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2019
2019-05-10, Joan Bryden, National Observer
Lynn Beyak cast herself as a defender of free speech and a victim of political correctness moments before senators voted summarily Thursday to suspend her without pay from the Senate for refusing to delete derogatory letters about Indigenous people from her website.
The suspension applies only to the remainder of the current session of Parliament; she'll be able to resume sitting as a senator when a new session begins following the Oct. 21 federal election.
However, if Beyak continues to refuse to comply with remedial measures recommended by the Senate's ethics committee, the upper chamber could consider further action against her in the future.
Tags: 2013, 2018, Canada, Carolyn Bennett, Indigenous, Lynn Beyak, Manitoba, Quicky, Residential schools, Stephen Harper, Twitter
2019-05-10, David Olive, Toronto Star
It appears that the next federal election is going to be mostly about carbon taxes. As it should be. Carbon pricing is the most effective, convenient and least expensive means of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) that cause global warming.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, right, poses with Alberta Premier Jason Kenney at the Ontario Legislature in Toronto on Friday,May 3, 2019. Along with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, Jason Kenney is a backer of Ford's $30-million fight against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's carbon-pricing measures that took effect in April 2019. ( Chris Young / THE CANADIAN PRESS )
It also stimulates economic growth. In 2017, B.C., Quebec and Alberta, each with carbon-pricing systems in place for several years, were the fastest-growing economies in the country. Canada is a pioneer in carbon pricing. In 2006 and 2007, Alberta and British Columbia, respectively, launched North America's first carbon-pricing systems. The B.C. model is regarded as perhaps the best in the world. More on that later. But in the coming federal election campaign, carbon pricing will be demonized in some quarters.
Tags: 1970, 1983, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2016, 2017, Alberta, Andrew Scheer, Brexit, British Columbia, Canada, Carbon tax, CBC, Climate change, Doug Ford, DougWiki, Dutch, Environmental, Jason Kenney, Justin Trudeau, Manitoba, National Energy Board, New Brunswick, Ontario, Ottawa, Quebec, Reuters, Saskatchewan, Scott Moe, Toronto, Twitter
2019-05-10, Editorial, Globe and Mail
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, two-time candidate for mayor of Toronto, made his feelings known about his home city very quickly after his election in 2018. Without warning or consultation, his Progressive Conservative government cut the number of seats on the city council from 47 to 25.
It was an undemocratic and vindictive move. It also came out of nowhere: At no time during the election campaign had Mr. Ford even hinted he would reduce the size of council if he were elected.
In retrospect, Mr. Ford's capricious strike against Toronto – and only Toronto – was a harbinger of his government's first budget, tabled last month. In it, the "government for the people" has undertaken a series of moves that will have a steep financial impact on the city, one disproportionate to that hitting other cities in the province.
2019-05-10, Fatima Syed, National Observer
Stéphane Perrault has been imagining everything that could go wrong with the 2019 federal election for four years.
The Elections Canada chief electoral officer and his team have run through an array of scenarios in partnership with Canada's security organizations, political parties and the federal public service, preparing for such issues as:
What happens if there's a data breach, and it is not known whether it's domestic or foreign interference?
Tags: 2015, 2016, ABC, Brexit, Canada, Communication Security Establishment, Donald Trump, DougWiki, Election Integrity Reporting Project, Elections Canada, Emmanuel Macron, Facebook, Germany, Google, Justin Trudeau, Manitoba, Montreal, New Brunswick, Ottawa, Robert Mueller, Russia, Ryerson University, Stéphane Perrault, Toronto, Turkey, Twitter, Ukraine
2019-05-10, Marieke Walsh, iPolitics
The premier's executive director of strategic communications, David Tarrant, will leave the job on May 17. Ford's spokesperson, Simon Jefferies, said Tarrant notified the premier's office about his exit back in January.
Ford's deputy chief of staff, Simone Daniels, announced Tarrant's exit, as well as another resignation in a memo sent to premier's office staff, obtained by iPolitics.
In her memo, Daniels said Tarrant and outgoing director of public appointments, Alicia Markson, should "take pride" in the work they did in government.
2019-05-10, Sarah Smellie, CBC News
Another director of Proudly New Brunswick told CBC News the group's advisor was Ontario Proud's founder, Jeff Ballingall, a former Harper-era Conservative staffer and employee of the short-lived Sun News Network.
The NL Strong Facebook group shares stories from local media outlets with messages like "Dwight Ball has got to go," as well as shareable memes and posts from Ontario Proud and its equivalents in other provinces like Alberta Proud and Nova Scotia Proud and the national Canada Proud group.
The Proud groups often share the same content with the same or similar phrasing. (Facebook)
Tags: Alberta, Alberta Proud, Canada, Canada Proud, CBC, Devin Drover, Doug Ford, DougWiki, Facebook, Jeff Ballingall, Justin Trudeau, Labrador, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, NL Strong, Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Proud, Ontario, Ontario Proud, Progressive Conservative, Proudly New Brunswick, Robocall, Spammer, Stephen Harper, Sun News Network, Twitter
2019-05-10, Jeffrey Augustine, Scientology Money Project
Scientologist David Gentile, CEO of GPB Capital Holdings, called a key shot in late April of 2019 in GPB's lawsuit against former managing partner Patrick Dibre. Gentile's decision, however, went nowhere. In its Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Attorney Certification, GPB Capital indicated in the affirmative that it "presently wishes to jointly engage a mediator at an appropriate time to aid settlement."
Defendant Patrick Dibre indicated in his ADR that he does not "presently wish to jointly engage a mediator at an appropriate time to aid settlement."
Plaintiff GPB Capital Holdings wishes to have a mediator to aid settlement. Defendant Dibre does not want a mediator and is apparently ready to slug it out with GPB in court or, in the alternative, hold settlement talks directly without a mediator. One item of note: GPB Capital sued Patrick Dibre as an individual. GPB did did not name Dibre's company or automotive dealerships as defendants.
Tags: 2018, Certification, David Gentile, FBI, GPB Capital Holdings, Lawsuit, Patrick Dibre, PITA, Quicky, SEC
2019-05-10, Caroline Orr , National Observer
A week after Facebook banned a group of prominent far-right influencers for violating its policies against "dangerous individuals and organizations," the company has removed another page that was being used to circumvent the ban.
Facebook took down the page after being asked about it by National Observer.
The now-removed Facebook page is associated with a website called "Summit News," which is run by Paul Joseph Watson, editor of the controversial website Infowars. Summit News hosts all of Watson's content, much of which is cross-posted verbatim on Infowars.
Tags: 2017, 2018, Afghanistan, Alex Jones, Alt-Right, Apple, Breitbart, Canada, Charlottesville, Christchurch, Christian, Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr, Europe, Ezra Levant, Facebook, Faith Goldy, France, Gavin McInnes, Google, Heather Heyer, Infowars, Islamophobia, James Wood, Jason Kessler, Justin Trudeau, Laura Loomer, Lauren Southern, London, Milo Yiannopoulos, Muslim, New Zealand, Newsweek, Newtown, Nigeria, Paris, Paul Joseph Watson, Pizzagate, Proud Boys, Quebec City, Quicky, Racism, Rebel Media, Snopes, Spotify, Sri Lanka, Summit News, Sweden, Syria, Tommy Robinson, Twitter, Unite The Right, University of Toronto, White nationalism, White supremacist, YouTube
2019-05-10, Adam Radwanski, Globe and Mail
Conservatives are starting to feel bullish about vote-splitting.
Until recently, the ability of New Democrats to pull votes away from Liberals was a source of consternation for Andrew Scheer's party. If Jagmeet Singh didn't get his act together, it might be too easy for Justin Trudeau to rally the centre-left behind him, and take a big enough share of public support to block the Tories' path to power.
Now, another party seems to be changing the equation. Even before this week, Conservatives were wondering aloud if the Green Party – coming off a string of seat pickups by its provincial cousins – might be as useful as the NDP in providing an alternative for voters who cast ballots for the Liberals in 2015.
Tags: 2011, 2015, Andrew Scheer, Bloc Québécois, British Columbia, Canada, DougWiki, Elizabeth May, Environmental, Green Party, House of Commons, Jack Layton, Jagmeet Singh, Jane Philpott, Jody Wilson-Raybould, Justin Trudeau, Maxime Bernier, Nanaimo, New Democratic Party, Ontario New Democratic Party, Stephen Harper, Vancouver
2019-05-10, Martyn Brown, Georgia Straight
Canada is once again on the OECD's and the World Bank's "most (not) wanted" bribery and corruption watch lists.
When Canadian corporate "Crown jewels" like SNC-Lavalin and Bombardier take centre stage in the global battle against bribery and corruption, you might think that would be enough to make Canada's governing party perk up and act.
When report after report details the scope and magnitude of money laundering in British Columbia—from casinos, to luxury cars, to real estate—you would think it would oblige the federal politicians in Ottawa to take the lead in demanding a public inquiry to get to the bottom of that national travesty.
2019-05-10, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
Between the quarantine of the MV Measlesthelioma in the Caribbean, and a couple of court developments that came out of nowhere — a jury verdict in California and a guilty plea in New York — we've had quite a week of dealing with breaking news here in the Bunker, and so we've neglected some of the other items coming from our wonderful network of tipsters.
So allow us to catch up with a few items that came our way this last week that show things are just great in Scientology right now and thanks for asking.
The correspondent who sent us this first item referred to it as "the sorriest example of a flash mob that I've ever seen," adding that they thought the "Curous?" T-shirts were a fun touch. But it was something else about this impromptu performance put on by the Tampa Ideal Org in a public park that grabbed our attention...
Tags: 2013, Australia, Big Blue, California, Caribbean, Delphi Academy, Facebook, Florida, Ideal Org, Los Angeles, Manuela Oliveira, Measles, Narconon, New York, Oregon, Portland, Quicky, Ryan Prescott, Sea Org, Seattle, Silicon Valley, Sydney, Tampa, Tiziano Lugli, Tom DeVocht, Twitter, Volunteer Ministers, Yannus Sufandi
2019-05-10, CBC News
Ontario may be the winner when it comes to Canada's single biggest job increase since the mid-1970s, but a funding cutback to its innovation companies could mean jobs once designated for the province will be forced to move elsewhere.
Several tech companies say the province is tightening up the purse strings when it comes to how much it gives to startup companies and that the move will have a trickle-down effect on jobs.
"A lot of provincial funding has stipulations that you are creating jobs in Ontario," said Ann Poochareon, CEO of Little Robot Friends, one of the companies that's learned it will no longer be receiving funding through the Ontario Centres of Excellence program.
2019-05-10, Brooks DeCillia, Opinion, Globe and Mail
Brooks DeCillia spent 20 years reporting and producing news at CBC, and now splits his time between researching public opinion about the energy and the environment at the University of Calgary and teaching journalism at Mount Royal University.
In the span of about two weeks, federal Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer both teamed up with some oil-industry executives in a private meeting to devise a game plan for defeating the governing Liberals – and promised to unveil a detailed climate change plan.
It seems like a bit of a contradiction in terms, but it's the tightrope that he and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney are both walking, if indelicately. The pair have whipped up public anger about Western Canada's sluggish oil and gas sector to rally the base, and Mr. Scheer looks intent on mimicking Mr. Kenney's winning strategy of championing lunch-bucket oil workers and "everyday people," while saying we can both grow the energy industry and maintain rigorous environmental standards.
