talking about my trip to Japan," Miles wrote. Geoffrey Lewis had also been a dedicated Scientologist who was the father of church member Juliette Lewis, and we're told that Geoffrey had attained Operating Thetan Level Five on Scientology's "Bridge to Total Freedom." In a recent photo that Miles posted to his Facebook page, Lewis was visited by two old Scientology friends, musicians Chick Corea (left), and Geoff Levin.

Tags: 1970, 1973, 1975, 2000, Abortion, Alex Gibney, Anna Silman, Australia, Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, Bridge to Total Freedom, Bryan Seymour, Chick Corea, Child labor, Clearwater, Company, Elisabeth Moss, Facebook, Geoff Levin, Geoffrey Lewis, Georgia, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Hollywood, Hospital, Japan, John Travolta, Juliette Lewis, Lawrence Wright, Martin Luther King, Narconon International, National Enquirer, New York, Nick Xenophon, Operating Thetan, OT, Priscilla Presley, Steve Persall, Tampa Bay Times, Tax exempt, Tom Cruise, Tom DeVocht, Woodland Hills

Los Angeles Times reporter Kim Christensen landed a bombshell Wednesday night with his story about a police report which shows that Scientology leader David Miscavige paid private investigators $10,000 a week for 18 months to follow his father, Ron Miscavige Sr (pictured). We broke the news in 2012 that Ron had escaped from Scientology's International Base after being a musician at the compound for many years. He went to Virginia to live with his son, Ron Jr, before relocating to Wisconsin. And his son David Miscavige, Scientology's dictatorial leader, has made sure Ron has been under surveillance to keep an eye on what he might say about Scientology.

Tags: 1979, 1988, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2013, Apollo, Becky Finley, Clearwater, Daniel Powell, David Miscavige, Dwayne Powell, Flag Land Base, Florida, GPS, Greg Arnold, Int Base, International Management, Kate Bornstein, Kim Christensen, Los Angeles Times, Marc Headley, Marty Rathbun, Mike Rinder, New York, Orlando, Pat Broeker, Paul Marrick, Philadelphia, Police, Private investigator, Ron Miscavige Sr, Sea Org, Tampa Bay Times, Terry Roffler and Associates, The Truth Rundown, Tom Cruise, Village Voice, Virginia, West Allis, Wisconsin

A spokesperson for the Church said Mitchell's lobbying work is "aligned to our broad humanitarian social initiatives." In his disclosure reports, Mitchell provided extensive details about his lobbying for Scientology. These records show he has focused on several areas for the church — pursuing federal funding for Scientology's educational programs and disaster relief efforts, promoting efforts to help prisoners re-enter society, working to promote programs to help religious workers immigrate to the US, and working to make "international religious freedom" a priority for the government. In a conversation with Business Insider on Wednesday, Mitchell said his work on "religious freedom" is currently the main focus of his lobbying for the church. This work often involves working with other religious organizations to encourage the US to put pressure on foreign countries that are persecuting religious groups.

Tags: 1991, 2000, 2003, 2007, American Civil Liberties Union, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, California, Carlos Moorhead, Congress, Criminon, Foreign policy, France, Germany, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, Greg Mitchell, HBO, Hill & Knowlton, Hillary Clinton, James Rogan, Lobbyist, Mike Rinder, Narconon, Quicky, Religious worker, Scientology executive, The Mitchell Firm, US Senate, US State Department, Washington, White House

The SA Senator has pushed to revoke the Church of Scientology's charity status.

Tags: Nick Xenophon, Quicky

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) — A plan to turn a former presidential retreat in Maryland into a drug rehabilitation center affiliated with the Church of Scientology is drawing opposition. The Frederick News-Post reports (http://bit.ly/1HQCvh5 ) that the Frederick County Council postponed a decision Tuesday on a request by the church's real-estate arm to have the 40-acre Trout Run property designated for historic preservation. The designation would enable Social Betterment Properties to make changes otherwise barred by zoning restrictions. Several citizens expressed opposition to turning the camp near Thurmont into a Narconon residential treatment center. The program is based on methods developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

Tags: Dwight Eisenhower, Frederick County Council, Frederick News-Post, Herbert Hoover, Maryland, Narconon, Quicky, Trout Run

A plan to turn a former presidential retreat in Maryland into a drug rehabilitation center affiliated with the Church of Scientology is drawing opposition. The Frederick News-Post reports (http://bit.ly/1HQCvh5 ) that the Frederick County Council postponed a decision Tuesday on a request by the church's real-estate arm to have the 40-acre Trout Run property designated for historic preservation. The designation would enable Social Betterment Properties to make changes otherwise barred by zoning restrictions.

