Clearwater



The St. Petersburg Times printed a letter to the editor on June 10th about

Scientology's plan to open the Fort Harrison Hotel to the public.



"A while back a letter spoke about how opening the Fort Harrison Hotel

could help open minds about the wonderful organization known as

Scientology. We can't forget we are not talking about a wonderful

organization worth opening our minds about. We are talking about an evil

empire bent on global expansion funded with the savings of thousands of

victims. No amount of letters written by members of the cult or people

ignorant of the truth about the cult can change the fact that Scientology

is an evil cult. - David Rodman, Dunedin"



Message-ID: j60N8.723$kW1.422355@newshog.newsread.com





Images of a Lifetime



The New York Post published a review on June 10th of the film L. Ron

Hubbard, Images of a Lifetime.



"It changed my mind. I now believe that L. Ron Hubbard is the greatest man

who ever lived. Just kidding! That breathless reverence, however, captures

the glitzy, almost servile reverence of the show, which, through photos

and hyperventilating captions, seeks to detail the life of Scientology's

founder. Born of an almost insatiable passion for p.r., this show is as

slick a piece of p.r. as you are likely to see - and you are encouraged to

go for that reason if for no other.



"You will learn, for example, that Ron was America's youngest Eagle Scout

and that he won 20 merit badges - before the age of 12, I think it was.

You will see pictures of him traveling to exotic lands, images of him at

his typewriter, of the early days of Scientology and some of the group's

more recent community outreach programs. Finding fame as a sci-fi author,

he is said to have written over 60 million words. Not a modest man, he

began his most famous, almost unreadable book, 'Dianetics,' with these

words: 'The creation of Dianetics is a milestone for Man comparable to his

discovery of fire and superior to his invention of the wheel and arch.'



"I have read about him before and have never been able to crack this one,

central mystery of the movement: How could so many people, so much

cleverer and more refined than Hubbard, fall for his pseudo-religion?

Unfortunately, this is not the sort of exhibition to provide any answers."



Message-ID: _o0N8.728$kW1.425413@newshog.newsread.com





Ireland



The Irish Times reported on June 13th that Scientology is seeking reports

about Scientology written by Irish ambassadors.



"The Church of Scientology looked for certain records in the Department of

Foreign Affairs. The department 'decided that to disclose the existence or

non-existence of records relating to the request could reasonably be

expected to affect adversely the international relations of the State.'



"The Department of Foreign Affairs 'seems to feel that all diplomatic

exchanges between ambassadors and department should be a class exemption,'

that they should be exempted regardless of content. In its response to the

applicant, the department used a provision that it could 'neither confirm

nor deny' the records. In his ruling, the commissioner said that 'at the

very least, the department should have acknowledged the existence of

records without necessarily disclosing the circumstances surrounding their

creation.' The commissioner directed that the records be released. 'We

expect public bodies when they refuse records to justify their refusals

and they have to do it strictly by criteria laid down in the Act.'"



Message-ID: eskO8.81$Ie2.77200@newshog.newsread.com





Juliette Lewis



The Calgary Sun published a profile on Scientology celebrity Juliette

Lewis on June 10th.



"She's only 28 but Juliette Lewis is already in the comeback stage of her

career. At 17, Lewis was dating Brad Pitt and earning an Oscar nomination

for her nymphette role in Martin Scorsese's Cape Fear. Five years later,

her life was so out of control Lewis checked herself into a Scientology

rehab centre. 'I crashed and burned a couple of times, but it really just

amounted to a short burnout,' she recalls. She's now drug-free, married to

professional skateboarder and sometime actor Steve Berra and has been

acting non-stop for the past three years."



Message-ID: OUmN8.87$pI4.101117@monger.newsread.com





Bob Minton



The St. Petersburg Times reported on June 13th that the judge in the Lisa

McPherson civil case has predicted that Scientology critic Bob Minton may

be in serious legal trouble as a result of his recent admissions.



"New England millionaire Robert Minton came forward recently to say he

wanted to set the record straight about lies he told in a wrongful-death

lawsuit against the Church of Scientology. But his confessions and

testimony may bring him a heap of new legal problems. Judge Susan

Schaeffer said Wednesday that Minton could be in serious trouble with her,

the State Attorney's Office and the Internal Revenue Service. 'I think Mr.

Minton is in all manner of trouble,' Schaeffer said. 'Mr. Minton has

perjury problems. Mr. Minton has contempt problems. I think Mr. Minton has

IRS problems.'



"Accusations of wrongdoing in the lawsuit have flown during the

proceeding. Schaeffer made it clear Wednesday that the allegations will be

brought to the attention of prosecutors. 'When this hearing is over,'

Schaeffer said, 'I'm going to turn the matter over to the state attorney

because there are all kinds of allegations of criminal acts from both

sides.'



"The church has relied, in part, on Minton's statements to accuse Dandar

of serious professional misconduct and to ask Schaeffer to throw out the

case. Dandar has denied the allegations and said the church is extorting

Minton. Minton has filed affidavits recanting some of his earlier

testimony. When he testified recently in court, however, Schaeffer

uncovered more lies that Minton had not corrected in those affidavits.

'Maybe I need someone here to advise this man of his rights,' Schaeffer

said at one point during the hearing.



"Minton also testified about two financial arrangements that funneled

$800,000 of his money from Europe to the Lisa McPherson Trust, an

anti-Scientology organization he founded in Clearwater. Later, Minton

pocketed a large portion of the money. The money was transferred that way,

Minton said, to keep Scientology guessing about the source of the trust's

money. Schaeffer noted that it was 'a fairly elaborate scheme' to hide the

money from Scientology and 'whatever else it is that you're trying to made

hide it from.'"



Message-ID: Ya7O8.18$Ie2.5314@newshog.newsread.com