If you listen to any of the statements that emanate from the bubble, whether from the mouth of Dear Leader himself, or other minions, they shout from the rooftops how the “ideal orgs” are “the turning point in the universe” and “the salvation of this sector” and are “bringing about planetary clearing.”
Of course, everyone outside the bubble knows its garbage, but it isnt often we get this sort of report from INSIDE an “ideal org.”
And not just ANY ideal org, but the much ballyhooed “ideal org” in the “first Scientology city” — Portland. You will recall Dear Leader yanked their chain ribbon last year with grand announcements about how important THIS ideal org is in the Scientology world. They pretended thousands showed up for the ceremony and covered them up with potted plants and sicced mad dogs on Mark Bunker to prevent him recording the words of the Great Man.
Then a couple of days ago I posted that pitch from Jeremy Arezzini about the importance of ideal orgs supporting the IAS and how Portland was going to set the standard (or some such platitudes). How much bs was that? Massive.
That prompted a Special Correspondent to pay a visit to the Portland “ideal” org to see what was up. And to take some shots of what it’s REALLY like inside the org. Remember now, nobody shouted “SP in the building” so everyone scattered and hid (funny how all the graduates of the how to handle and shatter suppression run and hide when Tory or anyone else shows up). No, this was a tour of the building to show off the magnificent “ideal org” — apparently they have been so brainwashed about the importance of the MEST, they are not even embarrassed about how the place is empty — or maybe this was really a good night by their standards.
Here is the report and photos to follow:
We thought some of you might be curious about what the Portland Org looks like from the inside. Well, here you go!
We were given a tour top to bottom around 7:00 in the evening. And the story is: it’s a beautiful building. And they have a great view of Portland from the top deck. Of course we know what the real problem is – BEAUTIFUL MEST, NO PEOPLE!
Going down through the center of the entire building is an atrium. We were told that it cost “millions of dollars” to retrofit the building to code to preserve the atrium.
There are 6 floors in the building. On the top floor is a little coffee area, some other admin function and the outside deck. There was 1 staff sitting there.
The entire 5th floor is the HGC and Purif. We saw one auditor talking to the DofP. No sign of any PCs. Auditor admin area empty. Nobody in the Purif.
The 4th floor is course rooms. Completely empty. It is for “future expansion”
The 3rd floor – more course rooms but these are the ones in use. We saw about 12 people on course and 1 sup.
The 2nd floor is basically a café and admin.
1st floor of course is the bookstore and sterile public video extravaganza. There was a receptionist and bookstore officer but no public.
There were staff here and there wandering around the building. Maybe we saw 10-12 staff. I wouldn’t call any of it “in action”, not even close.
So there you have it – we were calling it “The Beautiful Zombie”.
Your Special Correspondent
Portland Org looks like the set for a “Twilight Zone” episode in which all humans have been disappeared. Poof!
Dave you gotta be asking yourself the question do I feel lucky. Well do ya punk?
You all moron.
You dont understand this is a church where you come to pray.
Comtemplation and meditation can not be done in the middle of a train station.
That s why our Dear Leader, our great lord, Sir David Miscavige, is not sparing any parishioner money, to give us the quite environment we need to attain nirvana.
DM bless you all.
I know some insiders in the wrestling business. Perhaps, (like Arnold) we can interest the COB in a career switch!…. Just imagine….If fame could be his exit from his current woes?
imagine Hulk Hogan, Dwayne Johnson, John Cena, The Undertaker, etc doing a new
version of dwarf throwing. Seeing how high, straight up and vertical, they can throw the Incredible COB? (through the roof?) And as a finale, finished off with the Loooongest throw…… into the trash can!
I have a feeling this could also send TV ratings through the roof too!
Anything to get the little pain in the ass out of the picture.
My first reaction to these photos of an empty org were sadness, which I would have felt many years ago.
Then I came into present time and felt great relief that less people will have their money swindled and their famies destroyed. So I’m feeling pretty good right about now.
families, I mean !
North Korea has a 47 story hotel with only one floor occupied, also empty roads, restaurants, hospitals and libraries.
Well it’s one, two, three, what are we fighting for?
Don’t ask me I don’t give a damn
Ain’t these ideal orgs just grand
And it’s five, six, seven keep pushing that fear and hate
No need to wonder why
Whoopie the church’s about to die!
The mad hatter on the wall looks a bit like DM
Covert protest from bubbleheads.
That’s what stands out to me also. There’s no life, no esprit de corps.
The Ideal Orgs’ occupancy and stats are being today similarly falsely reported to how income (postulate check era) used to be falsely reported, and the exec (Miscavige) ultimately buying the attendance/occupancy false reports, is like the execs of old who felt no other option but allow the false income postulate check era reporting, to keep up the expansion ruse.
Those are some empty rooms. I only saw one person in all the pictures that were shown.
Scott, you are right on the money. You also remind me of an experience I had a few years ago:
I was driving for my first time in any old city in Connecticut. I was lost. I was on surface streets. In the distance about 2 miles away I saw a towering castle against the sky line. It looked huge. I drove towards it since I was sort of being a tourist anyway. The street I was on I realized was taking me directly to this building. Not being used to old Catholic cathedrals I decided that must be what this building was as I was also new to the East Coast. As I approached the building it was awe inspiring in it’s grandeur. I stopped right in front of the building. I looked to see if there was any writing on the building as obviously this building seemed to communicate that it represented something very important to humanity. There was sign posted near the front door. With anticipation to read the sign this felt like a special moment in my day. The sign said: “Bingo here every Tuesday 7 pm.”
opps.My goof. I wanted my above comment to post next to a comment Scott had made earlier in the blog about Catholic churches.
Miscavige, the Ecclesiastic Dictator, has created his own trap. This renegade has taken over the Scientology organizations and stomped out of existence the original purpose for which they were formed. As the flow of new customers diminished, he conned the existing public into buying HIM large expensive-to-maintain buildings. The organizations rent and maintain the buildings for HIM. I noticed maybe a dozen students in the course room. I didn’t see any of them drilling auditing actions. Per this report there was no activity in the HGC or Purif areas. The only ones who lose are sincere Scientologists.
