Every week in the Thursday Funnies we see promotional pieces for the latest Freewinds “seminar” about making money.
I usually make some snarky comment about them. Frankly, they have become pretty tiresome.
But there is a more important point to be made than pointing out that the Moneywinds is consumed with trying to suck money out of people to the point where they are pretty much full time running seminars designed to teach people how to make money — so they can then get it from them as most people have run dry and do not have enough money to make it up the bridge.
The larger point is this. The Freewinds is the best proof that scientology is not expanding — despite the 46X, 63X, straight up and vertical, more expansion in 5 years than the 5 decades before combined etc etc statements that gush forth every time Miscavige takes the stage for one of his events.
This ship was purchased and launched in 1988 to deliver OT VIII. Exclusively. They bought something that would meet the demand and have some room for expansion. Maybe to be outgrown in 10 years. Instead, they have steadily regressed.
First they added “OT Hatting Courses” as they could not get enough people onto OT VIII to cover the costs of keeping the ship afloat.
Then they added “OT Debug Service.”
Still didn’t do it. They started doing “Officer Training School.”
Not enough.
Then it became “Officer Training School” for public — the “OT Competence and Leadership Course.”
And they started adding “weeks” — like “Italian Week” and “Kids Week.” Still couldn’t keep their heads above water.
So they began promoting that OTs should do the Purif and Objectives on board.
And now, in addition to all that, they have moneymaking seminars literally EVERY WEEK.
The bottom line is this: after nearly 30 years they cannot come anywhere near filling the Freewinds with OT VIII’s. Or even OTs doing “OT Hatting” and “OT Debug Service.”
Instead they try to get anyone they can from anywhere they can to do anything they think they can sucker them into, just to have SOME people taking services that they can reg.
How with all this “massive international expansion and people moving up the bridge faster than ever” can the head of the organization devoted to delivering OT VIII have enough time on her hands to conduct seminars attended by some lower bridge scientologists from Taiwan or Russia?
If Elon Musk succeeds in building that giant 10,000 ton 2-stage Mars rocket, then Miscavige might take all his billions to another planet.
Unfortunately the project is very unlikely to be ready in his lifetime.
This is the cursed ship my Ex, Sherwood Ball had a stroke on and eventually died. Apparently there was no doctor on board. He was with Vicky Norton, who has a reputation of sleeping with men to get them signed into Scientology and she sure did that, she was his FSM. I do not have all the details, he disconnected from me ( of course!). If anyone has any more of the story I would appreciate it.
By law, all cruise ships must have a doctor on board at all times.
Mike,Google or Wikipedia changed your photo again. They’re using one from https://mikerinderisaliar.wordpress.com/
If you are using the Chrome browser, you can click on the image, then at the bottom in small print it says “Send feedback”, you can click on that, and you should get a pop-up box that says “describe your issue or share your idea” with an option to ‘include screenshot’ – in this way you can request a photo change, you might want to supply the link to a better photo, perhaps from this blog. The are a few other options as well, don’t forget to click “send” when you are done. Maybe we can get it set to permanently link to the photo here. – T.J.
Thanks T.J. will do.
Getting the SS Mesothelioma was the biggest dumbshit move that the Dwarf ever made. The moment he got it, he immediately set a competition in motion that, thanks to his own policies and those of L. Fraud, he couldn’t stop. The only way that the Failboat could make money was to process OTVIIIs. The only way they could get OTVIIIs was if they had a supply of people who finished OTVII. All well and good so far.
Except…there wasn’t a supply of people who finished OTVII. Why? Because of the Flaggots. They needed to keep their stats up by having people come in for their every-six-month sec check and colonoscopy. That’s how Flog was making its money. Why should it shut off the money valve by having someone attest to OTVII? And the people that did attest to OTVII were the ones who threw up red flags on their credit checks, so they didn’t have money to move on to the Failboat.
