June 15 in Scientology history

Oh, this is embarrassing. As if it weren't bad enough that Scientology's attempts to cash in on the coronavirus with a concerted PR campaign has blown up in its face time and again with negative press reports, now there's this. Jeffrey Augustine caught Scientology preparing one of its overblown photo orgies for David Miscavige to use in an upcoming event — Maiden Voyage, perhaps? — by having dozens of "Volunteer Ministers" in their head-to-toe hazmat cosplay outfits assemble Saturday afternoon in front of the Los Angeles Ideal Org on Sunset Boulevard, with a large "Done Sir" banner to explain exactly what was going on.

Tags: 1957, 1961, Australia, California, Caribbean, Chicago, Christian, Commodore's Messenger Organization, Coronavirus, David Miscavige, Dianetics, Freewinds, Hawaii, Ideal Org, Jeffrey Augustine, Los Angeles, Maiden Voyage, Mission, New Zealand, Ohio, OT, Quicky, Sea Org, Sunset Boulevard, Volunteer Ministers

It seems Penny Atwell Jones was hankering for a birthday party to show her support for a man she follows with all her heart. Denied the opportunity to do so for Ron, she took a shot now for Don. For anyone who does not know, Penny is a loud and proud fixture of the Clearwater scientology community. She is a well-known Flag FSM. Her daughter, Brooke Daniells, has been in a relationship with Catherine Bell for many years (not exactly appropriate for either a devoted scientologist or MAGA-lady) and she was the love interest of Ted Banas, Miscavige's full-time Clearwater bodyguard before he passed away. Penny's Facebook friends list is a veritable Who's Who of the scientology world. A number of the commenters/supporters of this post are those same people.

Tags: Abortion, Catherine Bell, Clearwater, David Miscavige, Donald Trump, Facebook, Field Staff Member, Quicky, Republican, Ronald Reagan, Sea Org, Ted Banas, Twitter

It's hard to believe the Nxivm trial is wrapping up already. Today we have for you Dianne Lipson's report on Thursday's testimony. As we said when the trial started, the defense planned to call no witnesses, and Keith Raniere himself would not be testifying. Dianne said she'd be giving us a report later on Friday's doings in court, as well as a Saturday court conference. Here's her impression of Thursday's session… Thursday started with more direct testimony from FBI Agent Brian Booth, IT specialist and Senior Forensic Examiner. We have still not reviewed the contents of one of the folders on Keith's hard drive. The day before, the witness had shown metadata indicating that the images were from November 2005, (when Camila would have been 15 years old.) These images were published only to the jury. A woman from the government team stood in front of the jury box, showing hard copies of the images. The jury members' expressions were intent and serious as image after image was shown. One's woman's mouth hung open, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. When I looked at Keith, his head was down and he was writing furiously. Once again we were shown a form of metadata called exif. The exif data showed that the images were created November 2, 2005 and November 24, 2005. Exif metadata had been explained to us as the most reliable of the different types of metadata. Agent Booth said the time sequence between the photos was sporadic, therefore there didn't seem to be a timer involved.

Tags: 2005, 2010, 2017, 2018, Albany Times Union, Allison Mack, Barbara Bouchey, Carnegie Mellon University, Child abuse, Chuck Schumer, Clare Bronfman, Congress, David Touretzky, Emiliano Salinas, Facebook, FBI, Forbes Magazine, Ghana, Jewish, Keith Raniere, Law enforcement, Legal, Mexico, Nancy Salzman, NXIVM, Paul DerOhannesian, Politics, Quicky, Rick Ross, Roger Stone, Toni Natalie

Our old friend Terra Cognita is back with more insight. Sadly, I imagine many readers here can relate to these observations. I stopped writing regularly about Scientology after I'd said everything I thought I needed to say. I'd climbed out of the rabbit hole. Exorcised my demons. Laughed at the hypocrisy. And finally capped my pen when I felt it was time to move on. And yet, I still think about Scientology. Not as frequently as during the first couple of years after I'd left, but I still have occasional conversations in my mind with those I left behind—with those still trapped inside the bubble. The church was a big part of my life. All my best friends were Scientologists.

Tags: California, David Miscavige, Ethics, Facebook, Ideal Org, L. Ron Hubbard, Operating Thetan, Quicky, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Seattle, Suppressive Person, Terra Cognita, The Hole, Tone Scale, Twitter

We know you, like us, can't get enough of Scientology's "OT Phenomena." These are the ghost stories that Scientologists submit to Advance! magazine which prove that their promised Scientology super-powers have arrived with the secret upper level "OT" auditing levels. In this case, our friend Richard in Italy has provided translations for the OT Phenomena that appeared in the latest copy of Italy's version of Advance!, and they're every bit as precious as the ones we get in this country. THE CLOUDS OPEN

Tags: Advance!, Italy, OT, OT IV, OT Phenomena, Philadelphia Doctorate Course, Quicky, Tone 40

As reported by the watchdog Independent Scientology News, we learn that the Church of Scientology has officially opposed a proposed new law that makes it a crime to target police officers for assault or murder specifically because they are police officers. The proposed new law is called The Protect and Serve Act of 2018. Following a shocking series of murders of police officers killed in premeditated ambush slayings, a literal War on Cops by criminal elements, this new law is needed. However, the Church of Scientology has signed a coalition letter opposing the Protect and Serve Act of 2018. The question we ask is this: Why does the Church of Scientology oppose giving police officers additional legal protections? This question is particularly relevant due to the fact that the Church of Scientology and its front groups rely heavily upon police officers for PR purposes. Indeed, the Church of Scientology wallpapers its websites with photos of Scientologists and police officers.

Tags: ACLU, Africa, American Civil Liberties Union, Anti-Defamation League, Congress, Criminal, DC, Human Rights Watch, Independent Scientology, Law enforcement, Lawyer, Legal, Legislation, NAACP, National Affairs Office, National Council of Churches, Police, Quicky, Southern Poverty Law Center, The Nation, Washington

Once again, our technical expert Sunny Pereira has supplied us with a remarkable glimpse into growing up in Scientology and serving in the Sea Org. We learn that when you have a planet to clear, terrorizing children is just an unavoidable feature of the job. It was 1989, and I was 16 years old. I had already signed a billion-year Sea Org contract (so I could get out of the Children's RPF and be able to listen to music again). Now I was the receptionist for the Golden Era Productions office in the big blue Scientology building in Los Angeles. Looking back, I might have had an eating disorder. The way I saw it back then, I had no desire to eat anything. I had simply stopped eating. The whole idea of food and what could be in it just made me sick to my stomach. I was already a size zero, which was loose on me. I'd probably need a smaller size soon. Even though they had children in the Sea Org, I don't know if they had children's uniform sizes. The only food that did not completely sicken me was, of all things, a bagel with cream cheese on it. This was an item that was not available in the dining area, where food was available for the staff. It was something I would have had to buy, with money. I did not ever have any money in those days. But, in the reception desk there was some money that had been sitting in an envelope for almost a year with a name on it. Would anyone miss it? I decided to use it to get something to eat. I hadn't eaten in a week, I think.

Tags: 1989, Alec Nevala-Lee, Chicago, Chicago Fire, Childrens RPF, Christian Stolte, Clear, Dianetics, E-meter, Ethics, Golden Era Productions, HowdyCon, Hypnosis, Isaac Asimov, John W. Campbell, Los Angeles, Operating Thetan, OT, Rehabilitation Project Force, Sea Org, Sunny Pereira

RB has a family commitment this week, so I have pulled out a crowd favorite from 2015 — the timeless nature of these RB strips is a great reflection on the "stuck in time" nature of scientology. Wedded to the words of L. Ron Hubbard, it's Groundhog Day all over again....

Tags: 2015, Quicky, Regraded Being

Detention of executives of the Church of Scientology in St. Petersburg, who stand charged with extremism and illegal business, has been appealed, the Unified press service of St. Petersburg courts told RAPSI on Thursday. Earlier, head of the Church of Scientology of St. Petersburg Ivan Matsitsky, executive director of the organization Galina Shurinova, chief of the official matters department Anastasia Terentyeva and chief accountant of the religious group Sakhib Aliyev were put in jail. Additionally, they were charged with inciting hatred and enmity, and violation of human dignity.

Tags: 1950, 1996, 2012, 2013, 2016, Anastasia Terentyeva, Constance Yesaulkova, Dianetics, Federal List of Extremist Literature, Federal Security Service, Galina Shurinova, Ivan Matsitsky, Moscow, Quicky, Russia, Sakhib Aliyev, Scientology executive, St. Petersburg (Russia)

Tags: 1997, L. Ron Hubbard, Quicky

We're traveling again today and we don't have time for a long story. And we also know that you're probably sick of reading about Marty Rathbun. But we wanted to give Victoria Britton recognition for raising one of the best questions we've seen about Rathbun's new tune. Here's what Victoria said at Facebook after watching Rathbun's "Going Clear, Part 9" video: I just finished watching the ninth video in Marty Rathbun's series and I would appreciate any feedback to my query. In the video Rathbun claims that the harassment of Judge Ronald Swearinger who presided over the Wollersheim case did not occur. According to Marty this is because of the purging of the Guardians Office that occurred five years prior. He continues in saying (not verbatim) "measures were tight-you couldn't get involved in a lawsuit without an okay from H.Q.-no one would do something as stupid as mess with a judge." In November of 2012, Marty while "under oath" described in detail how he set up a meeting to influence a Hillsborough County judge in the Lisa McPherson case. If what Marty says in his video is truthful, did he commit perjury in 2012?

Tags: 1980, 1995, 2012, Bernie McCabe, Chris Shelton, Clearwater Bank Building, Clearwater Police Department, Dani Lemberger, David Miscavige, Doug Crow, Ed Armstrong, Facebook, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida State Attorney's Office, Gerald Feffer, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, Guardian's Office, Hillsborough County, Int Base, Judge Frank Quesada, Judge George Greer, Judge James Moody, Judge Robert Beach, Judge Ronald Swearinger, Judge Susan Schaeffer, Ken Dandar, Lawrence Wollersheim, Lee Fugate, Lisa McPherson, Los Angeles Superior Court, Luke Lirot, Marty Rathbun, Mary Repper, Mike Rinder, Monique Yingling, Office of Special Affairs, Quicky, Sandy Weinberg, Tampa, Victoria Britton, Wally Pope, Williams & Connolly, Zuckerman Spaeder

The combined works of L. Ron Hubbard for Dianetics and Scientology totals over 25 different books, 3,000+ lectures and thousands and thousands of pages of issues. How does all this break down? What are the various issue types, what are their relative importances and why does any of this matter? I talk about all of this here.

Tags: Dianetics, Quicky

The combined works of L. Ron Hubbard for Dianetics and Scientology totals over 25 different books, 3,000+ lectures and thousands and thousands of pages of issues. How does all this break down? What are the various issue types, what are their relative importances and why does any of this matter? I talk about all of this here.

Tags: Dianetics, Quicky

The massive crowd showed up This is the report on the much touted "briefing" by Ed Parkin of OSA Int, the "head" of the "Stand League." Couldn't even round up 20 people in this "ideal org" including staff! But they did have a 3 year old attend. Alfraudie is at it again...

Tags: 2012, Alfreddie Johnson, Clearwater, Ed Parkin, Freewinds, Mission, OSA Int, Quicky, Russia, Sea Org, STAND, Thursday Funnies, Todd Chase

Pictures of the Church of Scientology's new $57 million Australasian headquarters have emerged as it enters the final phase of construction. The enormous compound in Chatswood, a suburb in Sydney's north, is primed to open in September. The church will become the largest Scientology facility in Australia and is expected to attract 'Scientologists from Tasmania to Tokyo' who are hoping to 'traverse the upper realms of the Bridge to Total Freedom'.

Tags: 2014, 2015, Advanced Org, Australia, Bridge to Total Freedom, Celebrity, Celebrity Centre, Chatswood, Daily Telegraph, David Miscavige, Freedom Medal, John Travolta, Kate Ceberano, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, NASCAR, Quicky, Sydney, Tokyo, Tom Cruise, Vicki Dunstan

In the 'Preacher' pilot, Tom Cruise explodes. In episode 3, the funeral. Emotion Impossible.

Tags: Quicky, Tom Cruise

(Scientology attorney Eric Lieberman) (Originally published at Tony Ortega's Underground Bunker, my article is reposted here for archival purposes). Contributor Jeffrey Augustine has taken another close look at Scientology's over-the-top attacks on Ron Miscavige for this piece today. Once again, he's found some really interesting stuff!

Tags: 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, Annie Broeker, Author Services Inc, California, Chairman of the Board, Church of Scientology International, Church of Spiritual Technology, Commodore's Messenger Organization, David Miscavige, Dianetics, Eric Lieberman, Guardian's Office, IRS, Mary Sue Hubbard, Pat Broeker, Religious Technology Center, Ron Miscavige, Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker

This about sums up what scientology sells: The feeling of elation knowing I "helped." They have convinced the people inside the bubble that money given the IAS is actually used for good. It is one of the sad truths of scientology that this is a lie. More money is spent on creating the illusion that scientology (the IAS) is helping than is spent on actually helping anyone. The only real expenditures the IAS makes are the purchase of property — ostensibly to "service parishioners" but as every org on earth is shrinking, there is not a one of them that needs larger premises when most cannot cover their basic utilities costs. They only buy buildings because they have to spend SOME money. They cannot just accumulate hundreds of millions without running afoul of IRS regulations governing exempt organizations.

Tags: Austin Carroll, David Miscavige, International Association of Scientologists, IRS, Quicky

(Phil Jones, right, is told what a failure he is by Scientologists at yesterday's event) Hit by another tsunami of bad press, this time over the May publication of Ron Miscavige's bestselling book Ruthless, Ron's son, Scientology leader David Miscavige, is hitting back with his own grab for media attention — by bringing out a 34-year-old science fiction novel, L. Ron Hubbard's Battlefield Earth. Yesterday, Hubbard's literary agency Author Services Inc — staffed only by Scientologists — held a book launch event outside its building on Hollywood Boulevard that featured a crashed spaceship, characters from the novel, and even a band of soldiers in Scottish gear (it's in the book).

Tags: 1970, 1972, 1995, alt.religion.scientology, Amazon, Anna Paddock, Author Services Inc, Battlefield Earth, Billboard, Brett Chance, Call Me, Cindy Bamforth, Clear, David Miscavige, Disconnection, Ed Parkin, Emily Jones, Galaxy Press, Glen Stilo, Glendale, Helena, Helena Kobrin, Hollywood Boulevard, Jim Meskimen, Johnny Lewis, Larry Tepper, Los Angeles, Mary Rieser, Michael Lewis, Office of Special Affairs, Peter Mansell, Phil Jones, Robert Kaufman, Ron Miscavige, Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me, Sea Org, Sheila Bakker, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely

The ninth installment of my question-and-answer video show, where I take up questions subscribers and commenters have asked me in my videos and answer them as best I can. Questions in this video are: (1) After all these years of ex-members coming forward with their own horror stories, I would like to know why the government has not stepped in to investigate this criminal organization. Do you have any insight into why and how they are still allowed to abuse it's members? (2) I have read about a dozen LRH books on Scientology from the early 50s such as Scientology: A History of Man and Have You Lived before this Life? and I've done videos making fun of them because each book is spectacularly stupid. Did you read any of them when you were a Scientologist and if so, how did you avoid seeing the idiocy his books exude on every page?

Tags: A History of Man, CIA, Critic, David Miscavige, FBI, L. Ron Hubbard, Quicky, Sea Org, Sheep dipping

This is one of the great white elephants in the lumbering herd of ideal orgs. An historically tiny org in a secondary city (while the major city is ignored), relocated into an industrial zone to languish unlamented in obscurity. But is is also the closest ideal org to CLO EU, and with so few ideal orgs in Europe (the lowest percentage in any continent with virtually all of them funded by IAS "grants") this one is clearly getting the "SH Size" push. Here is a report from a local Special Correspondent which sums up the story in a few choice words:

Tags: 2009, CLO EU, Europe, Ideal Org, International Association of Scientologists, Malmo, Quicky

One of the things that made The Unbreakable Miss Lovely more than the telling of Paulette Cooper's account of her years being harassed by Scientology were some of the other people who provided their own narratives of those events. And none of them provided quite so much impact as Len Zinberg. While we were researching and writing the book, Zinberg suddenly showed up, emailing Paulette with an apology he said was a long time coming. He explained that in the early 1970s, he had been a Guardian's Office volunteer, a young Scientologist who helped the church with its spy missions. And some of his assignments involved following or otherwise targeting Paulette. Since leaving Scientology, he had begun to come to grips with what he'd done and then, in 2013, he had spotted an interview of Paulette by Mark Bunker. At that point, he could no longer remain silent, and he reached out to her. He then became a willing participant in our book project, and he's been keeping quiet for almost two years now, looking forward to telling his story to you once the book was out.

Tags: 1961, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1987, 1988, 1990, 2013, Alaska, Bridge to Total Freedom, Brooklyn, Charles Batdorf, Denver, England, Freezone, Guardian's Office, Holocaust, Internal Revenue Service, IRS, Israel, Jerry Hines, Jerusalem, Jewish, Kathy Savas, Keep Scientology Working, Lawrence Wollersheim, Len Zinberg, Mark Bunker, New York, Office of Special Affairs, OT, Paulette Cooper, Quicky, Rick Alexander, Robert Kaufman, Saint Hill, Sunday service, Suppressive Person, Tax, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely, Vietnam, Village Voice

Author Services Inc aka ASI have shamelessly extracted $$$$$$$ from public who came into Scientology for what they believed was *religious enlightenment*. Even though Hubbard supposedly *donated* his life's work to the *CHURCH* (CST~~ all Sea org "volunteers" as announced in the funeral/death ceremony) Author Services savagely extort "Author's Royalties" from every book sold. ASI extract these Author's Royalties from Bridge Publications with ferocity. ASI is staffed with *Sea Org Members* who signed *ecclesiastical* religious contracts but are temporarily Non-Sea Org and make a decent wage. However, they can be summoned to SP Hole if David Miscavige pleases. Australian David Bloomberg served years at ASI and then....he was an SP Holer!

Tags: Australia, Author Services Inc, Bridge Publications, Church of Spiritual Technology, David Bloomberg, David Miscavige, John Allcock, Lyman Spurlock, Sea Org, Video

How to raise a million dollars for another failed ideal org. Get $382,220 (odd number?) from crazy David Wilson (credit where credit is due; he DOES put his money where his mouth is — just further proof how crazy he is) and $500,000 from "OUR ROYAL GUV, PRINCESS WARRIOR AND OFFICIAL VALLEY ROCKSTAR GODDESS." Just why is it that Nancy Cartwright is always referred to euphemistically? "The Honorary Mayor Of The Valley" etc etc etc? She is afraid to have her name associated with this nuttiness? Apparently so, in which case, why not just take her money and don't mention her at all? It's a very strange scenario. The crassness of promoting how much money they collect and listing everyone by name, but the single biggest sucker isn't named, but sort of is? Do they think this is going to keep it from the rest of the world and this is just their internal secret?