Tags: Maryland, Narconon, Narconon Eastern US, Social Betterment Properties International, Trout Run

Police in West Allis, Wis. stopped Dwayne S. Powell in July 2013 after getting a call about a suspicious person and promptly arrested him on weapons charges. Powell, now 43, was found with two rifles, four handguns, 2,000 rounds of ammunition, stun gun and a homemade silencer. He told cops he was hired by the Church of Scientology to watch Ronald Miscavige Sr. In a revealing interview with police Det. Nicholas Pye, Powell said he and a second detective were paid $10,000 a week because Miscavige was worried his father would betray the church in some way.

Tags: 1986, 2013, Alex Gibney, David Miscavige, Dwayne Powell, Florida, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, GPS, Nicholas Pye, Private investigator, Ron Miscavige Sr, Sundance Film Festival, Trash collection, West Allis, Wisconsin

Once, while tailing Miscavige on a shopping trip, Powell and his partner watched him grasp his chest and slump over while loading his car. After his arrest, Powell told police he'd thought Miscavige was having a heart attack and might die. He said he phoned his intermediary for instructions. Two minutes later a man who identified himself as David Miscavige called him back, according to records. "David told him that if it was Ron's time to die, to let him die and not intervene in any way," the records state, noting that the apparent emergency passed "and nothing further happened."

Tags: 2013, Daniel Powell, David Miscavige, Dwayne Powell, Gary Soter, GPS, Hemet, Int Base, Michael Hertzberg, Milwaukee, Private investigator, Religious Technology Center, Riverside County, Ron Miscavige Sr, Terry Roffler and Associates, Trash collection, Wisconsin

Publicly available IRS 990-T's and other publicly available documents have given us the names of twenty-four trusted Church of Scientology functionaries. Please feel free to post additional names to help build an open source database of "Inner Circle Scientology." My e-mail is scienowriter@gmail.com. In this blog entry we present David Miscavige's inner circle, rubber stamps, & missing wife 1. Monique Yingling of Zuckert, Scoutt & Rasenberger LLP, Washington D.C. — David Miscavige's personal attorney. If Scientology is a small business operated as a wannabe Mafia, then Miscavige is the boss and Yingling his consigliere. Yingling's late husband was Gerald Feffer of Williams & Connolly in D.C. Feffer and Yingling were among the key architects of Scientology's 1993 tax exemption.

Tags: 1966, 1986, 1993, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, Alan Cartwright, Alex Gibney, Anderson Cooper, Arthur Bolstad, Austin Nickels, Author Services Inc, Beverly Hills, Carl Heldt, Church of Scientology International, Church of Spiritual Technology, Clearwater, CNN, David Bloomberg, David Miscavige, Diane Gillott, Ellen Reynolds, Flag Building, Flag Service Organization, Flag Ship Service Organization, Florida, Gerald Feffer, Glen Stilo, Guardian's Office, HBO, International Justice Chief, IRS, Jennifer Linson, John Travolta, Kelly Preston, LAPD, Laurisse Stuckenbrock, LAX, Leah Remini, Legal, Linda Hamel, Ludwig Alpers, Lynn Farny, Marc Yager, Marty Rathbun, Mary Sue Hubbard, Mike Ellis, Mike Rinder, Monique Yingling, Office of Special Affairs, OSA Int, Quicky, Religious Technology Center, Scientology executive, Sea Org, Shelly Miscavige, Snow White Program, Tax exempt, Tom Cruise, Twin Peaks, Warren McShane, Washington, Williams & Connolly, Zuckert, Scoutt & Rasenberger

A FEDERAL regulator has been asked to consider revoking the Church of Scientology's registration as a charity in the wake of a damning documentary about the religion. Prominent Scientologist and Hollywood actor John Travolta on Wednesday rejected claims in the American documentary Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief that he was being held captive by the church which holds a "dirt file" on him. Independent Senator Nick Xenophon is concerned by allegations in the film and has asked the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission to urgently review the church's registration.

