Volume 0, Issue 36 vom 1. 1. 1996

Alt.religion.scientology Week in Review
Volume 0, Issue 36
01/01/96
by Rod Keller [rkeller@voicenet.com]
copyright 1996

Contents

  1. AOL Lists
  2. Alt.binaries.scientology
  3. Library Vandalism
  4. Cult Builders
  5. Ted's Declare
  6. French Taxes
  7. Hotel to Happiness
  8. Hemet
  9. Jokers and Degraders
  10. Jeff Lee's Folder
  11. Tax Considerations
  12. UN Report
  13. Cory and ECT
  14. OT Copyrights
  15. Happy New Year

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

#####

AOL Lists

Cult members on America Online are keeping records on skeptical posters, as evidenced by this repost from an AOL folder. "Date: 95-12-27 19:04:19 EST From: TheAlaskan "Sure nice to have the list of Scientologists in good standing with regard to our AOL folders and the list of everyone who has ever posted negative or 'questionable' messages in our folders. It is so easy to just skip the entheta now. "Contact SabrinaHES if you need a copy of the lists, I think she is the terminal that sent my recent updates. Much appreciated too !! If we use these lists it keeps these dudes effectively out of the picture and off the comm lines. "YES, WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE and WHAT YOU ARE DOING." Message-ID: <4bso70$hu1@newsbf02.news.aol.com> #####

Alt.binaries.scientology

The newsgroup alt.binaries.scientology was created this week. It is intended as a place for uuencoded photos, sounds, and other binary files. Robert Clark reported: "since david guntner is located on netcom, i forged a newgroup message from 'miscavige@flag.sea.org' in honor of the original forged newgroup message from scott goehring which originally created alt.religion.scientology, which issued from 'micaviage@flag.sea.org' "in either case, further booster newgroups for alt.binaries.scientology would be appreciated, as it is likely that, as with most new alt.* newsgroups at this stage in the history of the net, it may receive spotty propagation." Message-ID: <henriDK6H5G.5sv@netcom.com> #####

Library Vandalism

Steven Fishman posted an account of False Data Stripping, where he was trained to destroy articles and books critical of the cult from public libraries. "Armed with a single edge razor blades, I used to go to the Fort Lauderdale Main Public Library on Sunrise Boulevard, and to the Miami Public Library and slash out any text from any book which was anti-Scientology. I kept a manila folder with me, and I used to look for the quietest booth and always sit with my back against a window or a wall so I could see who was coming. Sometimes I wouldn't find anything new and I would freak out because if I did not come back with any articles, I would have a downstat and would have to write it up, and Ethics would accuse me of wasting time or that I had some evil purpose in withholding data, so once I went all the way to Palm Beach to the public library (an hour and a half from Miami) and found some stuff there. "The think behind it was that we were protecting the planet from the writing of SPs and I was fighting the war in the field for LRH and I felt powerfully insane about it." Message-ID: <4bmk5o$5rq@ixnews5.ix.netcom.com> #####

Cult Builders

An article from the Clearwater Times was posted this week, reporting a request for cult members to assist in building the Super Power building in downtown Clearwater. "In a survey sent out this week, the church seeks 'professional Scientologists' to create sculptures, carry out engineering work, and even supervise aspects of the project, expected to begin in the spring. "'We are also looking for professionals who know how to put a building together and to manage the personnel who will construct the building,' the pamphlet says. 'In fact, we are looking for anybody who has been involved or is involved in the design, planning, and construction of buildings.' "The new facility will be designed for a series of courses dubbed 'Super Power' by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Clearwater, the international spiritual headquarters for the church, would be the only place in the world where the courses would be offered. They are not available now. "According to Scientology literature, Super Power courses enable a participant to 'predict and build the future' and think better. The courses also 'restore the power of choice.' "The Super Power project is planned for the site across S Fort Harrison Avenue from the Fort Harrison Hotel, Scientology's signature building in Clearwater. At 170,000 square feet, it would be the largest commercial office building downtown. "'What exchange do you consider that you would need?' and provides several choices, including working for the 'sheer pleasure of helping to get this building built,' 'training awards,' 'room and board' or a weekly wage. "The survey asks and answers a series of questions, such as 'Who Will Benefit From This? The answer: Every man, woman and child on planet Earth because it will put planetary clearing right within our grasp.'" Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.951226152219.12653G-100000@luna> #####