Tags: Alicia Kreisberg, AMA, Aris Gregorian, Avner Golan, Barbara Kalergis, Barbara Wilson, Barbara Wiseman, Bernard Percy, Bob Welch, Bobbi Kassowitz, Bonita Wilson, Brad Fox, Bruce Wiseman, Buz Taylor, Cathy Tweed, Chairman of the Board, CIA, Cindy Bamforth, Clearwater, Dali Bahat, David Nunez, David Wilson, DEA, Denice Duff, Diane Temps, Doug Crow, Freewinds, George Duggan, Golden Age of Tech, Helena, Holleigh Taufer, Humanitarian, Ideal Org, Inglewood, Jill Halverson, Jim Kalergis, Joe Feshbach, John Cumming, Judy Taussig, Kathie Heard, Kathy DiGalbo, Kathy Morrill, Kathy Welch, Kevin O'Donnell, Lance Miller, Larry Marshall, Lauren Perreau, Leona Valencich, Linda Massey, Los Angeles, Marty Kassowitz, Mary Elizabeth Glosup, Maryann O'Donnell, Megan Shields, Mountain View, Nancy Cartwright, Nancy Parodi, Nola Aronson, Ofra Bahat, OT, OTC, Paige Glosup, Pasadena, Patty Reimer, Quicky, Ralph Temps, Ray Loomis, Renaissance Academy, San Diego, SEC, Sharon Lonstein, South Africa, Sue Kattoo, Susan Jacobs, Tamara Dahill, Terry Morrill, Tony Lonstein, Tony Searing, Valley Ideal Org, Vera Seidler, Vered Ziv

It's that time of the week again, when we reveal our favorite Scientology mailers and fliers that have been sent in by our great tipsters. And we have some great treats for you in this installment. (Oh, and happy Father's Day, everyone!) If you've been with us for a while, you know that our Sunday Funnies end up telling us quite a lot of interesting little tales inside Scientology. We get a sense for which groups are in more desperate straits than others. We see familiar names come and go. We can map which strategies seem to be percolating through the worldwide organization in order to maximize the fleecing — er, the participation — of enthusiastic church members. So let's dive into this week's pile of Scientology fun!

Tags: Author Services Inc, Bonita Wilson, Dallas, Karen de la Carriere, Kristi Wachter, Mario Fenninger, Nancy Cartwright, Quicky, Scotland, Sea Org, Silicon Valley, South Park, Sunday Funnies

What, me worry? Antrim County, Michigan property records show that Per Wickstrom was recently released from the IRS individual federal tax lien filed against him in 2010. The lien, dated October 25, 2010, showed Wickstrom owed $486,248.00 to Uncle Sugar. Former car salesman turned addiction treatment pimp, Best Drug Rehabilitation's head honcho Wickstrom was officially released from the IRS federal personal income tax lien on December 10, 2012. If you think this is juicy, just wait until Miss Fortune reveals the truth about Per Wickstrom's Florida arrest and conviction for....come on, did you think I'd reveal it now? I'll give you a hint: that drug dealer story is pure bullshit.

Tags: 2000, 2010, 2012, Best Drug Rehabilitation, Florida, IRS, Michigan, OPP, Per Wickstrom, Quicky

Calling all suckers. Give us $3500 now for a Mark VII that will be obsolete within weeks. We know that, and we are not telling you. The Orgs know it so we cannot sell them this deadstock. Thus we have got to try to unload these useless items to you at a small discount (don't worry, there is still plenty of profit in a $3500 meter). What a joke — selling them at "staff" rate. Like there are any staff that can afford a $3500 meter. "Staff rate" should be "cost" and that would be 1/10th of this. This is the best indicator that the big sales item for "GAT II" is going to be the "Mark VIII"....

Tags: Bridge Publications, California, CIA, E-meter, Flag Service Organization, Quicky

Jon Atack is the author of A Piece of Blue Sky, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He now has a new edition of the book out, and on Saturdays he's helping us sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts about Scientology that tend to get hashed and rehashed in books, articles, and especially on the Internet. When L. Ron Hubbard introduced Dianetics in 1950, and then reorganized his movement as Scientology in 1952, the goal of his therapy was "clear" — a state that promised higher IQ, total recall, and immunity from disease. But it wasn't until 1966 that he said the first true clear had been produced, a man named John McMaster. By then, Hubbard was proposing even higher states of being with even more superhuman abilities. He called these higher states "Operating Thetan" levels. Today, the highest state a Scientologist can achieve is OT VIII — and it takes years of expensive auditing, and something like $300,000 to attain. To outsiders, Scientologists usually deny that the OT levels bestow special powers on members, and some independent Scientologists tell us that these levels are just about "gaining confidence" or "knowing yourself."

