Tag Archives: mike rinder

The Friedman’s Break Free

Posted on March 27, 2012 by | 297 comments

Some of you may know Marsha and Steve Friedman, but for those of you who don’t, here’s a little information about these two new independents. 

Marsha became a Scientologist in 1969 and introduced Steve to Scientology in 1973.  They are well-known as Scientologists in the Clearwater community, where they moved in 1989.  They are also well-known as successful business people who own and operate a national PR agency, founded by Marsha 22 years ago.  The firm, headquartered until recently in downtown Clearwater, represents professionals, high-profile individuals and corporations in a wide range of industries. Their staff is comprised mostly of media professionals, and each month they arrange an average of 160 radio interviews, 20 local and national TV appearances and millions of potential readers in offline and online print. As well they market online, with Marsha having 70,000 friends and followers on the various social networking sites.  She is also the author of the book, Celebritize Yourself, and is co-host of a recently launched national talk radio show airing weekly on Sirius/XM.

– Mike Rinder

Here’s Marsha’s story in her own words.

Dear Friends,

As I don’t know where this post will wind up in the wild world of the Internet, consider this an “Open Letter” to friends I know and those I don’t, people in the church or on the fence, public and/or staff.

While writing this letter might seem as evidence to those within the church that we have gone “to the dark side,” I’m actually writing this for the purpose of telling the truth and filling in the vacuum of data for the friends and family who have chosen to disconnect from me and Steve, and others who might become new friends.

To start, I’d like to share a little of my background. I became a Scientologist in 1969 and joined staff at the Miami Org as Marsha Ulan.  I have fond memories of being on staff during that era, and can vividly recall those exciting days when new HCOB’s and HCO PL’s were released.  Whenever this happened, we always stopped whatever we were doing to read LRH’s new breakthroughs.  The energy and excitement were beyond compare; we knew we were part of a great new movement.

While still on staff in 1973, I introduced Steve to Scientology and shortly thereafter we got married. (We were raised together in Queens, NY, and have known each other since we were 7 and 8 years old.)

I finished my contract and left staff in March of 1974 to have our first child together. We’ve now been happily married going on 39 years in May, and are the very proud parents of 2 sons, a daughter, 3 grandchildren and a new great-grandson (whew…even hard for us to believe!).

In 1989 we moved to Clearwater to be close to Flag, and while I never went back on staff, I always volunteered for OSA whenever called upon.  Over the years, we did a lot of services at Flag, including auditing on OT 7 until about a year ago when we routed off the level.

I had no idea when I routed out of the Flag AO last year that this journey would lead me here.  And, quite honestly, in a strange sort of way, I have my auditor and FSM to thank for finding my path to this portal.  You see, when Steve and I chose to route off of OT 7, it wasn’t conceivable to anyone in the Church that we could have made that decision without being influenced by people we were told are “the enemy.”  Our instantaneous response was, “What enemy? Are we in some kind of war?”

Then we were accused of being associated with “friends of LRH.”  We thought, “How strange, of course we’re friends of LRH and, yes, that is who we associate with.”  And this wasn’t said tongue-in-cheek at all, even though it may seem that way.  Truly, we were the best of soldiers.  We didn’t dare read anything on the Internet about Scientology.  We were told it was evil, enturbulating and could cause us great harm.  While neither Steve nor I believed anything or anyone had that kind of power over us, especially considering we were OT and armed with ethics and PTS tech, we chose to simply follow the rules and do as we were told.

But, after routing off services and being free to think, read and experience whatever we desired, I decided to look and see who those “enemies” were and what exactly was meant by “friends of LRH.”

Once I started to look, I anticipated finding a volume of success stories and well publicized good works of the church by independent media coverage.  However, the only pro-church coverage I found were press releases the church wrote and paid to have distributed by PR distribution services.  But most important was what I found from independent news coverage – the harrowing stories of people who had been on staff, and the violation of their human rights.

After doing a lot of research online, when Debbie Cook’s email hit my inbox at the beginning of this year, I found myself in complete agreement with the points she raised.  And, for the reasons listed below, on Tuesday, February 28th, I learned the church was planning to issue a declare on me and Steve.  This was told to me over lunch by one of my closest Scientology friends of twenty years.

My crimes?  Since I’ve received no communication from anyone at the church, or OSA, I can only speculate on their reasoning:

1.  On January 2, 2012, I forwarded Debbie Cook’s email to 3 people with whom I had a close relationship: my brother and two friends.  My brother did not respond to my email nor did he call or try to engage in any conversation.  Rather, he sent me a Knowledge Report in the mail and after a 60 plus year relationship, he just disconnected from me.  My sister-in-law disconnected shortly thereafter.

The initial response from my two friends was to say that while they didn’t agree, they still loved and treasured my friendship and would like to just agree to disagree.  However, they have both since disconnected.

2.  On February 8th, after receiving an email from two Scientology business associates asking to contract my company for services, I sent them a response letting them know of my agreement with the points Debbie Cook raised in her letter.  As lines in the sand were obviously being drawn at this point, I felt it was only appropriate they should know my feelings, in case they preferred not to engage my company for this reason.   (I never heard back from either person,      even though one of them was someone I’ve known over 30 years.)

3.  Around this same time, I got about 5 or 6 messages on Facebook, stating I was Facebook friends with Debbie Cook and requesting I un-friend her.  I didn’t un-friend Debbie Cook; I un-friended them instead.

The close friend, who over lunch told me of the declare coming down, said he was meeting with OSA’s Kathy True that following Saturday to “right this wrong.”  He said he would contact me after the meeting to let me know what occurred.

I never heard from him again.  After a very close 20-year friendship, he has disconnected from me, un-friended me on Facebook and had all of his family do the same.

At that point, I assumed a declare had been issued.  Then, a couple weeks ago, I learned about a Facebook posting below, by someone I don’t know, which resulted in a lot of FB disconnections from Scientologists.

“Russell Posyton

1:07am Mar 9

“Marsha Freidman and her husband Steve Friedman have been Declared Suppressive, I know this as a fact. This Declare can be seen and verified with any MAA or OSA terminal.

“As your Facebook Friend, I would most appreciate your removing them as your Facebook friend ASAP.

“Thanks in advance for your action on this,

“Russell”

Lastly, I learned from my son who works for a Scientologist (and former friend) of some false things being said about me by the church:

1.  That the church has been trying to “handle” me for a year but I refused to take any calls, return any calls or speak to anyone. 

This is completely false.  No one from the church ever called, emailed or even stopped by my office (located until recently a few blocks away from Flag) to talk to me about any problems they had with me.

In fact, it’s quite to the contrary. This past Christmas I was very involved as usual in an event the church is associated with.  In 1989 I founded a group that I later established as a non-profit called Cherish the Children Foundation, which championed for abused, abandoned and neglected children.  For 22 years me and my organization sponsored a Christmas party for these foster children in which the church played a role as a co-sponsor.  This past year was no different and one of OSA’s staff even attended the event, without one word spoken to me throughout the planning or at the event itself.

If perhaps this statement was referring to “handling” my husband, the situation there is that when he turned in his confidential materials and said he would no longer be auditing, both his auditor and FSM (at different times) visited him at our office.  His auditor was furious about his decision, yelling at him in the driveway with accusations that he’s been “influenced” by enemies.  His communication was nasty enough that he called Steve back later that same day to apologize.  Then, two MAA’s called Steve (on the phone at the same time) yelling and threatening him about what would happen if he didn’t come into the Org to see them.  Well, if you knew Steve, you’d know he doesn’t take kindly to being threatened. Without raising his voice, but with tons of intention he told them their threats were meaningless and they wouldn’t be seeing him. They hung up the phone on him and he has never heard from anyone at the church since then.  So, if no longer wanting to audit on OT 7 is a suppressive act, he’s guilty.

2.  That I broadly spread Debbie Cook’s email.

Completely untrue. I sent Debbie Cook’s email to three people.

3.  That my FSM came to my house to talk to me but my husband slammed the door in her face.

Completely untrue.  My last home in Clearwater that we lived in for two years was very close to Flag and my FSM had never seen it.  It’s a high security condo building.  No one can even enter the building to get to our unit to have the door slammed in their face.

What did occur was our FSM stopped by one day at the office while we were working.  She arrived unannounced and went into Steve’s office.  He was not happy about a prior conversation where she called him an “a-hole.”  He told her that she didn’t have an appointment and asked her to leave.  He never left his desk to close the door or slam it in her face.  She got up and walked out and it was apparent she was upset.  Right or wrong, I asked him to call her afterwards to apologize.  He did and she accepted his apology.

To date, Steve and I have still have not heard from anyone from the church about a formal declare.  Nor do we know what other untruths have been said about us in a goldenrod, which we understand is apparently available at Flag.

So, after being an upstat, loyal and dedicated Scientologist for 43 years, my journey has led me here.

It’s been very difficult at times to confront the lies I believed for so many years and the aberrations that exist within the church at the most senior level.

During this journey, I was so careful not to speak to my friends in any great depth of what I found. I was concerned it would enturbulate them and I didn’t want to create that effect.  While I was being so careful to protect those I loved, they disconnected from me without any thought or reason when they were told the church had declared me a suppressive person.

If any one of those people were asked what they thought of me a few months ago, they would have declared me not suppressive, but rather their sister and friend, whom they loved and cherished.  Yet with nary a question, they have disconnected because they were told we have gone to the “dark side” and are now suppressive people.

