Volume 1, Issue 29 vom 10. 11. 1996

Alt.religion.scientology Week in Review
Volume 1, Issue 29
11/10/96
by Rod Keller [rkeller@voicenet.com]
copyright 1996

Contents

  1. Scientology's Version
  2. Scientology Bomb
  3. CAN Assets
  4. Scientologist Contributors
  5. Erlich to Jail
  6. John Abler
  7. Germany
  8. Grady Ward
  9. Zenon Panoussis
  10. NOTs Archives
  11. Keith Henson
  12. Narconon
  13. Wakefield Threatened
  14. Saint Hill
  15. Sons of Scamizdat
  16. New Spam
  17. Wayne Whitley

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://wpxx02.toxi.uni-wuerzburg.de/~krasel/CoS/ars-summary.html
        http://user1.i1.net/~mallen/scn/arswr/ars-summary.html
        http://www.amazing.com/scientology/ars-summary.html
        http://users.aimnet.com/~jdiver/scieno.htm
        http://www.thur.de/religio/publik/arsfaq.html

#####

Scientology's Version

International Scientology News published its own spin on the story behind the Arnie Lerma lawsuit. The article was posted this week to a.r.s. Perhaps they will run another piece announcing the $2,500 awarded to Scientology.

"L. Ron Hubbard said in Signs of Success 'Whenever we're really winning, the squirrels start to scream. You can tell if some body is a squirrel. They howl or make trouble only when we're winning.'

"To understand a squirrel, consider the reaction of somebody who could not run the fifth leg of Help, 'How could another person help another person.' The thought of this drives some people spinny. THAT'S a squirrel. They can't view other people helping others without going berserk.

"'There's nothing personal in having squirrels. Even heroes can have lice' - LRH

"RTC is ever vigilant and always active to ensure that the powerful technology of Dianetics and scientology remains in good hands and is properly used.

"As LRH noted, in times of expansion, squirrels come out of hiding. They seek to pervert the technology and use it for their own personal gain. While heroes may have lice, RTC sees that they are de-loused quickly, and ensures these suppressives NEVER succeed, thus keeping the path to total freedom secure and wide open for all.

"In January, a court handed down the latest in a series of rulings for RTC - a landmark victory which establishes with certainty that misuse of our materials is NOT tolerated by the courts, whether in the real world or the 'virtual' world.

"This recent decision sends the signal loud and clear that squirrels are in the WRONG business - and that squirreling is a VERY expensive mistake.

"The case began with a squirrel in Virginia, who actually hoped to 'compete' with the church. His plan was to track down stolen copies of church materials - ones which were already impounded and the thieves sent to jail - and then set up his own 'church'. He knew the materials were protected by copyright and legal precedent - but, as LRH says, squirrels tend to be a bit 'nutty' and this one, like those who have failed before him, thought he knew best."

Message-ID: <3282BBBC.20DC@iag.net>

#####

Scientology Bomb

Golden Era Productions set off a bomb this week during the shooting of their new movie "Man the Unfathomable". From the San Bernardino Sun:

"The Church of Scientology blew up a replica of a downtown Los Angeles building early Tuesday at the former Norton Air Force Base, shaking people awake as far away as Redlands and Highland.

"The movie is about misunderstandings between people that ultimately turn violent, said Hilary Dezotell, a Golden Era spokeswoman. The scene with the explosion is about an agent who infiltrates a group and winds up blowing up a building.

"The explosion occurred just after 1 A.M. Tuesday, several hours after it was scheduled, said city fire Inspector Laurie Sawhill, who was overseeing the explosion for the Fire Department."

Message-ID: <55uqvl$rpt@amy5.Stanford.EDU>

#####

CAN Assets

The battle for the assets of the Cult Awareness Network continues. Scientology is attempting to buy all the assets of the bankrupt organization, including its trademarks and logos.

"Ben Hyink, attorney for the Cult Awareness Network, Inc. (CAN), appeared in Federal Bankruptcy Court in Chicago today to protest a sale of CAN assets that occurred last week. The sale does not become final until the Federal Court issues an order approving the transaction. The day before CAN filed 'Debtor's Objection to Trustee's Motion for Entry of an Order Authorizing Sale of Debtor's Property'.

