http://www.chortler.com/20400newzeal.shtml
"Tom Cruise Takes On Online Satire
The Church of Scientology is angry at a satirical Web site, ScienTOMogy, for poking fun at the religion in general and actor Tom Cruise in particular. In fact, it is so angry that it is threatening legal action against the virtual entity. [...]"
--
Posted 22 Oct 2005 from
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/357862p-304898c.html
New York Daily News
"... Over at the Rock & Republic show, Katie Holmes was shadowed by an older woman - perhaps a Scientologist deputized to look after the mother of Tom Cruise's unborn child."
--
On the subject of "Free Katie! Free Baby!" Rev. Norle Enturbulata posted October 24, 2005
"... Cafepress proves their worth yet again, providing a means to plead for the liberation of not just Katie Holmes but her allegedly-impending baby...!
http://www.cafepress.com/shop/katie"
Message-ID: 435ab1f6$1@news2.lightlink.com
Message-ID: ykv6f.1403$Y61.1394@newssvr33.news.prodigy.com
Message-ID: 435ce0d3@news2.lightlink.com
"[...]
After having a feisty debate in the newspapers with Co$ Public Relation Officer of Sweden and with some other scienos , the Fair Gaming started. First a bunch of members from cchr protested outside the hospital and outside the psychiatric clinic. The OSA officer from Stockholm, rented a local in my hometown at the same time ( to organize the actions of course) and had an add in the paper where she proclaimed an open house for citizens to get informed about scientology. The clinic was also intruded by Co$ members spreading pamflettes all over the place and to the harassment of the patients in the waitingroom.
http://ulf.ing-steen.se/~ulf/narconondebateinenglish.htm
Several phonecalls and a letters to the management of 'my' clinic was made by OSA , with the intention to get me fired or at least strongly reprimanded because of my actions against Co$ and Narconon.
A retired professor of governmental law was hired by Co$, to investigate the judicial situation and preferably to get my ass in the courtroom.
A smearing campaigne was launched in the newspaper ( Black PR ) against me , using some poor women who had turned to me for help regarding her friend who was in the claws of Narconon.( read above)
Co$ made written allegations to the ,police, the regional governmental office, the National Board of Health and Wellfare , requesting some kind of legal actions against me.( this is why I have got a recent letter from the police)
All this happened during the period of spring 2003 to the summer 2004.
This far the only consequence for me personally has been the inconvenience of making an investigation of my own of Narconon and Co$.
My and my collegues medical arguments against Narconon can be read at: http://www.holysmoke.org/narconon/narconon-denied-permission.htm"
--
Dave Touretzky wrote that he linked to
http://ulf.ing-steen.se/~ulf/narconondebateinenglish.htm
from the Stop-Narconon.org front door.
Message-ID: 1130092130.736241.98250@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com
Message-ID: 435c88b5$1@news2.lightlink.com
"Scientology test says I'm on the brink of self destruction
By Kate Drolet
Published: Monday, October 24, 2005
[...]
Speaking of strange sects, Scientology appears to be the new buzzword these days. After hearing the word so much, especially after Tom Cruise's talk-show acrobatics, I wanted to find out what made the concept such a big deal.
I took my search to the web and visited the church's official website. Perusing through pages, I found a free personality test that could determine my reasons for unhappiness in life. Though I'm generally an optimistic person, I took the quiz hoping to find out more of the fundamentals of this strange new faith. Two hundred seemingly random questions later, my personality stared back at me from the screen, neatly graphed out.
Apparently I'm a very troubled individual who urgently requires attention. According to the display, I'm almost 100 percent nervous and 80 percent irresponsible. The good news - I'm half aggressive and borderline stable. Whatever that means.
I surfed the site a bit more, wondering if it could remedy my multiple mental afflictions. Recalling Mr. Cruise's self-assured response to Matt Lauer's interview about depression several months ago, I checked out the section on leading a drug-free life.
[...]
Our friends in Scientology also advise giving up media, since it exaggerates the danger in society. Instead of advocating well-rounded information gathering, the sect recommends ignorance. I love the irony. An organization with the word 'science' in its title promotes ignoring facts.
[...]"
--
One poster's comment:
"the Current Online might be "just another" students' newspaper (Uni of Missouri) ... BUT this author did more than just read Scientology publications ..."
--
Message-ID: Qle7f.2643$Lv.2178@newssvr24.news.prodigy.net
Message-ID: WDDZLTQ338649.8007986111@anonymous.poster
Message-ID: 1130228186.921010.87510@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com
"Scientologists on the move
Church leaving quirky Dallas mansion for office complex
08:58 AM CDT on Sunday, October 23, 2005
By COLLEEN McCAIN NELSON / The Dallas Morning News
When the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre moved to Far East Dallas, the neighbors were nervous.