As I didn’t take the opportunity to speak candidly with friends before our declare, and had I known they would have disconnected from me so easily without even a question, let me say, here and now, what I should have said to them when we were still speaking.

To them I would say, honestly and truly, the only “dark side” that exists is at the senior level of management of the C of S and OSA.  The entheta embroiled in the activities of disconnection and declares becomes very apparent when one is on the other side and subjected to disconnection and being declared.

But, like an auditing session – where you blow chunks of charge and see the world as bright and shining – that’s what it’s like to be on the other side, where suppression is non-existent.  I’m talking of the suppression of being told who you can and can’t talk to, what you can and can’t read, what you can and can’t think, what you can and can’t do, where and how you spend your time and your money.  Now that we’re on the other side, that suppression doesn’t exist anymore. It’s the most wonderful freedom Steve and I have experienced in a long time.  The sad part is that until the suppression came off, we didn’t even realize how other-determined we had agreed to be.

We have personally experienced the off-policy regime that currently exists within the church.  The following are just a few specifics that speak for themselves.

1.  Steve and I have been declared but we never received any communication from the church about this status.  Instead, we have heard only rumors that we have been declared – with NO prior ethics or justice actions, or Committee of Evidence held as clearly defined in policy.

2.  Parishioners have disconnected from us, some who are directly in comm with the MAAs office, even though the policy on disconnection was cancelled in Ron’s Journal ‘68, (an LRH lecture of 1968).  The existence of this LRH reference is completely ignored by the church.  At the same time they have reported to the media that disconnection is not practiced.  Is it really okay for any person or entity to force you to disconnect from those you love, be it family or friend?  What kind of a church does this?

3.  We have been “crush-regged” for the IAS and for fundraising for Ideal Orgs.  Yet there are numerous LRH policy  references against fundraising, many of which can be found on http://www.friendsoflrh.org/COBvsLRH/.  Can anyone truly deny that crush regging exists?  We’ve all experienced it.  On many occasions I have been regged by my auditor after finishing up at the examiner, by my D of P, Board I/C and examiner.  Finishing a checksheet cycle in qual was usually accompanied by a reg cycle with the Cram Officer, Qual Consultant or MLO.  And, the bigger reg cycles usually included the D/ED and MAA, and oftentimes an FSM (other than our own) or an OL in town.

By no stretch of the imagination could we be considered wealthy.  But we gave when we could – $100k to the IAS and thousands more to library donations in addition to the hundreds of thousands for bridge cycles over the years.

But the reg cycle that took place in the last quarter of 2010 turned the corner for us.  After being detained for over 3 hours with a host of people, some using verbal force to try and close us to take out a $100k second mortgage on our home (to no avail), we realized we were no longer giving because we wanted to; it was now being demanded of us.  I was told the donations were necessary because the church was building a “war chest.”  The irony is that while one of LRH’s stated aims for Scientology is “a civilization without war,” money is being accumulated for a war, which flies in the face of LRH’s intention.  When I finally got to look at this, I asked myself, “What war is the church fighting?”  I know what I was told by the Church powers that be, but I didn’t feel I had enough data to really understand what I was told.  When I started looking, I saw the evidence to support the fact that, yes, this church IS at war.  But unfortunately, I found that the war is against anyone who dares to expose the off-policy injustices and crimes being perpetrated.

Debbie Cook is just one example.  There are many, many other individuals who have come forth with similar or worse stories of their own.  And these very well documented stories all live online.

The question you have to ask yourself is, “What if? What if any of these reports of abuse at the highest level of the Church are true?”  When I asked myself that question, I realized I could never stand proudly and look myself in the eye, if I didn’t do something to expose the dirty secrets that are very well-known to the rest of the world, but unknown to those on the inside who choose not to look.

To those still in the church, think of LRH’s essay on Personal Integrity.

“Personal integrity is knowing what you know. What you know is what you know and to have the courage to know and say what you have observed. And that is integrity and there is no other integrity.”

And, think of the Code of Honor which says: “Your self-determinism and your honor are more important than your immediate life.  Your integrity to yourself is more important than your body.”

Another important reference is an LRH quote from 9 Dec. 1952 PDC tape called “What’s Wrong With This Universe:” LRH says, “Man’s degradation always stems from his first desertion or breakage of really the Code of Honor.  He breaks the Code of Honor and after that he starts downhill and he gets worse and worse and worse and worse because his trust in himself is worse and therefore he can’t trust what his own energy is or anything else.”

If anything I’ve said resonates even to the slightest degree, then you owe it to yourself to do as LRH says, “Look, don’t listen.”  Even if you decide the data you find is not true for you, at least you’ve taken responsibility to “know.”  The other side of the coin is to not know, and that’s when you mess with your integrity.

Personal integrity is the one thing no one can ever take from you.  Only you can give it away.

While our SP declare was intended to negatively impact us, it’s actually been a very freeing action for both of us.

Our lives are good.  Steve and I feel very fortunate that we’ve never been solely dependent on Scientologists for friends, employees and clients.  We have a successful business with a wonderful staff and a great stable of clients.  And, thankfully our business is doing well.

I know many people who have experienced disconnection from the church are not as fortunate as we are in this way.  But, just as we have created close friendships and business relationships with people outside the church, from all walks of life, we know others can do this too in time.

At the end of the day, Steve and I have chosen to maintain our Code of Honor and our personal integrity.  We’re able to freely enjoy our family and friends, to keep our business flourishing and prospering, our clients happy and to live our lives to the fullest, all while contributing to the happiness and survival of others.

In summary, due to all that has happened and the off-policy regime that exists, we’re happy to announce our formal resignation and disconnection from the current C of S.

Love,

Marsha

297 Comments

Posted in acknowledgments, black dianetics, Debbie Cook, disconnection, ethics, FLAG, healing, ias, independents, justice, l. ron hubbard, miscavige crimes, policy, regging, squirreling, the future, the Reformation, the world, Uncategorized

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The FBI and Scientology Inc

Posted on March 19, 2012 by | 177 comments

Tony Ortega at the Village Voice published an interesting story on the spiking of the FBI investigation into David Miscavige, supreme leader of Scientology Inc’s human trafficking operation.

If someone wants to really understand how Scientology Inc is able to manipulate the highest levels of America’s most powerful law enforcement agency they should read the two references I suggested Tony read.

First, read Matt Taibbi’s epic story in Rolling Stone magazine, Why Isn’t Wall Street in Jail?    Taibbi’s expose of corporate corruption at the top of the US federal government is very accurate.  It has been going on for decades, and over three decades under the direction of David Miscavige I helped Scientology Inc perfect how to capitalize on that filth bucket.

Second, if you want a post-graduate level understanding read Lawrence Wright’s book The Looming Tower.   Wright was deservedly awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for this work.  His description of the political and money motivated systemic corruption of the FBI tracks on all four corners with what I observed in interfacing with them (and out-maneuvering them) over three decades.

Don’t get too worked up.  I’ve been saying it for three years and I’ll say it again. The solution to Scientology Inc is not ‘over there’; it is in the hands of Scientologists.   Independent Scientologists who take responsibility for the subject by proliferating its practice in a safe and sane manner.

177 Comments

Posted in acknowledgments, black dianetics, cover up, healing, independents, int base, justice, miscavige crimes, miscavige lawyers, office of special affairs, politics, propaganda, the future, the Reformation, the world

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Miscavige Birthday Con Part II

Posted on March 8, 2012 by | 172 comments

Just when you thought the LRH Birthday couldn’t be more degraded by David Miscavige.

In the event you consider my use of the term con or my linking of David Miscavige as the master of the con are over-reaching, please review the following:

The Hijacking of the International Association of Scientologists

International Association of Shills

 

172 Comments

Posted in black dianetics, healing, ias, int base, l. ron hubbard, miscavige crimes, propaganda, regging, the Reformation

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Withholds? and Tom Cruise’s Best Man

Posted on March 7, 2012 by | 154 comments

 

Withholds? @ Village Voice

And

San Antonio Current on Tom Cruise’s Best Man

And

Debbie and Wayne Got A Gun

 

154 Comments

Posted in black dianetics, cover up, Debbie Cook, france, harassment, independents, legal threats, miscavige crimes, miscavige lawyers, office of special affairs, PI reports, texas, the Reformation, Tom Cruise

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Freedom of Speech, Religion and Conscience

Posted on March 4, 2012 by | 124 comments

by Mike Rinder and Marty Rathbun

The Radical Corporate church of Scientology has filed a Motion for Summary Judgment in the Debbie Cook case.

The church is asking the court to declare the church the winners of the lawsuit based on the facts that they have presented to the court. To grant a Summary Judgment, the court must decide that there is no triable issue of fact. That means that no evidence that Debbie can present conflicts with the facts that the church says are established and prove its case for breach of contract.

You can read the church Summary Judgment Motion here, but for those of you who do not care to get mired down in legal mumbo-jumbo, here it is in a nutshell:

Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment

The church claims Debbie and Wayne left the church and signed contracts not to speak about their experiences.   They were paid money in exchange for their silence.  The church asserts that any claims by Debbie and Wayne that they signed the agreements under duress are invalid as even if that were true, Debbie and Wayne did nothing to overtly invalidate the agreements for 4 years.  Their inaction indicated agreement with the contract and thus they “ratified” it by their inaction.  They are arguing that because Debbie did not battle George Spencer, and effectively cross examine herself on the stand on 9 February, and testify about the duress she has continued to experience since leaving Flag in October 2007, there was no such continuing duress.

