Alt.religion.scientology Week in Review
Volume 4, Issue 37
12/19/99
by Rod Keller
rkeller@voicenet.com
copyright 1999

Contents

1. CCHR
2. Clearwater
3. Bob Minton
4. Foundation for Religious Freedom
5. Germany
6. Steven Hassan
7. Los Angeles
8. Toy Wrapping
9. A Very Strange Trip
10. Lisa McPherson
11. Beverly Hills Mission
12. Scientology Booth
13. Switzerland
14. Battlefield Earth

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 articles posted to the newsgroup. They include message IDs for the original articles, and many have a URL to get more information. You may be able to find the original article, 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

http://wpxx02.toxi.uni-wuerzburg.de/~krasel/CoS/ars-summary.html

http://www.xenu.net/archive/WIR/

http://www.religio.de/publik/arsfaq.html

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CCHR

"'The Surgeon General's report on mental illness isn't about science, it's about science fiction, and about the snaring of billions of taxpayers dollars by a failing mental health monopoly,' charges Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) a 30-year international psychiatric watchdog group. 'One of the report's main lobbyists and contributors, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), admits that after spending $6 billion in research expenditure, no causes for mental illnesses have yet been established. The report is also negligent in ignoring the plague of fraud, abusive treatment, including 150 restraint deaths per year, and excessive drug pushing within the psychiatric system,' Jan Eastgate, International President of the CCHR stated.

"Releasing its own report, Psychiatry Committing Fraud: Extortion in the Name of Mental Healing, CCHR states: In 1999, 160 psychiatrists and psychologists were convicted and jailed for crimes ranging from patient brokering, illegal possession and selling of drugs to murder, with 66% of the crimes being for fraud and 24% for sex crimes committed against patients. Psychiatrists' fraudulent schemes are limited only by their imagination and have included billing for having unlawful sex with their patients, charging patients $150 per day for the use of a TV and for playing bingo, baptisms in the hospital swimming pool, and billing for patients who were dead. Psychiatry's most lucrative asset is its stigmatizing billing code, the Diagnostic Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM) which the Surgeon General's report heavily relies upon to sustain the apparency of scientific rigor."

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Clearwater

"I am one who has, as the writer suggested, 'taken the time to actually study and understand Scientology.' I have read their 'bible.' I have read the purported biographies of their founder. I have also read Bare-faced Messiah by Russell Miller, and A Piece of Blue Sky by Jon Atack. All are available at your friendly public library, if Scientology's 'truth squad' has not taken those last two books, which lay Scientology bare-naked before anyone who might care to look. Scientology and its megalomaniac founder, L. Ron Hubbard are as close to total scams as it is possible to get. -- Bud Tritschler, Clearwater

"I happen to work in downtown Clearwater and deal with the Scientology people all day. I find they are very good for the area they are in. Also, in the past three years, they have done more for the area than your paper or any other business. I am not a Scientology member. I am a Baptist and that can be worse. -- Joe Gould, Clearwater

"Has anyone seen the Christmas scene belonging to the Church of Scientology on the corner of Drew Street and Fort Harrison Avenue in Clearwater? If the Church of Scientology is a religion, where is reference to the birth of the Christ child? This sacred holiday is revered and expressed in a devout manner by real churches, not in a scene of snowmen and cutesy houses. -- G. Porter, Clearwater"

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Bob Minton

"The Church of Scientology has described Vaughn and Stacy Young and others Minton is funding as liars who commit crimes against the church. And church lawyers hired a team of investigators to span the globe looking for Bob Minton's dirty laundry. Minton's family and friends say private eyes told them they feared he was violent, even telling one friend that Minton might go into a church one day and start shooting at Scientologists. When we first broadcast our story, Bob Minton didn't seem to have a lot of dirty laundry, and it seemed unlikely that he would become violent. But that was then.

"BOB MINTON: I fired two warning shots very far away from them to let them know that they were not welcome here.

"According to the police, Scientologists were protesting last year in front of Minton's home in New Hampshire. Minton says they were trespassing. So he went in his house, grabbed a 12-gauge shotgun, and shot it in the air. No one was arrested and no one was hurt. But the police chief in town told 'Dateline' he thinks both sides are off the wall.

