Alt.religion.scientology
Week in Review Volume 5, Issue 28
10/22/2000
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

#####

> Ann Archer

Reuters published a profile of Scientology celebrity Ann Archer on October
20th.

"'We are all born to act, it's what we do. We will do it until the day we
die, whether we do it on film or on stage,' she told Reuters at Frankfurt,
the world's largest book fair. The fair does not usually attract
Hollywood stars -- but she was there to publicize an exhibition about the
late American science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard, the founder of
Scientology, which claims more than eight million adherents worldwide.
Hollywood stars John Travolta and Tom Cruise are, like Archer, members of
the Church of Scientology. What, then, was the attraction? Archer said:
'One thing Mr. Hubbard really brings to an artist is an understanding that
his talent is limitless.'"

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#####

> Clearwater

A schedule of holiday events at Scientology orgs in Clearwater was posted
to a.r.s this week.

"November 18th. Groundbreaking Anniversary Celebration. Enjoy an elegant
dinner with live entertainment and a briefing on the rapid progress of our
New Building! All Scientologists are invited.

"November 23rd-26th. Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend. Join us as Flag on
Thanksgiving Day for a lavish, traditional holiday dinner in the elegant
Fort Harrison Auditorium. This sumptuous buffet includes all your holiday
favorites!

"December 2nd. Flag's 25th Anniversary Celebration. Begin your holiday
season with our spectacular festivities celebrating a quarter of a century
of 100% Standard Tech and the best in service!!!

"December 9th. IAS Christmas Party. All IAS members are invited to the 1st
party of the season.

"December 14th. Flag's 12 Days of Christmas begins. We've got a sparkling
array of activities lined up for the whole family.

"December 16th. Super Power Christmas Party. All Super Power contributors
are invited to our holiday celebration!

"December 17th. OT Ambassadors Christmas Party. All Scientologists are
invited.

"The Spirit of Christmas lives with us. We are the protectors of the real
tradition of Christmas - peace on Earth and Goodwill to all. We are the
hope of Man - the only hope. Mankind's salvation lies within our hands."

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#####

> France

A planned Scientology march in Paris to protest alleged discrimination has
been forbidden by authorities because moving demonstrations are not
allowed.

"Considering the declaration of M. Michel Raoust, President of the French
Committee of Scientologists Against Discrimination Association has made
known his intention to organize an event on the public street on October
23rd 2000, between 12 and 4:30 pm, from the Place de la Bastille to the
Place de la Republique; Considering that it was made known to Paris Police
Prefecture that there is a risk of excess and violence and severe troubles
to the public order during the planned meeting; Considering that the high
number of participants announced by organizers who cannot guarantee the
public order during such a large event; Considering that consequently, it
has been many times proposed that such meeting could be held statically so
as to limit the possible excesses, but that this proposal has been
rejected by the organizers; Aforementioned event is forbidden."

According to Agence France Press on October 20th, Scientology planned to
hold the event anyway.

"The Church of Scientology plans an event Monday at 1 pm against the
anticult bill which will soon be examined in the Senate, which constitutes
'the modern form of Inquisition.' In a press release friday, the Church of
Scientology asks also to the dissolution of the Mission Interministerielle
de Lutte contre les Sectes (MILS) and the demotion of his president Alain
Vivien.

"The Paris section of the Church of Scientology has been asked to respond
as an entity for 'fraud attempts', and infractions for keeping computer
files on private persons, despite those persons being opposed to the
existence of such files."

Le Mardi reported on October 17th that Judge Marie-Paule Moracchini has
been removed from a case involving lost Scientology court files.

"Unless there is a miracle, Marie-Paule Moracchini will lose the
Scientology files, one she 'deals with' since 1989. Olivier Morice,
attorney of ex-followers asking for the judge to be removed from the case,
announced that President Gilbert Alibert said 'We are scandalized and it
has to be made known.' The president was speaking of the interviews
recently given by Moracchini, as well as her allegations accusing one
member of the accusation chamber's judges of biases (the Counselor Jacques
Buisson).

"The Chamber of Accusation's decision looks to be unavoidable: Marie Paule
Moracchini should be disgraced from the folder she treats since 1989.
Even if she loses the Scientology affair, she'll have to come before the
Conseil Superieur de la Magistrature for this lengthy instruction and the
loss of parts of the files."

