Alt.religion.scientology
Week in Review Volume 5, Issue 23
9/17/2000
by Rod Keller [rkeller@...]
copyright 2000

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 also available on ONElist. Email
weekinreview-subscribe@onelist.com or see http://www.onelist.com
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

#####

> Mark Bunker

Mark Bunker posted an update on the Scientologist who attacked him with a
hammer during a video assignment in Clearwater, Florida.

"Richard Barnard is now serving a one year jail term in Key West for
skipping bail on a cocaine trafficking charge. He lied about his identity
to the police at the scene and later when Sgt. Zegzdren went to do a
follow up report. The first officer at the scene of the attack, Terrance
Kelly, was ordered to do an investigation of the hammer incident but he
never even asked Barnard for an I.D. When Sgt. Zegzdren arrested Barnard
weeks later, Barnard told him that Scientology had offered to provide him
an attorney. A friend of Barnard's also assured him that he had nothing to
worry about since 85% of the Clearwater police force are Scientologists.
Zegzdren told him he thought that number was a little high. Barnard was
working for Joe Duncanson, a member of the OT Committee."

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#####

> Clearwater

Jeff Jacobsen reported attending a meeting of Citizens for a Better
Clearwater, a community group in which many Scientologists participate.

"There seemed to be quite a few Scientologists there; Bennetta Slaughter,
Susan Cook, Mary Story, plus a few other faces I recognized. Reverend Al
Buttnor and Mary DeMoss came in just as most people were leaving. Bennetta
seemed to have a position of authority there. They are planning a cleanup
day, a Food festival day, a Jazz festival, and a renovation of an alley.
They had a schematic of the alley, a sample mural they wanted to put on
the Coachman building wall (Scientology graciously offered to prepare the
wall for the artist), and a plan to raise the money - sell bricks for the
pavement (see my other post about that).

"The plan is to make a mural on the Coachman building, put plants and
benches in there, and tear out the asphalt and put in bricks. You can buy
a brick, and put a message on it that will stay there forever! Right next
to the Coachman building! 1 line of text, up to 15 spaces (includes blank
spaces) - $35. 2 lines of text, up to 30 spaces - $45. 3 lines of text, up
to 45 spaces - $55. Citizens for a Better Clearwater; 1811 N. Belcher Rd.
I-2; Clearwater FL 33765. Designate the payment for Cleveland Street Alley
Park Their phone is 727-799-1955.

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#####

> France

Scientology distributed a petition to its members this week to be sent to
the French government to protest alleged mistreatment.

"Enclosed is a petition that will go to the French government in protest
of the bill that was passed by the National Assembly in France. Please
sign it, put your address, and contact info, and forward a copy to
crusade@... and then forward this petition along to anyone you
know of any faith. Thank you for your support!

"Sincerely, Joava Good Executive Director Foundation For Religious
Tolerance.

"Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that
'Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and
religion.' and the UN has determined that to label new and minority faiths
as 'sects' is discriminatory. The French government is currently violating
these principles despite the fact that it is a signatory to the Universal
Declaration on Human Rights. We, the undersigned, men and women of diverse
religious, ethnic and cultural background call upon the United Nations to
investigate the oppressive actions of the French government in targeting
minority religions and; urge that France immediately abide by the
principles of equality and nondiscrimination so clearly laid out in the UN
Charter, the Universal Declaration and the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights."

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#####

> Germany

Freie Presse reported on September 11th that the promise of a prominent
Scientologist to leave the city of Zwickau was a facade.

"Fliegerbauer announced his pull-out from Zwickau on February 10. While
the top Scientologist who had renovated 250 historical buildings appeared
before the press, his staff were unscrewing the brass plates with his
company's name on them and removing the corporation's placards. 'I will
withdraw from all business areas of my company in Zwickau. The corporation
will move its office to Munich. All business activities conducted by my
person in this city are ended,' is how he worded his farewell.

"Fliegerbauer's 'Schloss Osterstein Verwaltungs GmbH' is still on board in
the renovation of some old town buildings. In the next several weeks, the
controversial businessman will refurbish a string of buildings on Magazin
Street in the heart of the city. His company is in possession of eight
buildings there. At the same time, he has made mention of the the 'Stadt
Zwickau' Hotel on Bahnhof Street which came into possession of his
corporation through a mandatory auction.

