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Is it that time of year again already? Tonight, Scientology puts on its annual celebration of SF and Fantasy, the Writers of the Future gala. The celebration will anoint this year’s winners in writing and illustration, who are also featured in another year’s anthology (see right).
Once again, leading lights of speculative fiction will pretend that this is not Scientology’s attempt to burnish its image through the imprimatur of the likes of Orson Scott Card and Larry Niven. Over the years, some writers have wondered about the veracity of assurances they got from the Sea Org executives running the event that it was separate and independent of the church itself. And since so many stories about the dystopic world of Scientology workers came to light in the last several years, those questions were getting more pointed. Continue reading Sunday Funnies: The Writers of the Future and more success stories!
In 2005, two Cuban workers showed up in the town of Willemstad, on the island of Curaçao in the Caribbean, and said they had escaped hellish conditions at a nearby drydock facility, where they’d been held for years. A third worker had made his own escape from the drydock a few months earlier.
One of the three men had worked at the facility a decade. The other two had arrived in 2001 and 2002. They said that they, along with about a hundred other men, were forced into the jobs as part of a deal to pay off Cuba’s debt to the Curaçao Drydock Company. After they had arrived, their passports were seized and they had been working 112 hours a week and under dangerous conditions for only about three cents an hour. The rest of the $6.90 an hour they were supposed to be earning went to pay off Cuba’s debt. Continue reading Why is Scientology’s cruise ship caught up in a lawsuit about human slavery?
David Edgar Love and two other former patients of a Canadian drug rehab facility run by Scientology’s front group, Narconon, have won a stunning victory from Quebec’s human rights commission.
More than three years after Love complained about the way he was treated as a patient and employee of the Narconon Trois-Rivières facility (now closed), the Quebec Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse has produced a scathing finding of fact that Narconon did violate Love’s human rights. Continue reading VERDICT: Scientology’s Quebec rehab facility violated human rights of David Love and 2 others
 Jonny Jacobsen Our man in Paris, Jonny Jacobsen, has a detailed report for us about one of the groups making noise about a European effort to crack down on “sects” that harm children. It’s a timely report, as a debate will be broadcast live about the issue today from Strasbourg — and Jonny’s provided us with a live link to listen in. Campaigners are fighting a European initiative to protect children from the excesses of “sects,” arguing that it attacks religious freedom. But not all of them have been clear about who they are — and what stake they have in the issues up for debate. Continue reading Is a Scientology front group among those fighting a European effort against ‘sects’?
Nick Rogers called us from Austin with a report of what happened today in the Texas Third Court of Appeals as three justices wrestled with the question of whether Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige should be deposed in Monique Rathbun’s harassment lawsuit.
In December, Comal County judge Dib Waldrip ruled that Monique could depose Miscavige about his role in what the Church of Scientology has already admitted to — spending years to surveil her and her husband Marty Rathbun with the use of private investigators and other operatives. Continue reading Appeals court: Would deposing Scientology’s leader violate Texas law?
Monique Rathbun’s harassment lawsuit against the Church of Scientology and its leader, David Miscavige, moves to a new venue today as oral arguments are heard at the Texas Third Court of Appeals in Austin.
We’ll have several observers on hand as the proceedings begin at 1:30 pm, local time. At issue today is Comal County Judge Dib Waldrip’s decision that Monique Rathbun should get to depose Miscavige for jurisdictional reasons (Miscavige is arguing that he shouldn’t be a party to the lawsuit because, he claims, he does no business in Texas and had nothing to do with Scientology’s surveillance of Monique and her husband Marty Rathbun over the last several years). Continue reading Monique Rathbun in court as appeals panel considers proposed David Miscavige deposition
 Mike Bennitt Last night, we showed you surprising tax documents in which the Church of Scientology was forced to estimate the “book value” of some of its many entities. Three of those entities alone (CSI, CST, and FSO) came to nearly $1.5 billion. Why does Scientology, a tiny organization with maybe 30,000 worldwide members at this point, have so much money? As we told you yesterday, having tax exempt status for more than 20 years, combined with paying workers pennies an hour, allows Scientology to amass stunning wealth. Which is why it has the ability to run so many retaliation campaigns against its perceived enemies with the use of private investigators and attorneys — a practice it has now fully admitted to in court records submitted in a Texas lawsuit. We have another example of that kind of operation today. Continue reading Mike Bennitt shares with us a creepy e-mail he received after filming Scientology events
The Underground Bunker has copies of some stunning documents that were just released by our old friend, Jeff “OTVIIIisgrrr8!” Augustine. They are 990-T returns for the 2011 tax year submitted by the Church of Scientology International and the Church of Spiritual Technology, and they show that CSI and CST — which are just two of Scientology’s many entities — have a combined book value of $1.2 billion.
Since 1993, Scientology has had tax-exempt status, and your tax dollars — your IRS — has helped the church amass huge wealth. Scientology puts constant pressure on its members to donate huge amounts, it pays its workers pennies an hour because it is exempt from labor laws, and the result are these incredible amounts. SEE UPDATES below for explanations of the revenue figures in these documents and for a statement by Mike Rinder, Scientology’s former spokesman. First, here’s the Church of Scientology International’s 2011 tax form, which shows in the upper left of the first page that its book value was $790,758,896. Continue reading SHOCK DOX: Scientology’s 2011 book value for just two of its entities is $1.2 billion
Last May, we told you about a slim volume of home-spun tales by a retired musician remembering his 1940s childhood in rural Pennsylvania.
What made that book, True Confessions of a Kid, remarkable, however, was that it was written by Ron Miscavige, father to Scientology leader David Miscavige, and a man who literally had to escape from Scientology’s secretive International Base in California in 2012. We broke the news of Ron’s escape from Scientology, and we’re still waiting to hear the man tell his story of souring on his son’s organization. Instead, Ron put out a book of childhood yarns. And now, he’s done it again. In Hideouts for Midgets on the Lam and other totally disrelated stories, we are told again about what it was like to grow up in Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania, where coal was king, and where young Ron began playing trumpet professionally in bars at only 13. Continue reading Hideouts for Scientologists on the lam: Another book from Ron Miscavige
It’s time for Sunday Funnies, when we take a look at the Scientology mailers and fliers that our tipsters send us from around the world.
As Scientology withers (see yesterday’s dire news about that if you haven’t already), we can’t help being very curious about which poor souls are still taking part and putting on a good face about all of the pressure to donate money. As always, we’d love to hear more about the people you see in these fliers. If you recognize someone, let us know. Continue reading Scientology Sunday Funnies: Sydney nears its big day, and Silicon Valley is in high gear!
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