Tags: 1950, 1952, 1966, A Piece of Blue Sky, Bill Clinton, Birmingham, Case Supervisor, Class VIII, Clear, Clearing Course, David Miscavige, Dianetics, Drug Rundown, East Grinstead, E-meter, Ethics, James Randi, John McMaster, Jon Atack, Lee Lawrence, Manchester, Operating Thetan, OT, OT III, OT IV, OT V, OT VIII, Potential Trouble Source, Quicky, Richard Reiss, Ron's Journal, Saint Hill, Sea Org, Suppressive Person, UK

It was one of the most egregious cases of mismanagement in Florida charter school history: a public elementary school that enriched its administrators, impoverished its teachers, failed its students and collapsed in disgrace. Life Force Arts and Technology's closure this month, after two years of classes and spending more than $1.6 million in public education funds, signaled the end of a charter school that was roundly despised. It also proved a dramatic point about the state's $1 billion charter-school industry: that the freedom granted to charters can open the door to for-profit companies with little interest in following the rules or achieving student success.

Tags: 1996, 2005, 2008, Art of Management, California, Dot Clark, Dunedin, Florida, Hanan Islam, Hillsborough County, Jeb Bush, Jim Horne, Largo, Lenor Johnson, Life Force, Louis Muhammad, Muhammad, Pasco County, Pinellas County, Rick Scott, St. Petersburg, Tampa, USA, Washington

Our West Coast counterpart, staff writer Josh Dulaney at the Voice's sister paper OC Weekly, has been dishing on Scientology's spiffy new "Ideal Org" there in several spicy posts. In a story last week, Josh mentioned that William Dalton, the mayor of Garden Grove, California (population: 170K), lavished praise on Scientology at the June 2 grand opening celebration of its new building, which was also attended by church leader David Miscavige. Josh knew this because the church put out a press release about Dalton's participation -- Dulaney himself had been barred from the event.

Tags: 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2008, A History of Man, Advance!, Apollo, California, Camelback, Cathy Cariotaki, Christian, CIA, Cockroach, David Miscavige, DC, Ethics, Facebook, Field Staff Member, Flag Service Organization, Florida, Houston, Hymn of Asia, Ideal Org, IRS, Josh Dulaney, Kansas City, L. Ron Hubbard, Los Angeles, Luis Garcia, Mediterranean, Mission, Mission Into Time, Missouri, New York City, OC Weekly, Orders of the Day, OT, OT Phenomena, Phoenix, Phoenix Lectures, Phoenix New Times, Police, Potential Trouble Source, Quicky, Renovation, Sacramento, Sea Org, Sunday Funnies, The Creation of Human Ability, The Sun, Washington, William Dalton

Tags: David Miscavige, Quicky

If you need people to be convinced of your cause, it helps to have a charismatic representative. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, it's a fine line between charisma and Captain of the HMAS Whack-A-Doodle. Take Scientology, for example. Here's a religion that has extra-terrestrial beings, silent childbirth and a relatively casual attitude towards mental illness as part of its basic manifesto.

Tags: Andrew Wakefield, Meryl Dorey, Viera Scheibner

For much of the last decade, the entire 200 block of Fort Harrison Avenue has been an eyesore -- a gigantic shell of a building surrounded by a chain-link fence. The church began construction on the "Super Power" building in 1998 but only obtained its certificate of occupancy on June 6 after numerous construction fits and stops. Multiple times in between, city leaders sought to urge the church along only to be rebuffed. Finally in 2006, the city began assessing fines of $250 a day.

Tags: 1998, 2006, 2007, Bill Horne, Clearwater, Code Enforcement Board, David Miscavige, Drew Harwell, Fort Harrison, Frank Hibbard, Pinellas County, St. Petersburg Times, Super Power

The public image of the Church of Scientology is family-friendly. But inside the organization's 6,000-member work force called the Sea Org, young women who became pregnant faced a barrage of tactics clearly designed to weaken their resistance to abortion. These women were victims, swayed by an organization that already controlled their lives and in effect denied them free will to make their own decisions about their pregnancies.

