Sydney is pitching some "stories" about bookselling. "Matt" is apparently a pro who knows how to make a sale by overcoming objections. I have included the whole promo piece here and circled some specific points of note. His technique for overcoming objections is to just lie: As you can see, part of the pitch is the lie that L. Ron Hubbard was an "Engineer" who "travelled a lot in the East as a teenager." Definitely NOT an "engineer" and he traveled a bit in the East as a teenager, though being "exposed" to buddhism is a sleaze, he was also … [Read more...]
It’s a White Christmas at AOSHAfrica
They claim the AO in Joburg is part of their drive to do help bring about Ron's prediction that the next great civilization on earth will spring from Southern Africa. Of course, these words are taken as literal truth, though they were clearly just an attempt to ingratiate himself as he was in S. Africa at the time, just like his pronouncements about the wonderful job the apartheid government was doing (though he may well have believed that). What is so corny about this is that they present this idea that they are building the next great civilization on earth with a straight … [Read more...]
Miscavige Playing Footsie With Clearwater
Another recent story from Tracey McManus, Scientology's David Miscavige discusses 'partnership' with Clearwater recounts a recent meeting between Miscavige, the Mayor Frank Hibbard, the new City Attorney David Margolis and new City Manager Jon Jennings. It was typical Miscavige, all smiles, handshakes and positivity to try to persuade the new guys in town that he is a nice guy. Just wait until he doesn't get what he wants. Stefani Hutchinson covered the reporting on her excellent blog: Miscavige's Fresh Start: Not New, Not True For someone who has never been a scientologist, … [Read more...]
Episode 66: Dr. Willy Rice Pastor of Calvary Baptist Clearwater
We welcome Dr. Willy Rice, Senior Pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater to the podcast. Willy has been one of the few community leaders who has taken a strong, public stance against the abuses of scientology. We talk about the influence of scientology in the community and the lie that you can a Christian and a scientologist. Below are the documents we talk about in the episode. The infamous OT VIII document scientology claims is a forgery that contains the following passage: [T]he historic Jesus was not nearly the sainted figure has been made out to be. … [Read more...]
CCHR Racist Hypocrisy
In every aspect of scientology, the hypocrisy runs VERY deep. They accuse others of "hate" while perpetrating it themselves. The rail against human trafficking while engaged in human trafficking of Sea Org members every day. They shout loudly about anti-Semitism while supporting and promoting some of the loudest anti-Semites. And here they are again. Complaining that the APA's "recent apology for its support of structural racism understates psychiatry’s racial human rights abuses and its long history of instigating racism..." CCHR thinks their apology is inadequate. Frankly, … [Read more...]
Jim Dincalci
My dear friend Janis Gillham Grady let me know that our mutual friend, Jim Dincalci, passed away this evening. I am publishing Janis' eulogy, but also wanted to add a few comments of my own. I became friends with Jim when we were both assigned to a short unit from the Apollo on the island of Madeira in 1974. We were the only two males out of the 7 members of the unit, so we shared an apartment. We also spent most of our work days together as the women were all off doing surveys of tourists as part of a plan Hubbard had to ingratiate ourselves to the Portuguese government. We became close … [Read more...]
Mad Hatter John Mappin Still Raving
Both Tony Ortega and I have published previous stories about crazy hotel guy John Mappin and his wife Irina. They run the very creepy "castle" in England from whence they spout their fanatical following of Donald Trump even though they are not US citizens or residents. Mad Scientologist John Mappin At It Again Now the dynamic duo are promoting Trump's new social media platform as part of a bizarre rant about Suppressives (sent out in almost unreadable white on black text which I had to enlarge and screenshot to make readable). These clowns mirror the … [Read more...]
Mr. Self Importance
Captain Dave the Hermit, isolated in his Truman Show world, is steadily becoming more unhinged. The image of the letter below was posted on Facebook. To begin, apparently he thinks a letter from himself is something of a work of art, all fancied up like one of those dime-a-dozen proclamations Mayors hand out. I can't really tell if that image inside the "D" is supposed to represent an outline of his profile and bouffant? Whatever, it's pretentious any way you cut it. Like this is some great work of art. Then there is the "substance" of the letter itself. Mr. Know-It-All as put … [Read more...]
Scientology and Litigation — the Real Truth
Among the many falsehoods perpetrated on the STAND League website are a series of FAQs where they try to present the image of scientology as victims of predatory, greedy litigants ... It's a typical fable that gets off to a rollicking start: During the history of the Church, some individuals sought to make money from unfounded allegations, but the Church successfully defended against those claims. It's a false premise for a number of reasons. There have been successful litigants -- notably Lawrence Wollersheim and Julie Christoffersen who were awarded multi-million dollar … [Read more...]
“Dr.” L. Ron Hubbard on Germs and Vaccines
Crackpot scientologist Carole Eddington sent around an email with some collected "wisdom" from "Dr." Hubbard about germs and vaccines. The guy who said not smoking enough cigarettes is the real cause of cancer, has some other interesting medical advice about how germs don't exist and that the "first 100 soldiers admitted with smallpox in WW II had all been vaccinated." It gives a pretty good glimpse into the mindset of a true-believer. To any outsider, this is just Hubbard being Hubbard: making up stories, theories and lies. Unfortunately scientologists buy it as gospel. If … [Read more...]