A recent interview with Alex Gibney in Rolling Stone where he was asked the following question, jogged my memory. I had the pleasure of seeing Going Clear at its Sundance premiere, which was pretty wild. Is Scientology still on your case? And I’ve done a lot of reporting on Scientology as well, so what’s it like to see Tom Cruise still be the king of Hollywood? It seems he hasn’t had to answer a single question about this stuff in the eight years since Going Clear. I agree. And I’m kind of surprised. I think he took a step away, so he’s not the kind of ambassador for Scientology … [Read more...]
The New Library Campaign
Scientology is infamous for its "library campaigns" where they pressure people into giving money to buy L. Ron Hubbard books to ship to libraries. This is a program I initiated when I was L. Ron Hubbard Personal Public Relations Officer International (LRH PPRO Int). It started out as a relatively benign activity, but has morphed into something that has resulted in millions in revenue for the sale of the books, and tens of thousands or more Hubbard books thrown in the dumpster by libraries who do not want unsolicited books. There are numerous stories from librarians who have said they didn't … [Read more...]
Karen Bass — L.A. Mayoral Candidate
Scientology has become a key issue in the LA Mayoral race between Karen Bass and Rick Caruso. Of course, scientology is freaking out as their "good name" (haha) is being used to smear opponents. It stems from Karen Bass' ill-advised participation in a 2010 ribbon cutting ceremony for the "new" LA Org building (the building was not new of course, just refurbished). This came up two years ago when Rep. Bass was touted as a possible VP candidate to join the Biden ticket. I have some relevant information on this matter, both from my time in scientology and subsequent to this becoming an … [Read more...]
Panic Stations in the Bubble: A Billion Years Is Coming
The imminent release of A Billion Years has scientology doing things they have not done before. It's all-hands panic stations in OSA. These days their legal threats fall on deaf ears. Everyone knows they cannot file lawsuits -- not just because what is said is true, but because Miscavige cannot afford to go into deposition and be exposed for what he really is. Since the days of the Truth Rundown and then Going Clear, scientology has devoted a team to creating video and online content to smear those who speak the truth about their abuses. I have written a number of blog posts about this, … [Read more...]
A Billion Years UK & Australia Editions Update
As many of you know, there have been some difficulties with Amazon concerning the non-US edition being published by Humfrey Hunter and Silvertail Books. Sadly, the problems with A Billion Years caused all of Silvertail's titles to be removed from Amazon, which hurt other authors they publish. Through a lot of hard work and persistence, Humfrey has now resolved the issue and all his books are back up. But titles that were previously noted as "bestsellers" have been reset to "zero." Any pre-orders of A Billion Years will likely have been lost (check your Amazon account) and you will … [Read more...]
Episode 75: Marc Headley on Scientology and the Internet
We welcome back our old friend Marc Headley to talk about Scientology and the internet, including covering the bonkers domain names scientology has registered, and how they have unsuccessfully attempted to control access to information on the World Wide Web. Marc's wonderful book: Blown For Good The Audiobook version The Scientology Money Project blog article listing many of the scientology owned domains: A YouTube video listing some of the troll domains registered by scientology: The Jokers & Degraders PL/HCOB: … [Read more...]
Episode 66: Dr. Willy Rice Pastor of Calvary Baptist Clearwater
We welcome Dr. Willy Rice, Senior Pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater to the podcast. Willy has been one of the few community leaders who has taken a strong, public stance against the abuses of scientology. We talk about the influence of scientology in the community and the lie that you can a Christian and a scientologist. Below are the documents we talk about in the episode. The infamous OT VIII document scientology claims is a forgery that contains the following passage: [T]he historic Jesus was not nearly the sainted figure has been made out to be. … [Read more...]
Episode 30: Marc Headley Blown For Good
This week, Leah and I had a wonderful time talking with my old and very dear friend Marc Headley —The BFG — on our Fair Game Podcast. Marc not only has a phenomenal memory, he possesses a great sense of humor. Anyone who has read his book knows both of these things to be true. We covered plenty of ground -- talking about the Int base and David Miscavige, the infamous musical chairs incident depicted in Going Clear and even how the Rinder bobblehead came to be. Throughout I mentioned including links, you will find them below. This is definitely an episode you don't want to … [Read more...]
Ron: The Epic Saga of BS
The smoke and mirrors game that scientology plays concerning L. Ron Hubbard is pretty remarkable. This "monumental hardback collection" is hardly a recounting of a "life like no other." It is a carefully selected collection of anecdotal stories about things L. Ron Hubbard said or claimed about his life. Many of them are unverified, unable to be documented because they didn't happen. Charitably, Hubbard told "tall tales" about his life and exploits. Realistically, he simply lied about himself. The author of these "books" (they were originally "magazines") is Dan Sherman. The "LRH … [Read more...]
At Least We Know They Are Listening
STAND is obviously paying close attention to the Fair Game podcast, No sooner had the episode where we talked to Alex Gibney aired than they trotted out a new smear on him. From none other than the renowned expert, Will Seabrook. It would be interesting to ask Mr. Seabrook in person whether he has watched Going Clear. I would bet he has not. If, by chance, he has, then I would love to ask him two simple questions: What specific can you cite to classify his film as a "bigoted propaganda video"? Tell me a single fact that is wrong? It's funny, scientology has NEVER refuted the … [Read more...]