Leipzig Award



CNET News published an article on May 1st on the award of the Leipzig

Human Rights Award to Xenu.net creator Andreas Heldal-Lund.



"A critic of the Church of Scientology, Andreas Heldal-Lund, has received

a human rights award for maintaining his Web page despite repeated legal

attacks from church officials. Heldal-Lund, a Norwegian citizen who

operates the Operation Clambake Web site, is the fourth recipient of the

Leipzig Human Rights Award. Church of Scientology officials have tried to

silence Heldal-Lund by, among other things, asking Google and the Internet

archive site Archive.org to pull links to his site, claiming that material

on its pages violates church copyrights."



Message-ID: 3e471c14.0305011943.3198fb58@posting.google.com





Criminon



The East Grinstead Courier reported on March 7th that Criminon is planning

an evaluation of its programs with the University of Kent.



"Criminon, based in Lewes Road, runs a number of correspondence courses

for prisoners, and its work is to be evaluated by senior lecturer in law

at the University of Kent at Canterbury, Dr Deborah Cheney. 'We've been up

and running for seven years doing this,' said Criminon executive director

Susan Chalmers. 'We would very much like to take it to the next level,

which would be actually running courses inside prison. But to do that, you

need to have a proven success rate - and this work is very difficult to

evaluate.'



"She said the ideal way to research a programme like this would be to

evaluate the recidivism rates of people who have completed the Criminon

programme, in other words, working out how many Criminon 'graduates'

commit crimes after being released from prison. Dr Cheney's idea is to

look at the disciplinary records of prisoners, and see if there is any

improvement once a prisoner has begun the Criminon correspondence course.

'If this proves successful,' Mrs. Chalmers said, 'we can then move forward

to an in-house programme where it can then be evaluated for recidivism.'



"Criminon is part of an international organisation which uses the works of

L. Ron Hubbard to address the main factors behind offending. Programmes

are running in prisons in countries as diverse as South Africa, the USA,

Hungary, Israel and Mexico. 'Certainly in no way do we want it to be

solely staffed by scientologists,' she said. 'My goal is for the

organisation to eventually act like a sort of quality control, ensuring

that it is run with the original philosophy.



"About 10 prisoners register with Criminon every week. Eight courses are

on offer, beginning with The Way to Happiness - a 21 point 'common sense

guide to better living'. After this, more specific courses can be taken,

including parenting skills and drug awareness. Criminon operates out of

about two thirds of prisons in the country, and its take-up rate appears

to be almost equal between men and women."



Message-ID: f758becc.0305031242.738ebee@posting.google.com





Search Engines



Tory Christman reported that an Scientologists are being asked to email

search engines to ask that web sites critical of Scientology be removed.



"They are supposed to say things like: 'Scientologists have suffered

personal violence and bloodshed in Europe and the USA. Potentially violent

and unstable people get their fuel from others hate-speech. Do you want an

incident of violence traced to a hate-site found by your search engine?'



"'This issue is absolutely not a matter of 'free speech' or 'showing both

sides of a controversial subject.' One is not free to incite violence, to

fuel hatred, or yell 'fire!' in a crowded theatre. These hate sites

actively seek to ruin others' lives and businesses, then hide behind 'free

speech.' Scientologists with excellent work records have been fired or

lost their businesses when hate-media mentioned them as Scientologists or

stirred up ignorant anti-Scientology hysteria. Do you want those economic

repercussions traced to your search engine?'



"'Hate sites for other religions, other persuasions are omitted from

search results -- as they should be! It's prejudicial to include

hate-sites that denigrate Scientology. (Please find another example

besides Judaism; it gets overloaded as a comparison point.)'



"They are to send their emails to:

Google: comments@google.com

Yahoo: http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/abuse/cgi_abuse

Lycos: abuse@tripod.com

Netscape: http://wp.netscape.com/feedback/general.html

AOL: http://www.aol.com/info/feedback.html"



Message-ID: pJVra.58926$cO3.4010708@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net





In Memoriam



The Buffalo News reported on April 21st that Marie Bolt, a staff member of

the Buffalo org, has passed away.



"A memorial service for Marie R. Bolt, of the Town of Tonawanda, will be

held at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Church of the Nativity United Church of

Christ, 1530 Colvin Blvd., Town of Tonawanda. Mrs. Bolt died April 16th of

injuries suffered in an auto accident in Oak Hill, WV, while traveling

with her family. She was 48.



"In 2002, she joined the staff of the Church of Scientology, where she was

a ministerial counselor in training. She was active as a Girl Scout troop

leader and a member of the Kenmore East High School Band Parent Council."



Message-ID: 1051525386.810908@newshost01.voicenet.com





Montel Williams



CHADD (Children and Adults with ADD) published an open letter to TV talk

show host Montel Williams protesting a recent appearance by Scientology

celebrities on his show, in which they promoted Scientology's theories of

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.



"As the director of communications and media relations of CHADD, the

nation's leading support and advocacy organization serving individuals

with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, I am writing to express my

astonishment and supreme disappointment in your biased, inaccurate, and

unequivocally damaging program entitled, 'A Parents Right to Choose.' By

featuring the panelists you did - individuals who vocally decry the

existence of AD/HD - you not only offered 'no right to choose,' you

unquestionably deterred and prevented millions of families from seeking,

obtaining and securing the help and medical treatment they or their

children may need in order to manage their AD/HD and live successful and

fulfilling lives.



"Irresponsibly tossing around untruths and inaccuracies is a tactic

designed to startle and scare the American public, one spearheaded largely

by a wealthy organization with Hollywood celebrities who claim that AD/HD

and other childhood mental disorders do not exist. Anyone familiar with

your featured panel knows that several of your guests are reported to be

members of the Citizens' Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), an affiliate

founded by the Church Scientology, and well recognized for its anti

psychiatry rhetoric. It was a one-sided panel, a one-sided show, and a

one-sided case of journalistic irresponsibility at its height. Shame on

you, Mr. Williams, for not recognizing junk science when it's staring you

in the face.



"Tather than citing the vast body of research validating the existence of

and devastation of untreated AD/HD, you and your panelists cited no

credible research at all. Instead, you mocked the medical community,

referred to stimulant medication as 'kiddie cocaine,' compared

psychiatrists to drug lords and, in general, violated every possible rule

of sound and responsible journalism that you had an obligation to provide

to your viewers.



"Perhaps most glaring was the complete omission of well-documented

clinical studies demonstrating the effectiveness of stimulant and other

psychotropic medications when appropriately administered. Not one was

referenced; not one was included.  No one will dispute that unnecessarily

placing a child on medication is deplorable. But the greater travesty is

delaying proper diagnosis and effective treatment for those who truly need

it. The sad truth is that many more children with mental disorders slip

unrecognized past the gatekeepers of mental health services than those who

are improperly diagnosed.



"Peg Nichols

Director of Communications & Media Relations

CHADD"



Message-ID: 53183a73.0304271742.659eb270@posting.google.com





Lisa Marie Presley



The Daily Record newspaper from Glasgow, Scotland reported on May 1st that

Scientology celebrity Lisa Marie Presley has been receiving therapy from

John Travolta in the wake of her divorce from Nicolas Cage.



"John Travolta has been giving 'therapy sessions' to Lisa Marie Presley,

who is trying to get over the collapse of her marriage to Nic Cage. The

actor has been passing on Scientology tips on how to find her true

soulmate. Travolta became pals with her mum Priscilla Presley after

helping her cope after the death of Elvis."



Message-ID: 3e471c14.0305011939.7957c99c@posting.google.com