May 20 in Scientology history

We were struck by a comment made after yesterday's session by our friend TX Lawyer. He pointed out that it is the job of Danny Masterson's defense attorney Tom Mesereau not only to push the witnesses but also the judge. Mesereau certainly has been doing that, and we also give him points for how well he knows the case and the evidence. As TX Lawyer also pointed out, what Mesereau is attempting to do is find fault lines in the preliminary hearing that he can exploit when he has a freer hand, at the trial itself. Mesereau has pushed to find inconsistencies in the stories first of Jane Doe 1 and then of Christina B. (And again, we'll remind you that we are using her abbreviate court name only because she had already come forward and identified herself years ago. The others haven't, and we are stunned that news organizations are using the partial names of Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 in their stories.)

Tags: 1952, 1965, 1970, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2016, Brie Shaffer, Celebrity Centre, Danny Masterson, David Icke, Ethics, Ethics Officer, FBI, Harry Potter, Hawaii, Hubbard Communications Office Policy Letter, Introduction to Scientology Ethics, Jordan Masterson, Judge Charlaine Olmedo, Luke Watson, Marcab, Mila Kunis, New York, OT 9, Reinhold Mueller, Sec Check, Sharon Appelbaum, Steven Fishman, Suppressive Person, Tom Mesereau, TX Lawyer

We're still stunned that one of the three big lawsuits filed against the Church of Scientology and its leader David Miscavige last year was suddenly dismissed, as we reported on Monday. The woman going by the name Jane Doe told us that on Thursday she learned that the Clearwater Police Department was closing its investigation of her allegations that she had been sexually abused as a kindergarten student at Scientology's Clearwater Academy school. She said that the police read to her from fifteen affidavits submitted by Scientologists refuting her claims. She also learned that some of the Scientologists had filmed videos for the church in one of its patented "Fair Game" campaigns that she believed would soon be rolled out on the Internet. It was too much for her, she told us. She contacted us late that night and told us she was feeling suicidal. The next day, on Friday, she asked her attorneys to dismiss the lawsuit she had filed against Scientology and Miscavige in Miami for failing to protect her as a child at the Academy and as a child employee at Scientology facilities in Venezuela and Clearwater, where she alleged that she was also sexually abused.

Tags: 1952, A&E, Amsterdam, California, Clearwater, Clearwater Academy, Clearwater Police Department, Danny Masterson, David Icke, David Miscavige, Elena Cardone, Fair Game, Florida, Foundation for a Drug-Free World, Hollywood Division, LAPD, Leah Remini, Los Angeles, Meghan Fialkoff, Miami, OT, Quicky, Riverside County Sheriff, Scientology and the Aftermath, Texas, TX Lawyer, Valerie Haney, Venezuela

On May 18, 2020, City Coucilmember Mark Bunker asked the council to formally ask the FBI to investigate Scientology for racketeering in Clearwater. I break down the responses from each City Councilmember. City Council Work Session: https://bit.ly/3dWoXqy (Agenda item re: Scientology begins at 4:08:10)

Tags: Aaron Smith-Levin, Aftermath Foundation, Clearwater, Facebook, FBI, Leah Remini, Mark Bunker, Quicky, Twitter

Things are in a bad way in the 2 orgs in Venezuela (one in Valencia and one in Caracas). This is a plea from the ED of the Valencia ("Venezuela") org for assistance. It is full of typical scientology hype about how they are saving the world etc etc. and some wonderfully outdated quotes from Source to make things seem better and pretend they are winning. But harsh reality has set in. Venezuela is in economic meltdown. Hyper inflation. Lack of food. Gas shortages (remarkable in a country that exports massive amounts of oil)...

Tags: Audrey Cabrera, Caracas, Chairman of the Board, Facebook, Florida, Freedom magazine, Freedom Medal, Freedom Medal Winner, Indonesia, International Association of Scientologists, L. Ron Hubbard, London, Los Angeles, Peru, Philippines, Quicky, Rome, Ruddy Rodriguez, Twitter, Ukraine, Valencia, Venezuela

Our correspondent Dianne Lipson is out of the courtroom after the Monday morning session in the Nxivm trial, during which former Nxivm defendant Lauren Salzman continued her testimony. Here are Dianne's impressions… Under questioning by Tanja Hajjar, Lauren's testimony continued to focus on DOS, the secret sorority that operated apart from Nxivm itself. Lauren said that Nxivm leader Keith Raniere had wanted DOS to grow quickly. He said he wanted 100 women in DOS, and then he said the wanted 100 "slaves" just under Lauren. Also, he floated the idea of allowing women in DOS who weren't already Nxivm members.

Tags: Allison Mack, Dianne Lipson, Keith Raniere, Lauren Salzman, NXIVM

What is the deal with Scientology's great big new buildings? Are Scientologists being overwhelmed by the floods of new people coming in now because of these renovated structures? Here's a simple explanation of the scam.

Tags: 2015, Critic, Ideal Org, Quicky

The latest great humanitarian accomplishment by the IAS: We buy internet ads for scientology.org... This is how they justify sucking tens or hundreds of millions of dollars out of people to "support their 4D campaigns". You know, the "campaigns" they promote save people from druhgs, illiteracy, crime, immorality and the supreme evil of psychiatry. You know, the ones that are ALWAYS ALSO begging for money.