From Agence France Presse on October 19th:

"The Appeal Court in Paris has ordered the judge in a long-running
investigation into the Scientology movement to be pulled off the case, two
years after important files in the case vanished from court. Wednesday's
court ruling ordered Judge Marie-Paule Moracchini off the case, which
unites 15 different plaintiffs and includes charges of fraud and the
illegal exercise of medicine. She will be replaced by Judge Philippe
Courroye.

"The scandal broke in June 1998, when court officials discovered that one
and a half volumes of the case's 10-volume dossier had gone missing. In
the row that followed, prosecutors in the case tried to have Moracchini
taken off the case, while lawyers for Scientology tried to have the case
thrown out.

"In January, a French court fined the French state 20,000 francs and
ordered damages to be paid to two of the plaintiffs because of the
disappearance of the documents. President of the court Marie-Claude Domb
said the error could not be blamed on Moracchini, but described the
incident as an 'inexcusable mistake' that was down to the failure to keep
properly recorded copies.

"In November last year, five French Scientologists were found guilty of
fraud and attempted fraud. One of them was sentenced to six months in
prison and fined 100,000 francs (16,000 dollars) for swindling people on
behalf of the movement."

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#####

> Germany

The Stuttgart consumer protection organization Aktion Bildungsinformation
e.V. issued a press release on October 12, accusing the United Parcel
Service with making substantial donations to Scientology.

"A large cover organization of the U.S. Scientology financial sect and
numerous American representatives have received considerable sums of money
from the international delivery service, United Parcel Service (UPS).
Besides that, the sect and its sub-organizations have delivery contracts
with UPS. That was stated by Eberhard Kleinmann, chairman of the Stuttgart
consumer protection organization 'Aktion Bildungsinformation, e.V.' (ABI),
today in a press conference in the Hotel Esplanade in Berlin.

"'By its joint work with UPS, the sect has come one step closer to its
goal of increasing its influence in the economy and continuing to spread
the management technology of L. Ron Hubbard,' said Kleinmann. The ABI has
evidence that almost fifty representatives received payments in amounts of
up to 240,000 US dollars from UPS. UPS donation money has also gone to the
World Literacy Crusade Foundation. WLC founder Alfredie Johnson is said to
be a member of Scientology and he appears in the sect's own publications
as an accuser against psychiatry and against psychiatrists."

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#####

> Keith Henson

Keith Henson posted a document he filed in his criminal case, in which he
is accused of making bomb threats against Scientology's Gold Base. The
affidavit describes an incident in which a Scientology PI attempted to run
him over with a car.

"On July 2, Scientology assigned Edwin Richardson and Frank Petty to
harass me while picketing. They chased me across Highway 79 several times.
I stopped a number of cars and asked that they call 911. Tape of this
incident was later shown to the Highway Patrol who concluded that I was
trying to escape from Richardson and Petty and not jaywalking. I have a
number of tapes which I made of them verbally abusing me, making implied
death threats and threats against my daughter. A transcript of one of
those tapes and the tape itself was turned over to Lt. Tony Greer at the
Hemet Sheriff's station.

"On Sept. 17th I was picked up by Brent Stone in the parking lot of
Stators at the corner of State and Stetson in Hemet, CA. Frank Petty was
tailing Mr. Stone and had stopped in the parking lot near the south exit
of the lot. As I got out of the car with my camcorder and started to
cross the driveway to get closer to Mr. Petty's car, Mr. Petty pulled out
and aimed his car directly at me, hitting the accelerator after he turned
North."

Keith will be a speaker at a meeting of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
in San Francisco.

"Thursday, November 2nd, 2000, at 7:00PM PT. Moscone Center, Room 101; 747
Howard St.; San Francisco, CA, USA The upcoming BayFF includes panelists
Keith Henson, a free speech advocate who was sued by the Church of
Scientology, Prof. Joe Liu, an expert on intellectual property law, and
Damien Cave, a Bay Area reporter with Salon.com who covers tech issues.
They will focus on the publishing/posting of documents on the Web that are
later claimed to be private, or to contain trade secrets. What are the
repercussions of this type of publication? Can litigation to prevent or
punish such publishing be seen as a violation of the publisher's First
Amendment rights?

"Keith Henson, an electrical engineer and programmer by trade, and long a
free speech advocate, was troubled by the Church of Scientology's 1995
attempt to destroy a Usenet news group. He was sued by them in early 1996
over an open letter to a federal judge which quoted from a Scientology
instruction manual. Most recently, he has been exercising his First
Amendment rights by picketing Scientology's desert compound near Hemet,
CA. He has been charged with making 'terrorist threats' to the
organization, which he denies. He is also well known for founding the L-5
Society in 1975, and was heavily involved in space politics for 6 years.
He is a major character in the multi-person biography, 'Great Mambo
Chicken and the Trans-Human Condition' by Ed Regis. In recent years he has
been deeply involved with cryonics."