"BOB MINTON: I did not want those people coming on my property.

"JOHN HOCKENBERRY: You have absolutely every right to keep them off of your property. You may even have a right to fire a gun around them. But they're charging you as an unbalanced individual who might take a gun and blow Scientologists away. In hindsight, was it maybe a mistake to pull out the gun?

"BOB MINTON: In hindsight, yes, I would not--given the opportunity again, I would not do it that way.

"Minton was arrested at a Boston protest for assaulting a Scientologist with his picket sign. He denied the charge and the judge dismissed the case against him in exchange for his promise to notify church officials by fax before he pickets again.

"BOB MINTON: There is nobody who has ever been subjected to the type of harassment and intimidation that the Church of Scientology has been doing on me. Yes, it has gotten to me in many ways, and some of these things are reflections of that.

"JOHN HOCKENBERRY: What can you say to me to assure me that you're not a hot-head on the edge here who, the next story I'm gonna be doing about you is the Timothy McVeigh scenario that Mike Rinder suggested in our original story? That you're gonna walk into some room somewhere and blow a bunch of these people away.

"BOB MINTON: Well, it's absurd.

"JOHN HOCKENBERRY: It seems less absurd now.

"BOB MINTON: I have been under an awful lot of pressure, but it has in no way changed my mental stability.

"Bob Minton is still determined to support the fight against the Church of Scientology. He says a variety of lawsuits in the coming months will establish Scientology as an evil and harmful organization. And he is convinced the church will eventually be dismantled.

"BOB MINTON: I believe that the truth will very rapidly come out in terms of what this organization really is, and what it does."

The Tampa Tribune published a column bu Rick Barry on December 11th entitled "Bob Minton: Will he rouse the gorilla?"

"There's been a truce in this city, albeit an uneasy one, between residents and the 4,000-pound gorilla that plopped itself down in their midst 25 years ago, and started rearranging the Tonka toys to suit its growing needs. But now, a loud if unimposing parrot is building a nest in the great beast's backyard. And the carping bird is bringing a half-dozen similarly inclined parrots with him, and one weapon that could at least annoy the beast.

"We're talking here about the Church of Scientology, owner now of 37 properties in and around downtown Clearwater, valued at $40.1 million by Pinellas Property Appraiser Jim Smith. Of that, Smith figures $23.7 million worth are exempt from taxes since they are being used solely for religious purposes; another $16 million worth remain on the tax rolls. Ah, but the newest taxpayer will soon be one Robert Minton of New Hampshire, Boston and London. He's buying a residence here as well as a building hard by Scientology headquarters for his Lisa McPherson Trust Inc. Closing is set for Jan. 1. On that day, things are going to get a whole lot more interesting around here. Ever the peacemaker, City Manager Mike Roberto says he'll gladly meet with Minton, and work to make him a part of this One City's One Future.

"Minton is going to make his six-member McPherson leadership group, four of them former top Scientology officials, available to counsel members of the church ready to leave and members' families eager to initiate 'interventions,' to pull them out. And the foundation is going to try to get information to Scientology initiates who come to Clearwater and are cloistered, Minton says, to keep them from hearing the truth about their church - especially from critics.

"Minton swears he is not out to destroy Scientology. He concedes he couldn't do it if he tried: 'But if they want to be treated like a church, they should start acting like one.' Scientologists shouted to him when he arrived earlier this month: 'Hey, what are you doing in OUR town?' Well, if this is Scientology's city, he said: 'We're going to liberate this town.'"

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Foundation for Religious Freedom

"In the spirit of this holiday season, I am enclosing information on a vital new publication from the Foundation for Religious Freedom: Tolerance 101: Practical Solutions for Interfaith Family Problems. This book communicates basic truths which any family can use constructively when confronted with a loved one's involvement with an unfamiliar religious group, or to use the pejorative, a so-called 'cult'.

