Been a few interesting days leading up to Miscavige’s birthday bash.
Though they apparently sent out decoy messages that the event was canceled (maybe it was and then changed to being back on again which would not be unusual) it seems this was the “gift of expansion” that Dave wanted for his birthday. So he went ahead and yanked his ribbon to commemorate the occasion. Apparently there were dozens of security people surrounding the place yesterday as the faithful awaited the arrival of the Grand Ribbon Yanker. The stage was built and the anticipation was high. I don’t have confirmation of anyone SEEING the ribbon yanked, but it was up on the building on Friday and I suspect it isn’t there today.
Earlier someone had posted their views on the purpose of the SuMP and I saved it to publish in recognition of the occasion.
The new media center is pure bullshit. It’s true purpose is to,
1. Show the clams that Scientology is expanding.
2. Get clams to keep donating for future PR campaigns
3. Be a glitzy recruitment center for new people coming to Hollywood to be in the biz.
4. Get actors to work in the cherchs bullshit commercials and infomercials who would not drive to Hemet.
5. Get clams to donate now.
6. Have something new to talk about for current and upcoming events
7. Move all production to Hollywood so Gold can turn into a full blown prison camp.
8. Give Davy F–kavige the illusion he is a full blown movie studio tycoon.
9. Entice clam celebrities to participate more actively.
10. Try to impress the industry that Scientology is legit.
As far as needing the facility to expand. What is really needed of course is for the cherch to cop to all their crimes, pay restitution and hire a few computer social media geniuses and go to town. That’s where their money should be spent.
Scientology is dying at an accelerated pace. And Miscavige keeps fueling the sickness that is killing it.
Some quick thoughts on ABC 20/20.
1. Monique Yingling is the best scientology spokesperson since Tommy Davis. I am surprised she didn’t expire from blood loss after blasting her Manolo Blahnik’s with one footbullet after another. In the course of doing so she made some remarkable admissions. Just a few:
– of course they hire PI’s to follow 80 year olds
– being thrown in the lake in your Chanel suit would be a wonderful religious experience, whether as an individual or as part of a group
– “some” things are true about the fact that all mail is screened and the Gold base is like a prison
– and that everyone who ever says anything about scientology is doing it to make a buck (rich coming from the one person on the show that UNDENIABLY was doing what she did just to make a buck – well, a few million actually).
And what is with her blinky eyes?
2. As with most network TV “news” programs, the show lacked continuity. Breaking a program into 6 segments and leaving a “cliffhanger” to intro each ad segment and then a rehash coming out of each means there is little chance of a real story being told. Combined with ABC’s obvious concern to give scientology “equal time” resulted in a program that looked like a “he said, she said” competition with Dan Harris sitting on the sidelines prompting the participants. ABC doesn’t seem like they want to take a position and tell a story. They just like to watch a fight from the balcony.
3. The recordings of the PI’s were devastating and undeniable. Yingling looked like a fool trying to claim they were not true.
4. Miscavige did as predicted earlier and made a show-reel of testimonials of what a wonderful guy he is — by people who have never been in the same room as him. How convincing. That along with the “worker’s paradise” (like North Korea perhaps?) were the best laughs in the show.
5. Keeping with the North Korea theme – shame on Peter Schless. His POW-style video diss of Ron was both disgusting and sad. Though they tried to make it look like it wasn’t, it was just like the “statements” you see when terrorists kidnap someone and have them deliver a video message to the world about how wonderful their captors are and “down with the imperialist pigs”.
6. ABC missed the real point – the DISCONNECTION story that prompted the book in the first place. It got lost.
7. Kudos to Ron Miscavige for standing up and refusing to go along with the efforts of scientology to keep him silent. It is not easy. He knew the smears would come and due to the nature of the beast, the lies would be VERY personal. Most men his age are sitting in a retirement home, taking it easy. He is a remarkable man fighting with courage and vigor and deserves everyone’s support. There is strength in numbers. And as Leah so succinctly put it, everyone has the right to tell their story.
This is far from a complete summary of the show, I have been extremely busy of late.
While I am sure Miscavige was telling the sycophants around him what a wonderful job Monique did “she didn’t agree to any entheta” (mostly to make everyone else wrong for being incapable of even appearing on TV) – the fact of the matter is it was a PR disaster for Dave and scientology. Once again, the sinister underbelly of scientology is being exposed and its spokesperson presented herself as a sleazy liar.
And a final note and perhaps the biggest outness of all — how is it that with “millions of members worldwide” who have the ONLY “tech of communication” at their disposal and they are “the top 10% of the top 10% of people on earth” there is not a SINGLE scientologist who can appear on tv to represent scientology? Instead they have to use a catholic lawyer who is paid to speak on their behalf and looks like she has had one too many cocktails?
I am hoping Ron will be afforded more opportunity to speak and tell his story when he appears on live shows — Seth Myers, Megyn Kelly etc
Doug, thank you for your kind words and I truly appreciate your description of the Peter you once knew. Yes he was an awesome guy and I loved him deeply. That’s why I came back to the Int base after my first two escapes in 1990 and 1993–I didn’t want to leave without him. I stayed at Int for 5 more years, every once in a while talking with Peter about leaving and re-starting our lives. I hung into that hope until 1998, when I came to a breaking point with the Int base madness. But I also had to face the fact that Peter had lost himself. By 1998, he was already a different person than the Peter who had been my husband since 1978. He had lost himself. As a brilliant composer and musician, he could have easily walked back into his public music career.
As I said in my other two responses in this thread,
Peter had become a willing participant in Miscavige’s version of the Sea Org and Scientology. He could have left like many of us did. His voice to stay was mindboggling to me then, and still is, when I reflect on who I knew him to be as a beautiful, creative man and who he has become. He’s a very sad product of David Miscavige.
Michael Mallen: please see my response to aquamarine in this thread about Peter Schless. Is he under pressure? Yes, but he chooses to be. He chose to remain in the Sea Org after I left. He chooses to be willing participant in Miscavige’s sick game. Many people including me came to our senses and left over the years. It might feel better to think about Peter as being a victim of Miscavige rather than as a partner to Miscavige. But he has the same ability to get out as I did and as many Int base SO members did who refused to tolerate the human rights violations occurring there as a way of life. And he chose to stay. He is not a victim.
