On Monday we discussed Chick Corea and how such a jazz great seems destined to be among the very last to give up his superhuman dreams under the influence of L. Ron Hubbard and the Church of Scientology.
But these days, the signs of desperation among the bitter-enders hanging on as Scientology crumbles are coming fast. We wanted to point out three items that caught our eye yesterday, thanks to our various correspondents around the country.
First, you just have to soak up this performance by David Pomeranz as he spent time busking in Times Square for the church. Pomeranz is a Freedom Medal winner. He’s got He was nominated for an Emmy. His work was recorded by Freddie friggin’ Mercury, for Xenu’s sake. But look at the manic look in his eye and the croaking gack coming out of him like he’s going to attack the passersby until they take a goddamn flier for a free personality test (or whatever the white-shirted staffers are handing out behind him).
And then he finishes with his big pitch: “We’re the Church of Scientology. We make dreams come true.”
Did you actually dream of this, DP? Scaring the tourists as a last-ditch effort at body routing?
One of our Los Angeles tipsters, meanwhile, managed to catch this rare glimpse of one of Scientology’s most secretive and most consequential executives. If you’re one of thousands of former Scientologists who can’t talk to a parent, or a child, or a sibling because of the church’s toxic policy of “disconnection,” then you know this man’s name.
He’s Mike Ellis, Scientology’s “International Justice Chief,” and he enforces the rule that splits apart families and keeps them separated. If you ever hope to see your loved one again, it’s Mike Ellis that you need to get permission from.
We’re happy to see that Mike is using such an enlightened form of transportation in car-obsessed Los Angeles. We give him props for that. But we wonder if he could actually look someone like Sara Goldberg in the eye and tell her that she’s never going to see her daughter Ashley again.
Will he really be able to keep so many families apart to the bitter end, as Scientology collapses? We have to wonder.
And third, well, the third is something that we’re really trying to come to grips with. If you’ve been with us for some time, you know that Scientology is addicted to the notion of making the next big push that will finally turn it into a booming concern. Church leader David Miscavige swore that the “Ideal Orgs” would cause a land rush of new members. Then Scientologists were told that the empty Ideal Orgs weren’t properly staffed. If they could just add enough workers, then the customers would come. More recently, what is going to save Scientology is a new media center in Los Angeles that will boom the church’s message to every corner of the world.
None of it, of course, has stopped the inevitable slide of Scientology into oblivion.
But now, well, now, they have the answer. Scientology’s Hail Mary is coming next week, and it’s going to be a monster. Scientology is back, baby. And it’s all because of…
Battlefield Earth
Sure, the 2000 movie made by John Travolta was, the New York Times said, perhaps the worst movie of the new century, predicting that it would be pretty tough for anything worse to come out in the subsequent 100 years.
But the book! The book that L. Ron Hubbard released in 1982 while he was in hiding from process servers. Now that’s a work. A thousand pages of manly adventure in the year 3000.
Yesterday, we posted something Pete Griffiths found at Facebook, which suggests that Scientology is mobilizing its troops to game Amazon for the new Galaxy Press “First Edition” of the 34-year-old book…
And reader Mirele revealed that a campaign is definitely under way…
Because I have nothing better to do with my time, I noticed there have been 450 reviews (out of 1480ish) of Battlefield Earth posted to Amazon over the last eight days (May 31 to June 7-today). Pretty much all of them are five-star. I also noticed that Galaxy Press is publishing a new edition on June 14, 2016, as in one week. This is all so transparent.
Yes it is.
But honestly, Battlefield Earth? This is the answer to Scientology’s problems?
UPDATE: We have a sad coda to the Battlefield Earth news. Here’s a video of Emily Jones, daughter of Phil and Willie Jones of “Call Me” Billboard fame, being interviewed by some moron about the upcoming book launch…
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Going Ideal in Hungary
Peter Bonyai tells us that the delayed Ideal Org opening in Budapest is going to happen “in a few weeks,” and with a publicity campaign run by the new Scientology Media Productions unit that recently opened in Los Angeles. At his blog, Peter wrote…
Our sources say that they do not have a certificate of occupancy due to “gross incompetence on the part of the Church and the general contractor,” and that’s why they can’t announce a date yet. Zoltán Soós, a Freedom Medal Winner and one of the leading figures of the “Ideal Org Project,” posted the following plan on Facebook:
— they intend to complete the fundraising for the media campaign by selling the special leatherbound Dianetics books (it is almost completed, only a few books are left out of the original 500.
— the newly opened Scientology Media Productions will create and run a campaign when the org is opened. Apparently it will be the first org-related campaign this new entity is doing and it will be based on the surveys conducted in Budapest by Hungarian Scientologists.
— new public will swarm the org, looking for answers.Knowing the Church, #1 will be certainly completed. The rest? Not so sure.
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Bonus items from our tipsters
A Los Angeles reader sent us this picture with the caption, “Scientology is my fucking polling place. Big Blue, in particular.”
And other voters were equally amused and perplexed by the location of their polling place and posted photos…
Canada, are you ready for the Dianetics RV? Can we get it to drag race the Oscar Mayer weinermobile?
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Posted by Tony Ortega on June 8, 2016 at 07:00
E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
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
