Alt.religion.scientology
Week in Review Volume 7, Issue 1
4/7/2002 by Rod Keller [rkeller@...]
copyright 2002

Alt.religion.scientology Week in Review summarizes the most significant
postings from the Usenet group Alt.religion.scientology for the preceding
week for the benefit of those who can't follow the group as closely as
they'd like. Out of thousands of postings, I attempt to include news of
significant events, new affidavits, court rulings, new contributors,
whatever. I hope you find it useful. Like many readers of a.r.s, I have a
kill file. So please take into consideration that I may not have seen some
of the most significant postings.

The articles in A.r.s Week in Review are brief summaries of articles
posted to the newsgroup. They include message IDs for the original
articles, and many have a URL to get more information. You may be able to
find the original article, depending on how long your site stores articles
in the newsgroup before expiring them.

Free A.r.s Week in Review subscriptions are available. Subscriptions are
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see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/weekinreview. PDA channel available at
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Week in Review is archived at:
http://www.xenu.net/archive/WIR/
http://wpxx02.toxi.uni-wuerzburg.de/~krasel/CoS/ars-summary.html
http://www.uni-bonn.de/~uzs1dc/scientology/wir.html
http://www.religio.de/publik/arsfaq.html

#####

> Clearwater

A letters to the editor of the St. Petersburg Times on April 4th described
Scientology's new open house policy at the Fort Harrison Hotel as a PR
ploy.

"Scientology is opening up Clearwater's Fort Harrison Hotel to the public
so we can eat their food and look at the Hubbard exhibit. Don't you think
it is sacrilegious that they start the open house on Easter Sunday? The
cult never misses an opportunity to try to convince the public that they,
too, are a church. Hopefully, the public is intelligent enough to see that
this is just another ploy by the cult to gain legitimacy that they don't
deserve. - David Rodman, Dunedin"

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> LRH Birthday

"Cerridwen" reported events at the 2002 L. Ron Hubbard birthday
celebration event.

"The basic theme of this event was to get Scientologists 'rehabbed' on
getting back on purpose on the 3rd Dynamic. That means to get them to be
more active and especially to get them to join staff. It's done by
'enlightening' and pushing lots of Scn buttons. But it's pretty much known
and unspoken that both Org and Sea Org staff think that anyone that is not
on staff is a worthless piece of shit.

"Throughout the event the cameras panned the crowd and we got to see
Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie, Nancy Cartwright, the CO Flag Debbie Cook,
Sally and Craig Jensen. Scientology's Rich and Famous get front row seats
at events.

"David Miscavige starts in with the Wins and Expansion News and talks
about ABLE. Narconon Arrowhead is the big news. Per DM Narconon Arrowhead
is busting at the seams with public and they have had to build bunk beds
to accommodate all the public there. Not only that but Narconon Arrowhead
is the place where Narconon staff are sent to train so that they can then
go back and start new Narconon's all over the world. Some accreditation
agency had a policy that they would only accredit counselors with 'college
degrees.' DM stated that the Narconon staff did a presentation to this
accreditation board and convinced them that the Narconon/LRH tech was far
superior to any college degree and the Accreditation Board was so damn
impressed that they certified 22 Narconon Arrowhead counselors. There are
twenty new Narconon's in the world with 2 of them in the US.

"DM also spoke of Narconon Public Service Announcements and their
continued playing on CNN. CNN will continue to air the Narconon PSA's as
long as Narconon continues to provide CNN with them.

"DM said that the VM phone line gets 6000 phone calls a week. A stat
graph showed 5100 VM's before Sept 11 and 15,400 VM's as of March 13,
2002.

"Mark Yager spoke of the Mission expansion and the translation stats. Due
to some kind of new computer they now have they are able to produce
translated tapes, books, course pack etc. in two weeks. This is a very big
deal for the C of S as what now takes two weeks used to take 4 months or
something like that. I believe all of the Bridge up through Class V is
now available in Russian. This includes all the course packs, books and
tapes that are required for Courses in a Class V org. A Video was shown of
the St. Petersburg, Russia, Mission, which is now officially a Class V
org.

