One of our regular readers stopped by the Austin Org yesterday, since he was town for the day. Here is his report:
There was an unstaffed table out front under their awning (their façade is back a few feet from the street), with some free movie tickets, free personality tickets, and brochures sitting under rocks so they wouldn’t blow away. They looked like they had been there awhile, a bit wrinkled. There were a couple of older posters in the windows, one for OCA.
I spoke with Barbara McFadyen who has been in for decades. She is apparently an OT VIII who appears to be about 70 – 75. There was also a younger male staff member with her, but not another person for the entire 45 minutes I was there. Clearly they don’t have a lot going on.
Building: Fairly run down, carpet is old. What was most striking is the walls are covered with posters – for Harry Potter and other movies. Perhaps 40 posters, although I didn’t count. First I was surprised and then I saw that the posters weren’t actually for the movies at all – they all had the names and photos of donors. And there were two huge floor to ceiling lists of the various donors taped to the door of the meeting room with the label “Statuses.” Not a word about auditing.
Ideal Org Plan: She said Austin has raised $15 million for their Ideal org and they have the plans. They submitted the permit to the city and Austin City Council is going to vote on it Thursday August 3. The building is two stories with a basement. They plan to add a third story and to make the basement more usable. The basement used to be retail space but they dropped all the tenants as their leases expired, and now it looks like they just use it for storage and extra office space. They’re also taking the façade of the building which is recessed and moving it out further into the street. She showed me the photos of the planned upgrade along with fabric samples for the upholstery – she said they have their own milling factory in California somewhere that Scientology runs because she said they open 60 ideal orgs of 40- 50,000 ft.² and thus it is cost effective to have their own company.
Staff: She said they have 25 staff including one full-time auditor and three part-time auditors. They need more auditors, and did send one of their staff to FLAG for training.
Students: She said there are 10 people actively on course with a waiting list of preclears since they don’t have enough auditors.
I did not point out that a $15 M renovation seems excessive for 10 students.
Obviously, the real reason scientology is going nowhere in Austin is that they have not yet added another floor to their building or extended the facade closer to the road. They are NOT MOVING this org. It is literally across the street from the University of Texas. It has been there for decades. And nothing has changed. If the lack of nice premises is really the “Why” then why don’t they spend $50,000 of that $15 million and get some new carpet and paint and spruce the place up a bit. Surely if the bad look of the building was keeping people away, then this would at least help get some more people in the door and they could be hit up to donate. Like taking some of your food and using it for bait to catch more fish…
It is SUCH a farce.
And the gullible souls who have forked over $15 million are being lied to that “other orgs” are expanding “as soon as they go ideal.”
It is total lies.
It’s magic happening right before your eyes: money being put into a top hat and it vanishes.
Does anyone know if Yarie is still a C/S at Austin?
This is all accurate, except are you sure she didn’t mean there were 10 people in the course room *at that exact time*? I don’t want to say too much, but I happen to know that there are at least 25 people doing courses right now, but not more than that.
Would that be on the Foundation or the Day Org lines? 25 people on course that is. I used to know quite a few people on staff with both orgs in Austin, but they all ended up having to go when their 5 year contract was up so they could make money. Lol.. I still know a few on staff, but only casually and it’s been well over ten years since I’ve talked to these particular staffers. I could probably find out how many’s on course.
I do know that last month I drove by the parking lot on a Saturday and there were 14 cars. I’m assuming at least half were staff, if not more. In the past you could park on the streets on Saturdays free, but now it’s all metered. I doubt anyone pays those meter prices while on course all day. Or even half a day.
…..of course the streets have been metered for years, but about five years ago Saturdays were no longer free. Just wanted to clarify. It was common for staffers and students both to forgo the org parking lot, which is two blocks away, and park on the streets on the weekends. So then it was hard to get a true count of how many cars were dedicated to the org on the weekends. Now it’s much easier
I can only speak to how many I’ve seen by peeking into the course room during foundation times
My HOPE is that each person here speaking to the choir is also speaking out whenever there is an opening to insert TRUTH about this bogus, fraudulent so-called religion. My HOPE is that you all create the change that helps to get my child – now aging – out before her life is over. And mine!
https://youtu.be/jYMkuOUAg3M
Brilliant analogy! Ha!
