December 8 in Scientology history

Your proprietor spent a lot of time in academia and has a huge respect for the scholar who wants to advance knowledge in a particular area by doing the scholarly thing — investigating, listening, measuring, while trying to be as objective as possible. That, however, does not describe what's going on in Donald Westbrook's newly published Among the Scientologists: History, Theology, and Praxis, and so we don't really feel a motivation to dive into it too deeply. From the beginning, Westbrook's sneering contempt for the journalists who have risked their careers, their livelihoods, and perhaps even their lives to get us information about what's really going on in Scientology is tiresome. This is a book that takes potshots at consummate professionals like Russell Miller and Lawrence Wright and then admits that its 69 interviews with Scientologists were arranged by the church's own notorious Office of Special Affairs.

Tags: Academic, Bette Orsini, Celebrity Centre, Church of Spiritual Technology, Clear, CNN, David Miscavige, Donald Westbrook, Gordon Melton, Janet Reitman, Joe Childs, Joel Sappell, Jon Atack, Karin Pouw, Keep Scientology Working, Lawrence Wright, Office of Special Affairs, OT, Reza Aslan, Richard Behar, Richard Leiby, Robert Welkos, Russell Miller, Theology, Tom Tobin, Tracey McManus

L. Ron Hubbard hating giving anything away for free and insisted on charging a hefty price for most all things connected with Scientology. He preached that people didn't value goods and services that were given freely. Anything worth having was worth paying for. Paying for something meant it was valuable. Given freely, it was not. This philosophy has hardened the hearts of countless Scientologists, driving many toward the level of "No Sympathy" on his infamous Tone Scale. The typical church member has little compassion for those without means or who don't meet LRH's exacting standards. They also have no sympathy for Scientologists not working tirelessly to get up the bridge as fast as they can.

Tags: Doctor, L. Ron Hubbard, Medical, Terra Cognita, Tone Scale

In Australia, what is known as the Queen St. Massacre is still marked yearly by the press, and still resonates with the public as a horrific incident in a country that doesn't have the frequency of mass killings that happen in this country. What isn't always remarked on, even by the Australian press, is that two months before he began his murderous rampage, Vitkovic had taken part in something that had reportedly deepened his depression, and left him brooding. It was something he was apparently still thinking about up to the day he went on his killing spree. Vitkovic had taken a Scientology personality test.

Tags: 1941, 1987, 1988, 2011, Australia, Eleanor Simpson, Frank Vitkovic, Melbourne, Melbourne Org, OCA, Oxford Capacity Analysis, Oxford University, Personality test, Rod Keller

The Arizona congressman Trent Franks said he will resign from Congress at the end of January after discussing child surrogacy with two female staff members. Franks announcement came as the House ethics committee said it would launch an investigation into whether the congressman "engaged in conduct that constitutes sexual harassment and/or retaliation for opposing sexual harassment". "I have recently learned that the ethics committee is reviewing an inquiry regarding my discussion of surrogacy with two previous female subordinates, making each feel uncomfortable," Franks said in a statement on Thursday. "I deeply regret that my discussion of this option and process in the workplace caused distress."

Tags: 2014, 2018, Abortion, Africa, Arizona, Arizona Republic, Congress, Harvey Weinstein, Hollywood, John Conyers, Minnesota, New York Times, Paul Ryan, Quicky, Republican, Sexual assault, Texas, Trent Franks, Washington, Washington Post

A 59-year-old Clearwater woman was arrested for practicing medicine without a license. Clearwater Police conducted an undercover operation where Veronika Zaitsevskiy told undercover detectives she ran a cash-only business and did not accept health insurance.

Tags: Clearwater, Police, Quicky, Veronika Zaitsevskiy

In May, an undercover Clearwater police officer witnessed a woman diagnose a client with lupus using a headset attached to a computer that allegedly scanned the body. This week, police arrested and charged Veronika Zaitsevskiy, 59, with one felony count of practicing medicine without a license. Zaitsevskiy operated her business from a second floor office at 1130 Cleveland St., the building that also houses the Tampa Bay Times Clearwater bureau.