Here is where some readers of this blog can help.

Evidence can be submitted to the court by Debbie’s attorneys in the form of sworn affidavits.

A lot of people out there have communicated having experienced continuing duress similar to that experienced by Debbie.  In particular, those who can honestly testify, in the form of sworn affidavit, to the following fact pattern may be integral in defeating corporate Scientology’s summary judgment motion:

  1. Saw first-hand that David Miscavige operated as the supreme leader of Scientology and that there was no possibility of objecting to or defying his dictates no matter how unlawful without severe loss of rights.  That includes corporeal punishment including battery, loss of consortium (split up from 2D), lessened sleep, food deprivation, imprisonment, personal degradation, severe hazing, torture, surveillance, monitoring by covert and overt means after leaving, etc.
  2. Witnessed David Miscavige beating, punching, kicking, choking, slapping, throwing water at, physically threatening, severely hazing yourself or other staff members,  or witnessed agents of Miscavige doing the same or witnessed Miscavige ordering others to do the same.
  3. Left church employ because of “1” and/or “2” either by escape (unauthorized sudden departure) or route out procedure.
  4. Knew of corporate church policy and/or standard operating procedure to silence former members by way of any or all of the following:

a)       signing non-disclosure agreements under intimidating circumstances including presence of Security and/or OSA personnel, presence of an OSA attorney, and/or presence of video recording equipment.

b)       Witnessing or participation in the blow drill: where departed staff are tracked down by use of roving teams, credit card information, life history information, pc folder information, in order to make them participate in “a”.

c)       Having a provisional SP declare held over one’s head, whereby you were told that if you remained compliant and silent on the outside the SP declare would not come, but if you did otherwise you would be SP declared thus either lose your immortal future and/or lose the right to communicate with friends, associates, business contacts, and family.

5. Were so indoctrinated in an isolated cult for so long that you lost all sense of common mores of civilized society.  In other words, developed a mindset where you accepted the wholesale violations of civil and human rights visited upon self and others as justified or normal activity that did not warrant protest or reporting.   Many have reported having developed a state of mind where the ends (no matter how unlawful or shocking) justified the means; where for extended periods of time they felt so degraded by their experience that they believed there was something awry with themselves for even harboring thoughts that Miscavige’s reign of violence and human rights violations was in any way actionable or wrong.

6.  Because of 1-5 lived for a substantial period of time in fear or reticence of telling anyone about the facts underlying 1-5 or other facts concerning the loss of liberty or Human Rights of self and/or others by David Miscavige or agents of the church of Scientology.

A)     Include any of the common manifestations you may have experienced that are often reported by others – nightmares about being apprehended and returned to the Hole or the Int Base or the RPF, nightmares about being visited (and being declared) and having your friends, family, and associates disconnected from you.

B)      Include your own thought processes (backed by what you witnessed that prompted it) that kept yourself living in silent fear; such as taking a given period of time on the outside to begin to reckon that what you experienced inside was in fact unlawful or unacceptable in a civilized society; and such as awakening to the unlawful, unjustified nature of your experience only when you saw others were standing up and talking of their similar experiences over a period of time; and such as over time comparing what you experienced inside to the outside, and that experience beginning to wake your conscience with a need to do something about those left behind suffering.

C)      Include your considerations about protecting the religion of Scientology.  Part and parcel with that would be explaining any conditioning that had caused you to believe that the religion of Scientology was the same as the “church of Scientology” and how that played in keeping you silent and compliant – and of course how time played a part in the differentiation process that caused you to begin to communicate the evils you witnessed.

What is important to emphasize in “6” is time. How much time did it take you to decrompress from the physical and mental trauma of what you experienced in 1-5 to begin to speak with others about your experience; whether as a personal catharsis or as a conscientious need to help others still similarly situated.

I know there are literally hundreds who could and would attest to parts of 1 through 6 above. However,  we are looking for corroborative witnesses to the experiences of Debbie and Wayne.  Part and parcel of that of course is parallel experiences with an overlapping fact pattern.

Recognize, the inclusion of David Miscavige is important in distinguishing between the hundreds with similar experience and the few dozen with experiences sufficiently parallel with Debbie and Wayne’s experience to be admissible, relevant witnesses.  “The boss”, as you may have heard Church of Scientology International counsel Eliot Abelson refer to Miscavige in Debbie’s signing video, is front and center in this case.  Irrespective of Abelson’s now-world-famous admission the “church” is doing everything in its power to keep the chief perp out of this dispute, without Miscavige, of course, there is no dispute. Without Miscavige there is no 31 December 2011 e-mail by Debbie, there is no need to speak out, there is no cause to shudder into silence, there is no need for redress for aggravated assault and battery, torture, imprisonment, and the entire array of serial human rights abuses Miscavige perpetrates to this day.

If you feel you can honestly swear to facts that fit squarely within 1-6 above, or your experience roughly follows the pattern of 1-6 above, an affidavit from you might be critical in overcoming David Miscavige’s dishonest and aggressive attempt to bury Debbie Cook through court process.

If you are willing to consider drafting and signing such an affidavit, please tell your story – emphasizing the facts that fit within the 1-6 pattern – in writing to Mike Rinder at rindermike@yahoo.com and copy me at rathbunmark@yahoo.com.

Despite David Miscavige’s best efforts to prevent Debbie from establishing a defense of any kind we are continuing to assist her counsel in ways that ensure that she have as full, fair and affordable a defense as possible.

If you step up, you will be protected.

124 Comments

Posted in black dianetics, Debbie Cook, disconnection, FLAG, harassment, healing, int base, justice, legal threats, miscavige crimes, miscavige lawyers, office of special affairs, texas, the future, the Reformation, the world

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Why We Stay by Mike Rinder

Posted on February 21, 2012 by | 367 comments

Mike just posted the following as a comment in response to another comment.  To me it is one of those gems that cuts right to the heart of matters.  It is timely since literally thousands of  Corporate Scientologists have had some eye opening revelations come their way over the past two months.  It behooves us all to consider who we are dealing with, what motivates them, and what considerations and concerns they harbor. It also is useful to examine the other side of the coin, and so, below the first article please see “Why We Leave” by Steve “Thoughtful” Hall.

Why We Stay by Mike Rinder

This is a really difficult subject to explain. I look back and wonder why I stayed as long as I did. And I have given this a lot of thought, and I am sure there are a lot of scholarly and learned treatises that would explain this phenomena. I have only analyzed this for myself and what I have seen or heard with others.

I believe there is a “perfect storm” of factors in the RCS, and though I am certain many of these things are not unique to the RCS, I believe its hard to find anything that has ALL of these things acting in concert. And to one degree or another, I believe each of these apply to everyone involved in the RCS (SO, staff and public).

1. You feel an obligation to not violate your personal integrity by withdrawing allegiance from a group you have committed to. And the flip side of that coin, you are heavily invested in something (whether financially or emotionally or both) and to walk away from it requires admitting you were wrong/stupid/duped.

2. You don’t want to let others down. People who have relied on you, supported you, looked up to you. You value their friendship and don’t want to upset them.

3. You believe that to forsake the RCS and Miscavology is to abandon your eternity as there is no other “brand” of Scientology, everything else is pure squirrel suppressiveness which will drive you into a state of black MEST (meanwhile, this is the object of the reverse Scientology being run in the RCS). Even the idea of “abandoning your eternity” is contrary to fundamental Scientology principles – its an impossibility.

4. You have to walk away from your family, friends or business associates. The level of trauma associated with this depends on the degree of immersion in the “Scientology bubble.” Sea Org members often have to decide to leave a spouse and/or children. They normally have no college degree and no resume and no money. Many public Scientologists also have family who will dicsonnect or they will lose their jobs or their customers.

5. It is hammered into you that whatever condition you find yourself in — YOU “pulled it in” — whether it is being beaten and tortured or bankrupted by heavy pressure regging. It is always what YOU did and the organization/Miscavige is NEVER wrong. Then to “blow” only proves it further — its YOUR O/Ws. This mindset is cemented with the “sec checking” that has become routine operating procedure in the RCS. Think a critical thought about anything and you will pay (literally or figuratively or both) with a sec check that doesnt conclude until you find some O/W (real or imagined) that makes YOU responsible.

6. The thought that whatever injustice/abuse/difficulty/hardship you may be experiencing, it is “nothing” in the overall scheme of things. a) You have no doubt experienced worse on the whole track, so why get upset? b) physical pain and duress don’t damage you spiritually so what’s the big deal and c) the biggest one of all “the greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics” (as long as Dynamic 3 counts as 8 and the other 7 are one each) — “Scientology is expanding and clearing the planet, so there are some outnesses, they are small in comparison to all the good that is being done.”

7. Finally, I believe the vast majority of Scientologists are optimistic and think to themselves, “tomorrow will be another day and things will be better.” Unreal but true.

Maybe others have thoughts on this, but that is what I have concluded.

Why We Leave by Steve “Thoughtful” Hall

There’s an additional reason for “why we stay” which comes down to intuition or as we would call it in Scientology, “knowingness.” I wanted to leave many times in my Scientology career at the Int base. But for some reason I stayed. Something inside of me urged me to weather the storm. To use it as a laboratory. To learn from the experience — what would happen if I were pushed to the brink of extinction? I found out.