When one’s eternity is at stake, what’s a little cognitive dissonance among thetans?
I looked up the Edmonton Street view of the scientology church on Google maps, as I had read on Tony Ortega’s site they had gone from some super building in the 80’s to a dumpy industrial park front, and that they were now next to a sewing machine or vacuum repair shop or something.
Sure enough…
Well look it up yourself.
Who are these people that keep holding a flame for that failure of a religion? I am sure they are nice people, but, jeez.
They need the 3rd story to house all the body thetans they’re freeing from their 10 students. And even if this Org doesn’t offer body thetan clearing services, they need to 3rd story for a fund raising hall.
The difference between the minions of the Despicable Me franchise and those in Scientology, are that the little yellow guys have a sense of humor and still have a relative amount of freedom while those in the cult are the true minions. The brainwashing runs deep with these ones. Minions, please wake the fuck up – LRH and Dave are not God.
All’s running to plan hey Davy… don’t want no stinking auditing going on. Gets in the way of regging time.
Isn’t regging time 24/7 now? Just curious.
If I recall, “door-stalker lady” from a video posted several years ago on youtube (names withheld) is a member of that org. Good job she did helping to lower the entheta ratio in the area and booming the org.
I know Barbara McFayden very well and have known her for 40 years. She no longer speaks with me since I am “disaffected”.
I was on staff in Austin for 10 years from 1975-1985. They never declared me an SP maybe to them it just never seemed right, so to them I am”disaffected”.
I spoke to Barbara about 10 years ago when she returned to Austin from Flag having completed OT 7. She had been on it for decades. In that conversation she said absolutely nothing about how wonderful it was to be OT 7. She did say several times how “freaken great it was to be out of Clear Water”. I was still an active member at the time and her comments struck me as strange. She is a truthful person when she speaks. She just totally ignores blatant outpoints.
I worked in Div 6 in Austin in the early 1980’s. Between Austin Day and Foundation’s Div 6’s, we usually sold over 100 Dianetics books, maybe 25 first service starts a week to new public. It was not difficult for a good body router to get 100 people in per day off the street at this location. The downside of getting that many people in was that we didn’t have time to talk to them all and many would just walk off.
One stat that I kept was how much new people spent on higher services within their first year. The group of people who took their first course in 1982, by 1983/84 had generated approx $100,000 in income for Austin org or higher orgs notably AOLA.
Barbara should remember those times at Austin Org. She should be very aware that Austin is nowhere near what it was. .
I know her as well. You are right about how she speaks truthfully while ignoring the obvious outpoints. Very interesting person. It’s too bad she’s stuck in Scientology. I get the sense that she doesn’t leave because it’s not worth it at this point.
Mike, apparently you didn’t get the memo:
When Scientology Media Productions goes live there will be thousands of people around the country looking for churches. Right now they don’t have enough churches to meet that demand.
That “datum” was posted by a scientologist recently at Flag, stated just like that – as if the “demand” was a certainty. A screenshot of the original from Facebook, was posted on Tony Ortega’s site yesterday.
As I’ve written before, I suspect that at least some of the old executives at the top really engage in that sort of wishful thinking and “postulating,” and that’s where this must come from – the belief that some great new thing they introduce, or a turn of events, will actually result in people flocking to them.
Barbara’s public LinkedIn proifle
https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-mcfadyen-070a7933
“…she said they have their own milling factory in California somewhere that Scientology runs because she said they open 60 ideal orgs of 40- 50,000 ft.² and thus it is cost effective to have their own company.”
Yeah, the “PAC Mill” – it’s cost effective because it’s RPF slave labor.
If they want to be FULLY Ideal, they need to tact on TWO more stories. Nothing says ‘success’ more than large, empty buildings.
I’m so surprised that University of Texas students aren’t FLOODING the Model, Idle Morgue! I mean, it’s just across the street. I wonder what could be stopping the students from entering the Morgue? I…I just can’t figure it out. Don’t they want TOTAL FREEDOM?