2019-05-10, Mike Rinder, Something Can Be Done About It
2019-05-10, Heather Mallick, Toronto Star
"Nobody knows the trouble I've seen, nobody knows my sorrow," eccentric Ontario MPP Sam Oosterhoff once sang to host Steve Paikin while being interviewed on TVO, and that's the trouble with Sam Oosterhoff right there. The man cannot read an audience. Also, he can sing loudly but not well, which works in church but nowhere else. And he calls the cops on nice library-loving seniors, but we'll get to that.
As the youngest member of the Ontario Legislature, Sam Oosterhoff sure could use an MPP buddy to help him with his social skills, Heather Mallick writes. ( Andrew Francis Wallace / Toronto Star file photo )
Oosterhoff later performed a "Monster Mash" parody in the legislature. "We stopped the carbon tax," he half-sang, swapping "tax" for "mash," and "carbon" for "monster" while his shy colleagues attempted backing vocals and failed. It brought back memories of prime minister Stephen Harper singing "Jumpin' Jack Flash" while playing the electric piano — "I was raised by a toothless, bearded hag" — as groovy Conservatives jived.
2019-05-10, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
(Filmmaker Mark Vicente became head of the video department at Nxivm)
There's no new testimony today in the Nxivm trial, but the last time we left off, our correspondent Dianne Lipson was heading back in for yesterday's afternoon session, with more direct examination of filmmaker Mark Vicente. Here's her report...
Mark Lesko was the government attorney questioning Mark Vicente. Lesko named prominent NXIVM members and asked Vicente what was his understanding of their role. Vicente described Vanguard's role as the philosophical founder; The driving ethical, moral, and humanitarian force behind the company.
Tags: 2008, Cult, Filmmaker, Keith Raniere, Legal, Lucifer, Mexico, Mormons, Nancy Salzman, NXIVM, Quicky, Suppressive Person, Trial, Utah, Vice
2019-05-10, Chelsia Rose Marcius, Daily Beast
The conservative youth nonprofit Turning Point USA says it has booted a student from its organization after a viral video appeared to show members of its Las Vegas chapter shouting "White power! Fuck the n -- -- -s!" "As soon as the video in question came to the attention of Turning Point USA staff, we swiftly and permanently removed the student from any current or future involvement with our organization," TPUSA said in a statement on Twitter. "His comments were abhorrent, un-American, and disqualifying." TPUSA did not identify the student who was booted from the group, however. Last week, the organization's former communications director Candace Owens—who previously said, "If Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well, OK, fine"—stepped down from her position.
"Turning Point is an amazing organization that is fighting a cultural war on college campuses," Owens wrote in an Instagram post last week. "We love our freedom-fighting students. We love our campus clashes."
2019-05-10, Kayla Gladysz, Daily Hive
United Food and Commercial Workers Union Canada Local 12R24 (UFCW Canada Local 12R24) launched their campaign to inform people about the costs to Ontarians if Premier Ford continues to focus attention on alcohol retailing, while making cuts to funding for health and education.
"The Ford government is creating chaos for communities by pushing ahead with corner-store beer sales," said John Nock, the president of UFCW Canada Local 12R24 in a press release.
"Right now, beer prices before taxes in Ontario are among the lowest in Canada due to our efficient distribution system to outlets that are equipped to handle beer safely. Study after study has shown that beer prices will rise due to higher distribution costs and the usual convenience store markups. That is what happened in Alberta when it privatized alcohol sales, which Doug Ford's $1,000-a-day alcohol consultant Ken Hughes knows too well because he profited from it as a partner in Alberta Spirits Inc," Nock said.
2019-05-10, Chris Shelton, Critical Thinker at Large
A lot has been said about L. Ron Hubbard's intentions in creating Dianetics and Scientology. He's mostly written off as a science fiction writing con man and there are plenty of good reasons to think that's all he ever was, but I think there's more nuance to the story than that. In this short clip, I break down my thoughts as a former Scientologist on my old "guru." Enjoy!
2018
1 year ago
2018-05-10, Chris Shelton, YouTube
This video is intended to give simple and direct advice to those who have just recently left Scientology and are wondering what to do about Scientology and adjusting to the real world. This is not a comprehensive review of every possible scenario or situation, but is just a basic series of bullet points which could be helpful to anyone coming out of Scientology (or other high control groups).
Links mentioned in the video:
Surviving Scientology:
2018-05-10, Chris Shelton, Critical Thinker at Large
Hello. Recently I celebrated what has been five years out of Scientology. I've made a few videos and written articles about recovering from Scientology and everything that entails. This video is meant for anyone out there who has recently left Scientology behind too and who is wondering what's up and where to go next. It would take a book to really answer that, but I thought a short video might be helpful. All of what I'm going to say here is just my opinion. I'm not going to try to psychoanalyze or evaluate for you here and you can feel free to reject anything I say.
The first thing I want to say is congratulations. Whatever the circumstances of your leaving were: whether you just left quietly, you routed off staff or out of the Sea Org, or you just blew, you did the right thing in getting away from Scientology. I know how hard it can be to step out from under the rules and controls the Church of Scientology places on a person. If you got out of the Sea Organization, you know that it's especially not easy there. You probably had to jump through a lot of hoops, or you may have just been unceremoniously kicked to the curb and you may even be a bit surprised that they would do that to you. Well, yes, the harsh truth is that they would.
If you have been disconnected from anyone or declared a Suppressive Person, let me just say that I know it's not easy to lose friends and family. Disconnection is a form of emotional blackmail and David Miscavige weaponized the entire body of ethics tech by applying it in the worst possible way. His RTC Representatives and the staff in the Commodore's Messenger Org were turned into a kind of Gestapo years ago and the only thing they really do is enforce Miscavige's will on all of the Sea Org and staff. I know Gestapo is a strong word but in this case, it really does apply. They are rarely given a choice as to how they are going to treat Scientologists. There's no easy or simple way to deal with the loss of loved ones. I know it's tough and I know that this is not a lot of consolation, but what I can tell you from my experience and what I've seen with many other ex-Scientologists is that the hardest part is at the very beginning. It will get better. For every Scientology friend or family member you lose, there are easily 10 or more friends out here in the real world who will welcome you with open arms. I'm not even kidding. When I was a Scientologist, I had a few hundred Facebook friends who were Scientologists. I now have over 1400 Facebook friends, another 500 who follow my posts and thousands of people following me on Twitter and subscribed to this channel on YouTube. I'm not bragging, because compared to other YouTubers I have a pretty small channel. My point is that there are a lot of people outside of Scientology who you can connect with and who are not going to pretend to be your friend until the Ethics Officer tells them they can't be anymore. That's not true friendship. Real friends stick by you no matter what and I don't regret leaving Scientology and losing the friends I had because I've made much better ones online and in the real world who will be around for the rest of my life.