Thanks Karen for clearing things up, and for your honesty relating the circumstances surrounding your eventual departure. Ultimately we are all responsible for our decisions.
Quite correct Karen. It is 100% a matter of personal integrity. Peter entered Int late in the game as it were. DM and his insanity were a regular part of life. He is NOT a victim. He CHOSE DM over not being part of that insanity.
I agree with you on some points and differ on others. Yes Peter lives within inhumane circumstances. But at some point he chose to be a willing participant. While at the Int base working directly under Muscavige I experienced everything that you described, except the hole. I made two attempts to leave and came back because Peter wouldn’t leave with me. By 1998 I had enough and tried to convince Peter to leave with me. He refused. He saw things differently and I had to face the fact that I had lost him, and that he had lost himself. I knew I was losing myself but made the very difficult effort to extract myself from the madness and believed I could restore my life outside the Sea Org. Peter didn’t want to, so he stayed. So I have had to accept the fact that he is not a victim of Miscavige, but a willing participant. He will be that until he chooses to leave. I think that many Int base exes whose spouse chose to stay after they left may agree, such as Mike Rinder who lost Cathy; Marty who lost Anne Rathbun; Tom DeVocht who lost Jenny; Jeff Hawkins who lost Catherine…and the list goes on.
So while YingaLing is in her own league of serpenthood, Peter remains forces with Miscavige and it is clear what side he is on. No his motives are not like Yingaling’s, but the outcome of their actions is quite similar.
How Yingling expects people to swallow that load of codswollop is beyond me.
Schless was engaging in ‘robotic’ Shermanspeak!
The muffins and bread offering from YingaLing was an ineffective PR attempt to portray the wholesome image the cherch has always tried to pretend they have…reminds me of when Muriel Dufresne used to hold open houses at Gold giving tours to the locals, attempting to get them to believe that Gold was just a film production studio with a bunch of nice employees working there who were harmless to the community. Ongoing PR ploys to cover up the truth of what really goes on at the Int base so that people would have a hard time believing that brutality and other human rights violations occur there as a way of life.
That basket of baked goods was uber ridiculous. “See, people who are abused don;t make baked goods.”
The “worker’s paradise” expression is a lot more authentic–and a lot more telling–than Yingling probably realizes.
As a youngster, I lived in what was then West-Germany for a couple of decades. Our East German neighbors’ regime would indeed use–with a straight face–this expression, “worker’s paradise,” when referring to their country which was allegedly progressing rapidly (47x or something) to something even more utopian.
Just like the Hemet paradise, they built a wall around paradise and guarded it heavily. And whenever someone tried to “flee paradise,” they had a severe “blow drill” ready for those individuals attempting such an unthinkable thing. Many such escape attempts were recorded. However, there is NOT EVEN ONE recorded incident when workers tried to scale the wall to make their way INTO paradise!
There were many other parallels: Just like the RPF, they provided re-education camps for those who weren’t quite getting the hang of “paradise.” Those living inside paradise were –with the help of a large security force–deprived of basic human rights, their privacy and “disconnected” from their families and friends outside of paradise. The people’s spiritual ideas were subject to constant supervision and heavy-handed correction if “needed,” including trips to the gulag. Food was scarce and housing subpar. But, willingly or not, all were working toward the great utopian good.
Oh, and THEY didn’t have toilet paper either…
wow, Todd Cray –
thanks for that, really, I have to thank you again, because:
the show fell far short of presenting an image of the true picture inside the bubble of belief.
I was once inside there,
deprived of independent thought, without realizing my thoughts were indeed being firmly misguided.
And deprived of compensation for my dedicated work.
Promised auditing that never came.
Promised salvation that did not exist.
Poorly fed.
Poorly attended to basic human needs, including health and hygiene
Denied free time, personal time and recreational time.
No tv, no radio that I ever heard in our (Sea-Org like) commune.
Denied literature, education or any knowledge of the outside world.
Denied the opportunity to attend my (very last, as it turned out) family reunion.
Denied family altogether.
And told every day that i was the most valuable person on Earth, because I was a Scientologist.
For what it’s worth, I thought the 20/20 show was a masterpiece. Unlike other shows I’ve watched, NOTHING the church said was left hanging in the air, and especially good was the way Harris took Monique to task about how un-church-like it is to come at a critic with such vitriol. I think by pointing out how nasty the church is and how hard they work at being nasty, Harris completely nullified everything they said.
And I thought 20/20 pivoted to disconnection beautifully as the show went on and especially at the end with the combination of the group of exes holding photos of loved ones and Ron saying that stopping disconnection is why he wrote his book and why he’s on 20/20. And did you catch how they ended the show? They innocently asked people to opine on Twitter about whether their own religious beliefs would drive them to disconnect from family members. The show was about the father of the leader of scientology publishing a book about what a monster his son has become, so the fact that they put as much focus on disconnection as they did (and even more on Nightline) was great, to me.
Even the montage of people fawning over DM was edited brilliantly. The first clip was OK, the second clip was a little over the top and the last clip was downright creepy. This didn’t happen by accident! I think if 20/20 explicity takes a side, it makes scientology the victim. This way, scientology was given ample opportunity to present their clearly-disconnected-from-reality side of the story, which was, in effect, giving them rope to hang themselves with. Worker’s paradise? MUFFINS???? Sheesh!
I thought it was equally telling that while Ron is a man with first-hand experience, the BEST the “church” could offer as an “expert witness” was an attorney who does not live under any of these conditions and has no first-hand knowledge whatsoever. Her job is–as any attorney’s–to spin events that she did not participate in to her client’s advantage. And, as usual with attorneys, no “theory” is too far-fetched for that.
Right on. And along this line, here we have a father who brought his son into a religion who is now saying that his son has become someone else, has become an abusive, ruthless tyrant.
Now, IF these were all lies coming from the father, Ron Sr., wouldn’t the son David himself be on TV in person or via satellite saying,
“You know, I’ve always loved my father and I still do, and I’ll always be grateful to him for bringing me into Scientology because it changed my life and I’ve seen it change the lives of others for the better also. I’ve always taken care of Dad, and when he decided he wanted to leave after his many years of service in the Sea Org, I thanked him for his many contributions to our church and wished him well and gave him money to buy a house. Dad knows he can always come to me for whatever he needs. I know nothing about any PIs following him around with guns. I never hired them nor did I order or countenance such a hiring. I’m saddened by by my father’s lies about me. I don’t know what happened to him to make him lie like this, all of a sudden. I really don’t understand it. None of what he is saying is true. At the same time, I still love him, he’s still my father. I hope he comes to his senses and recants the horrible, untrue things he’s saying about me and about conditions in our church, but after all is said and done, he’s still my father and if he needs me I’ll be there for him.”