“I’m so surprised that University of Texas students aren’t FLOODING the Model, Idle Morgue!”
Even more surprising considering that college students are at the prime age for being recruited into cults. They should be easy pickings for the CO$; I’m so glad they’re not.
Ten people on course??? WTF??? And 25 staff to ‘service’ them? The lack of auditors speaks volumes about what today’s $cientology values. STATUSES!!! Donations and fealty to the COB. The tech is not in the back seat, it is taped at the wrists and ankles and stuffed into the trunk. After being gagged and chloroformed…
There is no profit here, no potential for growth. Yet still a new ‘ideal’ mOrg will be built. Ferengi everywhere are aghast.
I went to Austin Org in the late ’60s and there were more than 25 combined Day and Fdn staff. There was also more than 10 students. 25 staff means 12 or 13 staff on both shifts. That is ridiculous.
What was I doing in Austin Org in 1969 or so? I had saved up my paper route money to buy the HSDC (Dianetics course) – about $300 which was a lot of money in those days.
With 10 people on course, and 25 staff to attend to them, they should all be OT8 any day now.
Correct me if I’m wrong (and I’m sure someone will?), but this sounds like what happened to the Garcias. They made enormous contributions for something that turned out to be based on lies. I do so hope that that lawsuit gets taken out to the bitter end and they win it. Perhaps that would motivate the cos to actually start delivering on their promises? ……..Nah.
Oh the new org will have beautiful walls and lovely floors, entirely uncluttered by scientologists. Look at photos of any finished ideal org.
The thing is they have to raise all the money for the overpriced materials for a Miscavege approved ideal org first, No half measures here.
Then they can raise money for their neighbor orgs and their region, and their continent. It never ends…
Wait…what??? I understand neighbor orgs, and region orgs and even continental orgs. So how can we forget all the other worldwide orgs? I mean, they should have a chance to give every single dime they have just like the rest of the orgs!
This is an interesting data point. Thanks to the anonymous tipster who was able to draw out Barbara McFayden and get some details.
25 staff for 10 people on course sounds like a location that has been circling the drain. I’m frankly surprised that they have been able to hang on to so many local staff with so little business — people on staff would have to be getting demoralized by now and realizing that they’re wasting their lives and not really saving the planet. And local staff who aren’t Sea Org are on 2.5 year or 5 year contracts, so they can bail if they want.
This data point also shows that the toxicity of the Scientology brand is the most important issue causing the lack of stats. Much has been made of how many of the Ideal Orgs are located in areas with poor foot traffic. I’m thinking in particular of Cincinnati Org, which moved from a high-traffic location to a place way out in the burbs, or Malmo, Sweden, Dallas or any of a number of others.
Sure, those moves killed any possibility of casual foot traffic “discovering” the org, but the Austin org is one of three I can think of with high foot traffic (SF and NY being others) that have absolutely no success even despite a great location. Austin is across the street from 50,000+ college students, prime recruiting territory for the cult. Tens of thousands of people walk by daily. And yet they have just ten people on course, all of whom are probably long-time public redoing low-level courses like “Student Hat.”
Scientology: the ebola-coated kiddie porn of religions, where the subject matter is so toxic you can’t even give it away.
John P., I’ve seen indications that a lot of the staff claimed by orgs are actually part-time or volunteers, quite possibly in the ballpark of half of them. So I’d guess that actual staffing at any point is a fraction of the 25, and may include people down in the basement doing the endless filing.
I’m almost surprised that they didn’t claim a higher number of students, as some of the orgs give out ridiculously inflated numbers that have to count separately each of several courses that a student might be enrolled on, including extension courses that don’t require attendance in the courseroom, as well as the training courses that staff are put on when they have new duties or a bit of extra time. It seems like an almost out-of-place bit of candor in Scientology these days, that they gave out a number that might simply reflect the actual “public” scientologists who come in to the courseroom.