Keith also reported that Scientology has obtained permission from the
judge in his bankruptcy case to depose his college-age daughter.

"My daughter is to be deposed Tuesday, most likely by the lawyer-pit bull,
Sandy Rosen. The judge did limit it to one hour, starting at 9 am. I will
be there, but my wife has been excluded. She will be down on the street
from about 8:30 am with a picket sign about Paul, Hasting, Janofsky &
Walker abusing her daughter for scientology - the cult of blackmail,
bribery and fraud. The address is 555 South Flower Street, downtown Los
Angeles."

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#####

> Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Times reported that Scientology planned a workshop in West
Valley this week.

"The Church of Scientology Mission of the West Valley will hold a workshop
for youngsters 11 to 17 from 1 to 3 p.m. today at the church, 21010
Devonshire St., Chatsworth. The cost is $5."

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#####

> Lisa McPherson Trust

There will be a benefit concert for the Lisa McPherson Trust on November
11th in Clearwater, Florida.

"All proceeds will be donated to the Lisa McPherson Trust, a watchdog
group dedicated to exposing the abusive and deceptive practices of
Scientology in an effort to reform the organization and its harmful
tactics. The event will take place on Saturday, November 11, 2000 from 12
p.m. to 2 a.m. at Club More, located at 703 Franklin Street, Clearwater,
Florida 33756. All ages are welcome before 8 p.m., at which time only
adults 18 or older will be permitted. Cover charges will be free/donation
for those 15 or younger, $15.00 for ages 16 through 20, and $10.00 for
ages 21 and older.

"Poets, guest speakers including former Scientologists, cult experts and
video presentations will accompany the musical acts. Musical acts
scheduled to date include WMNF radio disk jockey Jah-Be, The Hazies,
Crizzy and the Punx, Fornikulture, Undecided, Wicker God, Trocar, Shiver,
The Outpatients, Boney Fiend, The Gotohells, and ACK Records recording
artist Tranceboy.

"Scientology founder and Dianetics author L. Ron Hubbard's great-grandson
Jamie Kennedy will be the Master of Ceremonies for this event. Poet and
artist Kennedy has been profiled by television's 60 Minutes and in the New
York Times regarding his volatile performances at poetry slams. He truly
has a unique, critical perspective about Scientology and his family. Jamie
Kennedy will also perform several of his poetry slam pieces."

Stacy Brooks announced the second Literati Contest for writing essays on
Scientology.

"The Lisa McPherson Trust believes that a more comprehensive understanding
of the abusive and deceptive nature of the Scientology organization is the
best way to educate government officials and the public at large. Further,
this understanding is also one of the most effective ways of helping
victims of Scientology recover from prolonged abuse within the
organization. We are pleased to announce the following topic for the 2000
Lisa McPherson Trust Literati Contest.

"The topic is 'Scientology: Control, Freedom & Responsibility.' The essay
should analyze how control, freedom and responsibility operate together or
clash within the organization and how these interface with the
non-Scientology world. The essay must be an original piece of writing.
It must be insightful and thought provoking, and it must provide some
practical resolution or approach to the Scientology issue by integrating
the perspectives of both sides. There will be four judges: Bob Minton,
Stacy Brooks, Karin Case and Graham Berry. The decision of the judges will
be final. First place will be awarded $7,000. Second place will be
awarded $2,000. Third place will be awarded $1,000. The contest closes
on November 30, 2000."

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#####

> Tom Padgett

Tom Padgett, recently released from a Kentucky jail when it was shown that
he had paid all child support owed, posted an update to his civil case to
regain contact with his children.

"Tom Padgett's motion to have the harassment and character attacks upon
him by Scientology agents acting on behalf of his ex-wife Laura, was
overruled. Of particular concern was the recent letters in the Cape Cod
Times, one of which asserts Tom was a deadbeat dad and a criminal as it
was destroying his ability to find and maintain a job and income to pay
for support obligations and to pay attorney fees to fend off Laura's
obsession with litigation. The judge ruled this was a freedom of speech
issue where he could not intervene.

