David "Let Him Die" Miscavige responded to a recent posting on Tony Ortega's website about Paul Haggis being trolled by a "Time magazine" reporter. Page Six reprinted his response (or at least part of it). Here is the quote attributed to Karin Pouw: ‘As I told [The Hollywood Reporter] and others, no one named Mark Webber works for the Church anywhere much less in Los Angeles. There is no such IP address at the Anthony Building on Fountain Avenue–it does not exist. The entire story is fabricated.’ ‘A quick internet search does find a Mark Webber, a movie curator and writer who lives in … [Read more...]
New York Times Bestseller
Just a quick post to mention a significant byproduct of Going Clear. Everyone who buys this book gets more understanding of the abuses in the scientology bubble. I would bet that Jeff Hawkins, Marc Headley, Amy Scobee and Marty Rathbun's books are all seeing a spike in sales too. Interesting, if Dianetics were selling at all it would be on this same list. As would all the other Hubbard titles. In the midst of the massive international expansion and more interest in scientology than ever in history, with more hits on their websites blah blah blah, how is it that Dianetics is NOT on the … [Read more...]
Scientology Tax Exemption
If you have not done so already, head over to Tony Ortega's site and read his posting about Scientology's Tax Exempt status. Prompted by the OpEd piece Alex Gibney wrote in the LA Times, and with some excellent advice from Jeffrey Augustine, it lays out what you can do that is most likely to be EFFECTIVE in changing the way the US Government is allowing its citizens to subsidize Miscavige paying PI's $10,000 a WEEK to follow and spy on his father. The direction about complaining directly to the IRS supplements my recommendation to contact your elected representatives. If you want to … [Read more...]
Thursday Funnies Saturday Edition
A day or two delayed but better late than never. Especially when there is a new Regraded Being cartoon. Truth Well, in truth, most scientologists CANNOT stand the truth. See Regraded Being this week at the end of the post. Seriously, a lecture about FAC One? What's next, a seminar on Incident Two? Winning? Ruroh. The video team is going to be there... Where are they going to find anyone to put in the videos? They are so out in the boonies it needs a Lewis and Clark style expedition to find them. Nice floors though. And neat furnishings.... It's always about to happen … [Read more...]
Head In The Sand
See the new article in People magazine which reports on John Travolta's response to Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief. I give him kudos for at least being willing to speak (more than Cruise. Alley or even Miscavige) and trying to defend his religion instead of merely sending out statements from his lawyer saying everyone is a liar. But, and there are a few very large "buts": 1. He says he has not seen the movie and has no plans to do so. That it would be a "crime" to watch it. 2. He stated he hasn't had any negative experiences with Scientology. 3. He called the d … [Read more...]
SNL Parody
It is a watershed day. The single best measure of having hit the mainstream of societal relevance in the US is to be the subject of a skit on SNL. Scientology has truly hit the big time. And not in a good way. Tony Ortega has done a brilliant breakdown and analysis of the skit from last night on his blog this morning. What an Easter Sunday gift this is, no matter your religious beliefs. Except perhaps if you are a scientologist. I have watched it several times and each time I see more subtle digs. There are some people at SNL who know their scientology trivia. A fact that is … [Read more...]
“The Dead Agent Pack Was Compiled From PC Folders”
Someone sent me this email that was circulated after the original Truth Rundown series in the St Petersburg Times in 2009. That series was a massive expose -- the first major media to lay out the story of the physical and mental abuse meted out by David Miscavige, the existence of The Hole and much more. It was carefully researched and meticulously fact checked and documented. It has stood the test of time as much of what is contained in this series has been subsequently reconfirmed, especially in the court testimony of Debbie Cook, but also in numerous other stories. The church … [Read more...]
Thursday Funnies Regraded Being
As many of you know, I am traveling. I dont have time to do a full edition of Thursday Funnies. Part II will come tomorrow. You can see the interview I did with Megyn Kelly last nite here and here. There are two segments last night. There is more coming tonight. But I didn't want to deny the Regraded Being addicts their fix, especially as it is so appropriate to this week's news. … [Read more...]
Scientology Twitterfails
In light of the news that Going Clear is the biggest HBO Documentary since Spike Lee's Katrina doc nearly 10 years ago, and #GoingClear was trending on Twitter for more than 24 hours, it is enlightening to look at the scientology efforts to deal with the shitstorm. Scientology bought Twitter ads -- see this article in Adweek. Of course, this was a massive fail. Sort of like their "advertorial" in The Atlantic earlier. It resulted in even more negative coverage. They are 100% tone deaf to public opinion. And it is really amusing to see the church claiming interest in scientology is … [Read more...]
Going Clear Fallout
I was talking with some friends after watching Going Clear, musing about what Miscavige would do now. One of the participants remarked that I should put this on the blog, as people may find it interesting. These thoughts are not based on some "leak," they are merely speculation based on experience. I believe there are two things Miscavige will be concerned about following the deluge on Sunday night that was the leading edge of a category 4 shitstorm making a direct hit on his gilded beachhouse. His first concern: shore up Tom Cruise. This will be his highest priority. Miscavige no … [Read more...]