I think that Scientology has given up on trying to get foot traffic because it produces little or nothing, and at this point they may actually prefer isolated buildings where staff and members are not confronted by the fact that passersby have almost no interest – and may know uncomfortable truths being kept from Scientologists themselves.
“25 staff for 10 people on course sounds like a location that has been circling the drain.” actually this is not a new statistic for smaller local Class 5 organization. After the early 90’s release of “Golden Age of Tech I” a lot of people grew wary and drifted off. Scientology has been sucking hot air for close to 30 years. Probably been the “norm” since that time. I recall many times hearing people inside the bubble talking about the fact that new raw meat public were not breaking down any doors because they were all PTS to the middle class and the psychologists influence in education. Scientologists are supposed to be specialists in “looking” and observing actual causes for phenomena. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“PTS”, “too many psychiatrists in the area” and “half of them walking in the door are illegal PCs”, were the go-to excuses when I was in. Towards the end I was tempted to ask them, “What about the other half walking in?” but I didn’t have the nerve. Today I do. Oh, well.
I know a little about Barbara Macfadyen. She unofficially changed her name to a Russian sounding “Staszja” (not sure of the spelling) because as a poet she wasn’t getting the interest in her work with a “plain name of Barbara.” So she changed it to Staszja and said she got way more interest in her work after changing her name. Also I know OT VIII bankrupted her. She had to beg and borrow the money to do OT VIII and came home flat broke and in debt from it. I’m not sure if she declared bankruptcy, but she sure hit up my friend for a loan because she was so broke upon coming home as a new OT VIII. He couldn’t help her because he was flat broke from being on OT VII.
A true IAS product: Penniless, Compliant, and Destitute.
Per Forbes Austin was the fastest growing US city in 2016 and this org is in the heart of that city. It’s also across the street from a university with 50,000 young and curious minds. Hmmmm something else must be wrong here.
Austin is one beautiful city! And, Helga, like you, I just can’t figure out why the U of T students don’t avail themselves of mankind’s ONLY hope! This is a real puzzle for me. Helga, maybe you can help me out…
You’re right, 50,000 curious minds, virtually every one of them extremely adept at googling. And there you see the results!
There is a mill in California that creates the furniture for the Ideal Orgs.
It is called the PAC(Pacific Area Command) Mill. Located in the Big Blue, it is staffed by RPF and people who have looked at David Miscavige cross-eyed. Like Foster Thompkins, once in charge of IT for all of Scientology. Now the only computer he works on is the automation computer for the automated milling machines that cut the wood.
Or Cliff (Skeeter) Thomas and Sarah Cupp, once working on a mix team re-recording L Ron Hubbard Lectures. Now they spend all day cutting wood and assembling furniture.
I forget what Skeeter said to Dave that set him off so violently, but he went immediately to the bilges for the rest of that Maiden Voyage Anniversary Cruise, and then straight to the Mill when we go home. You couldn’t ask for a more helpful, dedicated co-worker than Skeeter. (Yes, he is black and from a southern state so it is pretty crude to call him Skeeter, short for mosquito, but we all did and he never seemed to mind).
There is also a big mill in Clearwater, similar situation. Sure it is cheap to make furniture when the labor force works for $25 a week doing 60 hours of hard physical labor.
I remember Skeeter from my childhood… He worked on Steven’s Creek Org in 2003-2004, was always nice to me. Wanted to join the Sea Org and be like him. Oh boy…..
A little off topic, but I went to the Atlanta Maiden Voyage event last night (It was #2 of 4; I missed the first one, so sad) and have some interesting things to mention.
1. There was a lot of Colonel Webspread: I don’t know if you oldtimers of the Apollo remember this propaganda-spewing duck, but according to the event, he was a great and hilarious tool to give you guys the ‘true’ happenings of the world. It does make me wonder how people like Mike and other ex’s shed the nasty conspiracy theories of Hubbard.
2. A wonderful milestone was reviled last night: Despite being open for about 16 months, the Atlanta org has just made its 2nd clear, who also happens to be the first staff clear since the org went ‘ideal’. How they manage to keep any staff is beyond me. The promises of going clear on staff are so obviously false, and yet they proudly broadcast their failings as if they’re huge milestones. They’re tone-deaf to their own suffering.
