Mike Rinder's Blog

Something Can Be Done About It

What If You Threw a Party and Nobody Came?

By 94 Comments

Scientology tries to be “part of the community” by holding “block parties” in downtown Clearwater each quarter.

They held their latest one yesterday.

Here are some shots — and as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words:

 

This is a pretty accurate reflection of how much the community supports scientology in Clearwater.

There were more people for an impromptu gathering at the Lucky Anchor pub with a few alumni from the Aftermath.

And where are the 12,000 scientologists in the Tampa Bay area they claim to have? 11,965 of them were too busy to show up?

 

Comments

  2. THANK YOU MIKE FOR MAKING THIS POSSIBLE WITH LEAH WE THE PEOPLE OF CLEARWATER THANK YOU !!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK !!!

    Reply

    • I just read the article, thank you for sharing. If the Chief can’t see a clear cut case of conflict of interest, he should not be in charge.

      The fact that the police can work for COS and then work for the city is deplorable and dangerous. As mentioned in the article the access to private information alone, is a problem.

      From the stories, documentaries, movies, tv shows, youtube videos and websites I have seen, COS has always behaved illegally. There has been no care regarding, human trafficking, abuse, harassment etc. of the citizens. Just protection of the COS. This should be investigated. The Chief is an embarrassment.

      Reply

  4. No one came to their party, no is in their buildings and judging from the comments Creepy Eddie Parkin is getting on a constant and regular basis now on his twitter feed, no one is going to be attending any of their future events, either.

    Reply

  5. Had a nice laugh with this article. I like giving parties. My place is small now but when I lived in various bigger digs, all my life I’d throw parties and never worry about people not showing up. They always did.

    Here’s what I do
    1) Invite people I know
    2) Invite people I don’t know, sometimes
    3) Pack them in 4)
    4) Great music
    5 )All KINDS of music
    6)) Plenty of food, not necessarily expensive but tasty
    7) Plenty of booze, soft drinks, ice
    8) As hostess, circulate continually, introducing people to one another, keeping people extroverted and in communication with one another until the party takes on a life of its own.

    Now, forget all of the above. Its possible that my “successful actions” are actually “non actions”. Here’s what I DON’T do when I throw a party.

    1) Make guests bring their own food or drink.
    2) Charge them to get in
    3) HIT THEM UP FOR MONEY ONCE THEY’RE THERE.

    Yo, Cult,
    For years you’ve been wondering why people don’t show up at your “parties”.
    Suggestion: DUH!
    TRY not hitting up your “GUESTS” for every last dime they have when they DO show up!
    What a concept, eh?

    Reply

  9. Watched the 60 Minutes feature tonight and am a big fan and supporter of yours and Leah’s work exposing this cult. It will be so satisfying to see these nuts brought down. Thank you for doing what you do.

    Reply

    • Oh Sharon! Why do you call them “nuts”? I think very few of them meet the common definition of “nuts”.

      For the most part, I would guess they know what they are doing. They know they are intentionally taking money from people who really can’t afford to give it or go into debt to get it. They know full well the consequences their action will have on these people. They know these people will wind up impoverished and will be left with no friends or family to support them. Since they will all have plenty of psuedo-friends to support them, I would characterize these people as criminals instead of “nuts”. Know what I mean?

      They belong in prison and not in some kind of mental hospital or institution for the insane. At least that is my opinion. Do you really believe they are largely mental defectives? I would call them “criminals” or “dupes” before I would ever call them “nuts” or “crazies” and I would think that most people would characterize them as having some kind of “intent” which makes them criminally responsible for their actions and deserving of substantial prison time to pay for their evil deeds. I suppose that I’ve never really given serious thought to their deserving to escape their actions because they are insane or some form “mental defectives”. Do you really think they are “nuts” more so than they are criminals?

      Reply

      • I agree with you on everything, Skyler. They know exactly what they are doing and they are criminals who are aiding and abetting Criminal Number 1.

        Reply

      • I think that the church has SO much blackmail material on the major whales that they will be giving until their last drop is gone. They have self selected themselves for that fate by being vainglorious people. They cannot live with the possibility that their image would be ruined.