"As you may be aware, the Foundation for Religious Freedom operates the 'New Cult Awareness Network' or CAN. Tolerance 101 is intended to counter or replace previous volumes distributed to bookstores and libraries by those seeking to create suspicion and distrust between members of differing faiths. To see that this new book is widely distributed throughout the public nationwide, the 'New CAN' needs our support. As the year ends, please consider a tax-deductible gift to this organization to assist the Tolerance 101 project. You can donate by check or credit card to the 'Foundation for Religious Freedom' by using the enclosed return envelope.

"Yours very truly, Timothy Bowles

"The Foundation is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization dedicated to bringing reason, truth, and understanding to an often explosive subject: the involvement of oneself, a friend or loved one in a group that might be called a 'cult'. We don't criticize or endorse any one religion. We have people from many diverse Faiths on our board and acting as professional referrals. Our service is free. We promote honesty, dialogue, and mutual respect."

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Germany

"The discussion which was scheduled for Thursday, December 9, between Microsoft and staff members of the Catholic Church about the effects of the Executive Software Scientology company on Windows 2000 has not taken place. The German branch called off the appointment prematurely. According to information received by c't, representatives of the Federal Office for Security in Information Technology (BSI) had also wanted to participate in the meeting. However, the Munich branch of the software giant was apparently piqued that the topic of discussion had been previously released to the press. Meeting participants would have 'preferred to lead the discussion in public,' commented company spokesman Kurt Braatz. 'We'll get in touch with them.'

"According to a statement by the Bavarian Interior Ministry, this does not present an obstacle to the introduction of Windows 2000 which is already in Beta test with the state administration. 'We do not want to overreact,' Ministry spokesman Christoph Hillenbrand said to c't. That decision would be more the result of a security check, which is currently being performed by the BSI."

>From Berliner Zeitung on December 4th:

"Computer magazine 'c't' found out that the development of the operating system involved a company which is aligned with the controversial Scientology sect. That is how the American software smith Executive Software is regarded; it is managed by a professed Scientologist. Company boss Craig Jensen outs himself on his home page as an active member, awarded in the strict hierarchy of the organization with the top rank of 'Class VIII Operating Thetan.' Membership of the company in the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE), the sect's business department, also raised considerations. Businesses organized under this umbrella association which supported Scientology and financially contributed to it. The organization makes no secret of its goal. 'Factories, centers and communities of trade, those are the places where we want to have trained Scientologists,' it unabashedly states in its management policy.

"'Diskeeper' is the name of the program produced by Executive Software; it is a tool for 'defragmenting' the disk drive. This kind of program gathers up pieces of files strewn about the disk. It serves to optimize the speed of data access and the economic use of the disk drive. In order to perform this function, such a tool needs to have access to every byte, that includes user information and documents. This function is not exclusive, however, because other system programs also access the complete data store. Nevertheless, it is absolutely technically possible to integrate a Trojan Horse in the operating system.

"Windows 2000 does not guarantee effective protection from the unauthorized forwarding of sensitive information, because the defragmentation tool, contrary to what Microsoft says, cannot be erased from the hard disk. As soon as any kind of attempt is made to do that, Windows automatically reproduces the deleted files, the testers concluded."

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Steven Hassan

"I am proud to announce that after several years of effort, my new book will be ready for delivery in mid-January, 2000. We are now taking secure orders from our web site at www.freedomofmind.com or from a toll free number: 1 800 860-2139. We take Mastercard, Visa and Discover credit cards. For every book purchased directly from the 800 number or our web site, the Resource Center will be able to earn substantially more than from books sold through Amazon or any other bookseller.

"'Steven Hassan's approach is one that I value more than that of any other researcher or clinical practitioner. Hassan is a model of clear exposition, his original ideas are brilliantly presented in a captivating style. I am confident that readers of his new book will share my enthusiasm for what this author tells us about how to deal with the growing menace of cults.' -- Philip G. Zimbardo, Professor of Psychology, Stanford University

"'I participated in an unsuccessful voluntary deprogramming of my daughter, Barbara. For two days the team leader pounded at the cult member and her group. Deliberately, he insulted them using bathroom language on the theory that the cult member would 'snap'. We failed. As she returned to her group the cultist remarked, 'Where was the love?' If the team leader and the cult member had had the opportunity to read Hassan's 'Releasing the Bonds,' the results might have been quite different. Hassan has skillfully condensed his 25 years of experience in liberating members of destructive groups into a valuable workbook for counselors, cult members and their families, and mental health professionals. His formula, the Strategic Interaction Approach, stresses love, respect, freedom of choice, customized planned action fitted to the individual with the family as key participants, psychotherapy, and applied social psychology.' -- Arthur A. Dole, Editorial Advisory Board for the Cultic Studies Journal, American Family Foundation

"'Steve Hassan is one of the very few people to understand the mechanics of manipulation. He sheds a rare light on the mysterious processes used to overwhelm independent thought and behavior in totalist groups. Steve is a truly insightful commentator whose work always stimulates. His experience is vast and his prose is lucid. Steve's work is a must read for anyone who wants to comprehend indoctrination and understand how to undo it.' -- Jon Atack Author of A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed

"In Releasing the Bonds, leading cult expert and licensed mental health counselor, Steven Hassan describes a groundbreaking new approach that will help free millions from the grip of destructive mind control. In addition to those seeking to rescue a loved one from a cult, it will help those who want to: Recognize the signs of a destructive relationship or group; Protect themselves and others from manipulation and abuse; Undo the residual effects of past mind control experiences; Refute common fallacies about mind control and cult; Become active in fighting destructive mind control cults.

"People in destructive mind control cults and relationships want to be free but need additional resources to escape their current situation. This is the premise of Steven Hassan's new book. He shows how to provide those resources and, ultimately, help a person leave a destructive group or relationship."

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Los Angeles

"Students at Renaissance Academy have a better picture of what exactly Carol Liu does as mayor of La Canada Flintridge. Responding Monday to a invitation to visit the school, Liu told the fourth- and fifth-graders she presides over council meetings and attends city functions. She shared with the students how the council and government works. Students presented Liu with a copy of 'The Way to Happiness,' a book written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard on setting a good example. Teacher Nancy Parodi said she saw Liu as setting a good example in her role as mayor and her visit as a tangible way to further educate the children."

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Toy Wrapping

"1 p.m. Sunday. Volunteers are invited to help wrap toys and make fruit baskets for to be distributed through parties co-sponsored by the Church and the Austin Housing Authority. The Church of Scientology, 2200 Guadeloupe St. 474-6631."

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A Very Strange Trip

"The very late L. Ron Hubbard had a best seller for a week. His book, A Very Strange Trip, was published in July and oddly enough appeared on The New York Times best-seller list, then vanished. And did I ever get into trouble with the Church of Scientology for poking a bit of fun at the book and the church. The church doesn't have a sense of humor and never gives up on its critics, first writing a letter to the editor about me, then demanding a meeting with the boss. Even then, they had the last word (or do I?). Just so I wouldn't forget, the church in St. Louis sent along two of its big books that now take up space on the end of my desk just in case I need to know quickly what Scientology is and how L. Ron's e-meter works.

"A columnist for another newspaper wrote about the book and reports that he received the same treatment, first telephone calls to his editors seeking his home telephone number, then letters and demands for equal time. Then he wrote a sequel, 'How rigor-mortis affects penmanship,' or 'How dead is he?' and the fur fairly flew again. He's sworn off L. Ron and the Scientology L. Ronnettes for good. It's not worth the grief, he says."

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Lisa McPherson

"In a ruling Tuesday that stunned the Church of Scientology and its attorneys, a Hillsborough County judge allowed Scientology's worldwide leader, David Miscavige, to be named as a defendant in a lawsuit over the 1995 death of church member Lisa McPherson. The lawsuit has been amended to say that he 'totally controls' and 'micro-manages all of Scientology,' and that his ecclesiastical role is part of an elaborate set-up to shield Scientology and its leaders from liability. The lawsuit also says Miscavige's subordinates informed him of McPherson's deteriorating condition and were acting on his orders as she became psychotic and was 'imprisoned' for 17 days while in the care of Scientology staffers in Clearwater.