Visions of traffic clogging the tree-lined streets and rumors about religious rituals had some homeowners on edge.
Now, after spending five years in a salmon-colored mansion at Buckner Boulevard and Dixie Lane, the Scientologists are moving to the suburbs.
And many of their neighbors are sorry to see them go.
'They've been very friendly,' said Jim Depetris, who lives next door to the Celebrity Centre. 'We were worried going in, but they've been very nice.'
[...]
Ms. Dolaway dismisses any suggestion that Mr. Cruise's televised rants against psychiatry and anti-depressants have been anything less than positive.
The publicity has 'all been good,' she said.
Those who criticize Scientology either misunderstand its teachings or 'they have something to hide,' Ms. Dolaway said.
[...]
Even some of the Celebrity Centre's neighbors in this quiet neighborhood with sprawling brick houses said they weren't sure what to believe before the Scientologists moved in. Rumors about rattlesnakes appearing in homeowners' mailboxes circulated on Dixie Lane.
'But none of that's true, of course,' Mr. Depetris said.
In general, the center has been an ideal neighbor pleasant and unobtrusive, said Wendy Popadynetz, who lives across the street.
When she moved to the neighborhood a year ago, Ms. Popadynetz braced herself for church bells and traffic jams, but she was greeted with silence and a manageable flow of cars.
'I still don't know what they do over there,' she said. 'But I'm sorry to hear that they're leaving because they're very quiet and peaceful.'
[...]"
Message-ID: mkrpl1pgasetrharbf660c0i13786547t4@4ax.com
http://www.riverfronttimes.com/Issues/2005-10-26/news/news.html
was posted October 26, 2005
"In July 2003, a nonprofit called Applied Scholastics International opened a spanking-new headquarters on 55 acres in Spanish Lake. Among those who attended the festivities were U.S. Congressman William 'Lacy' Clay and actors Tom Cruise and Anne Archer. Newspapers from coast to coast published stories heralding the group's move from LA to the great Midwest.
After the initial fanfare, Applied Scholastics quietly went about its business: pitching tutoring services to local groups with after-school programs and looking to ally with prominent urban-education researchers, Washington University's Garrett Duncan among them.
Fast-forward two years to the fall of 2005. Applied Scholastics makes headlines once again, but this time the occasion is no celebration: Two local school districts, St. Louis and Hazelwood, say the group isn't welcome in their classrooms.
As reported in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis Public Schools superintendent Creg Williams last month told area principals to quit sending teachers to professional-development workshops at Applied Scholastics. And in early October, Hazelwood School District superintendent Chris Wright penned a letter to the nonprofit's CEO, Bennetta Slaughter, admonishing the organization to stop claiming a 'partnership' with Hazelwood.
What's so repugnant about Applied Scholastics?
'We know that some of their learning strategies are specifically referred to in the Scientology doctrine,' Wright sums up.
This is by no means the first time Scientologists have been accused of attempting to infiltrate public-school classrooms. In 1997 officials in California fended off a bid to allow Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's teaching materials into classrooms. Just last week came reports that a school district in San Antonio, Texas, was under fire for purchasing textbooks written by Hubbard.
[...]
Chris Wright says Applied Scholastics personnel 'aggressively' began trying to partner with her district almost as soon as the group took up residence in Spanish Lake. 'They wanted to provide us with materials and training for our teachers,' says the Hazelwood superintendent. 'They wanted to come into our schools and do tutoring, a number of activities.'
In response, Wright asked her staff to look into the program. She says they searched in vain for independent academic research that supports the method. Instead they found critics like David Touretzky, a computer-science professor at Carnegie Mellon University who operates a Web site called www.studytech.org.
'Applied Scholastics is Scientology. They're no different,' asserts Touretzky, who has spent a decade probing Scientology and Applied Scholastics and posting his findings on studytech.org along with links to pertinent news stories. He says 'learning how to learn' and overcoming the three barriers to learning comprise fundamental Scientology principles.
'Applied Scholastics teaches you nine different methods of 'word clearing,' or looking up words in dictionaries, for example. These same methods are laid out in Scientology scripture,' Touretzky points out.
Applied Scholastics spokeswoman Mary Adams dismisses Touretzky as 'a little bit loony' and notes that his personal page on Carnegie Mellon's Web site contains instructions for homemade bombs. (The site is filled with information concerning First Amendment issues, another of Touretzky's passions.)
[...]
Adams blames Purdy and public-schools gadfly Peter Downs for thrusting her organization under the media's microscope. Last month, after some St. Louis teachers complained to local union officials about being sent to workshops at Applied Scholastics, Purdy and Downs toured the facility, after which the latter wrote a story that was published in the St. Louis Argus.
