Mongolia
The Star newspaper from Malaysia reported on October 19th that Scientology will be introducing study technology methods in Mongolian schools. "A study technology, developed by L. Ron Hubbard, will be introduced in Mongolian schools through Applied Scholastics, an organisation that makes available Hubbard's educational methods to the world. At the invitation of Tumor Ochi, the Speaker of the Mongolian Parliament, representatives of Applied Scholastics went to Mongolia, including S. Krishnan, the executive director of Applied Scholastics Malaysia. "'Democracy is new to Mongolia and reforms in all aspects of Mongolian socio-economic life have been introduced over the last decade,' said Ochi, who was introduced to Hubbard's learning technology during a visit to Britain. A memorandum of understanding for the implementation of the study technology was signed by the Mongolian Ministry of Education. "Krishnan said 'It will be a tremendous challenge as the course materials and books would have to be translated. The Mongolian national language, Altaic, has the same roots as the Finnish and Hungarian languages. Modern Mongolian is written in Cyrillic script,' he said." Message-ID: 4i76pv0492vsppgjhe1uea227l9rndcnjc@4ax.com
California Fires
The San Bernardino County Sun reported on October 27th that Scientology volunteers were among those working at the site of extensive fires in Southern California. "Hosea Taylor, a volunteer with the American Red Cross, spent Saturday and Sunday overseeing food donations for what were then about 1,000 evacuees. He nearly became one of them. Early Sunday afternoon, he anxiously ended an interview with a reporter so he could rush home to his East Highlands Ranch home, where nervous residents were watching a nearby hill burning as the fire advanced into Highland. Taylor intended to rescue his two cats, he said. "Members of Grace Church on 39th Street in San Bernardino were busy Sunday making sure those affected by the Old Fire had a little sustenance to keep up their spirits. Members of the church passed out about 15 cases of water and potato chips, cookies, doughnuts, apple sauce and about 80 hot dogs to those affected by the blaze. Volunteers from area churches were seemingly everywhere in the San Bernardino International Airport hanger that became the main shelter for Old Fire evacuees. "Some were hard to miss, especially those in the yellow T-shirts of the Church of Scientology. Others had to be asked. Sloane Allen and others from the River Christian Reformed Church of Redlands sported name tags made of duct tape. Katie Martinez came from Kansas, by way of Calvary Chapel Bible College in Murrieta, with a group of student volunteers. A freshman, she was sitting on a cot talking with teenagers displaced by the fire. "Bat Child" reported that a local radio station broadcast news that Scientology volunteers disagreed with local officials about the need for donations for firefighters. "The local San Diego TV station KUSI has been reporting extensively on the wildfires from Gillespie Field in El Cajon, a San Diego suburb, where apparently there is a location for people to go to donate materials for firefighters (things like socks, T-shirts, toothpaste, eye drops, etc.). They were saying the traffic was really heavy because a lot of people were bringing donations. "The reporter was saying that there was a disagreement between the California Department of Forestry and 'volunteers from the Church of Scientology'. The CDF is saying they still need donations but the Scienos were claiming they DON'T need any more donations! The reporter said the CDF asked to please announce that they do indeed need more donations." Message-ID: 1067252805.825899@newshost01.voicenet.com Message-ID: fke3qvk11hjlone8jpehcckqgs8v5pe7k6@4ax.com
New York
The New York Daily News reported on November 1st that comedian Denis Leary raised money recently to allow New York firefighters to undergo Scientology's purification rundown. "Denis Leary is denying allegations that he's being used by Tom Cruise to spread the word of the controversial Church of Scientology. Leary raised $720,000 for firefighters this past week at his third annual Bash for New York's Bravest, attended by Robin Williams, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and John McEnroe, among others. Leary said recently that Cruise wants to build the smoke-eaters 'a steam and sauna place on Long Island [to help] their condition' - which, he said, Cruise is funding privately. "'I think Denis Leary is well-meaning,' says Rick Ross, executive director of the New Jersey-based Ross Institute, which monitors what it sees as cults. 'But he's savvy enough about the Hollywood scene to know that if Tom Cruise does charity work, it's almost always related to Scientology.' Ross suspects that Cruise's 'steam and sauna place' is based upon what Scientologists call the 'purification rundown,' a ritual based on the teachings of science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. "Ross says the same rundown is touted by Downtown Medical, a controversial Manhattan clinic whose staff includes some Scientologists. FDNY officials are worried by the clinic's requirement that firefighters abandon their inhalers and medication. FDNY Deputy Commissioner Francis X. Gribbon told us that Downtown Medical 'is not a bona-fide detox program. It should not be a substitute for the medical treatment that our doctors have advised. We don't endorse it.' "'I'm sure the clinic doesn't overtly proselytize to the firemen,' said Ross. 'But they use them as sympathetic, heroic figures who can garner public support and federal and state funding. The firemen may be getting the treatment free. The public won't.' A staffer at Downtown Clinic said a 21-day purification treatment runs $5,200." Message-ID: 1067776600.541841@newshost01.voicenet.com
