Volume 0, Issue 37 vom 7. 1. 1996

Alt.religion.scientology Week in Review
Volume 0, Issue 37
01/07/96
by Rod Keller [rkeller@voicenet.com]
copyright 1996

Contents

  1. Theta.com
  2. AOL Games
  3. Colorado Response
  4. Critic Forgeries
  5. Colorado Schedule
  6. Copyright Registrations
  7. Fusedon606
  8. Juliette Lewis
  9. New Years Bash
  10. Serial Killer
  11. Newkid
  12. Las Vegas Pickets
  13. Diner Story

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 the articles. 
Many include an excerpt, and all include message IDs for the articles I
cover. This may or may not be useful to you, depending on how long your
site stores articles in the newsgroup before expiring them. 

Free A.r.s Week in Review subscriptions are available, just email me at 
rkeller@voicenet.com
It is archived at:
        http://www.amazing.com/scientology/ars-summary.html
        http://users.aimnet.com/~jdiver/scieno.htm
        http://www.thur.de/religio/publik/arsfaq.html
        http://wpxx02.toxi.uni-wuerzburg.de/~krasel/CoS/ars-summary.html

#####

Theta.com

A list of accounts and domain names registered with theta.com was posted this week. It contained some interesting entries. "Allcock, John (JA581) fearm_admin@THETA.COM FEAR MOVIES 7051 Hollywood Blvd. Suite 460 Los Angeles, CA 90028 213-466-3318 "Buffington, Steve (SB816) mpe_admin@THETA.COM L. RON HUBBARD COLLECTIBLES 7095 Hollywood Blvd. #695 Los Angeles, CA 90028 213-466-6189 "Johnson, Rev. Alfrede (RAJ5) worldlit@THETA.COM World Literacy Crusade 1170 1/2 Atlantic Ave. Lynwood, CA 90262 (213)960-3530 "RTS MOVIES (REVOLTINTHESTARSFILM-DOM) 7051 Hollywood Blvd. Suite 530 Los Angeles, CA 90028 Administrative Contact: Ruiz, Javier (JR880) risf_admin@THETA.COM 213-466-8005 Technical Contact, Zone Contact: Elrod, David H. (DHE2) dhelrod@RIVENDELL.COM (415) 326-0562 Message-ID: <4ce9i8$n8t@garlic.com> #####

AOL Games

Tilman Hausherr has been posting to AOL. Messages critical of the cult have been deleted by AOL staff, so Tilman has been posting positive messages. "Hi. Post your wins with scientology here. Remember: if you terminate a course, you have to write a success story, or you will be questioned, because it means that you have a M/U, an evil purpose, a missed withhold, or whatever. So if you don't want to get in trouble: win, win, win ! "Tilman Chairman of the ARS nutrition subcommittee 'rice and beans is not a healthy and balanced diet'" Message-ID: <4cd2oc$ccn@newsbf02.news.aol.com> #####

Colorado Response

The Daily Camera in Boulder, CO published a letter on Jan. 1st from Wendy Beccaccini. Wendy is from the LA org. Incredibly, Wendy implies that the cult is actually helping Larry by fixing many computer "flaws". "Your article stated that the judge ordered the church to return 'all original computer materials' seized from Larry Wollersheim and Bob Penny in a court-ordered raid in August. Judge Kane ordered that all seized computer copies of the church's unpublished scriptures are not to be returned. "In ordering that some of the church's scriptures be returned to Wollersheim -- whose possession of them was illegal in the first place -- the judge applied the wrong standards. He ignored the Religious Freedom Restoration Act which was enacted in Congress in 1993 specifically to supersede and remedy the flaws in the Supreme Court ruling that he cited. "In the report, Wollersheim also made unfounded statements about the church's treatment of his computer equipment and files. Not mentioned was that at the church's suggestion, Judge Kane appointed a computer expert to examine Wollersheim's computer and files, and return them to him in operable condition. The church is paying half the costs of this computer expert. "As a result, Wollersheim will receive his equipment back in far better shape than before the seizure; additionally, many of the computer flaws for which Wollersheim has blamed the church have been found by the court-appointed special master to be created by Wollersheim himself." Message-ID: <4c9vfk$6d3@newsbf02.news.aol.com> #####

Critic Forgeries

In the wake of several forgeries by the cult of articles supposedly by Steven Fishman, more forgeries appeared on a.r.s this week. One was forged under the name "Cory Brennan". "When I took my free personality test, I was, well, how should I put this, under-endowed. I had a 34 A bra size. But due to Scientology, I have been able to increase my bra size to a 39 D. "I used the OT materials to do this. I communicated to my breasts. I confirmed that my communications were received. And now my breasts are larger, firmer, than you could believe. Message-ID: <01HZJKUPGJEQ8WWF6T@Ymir.Claremont.Edu> #####

Colorado Schedule

A court filing dated Nov. 17th was posted this week. I've extracted just a few lines which provide anticipated dates for the case between the cult and FACTnet. "Joinder of Parties must take place by January 5, 1996. "Amended Pleadings must be filed no later than June 15, 1996. "The Discovery Cut-Off-Date is May 31, 1996. If additional parties are added and require more time for discovery, a motion to amend the Discovery Cut-Off-Date must be made. "The deadline for Dispositive Motions is June 15, 1996. "Depositions of any witnesses not taken or completed prior to December 20, 1995 will be scheduled between February 15, 1996 and May 1, 1996, unless an earlier time is stipulated to between the parties. "The parties will disclose the names of their expert witnesses by March 15, 1996. Expert depositions must be taken and reports prepared by May 31, 1995. The Court will permit an extension of the May 31, 1995, deadline if need is shown due to scheduling problems with experts. "John L. Kane, Jr. Senior United States District Judge" Message-ID: <ckvVZMa00YUrENa7J5@andrew.cmu.edu> #####

Copyright Registrations

Jeff Jacobsen posted a summary of faxed copyright documents from Steve Fishman. The documents show the haste with which the cult registered the OT materials in order to raid and sue Arnie Lerma. "Steve Fishman faxed me copies of US Copyright Office form TX for OT4-7. They are dated August 10, 1995, assigned to Church of Spiritual Technology, and signed by Janet Kobrin. Registrations numbers are; "OTIV TXu 690-902 OTV TXu 690-899 OTVI TXu 690-906 OTVII TXu 690-904 "They each are stamped 'special relief granted under 202.20(d) of the C.O. reg.' Each also has a note 'added by CO authority phone conversation 8-21-95 with Ms. Allison Fine, agent for the Church of Spiritual Technology.'" Message-ID: <4cabv6$l2j@nnrp1.news.primenet.com> #####

Fusedon606

The identity of Fusedon606, a frequent critic of Larry Wollersheim, was revealed this week. Joe Harrington wrote: "FUSEDon606 is a guy by the name of Dennis Brodsky. Lawrence Wollersheim has lectured at meetings of Urantia book readers to caution them about the nature of cults and his view that some aspects of the Urantia movement were becoming cultic in nature. "Wollersheim's activities regarding Urantia were discovered from the OSA search of the files following the August 95 raid. This is apparently how they came across Brodsky's name and recruited him for his current black propaganda campaign. "Brodsky is not a Scientologist and reportedly he has alienated many Urantia people in his area. Should Brodsky fail to respond to my questions about OSA connections, I will consider posting his earlier replies to me, and the response I received from Wollersheim about who Dennis really is." Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.91.960104125414.7889C-100000@server.nlbbs.com> #####