If you want proof of that assertion, look at what happened when Stupid Power opened. A whole bunch of people who’d been “on the level” forever suddenly attested, people like Fudgie the Whale, Toxin Moxon, and NANCY CARTWRIGHT BART SIMPSON. The reason why this happened was because Flog thought it had a new source of income, namely the suckers coming in to feel the Oiliness Table and run around a glowing pole in the dark, so they could let the OTVIIs off the hook and let them advance. Whoops. That was a bit of a miscalculation. I think we’re all surprised that GAT II: Electric Boogaloo For OTs actually let those attestations stand. Flog’s income is down the shitter, and the supply of new OTVIIs has dried up again.
So the Failboat existed purely for the reason that since L. Fraud had a navy, Davey wanted one too. It was also a good place to get certain Sea Borg out of the way. Notice that Sharron Webber’s been there forever. So has Captain Daddybear. They get a free pass from the constant pressure of Keeping Up Stats since they maintain the “theta environment” of the Failboat. There’s no one coming aboard for the purpose that the thing was bought for, so now it’s holding a pair of conventions every week in November to help people make money so they can funnel it into Scientology. And no one’s attending those either.
Actually, I feel a bit sorry for the people aboard the SS Mesothelioma. They’re aboard a ship that can’t move because they can’t afford fuel. The ship’s past the end of its working life and is starting to crumble to pieces. They have no use on land, otherwise they’d be at Flog or at an AO somewhere. Their primary representative on land is the man who won second place in the DM Lookalike Contest, Harry Potter. And no one wants to go to their conventions because they’ve finally word-cleared the term “captive audience”. Time to go down with the ship.
Espi, actually DM started the “out tech” 6 month sec checks. Because Int Mgmnt sucks its $ primarily from what Flog makes. It was a convenient way to keep them under control & paying during the long process of 7. That isn’t as easy with the VERY short Oat Tea Ate. THAT is the real reason for the 6 month checks on 7.
Since it is all the same kitty, it doesn’t really matter whether the idiots give their $ to Flog or the Mesothelioma. The ship was needed at the time to help cement DM’s popularity in the S.O. and with the public.
SS Mesothelioma still makes one hell of a prison if nothing else.
The ship of fools……
reminds me of this great tune
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXbY8o6O7PY
The mystery ship that never ends.
The fw has to be junked! After fifty years and a lot of “renos”, the rust bucket would be towed to e.g Brownsville, Texas for its final scrap session.
If it’s DM who makes the decision it’s likely to be towed to India or Bangladesh for scrapping.
“After fifty years and a lot of “renos”, the rust bucket would be towed to e.g Brownsville, Texas for its final scrap session.”
Nobody wants it for scrap as it’s full of asbestos, too much trouble and too toxic just like RCo$.
Much of the hull was toast in 86 when I came aboard. Worse, the previous owners operated like it was no big deal.
For instance, there are 4 pumps that can pump out the main rooms in the engine room.
The first time we went to sea we had a broken sea water valve on generator 3. Since it was below the deckplates we could not see where the leak was. When the water was at deckplate level the ship was heeled to port so we could find the leak. You guessed it, none of the bilge systems worked. I was.down there trying to get them to work. The piping was full of holes so when running one of the only pumps still working all one pumped out was air.
The main bilge pump in the AC room; the best pump on the ship didn’t work. Upon investigation, I found that some of its internal valves were missing; when you took the cover off there was nothing there. They had used steel studs which had been eaten away.
Oh, no problem, just put on another valve. They never wondered where the last valve went.
Shall I tell you where they went? They went into the cylinder and after 3 or 4 valves go into the cylinder there is not enough room for the moving piston and it broke in half when it slammed into all this junk on the cylinder. We had no spare piston so I had the welder cut me some plate and I machined another piston on the lathe. It worked and 2e pumped the water out but not before the oil and water (oil floats on water) and the steam lines on the boiler room were smoking from the oil on the hot steam pipes.
Mike – excellent post!
Scientology is dying. The Angry Gay Pope recently did a video showing that the Delphi Academy, a scientology school in Santa Monica, has apparently gone out of business:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhPWbCacgeQ
We are witnessing the death rattle of the criminal cult of Scientology.