3. 3 months ago, a woman in the Atlanta area went clear. (She did so at Flag, another case of public-poaching) They quikly compared her clear bracket with those of the staff member mentioned above and found the numbers to be 700 people apart. (Each clear bracelet has a number on it, denoting which one in the ever-going chronological order it is. The clear bracket #1 was the first clear, clear bracelet #1257 was the 1257th person to go clear, etc) Basically, the implication is that 700 clears have been made in the last 3 months. I ask you, how is that possible? I’m pretty sure they didn’t actually make 700 clears in that time. (The math comes out to 5 clears an org over the last 3 months.) But I do have to ask how did they fudge the numbers to have that 700 gap? Plain lies? Does reselling clear bracelets to people add to the count?
4. This is a small note, but a fun one: They shared some stories of the Apollo, as they do every Maiden Voyage. What makes this and recent year’s presentation interesting is because they’re using less and less actual pictures of the Apollo every year. I guess too many people from those days have been declared.
These pictures are replaced with renactments that are obviously and intentionally produced by Golden Era Productions.
I don’t understand how Scientologists don’t question why so few good photos of the flagship and her complement are shown. (And why the number dwindles every year.) wasn’t Hubbard a prolific and accomplished photographer?
Well, there you go. Sorry this wasn’t a quik read, but I thought it would give you a little insight into the clam world.
The Clear numbers are a total scam. They allocate a certain number to each area. So Europe get 4100-4200. Africa 4201-4300. etc. Flag has their OWN allocated numbers. It does NOT mean 700 actual CLEARS it means the numbers are separated by 700. There could have been 5 clears. Atlanta 4101 and Flag 4801 and ZERO OTHER CLEARS.
Even so 700 internationally in 3 months is pathetic. 3000 a year isn’t even enough to Clear Austin, let alone the US, let alone the world.
Mike, thanks for clearing this up. I thought ‘going clear’ would be a significant event which would be duly recorded at Flag and Flag would send the bracelet (?) expedited to the Org for awarding. When I thought there may be a stat not compromised I find out it is the same as all the others spouted by $cn, just another piece of information shrouded by lies for more control.
Loved reading Cmndr Webspread in the Apollo OODs, those were the when we could laugh at our selves. Drawn by the Flag Artist, whose name escapes me, but it pops up every now and then at ESMB.
Andre Clavel was one artist. Arthur Hubbard was one. Were it either of them?
Let alone Target 2.
Mike, thanks for the reality on how clears are now counted. I would imagine that all those who’ve either left or were declared have been removed from the sequential numbering as it was done originally. That, of course, would have screwed the pooch in the latter days showing how truly badly they’re doing. Numbers, numbers, numbers; what scio is all about. Perhaps the word “fake” should precede the word “numbers”. In truth, they’ve not a clue as to how many anything they have. Miscavige, you are *such* a fraud!!!
thegman, get with it. Nothing is fake, nowhere in the Church of Scientology is there fraud.
At times, there are alternative facts. Repeat after me: “Alternative facts”. Practice that.
It’s been noted that they were giving out clear numbers in the 65,000 range at several different orgs last year. Whatever the vagaries and inaccuracies of the system, that at least gives a general idea of how few clears they have certified in over half a century.
Around 1980 I “went Dianetic Clear” on the Dianetic Drug Rundown as it was called and which had recently been released. I’m pretty sure my number was in the eight thousands which might have reflected the “old” way to clear (power, power plus, clearing course, something like that) plus a bunch of “new” clears such as dianetic clear and natural clear.
Maybe they think mentioning such a small number of clears reflects how spectacular it is? lol
Anyhow, I was single when I split and traveled around a lot. Somehow the only cert which managed to survive was my “Minister Certificate” which I still have.
Yours Truly,
Reverend Richard
Hey Rev! Is your church, “The Church of What’s Happening Now?”
If so, that’s pretty bitchin’.
25 staff – 2 1/2 auditors (probably 1 course sup & 1 C/S). So, 20 staff doing paper work and 4 or 5 people doing something that MAKES income. THAT is a recipe for success.
