The always on-the-ball Tracey McManus has filed a new story about downtown Clearwater, the City Council and scientology. It would appear that the recently elected city officials have had a bit of a wake up call. The conciliatory language they were spouting a few months ago when they were trying to get elected about how they intend to "work with the church of scientology" is now being replaced with expressions of frustration. Tracey's reporting in the Times has been documenting the massive buy up of downtown real estate by scientology and scientologists for years. The alarm bells should … [Read more...]
Scientology’s Latest Harassment of Mark Bunker — Why It’s Important to Re-elect Him
You may have seen the recent article in the Tampa Bay Times: Scientologists stole Clearwater council member's campaign signs police say Tony O covered it on his blog. I have some other points to note about this incident. The response from official scientology spokesman Ben Shaw is remarkable but unsurprising. In a statement to the Times, Scientology spokesperson Ben Shaw said the church does not comment on elections or candidates. “This is not a Church matter and is not something we were aware of,” Shaw said. “Any attempt to involve the Church is simply a continuation of your anti- … [Read more...]
Clearwater Election: Why Mark Bunker?
A recent article in the Tampa Bay Times highlights why it is so important to re-elect Mark Bunker to the City Council and not either of his opponents. Neither of these candidates opposing Bunker have any understanding of scientology. Mike Mastruserio: Quoting from the Times article: Mastruserio said he considers revitalizing downtown the city’s most pressing issue. In a campaign flyer, he stated: “Scientology continues to hurt our city’s reputation, handicap our overall development, especially downtown.” He said Bunker has not done enough to address Scientology’s … [Read more...]
The Latest Judicial Tragedy
I have not had much time to dissect and comment on the order from Judge Barber in the Baxter/Paris case, sending them to scientology "arbitration," so this is a bit stale. I was prompted to do this now by the request from the p[plaintiff's lawyers to certify Judge Barber's ruling for appeal to the 11th Circuit. The quirks of the system do not allow an appeal from his order -- as it has not technically ended the case. It is now "stayed" pending the so-called arbitration. But because of the important and unique issues this order presents, they are asking the judge to certify his order for … [Read more...]
Exposing Scientology’s Latest Clearwater Takeover Plan
Another excellent piece of investigative journalism from Tracey McManus in the Tampa Bay Times yesterday: Email detailed plans to obscure Scientologists role in Clearwater project No wonder scientology spends so much time and effort trying to smear her -- accusing her of being a bigot and a hater. It's all they've got. Her stories are carefully researched and documented, and in this case she has a smoking gun email. Her story details the land grab ongoing just north of downtown Clearwater, spearheaded by an Arizona real estate developer named Rodney Riley. He is a newcomer on … [Read more...]
The Black Bag Department
Reposting earlier posts during my vacation. I may do a YouTube piece about this, as it fits with the general theme of scientology Fair Game and disdain for the law... I just wasn't able to get one put together before I left. Marty has been doing a good job of exposing the unalterable policies of the church concerning dealing with perceived enemies. One aspect not much discussed is who are the "outside professionals" hired to do the dirty work. And while there is a lot that is done by Sea Org OSA staff, Class V (local DSAs like Mark Warburg and John Carmichael) and public … [Read more...]