Visitor, that was the school for the children of West Side whales. Not surprised it closed as those whales are VERY old now and any Missions in that area LONG ago died. No scamologists live around there anymore. They died or left as their money was sucked out of them by regges.
Sadly, for those eager seekers after truth, anxious to secure their eternity on a luxurious Caribean cruise, the ‘Freewinds’ isn’t going anywhere at present:
FREEWINDS docked at berth/terminal Curacao Shipyard at port WILLEMSTAD at 2016-10-14 14:47 Local Time (2016-10-14 18:47 UTC)
Not quite what John Masefield led them to believe:
Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,
Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores,
With a cargo of diamonds,
Emeralds, amythysts,
Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores.
Andrew
BRING FORTH your MONEY and GULLIBILITY. Now that’s truth in advertising!
Sharron looks like she’s been on the RPF and missed too many meals.
Get that lady a hamburger!
“Mr” Webber? They still do that?
As the COFSSO she is a Lt Cmdr and should be addressed as “Commander”.
I personally thing “Reichsfuehrer, would be a more accurate title. I should know , I was her last husband before Ken Weber.
She knows what she wants and has no compunction in getting it.
I think that we were divorced almost 3 weeks when she married Ken.
And as something that should be in the Guiness Book of World Records, when Sharron and I went to get our marriage license, her former husband Scott Kimball went with us in the cab as he was getting married again.
The official got confused looking at our papers. He knew these could not be Sharron’s divorce papers as they were the same papers as the couple preceeding us.
Finally Sharron told him that the guy in front of us in line was her ex-husband and obviously had identical divorce papers.
They call them riceburgers on the fleecewinds. And when you go ashore you graduate up to beanburgers.
Yo Sharon,
Where’s the beef?
ans: Our beef is with you! When will Oh Tea Niner be ready for delivery? No, not just the set ups ………..the real deal so we can finally achieve the whole planetary thingy!
Love this comment!?
Cracks me up
I am glad that you can laugh about it.
I was married to Sharron for 3 years.
Glad she’s still alive though. When we were married in Oct 93 she told me he doctor told her she had 6 months to live.
Well, I guess I lived a little longer than I was supposed to.
I apparanty was HIV+ before I married Sharron but no-one knew it. She was sent for testing and tested negative before I was even told that I had tested positive.
That was good. Take it from me, it is a long slow painful way to die.
The 58 Club at 58th and Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis. They do a really beautiful thing called the Juicy Lucy.
Make me a Barron Sharron …..on the rocks…….please!
Juicy Lucys are a local speciality of the area. The last time I had one was at a bar/restaurant in Rochester. I’ll be heading back there in late March, and I’m definitely hitting the same place for another.
The Money Winds has not been able to financially support itself for over 25 years. I was the Treasury Sec for the Flag Service Org (FSO) for 7 years. I can tell you that it is the money brought in by the FSO that keeps the Money Winds in business. One of the Money Winds last big con jobs to try to support itself occurred about 20 years ago when it sold OT 9 & 10. It didn’t matter that there was no OT 9 & 10 or even any concept of what might be involved with delivering them. Would they take 4 weeks, 4 years, who knows. That didn’t stop them from taking millions of dollars from hundreds of OT 7s and OT 7 completions. Of course after years of no OT 9 & 10 people started getting restless and a bit noisy. Along comes NEW, NEW, OT 7. All the “completions” need to go back on the level “to do it right”. This means these public need to get back in the hamster cage at the FSO where they will be constantly drained of money for the new course, more case supervising and tens of thousands of dollars worth of security checking every 6 months. One problem. These “completions” have already unloaded their money to the Money Winds “pre”paying for shit that doesn’t exist. These public need the money to go to the FSO. Of course the “pre”paid money has long since been spent by the Money Winds. All that financial liability was “paper transferred” to the FSO to make good on with delivery. So if a person had $75,000 on account with the Money Winds, they now had $75,000 on account with the FSO. Just one small way the FSO has kept the Money Winds in business. Its ironic that the Money Winds would charge anyone for advice on how to be financially successful.