I found out I could survive anything. I found out there is a limit to what torture can do. There is a point where a compressible being cannot be further compressed no matter what is done to him. And better yet, I found out that even in that compressed state, I could fight back. I could make postulates. I could refuse to agree with realities. And finally, I found I could boldly walk right out the front door like Houdini — despite any number of chains, cameras, motion detectors, evil security guards (Danny), vicious Nazi like people, and most troublesome, the chains of love you feel for a spouse and those friends you must leave behind. Despite all these things, I found I could walk out the door and nothing, no power, no one could stop me.

I learned that through torture. I learned it is still possible to be OT despite physical, emotional, mental and spiritual suppression.

But there was an even greater reason behind my knowingness. Something for which I am thankful — very thankful — that I stayed as long as I did, and witnessed what I did. And I saw the violence with my own eyes.

If I hadn’t had seen what I saw, I would have never been able to create Scientology-cult.com, perhaps the first voice in the wilderness resulting from the correct WHY and which thereby opened the door to a handling for Scientology.

Why did Mike stay? Why did Marty stay? Why did I stay? Why did you stay?

Look at what we are doing now. Organizations, like people are born, they live for a time, and die.

The Church of Scientology is not dead. It’s worse than that! It’s below death and has been for some time. We — as a group — have beaten death on the third dynamic and Scientology is rising from the ashes like Phoenix.

What Mike experienced, what Marty experienced, what I experienced, what you experienced — all these experiences are what make this possible. We learned our lessons. We came to our senses because things got bad enough, we regained our collective personal integrity and with that comes everything.

What is Scientology if not the technology to bring the dead back to life? But not just on the first dynamic, but on the third. I wrote about this in an article called, “The Iron Door” on Scientology-cult.com. But it’s a very real thing.

If we had not stayed and suffered through what we did, we would not be able to do what we are doing now.

It was a perfect storm alright. A perfect storm for the rebirth of the greatest spiritual philosophy the world has ever known. Look in the mirror. You are making it happen.

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Posted in black dianetics, disconnection, ethics, healing, independents, the future, the Reformation

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Battle of San Antonio: A Review

Posted on February 12, 2012 by | 521 comments

On day one of Scientology Inc v Debbie Cook, after witnessing the opening statements of Ray Jeffrey and George Spencer, after Debbie Cook was called as first witness of the plaintiff, and after being dismissed from the courtroom as announced witnesses, Mike Rinder and I took a leisurely stroll at the Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio.  We could relax for a moment since by then we were assured that  we owned David Miscavige.

We talked about the state of David Miscavige’s mind as reflected in his handling of the Battle of San Antonio. Our walk was relaxed because we knew that Miscavige’s  arrogant, ill-advised first move would be his last – calling Debbie Cook to the stand.  I said to Mike, “these days, watching Scientology Inc Legal is like watching a Tommy Davis PR performance.”  Mike mused about how predictable it was that Miscavige would react as we figured he would to our message from the Alamo.

We reflected on how after our announcing to the world that Miscavige was following right in the footsteps of infamous general and despot Santa Anna, he had ignored the well-known aphorism of philosopher George Santayana:

“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

That is not say that all was sea shells and balloons on the front lines – but we knew at that point there was no reversing the fact that the Scientology Inc locomotive was headed straight into the train wreck of the century.

Even then though, we did not suspect that within 24 hours Miscavige would channel Santa Anna right on down to waving the white flag, and fleeing across the Texas plains in his underwear.

A Scientology Inc outright surrender is unprecedented in circumstances such as these.

Yes, Scientology Inc has paid huge sums of money at the courthouse steps in exchange for silencing Public Relations and Legal nightmares.

But, never has Scientology Inc surrendered after the damage was already done, and never in such a pathetic, thoroughly embarrassing fashion.

On my way out of San Antonio, I had a visit with Village Voice Editor In Chief Tony Ortega.  Tony asked me why the Surrender at San Antonio was so epic.

I told Tony that in order to fully appreciate the answer he needed a little history lesson, as follows.

The Temporary Restraining Order(TRO)/Preliminary Injunction (PI) procedure is relatively standard in most states in America.  Since 1981 Mike and I had helped Scientology Inc capitalize on it to crush, punish and silence many people.  Generally, one can get the TRO with no notice to the defendant, and then the defendant has but ten days to put together a complete defense in a hearing for a PI.  That means scrambling together for bread and trying to hire someone competent to enter a thoroughly unremunerative and unrewarding battle field and get him prepared for the unpreparable.  Very few that Mike and I could recall had ever been able to get it together in that time frame.  So, dozens of times we had used the weapon successfully to muzzle a defendant from the outset and for the remaining two to five year period the case would take to get to ultimate trial.  It was like shackling the defendant to the whipping post, then using the two to five years of litigation process to bury, punish, and bankrupt him or her with harassing discovery and motion work.  And while ultimately the defendant might prevail at trial (e.g. Gerry Armstrong, Joe Yanny), in many ways the person was ruined and enervated by that time.

Mike and I knew that it was no coincidence that from January 1, 2012 to this day Office of Special Affairs (OSA, dirty tricks and propaganda arm of Scientology Inc) had every available operative in the field pushing one message and one message alone toward Debbie Cook and Wayne Baumgarten:  whatever you do, stay away from Marty.   We read that like a telegram authored by Miscavige: we’re isolating Debbie for the whipping post treatment.

As one can read at exhibit B to Defendants’ Original Answer filed in the Bexar county courthouse, as late as January 15 (12 days prior to the Temporary Restraining Order), the OSA line had some effect.  Debbie pled with OSA to leave her alone with this distancing claim:  “I am also certain at this point that it was Marty and the Independents that worked so hard to get that comm into the press.”  That was claimed despite the fact the “press” had her email before I even did, and I’ve never worked, let alone “worked so hard”, to get anything into the press, and notwithstanding the fact I had already informed Debbie through a mutual friend of the identities of two confirmed OSA agents whom she and Wayne had already befriended and trusted since 1 January.  Regardless of Debbie’s mistrust, Mike and I still noted in my blog that it would not take long for Miscavige to force Debbie toward her only hope of a decent defense.  And so we proceeded to raise funds for that purpose.

It was not until Debbie and Wayne were served with a Temporary Restraining Order that I received a call that she wanted help.

Here is where the formidable Independent network really came into play.  First, mutual friends Yvonne and Ken Schick arranged a meeting at a secluded several acre residence where no OSA interference was possible.  Another Independent paid the airfare to get Mike Rinder out to Texas immediately. Another Independent (Action Jackson Morehead) stood in for Mike in Florida to complete the move that he and Christie were in the middle of when the call for help arose.  Probably the most crucial clutch play of the game also came from a Texas Independent.  His many years of ethical business practice and consequent connections lead us to the biggest star of the entire battle, Sugar Ray Jeffrey.

Mike and I have worked with some of the most expensive and accomplished lawyers in countries across the world for several decades; and both of us recognized the day we met him that Ray was the only horse that could run the course before us in the time allotted to prepare.  Normally, an attorney of his capability (with the level of competence and dedication of his partner and associate) would cost far more than we could afford.  But, because Ray and his team were quick to understand the facts, and were moved by the principles and equities involved, we were able to retain him through the hearing of this week for just about the amount of money that Independents (for the most part) contributed – almost to the penny.

With precious little time to work, it seemed that every resource we needed at every step of the way magically appeared compliments of one Independent or another.

I told Tony that had it not been for a lot of good folks living right and supporting one another and being there for one another and ready to drop everything to answer when the call came, Debbie Cook and Wayne Baumgarten would have been Texas road kill by now.

Had it not been for David Miscavige’s insane paranoia – which was as predictable as the morning sunrise – Debbie Cook’s testimony as to Miscavige’s crimes would never have seen the light of day.

Until David Miscavige sued Debbie Cook she made her intentions to him clear in writing as follows:

a)       She did not intend to disclose publicly the crimes of David Miscavige and Scientology Inc.

b)       She considered the intentions and interests of “Marty and the Independents” something not necessarily parallel to her own.

However, the very crimes Miscavige was trying to cover up with the Temporary Restraining order, and keep covered up with the sought for Preliminary Injunction, were the very crimes that invalidated the “agreement” that he wanted enforced.  It didn’t take a legal genius to understand that; Mike and I saw it before we even saw Miscavige’s stupid lawsuit and secretly obtained Temporary Restraining Order.

David Miscavige literally forced Debbie Cook to disclose his crimes in the only forum, under his own interpretation of the law, she could possibly do so without legal repercussions to herself. To wit, in the witness box in defense of an application for a Preliminary Injunction worded in the fashion Miscavige worded his would-be one against Debbie.

Miscavige got what he postulated; and he paid dearly with Scientology parishioner  donation war chest funds to make his postulate stick.

Some have wondered about the merits of Miscavige’s claim that he has now attained the goods to win the case on Summary Judgment.  There are no merits to it.  It is simply a typical Miscavige “PR” maneuver – the bully getting the tar whipped out of him, and claiming as he retreats “I am gonna kick your ass later.”

And as is typical of Miscavige, the rest of his statement was bogus too.  He didn’t surrender because Debbie was going to continue to use the witness stand to trumpet his crimes.  She was done with that phase of her testimony – the rest of it was rather mundane by comparison.  What he was hoping to avoid was the rest of the defense case (Mike and I establishing that the precise duress Debbie described being applied to force her to sign the “agreement” was standard operating procedure designed and engineered by Miscavige) and the inevitable court ruling that Scientology Inc gag orders are unenforceable, whether backed by fifty grand in “consideration” or not.