Tags: Australia, Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, David Locke, Disconnection, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, John Travolta, Nick Xenophon, Vicki Dunstan

Subscribe now: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c... The Church of Scientology responds to criticisms from the HBO documentary Going Clear by showing it to members who may be worried that they are part of a cult started by L. Ron Hubbard. Get more Funny Or Die

Tags: Facebook, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, Google, HBO, Quicky, Twitter

For over ten years, records show the Church of Scientology has had one man lobbying Congress on its behalf. According to House of Representatives and US Senate disclosure reports, the controversial religious group has paid over $1 million to Greg Mitchell to lead its lobbying efforts since 2003. No other lobbyist has reported working for the church during this period. A spokesperson for the Church said Mitchell's lobbying work is "aligned to our broad humanitarian social initiatives." In his disclosure reports, Mitchell provided extensive details about his lobbying for Scientology. These records show he has focused on several areas for the church — pursuing federal funding for Scientology's educational programs and disaster relief efforts, promoting efforts to help prisoners re-enter society, working to promote programs to help religious workers immigrate to the US, and working to make "international religious freedom" a priority for the government.

Tags: 1991, 2003, American Civil Liberties Union, Bill Clinton, Carlos Moorhead, Criminon, France, Germany, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Greg Mitchell, HBO, Hill & Knowlton, Hillary Clinton, James Rogan, Lobbyist, Mike Rinder, Narconon, The Mitchell Firm, US House of Representatives, US Senate, US State Department, White House

Daniel offers his take on HBO's "Going Clear" and throws his hat in the ring to be the new celebrity face of Scientology.

Tags: Video

One Sunday morning in the early Eighties, as he sat among the pews in church, Jamie DeWolf's life was changed for ever. Then just six years old, DeWolf was handed The Kingdom of the Cults by his pastor, a book examining new religious movements – among them Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists and Mormons. Yet one group stood out for the young Baptist and, more specifically, one name. It was that of Lafayette Ronald (L Ron) Hubbard, a science-fiction writer turned prophet who founded the Church of Scientology. He was also DeWolf's great-grandfather. "I remember coming home and saying, 'mom, what's Scientology?' and her face went really pale," says DeWolf, three decades later in his home in Oakland, California.

Tags: 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1986, 1991, 1993, 2011, 2012, 2013, Abortion, California, Census, Christian, Cult, Dianetics, Fair Game, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, Guinness, Internal Revenue Service, Jamie DeWolf, Jedi, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jennifer Lopez, L. Ron Hubbard, Lawrence Wright, Leah Remini, London, Mental Health, Mormon, Oakland, Paul Haggis, Quicky, Seventh-day Adventists, Tom Cruise, UK, Venus, YouTube

The latest motion filed Thursday in Pittsburg County Court by the three families against Narconon of Oklahoma d.b.a. Narconon Arrowhead, Narconon International, the Association for Better Living and Education International and Gerald Wootan, DO, asks court to order ODMHSAS and its investigator at the time former ODMHSAS director Kimberly Poff to produce information linked to the investigation. The lawsuit states the disclosure is necessary for the "protection of a legitimate public interest."

Tags: ABLE, Farley Ward, Gabriel Graves, Gary Richardson, Gerald Wootan, Hillary Holten, Kim Poff, Narconon, Narconon Arrowhead, Narconon International, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Pittsburg County Sheriff, Stacy Murphy

Mike Bennitt Last night, we showed you surprising tax documents in which the Church of Scientology was forced to estimate the "book value" of some of its many entities. Three of those entities alone (CSI, CST, and FSO) came to nearly $1.5 billion. Why does Scientology, a tiny organization with maybe 30,000 worldwide members at this point, have so much money? As we told you yesterday, having tax exempt status for more than 20 years, combined with paying workers pennies an hour, allows Scientology to amass stunning wealth. Which is why it has the ability to run so many retaliation campaigns against its perceived enemies with the use of private investigators and attorneys — a practice it has now fully admitted to in court records submitted in a Texas lawsuit.

Tags: 1960, Chicago, Church of Spiritual Technology, David Miscavige, Flag Service Organization, Hollywood, Illinois, Irvine, Karen de la Carriere, Mike Bennitt, Mike Rinder, Monique Rathbun, Private investigator, Quicky, Super Power, Tax exempt, Texas

A little item sent in by a Special Correspondent from the Detroit area. They have had an "ideal" building for some time, sitting idle while the existing org struggles to keep the doors open on its current building. If you click on this image, you will see the Google Street View of the front door of the Detroit Ideal Org building. Zoom in on the sign on the door. This is not a shooped image.

