November 8 in Scientology history

Another Sunday has us diving into Scientology's social media feeds, where Scientologists share their wins and try to convince each other that Scientology is still a going concern. This week, a fan has the thrill of 76 trillion lifetimes by running into church celeb John Travolta. And there's plenty more evidence that this planet will be cleared in no time. But let's start with one of our favorite Scientology realities that almost seems too good to be true: the Cause Resurgence Rundown at the Flag Building in Clearwater, Florida. We are not kidding, this is Scientologists paying thousands of dollars for the privilege to run around a lighted pole in a giant dimmed circular room for hours and hours at a time until they are so out of their minds with exhaustion they have hallucinations that they call a "cognition."

Tags: 1947, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1999, Arizona, Bridge to Total Freedom, Catholic, Cause Resurgence Rundown, Clearwater, CNN, David Miscavige, Dublin, Flag Building, Florida, Greta Van Susteren, John Travolta, Lisa Marie Presley, Loretta Miscavige, Michael Jackson, OT, Philadelphia Doctorate Course, Quicky, Ray Mithoff

We expect that tomorrow's Ideal Org grand opening in Columbus, Ohio is going to be a lot like the one that took place in Kansas City last Saturday. Some music. Some speeches from local shills. Some balloons. So the thing we're most curious about at this point is, where do you think David Miscavige spent the week in between? The hard-drinking New Jersey native and iron-fisted church dictator who numbers Tom Cruise as a close friend really doesn't seem like either the Kansas City or Central Ohio type to us. Did he jet off to Clearwater, Florida for a few days to see how the money-printing operation there is doing, or might it have been a quick trip to California to harangue some underlings at the HGB? We can be sure that he didn't drop in to say hello to the wife up at the CST compound, or head over to DC for a visit with IRS officials to intimidate them about keeping their hands off of Scientology's non-profit status (no need).

Tags: 1947, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 2003, 2007, ABC, Arizona, California, Canada, Church of Spiritual Technology, Clearwater, Columbus, Congress, David Miscavige, DC, Detroit, Elena Cardone, Florida, Grant Cardone, Hollywood Guaranty Building, Ideal Org, IRS, Kansas City, Lafayette Hubbard, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Potential Trouble Source, San Diego, Tom Cruise

Private data for Iron March, a notorious website for violent white supremacists, has been published online in a stunning leak that exposes a trove of detailed information on as many as 1,000 or more members. The 1GB SQL database appears to contain the entirety of the site's information, including user names, private messages, public posts, registered email addresses, and IP addresses. The leak was posted on the Internet Archive on Wednesday by an anonymous individual using the handle antifa-data. A list of domains used in email registrations shows two from US universities. Private messages show some members discussing life in the US Marines, Navy, Army, and military reserves. "Be careful if you get deployed with those fucking sand [deleted] and jews," a user claiming to be in the Navy tells another member who says he's in the Marines and is about to be deployed. (The racist term he used has been deleted.) "They are all a bunch of slippery pieces of shit that wash their faces in rain puddles in dirt on the ground. We are too good to be interacting with those people, maybe trump will at least relax the ROE's [rules of engagement] so those pieces of shit can be blasted back to allah, jews and all."

Tags: 2011, 2017, Alt-Right, Atomwaffen, Charlottesville, Donald Trump, Heather Heyer, Internet Archive, IronMarch, James Alex Fields, Neo-Nazi, Russia, Southern Poverty Law Center, Unite the Right, Uzbekistan, Vanguard America, Virginia, White supremacist

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Tags: Facebook, Quicky, Regraded Being, Twitter

Leaked Signal messages from an online chat network around six-term Washington state Republican representative Matt Shea show new evidence of violent fantasies, surveillance of perceived adversaries, conspiracy thinking, Islamophobia and support for white nationalists. The messages from the chat group, exchanged between October 2017 and October 2018, show Shea's network includes other serving, former and aspiring rightwing politicians from Idaho and Washington, alongside activists associated with militia groups, anti-environmental causes and pro-gun activism. They also show participants, including Shea, preparing for economic and societal collapse even as they campaign for the secession of eastern Washington from the remainder of the state.

Tags: 2016, 2017, 2018, Alt-Right, Charlottesville, Christian, Daily Beast, Environmental, Facebook, FBI, Idaho, Islamophobia, James Allsup, Jerusalem, LinkedIn, Matt Shea, Muslim, Neo-Nazi, Nevada, North Korea, Oregon, Portland, Republican, Spokane, Twitter, Washington

The document also lists a number of "investment options," suggesting big money donors can directly fund Ontario Proud's online "advertising," "database building" or cover the costs of staffing the group's video and graphic designers. Jeff Ballingall, the creator of Ontario Proud, has previously claimed Ontario Proud receives no support from "massive donors" and is instead crowdfunded by "a lot of people giving $100 or $200, $300, that kind of thing." Ballingall, a former Conservative staffer and Bay Street lobbyist, brands himself as an expert in "social media marketing" and emerging trends in big data.