"Philip Martino, the court appointed trustee for CAN, had begun the process of liquidating CAN's assets by selling CAN's physical assets, including office furniture, and intangible assets such as certain intellectual property rights. Some of these intangible assets included service mark and trade mark rights to the 'Cult Awareness Network' name and logo.

"He confirmed he had sold certain assets at an auction to Steven Hayes, who he identified as a member of the Church of Scientology, which he identified as a cult. He conceded there had been disagreement between Hyink and Hayes as to what actually had been purchased at the sale, but nevertheless felt the sale should be finalized by the court.

"Hyink maintained that CAN, as a non-profit, has a constituency which deserves to be represented in the bankruptcy proceedings, and that the sale of the intangible assets was contrary to public policy and would have a chilling effect on freedom of association and free speech in this country. 'The First Amendment,' said Hyink, 'should not be entitled to be purchased though the bankruptcy court.'

"Hyink raised concerns that the sale of judgments held by CAN against Scientologists in prior litigation could make it impossible for CAN's legal case against the Church of Scientology International and the law firm of Bowles and Moxon to proceed even if the Illinois Supreme Court rules that the case can proceed. CAN filed a petition some time ago asking that lower court decisions dismissing the case be overturned, and the Illinois Supreme Court has agreed to hear CAN's appeal."

Message-ID: <32811a4f.3896049@snews.zippo.com>

#####

Scientologist Contributors

A list of Scientology's top international contributors was posted this week.

"AUSTRALIA Helen Eileen Bassett In excess of $40,000.00 Noel Carroll In excess of $40,000.00 Rob McFarlane In excess of $100,000.00 Shane McSweeney In excess of $40,000.00

"AUSTRIA Renate Gebhardt-Steele for CC Vienna In excess of $40,000.00 Ferdinand Marvan In excess of $100,000.00 Helmut Nedved In excess of $250,000.00

"BELGIUM Jan Bommerez In excess of $100,000.00 Marleen Grosemans In excess of $40,000.00 Marc Janssens In excess of $40,000.00 Patrick Valtin In excess of $40,000.00

"DENMARK Britta Bang Contributed in excess of $40,000.00 Michael Bang $40,000.00 Chantal Beyer Clausen $40,000.00 Kurt Christensen $40,000.00 Claes Ditliv Ditlevsen $40,000.00 Den Hvide Handske Co. $40,000.00 Torben Knudsen $40,000.00 Jorck & Larsen A/S $100,000.00"

Tilman Hausherr identified the web site of contributor Rob McFarlane and two other Scientology web sites this week.

"http://www.micro2000.com, WISE 1991 list

"http://www.earthlink.net/company/bjohn.html"

Concerned Businesmans's Association:

"http://www.cbaa.org"

Message-ID: <32823CAF.4D72@iag.net>
Message-ID: <32857820.186B@iag.net>
Message-ID: <328c4d2e.3204266@news.snafu.de>
Message-ID: <3284a20b.2524358@news.snafu.de>
Message-ID: <329053bd.4884292@news.snafu.de>

#####

Erlich to Jail

Dennis Erlich announced that he may soon be sent to jail in child support case.

"You can let people know that despite making all my child support payments, even tho unemployed, and having support amount $375 per month based on an 'attributed income' assigned to me of nearly double what I was collecting in unemployment, the San Diego court in March of this year, found me of contempt for paying (allegedly on 8 occasions) my child support late, tho still in the same month it was due. The judge sentenced me to the maximum of 5 days in jail for each count - 40 days in the county jail, suspended sentence. This sentence would be served if I didn't follow all existing court orders for one year. The ruling is currently under appeal.

"For objecting to invasive questions on an interrogatory from my ex's scieno-paid lawyer, my 'probation' is going to be revoked and I am going to be sentenced to 40 days in the same jail in which my ex-wife's new husband serves a sheriff.

"The hearing is Dec 9th in San Diego."

Message-ID: <55t1v3$fg@lex.zippo.com>

#####

John Abler

John Abler posted messages this week describing his experiences in Scientology.

"I just thought I would drop you a line and tell you about the great win my wife got from gong to a Financial Success Convention aboard the Freewinds a couple of years ago.