Tags: Detroit, Google, Ideal Org, Quicky

I am well aware of Godwin's Law* but I just could not think of any better visualization of the message of this email. Everything that has been decreed "unacceptable" in today's fundamentalist scientology is to be collected up and disposed of. Books, materials and e-meters. And just why is this no longer "acceptable"?

Tags: E-meter, Europe, Golden Age of Tech, Keep Scientology Working, L. Ron Hubbard, Membership, Quicky

Here is another document from our growing team of Special Correspondents keeping their ears to the ground and eyes on the prize. Tony Ortega included the promo piece in his weekly Sunday Funnies collection this morning and it is worthy of a good chuckle. But it came with an email that deserves its own comment. This is a wonderful example of the dimwittedness of these supposed "OT's" who have really learned to not even think dim thoughts for themselves. They are literally dumb as stump posts at this point. A=A=A is the order of the day. If Miscavige pisses on their heads and tells them its raining, they comment on how good a fresh shower feels.

Tags: Alabama, Arkansas, Atlanta, Australia, Canada, Chairman of the Board, Clear, Command Intention, David Miscavige, Flag Service Organization, Florida, France, Georgia, Ideal Org, Kaye Champagne, Kentucky, Louisiana, Melbourne, Memphis, Miami, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Orlando, OT, OT Committee, Puerto Rico, Quicky, South Carolina, Sunday Funnies, Tampa, Tennessee, Tony Ortega, Virginia, West Virginia

Before Brandon Ogborn's play The TomKat Project blows up even bigger than it already has, we thought we better get to know him a little — before he becomes so famous he won't return our phone calls. Fortunately for us, Synthia Fagen caught the Chicago production and first clued us in that it was a riot. So we asked her if she would interview Ogborn for the Underground Bunker. The idea behind The TomKat Project is deceptively simple: Ogborn took all the insane media coverage of Katie Holmes's split with Tom Cruise last summer and constructed from it a parody of our obsessions with celebrity (with Scientology getting a skewering along the way). With a small cast that has actors playing numerous roles each, the play weaves together actual language from media coverage with lines invented by Ogborn. The result is a smash, say critics, and the small production is sold out in Chicago through April, with hopes for bigger things soon.

Tags: 2005, Australia, BBC, Bert Fields, Brandon Ogborn, Chairman of the Board, Chicago, Chicago Tribune, Christian, Christian Science, Clearwater, David Miscavige, Dianetics, Disconnection, Greg Wilhere, James Packer, Jason Beghe, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Sweeney, Karen de la Carriere, Katie Holmes, L. Ron Hubbard, Lawrence Wright, Marc Headley, Martin Bashir, Marty Rathbun, Matt Stone, Maureen Orth, Michigan, Mike Rinder, Mormon, Music, Nazanin Boniadi, New York, New York Times, Nicole Kidman, OT, Quicky, Rehabilitation Project Force, Santa Barbara, South Park, Starbucks, Synthia Fagen, Tom Cruise, TomKat Project, Tommy Davis, Trapped in the Closet, Trey Parker, Vanity Fair

Thanks to Karen De LaCarriere and Steve Hall for bringing this to my attention. And kudos to DeathHamster for the good work in documenting the facts for the world to see. Please read this new posting on Steve Hall's site exposing the activities of the Church in putting up hate sites about anyone who dares speak about the RCS or its associated entities.... All those who have been honored with one or more of these sites knows where they come from. But their source is masked because they are so filled with lies and vitriol the church doesnt want to be associated with them. And perhaps is even afraid of being sued for libel or other causes of action. So, like the cowards they are, they put up lies and mask their identities. Luke Catton didnt mask his identity or take pot-shots from the shadows. Neither have any of the others subjected to these smears.

Tags: Bert Leahy, Corpus Christi, David Miscavige, Lucas Catton, Quicky, Robert Almblad, Squirrel, Steve Hall, Tommy Davis, Warren McShane

Yesterday's post about Flag now sucking money out of the nearly lifeless bodies of its public for the "Southeast Ideal Orgs" engendered a lot of email, comments and another promo piece from a local Special Correspondent. While there were mentions of other "Ideal Org Alliances" — this one takes the cake. It's a whole COUNTRY and more! Spearheading into the Great White North out of the hotspot of Scientology in Canada — Cambridge (formerly Kitchener) — this "All Hands" fundraising drive for a "Clear Canada" (the new euphemism for "All Orgs Ideal") is in full swing...