I say it’s time for Dave to do an Ideal Fleecewinds. Get one of those Cunard Line 12 story units to handle the demand.
Yo Dave,
Whaddayasay good buddy? Bout time to move on up a little higher to make room for the demand at the top of the bridge. Hell, you could even throw in a running track in the bilge where your sand box is located and watch the resurgence of cause emanate from your holiness. Do it Dave, you are the only one who can!
An “Ideal Org is one which brings in money but has no cost to management.
I was close to an ideal staff member. I produced for many years and then they buried me. But it looks like some grave-robbers dug me up. When I was in the S.O. it was O.K. to rob people as long as you turned the loot into the org.
But whoever robbed the grave failed to return my corpse for orderly disposal (which was org property to the org.)
Instead they let me loose to wreak havoc (I hope).
So the Fleecewinds now teaches ‘creative bookkeeping’? Hell the Fleecewinds is creative bookkeeping. Same as it ever was……Thanks Matt, I’ve noticed all the non-OT 7 & 8 ‘seminars’, but I didn’t know that the ship of fools was almost never a money maker.
Such a con game! It was your interview, Mat, that convinced me of something I suspected. That I was being “qualified” and conned. That my TE had NOTHING to do with my case but what the church thought I could pony up. And being that I have a “Patsy” sign on my back, a mindset of “just get through it” and a husband that will do anything for me – BINGO. Dollar signs. I got so much auditing I did not need or want and that’s not even counting the sec checks.
This church is so fraudulent it’s obvious to anyone but the DOJ or the FBI, but then they are just plain incompetent.
Anyway, I digress (It’s late, and I’m a lightweight who’s had one too many, meaning two drinks.)
Thanks, Mat, for answering my question: Who floats the Freewinds?
So, Mat, does Flag floats other orgs besides the Freewinds and who, if anyone, floats Flag? The IAS? and how do you think they are doing financially?
McCarran it isn’t that the FBI, DoJ or even “wogs” don’t see the charade. It is that the Founding Fathers wisely decided to NOT create a nanny state where people are rescued by the government from their own foolishness when it comes to religion. They knew there was greater harm and bloodshed when a state imposes its will on The People in this matter.
A thorough course in world history will teach you the same.
Human Rights Violations are still not legal no matter if you are protected under the First Amendment or not. Believe me, I catch your drift and can even agree that it was mine and many others own stupid faults that we got into something that could take our kids, incomes or friends.
Aside from that, I would like to say something really obscene to you. You’re offensive.
Why does Miscavige continue to put money into the empty ideal orgs when he could use some of the billions he is sitting on to buy a new Fartwinds?
A big new shiny boat would be just the thing to convince the whales that Scientology was growing.
Plus it would give Dave a new fundraising goal.
People might actually be interested in going on a
nice boat.
I’ve never understood why they continue to keep The Minnow (2) afloat this long.
Psst….Dave, I’ve got a secret……you can’t take the money with you
Chee. It is basic sound finance which Davie is following. A ship LOSES value over time. Real Estate GAINS or at minimum, retains value.
Mike W,
That is an excellent point and reminds me of the old joke ‘what are the best two days in a boat owner’s life?…. The day he buys a boat and the days he sells his boat’
You have to figure Miscavige knows he can’t possibly spend it all in the years he has left (which can’t be many given the way he smokes and drinks)
Plus he is going to need a large enough boat to hide out in international waters when he has to go on the lam.
Kind of like his very own seafaring Bluebird motor home
So why not use $500,000,000 of other people’s money so he and Tom Cruise can admire each other at sea in their golden years and talk about how powerful they are!
No need for him to hide on a boat. There are lots of islands for sale, fairly cheap, that are beyond the reach of US jurisdiction. He can simply decide to move the location of the CoS H.Q. to one and live there in extreme luxury for the rest of his life while legally drawing a huge salary in addition to his current wealth.
