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Mike Rinder's Blog

Something Can Be Done About It

Scientology is “Not At All Intimidated”

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  Big, bad scientology is not at all intimidated by me and Leah. They are absolutely NOT scared... How do we know? They put it on social media. That's amazing. This is an organization that claims to have millions of members in "more than 200 nations," with "more than 11,000" organizations worldwide, and the numbers are growing by the second. It also admits to having "billions" in assets and has dozens if not hundreds of lawyers and PI's on its payroll. And yet they feel the need to announce they are "not intimidated" by two individuals who have no organization, wealth or army … [Read more...]

Visa Problems for Scientology: Less Human Trafficking as a Result?

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This recent article  appears to spell trouble for scientology's Sea Org recruitment efforts. For decades, scientology has exploited the immigration laws to bring foreigners into the country under the guise of them being "religious workers." In fact, the vast majority of those so brought in ended up doing menial jobs (housekeepers, gardeners, filers etc etc) that are NOT what this sort of visa is for. It has been a tremendously valuable "hook" to get people from Eastern Europe and Central and South America -- offering them a visa to get into the United States. It is a pretty attractive … [Read more...]

Where is Kurt Weiland, former CO OSA International?

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  Journalist Peter Reichelt has been searching for former CO OSA International, Kurt Weiland, for some time. Peter provided us with a first look at his latest reporting on the subject, which he kindly translated into for us. His persistence finally paid off:    Kurt Weiland, missing since 2007, found alive after 16 years -- a story by the German journalist Peter Reichelt, in collaboration with ANA (Austrian News Agency) Part 1: Tony Ortega published the cover story on July 11, 2023: Former Scientology secret-service chief Kurt Weiland, who disappeared from public in … [Read more...]

Salt Lake City Ideal Org is Dead — Just Like The Rest of Them

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A couple of contributors took a trip to Salt Lake City and decided to swing by the ideal morgue there.  Here is their report: It's a nice large building with reasonable landscaping. Compared to San Francisco, Portland, Sacramento, and Seattle, which all look empty, this one hides its emptiness nicely with solid brick walls. As far as location, in a town with monolithic Mormon temples of worship and large Lutheran cathedrals, this looks like a dental complex, or some non-religious building. But it does look good. There were a few cars in the lot during a prime time for s … [Read more...]

Re-elect Mark Bunker to the Clearwater City Council

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The election for Clearwater City Council is in March 2024. Campaign season has begun and the candidates are now raising funds. Mark Bunker is up for re-election. It is important that he retain his seat -- he remains the only politician in the City of Clearwater or Pinellas County not in fear of scientology. He continues to raise the issues of concern with respect to scientology trying to make Clearwater the "first scientology city."  He does not fall into the "let's all just get along" bleat of so many elected officials as a means of avoiding calling out scientology for their bullying … [Read more...]

Scientology Elder Abuse Part 2

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We just concluded our second episode with Mike Brown, detailing the abuses rampant in scientology, and especially with Sea Org members. We showed some documents during the course of the episode and I am including them here.   Rosemary Chicwak Letter to Miscavige & Cruise   Graham Berry Demand Letter         This is the list of elderly SO members Rosemary is aware of: PAC Base Elderly Sea Org Members   Glendale House “Oakridge Inn 2” (1225 Oakridge Dr. Glendale CA. 91205) This facility is a residential “Board and Car … [Read more...]

Autographed Copies of A Billion Years

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  Due to many requests, I am again making autographed copies of my book available -- you can click on the link at the left of the home page here or simply click this link. I had stopped doing this a few months ago as there was too much going on and I was not physically able to manage it. I am doing better now. The cost is $75 plus shipping ($5 in the US, $25 outside). You can write the message you want to be included in your copy. … [Read more...]

The Horror of Scientology Elder Abuse

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  This is the first part of the interview Claire Headley and I did with Mike Brown -- former Sea Org member from the Int Base -- about the abuse his elderly mother (Rosemary Brown Chicwak) endured in the Sea Org. It is a long discussion because there is so much ground to cover. We will conclude the story on Thursday at 7pm EDT. In this episode, I mentioned that I would post the names of the registrars (fundraisers) who took in excess of $160,000 from Rosemary in illegal schemes. Here they are:   Jason Hemphill – Commanding Officer of PAC Base (2012 – 2014), Cur … [Read more...]

Auditing the Gay Away in Scientology

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  Part 2 of our interview with Rachael Hastings, former camerawoman of David Miscavige, airs tonight at 7pm EDT on my YouTube channel (if you haven't subscribed yet, please do so). Rachael recounts her personal experiences as scientology tried to "cure" her -- based on the writings of L. Ron Hubbard. She explains what it was like working directly for Miscavige, including the fact that his $10,000 per day hair and make up people were not allowed to be gay, and the absolutely insanity of what had to be done to make his hair look "perfect" for photos and video. It's some batshit … [Read more...]