"She has just recently gotten a real job in an insurance company. She answers the phone and make $7.50 an hour. She lives in an old house, and drives a 1982 car with 130,000 miles on it. She promised me she would make lots of money and be very successful after going to the convention. Sure enough. She does now have a job and is making money.

"Well I have to go now. I have to go to work so I can pay off the credit card debt she incurred learning how to be so damn successful."

"Today I am going to tell the story about my wife getting the purification rundown. She paid somewhere around $1200.00 to the CC in Chicago for the big sweat out. For the $1200.00 they took her to a local health club that one of the clams had a membership at. They took her there because the health club allowed members to bring guests in for a limited number of visits in order to get new members. This was only good for 2 or 3 days, then they took her to another health spa.

"Then they found someone that had their own sauna, and they used that one for the rest of the purree. They took her $1200.00 and did not have to put out much to run this program. Some years after that my wife went to a local chiropractor and when he was making the adjustment, she passed out. We had to call an ambulance to take her to the hospital. In the emergency department the doctor there asked us if she had been taking any illegal drugs. We were dumbfounded because she would not even take aspirin after taking the purif. He told us that he detected she had an enlarged liver and suspected her of taking illegal drugs. At the time I did not know what to think because there was absolutely no question about my wife and drug use. It is only now that have discovered that taking large amounts of niacin can cause an enlarged liver, and the only time she took niacin is when she did the purif."

Message-ID: <327E91D9.51FE@execpc.com>
Message-ID: <3281528A.79C6@execpc.com>

#####

Germany

More developments in Germany concerning efforts there to prevent Scientologists from infiltrating government agencies. From Reuters:

"The head of Germany's parliamentary interior affairs committee said on Friday he thought Bavaria was wrong to shut Church of Scientology members out of the civil service.

"This was 'not the right way' to go and it would be more efficient to conduct a tax audit of the organisation in Germany, Willfried Penner of the opposition Social Democrats told German Radio. Penner said there could well be 'members of this sect who have a firm conviction without being caught up in anything criminal or offensive.'"

"The United Nations human rights committee expressed concern Tuesday over allegations of German police mistreatment of detainees, mainly foreigners and asylum-seekers, and urged greater police restraint.

"The committee of 18 independent experts also said it was worried about some German states publicly criticizing or restricting activities of some groups and sects such as the Scientology movement. This could be an infringement of freedom of belief or expression, it said.

"Members of the committee praised Germany's general commitment to civil and political rights but cited allegations of police brutality reported by non-governmental organisations, including Amnesty International, the committee said."

Message-ID: <199611021833.KAA06740@mailmasher.com>
Message-ID: <199611052349.PAA03516@mailmasher.com>

#####

Grady Ward

Grady Ward reported that Judge Whyte has taken an interest in the NOTs pack from the Swedish parliament, perhaps indicating he considers it important evidence that the NOTs are not secret.

"Judge Ronald M. Whyte has ordered that Exhibit A to my declaration of October 21, 1996 describing how NOTs can be legally obtained in Sweden *remain* absolutely sealed even after the criminal cult requested that they be able to review it because, as Hogan asserted, it must be a 'forgery'.

"I asked the Courtroom Deputy, Adriana Ayala, to make sure that if the criminal cult should look at it, they be supervised in order to prevent its loss or defacement or the destruction of the seals and security threads which attest to its origin and authenticity.

"I think this explicit ORDER shows that the Judge believes that the Swedish dissemination of the NOTs is indeed significant to the pending litigation and determination of the trade secret claims of the criminal cult."

"Helena K. Kobrin has DEMANDED that I produce:

"'All documents concerning your alleged receipt of 'an unsolicited package via United Parcel service, purportedly from a Mr Lars Ek, Box 5027, 161 05 Bromma, Sweden,' including without limitation, the mailing label, package, bill of lading, customs forms, any documents or other things contained in the package, and any correspondence regarding the package, whether by e-mail, Internet posting, or in any other form.'

"Since Judge Whyte told them in effect to stuff it when they ask to inspect the Swedish NOTs that I filed under seal recently, they want to track it down themselves and perhaps punish the originator with a 'noisy investigation' or other harassment."