People tend to not look at how other religious leaders in the US have operated in the past. DM’s personal take so far is pennies compared to the really big religious fish in America
Glad Sharron Weber can take a little time off from face-ripping her staff to give a seminar. (I have heard first-hand accounts of her face-ripping prowess.)
What is obviously needed is a Model Ideal Titanic to replace the Freewinds in order make room for the vast numbers of $cientologists to soon demand services that only the ship can offer. (As soon as SMP begins broadcasting.)
The Titanic? Whoa, little buckyroo! With all of their massive, epic $ monumental expansion, they’re going to need the Queen Mary II. And I’m not even sure if that’s enough space…
That’s a fantastic suggestion! Send that rust bucket to the bottom of the sea, with every Sea Orgy malcontent and downstat old-timer aboard, then collect the big insurance settlement! Maybe even capture it all on video as these “brave” Sea Orgyist martyrs sink to their watery graves after the ship’s torpedoed by the evil psych navy. Then, every year thereafter, instead of a Maiden Voyage event, they can screen The Sunset Cruise of Freewinds – Martyred for the Cause! So epic, monumental and ginormously spectacular an event that no one will ever notice that no new ship has been purchased with the insurance money. Instead, Oaty 8 will now be made conveniently available at an AO near you!
Since publicly reporting honest stats that would actually support (or *gulp* invalidate) claims of exponential success in clearing the planet will get you declared in the wink of an eye, it’s almost impossible to estimate accurately exactly how close to “straight down and vertical” the trend line for these key success measurement stats (i.e., number of well done auditing hours and auditors training completions) has become. Fortunately, since Oaty 8 sits at the apex of the processing pyramid and is only delivered aboard the Fleecewinds, calculating the number of folks who are making it all the way up The Bridge to Other-Determinism and Total Financial Ruination is a whole lot easier to estimate! Indeed, if $cn was thriving and expanding as claimed, then not only would Oaty 8 be the one and only service delivered aboard, but a whole fleet of new ships would have long since been required. Instead, there remains but one ship of fools to fleece the fast-faltering number of rich and gullible! Watch for its literal or figurative sinking soon, as its increasingly serious failure to thrive in its original mission becomes harder and harder to avoid “obnosing” 😉
KSW, y’all (Keep Scn Withering)
You know…maybe we shouldn’t give DM any ideas…
Just such a wonderful comment.Your observations are always interesting & you are so right,if all of Scientology is expanding especially the upper bridge lol where are all the Shiny new cruise ships?!Over the rainbow & down the other side.such a scam.?
Whether you are an international banker, leader of a country, self-appointed pope, or other two-bit criminal, the essence of any “Con” is “confidence”. In the currency, ideology, ethos, or whatever the kool-aid de jour happens to be in your articular racket…..er, game.
As is happening across the world, people are loosing confidence in droves. One only has to look at the media circus that is presented daily to see that the “leaders” are out of control and circling the wagons…..as above so below.
Mr. Dylan perhaps predicted it best…..”It’s a hard rain going to fall…”
I came into scn in 1988 and I think the first event I ever attended was the Maiden Voyage – the actual one not the endless anniversaries. I was pretty blown away by the wins and the fact they actually had a luxury cruiser (haha). The hall for the event, by the way, was packed. It was also the start of me going a bit off the rails. It made such an impact on me, that for years after all I wanted to do was OT levels. I did all the grades, but that was just dreck to get out of the way so I could do OT levels.
To this day I believe scn has some interesting stuff in the lower grades – yet I denigrated it all at the time because, well you know what I wanted. Today, my opinion has completely reversed. OT levels are absolutely crap. I thought that even when I was on them, and wished I could do more grades stuff. My scn career also ended on the Freewinds. 22 years later and I’d managed to avoid the Freewinds, but out of the blue a friend offered to sponsor me a trip. As I’d by now blown OT7 and had to appear for a ‘free’ handling at Flag, I accepted. Freewinds was my single biggest disappointment in scn (of many, believe me). It was just another org, but tied to a wharf from which it never budged. I may as well have been on the Congo River as the Caribbean.