Tags: Aaron Smith-Levin, Class VIII, Commodore's Messenger Organization, David Miscavige, Disconnection, Ethics Officer, Facebook, Former Scientologists, Growing Up In Scientology, Jeffrey Augustine, OT VIII, Quicky, Religious Technology Center, Scientology: A to Xenu, Sea Org, Steven Mango, Suppressive Person, Twitter, YouTube
2018-05-10, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
Over the last two days, we've seen some fascinating letters made public for the first time which were written by Donald H. Rogers, an eyewitness to the earliest days of Dianetics. Rogers wrote the letters in 1984-85 to Jon Atack, who was researching his book, A Piece of Blue Sky, and who generously shared the letters with us.
In his letters, Rogers covered a lot of territory regarding L. Ron Hubbard, Dianetics, and the early Scientology movement, and we asked a couple of people for their thoughts on them. We were glad to hear back from Chris Shelton, and we also received some observations from Alec Nevala-Lee, author of the upcoming book Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction, which will be released by HarperCollins on October 23. One of the subjects that Alec covers in the book is how much Hubbard's famous book Dianetics was really a group project, and what contributions his editor Campbell made to it. He tells us he can also see that group dynamic working when he looked at the letters of Don Rogers...
Alec Nevala-Lee: When I read these letters, I was reminded of a fascinating detail in the "Affirmations," the confessional document that Hubbard produced sometime in the late forties. He says of his unpublished manuscript Excalibur: "There was one error in that book and you have psychically willed it into nothing. It was the electronic theory of the workings of the human mind. Human, material minds do work this way and you were right. Your own mind does not work this way." This implies that an "electronic theory" of the brain was present at an early stage, but it bothered him, and it doesn't show up at all in the earliest surviving descriptions of his work. Just a few years later, though, it's all over the book Dianetics, which speaks of "demon circuits" and compares the brain to a computer or an adding machine. Most of this material evidently came from John W. Campbell, but also from Don Rogers, who was the second person to be recruited into the project. It was openly influenced by Cybernetics, or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine, which had been published a year earlier by Norbert Wiener — Campbell's old professor at M.I.T. — and its inclusion seems to have been largely motivated by the need to position Hubbard's ideas for professional readers.
Tags: 1949, 1950, 1984, A Piece of Blue Sky, Affirmations, Alec Nevala-Lee, AMA, Bay Head, California, Chris Shelton, Christian, David Miscavige, Dianetics, Don Rogers, Excalibur, GUK, Hospital, Hypnosis, Isaac Asimov, John W. Campbell, Jon Atack, Joseph Winter, KCRW, Madeleine Brand, New Jersey, Norbert Wiener, Oak Knoll, Orlando, Quicky, Robert Heinlein, Rod Keller, Santa Monica, Scientology TV, Sea Org, UK
2018-05-10, Caleb Ecarma, Mediaite
Last December, in a Florida hotel room just three miles from President Donald Trump's "Winter White House," a policy advisor for the Trump-tied nonprofit America First Policies praised Nazis and expressed disappointment that they didn't "keep fucking going."
Juan Pablo Andrade voiced his love for the Third Reich — in a video obtained by Mediaite — while attending a Turning Point USA conference, which is a youth conservative organization, endorsed by everyone from Trump to Senator Marco Rubio, known as much for racism as it is for diaper-wearing.
The organization — founded by Charlie Kirk and in the news recently because one of its members received Twitter shoutouts from Kanye West and Trump – held its 2017 annual activism summit in West Palm Beach, Florida, a stone's throw from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. It was attended by more than a thousand young conservatives, and featured speeches from first-son Donald Trump Jr., Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, Fox News personality Tomi Lahren, right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro, ex-White House official Seb Gorka, and a slew of other personalities inhabiting the MAGA-sphere.
Tags: Alt-Right, America First Policies, Ben Shapiro, Carl Higbie, Cesar Subervi, Charlie Kirk, Charlottesville, Donald Trump, Juan Pablo Andrade, Kaitlin Marie Bennett, Marco Rubio, Mike Pence, Nick Feuntes, Proud Boys, Republican National Committee, Richard Spencer, Scott Walker, Sebastian Gorka, Shialee Grooman, Tomi Lahren, Turning Point USA, Unite The Right, White House (Trump)
2018-05-10, Mike Rinder, Something Can Be Done About It
Next time around...
Wow, that's some foresight.
The Final Moment?
2017
2 years ago2017-05-10, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
In Alex Gibney's 2015 documentary Going Clear, the director narrates the story of Scientologist actress Nazanin Boniadi, who was selected in late 2004 by the church for a special project: To be girlfriend to actor Tom Cruise. As he begins that narration, Gibney says that the story is backed up by FBI testimony.
Now, we have that testimony.
Or, at least a part of it, the portions that the FBI didn't redact when it turned over a 285-page file about the agency's 2009/2010 Church of Scientology human trafficking investigation to RadarOnline's Melissa Cronin, who has shared it with the Underground Bunker.