Bottom line? This org is not capable of even paying the utility bills on this 6 story building in downtown Portland, let alone the pay the rent from income derived from selling services. That means insolvency, eventually the lights are cut off, and bankruptcy. But wait. The orgs do not actually own their building (or even their own furniture) and the owner (Miscavige through his “Int Landlord network”) is probably their largest creditor! So, the COS of Portland could declare bankruptcy and disband, Miscavige could authorize a new local church, and continue with business as usual.
Is this a heads-I-win, tails-you-lose situation?
Does anybody know if the above scenario is legally possible?
In any scenario, local Scientologists are losing out in so many ways.
The buildings are grand but the spirit is dead.
Boy MJ you hit it out of the park! So true so true.
Straight up and vertical obliteration.
It is all really very beautiful. Excellent work on getting the photos and all the info.
I felt very upset when I saw the glass carafe and water glasses next to the solo audit space. Despite all the beauty it is sooooo back-asswards that all the emphasis is the fancy-fancy and NOT the fact that no one is there auditing! There is nothing in any issue anywhere that says water glasses and pitcher goes on a solo auditing table–it’s just glutz and overdone. You have to take a break to get a drink anyway. Stretch your legs and to go the kitchen. It registered disgust for me.
I wonder who cleans that whole huge place.
If it was filled with people getting standard tech we’d all be jumping up and down. Instead we are all grossed out by the ridiculous waste and altered importance. Straight down and vertical from the top deck through to the Atrium floor.
On a rocket ride to ruination.
Not Shown, the chincilla hand warmers and Diamond foot pads.
“Let’s clear these Portland people. Clear em right on out of the org.”
We in RTC noted an illegal Quantum meter on the hutch behind the Founder’s desk. Accordingly, COB has ordered the Founder Comm Ev’d for being Out Tech.
Grrr8!, You guys in RTC are always so good at spotting the Source of a outpoint.
All Hail COB
Hail no!
What’s the problem? It looks pretty ‘clear’ to me. Well, except for that one room that’s cluttered up with about a dozen people, but hey, that’s just one room.
Off topic alert….
I took an Easter Sunday motorcycle ride to the left coast of Florida today.
Approaching the Sunshine Skyway, the low overcast broke up to a nice sunny day, blue skies and a nice cool breeze. It was the kind of day that makes you smile inside, watching pelicans gliding by the bridge, knowing you are near the salt water.
Then I saw the huge false cross that seems to impale Clearwater right in the heart and it deflated me and, from appearances, the town, too. Somehow, the sunshine just wasn’t as bright as before.
The front of the Fort Harrison was not booming, a few folks coming and going. It looked like there was plenty of space in the parking garages.
Rounding the block on Osceola and Pierce Streets, I could hear a band playing in the pool area. I couldn’t see anything, but walls work in two directions. I assume the band was a collection of indentured servants who were just as happy to be playing rather than scrubbing a dumpster with a toothbrush. More indentured servants were probably running mai tais for the hapless customers who were trying to pretend to enjoy themselves before returning for an afternoon of sec checking and check writing.
Turning the corner onto Franklin St, I pulled into a shaded parking spot on Garden Avenue in front of an innocuous looking little building labelled “Landlord Office”. As it happened, this afforded me a direct view of the side door of the gigantic mausoleum that, I assume, is the SP (?) building.
It was noon. There was a disgorging of clones. They all looked gaunt, pale and haunted. Almost every single one lit up a smoke as soon as they emerged. About 25% got onto one of the several “Flag” buses that cycled by, but the majority walked across the street to a big parking lot right in front of me.
It was such a bizarre sight. A parking lot with a 6 foot solid fence around it, no cars and a collection of ‘smoke poles’. About 50 of these folks, in their cheap, polyester, three piece suits (or weird belted sweaters) standing around chain smoking. Any conversation was muted. No joking around. Nothing light-hearted to indicate any sort of camaraderie. They acted like people getting ready to line up in front of a wall to be shot. Then, as on cue, they all scurried back into the mausoleum and the only things left were me, the empty lot and the smoke poles.
In this day and age smoking is universally discouraged and largely eschewed by younger folks. I wasn’t shocked to see someone out for a smoke, but the whole crew? When I see that kind of smoking, I immediately think of stress – the “smoke ’em if you got ’em” image of soldiers at war. That behavior, to me, is a manifestation of the stress these people are under. Another thought was that escaping to the smoking lot is the only way they get any break and not get accused of malingering. Either way, it is bad.
There was one thing in common I saw among all of the people who were around that place, staff or customers – not a single person was smiling on a beautiful spring day.
It took a hundred miles to shake off the malaise and let the sun put a smile back on my face. Flag is not a happy place. I won’t be going back there again.
The tentacles of the toxic personality travel far.
Bystander, thanks for this report. Quite evocative and revealing.
I hope someone videos these smoking warriors! What a tiny interesting slice of Scientology Flag history!
It took me 2800 miles to shake off the malaise. This beautiful country put a smile on my face.
Nice writing. A vivid & palpable moment.
I noticed that, too – It’s on the Pro TRs sign. I was like, WTF?? So TR-1 and TR-2 come to represent all the Pro TRs. I thought if they’re gonna do that, why not put a fish and a bird on there too, and maybe an ashtray!
knows its garbage
Fix the spelling, please. That shit drives me almost as insane as David Misciavge and L. Ron Hubbard. It should be spelled “it’s” — contraction.
I think your probably more insane than them by now if its all it takes to send you around the bend…
Hahahaha…had the same thought…Nicely said.
Fix the spelling please. It’s Miscavige. Not Misciavge. Drives me crazy.
🙂
I thought it was McRavage
No, it’s McScavenge. Dude feeds off the carcasses of nearly bankrupted members.
And it doesn’t look like LRH is going to return and fix things either. Target two must be a better bet than planet earth.
