Scientology had this 116 page "rebuttal" magazine ready to distribute in Clearwater on Sunday immediately after the Tampa Bay Times bombshell dropped. It had been prepared and printed well in advance, with staged photo shoots and 116 pages of PR fluffery and outright bs ready to drop without the inconvenience of having read the article. In fact, it arrived in Clearwater mailboxes Monday morning, so it was mailed even before the article was published. A large percentage of the magazine consists of flowery pages of "I am a Scientologist" stuff. This is basically a rehash of what is shown … [Read more...]
Clearwater Politicians Weigh In
An interesting follow up piece by Tracey McManus quoting reaction from members of the Clearwater City Government to her bombshell expose from yesterday. Unsurprisingly, the Clearwater politicos don't have much to offer in terms of how this happened to their city, what they think it means or more importantly, what they are going to do about it. They have been overwhelmed by a far more sophisticated and well-funded opponent that doesn’t care whether they hurt anyone’s feelings as long as they get their way. Politicians in Clearwater in the last couple of decades have been more concerned about … [Read more...]
Scientology Has Bought Clearwater
Tracey McManus' meticulously researched article dominating the front page of this morning's Tampa Bay Times is a bombshell. I doubt many people in Clearwater realized just how complete scientology's takeover of the downtown is. This is why I have been supporting and promoting Mark Bunker for the city council. Scientology ALWAYS Comes First Why Elect Mark Bunker? And the urgency of this is further highlighted by a passage in the article. For the non-residents of Clearwater let me give you a little background that is explained in the article. It concerns the dispute … [Read more...]
Scientology, Lying and the FBI
Recent articles at Tony Ortega's blog and the Tampa Bay Times recount the stillborn scientology FBI investigation based on FOI documents obtained by RadarOnline. There is not much else to say about the investigation itself, it has been covered at length by Tony Ortega, the Tampa Bay Times and Lawrence Wright, first in his New Yorker article then more extensively in Going Clear. What is interesting is to look back at how scientology responded when asked about the investigation in earlier years. A number of people who had been interviewed by the FBI (including me) had confirmed that an i … [Read more...]
Going Clear Emmy Sweep
It was a rough night for Dear Leader. First, Going Clear was presented an Emmy Award for best documentary, best director and best writer. Bam. Tons of media coverage about it. But I loved the quote at the end of this article: Regarding a possible followup, Gibney noted, “There’s a lot more material already that I’ve received, more to come out — and so far the IRS has not revoked its [tax-exemption] protection so there’s a lot more to be done.” Alex Gibney is a REAL champion of human rights -- not because someone handed him a certificate that says so after he handed … [Read more...]
Scientology: “You Are Being Watched 24/7”
In light of recent events, I thought it might be appropriate to repost a couple of videos. These were originally posted on Marty Rathbun's blog in December 2012. They are pretty self-explanatory. The first two show one of the earlier iterations of "you are being watched 24/7" video surveillance the church set up on my house. I realized this was the case when I received an "anonymous" letter warning me not to talk to my neighbor -- which was a sort of "WTF?" moment where I asked myself "How does anyone know I spoke to my neighbor"? From there, it was not hard to figure out where the … [Read more...]
Scientology Shitstorm
The Tampa Bay Times has just put on their website the latest story on human rights and disconnection written by Joe Childs. This is a must read for anyone interested in the subject of Scientology that puts the lie to the church PR that there is no such thing as enforced disconnection. It will appear as the feature story in the Sunday print edition, but went online just as the sheeple were filing into Ruth Eckerd Hall. You should also read the 25 page order from Judge Waldrip in the Monique Rathbun handed down today and now on Tony Ortega's site. Judge Waldrip hoisted the church on its own … [Read more...]
The Sad Story of David Miscavige’s Twin Sister
Joe Childs of the Tampa Bay Times filed a story about Denise Miscavige this evening. You can read it here. Perhaps more than anything, it exposes the hypocrisy of "true believers" who have absolute certainty that they KNOW the answers to all problems in society. The quotes from sworn testimony cited in the article highlight just how unreal this mentality is. I hope this is enough to wake Denise up. And I hope she comes through this OK -- she was the first auditor I ever had in the Sea Org at St Hill in 1973. Her brother (Dave, not Ronnie) is going to rain scorn and hatred upon her for " … [Read more...]