Message-ID: <847413973.8984.0@mattole.northcoast.com>
Message-ID: <3285233f.274531@207.126.101.77>

#####

Zenon Panoussis

Zenon Panoussis posted developments in his case against Scientology. Since the cult has claimed Grady's Swedish parliament documents are forgeries, Zenon filed this with the court:

"In the USA, RTC has sued and carries a process against a certain Grady Ward, with allegations that he violates the American equivalent to the law on protection of trade secrets. RTC's case against Grady Ward stands or falls with the question whether the NOTs have been made public or not.

"The material whose reproduction and/or distribution through me constitutes the core and ground of all the above cases, appears in file attachment 37 in case T 7-866-96. The greatest part of this material, namely (my) NOTs, are reproduced in the primary court's file with protocol number ADM 1.14.6/96. Grady Ward has received a copy of the latter document and filed it in the American court as evidence of the fact that the NOTs have been publicized.

"After having received Grady Ward's relevant brief, the RTC has claimed through its representative Thomas R. Hogan, that the NOTs copy that has been handed in is a forgery. Thus, with the objective of protecting its alleged trade secrets, the RTC claims in the American court, that the text of the Stockholm primary court's document with protocol number ADM 1.14.6/96 does not correspond to the work that has been registered with the USA's Copyright Office with protocol number Txu 257326. Thus, translated to the cases in question here, the RTC claims that the text that I allegedly have reproduced and/or distributed does not correspond to the text that the RTC claims copyright to.

"RTC and its representatives live perhaps in the naive belief that the RTC's counterparts cannot communicate with each-other, and that the RTC can both eat the cake and have it by presenting mutually contradicting claims in different cases. I attach the RTC's brief in the case against Grady Ward as evidence of the RTC's admission of the fact that the material that I allegedly have reproduced and/or distributed does not correspond to the material that the RTC claims copyright to."

Zenon also posted details of Scientology's antics in parliament and with the bailiff.

"From the bailiff I learned that the CoS has been carrying a massive campaign also behind the scene in order to get at the parliament's NOTs. Besides pestering the parliament directly, they had demanded that the bailiff would seize the NOTs. And they have just repeated this demand: they want the bailiff to perform a seizure at and against the parliament as part of the action against me! Considering the impossibility and legal absurdity of this, I just *agreed* to this motion, so to force the bailiff to deny it because of the very fact that it would be against the law to grant it.

"During the past weeks the CoS has also demanded new searches in my home. These motions have been denied. From the bailiff's material I also learn that the CoS has had to pay SEK 50.000 (appr USD 7.500) so far for the executive procedure alone (the bailiff). And by the amount of papers that the CoS has handed in to the bailiff and by the amount of visits and phone calls they've made I'd say their legal costs (still only at the bailiff's) should be in the order of SEK 150.000."

Message-ID: <32804fbb.7361268@news.cybercom.net>
Message-ID: <328341EA.18D4@dodo.pp.se>
Message-ID: <3284981F.2D8D@dodo.pp.se>

#####

NOTs Archives

Jeta Eggers announced the availability of an archive of NOTs 22, 23 and 34 on a Netherlands web site. Andreas Heldal-Lund announced a second archive in Norway with the complete NOTs documents.

"You can find the NOTs 22/23 & 34 on my Web-site. The Charlatans of $cientology have already threatened my provider (XS4ALL) as well as me. They are going to sue both of us, they say.

"The 2 NOTs are part of the documents I feel are needed to start a public discussion _and_ a judicial investigation of the (medical) activities of the Co$ here in my country the Netherlands."

"People tell me the article was printed in the Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidene today. Norwegian news on the net are also writing about this, more will come tomorrow. If anybody reads anything other places, send me a mail about it.

"[P]eople are mirroring my site or the documents all over the world. I predict that when or if my site goes down, there will pop up new sites all over. From today, November 7th 1996 I make available NOT's and OT's on this page: http://home.sol.no/heldal/CoS/

"I hereby protest against The Church of Scientology, they do not deserve nor have earned to protect their destructive sides behind the law of copyright. That's not what the law was made for in my humble opinion. In this case freedom of thought and speech is what's at stake. Being allowed to see the real face of the church is the only possible method to protect ourselves against it."

Andreas also posted a letter in reply to Scientology attorney Helena Kobrin.

"Rest assure that I'm more than prepared for any reaction from yourself or anybody you may represent. It would be most enjoyable to join you making my personal web pages and the truth about The Church of Scientology more known. A litigation or action against me or my ISP will surely make this case 'take of' in Norway.

"My lawyer will be informed about any such actions, so will the rest of the world. If you do represent 'RTC' and they believe they have a case here, I would recommend that you check Norwegian laws and the current situation of CoS in Norway before you do anything. I have prepared any possible reactions and do have very good reasons to do what I have done."

Message-ID: <55lrj2$4kr@news.xs4all.nl>
Message-ID: <3285e775.34134172@news.telepost.no>
Message-ID: <32822c0a.7943922@news.telepost.no>
Message-ID: <3282F620.6EE5@online.no>

#####

Keith Henson

Keith Henson posted a filing from Scientology lawyer Tom Hogan, accusing him of religious hatred, and to protest the filing of affidavits from Ariane Jackson and Wayne Whitney.

"Plaintiff RELIGIOUS TECHNOLOGY CENTER ('RTC') will move this Court for an order to strike the affidavits filed by defendant H. KEITH HENSON ('HENSON') on October 18, 1996.

"As grounds for this motion, RTC states that the affidavits were not filed by HENSON in support of any motion. Rather, they were filed in support of a 'contention.' There is no provision in any Rule for filing papers in support of 'contentions.' This filing is clearly improper under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedures, and Mr. HENSON has been so notified, but has ignored RTC's request that he withdraw his filing

"On October 18, 1996, HENSON filed two affidavits with the Clerk of the Court. The affidavits are signed by Ariane Jackson and Wayne Whitney, neither of whom are parties to or witnesses to any matter at issue in this lawsuit. The affidavits filed by HENSON are narratives, one of which allegedly chronicles the personal experiences of one of the affiants, and the other of which discusses alleged details of someone else's experiences, as told by his ex-wife. Neither of the affidavits filed by HENSON is related to the case pending before this Court.

"These affidavits are merely Henson's latest salvos in his one-man campaign against the Scientology religion. To date, he has showered RTC with venomous falsehoods and accusations reminiscent of textbook anti-Semites and anti-Papists. He has declared his religious hate a superior right to the Copyright Act and the UTSA. He now pushes his campaign closer to the parameters of the hate crime statutes by using this Court's files as his wall for more anti-Scientology graffiti.

"These affidavits are merely another episode in Henson's obsession and they are scandalous and irrelevant, in addition to being improper. They should, therefore, be stricken from the file pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 11 and 12."

Message-ID: <hkhensonE0Mx4I.1M2@netcom.com>

#####

Narconon

Jim Lewis posted to report Scientologists promoting the Narconon recruiting program by handing out flyers in his area.

"SAVE A PERSON'S LIFE

"If someone you knew were drowning, would you attempt to rescue them? If you answered yes then you're a 'Hero'. As you probably already know, drugs ruin lives. They trap our children, enslave our parents and turn our loved ones against each other and leave us wondering why.

"If you or someone you know is drowning in the sea of drug and alcohol addiction, do something, even if it takes extreme Heroic effort. You can call, toll free 1-800-556-8885 or pick up the yellow pages and call someone else. Don't ever give up, no matter how impossible it may seem, this problem is beatable.

"We incorporate a breakthrough scientific Sauna sweat out with a precision vitamin and mineral regimen that effectively purifies your body of all toxins and drug residues. There is no attack therapy, no sob stories and no electrical shocks. Just a series of therapeutic training routines in a positive, uplifting environment that puts you in permanent control of your life. This procedure gives us our 75% success rate.

"They gave out a couple more flyers while I was following them. I waited for the recipients to pass me, and told them 'That flyer is from Scientology, don't believe a word of it!'. One of them said 'yeah, I know.'

"I'm going to be watching for these people for the near future, and might distribute a rebuttal leaflet of my own. If I run into them in person, I intend to budget about 15 minutes for a direct confrontation, _with supporting materials_."

Message-ID: <55ojac$qmt@agate.berkeley.edu>

#####

Wakefield Threatened

Marjorie Wakefield posted the news that Scientology has threatened her with a lawsuit following a phone interview with a radio station.