Tags: Clearwater, Clearwater Police Department, Cleveland, Comm Line, Quicky, Veronika Zaitsevskiy

Marty Rathbun and his wife Monique both registered new businesses. After Monique's lawsuit was dropped, Marty was able to make a down payment on a home and just recently started two new business entities. Is this a possible way to conceal settlement funds via real estate and business LLC's? My new channel: http://www.youtube.com/c/mangotea SUPPORT ME:

Tags: 2012, Amazon, Celebrity Centre, Church of Scientology of California, CIA, Facebook, Hollywood, International Association of Scientologists, Marty Rathbun, Quicky, Settlement, Twitter

Tags: Quicky, Regraded Being

Youth for Human Rights Toronto Event (1st Dec 2017) held at the Ontario Science centre

Tags: Ontario, Quicky, Toronto, Youth for Human Rights International

Youth for Human Rights Toronto Event (1st Dec 2017) held at the Ontario Science Centre.

Tags: Ontario, Quicky, Toronto, Youth for Human Rights International

This week we continue on our slugfest of apologetics contained in this book, Scientology, edited by James R. Lewis and containing essays and articles written by sociologists, religious scholars, psychologists and the like, mostly slanted favorably towards Scientology and its status as a tax-exempt religious organization. I am deconstructing this nonsense so you don't have to. This week's puff piece about Scientology's legal battles in various countries is unfortunately not an exception to most of what we have covered, so I'm going to skim lightly over this and spare you most of the obviously biased nonsense. Author James T. Richardson is a Professor of Sociology and Judicial Studies and the Director of the Master of Judicial Studies Degree Program at the University of Nevada in Reno. According to his wikipedia article, he is notably outspoken on high-profile cases such as Elizabeth Smart and Patty Hearst and is a scientific critic of brainwashing theories. I looked into this a bit and found that he is a co-hort of Gordon Melton, who I have talked about already at length earlier in this series as one of the most intellectually dishonest academic advocates for Scientology and other destructive cults. While claiming to be objective, I've already shown you in this series how Melton all but parrots Scientology's own promotional materials, writes off any former member's testimony as unworthy of his attention and even went so far as to testify in favor of Aum Shinrikyo after they used sarin gas to try to commit mass murder. I have no patience for this man's apologetics as he is literally so blind to his own biases that he feels it is a perfectly acceptable practice for what he calls "new religious movements" to destroy families, extort millions of dollars from their members and even blatantly violate the law as a standard practice of their "religious beliefs." So when I saw that James T. Richardson was not only allied with Melton but even writing academic papers in defense of destructive cults, my hackles of course went up. I want to clarify something about these apologetic scholars. To give them the benefit of the doubt, it appears to me that many of them do what they do because they believe in the concept of religious freedom and they want to see people express themselves however those people desire when it comes to religious expression. Now I don't have any argument with such a view when it comes to basic principles. However, what these scholars don't seem to realize is that because they are on a crusade to speak in defense of any group that calls itself a religion, their biases have blinded them to the harm that some, not all, of these new religious movements cause. They're either blind to it or they just don't care what damage these groups cause, because these academics think that you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. This end-justifies-the-means approach indicates to me that their ability to be forward or nuanced thinkers is severely hampered by their opinions and this colors everything they say or write in defense of these groups.

Tags: 1954, 1988, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2007, Aum Shinrikyo, Brainwashing, California, Clearwater, Dianetics, Elizabeth Smart, European Court of Human Rights, Florida, France, Gordon Melton, IRS, James Lewis, James Richardson, Jehovah's Witnesses, Lawrence Wollersheim, Legal, Lisa McPherson, Mormon, Nevada, Patty Hearst, Quicky, Scientology organization, Sea Org, University of Nevada

(Leah Remini, Paulette Cooper, and Paul Noble) In this week's episode of Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, we learned about former Scientology spokesman Mike Rinder and the "Fair Game" he's experienced since leaving the church in 2007. For Rinder, it's meant almost constant surveillance and harassment since he first began in 2009 to speak publicly about Scientology's current leader, David Miscavige. Examples shown in the episode included being followed and accosted by private eyes, keeping watch on him with the use of a remote camera in a bird feeder, and even paying sanitation workers for Rinder's garbage. (In Tuesday's post, we listed other examples of Fair Game that Rinder has had to endure that weren't mentioned in the show.)

Tags: 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1980, 2007, 2009, 2010, Barbara Cordova Oliver, Chris Shelton, David Miscavige, Ethics Order, Fair Game, FBI, Guardian's Office, Jesus, Leah Remini, Life Center for a New Tomorrow, Manhattan, Marc Vallieres, Mike Rinder, New York, Paul Noble, Paulette Cooper, Quicky, Scientology and the Aftermath, Steven Mango, Suppressive Person, Tennessee, The Scandal of Scientology, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely, Twitter

While Fred & I were holding a protest at Scientology's Los Angeles Org, Security Guard Jason pulled out his video camera to make his own movie about us as we protested "To My Loved One In Scientology, Call Me" outside of the cult. This video came from my summer protesting live stream, so friends and Scientology watchers go to ask Jason anything during an impromptu Q&A we had with him. This video is funny, however there were serious occurrences that happened during the summer protests I staged. This is the first video in the series of protesting movies I will be releasing over the current weeks. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel!