Tags: 2017, Alt-Right, Andrea Horwath, David Frame, Facebook, Hamilton, Jeff Ballingall, Kathleen Wynne, Mississauga, Mobilize Media, Ontario, Ontario General Contractors Association, Ontario Proud, Ottawa, Toronto

Have you ever had a really hard time getting through to someone? Have you engaged with people on social media or in real life about something that was important to you, about which you knew a lot, but you simply could not budge the other person no matter what you said or did? Let's talk about why it's so hard to talk to some people, why no matter what you say or how you say it, there is nothing you are able to do to crack them or even get them to acknowledge the things you said. It has to do with propaganda, our brain, our imagination and something called the Dunning-Kruger Effect. It can be tough to keep these things in mind in the heat of a debate or social media argument, especially when you're all fired up over some hot topic issue. But if your goal is to change hearts and minds, or at least understand opposing points of view, you have to remember that some people you interact with do not see the world the same way you do. I don't mean just a difference of opinion over a set of facts. If that was all we had to contend with, debates and rhetoric would be easy. No, the problem is one of perception.

Tags: 1950, Christian, Dunning-Kruger Effect, Quicky

Clay Irwin signed a deal today to sell his downtown Clearwater bar, the Lucky Anchor, after a little less than two years operating a watering hole in the shadow of Scientology's spiritual mecca. Clay is a familiar figure here at the Bunker. He opened up the Lucky Anchor on January 1, 2017, and then the next month became infamous for taking a jaunt through Tom Cruise's unfinished condo while filming it live. Clay has been surveilled by Scientology, and he's hosted rally nights for fans of Leah Remini's series, Scientology and the Aftermath. But several weeks ago, he let us know that he was tiring from trying to run a bar in a mostly dead downtown and while being something of a lightning rod for Scientology aggression.

Tags: 2015, 2017, California, Clay Irwin, Clearwater, Cleveland Street, David Miscavige, Flag Land Base, John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, Leah Remini, Los Angeles, Lucky Anchor, Mexico City, Moises Agami, Scientology and the Aftermath, Tom Cruise

As we previously reported, Scientologist Matt Feshbach and his investors sold their Okyanos Heart Institute in the Bahamas sometime in 2017. Okyanos having been sold, Matt Feshbach next ran into a brick wall with the US Tax Court when it ruled that he could not discharge in bankruptcy the $3.8 million in back taxes he and wife Kathy owe the IRS. The Feshbach's are appealing this matter. Not one to let $3.8 million in back taxes get in his way, however, Matt Feshbach has once again resurfaced in the stem cell therapy business. His new firm is called Ambrose Cell Therapy LLC. Based in Dallas, Texas Ambrose filed as an LLC on August 18, 2017. There is a stampede to get into the stem cell therapy business in Texas since the 2017 passage of "Charlie's Law" (HB 810) which allows chronically and terminally ill people the right to opt for non-FDA approved treatments with adult stem cells. In her article published at medium.com Dr. Kirsten Matthews, a Fellow in Science and Technology Policy at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, reported on Charlie's Law:

Tags: 2001, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, Ali Shawkat, Ambrose Cell Therapy, Anti-vaxx, Apple, Bahamas, Bob Duggan, California, Dallas, Feshbach, Florida, Food and Drug Administration, Fort Worth, Genuine First Aid International, Houston, International Association of Scientologists, Iraq, IRS, Matt Feshbach, Mexico, Michael Holstein, NBC, Okyanos Heart Institute, OT, Panama Papers, Passion Group Trust, Pharmacyclics, Quicky, Tax Court, Texas, US Department of Justice, US Secretary of State

Our thanks again to Rasha, who rushed to us the newest Source magazine out of Scientology's spiritual mecca, the Flag Land Base in Clearwater, Florida. Most of it is the usual drivel, encouraging members to drop large sums on a visit so they can achieve Super Power or the L. Rundowns. But among the usual blather, one item really caught our attention. It was a piece specifically about the shrine they've erected to the Commodore himself, Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, in the Flag Building (i.e. "Super Power"), which was opened in 2013 to much fanfare. Now, all Scientologists know that every Scientology "org" around the world — whether "Ideal" or not — has an office for Hubbard, all kitted out for the day when the Commodore steps back in to take over the operation again once he's back from Target Two or wherever he currently is. But the LRH Office at Flag is something special. It's more of a museum to the man than just an office, and it attempts to replicate the experience of visiting the Commodore while he was running Scientology from sea aboard the Apollo, which took place from 1967 to 1975. There are even sea sounds! Here, take a look at the description as it appears in the magazine…

Tags: 1967, 1970, 1975, 2013, Apollo, Athena, Bill Robertson, Caribbean, Clearwater, Commodore's Office, Excalibur, Flag Building, Flag Land Base, Flag Order, Florida, Hymn of Asia, L. Ron Hubbard, Orders of the Day, PC folders, Rundowns, Scientology TV, Sea Org, Source magazine, Sunny Pereira, Super Power, Transworld, Village Voice

Massive IAS campaigns... ...that have affected thousands. Impressive eh? He also is promoted as a Class VI but there is no GAT Class VI??? Daring.

