Volume 0, Issue 11 vom 2. 7. 1995

Contents
MTV Special
Auditing HIV
New Poster
Where Are They Now? -AB-
J.J. Gaw, Private Investigator
Kiel Week
Demonstration in Berlin
Kobrin Verifies Scamizdat
June 23rd Event
Koos Newsgroup
Alt.religion.scientology Week in Review summarizes the most significant
postings from the Usenet group Alt.religion.scientology for the preceding
week for the benefit of those who can't follow the group as closely as
they'd like. Out of thousands of postings, I attempt to include news of
significant events, new affidavits, court rulings, new contributors,
whatever. I hope you find it useful. Like many readers of a.r.s, I have a
kill file. So please take into consideration that I may not have seen some
of the most significant postings. 

The articles in A.r.s Week in Review are brief summaries of the articles. 
Many include an excerpt, and all include message IDs for the articles I
cover. This may or may not be useful to you, depending on how long your
site stores articles in the newsgroup before expiring them. 

A.r.s Week in Review is available free, by e-mail and is archived at
          http://amazing.cinenet.net/scientology.html
          http://www.isp.net/~jdiver/scieno.htm

And somewhere near http://www.thur.de/religio, but I don't have the exact
URL yet. 

#####

MTV Special

MTV this week aired a special news broadcast about cults, and included
some discussion of the cos. Stacy Young and cos PR person Leisa Goodman
were interviewed. A transcript was posted to a.r.s, anonymously. Some
excerpts: 

"Loder: But according to former scientologists, members aren't given the 
church's full liturgy until after taking many expensive courses.

"Although scientology executives deny it, former longtime members say that
eventually  followers are told that some of these "engrams" are the
remnants of space aliens called "body thetans" who are placed there by the
galactic overlord "Xenu".

"Stacy Young: It's a very science-fiction world, um, it has a, galactic
confederacy ... it's a very romantic ... view of the world.

"Loder: I don't understand, there's like a galactic overlord "Xenu"... is
there a whole staff of characters... or is that not true? 

"Goodman:  Ohh uhh... I don't think ... I don't really know what you
mean. What you're talking about.

"Loder: At one point, eleven scientologists, including Hubbard's wife,
were convicted of conspiracy and burglary, of IRS offices. 

"Goodman: Actually the people who did that, were booted out of the church.
It's got _nothing_ to do with scientology. And, um...

"Loder: In the end, the IRS granted scientology the tax exempt religious
status it wanted. A move IRS spokesman now decline to discuss.

Message-ID: <3t3vii$iv@utopia.hacktic.nl>

#####

Auditing HIV

News this week of a post to AOL, claiming that auditing cured an anonymous
person of HIV infection. The post includes a standard disclaimer to keep
the FDA at bay. 

"I enlightened him on an 'auditing rundown' known as the 'False Purpose
Rundown' which LRH specifically developed to handle this variety of
'ruin'. The False Purpose Rundown, or FPRD as it is more commonly known,
is an extremely powerful and effective procedure. 

"Today I learned that after about 25 hours of auditing he is no longer HIV
positive. His doctor concluded that as unbelievable as it may sound, all
his previous tests must have somehow been in error because such things
just don't happen.  His "T cell" count (a measure of immune system
function) which had been in the 30s (extremely low) is now also normal. 

"The technologies of Scientology and Dianetics are not intended or
promoted as cures for physical ailments. In fact those seeking to handle
medical problems are referred to an MD." 

This news was part of a series from ArtAtCC about the sad state of
censorship on the AOL service. 

"I posted a response to this, saying it was a quack cure and a lie. AOL
removed my response, saying that it was harassing, and in violation their
'Terms of Service', the initial post remains." 

Message-ID: <3sstrh$mcc@newsbf02.news.aol.com>
            <3t0qok$met@newsbf02.news.aol.com>

#####

New Poster

A new cos poster introduced himself this week. Or more accurately, Dennis
Erlich introduced him. 

"Just checked my May 95 issue of 'Who, What, Where' (a scieno supplier
guide) and who do I find? 

"Our *very own* ronartistr@aol.com (RonArtistR). He's the mission holder
of the San Luis Obispo, California, scieno franchise. Ron Bearce. The
listing even has his e-mail address. But in typical scieno fashion he
spells it: aol.comm." 

Ron has begun Jackfarmering the group heavily, the latest in an
undistinguished tradition. 

Message-ID: <9506281621.0MZO101@support.com>

#####

 Where Are They Now? -AB-

Details were released to a.r.s this week about the cos' hunt for the
anonymous poster -AB-. After raiding the penet server in Finland, the PIs
went to Caltech to get he name off his account. Rich Fagan described their
efforts. AB posted details from Linda Woolard about her incident in Tom
Klemesrud's apartment. 

"The P.I.s wanted to know the identity of the holder of the account "tc" 
on the Caltech Alumni Association computer system (alumni.caltech.edu).
[..] Later that day, an attorney representing the Church of Scientology
called the campus computing support office demanding the name of the
account holder. The attorney claimed that a document had been stolen from
a CoS computer system, and that the document had been posted to the a.r.s
newsgroup from alumni.caltech.edu via the anon remailer. (The claim was
the document was created on Jan. 21 and appeared in a.r.s. on Jan. 24).
The computing support staff did not divulge the name of the account
holder, and the CoS attorney was referred to the Caltech General Counsel's
office. 

"The Computer Crime Unit of the Bunco-Forgery Division of the LAPD
subsequently contacted Caltech security and asked for more information on
the case.  [..] The LAPD requested and was given the name of the "tc"
account holder with the understanding that this information would not be
divulged. A couple days after that Caltech was informed that the LAPD
could find no evidence that a crime had been committed. 