Juliette Lewis

The supermarket tabloid The Globe published a story on the cult recruitment activities of actress Juliette Lewis. "Recently the 22-year-old actress was overheard singing the praises of the religion to Basketball Diaries star Leonard DiCaprio. "'They were at a restaurant with some friends and Juliette was telling them about it', says a witness. 'Leonard seemed really blown away with it'. "Insiders say Juliette is a new recruit to the belief whose members include Tom Cruise, John Travolta, and Lisa Marie Presley. 'When she joined, they had her go out and find three other people to join', says a source. "'When those three join, your membership fees are waived, like with a pyramid scheme'." Message-ID: <4c9u5t$a05@clarknet.clark.net> #####

New Years Bash

The proceedings of the New Years event at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles were posted this week. Keith Spurgeon wrote: "Miscavige begins to speak- he immediately launches into an attack against lies, liars, and the tech of how to get to the bottom of lies; he says that the culprits for the 'lies' are the 'whole track psychs'. Miscavige does not get into any more detail about it; this is the most interesting speech I've ever seen Miscavige give in an event- I've never seen Miscavige look paranoid or scared, although most watching probably didn't have the same impression that I did. "The statistical growth of Scientology is presented throughout the event by Church bigwigs such as Marc Yager, Ray Mithoff, Ronnie Miscavige, Guillaume Leserve, etc. Even Heber Jentzsch makes a speech, which is enlightening only to the extent that it reveals Heber's mental condition. Too many laps around the pole, I guess. "The stats that were cited this year as signs of Church expansion were all pretty lame: Missions, Groups, and Orgs were combined into one statistic, for example. The problem is that any time two people get together and do auditing outside of the Church (like to do Dianetics -Book 1- auditing at a seminar, that could constitute a group). "Heber's classic comment of the night went something like this: 'There are some deep dark areas of this planet where only uttering the name L. Ron Hubbard will guarantee you safe passage, because LRH's name COMMANDS RESPECT!!!' Go figure where he was talking about... RPF!!?? Apparently, the Colombian Army is being trained in the Way to Happiness. Marty Salo reported from the event itself. "I was at a scientology new years eve 'bash' and I was listening to Miscavige talk about exciting new things, just 'discovered' from the LRH archives, a few of them were letters written by the man which urged different treatment of criminals. Claims about how 'the path to true happiness' (a scientology book?) was being taught to prison inmates in one Alabama prison system, and how recidivism (repeat crimes) in that city in Alabama has been reduced to next to nothing. "Also, I think there was a 'LRH the musician' also recently released." Message-ID: <4ca6b7$idk_001@DIAL.NET.NYU.EDU> Message-ID: <Pine.A32.3.91.960102163503.53742C-100000@hopi.gate.net> #####

Serial Killer

Tilman Hausherr posted a follow-up to the story of a serial killer in Germany with cult connections. "[S]cientology was investigated because CCHR had contact with the serial killer and another inmate (articles were printed that showed how scientology 'investigates' psychiatric institutions, e.g. asking for names and schedules). "He turned himself in, a short time after the cops had busted his therapist, Tamar Segal. They had found out that she had about $500,000 in 10 bank accounts in Israel. She also fooled the magazine DER SPIEGEL, who had printed an interview with her shortly after his escape. "Scientology is OUT of it: the chief investigator said that the therapist had set a 'false evidence' in the direction of the cult. "[H]e says he had always planned to come back, and that he had only escaped to 'protest against psychiatry' and because he 'felt he would kill again'. This is not credible - he had drastically changed his look, and had about $100,000 in his pocket." Message-ID: <30e7c664.8324323@news.snafu.de> #####

Newkid

Jan Pieter Mante (aka Snorri Helgarsson aka Newkid) posted an update regarding his legal situation. He was fired by the U.S. Embassy in the Netherlands following an elaborate plan to embarrass the cult in a secrets-selling arrangement. "In the coming month I will initiate a legal procedure against the American Embassy in The Hague, during which I will contest my dismissal as well as procedural aspects pertaining to the investigation conducted by the Regional Security Office, in this matter. Given that: "New and solid evidence is pointing at the fact that Frank Marshall was neither a PI working for Moxon nor a State Department Security Investigator. That his identity is not corresponding to that of Frank Marshall. "I will demand: full reinstatement in my previous position. compensation for damages suffered. "Further I will sue the Church of Scientology for damages suffered resulting from inaccurate information supplied to both the Dutch Press as to my employer. Complaint will be filled against both the CoS Amsterdam as against some individual's therein. "I will demand compensation for damages suffered, rectification statements made to the press, in particular there where other's became falsly implicated." Message-ID: <4cj96l$d9@enterprise.cistron.nl> #####

Las Vegas Pickets

Ted Mayett continues his picketing of the Las Vegas org. He has begun placing ads in the Las Vegas Review Journal and USA Today. "Las Vegas Review Journal- 12/19/95, 1/1/96. Classifieds, Personals. "The ads should be scanned in soon. I may also be scanning it into USA Today." In several posts, he described the reaction to his pickets. "One guy came out and actually smirked at me for about 15 minutes. Another guy came out and joined him and the two of them pointed at me and laughed loudly for a while, all the while talking low so I could not hear them. This went on for about 20 minutes total. When one of them leaves in his car he flashed the brights in my face a few times, with a real big smile on the face. It seems they are getting bolder, they have been coming out for smokes lately. None of the staff have yet to speak to me." "Today a male about 40 yrs. came out and tried to engage me in silly conversation. Something about a bicycle. When he first came out and smiled expansively and said hello I stepped up my pace. With the roar of traffic we could only say a few words each time as I passed him. He was on the porch of the building. Eventually he asked about Larry and the money. I then asked him if he was staff. He said no. "I cross six lanes of traffic to get to my car. When I got there I looked back at the building and two of them were moving the yellow dianetics sign next to a pole right on the street. This pole has the sign bus stop on it. It looks like they left me a small gap between the pole and the sign for my marching. I'll have the police move the sign out of my path. I'm sure there are laws against blocking a city street with a billboard." Message-ID: <4cgvp9$elr@news.skylink.net> Message-ID: <4cieuv$hqb@news.skylink.net> Message-ID: <4ckee5$mi0@news.skylink.net> #####

Diner Story

A personal story was posted this week by Ivan Gowch. It describes an incident he observed near the Toronto org. "She was an attractive blonde in her early- to late-20s and, it soon became clear, a COS recruiter from across the street. He was a well-dressed business type pushing 30 and, it appeared, a loser. Pudgy and overweight, with pronounced jowls under his hairless chin and a head of thinning black hair hurrying to catch up, his slack moon-face bore the unmistakable mark of the Lonely Guy. "In a fading accent I thought was German but could have been Swiss or something similar, he told her about his strained and unfulfilling relationship with his parents. "Then she interrupted. How much did he say he earned in a year? He answered the question, then continued to recount his friendless childhood, his agonizing days as the butt of his schoolmates' jibes. "A couple of minutes later, she interrupted again. Did his employer pay him weekly, biweekly or monthly? He told her, then continued his narrative, describing his one and only love affair that, naturally, ended unhappily, and his failure to find anyone else who would love him and the despair he was feeling at the prospect of living a loveless life. "How many bank accounts did he have, she wanted to know, and how much money did he have in his savings account? Did he have any other sources of income? she asked. And what about stocks, bonds and mutual funds? And, oh yes, what kind of increase in earnings could he expect next year? If his Scientology auditing cost more than he expected, could he get a bank loan to pay for it? "This went on for about a half-hour. He unburdened himself of all the miseries of his sad existence, while she systematically drew from him a detailed blueprint of his finances and economic prospects. "I remember standing up and screaming at him what a jerk he was and couldn't he see that all she wanted from him was his money, and what kind of predatory, faithless bitch she must be to try to rip off this poor schmuck and ... and ... "Both the predator and her victim looked at me in shocked disbelief like I was some psychotic whose pills had run out and was babbling about transistors in his head." Message-ID: <DKJwwt.D54.0.queen@torfree.net>