If David Miscavige got up there on TV and said conceptually this it would be a very effective blow to what Ron Sr. is saying.
The problem is that David Miscave CANNOT get on TV and call anything that hIs father is saying “lies” because they aren’t lies, they’re all too true.
But then – and here’s where it gets ironic – he also can’t get up there and say what would be a very strong defense because to defend is against Co$ policy. One must ALWAYS attack, never defend. So even if Ron Sr. WERE lying, which he isn’t, but if he were, a defense by Co$ and David Miscavige would be “off policy”. True or not true, if its not flattering, its an attack and as such, Co$ has to attack it.
David Miscavige is hamstrung on 2 counts; ) Ron Sr is telling the truth on every count, and 2) whether any of it is true or not would be beside the point anyway because his father is saying unflattering things and must therefore be attacked.
So DM sends an attorney to do a verbal tap dance, which is not going to fool anyone with even half a brain. Of course, this excepts the remaining few still in koolaid drinkers, who will be fooled, because they don’t HAVE half a brain. Having half a brain would be a good goal for them.
Thanks for your reply. Your final comment prompted something with me.
You wrote: So DM sends an attorney to do a verbal tap dance, which is not going to fool anyone with even half a brain. Of course, this excepts the remaining few still in koolaid drinkers, who will be fooled, because they don’t HAVE half a brain.
This reminds me of something. When Leah’s book came out, a scientology commenter kept reciting in several discussions how many people still watch the video of the last time Davey “confronted” the press, namely his Koppel interview. She kept reiterating (as does the scn propaganda web site) that this was an “award-winning” interview; of course, she “forgets” to mention that the award went to Koppel, NOT to DM.
What was totally lost on her was that (a) it is rather bizarre that one would have to go back 20 + years or so to see SOB engaging with the press. (b) that DM came off as an object of curiosity rather than convincing any thinking person of anything. If nothing else, the interview was a total embarassment for 4’13”. A particularly priceless moment was his tinfoil hat fantasy about Siberia USA and the successful fight that CoS allegedly fought to stop it (The law passed unanimously in both HR and Senate; no mention of CoS resistance can be found on record anywhere).
I for one was in total agreement with her: Everyone should watch that interview. While she was convinced that people would line up at orgs as a result to be part of such a wonderful movement, anyone with “half a brain” could clearly see that the interview achieves the absolute opposite.
Go figure!
As far as I am concerned the Book Ruthless gives a pretty good account of Ron Miscaviage personal experience, regardless of the church, saying its lies,that’s utter bullshit.
Its all David Miscaviage’s way or else. so it seems and has been for years .
Some day will come he will be sorry for what he turned the church into and even if for now he continues to blame others, and contiune’s to degrade human beings He will at some point pay, alive or dead and it will remain with him in his grave The fact is He is on watch as His Father says and responsible for what the church its self has become But justice has to give some where down the line for many who are witness to the state the church has become and the trauma and torture many have expereinces besides Ron Miscaviage.
“5. Get clams to donate now.” The Thursday 1pm mantra of the entire clampire. The stealth ‘opening’ of the SuMP is a sign of terrible management. If it were officially opened, DM would have been there and some clebutards would have tweeted it. Maybe Davy had too much scotch with his corn flakes that morning?
“I have been extremely busy of late.” Thanks Mike, now some overpaid PI has to do an in depth report on your dietary habits and bowel movements. If Ron Sr. PIs are worth 10k a week, how much do they pay the ones watching you??
Your evaluation of ABC’s production is right on. All that extra crap did was waste time and cut their production costs. Fewer questions = less time spent getting the lawyers to approve it. It reads just like the ID Channels ‘murder mysteries’.
Dan Harris is no Leslie Stahl (CBS 60 Minutes). CBS bent over backwards to allow the clam rebuttal and in doing so let them hoist themselves on their own petard. Did Blinky Yingling really use Morse code to spell out ‘Save yourselves, it’s too late for me’?
It strikes me that “sump” has a particular meaning and that DM has done it again. From my puter dictionary:
a pit or hollow in which liquid collects, in particular
• the base of an internal combustion engine, which serves as a reservoir of oil for the lubrication system.
• a depression in the floor of a mine or basement in which water collects.
• a cesspool.
I would surmise that the last one – especially – describes scio today. LOL
Oh Monique Blinkaling. What a fool you made of yourself. I hope your soul was worth the price DM paid for it.
“Blinkaling”. That’s terrific!
Yingling is the first tax attorney I’ve seen doing PR work, but it does make sense: She is protecting the gravy train that would likely end if the Church of Scientology lost its tax exempt status.
Nevertheless, her reptilian appearance and unconvincing performance argue that tax lawyers should restrict their labors to behind-the-scenes tax legalities.
I’ve seen Monique speak for Scientology a couple of times now. To me, she comes off as a well paid hooker who works best with a few drinks. She comes off as a bad liar, disconnected, someone trying to say whats expected so she can pick up the check. To me it is sadly funny that this non Scientology woman has to front for the big, bad cherch “leader” while he hides behind her skirt and writes huge checks with tax free donations.
I can just see her pulling David to her bosoom, patting his head and saying “Now, now, little boy. Don’t be scared. Mommy is taking care of this.”
Yes, hiding behind Mommy’s skirt. Not so tough, are you, Miscavige, when you’re called out to play with the big boys and girls? You’re hot stuff when you’ve got your big brawny guards around you, but off the reservation, not so much, eh? Despicable little creep, you’re not worth spitting on.
When you have to stealth open your buildings … You might be a cult.
When you send the people who have already made fools of themselves at LAX to defend the mess … You might be a cult.
When you are the leader of a group and send minions to lie for you in camera … You ARE a coward.
Contrast what Ron said when asked if he would forgive Dave, with what Dave’s answer would be if asked that same question. And how do you think Ron would have acted if he was informed that Dave was having a heart attack?