Tags: 2012, Call Me, Celebrity Centre, Facebook, Hollywood, International Association of Scientologists, Los Angeles, Quicky, Twitter

Hurricane Leah continues to roll, blowing aside the scientology house of cards in its path. Their denials and ridiculous responses are becoming lamer and less believable by the day. Their latest effort now takes issue with the fact they harass people. Everything they do is dictated by the L. Ron Hubbard Playbook for dealing with critics.

Tags: 2010, A&E, Amy Scobee, Australia, Benjamin Rinder, Claire Headley, David Miscavige, Denver, Disconnection, Europe, Facebook, Fair Game, Harassment, Jefferson Hawkins, Joe Childs, Leah Remini, London, Marc Headley, Marty Rathbun, Monique Yingling, Private investigator, Quicky, Robert Minton, Sam Domingo, Scientology and the Aftermath, Sea Org, St. Petersburg Times, Syria, Tom DeVocht, UK, USA Today

Our video source has come through for us once again. Cast your mind, Scientology watcher, back to October 2006. This was a year after Tom Cruise had made his weird splash as Scientology's awkward ambassador on Today with Matt Lauer and as a human jumping bean on Oprah's couch. Although those events had resulted in major pieces by the Los Angeles Times and Rolling Stone, this was not the major media storm Scientology would experience later. For now, things had calmed down, and events like the black turtleneck video and the rise of Anonymous were still more than a year away. You could forgive David Miscavige for thinking he was just about at the height of his power. It was the annual meeting of the International Association of Scientologists in East Grinstead, England under the big top of the IAS tent, there were thousands in attendance, and Tom Cruise with the comically large "Freedom Medal of Valor" he received two years earlier was front and center in the first row.

Tags: 1985, 1991, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2013, 9/11, Anonymous, CCHR, Christian, Cult Awareness Network, Dan Sherman, David Miscavige, Debbie Cook, Disconnection, East Grinstead, England, Escape, Facebook, Flag Service Organization, Freedom Medal of Valor, Hemet, International Association of Scientologists, Iraq, Karen de la Carriere, Karen Downing, Karin Pouw, Karry Campbell, Katie Holmes, L. Ron Hubbard, Leah Remini, Legoland, Los Angeles Times, Luis and Rocio Garcia, Marty Rathbun, Matt Lauer, Mike Rinder, Portland, Psychiatry: An Industry of Death, Quicky, Rolling Stone, Scott Campbell, Sea Org, The Hole, TIME, Tom Cruise, Tommy Davis, Youth for Human Rights International

Seriously? They are going to hold a "Ribbon cutting ceremony" for the "new program introduction." I wonder what the "new program" could be?

Tags: First Amendment, Judy Britt, Narconon, Narconon Fresh Start, OT, Purification Rundown, Quicky

A couple of people have recently sent me copies of email correspondence they have had with people in the church. They were not working together, but both hit upon the same concept: responding to church efforts to get new people in or collect money from existing public and using this as an opportunity to present some facts to people they might not otherwise be able to reach. It is also interesting to see the reactions, responses and "pitches" that are employed.

Tags: 9/11, American Psychiatric Association, Big League Sales Closing Techniques, Bridge to Total Freedom, Buddha, Buddhism, Buddhist, Christian, Clear, Clearwater, Cleveland, Debbie Cook, Dianetics, Disconnection, Doctor, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, Hinduism, Janet Reitman, Jesus Christ, L. Ron Hubbard, Lawrence Wright, Les Dane, Mission, Mitch Talevi, Muslim, New York Times, OT, Pulitzer Prize, Quicky, Washington

The Sundance Film Festival announced today that it has selected Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney's HBO-produced documentary about Scientology, Going Clear, for its 2015 lineup. The two-hour movie, based on Lawrence Wright's 2013 book, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, & the Prison of Belief, will make its premiere at the festival, screening for the first time at 2:30 pm on Sunday, January 25 in Park City, Utah. Your proprietor was interviewed for the film and has been invited to the premiere. We are looking forward to what we believe will be a devastating look at the effect Scientology has on its adherents. We can't say much more about what's in the movie. Gibney's production company issued this terse synopsis of the film...