"He announced his withdrawal at the point in time in which Zwickau
Executive Mayor Rainer Eichhorn (CDU) got pulled into the Scientology
debate. 'I have to get away from here quick,' Fliegerbauer was saying
everyday. Was the talk about departure only to help the mayor who was
suddenly being put under pressure? Freie Presse had published a secret
letter from Eichhorn to Fliegerbauer one week before. It clearly showed
that the mayor maintained a much closer relationship to the Scientologist
than he had previously admitted. Kurt Fliegerbauer, in the beginning of
the year, was making negative headlines all across Germany, said Hamburg
Scientology expert Ursula Caberta. Therefore the sect had him disappear
from public view in Zwickau in short order so that he could continue to
work in the city without being noticed."

MainRheiner reported on September 13th that the SPD party has been slow to
remove a Scientologist from its membership.

"Birgit W. had been charged for making a false statement not under oath
because, in a civil lawsuit, she had claimed that she had only had sexual
intercourse with her husband. A DNA test proved, however, that the
youngest child did not come from him. In response to that, Birgit W.
revealed that it could have come about by necking [sic] with a stranger,
which would make it a virgin conception. Judge Henge did not want to rule
that out as 'the cultural history of the Christian Occident' was founded
on that concept to a 'not inconsiderable' degree.

"In 1996, the Frankfurt Superior State Court believed that the woman from
Idstein, 'was operating in concert with the Scientologists' organization.'
Birgit W. was the business manager of the Moewe Publishers in Huenstetten,
which publishes books by Scientology authors. She was also connected with
Horst Mehler, a Scientologist of some rank. The SPD has been surprisingly
slow in expelling Birgit W. from the party. Two years ago she was given a
statement to sign whereby she was to have affirmed that she had no close
connection with the sect, said Dietrich Schnellbach. Birgit W. was
suspended because she did not want to sign the document. A couple of days
ago, he asked Birgit W. again to take a position on her relationship to
Scientology, said Schnellbach. It was too late; Birgit W. wanted to leave
the party long ago - several months after she had co-signed on a piece of
real estate in Idstein's downtown with SPD Federal Representative
Schuster."

Die Welt reported on September 14th that Rev. Thomas Gandow may sue
Scientology for brochures distributed against him.

"Glossy brochures from the Scientologists were distributed in the daily
mail in Zehlendorf on the 18th of August, his birthday, of all days. In
those brochures, Gandow was defamed as a 'Chief Inquisitor' and 'Anti-Sect
Commissioner.' 'I regard Scientology as a menace comparable to the Nazi
movement when it was on the rise. Both had to be stopped.' At the end of
August, Steglitz residents found the same Scientology brochures in their
mail boxes. At the same time, Scientology Germany, with its offices in
Munich, has also demanded the clergyman be dismissed in a letter to State
Bishop Wolfgang Huber.

"The cause of the smear operation was the bestowal in June of the first
'Alternative Charlemagne Award' by the 'European-American Citizens
Committee for Human Rights and Religious Freedom in the USA.' to U.S.
American Robert Minton Minton supports the family of a former
Scientologist in the USA, Lisa McPherson. 'She was tormented for 17 days
after she tried to leave and died as a result,' said Thomas Gandow, who
will be holding a service on Sunday in the Luisen Church in Charlottenburg
for Lisa McPherson. The Evangelical Church stands behind Gandow; as its
spokesman stated, 'Information about groups which appear making religious
claim, but which in practice apply methods which exploit human rights, is
an indispensable component of church work.'"

The new edition of Freiheit (Freedom) magazine in Germany announced that
Scientology has filed a complaint against Ursula Caberta for bribery and
money laundering. No action from German prosecutors has been reported.

"This morning the Scientology Church filed criminal charges at the Hamburg
State Attorney's Office against Ursula Caberta for suspicion of taking
favors, accepting a bribe and money-laundering, as well as Robert Minton
for suspicion of soliciting favors and bribery. A U.S. Civil Court judge
ordered that she be deposed in the scope of a civil trial. 'Yes, I have
accepted private money from Bob Minton, he gave be a loan.' Because Minton
did not obtain his fortune in an honorable fashion, further charges were
placed against Caberta for suspicion of frivolous money-laundering."

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#####

> Keith Henson

Keith Henson has been charged by Hemet, California prosecutors under an
anti-terrorism law for making threats with bombs or missiles. From a
declaration by Ken Hoden, the Scientologist in charge of Gold Base.