Netherlands
Het Parool reported on October 31st that Dutch Scientologists are the victims of an investment scam. "Not only does the Dutch Church of Scientology lose huge amounts of members, but also the followers of the Cult are not withholding themselves to crook each other via all kinds of companies. The 'church' pre-eminently leans itself to mutual swindling: it is strictly forbidden to sue each other in court. A reconstruction of the case Thomas G. "On the end of the nineties Thomas G. founded Source Business Administation GmbH, located in Baar Switzerland. Beside G. (who both has the dutch as well as the Swiss nationality) also his brothers and sisters as well as Scientologists acted for him in the little company. The papers told Source Business Administration was focused on 'management and public relations.' Companion followers tell: in reality G. practised a complete other kind of core business: to apparently develop serious and profitable plans, get as much money from all kinds of sources, and then - with all the money - disappear completely. "In 2000 Thomas G., acting as main shareholder in Source Business, developed a plan to create a chain of fitness centers under the heading of Survive Group in the Netherlands. The Orangeclub Keep Shape in Oss was supposed to be the first fitness center of the chain. They rented an expensive space, after the Van der Goor family members first rebuilt it and turned it into a sports studio. "However The Orangeclub bv didn't pay the rent, the money for memberships, according to the ones involved, weekly got collected by G. and in the end he let it explode, leaving behind a whole group of creditors. 'Time and time again i did not receive my rent, so at one moment i send them out,' says Harry van de Goor. 'It also just looked like a movie. That G. parked his Mercedes right in front of my door, and after that they all stood out there on the street and opened a bottle of Champagne. That was just to laugh at everybody, this guy doesn't withhold anything. Make a lot of impression, trick money, and then disappear. Officially the brother of G. was the director, but he hardly had anything to say: That G. is the one that pulls the strings. ' "Also staff belong to the creditors, they were not paid for a long time, the tax office, as he did not pay income taxes and 'premies' and director Jan van Maastricht, who also never got his salaries. Last year, in the end, Orangeclub Keep Shape went bankrupt; short time after that the same happened to the holding company Eurotrade. "The problem with his case is that Scientologist are not allowed to start a civil court against another Scientologist: in this way the church keep dirty matters undisclosed. For criminal acts (even when it is about sexual abuse of kids) and juridical disputes the followers of L. Ron Hubbard have their own courts, like the Court of Ethics, the Executive Court, and the Committee of Evidence. "Also because of that reason Johan keeps the Church of Scientology partially responsible for the challenging swindle practices of Thomas G. 'The ethics of Scientology creates a situation in which I cannot go to court to get back my money, so that's why I say they must bear the consequences of it.' "In various letters and mails to Scientology Johan ordered the cult to pay for his damages, which not a long time ago resulted in the the top of the 'church' to pay him some tens of thousands of euro's for damages. 'Way too little of course, but it shows they feel responsible for it too. I know they feel very fed up with this G. and that they put a lot of pressure on him.'" Het Parool also reported on October 25th that the Amsterdam Scientology org is experiencing mass defections. "The Scientology Church Netherlands, located at the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal in Amsterdam, is recently confronted with a massive exodus. According to former big bosses of the sect, during the last few months at least 50 of the approximately 150 active core members stepped out. The management talks about 'mutiny' in internal documents, as always whenever there is the slightest doubt about the teachings of the founder L. Ron Hubbard. High-ranked Scientologists have been flown in from outside of the country to avert the crisis in Amsterdam. "The desertion can, according to the apostates, be traced back to a number of causes. One one hand, slowly but surely a separation came into being between Trade Marks (adherents who think along fixed lines, who think that the Church of Scientology has the monopoly on the teachings of Hubbard), and the 'Independents': Scientologists who discover that it can be done a lot better, more enjoyable and especially cheaper outside of the straitjacket of the Church. "On the other hand, a number of adherents also turned their back on the 'Org' on the Nieuwezijds, as the head office of the sect is called internally, because of a fraud scandal. Scientologists have swindled fellow adherents and non-adherents for hundreds of thousands of Euros via little companies inside and outside of the country. A large part of that money has via-via ended up in the coffers of Scientology, according to the victims. "Both of the movements are busy organizing outside of the sect. The victims of the fraud scandal are preparing legal claims with help of a lawyer. The Independents have united in a new, much more liberal movement with their own website, www.ronsorg.nl, which stands for 'Ron's Organization