Tags: Facebook, Humanitarian, International Association of Scientologists, IRS, Quicky, Scientology Media Productions, Twitter

The weekly show where I answer viewer questions left in the comments sections of my weekly Q&A shows or sent to me by email at AskChrisShelton@gmail.com. This week, the questions I answer are: (1) I have read some Scientology stories where the members claim they are both Class XII auditors and OT 7 or OT 8. It seems with the time required for OT 7 and the study requirements on the auditing side, that there are not enough hours in a day to complete this dual 'certifications' in less than 50 years, especially redoing the Bridge at some time. Are there 'shortcuts' or 'special deals' for certain people due to their status? (2) About two years ago I was looking for a new private school for my 9-year-old. I found one in Orange County, California. I found it on line and it said it had small classes and it looked good to me so I went for a visit to check it out. I toured the school with the administrator, saw the classrooms, met some of the kids. The school was actually housed in a church that was either Catholic or Christian.

Tags: California, Catholic, Christian, Class XII, Critic, Denver, L. Ron Hubbard, Orange County, Oregon, OT 7, OT 8, Portland, Quicky, The Way to Happiness, Tom Cruise

(Andrej Kiska with Barack and Michelle Obama in 2016) Rod Keller cuts through some of the propaganda coming out of Russia to get a little closer to what's actually happening there. Slovakian President Andrej Kiska announced this week that he would not run for re-election. The office is mostly ceremonial, but Kiska has been perhaps the government official most trusted by the public since he took office in 2014. He stands as an opponent of Russian attempts to expand its influence over former Soviet states and Warsaw Pact nations, including its 2014 invasion of eastern Ukraine.

Tags: 2009, 2014, 2016, 2017, Andrej Kiska, Arseni Yatsenyuk, California, Clear, David Miscavige, Dianetics Day, Ekaterina Elkabian, Europe, Hubbard College, Ideal Org, L. Ron Hubbard, Latvia, Moscow, Narconon, Narconon Standard, OT, Quicky, Robert Fico, Rod Keller, Russia, Sea Org, Slovakia, St. Petersburg (Russia), Ukraine, Victor Kagan, Volunteer Ministers, Yekaterinburg, YouTube

The tenth installment of the first draft of a novel written by our old friend Terra Cognita. Our Sunday Serial. Terra welcomes all suggestions and feedback — this is draft — you can note them in the comments. Chapter 55

Tags: Advanced Org, California, Canada, Clear, Communication Course, Dianetics, Hemet, Hollywood, Int Base, Jesus, L. Ron Hubbard, L. Ron Hubbard Way, Los Angeles, Master at Arms, OCA, OT, Oxford Capacity Analysis, Purification Rundown, Quicky, Rehabilitation Project Force, Santa Barbara, Saskatchewan, Scientology staff, Sea Org, Sec Check, Starbucks, Sunset Boulevard, Terra Cognita, Visa, Wogs

Get the book: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-mothers-heartbreak-lori-hodgson/1128188630 -- Lori Hodgson, former Scientologist of 30 years and author of "A Mother's Heartbreak: How Scientology Destroyed My Family," joins David to discuss the latest craziness involving her and her children vis-a-vis the Church of Scientology -Become a Member: https://www.davidpakman.com/membership

Tags: 1930, A Mother's Heartbreak, Facebook, Lori Hodgson, Quicky, Reddit, Twitter

Most all Scientologists have a longstanding love/hate relationship with studying Scientology. In the beginning, members are excited to learn all about L. Ron Hubbard's revolutionary mind/spirit technology. All too soon, they hate having to "put in the time." Which in the world of Scientology is no small commitment. LRH famously wrote, "A cleared cannibal is a cleared cannibal." Which means you can "clear" a man of all those past traumas adversely affecting him, but unless you train him properly in Scientology technology, he won't operate well in life. He won't "flourish and prosper." Clearing the cannibal doesn't guarantee he'll secure a good-paying job and make hefty donations to his favorite church. He'll need training for that. Per LRH, training is over half the gains in Scientology. Education is valuable. Education is important. Knowing the rules of the game is essential. Everyone needs to know how to get down the field and get the ball in the net.

Tags: Auditing, Clear, Dianetics, Ethics, Hubbard Communications Office Bulletin, L. Ron Hubbard, 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. Mentioned in this week's video: OCA Test video: https://youtu.be/-5F7Tw3XmCA

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

With English subtitles, a Russian TV news report with a comment by a key witness who testified on Thursday, May 18, 2017 concerning the alleged real estate fraud by Scientologist Ekaterina Zaborskikh. The trial began on April 18, 2016.