"For more than a month I and the staff of Golden Era Productions have
lived in fear that we would be attacked at any moment by either missiles
or bombs or other incendiary devices launched at us by Keith Henson or one
of his friends, specifically David Rice and Fredric Rice. I have reed a
portion of a book entitled 'The Great Mumbo Chicken and the Transhuman
Condition' which describes Henson's history of creating and setting off
bombs of mass destruction. I have had to take extraordinary measures to
protect members of my church and my family here at Gold's property.

"Henson and his associates have walked down the highway and stood above
the pedestrian tunnels as church staff walk through. To prevent Henson
from throwing a bomb or other incendiary device on church staff, I have
had to post staff near both tunnels. This has caused a tremendous
disruption of our activities, but I have no choice as we all fear that at
any moment Henson or the Rices may throw a bomb or some other form of
explosive."

Keith reported on the legal developments this week.

"The deal was that I would go to Hemet to be arraigned on Sept. 25. Then
Graham asked whether I might be arrested if I was out there picketing? Yes
I would, picketing was out of the question. A lot of discussion went back
and forth about me not being willing to let the DA's office chill my first
amendment right to protest the killer cult and the cult's claims that they
are 'in fear' of me being enough to invoke the law. Graham kept making the
point that the scientologists claims of being in fear of Henson's ability
to pull a cruise missile out of his pocket and lob it across the fence was
not what they were really in fear of. What they truly feared were the
words on his picket signs. The DA several times told Graham that the
Scientologists were in constant fear of Henson by his mere presence on the
side of the road and not whether he was carrying a cruise missile.

"The DA commented that defendants regularly win at trial and the fact that
they had charged the matter as misdemeanor and not a felony indicated how
the DA viewed the case. Graham told him he was being used by the cult. The
DA immediately made a comment that Graham might see thing differently when
he sobered up. That make it clear this guy had dead agent material from
the cult as to whom Graham was. Graham was most indignant because it has
been 18 months since he has had any alcohol. Both then apologized."

Keith described the arraignment hearing.

"On Graham's advice, I ask the arraignment to be continued for ten days.
The young sleek DA at the table says that's ok with him, but he wants a
restraining order to keep me 300 yards from the cult's compound and away
from this list of people. At first, the judge says that's wider than the
road, how can he keep me off a public road? The DA insists, says I can go
some other way, and the judge gives in. I ask specifically if this means I
cannot exercise my first Amendment right to picket out at gold and he
verifies this, if I don't like it I will be arrested and arraigned on the
spot. Last I ask if this would apply to my wife picketing gold. He states
that my wife is not the subject of this hearing, but says it in a tone of
voice that indicates he is baffled by such a possibility. Ken Hoden
(looking unhappy) leaves. I think he was expecting an arrest warrant would
be issued so they could get me arrested out by gold base.

"I complain that another scientologist, Glenn Barton obtained a RO, chased
me and had the cops and his goons citizen-arrest me for violating the
order. I don't know what these people look like, I would not know who they
were if I were in a bank line with them! The judge can't believe anyone
would play such game with the legal system, but he does say I would have a
good defense if one of them did it. Well, I hope I made enough of an
impression that this judge will get steamed at them if the pull a 'Barton'
on me."

The Riverside Press-Enterprise published an article on Keith's protests
and charges on September 16th.

"A frequent critic of the Church of Scientology has been charged with
making terrorist threats against the group on the Internet and at its San
Jacinto facilities. Prosecutors allege Palo Alto resident Keith Henson,
58, made the threats against the church earlier this year on an
anti-Scientology Internet site, then made threatening statements overheard
by a security guard while picketing at the church's Golden Era Productions
facility on Gilman Springs Road. Henson faces up to a year in county jail
if he is convicted of the misdemeanor charge.

"Henson, who has picketed Golden Era and other Scientology facilities
across the nation, resumed picketing at the San Jacinto facility in May
after a 16-year-old girl was killed in a road collision with a tractor
that was doing work for the studio. A month later, a 20-year-old woman
working for Golden Era was electrocuted when she slipped in an underground
vault at the facility. Authorities ruled the death an accident. Henson
said he believes Scientology is responsible for the accidents."

Keith also reported developments in his bankruptcy case this week.

"Scientology is trying to convert it from chapter 13 to chapter 7 If I
lose my house in Palo Alto due to going into Chapter 7 bankruptcy, I would
have to live elsewhere. Hemet seems like it would be a good place to
live. The judge asked that they consider some kind of settlement, and
commented on the number of lawyers. It seems to be clear to him that this
is case of Scientology using the courts to punish someone for an act that
was rooted in warning the public about the cult's medical malpractice
activities.

"I went right from court to the airport, because of the hearing the next
morning I had for a protective order in the Hurtado case. Helena started
out by saying that this case had nothing to do with Scientology. She then
stated that I had copied material from another case where they had
corrected a citation. Eventually the judge cut her off and told her she
was repeating what was in here papers. He made it clear that I could not
give any admissible testimony regarding Graham's professional performance
in connection with other clients. The judge was surprised that not only
the cult refused to limit its deposition as suggested but now insisted on
a retired judge as referee in all forthcoming depositions. They were
upset that Graham's lawyer has taken 10 depositions and they have only
taken four. The Judge made it clear that he would not permit discovery to
proceed based on Kobrin trying to exceed the number of depositions taken
by Graham's attorney. He ordered the appointment of a referee and made it
clear that if Kobrin and Petunia were back in court again in connection
with the Henson deposition, he might consider sanctioning them for their
conduct and reminded them that he had made similar comments to Mr. Moxon
before he vanished from this case and about Mr. Moxon's objectivity in
this matter."

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#####

> Stephen Kent

A letter from Scientologist Deborah Jurt on May 10th to administrators of
the University of Alberta was posted this week, in which she complains
about Dr. Stephen Kent.

"Professor Kent was in Germany again this year meeting with the media and
continuing to foment intolerance against Scientology in Germany. Most
recently in the Lisa mcPherson court case in Clearwater, Florida, Stephen
Kent filed an affidavit with the courts to appear as a witness on this
case. Professor Kent states on page 13 that 'Scientology is not for all
purposes a religion, since key components of Hubbard's writings addressed
secular issues.' In November of 1999, Stephen Kent filed an affidavit for
the plaintiff in the case of Animal Medical Centre and provides his
'expert' testimony regarding the Church of Scientology. On the first page
Professor Kent states that he 'will identify religious elements in what is
supposed to be secular learning material.'

"What is most shocking is the huge sums of money that Stephen Kent charged
for this 'expertise'. For the last affidavit he charged $200 per hour
(U.S) for 109 hours. This is US $21,600. On the Lisa McPherson affidavit
he charged 55 hours at $200 an hour - US $11,000."

From the reply by Doug Owram, Vice President of the University and
Provost:

"At a University, academic freedom is a principle that is strongly valued.
As a faculty member at the University of Alberta, Dr. Kent is free to
pursue a legitimate research subject. Responsibilities for faculty members
include participation in research and the dissemination of the results of
the research by means appropriate to the discipline. In addition, faculty
members are responsible to provide services in the members' discipline and
the disseminate knowledge to the general public by making expertise and
knowledge available. I must also add that faculty members are entitled to
pursue supplementary professional activities and receive the appropriate
remuneration for the professional activities."

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#####

> Lisa McPherson Trust

Stacy Brooks and Greg Barnes appeared on a cable TV talk show this week to
refute charges made on a previous show by Scientology against the Lisa
McPherson Trust.

"It is a local show for Time Warner cable viewers only, that will air 6
times during the next week. The first airing was 7:30 p.m. E last night.
The interviewer, Syl Farrell, invited Stacy and Greg do a similar show for
his other talk show on a PBS station that is not dependent on what cable
company you use, and is aired in 17 counties. Syl also talked to Stacy
and I about a future show that deals more specifically with the LMT and
Lisa's story."

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#####

> Tom Padgett

Tom Padgett was released from a Kentucky jail this week. He had been
convicted of failure to pay child support, a charge that proved to be not
true.

"On Monday, September 11th, Mike Ruschell presented exculpatory evidence
in the Hopkins County Court that proved Padgett was innocent of recent
charges against him by his Scientologist ex-wife. Investigations into the
handling of child support checks for Kentucky Support Collection Unit in
Lexington found that while the checks had cleared the bank a while ago,
they were (mysteriously) missing as a result of an error from a processing
clerk. Padgett's family and friends in Massachusetts believe this was
deliberate and a result of covert tampering.

"The judge and local prosecutor tried to have Padgett promise not to
appeal any pending civil court matters to higher courts. Tom refused to
sign these under the threat of coercion, as they replete with falsehoods
and misleading statements Padgett was sent back to solitary confinement
cell for the evening to 'think about it.' The cell had no bed, blankets,
or toilet paper. He was only given a 3' X 6' thin plastic mat to sit or
sleep on. The next day Padgett was brought back to a grand jury room where
more efforts were made to have him sign agreements drafted by Laura
Padgett's private civil attorney. Tom would not sign them. He was marched
out in court handcuffed in a striped jail uniform and stood before the
bench. The judge ruled they could no longer retain him in custody because
of the new evidence alleged to be 'just a simple mix up!' However, it was
ordered that yet another evidentiary hearing was scheduled on October 2,
2000 to decide if a felony label shall remain with Padgett the remainder
of his life, or if the charges should be reduced to a misdemeanor plea and
dismissed and expunged from the record.

"Padgett's family members and friends back in Cape Cod, MA, collected
enough money to 'pre-pay' all child support until his son reached 18 years
old and graduated from high school."

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#####

> Protest Summary

"Android Cat" and Gregg Hagglund reported a protest in Toronto this week.

"Three picketers - Gregg, Nan, and myself. I handed out over a hundred
'Human Costs' / '$cientology Costs a Mint' Gregg and Nan did more of 'The
Story of Xenu' and something else. I arrived just before 10am. First up
to bat for $cientology on the morning roster were Brian, Andy and Dan.
Brian and Andy tried the 'why are you here?' question on me, while Dan
concentrated on Gregg (same question). Brian tried the 'I have never lied
to you before' tactic to claim that he wasn't OSA, nobody in Toronto was
OSA, in fact.

"Just before we broke for lunch, Nan showed up. She pickets like five and
since she is under a restraining order to not talk about $cientology,
there's still lots that I don't know. After lunch, Nan picketed for at
least an hour."

"It's the Toronto Film Festival this week so I arrived early downtown so
as to distribute flyers to moviegoers standing in line two blocks north of
the bOrg. I did 100 flyers in about 10 minutes. I kept saying 'Get your
cult protest flyers'. I was carrying my 'Scientology Dangerous UFO Cult'
picket sign.

The Police Officer the Co$ are forced to hire for the day was soft spoken,
polite and very firm. He did not want any shenanigans and was pleased to
read a copy of our Picketers Advisory. He took the time to let the OSA
GoonSquad know flyer snatching, shoving etc would not be tolerated. Dirty
Dan kept standing beside me and in the centre of the sidewalk trying to
keep between me and the passersby, so as to make distributing my RX
Special Flyers more difficult. When I would switch sides of the sidewalk,
DirtyDan would again move to the centre and block me, talking all the
time. Suddenly I started to slowly walk around DirtyDan. He stayed in the
centre of the sidewalk and turned to face me. Except I kept moving around
him, so he kept turning. I slowly increased by pace and about the fourth
time I had walked a circle around him, with him pivoting ever faster to
face me and yammering away, he complained I was spinning. DirtyDan even
tried screaming in my ear to get my attention.

"OSA Goonette Paulette chanting 'Wife Beater Child Molester' over and over
while holding her fist an inch from my mouth for a good 5 minutes
certainly made her appear to one observer as 'a certifiable whacko.'
DirtyDan also tried a little physical stuff with me. Again when the cop
had stepped away for a soda, DirtyDan and AndyShill double teamed me which
resulted in DirtyDan chest butting me when I tried to escape them.

"My son called me in the early afternoon to tell me two bedraggled OSA
Goonettes and a sickly beagle were Revenge Picketing at our suburban
Oakville house. The Goonettes assigned the job today had to contend with a
10 foot by 3 foot banner I had hung 8 feet off the ground at the end of my
driveway. The banner read: MEMBERS OF OUR FAMILY ARE BEING MALICIOUSLY
HARASSED FOR SPEAKING OUT AGAINST THE CRIMINALLY CONVICTED CULT CALLED
'SCIENTOLOGY.' The Goonettes stayed for about 15 minutes until the local
children apparently started to heckle them."

"Barb" reported a stealth protest in San Diego this week.

