A new article in The Guardian details the latest problem facing scientology in the UK. They have certainly been on a roll of bad news of late. Alex Barnes-Ross is a one man wrecking crew. You can see the string of stories of scientology catastrophes in just the last 6 months at his excellent website Scientology Business . The latest setback is reported this way: A Scientology-linked addiction charity accused of subjecting vulnerable people to psychological drills that left them “broken” and “traumatised” is being investigated by Britain’s charities watchdog. The Charity Commission said i … [Read more...]
There’s a New Narconon in Africa
Who said Narconon is not expanding? The proof: they opened a new building out in the countryside in South Africa. It's "Narconon Africa" -- the only one in the entire continent. It's an impressive looking place from the pictures, though it is entirely unclear WHY this is needed? My best guess? They have a bunch of money tied up in exchange control in South Africa and the only thing they can do with it is invest in property (holding onto S. African currency has not proven to be a wise investment). They already have all the "ideal" properties for every Class … [Read more...]
Family Interventions and Deprogrammings
Here's an interesting article from Narconon, pushing the virtues of interventions. This is how they describe what an intervention is: Family intervention is a common approach used because it provides the right nudge toward treatment. Family interventions work, but it is difficult to predict how the intervention could unfold. Certified family intervention specialists have the training to prepare a family for what to expect. Most family interventions use pressure to encourage an addict to admit to their problem and seek treatment. A group of close friends and family come … [Read more...]
Narconon Goes After Country Music
Scientology and its front organizations (like Narconon and CCHR) live in a world disconnected from reality. They seem oblivious to the absurdity of things they say and positions they take. Narconon is now beginning to sound like prohibitionists, targeting county music for "romanticizing alcohol." Unfortunately, while contemporary country music stars continue to produce great music year after year, there are increasing incidences of romanticizing alcohol in country music lyrics, romanticizing it, glamorizing it, or even construing alcohol with happy times, carefree adventures, and … [Read more...]
Narconon’s Troubles Are Not Over
Watch this new (less than 30 minute) video with Aaron Smith Levin and Luke Catton discussing the current problems of Narconon. Since the passage of the "Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act" in 2018, it is illegal to pay commissions for referrals to drug rehab programs. This Kickbacks in Recovery Act now makes FSM Commission for the Narconon program a federal crime. Scientology policies around Field Staff Members (FSMs), where people are paid commissions for referring others to Scientology organizations, was one of the major catalysts for Narconon's growth in the United States. It wasn't … [Read more...]
Narconon Ojai Failing
A few things to unpack here. First, their "accomplishments" are that they "remained open." Typically, an organization like this would be touting inflated numbers of "lives saved from drugs" -- clearly, they had virtually none. Instead, they announce the "success" of their podcast? 194 episodes for 250,000 downloads over 3 years? This is impressive? I think not. Now that I know something about the podcast world, this is virtually nothing. Fair Game podcast exceeded those download numbers the first week on the air. But, let's not stop there. They put out 16 "stellar, informative" … [Read more...]
Episode 15: Former President of Narconon Luke Catton
We welcome an old friend of mine, Lucas (Luke) Catton to the Fair Game podcast this week. Luke was a very prominent member of the Narconon team for a number of years, until he saw the light about scientology. He subsequently spoke out and was targeted by scientology in response. We discuss a wide range of things relating to Narconon, scientology's involvement, the effectiveness of the program and the Fair Gaming Luke has been subjected to. I will include the link as soon as it becomes available. A few of the things we mention during our talk. Here is a copy of the public image.doc … [Read more...]
Front Groups — Narconon Lies
This is a screen shot of a recent discussion with Narconon on their website. The person asks: "I've heard your group is part Scientology, is this true?" The answer: "There is no Scientology related. "We are a non secular program" The first sentence is simply a lie. They are ABSOLUTELY "Scientology related"... The second sentence is either a typo or a terrible misunderstanding of the word "secular" -- I am sure they meant to say they ARE secular. Because if they deny their scientology connection, they are certainly not going agree that they are affiliated with … [Read more...]
The IAS Keeps on Lying
The IAS are renowned for their BS, but this one is a doozie. They "approved a grant" but they didn't spend it because they don't have any photos of anyone on the scene. Just a generic shot from the media of a flooded location. So, to give them the benefit of the doubt, I checked out their Twitter feed. A bunch of shots of the same 7 people, literally one after the other. This is the "team" for the displaced 500,000 people: For the largest private relief force on earth, 10 likes on their Twitter feed is a bit slim. Obviously they have not allocated funds to clickfarms for the VM … [Read more...]
Getting People onto The Bridge Through Narconon
Tonight at 8pm there is a special episode of The Aftermath touching upon the subject of scientology's front groups. Of course, the most well-know of them is Narconon, which is why it was so ironic that I was sent this a couple of days ago. Scientology says the "social betterment" organizations are NOT recruitment arms for scientology. Look at the first paragraph of this letter. Bobby Wiggins seems to have retired from his Narconon job and now is making commissions from persuading people to give money to the IAS. The irony of this is when he WAS in Narconon he had to scrape and … [Read more...]