Tags: Alfreddie Johnson, AOLA, ASHO, Australia, Basics, Belgium, Cass Capazorio, Class VI, Clearwater, Clive Rabey, Cosimo Sherman, Criminon, Dagmar Ortiz, Denmark, Elio Cervi, Freewinds, Geoff Serra, Germany, Green card, Greg Capazorio, Hossam Ramzy, Igor Kovic, International Association of Scientologists, Israel, Italy, James Barbour, Jesse Vilinsky, Larry Soffer, Melbourne, Mike Benetatos, Mission, OT, OT VII, Quicky, Religious worker, Rick Galpin, Roberto Banke, Sally-Anne Cooke, Sea Org, Sean Dernehl, Spain, Stan Gerson, Sweden, Switzerland, Thursday Funnies, Tom Cruise, Universe Corps

Once again, the enterprising Erin Hodges Plumb of Hemet, California, was on the scene for a Scientology Watching adventure, and we have her report. Erin is the former middle school special-needs teacher who burst on the scene recently when she managed to get invited to a mixer at Scientology's secretive "Int Base" and brought with her a copy of Karen Pressley's new book, Escaping Scientology. She even managed to get a photograph of the book being handled by Karen's ex-husband, musician and Scientology lifer Peter Schless. After that escapade, Erin attended a seminar at Scientology's Pasadena org with Marcy Sergeant, the woman who today runs the Mace-Kingsley Family Center in Clearwater, Florida, where Scientology processes are run on young children. And most recently, Erin visited Scientology's Hollywood Celebrity Centre (2nd item) for a little fun with a security guard there. Now, she's back again, and she sent us an account of what she got up to last night. Here's her dispatch...

Tags: 2009, 2018, Andrew Kotyuk, California, Celebrity Centre, Clearwater, David Miscavige, Erin Hodges Plumb, Escaping Scientology, Facebook, Flag Land Base, Florida, Gilman Springs Road, Golden Era, Golden Era Productions, Hemet, Hollywood, Int Base, Karen de la Carriere, Karen Pressley, Mace-Kingsley Family Center, Marcy Sargeant, Mike Rinder, Pasadena, Peter Schless, Quicky, Republican, Riverside County, San Jacinto, Scientology Media Productions, Scott Miller, Sea Org, The Hole, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely

True to form, scientology had their brilliant "response" to tonight's episode up before it aired. Snatching the "high ground" their big takedown of Ramina is "we threw her out in 2016" and she is a "Total Fraud" because she "manufactured an exit from the Church." Hahaha

Tags: 2016, Fraud, Gerald Duncan, Kathy Lemmer, Linda Sukkestad, Marc Headley, Marie Andersen, Mary Kahn, Mirriam Francis, OT, Quicky, Ramina Nunnelee, Sharon Hill

ST. PETERSBURG — Charlie Crist revived his political career Tuesday by winning a Pinellas County congressional seat that was held by Republicans for more than 60 years. Crist, a former Republican governor running as a Democrat, beat incumbent Republican David Jolly by a relatively slim 52 percent to 48 percent margin in the 13th Congressional District, according to preliminary returns. St. Petersburg's Crist won the new parts of the district, added in a court-ordered redraw last year, and also managed to cut enough into Jolly's Clearwater base to prevail in one of the most closely watched congressional races in the nation.

Tags: Barack Obama, Belleair, Bill Clinton, Charlie Crist, Clearwater, Congress, David Jolly, DC, Donald Trump, Florida, Hillary Clinton, Marco Rubio, Mark Bircher, New York, Pinellas County, Quicky, St. Petersburg, Washington

Our many international readers no doubt understand what an exhausting election season this has been. For nearly two years, the presidential election has torn us apart in ways we've never experienced before. The carnage on Facebook alone has been pestilential. We've never seen so much end-of-the-world prophesying and cutthroat denunciations, and that's between friends. Anyway, we hope our American readers all go out and vote today, however you plan to cast your ballot, and tonight we'll do our best to bring you the results in a businesslike way with some live-blogging in the comments section. We hope you can hang out with us. In the meantime, we wanted to distract you from all of the political hair-pulling with something sent in by one of our great tipsters. It's an article in the new Italian language edition of Freewinds magazine, and it features Chick Corea's success story about OT 8.

Tags: 2012, Bridge to Total Freedom, Chick Corea, Facebook, Freewinds, Joel Kerns, L. Ron Hubbard, Marc Headley, Narconon Arrowhead, Oklahoma, Operating Thetan, OT 8, OT VIII, Pittsburg County, Quicky, Robert Murphy

I published an essay by Lois Reisdorf ("Fleecing the Sheeple") and promised that she would be providing us with more information from her considerable experience as the daughter of scientology aristocracy in South Africa, her subsequent experiences as one of the first Commodore's Messengers working with L. Ron Hubbard on the Apollo and interaction with David Miscavige rising. It is a fascinating story. Here is the first installment. MAKING OF A CHILD SCIENTOLOGIST AND SEA ORG MEMBER I am starting from the beginning of my life and the making of me into a Scientologist and child Sea Org member…….

Tags: 1960, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1997, 2007, Africa, AOSHEU, Apartheid, Apollo, Bare-Faced Messiah, Bronwen Jory, Class VIII, Commodore's Messenger Organization, Copenhagen, David Miscavige, Denmark, Durban, Europe, Fair Game, Italy, Johannesburg, L. Ron Hubbard, Lois Reisdorf, Mediterranean, Mission, Neville Jory, OT, Quicky, Saint Hill, Saint Hill Special Briefing Course, Sea Org, South Africa, Touch Assist, Trieste, Vietnam

Lucky Los Feliz/Hollywood residents were allowed into the inner sanctum of the massive Scientology Church building on Sunset Boulevard without even having to take a stress test, as long as they were there to cast their ballots. But our photographer? Not so much. When our intrepid photographer arrived this afternoon, he was firmly rebuffed from entering. Team Scientology also sent a "minder" out to babysit him, ask him a bunch of questions, and stay with him until he left. Ah well, at least they didn't kill our dog. We will have to wait until the results roll in to see if anyone wrote in "Xenu."