[...]
At the last minute, Argus publisher Eddie Hasan pulled the story and replaced it with a press release supplied by Applied Scholastics.
'I might have given them free marketing,' Hasan concedes. 'But I'm never one to sit on the sidelines and watch people attack somebody based on their religion.' The decision was partly personal, he says, stemming from the 'mocking' he suffered 30 years ago when he converted to Islam. Hasan had another beef with Downs' story. 'You read Peter's articles, and they make it seem like Scientology is the big bad wolf,' says the publisher. 'If it is, well, why? I want some facts on the Applied Scholastics program, and is it effective?'
[...]
Missouri only requires that tutoring programs describe their 'research and effectiveness'; the state does not stipulate that independent observers must weigh in on a program's efficacy -- a step Cochran says is essential.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education stands by its decision. Dee Beck, the department's coordinator of federal programs, says the agency did not review Applied Scholastics' texts before approving the application but has 'asked for a set of materials from this particular provider so we can see for ourselves that they are not putting forth any ideology.'
According to www.tutorsforkids.org, a Web site funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Arizona and Missouri are the only states that have approved Applied Scholastics to date. Adams says her organization has applications pending in other states.
Meanwhile, Washington University education professor Garrett Duncan says he plans to continue ignoring Applied Scholastics' overtures. Says Duncan: 'Their literature is rather dogmatic, and their pursuit of me over the last year has shown that same type of zeal. I just don't feel right about calling them back.' "
Message-ID: vgivl155pfvhubn8hdap4ilkl8dr3bj5vi@4ax.com
On October 27, 2005, Roger Gonnet posted that the Scientologists
"... are ready to demonstrate their scam force before the building of the UNADFI, the french largest association criticizing or explaining the crime cults and other cults and helping people who are leaving.
They want to picket the UNADFI building on nov 9th.
here their invitation (pack of lies is a better word to design this)."
According to an English version posted later:
"Each year, many hundreds of thousands of euros are dispensed by the State to the UNADFI (more than a million euros in 2000), resulting in suppressed information, calls for denouncement, ridicule of practices, confusion and stereotyping. Those orchestrate fear in a population [segment] they would like to place under supervision.
'Some aspects of the anti-sect fight are also matters of concern,' declared Mrs. Asma Jahangir, special investigator for the UN commission on Humans Rights for freedom of religion and belief, following a 10-day mission in France (September 2005).
[...]
GATHERING
Wednesday November 9, 2005, noon to 1 p.m. In front of the ADFI and
UNADFI buildings in Paris at
130, rue de Clignancourt
75018 Paris Simplon metro"
Message-ID: 436087b7$0$20857$636a55ce@news.free.fr
Message-ID: 1130402283.678112.9940@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com
"'It is irresponsible for Mr. Cruise to use his movie publicity tour to promote his own ideological views and deter people with mental illness from getting the care they need.'
So states Dr. Steven Sharfstein, president of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), in response to recent talk show activities of actor Tom Cruise. Weeks earlier, Cruise had criticized actress Brooke Shields for taking anti-depressants for postpartum depression. Cruise believes all psychiatry to be pseudoscience, chemical imbalances to be imaginary, and all psycho-tropic medication and therapy to be unnecessary and dangerous. His solution to the roller coaster of life? The Church of Scientology.
The topic arose while Tom Cruise was promoting the alien-invasion film War of the Worlds. Because celebrity opinions can carry great weight with fans, Cruise's comments worried many in the mental health field. In an appearance on the Today Show, Cruise proclaimed a profound understanding of psychiatry that reinforced his belief that the field was bogus. The gist of Cruise's message was that mental illness was not real and that people should not look to psychology for help. The APA responded with the following statement:
'Science has proven that mental illnesses are real medical conditions that affect millions of Americans. . . . Over the past five years, the nation has more than doubled its investment in the study of the human brain and behavior, leading to a vastly expanded understanding of postpartum depression, bipolar disorder, and attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder. Much of this research has been conducted by the National Institutes of Health and the nation's leading academic institutions. Safe and effective treatments are available and may include talk therapy, medication, or a combination of the two. Rigorous, publish- ed, peer-reviewed research clearly demonstrates that treatment works. Medications can be an important and even life-saving part of a comprehensive and individualized treatment plan. As in other areas of medicine, medications are a safe and effective way to improve the quality of life for millions of Americans who have mental health concerns. Mental health is a critical ingredient of overall health. It is unfortunate that in the face of this remarkable scientific and clinical progress that a small number of individuals and groups persist in questioning its legitimacy. . . . '
Brooke Shields also responded: 'To suggest that I was wrong to take drugs to deal with my depression, and that instead I should have taken vitamins and exercised shows an utter lack of understanding about postpartum depression and childbirth in general. If any good can come of Mr. Cruise's ridiculous rant, let's hope that it gives much-needed attention to a serious disease.'