Dave “if he dies he dies” does not deserve to have a father. And he sure as hell doesn’t have a friend like Leah to come to his support. He’s a miserable little shit.
Monique Yingling isn’t a Scientologist right? At times it seemed like she wanted to separate or distance herself from her “client”, Like she was being more of an attorney representing an eccentric client than a spokesperson. I think only the money keeps her on it. She’s motivated by money rather than religious belief as Sea Org members are.
Just so you know, all the eyelash batting was actually exclamation tech. Each bat was an exclamation mark, just to add some emphasis on the important stuff: …….”worker’s paradise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” …….”they work many long hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” ……….”it’s not a prison!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” etc, etc.
And each exclamation point ads 47x to the truth fullness of the statement that preceded it.
I think that is more than slightly amazing that instead of a staff/SO spokesperson to represent CSI in a media expose (such as Mike Rinder or a much less capable Tommy Davis) the “Church” has to rely on a tax attorney who specializes in representing non-profits in administrative hearings before the IRS!!!
When I read Yingling’s bio it appeared that the “Church” had hired the legal talent to protect their tax-exempt status, which one day, hopefully, will be reconsidered by the IRS.
I said this on The Bunker, but the thing that stuck out to me so much was the emphasis the church put on the fact that DM & his sisters gave their father a car for his birthday. And what kind of car? was it a BMW like Dave’s? or an Acura as has been reported he likes? no. it was a goddamned Ford Focus. (which, btw, Ron Miscavige is STILL DRIVING, since they showed him with it in the show.) Really? They’re going to make a big deal out of giving him a Ford Focus, after everyone in the Sea Org was forced to buy DM a BMW? if I were Ron, I would have made a remark about that… but he seems the type of guy who is grateful for what he has and the only bitterness he seems to have is due to the disconnection of his daughters and family. which probably makes him a better person than me. He came across as a decent guy who’s made his mistakes and has made his peace with them, unlike his son, who would never openly be interviewed by anyone because his appalling behavior and lies would be on display for the world.
What’s wrong with a Ford? I love them. Even the old Ford Pinto. (Which form some reason a friend used to call a Shinto.)
nothings wrong with a Ford, but compared to the 7 or 8 luxury cars that DM has sitting around, for the church to make sure that they emphasized that Ron was given a car as a gift and for that car to be an economy car is a bit disingenuous.
They gave him a Ford because he was such a horrible father. Otherwise, it would have been a BMW.
Mike, is Monique (and other Scientology lawyers) exempted from Miscavige’s verbal abuse, or will she get yelled at as well? Did you ever see her get mistreated?
This is not really a reply, just a request for your indulgence in posting. Here in the UK CoS promoter John Mappin keeps going, and has just declared his establishment of a new super broadcasting station (well, there’s a surprise). Here are some posts from here in the UK and we who don’t like Clamology would sure appreciate any feedback:-
“Any connection between Mappin’s Jeremy Bartholomew-White and a chap of the same name, Managing Director of a company accused of financial misconduct a wee while ago?
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/eb024947
The first Defendant, Scandex Capital Management A/S, (Scandex) was a Danish company, now in liquidation, of which the second Defendant, Mr Bartholomew‐White was managing director and in which he held one third of the share capital. Scandex was incorporated in September 1995 and submitted an application for authorisation to do investment business to Finans (the Danish investment business regulatory authority) in late December 1995. There was some confusion as to the exact date that Scandex commenced doing investment business but it was clear that by April 1996 it was: sending letters to individual investors in the UK, offering investment services involving foreign exchange trading for and on behalf of UK investors; had sent mailshots directed at investors into the UK; had made unsolicited calls offering forex trading services; and, had also made misleading statements about, inter alia, the level of commission Scandex was charging its clients. Significant losses were incurred by UK investors as a result of their dealings with Scandex.
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/eb024947
bayir5345, Yesterday at 1:03 PM
#5919Reply
2. bayir5345
Oh, & not having any luck finding Mappin’s new venture partner, “NQSat TV”, either in France or in London. And no Harry Chamdal of substance in the broadcasting world. Anyone else having better luck?
There are two tiers of “Scientology lawyers”, Chris. There’s the tier of lawyers who actually are Scientologists, like Toxin and Soter Pop. Then there’s wog lawyers who work for Scientology, like Dingaling and Wally Pope Smokes Dope. I believe that all of them are targets of verbal abuse. Dave can get away with it on the wogs because the wog attorneys’ retainers are what is known in the biz as Fucking Ridiculous. They get paid so much they’ll just sit back and take it.
Sorre is not a scientologists.
“Scientology is Never Having to Say You’re Sorre.”
I am really hoping that the whales and especially the non-whales start wondering where a Sea Borg of thirty-five plus years’ standing got a hundred large that he could just give to his father. A father, mind you, who is, according to L. Fraud, a DB since he blew from the Sea Org. What’s the line going to be on that one, that Big Beings like COB don’t have to play by the rules? The sad thing is that a high proportion of them would buy it.
Congratulations, Dingaling. Now you know how Mike felt when he had to peddle Miscavige’s bullshit to the media. Couldn’t happen to a nicer remora. Bitch, I wouldn’t pay you the change in my pocket and some ABC gum as a retainer. At least we know what your crime is: stealing from the parishioners.
It was very apparent that “not that I’m aware of” meant “it didn’t happen in front of me, so I can disavow any knowledge that it happened.”
It’s correllary is “Not that I recall.”
(Cf Reagan, Iran Contra testimony)
You can never be convicted of perjury if you stick to those two.
Well said, Mike. I too was disgusted by Peter Schless’s dissing of his long term friend, Ron and Peter have worked side by side as Gold Musicians since 1989, and Ron covered Peter’s ass so many times when Peter was under fire by Dave. Peter showed cowardice, not courage making that statement on national media, which had to be motivated by earning favor in Dave’s eyes and brown nosing to prove his loyalty to the don.
Sickening to see how he would throw any integrity that he might have left, out the window to turn on Ron like that. Peter and Monique Ying King have fallen to the same level of serpent hood.
