We Don’t Come Back
This is the PR line that is presented on the Sea Org. It is their motto “We Come Back.” It goes hand in hand with signing up for a billion years - we will return, over and over, lifetime fire lifetime to fulfill this obligation. Ask any Sea Org member, in fact, any scientologist and they will explain this with absolute certainty. Yet, since the formation of the Sea Org in 1967 -- more than 50 years -- there is not a single case of a Sea Org member returning to duty after their 21 year "leave of absence." L. Ron Hubbard himself is way overdue -- he should have "Come Back" in 2007. N … [Read more...]
STAAD targets Dr. Oz
Frankly, they don't have a whole lot to say about this -- but they simply cannot let any appearance of Leah Remini go unchallenged. But as usual, their flailing brings up something worth commenting on. Scientology invariably lies in their attacks on the media. This time, their complaint is this: Dr. Oz permitted Remini, a known bigot, to spread the blatant lie that the religion does not “believe in” traditional medicine and its members are thereby endangered. And then they include a quote from "STAND National Director" Bari Berger (an OSA PR person): “Dr. Oz had to go out of his wa … [Read more...]
Episode 12: Mark Bunker
This week, Leah and I have a conversation with Mark Bunker on the Fair Game podcast. Download at midnight tonight. I will add a link to the show here when it becomes available. We talk to Mark about his history with scientology, him becoming the newest Clearwater City Council member and what the future of the City of Clearwater holds. We cover the land grab by scientology so ably reported by Tracey McManus in the Tampa Bay Times "How Scientology doubled its downtown Clearwater footprint in 3 years" : Tracey updated her story a few days ago "Vacancies in Scientology-tied … [Read more...]
CCHR Hypocrisy
CCHR people are amazing. They churn out an apparently endless stream of accusations about psychiatry that complain about the psychs doing exactly what they do every day- and utterly devoid of irony. Forced labor? How about being on staff in a scientology org? Or even more, in the Sea Org? Money motivation? Labelling people? This is perhaps the most ironic of all. Wogs. PTS. SP. Type 3. etc etc etc Apart from the different labels, the only thing this cartoon has wrong is that the person would be directed to the registrar rather than a … [Read more...]
The Virtual IAS Event
This year's IAS event is going to be "virtual." It's a fundraising catastrophe for scientology as this is their biggest single event for raking in cash. Undaunted, they put out a "press release" on a paid news service. Of course it gets no pickup in the media at all, as it contains no news. But you can find it online. Below is the full release, 100% hype and bs. The back-patting "quotes" are from themselves. And their big accomplishment is apparently that some agency in Spain includes the IAS event as a scientology holiday in their "educational calendar." Wow, that is an astonishing … [Read more...]
Regraded Being
Scientology & Big Pharma
This is a post from Mike Westen at his blog. He sent it to me and I thought it was a great piece so I am reprinting it here. A recently leaked church document highlights Scientology’s hypocrisy with regards its anti-psychiatry activism. On Saturday, Tony Ortega published a 1993 investment summary listing the church’s assets in bonds, equities and cash. Amongst the numerous shares listed were two pharmaceutical companies: Ciba Geigy and Pfizer. As of 1993, Ciba Geigy was the Swiss manufacturer of the stimulant drug Ritalin (methylphenidate) and the antipsychotic Clozaril (clozapine). Ci … [Read more...]
SuMP Wins “Awards”
The latest Emmy for The Aftermath seems to have gotten under the skin of Miscavige. His multi-million dollar media "empire" (Scientology Media Productions) has been a dismal failure. No shows worth watching. No audience. Not a single Emmy nomination for anything, let alone a win. In fact, they don't even make any Emmy ballot categories to even be considered for a nomination. So we are now seeing them hyping the "dotCOMM" awards they garnered. You are no doubt wondering what a "dotCOMM" award is. Their hype machine spit out this description. So I took a quick look at the … [Read more...]
Episode 11: “The Vow’s” Mark Vicente
We have an amazing episode of Fair Game podcast this week, speaking to Mark Vicente. If you have not been watching The Vow on HBO I highly recommend it. It is the story of Keith Raniere and the NXIVM cult, told from the perspective of a number of former senior people in Raniere's organization, including Mark. We had a terrific conversation with him about the similarities between NXIVM and scientology -- and there are MANY. We also talked about patterns of high control organizations and the larger picture. I will post the link to the episode here when it becomes available. … [Read more...]