Tags: Los Angeles, Los Feliz, Sunset Boulevard

The weekly show where I answer viewer's questions. This week, the questions I answer are: (1) You mentioned that you were very disappointed and pissed about the OT material when you read about it on the internet. Do you think you would have reacted differently if you were still in the CoS and maybe bought into it like the rest of the stuff you "learned" all the years before? And another thing I'm curious about is, why did you not do the OT stuff during your time at CoS. It seems like it is not very common that people "study" OT. (2) A Scientologist claimed that Dianetics had cured her mother-in-law's arthritis in 1950. What is your response to claims that Scientology benefits some people who have "wins"?

Tags: 1950, Auditing, Christian, Clearwater, Critic, David Miscavige, DC, Dianetics, FBI, Germany, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, OT, OT III, Quicky, Sea Org, Xenu

What can Miscavige do to respond to Hurricane Leah? She is blowing his house down and it is a storm that comes on top of severe damage already inflicted on the once apparently impregnable fortress of scientology. It has been building throughout the year — Going Clear at Sundance got the ball rolling. Followed by the revelations from the PI's tailing his father which thrust scientology back into the headlines. Losing tax exemption in the Netherlands. Tony Ortega's Unbreakable Miss Lovely, a never ending stream of Narconon bad news. And much more.

Tags: ABC News, ABLE, Alex Gibney, Barbara Walters, Bob Adams, David Miscavige, Dead Agent, Filmmaker, Freedom magazine, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Google, International Association of Scientologists, Jason Beghe, Karin Pouw, Lawrence Wright, Leah Remini, Marc Anthony, Marc Headley, Marty Rathbun, Mission Impossible, Narconon, Nazanin Boniadi, Netherlands, Oprah Winfrey, OT, Paul Haggis, Pope, Potential Trouble Source, Quicky, Sea Org, Shelly Miscavige, Sundance, Suppressive Person, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely, Tom Cruise, Tom DeVocht, Tommy Davis, Tony Ortega, UK, Vietnam

The Bernie Madoff of the Drug rehab industry Per Wickstrom is trying to get Tanquility Detox, aka Narconon, open in South Bend, IN. Please help spread the word to the good people of South Bend. The city of South Bend should not allow this deadly program to be issued a permit. Scientology is trying to enter South Bend, please dont let this happen.

Tags: Bernie Madoff, Detox, Indiana, Narconon, Per Wickstrom, Quicky, South Bend, Tranquility Detox

Former Scientology spokesman Mike Rinder has a great new post at his blog this morning, and in it he predicts what Scientology leader David Miscavige may do in response to "Hurricane Leah," the media storm that is still raging after Leah Remini's book Troublemaker was published on Tuesday. Rinder reasons that Miscavige really has only one move at this point — to have Tom Cruise pretend to do a "no holds barred" interview to address Remini's allegations which will, in actuality, be highly controlled. It may even have the trappings of being a "real" interview and be presented as something "unscripted" and "off-the-cuff." Unless the really important questions are asked you will know that it is totally controlled and completely scripted. It will be the Scientology party line lifted out of the Miscavige letters to the media dressed up as a "candid" conversation with Tom Cruise.

Tags: 2012, 2013, 2014, Appeal, Austin, David Miscavige, Deposition, FBI, Human trafficking, International Association of Scientologists, Jim Meskimen, Joy Villa, Judge Dib Waldrip, Katie Holmes, Lawrence Wright, Leah Remini, Legal, Marty Rathbun, Mike Bennitt, Mike Rinder, Monique Rathbun, NBC, New York, New Yorker, Paul Haggis, Quicky, Rathbun v. Scientology, Ray Jeffrey, Sea Org, SLAPP, Squirrel Busters, Steven Gregory Sloat, Texas, Texas Supreme Court, Texas Third Court of Appeals, Tom Cruise, Tommy Davis, TX Lawyer, Village Voice

Crazy Lady Lundeen has just announced there are now 6615 "on or through" Solo NOTs. An earlier post containing an email from Clive Rabies dated 1 February 2014 listed the figure at 6433. That is an increase of 182.

Tags: 2015, 2016, Advanced Org, Basics, Chairman of the Board, Clear, Edy Lundeen, Flag Service Organization, Golden Age of Tech, Greg Capazorio, Jamie Fisher, L. Ron Hubbard, Lisa Benest, Los Angeles, Lynda Hubbard, OT, OT V, OT VII, Quicky, Riggs Eckelberry, Sec Check

A couple of weeks ago, we looked at a 1949 letter written by L. Ron Hubbard which hasn't received a lot of attention before. Russell Miller paraphrased the letter in his 1987 book Bare-Faced Messiah, but the full text of the letter has never been published in a book or news article, as far as we know. In it, Hubbard wrote to his friend Forrest Ackerman about the work he was doing on what would become Dianetics, the 1950 book that would change Hubbard's fortunes and eventually lead him to create Scientology. But Hubbard sounded far from a man about to become "mankind's best friend" and a great humanitarian who was setting out to improve the human race.

Tags: 1911, 1940, 1945, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1960, 1980, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2012, A. E. van Vogt, Bare-Faced Messiah, Caroline Letkeman, Catholic, Catholic Church, Dianetics, Excalibur, Florida, Forrest Ackerman, Georgia, Gerry Armstrong, Golden Era Productions, Jack Parsons, Japan, Jesse Prince, Johny Arwine, L. Ron Hubbard, L. Sprague de Camp, Leslyn Heinlein, Los Angeles, Lyon, Marty Rathbun, Mike Rinder, New York, Robert Heinlein, Russell Miller, Sara Northrup, Savannah, Scientology executive, Susan Raine, Vimeo, Voice Media Group

City officials said the church must meet the conditions as soon as possible. Hanging in the balance are two major upcoming church events: an international gathering of Scientologists the weekend after Thanksgiving and an anticipated New Year's Eve celebration. City Manager Bill Horne has been clear: If the church doesn't comply with all the conditions for the Flag Building dedication, the other two events won't receive city approval.

Tags: 1998, 2011, Bill Horne, Clearwater, Flag Building, Fort Harrison, George Cretekos, New Year's Eve, Sarah Heller, Twitter

The Tampa Bay Times is reporting the latest tent problems today, as church spokespuppets Mansell and Heller try to shift the blame to "out-of-town workers" who "don't know the rules." And City Manager Bill Horne says the church is complaining that they don't like the way they are being portrayed.... Oh, let the persecution bleats begin. All the nasty SPs are mischaracterizing their wonderful efforts to spruce up downtown with a huge flappy tent with a big sign on it.

Tags: Bill Horne, Clearwater, David Miscavige, Quicky, Tampa Bay Times

SadStateofAffairs made a comment about the Jobur Jackboots that was a blast from the past when he mentioned the "Latam Strategy." The comment was right on. The Jobur Command Team is exactly following the Latam Strategy. For most of you, this is meaningless, so I will provide a little background that is necessarily abbreviated. The topic is instructive to the current scene. In the early 80's there was considerable concern by LRH (who was in seclusion) that he and management had lost control of Scientology. There is a LOT of LRH traffic about the "Mission Holder Mutiny" and the Guardian's Office and moonlighting and "org ripoffs" and "external influences." LRH sent some very harsh direction to "quell the revolt" and be ruthless with "the SP's, GO crims and squirrels."

Tags: 1972, Abuse, AOLA, Basics, Bill Franks, Clear, Commodore's Messenger Organization, Continental Liaison Office, David Miscavige, DC, Ethics, Guardian's Office, Guillaume Lesevre, Ideal Org, L. Ron Hubbard, Mission, OT, Purification Rundown, Quicky, Religious Technology Center, San Francisco, South Africa, Squirrel, Super Power, Telex, WISE

Gill said he "firmly believes" that Shelly Miscavige has been living at Twin Peaks since she was last seen in public in 2006. Although "King of Queens" actress Leah Remini recently filed a missing-person report on her, Gill said it was "all in vain" as she would be "happy" at the base carrying out her archiving duties for the rest of her life.

Tags: Church of Spiritual Technology, David Miscavige, Dylan Gill, Leah Remini, Mike Rinder, Shelly Miscavige, Tony Ortega, Twin Peaks, Vault

I think the big story today is the metaphorical bloodshed at the Scientology facility in Johannesburg. There are a couple of significant articles giving background and perspective here, which I strongly recommend reading. I think this situation is worth watching because it could be an example of a non-US organization of some size that may break away from the church, as the Haifa mission in Israel did last year. Tony's story giving lots of details about Tom Cruise's lawsuit against Bauer Publications sketches in some great background, but since I do not think that Cruise is likely to prevail in that case, the story is not all that relevant to the cult. Also, the City of Clearwater appears to be on its game in dealing with the cult's late request for permits for the events scattered over the next several weeks. The city is offering to be flexible on some (though not all) of the items that Scientology would like done for the Flag building opening next weekend. The carrot being dangled in front of David Miscavage is that if he fails to play ball with the city right now, he will not get a permit for the IAS event, which is obviously far more significant. This seems to be a particularly smart way for the city to play its cards, because being willing to show some flexibility but to insist on other concessions from the called leads to a more desirable outcome to a lawsuit, which could carry an emergency order preventing the city from controlling the events in any way.

Tags: 1970, 1980, Bauer Media, Canada, City of Clearwater, Craigslist, David Miscavige, Disconnection, Haifa, Hollywood Guaranty Building, Int Base, International Association of Scientologists, Israel, Jefferson Hawkins, Johannesburg, Karin Pouw, Lawyer, Leah Remini, Michigan, Mike Rinder, New York, Quicky, Radar Online, Sea Org, South Africa, Super Power, Tampa Bay Times, Tom Cruise, Tony Ortega, Village Voice, Vistaril, WhyWeProtest

Hundreds of pages of court documents in Tom Cruise's $50 million lawsuit against Bauer Media, publishers of In Touch and Life & Style magazines, were put into a public court file recently, and yesterday, RadarOnline pounced on a short excerpt from a deposition given by Cruise. We have more pages from Cruise's deposition than Radar posted, as well as hundreds more documents which Cruise's lawyers were able to pry out of Bauer — including internal e-mails between employees at the magazines as they were putting together the stories that Cruise found so offensive. In all, there's some pretty fascinating material here beyond the revelations that became public yesterday. You've probably already heard that Cruise admitted to being separated from his daughter for more than three months after his divorce, and that he also admitted, somewhat vaguely, that Scientology was one "aspect" to the reason he and Katie Holmes split up. Cruise is suing family-owned Germany-based Bauer Media for two headlines. On July 30, 2012, Life & Style Weekly put the words "Suri In Tears: Abandoned By Her Dad" on its cover, and on October 1, 2012, In Touch Weekly had the headline "Abandoned By Daddy" on its front page.