I am still SO GLAD for you that you made it out Karen. That cowardice that Peter showed was not indicative of the guy I knew in the 80’s. Proof that system has beaten him down. (Probably through a lot of humiliation) I stand with you among those who were disgusted at that clip of him saying that Ron Sr was an embarrassment. My mouth dropped open the second I saw him. I kept thinking…don’t do it Peter…don’t do it. That wasn’t Peter talking. That was a smear program making his lips move. I know for FACT that Peter respected Ron Sr as a musician and a man. He told me so numerous times and he showed it. Peter respected Ron Miscavige Sr because he had the guts to devote his talent and life towards “helping LRH clear the planet”. Peter Schless was motivated by ideals. As misguided as he may have been, you can’t say that guy didn’t have heart. And I NEVER heard Peter talk disparagingly about another Scientologist or musician EVER. I worked with him and saw how he spoke and worked with others. It was not in his nature to slime someone. He would tell-give it to you straight sometimes but he was generally diplomatic. I also had more than one opportunity to speak with Ron Sr while on the Freewinds. He was direct and sometimes you were reminded he was an ex-marine, but he was a respected musician and led that band of Golden Era musicians with confidence. We shared the stage with the Gold Musicians and there were a few issues that had to be addressed with placement of speakers, etc. The person I dealt with was Ron Misavige, NOT Peter Schless or anyone else. Ron was the guy you dealt with when you had to share a stage with that band. There were lots of rehearsals, sound checks and concerts where our two bands overlapped. Ron was the Musical Director for Gold, and I was the MD for the Freewinds Band. I had plenty of face time with him and I find the churches allegations about Ron Sr preposterous. It’s all smear and a disgusting character assassination of a long time Scientologist Sea Org member who worked his ass of for Scientology and his son David Miscavige. The fact that he decided he could no longer sustain that life style anymore and wanted to live a different life IS HIS CHOICE TO MAKE. Leaving Scientology does not make a good man into a personification of evil. People leave Scientology because there is evil within. Otherwise they would stay. The fact there exists a security force to KEEP PEOPLE FROM ESCAPING tells you everything the FBI needs to know. I congratulate Ron Sr on his new life and wish him the best.
Outstanding post, Karen! What part of Ron having to escape do people not understand? For me, Ron came across as a straight shooter. Maybe we should have a “Dead Agent” pack on DM.
OSD,
Between you, Ron Sr, and David Haskins (see Tony’s blog) you guys should be the next best thing to hit Coachella Music and Arts Festival. You know, the one that has a daily attendance of about 100,000 in Dave’s back yard for two weekends.
Having known Peter, Karen, Ron Sr, and others, DM is receiving the Dead Agent treatment on a daily basis.
That warms the cockles (whatever the Hell they are) of my heart.
I disagree, Karen. Yingling is far, far, far lower than Peter. Miscavige has leverage on Peter. He can be starved, he can be beaten, he can not allowed to sleep, he can be sec checked until he loses what’s left of his mind, he can be RPF’d or RPF’s RPFed, he can be thrown in the Hole, he can be disconnected from any family he may have, he can be vilified and held in contempt by everyone at Gold Base. That’s a lot of threat to an SO and quite an inducement to forego one’s integrity and just do as one is told, to the letter.
On the other hand, what leverage does Miscavige have over Yingling? The money, of course. Her salary has to be huge. But other than that, what does he have on her? To my mind, SHE has leverage on HIM. Boy, what this woman knows, and the tales she could tell! SHE has the leverage, not him. That’s the way I see it but Mike or someone can correct me if I’m wrong.
I understand the pressure Peter must be under. He went from ‘On The Wings of Love’ to ‘In the Claws of Dave’. Interesting that his song is featured in this trailer Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
http://imdb.com/rg/an_share/title/title/tt2823054/
I vaguely recall someone saying he signed the royalties over to the Sea Org (DM?). A shame, if true.
You were the last truly competent (believable and likeable) spokesperson Scientology had.
Yingling was………………sad.
It’s just a matter of time.
As much as I like Mike now, I have to say as a spokesperson, I did not believe what he said. Particularly the ‘it never happened’ bit with John Sweeney.
But yes, there is no comparison between Tommy Davis, Dingaling, and Mike.
Mike run circles around those other two.
Mike was at least affable and professional. But not believable because we knew the stuff he was forced to say (defending Miscavige) was not true.
Tommy just seemed angry. All the time. He was in way over his head and it showed. He looked like a petulant child when he walked out during the interview with Martin Bashir.
Monique is a bad liar. She prefaced so many of her comments with the ‘as far as I know’ and the ‘not that I am aware of’ disclaimers that she came across as, at best, disingenuous.
I don’t know where she came up with the ‘worker’s paradise’ line but, if Miscavige ever bothered to listen to anyone, he would know what a terrible choice of words that was.
I really hope that someday scientology can be examined as a case study in business school on what NOT to do.
Mike and readers: You may not have heard but the church did send several people out to LA when ABC was in town filming the disconnection group people. From The Hole came Marc Yager, Jenny Linson and Norman Starkey along with Yingling and they met for some hours with the ABC crew. Here is why they did not appear in the show: 1) They refused to be filmed and 2) They refused to let ABC ask them ANY questions. Their entire purpose for being there was to tell ABC a) what a great guy Dave Miscavige is and b) what a low-life his father is. That’s it. This went on for hours apparently. One of the producers told Ron about it afterwards and his description of Yager was that he looked like a beaten man. There is all kinds of crap that has gone on behind the scenes to try and stop the show, much of which will come out at the right time. For now, that was the best Dave could do to make ABC say, “Oh, gee, I guess we got it all wrong. Okay, we’ll cancel the show. Sorry, Dave, you’re right and we’re wrong. We’re pulling the plug.” Dave wouldn’t allow Yager or Jenny to go on camera but Monique “The Reptilian” Yingling, yeah, she can speak for Dave and Scientology (as if she has ever read a single book about the subject).
Interesting. Thanks Dan.
Hi Dan. Thanks for the info.
Are we to infer that this shit storm is just getting started?
Well, they had Famine, War, and Pestilence show up for the fun. Too bad that Death was too busy hiding out in his bunker in Building 50, drinking Macallan and polishing his John Lobbs for the grand ribbon-wanking at the SuMP.
I nearly spewed my drink laughing. That was effing funny.
VERY interesting back story, Dan Koon. Thanks! I’m looking forward to this being made public when it will be correct to do so.