"There was a video clip on Harlington, which is the home of WISE member
and big bucks Scientologist, Juan Villarreal It seems that The Way to
Happiness is a being widely promoted down in Harlingen, Texas and per the
video, is the sole reason why the crime rate dropped to zero in the town
of Harlingen.

"Birthday game winners. Missions: First Place -- The Mission of Beverly
Hills. Class V Org: First Place - C of S of Budapest, Hungary; Second
Place - C of S of Padova, Italy; Third Place - C of S of Milano, Italy.
SEA ORG ORG: First place - AOLA; Second Place - AOSH EU; Third Place -
Celebrity Center Int. Continental Liaison Orgs: CLO EU; CLO WUS; CLO EUS.

"The Birthday game is about the overall expansion and it's based on a
complicated point system. The Org, Mission, CLO, etc. with the most
Birthday game points wins. The Mission Holder, ED of the Class V org or
the Commanding Officer of the SO Org receives their trophy and jockey
shirt. It has something to do with LRH talking about the birthday game
being a race and the winner is top jockey. The trophy is a statue of a
jockey on a racing horse as well.

"Both Mexico City Orgs got awarded with Saint Hill Size status, which is a
very big deal because I don't think that any orgs have been awarded Saint
Hill Size in the past 8 or 10 years. DM also said that there were 5 more
Class V orgs on the brink of being awarded SHS and news of this will be
coming up at future events."

On April 3rd, Salon.com published an article on the Philadelphia org's
celebration of Hubbard's birthday.

"A few days after I RSVP'd, a Scientology P.R. flack called back to calmly
rescind my invitation. Hadn't he himself invited me to learn more about
his Travolta-tainted faith after I savaged the film adaptation of LRH's
'Battlefield Earth' in the Philadelphia Weekly? If I were to write about
Scientology again, he implied, it would be on Scientology's terms. Though
he offered to meet me personally to explain LRH's mysterious thrall, he
said my attending the birthday bash 'would not be appropriate.' OK, so I'd
have to crash it.

"A smiling greeter clad in black-and-white evening attire ushered us into
the Ben Franklin-founded Philadelphia Free Library. Some 80 eager buffet
grazers and a blissed-out guitarist strumming white noise outside the
men's-room door transformed the place into a South Bend church social
circa 1969. We weren't seated long before a suited man approached as much
to check us out as to proselytize. He asked if we'd read 'Dianetics,'
which true believers and snickering cynics know as the Church of
Scientology's bible. 'Parts,' I admitted. Which was true. In fact I have
my very own copy, complete with Post-its marking favorite spots.

"A local 'org' leader took the stage for a bit of motivational speaking.
She led the crowd in a fist-pumping hip-hip-hooraying of an LRH bust and a
poster-size photo of the man himself standing alongside a lighted birthday
cake. The enthusiastic crew enunciated a hearty 'yeah' to each canned pep
rally question. Would they like to hear about how the local org grew this
past year? 'Yeah!' How 'bout the hours of auditing performed? 'Yeah!' And
would they like to know how much money the international nonprofit raised?
You betcha they would! But before the international fundraising tally
arrived via simulcast from Scientology 'Flag' in Clearwater, Fla., there
was the matter of honoring local donors, each of whom had made
several-thousand-dollar contributions to the local org to fund expansion
of their offices. All but one of the honorees were introduced as doctors.

"The night's main event began with the Birthday Game, which pitted
Scientology orgs from each inhabited continent on Earth against each other
in a fundraising race in the name of 'religion tech.' (Someday, once the
entire planet has been 'cleared,' a video voice-over said, other planets
will be involved, too.)

"There was last year's big Scientology coup: the 'wake-up call' in New
York. Some of us may forever recall it as 9/11, but to Scientology minds
it was just another reminder that the whole world could use a hefty dose
of e-meter auditing. The simulcast then took followers back in time to
Scientology's previous contributions to world politics - namely their
efforts in bringing down the Berlin Wall and dissolving the Soviet Union.

"Four and a half hours into the high-tech birthday fete, my companion and
I tried to sneak out during one of the incessant standing O's. But the
church leaders gathered outside by the bathrooms intercepted us, eager for
our impressions of the evening. Too long, we concluded, half-apologizing
for ducking out early. They nodded sympathetically, half-apologizing for
the evening's seeming endurance record. Asked to submit to an exit
interview, we deflected their probing questions with a few of our own
about the e-meter that had suddenly appeared on a nearby table. The thing
was adorned with knobs and two silver cans attached by small cables,
suggesting a childhood phone game.