Tags: 2016, Ekaterina Zaborskikh, Quicky, Russia

On May 1, Tampa federal Judge James Whittemore gave the Church of Scientology just ten days to turn over the phone numbers and occupations of 500 Los Angeles-area Scientologists whose names the church had previously turned in to the court under seal. It's been more than a week since that deadline passed, and now we have evidence that the church did comply. We learned that the church met the deadline from a footnote in a new order that Judge Whittemore issued Thursday, in which he reinforced just how much he's taken control of a case that has fascinated us since it was first filed as a federal fraud lawsuit by a California couple, Luis and Rocio Garcia, back in January 2013. The Garcias say they were lied to and defrauded by the church in order to convince them to turn over hundreds of thousands of dollars for a building project. But in 2015 Judge Whittemore ruled that membership contracts signed by the Garcias required them to submit their grievances to an internal Scientology arbitration process, and he stayed the lawsuit. Since then the Garcias and the church have been unable to agree on a set of three arbitrators to hear the matter, who according to Scientology must be church members in good standing. Whittemore became fed up with the two sides fighting over the process and decided to step in. He asked Scientology to submit an application that would give him the power to choose the arbitrators, and ordered the church to turn over the list of 500 Scientologists.

Tags: 2013, 2015, Amazon, Australia, Billboard, California, CIA, Garcia v. Scientology, Independent, Joy Villa, Judge James Whittemore, Los Angeles, Luis and Rocio Garcia, Melbourne, Narconon, Nick Xenophon, Office of Special Affairs, Quicky, Suppressive Person, Tampa, The Way to Happiness, Truth About Drugs, Victoria, Wally Pope

Over the past two years, armed with a $16 million infusion from the estate of an orthodontist in California, Robert Ruhe, the organization has doubled its programming, including campus speeches. In 2016 that meant 111 speakers on 77 campuses. On the group's website, it boasted of "dispatching" 31 speakers to colleges last month alone. In that time, the speakers have gotten edgier, more in-your-face and sometimes even meanspirited. Among them is Ann Coulter, whose canceled speech last month at the University of California, Berkeley, led the foundation, which was covering most of her $20,000 fee, to sue the college, arguing that it had violated the First Amendment in its failure to provide a suitable time and place for the event. The resulting clashes on university campuses, including protests and efforts to block speeches, have raised free speech questions. And at Berkeley, even liberals who oppose Ms. Coulter's viewpoints said her speech should have been allowed to proceed.

Tags: 1960, 2011, 2015, 2016, Alt-Right, Ann Coulter, Barack Obama, Ben Shapiro, Ben Stein, Betsy DeVos, Black Lives Matter, Buffalo, California, David Horowitz, DePaul University, First Amendment, Forbes, Halloween, Jeff Sessions, Jihad Watch, Ku Klux Klan, Los Angeles, Michigan, Milo Yiannopoulos, Missouri, Muslim, Newt Gingrich, Norway, Robert Ruhe, Robert Spencer, Ron Robinson, Ronald Reagan, Santa Barbara, Stephen Miller, Steve Forbes, University of California, Berkeley, University of Wisconsin, Washington, William F. Buckley, Young Americans for Freedom

Elizabeth, who chose not to give her full name for fear of reprisals, was a member of Providence's Canberra fraction for 18 months. 'I was shopping inside the Canberra Centre in April 2011. A Korean woman came over and said she was holding a Christian art show. It looked good so I thought I would check it out.' After meeting the group's local leader she moved in with them later that year and was subjected to the indoctrination process, which includes sleep deprivation and a restricted diet.

Tags: 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, Andrew Choi, Australia, Canberra, Christian, Christian Gospel Mission, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Morning Star, Jewish, Jung Myung Seok, Melbourne, Mission, Peter Daley, Purification, Quicky, Rape, Seoul, Sleep deprivation, South Korea, Sydney, Sydney University, University of Melbourne, Western Australia

Elizabeth, who chose not to give her full name for fear of reprisal, was a member of the JMS's Canberra fraction for 18 months. 'I was shopping inside the Canberra Centre in April 2011. A Korean woman came over and said she was holding a Christian art show. It looked good so I thought I would check it out.' After meeting the group's local leader she moved in with them later that year and was subjected to the indoctrination process, which includes sleep deprivation and a restricted diet.

Tags: 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, Australia, Canberra, Christian, Cult, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Morning Star, Jewish, Jung Myung-seok, Melbourne, Peter Daley, Quicky, Seoul, Sleep deprivation, South Korea, Sydney, Sydney University, University of Melbourne, Western Australia

Tags: Quicky, Regraded Being

For years, the Church of Scientology has owned several grand and historic properties across England, purchased as part of a global expansion plan to build "Ideal Organisations" — religious centres — in new communities across the world. Critics of the church accuse it of being a "cult", which it strenuously denies, saying it is a legitimate religion. In 2006, Scientologists purchased the vast Duckworth's Essence Distillery in Trafford, a Grade II listed Victorian works of an old flavourings and colourings manufacturer, and a row of attached buildings for a reported £3.6m (£5.2m, $4.7m). It was intended to be Manchester's Ideal Org. The following year, a planning application was submitted to Trafford council to convert the building into "a place of worship and religious instruction". It would include a chapel, public information space and an office for the church's late founder L. Ron Hubbard to "stand in his honour", according to a promotional video, which describes the property as a "former cotton mill".