Tags: 2004, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, Academic, Amanda Lundberg, Anderson Cooper, Angry Gay Pope, Bauer Media, Bert Fields, Catholic Church, Clearwater, David Miscavige, Deposition, Donald Myers, Drew Pinsky, Elizabeth McNamara, England, First Amendment, Florida, Freedom Medal of Valor, Germany, Graham Berry, Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood Guaranty Building, Inch Wives, International Association of Scientologists, Jefferson Hawkins, Karen de la Carriere, Katie Holmes, LAPD, Lissa Uvizl, London, Los Angeles, Nancy Many, New York, New York Post, Paris, Pittsburgh, Pope, Quicky, Scientology staff, Sharon Waxman, Simon Wiesenthal Center, SLAPP, Style Weekly, Suppressive Person, Terri White, Tom Cruise, US District Court

"Listen, I find that question offensive," he told lawyers when asked about assertions that Holmes left Cruise to protect daughter Suri from Scientology. "I find it, those statements offensive. Like with any relationship, there are many different levels to it. You know I, I find it very offensive. There is no need to protect my daughter from my religion."

Tags: Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise

In a September deposition obtained by TMZ.com, Cruise compared shooting on location to serving a tour in Afghanistan. "That's what it feels like. And certainly on this last movie, it was brutal. It was brutal." The 51-year-old movie star then went on to claim that the physical training he does for his films are harder than training for the Olympics. "There is difficult physical stamina and preparation. Sometimes I've spent months, a year, and sometimes two years preparing for a single film," he said. "A sprinter for the Olympics, they only have to run two races a day. When I'm shooting, I could potentially have to run 30, 40 races a day, day after day."

Tags: Amanda Lundberg, Bauer Publishing, Katie Holmes, Libel, Tom Cruise

To Tom Cruise, being away from his daughter while shooting a big-budget action movie "feels like" serving in Afghanistan. The "Top Gun" actor was responding to a lawyer's question comparing the extended time away from Suri while filming a movie to a soldier's tour in Afghanistan, according to legal papers obtained by the Daily News.

Tags: Afghanistan, Tom Cruise

Summary "Work in Progress" notes are ones where I'm reaching out to the community (that means you ) for perspective, research and thoughts that will become part of the "official" published work. In other words, this is your chance to get caught up in the adventure of predicting the future of Scientology, and figuring out how we can help bring that about. This note introduces the list of "big questions," the issues that have the most bearing in understanding where the cult is headed, how fast it will get there, and how we can help it along. The questions here are the topics for the major research projects that we will set ourselves over the next few months. The answers to these questions will probably change over time, so we'll need to revisit each of them periodically and re-examine our conclusions in the light of new information. But the first step on the intellectual adventure is to identify the most important questions.

Tags: ABLE, Buenos Aires, David Miscavige, Disconnection, Ideal Org, Membership, Microsoft, Narconon, Quicky, South Africa

DeKalb County State Court Judge Stacey Hydrick issued sanctions against Narconon of Georgia, finding the program's director lied under oath and hid evidence. "There's really nothing else that a judge can do that's stronger than what the judge has done here," said attorney Jeff Harris. Harris is representing the family of Patrick Desmond, who died in 2008 after trying heroin for the first time.

Tags: Colleen Desmond, DeKalb County, Jeff Harris, Judge Stacey Hydrick, Mary Rieser, Narconon, Narconon Georgia, Narconon International, Patrick Desmond

In a rare move, a DeKalb County state judge has withdrawn a Norcross drug treatment facility's response to allegations in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by a former patient's parents. Judge Stacey K. Hydrick said in a court order Nov. 5 that Narconon of Georgia "intentionally, willfully and repeatedly provided false and misleading responses to plaintiff's discovery requests regarding issues relevant to the resolution of this case."

Tags: Barbara Marschalk, Colleen Desmond, David Cook, Death, Jeff Harris, Judge Stacey Hydrick, Narconon, Narconon Georgia, Patrick Desmond, Rick Desmond, Ron Carlson, Steve Miller

We want to thank Robert Berrington, a South African reader, who sent us some rare documents — records of his own Scientology excommunication. Berrington learned that at the end of last year he was "declared a suppressive person" by the church — in other words, he'd been kicked out, and all church members who want to remain in good standing will be forced to now "disconnect" from him or risk being declared themselves. We have copies of Berrington's "declare," his responses to its charges, and also a letter from the church he recently received when he asked for a refund of money that he had on account for services that he cannot now use.

Tags: 1965, 1986, 1998, 2011, Committee of Evidence, David Miscavige, Derek Bloch, Dianetics, Ethics Order, Guardian's Office, International Justice Chief, Johannesburg, Justice Chief, L. Ron Hubbard, OT, Quicky, Robert Berrington, South Africa, Squirrel, Suppressive Person

