Rod Keller has a couple of different dispatches from correspondents for us this week…
There are many demands on a Scientologist’s time, even those that are not on staff at an org or mission. They need to come in for processing and training, there are big events such as this week’s IAS Anniversary in England, but also smaller events such as fundraisers or when representatives of the Freewinds or Flag Land Base come to visit. Far down the list are the “fourth dynamic” events involving information tents or protests against psychiatry. They vary in size and we have firsthand reports on two of them.
Suppose Scientology gave a protest and nobody came.
This week the 68th annual conference of the Canadian Psychiatric Association was held at a Toronto waterfront hotel and conference centre. CCHR put a call out to the troops to meet at 10 am. The “Psychiatry: An Industry of Death” van pulled up and a few people milled about. We figured there’d by a busload of Sea Orgers from the Guelph and Cambridge offices, but no. There were 10 people at most. They pulled on some special T-shirts, posed for pictures beside the van with their signs, then handed out little cards to the few passersby. One pedestrian tossed the card on the ground and Denis Simard bent over to retrieve it.
The protest signs were never used. The throngs of Scientologists never showed. Three middle-aged men handed out their little cards for an hour or so over at the ferry docks and had their photographer capture it for posterity. They went over to use the bathroom at Starbucks in the Toronto Star building and gave some little cards to the barista, who later told me that no, they weren’t to be handed out to customers.
There was a group of officers on bikes from the Toronto Police Community Response Unit at the meeting place at the corner of Yonge & Queens Quay. We assumed that it had been arranged by CCHR, but found later that they had no permit, and hadn’t alerted the police of their plan. Area businesses heard of the planned protest through social media, and had hired extra security and Toronto Police duty officers just in case.
We received a tip that the London org was planning a Scientology Volunteer Ministers event in Romford with the Scientology swing band Jive Aces and asked Mark Parry-Maddocks to pay a visit for this report.
The VM tent was tucked right away at the end of the main drag in Romford, a market-town just beyond the eastern edge of London. There were six or seven volunteers – a couple handing out leaflets while the rest lurked inside the tent. None of them seemed genuinely bursting to pass the Scientology gospel on to the few passers-by, and as there was no sign of the Jive Aces. I had a look at the book-table, which had a small selection of their “how-to” booklets and one copy of the big hardback Scientology Handbook from which they’re extracted, as well as flyers for the IAS gala charity concert. A pleasant if rather vague girl VM in her twenties with a slight French accent said the booklets were £5 each, the Handbook £75.
“Or would you like an Assist? that’s free” she asked, before making the oxymoronic statement that touch assists don’t work on the body but the nerves. When I said I had an aching back, she invited me to remove my shoes and coat and lie down on one of the two massage-tables provided, and then announced “I’m now starting the Assist.” I can’t say the Assist was very relaxing, as it involved a fairly firm massage of the spine, sides, and shoulders with much turning face-up and face-down.I was just taking a final look round when a lively West Indian lady VM I hadn’t spotted before called me over, not realising I’d already had my Assist. She was full of effusive praise for LRH, and asked if I’d ever read Dianetics. She started extolling the virtues of the Scientology Handbook and boasted that she had sent a presentation copy of it to the prime minister of her Caribbean homeland, and that this was all part of her mission as a newly-promoted “New Civilization Officer” at the London Org.
I almost forgot to ask about the Jive Aces before I left but a third VM claimed they had indeed put in a brief appearance earlier on. Where? There was not enough space for even a small stage that I could see. They had to dash because they’d only stopped off in Romford en route from London to Saint Hill, where they would be rehearsing for the IAS gala.
Having a well-attended street event seems to require two ingredients – a large number of local Scientologists and a celebrity. Last Saturday when Scientologist rapper Chill EB came to Mexico City for a CCHR protest at the International Congress of Psychology meeting Scientology delivered the numbers with at least 100 attendees. Scientology is growing in Mexico, unlike in Toronto and London.
Scientologists held signs blaming psychiatry for the suicide deaths of TV chef Anthony Bourdain, Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan and Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington.
How many Scientologists can we expect to attend the upcoming CCHR protest in Orlando? They have a large number of locals, with Tampa and Clearwater both within driving distance to support this recently opened Ideal Org. If they bring in a celebrity this could be a large protest. We’ll let you know how this event turns out.
— Rod Keller
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Scientology’s celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs’ — now with comments!
We’re building landing pages about two of David Miscavige’s favorite playthings, his celebrities and his ‘Ideal Orgs.’ We’re posting pages each day, and we’re hoping you’ll join in and help us gather as much information as we can about them, in order to build a record and maintain a watch as Scientology continues its inexorable decline — and yes, we finally have comments working on these new pages! Head on over and help us with links and photos and comments about all of your favorite celebrities and failing Ideal Orgs
Previously, we posted pages for celebrities Anne Archer, Beck Hansen, Catherine Bell, Chick Corea, Elisabeth Moss, Erika Christensen, Ethan Suplee, Giovanni Ribisi, Greta Van Susteren, Jenna Elfman, John Travolta, Juliette Lewis, Kelly Preston, Kirstie Alley, Laura Prepon, Marisol Nichols, Michael Peña, Nancy Cartwright, Tom Cruise Danny Masterson, Stanley Clarke, Edgar Winter, Alanna Masterson, Billy Sheehan, and Judy Norton-Taylor. And for the Ideal Orgs of Portland, Oregon; Sydney, Australia; San Diego, California; Denver, Colorado; Nashville, Tennessee; Perth, Australia; Tokyo, Japan; Sacramento, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Silicon Valley, California; Rome, Italy; Orlando, Florida; Moscow, Russia; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Seattle, Washington; Dallas, Texas; Melbourne, Australia; San Fernando Valley, California; Pasadena, California; Bogotá, Colombia; Budapest, Hungary; Phoenix, Arizona; London, England; Orange County, California; and Atlanta, Georgia.
Today it’s Terry Jastrow and Auckland, New Zealand!
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Bernie Headley has not seen his daughter Stephanie in 5,230 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 1,863 days
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 406 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 294 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 1,469 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 2,243 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,017 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 2,363 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 10,929 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 2,597 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 2,857 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 1,897 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 1,609 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,135 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 5,224 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 2,364 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 2,684 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 7,540 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 2,659 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,015 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 5,317 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 1,423 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 1,826 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 1,697 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 1,280 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 1,785 days.
Mary Jane Sterne has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,029 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,138 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on October 7, 2018 at 07:00
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