Volume 0, Issue 34 vom 17. 12. 1995

Alt.religion.scientology Week in Review
Volume 0, Issue 34
12/17/95
by Rod Keller [rkeller@netaxs.com]
copyright 1995

Contents

  1. Victory in the Netherlands
  2. Fishman Complaint
  3. Mail Fraud
  4. Mail Flood
  5. French Org Liquidated
  6. Kane Orders Return
  7. Amsterdam Leaflet
  8. Guardian Order
  9. Sea Org Questionnaire
  10. Spy Magazine
  11. Tilman Questioned
  12. Dr. Whip
  13. AOL Attacks
  14. Vera Wallace
  15. Michael Jackson

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. 

Free A.r.s Week in Review subscriptions are available, just email me at 
rkeller@voicenet.com
It is archived at:
        http://www.amazing.com/scientology/ars-summary.html
        http://users.aimnet.com/~jdiver/scieno.htm
        http://www.thur.de/religio/publik/arsfaq.html
        http://wpxx02.toxi.uni-wuerzburg.de/~krasel/CoS/ars-summary.html

#####

Victory in the Netherlands

The case against Karin Spaink and a number of Dutch Internet providers took a sudden turn on Dec. 11th, when the cult pulled away from the current suit. Here's an excerpt from De Volkskrant, December 12th 1995. "The Church of Scientology has asked the president of the court of The Hague to delay the case against writer Karin Spaink and several Internet providers. The church has problems with proving her copyright on Scientology documents published on the internet by Spaink. "The church accuses the writer Karin Spaink and the Internet providers Xs4all, Cistron, Dataweb, The Digital City and Planet Internet of 'violation of copyright' of documents which have been put on the worldwide network by users." Karin Spaink wrote: "Seems like they're stalling for time. Whether it's fear or strategy is not clear; probably it's a mixture of both. They have always said they were *so* convinced they'd win this one, it was a piece of cake they claimed. "A new case will take at least a year before there's a verdict; probably longer. And *all this time* the Fishman Affidavit will be available from a hundred sites in Holland. Also, my guess is that it will have severe repercussions for them in the American lawsuits. Dropping the case here, and still suing in the US?" Felipe Rodriquez described the event that lead to the withdrawal. "In their letter they say that a notary would not confirm that the OT-levels that are available on Dutch web-pages are copies of the original versions." Message-ID: <4ajnkd$4ta@driene.student.utwente.nl> Message-ID: <4ak3nf$3i4@news.xs4all.nl> Message-ID: <4ahmlv$mi9@news.xs4all.nl> #####

Fishman Complaint

Steven Fishman announced his intention to file a complaint with the New York State Bar against Eric Lieberman, a cult lawyer. Lieberman made the following statement on December 1, 1995. "First, the Scientology religion, its leaders and even many of its attorneys have consistently been subjected to a daily regimen of criticism on the Internet of the most vile character. They have included ridiculous charges of murders, thefts, and sexual perversions, often in obscene, graphic and vulgar terms. Yet no effort has been made to censor or shut down this avalanche of criticism. No lawsuits have been brought based on this clearly defamatory material. No attempt has been made to go to access providers and get them to shut this sort of thing down and take it off the Internet." Steven explained his complaint. "Lieberman represents Religious Technology Center. His co-counsel in the Lerma case, Helena Kobrin, represents Religious Technology Center against the Internet providers. Lieberman cannot say he never heard of the Dutch case. On December 1st, the Dutch case had not yet been dropped by Religious Technology Center. Lieberman surely cannot use the excuse that he was only talking about Internet providers in the United States because the Internet is by definition all over the globe." Message-ID: <4av2hn$63d@ixnews6.ix.netcom.com> #####

Mail Fraud

Steve Fishman also posted to defend himself against allegations of mail fraud made by cult spokesman Andy Milne. "Operation Acting Classes was the name given to a Church of Scientology scheme involving the filing of false securities class action claims. Let us suppose a company misrepresents its earnings to its shareholders. They sue the company for filing false income statements. A fund is established with x millions of dollars to repay all of the shareholders who owned stock in the company from date a to date b. "Then the Church of Scientology tells Steve Fishman to file a claim in one of these settlement funds. But Steve Fishman never lost money because he never owned any such stock in the company. So he includes a false claim form showing he lost money. "I was playing the 'LRH Birthday game' against two other Scientologists who were also submitting claims, one named Carl Frey who had an account with Merrill Lynch, and a Susan Osterreicher who had an account with Thomson McKinnon (these are brokerage firms) in Baltimore, Maryland. "After my arrest, I was automatically thrown into Liability, and when my father hired a criminal attorney (Marc Nurik), who wanted to defend me by telling the truth about the Church's involvement, I was lowered to Enemy. When the FBI started investigating the Church of Scientology for its complicity in the class action fraud, I was thrown into Treason. [...] I was then charged with obstruction of justice. The investigation into the church by the FBI was dropped. And all was well in Scientology. "But I was still a danger to them, because on the other hand, my attorney, Marc Nurik, was convinced that the Church was responsible and was trying to prove it. I was told to do an End of Cycle, or commit suicide. "'Take a short term loss on your immediate lifetime in order to ensure a long term gain on your immortality as a thetan', Leona Grimm repeated. She was the FBO (Flag Banking Officer of Miami). Jan Logan, the Senior Sea Org recruiter, told me the same thing." Message-ID: <4af75r$137@news.xs4all.nl> #####

Mail Flood

Finally, also from Steve Fishman, a description of an operation the cult is enacting against him, involving business reply cards. "What has happened is that I have been a victim of an operation called 'Bingoing.' Bingoing occurs when agents of the Office of Special Affairs go into a public library, to the trade periodicals section, and embark on a campaign of circling business reply cards from these magazines and filling out the postage-paid cards with the name and address of an SP enemy of the Church on it. The mail comes in tubs and wheelbarrows and the victim is at a loss as to how to stop it. The United States Postal Authorities will not investigate this harassment because it does not involve postal fraud, or a monetary crime, because the information is just advertising and does not come with an invoice. [T]his is standard operating procedure sanctioned and carried out by a continuing criminal enterprise masquerading as a church. I ought to know, because back in 1979, I invented 'Bingoing' as a G.O. Agent and I gave this disgusting concept to Scientology as a way to haunt and annoy SP's." Message-ID: <4aenu9$gqc@news.xs4all.nl> #####

French Org Liquidated

Emmanuel Marin posted an article from L'Evenement du Jeudi Dec 7-13 1995. "Since last Tuesday, the Church of Scientology of Paris - HQ of the cult in France - is being liquidated. On June 9th 1994, the CoS, which had refused to pay the 60 MFF it owed to the French 'IRS' and the 'URSSAF' [in short, the administration in charge of collecting the taxes for the French health care system - EM], is ordered by the Paris court of justice devoted to the commercial affairs, to pay the taxes. Both the French IRS and the URSSAF indeed claimed the CoS did commercial affairs under the mask of a religion. Two previous trials had already concluded the Fr. IRS and the URSSAF were right to claim so, in 1992 and in 1993." Message-ID: <4acpud$k6m@moka.ccr.jussieu.fr> #####

Kane Orders Return

The Rocky Mountain News reported that Judge John Kane ordered on Dec. 11th that the cult return some materials seized in the raids on Larry Wollersheim and Bob Penny. "The most controversial materials, Internet postings by anonymous people worldwide that claim to reveal some of Scientology's secret beliefs, will remain sealed and in the custody of the court clerk, Kane ordered. "Church officials in October protested an order to return the documents saying they would be committing heresy, would be excommunicated and would be jeopardizing their immortal souls if they turned over some of the most sacred and secret materials. 'The materials cannot be surrendered to apostates,' they said in court documents, citing First Amendment religious freedom protections. "In this week's order, Kane said Wollersheim and Penny should get back all materials on paper and all computer materials except the sealed Internet postings. "On the religious freedom question, Kane quoted from a 1990 U.S. Supreme Court ruling: 'The government's ability to enforce generally applicable prohibitions of socially harmful conduct...cannot depend on measuring the effects of a governmental action on a religious objector's spiritual development.'" Message-ID: <4amadu$7c4@natasha.rmii.com> #####