For the past several years LRH PPRO UK, one Bob Keenan, has been doing nothing but running intelligence operations directly for David Miscavige, beating and hazing Int staff in the UK directly for David Miscavige, or doing incredibly criminal regging for Idle Orgs directly for David Miscavige. That is how Miscavige deploys his favorite L Ron Hubbard Personal Public Relations Officer. This is an example of how David Miscavige covertly black P.R.s the Founder in a more effective way than all Scientology haters combined can do. Miscavige started bypassing OSA on operations of a very sensitive nature several years ago. They were too incriminating and too illegal for OSA to be trusted with keeping them from winding Miscavige up in the news or jail. Keenan fancied himself a Cugine (a young ambitious gangster who will do anything to climb the ranks in the mafia). Keenan funded such operations by approaching former GO/OSA public (such as David Gaiman and Andy Hutton) for cash donations. Keenan would then give the cash to "media/invest professionals (MIPs)"(his operatives) so nothing about their dirty deeds would appear on church books. MIPs are generally alcoholic ex-Fleet Street tabloid reports who will do anything against a former colleague for a little drinking money. Keenan had a whole stable of them. An MIP with Mike Rinder and Bob "Babbo" Keenan

Tags: 2007, 2009, BBC, Bob Keenan, David Gaiman, David Miscavige, Independent, John Sweeney, L. Ron Hubbard, Mike Rinder, Office of Special Affairs, Quicky, St. Petersburg Times, Tommy Davis, UK

Clip Job: an excerpt every day from the Voice archives. December 17, 1970, Vol. XV, No. 51 Scientology: The Now Religion By Donald M. Kaplan The true measures of the false prophet are an unrelenting certainty and a staggering income. The immediate impression of L. Ron Hubbard, the prophet of Scientology, which emerges from George Malko's "Scientology: The Now Religion," is of a windbag hustler. There is not a single question Hubbard cannot answer easily and definitively. This and the fact that Hubbard personally has been making something around $140,000 a week from Scientology (that is, as Malko tells is, week in and week out) I would submit as evidence prima facie of an intellectual crookedness that pervades Scientology from the bottom up. One need go no further. But if we must, as we shall, the impression worsens.

Tags: 1970, California, George Malko, George Washington University, Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation, Kansas, L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology: The Now Religion, Sequoia University, Wichita

The family of Winston Churchill has asked the Church of Scientology to stop using images of the former prime minister in its recruitment literature. The controversial religious organisation has been circulating promotional material to recruit staff in the UK which includes photographs of Churchill along with quotes from some of his most famous speeches.

Tags: Alain Rosenberg, France, Nicholas Soames, Winston Churchill

I knew Scientology was in trouble when the media moved on from the usual silly gossip about its celebrity members to much darker, disturbing issues at the heart of the movement & issues, as I have come personally to understand, that actually matter. After a Paris court last month convicted several Scientologists and two organisations associated with the movement in France of organised fraud, and amid other investigations in France looking at a suicide and an alleged abduction, Oscar-winning film-maker Paul Haggis, a long-time member, quit Scientology. Haggis, who wrote and directed Crash, denounced the practice of "disconnection", which sees members forced to cut off contact with anyone - even their loved ones - if they are deemed an enemy of Scientology. In Edinburgh in the early 1990s, I found out just what the practice of disconnection could do to ordinary people when a close friend became involved in Scientology.

Tags: Allan Henderson, Bonnie Woods, David Miscavige, Disconnection, Edinburgh, France, Hubbard Academy of Personal Independence, Martin Gardner, Mike Henderson, Paul Haggis, Saint Hill, Scotland, Sea Org, Tommy Davis

When workers for the Church of Scientology sign a contract agreeing to serve in the church's Sea Organization for "the next billion years," the church can twist that agreement into a license to harass its workers, track them down if they leave and pressure them to return. What true church, what caring employer, would trample on the dignity and free choices of its own members in such a way? And what are authorities going to do about it?

Tags: Clearwater, Don Jason, Freewinds, Internal Revenue Service, Joe Childs, Private investigator, Rehabilitation Project Force, Sea Org, St. Petersburg Times, Thomas C. Tobin

Call is one of eight retired and current Utah police officers undergoing - at taxpayer expense - an Orem clinic's detoxification treatment, which is based on Scientology teachings. Its medical director, Gerald H. Ross, acknowledges no studies have been conducted to show whether the program helps people exposed to meth. Experts are skeptical. But Call and other officers are convinced the treatments work, and Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff argues they are a worthwhile expense.

Tags: Bio-Cleansing Centers, Detox, Gerald Ross, Mark Shurtleff, New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, Utah, Utah Meth Cops Project

The treatment is expensive, $7,000 per officer, and Shurtleff would like the public to chip in. Shurtleff has already given a $50,000 grant from his office to pay for treatment of officers, but according to initial estimates, at least 20 more need crucial treatment and more than 100 others qualify. "The good news is we didn't have to start from scratch and build a new facility," Shurtleff said Wednesday at the Biocleansing Center of America in Orem.

Tags: Bio-Cleansing Centers, Detox, Mark Shurtleff

The Bio-Cleansing Centers of America's facility in Orem was, until a few months ago, a drug treatment center. The Utah Attorney General's Office paid $50,000 to send a group of officers through the detox clinic. Because studies are still under way to determine if meth exposure is the root cause of the sicknesses, worker's compensation isn't covering these expenses.

Tags: American Detoxification Foundation, Bio-Cleansing Centers, Mark Shurtleff, Mike Wells, Ooze towel, Sandra Lucas, Utah, Utah Meth Cops Project

Investors filed a lawsuit against three groups affiliated with the Church of Scientology over a pyramid scheme operated by Reed Slatkin, the co-founder of EarthLink. The lawsuit claimed Slatkin used money from new investors to pay off earlier investors. Slatkin raised nearly $600 million and ultimately swindled investors out of about $240 million. Narconon International, the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International and the Church of Scientology Western United States were named as defendants. The three groups have agreed to return $3.5 million they received from a pyramid scheme.

Tags: Celebrity Centre, EarthLink, Narconon International, Reed Slatkin

The settlement, approved Tuesday by a federal bankruptcy judge, is part of final efforts to recover funds for the victims of [Reed Slatkin], who is serving a 14-year sentence for fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. Authorities say Slatkin led a long-running Ponzi scheme in which money from some investors was used to pay off others. Millions of dollars more in tainted funds were funneled through other investors to Scientology-affiliated groups, including Narconon International, the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International and the Church of Scientology Western United States, the filings said.

Tags: Celebrity Centre, Narconon, Reed Slatkin

After a tough year of negative media exposure, Tom Cruise has dumped his sister as his main publicity representative. In her place, Cruise, 43, has hired veteran Hollywood publicist Paul Bloch to promote him and his production company, Cruise-Wagner Productions, according to Hollywood trade paper Daily Variety. Bloch is also co-chair of publicity firm Rogers & Cowan. Lee Anne DeVette, the actor's sister, took over from his longtime representative Pat Kingsley in March 2004. According to a statement from Cruise, DeVette will now be responsible for representing his charity work.

Tags: Lee Anne DeVette, Pat Kingsley, Paul Bloch, Tom Cruise

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Author and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's most translated author. Guinness verified Hubbard's works in 65 languages, beating the previous record of 51 languages set by U.S. author Sidney Sheldon, Hubbard's literary agent, Author Services of Los Angeles, said in a news release Tuesday. In announcing the record in Los Angeles, London Book Fair Director Alistair Burtenshaw called Hubbard a "powerful force whose works encompass many fields and genres from 'Dianetics,' his all time bestseller on the mind, to his epic science fiction triumph 'Battlefield Earth.'"

Tags: Author Services Inc, Battlefield Earth, Dianetics, Guinness, London, Los Angeles, Quicky

Author and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's most translated author. Guinness verified Hubbard's works in 65 languages, beating the previous record of 51 languages set by U.S. author Sidney Sheldon, Hubbard's literary agent, Author Services of Los Angeles, said in a news release Tuesday. In announcing the record in Los Angeles, London Book Fair Director Alistair Burtenshaw called Hubbard a "powerful force whose works encompass many fields and genres from 'Dianetics,' his all time bestseller on the mind, to his epic science fiction triumph 'Battlefield Earth.'"

Tags: Author Services Inc, Battlefield Earth, Dianetics, Guinness, Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Author and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's most translated author. Guinness verified Hubbard's works in 65 languages, beating the previous record of 51 languages set by U.S. author Sidney Sheldon, Hubbard's literary agent, Author Services of Los Angeles, said in a news release Tuesday. In announcing the record in Los Angeles, London Book Fair Director Alistair Burtenshaw called Hubbard a "powerful force whose works encompass many fields and genres from 'Dianetics,' his all time bestseller on the mind, to his epic science fiction triumph 'Battlefield Earth.'"

Tags: Author Services Inc, Battlefield Earth, Dianetics, Guinness, London, Los Angeles, Quicky

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- With his popularity plummeting Tom Cruise has fired his sister Lee Anne De Vette as his publicist and hired the power firm of Rogers & Cowan. A New York marketing firm's study concluded Cruise's popularity plunged in a matter of weeks from the 11th-most-liked celebrity among 13- to 49-year-olds to No. 197 -- on par with Pauly Shore and Tom Green, E! Online reported. Cruise, 43, shocked the public with a manic appearance on "Oprah," in which he declared his love for his pregnant fiancee Katie Holmes; criticized women who use prescription drugs to fight postpartum depression and became a public advocate for Scientology, E! Online said.

Tags: Katie Holmes, Lee Anne De Vette, New York, Quicky, Tom Cruise, War of the Worlds

A California accountant who sends his children to Orthodox Jewish schools is to appear in federal court this morning to attempt to force the Internal Revenue Service to grant him the same tax deduction for religious instruction that it accords to members of the Church of Scientology.

Tags: American Jewish Congress, IRS, Jeffrey Zuckerman, Judge Barry Silverman, Marc Stern, Michael Sklar, Monique Yingling, Sklar, Tax Court

A Federal immigration court judge has granted asylum to a German member of the Church of Scientology who claimed that she would be subjected to religious persecution had she been required to return to her homeland, the woman's lawyer and a Scientology official said today. While few details of the case were available, it is believed to be the first time the United States has given asylum protection to a Scientologist. The Church of Scientology has been waging a highly public international campaign against what it considers discrimination against its members by the German Government.

Tags: Antje Victore, Germany, Helmut Kohl, John Lund, Karen Musalo, Klaus Kinkel, Kurt Weiland, Madeleine Albright, Nazi labelling, US State Department

The lawsuit, filed jointly by Narconon and the Tonkawa Indian tribe, names the state Department Mental Health and the state Health Department as defendants. It challenges the state's power to regulate on Indian land. Smith said Narconon will continue with the certification process, "but we will not stand by and allow the state's willful intrusion into the affairs of the Native Americans and into a highly successful drug-free rehabilitation center." Smith said a letter discovered at the Department of Mental Health proves a conspiracy is working to keep the program from being certified. The letter, dated Nov. 12 and addressed to him, stated the center's application for certification had been denied Nov. 8.

Tags: Gary Smith, Narconon, Narconon Chilocco, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Oklahoma Health Department, Rosemary Brown, Tonkawa