You see, Debbie is just the tip of the iceberg.  And Miscavige is acutely aware of that.  Others have left the Int Base torture chamber called “The Hole” since Debbie departed in 2007.   Among them are former WDC member Greg Hughes, former Int Management Exec Committee member Debbie Hughes, and former COB Project Ops (and Hole Torture In Charge) Angie Blankenship.  They too were bought off and signed agreements identical to Debbie’s. The facts they can testify to about the conduct of David Miscavige are still within the criminal statute of limitations for aggravated assault and battery, false imprisonment, and human trafficking.

While Miscavige’s unprecedented surrender is indicative of a meltdown of magnitude, there is still a method behind the tyrant’s madness.

But, Greg Hughes, Debbie Hughes, Angie Blankenship, and others similarly situated cannot take solace in the lack of official precedent invalidating their agreements.  I know they would love to do so as some kind of synthetic balm for their aching consciences.   Fact of the matter is, despite the lack of written judicial decision, the precedent has been set and it is clear as a bell to any literate individual aware of the Battle of San Antonio. David Miscavige has not nor can he use the courts to enforce his unlawful, unconscionable cover-up contracts.  We have proven that when push comes to shove those “agreements” are as worthless as the paper they were written on.   Further, we have established that when Miscavige attempts to isolate and tie anyone to the whipping post, there is a formidable movement out here that will protect them and lead them safely to the promised land; whether they agree with and support our aims or not.

All who contributed please take a huge win.  You got us to exactly where I predicted you could take us with your contributions.  The product was better than any of us could have expected.  Some of the lessons I take with me:

Don’t mess with Texas.

Don’t mess with Independents.

Don’t mess with the Truth.

update:  Village Voice Cook Interview, Ortega’s Intro video now works.

521 Comments

Posted in acknowledgments, black dianetics, cover up, Debbie Cook, ethics, harassment, healing, independents, justice, legal threats, miscavige crimes, office of special affairs, propaganda, texas, the future, the Reformation, the world

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“My Name is Ulf and I’ve Had Enough”

Posted on February 5, 2012 by | 397 comments

Many people have asked me since 1 January what they can do to help get Debbie’s New Year’s Eve email message disseminated.  I have answered a) do all you can to further the original email on “in-good-standing-folks’ lines”, then later b) contribute to her defense.  Step “a” as a front has dried up considerably after a month of “dead agenting” by Scientology Inc.  To “dead agent” someone means in Scientology parlance “discredit” her.  Scientology Inc has scrambled for more than a month now to accomplish that by telling their public that Debbie is declared suppressive and is in league with the forces of evil, and by providing them with a “dead agent” pack to counter the substance of Debbie’s email.  

One very bright recipient of that ‘dead agent’ pack did not shudder into fear, silence and  feigned agreement.  Instead, he turned it right back around and communicated directly to Flag Service Org’s chief sheeple herder, External Security Chief OSA Flag, Kathy True.  Ulf Olaffsen addressed each and every section of the “Debbie Cook Dead Agent Pack”  and wound up producing the definitive “dead agenting of the attempted dead agenting”.   

Ulf Olofsson got into Scientology in 1989 in Sweden but moved to the US
where he shortly thereafter joined the Sea Org. He went to Gold and
held various positions in the Audio division at Golden Era for 16
years. In 1993 he joined the Event Crew and participated in the
production of International Events both in the production phase at
Gold, as well as the live events themselves.

From the mid 90’s to 2006 Ulf served as a section head and then
department head over the audio productions for all films and
videos, while remaining on the event crew as the head of audio
production for the events.

Between 2007 – to 2010 Ulf did the RPF at Flag where he thoroughly
absorbed the tech of Scientology and held positions within the tech
delivery unit throughout the RPF program. In early 2010 Ulf routed
out of the Sea Org.

What follows is Ulf’s account. Please feel free to link it, or copy-text portions of it to carry on the debate and dissemination of the message of Debbie Cook’s New Years Eve email – on Scientology Inc turf. 
Hello,

 

My name is Ulf and I’ve had enough.

 

Back in the beginning of January I received Debbie Cook’s email. I left a comment on her Facebook page as I agreed to her view on KSW. I didn’t know Debbie well personally, but had dealt with her, mainly at Int. My impression of her was that of a genuine person, strong executive and well trained in LRH Tech.

 

Having been in the SO for 20 years – 16 at Int/Gold – including when Debbie was at Int, I can very much relate to her experiences and observations.

 

Later I was contacted by External Security and Kathy True (OSA Flag) about having commented favorably on Debbie’s Facebook page. I was sent a DA Pack (Dead Agent – LRH term taken from chapter 13 THE USE OF SPIES by Sun Tzu where 5 types of agents are described and one is a “Dead Agent” – term meaning to correct false information spread in a propaganda campaign.)  This pack was supposedly consisting of references by LRH which DAed or countered what Debbie had written in her email.

 

I went through this pack with an objective view, but by the time I finished I couldn’t but sit down and write a communication to Kathy as I found so many things either out-of-context or simply non sequitur.

 

I think Debbie wrote her email because from her perspective and knowledge she was applying KSW. Despite anything else that might have been “inappropriate” in the fashion she did it, I felt the same way and hence I spent quite some time putting together a DA pack of the DA pack. This was for the benefit of Kathy, but I had little hope anything would come of it. But at least I was going to give it a shot to write what I felt was true to me, AND, put it on the proper lines.

 

That was over a week ago. Then suddenly I get an email from Kathy True. Any acknowledgement(s)? No! Instead I get the following: It is NOT a communication (from an organization that is supposedly based on a philosophy centered on communication) and is creepy at best.

 

Kathy: Ulf – sent [send] me your address for snail mail.  ml, KT

 

Ulf: Kathy, as you didn’t acknowledge or comment on anything I wrote to you I am highly curious why you’re inquiring about my mailing address. What should I expect in the mail? My declare for expressing my views? Or should I expect a visit? Spencer [Flag External Security] at least had my address unless he has lost it.

 

Kathy: I’m taking this off email lines.  This is not the correct line for this.  KT

 

Ulf: Each new communication from you is non sequitur to what I wrote or asked. If you need something from me, why don’t you call me? Spencer has my number.

 

Well, I wonder what the “correct line” for this is. So far I haven’t found it, as there isn’t any correct line for “critical” thought against the Church’s actions – such activities are simply not acceptable seemingly, at least, whatever the reasons, they are justified strong enough to utterly abolish basic LRH data on communication, integrity, evaluation of data, free thought and just about any other subject that deals with decency, ARC and human compassion.

 

After I read what happened to Annie Tidman – one of my favorite staff members at Int – and after mainly reading and getting communications from people – who are all “Scientologists” – about all the “enemies” of the Church; disconnect from so and so; that person and this person is disaffected, ad infinitum, I just couldn’t take it anymore.

 

What happened to the Church I joined? Why all these internally assigned “enemies” instead of fighting the real enemy out there, and the 4th dynamic reactive mind? This is not the Church I chose to join.

 

As I believe other people have received the same or similar DA packs from OSA terminals such as Kathy, I can’t think of a better place than to provide my own DA pack at this blog, so at least the data can be made known and hopefully useful.

 

If someone like me, who so far has only communicated on “proper Church lines” gets such odd and creepy communications and responses, it may also provide a tell tale sign of the measures drummed up by the Church to attack Debbie and Wayne.

 

If you wish to communicate to me personally, you can email me at warewhulf@hushmail.com just ensure you clearly state who you are and your intentions and I will answer you.

 

Here’s the original communication to Kathy:

 

 

Kathy True                                                                                                    27 January, 2012

OSA Flag

 

Ulf Olofsson

 

Re: Debbie Cook DA references

 

Hello Kathy,

 

Thank you for providing the references I asked for in regards to the email Debbie sent out.

 

I have had some time to digest these and what you wrote raised many more questions.

 

Right off the bat I want to emphasize that my answers are not intended to snap terminals with you, nor minimize anything you lay out. Being an ex-SO from Int I quite often get communications asking about facts and figures as a means (for them) to verify if the information the inquiring person received is indeed accurate, especially after Debbie’s email. This is in addition to general Scientology inquiries from my wife and friends who know I am a Scientologist. The DA reference pack you provided me does shed some light on some aspects, but unfortunately raises more questions for me, AND not just because I don’t understand or have an MU, but because I apply key pieces of tech in my life such as “look, don’t listen” and simple evaluation of information.

 

Hence I am presenting some questions which arose while going through your DA references and which put me in a position where I feel I am not able to fully handle the originations of those inquiring, nor my own reality of the actual state of things.

 

I have highlighted in italics what you wrote and I have highlighted in bold any questions I still have which I felt were not adequately answered with the data you provided me with. If your busy schedule permits, it would be very much helpful if you could provide answers or further data on this.

 

Thanks in advance, Ulf

 

 

The result of these efforts is unprecedented expansion in the actual delivery of Scientology religious services—an increase of 40 times over previous levels—and the religion now measured in terms of more than 10,000 Churches, Missions and affiliated groups, with millions of members in 167 countries.