Tags: 1986, 1996, Abortion, Claire Headley, David Miscavige, Joe Childs, Laura Dieckman, Sea Org, St. Petersburg Times, Sunny Pereira, Thomas C. Tobin, Tommy Davis

This past Sunday and Monday the Times published a two-part series on forced abortions in the Sea Organization of Scientology, which included video testimony. Catholic Online reported on these very disturbing allegations last fall in the article "Scientology Religious 'Order' called 'Sea Orgs' Forced Abortions on Members." Thomas C. Tobin and Joe Childs, the Time's writers who presented the six-part series last year, have again put together a report that indicates abortion, along with additional physical and mental abuse; have been used over a long period of time.

Tags: Abortion, Sea Org, Tommy Davis

A French prosecutor on Monday recommended a Paris court should dissolve the Church of Scientology's French branch when it rules on charges of fraud against the organization. Registered as a religion in the United States, with celebrity members such as actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta, Scientology enjoys no such legal protection in France, where it has faced repeated accusations of being a money-making cult.

Tags: France, Legal, Maud Coujard, Paris, Purification

Just a brief update on the trial because I won't get to it in my coverage for a good while yet...Coverage will resume shortly. The prosecution is asking for the "dissolution des personnes morales" -- which is to say they want the two Scientology organisations in the dock -- the Celebrity Centre of the L'Association spirituelle de l'Eglise de Scientologie (ASES) and the bookshop Scientologie espace librairie (SEL) -- to be shut down. Update: because of a change to the law introduced just before the trial, this option is in fact not available to the court, even if parliament corrected what the government says was a mistake the week after it was discovered. See "The Great Escape?" for more details.

Tags: Alain Rosenberg, Aline Fabre, Celebrity Centre, Didier Michaux, Escape, France, Jean-François Valli, Paris, Purification Rundown, Quicky, Sabine Jacquart

The prosecutor in a French trial involving the Church of Scientology has asked that the group be banned in France and handed a hefty fine if convicted on fraud and other charges. The persecutor's office has asked that fines of euro2 million ($2.77 million) be levied against the group and its French bookstore, if the two entities are found guilty on charges of organized fraud and illegal pharmaceutical activity. Such fines are exceptionally high by French standards.

Tags: France, Paris

He's a Reverend in the so-called church! He smells pussy! Unbelievable, huh?

Tags: John Carmichael, Quicky, Reverend

music @1:56 Mystique -VideoCopilot Unethical cult member steals sign and police go into org and get it back for Anonymous. Cult - Fail. Anons - WIN!

Tags: Anonymous, Cult, Gerry Armstrong, Peter Byrne, Police, Quicky

Though Scientology denies any beliefs in space aliens,in this lecture called "The Role Of Earth" L Ron Hubbard talks about the fourth and fifth invader force and the "political situation of the solar system". Full audio and transcript to be found at: http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Scientology...

Tags: Fifth Invader Force, L. Ron Hubbard, Quicky

Tags: Quicky, South Park, Tom Cruise

A BBC Trust spokeswoman said: "As part of his routine monthly report, the director general has briefed the trust on the performance of Panorama most months since its move to Monday evenings, including the reaction to some particularly high-profile editions. "Panorama is the BBC's flagship current affairs programme and the trustees welcome these updates. The Trust has not asked for an investigation into Panorama or raised concerns with the BBC executive regarding its journalism.

Tags: John Sweeney

These days, wherever Katie Holmes goes - press conferences for Batman Begins, TV interviews and autograph sessions - Jessica Rodriguez is never far behind, PEOPLE reports in its latest issue. "They're always together," says one source. Since Holmes met Rodriguez – soon after the star began dating Tom Cruise in April – "they've become good friends. They go shopping, they go out." And they've been generating headlines. Why all the fuss? Because Rodriguez is employed by the Church of Scientology, Cruise's controversial religion. And though a source close to Holmes says that Rodriguez is traveling as a friend and assistant – not as a religious adviser – the blossoming friendship indicates that Holmes is getting more serious about Cruise, 42, and more deeply involved in Scientology.

Tags: Catholic, Creative Artists Agency, Jessica Rodriguez, Katie Holmes, London, Ohio, Paris, Tom Cruise