Amsterdam Leaflet

The cult distributed a leaflet in Amsterdam this week. The contact name is Leisa Goodman, media contact in Los Angeles. "* R E W A R D * ***Up to $ 10.000*** for information about * Child pornography * bomb treats * death treats * extortion * fraud * piracy * racism "* Whereas, the Church if Scientology International believes that the Internet was created as a forum where all men and woman of good will can freely increase communication, education and creativity. "* Whereas, a few individuals can freely abuse the Internet, often criminally "* Whereas, the most common crime is infringement copyright works - from a song to the latest in computer software - and those who infringe often state that 'everything' in the Internet should be free for all'. "* Whereas, the Church of Scientology has been the victim of people who have attempted to destroy the Church's copyright works, using means which include placing copies of its unpublished scriptures on the Internet. "* Whereas, three federal courts in the United States have restricted use of copyrighted documents belonging to the Church of Scientology and forbidden unauthorized distribution of these documents. "* The Church of Scientology offers a REWARD of up to $10.000 for information leading to the prosecution and conviction of individuals who have used or contributed to abuse of the Internet to commit criminal acts." Message-ID: <19951212.012645.48@holsoft.demon.co.uk> #####

Guardian Order

A Guardian Order, dated November 30th, 1971, was posted this week. It details statements made by "treason cases, SPs etc". Apparently these were heard frequently in the orgs at the time. Among them: "(A person goes to the Police, authorities etc) I only did this because I felt I could right a real wrong in the organization. "I had to tell the reporter - after all it was true. "If the orgs had wonderful expensive premises, with deep pile carpets, chandeliers, etc - then they would be successful. "Ethics is, the Gestapo, pressure, evil, secret, taking the law into our own hands, a state within a state, crushing, vicious. "I know Scientology is a religion, but VIPs will be scared off if its presented that way. "LRH stole Scientology from - me, Buddha, Thomas Eddison, the Mayans, the Egyptians, the Martians, my great aunt Phoebe etc. "(person who leaves with the funds). I regard it as a short term loan - not theft. "Of course Ethics, Tech and Admin will handle but we owe no duty of care to SPs or traitors. We do not consider that one strayed sheep returned to the fold is of greater importance than those who have never strayed - nor do we consider that because an SP wants to return, he or she is automatically trustworthy." Message-ID: <199512091912.LAA05401@infinity.c2.org> #####

Sea Org Questionnaire

A questionnaire used to recruit Sea Org members was posted this week. "1. How long have you been on staff? 2. Do you have any chronical illness? 3. Are you married? 4. Do you have children? ____ If yes, how old are they? _____ 5. What is your tech training level? ____ Auditing level? _____ 6. What is your administrative training level? 7. Have you ever taken LSD or 'angel dust'? 8. Do you have a criminal history? 9. Are you related or connected to anyone who is working in a security section of the government? 10. Do you have debts which would pull you out of the Sea Org? 11. Did you ever think about coming to the Sea Org? 12. Have you ever signed a Sea Org contract? 13. What is your time machine to arrive in the Sea Org? 14. Anything else you want to communicate?" Message-ID: <010308Z15121995@anon.penet.fi> #####

Spy Magazine

Spy Magazine published an article on the cult in the issue released this week. "The JAN/FEBRUARY issue of SPY Magazine has hit the stands in the Greater Los Angeles area, and will be platforming out across the country just in time for the holidays. Enjoy the feature, 'DO YOU WANT TO BUY A BRIDGE.'" Message-ID: <4adv31$eur@newsbf02.news.aol.com> #####

Tilman Questioned

Tilman Hausherr reported a phone call from Thomas Riche this week, a cult private investigator. "He asked me two questions. "1. If I had sent $$ to Atack. I refused to answer this and explained that he'd need a court order to find that out. Since when do PIs call people for financial information? I asked how he had the name, he said 'from the internet'. Thinking back, it seems that I followed-up to Bob Penny's appeal for help. He didn't want to tell more or could not. He later told me that he is not on the internet, but that there is a Cyber cafe nearby. "2. If Atack and Lawley had sent me documents. I said no. I explained that I am just an unimportant guy following this from the net, etc., and that I don't even know what's Lawley doing these days. I told him that the church had failed to return some documents to Lawley. He said that Lawley had lived in Wetzlar, Germany for some time." Message-ID: <30d1fe33.10586079@news.snafu.de> #####