 

This is the first and most commonly used statement in DA material, both from your press spokesmen as well as OSA affiliated terminals. It is, in my view also the least credible and hardest one for me to honestly defend. Let me elaborate:

 

40X Expansion. Expansion is measured by comparing one unit or units at some earlier time period with the same unit or units at a later time period. Without stating the units you are measuring and the time period, it becomes very vague to argue what that expansion actually is.

 

Are you comparing total org delivery in 2012 to that of Phoenix, AZ 1952? I’m not trying to be sarcastic here. NOTS auditing hours went up in the mid-90’s after the 20 NOTS auditors fired back to each AO but has dropped ever since – a verifiable fact. Maybe Solo NOTS solo hours are up, and maybe Div 6 services such as the Basics course completions and the new TR’s & Objectives courses are up over previous times, but then this should be specified. I know for a fact that the training of classed auditors (one of the major VFP’s of an org) is not 40X, nor is the WDAH’s for general Bridge delivery.

 

  • What exactly is the 40X – what training and/or services and what time periods are you comparing?

 

10,000 Churches, missions and affiliated groups is a datum very hard to explain. No new orgs, and if I missed one or two, it still doesn’t explain the numbers, have been announced in almost a decade. Athens was one of the last, and maybe a Celebrity Center. The total number of orgs never exceeded somewhere around 160 from the time I was at Int, and from your events no new orgs have been announced since that time.

 

When I worked at Gold I routinely did A/V products tailor-made for the active missions and groups and I would get updated lists of ALL the missions in the world. The total never exceeded 600, and I got my lists directly from SMI Int, and the lists contained ALL registered missions with contact information. The numbers were roughly about 60 in Russia, less than 40 in Hungary, less than 100 in the rest of Eu, less than 10 in all of Asia, less than 40 in Africa, less than 10 in ANZO, less than 70 in all of South America and less than 200 in North America. In total the numbers were 500 – 600.

 

Yes, my information is not current, but these figures are not from the Ice Age either (2006.)

 

I know from my time at the Flag RPF that $50,000 mission starter packages were sold a lot, but a package sold doesn’t equate to a mission delivering services and it would seem to me that a Scientology org, mission or affiliated group should in some way be delivering Scientology training and auditing, even if just on an introductory level.

 

If you combine the existing orgs and missions from my 2006 verified statistics the number doesn’t exceed 750, and I used all of your websites to look for additional centers and groups and I couldn’t even locate 400 contacts in all of your websites combined.

 

Even the number of 750 is probably too high. For example, here in Hong Kong there is a Dianetics Group run by a local OT VIII. The place is open 3 evenings a week. There are never more than 1-2 people there when it is open. I’ve been there 3 times and each time it was empty. There is no sign on the street so you can’t possibly run into it, but it is located in a regular, cheap apartment on the 4th floor of a building. This is in addition to a serious amounts of outpoints observed when I went there which I initially reported in proper form to SMI Taiwan, but got no answer after 3 emails, and then to SMI Int and still got no answer, but this is a separate subject to this communication. 

 

I’m sure this is counted, but it is hardly delivering at all, and I’m sure this is the case in many places around the world. I have a close friend in Malmö in Sweden. She went to the local org in November last year. She said the place was almost empty other than some staff. I also have friends in Stockholm and Gothenburg who are on lines and they also tell me those orgs are almost empty.

 

So, with the 750 number being in question, I can only suppose that the remaining 9,250 must fall into the category of “affiliated groups”. But what is an “affiliated group”? Do you count a school teaching TWTH, or a school using study tech, or a WISE member using LRH tech in his business? Though these are using LRH tech, they are not delivering Scientology and should not be included in counting a group delivering Scientology.

 

Less than a year ago, the Scientology PR statement was 8,000 Orgs, missions and groups, and in less than a year that total has increased by 2,000.

 

I know Mr. Miscavige himself stated these figures at International events and with all due respect I don’t want to doubt the figures, but in applying logic based on the actual statistics which I was privy to I can’t get the math to add up.

 

LRH states in PR policy which you, Kathy, are very familiar with, to NEVER use lies in PR. I know how these figures were put together when I was involved with events. Marc Yager used to be the appointed “Stat Man”, i.e. he was responsible for summarizing various statistics to be announced at the events. All the information was collected by the IMPR office staff. I read through all of this information many times throughout the years. NEVER did the actual figures even approach 10,000.

 

  • What exactly is the “10,000 orgs, missions and affiliated groups” comprised of? Is there a list available, or a basic breakdown? Anyone who tries to look it up on the internet can’t even get a number 1/20th of that, so this is one of the hardest pieces of information to defend.

 

Another hard to defend datum is the “millions of members”. In all the years at Int, the total international event attendance statistic never exceeded 50,000. Most of the time it was around 30,000 – 35,000.

 

To be a member, one has to officially apply to be a member, such as becoming an IAS member, going on staff, or such a thing. When I was on the Flag RPF there were several IASA staff members on the RPF who had recently been in IASA. As I was a tech terminal within the RPF I dealt with them both as a C/S and auditor and supervisor. From this I learned that the total IAS membership number was in the hundreds of thousands – this was from 1984 to 2010. There are less than 10,000 staff around the world.

 

Again, I don’t want to just negate and I know this datum was announced by Mr. Miscavige, but with all the information I have and with all the information that can be verified on-line I can only come up with at most 25,000 active members in the US and maybe twice that amount in the rest of the world, and maybe a couple of hundred thousand others who are currently inactive but have a valid IAS membership.

 

  • What comprises “millions of members”? Anyone who ever bought a book?

 

…LRH covered this phenomena in HCO PL 7 August 1965, Issue I, SUPPRESSIVE PERSONS, MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF:

 

“Soft sell” is another recommendation of the SP.

 

 And “build it quietly” and “get only decent people” are all part of this.

 

When somebody is demanding less reach, that person is an SP.

 

Therefore, we have another characteristic:

 

2. SPs RECOMMEND INEFFECTIVE DISSEMINATION AND FIND FAULT WITH ANY BEING DONE.

 

LRH

HCO PL 7 August 1965, Issue I

SUPPRESSIVE PERSONS,

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF

 

You included this reference in regards to Debbie’s email, but I couldn’t relate it to the content of her email. There is nothing in Debbie’s email that suggests soft-sell, or hard-sell for that matter in regards to the subject of SERVICES, which is what this policy is talking about. Debbie objected to the crush regging for the IAS, which regardless of validity has nothing to do with disseminating services of Scientology.

 

  • How is Debbie’s email or the content therein advocating soft-sell of Scientology?

 

3. International Association of Scientologists

 

Misinformation and wrong information has been spread on what the IAS is supposed to be.

The IAS did not replace the HASI. They are entirely different entities existing at different times with different purposes.

 

On March 12, 1966, L. Ron Hubbard announced in HCO Executive Letter that the Hubbard Association of Scientologists International, Inc. had been replaced by the Church of Scientology of California as the senior corporate entity in Scientology. This announcement included that effective 5 April 1966, all of Saint Hill, including the International Executive Division of Scientology, would be under the corporate control of the Church of Scientology of California. This ended the role of the HASI as the senior corporate entity in Scientology.

 

The International Association of Scientologists is a membership organization founded by individual Scientologists in October of 1984. It is not a management organization, but a membership organization, the purpose of which is to unite, advance, support and protect Scientology and Scientologists in all parts of the world so as to achieve the aims of Scientology as originated by LRH.

 

As with the HASI, the IAS has annual and lifetime memberships. Beyond that, there are levels of honor statuses to acknowledge the contributions of Scientologists.

 

This is a bit confusing. First you state that the IAS did not replace the HASI and that it is completely different, and, you state that it was not implemented by LRH, but founded by individual Scientologists.

 

Then you state, ”As with the HASI, the IAS has annual and lifetime memberships.” So first you lay out how they are different, and then you lay out how they are similar. Not only is this confusing and doesn’t really answer anything, but it also doesn’t explain why the IAS should exist at all as Debbie laid out as there is no LRH to back it up, neither of which is included in the material from you.

 

To DA this to someone questioning it one would have to understand how a membership organization could be created, not based on LRH, and which collects huge sums of money, compared to the relatively affordable HASI annual fees (even with inflation considered.) One can argue that the IAS funds dissemination campaigns and org buildings, but when reviewing the accounting of Ideal Org buildings, they were mainly sponsored by individual fundraisers from their local area. Also, I haven’t seen a single Scientology ad on TV since I left the SO in 2010. Apparently there was one playing on American Idol recently, but to quote from International events, “…we will flood the airways with advertising campaigns” seems to imply a large presence of Scientology media across radio, TV and the internet and I have searched and looked for it and other than what is playing on your internal websites, I have seen no sign of it.

 

These contrary facts, in my personal experience, have raised some doubt and questioning with those who read Debbie’s email and then asked me about it. Again, lots of fancy words are being proclaimed that sounds good and all, but in the physical universe the evidence is not there. How can one not question the massive IAS donations when it isn’t exchanged with tangible services or means to disseminate with verifiable, non-PR evidence?

 

Yes, I know this is what you say they do, but can any specifics be provided? Obviously an accounting would be out-security, but if new places were opening up and delivering, if ads were playing all over the place, if print ads were placed in papers all over the world, if people were sponsored to open up and run new groups instead of being charged $50,000 for a starter package, then I believe the arguments about the validity of the IAS and the questioning about the money aspect would be insignificant.