        Reply

  13. Miscavige will use his high-tech “special effects” to super-impose tons of people “attending” the event before he shows it to the staff…… and sadly they will believe him….. He continues to create the illusion, this is what he does best…. The charming and most delusional magician of all time, he can make others look criminal while he is truly the criminal and so it goes for over 40 years now.
    Thanks to Leah & Mike for their major expose now underway, well done for meticulously taking every detail and exposing it to the public at large… the best expose ever done on the “Church” of Scientology and David Miscavige… may they never be the same again. May they lose their tax exempt status and may Shelly Miscavige be rescued along with the hundreds of others kept in the illusion of Miscavige’s dirty deeds.

    Reply

    • IMO, scientology watching is becoming watching them repeatedly shoot themselves in their foot [feet?]. As they experience massive fails like this, the poor still-ins will get the idea that NO ONE cares for scn a whit and nothing they are trained to do will make any appreciable difference, since those marching orders were written in the long-ago different world of Hubbard’s mis-perception of the ’50s. His policies SEEMED to work, mostly because he SAID they worked and any who disagreed were severely chastised to bring them back into toeing the party line. i once entertained the idea of actively working to bring down that evil empire, but have since realized that Davey-Boy is doing that far more effectively than I could – even given the same powerful position. I don’t have the level of narcissism and distain for Hubbard and those who truly believe that he demonstrates. I expect that, sometime in my lifetime, scientology will cease to matter enough to follow actively. IF DM gets his comeuppance in the meantime, so much better, but it’s mot necessary EXCEPT as a warning for future wannabe cult dictators.

      NOW, I’m more interested in helping the ‘clubbed seals’ still in safely get OUT. The Aftermath Foundation is the best group that I’ve seen that has a chance of really doing good in that way. Given time and money to do so, I would be right there, volunteering to CLEAR the planet … OF scientology with the Foundation — one soon-to-be ex-member at a time.

      Reply

  14. They could easily have hundreds or even thousands of people come to these events.

    All they need to do is invite Mike and Leah to come and I’m quite certain lots of folks would come out to meet M&L. I know that I sure would.

    After all, M&L are far more popular now than This Scam has ever been. Oh my. A chance to meet Leah? I would even travel to CW for the opportunity to meet her. IMO, Leah is a real star. In fact, these fools should consider paying M&L to attend their events. Seems to me that people would come out in droves for a chance to meet them.

    Reply

  16. The Scientologists are used to seeing no one come to anything they do.

    They have to photo shop people into their propaganda.

    They have all of the staff and public show up for photo shoots to feed themselves at the events so the believe Scientology is expanding.

    Scientology is a very precise science of gaslighting.

    Reply

  17. I can’t think of anything more incongruous than a COS block party for the local public. On one hand they’ll harass you and call the police if they don’t like you. Then they come out with welcoming open arms like they’re glad to see you. Yeah they’re glad to see you, but only on their terms, not yours. The dissonance is deafening.

    Reply

  18. My local Christian church could announce a block party this morning at 9:21am for a noon start and still have more people show up.

    Reply

  19. Mike, just stopped over after checking Tony O.’s blog. You looked (and sounded) very smart on Australia’s 60 Minutes! Congratulations on continuing to – internationally – ‘disseminate’ the truth.

    Reply

    • Yes MD i agree Mike did look smart on 60 minutes last night. Good to see Tony, Mike and Leah speaking out internationally. I bet there would have been a good number of viewers watching 60 minutes last night. You guys are amazing.

      Reply

      • Tony just posted on his blog that the 60 Minutes Australia crew touched base with him after the show aired. Apparently the Shelly Miscavage episode had the most viewers that they’ve had for quite some time.
        Living in Australia myself, I can tell you for a fact that the efforts of Leah, Mike, Tony, et al are gaining significant traction here as well.

        Reply

  20. All of this public relation failure has its cause in applying Hubbard’s instructions on harming critics.

    The cause of your shit PR does not come from:

    psyches,
    FBI,
    Mike Rinder, Leah,
    Tony Ortega,
    Jefferson Hawkins,
    A&E,
    60 minutes,
    BBC,
    AMA
    FDA
    Andreas Heldal Lund
    Arnie Lena
    Bill Franks
    Brian Lambert
    Gabe Cazares
    Gerry Armstrong
    Hana Whitfield
    George M White
    Jon Atack
    Karen Pressley
    AND MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY OTHERS

    When you go through people’s garbage, send dildos to employers, bare false witness against your neighbor, ruin with lawsuites, break up families, belong to a church where the pope kicks the shit out of people, seek to ruin utterly, believe that free thinkers are criminals…………

    What the hell do you expect?