Ted's Declare

Ted Mayett took his campaign to be declared a Suppressive Person to the street, according to reports this week. "3:27 I started marching. 3:33 about 7 of them crowded the glass door to smile and wave at me. They crowded their side of the door. The street was mine. One of them, before they crowded the door, asked me about the sign. I told her I have been on the internet asking OSA for the Declare and they will not give it to me so I'm picketing for it. And that was all I said at that time. "About 3:45 this older woman I have never met before came out to talk with me. I told her that she would have to walk with me if she wanted to talk because walking is a picket requirement. And so we walked and talked. I told her about 1995, 5 raids, 15 new lawsuits, 20 million in attorneys, Germany, Canada, The Netherlands. She asked me how I knew it was true. I told her I had asked OSA repeatedly to deny it. Which I did a few times those first few weeks on the net VIA e-mail to theta.com. She said the internet is full of lies, I said it has court documents and newspaper articles. "Well I made a sale today, this woman is a believer. Unfortunately she is nothing near an official spokesperson. We then discussed courses for a bit, very gentle conversation. She said she had to leave, we parted company smiling. As soon as she left me, 4:34pm, I raced across the street to my car and drove away. I'll be training them in the days to come. When they talk to me I will leave, but only if they've really listened." "Locally the staffers will have to wonder why there is no Declare being issued. 1996 will roll along and I'll be picketing, picketing, picketing. The more time that passes without a Declare the more doubt that will be planted in their minds. And whenever one of them does talk to me I'll ask them if they have heard anything about the Declare and what does OSA say about this, along that line. If I ever do get the document or if management ever contacts me I'll post it here. "Tomorrow's sign will read, 'Pay Larry Now' This will be the banner I will be operating under. No organization should be above the law and, etc. etc. Once they get comfortable with me being there I'll be using a double sided picket sign. The Org side will carry choice tidbits of info. Message-ID: <4bt9p7$rin@news.skylink.net> Message-ID: <4c2uec$auo@news.skylink.net> #####

French Taxes

According to a Reuters report posted this week, the cult is denying that they have been fined for tax evasion. "A spokeswoman for the church's Paris branch denied a December 26 Reuters report that it had been fined several million francs (hundreds of thousands of dollars) and that several of its members were placed under investigation. "She said the church's Paris branch had been placed into receivership over back taxes worth 48 million francs ($1.8 million) last month. A new association had since been created. "She said the church had offered in court to pay the tax arrears from funds collected among scientology groups abroad, but French authorities turned it down as customs regulations bar importing funds for such payments. "The church accumulated unpaid taxes worth nine million francs ($1.8 million) between 1981 and 1984 and the sum rose more than five-fold because of penalties and accrued interest. Message-ID: <199512292149.WAA08835@utopia.hacktic.nl> #####

Hotel to Happiness

In a New York Times article posted this week, The Way to Happiness is reported as joining the Bible in many hotel rooms. "In a growing number of hotels, the Bible now finds itself keeping company with the Book of Mormon, The Teaching of Buddha, and in rare cases with Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science, or the Way To Happiness, a publication of the church of Scientology. "The Church of Scientology International said that a foundation formed by Scientologists has since 1984 placed more than 90,000 copies of The Way To Happiness, written by the founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, in more than 350 American hotels. Message-ID: <4bqd25$c1j@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM> #####

Hemet

Dennis Erlich reported on the armed security guards at Golden Era Studios, which doubles as the cult prison camp "Gold Base". "Just got off the phone with one of the inFormer's 'Live on the Scene(tm)' reporters. He inFormed me that he had buzzed ScienoCentral today (down in Hemet) and videotaped some goings-on at Golden Era Studios. "Several scienos with walkie-talkies quickly came out to the road 'swarm' him. One guard on a dirt-bike (California license# 13N 661) chased him down the road for quite a way. "The scieno biker got close enough to show the outline of an Uzi under his jacket. But who knows if it was a *real* machine gun? Right?" Message-ID: <30e350ae.2569061@news.primenet.com> #####

Jokers and Degraders

The tech reference for the famous "Jokers and Degraders" policy was posted this week. HCOB and HCOPL 5 February, 1977 "A recent investigation however into the background and case condition of a small handful of people who were joking about their posts and those around them showed a somewhat more sinister scene. "Each of these persons fell into one or more of the following categories: "1. Were Rockslammers. (Some List 1.) [This has been defined in the past on ARS, but may need review here. A rockslam is a meter read indicating hidden evil intentions. List 1 is a list of items connected with Scientology, so a list 1 rockslammer is presumed to have secret intentions to harm Scientology.] "2. Were institutional type cases. "3. Were 'NCG' (meaning No Case Gain) (the only cause of which is continuous present time overts). "4. Were severely PTS (Potential Trouble Source) (connected to Rock- slammers). [This is actually 2 categories, since by Scn dogma all institutional cases are PTS, and 1 and 3 would both be considered SPs.] "It might be supposed that misunderstood word phenomena could also be part of this. The rebellious student in universities is usually handled by clearing up his misunderstoods or curing his hopelessness for his future. However, the investigation did not find that any of these jokers or degraders were acting that way solely because of misunderstood words, but the possibility could not be ruled out. "Therefore all executives, HCO personnel and Case Supervisors as well as Qual personnel and Staff Section Officers have a valuable indicator. Where they have a joker or degrader on their hands they also have one or more of the above four conditions in that person." Message-ID: <104342Z29121995@anon.penet.fi> #####