Tags: 1991, 1995, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2015, Alex Gibney, Anderson Cooper, Atlanta, BBC, Bert Fields, CIA, CNN, Comedy Central, Creative Artists Agency, David Miscavige, Documentary, Fort Harrison, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, HBO, Hollywood, Hollywood Reporter, Ideal Org, Iraq, Jeffrey Riffer, Joe Childs, John Sweeney, Lawrence Wright, Mike Rinder, Mission Impossible, Park City, Peabody Award, Quicky, Scientology and Me, Sheila Nevins, South Park, Sundance, Sundance Film Festival, Tampa Bay Times, Tax, The Secrets of Scientology, Time magazine, Tom Cruise, Trapped in the Closet, Utah, Vanity Fair, Viacom, Washington Post, WikiLeaks

Park City is going to be brimming with hollow eyed Scientologists trying to get into see Alex Gibney's "Going Clear." Sundance will be like a zombie movie. Cool. What happens when they get wet? Lots of good stuff here. Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief / U.S.A. (Director: Alex Gibney) - Going Clear intimately profiles eight former members of the Church of Scientology, shining a light on how they attract true believers and the things they do in the name of religion.

Tags: Alex Gibney, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, Sundance

Probably the biggest news today is the Lori Hodgson interview on Inside Edition, a US news magazine show, where she traveled to her son's workplace in Austin, Texas and paid him a surprise visit which was recorded. But the best performance clearly goes to Mark Bunker's three-minute appearance in front of the Clearwater City Council on the anniversary of Lisa McPherson's death, where he eloquently pointed out the absurdity of trying to make peace with the cult given how they've treated the citizens of the Clearwater area for the last forty years. Tony Ortega's Blog

Tags: Austin, Bert Fields, Cause Resurgence Rundown, Clearwater, David Miscavige, Disconnection, E-meter, Huffington Post, Inside Edition, Int Base, Karen de la Carriere, Katie Holmes, Kirstie Alley, Leah Remini, Lisa McPherson, Lori Hodgson, Mark Bunker, Marty Rathbun, Mike Rinder, Narconon, National Enquirer, Quicky, Sam Domingo, Samantha Domingo, Skip Press, Super Power, Texas, Tony Ortega, TV Guide, WhyWeProtest, Wise Beard Man

Now that Scientology has re-jiggered its Bridge to Total Freedom, by golly, there's no holding it back. And next stop on its crusade to take over the world is a new "Ideal Org" in Taiwan. Our tipsters came through again this week with a great collection of new Scientology mailers and fliers from around the world. At Saturday's grand opening in Kaohsiung, Taiwan it looks like a fine time was had by all. We're still waiting to hear if Scientology honcho David Miscavige made the scene.

Tags: Bridge to Total Freedom, David Miscavige, Freedom Medal, Ideal Org, Kaohsiung, OT, Quicky, Saint Hill, Scotland, Sunday Funnies, Taiwan

Here is further proof, as if it were needed, that fundamentalist Scientology is 97.5% marketing hype and 2.5% product. Even when they are wanting money for an actual service (as opposed to buildings, IAS, library campaigns, "planetary dissemination", CCHR, ABLE etc etc etc) the lies and hype are simply out of this world. Barbara Dews is not writing this foolishness. This is the approved promotion for Super Power. The blind ARE still leading the blind.

Tags: 1960, 1969, 1978, ABLE, Barbara Dews, CCHR, Clear, Dan Koon, Dianetics, Ethics, False Data Stripping, Hubbard Communications Office Bulletin, International Association of Scientologists, IRS, L. Ron Hubbard, Matt Feshbach, NASA, OT, OT III, OT V, OT VII, OT VIII, Planetary Clearing, Purification Rundown, Quicky, Super Power

A funny thing happened on Thursday. We reviewed Vance Woodward's book, Addicted to Scientology, and noted that one of the more interesting things in it was Woodward's contention that a close reading of Scientology's foundational texts convinced him that L. Ron Hubbard thought of past-life therapy as a form of make-believe. Scientologists, however, take very seriously the idea that when they go through "auditing" and bring up memories from millions or billions of years ago they are making use of an exact science and their memories are very real. On the same day we brought up Woodward's doubts about that, over at Marty Rathbun's blog, the former church executive did something really remarkable: he surveyed his readership about this very issue.