Tags: 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013, Australia, Birmingham, Church of Scientology Religious Education College Inc, David Jarman, Duckworth's Essence Distillery, East Grinstead, England, English, Gateshead, Graeme Wilson, Ideal Org, Manchester, Piers Springthorpe, Pitmaston House, Plymouth, Rebecca Coley, Rotting building, Royal Fleet Club, Saint Hill, Stephen Perry, Trafford, UK, Whit Stennett, Windmill Hills Nursing Home

On Tuesday, we told you that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John P. Doyle had submitted a surprising disclosure in Laura DeCrescenzo's forced-abortion lawsuit against the Church of Scientology. Judge Doyle revealed that he had a first cousin, Greg Smith, who was a Scientologist. In fact, Doyle's cousins are a longtime, hard core Scientology family, including Sea Org officials at Int Base in California and Saint Hill Manor in England, two of the most important Scientology compounds on the planet. Judge Doyle described his interactions with the Smith family as minimal, but he acknowledged that if Scientology called any of his relatives as witnesses, his position as judge on the case would be "untenable." Now we have a copy of Scientology's response, which reveals that the church does, indeed, plan to call one of the Smith family to testify in the lawsuit, and is therefore asking that Judge Doyle be disqualified from handling the lawsuit any further. And more importantly, Scientology is asking that Judge Doyle's only action on the seven-year lawsuit, his April 27 denial of a Scientology motion for summary judgment, be voided so the motion can be heard again by a new judge.

Tags: 2009, 2014, Abortion, Andrea Smith, California, Cleveland, DeCrescenzo v. Scientology, England, Greg Smith, Hans Smith, HowdyCon, Int Base, John Blumberg, Judge John Doyle, Judge Ronald Sohigian, Laura DeCrescenzo, Los Angeles Superior Court, OT, Saint Hill Manor, Scott Pilutik, Sea Org

A Texas woman has moved to end her harassment lawsuit against the Church of Scientology, despite victories in trial court and on appeal, according to Texas Lawyer. Monique Rathbun, who is married to former Scientology official Marty Rathbun but was never part of the church, had sued the church for harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. According to Courthouse News Service, Monique Rathbun had claimed in her 2013 lawsuit that the church harassed her because of her husband's public statements condemning Scientology. She said Scientology operatives openly followed her around, insulting her; rented homes near hers in order to point surveillance cameras at her home; and sent a sex toy to her workplace. Because of it, she said, she and her husband moved from the Texas Gulf Coast to a home in the "hill country" between Austin and San Antonio—but Scientology operatives eventually found them.

Tags: 2013, Austin, Courthouse News Service, Daily News, Elliott Cappuccio, Lawyer, Marty Rathbun, Monique Rathbun, Quicky, San Antonio, Texas, Texas Citizens Participation Act, Texas Supreme Court, Texas Third Court of Appeals, Trial

Soon, the local council will vote on whether Trout Run should be on the register of historic places of Frederick County, Md., a seemingly simple decision about preservation that has turned into a strange fight about what the property might become. Since 2013, Trout Run has been owned by the real estate arm of the Church of Scientology. Now Narconon, a drug-treatment program with ties to the church, wants to turn the property into a group home for recovering addicts. Zoning laws would normally prohibit that use in this location, but Narconon found a loophole in a local ordinance intended to encourage the reuse of historic properties.

Tags: Billy Shreve, California, Canada, Carl Sullivan, David Love, Florida, Frederick County, Georgia, Kai Hagen, Mark Long, Maryland, Michigan, Montreal, Narconon, Narconon Eastern US, Oklahoma, Ryan Hamilton, Social Betterment Properties International, Sylvia Stanard, Trout Run, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Yvonne Rodgers

A Michigan firm wants to operate a 24-hour drug rehabilitation residential facility in a vacant former nursing home at 2440 Bowser Ave. Behavioral Rehabilitation Services of Harrison, Mich., has asked the city's Board of Zoning Appeals for permission to convert the 36,000-square-foot building into an operation that would create 30 full- and two part-time jobs. The local Faith-Based Mentoring Ministries last year proposed using the building as a long-term facility for people dealing with drugs and alcohol, but later withdrew the plan.

Tags: Behavioral Rehabilitation Services, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Michigan

Some more drivel from the OT Committee Chairman Flag. But it gives some interesting insight into what it means when Miscavige or Freedom mag claims there are "2000 people on lines at Flag at any given time." You can see what the Flag OT Committee counts as "starts" — anyone, anywhere OR AN EXTENSION COURSE! This is desperation.

Tags: 2000, Chairman of the Board, David Miscavige, Dissemination, Flag Service Organization, Golden Age of Tech, International Association of Scientologists, Maiden Voyage, OT Committee, OTC, Quicky, Religious Technology Center, Running Program, Super Power

Bunkerites, your proprietor on Tuesday had another full day in California on the book tour, and we took care of some private meetings. Tonight, we'll be in San Diego and hoping for a fun event. In the meantime, one of our great tipsters put together some images from an International Association of Scientologists special meeting in Florence, Italy that involved some of Scientology's biggest "whales." These are the wealthy folks who are keeping Scientology alive with their donations, and you can see that they have some great perspective on what their money gets them. Yes, that's Grant Cardone above, hanging out with Michelangelo's David at a special dinner. Here's his caption: "Yes that is Michael Angelo's David and I'm having a private dinner at his feet on the 500th anniversary of his unveiling."