Jeff Lee's Folder

Jeff Lee received a one sentence message from Vera Wallace on December 22nd, which consisted of a single sentence: "How does it feel to never have graduated from high school?" Jeff explained: "This is technically true: shortly before completing high school, I moved to a different town; rather than switch mid-year to a school notorious for near-weekly stabbings and shootings, I opted to simply wait five months and take the GED (a decision of which I am not ashamed, having placed in the 99.97th percentile) before starting college that fall. "However, it is obvious to me that this is a warning. They wish to cause me to 'shudder into silence' by letting me know I'm being investigated. "I attended Central Connecticut State University. During my time there, one of the Assistant Directors of Information Systems at CCSU was a person whose name is not unfamiliar to long-time readers of this newsgroup. Before I'd even heard of ars or Scientology, a mutual friend had mentioned him to me: 'Brian Wenger is living in LA now working for a company called Earthlink they are making money like crazy and doing VERY well. He is the Vice President of Operations there.' "It is a reasonable theory that Brian was used to retrieve my educational records from his former place of employment. A call to the Registrar's office shows that my transcripts were not *officially* released; however, since the dissemination of this kind of information without my explicit permission is strictly prohibited, they are currently investigating the matter." Message-ID: <4bq2d0$1q1e@news.gate.net> #####

Tax Considerations

A postcard sent to cult members was posted to a.r.s this week. "This is to remind you that donations for most auditing and training services qualify for charitable contribution deductions on your personal United States income tax returns. Donating to the Church can result in considerable tax savings. Donate by December 31st, 1995, so you can take your deduction this year. Secure your route to increased ability, happiness and freedom. Contact your Church Registrar now. "(Note: Consult your tax advisor when preparing your tax return to determine the exact benefits for you on your personal income taxes." Message-ID: <luvalle.159.0056C7A9@primenet.com> #####

UN Report

Cory Brennan this week finally posted the infamous "UN Report" which condemns discrimination against the cult in Germany. It turns out to be an unsolicited report _to_ the UN, not _from_ the UN. "Application of the Declaration on Eliminating All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Conviction "Report presented by Mr. Abdelfattah Amor, Special Rapporteur in Accordance with Resolution 1994/18 of the Human Rights Commission" The mystery of why this report was unknown to anybody at the big building in New York is now solved. Message-ID: <koreenb-3012950312530001@marina-10.jovanet.com> #####

Cory and ECT

Cory Brennan was published in USA today this week. "Our friend Cory wrote a letter to the editor of USA today and was published. The letter commended USA Today for writing such a great article about ECT. On the same day, another letter anti-ECT was printed. The author was from Clearwater Fla. Neither letter mentioned they were members of the COS. I am now wondering if all the anti ECT letters were written by COS members. I myself had a letter published in USA Today questioning the relationship between the author and COS. No reply was published. Surprised? - the same newspaper that ran full page ads for COS. What a joke." Message-ID: <4c04e4$n8p@newsbf02.news.aol.com> #####

OT Copyrights

Steve Fishman reported this week on the copyright registrations on the OT documents. "I have in my possession four documents. They are the copyright registrations of New OT IV, OT V, OT VI and OT VII. The effective date of registration was August 10, 1995. "What I would like to know is why the Church sued the Dutch defendants for copyright violations in June when the copyrights were registered in August? "Also, the copyright claimant on August 10, 1995 is: Church of Spiritual Technology Post Office Box 1182 Los Angeles, California 90078" Message-ID: <4c790u$lo4@ixnews8.ix.netcom.com> #####

Happy New Year

The cult held a satellite broadcast event on New Year's Eve, as announced on a postcard posted to a.r.s this week. "HAPPY NEW YEAR! Come to our New Year's Eve Event and Celebration! "When: Dec 31 (Sunday) Where: Church of Scientology Mission of Houston 2727 Fondren Suite 1-A Time: Doors open at 7:00 PM What: Satellite Event Come hear what Scientologists are doing across the planet, and how it affects you!! R.S.V.P. - A.S.A.P (713) 974-6295" Message-ID: <4c6sj0$8n2@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM>