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Mike Rinder's Blog

Something Can Be Done About It

What Happened to Ryan Prescott?

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Frankly, the closed orgs have dried up a lot of the material for Thursday Funnies -- endless streams of "Get your Pandemic workbook here" and "We command you to do an Extension Course" are just not very funny. We may not see much in the way of Thursday Funnies for a little while... So, I thought some clowncar material from another corner of the scientology bubble might be entertaining. This is Ryan Prescott's Facebook live post from a week or so ago. I had only ever seen his comical Tweets and some bits from his Loony-Tunes books. I had never had the misfortune of seeing him in … [Read more...]

Clearwater Police Chief Inspects Flag

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As always, Tracey McManus has the story. I spoke to Tracey about this earlier today and she quoted me in the article. But I had more thoughts on it that she was unable to include. I also have a copy of Chief Slaughter's publicly available report. First, this comes as a relief to me. My son is in this facility, so anything being done to mitigate the threat of this pandemic is very welcome. Second, I applaud Chief Slaughter for taking the initiative to do something. I do not recall the last time any city official walked in to the Ft Harrison to check out what is going on. Third, … [Read more...]

Scientology’s Pandemic Pitch

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I was forwarded this email from the EDs of Salt Lake City "ideal" org. I reprint it here with spelling errors/typos exactly as it was received. Another confirmation that this org is closed (public are not receiving services physically inside the org) -- but they then go on in typical scientology style to say the answer to the question "Wait, does that mean the Org is closed?" is "Absolutely not, in fact, the org is more open than ever."  Only in the deluded world of scientology would a shuttered org be more open than ever... But "more open than ever" translates into more desperate for … [Read more...]

Tampa Pastor Jailed. What About Scientology?

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The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office (Tampa) arrested and jailed a Pastor who held Sunday Services yesterday in violation of social distancing laws. It now begs the question: What about the flagrant violations of scientology? Will the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office (@SheriffPinellas on twitter) or the Clearwater Police Department (@MyClearwaterPD) do anything? It seems unlikely given their past track record.  But one can always hope. With a new Clearwater Mayor and City Council coming online imminently, perhaps there is a hope that instead of responding to calls from the Security G … [Read more...]

Scientology Shuttering

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Here are the comments people sent in yesterday about the state of scientology orgs in their local area. If you have a minute and can contact your local org, I will add it to the update. So far, everywhere seems to be closed except Flag (not sure about the other Advanced Orgs). This is catastrophic for the scientology empire -- the longer staff and public are away from the control mechanisms exerted on them in the bubble, and the more bored they get, the more likely it is they are going to come across something on the internet or TV that is going to start them down the rabbit hole of … [Read more...]

Scientology Orgs Shuttering? Flag is NOT (update)

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While it appears to be business as usual at Flag (and likely the other Sea Org orgs), it seems there may be a shift at the lower echelons of the hierarchy. One of our dedicated readers sent in a report that a local org is telling their public "they will be closing for 2 weeks." Another called the NY Org and asked simply "Are you open?", and the guy on reception said "No."  The caller waited, thinking there would be some elaboration and the line remained silent. No further information was forthcoming. Perhaps some of our other readers could call your local org and ask them if they are … [Read more...]

Flag Under “Stay at Home” Order

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On Thursday 26 March, a "Stay at Home" order went into effect in Pinellas County. I have included the complete order at the end of this post. The order does NOT have an exemption for "religious organizations." Among other things it says that people should stay AT HOME (including in the definition of "At Home" a dormitory, apartment, hotel or motel), remain at a distance of 6 feet from others and not congregate in groups of more than 10 people. It also specifically states: "All public and private gatherings of any number of people not meeting CDC guidance outside a family unit, … [Read more...]