There have been some marvelous takes on scientology tv, and I have included just a few of my favorites here. But there is a HUGE missing piece. If this is the most important and monumental thing in the history of scientology and Miscavige himself "emerged from witness protection" to introduce it, where are the other big names? THE thing that most people know about scientology, above and beyond anything else, is that it has celebrity members. And a bunch of them are even TELEVISION stars. How can scientology TV not have ANY of their celebrities participating? Not even a cameo ad? … [Read more...]
Why People Stick Around as Long as They Do
It's SaTerraDay! It is also the day for the Aftermath Meet Up in downtown Clearwater at 5pm. Not sure if we will be in any shape to be doing a posting tomorrow morning, so if there is nothing, don't be alarmed it will be for a good reason. Spent a great evening with Aaron and Heather Smith-Levin, Marc and Claire Headley, Nathan Rich, Tara Reile and Mary and David Kahn last night as a pre-event warm-up. Hope to be meeting with many more people this evening! Some are flying from out of town -- two notables include the wonderful Len Zinberg and the next Mayor of Hemet, Erin … [Read more...]
A Scientology Price List
This promotional piece was forwarded to me recently. Posting it here for posterity and to highlight once again the money insanity of scientology. They call them "donations" -- but don't try telling them you feel like donating a little less today, or nothing at all. You will quickly discover these are not "donations" they are fees. This price list is for Class V orgs in the UK. It is provided by New Era Publications because they sell the materials. Thus, they have an interest in selling training. Nobody else cares much about this in scientology these days. They focus on … [Read more...]
Thursday Funnies
The most significant ever... As always. Even more significant than opening SuMP? It's only the best until the next one. The one thing you can do to thrive... Stay away from any registrars. Super fun... If that's what you call being endlessly beaten for money... But the "beach backyard" sounds cool. But "Best dressed" in beach gear? Perhaps this is a smallest speedo contest? I bet anyone can see the difference... No? Really? You are not looking hard enough... They're STILL fundraising They have Santa Barbara, Hawaii and … [Read more...]
Where’s The Beef?
This post was prompted by some back and forth with one of our commenters. It got me thinking, and though I may not be the brightest bulb in the chandelier, sometimes I cast a bit of light onto the shadowy world of scientology. I recently posted about the ineffectiveness of the massive investment scientology made into TV advertising. It has resulted in no appreciable increase in interest, though it is somewhat debatable that this is what they even care about rather than providing the latest reason to collect money from their members to buy more ads. But that poses the question: what … [Read more...]
Tampa Fail
Tampa "ideal St Hill size" org -- the model, the org that raised the bar -- has put out a new video. This org is constantly touted as THE best Class V org on earth. Of course, it should be. It is propped up by Flag. Many of it's staff are children of scientologists that live in the area or scientologists trying to be eligible for OT VII but they don't have a lot of money to give to the IAS so they "contr9ibute" this way. Tampa is also where Flag sends all the people it refuses for service. Anyone with a medical condition or dubious history. Nobody tells them they will not be eligible … [Read more...]
Scientology Advertising Fail
My good friend Shel Goldberg sent this to me. I thought it fascinating. Obviously, scientology has been spending a lot lately on TV commercials. The ad is on youtube and has over 1.8M views so far. Of the 1.8M views, only 297 comments and ZERO likes or dislikes. I've never noticed a youtube video that had no likes or dislikes, unless it had 0 views. The church must be so paranoid of dislikes. I can only imagine. So, in the last 24 hours, the video has been seen by 200K+ as it was about 1.6M yesterday when I first started this research. BUT, yesterday there were also 295 comme … [Read more...]
Thursday Funnies
WTF does this mean? A random chandelier has some significance? Oh I Get It It's time to put a stronghold on the MidWest (with one, still not ideal org, let alone St. Hill size, for 10 states)... Bubbles Branches Out She has made the transition from selling rugs to the "seminar" commissions business. They Got One A single recruit into the Sea Org in Canada is worth sending out a promotional flier about. Wow. The ChanMan is busy Delivering his "body talk"?? And his history lesson (clams on the seashore, Piltdown … [Read more...]
L. Ron Hubbard’s Thoughts on SuMP
I was forwarded this "LRH quote" being handed out by scientology as a source of wisdom and inspiration. It did inspire me to wonder how this squares with scientology spending tens of millions of dollars to advertise on TV and even starting up their own TV station with the SuMP? Isn't scientology in direct violation of the word of Source? Aren't they, according to Him, actively participating in putting kids "in the middle of Hiroshima"? If they DON'T believe these words are true, why are they putting out something like this for all scientologists to ingest these gems handed down from … [Read more...]
Fear and Loathing in Clearwater
You may have read or seen others commenting on this recent article by Tracey McManus. Clearwater City Council candidates mum on Scientology’s impact downtown I found the article fascinating (I have included the full text of it below) for a number of reasons. First, EVERYONE in Clearwater knows exactly what the biggest problem facing Clearwater is. The downtown is dead. While neighboring Dunedin, Safety Harbor and even St. Petersburg are flourishing and prospering, Clearwater languishes in the empty storefront doldrums. Yet Clearwater has greater potential for its dow … [Read more...]