and Network for Standard Tech'. "A large problem has always been, according to De Rijk, that Scientology 'strongly manipulates the mutual communication of the members,' among others via the notorious system of sanctions, the so-called 'ethics.' You are not allowed to talk to your family anymore, you are not allowed to talk anymore with people who are critical. You aren't allowed anything anymore. So before, you never discovered that you can also be a Scientologist outside of Scientology. Internet, New Age in general and other factors have changed that. What Hubbard one day started, is now being reduced again to normal proportions.' "For Scientology Church Netherlands, the departure of dozens of active members must be a large financial drain. Not only does the sect miss out on income, on the site of Ronsorg apostates are also accurately instructed on how course moneys and donations can be reclaimed by the International Association of Scientologists in East Grinstead, England. With such a reclaim action Scientology will go to great lengths, warns Ronsorg: 'What you can expect, is that they will try to make you change your mind by pushing all of your buttons that are known to them.' Scientologists are continually being 'audited' for years during their stay on the 'bridge to clear.' During that, very personal things also come up for discussion, that will be put in a file. Future deserters or apostates with wild plans only need to be reminded that they once, for example, cheated on their spouse or have used drugs, to make them change their minds. Scientology does not hesitate to start extensive smear campaigns and to use member's files for that. "The management of Scientology has until now reacted fully according to protocol on the massive exodus. Against a few apostates an 'SP declare' is issued: a declaration that a certain member is from now on considered a 'Suppressive Person' - The worst that can happen to you with Scientology. SPs are allowed to be tricked, prosecuted or lied to, or destroyed according to internal 'ethics.' They are excommunicated because they 'went into communication with and joined a group that is declared Suppressive.' Another serious crime is also that they have given 'non-standard materials' to other Scientologists 'hoping that they would join this Suppressive group.' The number of excommunications is limited, by the way, for strategic reasons: It is hard to explain internally that more than a third of the active membership is suddenly 'suppressive.'" Message-ID: 8e0b7ee2.0310311242.349d48f1@posting.google.com Message-ID: a9206111.0310251339.7aea811a@posting.google.com
Michael Jackson
FOX News reported on October 27th that Michael Jackson will be donating to Scientology a portion of the money raised with a multi-star song. "A lot of big name stars are unwittingly about to start raising money for Scientology, thanks to Michael Jackson. Jackson is launching a worldwide Internet download of his charity single, 'What More Can I Give?' For $2 a shot, Jackson fans will be able to hear this record, made two years ago but never released. The record features Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, members of 'N Sync, The Backstreet Boys and others. "But what fans - and the two dozen participating artists - probably don't know is that proceeds from the single download are going, in part, to Scientology. Jackson has designated The HELP Organization, which uses study techniques developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, as one of the beneficiaries of his largesse. The other charities Jackson will send 'part' of these proceeds to include: Oneness, Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation and something called the International Child Art Foundation. "Scientology's HELP - as well as Oneness, Mr. Hollands and ICAF - were not the designees when Jackson convinced people like Usher, Luther Vandross, Tom Petty, Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan, Beyonce Knowles and other superstars to participate in this recording two years ago. At the time, the stars thought they were participating in a fund raising event for families of the Sept. 11 tragedy. Now, however, 'What More Can I Give?' will be collecting money for causes many of the stars may not have intended. "HELP, which stands for Hollywood Literacy and Education Program, is a subsidiary of the Church of Scientology. Jackson was briefly married to a Scientologist, Lisa Marie Presley, in the late 1990s." Message-ID: t9aspv45e6ko8pjpg982kdiivf9v7t4ojf@4ax.com
Protest Summary
Tory Christman reported a protest in Los Angeles on October 25th. "About 10 of us came, including 70+ year old, kick ass Mother, Ida Camburn who lost her son to the Cult, 30 years ago. Graham and I were there, and our friend from Riverside who often pickets with us. An X-Sea Org member joined us for awhile, as well as many critics, and a few X-Scientologists. "Our first picket was down L. Ron Hubbard way, and as we rounded the corner by AOLA, Class 12 auditor, James Fuller walked by me and told me, 'Get out of here!' I knew James from years ago-so I said, 'Hey, what happened to Free Speech and 'Man's inalienable Right to Free Speech?' He grumbled and huffed off. We all continued down the road, past AOLA, ASHO, on up to LA Org. "We then drove down Sunset and over to Hollywood Blvd. and Vine, where the HGB (Hollywood Guarantee Building) Is. This is the offices for all the International Executives. We picked here, and again it was rather quiet. Richard pointed out to me that the doors on the side, that used to have glass on them, are now solid wood. This way there is NO chance that the staff