We are very excited to welcome author, playwright, performance artist, actor and icon Kate Bornstein to the Fair Game Podcast this week. For those unfamiliar with Kate, she is a prominent figure in the Trans Community. I have known her since the early 70's when she went by the name Al Bornstein, in fact Lt. Al Bornstein, in the Sea Org on board the Apollo with L. Ron Hubbard. We talk about Kate's history in scientology, its homophobia and transphobia, how scientology attempts "pray the gay away" with auditing, Kate's disconnection, her books and a lot more. She is an … [Read more...]
Canada – The First Ideal Country?
Hold on a second. The scientology definition of an "Ideal Country" is all EXISTING ORGS with "ideal buildings"... This is what they push all the time. We need an "ideal USA" -- that does not mean an ideal org in every city. It doesn't even mean an ideal org in each State. It simply means, all the orgs that ALREADY EXIST need to have new buildings purchased for them (or in the case of Toronto and Los Angeles, simply renovate the one they have -- which STILL isn't done in Toronto). Scientology hasn't opened a new org anywhere in recent memory. By this definition, the following COUNTRIES … [Read more...]
Such a Deal!
They hawk a lot of really dubious stuff in the scientology world -- from $5,000 Easy Bake Mark VIII Sooper Dooper meters to "state-of-the-art" "Clearsound"CD players (?) to worthless "limited edition" prints of Hubbard sci-fi art. But there is perhaps nothing quite as useless as the "Hubbard Administrative Tech." For the "cheap", special holiday price of only $1300 you can get 12 volumes of secularized Hubbard drivel all for yourself. And for the very reasonable starting price of only $195 per year, you as an individual can buy the right to actually USE the "technology." And if you … [Read more...]
Episode 10: Attorney Ray Jeffrey
We have another real treat this week, Leah and I talk with Ray Jeffrey. I will add the episode here as soon as it is available. As most of you who come here know, Ray was the lawyer who took on representing Debbie Cook and her husband Wayne when they were sued by scientology for allegedly breaching their agreement not to speak out about their experiences in scientology. It was a huge ask as scientology had filed requesting a Temporary Restraining Order on an expedited hearing schedule, and of course they had lined up a small army of lawyers. They were impossible odds. By happenstance, … [Read more...]
The Aftermath Emmy Win
I wanted to take a minute to thank everyone concerned for the wonderful finale episode of The Aftermath which was recognized with our second Emmy last night. We were nominated 4 times and won twice, which is a pretty remarkable record. It takes a LARGE number of people to make any TV show, it took an especially large number of people to make a complex, live audience show like that one with a subject matter that was very difficult, and particularly in light of the fact that Danny Masterson had not been charged at the time. Let me start at the top. A&E were an amazing family to be part … [Read more...]
Hubbard on Vaccinations
Tony Ortega has run a number of articles detailing the activities of scientology "Anti-Vaxxers." This is his most recent. One of the prominent scientology "conspiracy theory" purveyors is a guy named Jim Rego. He sends out emails almost every day to his scientology friends outlining rumors about vast government conspiracies, the "Deep State", George Soros, vaccinations, the World Bank etc. etc. This time, he sent out, without comment, a quote from Hubbard I had never seen before. If this is known within the scientology world, then it explains why scientologists would be against … [Read more...]
The IAS — The Black Heart of the Scientology Vulture Culture first published May 13, 2013
See my announcement on Friday -- I am revisiting earlier posts during my vacation. Each day there will be a different one. This is some interesting history and background on the IAS. The history of the International Association of Scientologists is worth knowing. Its initial value (in 1984) as a repository of funds outside the reach of the IRS in 1984 may be debated. It seemed like a good way of protecting money. The IAS had nothing to do with the “Portland Crusade” though David Miscavige has made it part of his history now. (As a note, the "winning tradition" born in Por … [Read more...]
Happy Holidays
No matter your religious affiliation or belief, in a large part of the world, including the United States, today is a day of celebration and joy, a time to be with family and friends, to forget the day to day problems of life and enjoy yourself. I hope everyone who comes to this blog does just that. I know I will be. And I'm going to take a day off with the family tomorrow. See you again on Friday. … [Read more...]
Orlando — Flag East
They have made a big deal about how Orlando is an “ideal org”, it is also clear that it would not have happened without the Flag OT Committee. They did the fundraising. They did the files. They recruited staff. Orlando would not be ideal were it not subsidized by Flag. But now we find out the org is actually MANNED by Sea Org members from Flag! More of the ruse of "ideal orgs" on display. Scientology pretends they are in response to "public demand" and "curiosity" about scientology, which is "rapidly expanding" in [fill in blank]... The truth is that these orgs don't … [Read more...]
Why Dublin??
We keep seeing promotional pieces from Dublin "ideal org" that features people from other countries around Europe and the world. Almost every one of their "public" is NOT Irish. The absence of Irish completions in the Dublin "ideal" org is hardly surprising. Dublin only ever had a small, failing mission that was propped up by the Sea Org in order to keep its doors open. It suffered a massive blow from a legal case and the disclosure of its bankrupt condition. But why invest enormous sums in a country that could not sustain a single mission? There are a couple of possible … [Read more...]