"I printed up a load of 'Cult in Your Neighborhood?' and 'Xenu' fliers at
Kinko's, and started wandering around downtown. Sometimes nobody seems
interested in talking to us, other times, we can't even walk a block
without speaking to several people at a time. This was one of those times;
everybody seemed to want to discuss the cult! One fellow saw our shirts
and chatted with us a bit. A friend of his had some articles about
Scientology published in Germany, and has been harassed by the cult ever
since. He took a couple of our fliers, and seemed pretty knowledgeable
about Scientology. I guess when you're friends with Frank Oliver, you
can't help but pick this stuff up! We gave out 45 of our 50 fliers to the
crowd.

"Sunday morning, I printed up 500 more fliers and went out around 5 pm. I
encountered a group of buskers on a street corner outside the Street Scene
gates; two pipers and drum. They all took fliers for later. I just stood
around in my Kills T-shirt, enjoying the music. Conversation is impossible
when the pipes are blowing, so I held a sheaf of fliers and handed them to
people. I gave out 300+."

Gregg Hagglund reported that Bob Minton was assaulted during a protest at
the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater this week.

"Bob Minton was beset upon at a picket at the Ft Harrison this evening.
The apparent attacker was Joe Neal. Police seized security camera video
showing the attack by Neal. Bob was thrown to the ground by Neal who then
continued the assault. Bob was rescued by other members of his party. The
extent of Bob's injuries are not available at this time."

From Tory Bezazian:

"As far as the cops, it was pathetic. They came and talked to the C of S
for about an hour while we demonstrated. They interviewed Randy and Anita
and were supposed to interview Jeff and I, but instead just drove off.
They then went over to LMT to talk to Bob and Stacy, and were there all of
about 10-15 minutes."

Bruce Pettycrew protested in Mesa, Arizona this week.

"Kathy and I picketed from 9:15 to 10:30 this morning, with the
temperature over 100 when we finished. There were only four cars in the
mi$$ion parking lot when we started, and no change by the time we left.
We still got a good number of honks and thumbs-up signs. Two people
stopped to talk about the picket: One middle-aged man walked with me for
over 20 minutes and asked questions about the cult and why we were putting
in the time in the heat."

Keith Henson was prohibited from protesting at Gold Base, but protested in
downtown Hemet instead.

"I was able to go through roughly 50 flyers an hour. At least a dozen
people asked if I was the guy in the paper or mentioned the story. Several
who got flyers asked what they could do. I got snippets of stories, such
as one woman saying the cult got her brother put in jail for 6 years when
he was 16. There must be thousands of such stories if someone had
resources to collect them.

"Graham decided to have another go at Gold. The rest of the picketers were
on other missions or taking naps so Graham and I set off. He dropped me
near State and Florida at a copy shop I have used before. The guy who runs
it said the PIs came in and wanted to know what connection he had with me.
He told them (just making copies for me!) but the experience sure left an
impression. He had taken my stories of the PIs with just a grain of salt,
but now says if anything I understate the matter."

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#####

> Ritalin

Attorney and Scientologist John Coale is among a group of lawyers planning
a class action lawsuit against Novartis, the manufacturer of Ritalin. From
the New York Times on September 14th:

"The lawsuits, filed in federal courts in California and New Jersey, say
the Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, the drug's manufacturer, and the
American Psychiatric Association, a professional group, conspired to
create a market for Ritalin and expand its use. For more than a decade,
Ritalin has been increasingly prescribed for children in whom attention
deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has been
diagnosed.

"The psychiatric association called the accusations in the Texas suit
'groundless' and an 'opportunistic attack on the scientific process that
underlies this effort.' One of those bringing the latest lawsuits is
Richard Scruggs, a lawyer from Pascagoula, Miss., who represented dozens
of states in actions brought in recent years against cigarette makers.
John Coale, a Washington lawyer who is also involved in the Ritalin
lawsuits, said the litigation was brought because Novartis and the
psychiatric group promoted the idea that many children had attention
deficit order and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as a way of
expanding the market for the drug. 'They were giving this stuff away like
candy,' Mr. Coale said."

Message-ID: <8pvqgd$qrr@...>

#####

> Sweden

"Essle" reported that a Scientology-affiliated school is being approved in
Gottenburg, Sweden.

"The local city commissioners in Gothenburg have OK-ed some twenty
applications to start private (but publicly financed) schools, among them
one that is supposed to use Applied Scholastics. The final decision will
be made by the National School Authority."

Message-ID: <MPG.142c5885ffa812b9989680@...>

-end-