Tags: 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, Alex Gibney, Celebrity Centre, Clearwater, David Miscavige, East Grinstead, England, FBI, Florida, Freedom Medal of Valor, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, Greg Wilhere, Human trafficking, International Association of Scientologists, Kirstie Alley, Knowledge Report, L. Ron Hubbard, Lawrence Wright, License, Los Angeles, Madrid, Maureen Orth, Mike Rinder, Nazanin Boniadi, New York, Office of Special Affairs, Paul Haggis, Quicky, Rehabilitation Project Force, Sea Org, Sec Check, Spain, Suppressive Person, Telluride, Tom Cruise, Tommy Davis, Vanity Fair, Yolanda Pecoraro
2017-05-10, Mike Rinder, Something Can Be Done About It
They will never learn.
After enduring some of the worst PR in recent memory for declaring war on beloved Winter the Dolphin and Clearwater Marine Aquarium, turning their wrath on the Clearwater City Commission and then on Pinellas County — scientology pays for a press release to announce how they are bringing the Clearwater Community together. Oi vey.
Can they be serious?
Tags: 1954, Aaron Smith-Levin, CCHR, City of Clearwater, Clearwater, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Cleveland Street, Community Learning Center, Criminon, David Miscavige, David Pomeranz, Facebook, Flag Land Base, Flag Service Organization, Fort Harrison, Foundation for a Drug-Free World, Haiti, Humanitarian, Kelly Yaegermann, Mission, Narconon Suncoast, OT, Pat Harney, Pinellas County, Quicky, Sea Org, Second Chance, The Way to Happiness, United for Human Rights, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Volunteer Ministers
2017-05-10, Jon Hernandez, CBC News
The portrait is one of many on display at a travelling exhibit called Psychiatry: An Industry of Death. It recently opened in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside and has direct ties to the Church of Scientology — a controversial religion that actively discredits the science behind psychiatry.
"It made me really angry," said Heinrichs, who has struggled with anxiety. "My family has a history of mental illness ... and it seemed like [organizers] were using scare tactics to keep people from getting help."
Heinrichs isn't the only person unnerved by the anti-psychiatric display. Many mental health workers fear the exhibit could negatively sway vulnerable people living through B.C.'s deadly opioid crisis from seeking help.
2017-05-10, Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Inside Higher ED
National right-wing organizations often view academe with disdain, seeing it as a place where right-wing values are squelched. Their interests lie more with Republican student groups, which they support with splashy signs and money to help espouse a particular brand of conservatism.
During last year's presidential campaign, many of those GOP campus organizations pointedly declined to endorse Donald Trump, rejecting his statements about women, immigrants and Muslims, among others, as inconsistent with their principles. But these days, the speakers the groups invite to campus spout rhetoric just as harsh (or worse) than Trump's.
Right-leaning campus groups said in interviews they don't attempt to ignite discord, but that in planning certain events -- like the case of Ann Coulter's canceled speech at University of California, Berkeley -- they simply sought to bring an alternate view to their campuses.
Tags: Alt-Right, Ann Coulter, Ben Shapiro, Breitbart, Charlie Kirk, Christopher Gardner, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Donald Trump, Glenn Beck, Milo Yiannopoulos, Missouri, Muslim, Ohio State University, Professor Watchlist, Republican, Republican National Convention, Richard Spencer, Robert Spencer, Santa Clara University, Southern Poverty Law Center, Tomi Lahren, Turning Point USA, Twitter, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Irvine, University of California, San Diego, Young Americas Foundation
2016
3 years ago2016-05-10, vpro cinema, YouTube
TV journalist Louis Theroux talks about making his documentary on the church of Scientology in My Scientology Movie (2016).
2016-05-10, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
Phil and Willie Jones won't rest. Despite the success of their Echo Park billboard that got a ton of media attention, the Las Vegas couple was back in Los Angeles yesterday with another mission to raise awareness about Scientology's toxic policy of 'disconnection.' When Phil told us what they had planned, we asked him to send us a report about their latest adventure. Here's what he sent us.
On Monday we did our first drive around in Los Angeles with magnetic signs on the car. We had Fred Haseney as photographer and Brett Chance doing video. These signs are a duplicate of the Call Me billboard.
We started off at Big Blue, and having dropped Fred and Brett off on Fountain Ave we circled up to Sunset to come down L. Ron Hubbard way from the north. By the time we got to the outdoor cafe Fred and Brett were situated to take photos and video.
2016-05-10, Lorna Dueck, www.theglobeandmail.com
I wouldn't be surprised if actor Tom Cruise's control and tenacity comes from his indoctrination in the Church of Scientology. Religion can transform people from the inside out. Mr. Cruise's confidence embodies the forbearance training a millionaire can purchase in the Scientology cult.
There are at least eight (expensive) levels of "thetan" presence that Scientology implants into its devotees, and the result is a forceful presence which allows you a "tone 40" command or possibly more. I am usually mesmerized by Mr. Cruise on screen, I think he's got at least a "tone 40," and now I can speculate from whence it came.
This revelation is thanks to the Canadian premiere of My Scientology Movie, by director John Dower and Louis Theroux, which screened at Toronto's Hot Docs festival on Sunday. The film is captivating, hilarious and frightening as it pushes how far the boundaries for religious freedom can go.
2016-05-10, Mike Rinder, Something Can Be Done About It
Though this "PR Newswire release" is in ENGLISH with a title that claims "Church President Describes Basic Beliefs..." if you read the article you will see that the "President" who is doing the describing (apparently in english?) is the "President" of the church of scientology in Madrid, Spain.
Once again, it highlights the huge omission of the "President Church of Scientology International".
Heber Jentzsch has been disappeared in the great tradition of oppressive dictatorships through history. He is written out of history. There is no explanation for his absence at the most important events in scientology. Nor is there anyone named as his "successor."
2016-05-10, Bryan Seymour, 7 News
The Church of Scientology is run by a "sociopath" who physically and verbally abuses those around him. So says his father, who has written a book about his son and what really goes on inside the secretive group.
In Australia, it's sparked calls for them to pay tax and to stop tearing apart families.
Ron Miscavige joined Scientology in the 1960s, never dreaming his son David would one day run it.
"I think he saw a chance to seize power and being the aggressive individual that he is, he did it," Ron said.
Tags: 1972, 2012, 2013, Abuse, Australia, Clearwater, David Miscavige, Denise Miscavige Gentile, Disconnection, Fair Game, Isaac Hayes, John Travolta, Kate Ceberano, Leah Remini, Lisa Marie Presley, Marion Barton, Nick Xenophon, Noel Barton, Private investigator, Ron Miscavige Sr, Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me, Shelly Miscavige, Tax, Tom Cruise, Tony Ortega, UK
2015
4 years ago2015-05-10, Mike Rinder, Something Can Be Done About It
The latest edition of Impact magazine, the propaganda and fundraising rag of the IAS is devoted almost exclusively to the "Volunteer Ministers" and the "massive" international relief efforts they engage in "thanks to the IAS."
Of course, those who are not blinded by KoolAid know this is a scam, that virtually NO money is spent on any of these things, and in fact the "relief efforts" are miniscule. Always just enough to get a photo or video or a person or two, and then everyone loses interest and moves onto the next fundraising effort. Nobody hears anything about the Philippines or Vanatau any longer, they are yesterday's news.
Recently there was a massive earthquake in Nepal. Within 12 hours, the money grubbing began. See below.
2015-05-10, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
SEE BELOW FOR BIG BOOK NEWS
Las Vegas attorney Ryan Hamilton is at it again, filing his 28th federal fraud lawsuit against the Church of Scientology's drug rehab network, Narconon.
Once again, he's filed a lawsuit against Narconon's facility in Nevada, Rainbow Canyon Retreat in Caliente, and this time the plaintiff encountered problems with the rehab center just this year, in January.
Tags: 2008, ABLE, Anonymous, Basel, Caliente, California, Canada, Carla Savoie, Clark Carr, Colorado, Daniel Manson, David Keesling, David Miscavige, Florida, Guardian's Office, Hollywood, Huntington Beach, Huntington Harbor House, Ideal Org, James Rolshouse, Karla Taylor, Kathmandu, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Louisiana, Mexico, Mexico City, Minnesota, mnql1, Narconon, Narconon Fresh Start, Narconon International, Narconon Western US, National Association of Forensic Counselors, Nepal, Nevada, Oklahoma, Paul Savoie, Quicky, Rainbow Canyon Retreat, Ryan Hamilton, Saskatoon, Savoie v. Narconon, Success rate, Switzerland, Tijuana, Topos México, Volunteer Ministers, WhyWeProtest
2015-05-10, Jeffrey Augustine, Scientology Money Project
The Church of Scientology argues that its IRS 501(c)(3) tax exempt status is proof that Scientology is a religion.
Based upon this logic, then, when the Church loses its tax exemption it will cease to be a religion.
Live by tax exemption, die by tax exemption. In other words, Scientology is a religion only in legal terms and not due to any earned and accumulated virtue or goodness.
2015-05-10, Jordan Hayne, ABC News (Australia)
The Canberra Cavalry baseball club has cut ties with a human rights group linked to the Church of Scientology, after information of its affiliation with the religion was not disclosed to the club.
Youth for Human Rights is an international non-profit organisation that purports to educate young people about human rights issues, but its funding was primarily supplied by the International Association of Scientologists.
This information was not disclosed to Canberra Cavalry when the organisation's Australian arm attended Cavalry baseball games and handed out pamphlets between 2013 and 2014.
2015-05-10, Tim McLaughlin, Reuters
Shillman said he remains a director of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, whose Jihad Watch website helped organize the cartoon event in a Dallas suburb with activist Pamela Geller's American Freedom Defense Initiative.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which tracks what it describes as extremist groups, has called the Freedom Center's founder, the right-wing commentator David Horowitz, "the godfather of the anti-Muslim Movement." The Freedom Center says it "combats the efforts of the radical left and its Islamist allies to destroy American values."
The SPLC also calls Geller's AFDI a hate group because of the way it talks about and depicts Muslims.
Tags: 2002, 2019, Alt-Right, American Freedom Defense Initiative, Boston, California, Charlie Hebdo, Dallas, David Horowitz, David Horowitz Freedom Center, FBI, Islamophobia, Israel, Jewish, Jihad Watch, Legal, Massachusetts, Mohammad, Muslim, Northeastern University, Pamela Geller, Politics, Quicky, Robert Shillman, San Diego, Sherman Oaks, Southern Poverty Law Center, Tax, Texas, Thailand
2014
5 years ago2014-05-10, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
During a mesmerizing performance last night in Clearwater, Florida at the Flag Down anti-Scientology conference, Jamie DeWolf made a stunning revelation. He's authenticated bizarre writings that had been attributed to his grandfather, L. Ron Hubbard Jr., who was the son of Scientology's founder. They paint a disturbing portrait of the influence of the occult on the Hubbard men as they used Scientology in its early days to further their personal aims.
We first wrote about Jamie in the summer of 2011, when we named him one of the "Top 25 People Crippling Scientology." Though he wasn't very well known even among former Scientologists, we said that the Bay Area performance artist had huge potential to make a major impact on how Scientology and his great-grandfather, L. Ron Hubbard, are viewed. Since then, Jamie has been working hard to make good on that prediction. A boost from Upworthy in March helped a lot, and he's continued to hone his writing about his family tree.
Jamie revealed some of that new material last night in Clearwater in a spellbinding hour-long performance which was captured on video (it starts about 6 minutes into the clip below). During that performance, Jamie revealed that he'd only recently obtained an unpublished manuscript written by his grandfather, who went by several names — L. Ron Hubbard Jr., "Nibs," and Ron DeWolf.