Tags: California, Carol Kingsley, David Duggan, Elena Cardone, Florence, Grant Cardone, International Association of Scientologists, Italy, Nancy Cartwright, Paulette Cooper, Quicky, San Diego, Tom Cummins, Trish Duggan

Introduction by Jim Underdown: 0:00 Tony Ortega and Paulette Cooper: 5:43 Q&A from audience: 40:04

Tags: 1971, 1973, 1977, 1995, 2007, 2012, Alex Gibney, California, Center for Inquiry, FBI, Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, HBO, Holocaust, Jim Underdown, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miss Lovely, New York, Paulette Cooper, Phoenix New Times, Quicky, Raw Story, The Scandal of Scientology, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker, Village Voice

The brown-nosing has reached all new, extra nauseating heights. Here is what the Flag OTC put together and presented to Dear Leader in time for his birthday this year. They commissioned Nina Winters (a well known artist) to produce a bronze sculpture. (She is on the right — Kaye Champagne is on the left).

Tags: Chairman of the Board, Clearwater, Harry Potter, Kaye Champagne, OT Ambassador, OT Committee, OTC, Quicky, Religious Technology Center, Silver

We can't believe it's been nearly five years since we first talked to Marc Headley about his book, Blown for Good. A gripping read, the book describes Headley's experience growing up in Scientology and becoming a worker at the church's secretive International Base east of Los Angeles, where he became a guinea pig for Tom Cruise to learn how to 'audit.' While workers in Scientology's 'Sea Organization,' Marc and his wife Claire were prohibited from having children. In a lawsuit they later filed against the church after their 2005 escape, the Headleys said that Claire was forced twice to have abortions to comply with the no-children rule. Despite losing in court, the Headleys have thrived after leaving Scientology, and now have three young boys. This weekend, the Colorado family made an excursion to Denver to see a Rockies baseball game. Marc sent us this report, which we knew our readers would want to see...

Tags: 2005, Abortion, Blown for Good, Charlie Frago, Colorado, Denver, Doctor, Ideal Org, Int Base, Joe Childs, Ken Dandar, Los Angeles, Marc Headley, OT, OT VIII, Quicky, Sea Org, Tampa Bay Times, Tom Cruise, Virginia

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVjEFF... I appeared on Allan Chaykin's podcast (www.badsloth.com) to talk about Scientology along with stand up comic Jake Weisman. The show was split into two episodes. www.xenutv.com

Tags: Quicky

Last week we showed you the "test center" for Mountain View Org with a "For Lease" sign on it and reported about the two vacant building in an industrial park that have sat idle for 5 years now. A few miles up the 101 is another "Ideal Org", San Francisco. It is one of the original 5 orgs that launched Miscavige's program a DECADE AGO (Tampa, Buffalo, Joburg, NY and SFO). But even before the Ideal Org hype came the Ideal Mission hype for the "celebrity" Mission of SOMA ("South of Market") — more on the other "celebrity" missions in Wichita, Memphis and Santa Monica in another post. Izhar Perlman reported on SOMA at his excellent blog a year ago.

Tags: Belleair, Buffalo, Catherine Bell, Celebrity magazine, Christopher Masterson, Clearwater, Danny Masterson, David Miscavige, Denice Duff, Dianetics, Europe, Google, Ideal Org, Izhar Perlman, Jenna Elfman, Johannesburg, John Travolta, Juliette Lewis, Kelly Preston, Kirstie Alley, Los Gatos, Lynsey Bartilson, Memphis, Michelle Stafford, Mission, Mountain View, Ocala, Purification Rundown, Quicky, Rochester, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Monica, Tampa, Tom Cruise, Wichita

We have several really big stories brewing here in the Underground Bunker, but they require a lot of reporting and aren't ready to pop yet. In the meantime, we wanted to give our wonderful commenting community something to chew on, and we realized there's a great little event happening tonight in Los Angeles! If you can attend, we'd love a report.

Tags: American Saint Hill Organization, Big Blue, Freewinds, Gavin Potter, Los Angeles, Quicky

Declaration of Independence Max Bleiweiss (aka VBMax) Indie 500 #331 19 May 2012 The time has come to announce publically that I am no longer a member of the Church of Scientology and am joining the group of Independent Scientologists that follow the applied religious philosophy of L. Ron Hubbard. This was not a difficult decision to make; the only difficulties encountered were in communicating with "friends" and relatives. This, mostly, did not go well but I was prepared for any eventuality.

Tags: 1973, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985, 2002, ASHO, Class IV, Clear, Comm Course, Debbie Cook, Dianetics, Independent, Independent Scientologists, L. Ron Hubbard, OT, Quicky, Rehabilitation Project Force, Religious Technology Center, Running Program, Sec Check, Squirrel, Tony Hitchman

Titled "Office of Special Affairs: Der Scientology-Geheimdienst" (Scientology's Secret Service), it included interviews with several people very familiar to readers of this blog: Marc Headley, Mike Rinder, Gerry Armstrong, and Tiziano Lugli. It also featured Ursula Caberta, the Hamburg politician who for years led a state-sponsored attempt to curb Scientology. We spoke to her on the telephone yesterday about the documentary. After the jump, her thoughts, as well as the documentary itself, with English subtitles. "I think it's a good thing to do 90 minutes only on OSA," Caberta said to me from her home in Hamburg. The documentary focuses on the spy wing of the church, which also handles PR and legal affairs. The filmmakers are especially eager to talk to Rinder, who ran OSA for many years.

