Another gem from the STAAD website. Things have really slowed down there. It seems without weekly airings of The Aftermath, their reason for existing has become muddled. They liked to pretend they were some altruistic exercise, but it was clear that was just a cover to be able to attack The Aftermath and its contributors. Nowadays their website is merely a collection of scientology talking points they use to try to convince the world they are "normal" and "like every other religion." But when they are not the subject of discussion, they seem to lose interest pretty quickly in fighting … [Read more...]
Catch and Kill
I recently finished reading Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow. It was an excellent, if horrifying read. Being familiar with the tactics scientology uses against victims of sexual abuse or "enemies" I didn't learn any new techniques or methods used by the unscrupulous to protect their crimes. But I was struck again at the similarities between Harvey Weinsten and scientology. I wrote about this in an earlier post Harvey Weinstein & Scientology -- Separated at Birth? All the tactics are described in this book: Hiring high p … [Read more...]
STAAD Resurrects “#WhereIsShelly”
We don't hear much from STAAD any more. Seems Fast Eddie has gone back to stuffing envelopes in the basement or whatever it is that he usually does. He has been silent on Twitter -- one post since 22 October and that could have been written by any of the STAAD flunkies and posted on his behalf. Even the STAAD League itself has been pretty dormant, every now and then sending out a retweet promoting Marty Rathbun like the last Japanese soldier on a Pacific Island firing into the air in an act of defiance to keep the fight going. This is one of their most recent retweets from a year or … [Read more...]
The True Measure of Scientology “Expansion”
On 6 January 2014 I published a blog post entitled Straight Up and Vertical - Not which included information about the target of "10,000 onto or through Solo NOTs". At that time, almost exactly 10 years ago, they claimed to have 6410 people who had accomplished that feat. Ignore whether this number is true or not, we will take them at their word. Until 2014 they had managed to get 6410 people cumulative onto Solo NOTs. Many of them are no longer scientologists. Many of them have since died. What is important is how many are making it to the "top of the Bridge" each year. That is, … [Read more...]
Regraded Being
Thursday Funnies
New Years is on Saturday! The wog world is behind the times. Only scientology is fully at cause over matter, energy, space and TIME... This will "literally be the most EPIC!" How could anyone possibly miss it? I bet Tom Cruise won't be there... Or Elisabeth Moss. Or Laura Prepon. There are going to be a whole lot of people who manage to resist the most epic event ever... And look at this -- they will hold your children in pens for the duration of the event! That's cause over Matter. They are even trying to get people to come for the event by offering a free dinner. Bet … [Read more...]
Aharon Friedman on Israeli National TV
Long term supporter of this blog, Professor Aharon Friedman sent me a link to this show that aired last night on Israeli national TV (one of the 3 state owned stations, channel 11 which is like Israel's BBC).. I asked Aharon to give a little bit of information about himself as an introduction and he sent me this: I got into Scientology when I was in Long Island for my post doctoral studies. The LI Church was quite an intimate place, and there was no pressure or “hard sell”. In 1987 we moved to Maryland and started attending the DC Org. This was a different ball game. During my tim … [Read more...]
Handling Crime in Brussels
Of course, they cite nothing to support their bold claims -- but then again any scientologist would NEVER even think to question the IAS. After all, this is the international association of the most ethical group on earth. There is nothing to substantiate the figures of distribution at all, they pluck these numbers out of the sky usually. Someone paid for a printing of the booklets. They may or may not have actually printed that many. No doubt, however many they printed, they did NOT get distributed. Often they end up being dumped. And the "network of 1400 … [Read more...]
Scientology TV — What’s Missing?
Scientology is making a really big deal about their new episode featuring Chick Corea. Chick is an interesting story that has been mentioned before. He got into financial troubles when his wife was hammering his credit cards. David Miscavige had known Chick for a long time because his father, Ron, was good friends with Ron Moss, Chick's manager. (Ron Moss is father of Elisabeth Moss of Handmaid's Tale fame). Miscavige was alerted to the problem and not wanting a "flap" with one of scientology's longest term celebrities, brought in Lyman Spurlock as a CPA to look through his finances. … [Read more...]
Kanye, the IRS and Scientology
This is an interesting recent Forbes magazine article. The author covers how Kanye West, who has changed his name to Christian Genius Billionaire Kanye West and conducts "Sunday Services,” could actually file for tax exemption and reap mighty benefits. He describes what the IRS criteria are for granting such a religious exemption: Distinct legal existence; Recognized creed and form of worship; Definite and distinct ecclesiastical government; Formal code of doctrine and discipline; Distinct religious history; Membership not associated with any other church o … [Read more...]