How the heck did this Special Correspondent get so many great pictures from inside? I managed a personally-guided tour of an org some months back but figured my request to take pictures of every room I was shown would have been met with suspicion. What the phone/camera hidden? Please share.
Myrklix if you ever want to do something like that or even better, use something like this: http://www.hammacher.com/Product/84479?cm_cat=ProductSEM&cm_pla .
I’ve noticed that most staff members are Luddites and won’t ever suspect.
“Miss, those rocks may be pretty, but the road out doesn’t go that way” comes to mind.
Really sad – not that there’s no public there actually – what makes it so sad is the knowledge that so many decent people have been suckered into creating this travesty. Had it all come from DM’s pocket it would be almost funny.
Hi Mike,
Did you see yesterday’s “The KSW Lions” post about you? This is utter BS. I do not understand what the purpose is. Cult members don’t google for Scientology. And this blog doesn’t even show up on my London Google. I was coincidently reading it, because I mentioned them on my blog. Do you know who is writing this? Is that person working for OSA or for a private company hired by OSA? Maybe you can dedicate a post to The KSW Goebbels. How can anyone write such propaganda and not understand, who the Church of Scientology is? If someone would give me the job to write such, and some of my brain cells would still get fresh blood, I would immediately turn around and leave the cult. With Google in mind this blog is pretty much useless. Less than 5 cult members will read it. And reporters will not only click on one Google link.
No, I didn’t see it. Read enough of that stuff to consider it a waste of time at this point.
The ONLY audience for that is “seniors”, as in “Look Sir, you told us to get off our lazy asses and do something and here is our compliance report.” Usually what is said in those websites or Freedom Mags are what Miscavige has stated in his long, rambling, recorded “conferences” and some poor shlub then has to read through 100 pages of non-sequitur, contradictory statements and cull out what is “relevant” and then do it and send up a compliance report. (Funny, anyone who has been around Miscavige knows all about “complying to COB Orders” except Warren McShane and Allan Cartwright in deposition who swear under oath there is no such thing as a compliance report to a COB Order as there are no COB Orders and there are no compliance reports). He likes to see himself in print, so it counts as a “compliance” and you are no longer hounded about “complying with command intention” on that micromanaged order.
There is a strong suspicion here in South Africa, from where KSW Lions emanates, that one of the authors (there would seem to be several) is Ciaran Ryan. He is an OT8 that has committed such financial overts on the local Scn community that if he were not protected by the Church (he has had two CommEvs to no avail) he would by now be in prison.
Too many pc-folders in the auditing admin room, when really
no current auditing. So what are they doing, but maybe some
folder error summaries and/or culling folders of o/w’s in order
to issue all the new SP declares.
It’s a ghost town.
I recall the days of Book one sessions delivered on stairs and halls
at Mason Street at SFO. Nothing fancy,the place was packed with students and PC’s.
There was a temporary morgue upstairs so if you used the freight elevator you rode with a stiff on a gurney.
My best sessions were in the PC Folder archives where a board stuck between shelves of folders substituted for a table. The auditor crawled under the board
to sit on a flimsy metal chair and begin the session. Yup, went CLEAR !!!!!!
What a great comment overall. Really like this: “There was a temporary morgue upstairs so if you used the freight elevator you rode with a stiff on a gurney.” Absolutely hilarious. Comparing your comment to the “ideal orgs” of today presents a real dichotomy.
My conclusion is the temporary morgue was the ideal org.
And the SF Bay area Missions were also jammed, crammed and a damned lot of great stats and fun time experiences. Dead by 1982, never to recover.
They would need one or two full time staff just to do dusting.
Pic 15 wall plaque says its the (empty) academy, pic 16 is Pro TRs, pic 17 says ‘golden age of knowledge’…so those are all most likely ‘basics students’. Though, probably only the one sup, so any other course students would be studying in there as well. Don’t see anyone twinning though, so no metering, pro trs, STCC or HQS students.
There are 13 students on course. Can’t tell about the women, but I count 6 grey or balding heads. Don’t see any couples sitting together. Just a bunch of party-line old timers keeping the faith. Too much invested over a life time; marriages, kids, businesses, hundreds of sleepless nights of crushing heartbreak & terror over how to cover the finances from donations extracted. Or plugging away on VII, trying to stay out of trouble and the resultant expense. Too much to confront and walk away from…
What’s it really like inside an Ideal Org?
You can hear a pin drop.
Circa 1974. The Seattle Org was a big open space on the second floor of a downtown building. The different course room spaces were partitioned. The auditing room where I co-audited was near my course room and it was about the size of an outhouse. The space for the upper indoc TR’s was large and, if I recall correctly, served as well for the objectives. No, it was not “upstat” but it sure worked out just fine.
Recently I drove past a storefront in Redondo Beach that once housed the mission there in 1972. I think they’re selling sewing machines or something now. Back then it was open from 1:00 pm to 10:00 pm every night and it was almost always packed. It was fun, productive with all of us, connected by purpose and wins. It wasn’t very pretty. It was a modified storefront with folding chairs and folding tables and piles of clay donated by someone. But the tech was happening.
Seeing these Ideal Orgs, I don’t know, it makes me think of a fleet of Bentleys being used to deliver Pizza Hut pizzas. Wrong item, wrong purpose, altered importance, contrary fact, my God the outpoints roll on out.
It’s right and wrong at the same exact moment. It’s good and bad. It’s a right idea with the wrong purpose and the wrong priority. Invest $2000 in a desk or $125,000 on a reception area, but NOT into a fund that would subsidize 10 Tech Staff for a year, so that people would have wins and build momentum for a standard future.
No, DM reminds me of the great, but often maligned Egyptian Pharaoh, Peristalses the First from the Fourteenth Dynasty, who spent 35 years, using 150,000 men and women, to build at that time the World’s Greatest and Largest Outhouse. 4.5 million stones each weighing between 5 and 10 tons. A footprint of over 25 acres, with a single solid gold commode, housed in a central, equally opulent anti-chamber measuring 3500 square. It almost became the Eighth Wonder of the World, but didn’t quite get all the votes it needed back in the day.
Yes, Mr. Miscavige will undoubtedly go down in the history books as being right up with with Peristalses the First for performing a feat, that no one really ever gave a shit about.
Odd
He’ll be right at home in his golden outhouse.
It is sad indeed to see this current so called Ideal Org. I imagine most if not all the others so named are in a similar condition.
Great leaders like Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela all had a tremendous love for mankind and inspired others with high ideals and a purpose worth fighting for. Those that took up their cause gave of themselves body and soul. I can’t imagine these great individuals ever putting material wealth and property over people.
The fall of the alleged Church of Scientology is as inevitable as tomorrow’s sunrise.
Maybe your visit was during the Dinner Org and everyone was at a nearby eatery getting a much needed bite…
hmmmm …. the Dinner Org …….
A flash from the past a few words from the IGN Bulletin 44 from September 11 2001.
He of whom we shall not speak seems to have had different values via his own words,
“At times. they are hidden by the social veneer of materialism nifty cars, fancy houses.” Or, ” Look even deeper and you find mankind’s humanitarian objectives heading in the direction of MEST”, “all towards denial of the spirit”.
Maybe this is interesting, ” And what has this ignorance of the spirit and reliance on MEST wrought?”, “Likewise, we have the means to reverse the cycle of
materialism so that all is MEST and one only lives once is no longer the mantra of modern society.”
From this writing above it seems someone was talking about the big bad obsession with MEST. To me this writing from Him, that he is speaking out against materialism. I also found it interesting that the IAS is never mentioned. No requests for one to increase their status either.
However he does speak on another subject which by appearances at the time it seemed important to Him.
“Only the auditor can solve the source of aberration. That is why auditors are the most valuable beings on Earth”.
Or, “The only way they can get out of the trap is by traveling The Bridge. And the only means to accomplishing that are hundreds of thousands of field auditors”
“LRH gave us the answers. Let’s never forget the call he issued in the final sentence of Book One: “For God’s sake, get busy and build a better bridge!” We can do it. We will do it”.
No words of ‘Ideal orgs’, ‘The IAS’, Status or Reg’s begging for dollars and fundraising does not appear to be mentioned. Oh how times do change now its all about give all your money to buy a Big Empty building, what a waste, sad.
I noted lots of empty rooms until I came across what looks like a cleaning woman; architecturally, there are several more options for suicide jumps; and no people other than in a course room where (I’m guessing) volunteer “models” were recruited for the photo, although if they’re real students, God help them. Speaking strictly for me (excluding the options for suicide jumps) this really is ideal … it fits right in with my hope for the future of the Cof$.
I had the same thought about the jumpers. I hope nobody does, but I wonder if they’ll install Ideal chicken wire after the first, to prevent further incidents.
tumbleweed and the sound of crickets come to mind when looking at those photos !!!
Portland was booming 70s early 80s until the takeover. PCs waiting in reception and in the halls, – massive auditing hours being delivered, many many auditors being made in the academy. You had to get to the academy early to get a chair or else you had to hunt one down – it was overflowing 7 days a week until very late at night. The current EDs Steve Crandel and Mark Stanley were both there in the 70s/early 80s when it was booming. It still amazes me that they are still there and putting up with all the crap. It is so hard to believe that they are both so completely brainwashed, because they were both there on staff when Scientology was fun and the Portland mission was overflowing. So sad to see the state of the place now. People that were moving quickly up the bridge 35 years ago are still in the same place they were back then, with every attempt to move up, they are stopped from continuing by the takeover of the church. Sad
These EDs probably believe Miscavige when he says the downturn is all their fault. They are so fearful, they blame themselves, not Miscavige. Probably, every head of every org in the world blames himself or herself, and their people, but not Miscavige. What an implosion will take place if the members ever wake up and realize who is to blame for the drop in numbers, the bad PR, and the bad karma that infects every inch of the church of Scientology these days!
Wow, and you call this straight up and vertical? Hum, someone definitely has a BIG misunderstood and definitely another agenda.
Facts are facts. Thank you for the report.
This is the polar opposite to what I saw in the Portland Mission on the first day that Gold staff arrived for the Battle of Portland in 1985. The mission that night was packed shoulder to shoulder with people rushing everywhere to get stuff done. It was an unforgettable scene. I had never seen such a mass of purposeful activity in my entire life. Maybe some day when DM loses Monique’s case and is an orange uniform that building may be of some use. Not today, though.
Dan, I left my photos of the Portland Mission during the Battle of Portland behind when I graduated Scientology and bailed from the insanity.
There are some recent examples of which you speak. Now that the dark cloud of the ‘Dianetics and Scientology’ sign of the defunct Malibu Mission has left the Point Dume Center, the place has come to life again.
I saw your posts at Ortega’s site today and continue to learn about you (and MANY others) and your experiences in the Bay Area and Lake Tahoe. Too bad virtually everyone at Int was too busy being enturbulated by DM to learn more about those with whom they were working so hard–at spinning their wheels to go nowhere.
Sadly, because Monique’s case is a civil case, even when she wins, there will be no orange suit for the Tiny Despot. But like you I also dream big and hope for that one footbullet so big the government has to take notice and will begin hemming the pants of a normal prison uniform for him. I hold out hope that they’re watching as we speak.
With our luck they’d note his statute and he’d be tried and punished as a juvenile.
So much for “if you build it they will come.” Next brainstorm, Dave?
Saddam Hussein had beautiful palaces! His kingdom of pretty buildings did not help him as they hung him with total humiliation in front of his peers.
Here is Saddam Hussein’s Ideal Palace after he was taken out
http://img.izismile.com/img/img2/20090602/iraq_14.jpg
Looks like a slum compared to DM’s digs.
Hold on – is that Alice and the Mad Hatter in one of the pictures? Does this have anything to do with the Alice in Wonderland TRs?
Um, yes. Yes it does Lurker.
Does anyone find this hilarious and creepy at the same time?
another Time .. yeah .. but when .. if ever ..
Wow. That place is beautiful. Everything seems to be all set up and ready for major expansion.