"The e-meter's operator told me to conjure the day's most unpleasant
moment (I didn't have to reach far for that) and the machine's needle
jumped abruptly rightward. Of course the needle seemed to jump whenever
anyone grabbed the canisters. Pressed to explain how the device worked,
the woman said it measured the mind's resistance to current passing
between the canisters. Impossible, countered my companion, a
neuroscientist by profession, adding that 50 years of neuroscience
research says that can't be measured."

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> IAS

Impact Magazine published news from the annual convention of the
International Association of Scientologists.

"This year's annual IAS Convention of Delegates chaired by President IAS
Administrations Ms. Janet McLaughlin and attended by 28 delegates, was
held for the first time at the Flag Land Base. Ms. Debbie Fraser, Finance
Director IAS Administrations, presented a financial report, and Mr. Carl
Light, Public Affairs Executive IAS Administrations, summarized the grants
funded by the IAS and the US IAS Members' Trust and their results in the
past year.

"The delegates at this year's IAS Annual Delegates Convention pledge
themselves to the attainment of the following goals: We intend to promote
the Volunteer Minister program internationally, thus bringing the direct
application of LRH tech to millions. We intend to continue the exposure of
the criminal nature of the psychiatric industry and to bring criminal
psychiatrists to justice in greater numbers than ever before, while
dramatically increasing public awareness of their abuses. We intend to
further strike at the scourge of drug abuse by making LRH's life saving
drug rehabilitation technology know and used by ever-increasing numbers.
We intend to greatly advance the use of LRH criminal rehabilitation
technology, resulting in reformed criminals leading productive and ethical
lives. We intend to forward the use of The Way to Happiness, which is
desperately needed in this troubled world."

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#####

> Lisa McPherson

Tampa TV Channel 28 News reported on April 5th that a decision has been
made by an appeals court that Scientology is trying to drag out the civil
case to bankrupt the estate of Lisa McPherson.

"A state appeals court has ordered the Church of Scientology to stop
harassing the estate of Lisa McPherson. McPherson died while in the care
of church staff members, and her family sued the Clearwater-based church
for wrongful death. The church filed 47 demands to determine who is paying
the family's legal bills during the suit. The appeals court said that
indicates the church is trying to drag out the suit until the family can
no longer afford the legal bills."

From the District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District, denying
Scientology the right to explore the sources of funds to continue the Lisa
McPherson case.

"The estate of Lisa McPherson petitions this court to quash a discovery
order that grants a request by the Church of Scientology Flag Service
Organization for production of documents. We grant the writ and quash the
discovery order. The challenged order requires the estate to produce the
following: All documents concerning the payment by any person or entity
since January 1, 2000 of any sum of money over the amount of $500 to the
plaintiff or her attorney or any representative or agent of plaintiff,
used to pay for any cost, expense, or fee associated with this litigation,
excluding payments from Robert Minton and any agreements thereto.

"We agree with the estate that if the challenged discovery is allowed, it
will create irreparable harm that cannot be remedied on appeal. The
defendant is seeking information from the plaintiff and its counsel
regarding the source of contributions to fund the litigation. As the
estate contends, this will create a chilling effect on receiving future
funding. Furthermore, the estate points out that if it is forced to
disclose how much money it has to spend on litigation prior to the
conclusion of the case, the church will know how long the estate 'can last
before it has to throw in the towel due to lack of funds.' The fact that
this is the church's forty-seventh request for production bolsters the
conclusion that the church will litigate until the estate can no longer
afford to continue."

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> Lynsey Bartilson

The Los Angeles Times reported on April 4th that actress Lynsey Bartilson
is promoting a book by Scientology promoting human rights.

"Lynsey Bartilson, 18, is hoping a new book on human rights will help
youth learn from the mistakes of the past. Bartilson, star of the teen Fox
series, Grounded For Life, is helping promote a book called What Are Human
Rights?, a small pamphlet designed for youth that educates readers on the
United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"The book is a project of Youth for Human Rights International, a
nonprofit organization established by members of the Church of
Scientology. Bartilson is also a Scientologist. 'I was raised with an
extreme sense of tolerance growing up, and I wanted to help teach kids how
to protect themselves,' Bartilson said. 'The book will be an educational
tool and hopefully will help remove ignorance about human rights.'"