"Padgett's motion to the court to order counseling for the parties as a
softer dispute resolution forum was sustained. The judge requested
proposals from both sides. Tom submitted his on the spot. Laura and her
lawyer have not submitted anything. They probably will never since Hubbard
forbids any types of mental health relief other than Dianetic Counseling
by a trained Scientologist. A motion to show cause why Laura Padgett and
her attorney should not be held in Contempt of Court for failure to abide
to a February 8, 2000 Order requiring routine discovery and disclosure of
the parties was overruled.

"Tom reports that attempts to see his son Beau have failed. He has only
seen him 2 hours in the past 21 months."

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#####

> Protest Summary

Gregg Hagglund reported a protest this week at the Toronto org.

"Picket Hours: 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM, 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM. Picketers: Ensign
Kim, Mike Argue, Ron Sharp and Gregg Hagglund with a one hour assist by
Kaeli. Flyer Count: 450 RX specials, 50 Human Cost of Co$.

"Approximately at noon OSA Goonette and Thief Paulette made her appearance
and soon after snatched a flyer. I asked the Police Officer to instruct
her to refrain from her Public Mischief and to my surprise this Officer
did just that. Paulette then spent a few minutes slandering me most
viciously [on tape] and in the Officers presence. Her litany included of
false accusations: A monumental yet undetected $800,000 Retail Bankruptcy
Heist; Conviction as a child molester; Lobotomizing my wife; 'doing
something' to my dear departed friend Elizabeth Pearse; drug trafficking
out of my home. The usual complete vile spew from this extremely degraded
woman.

"For the afternoon, Colin Manning, Andy Hill and Poxy Paulette did their
best to be as obnoxious, obstructive and intimidating as they could.
Ensign Kim was the first target of the OSA thugs, with first Andy Hill and
then Colin Manning trying some TR Bull Baiting in low tones. All three
tried a gang BB session surrounding me on three sides with my back to the
curb and traffic on Yonge St. Paulette was carrying a very hot beverage,
either Tea or Coffee in her right hand. She thrust this into my face
exhorting me to 'Speak into the microphone'. I could feel the heat of the
drink with my nose, lips and chin. I put up one hand onto the top of the
hot drink and forced her hand down and away from my face. She then raised
it again, quite quickly to my face, and spilled some of the hot drink
through the cover and on her fingers, hurting herself. Once more I quickly
put my hand up to protect myself and pushed her drink down and away from
my face. She pulled her hand back and began to swing the hot beverage up
at my face with some force. My hand and the drink collided forcefully
knocking the hot drink from Palette's' grasp and painfully stinging my
hand with spilled hot drink.

"I then went some 20 feet down the street to the Police Officer and
apprised him of the actions of these thugs. He simply looked amused and
said thank you for my information. A passerby who had been conversing with
Ensign Kim near me and witnessed the entire episode came up to me and
voiced his outrage at Paulette's' conduct. We were joined by the loud and
abusive presence of Andy, Colin and Poxy accusing me of assaulting Poxy
Paulette, who proceed to kick my sign directly in view of the Police
Officer. The Officer appeared greatly amused by the goings on. I asked him
how far he would let them go and he shrugged. So, much to Mario's' chagrin
and anger I launched a Tone 40 chant about the fraudulent nature of the
personality test and Dianetics. Mario came out the open door and berated
the cop for letting me be so loud and then pulled the door shut. The cop
merely grinned at Mario's upset too. Paulette then stood in front of the
Dianetics Door challenging me to chant even louder, but it was now 4:30
and we couldn't stay any longer to play today."

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#####

> Switzerland

24 Heures reported on October 14th that Scientologists have lost a case in
Switzerland for not paying taxes.

"Since 1993, the cantonal Tax Administration (ACI, the IRS at the cantonal
level) waited for the Administrative Court (TA) to settle a case against
the Scientologists. The ACI required the TA to find out whether the
organization which calls itself 'Church' of Scientology must be considered
as a business, ie tax paying, or as a tax exempt religious organization.
Judge Jean-Claude Haller has issued an unfavourable verdict for the
Scientologists.

"It involves large sums of money, as the Lausanne based sect has not paid
taxes, either city taxes or cantonal (state taxes) taxes since 1991. The
Lausanne municipality has not received any official information yet and is
strongly interested in the case. The continuations mentioned imply an
appeal at the Federal Court (TF, the Supreme court). According to a
member of the Lausanne authorities, this is rather improbable, as the
Federal Court has already had to handle such a case in Zurich, and denied
them the right to be considered as a church."

