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...]
Tampa Pastor Jailed. What About Scientology?
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 … [Read more...]
Flag Under “Stay at Home” Order
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...]
City Councilman Mark Bunker and Scientology Tax Exempt Status
The news has sunk in, Mark Bunker is now a Clearwater City Commissioner-elect. As Tracey McManus put it, this is a historic day for Clearwater. There is another piece in the Tampa Bay Times (top of article screencapped above) this morning. It makes some interesting points - first of which is noting Bunker's "desire for the city to urge the IRS to revoke Scientology's tax exempt status..." Some have poo-poo'd this idea "The City of Clearwater doesn't grant tax exempt status, the IRS does" -- as if Mark Bunker is unaware of the difference between a city government and the … [Read more...]
Unofficial Result — Mark Bunker Wins Election
This is an historic day in Clearwater. Providing nothing changes as this is made into the official result (not sure when this will be), Mark Bunker is now a City Council member of the City of Clearwater. The scientology backed candidate came in 4th out of 5... Once and for all proving that scientology in fact has NO political clout in Clearwater, let alone Tampa Bay. Congratulations to Mark Bunker! Also Congratulations to Frank Hibbard who will be the new Mayor of Clearwater. The people I feel sorry for are those in OSA Flag. This loss will be blamed on them. It will not be … [Read more...]
Flag OT Committee
Just to make a record, every now and then I like to publish the names in searchable form of the clubbed seals that form the Flag OT Committee so if anyone Googles them they might find their names listed here. As a side note, there are lot of former SO members on this list. This is one of the fairly recent weekly commendations that are sent out: The following OT Members are COMMENDED for reporting their stats for W/E 01/30/2020: ALEX ECKELBERRY DIA BORNET KATHY STRASSER RALF HAUG ALICE BELLUCCI DON KARL KATHY WACH RALPH CRISCIONE ALISON OSBORN DONNA BARNA KATHY ZWERS RANDY … [Read more...]
The Black Bag Department
See my announcement on Friday -- I am revisiting earlier posts during my vacation. Each day there will be a different one. Marty has been doing a good job of exposing the unalterable policies of the church concerning dealing with perceived enemies. One aspect not much discussed is who are the "outside professionals" hired to do the dirty work. And while there is a lot that is done by Sea Org OSA staff, Class V (local DSAs like Mark Warburg and John Carmichael) and public Scientologists (John Allender, Ed Bryan and Co) there is work that requires specific skills, including licenses to … [Read more...]
Flag is Emptier than Ever
More evidence, as if it were needed, that scientology is failing. Flag is empty. If there was massive international expansion, the number of people moving up the bridge would be increasing. Flag is the pinnacle of the empire and its state is a clear reflection on all of scientology. This is the Oak Cove hotel at 7:30 pm the other night. As you can see, the place is virtually deserted. This is the nearby retirement home that is the companion building to this one (they used to be part of the same community, but scientology bought the block closest to the Ft … [Read more...]
Scientology’s Happy Valentine’s Day Messages
Scientology uses any opportunity to try to get people to step inside their buildings. Each of these supposedly non-church activities is part and parcel of the same big ball of wax. And you can bet that if anyone is silly enough to attend any of these things and give their name, phone number or email they will be receiving SCIENTOLOGY promotional materials for the next 100 years. And here is another "Valentine's Day message" put up on my daughter's web page. The twisted logic of this one defies description. My message to you on this Valentine's Day is "hate your father and do everything you … [Read more...]
Mark Bunker’s New Scientology Hit Squad
Clearly scientology is worried that Mark Bunker is proving to be a viable candidate for the Clearwater City Council. They are now resorting to one of their tried and true tactics against those who worry them the most (see below in this blogpost for earlier examples of the same playbook). Following is a series of short videos of a recent candidates forum. Scientology sent along a gaggle of hecklers to disrupt Mark's statements -- pursuant to the policies of L. Ron Hubbard. Unfortunately, there is no video showing their faces -- perhaps next time when both Aaron Smith-Levin and I … [Read more...]