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> Protest Summary

Dave Bird reported a protest at the Birmingham, England org on April 6th.

"Just Dave, Jens, and John plus our sound system this time. The DSA
appeared and wanted to tie us up talking to waste our time. Apparently
they had done so well that week, they didn't need to leaflet today. The
true reason was apparent around 14:00, the Reg and her assistant had been
leafleting the Palestine rally in the library square about 150 metres up
the street from us.

"We finished after 2 hours dead and went to a pub just round the corner on
the other side. The DSA and his side-kick followed us to the pub and
stood across the road for twenty minutes then went away."

Christopher Wood reported a protest at the Toronto, Canada org on April
6th.

"Picketers: Me, Gregg Hagglund, Keith Henson, and The Unknown Picketer.
Leaflets: We passed out approximately 500. My No Science/Scn Founder Con
Man, Gregg's Xenu/crimes, a couple of Kirsti Wachter's 'Scientology Hurts
People,' and some about the Children's Sec Check. The picket went for
about three hours. The Scientologists who do the picket handling stayed
quiescent, so we managed to picket unmolested.

"I ran out of the 50 leaflets that I started out with. I ended up reading
to one couple this paragraph from A History of Man, which clearly
illustrates L. Ron Hubbard's disturbing attitude towards the world: 'This
universe is a rough universe. It is a terrible and deadly universe. Only
the strong survive it, only the ruthless can own it. Given one weak spot a
being cannot long endure it for this universe will search it out and
enlarge it and fester and probe it until that weak spot is a festering
wound so large that the being is engulfed by his own sores.'

"A group of three Scientologists came out the front door and Mario rushed
over, saying 'Go out the back! Go out the back!' - and what do you know,
they did as he said. A line of non-OT Scientologists, moving out the back
door of the org, getting waved along by OT Scientologists, and serenaded
by Gregg's 'Doubt is not a crime' spiel. Gregg reports that the herdees
appreciated this more than the herders.

"It seems fairly certain that we were followed home on the drive back. A
white car stayed pretty close right from leaving the parking lot near the
org."

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#####

> Florida Schools

The St. Petersburg Times reported on April 6th that the Florida
legislature failed to pass a set of education laws in part because the
proposal would allow Scientology and other groups to be promoted in public
schools.

"A special session to update Florida's education laws ended Friday in a
spectacular meltdown over language spelling out religious freedom for
students. An unusual coalition of liberal Democrat and conservative
Republican senators blocked the bill because of a provision allowing
students to distribute religious literature and proselytize to fellow
students.

"Jewish lawmakers feared the measure would be used to harass religious
minorities. Christian lawmakers feared it could invite Satan worshipers to
school.

"Sen. Don Sullivan, a St. Petersburg Republican who was on the negotiating
team, said he regretted his Thursday vote to approve the compromise bill
that included the religious language. 'Once we had a chance to think about
it, we were afraid it opened schools up to people who we didn't want
there. It wasn't just Scientology, we have a problem in the prisons with
groups that want to smoke marijuana or sacrifice chickens,' Sullivan
said."

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> Reed Slatkin

The Santa Barbara News-Press reported in a series of articles from March
31 to April 2nd on the guilty plea of Reed Slatkin, Scientology minister
and creator of a fraudulent investment scheme.

"Waiting to serve what will likely be a long prison sentence and shunned
by ex-friends, bankrupt investor Reed Slatkin had another punishment
befall him recently when he learned that he has been excommunicated from
the Church of Scientology. Church officials held a hearing and decided to
expel the former Hope Ranch resident.

"While the church benefited indirectly because Mr. Slatkin and many of his
investors were generous donors, Mr. Neilson concluded that so far there is
no evidence that the church was a large beneficiary. In addition,
Scientologists were just as much victims in the scam as
non-Scientologists, court records show.

"'He misused his connections to the church tremendously,' said Linda
Simmons Hight, a spokesperson for the Church of Scientology International.
'He overstated his connections. He hasn't ministered in the church since
1983 and he has abused his position since then.'"