Average staff pay for Austin Org = ~ ¢50 per week.
Really? 50 cents a week? I was thinking it was 25 cents a week. If you gave them 50 cents a week, the staff might get uppity…
Sorry OSD. It’s the Pollyanna in me..
“….First I was surprised and then I saw that the posters weren’t actually for the movies at all – they all had the names and photos of donors. And there were two huge floor to ceiling lists of the various donors taped to the door of the meeting room with the label “Statuses.” Not a word about auditing. ….”
It’s the promise that people pay for. Hubbard’s voluminous hyping promises of Scientology, never delievered (no “OTs” who can soul-fly at will, for example) leads them in that direction of the never delivered promises.
Hubbard at the end of his own life couldn’t even deliver successfully to himself his own OT 7 Solo NOTs medicine and get rid of his most troublesome “body-thetans”.
Everyone has to read Lawrence Wright’s final chapter, and see the DVD “Going Clear…” and hear Sarge tell of Hubbard’s final months.
The orgs naturally WILL be empty, that is the accumulated net result of L. Ron Hubbard’s legacy of hyped hopeful soul-powers improvement “religion angle” religion.
Hubbard admitted in KSW that the only trouble orgs have is not delivering. He was wrong. Because he DID deliver his own tech to himself, and he admitted he’d failed.
Hope sells, and selling hope administratively with a huge ethics system and administrative system props up this failed soul-crackpot-therapy-Xenu’s-“body-thetans”-exorcism-quackery.
“hope sells” bingo. That is a succinct explanation as to why the scam appears to still hold some people inside the bubble of confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance.
How can one get this article and pictures out to all the folks that donate all this money? Tell me how Or what I could do?
I suppose this is the Million Dollar Question….
Good question Marie. The IRS is the single largest reason (maybe the only real reason) that money continues to flow into this “money making” organization can continue to rip off US citizens.
They don’t care. I guarantee you, they don’t care. It’s their look-how-I’m-helping-society hype in their own heads without having to actually do anything for society, all the while maintaining their sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves or some such. When it all comes a crumbling down then they can claim, “we didn’t know” or some other bullshit like “the SP’s won.” ???
I’m worried for the person who shared this story. Isn’t he/she worried that this will get back to this Org and he/she will be immediately identified? What a sham of a story this Org’s members are being told! Why can’t they figure out what this poster pointed out – that if the reason why they aren’t growing is due to aesthetics….then aren’t they wondering why they should just put in new carpet and repaint? They can’t be this gullible, right? At some point they HAVE to see what an insult they are being fed by the Co$!
There’s a point where it’s no longer about what’s true or right or good or honest. Cognitive dissonance is pretty iron clad. It can’t be reasoned with. As many times as I have tried in my head to reason with my son, I run into this brick wall of cognitive dissonance.
I mean look at Lori Hodgson! She actually was able at one point to talk to her son for about three hours and tell him what is actually going on and about the physical assaults, etc. He is still disconnected from her. Look at Mike Rinder! He was actually able to talk with his brother for a bit and tell him about the beatings, etc. Nothing. Zip. Nada.
Scientology causes Cognitive Dissonance. It’s a Scientology disease. And it’s very, VERY hard to cure.
For the 75 year old woman? I was thinking the same thing! Isn’t she going to be in a lot of trouble?
Poor thing. Wish we could just go and scoop her up! Hell. All of them. Bring them on down to the detox center where they will watch movies and read about this cult.
I guess in a perfect world.
Stop dramatizing. If she is upstat, she will get plenty of cat food. If she is downstat, she will get an adequate amount of dog food.
No fish food?
No Marie dear. The 75 yr old woman is likely 99% a lost cause. I’m worried that if this story gets out to that Org, that the person who shared the story will be identified. Unless they are not in the Co$. But, why would they tell a wog their plans, ya know? I’m assuming they are still “in”.
Oh. Got it! At first I did think you meant the story reporter, but then thought…no…lol.
Trust your first instincts?
Thanks for your patience!