Tags: Argentina, Buffalo, Calgary, Cambridge, Canada, Clear, Copenhagen, Dallas, Denmark, France, Ideal Org, International Association of Scientologists, IQ test, Kansas City, Kitchener, Las Vegas, Montreal, Quicky, Squirrel, Super Power, Toronto

Yesterday, the Ventura County Star reported that the Church of Scientology's wholly owned subsidiary Social Betterment Properties International has paid $5 million cash for the late actor Larry Hagman's palatial estate in Ojai, California. Scientology's "good works" non-profit umbrella group, the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE), has used SBPI in the past to purchase property for its programs, including the facility that makes up its flagship drug rehab facility in Oklahoma, Narconon Arrowhead. But why would Scientology buy up such an expensive piece of property at this point? The church has been in acquisition mode, buying expensive buildings for its "Ideal Org" program -- but those are usually in the middle of sizable cities, not in a less populated part of California.

Tags: ABLE, California, David Miscavige, Larry Hagman, Luke Catton, Mike Rinder, Narconon, Narconon Arrowhead, Ojai, Social Betterment Properties International

Like the Texas Monthly before it, The Independent does a fine job summarizing what happened as a crew of camera-carrying Scientologists planted themselves on a South Texas cul-de-sac, day after day, claiming to be doing a documentary on Rathbun, who was once the church's second-highest ranking official until he defected in 2004. (For some reason, neither publication reported what we established here at the Voice: that there was no question the "Squirrel Busters" team was an operation of the church itself, supervised by Dave Lubow, a private eye who has long been used for such retaliation schemes by Scientology. Come on, fellow journalists: don't let the church get away with its lame denials of a connection to the Busters when there's solid evidence to connect the two. You only do your readers a disservice by not pointing this out.)

Tags: 1945, 2004, California, Celebrity Centre, Chairman of the Board, Chicago, Clearwater, Corpus Christi, David Lubow, David Miscavige, Facebook, Florida, Fort Harrison, Guy Adams, Hollywood, Ideal Org, Ingleside, Jefferson Hawkins, Jesus, John Allender, Karen Black, London, Marty Rathbun, Mike Rinder, Nancy Cartwright, OT, Phil Proctor, Richard Nixon, Ron Miscavige Jr, Saint Hill, San Diego, San Fernando Valley, Squirrel Busters, Sunday Funnies, Texas, The Hole, The Independent, UK, Valley Ideal Org, Volunteer Ministers, Whole Track, Writers of the Future

By Mike Rinder There have been many posts and numerous comments on this blog mocking the overhyped "expansion news" that Miscavige feeds his captive audience of clubbed seals at events. They are well trained to applaud every time there is a loud explosion and a line bursts through the top right corner of a graphic on screen. No other stimulus is required: disbelief is suspended and all critical thinking is cast aside. He tosses out stinking fish and the seals don't even stop to chew – they swallow it whole and with relish. Of late, in response to exposing the truth about the sham campaigns ("give us money so we can air ads all over the world" and none are ever seen by anyone except maybe on the Home Shopping Network at 4am), Miscavige bit the bullet and started shelling out for ads to appear on mainstream, high profile TV shows in the US. Of course, he can't say something different in these ads to what he says at his events, hence they tout: "growing faster today than anytime in history", "more than 10,000 churches, missions and groups", "welcoming over 4.4 million new people each year" and "grassroots groups starting every 24 hours." Unfortunately, no matter how untrue or misleading these statements are, Miscavige knows no regulatory entity is going to bother taking the church to task for false advertising.

Tags: AOSHUK, Basics, Brighton, Church of Spiritual Technology, CLO EUS, Commodore's Messenger Organization, David Miscavige, Dianetics, Flag Service Organization, International Association of Scientologists, London, Luis Garcia, Mike Rinder, Mission, OC Weekly, Ocala, Orange County, Quicky, Religious Technology Center, Rim of the World, Riverside, Riverside County, San Bernardino, San Bernardino County, San Diego County, Santa Barbara, Sinar Parman, Squirrel, Tampa, Tel Aviv

By Mike Rinder There have been many posts and numerous comments on this blog mocking the overhyped "expansion news" that David Miscavige feeds his captive audience of clubbed seals at events. They are well trained to applaud every time there is a loud explosion and a line bursts through the top right corner of a graphic on screen. No other stimulus is required: disbelief is suspended and all critical thinking is cast aside. He tosses out stinking fish and the seals don't even stop to chew – they swallow it whole and with relish. David Miscavige and the Scientology Mission Network