will see our signs. "Many people came up as usual thanking us, talking with us, as we talked and handed out both flyers and cards one Critic had made up with web sites on it. I had the 'Honk if you know Scientology is a CULT' and the horns began to blast, as well as people walking by going 'Honk, Honk'. "Two of the critics noticed the H.E.L.P group (which is the Hollywood Literacy/tutoring group) was across the street, so they went over to picket there too. One mother was going to put her child there, but sat in the car and read the flyer the critic gave to her. "Around 1:30 we headed up to the Scientology Testing Center. They were quiet as mice. One girl stood outside trying to pass out invites to take their personality test. No one would do it. Once again a large Taxi was parked outside the testing center, blocking the view of our signs. I leaned in and asked if Scientology had called him. He barely spoke English but said no, this was a Taxi stop. Ok, fine, I explained I understood that, but that we are protesting Scientology. He told me, 'They hire me.' I said, 'Fine, but by your van being HERE, you are blocking our signs, and we are protesting they trying to stop Free speech.' All of a sudden he drove off. This has happened a few times. "One of the critics had brought a blue blow up 5 foot tall Xenu Doll, with www.xenu.net on the front. I suggested she and I walk Xenu down to Growman's Chinese Theater as I could see TONS of people there. Sure enough, people loved Xenu. I walked behind them handing out cards saying, 'Find out why she's carrying this Xenu doll' or 'Find out about the other side of Scientology.' People almost always take the card or flyer." Jens Tingleff reported a protest at the Birmingham, England or or November 1st. "Six hardy suppressives descended on a completely non-confront Birmingham org on Saturday. We had new and better balloon tech for this demo - a three-foot balloon with a globe print on it. Xenu chose to float from beneath it through the demo. We handed out approx 150 'XENU LOVES YOU' balloons to children A few hundred leaflets went to passer-bys. "It was mainly John on the sound system, informing the public and reminding whatever clams were inside the org that things were not peachy in Amsterdam. Dave stepped up to the mike occasionally and regaled us with a couple of songs. "A new-looking sign was in front of the entry to their stair-case and one protester had seen two clip-boarders when he arrived shortly after lunch, but we didn't see hair or hide of one on the street during the demo. Once or twice, a camera poked out of their windows. A passer-by shouted 'Scientology saves lives' and then scurried off." Message-ID: 3f9cec5a@news2.lightlink.com Message-ID: vUzJ3dUORDp$EwZU@jritson.demon.co.uk Message-ID: bo3etp0kdp@enews4.newsguy.com
Neighborhood Watch
LA Weekly reported on October 24th that the residents of the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles were the victims of a fake neighborhood watch meeting organized as a recruiting drive by Scientology. "Neighbors shaken by deadly gang violence in the area surrounding the triangle-shaped Laurel and Hardy Park south of Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake are reacting cautiously to promises from city officials and police to crack down on shootings and other crimes. "It remains to be seen whether the stepped-up police presence and neighborhood organizing will sway people like Jules Shapiro and Juliette Tworsey, bandmates who moved to this corner of Silver Lake from West Hollywood to be near the clubs and other musicians who have made the area an Oz for urban hipsters. "The two were among dozens of Silver Lake residents who said they enthusiastically responded to an earlier call for a community meeting on neighborhood violence, only to be repelled and discouraged when, many claim, the September 30 'emergency' gathering turned out to be a recruitment effort for the Church of Scientology. For three weeks, angry recriminations have coursed across cyberspace from residents who believed they were betrayed into believing that the session was to be an official city or neighborhood council response to the violence. "Barbara Dakin, a longtime community activist who has led anti-crime efforts in the neighborhood, denied there was any recruitment effort at the meeting, which featured LAPD officers and a member of Garcetti's staff, before performances and presentations by people who many neighbors claim represented Scientology. But Dakin took responsibility for misunderstandings about the meeting, which she said was never intended to be marketed as an official city function. "Longtime resident Rusty Millar, recently elected co-chair of the new Silver Lake Neighborhood Council, predicted there would be no lasting damage from what apparently was a clumsy organizing effort by a well-known local activist. 'Barb is good at wanting to get together with the public to talk about problems in the agenda,' Millar said. 'It became apparent to a lot of people, including myself, that there was another agenda at that meeting. But it was an excellent idea to get the police to come in and talk to people in the area.' "Millar added that 'We all have a right to express our opinions in this country, and once people see that the neighborhood council is not a front for Scientology, I think they will come back.'" Message-ID: 3e471c14.0310291848.63fdfab9@posting.google.com
A.r.s. Week in Review is put together by Rod Keller ©
This collection is organised for WWW by Andreas Heldal-Lund.
Only edits done by me is replacing word encapsuled in * or _ with bold and underscore, and made links into HTML.