Tags: 1978, 1993, 2007, 2010, Abortion, Belgium, Bill Clinton, Birthday Event, Bruce Hines, Cause Resurgence Rundown, CCHR, Chuck Beatty, Church of Scientology Religious Trust, Clear, Clearwater, Copenhagen, Dan Garvin, David Miscavige, DC, Denmark, Derek Bloch, Dianetics, Ethics, Ethics Officer, Europe, Facebook, Fair Game, Flag Land Base, France, Germany, Gerry Armstrong, Grant Cardone, Hamburg, Ideal Org, Ingo Heinemann, Kate Bornstein, L. Ron Hubbard, Lauri Webster, Lisa Marie Presley, Madeleine Albright, Marc Headley, Marty Rathbun, Mike Rinder, New World Corps, New Zealand, Norman Suchanek, Office of Special Affairs, Orange County, Orientation, OT, Passport, Patty Moher, Perception Rundown, Placido Domingo, Private investigator, Richard Leiby, Rocket ride, Ron's Journal, Rundowns, Saint Hill Manor, Samantha Domingo, Sea Org, Secret Service, Serge Faubert, Sunday Funnies, Super Power, Suppressive Person, Texas, Tiziano Lugli, Tommy Davis, UK, Ursula Caberta, US State Department, Washington, Washington Post

The following article is the welcome page to Steve Hall's new interactive webpage, http://www.freeandable.com/ . Steve's timing for release could not be more appropriate given the nature our discussions this past week. Free and Able is a solution to the campaign of economic warfare waged by David Miscavige against ex members of the Church of Scientology. In flagrant violation of labor laws against discrimination, Miscavige has worked strenuously to silence dissent and stifle free speech by ordering current members to "disconnect" any employee in disfavor with the Church. Not just Church staff, but anyone who works for or with any Scientologist anywhere — perhaps for a dentist or in a bookstore. If that person criticizes Church leadership, the Church moves swiftly, contacting the person's employer and ordering him or her to fire the dissenter, effectively immediately. Any "friends" or "family" are ordered to "disconnect" immediately. But hang on, because that also includes customers, clients, business partners, colleagues, and employees. All ties to any Scientologist and all communication is severed, without so much as a "Gosh Bill, it's been nice working together for the last 25 years. Too bad now you can't support your family or pay for your home, health care or your car." Most Scientologists of 5, 10 or 20 years have social and business networks infused with fellow Scientologists. So you can imagine how devastating it is to suddenly be alone... with no social or professional network to fall back on.

Tags: 2004, 2010, David Miscavige, Independent, Independent Scientologists, Independent Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, Portland, Quicky, Steve Hall

The most famous study into doomsday mix-ups was published in a 1956 book by renowned psychologist Leon Festinger and his colleagues called When Prophecy Fails. A fringe religious group called the Seekers had made the papers by predicting that a flood was coming to destroy the West Coast. The group was led by an eccentric but earnest lady called Dorothy Martin, given the pseudonym Marian Keech in the book, who believed that superior beings from the planet Clarion were communicating to her through automatic writing. They told her they had been monitoring Earth and would arrive to rescue the Seekers in a flying saucer before the cataclysm struck. Festinger was fascinated by how we deal with information that fails to match up to our beliefs, and suspected that we are strongly motivated to resolve the conflict—a state of mind he called "cognitive dissonance." He wanted a clear-cut case with which to test his fledgling ideas, so decided to follow Martin's group as the much vaunted date came and went. Would they give up their closely held beliefs, or would they work to justify them even in the face of the most brutal contradiction? The Seekers abandoned their jobs, possessions, and spouses to wait for the flying saucer, but neither the aliens nor the apocalypse arrived. After several uncomfortable hours on the appointed day, Martin received a "message" saying that the group "had spread so much light that God had saved the world from destruction." The group responded by proselytizing with a renewed vigour. According to Festinger, they resolved the intense conflict between reality and prophecy by seeking safety in numbers. "If more people can be persuaded that the system of belief is correct, then clearly, it must, after all, be correct."

Tags: 1956, 1967, 1976, 1994, 2000, Armageddon, Christmas, Dorothy Martin, Harold Camping, Jesus Christ, Leon Festinger, The Seekers, When Prophecy Fails

TIMOTHY MCDONALD: Carmen Rainer says she was sexually abused by her stepfather Robert Kerr over several years when she was a child. Her mother Phoebe didn't want to seek outside help, and instead took Carmen to see their chaplain within the church. CARMEN RAINER: They told me that it was my fault because I'd been bad in a past life. I'd probably done something bad in a past life so I pulled it in. TIMOTHY MCDONALD: Carmen Rainer says she was told to hide her story by a senior church member.