Right you are, Mike. I’m sure Ron will make the rounds of talk shows. And his story will travel. I’m so looking forward to it. Way to go, Ron, way to go!
You are damn RIGHT, Mr. Rinder…
ABC absolutely should take a position. Instead, the story was transformed into a dribble of back-and-forth.
“Do you forgive him?” What a chicken-shit question to be asking Ron. Dam Dam Dam and I (almost) never swear. The execs above the broadcast studio STILL have their dog-tails tucked between their hind legs,
as if a scientology lawyer was actually something to fear, actually had a valid, legal argument, one word even, to speak in defense of itself, this quasi-pseudo-church of money-grubbers- the cowardly leader posing as the real thing.
Is THAT the picture they attempted to sketch? What a miserable failure.
I wish I could be the host-commentator on an ABC show, for real. There’s a job to love, every bit as much as I love Tony Ortega. Is this war gonna be won by ONE guy? Come on, you got the spurs, you call yourselves newscasters? – let’s just tell the HONEST TO GOD story.
On Tony’s blog, someone linked to one of the Mike and Marty fishing videos where you describe Yingling as sitting in a briefing by Miscavige to kidnap the then head of IAS, Janet Light. I don’t know if your comment section accepts links, but the title of the Youtube video is “Church of Scientology Kidnapping ~~ Felony conduct in broad daylight”
thanks Villagedianne the pillager,
u-Tube
still has the post that wound up being
THE clip: re-initiating me on the topic of Scientology.
(after 30-40 years escaped), three key words:
Rathbun
Rinder
Battlefield Earth,
and look for a couple a guys with fishing poles.
Except that he, John Travolta, remains faithful to Hubbard,
(not exactly an enthusiastic spokesman, safe to say?)
you get to [hear] how Miscavige could screw up a sweet, super-deal like Travolta,-
the way only Miscavige could do.
Nice video. I just tweeted it. Wish I knew whatever has happened to Marty to take him out of circulation.
I hope both of them are doing well. Not sure why they’ve dropped out of sight. Maybe they got a big payday! I sure hope so…
When you can throw large, very large, amounts of money around you will always get someone whose greed outweighs their morals and Yingling (which sounds like the name of a carny freak show) grab the cash and damn the consequences. And Demento is not going to allow one of the robots to front HIS “religion”. He certainly won’t appear because he’s nasty little man who lives in fear of being found out that he is basically a nothing with rat cunning and as much as intelligence as a rat.
“The eyes are the window to the soul.”
I’m surprised you can see his soul, given the blackness of it.
V good points. But also, $100,000 is diddly-squat from a millionaire to one’s own parent who has given one the great gift of an introduction to Scientology, and who has worked for decades for the “church” for peanuts and no chance of a pension. It’s just enough to buy a tiny suburban house. It’s not enough to show love, care & reverence for one’s aged father, nor enough to bribe a subordinate for life. What spark of genius overcame David Miscavige when he fixed on this quasi-generous, quasi-derisory sum? Whatever it was, it clearly didn’t impress his Dad and it doesn’t impress anyone else either.
Everybody was missing this place. I was worried that something happened to you.
The blinking reminded me a Robert Durst. For those not in the know, find The Jinx The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst. It was a 2015 HBO min series documentary. It was fascinating.
I am hopeing the 20/20 will follow up with a show focusing on Disconnection.
According to Kare DLC, people were being filmed in the studio for hours.
I am keeping my fingers crossed for that show to be made.
Having spent time at the Gold Base for some years I have to agree with the statements she made about the Gold base being a workers paradise. It is a paradise for tiny pants, for the workers though, not so much!
When I was finally able to connive my way back into a higher condition I got my car back. Got up early the next morning and drove out the Happy Valley gate following the RPF bus. When I made the left that took me into Hemet instead of going straight to the gold base I had the exact same feeling that Ron Miscavage describe for his interviewer, so I know where he is coming from. My hat off to Mr. Ron Miscavage for taking a stand and of course to Mike and everyone else who has spoken out over the years!
Hi Tom. 🙂 I remember when you were KOT at NY FDN. Always dressed in a classy pin stripe suit. I always thought you were the hero of the org staff as far as looks and appeal go. Thank goodness you chose not to stay and let slouch Jerry Indurski become ED. A job he deserves. The whole Church of Scientology is a nightmare that most of its members may not wake up from any time soon with drunk David Miscavige at the helm. It isn’t my church and never really was so I am not obligated to kiss some loons ass. 🙂
“Tiny Pants?” Really? He doesn’t wear diapers anymore? That’s got to be a big step for Tiny Pants. I hope he can handle it…
I loved the “workers Paradise” it reminded me of the motto on Auschwitz’ gate “arbeit macht frei”. No, this isn’t a concentration camp. They just put people on a diet and have them do hard work and they love it. It’s a worker’s paradise. An enlightening spiritual experience.
Alexdelavera, do you realize how costly it is to for DM to have to cut out / substitute for the declared SP in training films and self-made documentaries about GOLD? So now GOLD is represented as this LIFELESS ‘workers’ paradise’. Now, nobody can be seen – presto! no need to cut anybody out.
My ‘EP’ of the 1985 ‘RPF’ was that now I could survive ANY concentration camp!
Greta P.S.: Hi to Tom P., good to hear from you!
Mike, being from Australia, but, admittedly, having been gone from your home country for many decades, and knowing full well that I’m a sick puppy, I’m surprised you didn’t call him a, “Grand Ribbon WANKER!”
My thoughts exactly. 😉
Blast! You beat me to it.
You’ve got to be very quick around these posters,Kronomex. He who hesitates….
Yanker isn’t so bad, he’s probably pulling a train.
Oh, no doubt! Wouldn’t want to be the caboose…
The result of wanking is, generally speaking, a good thing. Nothing good will ever come out of the SuMP.
GRAND ribbon???? DM has a very tiny, tiny ribbon in which to wank.
ROTFLMAO! Still laughing! Nice, CPO!
I sometimes wonder, if Christopher Hitchens were still alive, would he be taking on Scientology? Or perhaps they are too small a target for him?
He, like Andrew Sullivan, claimed to be in the tradition of anti-Stalinists like Orwell, and at least in theory, should’ve been horrified at Hubbard taking 1984 as a how-to guide.