Tags: 1952, Addicted to Scientology, DC, E-meter, L. Ron Hubbard, Marty Rathbun, OT, Philadelphia Doctorate Course, Quicky, San Francisco, Vance Woodward, Winnipeg

In the following excerpt from the October,2011 International Association of Scientologists (IAS) event, David Miscavige preaches the benefits of the destruction of the Twin Towers and the loss of the lives of 3,000 people in New York City on 9/11/01. Possible Questions for discussion? 1) Is there anyone in the free world who ten years later is still so excited about the "virtues" of the terrorist attacks on New York City?

Tags: 9/11, David Miscavige, International Association of Scientologists, New York City, Quicky

Megalomania is a psycho-pathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of power, relevance, or omnipotence. 'Megalomania is characterized by an inflated sense of self-esteem and overestimation by persons of their powers and beliefs'. - Wikipedia For those revolted by the last post here, David Miscavige: The Narcissist, you may want to secure your coffee before proceeding or skip this post entirely.

Tags: David Miscavige, International Association of Scientologists, Quicky, Wikipedia

Each Thursday at 2 pm, Scientology staffers rush to turn in their weekly statistics. We like to do our part by rounding up the week's stories around the world and tallying up how the church fared. This week, we have items from India to Australia, but first, friendly correspondent Angry Gay Pope sends us this priceless promotional video from what was Scientology's Melrose Mission in Los Angeles. AGP has watched as Scientology opened the boutique org on one of LA's fanciest shopping arteries. He speculates that the micro-location (Scientology already has plenty of bigger facilities around the LA basin) was the result of a celebrity donation. Well, whatever prompted the new branch, it's now closed.

Tags: 2004, 2007, Angry Gay Pope, Australia, Bryan Seymour, CCHR, Celebrity Centre, Clearwater, David Miscavige, David Pomeranz, Florida, Freewinds, Hollywood, Hollywood Reporter, International Association of Scientologists, Los Angeles, Louis Farrakhan, Mission, Mumbai, Paramount, Phoenix, Quicky, Republican, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Scientology staff, Sea Org, Stacy Francis, Super Power Building, Tom Cruise

Claudio and Renata Lugli, OTVIII and OTVII have left the Church Of Scientology. Claudio and Renata have been vital pillars to the start and growth of Scientology in Italy, they are internationally known as Scientologists and as Fashion Designers. Here is their statement. My wife and I have decided to leave the current Church of Scientology and to cease any kind of support and participation in it. We haven't been able to find the spiritual attributes that once constituted the basics in which its founder L. Ron Hubbard had originally built Scientology on. That, and only that, was the determining factor for our dedication of 36 years in Scientology. It has been for both of us the answer of a spiritual journey that took a few lifetimes. The certainty we achieved throughout the enormous spiritual wins we gained from our Bridge progress was the reassurance that we did find what we were looking for. The teachings of Scientology have always been a landmark and a constant source of inspiration to enhance our existence and that of the people around us.

Tags: 1952, DC, Independent, Italy, L. Ron Hubbard, OT, Quicky, Renata Lugli, St. Petersburg Times

Claudio and Renata Lugli, OTVIII and OTVII have left the Church Of Scientology. Claudio and Renata have been vital pillars to the start and growth of Scientology in Italy, they are internationally known as Scientologists and as Fashion Designers. Here is their statement. My wife and I have decided to leave the current Church of Scientology and to cease any kind of support and participation in it. We haven't been able to find the spiritual attributes that once constituted the basics in which its founder L. Ron Hubbard had originally built Scientology on. That, and only that, was the determining factor for our dedication of 36 years in Scientology. It has been for both of us the answer of a spiritual journey that took a few lifetimes. The certainty we achieved throughout the enormous spiritual wins we gained from our Bridge progress was the reassurance that we did find what we were looking for. The teachings of Scientology have always been a landmark and a constant source of inspiration to enhance our existence and that of the people around us.

Tags: 1952, DC, Independent, Italy, L. Ron Hubbard, OT, Quicky, Renata Lugli, St. Petersburg Times

It has become a favorite phrase within the Church of Scientology to say that someone has "gone over to the dark side" when they leave the Church. I recently heard a story about someone who was told that they could not talk to a friend of theirs as they had "gone over to the dark side." The person asked what they had done, but the Ethics Officer couldn't say. "That's confidential," he said, "All I can tell you is that he's gone over to the dark side." There are several definitions of the word dark. One definition is "evil or wicked." But another definition is "hidden or obscured." Imagine Scientology as a building with all of the windows blacked out so no one can see outside. Those who are inside are told that what is outside the building is evil. They are not allowed to talk to anyone outside the building. They cannot read anything from the outside world. If their friends or family are outside, then they are not allowed to talk to them. You can imagine them sitting in this building, staring at the blacked-out windows, and wondering what is on the other side – the "dark side."