Tags: AOSHUK, Basics, Brighton, Church of Spiritual Technology, CLO EUS, Commodore's Messenger Organization, David Miscavige, Dianetics, Flag Service Organization, International Association of Scientologists, London, Luis Garcia, Marty Rathbun, Mission, Mission Network, OC Weekly, Ocala, Orange County, Quicky, Religious Technology Center, Rim of the World, Riverside, Riverside County, San Bernardino, San Bernardino County, San Diego County, Santa Barbara, Sinar Parman, Squirrel, Tampa, Tel Aviv

Residents at a long-established trailer park have been forced to leave in order to make way for an expanded Scientology-owned golf course, it has emerged. The Sleepy Hollow Trailer Park, in San Jacinto, California, sits next to one of the Church of Scientology's headquarters and has been providing affordable housing for more than 30 years. Now all but one of its 21 residents have gone after Business Management Services, which buys properties for the Church of Scientology, bought the land from an investment company.

Tags: BBC, Building Management Services, California, Candice Savage, Catherine Fraser, Golden Era, Golden Era Productions, Google, Int Base, Joseph Neely, San Jacinto

Aaron Saxton drops in. Yesterday, we were visited by Aaron Saxton, who is in town visiting friends. Saxton is a former Scientologist, and his Orwellian tales of being one of the Sea Org's ruthless enforcers during the 1990s are part of a national scandal that has become big news in Australia. In November, an Australian senator with the unlikely name of Nick Xenophon stunned his colleagues and the nation with a surprising speech filled with allegations of abuse by Scientology and calling for a federal investigation of the "church" there. (Let that sink in. Just imagine, for a moment, a Chuck Schumer or John McCain standing up in the U.S. Senate to call for a probe into John Travolta's bizarro buddies and the allegations -- proven many times over in numerous court cases -- that Scientology is more economic scam than "religion.")

Tags: 1960, 1989, 1990, 1996, 2000, 2008, Aaron Saxton, Abortion, Advanced Org, Australia, Bettina Lockland, Chuck Schumer, David Miscavige, E-meter, Ex-member, John McCain, John Travolta, L. Ron Hubbard, Larry Wollersheim, Lawrence Wollersheim, Marc Headley, Master at Arms, Mental breakdown, New York, New York Times, Nick Xenophon, Operating Thetan, OT, Scientology organization, Sea Org, Sydney, The Australian, Today Tonight, Xenu

Oobleck! Thneed! Sneetches! Are there any Scientologists reading Blogtown right now? Because if there are, they will need to STOP and find out what those words mean before proceeding. According to scientologyhandbook.org, a reader must always "clear" a word, or gain a full understanding of its meaning, before continuing -- otherwise, the misunderstanding will linger and cause chaos in the cosmos.

Tags: Scientology Handbook, Word Clearing

That sounded like a semi-reasonable starting point (hey, at least they accept evolution), so I decided to investigate the Church a bit further and live a day in the life of a Scientologist. The German and Belgian governments' characterizations of the Church as a "totalitarian cult" and the group's storied history of domestic tax evasion only further peaked my interest.

Tags: Belgium, Germany, IRS, South Africa

TAMPA -- In a ruling that stunned the Church of Scientology and its lawyers, a Hillsborough County judge said Friday that religious rights are not a central issue in the 1995 death of Scientologist Lisa McPherson. Circuit Judge James S. Moody Jr. also said it is not clear whether McPherson consented to her treatment by Scientology staffers before she died in their care. That question should be left to a jury, the judge said.

Tags: 1995, Eric Lieberman, Fort Harrison, Introspection Rundown, Judge James Moody, Judge Susan Schaeffer, Ken Dandar, Lisa McPherson, Pinellas County, Sandy Weinberg, Scientology lawyer, Scientology staff

The reason the Church of Scientology supports the Narconon New Life Center at Chilocco is that the Narconon program works. The church and Narconon have taken over 100,000 people off drugs. Someone wants to make this a crime. L. Ron Hubbard, who developed the drug rehabilitation technology used by Narconon, has received tens of thousands of awards and recognitions for his work to handle the ravages of drugs and better mankind. Your recent (March 9-12) articles should not have attempted to demean a man who has served his country admirably. Hubbard's war record includes public records of his many medals which includes the Purple Heart (Palm) leaf cluster.

Tags: Narconon, Narconon Chilocco