Gore Vidal, OTOH, stated that his personal experience of Hubbard was, “He exuded evil, malice, and stupidity, but(was) perfectly amiable to talk to.”
Nah, Hitch never went after low-hanging fruit.
At this point, captain david miscavige seems incapable of telling the truth about anything.
Senior Policy: “Always deliver what we promise.”
Dave has shown over and over that his only real promise is to lie through his teeth and to always take the lowest road possible.
To have one of his minions call his father a Pig????
This from the ecclesiastical leader of the world’s fastest growing religion? It wouldn’t seem that he could get any lower, but I’m sure he’ll manage somehow.
I really admire the heck out of Ron Sr for putting himself in the middle of this shit storm. He had to know it would come to this. He’s got a lot of courage in my book. And the way Leah stepped up to the plate to support him. Too cool.
All Captain Miscavige could muster to come to his defense was a sleazy lawyer who almost makes me believe in lizard people.
Hear Hear re shout out to Ron Sr and Leah.
And can you believe what the church has deteriorated to when it comes to spokes people for the church!
LDW “…lizard people” LOL
yahoo, we got a blog today, afterall!
i had the same disappointed reactions to the 20/20 show (that were made in point #2, esp about the he-said/she-said.) i think one handicap that everyone reporting on the church shares is having to lay the foundation story out for the unfamiliar. that takes up so much time but is necessary; otherwise, the “main story” ends up sounding too outrageous to be believed. i often compare scientology to living with a narcissist, and another way they are the same is that you need to provide so much back story in order for the other stuff to make any sense that you need hours just to come to your basic point. so i suppose the producers’ hands were somewhat tied in that regard.
as for monique, what do you make of her responding with, “not that i’m aware of” or “not that i have knowledge of” when asked about Dear Leader’s abusive behavior? for everything else, she claimed it was either a bunch of bullshit or perfectly reasonable. but when asked directly about dave, she sounded like she was dodging a perjury charge. i thought that was curious and would be interested in what others took away from that.
Outstanding point about having to tell the backstory first. I’ve learned to at least flesh out the major details of Scientology before relaying the latest news flash to friends and family, otherwise it sounds just too flipping nuts to the average person.
I watched with a few folks who knew nothing and spent so much time explaining I had to rewatch it. Excellent point about the background needing to be laid.
Ps… Checked in here constantly, thanks for getting this up MR, you deserve a weekend too 🙂
this is why we need part II of Going Clear! or a Netflix miniseries.
Oh wow…interesting point about her and DM’s abuse. I have a hunch you are right and she has seen it first hand. We already know she was present/at least aware of holding people against their will. I hope she goes down with little Davey.
actually, i don’t have a theory about why she answered the way she did. perhaps her full response should have been, “i’ve heard rumors, but i never saw it with my own eyes and i wasn’t allowed to ask anyone about that so, not that i’m aware of.” blink-blink-blink
Dave,
Monique looked like you had her wired with an earpiece so you could tell her that she SCOHB while she was being interviewed.
Will staff now be required to watch (weekly) a heavily edited endless loop of Ding-a-ling head dodging questions from Dan Harris? Similar to what was required when you head dodged Ted Koppel?
I pity da fools! I pity da fools!
I wish the fools would pack up and leave…
The worst thing about the 20/20 show?: ABC’s decision to give the church of Scientology equal time via Monique Yingling.
The best thing about the 20/20 show?: ABC’s decision to give the church of Scientology equal time via Monique Yingling.
Laughing! You got that right!
You know you’ve got problems when your church spokesperson is a lawyer. And one who came off as a sleazy weasel at that. Yeah, the public must feel all warm and fuzzy now, after Yingling’s greasy performance.
I asked a never-in friend of mine for his impression of Ms. Yingling, since I am obviously biased. It was bad. He thought she was very weaselly.
One thing is for sure about the show: another nail in the coffin for the Co$.
Glad you brought that up, Roger! Everything now is another nail in the coffin. And it’s excelerating exponentially…
OSD in the name of the greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics, are you willing to give a testimonial saying that COB is a great guy? This would qualify as delivering an effective blow to the enemy.
I’d kiss the ground he walks on…
Watching the implosion is so delicious! Kinda like the muffins Yingling brought.
Implosion party favors and Yingling muffins, let’s have a bonfire party on the beach.
Surf’s up.
I’m dancin with T-hee
Just bring everybody.
Bringing muffins to “prove” the food they serve at Int Base is top quality…
Yeah, this was the comment about this I left on the Bunker this morning:
The only thing the muffins proved is there are ovens and a cookbook at Gold. Apparently the challah bread the Auschwitz kitchens turned out was amazing…
Muffins and breads are like the cheapest food you could bring too. Big whoop.
OSD, I hope that they picked the charred body parts out of the muffins before they served them.
The usual analysis of rapid eyelid movement is that the person doing so is lying through their teeth. So it is with Blinky.
I loved the ‘workers paradise’ comment. That one is a comment one suspects is going to come back to haunt $cicon for a long time.
Workers of the world unite! Come! Come I say! We have found what we have been searching for all these many years! For those of you who left the church, I beseech you! Come back NOW! The church, through their very competent lawyer, has promised us all a………..WORKER’S PARADISE! A dream come true! You’ll only work 5 hours a day because COB has everything handled. You can take time off! In fact, it’s required! Everyone gets a car! You will be paid $30 an hour. Weekends are totally for relaxing. Your parents are welcome anytime. And you can visit them anytime. Yes, my brothers and sisters, the church has seen the error of their evil ways (baby). You can even tell COB to Fuck Off, and, he has to take it. Truly, my brothers and sisters, planetary clearing is now standing at our front door of Eternity with our new, WORKER’S PARADISE!!!!!!! (Massive cheering & shouting).
My CRS is acting up again. I forgot the most important announcement: Masterbation is now recommended to relieve stress! And, your urged to do it several times a day! Truly, COB has our wants needs at the top of his list… Hip Hip……..I forget the rest.
Definitely hooray in this scenario!
Monique Yingling is in serious need of blinkless TR-0. Without needing to hear a word she was saying, her body language screamed “I’m lying.”
Yep, watch to interview with the sound turned off.