Shields wrote a book on her experiences, Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression, in which she states: 'I wasn't thrilled to be taking drugs. In fact, I prematurely stopped taking them and had a relapse that almost led me to drive my car into a wall with Rowan [her newborn] in the backseat. But the drugs, along with weekly therapy sessions, are what saved me-and my family.'
[...]
Mark Plummer, a former Scientology member for fourteen years, states:
'Their goal is to take over entirely the field of mental health. Their beliefs stem from Hubbard's dogma that psychiatry is evil. Scientology teaches that psychiatry views people as 'meat bodies' without a spiritual aspect, and that Scientologists alone should be allowed to treat mental illnesses.' Church leader David Miscavige agreed, stating quite clearly at the International Association of Scientologists in Copenhagen: 'Objective one-place Scientology at the absolute center of society. Objective two-eliminate psychiatry in all its forms.'"
Message-ID: 1130384288.960443.81690@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com
According to an October 26, 2005 article by Glen McGregor in the Ottawa Citizen, Canadian Member of Parliament Derek Lee appeared in a Scientology recruitment video.
"The controversial belief system that counts movie stars Tom Cruise and John Travolta as devotees is winning support from a Liberal member of Parliament. Toronto-area MP Derek Lee appears in a recruiting video used by the Church of Scientology to attract new members in the United States.
Some critics have denounced Scientology as a brainwashing cult that harasses its opponents and exploits the vulnerable for financial gain. But Mr. Lee says he supports some of the group's programs and is particularly impressed by its approach to rehabilitating drug addicts.
'I'm way past the point of viewing them as just a cult,' said Mr. Lee, who is Roman Catholic and not a member of the Church of Scientology. 'My judgment is there are just too many good people in that faith doing too many good things.'
Mr. Lee said he first met Scientologists through a coalition of groups lobbying for more faith-based programming on Canadian television. He occasionally speaks to Scientology gatherings, including one earlier this year in Toronto, as part of his advocacy for greater religious freedom. About five years ago, he recorded a videotape with them at a downtown Ottawa office. 'It's partly an interview and partly my own personal remarks. I was happy to say yes.'
Mr. Lee says he was particularly impressed by a pilot project that used Scientology techniques to help inmates in a Mexican prison overcome drug addictions and wanted to bring the system to Canadian prisons.
[...]
Scientology is also the only religious group ever to be criminally convicted in Canada. It was found guilty on two counts of breach of the public trust related to a 1982 conspiracy to break into government offices. The criminal charges lead to a precedent-setting defamation case, known as Hill vs. Church of Scientology of Toronto, brought by a Crown prosecutor whom the church's lawyer had accused of criminal contempt. The Supreme Court in 1995 upheld the finding against the church, which became the largest libel award in Canadian history.
[...]"
Message-ID: uaivl11aadtafacntjnk4gu1eodvfdd3ad@4ax.com
"I was interviewed in Norwegian national radio (NRK P2) yesterday, in the program RadioSelskapet in a report on the growing power of Google. ..."
Message-ID: 7rk3m1l3j4thkf0eaasf99o6o1jorl62pj@4ax.com
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/360095p-306752c.html
"[...]
Four years ago, Henson, an electrical engineer, was convicted in Riverside County (Calif.) Superior Court of harassing members of the church. Prosecutors pointed to his picketing a Scientology film studio, and a Web chat in which he talked about aiming a 'Cruise' missile at the studio.
Henson insists he was joking. But after being sentenced to a year in Riverside County's jail, he says he wasn't laughing when a law enforcement officer 'said I was not likely to come out of jail alive.'
Henson fled to Canada. Last April, he tells us, a private eye working for the church tracked him down in Brantford, Ontario, and nearly plowed him down in an alley — just as he claims other private eyes have tried to run him off the road.
Denied asylum in Canada, he's now on the run. This week, he blew through New York.
[...]
Scientology spokesman Ed Parkin calls Henson's claims 'absurd,' adding, 'he uses the media to create controversy and deflect attention from his own crimes.'
For now, says Henson, he's looking for a state 'where it's legal to kill bounty hunters.'"
Message-ID: YOt8f.18734$ty1.3455@bignews1.bellsouth.net
Message-ID: 8924m1pr26trvl92l00aplkcovrjfk37n5@4ax.com
A.r.s. Week in Review is put together for your benefit.
This collection is organised for WWW by Andreas Heldal-Lund.
Only edits done by me is replacing word encapsuled in * or _ with bold and underscore, and made links into HTML.