"Church attorneys told Hillsborough County Circuit Judge James S. Moody that his ruling could add two years to the case after Miscavige hires a separate legal team that likely will include Gerald Feffer, a Washington, D.C., lawyer in the same firm that last year defended President Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Feffer also worked with Miscavige for years to help secure Scientology's long-sought tax exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service."

Bob Minton reported Scientology's arguments from another hearing in probate court, where Scientology is attempting to remove Lisa's aunt as executor of her estate.

"Today, in a court hearing in Florida re the McPherson matter, Morris Weinberg complained that the Lisa McPherson Trust was trying to destroy the Church of Scientology by 'trying to REFORM it.' It's incredible that lawyers for the church would characterize the Lisa McPherson Trust's efforts to curtail the abusive and deceptive practices of Scientology Inc., i.e. REFORM, as an attempt to DESTROY Scientology. This of course is an absurd characterization. The Lisa McPherson Trust is simply trying to bring about a reform of Scientology Inc.'s abusive and deceptive practices."

>From the St. Petersburg Times on December 17th:

"The wrongful death lawsuit filed against the Church of Scientology by an aunt of Lisa McPherson was based on fraud and improper motives, Scientology attorneys argued in a probate court hearing that began Thursday and continues today. Scientology officials say Fannie McPherson, who lived in Dallas, never wanted to sue the church but that Liebreich exploited Fannie's ill health and forged her name to one of the documents used in setting up the estate. They also allege that the wrongful death lawsuit has been taken over by Scientology critics who want to destroy the church. They are asking Greer to appoint someone else to head the estate.

"Ken Dandar, the attorney for McPherson's family, said Scientology has no legal standing to challenge the estate. He also said it was Fannie McPherson's dying wish that the church be sued and exposed. At least three people witnessed Fannie McPherson sign the document in question, he said. In a six-hour hearing Thursday, Greer heard from a prominent handwriting expert hired by the church, as well as a notary public and a hospice worker who cared for Fannie McPherson. The hearing resumes this morning in Clearwater.

"Meanwhile, the church has asked Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe to consider whether a crime was committed in setting up the estate. For that reason, an assistant state attorney attended Thursday's hearing."

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Beverly Hills Mission

"[The] Beverly Hills (La Cienega Blvd.) Scientology mission has closed without information of a new address. I guess the 'rich and beautiful' aren't interested in counting their Body Thetans."

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>Double Crossed

Los Angeles' New Times published an article on Scientology's private investigators, dirty operations and harassment activities.

"Here's why you should be skeptical about what Graham Berry and Robert Cipriano say about the Church of Scientology: Berry's been after the church for years, and he makes no secret of his desire to litigate the 45-year-old organization to its knees. For years, he's been known for brash court strategies meant not only to take a bite out of the church but also to embarrass it publicly. To a client, he once said: 'My agenda is to bite Scientology in the butt and to cause it as much grief as possible.' He's also notorious for phone-book-thick court documents filled with tales of conspiracy that reach back to Scientology's 1954 founding by the late science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. Last year, Berry filed a 312-page complaint on behalf of a former member of the church who claimed he'd been defrauded by everyone from Scientologist actor John Travolta to President Bill Clinton. In August, a judge declared Berry a vexatious litigant, a rare penalty handed out to attorneys who tie up courts with frivolous lawsuits.

"Robert Cipriano, meanwhile, is an admitted liar who says that he willingly committed perjury last year by lying in a deposition taken under oath. He was willing to accept financial help for his perjured testimony but now claims to be doing the righteous thing by speaking out about it. His own court-filed declarations make him out to be something of a confused, pathetic loser who is usually either running from a bad situation or running toward someone who will give him a handout.

"Cipriano says in court documents that five years ago he was duped by Scientology operatives into making false claims that Berry is a pedophile who bragged about having sex with boys as young as 12. Those claims ended up on the Internet, and Cipriano says that Scientology, which considers Berry a bitter enemy, contacted his colleagues, clients, and friends about them. Last year, Cipriano says, he was encouraged by Scientology attorneys to testify in a deposition about his false claims and, when he agreed, Scientology rewarded him handsomely. Cipriano says that when he agreed to help Scientology destroy one of its enemies, the church leased him a house and a car, helped finance his nonprofit business, and paid off a debt that freed him from a felony probation sentence. Cipriano also says his Scientology attorney rewarded him with a job at Earthlink, the Internet provider started by Scientologists. Berry, meanwhile, says the church's harassment has severely hampered his ability to practice law.

