Alex Gibney has done it again. This is a disturbing, powerful documentary that everyone in the country should watch. It details how the opioid epidemic was manufactured out of the greed of the pharmaceutical industry (all the way down to CVS). It is truly a horrifying expose. But for scientology-watchers there is a special reason for giving this a look. It shows how those with money to burn are able to buy influence over law enforcement and legislators. It is grotesque, and it is exactly what scientology has done to head off investigations in the … [Read more...]
Episode 3: Scientology’s War on the Media with Richard Behar
We were very fortunate to speak with Richard Behar on this week's episode of the Fair Game podcast. Rich, along with Pauletter Cooper (who will feature in an upcoming episode) is a poster child for scientology Fair Game against journalists. He is an award-winning investigative journalist who first wrote about scientology in 1986 for Forbes magazine in an article entitled The Prophet and Profits of Scientology. His most famous scientology piece was the 1991 Time magazine cover story, The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power. The subhead on his article pretty much sums up … [Read more...]
Leah Remini, Shelly Miscavige and Tom Cruise
What can Miscavige do to respond to Hurricane Leah? She is blowing his house down and it is a storm that comes on top of severe damage already inflicted on the once apparently impregnable fortress of scientology. It has been building throughout the year -- Going Clear at Sundance got the ball rolling. Followed by the revelations from the PI's tailing his father which thrust scientology back into the headlines. Losing tax exemption in the Netherlands. Tony Ortega's Unbreakable Miss Lovely, a never ending stream of Narconon bad news. And much more. And now Troublemaker has stepped it up … [Read more...]
Scientology Fact Verification
David "Let Him Die" Miscavige responded to a recent posting on Tony Ortega's website about Paul Haggis being trolled by a "Time magazine" reporter. Page Six reprinted his response (or at least part of it). Here is the quote attributed to Karin Pouw: ‘As I told [The Hollywood Reporter] and others, no one named Mark Webber works for the Church anywhere much less in Los Angeles. There is no such IP address at the Anthony Building on Fountain Avenue–it does not exist. The entire story is fabricated.’ ‘A quick internet search does find a Mark Webber, a movie curator and writer who lives … [Read more...]
Thursday Funnies Saturday Edition
A day or two delayed but better late than never. Especially when there is a new Regraded Being cartoon. Truth Well, in truth, most scientologists CANNOT stand the truth. See Regraded Being this week at the end of the post. Seriously, a lecture about FAC One? What's next, a seminar on Incident Two? Winning? Ruroh. The video team is going to be there... Where are they going to find anyone to put in the videos? They are so out in the boonies it needs a Lewis and Clark style expedition to find them. Nice floors though. And neat furnishings.... It's always about to happen … [Read more...]
Head In The Sand
See the new article in People magazine which reports on John Travolta's response to Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief. I give him kudos for at least being willing to speak (more than Cruise. Alley or even Miscavige) and trying to defend his religion instead of merely sending out statements from his lawyer saying everyone is a liar. But, and there are a few very large "buts": 1. He says he has not seen the movie and has no plans to do so. That it would be a "crime" to watch it. 2. He stated he hasn't had any negative experiences with Scientology. 3. He called the … [Read more...]
SNL Parody
It is a watershed day. The single best measure of having hit the mainstream of societal relevance in the US is to be the subject of a skit on SNL. Scientology has truly hit the big time. And not in a good way. Tony Ortega has done a brilliant breakdown and analysis of the skit from last night on his blog this morning. What an Easter Sunday gift this is, no matter your religious beliefs. Except perhaps if you are a scientologist. I have watched it several times and each time I see more subtle digs. There are some people at SNL who know their scientology trivia. A fact that is … [Read more...]
“The Dead Agent Pack Was Compiled From PC Folders”
Someone sent me this email that was circulated after the original Truth Rundown series in the St Petersburg Times in 2009. That series was a massive expose -- the first major media to lay out the story of the physical and mental abuse meted out by David Miscavige, the existence of The Hole and much more. It was carefully researched and meticulously fact checked and documented. It has stood the test of time as much of what is contained in this series has been subsequently reconfirmed, especially in the court testimony of Debbie Cook, but also in numerous other stories. The church … [Read more...]
Planetary (Going) Clearing Being Made A Reality Today
This was sent to me by a dear friend and fellow survivor of the trenches of scientology. It seems awfully appropriate to post this morning, a day when it seems somewhat pointless to say much other than: enjoy Going Clear. I do realize there are other places in the world who cannot see it today, but it is dominating the scientology narrative today nevertheless. It has been a long time coming. It has already changed the world of scientology and the ripples from this landing in the middle of their pond will continue for many years to come. The media is emboldened. Individuals are stepping … [Read more...]
Thursday Funnies
Hahaha No corroborating evidence? Except what scientology churns out every day to try and discredit the movie.... Terrific promotion for the film though. BTW, an interview Alex and I did will be airing on NPR All Things Considered today at 16:40 / 18:40 / 20:40 EDT (17:40 / 19:40 PDT). New promotion for leaving scientology... THE best way to overcome financial stress. Flag OTC buying their own bs Puerto Rico and Orlando are "on the runway." Obviously they have no idea the state of these two failing field groups. But even better … [Read more...]