    Must we remind you that you are responsible for your condition?

    You harm people with your black PR and then you blame them for it.

    If you want to understand just google “gaslighting”. That is why you are despised.

    Reply

        • The CoS responsible for its own condition????? Where did you ever even HEAR of such an idea?

          You think the Co S ever wondered what IT did to “pull in” the shit PR? … They allegedly believe in understanding words, but still never really get their OWN definitions of “responsibility” ..

          Reply

          • Joe,

            scientology precepts do NOT apply to scientology, which will forever be the target of attacks, the victims of bigotry, and completely misunderstood. scientology isn’t responsible for ANYthing that happens to it, not even the squirrel tech which DM has foisted on them as the only true and pure LRH-intended ‘tech’ that was altered by the plethora of SPs that Ron was unable to detect, so he couldn’t ensure his words were properly duplicated and published.

            Meanwhile, it’s time for me to sit next to a window and watch the snow fall softly upon the Earth, leaving all things scn to molder as they will with no input from any of us.

            Reply

    • More destruction from Scientology. Friend of mine for 30 years called. His son said years ago to his dad [my friend] “I would never disconnect from you, Dad.” Miscavige must be turning on the heat because the son is threatening to disconnect from the Dad. The Ethics officer from the Tampa Org cannot even speak English – Spanish only.

      Reply

      • More and more George I am coming to the conclusion that Hubbard’s depravity is encoded in the Tone Scale. I have another article coming out about “accountable” which is -0.7 on the tone scale.

        Being accountable, in Ron’s view, is lower than hate, hostility and death itself.

        It’s higher toned to be dead than to be accountable. That is such a deviant manipulation of meaning. It was hiding in plain site.

        I think I have found definite evidence that Hubbard altered the “melodies and meanings” of words to manipulate and psychologically control people.

        The depths of the game of evil he played keeps getting deeper.

        “By their fruits ye shall know them”

        Reply

        • Great work, bro. This is a significant find. Lucifer said in Milton’s “Paradise Lost” – “Better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven”. Hubbard was setting up hell on earth with a desire to rule.

          Reply

        • Scientology’s Hubbard’s quackery and rules are the sow’s ear which can’t ever be made into a silk purse.

          The staff and followers’ ignorance vs their buying Hubbard’s hope for “OT” and improvement con job, the delay fact of wising up keeps aboard the unwised up long enough to keep the show going.

          Hubbard’s bureaucracy had perfected that ratio of keeping followers aboard with false promises and the pressure tactics and attack tactics threats of disconnection, long enough and Scientology Hubbard’s false claims constantly are rekindling the dupes’ hopes for “OT” and improvement in the interim.

          Finally, enough bad results and the leaking of history into their heads, and they see the standard Hubbard quackery didn’t even save Hubbard himself, he admitted failure at least momentarily near the end of his life.

          The runwy to wise up and quit is as long as the prolific Hubbard runway to “OT”.

          Hopes of the dupes vs the entanglements of the Hubbard bureaucracy fiddle faddle requirements and steps to advance to the next false promised step on the Hubbard con job stepladder.

          Reply

      • George, I’ll see you and raise you one. My daughter said she would never disconnect from me and then approximately 3 weeks later, on my birthday no less, she AND my son both disconnected from me at the church’s order. My crime? Reading the blogs.

        Reply

        • One day they will each suffer terribly from having done this. And their personal torment will have nothing to do with having been forgiven, because of course they will be understood and fully forgiven. That won’t help though.. No, once they fully realize the enormity of their crimes, the damage they inflicted, the pain they caused, once confront the actual scene and how they created it,, what they’ll be dealing with, and living with will be the inability to forgive themselves.. There’s nothing worse than that, for a basically ethical person with any degree of self awareness. It doesn’t justify away. It doesn’t audit away.. For this reason alone, I pity the cruel cult children who turned their backs on the parents.who love them and long for the sight and sound of them. The pain they feel one day will be far greater than the pain they’re causing now.

          Reply

    • It’s even simpler. The problem is in L. Ron Hubbard, and his leftover writings that tell the Scientology movement what to do.

      And until the writings are Hubbard are head on addressed, the writings and the unfortunates who get lured into the charade “OT” sales job of Scientology, will have a place to go to be fleeced by staff who don’t know the full story, per Hubbarfd’s rules again.