Tags: Amy Scobee, Australia, Carmen Rainer, CCHR, Jan Eastgate, Nick Xenophon, Robert Kerr

Italian police who raided a Scientology chapter said they found what appeared to be extensive files on law-enforcement officials and former members. The documents were in a locked room of the Scientology chapter in Turin and were said to contain information on the subjects' health, politics and sexual habits, the ANSA news agency said Thursday.

Tags: Enemies list, Italy, Raid, Turin

During a nine-hour search of the offices, Carabinieri officers are said to have discovered a cache of files hidden in a basement behind a locked door. The files allegedly contained personal information relating to judges, magistrates, journalists and police who had reportedly been deemed hostile to the US-based Church of Scientology, Italian media reported.

Tags: Italy, Raid

A SENIOR Scientologist has been accused of covering up a case of sexual abuse by telling the young victim to lie to the police. Carmen Rainer says she was coached by Jan Eastgate after revealing she'd been abused by her stepfather when aged between seven and 11-years-old. At the time, Ms Eastgate was head of the Australian wing of a Scientology commission which campaigns against psychiatry.

Tags: Australia, Carmen Rainer, CCHR, Jan Eastgate, Janice Meyer, Nick Xenophon, Phoebe Rainer

Carmen Rainer says she was coached by Jan Eastgate after revealing she'd been abused by her stepfather when aged between seven and 11-years-old. At the time, Ms Eastgate was head of the Australian wing of a Scientology commission which campaigns against psychiatry.

Tags: Carmen Rainer, Citizens Commission on Human Rights, Jan Eastgate, Nick Xenophon, Sexual abuse

Carmen Rainer's mother Phoebe was a member of the Church of Scientology and went to the organisation for advice when she learnt her daughter was being sexually abused. Police are now investigating claims Jan Eastgate, who was in charge of a church-founded organisation at the time, told both mother and daughter to lie to police and community services about the abuse.

Tags: Australia, Carmen Rainer, CCHR, Jan Eastgate, Los Angeles, Robert Kerr, Sexual abuse, Sydney

Police were acting on a warrant issued by magistrates who have opened a probe into the religion which is suspected of violating laws governing the handling of personal information. According to La Stampa, police searched the chapter on Via Bersezio for some nine hours and in the basement, behind a locked door, found the sect's secret archive which had files on magistrates, policemen, journalists and relatives of former members. La Stampa said magistrates were now examining these documents which were "chock full" of sensitive information dealing with sexual habits, health and political inclinations.

Tags: Italy, Raid, Turin

Criticism of the Miviludes is fierce, and since the organisation began extending its activities to organisations outside of France it has also been attacked by foreign government agencies such as the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, which has in the past been highly sceptical about the motives of the Miviludes. Yesterday saw the release of their 199-page Annual Report, of which ten pages are consecrated to a stinging criticism of the activity of sects and their supporters in the UN and the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.) The OSCE is the biggest security-oriented intergovernmental organisation on the planet. Its job is to surveille and uphold principles such as fair elections, press freedom and human rights. It is an ad-hoc UN Agency. The report notably singles out NGO's (Non-governmental organizations) which it says are attempting to legitimise sect activities under cover of the principles of religious freedom. They are said to be acting in concert to limit the influence of the Miviludes within the UN by using tactics such as official complaints and smear tactics.

Tags: Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, Council of Europe, France, Human Rights Without Frontiers, Institute on Religion and Public Policy, Jehovah's Witnesses, Miviludes, Moonies, Mormons, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Raelians, United Nations, US Commission on International Religious Freedom, US International Religious Freedom Annual Report, US State Department

Hubbard's Final Years.

Tags: Quicky

Anti-Scientology campaigners are up in arms after it emerged that City of London police issued a court summons to a teenager for displaying a sign that branded the Hollywood-bothering, UFO-fancying sect a "cult". The incident occurred on 10 May outside Scientology's controversial Square Mile headquarters, at a rally spearheaded by the online activist movement Anonymous. The unnamed GCSE student involved posted a request for advice the next day to the anti-Scientology messages boards at Enturbulation.org. His sign read: "Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult."

Tags: Anonymous, Epic Nose Guy, Justice Latey, Kevin Hurley, London, Rob Bastable, UK

A policewoman later read him section five of the Public Order Act and "strongly advised" him to remove the sign. The section prohibits signs which have representations or words which are threatening, abusive or insulting. The teenager refused to back down, quoting a 1984 high court ruling from Mr Justice Latey, in which he described the Church of Scientology as a "cult" which was "corrupt, sinister and dangerous".

Tags: Anonymous, Crown Prosecution Service, Cult Information Centre, Epic Nose Guy, Ian Haworth, Justice Latey, Ken Stewart, Kevin Hurley, London, UK

An East Tampa pastor stands united with Hubbard's study technology program.

Tags: Charles Kennedy, Christian, Donation, Tampa, The Way to Happiness

Labelled a cult by its critics, defended as a bona fide religion by devotees, it is never far from the headlines, though it is generally viewed from these shores as another American oddity. But Scientology does have a foothold in Britain, claiming up to 7,000 members in Scotland alone. And the strange world of Scientology, which believes aliens visited Earth millions of years ago, was exposed last week by a Panorama documentary.