"I just received legal papers from Scientology's lawyer in Tampa, Paul Johnson. It seems they are angry about my latest venture in the freedom of speech arena. Last month I was interviewed on a Tampa radio station by phone. They called and woke me up at 7:30 in the morning and started asking me some questions which I did answer as truthfully as I could. Now Scientology wants $150,000 in damages! This is funny in light of the fact that I am now technically homeless (I am in Colorado taking care of Bob Penny who has MS) as I lost my job in Tampa last November and had to give up my apartment.

"When I settled with Scientology, my lawyer erroneously told me that there was no gag order. I didn't even read the papers as I couldn't understand them at the time. I never knowingly signed a gag order and I never would. It is my constitutional right to speak out and I will defend that."

Message-ID: <55m3dh$nne@natasha.rmii.com>

#####

Saint Hill

Chris Owen reported his trip to visit and tour Saint Hill, one of Scientology's "advanced orgs".

"I went in via the south entrance - the gate was wide open, the gatehouse deserted and a sign next to the main gate listed the owners of the Manor (the last being LRH, of course). A couple of Sea Orgers pointed the way to the reception desk, in Saint Hill Castle, just beyond the Manor.

"The Castle is quite plush inside. The first destination was the north wing, which my guide said had been built in 1985. A long corridor, called the Cloister, runs almost the whole length. A curious feature along the walls was the row of maybe a dozen or more carved lions' heads, each one standing guard over a stone protrusion filled with sand and a great number of cigarette butts.

"The people inside the Practical room were doing a variety of things. My attention was immediately drawn to a man, a few yards from the entrance door, who was sitting in a chair with a book in his lap, having an impassioned debate with a wall. 'What's that?', I whispered to Alison. 'He's applying LRH Study Tech,' she replied; 'LRH found that by giving information to a wall you can learn how to communicate better.'

"After the interview, Alison took me downstairs to 'reg' me - that is, to persuade me to sign up for a course. I explained that Tottenham Court Road's efforts to reg me had bounced off, that I was for now interested primarily in the phenomenon of Scientology rather than in becoming part of it, and that there was in any case no point in my signing up for a Saint Hill course as the transport would be too difficult. She accepted this with a good grace and handed me a brochure detailing the various courses available, asking me to contact them if I had any queries. This was a marked contrast to the almost desperate insistence of the 'regger' at TCR and left me with a far better taste in my mouth.

"I saw most of the castle and I saw nothing out of the ordinary, unless you count the man talking to a wall - and millions of Jews head to Jerusalem every year to do just that.

"The alleged high security wasn't much in evidence either. I saw only one guard, no dogs and one camera, overlooking the car park. The gates were wide open and unguarded, both at the north and south entrances and when I left through the north gate there was nobody within sight. To be honest, the average supermarket would have more obtrusive security."

Message-ID: <55ll5a$3c5@due.unit.no>

#####

Sons of Scamizdat

The Sons of Scamizdat continued to post messages from TNX-L, the mailing list of active Scientologists. A few excerpts:

"From: KARENDELAC@aol.com (Karen de la Carriere)

"The movie was a lot of hype and disappointing. You cannot follow the plot. There were supposedly 7 different screenwriters hired and obviously no overall co-ordinator.

"I REALLY tried to find pluses in the movie to support Tom Cruise, but TRUTH is TRUTH. The movie was a bomb. No substance, no message, dropped out time, altered sequence, illogical sequences, not based on truth or ARC and opposed to the Data Series. This does not mean to say entertaining movies need to always portray truth. But when it defies one inner 'R', there is no reality, no agreement, and consequently an ARC break.

"From: mobrien@earthlink.net (Michael O'Brien)

"The term dyslexia is defined in the Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health as 'impairment of ability to comprehend written language, due to a central lesion.' A lesion is defined by Funk & Wagnalls as 'Any abnormal or harmful change in the structure of an organ or tissue.'

"I've posted to TNX before on the pseudoscientific character of psychiatry and its terms, and the term 'dyslexia' is definitely one of these terms. 'Dyslexia' is claimed by the psychs to have a physical cause because they MUST make such a claim, or it's no longer within the field of psychiatry. If it has no physical cause, you don't need a medical doctor, which psychs are, to handle it. The only problem is that there is no proof that dyslexia has a physical cause. Only 'theories.' Psychs haven't got a clue.