Wasn’t there some report months ago that Portland was getting in hundreds of people a week? Don’t they have a lot of people posting deceptive ads on Craigslist luring new people into the building?
Wasn’t it supposed to just boom all by itself? It’s simple, Tom and John and Jenna and Kirsti get on all the talk shows and tell every one how incredible $cientology is, now that we have ideal MEST and they won’t feel degraded about the old sub-standard MEST. And GAG II has made so many thousands of perfect auditors who know their scripts backward and forward. And the files, oh my God the files look so upstat. It’s all just so pretty.
There really isn’t anything wrong with this picture, actually. It’s gone exactly according to plan. Dave gets to travel all over the world in a private jet, dining on the finest food, bragging about his brilliant leadership which is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt by the MEST he’s accumulated. And the whales are so proud of their contribution to the clearing of the planet and the staff stay up till 3 am cleaning the building for six cents and hour wondering secretly what the hell they are doing there. But it all looks good so who cares, at least we’ve got that and our blessed leader to thank for it.
A guy walks into the org. He’s got horrible problems with his wife and kids. He doesn’t know what to do. He watches the ideal videos, gets an ideal tour of the ideal org, talks to the ideal registrar in an ideal office and he just feels so KEY’D out by the splendor of it all that he hands over ten grand for his ideal purif and brings his whole family in to make them ideal too. Perfect. No problem. All under control.
Great comment, LDW. The thing is, if you have read any of the tax returns that Jeff Augustine has been posting over at Tony Ortega’s, they confirm that what DM has been saying is true – Scientology is indeed “growing at an unprecedented rate” over the past few years. In terms of DOLLARS, that is – DOLLARS that disappear into the foreign bank accounts and slush funds that only Das Midget himself has control over. He is raking it in as never before – so “technically,” he’s not lying.
In terms of people, new members, “clearing the planet” – and most of all, reputation, it’s a totally different story.
If anyone hasn’t taken a look at those tax returns, they are must-sees. I hope some still-ins who are feeling obligated every time they’re regged will take a look at the staggering figures.
Scientology doesn’t NEED your money. David Miscavige WANTS your money. And he won’t stop until he has it all.
Those returns don’t show any growth except in accumulated assets which is no big surprise as the only thing they SPEND money on is buildings which remain an asset. They dont give money away or pay anyone.
Miscavige doesnt want the money. It is merely a confirmation of his power over people that they continue to give money against their better judgement and often against their best interests. THat is what he craves. People bowing down before him and hanging on his every word….
A fool and his money are soon parted.
Does anyone know why the assets figure on the tax returns is written in by hand instead of typed in? I wanted to show it to someone but the handwritten figure is suspect.
Why is it suspect?
This is a copy of the record on file with the IRS? There is no requirement to type.
If you wonder whether its true you could always call Lynn Farney or Ellen Reynolds at OSA Int and ask them if it is accurate.
If I was a gambling man, I would bet on the figure being low.
I would also bet on there having been a LOT of back and forth about what figure should be reported, and it was only decided at the VERY last minute when it was too late to get the form retyped and resigned.
Agree with Mike, those figures are likely lowballed. (I wonder how they came up with them?) Which make them even more disgusting. Think about the miserable conditions the Sea Org workers live under…and then think about those accumulated assets, and the cash just sitting there, making interest. Absolutely shameful.
To paraphrase Billy Joel, Dave’s got a way about him.
A very blessed Easter to everyone, religious or not. I happen to be on the “not” side, but, I do love the concept of renewal! As a Celt (I’m Scottish), I celebrate the solstices (Summer & Winter) and the equinoxes (Spring & Autumn).
So, may this time of renewal be a wake up call for everyone still trapped inside this insidious cult. Remember, they are victims too of the madness of the evil dwarf too. May more and more break free and reconnect with their families as time goes on.
Mike, thank you so very much for hosting this blog! As more people become disaffected and reach out to read what was once forbidden to them, your blog will be a beacon of hope & renewal for a better life. And, like the story of Easter, may they rise from the blackness that has become scientology, and enter a world where they truly are free to be themselves.
And to everyone who posts here, all of your are fantastic! I’ve learned so very much from reading your posts. And remember, you never know when a lurker that’s still in (to whatever degree), might read one of your posts and have that “aha” moment! Keep up the great work, everyone!
And finally, old surfers (like me) never die. We just paddle out into the sunset. Much aloha to everyone!
Amen, Old Surfer Dude.
Hope you had a nice trip!
Hear, hear, my friend!
Well said Old Surfer Dude
Wow, that is a super nice, super empty building. 12 whole people on course. In the evening! I bet that place is completely empty during the day. So they closed CC Portland and turned Portland org into a beautiful emptiness. If I was one of the people who donated to that project under the promise that the org would “boom” I would be angy as hell.
I have noticed this several times. Ideal orgs have less active scientologists than non “ideal orgs”. I think it’s because a certain number of field scientologists get sick of the insane regging and the lies and desperation associated with the fundraising. So they lose some on the road. Then the org is done and people look around and realize that the whole thing was a farce and that the org is no busier than before they spent 15 million buying and renovating a new building. So they lose a bunch more in the months after the org opens. And a lot of these people are not “a bit disaffected”. They are totally gone, never coming back disaffected.
Thank you very, very much to the Special Correspondent who took these photos.
The truth is incredibly powerful. Scientologists close their eyes, cover their ears, run away when an SP approaches but still somehow truth keeps leaking through. Every time photos get published, every time internal emails get published, its just a little more truth that is allowed to leak out.
DM’s natural instinct to lie and cut off communication is accellerating the process. He needs to hide the truth. To do this he has to stop all visitors to his “ideal orgs” and has to make sure that in all communications to the public there are no specific thruthful statements made. By cutting the lines of communication this way, he is shrinking the activity even further. Slowly production and activity sinks down and down, and it becomes more and more important to hide the truth. But as the scene deteriorates, it becomes harder and harder to conceal the obvious.
I bet that a random sampling of other ideal orgs would show similar results. Perhaps a few more people on course, perhaps a few less. Perhaps one or two people in the HGC, perhaps no-one. But generally the same across all Class V orgs in the world.
Although it’s sad to see these orgs failing so massively, it’s important to realize that DM has his hooks deeply into the scientology world. What passes these days for scientology is actually a suppressive group that injures people it comes in contact with. The only hope for salvation is for the whole thing to go belly up. Once that happens, there is a chance that some rebuilding may occur along more positive lines.
Yes. This is the day to hope for that. A resurrection.
Happy Easter everyone here. I just finished a 2800 mile trek across this beautiful country. Here’s to new beginnings.
“The only hope for salvation is for the whole thing to go belly up. Once that happens, there is a chance that some rebuilding may occur along more positive lines”.- Totally agree. The subject is at the moment – lost. But it can be and will be easily recovered.
Sell off all the buildings, get into smaller buildings until the expansion from auditing and training warrants the move to larger quarters. Simple.
I worked at San Francisco Org when it was on Mason Street, in the heart of SF’s theater district. We shared office space and auditing rooms with mice and other critters. I am certain, those small furry mammals were the most highly processed non-humans on Planet Earth. The course room in 1978 was packed and I mean, SRO. People were practically sitting in other student’s laps to get drills done. Tone level – High. Fun level – High, Purpose Level – out the roof.
Now I look at these pictures and I have to admit, the place is nice! Imagine this space in 1978? Wow, what a concept.
This is the brain fuck that the Church has become – a beautiful place with great potential to deliver standard tech, but there’s no one there to deliver it to. I am struggling to articulate the concept of everything being 180 from what you think it is or should be.
I love you – that’s why I punched you in the face.
You must eat, so let me duct-tape your mouth shut.
This type of insanity permeates what I have witnessed within the Church for years. The gradual erosion of sanity, being replaced by a lesser, coarser mockery of what reason is all about.
Sometimes, these simple – almost beautiful images – are the toughest to confront, because of what ‘could have been.’ Good post – a little heart-wrenching for moi – but a darn good post.
Odd
Interesting that the LRH office doesn’t yet have the new e-meter in it. Or perhaps I shouldn’t mention it as staff will undoubtedly go short on what little pay may be coming this next week, being asked to donate on an emergency basis to pay the full price of a new meter for the token office.
The even sadder part is, now that such covert pictures have been taken inside an “Ideal Org” any future tourists will be made very uncomfortable by being watched like hawks to ensure they don’t take any covert pictures that might turn up on the internet, even of their very beautiful (if sterile and empty) digs. Of course, that will be due to orders from on high, because nobody inside locally has the courage to view such sources as this.
I recently visited and toured a similar mausoleum which was also quite nicely appointed, and empty. The staff member giving me the tour seemed very reluctant to ask me anything that would give him a reality as to my background, and thus be able to give an appropriate tour. So the tour was a weird, unreal mix of the standard drivel mixed with sidelong glances, wondering where I was really coming from. It seemed there was a fear of really finding out that maybe I was what he suspected, but hoping that the mest would create the effect that he was afraid to admit that he couldn’t. I know that’s a convoluted sentence, but in the presence of convoluted, contortionist cognitive dissonance, what are you going to do?
Hubbard’s office should have an old Mark V in wood!
plus the kools and the family pictures.
No – your sentence was perfectly comprehensible and portrays the exact tone and attitude prevailing at Orgs these days. They are dissembling – they know that something is wrong but don’t want to admit or give you a chance to find out about it, for which I somewhat feel sorry for them.I can’t recall being defensive at our Org in the good old days at all – we used to beat people up who came in and wanted to disrupt the place! LOL!
Were any of those students on the Academy or still on their Basics?
My first and probably correct thought is that these 12 or so students that we see in the course room are old timers that are just doing a Basic Book Course. I don’t think they have Course Sups these days with enough experience to be able to train auditors – Miscavige cancelled all that with his “blind leading the blind” false datum and “Why”.Witness the recent post where an “auditor” says to his PC in session “what’s wrong with you?” You couldn’t make it up!
I give it 6 weeks till that photocopier is out of toner and they are back to rushing over to Kinkos to do their copying again.
I don’t think, they will get into too much trouble for course rooms being empty, but what is that picture with the old Quantum in the office of LRH? They were supposed to return those E-Meters for disposal and buy the new Mark Ultra VIII E-Meter! I hope for them, Captain Miscavige will miss that picture, when reading this blog.
Beautiful, just like the other new org buildings. My org in the 70s was in an old office building, no sign allowed outside. Mismatched tables and chairs and sheetrock auditing rooms. Definately NOT beautiful … and no one ever mentioned the mest … too busy training and auditing people. One day in 1977 I found myself CSing for 26 auditors on just the Dianetic Internship alone ….that’s at ONE time, not a year’s total. And we had lots of folk on the Class 4 internship as well. We had FOUR full time CS’s in just the day org alone. In 1974 when I was org off, the CS at the time would sometimes interrupt the morning exec council and drop a big stack of folders at my feet and tell me to CS them if I wanted to see them in session. Too many pc’s to get ready for that day. THAT ‘S WHAT OUR ORG WAS LIKE FORTY FREAKING YEARS AGO! With worn out old mismatched nest. I’d be shocked if my old org has come close to graduating 26 interns in the last ten years combined. Of course this was all before Flag opened and all SO orgs demanded re-do ‘s of internships at Cl IV orgs thus invalidating org training and stealing the public. But … a subject for another time.
Yep, I remember you and SFO extremely well. Was EXACTLY as you say. Old building with no sign. We had the 4th and 6th floors. Auditing rooms were just sheetrock. And no one was just reading books in Div 6. Everyone was training to be an auditor. Amazing how so many that were there then are still drinking kool-aid and somehow think miscavige is doing a great job. And no fundraisers and no IAS!!!
Since was 40 years ago, in theory, orgs should be MUCH bigger than that. miscavige comes up with the why the “orgs are thinking too small or trying to do too little” What BS. There are many of us that know what a successful Class IV/V org looks like and we don’t think small.
Amazing that the kool-aids don’t realize that miscavige is toxic. Mention his name to a non-scn and they either laugh or ask who is it. He still has only around 5700 likes on Facebook. Charles Manson has 54000.
Sheldon,
Now that you’ve pointed this out, no doubt Miscavige and team will order this discrepancy remedied, order that staff go out and buy “likes.” This can be done, of course, and there are companies who engineer popular image on social media.
As the cramming officer, Sheldon, you were smack in the middle of all that training of auditors. And you’ll remember that we were so busy, I had to audit in the HGC sometimes as well as do my post. Interesting that you mention that there are still some folks from those days on staff now all these years later. I almost mentioned that, but didn’t want to make post too long. Yeah, I wonder what they can be thinking now. Of course I haven’t spoken to them in decades, but as you well know, in Scientology it is verboten to speak of any “negative considerations” even to fellow staff. I can only assume that like Andrew Rinder, they can only exist actively in the “Scientology Universe” by agreeing to not-is all of the decades long decline and embrace the notion that beautiful buildings (and yes, they are beautiful – the one in San Francisco is in a wonderful historic building like so many orgs around the world now) have now ushered in the golden age of clearing the planet. How tremendously ironic. The bedrock of Scientology management theory/condition formulas – stats and successful actions have been turned topsy turvey and OTs can apparently no longer perceive present time or communicate; again the exact opposite of what was supposed to occur as one goes up the grade chart. Truly, the “Bizarro World” has migrated from the old Superman comics to the Church of Scientology ….. who’d a thunk?
Lots of good, fond memories of those days, the people and the production we cranked out. A then and now stat comparison of actual products would be stunning, in more than one way. And, we did it on a shoe string budget and crapola (but clean) MEST.
Yep, that was like my Org as well. Packed course rooms, loads of HGC PCs, 60 odd staff all working hard at their jobs – not as auxiliary “BSOs” or (IAS) Regges. Place was a bit shoddy as well but who cared? No one. Oracle’s comment above about DM’s infatuation with pleasing his celebrity “members” is very true and spot on.
Unfortunately, the kids that are being recruited have not idea of what the Orgs & Missions were like in the 70s. The NY Org & Missions were booming then. The academy was full of people training to become auditors. LOTS of co-auditing going on at the Org. The Geltman Mission had no sign as it was in 3 apartments. There was an average of 200 hours WDAHs a week and 30-50 people in the Course Room ALL the time.
This is a case of history not repeating itself.
DM is going to be really pissed at the Portland Org when he looks at these photos! In LRH’s office there is a Quantum! Where is the Warehouse, oops I mean Ultra? Head must and will roll!
I found this a happy note for a sunny Sunday. It would have been terrible to see the place full of eager disciples. Each potential eager learner who was not there = one fewer person who will have to survive disconnection, poverty, abuse and disinformation, who will have to try to remember who he used to be when he gets out. May those who WERE there see the light before it’s too late.
Would have loved it when I was a true believer. Wonder if they still put a big ash tray and pack of Kool non filter cigarettes on the Old Man’s desk in LRH’s office. Think he’ll still smoke when he comes back?
No Kools. They now pretend LRH didn’t smoke. This is in addition to no family photos on his desk.
Hmm. Maybe no family photos because they can’t figure out which of his marriages to highlight? Including the wife he claimed he was never married to? Or Quentin smiling before he was stripped of all certs and eventually driven to suicide (if not murdered)? Or Mary Sue in prison garb? Or Diana, namesake of Dianetics, slaving away mindlessly in pursuit of a lost dream?
And I wonder why LRH never came back for an encore appearance. After all, Jesus reappeared shortly after his death — and Jesus was only a _keyed out_ OT.
Since Ron was the “real deal” he would have more ability than a mere keyed out OT. So why didn’t he come back?
After all, isn’t the Sea Org motto revenimus — “we come back”?
No wonder this place is idle. The e-meter on the Founder’s desk is out-tech. That doesn’t look like the latest Mark VIII Quantum E-Z Bake model to me. At least there were a few folks in the course room, more than I expected. When I was doing courses at a small, geographically remote mission in the late 70’s, there were way more people in attendance on the comm course alone on any given night. Maybe there actually are some more people in the building that we can’t see in the photos. The bananas in the cafeteria look fresh so based on that indicator alone, there must be some traffic…
Fresh bananas, apples, oranges and other snacks – so perfectly arrayed, undisturbed… I saw this, too, and my conclusion is that it was all staged for the tour. At 7:00, after dinner, at the end of a busy day in a busy org, one would expect to see only a few snacks remaining.
The Org is unlikely to be able to afford to put a $5000 meter in a room just for show.
I would hate to have to do the dusting.
That has been one of my questions all along. The Church opens these huge buildings up and sort of press gangs a larger staff into place for that event. However, since the whole strategy is like the worst strategy ever, and the business model (to generate endless fundraising and begging opportunities) is tragically unviable, no significant expansion occurs, staff do not get paid like they were let to believe they would be, attrition occurs quickly and staff size shrinks. Now we have huge building, few public, decreasing staff. So – how do they keep the buildings clean at that point? By having their diminished staff work 30% of the time on cleaning? Or are these grandiose orgs also degenerating into uncleanliness after a few weeks or months?
Well this is a sad state of affairs. That’s about exactly how many public they had on course and in session four years ago when I was in Portland helping the org out and doing recruitment. It looked a lot fuller when they had only one course room divided into theory/practical and a few auditing rooms.
To think that in all that time, they’ve moved to an even busier part of downtown Portland, had plenty of time to body route and get promotional materials out into the hands of new public, and they should have had their “Non-Existence Campaign” run with bus and kiosk ads, notices run in the radio and TV, etc. The EDs of these orgs are level-headed guys and one of them runs his own business during the days. Portland has the third highest concentration of Scientologists in the US (per my last data from 2011). So many reasons why the place should be absolutely booming and yet, it’s a ghost town.