Tags: ABLE, Cult Information Centre, Operation Clambake, UK

Around 1998, he began to frequently picket outside the Palo Alto Church of Scientology. In turn, church members occasionally went to his home over the next two years to stage their own pickets in front, Amber Henson said. "When I had parties, my friends would have to walk past the picket lines to get to our house," said Henson, now 24 and a pre-school teacher in Los Angeles. Lucas remembers those days, and how church members also picketed the Purple Yogi software company in Sunnyvale where she worked, and followed her and her daughter around. "They carried signs saying my husband was a bigot," she said.

Tags: Amber Henson, Arel Lucas, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Mailey, Fair Game, Golden Era Productions, Int Base, Jeanne Roy, Judge Wallerstein, Keith Henson, Michael Kielsky, Riverside, William Mitchell

Fair Use quotes by L. Ron Hubbard, sourced from the net. Music by Queen - I'm Going Slightly Mad

Tags: L. Ron Hubbard, Music, Video

THE INLAND Revenue is being asked to investigate why British Scientologists are refusing to pay a tax on the grounds they do charitable work - even though the controversial religion has been refused charitable status. Scientology, which came under fierce attack on the BBC last week, was denied the special status by the Charity Commission eight years ago.

Tags: Australia, Bob Keenan, Massimo Angius, Mike Rinder, Tommy Davis, UK, UK Charity Commission

Inside the industrial looking brick walls of one of Louisiana's poorest performing middle schools, Scientologists finally have achieved a longtime goal. A study skills curriculum written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard is being taught as mainstream public education. All the eighth-graders at Prescott Middle School are being taught learning techniques Hubbard devised four decades ago when he set out to remedy what he viewed as barriers to learning.

Tags: 1950, 1964, 1972, 2001, 2005, 2006, Applied Scholastics, Baton Rouge, Bennetta Slaughter, Carnegie Mellon, Carol Woodruff, Celebrity, Clearwater, David Touretzky, Diola Bagayoko, Elida Bera, Florida, Hurricane Katrina, Isaac Hayes, John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Louisiana, Miami, Michele Gill, Missouri, Nevada, Nigeria, Oregon, Prescott Middle School, San Antonio, South Africa, St. Louis, Texas, Tom Cruise, Venetta Whitaker

The company wanted to house a 63-bed residential Narconon alcohol and drug rehabilitation center in the former Rues Residential nursing center along Arlington Avenue, just east of MacDonald Drive. However, the request met great opposition from area residents who feared it would be too intensive a use for the site and would create health and safety issues.

Tags: Battle Creek, Kate Wickstrom, Michigan, Mike Corcoran, Narconon, TIA Corp

Amazon.com has removed a controversial book from its listings, a book well known for angering the Church of Scientology. A Piece of Blue Sky, by UK writer Jon Atack, is an exposé of the Scientology movement from its creation in 1959 until the death of founder L. Ron Hubbard in 1986. The book disappeared from Amazon's site only recently.

Tags: A Piece of Blue Sky, Amazon, Bomb threat, Dead Agent, FBI, Jon Atack, Keith Henson, Linda Peters, Paulette Cooper, The Scandal of Scientology, UK

Gray said that defamation issues, like those with A Piece of Blue Sky, happen infrequently. "Are there going to be issues? Yes," Gray said. "Are they more difficult that issues faced by computer sellers or encryption providers? I think they're far more modest." Curry said he didn't know who advised Amazon that it was violating the court order by offering A Piece of Blue Sky. Representatives of the Church of Scientology were unavailable for comment.

Tags: A Piece of Blue Sky, alt.religion.scientology, Amazon, Free Speech, Jon Atack, San Jose

Maloney doesn't say which religion (perhaps his?) he would like to bring back into the schools, but it likely would not be the Church of Scientology, which boasts among its ranks several well-known purveyors of Maloney's "violence, hatred and sadism" and has used the shootings to promote its own agenda.

Tags: CCHR

Court rules that Internet posting violated Scientologists' copyright Palo Alto engineer Keith Henson was ordered to pay $75,000 to the Church of Scientology last week after he posted some of the church's unpublished teachings on the Internet.

Tags: Helena Kobrin, Judge Whyte, Keith Henson

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ The Church of Scientology has battled with the Internal Revenue Service and fought lawsuits filed by former members in the two decades since it was founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. The wealthy church has claimed up to 6 million members worldwide since the height of the movement in the early to mid-1970s. Defectors put the number at closer to 2 million. At its peak, the church reportedly earned $100 million annually.

Tags: 1948, 1970, 1972, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, California, Dianetics, First Amendment, Gerald Armstrong, Hubbard's estate, IRS, Ken Hoden, Los Angeles, Mary Sue Hubbard, Mental Health, Portland, Quicky, Ron DeWolf, Scientology organization, Tax Court

Hundreds of members of the Church of Scientology converged in Portland on Sunday to protest a $39 million fraud judgment against the church..

Tags: Julie Titchbourne, Trial