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#####

> Battlefield Earth

John Travolta defended the movie Battlefield Earth and announced his hopes
to produce the sequel. From the Calgary Sun on October 17th:

"In his eyes, the much-hyped science-fiction epic Battlefield Earth was
not a major box-office or critical disaster. Back in May, it took just 18
days for Battlefield Earth to be knocked out of the top 10 box-office list
with paltry earnings of just $20.5 million US. 'It didn't lose anybody any
money because we filmed Battlefield for just $50 million Canadian. We were
very responsible with our investors' money,' insists Travolta, denying
rumours the film cost upwards of $70 million US. 'By the time you factor
in foreign sales and video, Battlefield will gross more than $80 million
US, so it's not the flop some people are trying to say it is.'

"Battlefield Earth was written in 1982 by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of
Scientology, for which Travolta is one of the most vocal celebrity
spokesmen. 'When I first decided to turn Battlefield Earth into a film, I
thought if I could even get it into theatres I'd consider myself lucky.
I've done that and much more.'"

From Reuters on October 18th:

"Believe it or not but John Travolta says he was delighted with
'Battlefield Earth' - the Scientology-inspired sci-fi thriller slammed by
critics as one of the worst movies of all time - and that plans are going
ahead for a sequel. 'The bottom line is that I feel really good about it.
Here I was taking big chances, breaking a new genre,' said Travolta, one
of Hollywood's leading followers of the Church of Scientology. Released in
May, it was vilified by critics variously as 'deeply dumb', 'laughably
bad' and a 'monolithic monstrosity.' It has taken $21 million at the U.S.
box office."

From EOnline on October 18th:

"Has John Travolta been possessed by the ghost of L. Ron Hubbard? What
else could explain the erstwhile Sweathog's announced desire to do a
sequel to the universally reviled Battlefield Earth, the sci-fi turkey
that bombed the box office this summer. Travolta claimed the flick has
become a cult hit on the Net and is gaining an audience overseas. The
video and DVD are also expected to be out in time for the holidays.
Regarded as one of the worst films ever committed to celluloid, and the
leading candidate to sweep the Golden Raspberry Awards, aka the
anti-Oscars, Battlefield Earth was a labor of love for Travolta, who said
he always dreamed of making the film.

From Mr. Showbiz on October 19th:

"Battlefield Earth's failure was also rumored to have bumped the release
of Travolta's next film, Nora Ephron's Lucky Numbers, in order to give his
reputation time to heal. 'It could very well be [that studio
representatives] wanted to distance themselves from Battlefield Earth,
which left a bad taste in moviegoers, mouths,' speculated Robert
Bucksbaum, president of box-office tracking agency Reel Source, back in
June."

From the Chicago Sun Times on October 22nd:

"Travolta spent 15 years bringing the sci-fi vision of Scientology founder
L. Ron Hubbard to the big screen. 'The bottom line is that we were proud
that we got Battlefield Earth done. I was pleased with the outcome,'
Travolta says. 'In fact, the film did better than I expected. At the time,
I withheld the fact that we did the movie for so little money. I have a
very positive outlook on life, so I always seem to generate good fortune
somehow. No matter what happens, I'm like a cat. I always seem to land on
my feet,' Travolta says.

"And it's easy to bring a smile to his face these days. Travolta is a
beaming new father to daughter Ella Blue. Travolta's wife, actress Kelly
Preston, participated in a quiet birth. 'It is a beautiful, still
experience that lovingly brings a child into the world without screaming
or talking."

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> Saint Hill Size

Ted Mayett posted a recent mailing from Scientology's Las Vegas org
describing their push to grow to the size of the old Saint Hill center.

"The Las Vegas Org has been slated by International Management to go Saint
Hill Size this year. Recently the American Saint Hill Organization in Los
Angeles was announced as attaining the size of old Saint Hill. Just week
prior the Tokyo org was announced as achieving the size of Saint Hill.
They got the needed Technical trained staff hired and put onto the
Technical Training Corps as the top priority. They made it a game to get
these posts filled. These posts are: 20 Auditors, 5 Staff Staff auditors,
Senior Case Supervisor, 2 Tech Case Supervisors, 4 Academy Course
Supervisors, 4 Academy Word Clearers, Qualifications Secretary, Intern
Supervisor and a Cramming Officer. This totals 40 people.

"The good news is that we already have 10 of these posts filled and there
are 2 more staff members about to finish their basic lineups and start
their technical training to fill 2 more of the postings. That leaves 27
posts to fill to complete the full Technical compliment and complete the
first step to making it to Saint Hill Size."

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-end-