 

  • Regardless of the validity of the IAS, how is the money donated to the IAS used exactly, without generalities?

 

SCIENTOLOGY FIVE:

 

Scientology applied at a high echelon to social, political and scientific problems. This requires the earlier levels and a high state of training on theoretical and wide- application levels and the personal state of OT.

 

LRH

HCO PL of 2 August 1963, Issue I

URGENT, PUBLIC PROJECT ONE:

 

In fact, the existence of the IAS makes possible these specific Fourth Dynamic activities envisioned by LRH:

 

When considering all the policies written about the subject of what the parishioner’s money is used for, this excerpt and earlier mentions of the 4th dynamic campaigns not only fail to explain why HCO PL “WHAT YOUR FEES BUY” states that money paid for services is what provides these things, but seem non sequitur in context.

 

Here a policy about the importance of relative marketing for various categories of public is being used to justify the donations for the IAS, when there are numerous finance policy which states exactly how these campaigns are supposed to be funded, etc.

 

The hardest argument for me personally has been to explain the extreme fundraising activities which have gone on in escalating order for the last 15 years, despite very clear and non-interpretable, step-by-step direction from LRH of how to manage and deal with finances within the Church. The only “DA” I have seen so far is out-of-context excerpts which don’t “handle” the full LRH policies which Debbie quotes from.

 

  • How can this be justified despite cleat-cut LRH policies which state otherwise?

 

4. Ideal Orgs are Fulfilling LRH’s Intention for Churches of Scientology

 

The Ideal Org program is about delivering quality of service.

 

One can’t argue this, but one can argue how very posh and expensive, new buildings equal to quality of service. They are not synonymous. I wasn’t there, but I dare argue that LRH ran top quality service at Saint Hill and on the Apollo and none of these required posh buildings.

 

  • How does quality of service equate to expensive, new buildings?

 

The sole purpose of our Ideal Org strategy is to be able to deliver ALL the services LRH intended to make available to mankind and to do it in an environment conducive to people rapidly stepping onto and moving on the Bridge. And to expand all orgs to a level they can deliver that quantity and quality of service at once.

 

In lectures and policies, LRH described his vision of an Ideal Org. It is this vision that is now being put into reality, as the following excerpts show:

 

These are awfully good people in Central Organizations. These are terrific people. At a sacrifice of considerable income and a lot of other sacrifices, these fellows and girls stay on the job and get the job done. One could not render a high enough tribute to them, because it has not been easy and they have done it extremely well. And they’re still there and they’ve still got the show on the road.

 

And now we’re thinking in terms of new buildings and designing new buildings all over the world. In other words, we’ve kept it there for a long time; now we’re going to keep it there with exclamation points. We’ve even got the designs for these buildings.

 

Actually, it requires two types of building in one of these Central Organizations. It requires a city building, one that is downtown and rises straight up from the ground to some height. And it requires one out in the country which sprawls all over the place.

 – LRH

Lecture 3 Sep 1962 YOUR SCIENTOLOGY ORGS & WHAT THEY DO FOR YOU

Here again we have a problem of magnitude in regards to explaining the current actions of building expensive buildings as this one excerpt from 1962 ignores almost everything LRH later states in actual HCO PL’s covering the subject of building acquisition and the steps to take to expand, not to mention all the traffic from LRH to the Building Investment Committee, which you may not be personally familiar with, but I am.

 

Outside of the factors of the buildings of Ideal Orgs, this also doesn’t explain how the Ideal Org Program has come to replace LRH 339R and the making of Saint Hill Size orgs. The latter was THE strategy for orgs and management from 1982, whereby the Ideal Org program was mentioned in a lecture from 1962. I’m not saying the 1962 lecture is invalid, but it doesn’t appear to me to take precedence over an LRH ED from 20 years later which lays out the steps for expansion in full and exact detail.

 

I know Debbie didn’t mention the now almost infamous and cliché-used quote (among those who are questioning the Ideal Org strategy) about blowing up the headquarters.

“We own a tremendous amount of property. We own a tremendous amount of material, and so forth. And it keeps growing. But that’s not important. When buildings get important to us, for God’s sake, some of you born revolutionists, will you please blow up central headquarters? If someone had put some HE under the Vatican long ago, Catholicism might still be going. Don’t get interested in real estate. Don’t get interested in the masses of buildings, because that’s not important.

“What is important is how much service you can give the world and how much you can get done and how much better you can make things. These are important things. These are all that are important. A bank account never measured the worth of a man. His ability to help measured his worth and that’s all. A bank account can assist one to help but where it ceases to do that it becomes useless.”

One could argue that this was 1960 – before the Ideal Org lecture, but:

  • How is a lecture from 1962 the overriding principle to concentrate on posh buildings despite a multitude of other actual policies on finances and buildings which stresses delivery of service and puts the quality of the building itself as one of the last priorities? (Not including cleanliness.) No matter how one views this in light of all the policies and advices, it just doesn’t add up, and it doesn’t DA what Debbie wrote and quoted from LRH, unless one just takes the excerpt you gave and ignores everything else, but this wouldn’t be a proper evaluation of all the data, would it?
  • How and why has LRH 339R and Saint Hill Size orgs been replaced by an Ideal Org strategy, only outlined in a 1962 taped lecture?

EXPANSION. It is upon expansion that victory depends. But how much expansion is EXPANSION? Well, to give you a hint, you all know how big and busy Saint Hill was in the mid-60’s. Well, I ran it up from six staff to that in very short order indeed. It was the last org I ran directly as its ED.

 

LRH

LRH ED 339R Int

13 March 1982

 

I find it interesting that you would include an excerpt from LRH ED 339R which talks about expansion mainly in terms of delivery and numbers of staff – not the building. I don’t see how this explains anything in Debbie’s email, nor does it DA what she stated. If anything is appears non sequitur and draws your attention to, “What happened to 339R?”

 

 

LRH personally built Saint Hill and Flag. Those are big, posh, impressive orgs!

 

This is one line I can’t use unfortunately in any sort of DA action because most Scientologists know that these buildings were NOT big, posh, impressive orgs when LRH set them up and ran them. They have been made so after LRH dropped his body.

 

In 1976 Flag was a rundown hotel and the total action ordered by LRH at that time was to thoroughly clean it. No renovations were done and it certainly wasn’t posh. Quality of delivery was the only thing stressed.

 

As far as Saint Hill goes, there was nothing posh or even big about it (building-wise) when LRH ran it. It was clean and set up to function and they coped with spaces as the place expanded. A large part of the BC delivery was done in the basement of the Manor and in the Solarium and the main Castle was not even available to them like it is to AOSH UK today.

 

So, using Flag and Saint Hill to show what LRH did, just acts to contradict the whole thing; as a matter of fact, while LRH was around, not a single organization had a posh and “perfect” building, but what was emphasized was cleanliness, putting in proper org form and delivering standard auditing and training.

5. Donations For New Buildings

 

And as for obtaining donations directly for the purchase of new buildings,in HCO Policy Letter of 2 December 1968, GUNG-HO GROUPS, LRH writes specifically about it in this fashion:

 

CONTRIBUTIONS

The most heavily worked-over income point of most civic-minded groups is the obtaining of contributions.

 

These can be quite sizable.

 

They do not however, come easily unless the group has a nonprofit status and the patron can thereby deduct it from his income tax.

 

A group, however, that registers as a charity and is a member of existing nonprofit organizations can obtain contributions.

 

Governments have been known to contribute large sums to groups.

 

Contributions should be worked at but should be regarded as an irregular source of income and not counted on for the general running expenses of a group. Rather, they are like an affluence, and major projects are the best use for contributions and the best reason to get them — such as a new building for the group or a new hall, things like that.

As anyone who has done OEC Vol 0 knows, Orgs are about selling and delivering services to the public and get in public to sell and deliver to. No doubt this PL about Gung-Ho groups has its own application, but Gung-Ho groups don’t even sell and deliver services.

 

Debbie quoted LRH policies which state the opposite about fundraising as it applies to orgs.

 

  • How does a policy about Gung-Ho group explain numerous HCO PL’s about Scientology organizations NOT getting involved in fundraising, but in delivering services and getting paid for it?

 

That ends this section.

I can see that there is much potential that by now I must be viewed as extremely disaffected and full of enemy lines.

It is my hope however, that what I have written and questioned above can be at least partially answered.

I consider myself a Scientologist because I use and apply Scientology to improve conditions of my dynamics to the best of my ability.

As you well know, I don’t have a very clean ethics record in my SO career. I am not and I never was a moralist, but in the here and now I try to do what I see as right and constructive and I judge others mainly by those same attributes. I want to add that my period on ethics lines and the RPF exposed me to all the Basics, the large majority of the tech vols coupled with having M9’ed the majority of Management volumes just prior to coming to Flag. With this under my belt, I believe I have a good reason to express my thoughts and points of view regardless of my actions in the past.

I have a tendency to want to tell my family and friends about Scientology and I actually find it easy to get people interested in the religious applied philosophy of Scientology. A good example is my own wife who has studied some basic material, including Science of Survival, the Tone Scale and is suing it successfully at her work place and she agrees and sees the workability of it. She agrees to basic concepts like the Code of Honor, Personal Integrity and TWTH.

However, when it comes to the Church of Scientology, here’s where the difficulty begins. Due to the vast exposure in media, even here in Hong Kong, it is very hard to explain the actions of the Church. To someone like my wife it does little good to state, “Well, honey, Mr. Miscavige said so at an event!” and hope that it will just explain everything.