Tags: Ethics Officer, Quicky

The city of Las Cruces is ending an anti-drug program aimed at third-graders after it was revealed it was backed by the Church of Scientology. The Drug-Free Marshal program started in late November. It had been presented to five schools, but was intended to be promoted eventually among all third-graders in the Las Cruces Public Schools.

Tags: Drug Free Marshals, Foundation for a Drug-Free World, Ken Miyagishima, New Mexico

The city of Las Cruces is ending an anti-drug program aimed at third-graders after learning it was backed by the Church of Scientology. The Drug-Free Marshal program started in late November. It had been presented to five schools, but was intended to be promoted eventually among all third-graders in the Las Cruces Public Schools.

Tags: Drug Free Marshals, Foundation for a Drug-Free World, New Mexico

It's a program aimed at getting kids off the streets and away from drugs. But now Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima is saying "not so fast." The program is called the Drug-Free Marshall Program, and it was quite a hit until the mayor found out it was sponsored by the Church of Scientology.

Tags: Drug Free Marshals, Ken Miyagishima, New Mexico

Germany paved the way yesterday for a ban on the Church of Scientology, with federal and regional ministers declaring that the US-based organisation contravened the constitution and posed a danger to democratic order. In a sharp escalation of a decade-long row, German officials asked the domestic intelligence agency to gather evidence that could be used in support of a legal move to secure a ban.

Tags: Germany, Sabine Weber

Germany's federal and state interior ministers have declared the Church of Scientology unconstitutional, clearing the way for a possible ban. The ministers have asked Germany's domestic intelligence agency to examine whether the Church's legal status as an association could be challenged. Scientology is not recognised as a religion in Germany.

Tags: Germany

German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble and his 16 regional counterparts have consider Scientology [church website] "an organization that is not compatible with the constitution", and will work to ban it in Germany, Schäuble said at the end of a two-day ministerial meeting Friday.

Tags: Germany

Pink Munky nails it with a funky mix to hubbards own insane ramblings from his lectures.

Tags: L. Ron Hubbard, Lulz, Video

The Court of Appeal for this district has rejected an attorney's claim to a portion of the millions of dollars recovered by a former Scientologist in the decades-long suit over what he said were coercive tactics by the church. Div. Two Wednesday affirmed Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert L. Hess' ruling invalidating Leta Schlosser's attorney fee lien against Lawrence D. Wollersheim's $8.7 million recovery from the Church of Scientology and its affiliated organizations.

Tags: Judge Robert Hess, Justice Ashmann-Gerst, Lawrence Wollersheim, Leta Schlosser, US Supreme Court

Lisa McPherson, 36, was a Scientologist who died after being under the church's care in Clearwater in 1995. The state has filed charges of abuse and practicing unlicensed medicine against the church's Flag Service Organization, or simply "Flag." McPherson died that Dec. 5 after 17 days at the church's Fort Harrison Hotel under the supervision of Scientologists. The state says she died of a pulmonary embolism, with dehydration and immobility as contributing factors. The state says her final days featured raving delusions and forced medication. Flag's lawyers seek to have the charges dismissed.

Tags: 1995, 1998, Bernie McCabe, Christian, Clearwater, First Amendment, Flag Service Organization, Florida, Fort Harrison, Jehovah's Witnesses, Lisa McPherson, Mormon, Religious Freedom Restoration Act

Officials of Straight, Inc., a drug rehabilitation operation sued recently by a former patient from Fairfax County, yesterday called allegations that they brainwash patients "reckless exaggeration," and went to court in an attempt to stop four current patients from being called as witnesses. At a morning press conference at Straight's recently opened Springfield office, national directors of the Florida-based program belittled the suit by 20-year-old Fred Collins, calling up three former program participants who endorsed the program. Collins' father, Fred Collins Jr., also attended the press conference and in a prepared statement said, "I have no sympathy with his claims against Straight." Straight attorney Ronald Goldfarb also accused Collins' attorneys of conducting a "trial by press release."

Tags: Bill Oliver, Brainwashing, Drug Free America, Fairfax County, Florida, Fred Collins, Miller Newton, Quicky, Ronald Goldfarb, South Bend