"In 1967, Hubbard issued his 'fair game' policy, which announced that a suppressive person, or SP, 'may be deprived of property or injured by any means, by any Scientologist. He may be tricked, sued or lied to, or destroyed.' Since then, former Scientologists, government officials, and journalists have claimed to have become targets of 'fair game':

"Paulette Cooper, author of the The Scandal of Scientology, became the target of Operation Freakout, an attempt by church operatives to either drive her insane or get her put in prison. The operatives managed to get Cooper indicted by framing her for making bomb threats against the church. She was only exonerated when documents detailing Operation Freakout were discovered by government agents.

"In Florida, Scientology made the town of Clearwater one of its two world headquarters. When Clearwater Mayor Gabe Cazares complained about the church in 1976, FBI documents show the church launched a campaign to spread rumors about his sex life.

"Scientology's most ambitious crusade was directed at its arch enemy: the Internal Revenue Service. In 1977, FBI agents raided the Church of Scientology in both Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and discovered damning evidence that, for several years, Scientology operatives in the church's secretive Guardian's Office had been breaking into the IRS and other federal offices in Washington and stealing government documents. To this day, Scientology's pilfering of records, which Hubbard designated Operation Snow White, is the single largest infiltration of the U.S. government in history.

"Eventually, 11 Scientologists, including Guardian's Office director Mary Sue Hubbard (wife of the church founder) were sentenced to prison. 'The crimes committed by these defendants is of a breadth and scope previously unheard,' wrote U.S. Attorney Charles Ruff in a sentencing memorandum. 'It is interesting to note that the Founder of their organization, unindicted co-conspirator L. Ron Hubbard, wrote that 'truth is what is true for you,' and 'illegal' is that which is 'contrary to statistics or policy' and not pursuant to Scientology's 'approved program.''

"Scientology officials have argued repeatedly that the 1968 policy forever ended the practice of fair game, but former high-ranking Scientologists say the 1968 policy letter was merely a PR tactic and that the policy has never gone away. ''Fair game' is still in effect. I don't care what they've said,' says Frank Oliver, who was, until 1993, an operative in Scientology's Office of Special Affairs, the intelligence-gathering agency that replaced the Guardian's Office. Oliver and other former Scientologists tell New Times that OSA picked up where the GO left off, fair-gaming enemies on behalf of church leaders. Oliver describes his duties with OSA: 'Spy on people. Gather intelligence. Write reports.' Oliver's last assignment before leaving Scientology was to help Kendrick Moxon and other officials establish a special unit to target the Cult Awareness Network (CAN). Oliver says the goal of the unit was to recruit plaintiffs to sue CAN, which Scientology wanted to put out of business. Moxon was intimately involved in the effort that finally did just that. In Oliver's opinion, there's little doubt that his former colleagues have targeted Graham Berry.

"In his first high-profile case for Scientology, [Eugene] Ingram took out full-page ads in Eastern newspapers in 1982 looking for information in a bad-check case. Ingram then went to the press with accusations that Boston attorney Michael Flynn had concocted a scheme to steal millions from an L. Ron Hubbard bank account. (Flynn was litigating several cases against Scientology at the time.) Ingram's chief piece of evidence against Flynn was a declaration by a man named Ala Tamimi, who said that Flynn had tried to use his brother to pass a bad check on Hubbard's account. Former high-ranking Scientologist Stacy Brooks tells New Times that the ads and the Tamimi declaration were all part of a Scientology scam to ruin Flynn's reputation -- she knows because she wrote the ads. 'Ingram manufactures whatever evidence he wants,' she says. Ultimately, Tamimi admitted in yet another court declaration that he'd been paid by Ingram to write a declaration falsely accusing Flynn.