Especially for the Chinese (which my wife is) family and friends are of utmost importance and I happened to show her the Code of Honor and the Code of Behavior tape transcript early on.

LRH states:

“7. NEVER PERMIT YOUR AFFINITY TO BE ALLOYED.

In other words, never permit a feeling of affection you have to be tampered with by somebody else. You can tamper with it if you want but don’t let someone else come along and tell you that ‘the reason why you should not like Jones is because…’ and tell you a lot of things about Jones.”

This made sense to her, but when I am told to disconnect from someone (as has been demanded of me on Facebook) who has been a personal friend for maybe 20 years because he or she now has different views of the Church, i.e. “disaffected” in your terms but not gone to the media or press or tried to sue you, it becomes an impossibility to try to explain the rationale, and factually it does violates some of the very basic principles of human decency.

It is stated as early as 1951 that Dianetics and Scientology is about raising an individual on the Tone Scale and increasing his self-determinism. There is even a slogan for the VM campaign which states, “Think for yourself!” Now, if one is routinely coaxed to think along a certain pattern and be told what is and what isn’t, it goes against the very core of the basics of Scientology and THAT I am not even willing to defend myself as I would be violating my own personal integrity.

LRH states:

“Those things I tell you are true are not true because I tell you they are true. And if anything I tell you, or have ever told you, is discovered to differ from the individual observation (be it a good observation), then it isn’t true! It doesn’t matter whether I said it was true or not. Do you understand?”

 –L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology and Effective Knowledge, 15 July 1957 lecture

“Personal Integrity:

 “What is true for you is what you have observed yourself, and when you lose that you have lost   everything…

 “Nothing in Dianetics and Scientology is true for you unless you have observed it.

  “And it is true according to your observation.

  “That is all.”

–L. Ron Hubbard, book Scientology, A New Slant On Life

I’m including these quotes here to simply try to state where I’m coming from in writing this communication.

As a note worthy of mention towards the end, I wanted to relay another personal experience. During the process of routing out Mike Sutter was stressing to me not to contact specifically Marty [Rathbun] and Mike [Rinder]. At the time I didn’t think much about it.

Then later in phone conversations with Spencer, he again brought up Marty and Mike at several occasions and how I should not listen to what they had to say. I guess, just like a child who does exactly what he is told not to do, I had to find out what all the fuss was about.

I looked up Marty and Mike on the net, and also located your own websites with the Church’s attempt to DA them. I was recently directed by a Swedish Scientologist who had seen my Facebook posting on Debbie’s site to watch a video about Marty. I did so.

Now, it is peculiar how one reacts when one is on the outside, versus being on the inside, but what struck me personally in watching this video was how it stressed how Marty was the violent person AND he ADMITS to it, followed by a graphic representation of what I gather is his O/W’s or confession or something.

Not only did it strike a disharmonious cord inside me to see the Church publicly publish something which per policy was intended for HCO and Qual personnel only, but I was also struck by the fact that in the end I had the image that Marty was indeed guilty of violent acts, but he admits to it – fully – and publicly. This was made into a big deal through the narrative of the video, but for me it actually increased the respect for Marty.

I knew Marty at Int, and I knew Mike even better. I know what they did do and how they acted. But I also know that a lot of faults were committed all the way up and down the org board which cannot be justified through any policy, out-of-context interpretation. I have however NEVER seen the Church admit to a single piece of wrong-doing.

This fact alone is the hardest to DA in speaking with my non-Scientology friends and family. How come there is so much bad exposure in the media about this Church but they deny 100% of it. Marty doesn’t deny what he did and that automatically makes him more credible, especially as I share some of the experiences and facts which Marty is stating.

I’m only bringing this up as, so far, Scientologists attempting to “get my ethics in” or providing me with “DA” material, only amounts to, in the end, a blind faith in what the current Church and Mr. David Miscavige are doing and that goes against the verbal tech checklist, the quotes above and about 100 hundred other references about evaluation of data, and self-determined thought.

That is why I publicly agreed with Debbie on her Facebook profile.

So, of course you can chose to answer this, or simply file it away as “disaffected entheta.” I for one would be very happy if you would engage in dialog, as this current situation is distressing as I believe in Scientology and I’m not interested in a war, but I will not waiver away from what I know is true, and I won’t accept explanations which are taken out of context and which are clearly stated otherwise in policy.

I believe in Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard and as I know you do too, maybe with this one thing in common we can somehow figure out how to increase our ARC and KRC. I will consider any full policy by LRH or statistic or other information as requested above.

One final thing – this communication is from ME and not written or dictated by anyone else.

Thanks for listening, Ulf

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Posted in acknowledgments, black dianetics, cover up, Debbie Cook, disconnection, ethics, events, FLAG, harassment, healing, ias, independents, int base, justice, l. ron hubbard, miscavige crimes, office of special affairs, policy, propaganda, quotations, tech alterations, the future, the Reformation

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“Only Scientology Law Applies” – Radical Corporate Position

Posted on February 4, 2012 by | 191 comments

UPDATE SATURDAY A.M.:  VILLAGE VOICE WEIGHS IN

By Mike Rinder

At the same time Miscavige’s minions rushed into court in Texas attempting to enforce their unconscionable “contract” with Debbie Cook, they sang a different tune in Pinellas County, pleading that courts have no jurisdiction in matters of religion.

See the article by Joe Childs and Tom Tobin reporting on today’s hearing (which occurred coincidentally with the hearing in Texas):  Lawyer tells judge: “Only Scientology law applies.”

The Tampa Bay Times report is accurate and objective.

There is no doubt a great deal of law indicates courts should not intrude in religious matters.  But here, where the church has long proclaimed how fair and generous it is in returning money to dissatisfied customers, the new “policy” of refusing to return funds is being challenged and scrutinized.  Until fairly recently, the church lived up to representations made to the Internal Revenue Service to gain tax exemption that it was “easy” to get your money back.  But it seems there are so many dissatisfied customers that they had a change of heart, and are now refusing to even return monies on account while stating “if they had just followed the procedures they would have had their money by now” with a straight face.  I wonder what would happen if a bunch of SPs showed up at the FSO to “do their CVB Routing Form” – imagine the panic that would spread.  And if each brought a witness…. I think the FSO should be careful about what they say.

It was rather humorous to watch the church try to claim a 7 page fine print contract is “Scientology law.” Clearly, it was drafted by lawyers, not religious scholars, to be used in court and it even says so in the enrollment agreement.

But the most amazing position for the church to take is “tough luck pal, it’s our rules and if you don’t like them you can’t sue us.  Not for anything, ever, because you signed away your rights in order to participate in church services.”  But here, they didn’t even participate. No services were provided.

There is little doubt this will be a long battle.  The stakes for the church losing are a catastrophic run on the bank.  But fighting this will focus more and more media attention on the vulture culture and how far removed it is from what the IRS was told that convinced them to grant the church tax exempt status.

Miscavige is walking a tightrope while juggling and doing backflips in a high wind:  trying not to let a dollar out of his grip while at the same time defying what he personally told the IRS about church policy on refunds and repayments, while trying to use the judicial system to enforce contracts to protect his ego and out of the other side of his mouth protesting that his contracts cannot be enforced by any court.  Good luck with that.

His contradictions are not lost on the world and as he proceeds down his arrogant path of self destruction, they will catch up to him. He is convinced he is the smartest man in the world and he can play anyone and everyone for his benefit. The truth ALWAYS prevails in the end.

A tip of the hat to Bert Schippers and Lynn Hoverson and Luis and Rocio Garcia for stepping up to the plate and paving the way for justice and equity for many who stand in the same place.

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Posted in acknowledgments, FLAG, healing, independents, justice, miscavige crimes, miscavige lawyers, office of special affairs, regging, texas, the future, Uncategorized

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Motion to Dissolve Restraining Order

Posted on February 3, 2012 by | 80 comments

Here is an objective factual, albeit partial, account of today’s proceedings published in the San Antonio Express News.

And here is the rest of the story.

In San Antonio, each motion in a case gets assigned to a random judge.  The one assigned to Ray Jeffrey’s motion to dissolve the temporary injunction today was not too keen on listening to Ray’s constitutional arguments when the full hearing with evidence on the injunction is set to be tried next Thursday 9 Feb. The one issue that did catch Judge Littlejohn’s attention was the potential effect of the overbroad temporary injunction being used to prevent Debbie and Wayne from properly preparing their defense for 9 Feb.

Miscavige’s (FSO’s) counsel claimed not to have any intention of using the temporary injunction to hinder Debbie and Wayne’s defense.  Then Mr Jeffrey pulled out the letter Miscavige’s boys faxed to Jeffrey the day before last.  The letter threatened the Baumgartens with a motion to have the court hold them in contempt.  For what?  Allegedly conferring with her legal team consultants and witnesses, namely yours truly and Mike Rinder.

The judge denied the motion to dissolve only after being assured by Miscavige’s boys that they would drop their attempts to use the court’s order to obstruct Debbie and Wayne’s defense preparation.  Back to the salt mines in preparation for the main event – Feb 9.

80 Comments

Posted in black dianetics, Debbie Cook, FLAG, harassment, independents, justice, legal threats, miscavige crimes, miscavige lawyers, office of special affairs, texas, the future, the Reformation, Uncategorized

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