The course itself was crap, but the food was good. I duly popped in to Flag afterwards, and blew that ‘handling’ too. As with everything, money (notwithstanding it being a ‘free’ service) always hovered just beneath the service. However, I am proud that the trip cost me virtually nothing. Being 75% out by that time, I’d recovered the ability to say ‘NO!’.
Dr mac, I believe you have a Ph.D in ‘NO’ saying.
Suppose they told the truth?
Say What?!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
I feel a disturbance in the Force…..
They could trade that bucket of asbestos bolts in for a pontoon boat and it still would have plenty of room.
They must have peaked with the OT 8’s in the 90’s. After that there was almost no one left in the pipeline. It is a small ship as far as cruise liners goes. That they cannot make it viable shows how small scamology really is.
The tropics is about the worst climate for a sea going vessel as the warm, moist, salt laden air gets into everything and starts destroying it. The maintenance costs just to sit at dock will be very high indeed.
When I was a kid I noticed on visits to Northern California that cars within a half-mile or so of the ocean would display corrosion on their cromium-plated bumpers. I’d have to check, but I believe the chlorine in evaporated seawater would combine with hydrogen to form gaseous hydrochloric acid which can pretty much make hay of any metal and most other materials used in building a ship given enough time.
Maybe we should all dress up as pirates (Arrrrgggggggg) and storm the SS Fleecewinds, to scare the shit out of them! I mean, how much fun would that be! WooHoo!!!
I would not even have to dress up. Just them recognizing me would scare them after they sent me to my grave 16 years ago.
It is a miracle they are even around albeit in a zombie state.
You mean to tell me there’s a state called Zombie! How bitchin’ is that!
Perhaps that’s why they need to redo objectives all the time. Bashing teeth out against walls and doors is painful, even for the mind dead. Socially is bit embarrassing too, having to do renos all the time to cover up the snotty smears on the walls.
From what I understand, they have to replace the walls every day…
Good point Mike. Additionally, the few victims that still manage to arrive and do OT VIII, 4 out of 5 of them end soooooo disappointed (or sick with a bad disease) after doing the ‘first OT Level’ that won’t even dare ro return no matter how good the seminar sounds.
A wrong why from Miscavige=a sure decline of the cult
Silvia, I watched a short promo film regarding an OT8 completion. His voice level never changed. He never smiled. It seemed to me that he just wanted to get it over with.
That image has stayed with me since.
That’s true. I know a few 8s and their faces are more or less set and it’s very easy to upset them if you stray from their accepted subjects or emotional responses. They guard their mindset at all costs, and that includes against family, friends & work colleagues. They redefine the term, “familiarity breeds contempt,” and take it to new lows. The easiest social play there is to police those close to you, especially children or those dependent upon others.
It sort of follows the mindset of a few other “cult” type group pursuits. Communist military and policing/governmental doctrines accept no individualism whatsoever but without doubt the Scientology cult sets new standards of absurdity in volunteering and paying for that form of brainwashing.
Wake-up isn’t in their dictionary but ‘standard’ is.
+1!
Only a few unlucky people make it up the Bridge and based on the “science of knowing how to know” – these people would claim Ritz crackers and cheese whiz “cleared” them and gave them super powers if $cientology $old it.
Whatever $cientodollatry $ells…a few will buy it…
and THAT is what Keeps Sciendollatry Working..
well, along with the sleeze bag attorney’s and private investigator’s harassing anyone who tells the truth about the snake oil $alesmanship-ness of $ciendollatry!
Wognited, only a small % of people are that easily hypnotized. That’s the reason for the low ratio going from Into to OT levels. The VAST majority quietly or, not so quietly, stop participating. It has ALWAYS been that way. By the mid 70’s the number of people who had advanced purchased services but NOT taken them (and never did) FAR outnumbered those participating in the scam.
What about the science of knowing how to ‘NO!’