Our next episode of Listener Questions. Always some of our favorite episodes, and as usual, though we cover a lot of ground, we didn't get through nearly all the questions you have sent in. This time we try our best to answer questions about who does the Fair Gaming, what is CCHR, how scientology views the disabled, what PTSness is, The Duke of Chug, scientology's sense of humor and much more. Leah and Mike even act out what happens in an auditing session. It's a lot of fun and hopefully informative. Dealing with Critics of Scientology What is … [Read more...]
Fundraising Olympics
Well, perhaps there is some truth in scientology advertising after-all. If there was a fundraising Olympics, they would gold in every event. The Buy Now Sprint. The Marathon. The Hard Sell Hurdles. The Crush Regging Relay. The Credit Card High Jump. Of course, the people who copyright, trademark and service mark everything, because they don't want any "unauthorized" use (ie where they don't collect any money) have no problem using a clear rip-off of the Olympic symbol (the real one has 5 rings, not 7). Can you imagine if someone opened a center and called it Scinetology -- they would be … [Read more...]
Scientology Loses Again in England
One of our regular commenters, ISNOINews, pointed out this new decision reported in the UK. Since being denied charitable status in the UK in the early 2000's, scientology has been attempting all sorts of end-runs to circumvent the decision of the Charity Commission. They once again fell falling short as the British regulatory agencies don't just buy the bs scientology tries to foist off about what they do. Here is an article about the latest decision where they were seeking rate (tax) exemptions for 3 org buildings (the org and test center in London and the org in Manchester) on the … [Read more...]
Regraded Being
Lamer and Lamer
Why do they even put this stuff out? This is so weak it is almost like a parody. Imagine The Onion doing a satire promoting the OT Committee. This is what they might come up with. Why is it so good to join the OT Committee? Because no matter what you are able to do or are interested in doing you can fit right in.... Now isn't that the definition of OT? And the image of what an ideal OT Committee member looks like? It's hard to be sure this isn't a promotional piece for the knitting circle at a retirement community? Or the old ad "I've fallen and I can't get up." And those glasses... … [Read more...]
Another Ideal Org Failing Miserably
The latest news from another "ideal org" -- this time in Auckland. This is the ONLY scientology outpost in the entire country and is one of the oldest scientology organizations on earth. What passes for "accomplishments" in these orgs is pretty remarkable. Word on the street is that not only are the "ideal" orgs not paying their staff, they are also not able to pay their bills. Utilities. Copy machine. Paper supplies. Here we see what this ideal org is so pumped about. They got one guy to complete a "lecture course" that consists of basic lectures on Dianetics. There isn't much of … [Read more...]
Episode 52: The Bridge Deep Dive Part 3 with Vicki Marshall
This week we are joined by Leah's mother, Vicki, to discuss the OT levels. Vicki achieved the very pinnacle of scientology auditing, doing OT VIII on the scientology cruise ship Freewinds. We talk about the earlier OT levels and our experiences on them and then Vicki's recollections of OT VIII. Suffice to say, it was underwhelming. This is the Freewinds, the only place you can do OT VIII - her usual location is tied up at a dock in Curacao or Aruba. For the last year or more it has been Aruba: Here is some background information from an earlier post: The Real Story of the … [Read more...]
Scientology: Journalists are Fair Game
I came across this on Twitter. Jeffrey Palmaccio (his twitter handle is @longisland1892), a Masters of Journalism student at Hofstra University, wrote this mini capstone in December 2020 about scientology (I had to look that up: Also called a capstone experience, culminating project, or senior exhibition, among many other terms, a capstone project is a multifaceted assignment that serves as a culminating academic and intellectual experience for students, typically during their final year of high school or middle school, or at the end of an academic program. Similar in some ways to a college the … [Read more...]
The Seminar Every Scientologist Needs
Michael Lewis has driven his clown car into town once again to offer up a "seminar" that sheds light on what really happens inside the bubble of scientology. "Flourish and prosper" is a much over-used scientology catchphrase. It is code for "make money" just as they use the strange "we are 1000 steps closer to making our target" instead of saying they got in $1,000. It seems they understand how grotesquely money-oriented they are and are trying to keep this hidden from the world. But Michael Lewis blows it. He uses the right euphemism but then comes right out and says it plainly. What is … [Read more...]