Laughing!! She was hard to listen to…
I had tickets to that show. I was backstage and ran into Ms Monique. We talked a bit and then she started to cry eyes out. She threw her arms around me not being able to speak. When she calmed down, through quiet sobs she ask me,” OSD! PLEASE! Give it to me straight! Did I lose my one chance at becoming an Oscar winning actor???” I said”Honey, Dan Harris saw right through you as did the millions who watched it on TV. I’ve never seen a greater flop in my life. Why you let COB do that to you I’ll never know. I’ll understand if I see your name has been removed from the list of attorney’s. Maybe it’s best that you move to another country…
As far as her eyes….one word…..falsies! She looked like she was wearing false eyelashes and was definitely not used to it!
It is OK to poke fun at Monique Yling Yling, she isn’t going to sue anyone for it. BUT…to sit there and stand behind David Miscavige’s decision to give his father $100,000.00 for a house in Wisconsin SHOWS the Church of Scientology is more confused than anybody else in the world. Why hire a PI to follow someone and then give the person being followed a gift? If I join the Sea Org will I get a down payment on a new house when I retire or is that only for certain Sea Org members? But why threaten to sue someone after giving the money for a new house? Does the church want the money back or perhaps the public does just not understand? The Church of Scientology is a very unpopular organization for reasons such as this and hundreds more. The world is just beginning to catch on to how this small group of people would like everybody to throw their eternities in the garbage. 🙂
Miscavige logic = knee meet jerk = Yling = public = money = perception of grandeur = scotch = apostate = ill fitting clothes = birthday, and that was just yesterday afternoon. Then the phone rings = internet = media = bad = must ring lawyers = must correct lawyers = me me me = I’m the only one who knows = look how badly you’ve misunderstood me = I’m the only victim here, and then he notices dinner is served.
Then he goes to bed, but the lights can’t be turned off no matter what he does = it’s someone else’s blunder = punishment = hole = must cover it up, ahhh more scotch = why can’t someone turn this damn noise off? … all night long… Then a new day dawns. Get’s up = what now = my responsibility always = never changes = it’s always me who has to handle etc etc. Breakfast is served.
It sucks to be Miscavige!
I don’t understand how the church can give someone $100,000–a gift? Was it taxed? Maybe the IRS would be willing to look at this one incident.
Contact them and see if they will. Mary, I’ll be honest. If you were to do that you would probably blow the lid off the biggest can of worms in world history!
Re the $100K gift from DM to dad: he said he would like to believe it was a gift cuz DM loved him and was thanking him for years of work in the SO at little or no pay. But he also said it could have just been insurance money to insure that he didn’t spill the beans and talk when he left or after he left.
Brilliant analysis Mike. Your point 2 said clearly what I’d been thinking but hadn’t been able to articulate. Thanks.
I thought Ron did a decent job of summing up that disconnection was the reason he wrote the book.
Yinglings eyes were weird! With that and constantly tilting her head she always looked like she was lying. Not good for a lawyer!
In the Nightline that followed they left out most of the good parts. It seemed like the Scientology edit. Nothing new in it that I noticed.
I suspect they just took the ribbon down, un-yanked. If it had been opened there’d surely be a press-release, at least. Another case of COB’s terminal indecision, perhaps?
Are you saying Slappy can’t even yank his own ribbon now?
Oh, but he’s the biggest yanker in the world! 😉
He can’t because he’s a wanker and not a yanker.
He can’t control his own Ying-a-ling
That’s going to cause him some trouble…
Don’t want that ribbon sitting there getting more and more bedraggled looking until whenever it is that they can manage a ceremony.
Thanks Mike. I thought Leah’s best remark on how “their pain is real” about disconnection and Ron Miscavige’s sadness about his daughters, not meeting his great grandkids, and even not seeing his son were touching and brought the show back to the subject of disconnection. Plus they showed the billboard. Yeah the Yingling remarks, right on. They did bill it as “A Father’s Tale” so I was disappointed the Hole was not emphasized, but it is Ron’s story…
I agree. My favorite line and delivery of it in the whole show.
Mike, great blog. As usual you give an informed perspective that make me view these happenings in a different like. Was wondering where you daily blogs were. Now I know. A commenter over at Tony’s site alerted me to today’s blog.
Thanks for the heads up on the media center I will have to check it out now that it’s opened. WooHoo.
Davey is now a Hollywood mogul!
The Hole is really a Volunteer Resort & Bakery. Sure the conditions are harsh (torture), but They Enjoy It – also, muffins.
Indeed! It is a “worker’s paradise” which they “enjoy”! And who better to speak for them than a wog attorney for the church who makes zillions of dollars and eats three square meals a day?
Second best line of the show.
This wog attorney gets wine or something, too, with those meals, do you see that?
This church KNOWS
how to treat lawyers.
I am Sea Org
-beans and rice,
that’s what I live on, nourished by the ever-so-sweet technology of scientology.
With it, I don’t need to think, that is done for me already. Why ask questions when you have all the answers?
And getting out of ethics feels just like paradise.
I think Gold Base is not so much a “worker’s paradise” as an anarcho-syndicalist commune. There’s some lovely filth over here, Dennis…
However the distribution of sacred weapons by strange women does not constitute a sound basis for political and moral authority.
Yes but I’ll bet that at Gold Base they don’t take it in turns to act as sort of executive officer of the week.
Barrister Yingling is doing what she is paid to do for David Miscavige
with a straight face and sound convinced that’s it’s the truth.
That comes with a very high price, I wonder how much Scientology
has paid her over the years.
I don’t think the media thing will work for the COB. Just my opinion.
Only “One too many cocktails?”
She looked totally uncomfortable lying her ass off. Oh well she probably said 7 Hail Marys this morning and all will be well in her world along with a very large compensation courtesy of unwitting parishoners.
What a sleezebag.
After her foot bullet about the Catholic Church, her parish priest may have given her penance more than 10 Hail Mary’s.
Still don’t know of any Catholic priest calling an ex-parishioner “lazy” or a “disgusting pig” and making it a public statement to a national news outlet. The Vatican has more important things to do than to concern itself with what an ex member is saying about it. Scientology needs to stop aligning itself with the Vatican (or Nazism) however it serves them. Seriously.
I’m sorry, GTBO, but must take umbrage (not sure where I’m taking it, but I’ll figure that out later). Once again, that’s an insult to all sleezbags everywhere…
Roflmao OSD
Word Mike. The Avalanche is happening.