      Hubbard’s writings will be the biggest long range trouble to earth, and until his writings are dissected properly by credible outside persons who have the time and I presume it will take them being paid, to do the 5-15 years long detailed study.

      Right now, I’ll bet most of the great critical books by outsiders are written by persons far more capable than Hubbard ever was and thus they could do a minute dissection someday, if one or a couple of them do the lifelong 5-15 years long takedown.

      IN the meantime, word of mouth and thankfully the media reporting shows up the continuing patterns of Hubbard’s that the Scientology followers and the Scientology bureaucrats follow like Kamikaze pilots.

      Scientologists are trained to think they are doing good, per Hubbard’s inflated false claims that overwhelm any of the followers from seeing their way back out of the Scientology mess quickly.

      There’s a delayed ignorance that carries the faithful along for decades, and they still don’t see the Hubbard full history details.

      If someone makes some massive donation to Oxford University, sets up a grant program to fund 5-10-20 year total expert dissection of Scientology, someday, if that happens, then interesting conclusive dismissal of Scientology will happen.

      Professor Stephen Kent started a bunch of good work, and others too.

      If another Robert Minton comes along, I would he donate a big zillion dollar grant program affiliated with studying and comparing Scientology and really do the job that Bryan Wilson copped out of doing.

      The academics who do apologist work for Scientology need shaming by way of a multi year detailed dissecting of Hubbard’s corpus of writings and lectures to the movement.

      Any zillionaires willing to foot such a research grant program and affiliate it with the decades long career researchers at Oxford or other best in the world total in depth university studies, that is still a job or a set of “boots in the sky” I feel society has to fill someday.

      Reply

    • Or they are in ethics writing up their OWs for failing to progress as they should. Block parties are a reward, and the 12000 are downstats.

      Reply

    • Lol- I’m sure you’re right and that’s where they all are. Or was there some grand opening scheduling conflict and all those other SO employees were needed in another country to fill out the numbers. I’m sure Miscavage (living in his cozy bubble) just assumed that ordinary people would show up to impress ‘everyone’ (or one specific special friend) just how wonderful his cult is.

      Reply

      • “..some grand opening scheduling conflict..” Lol…

        The other 11,965 people were much too busy exorcising those pesky little body thetans.

        They can’t help themselves. What with all those bothersome BTs, who has time for a block party?

        Reply

  24. If any other local church were to put on a block party, most, if not all of the staff would be there to meet and greet and talk up the value and virtue of their church. They would casually ask folks to check it out.

    So where are all the sea-borg staff lining up to introduce themselves to the throngs of newcomers? Why aren’t they out there to answers peoples questions? Don’t they want to prove to the locals that they are friendly and willing to mingle with them?

    Don’t they get to crawl out of their holes for a day of festivities and partake in some of the free food and music that is being provided?

    This whole thing is just doubling down on creepy.

    Reply

    • I read a comment somewhere that stated the front groups all had their lights on and bunchs of staff inside milling around and being very friendly and handing out promo.

      Reply

  25. Miscabage can use the photos for his next event promoting 12,000 square miles of clean streets thanks to the efforts of his flock!

    Reply

  26. Well folks…you ARE looking at what the title states:.

    The age old statement: “What IF I gave a party & NOBODY CAME
    that just happened. right here in lovely downtown “CLAM WATER….

    A small handful of people cruising by to see “what’s up”…..& probably snared by members trying to get them to take a FREE Personality Test…..Oy Vey.

    Reply

    • CLAM WATER – LOL That’s the first time I saw that in writing. No offense meant to Clearwater residents. My grandparent moved from New Jersey to Clearwater in the 1950’s and it’s a beautiful environment and has a great climate. My grandfather used to walk around the Phillies spring training stadium and pick up the baseballs that got knocked out of the stadium onto the street and send me a box of baseballs just in time for the season in NJ.

      For never ins, Mr. Hubbard said we have genetic memories of being clams or something like that. Who knows. Clackety Clack

      Reply

  27. These pics are evidence that the handwriting is on the wall. I would have thought, to make a “good impression”, the Scientologists would have been required to at least make an appearance. And shame on those outsiders for even showing up!

    Reply

    • “It’s their party, they should cry if they dare to.”
      Whatever musical abilities I have don’t include writing song lyrics. Here’s a weak start; someone else want to run with this?

      Reply

      • Sad block party, and I’ll cry if I want to
        Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
        You would cry too if Miscavige punched you.

        Nobody knows where dear Shelly has gone
        But Davey says she is fine
        Asking about her is banned
        And they will audit your crimes.

        Sad block party, and I’ll cry if I want to
        Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
        You would cry too if they sec checked you too.

        Throwin’ up buildings, with no end in sight,
        Vacant buildings everywhere
        Except for indentured staff
        Who no longer really care.

        Sad block party, and I’ll cry if I want to
        Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
        You would cry too if they RPF’d you

        Tom Cruise and Travolta just walked through the door
        Quick clean this up or you’ll land straight in the Hole

        Sad block party, and I’ll cry if I want to
        Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
        You would cry too if it happened to you

        Reply

  32. The growth of the cult of Scientology was based on whopper lies. But many/most of these lies have been exposed by whistleblowers who escaped from inside the cult….

    This empty street scene reflects the public’s view of this mow exposed criminal organization.

    Reply

    • Exactly. Hubbard’s quackery isn’t winning them friends and influence nor neighbors’ good will.

      If eveyone in Clearwater knew how much exorcism of Xenu’s “body-thetans” goes on daily in Clearwater, and to no avail, no results in improving the world, then it sure cements the argument that Scientology’s growth only works on the captured audience followers who are still hoping that the Hubbard expensive quackery and exorcism of Xenu’s “body-thetans” is working.

      You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Scientology is the sow’s ear.

      Hubbard’s Keeping Scientology Working membership all time important policy falsely claims Scientology works, and blames the followers when Scientology doesn’t work.

      Hubbard’s quackery doesn’t produce “OT” super people, so that’s why Scientology is the sow’s ear which can never be made into the falsely claimed silk purse which Hubbard promises.

      Reply

      • Chuck, I believe that early in LRH’s life he discovered that telling unbelievable lies can gain a lot of attention, e.g. finding a giant gold mine in his Maryland back yard in 1933 or discovering the State of clear with Dianetics in 1950. However, the difference between a gold mine and the state of clear is that you never have to produce any gold with Dianetics/Scientology, so the ruse can last more than a few weeks.

        Reply

  34. I assume that was part of the “Hill 10” Clearwater handling brought on by Leah’s show focusing on CW and how the church has essentially destroyed the city?

    Reply

  36. This demonstrates how well your show, and other media, is working to disseminate information. Poor Miscavige- he probably threw the party to impress the newest arrival to town….(just an assumption).. gotta be pretty embarrassing, to say the least.

    Hope the reality of how poorly Scientology is doing will inspire some of the drones to open their eyes and look for reasons why the cult is failing so miserably. They have to notice that no one is supporting them.

    Thank you for a great show and blog.

    Reply

  37. Looks like it is time to cue those tumbleweeds. Even with the celeb penthouse buying, wagon circling celeb whales luxuriating in their skyview penthouses, it all starts with bodies in the shop & book buyers and now Scientology TV Channel watchers, if any of them are still hanging in. The cracks in all the fortress walls of Scientology are shuddering, groaning & heading for a free fall. The question is when. I have faith good will triumph over evil in the end. Thank you Mike & ?

    Reply

  39. Mike, thanks for this interesting report from the streets – literally.

    Have the citizens of Clearwater been watching Aftermath, and realized they shouldn’t allow Scientology to “safepoint” them by falling for the lure of these shindigs? Now the mayor just needs to watch and catch up….

    It does seem to show that Scientology must have a rather small local membership. That fits with accounts that many of those who have moved there over the years in hopes of finding their “mecca,” have instead ended up burned out by the hothouse atmosphere around Flag.

    Also, on the subject of local news, someone who had been corresponding with Tracey McManus at the Tampa Bay Times reported over at Tony Ortega’s blog that she was working on a story that I had expected might come out this weekend, though I don’t see any sign of it.

    Reply

    • Citizens of Clearwater worried about contagion street salesmanship from Scientologists can always employ the taboo words that make street Scientologists flee:

      Xenu
      “body-thetans”

      explain Xenu’s “body-thetans” exorcism at Flag, for instance:

      “How is the volume of exorcism going at the Flag Building? Lot of Xenu’s “body=thetans” being exorcised lately?”

      “I heard more of Xenu’s “body-thetans” get exorcised here in Clearwater than anywhere else on earth, is that true? Does Flag hold the Guinness Book of Records record on number of souls exorcised?”

      Reply

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