Xenu Was Hiring

There’s a very funny account about how one man was lured into a job interview with Narconon that is a very entertaining and informative read.

I live in East Sussex, which is on the South East coast of England, and my interview with Narconon was on Wednesday morning at one of their main drug rehabilitation centres. The building, a Tudor mansion that is well over one hundred years old, is quite simply magnificent.

I’d arrived a little early and took a moment to sit on a bench outside, soaking up the majesty of the surroundings. Very impressive indeed; must have cost a fortune.

Moments later, somebody came out to see me, and introduced himself. It was Bob, the chap I’d spoken to on the telephone when arranging my interview. We entered the building via the reception – the inside was as pretty as the out – and Bob handed me an application form.

I was taken to another room, and there I met Adam, who was also applying for the position. Bob explained that even though Adam had arrived first we would be interviewing together. The importance of this unity – that Adam and I needed to stay together – was reinforced upon me on several occasions thereafter, to the point where, looking back, I have to wonder if Adam was actually a genuine applicant, or somebody they had used to watch over me. But that’s crazy, paranoid thinking. Right?

I finished the application form and returned it to Bob. Adam followed. Now back in the reception area, I was admiring the beautiful fireplace when I noticed a large, fairly old-fashioned looking book on the mantle. The author’s name grabbed my immediate attention.

L. Ron Hubbard

The book was still shrink-wrapped – it was available for purchase. It’s not unusual to find an association between religion and rehab programs, but this still caught me a off-guard. My mind drifted back to the application, and a section therein that asked if I represented a newspaper or had the intention of writing a story about the facility. I had assumed this was a legal procedure to protect the guests, and I’d ticked the box marked “no.” Hindsight is, of course, 20-20.

Bob then led Adam and myself into a private room, and said we needed to watch a video that explained the history of Narconon. Fine; this was not the first time I’d had to sit through introductory materials for a new job. What Bob neglected to mention, however, was that the video was essentially an introduction to Scientology. Sure, it was mostly about Narconon, but L. Ron Hubbard and/or Scientology were typically given a very specific (and often congratulatory) mention at the beginning of every new scene.

They actually tell him they are paying minimum wage.  How do they break it to you later that, naw, you’re not even going to get that?

St. Pete Times Part Three

Slappy Miscavige Takes Aim

The last article in the Slappy Miscavige series has been published.  And Tommy Davis makes Scientology look like more of a cult than ever.

The Sea Org is a “crew of tough sons of bitches,” said church spokesman Tommy Davis, an 18-year veteran of the group.

“The Sea Org is not a democracy. The members of it agree with a man named L. Ron Hubbard. They abide by his policies . . . and we follow it to the T, to the letter, to the punctuation marks. And if you disagree with that and you don’t like it, you don’t belong. Then you leave.”

CNN Headline News

CNN covers Slappy Miscavige.

And this report comes from Foxnews.com

Jason Beghe on Marty Rathbun

Legendary Village Voice editor Tony Ortega has an interview with Jason Beghe about the St. Pete Time’s articles slamming David Miscavige.

Today, the St. Petersburg Times unveiled part two of its devastating series on David Miscavige, diminutive leader of Scientology.

An indication of how much this series is hitting Scientology to the bone: rare and vehement denunciations by Miscavige himself, and by his spokesman, the clearly in-over-his-head Tommy Davis, son of actress Anne Archer.

The St. Pete Times series packs a punch because it’s based on interviews with two of the formerly most high-ranking figures in the church: Marty Rathbun, once considered the best “auditor” in the Hubbard technology game, and Mike Rinder, once the church’s top spokesman (and Davis’s predecessor).

Predictably, Scientology is hitting back by trying to smear the two of them. If they were once the most trusted, most powerful members of the church, now suddenly they are lunatic losers who can’t be trusted.

“Tom had essentially disconnected from the church for the previous ten years. Most people don’t know that,” Beghe says. “So if Marty was a lunatic, why would Miscavige give him the job to bring Tom back in, the most important job in the church at that time?”

Read the full article and thank Tony and Jason for speaking out against the tiny leader of Scientology.

Tommy Davis Loses it

You don’t think this St. Pete Times article is causing problems for those around David Miscavige?   Listen to Tommy Davis throw a fit trying to convince a reporter that everything is hunky-dory in Miscavige-ville.

You know the next spokesperson is going to saying the sam “LIAR!” about Tommy when he blows and tells the truth about the inner workings of Scientology.

Tick Tock.

The Truth Rundown

Talk about flaps.  David Miscavige must be packing his bags to go live in that cave with Osama Bin Laden.   Marty Rathbun is spilling the beans.

This account comes from executives who for decades were key figures in Scientology’s powerful inner circle. Marty Rathbun and Mike Rinder, the highest-ranking executives to leave the church, are speaking out for the first time.

