The first blog post on mikerindersblog.org was on 5 November 2009. It's been 10 years but it sure doesn't seem that long! It's been a lot of fun along the way. I have met many wonderful people here (and quite a number subsequently IRL which has been especially gratifying). Hopefully I have opened a window to discovering the truth about scientology for many. This blog would not have been possible without the support of many who have helped. While it is a labor of love (or perhaps passion) it IS labor and first my thanks to the many contributors who have provided content and … [Read more...]
Scientology Attempting to Revise Clearwater History
After Tracey McManus' bombshell article dropped on 20 October, scientology immediately began their efforts to revise history. The next day, Freedom magazines started popping up all over the city. I wrote an article addressing some of the falsehoods Scientology BS Grows Deeper Then they began trying to make a dent in the social media world to cast the article as a bigoted assault on scientology and highlight the wonderful contributions they make to Clearwater. Freedom magazine has a twitter account @Freedommag and on October 21 they began sending out tweets. This is the tweet that is pinned … [Read more...]
Clearwater Politicians Weigh In
An interesting follow up piece by Tracey McManus quoting reaction from members of the Clearwater City Government to her bombshell expose from yesterday. Unsurprisingly, the Clearwater politicos don't have much to offer in terms of how this happened to their city, what they think it means or more importantly, what they are going to do about it. They have been overwhelmed by a far more sophisticated and well-funded opponent that doesn’t care whether they hurt anyone’s feelings as long as they get their way. Politicians in Clearwater in the last couple of decades have been more concerned … [Read more...]
Why Elect Mark Bunker?
Tracey McManus article on the Downtown Development Board should be sounding alarms for the citizens of Clearwater. She explains: Three of the five candidates running for three seats in the Oct. 8 election are downtown business owners who are also Scientology parishioners. Three of the seven current board members are also parishioners: Stu Sjouwerman, founder of cyber security firm KnowBe4, whose term ends this year and who is not running for re-election; Ray Cassano, owner of Station Square Realty, whose term ends in 2021; and Paris Morfopoulos, owner of One Stoppe Shoppe, who is running for … [Read more...]
Scientology’s Clearwater “Interfaith” Pitch
Hubbard policy (HCOPL 3 Feb 1969 PUBLIC IMAGE) states: "...you have to go civic, go outside Scientology, get support, organize committees, plot out campaigns, work for outside finance, etc. "In handling the above public image policy, you don't announce the policy. "You can and must ally with real humanitarian and civil-rights groups (getting press coverage for every such contact." The question to be asked is, why would ANYONE wish to attend an event like this and be used by scientology in their attempt to gain credibility? Are the people who might participate in this … [Read more...]
No Irony Here
Take Scientology's advice -- watch The Aftermath and see what is REALLY going on in scientology. Don’t listen to the propaganda spewed by scientology in the media or on their websites. Watch those who personally experienced scientology up close and personal. It is so appropriate they say this because it captures exactly what has happened to scientology — their PR has taken a fatal hit they will never recover from because people have been able to see the truth. Such irony, but lacking any ability to introspect or confront the reality before their very eyes, they continue to … [Read more...]
Thursday Funnies
It's an "ideal island"... Like they now have an "ideal Florida" with 3, yes, 3 ideal orgs in a state with more than 20 million residents. Just think, they will have ONE org for an island with a population of 3.6 million. Actually, that should really be ideal -- 99.9% of the population will never come in contact with scientology. The other 360 people will be the unlucky ones. But in fact there are dozens of even more ideal islands (nations) in the Caribbean that are entirely scientology free zones (except when the Freewinds is in port). Odd how the “OT … [Read more...]
Scientology’s Religious Angle: A Twisted History
Here we have a couple of recent promotional pieces pushing the "religious angle" of scientology. Though I must say, this one above looks more like a screen shot from a Ricky Gervais mockumentary. But even at Celebrity Centre, they are promoting "Reverend" Nancy Delaney. Cross in the background, but thankfully no phony dog-collar. But let's take a brief look at the history of "religion" vis a vis Dianetics and Scientology. This is by no means a full recounting of the story, merely a glimpse that provides an idea of the tortured path it has followed. In 1950, Hubbard was … [Read more...]
More on Fake Scientology Tours in Clearwater
Yesterday's post about the fake scientology tours brought some other interesting things to light. First, one of the scientology "fronts" that smears whistleblowers announced that the Ft Harrison is "for scientologists only". When Aaron Smith-Levin pointed out that Lisa Mansell had lied to the Chamber of Commerce, the "Truth Newsroom" quickly "clarified" that it's "open" to Non-Scientologists if they "don't show up unannounced" and "where there are community events being held." But things became even more bizarre when someone dug up this EventBrite invitation to the "Tour" (which … [Read more...]
Scientology and the Clearwater Police Department
Clearwater Police Chief Slaughter took the unusual step of making a YouTube video in response to The Aftermath episode which recounted the "Park Incident" with Mark Bunker. This was then published on the OpEd page of the Tampa Bay Times. Below is the full message from Chief Slaughter so everyone has complete context. Then some of my thoughts following this: For years the Clearwater Police Department has been thrust into the middle of a debate between a controversial religion and its critics, without a voice in the matter. We feel it important to publish some facts of our own to … [Read more...]