And in the face of this, here comes Jeremy Arrezini’s stupid email about supporting Dear Leader and he has the nerve to say that one of the main functions of this empty warehouse is to be a money-generation point for the IAS. Not only is this a wild departure from any of Hubbard’s policies (which don’t talk about the IAS anywhere) but it’s also totally off-the-mark in terms of what this org should be focused on.
Unless, of course, the whole purpose of orgs has somehow morphed into being fundraising facilities to line the bank accounts of Miscavige and his sycophants. Unless orgs are being used to do something other than deliver Dianetics and Scientology. Hmmm….could such a thing be possible? Could the entire train have been derailed to such a point that now all anyone even cares about is how nice their MEST is and how much they are “flowing power to Command Intention”? No, I’m probably just imagining things.
Chris, There is no intention to deliver; actual use would make it impossible to maintain the building to Tom Cruise standards. As you have speculated, these are showcases to raise donations. As is typical for Dave, he can outsource the cleaning to a cleaning service when he runs short of seals. Once DM admits to himself that it ‘sucks to be Miscavige’, his exit plan will include selling off buildings to give the proceeds to the IAS slush fund.
I live in Portland and the only real advertisements that I’ve seen are a couple of billboards with a picture of a pretty (yet dead eyed) girl on it. The billboard has the words “Scientology: Find out for Yourself”, followed by their address. It really isn’t an effective ad at all. If you ask me; downtown Portland is a terrible place for a huge Org. They could have been far more successful in one of more hip, alternative parts of SE Portland.
Yeah…but the “hip, alternative” population is INTERNET SAVY (having grown up on it, and thus, NOT ever even remotely likely to follow some cult’s rules about how they have to give it up).
Plus– not typically too deep in the funds to “donate” department.
PLUS- not likely to take any of Scientology seriously. (Because, SOUTHPARK.)
For the love of God what are these people complaining about? The purpose is not to fill the place up. This is a compliance report to Tom Cruise. If Tom happens to be in the area he might decide to bring someone in and things have to look good. O.K. it may never happen. But just in case it does everyone in Portland should be ready. Tom, David laid down and spread his legs for you in a way that he never did for L. Ron Hubbard. That he never did for fellow staff. . Please accept David’s extreme propitiation and sacrifice. Which I am sure will be very acceptable to you. It’s you and him against the world, God knows you need to do this in first class.
Beautiful Oracle…sooo funny and true!
Dave has been stuck in a man crush ever since Top Gun rolled into the theaters way back when. I’m sure there is a secret stash of fake Air Force bomber jackets and mirrored sunglasses somewhere on the Int. Base that Dave privately visits with regularity- Your donations at work. He’s even got the testosterone loaded motorcycles to help him really dip deep into to the “Hollywood Tom Cruise” valence.
Dave better get over Tom because someday even Tom is going to wake the hell up and get over Dave. I still hold out hope that Suri and Katie might have a nutural pathway to his currently missing senses.
TO, I had a similar thought. “Portland Ideal Org – Pride of the Whales”! These are Cathedrals built so the Whales can point to them and feel good about it. Perhaps they will organize paid tours for the public?
That was F’n funny, Oracle.
I also think that we may be looking at this whole thing wrong. I mean, just think of the tremendous sacrifice that David Miscavige has made, literally foregoing helping people so that others – perhaps better equipped to help people – have posh facilities within which to do so. I predict that his legacy will be known as “The Establishment Pope” period of scientology expansion; where geographically significant monumental edifices were established so that The Church of Scientology “shall not perish from the Earth”.
I mean, look at what the Catholic Church has achieved with a similar strategy…
Happy Easter everyone!
SO sad. I visited the original Portland org a few times in the early-mid 80’s. Was really busy then.
I did notice another insanity that is the church. A humungously expensive CF folder room because they are too stupid to update PL’s as tech moves forward.
No people! MEST rules.
Having spent copious time in the advertising, I can tell you that every one of those shots was carefully staged. When every book or file is squared up and everything looks spotlessly clean, when all the foodstuffs are carefully placed, you’re looking at a staged shot where everything is “perfect” and no humans are involved. The czerch does this standardly, even when they do use “models” (read “cleaned up staff members”) and just by looking at them it’s obvious that they’re not actually doing what they are trying to make you think they are doing. All part of the fakery which the has become. 🙁
Ideal Org = ostentatious building devoid of people.
And in fact, when you look at the CGI flythroughs, post-opening pictures in the assorted mags and promo, that is exactly what is being put there: empty expensive buildings.
You get what you push, and they are pushing people right out the door. Keep it up!
Scientology ALWAYS delivers what they promise. 🙂
Wow! Makes me want to cry.
What a waste of parisoners’ hard-earned cash, when all this money collected could have been used for so much good. Here’s an “if only” (I’ve said before). If only the church could have had a leader that was benevolent, educated and wise, it could have been known as a group that helps people. Instead it got malevolence, uneducated and ignorant.
My reaction is in the same vein: sadness at it all.
I can’t even say I’m feeling any shade of Schadenfreude. (Must be the spirt of Easter.)
Having overseen some facilities, I am struck by the unreality of it all. Facilities have significant maintenance costs. Without lots of paying customers, who is going to pay for that maintenance?
These ideal orgs represent some gargantuan chickens that are going to be pretty hungry when they come home to roost.
Were you trying to say “parishioners” or “prisoners”, because it could go either way in The House That Portland Built (and immediately handed over to Int).
Happy Easter everybody! It’s a time for renewal for many people so here’s hoping more will look around the empty orgs and have a wake-up moment. All the best to you and your family Mike.
Yes, the illusion has officially been crucified. I wish everyone a Happy Easter, happy awakening and renewal.
Good news for anyone under the radar: empty buildings can’t bite!
Isn´t it forbidden to have the old Super VII Quantum meter in the Org these days? (pic no. 6)
Ideal Squirrels!
Good catch!
…..and that one’s for LRon. You’d think his be swapped out first!
Oh my, someone’s earned an extended stay in the RPF haven’t they?