Two other former executives who defected also agreed to interviews with the St. Petersburg Times: De Vocht, who for years oversaw the church’s spiritual headquarters in Clearwater, and Amy Scobee, who helped create Scientology’s celebrity network, which caters to the likes of John Travolta and Tom Cruise.

One by one, the four defectors walked away from the only life they knew. That Rathbun and Rinder are speaking out is a stunning reversal because they were among Miscavige’s closest associates, Haldeman and Ehrlichman to his Nixon.

Now they provide an unprecedented look inside the upper reaches of the tightly controlled organization.

There’s terrific video, too.  Go and read.  Watch.  It’s Miscavige’s nightmare coming true.

UPDATE: Part 2 – Death in Slow Motion

The second installment covers the Lisa McPherson case.   Rathbun admits he ordered the destruction of evidence.  And creepy new revelations that not only are auditing sessions videotaped, but David Miscavige can watch the seesions live any time he chooses.

Do the parishioners find this unsettling?  Or will they simply excuse it as they have so many other abuses?

Why Was the Protest Ban Proposed?

Lirra Bishop and Julie Waltz continue to turn the screws on Jeff Stone over his changing story on why he brought the protest ban to the floor.

The international headquarters of the Church of Scientology are located at a compound called “Golden Era Productions”, aka “Gold Base”, in Gilman Hot Springs near Hemet, in Supervisor Jeff Stone’s district.

Anonymous Starts a Forum for Iranian People

Anonymous has started a forum for the people of Iran.

It will be interesting to see how Anonymous takes the lessons they’ve learned speaking out about Scientology and translate them to the troubles going on now in Iran following their contested election.

St. Louis Anonymous Arrested

An Anonymous protester was arrested this weekend.  He was essentially asking the question I asked when I was arrested at Gold: Why have the laws governing protests suddenly changed?  Why can’t I stand where I have stood for a year and a half?

Here’s what the St. Louis Anons say on YouTube:

We have had a good relationship with the local police, and are not drawing any conclusions about the arrest at this time. Our liason to the police is already handling the matter.

As a personal note: I have long thought the University City police do an excellent job, and this incident does not by itself affect my favorable opinion of them. In protest-related situations and elsewhere, I have always found them to be fair and courteous. I support Ace, I support the police. I ask we keep an open mind about this situation as it unfolds.

There’s also a thread over at WhyWeProtest.net

Friedman Blames Scientologists

Roger Friedman and Nicole Kidman

A couple months back, there was much ado about a leaked workprint of FOX Studio’s Wolverine movie. It was one of the highest profile movie leaks in awhile and FOX was horrified because, one month before the movie opened, film geeks were saying the movie stank on ice.

Roger Friedman had a column at FOXnews.com in which he regulary reported on Scientology scandals. He came to the movie’s defense, saying he watched the leaked print and loved the movie. His column was derided by many, including my friend Drew McWeeney, for promoting film piracy. A few days later, Friedman was axed.

Now Friedman is allegedly considering suing FOX and laying the blame on his firing on Scientology.

Last August, Friedman went to Memphis for the funeral of his friend and R&B legend Isaac Hayes, who was a Scientologist. Preston was also in town for the funeral. Friedman, who now writes for The Hollywood Reporter, tells us that when Preston saw him at the Peabody Hotel, Mrs. John Travolta loudly blasted him for his columns criticizing Scientology.

“She called me a ‘religious bigot,’  ” Friedman recalls.

The following month, says an ally of Friedman, Preston voiced her complaints about Friedman to Fox News chief Roger Ailes and his then-EVP, John Moody.

“Moody talked to her on the phone,” says the source. “When she couldn’t get Moody to fire Friedman, she called him a [obscenity].”

Ailes and Moody later agreed to meet with Preston and Church of Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis (the son of actress Anne Archer), according to the source, who says Friedman’s editors subsequently forbid him from writing about the death in January of Preston’s son, Jett.

Meanwhile, Friedman says, 20th Century Fox chairman Jim Gianopoulos had been encouraging him to lay off Cruise’s movie “Valkyrie,” which Fox was distributing internationally.

Last month, Variety reported that Cruise was in advanced talks to star with Cameron Diaz in a Fox action comedy, “Wichita.” A source suspects that Cruise may have made Friedman’s ouster a condition of the actor appearing in “Wichita.  ”

Whatever the reason, I was sad to see Friedman fired. Not only was a fierce opponent of Scientology but he also came to my defense when YouTube yanked my channels last year. He’s bounced back fine, becoming a columnist for the Hollywood Reporter, but the firing was pointless. For all of FOX’s fears about the leaked movie hurting the box office, the movie opened huge and was a financial success.

Although it continues to suck.