"To understand the significance of the word 'dyslexia' in our modern world, it is important to understand the way the psychs work. They are essentially running a con game -- all that they are and all the income they make depends solely and entirely on how effective they are as con men.

"Part of their smoke and mirrors is the development of resounding Latin and Greek labels which create the apparency that a palpable pathological condition exists when there is actually nothing there at all except perhaps a confusion. They then conduct studies which pretend to develop epidemiological statistics of the incidence of this made-up disease, and voila, you have a REAL disease. But the stats are ALL FALSE. I know, I've researched enough of their studies to see how they do it.

"It would be best if Scientologists refused to use the word 'dyslexia' and whenever it comes up, nail it, hard. Since dyslexia is defined as arising from a physical cause, the person purporting to label a child with dyslexia has the burden to prove that the child is brain-damaged or otherwise physically damaged in some way. Failing that, the use of the term 'dyslexia' is inappropriate.

"From: Judweigand@aol.com (Judy Weigand)

"I have been absent the last couple of months because I went to FLAG and did L11. Spectacular, absolutely spectacular. I did OT 8 in 1989 and L11 was so much just for me - so special to me as a spirit - so individual. Very OT auditing and results. I wrote a poem and wanted to share it.

"Motionless considerations fall away - used up. Ancient viewpoints turn to dust and leave with the wind. The deep internal grid-lock that was...is no more. Flow and life return to the dead places of my soul. I am born again."

Message-ID: <199611060443.UAA08219@abraham.cs.berkeley.edu>

#####

New Spam

Ron Newman posted to report a change in the origin of the hundreds of spammed messages from Scientology to a.r.s.

"As many of you know, one or more spammers have abused one Los Angeles ISP after another to flood the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology with pro-Scientology propaganda. The method and style of attack is described in Tom Betz's FAQ, http://www.panix.com/~tbetz/WIS_Spam_Team_FAQ.shtml

"The spam attack, which started in April, has been intermittent of late. Today, it resumed, from the Boston ISP 'bitwise.net'. This spam attack differs from previous ones in several important ways.

"It's using an ISP in Boston. All previous ARSBOMB attacks came from Los Angeles-area ISP.

"It is apparently not forging From: headers. Mail to the account named in the From: header does not bounce.

"It is using bitwise.net's own NNTP server, rather than an open NNTP port elsewhere on the Net.

"Previous spam attacks carried an X-Newsreader: header of 'News Xpress Version 1.0 Beta #4'. This one uses 'WinVN 0.99.7'

"I believe that the $cientology $pammers will soon discover that picking on Boston ISPs is a serious mistake. I intend to pay a personal visit on bitwise.net if they do not cut off the spam in the next two days."

Message-ID: <55rro2$d3n@shell1.cybercom.net>

#####

Wayne Whitley

Wayne Whitley posted a development in his picket campaign against the San Francisco org in response to a forthcoming TV interview he had planned.

"Last Tuesday morning (Oct 29) I received this rather frantic phone call from my sister on my answering machine. 'I just got a REALLY strange message from Sherry, my FSM, and I really NEED to talk to you about what's going on. She's...indicated A LOT of stuff was going on. I got you into this mess, now I need to do...whatever... to get you out of it.'

"It appears that once Scientology's Office of Special Affairs found out that I was going to be on a TV talk show they went into a panic. So far I've managed to keep my sister (who's still in the organization) out of all this for over five years now. Now OSA's panicked enough that they've finally decided to drag HER into it to try to convince me to stop everything that I'm doing.

"Later that evening when I called her she PLEADED with me not to do the show . She told me, 'Wayne, you HAVE to stop your picketing, you have to STOP your rebelling. You can't go on that show otherwise I'm afraid you're going to blow everything.' Even Jeff Quiros called me up that night to try to convince me not to go on.

"Despite everything that happened Tuesday I arrived at the recording studio in San Francisco on Wednesday at 5:00 P.M. A few days earlier the producer of the show told me that she usually schedules most people for 5 - 15 minutes. However, after she read my story ( the first four chapters that I sent her) she said that she was so impressed that she just HAD to schedule me for a full 30 minutes to give me the chance to get my story out."

Message-ID: <55jf9m$hk7@newsbf02.news.aol.com>