Time again for Rod Keller’s Scientology Social Media Review! Rod’s well known for his indispensable “ARS Week in Review,” which ran for nine years when ARS — the Usenet newsgroup alt.religion.scientology — was the most important daily source for Scientology news. More recently, Rod has made a specialty of hunting down the odd and wonderful things Scientologists post to social media. Rod is a chronicler who piece by piece builds a highly detailed assessment of what Scientology is doing around the world, and this is what he found for us this week…
Freedom Medal winner and Scientology attorney Tim Bowles has been traveling in Liberia this week with Youth For Human Rights activist Joseph Yarsiah. The pair raised over $25,000 on Gofundme to pay for the trip, which is promoting L. Ron Hubbard’s study tech methods to fight illiteracy in that country.
Scientologists Gracia Bennish, Paula Gutiererz and Gladys Jourdain met with representatives from the Miami Hispanic community this week to deliver literature from the front group United for Human Rights. Below, with Erika Marcano and Gianfranco Napolitano from Doral News.
Miami Commissioners Wilfredo Gort and Frank Castaneda
Ana Maria Pineres from the Colombian-American Chamber of Commerce.
Omar Lopez Montenegro of the Cuban American National Foundation.
Malorie Bournazian and Kathryn Faull from the Miss San Joaquin County pageant were among the visitors to the Foundation for a Drug-Free World tent at the “Stockton is Magnificent” event at Delta College in Stockton, California. Attendees were urged to sign the Scientology drug-free pledge.
Impressionist Jim Meskimen will be performing next week at the Sacramento Ideal Org to raise money for the International Association of Scientologists. The org has also recently launched an advertising campaign at area gas stations.
Scientology promoted the book Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard this week at the Public Library Association convention in Denver, Colorado.
Director Eric Sherman will hold a Scientology recruiting effort disguised as a seminar for aspiring actors at the Celebrity Centre International in Hollywood on April 20th. The Internet Movie Database does not show that he directed Arnold Schwarzenegger, Olivia Newton-John or Cindy Crawford. His only dramatic credit as a director is the 1991 film College Kickboxers starring Ken McLeod and Tak-Wing Tang.
London Scientologist Tonie Pepperstreet needs money for a football tournament for the Foundation for a Drug-Free World.
I am hosting a Drug Free London Football Tournament this year. The London Football Association have ensured that I get a huge discount for the pitch hire – but I need to come up with £1,500 IMMEDIATELY to secure the pitches.
I have used up money which I was going to use for an intensive so I can pay for the pitch hire – so it would be wonderful if we could all work together and chip in what ever you can donate. Please leave any donations with Kate Wakley / Susan Chalmers and Mauro Calcioli* at the the reg office – I have a donation pot there. As you can imagine the regs are a little pissed off with me as promised them I would pay for an intensive but have used my Int money for the pitch hire.
Last year I had London FA on board and special guests, Mayor of Lambeth and Chief Borough Commander at my football tournament.
[*Mauro Calcioli is fantasy/sci-fi superstar Neil Gaiman’s brother-in-law.]
Catherine Cros and other French Scientologists traveled to Lille, France this week to distribute literature for the Foundation for a Drug-Free world, and enjoyed a snack of Belgian waffles.
This week the Scientology front groups Foundation for a Drug-Free World and Youth for Human Rights held the “Anti-Drug Cup” beauty contest in Mérida, Venezuela.
A new Applied Scholastics school opened this week in Kiev, Ukraine. The new “Logos” school joins locations in Odessa and Dnepropetrovsk in teaching English to young Ukrainians.
The new Hongo, Tokyo mission held a seminar on Narconon and the Purification Rundown. Missions in Hongo, Nagoya and Nagano have been established since the opening of the Tokyo Ideal Org in August, 2015.
Scientology Missions International (SMI) held a convention in the Moscow Ideal Org to promote the establishment of new missions in Russian-speaking countries.
— Rod Keller
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Writers of the Future live streaming!
Well, we did our part. Back in 2012 we laid out in detail why science fiction writers who have any concern at all about the violence and psychological abuse that Scientology’s Sea Org workers are subject to should think twice about taking part in Scientology’s annual wet kiss to writers and illustrators.
But as long as Scientology is throwing obscene amounts of money at a field that usually starves, our revelations aren’t stopping the usual suspects from having their yearly shindig.
We plan to check in on the livecast tonight at some point, to see if there’s more of that funky interpretive dance going on.
Festivities begin at 6:30 Pacific time at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on April 10, 2016 at 07:00
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Our book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information about the book, and our 2015 book tour, can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts
Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | Scientology boasts about assistance from Google | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield
