JURY AWARDS $11 MILLION OVER DEATH OF SCIENTOLOGY REHAB PATIENT

[Attorney Gavin Long]

We talked earlier today with Newport Beach attorney H. Gavin Long, who was understandably chuffed about beating Scientology’s drug rehab network, Narconon, after a 12-day trial in Santa Cruz, California.

“It was great. It felt great for 12 days. From beginning to end it was just a beating,” he says.

Continue reading JURY AWARDS $11 MILLION OVER DEATH OF SCIENTOLOGY REHAB PATIENT

Scientology’s cruise ship and kids: Raped on the Freewinds at 12

[Joey Chait as a teenager on a Freewinds excursion]

When Joey Chait saw the news about Scientology’s cruise ship the Freewinds blow up, he knew it was time to come forward with something he’s never told anyone before, not even his own parents.

Continue reading Scientology’s cruise ship and kids: Raped on the Freewinds at 12

Scientology and Nation of Islam figure picks worst week to rail against measles vaccine

Rizza Islam picked the worst possible time to go on tour spreading misinformation about vaccines used to prevent the spread of measles.

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Report: Post-Danny Masterson, Netflix series ‘The Ranch’ will end with 4th season

[Ashton Kutcher’s friend T.J. Jefferson, right, announced the news]

In January, Sam Elliott seemed to indicate that the fourth season of the Netflix series The Ranch would be its last, but then he walked it back a bit.

Now, T.J. Jefferson, longtime personal assistant to actor Ashton Kutcher, has posted evidence confirming that season four’s final episode will be the show’s last.

Continue reading Report: Post-Danny Masterson, Netflix series ‘The Ranch’ will end with 4th season

Media and authorities should focus on the real horrors of Scientology’s Freewinds

[Valeska Paris, on a ship going nowhere]

In 2011, we first told the story of Valeska Paris, who was sent to Scientology’s Freewinds cruise ship in 1996 at 18 in order to keep her away from her mother, who had criticized Scientology on French television. She served on the ship for 11 years without any choice in the matter, and she characterizes herself as a prisoner.

Continue reading Media and authorities should focus on the real horrors of Scientology’s Freewinds

Scientology measles ship back in Curaçao, which talks tough about quarantine

Scientology’s floating cathedral the MV Freewinds arrived in Willemstad, Curaçao this morning after leaving St. Lucia Thursday, where the ship had been in quarantine because of a crew member with a confirmed case of measles. Officials in Curaçao said they would quarantine the vessel, board the ship, demand vaccination records of the crew and passengers, and vaccinate anyone who couldn’t provide proof that they had already been immunized.

Continue reading Scientology measles ship back in Curaçao, which talks tough about quarantine

Scientology measles ship Freewinds ditches St. Lucia quarantine for Curaçao, its home port

[Marine tracking website shows the Freewinds sailing west from St. Lucia just after midnight]

St. Lucia officials quarantined Scientology’s floating cathedral, the Freewinds, on Monday morning, and word from health officials was that the measles case on board would require 21 days of no passengers disembarking. But they also admitted that they had no power to keep the ship from sailing away.

Continue reading Scientology measles ship Freewinds ditches St. Lucia quarantine for Curaçao, its home port

What it’s like on the Scientology measles ship right now, according to former crew

We had a pretty exciting afternoon yesterday, helping to figure out that the measles ship quarantined in the Caribbean country of St. Lucia was, in fact, Scientology’s floating cathedral, the 440-foot Freewinds.

Continue reading What it’s like on the Scientology measles ship right now, according to former crew

CONFIRMED: Scientology’s ‘Freewinds’ is the ship quarantined for measles in St. Lucia

[UPDATE: Please see our follow up with interviews of former Freewinds crew members about what conditions aboard the ship are probably like right now.]

[NOTE: When we posted this story at 2 pm Eastern on Wednesday, we strongly suspected but couldn’t confirm that the measles ship was the Freewinds. Now, NBC is reporting that St. Lucia’s Coast Guard has confirmed that the Freewinds is the ship that is quarantined.]

Continue reading CONFIRMED: Scientology’s ‘Freewinds’ is the ship quarantined for measles in St. Lucia

Scientology staffers: Putting up with chaos and hardships as they hope for promised OT powers

David Miscavige announced recently that the new “Advanced Org” in South Africa has been deemed “Saint Hill Size.” That made us think of a piece Sunny Pereira wrote for us about her stint in the “Universe Corps,” the special troops that were the promised reward for taking your org to that mythic level. We thought you’d enjoy her account of parachuting into a foreign country in chaos to deliver super powers to a starving crew.

Continue reading Scientology staffers: Putting up with chaos and hardships as they hope for promised OT powers

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