"A Chicago teenager, Jonathan Nordquist, says he was convinced in 1991 to sign a misleading declaration by Ingram. Nordquist testified in a court case that Ingram paid him $300 just for meeting him to discuss making the declaration. '[Ingram] said, 'Now this isn't paying you for the declaration.' He insisted it wasn't. It was just for my time. It is the highest paying job I ever had,' Nordquist testified.

"In 1994, a warrant was issued for Ingram's arrest on charges of impersonating an officer after he flashed a badge at a Tampa, Florida, woman and told her he was a police detective seeking information about a local sheriff's possible involvement in a prostitution ring.

"In 1995, Rubye Ward, 74, says Ingram identified himself as 'Jack Hoff,' saying he was a former classmate of her son, Grady. She turned over some photographs of her son, who was an outspoken critic of Scientology being sued by the church. Scientology officials later admitted in court documents that Ingram had, in fact, persuaded Rubye to turn over the photographs.

"When New Times asked Moxon about Cipriano's allegations, he responded by denigrating Graham Berry and sending over a packet of documents that described Berry's numerous court sanctions. Moxon said Cipriano's August declaration was actually Berry's doing and that given the chance, Cipriano wouldn't back up that declaration's allegations. 'The [August] declaration is peppered with false statements. You will never get Cipriano to affirm the contents of the declaration under oath -- he knows it is full of lies,' Moxon wrote in a letter to New Times. When he was told that New Times had already spoken to Cipriano, who had repeated verbally what he had written and had turned over voluminous records to back up his version of events, Moxon started questioning a New Times writer about his motives. Repeatedly asked to talk about whether he had leased Cipriano a car and a house and had paid off his felony debt, Moxon instead questioned whether New Times had paid anyone for information for this story. (It hasn't.)"

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Scientology Booth

"Mike Klagenberg runs the Scientology booth on Downtown Plaza's east end, a cubby hole that attracts five to 10 shoppers each hour. Klagenberg wears a light brown mustache with his blue Santa tie and sits behind an eye-catching sign: 'Free Stress Test.' The word 'stress' is in red letters. It's enough to attract Jones, who in seconds finds himself holding two palm-sized metal cylinders, attached to black wires that lead to a curious blue machine with four dials and a meter. 'It's basically a device designed by L. Ron Hubbard to assist in the delivery of the techniques of Scientology,' Klagenberg explains before a wall of Hubbard's 'Dianetics' books. He determines that money stresses Jones, partly because he would like more. 'I'd buy my kids houses if I could,' Jones says. Klagenberg notes that most people stress over finances, but also social problems and relationship issues: 'A lot of people come here and say they're going to blow up my meter.'"

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Switzerland

"Basel Greater Assemblywoman Susanne Haller has defended herself against accusations of having acting as an 'undercover woman' for the state attorney's office. She has obtained a super-provisional order in the Basel civil court against the operator of an internet web page. In the order, the author of the web page is prohibited from describing the Basel Scientology critic as an 'undercover woman' or as an 'agente provocatrice,' as confirmed by Haller in a report by Basel Regional Journal on DRS radio on Monday. He is also prohibited from accusing Haller of 'lies' or 'treason.' The accusations were in connection with proceedings against a German Constitutional Security agent in November. The agent, who was sentenced to 30 days suspended, had wanted to collect information on the activities of German members of Scientology in Switzerland. He received support in doing that from Zurich sect specialist Odette Jaccard. Jaccard was sentenced by Basel criminal court to 10 days suspended.

"As of Monday morning, the web page against Haller referred to by the super-provisional order had been removed with the comment 'censored.' Besides that, a facsimile of the Basel civil court order is displayed. There will still be another hearing in the Basel civil court as to how the order can be withdrawn."

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Battlefield Earth

"A special screening of an early rough cut of the sci-fi feature 'Battlefield: Earth' took place recently, apparently attended by John Travolta, his manager Jonathan Krane, Director Roger Christian and several top Warner Brothers execs. Seems the reaction was good enough that the execs have already greenlighted a sequel aiming to begin shooting late next summer and will once again likely be located in Montreal. The project has always been planned as a two-movie event (the first film is only the first half of the novel)."

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