"The CoS attorney produced a letter allegedly signed by the tc account
holder allowing CoS permission to get the data stored on that account and
the backups.  Due to irregularities with both the letter and a phone
conversation with the account holder, permission for CoS to have access to
the data in the account was denied by Caltech." 

Because the efforts of the cos stopped, many assume that the LAPD
disclosed the name of the account. 

Message-ID: <3smmv3$ard@gap.cco.caltech.edu>

#####

 J.J. Gaw, Private Investigator

J.J. Gaw, a PI for the cos, has been posting to Netcom newsgroups,
trolling for dirt to use against the provider in their lawsuit. 

"Anyone who has had problems with NETCOM, please cal me at (800) 419-5010,
ext. 2727, or e-mail at jjgi@ixnetcom.com." 

And:

"If you have had problems with NETCOM, please call (800) 419-5010, ext. 
2727, ask for Jon Gaw. 
 
"All information received can be treated confidentially."

The anonymous reposter notes:

"Note: CAN be treated confidentially. Not will. Just like those private
folders that may not be used against you, unless you blow the cu*t." 

Message-ID: <220339Z29061995@anon.penet.fi>

#####

Kiel Week

At the recent Kiel Week festival was attended by representatives from the
cos and by an anonymous poster who described the festivities. 

"On Wednesday my handouts were ready, 300 pieces of them. The front said
"Scientology - The Cult of Greed", followed by the statement made by Mr. 
Bluem.  Then it said: 

"The self proposed church with anything:
 - an own language to isolate its members
 - an own secret service, the OSA
 - own punishment camps for members, the RPF
 - own PI's to harass critics
 - a warchest to harass critics
 - a peculiar ethic that calls for action against critics
 - dozens of frontorganisation to influence the public
 - own organisations to subvert business
 - copyrights and tradesecrets on their scriptures
 - an unwillingness to discuss their religion
 - a boss who hides from the law
 - a management strategy with money as main goal
 - the need to register as business
But No Skrupels..."

"While I handed out my information, I had several conversations with
passers by. Some wanted more details about my statements. Some just wanted
to talk about relatives who joined the cult. Some came back to have some
more flyers to distribute in class, on military bases, in clubs or youth
hostels.  Sometimes I had some more persons handing out flyers with me. It
was really fantastic - so much public response and support. 

"Sorrowly (or rather happily) the Co$ chickened out! They did not return
to Kiel! I am *NOT* claiming this to be my win. They had a really bad
press in Kiel that week, but maybe my flyers added a little to the
pressure. I have been told that while I did my work, they got the
"Freedom" shredded and thrown right in their faces. One really angry woman
hit them right in the face with a folded "Freedom" ... Oh my, all those
suppressive persons!" 

Message-ID: <183313Z27061995@anon.penet.fi>

#####

 Demonstration in Berlin

Also from Germany, Tilman Hausherr reports on a demonstration he
participated in to protest condominium conversion scams run by
Scientologists. 

"The bicycle tour was really cool. It was a "guided tour" with stops at
some houses bought by scientology-near companies. Some of these houses
had cloths hanging out of the window with texts against scientology. One
had an inflated rubber shark.

"After 2 hours, we were at the meeting point for the actual demonstration.
We started walking, I guess about 500 people. 

"One little girl had a sign, on which was written: 'Convert house sharks
into fish fingers'

"The demo went even past the most famous two houses, which had already
been reported about in newspapers and TV. A car played the text of a
show on scientology, the one in which RVY was interviewed."

Message-ID: <3shl6j$mgr@unlisys.unlisys.net>

#####

 Kobrin Verifies Scamizdat

Damon Cheston found an anonymous copy of Scamizdat in his mailbox this
week, and decided to verify its status with cos attorney Helena Kobrin. 

In her reply, she writes:

"Only two of the documents included are not authentic writings of L. Ron 
Hubbard. These documents are labeled as follows:

"HCOB of 5 May 80 Issue I
OT VIII Series 1 [and]

"OPERATING THETAN
SECTION VIII

"[Y]ou are now on specific notice of the copyright and trade secrets
status of the documents as noted above. The law is clear that such notice
is sufficient to hold you liable for any subsequent disclosures of the
materials." 

"My clients have requested me to start legal proceedings against you. If
you cooperate, litigation may be avoided, which would be preferable for
all concerned." 

Helena's idle threats aside, these two "forgeries" can now be posted
safely, and the authenticity of the rest has been verified by a cos
official. 

Message-ID: 

#####

 June 23rd Event

Details of the cos' big event and announcement on June 23rd were provided
by Koos Nolst Trenite this week. Despite the unorthodox writing style,
some of the details were quite interesting. 

"[T]here was no David Miscavige present, and also no David Miscavige 
look-alike.
 
"We postulated: all Orgs in 6 months Saint Hill size, of old [Saint Hill].
 
"The project to go swiftly ahead with fulfilling the prerequisites for the
release of OT IX and X was greeted with enthusiasm, and people simply
wanted to help, wanted to be part of a team that can improve life and
livingness of people." 
 
Message-ID: <9506251447.AA29076@freenet-a.fim.uni-erlangen.de>

#####
 
 Koos Newsgroup

Speaking of Koos, Rogue Agent has circulated the idea of a newsgroup for
the discussion of Koos. Koos himself voted for the name he likes best. 

"'Koos IS Scientology', he said. He would most likely post to a group
called alt.religion.scientology.koos, as this would describe most
accurately what Koos is doing. 
 
"I am in favor of alt.religion.scientology.koos."

Message-ID: <9506251447.AA29076@freenet-a.fim.uni-erlangen.de>