Tags: 1934, 1936, 1952, 1959, 1963, 1970, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1991, 2010, 2011, Arnaldo Lerma, Clearwater, Dianetics, Flag Down, Florida, Golden Dawn, Jamie DeWolf, Jeffrey Augustine, Karen de la Carriere, L. Ron Hubbard, Margaret Grubb, Michael Flynn, Penthouse magazine, Philadelphia, Quicky, Riverside County, Ron DeWolf, Saint Hill Manor, UK, Washington
2014-05-10, Mike Rinder, Something Can Be Done About It
Tags: David Miscavige, Quicky
2014-05-10, Mike Rinder, Something Can Be Done About It
We would NEVER photoshop a picture of our Dear Leader (unless we planned to use it somewhere).
Now would we overstate the attendance at one of these events... (every scientologist is so ethical ad capable they count for at least 3 normal persons).
And you can rely on the FACT that 57 new public just walked into the org on Monday, because we said it.
2013
6 years ago
2013-05-10, Marty Rathbun, Moving On Up a Little Higher
Excerpt from Chapter One of The Enemy Formula:
Chapter One
The Zen of Basketball
2013-05-10, Mike Rinder, Something Can Be Done About It
A report just in from Tampa.
Quentin Strub, CO WISE EUS, flew into town to deliver a "KSW Seminar."
Here is the invitation to this spectacular, must-attend event sent out by Kent Oliver the Director of Public Booksales Tampa Day (fast becoming the poster child for hey-you "org boarding"):
2013-05-10, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
Portland Mercury photo by Dirk Vanderhart Scientology leader David Miscavige began opening "Ideal Orgs" about a decade ago. In each case, local church members are pressured to raise huge amounts of money to replace perfectly adequate church facilities with much larger, more elaborate palaces that tend to stand empty. It's a controversial plan that has exacerbated splits in the church membership — there's lots of evidence that founder L. Ron Hubbard actually preferred more modest facilities and always stressed the need for new members, not new buildings.
But for whatever reason, Miscavige has banked the future of the church on his Ideal program, and seems to think tomorrow's grand opening in Portland is the most important one yet. We've been marveling recently at the effort going into tomorrow's big show, and we have some more updates for those thinking of stopping by for a gander.
First, we keep getting asked by Portlanders where this thing is going down. As the Portland Mercury pointed out, with some photos (see above), the podium for the big celebration has been set up on the west side of SW 3rd Avenue, just a little south of the intersection with SW Oak Street. We're hearing that SW 3rd Avenue will be closed off for tomorrow's celebration, which is happening at 1 pm. Knowing Scientology, a small army of local law enforcement and rent-a-cops will prevent you from getting very close, but we have several folks who are going to try and get us some photos of the ceremony. We're especially interested, as always, to know which local dignitaries get roped into participating.
Tags: 1985, 2004, Angry Gay Pope, BBC, Cardiff, Celebrity Centre, Church of Scientology International, David Miscavige, Heber Jentzsch, Hollywood, Ideal Org, Int Base, International Association of Scientologists, J. Swift, Jeff Pomerantz, John Sweeney, Jon Atack, Karen de la Carriere, Los Angeles, Marty Rathbun, Mike Rinder, Portland, Portland Mercury, Quicky, Religious Freedom Crusade, Silver, Skeptics, The Church of Fear: Inside the Weird World of Scientology, The Hole, UK
2013-05-10, TheLBJLibrary, YouTube
Based on more than two hundred interviews with current and former Scientologists and years of archival research, Lawrence Wright discussed his book Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, which offers an exhaustive account of the church, from its founding by L. Ron Hubbard to its present-day leadership. In a conversation with Library Director Mark Updegrove, Wright explained why celebrities like Tom Cruise and John Travolta are drawn to Scientology and discussed the future of Scientology. Wright is a playwright, screenwriter, and staff writer for The New Yorker. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for his book The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. Co-sponsored by the Texas Book Festival.
2013-05-10, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker
Brian Culkin The Church of Scientology has filed a motion to disqualify the attorneys for Luis and Rocio Garcia in their federal fraud lawsuit against the church.
Scientology has a long history of this kind of legal maneuver, and it's not surprising that they would make a motion like this in a case which has not gone their way to this point. (At any moment, we were expecting a ruling from federal Judge James Whittemore about the church's argument that the case go to its internal arbitration and be dismissed from federal court. Whittemore hadn't given away which way he was leaning, but the church may have felt it was about to be denied.)
In its motion, the church says that Garcia's counsel — led by Ted Babbitt — has improperly relied on the help of an attorney who formerly represented the church, Robert Johnson, and two former church executives, Marty Rathbun and Mike Rinder.
2013-05-10, Intelligenceplus, YouTube
May 9, 2013: In breaking Scientology news today from Vancouver, Canada, Anonymous members "Night Owl" and "Mrs. Night Owl" have just completed a covert photo mission. They captured shocking images of public safety issues resulting from what can be viewed as negligent staff practices and a building that stands in a desperate state of disrepair and is visibly dangerous. Approximately 58 high resolution images were taken over several months.
LInk to Wire Service story:
http://www.wireservice.ca/index.php?m...
2012
7 years ago2012-05-10, Gary Mason, Globe and Mail
For more than a year now, officials from Public Works Canada have been frequent visitors to a blog being kept by North Vancouver researcher and writer Vivian Krause.
It is her work that has ignited the federal Conservatives' interest in the foreign funding of environmental groups in Canada. Ms. Krause was the first to raise concerns about the activities of a registered Canadian charity known as Tides Canada.
The Vancouver-based organization acts as a distribution centre, of sorts, for foreign donors that want to donate in Canada but don't have charitable status. It funds environmental groups, many of whom oppose oil-sands development and ventures related to it such as the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project.
2012-05-10, Newstalk ZB
Serious allegations are being made against the Church of Scientology and the anti-drug programmes it runs in New Zealand.
Green MP Kevin Hague has used the protection of Parliamentary privilege to launch a blistering attack on the church, calling its actions repugnant, and accusing it of fleecing the vulnerable and the desperate.
2012-05-10, Marty Rathbun, Moving On Up a Little Higher
Over the past three decades Scientology Inc head David Miscavige has proudly and increasingly implemented what he calls the 'ruthless, cold, chrome steel' personality 'necessary' to manage Scientology. It started with Religious Technology Center (RTC, the top of Scientology Inc's chain of command). Cold, chrome steel has made its way all the way down to local churches of Scientology. More and more cops to prevent more and more potential 'crime.' More and more cops policing more and more dynamics. Public Scientologists taking on the valence of cops, confronting and informing upon friends and family members for creating an independent thought, for example. Look at the end product.
L. Ron Hubbard tells us why this has had such disastrous effects, and why the independent Scientologists movement has thrived and can be counted upon to continue to do so. Fittingly, from the 4th of July, 1958 in a lecture titled The Fact of Clearing:
Man definitely has a right to certain happiness. He isn't going to experience that right under the circumstances of his own past. He can't. He's too wound up in this and that. It's not the mores of the society that prevent him . It's all of these delusions about how bad the other fellow is.
2011
8 years ago
2011-05-10, John Hudson, Atlantic Wire
Did Tom Cruise and Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder band together to bankrupt an alt-weekly newspaper and falsely label it anti-Semitic? That's the titillating suggestion made by Tablet magazine, a Jewish news and culture site, in an article published today.
2010
9 years ago
2010-05-10, Jefferson Hawkins, Leaving Scientology
Congratulations to Amy on the publication of her new book, Abuse at the Top. A bunch of us gathered to celebrate the occasion, some of whom are pictured above. A great group. Some are still flying under the radar and chose not to have their picture on the internet! It's a great book - if you don't have a copy yet, you can order it here.
May 9 - wasn't that also some other special occasion? Trying to remember...oh yes, Mothers Day! Happy Mothers Day everyone.
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Tags: Abuse at the Top, Quicky
2008
11 years ago2008-05-10, Jason Howd, Willamette Week
The crowd, wearing British folk-hero Guy Fawkes masks in the style of the book and film V for Vendetta, surrounded the bronze man with a parasol and were heading towards a clash with the disciples of Hubbard and Cruise.
"We are Anonymous, we are legion, we do not forget," they proclaim.
2006
13 years ago
2006-05-10, Danylo Hawaleshka, Features, Macleans
Scientologists view Hubbard's writings as scripture, which gives what he said in The War a lot of weight. Psychiatry, he wrote, is "a vehicle to undermine and destroy the West!" Hubbard vowed that Scientology will "take over total control of all mental healing in the West." In 1987, the CCHR undertook a major campaign against Ritalin. "There is a war, by Scientology, against psychiatry," Kent says, "and the CCHR is just part of that war."
2002
17 years ago
2002-05-10, Richard Leiby, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle
Nearly 22 years ago, Lawrence Wollersheim, a disaffected member of the Church of Scientology, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles accusing the church of mental abuse that pushed him to the brink of suicide.
Teams of lawyers and various rulings came and went, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Judgments against the church hit $30 million, then dropped to $2.5 million.
But the Church of Scientology never paid -- until Thursday, when officials wrote a check for more than $8.6 million to end the case, one of the longest- running in California history.
2002-05-10, Richard Leiby, Washington Post
Nearly 22 years ago, Lawrence Wollersheim, a disaffected member of the Church of Scientology, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles accusing the church of mental abuse that pushed him to the brink of suicide. Teams of lawyers and various rulings came and went, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Judgments against the church hit $30 million, then dropped to $2.5 million.
But the Church of Scientology never paid -- until yesterday, when officials wrote a check for more than $8.6 million to end the case, one of the longest-running in California history.
Tags: Lawrence Wollersheim
2002-05-10, Richard Leiby, Washington Post
Nearly 22 years ago, Lawrence Wollersheim, a disaffected member of the Church of Scientology, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles accusing the church of mental abuse that pushed him to the brink of suicide. Teams of lawyers and various rulings came and went, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Judgments against the church hit $30 million, then dropped to $2.5 million.
But the Church of Scientology never paid -- until yesterday, when officials wrote a check for more than $8.6 million to end the case, one of the longest-running in California history.
"They stalled it and stalled it and stalled it," said Wollersheim, 53, now of Nevada. He called his victory a landmark for former members of the church, which is known for heated and protracted legal battles.
1997
22 years ago
1997-05-10, Editorial, St. Petersburg Times
The Church of Scientology's version of the circumstances surrounding the death of one of its members always raised more questions than it answered. Now Scientology's top officials cannot even keep their own stories straight, further undermining their credibility. That increases the pressure on Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe to uncover the truth about Lisa McPherson's death.
1989
30 years ago
1989-05-10, Patti Weaver, Tulsa World
The mayor of Newkirk said Tuesday he believes there is nothing people in this community can do to prevent a drug and alcohol treatment facility from being locatedon Indian land near here by an organization critics claimis tied to the Church of Scientology.
1986
33 years ago
1986-05-10, Catherine Gewertz, UPI
LOS ANGELES -- A Superior Court judge denied the Church of Scientology's 26th motion for a mistrial in the trial of a $25 million fraud suit brought by a disaffected former member, despite the appearance of actor John Travolta.
Travolta strode down a courthouse hallway lined with finger-snapping Scientologists Friday. When he rose in court to make a statement Judge Ronald Swearninger told him to sit down, and he did.
'It's very important for me to express my satisfaction with the results of being involved with Scientology these last 11 years so the court knows I represent a person involved with Scientology and that it works 100 percent for me,' Travolta said outside the courtroom.
FrontCite 05/16/2019 09:26a
See also:
FrontCite Mediawiki
UmbraXenu - The Home Game
xenu-directory.net: Scientology in the news
Scientology in the UK Media
See also:
FrontCite Mediawiki
UmbraXenu - The Home Game
xenu-directory.net: Scientology in the news
Scientology in the UK Media