Dr. Whip

Keith Little (aka Whippersnapper) has begun a medical investigation into rectal bleeding, in an attempt to show how Linda Woolard could have spread blood around Tom Klemesrud's apartment. A more likely explanation is that Linda carried the blood, and spre ad it on the orders of Eugene Ingram, investigator for the cult. Gene wanted Tom to cut off the Internet access of critic Dennis Erlich. "From: Whippersnapper <whipsnap@cris.com> Newsgroups: sci.med.pathology Subject: Rectal Bleeding Date: 9 Dec 1995 01:40:02 GMT "I have seen a description of a condition which sounds like prolapsed hemorrhoids, accompanied by profuse bleeding. I am not a medical professional. Can anyone confirm that such a condition can exist? The woman was reported to have bled profusely from the rectum after drinking (probably a considerable amount of) alcohol. Can anyone confirm that such a condition is medically plausible?" A reply from a pathologist on sci.med.pathology: "From: Ed Uthman <uthman@domi.net> Newsgroups: sci.med.pathology Subject: Re: Rectal Bleeding Date: 9 Dec 1995 17:43:25 GMT "Hemorrhoids can bleed, but the problem is that it is very difficult to assign rectal bleeding to hemorrhoids without a proper gastroenterologic workup, which usually includes fiberoptic endoscopy. Typically, hemorrhoids don't bleed 'profusely,' (and by that I mean blood loss requiring transfusion), and in middle-aged or older individuals, diverticulosis or angiodysplasia come to mind as being more likely. But, you never really know where the blood is coming from until you look up there with a 'scope." Message-ID: <4aapdi$82i@spectator.cris.com> Message-ID: <4achrt$j9e@uunews.computize.com> #####

AOL Attacks

The America Online poster known as DimeLine continued his attacks this week against Diane Richardson. This post was reposted from an America Online folder to a.r.s. It's interesting that cult officials are slow to disavow these attacks. "How insane can they get? Eternally so. And they DO HAVE BIG CRIMES. Unfortunately, they get the psyches to back them up and certain lawyers to change laws so that society will hopefully overlook the grotesqueness of their activities, thereby making their crimes an 'everybody does it, so what's the harm?' I heard one girl who posts here is a porn queen and has sex with children. One of her 'defenders' states she is a LIBRARIAN! Well, should that actually be the case, wouldn't that be a misappropriation of funds or something like that to have a public servant attack a religion with such velocity? Seems she spends a lot of time on the INTERNET writing attacks. I think her employer would look down on such a person if they knew. Taking money under false pretenses could be a crime of hers, I would think, and taxpayers money at that." Message-ID: <060313Z10121995@anon.penet.fi> #####

Vera Wallace

Vera Wallace reappeared on a.r.s this week. She once provided one of the more memorable quotes in the group when she proudly stated "My butt is not fat". She emerged this week to attack Steven Fishman. "You are defending a criminal who defrauded numerous courts around the country and stole well over $800,000 through his scheme. Think about how he destroyed the life of his ex-wife and the other people who he has hurt through his criminal actions. You may hate Scientologists, but to defend a criminal liar who has no intention of changing his ways is extremely disappointing." Message-ID: <4ai2nl$4as@newsbf02.news.aol.com> #####

Michael Jackson

Speculation ran wild this week, following the news that Michael Jackson collapsed in New York in a rehearsal. His symptoms are consistent with several posters' remembrance of the Purification Rundown, and overdoses of niacin. Gossip columnist Cindy Adams wrote in her Dec. 12th column: "Why would it be surprising that Michael is not well? One who was surprised was a lady who identified herself as a Scientologist. Said she: 'Well, you know that Michael is interested in Scientology and this is the symptom of burgeoning spirituality. He, of course, will deny he is going through this deeply cleansing process and he would never tell his doctors, but many who find our religion experience this at first.'" A Current Affair, a TV entertainment magazine, ran a piece on the story, including material on the background of the cult. "Current Affair tonight aired a segment on the marriage between Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson. Vaughn Young stated on the show that he felt the marriage was orchestrated by Scientology, and Leisa Goodman came on and denied it. The main point was that they were attempting to show that the church set up the marriage in order to get a hook into Michael Jackson. "The main link to the church seems to have been Eva Darling, Lisa Marie's assistant at the time. The show contended that Darling arranged almost every aspect of the wedding, and she is a Scientologist. After the wedding, Lisa Marie allegedly called Scientology six times." Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.951212175249.7842E-100000@panix.com> Message-ID: <4ao3pd$ghr@nntp3.news.primenet.com>