"Securities and Exchange Commission investigators brought the friendly and
smooth-talking 53-year-old to Los Angeles for questioning in January and
February of 2000. They wanted to know more about the investment deals Mr.
Slatkin spun from the suburban Goleta home he had converted into offices
from which he operated his 'investment club.' But instead of confessing to
any financial sins, the EarthLink co-founder and former ordained minister
of the Church of Scientology began to proselytize about the teachings of
the late science fiction writer and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.
'It's important to me, and it's been the basis of almost everything I've
done in life,' he told them. Mr. Slatkin then pulled out his copy of Mr.
Hubbard's book 'What is Scientology Doing in the World?' and started
reading: 'The aims of Scientology are civilization without insanity,
without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest
beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights.'

"Investors who heard about how he's living or spotted him over the last
few months - noshing at the Paradise Cafe, pumping iron at Gold's Gym
downtown, or swatting a tennis ball around the court at the Cathedral Oaks
Country Club in Goleta - want him put away as soon as possible. 'They
should put him in jail and make him suffer like the people he hurt,' said
a frail 83-year-old widow and former neighbor, who contends she was made
desperate in her golden years after she lost more than $113,000 from her
life savings.

"But friends and neighbors say Mr. Slatkin hasn't been living a life of
luxury, oblivious to his fate and the consequences of what he has done. He
is borrowing money from his parents and in-laws to cover the rent, sources
said. His wife is working again. To get around town, he drives his sons'
Toyota Prius or Jeep Cherokee. His own cars will soon be auctioned off by
the U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee. One of his sons, who is struggling to get
into the music business, recently petitioned to have his name changed from
Justin Slatkin to Justin Michael, court records show.

"One of the most heart-wrenching cases is that of Alice Wintz, a Van Nuys
resident who nine years ago entrusted Mr. Slatkin with $1 million of an
insurance settlement from a car accident that left her a quadriplegic. 'He
said that my money would be safe with him, that if he managed it I would
never have to worry about my medical and living expenses,' said Ms. Wintz,
who was living off interest payments until last year. Now she's living on
charity. 'I'm in a desperate situation. I'm almost destitute. I'm not sure
how I'm going to survive.'

"'I feel a fool,' said one investor, who also feels terrible for having
convinced his grown children to invest. 'I've gone to each of the people I
introduced to him and requested their understanding and release from the
guilt that I feel.' Mr. Slatkin's operation was polished enough to
bamboozle the best. 'Reed fooled a lot of people. He was good at that,'
said Michael Azeez, whose family lost a staggering $42 million invested
with Mr. Slatkin.

"'He had an incredibly devilish way of establishing trust,' he said. 'One
day, he had a phone call from somebody and he said, 'Oh, these poor people
really took it in the shorts. They withdrew all their money from me and
invested it with a friend of mine and he lost it, and I now feel
responsible for rebuilding these people's losses, so I'm looking after
their funds on a special basis.' He showed me how the funds had been
creeping back up (with him).'

"Like many investors, he was asked to sign a statement defining their
financial agreement as a courtesy between friends rather than a business
transaction. 'You have asked me to do you a favor,' the letter began. 'As
a friend I am willing to do this.' But it goes on to list a series of
conditions and then states: 'You understand that I may lose all the money
that you have handed to me.'

"So far, no one else has been charged in the case, but a statement of
facts that is part of his plea agreement mentions three alleged
accomplices. At least three former business associates, including his
bookkeeper, were accomplices in his conspiracy to obstruct a federal
investigation into his investment practices that began in 2000, Mr.
Slatkin claims. Jean Janu of Santa Fe, N. M. , who served as his
bookkeeper for six years, and consultants Dan Jacobs and Didier
Waroquiers, are named as accomplices in his conspiracy to obstruct the
Securities and Exchange Commission probe by preparing fake investor
documents. Records claim that Ron Rakow of Hope Ranch, a convicted felon
in a previous fraud scheme, solicited people to invest with Mr. Slatkin.

"A handful of other people Mr. Slatkin knew for many years and employed
are already being questioned about the money trail. They include convicted
felon Christopher Mancuso, who set up a Swiss telephone line that
forwarded calls to Mr. Slatkin's Goleta office in an apparent attempt to
create the false image that Mr. Slatkin's Swiss bank accounts were real.
Another former partner is Richard Levine, who co-owned several businesses
with Mr. Slatkin and who knew by 1989 that Mr. Slatkin had been making
fraudulent representations about his investment results, the report said.

"Prying out the truth, settling accounts and determining whether others
share culpability are all expected to drag on for years. None of these
people has been accused, charged or indicted.

"A key figure is Ms. Janu, the bookkeeper who made Mr. Slatkin her only
client starting in 1996. Records show she was paid $1.13 million for her
services. Ms. Janu served as his bookkeeper since 1990, working in New
Mexico where she lived and on travels to Santa Barbara to meet with him.
According to the plea statement, Ms. Janu fabricated lists of liquidated
investor accounts that she knew would be provided to the SEC.

"The statement of facts also states that Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Waroquiers
assisted Mr. Slatkin in 'maintaining the fictions' that Mr. Slatkin had
approximately $217 million secure in a Swiss bank account. Mr. Jacobs
provided consulting and advisory services to Mr. Slatkin since 1974, and
by 2001 was charging Mr. Slatkin a $40,000-per-month retainer. Also, Mr.
Jacobs received a payment of $880,000 from Mr. Slatkin on Nov. 29, 1999.

"Mr. Slatkin invested approximately $7 million into five Santa
Barbara-area businesses, according to court documents. There could be
more. Remaining assets could be seized and sold by the trustee. Mr.
Slatkin bought about 74,000 shares of Computer Motion, the Goleta-based
medical device firm run by his old friend. Today those shares are worth
approximately $300,000. He also remains one of the top 10 investors on a
percentage basis in privately-held Santa Barbara Connected Systems Corp.,
which turns 6 years old this July. He owned 790,778 shares in the firm as
of last June, according to documents obtained by the trustee."

Stockwatch reported on Reed Slatkin and his relationship with Robert
Duggan.

"Investigators trace Mr. Slatkin's entree into the investment world to
about 1979, four years after he was ordained a minister of L. Ron
Hubbard's Church of Scientology in 1975. 'In about 1979-1980, Slatkin met
Robert F. Duggan, a fellow Scientologist, who Slatkin describes as 'a
successful professional investor, primarily in the stock market,'' states
Mr. Neilson in a recent trustee's report. Mr. Duggan provided rudimentary
investment training to Mr. Slatkin, who had no prior formal training in
either investments or money management. 'During this period, Duggan began
to teach Slatkin about the stock market and the process of analyzing
companies as potential investments.'

"Mr. Duggan arrived on Howe Street around the same time as fellow
Scientologist Mr. Baybak, who remains an active player in the market. Both
invested in a private placement financing of immigrant-investor-fund
promoter Steven Funk's First Generation Resources Ltd. in 1985, along with
budding penny stock promoter and former drug peddler Robert Friedland.

"After his introduction and training by Mr. Duggan, Mr. Slatkin soon
became immersed in the market. In 1984, Mr. Slatkin made the transition
from working as a full-time ordained Scientologist minister to becoming a
professional, although unregistered, self-employed investment manager.
Mr. Slatkin testified he made investments for these 'friends,' 'to help
Scientologists who have their attention away from their money and they're
helping the church.'

"In 1991, Mr. Slatkin made a private placement investment in Athena Gold,
a Vancouver gold promotion which attracted fellow Scientologists Mr.
Baybak and Mr. Gerbino a few years earlier. Mr. Slatkin's Athena
investment came four months after Time magazine's unflattering cover
feature on the Church of Scientology, which highlighted the promotion of
Athena by Mr. Baybak and Mr. Gerbino. Mr. Slatkin subsequently rose to
prominence in the Scientology community, boosted by his lucky 1994
investment in EarthLink.

"'The trustee has come to the sad, but inescapable conclusion that tens of
millions of dollars, supposedly wisely invested in seasoned and liquid
assets capable of providing a meaningful return, were in fact invested in
highly speculative and illiquid ventures and that much of the invested
funds have been lost as a result of those imprudent investments.' In one
such example, Mr. Slatkin's unregistered fund lost its entire $1-million
and $333,300 investments in PopMail.Com Inc. and Millionaire.com,
respectively, which he purchased with the help of past felon Mr. Rakow
through Co-Right Investments Inc., a Canadian holding company Mr. Slatkin
formed in 1999."

