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23 Jun 2011 17:47

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Politics: Ex-Scientology official releases possible church enemies list

  • departure Marty Rathbun was at one time a high-ranking official within the Church of Scientology. He departed from this position in 2004, which probably didn’t earn him many friends — critics often accuse the Church of cutting off apostates from their families.
  • exposure Rathbun has released a PDF file which he claims originated from Scientology’s creepily-named Office of Special Affairs. If genuine, it reads like an enemies list. Given the Church’s record, expect a blanket denial and some attacks on Rathbun’s character soon. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Feb 2011 13:35

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U.S.: Has Scientology issued their blanket denial and reactionary attack yet?

  • 1 FBI investigation into the Church of Scientology’s Sea Org labor rules source
  • » That new-time religion: The Church of Scientology, in addition to dealing with last year’s high-profile defector, high-profile director Paul Haggis, now must survive the fruit of Haggis’ labor with New Yorker writer Lawrence Wright; a 26-page tale of his ascent and subsequent rejection of the church. Amongst the familiar charges the article makes (secrecy, strident and at times brutally violent discipline by church leader David Miscavige, disconnected families, and an inscrutable origin story that Scientologists are forbidden to admit exists), it also reveals that the FBI has been investigating Scientology for almost a year regarding potential rights abuses in their elite “Sea Organization,” or “Sea Org.” They’re looking into defector allegations of forced manual labor, shockingly low pay, and “re-education” through rehabilitation camps, which it goes without saying are at best creepy ideas, at worst wicked ones.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jun 2010 21:12

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Culture: Tom Cruise’s star power losing its luster at the box office

  • 1992 the last time a Tom Cruise film opened this low
  • $59M the amount “Toy Story 3” made in its second weekend (a solid showing)
  • $41M the amount Adam Sandler’s “Grown Ups” opened with (OK, not great)
  • $27M the amount Tom Cruise’s “Knight & Day” made – over FIVE freaking days source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Mar 2010 10:13

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Culture: “Battlefield Earth” scribe apologizes for writing worst movie ever

  • OK dude, but that still doesn’t get us our refund! In today’s New York Post, J.D. Shapiro apologizes for the mess of a movie that is Battlefield Earth (a.k.a. Travolta’s Waterloo). He notes that he had written it in a different way than it had been portrayed (with Travolta calling it, we spit you not, “The Schindler’s List of sci-fi”), but many changes were forced upon the film due to John Travolta’s influence. (Apparently L. Ron Hubbard kept a lot of notes.) In other news, Scientology is a cult. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Mar 2010 10:14

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Culture: Is Scientology abusive? Tons of former members say yes

  • Why did we work so hard for this organization, and why did it feel so wrong in the end? We just didn’t understand.
  • Christie King Collbran • Regarding her decision to leave Scientology, specifically its elite Sea Organization. Collbran and others claim that the organization was abusive, forced them to work long hours for little pay, and kept them in a climate of fear. They aren’t alone – there are thousands of anti-Scientology Web sites out there, and some celebrities are even quitting the religion as a result of the claims, such as Oscar-winner Paul Haggis, who reportedly came to the conclusion that the claims of abuse must be true. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Oct 2009 09:28

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World: France nails Scientology for being shady and fraudulent

  • No one recruited or sold for their own benefit, it was all for the organization. It is more expedient to punish with a large fine and by alerting future members with widespread publication of the ruling.
  • Judge Sophie-Helene Chateau • Reading the decision to fine The Scientology Celebrity Center and another bookshop €650,000 euros (or $967,890) for fraud. The church’s French leader, Alain Rosenberg, was fined €30,000 and given a suspended two-year sentence for his part in the fraud. The claim was that the church was forcing its members to buy unnecessary items like vitamins, essentially turning them into the cult version of Amway. Anonymous is gonna have a field day with this. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 May 2009 20:38

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Culture, Tech: Scientologists looking to game Wikipedia can no longer do so

  • Wikipedia banned the group after a hard-fought war of edits. Yesterday, the tribal council – a.k.a. the site’s arbitration council – decided to ban the religion and many members associated with it, due to a high number of self-serving edits. The money-laden religion, which claims that humans are reincarnations who lived on other planets, often gets criticized for supposedly bilking its members of their lifesavings. We personally think Tom Cruise should be making movies instead of editing his Wikipedia entry, personally. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
 
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