July 29 in Scientology history

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

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

Jon Atack is the author of A Piece of Blue Sky, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. For more than three years he's been 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. Today, he takes on Scientology's notion of reincarnation and past lives. Many of the concepts in Scientology are borrowed from earlier traditions — whether in religion, psychotherapy or just straightforward hypnosis. Hubbard acknowledged his debt to Freud in several places, and Scientologists may be startled by Freud's pre-WWI Worcester Massachusetts lectures, where Book One Dianetics is pretty thoroughly described –- along with Freud's explanation for abandoning the technique: because it makes the client ever more dependent upon the therapist. Among the significant notions adopted from religious tradition is "past lives." The term was probably borrowed from Hubbard's principal source – Aleister Crowley (see my Possible Origins for Dianetics and Scientology). Elsewhere, known as "reincarnation" or even "metempsychosis," the concept is common in eastern religions.

Tags: A Piece of Blue Sky, Aleister Crowley, Buddha, Buddhism, Buddhist, Clear, David Miscavige, Dianetics, Helena Blavatsky, Jiddhu Krishnamurti, Jon Atack, Massachusetts, New Delhi, Operating Thetan, Oxford University, Quicky, Russia, Sea Org, Theosophy, UK, Worcester

Sam Brownback trickled down all over Kansas. Now he's getting a new job with the Trump Administration. Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, breaks it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below. http://www.tytnetwork.com/join "President Donald Trump has formally nominated Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback to serve as the State Department's ambassador at large for international religious freedom. Brownback has served as Kansas governor since 2011. His name has been in the mix for the post for weeks, before the White House announced his pick.

Tags: 2011, Cenk Uygur, Donald Trump, Facebook, Foreign policy, Kansas, Quicky, Ruin, Sam Brownback, Twitter, US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, US State Department, White House

Don't sue me i'm a minor. This video is basically me reviewing the my scientology movie as well as serving you the hottest tea about scientology rn and how crazy these people are. THIS IS NOT & NEVER WILL BE A POLITICAL CHANNEL!! Social Media: @beatsbylana

Tags: Marty Rathbun, My Scientology Movie, OT, Quicky, Twitter

The Church of Scientology has always been quick to point out that disconnection from others is a personal choice. Yes and no. It could be argued that every decision one makes while in Scientology is personal. Every course one does, every session in which one picks up the cans, and every evening when a person walks through the front doors of the org boils down to personal choice. Nobody twisted your arm while you filled out an OCA. Nobody held a gun to your head while you read DMSMH and did the Comm Course. These were all personal choices. Right? Joe decided to plunk down the money for his Life Repair. He decided to continue up the bridge. He decided to donate to the IAS and later, toward a new building. He decided to join the Sea Org for a billion years. And while there, willingly submitted to the RPF. And yes, he decided to disconnect from his sister who refused to stop reading all those anti-Scientology books and blogs. To one degree or another, following any policy in Scientology is preceded by a personal decision to do so.

Tags: Clear, Comm Course, Disconnection, Ethics Officer, International Association of Scientologists, Keep Scientology Working, L. Ron Hubbard, Life Repair, Master at Arms, OCA, Rehabilitation Project Force, Sea Org, Terra Cognita

(Barbara Cordova Oliver, before she became ill) It's been a while since we checked in with Arlene Cordova about her daughter Barbara, and so we called her yesterday only to learn some unhappy news. We were unaware that Arlene had died last week, on July 22, at the age of 83. It was Barbara who answered our phone call. We told her how sorry we were to hear about her mother. For a couple of years, we had enjoyed several really meaningful phone calls with Arlene as she struggled to reunite with her daughter. Barbara said she didn't want to speak for an article, and so we wished her well. Arlene Reisman Cordova was born on March 8, 1933 in Chicago. Another family member tells us that Arlene came to California in 1952 after she had won a full scholarship to Northwestern University but had dropped out after two years because she needed to work to make ends meet. In Los Angeles, she had met her husband as one of her clients in the work she did.

Tags: 1933, 1952, 1997, 2011, 2012, 2014, Arlene Cordova, Artists for a Better World, Australia, Barbara Cordova Oliver, Benjamin Carlson, California, Celebrity Centre, Chicago, Chinese, Clearwater, Delphian School, Europe, Flag Land Base, Florida, Hollywood, Life Center for a New Tomorrow, Los Angeles, Oregon, Quicky, Rupert Murdoch, Russia, Taiwan, Tennessee

Tags: Quicky, Regraded Being

In our last article, we showed that the word "Scientologist" is a collective membership mark used by members of the affiliated churches and missions of Scientology: This statement is found in the fine print of Impact, the official magazine of the International Association of Scientologists. Curiously enough, and as documented last week, the IAS itself is not a part of the ecclesiastical hierarchy of Scientology churches and missions: Given the autonomy of the IAS from the Church of Scientology, we are left to ask by what right or privilege is the IAS able to use the word "Scientologist." The Scientology weasel answer is contained in the correspondence between the Church and the IRS in 1992:

Tags: 1992, 2014, Church of Spiritual Technology, Claims Verification Board, David Miscavige, International Association of Scientologists, IRS, L. Ron Hubbard, L. Ron Hubbard Library, Obelisk, Quicky, Refund, Religious Technology Center, Scientology operation, Sea Org, The Way to Happiness, Trademark, Underground Bunker, US IAS Members Trust

A representative for The Daily Show hasn't responded to questions about whether Stewart was limited in the subjects he was allowed to address regarding the Cruise interview. But the interview by itself is telling. In May, USA Today asked if Going Clear might have the potential to "ruin Tom Cruise's summer." Apparently not: Tom Cruise as an institution depends on a degree of complicity between the people who profit from his movies and the people who pay to see them, with everyone involved agreeing not to ask too many tough questions and ruin the fun. The fact that reporters and television entertainers also buy into this deal is disappointing, even if it isn't ultimately so surprising.

Tags: 2005, 2006, Alex Gibney, Comedy Central, Disconnection, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Jon Stewart, Lawrence Wright, Mission Impossible, Nazanin Boniadi, Paramount, Rehabilitation Project Force, South Park, Stephen Colbert, Tom Cruise

Wow, Nick Lister and Aaron Smith-Levin are on a roll. Last week's video segment from their series, 'Growing Up in Scientology,' described Nick's discovery that Tom Cruise had banished a 14-year-old niece for two years from his family because she'd been caught on video kissing a boy. That story got picked up by Radar Online (which keeps a close watch on this website) and then spun out to a number of other worldwide outlets. This week, Nick gives us a fascinating look behind the scenes at Scientology schools, which are used for recruiting children in their early teens into Scientology's Sea Org after several years of indoctrination. Here's Aaron's description of the clip... In this segment of Nick's interview he discusses how Scientology ethics and justice policies are applied to children who attend Scientology Private schools like Delphi Academy, Clearwater Academy, Washburn Academy, etc, including the writing down of "Overts and Witholds," which are basically transgressions or "bad deeds." The written account of these bad deeds were sent to the church for permanent storage in church files.

Tags: Aaron Smith-Levin, Applied Scholastics, Australia, Bob Duggan, Claire Headley, Clearwater Academy, Commodore's Messenger Organization, Daily Mail, Delphi Academy, Disconnection, Grant Cardone, Growing Up In Scientology, Joe Reaiche, Jonny Jacobsen, Nick Lister, OT 8, Paris, Paulette Cooper, Quicky, Radar Online, Ron Miscavige Sr, Sea Org, Study Tech, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely, TMZ, Tom Cruise, Washburn Academy, Wisconsin, YouTube

Tags: Quicky, Sea Org

Just shows you how valuable those OT levels are — the second rundown of SP, the rundown developed to revive "dead" staff is the best thing this OT VIII ever did! OT VIII is obviously not what it is cracked up to be. It costs a LOT of money to get there. With the promise of having attained along the way all the abilities of Clear. Then removing ALL the entities that are otherwise causing you not to really be "clear" on OT III. Then doing them again on OT V. And then again on OT VII — this time to make you cause over life and your body transparent. And then finally no more amnesia on the whole track with "truth revealed." And yet this guy, who has done all that had his biggest win ever on the so-called "Dead-Man Pilot." This is how Dan Koon described it in the write-up on Super Power published here in 2013:

Tags: 1978, 2013, Clear, Criminal, Dan Koon, L. Ron Hubbard, OT, OT III, OT V, OT VII, OT VIII, Quicky, Super Power

Reaiche says he began growing skeptical of the organization after a failed business venture. "You begin to lose the faith and you start to see that you're buying the idea of being a supreme being but that's not being delivered." But it was not until 2005 that he cut ties with the organization because, as he tells it, he helped his son, who was having trouble in school, by applying Scientology's "technology and techniques in my own way." Carole found the materials, photocopied them, and delivered them to the organization—which determined, according to Reaiche, that he had "traduced founder L. Ron Hubbard's teachings and technologies." Six months after meeting with Scientology's "court of ethics" about the incident, Reaiche received its verdict: "It accused me of all my crimes and said I was a suppressive person and the only person I could be in communication with is the International Justice Chief in California."

Tags: Alanna Masterson, Alex Gibney, Carole Masterson, Danny Masterson, Dead Agent, Disconnection, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, International Justice Chief, Joe Reaiche, Maureen Orth, Nicole Kidman, Suppressive Person, Tom Cruise

If this super dooper OT cause resurgence rundown really produces what they are promoting, then maybe Flag should just take a month off and put themselves through it so they can get at cause over their sinking stats.... Here is their newest begging to "get people to Flag." You get some idea of the state of affairs in the "fastest growing religion on earth" when they are proudly announcing their FIRST completion from Sweden. Remember, Sweden has an IDEAL ORG in Malmo and another Class V org in Stockholm. And in 8 months there has been ONE person complete....

Tags: Africa, Class V, DEA, Ideal Org, IRS, Malmo, OT, Quicky, Running Program, South Africa, Stockholm, Sweden

Mark Bunker has shared with us another excerpt from the video interviews he's been collecting for his upcoming documentary, Knowledge Report. In this clip, he interviews Hana Eltringham Whitfield about what it's like to be the target of "Fair Game" — Scientology's notorious retaliation efforts coordinated by its Office of Special Affairs (OSA), which often include intrusive surveillance by private investigators. Hana joined Scientology in 1965, became Clear number 60, then went to sea with L. Ron Hubbard, who made her captain of one of his ships. Increasingly disillusioned by what she saw of Hubbard up close, and especially after the material released in "OT 3," she eventually left Scientology in 1984 and then became one of the most well known critics and intervention specialists. By 1991, she was probably the biggest "SP" on the planet, and the attention paid to her by the church's private eyes proved it...

Tags: 1965, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, Celebrity Centre, Clear, Fair Game, Frank Oliver, Freewinds, George White, Gerry Armstrong, Graham Berry, Hana Whitfield, Hollywood, Jerry Whitfield, Knowledge Report, L. Ron Hubbard, Mark Bunker, Marty Rathbun, Mike Rinder, Office of Special Affairs, OT, OT 8, Quicky, Rehabilitation Project Force, Sea Org, Stacy Young

Hana Whitfield was a long time Scientologist and the captain of one of the first ships in Scientology's Sea Org. After leaving the group, she and her husband helped families who had lost a loved one to Scientology. During this period, they were followed across the globe by Scientologists.

Tags: Fair Game, Hana Whitfield, Knowledge Report, Sea Org, Video

When we heard that one of Scientology's mouthpieces would be speaking at this year's Chautauqua, we assumed it would be a non-event. It's been a long time since Chautauqua had much of an effect on popular culture or made the news. And we figured the religious liberals at the yearly conference were just trying to be inclusive by inviting Sylvia Stanard of Scientology's DC national office. Well, we were right about one thing: Sylvia's speech was about as interesting as watching paint dry. But if you can get through it, the really good part comes in the question and answer period afterward. Here's the full event. Skip past the boring intro and get to Sylvia's part...

Tags: 1968, Apollo, Chautauqua, Christian, Cult Awareness Network, DC, Dianetics, Jason Scott, Mission Into Time, OT, Quicky, Rick Ross, Ron DeWolf, Russell Miller, Sylvia Stanard, Xenu

We told you about Jonny Jacobsen's latest investigative coup — a detailed story about a largely untold 25-year-old death at Scientology's "Flag Land Base" in Clearwater, Florida. Heribert Pfaff was only 31 when he died during an epileptic seizure while under the care of Scientologists, who had convinced him to go off his seizure medicine and trust in handling his disease only with Scientology "auditing" and vitamins. Tomorrow, Jacobsen is putting up part two of his story, and he gave us a sneak-peek at a surprising element of it: To this day, Scientology, at its website, is still extolling the benefits of handling epilepsy with auditing rather than medicine.

Tags: 2012, Auditing, Clearwater, David Miscavige, Deaths, Debbie Cook, Dianetics, Epilepsy, Flag Land Base, Florida, Heribert Pfaff, Infinite Complacency, Jonny Jacobsen, Montreal, New Year's Eve, Quicky, WhyWeProtest

The "new Ideal PAC Base" is in need of personnel. Quick, you don't want to miss out on the opportunity to be a 50cents/hour cleaner and one of the people He mentions when He announces the "Ideal PAC Base now has 100 Maintenance Staff." "Exclusive briefing" is now a euphemism for "recruitment interview" — seriously, is anyone going to fall for this?

Tags: California, LSD, PAC Base, Psychiatric treatment, Quicky

Just last week, news organizations around the country (and overseas) reported that Scientology's propaganda magazine, Freedom, had placed an ad for a new writer. Now we have some idea why the magazine is hiring. We have learned that on July 19, Jim Lynch, Freedom's main correspondent, died in Boca Raton, Florida.

Tags: 1953, 1990, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, Avatar, Boca Raton, California, Catholic, Chicago, Chicago Reader, Chicago Sun-Times, David Miscavige, Florida, Illinois, Jim Lynch, Karen de la Carriere, Los Angeles, Luis Garcia, Marty Rathbun, Massachusetts, Michael Miner, Mike Rinder, New York City, New York Daily News, New York Post, Palm Beach Post, Quicky, Robert Almblad, St. Petersburg Times, Susan Clickner, Tampa Bay Times, Texas

John Brousseau, aboard the Freewinds NEW: Scientology's concentration camp for executives -- John Brousseau helps us compile a list of its prisoners, past and present. Yesterday, we published the first part of our conversation with John Brousseau, a 32-year veteran of Scientology's "Sea Org" who escaped from the church's International Base east of Los Angeles in 2010. In our first part, Brousseau described his work in the Tom Cruise household with Katie Holmes and baby Suri. He saw up close the odd relationship between Cruise and Scientology's leader, David Miscavige. He recounted his early days in the Sea Org, making movies with Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, whom he later served as a personal chauffeur.

Tags: 1950, 1960, 1968, 1978, 1986, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, Ailon Barram, Amy Scobee, Anderson Cooper, Anne Archer, Asbestos, Atlanta, Author Services Inc, Basics, BBC, Bluebird, Bohemian Rhapsody, Brendan O'Hare, Bridge Publications, Building 50, Burbank, California, Caribbean, Carson City, China, Church of Spiritual Technology, Clearwater, CMO Int, CNN, Colombia, Commodore's Messenger Organization, Corpus Christi, Creston, Daniel Montalvo, David Miscavige, Dianetics, Ethics, Facebook, FBI, Flag Land Base, Florida, Fort Harrison, Freewinds, Golden Era, Golden Era Productions, Happy Valley, Hemet, Hollywood, Inspector General, Int Base, Jefferson Hawkins, John Brousseau, John Sweeney, Katie Holmes, L. Ron Hubbard, Lake Arrowhead, Laurisse Stuckenbrock, Lawrence Wright, Lisa McPherson, Los Angeles, Magaena Truax, Maiden Voyage, Mareka James, Marty Rathbun, Miami, Mike Rinder, Minnesota, Mojave Desert, Musical chairs, Neil Gaiman, Nevada, New Mexico, New Yorker, Operating Thetan, Oregon, Paul Haggis, Rehabilitation Project Force, Religious Technology Center, Reno, San Luis Obispo, Sea Org, Sec Check, Shelly Miscavige, Slave labor, St. Petersburg Times, Suppressive Person, Tampa, Tampa Bay Times, Texas, The Hole, The Master, The Secrets of Scientology, The Truth Rundown, Tom Cruise, Tom DeVocht, Tommy Davis, Twin Peaks, Wyoming

Back in the day (New York City in 1978), Scientology was fun. The org sold "How To Choose Your People" and "Miracles for Breakfast" by Ruth Minshull in the bookstore alongside the LRH books. There was no RTC. As students, we wrote weekly "Reports to Ron" and the S.O. 1 line was in place: we could always write to Ron. As a public, I felt that I was undertaking some wonderful adventure. I looked forward to coming to the org for study and for just hanging out. Fast forward to 2011: the adventure had long since died. In its place were a whole string of arbitraries, nagging questions about apparent wrongnesses with no answers in sight, endless "events" and cutthroat regging. For years I had known that something was terribly wrong but it was only on New Year's Day 2012 that I finally saw the light, thanks to Debbie Cook's email.In my years with the C of S, I did a short stint in the S.O. until I was thrown out, did some training and got up to Solo NOTs on the auditing side of the bridge. In the past dozen or so years I experienced many health issues which I attribute to Reverse Scientology, courtesy of the Flag Service Org; however, recently I was lucky enough to treat with an alternative health care practitioner who helped me restore my health.There have been many fine writeups on this blog and elsewhere from other former C of S members detailing the abuses and off policy actions – Luis Garcia's comes to mind as a great one – so I am not going to attempt to reinvent that wheel; I will just enumerate a few lowlights of my S.O. career and my experience as a Flag Solo NOTs public.In my mercifully short S.O. career (1988-1989):I was human trafficked to another country (and got out of there after four months by hatching an escape plan); I had become engaged to a S.O. member who was posted at the Int Base, and when Church management got wind of that, they immediately intervened and the engagement was broken off. This was typical 3rd Party – I was told negative things about my fiancé and he was told negative things about me.

Tags: 1978, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2011, Committee of Evidence, Debbie Cook, Int Base, L. Ron Hubbard, Luis Garcia, Miracles for Breakfast, New Year's Eve, New York City, OT, Quicky, Religious Technology Center, Ruth Minshull, Sec Check, Simi Valley

Alive, but only just, Heather Landmeier blinks to communicate from a vegetative state. She has almost no control of her body below her neck and will be fed through a tube for the rest of her life. Landmeier, 27, overdosed on heroin and Oxycontin at a Tulsa hotel in March 2008. A day earlier, she was dismissed from Narconon Arrowhead, a state-licensed non-medical drug detoxification facility in Pittsburg County, records show.

Tags: Colin Henderson, Death, Donald Smolen, Fred Oesterreicher, Gabriel Graves, Gary Smith, Heather Landmeier, Hilary Landmeier, Hillary Holten, Jean Lafitte, Jeffrey Dismukes, Judge James Bland, Kaysie Werninck, License, Narconon, Narconon Arrowhead, Narconon International, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Pittsburg County, Pittsburg County Sheriff's Office, Robert Murphy, Sharon Nederlander, Social Betterment Properties International, Stacy Murphy

Everything we do here is aimed toward waking people up. Part of that process is helping to restore Personal Integrity to those who have been conned into checking it at the doors of Radical Coporate Scientology organizations. The video below shows a person who was positively effected by our getting true information out about a rather insidious and dangerous cult. Anyone who may consider my words here a tad strong, consider the implications of a group creating the mindset that it is rather honorable to volunteer to go out to ruin someone's livelihood and life in order to deprive them of their constitutional and human rights to communicate. Thomas Paine in The Age of Reason nailed the mindset required to commit such felonies and its consequences quite competently more than 200 years ago:

Tags: L. Ron Hubbard, Paulien Lombard, Quicky, Scientology organization, The Age

"A large number of foreigners from the United States, Georgia, South Korea and Japan were expelled from the country by law enforcement authorities following court decisions for violating regulations while working as missionaries without the required registration," the minister said at a government session on Tuesday. In particular, "head of Narconon, an organization associated with the Church of Scientology, was ousted with a five-year ban on entering Kazakhstan," she said.

Tags: Kazakhstan, Narconon

A French appeals court reduced the sentence Monday for a Church of Scientology leader convicted of involuntary homicide in the suicide of a member. The case centered on the March 1988 suicide of Patrice Vic, 31, who jumped out a window.

Tags: Convicted, France, Involuntary homicide, Jean-Jacques Mazier, Legal, Patrice Vic

LYON, France (AP) _ A day after a French court reduced the sentence of a Church of Scientology leader convicted of involuntary homicide, the prosecution said it would appeal the decision. The court also threw out the convictions of nine Scientologists on charges of theft, complicity or abuse of confidence, and reduced the fines of four others. In a key part of the ruling that church leaders called a "dramatic victory," the appeals court in Lyon also said Monday it was not its role to judge whether Scientology was a sect or a religion.

Tags: 1988, France, Jean-Jacques Mazier, Lyon, Patrice Vic, Purification Rundown, Suicide

The state education department has given preliminary approval to statewide use of school textbooks inspired by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard that already are at the center of a controversy in Los Angeles schools. Five books based on Hubbard's education ideas are expected to be placed on a list of supplementary texts that schools across the state can purchase - possibly as soon as September, an education official said Monday.

Tags: Applied Scholastics, Bridge Publications, Los Angeles, Rena Weinberg

The state education department has given preliminary approval to statewide use of school textbooks inspired by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard that already are at the center of a controversy in Los Angeles schools. Five books based on Hubbard's education ideas are expected to be placed on a list of supplementary texts that schools across the state can purchase - possibly as soon as September, an education official said Monday.

Tags: Applied Scholastics, Bridge Publications, Los Angeles, Rena Weinberg

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ In a matter that has raised delicate questions of church and state, the Los Angeles school district is being asked to approve a so-called charter school that would use reading textbooks written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Special education teacher Linda Smith, a 20-year member of the Church of Scientology, wants to set up a 100-student charter school in suburban Tujunga that would rely on texts employing Hubbard's "study technology." "These are incredible study techniques ... that have nothing to do with religion," Smith said. She said she has used the books to teach reading for more than 20 years "with stellar results."

Tags: 1986, 1993, Catholic, Christian, Don Woods, Germany, Ian Lyons, Linda Smith, Los Angeles, Quicky

Two years after embarrassing allegations of misconduct and abuse of power by several of its managers, the Internal Revenue Service is getting good marks for improving its ethical climate. "Substantial progress has been made," says Rep. Douglas Barnard, D-Ga., whose House Government Operations subcommittee has been investigating the IRS for three years. Even the National Coalition of IRS Whistleblowers, a Church of Scientology offshoot that dogs the agency's every move, offers a grudging commendation for positive strides to clean up the problem.

Tags: Coalition of IRS Whistleblowers, Douglas Barnard, Fred Goldberg, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, IRS

The fire burned through sparsely populated ranchland and officials did not call for evacuations, though a number of horses were tranquilized and moved into shelters away from the flames, Keeley said. No homes were lost, but at least one hay-filled barn went up in flames and some outbuildings were burned on the estate of the late L. Ron Hubbard, the writer and Scientology founder, near the community of Creston.

Tags: 1982, Boise, California, Creston, Creston Ranch, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, San Luis Obispo

The fire started Thursday afternoon on the outskirts of Atascadero, about 15 miles of San Luis Obispo, and burned southeast toward the community of Santa Margarita. As of 7 p.m. Friday 10,500 acres had burned, but firemen hoped for containment Saturday. No homes were lost, but some outbuildings were burned on the estate of the late L. Ron Hubbard, the writer and Scientology founder, near the community of Creston.

Tags: Bureau of Land Management, California, Conditions, Creston, Creston Ranch, Oregon, Portland, San Diego, San Luis Obispo

SAN FRANCISCO, JULY 28 -- A federal appeals court today upheld the revocation of the Church of Scientology of California's tax- exempt status, saying that the church used a sham corporation and other methods to funnel money to founder L. Ron Hubbard. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also upheld more than $1.4 million in federal taxes and penalties against the Los Angeles-based church for the years 1970-72. The court said the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Tax Court had properly revoked the church's tax-exempt status on the grounds that a portion of its earnings went to Hubbard and his family.

Tags: 1966, 1970, 1986, Appeal, Church of Scientology International, Church of Scientology of California, Heber Jentzsch, IRS, L. Ron Hubbard, Los Angeles, Mary Sue Hubbard, Overseas Transport Corp, Quicky, Tax Court, US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ A leader of the Church of Scientology International calls a federal appeals court ruling "a tremendous victory," even though it upheld revocation of the church's tax-exempt status. The Rev. Heber Jentzsch, president of the church, said he was happy about Tuesday's ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that his organization is "organized for a bona fide religious purpose." But the court said that was not enough to maintain the Los Angeles-based group's tax-exempt status, revoked by the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Tax Court on the grounds that a portion of its earnings "inured to the benefit of a private individual."

Tags: 1966, 1970, 1972, 1986, Church of Scientology International, Heber Jentzsch, Internal Revenue Service, Los Angeles, Mary Sue Hubbard, Quicky, Tax Court, US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

On July 29, 1983, a series of bombs ripped through the second and third floors of the Rajneesh Hotel in downtown Portland. No one was injured, apart from the bomber himself, a 34-year-old drifter named Stephen Paster. But with a bang, Portlanders became aware that something had gone seriously awry with the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh's experiment in communal living. Without the bombs, the salmonella and the semiautomatics, the story of the Indian guru and his saffron-robed disciples who settled in rural Oregon could have been the plot for a campy Disney film about seekers of peace, love and multicultural understanding: Guru Goes West. Instead, the Rajneeshees "committed the most significant crimes of their kind in the history of the United States," according to former Oregon Attorney General Dave Frohnmayer. "The largest single incident of fraudulent marriages, the most massive scheme of wiretapping and bugging, and the largest domestic mass poisoning."

Tags: Alice Hensley, Oregon, Rajneeshee, Salmonella