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> Volunteer Ministers

The Auditor reported some of the programs that Scientology's Volunteer
Ministers program has been involved in, as well as news from orgs around
the world.

"Brush Fires in New South Wales. Within hours of the first alarms, our
VM's stepped in to Adi rural firefighters with LRH assist tech,
locationals and basic emergency handlings for the dangerous environment.
As the I HELP ANZO VM IN CHARGE, Ben Lawrence sees it, the push to make
every ANZO Scientologist a Volunteer Minister could not have come too
soon. Dozens of VMs were dispatched to several on site and fire depot
locations. The firefighters response: overwhelmingly appreciative.

"The UN, in an effort to encourage volunteerism throughout the world
billed 2001 as 'The Year of the Volunteer'. At their year ending
conference in Geneva, our representatives included the conferences' only
participant with volunteer experience at Ground Zero: Class V Auditor
Irnia Lohmann of Hamburg. Addressing the delegates on the work of Scn
Volunteer Ministers around the world were President I HELP International,
Mr. Arlo DiLorenzo, and Irina. One delegate from The Gambia stood up after
the presentation and proclaimed, 'I know my friends from the Church of
Scientology are working in my country and their work is appreciated.'

"Washington DC based field auditor Lee Turbush opened a new Life
Improvement Center in Alexandrea Virginia's main shopping mall. He has
helped more that 500 people take their first steps on The Bridge.

"The Mission of Nadezhda Nerobova and Igor Klipinitser in Chelney in the
far reaches of Russia formed just over one year ago. The Chelney Mission
is now placing more that 100 new people on the introductory services each
and every week.

"At the Athens Mission mission holder Michel Czimbalmos and his staff are
preparing the ground for the 10 missions that will surround what will
ultimately by Athens Org. Already they're expanding beyond their shores to
a new mission on the island of Cyprus.

"In the last 3 months Tokyo Org as added 56 additional staff, brining them
to a total of 248, while they are now delivering more than 150 Intro
services every week and their sales of the Scientology Handbook in
Japanese topped all foreign releases. And ANZO's first ever Japanese NOT
auditor, Hiroko Fukuda has just graduated the Flag Class IX Internship and
returned to AOSH ANZO!

"Rohn Walker, in the past year established Indochina's first Scn mission.
Thelma Mitchem, ED of the Houston Mission is also the Mission Holder of
the new Harlem Mission in New York. David Pomeranz is one of the most
popular recording artists in the Philippines. They've established a group
in Manila that they intend to expand into the country first Church of
Scientology Mission of The Philippines."

Message-ID: <76HHGSJK37353.3463657407@...>

#####

> Xenu.net

News organizations commented on the recent controversy when Google removed
links to the Xenu.net web site following complaints from Scientology for
alleged copyright violations. From the Boston Herald on April 2nd:

"The Church of Scientology threatened the popular Google search engine
with legal action if searches on the word 'Scientology' yielded links to
anti-Scientology sites like www.xenu.net. The church contends that under
the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, this infringes on the church's
intellectual property. Google yanked the links at first, but apparently
restored them after the move outraged many Net citizens.

"Note that, in this case, the church didn't go after the sites themselves;
instead officials tried to prevent Web users from stumbling across them.
As of now, however, a search on 'Scientology' calls up xenu.net as the
fourth choice; the top three are official Scientology sites, including
www.scientology.org."

From Financial Times on April 2nd:

"There is a nasty trend developing out there as far as what links you can
include on your web pages. The large search engine Google recently removed
a web site from the World Wide Web that was critical of the Church of
Scientology. We can thank the US for this. Their draconian Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is effectively being imposed on the whole
planet and slowing eroding the premise that the WWW is a free global
resource. Ironically the DMCA is also attacking what is supposedly one of
the US's fundamental freedoms - free speech and freedom of expression."

Message-ID: <a8evcm$nnt@...>
Message-ID: <a8evhe$nnt@...>

-end-