Hollywood



Hollywood Star News reported on August 7th that a party was held by

Scientology to celebrate the anniversary of the Celebrity Center.



"The star turnout led by Tom Cruise at the Church of Scientology Celebrity

Centre's 33rd Anniversary Gala in Hollywood over the weekend was a vivid

demonstration of why some call Scientology the 'power religion of

Hollywood.' The religion remains a controversial presence in many of those

countries, including Germany where there has been a long-running battle

over the church's very right to exist. John Travolta is one of the

Scientologists who has spoken out about the situation in Germany. Besides

Cruise, highly visible show business Scientologists include Jenna Elfman,

Lisa Marie Presley, Kirstie Alley, Ann Archer, Mimi Rogers, Chick Corea,

Karen Black, Nancy Cartwright (the voice of Bart Simpson) and Travolta's

wife, actress Kelly Preston.



"Among the 1,200 guests at the plush party held on the country club like

grounds under a tent on a warm night in Southern California were Leah

Remini, Jason Lee, Erika Christensen, Giovanni Ribisi Christopher

Masterson, Lynsey Bartilson, Michelle Stafford, Marisol Nichols, Pablo

Santos, Catherine Bell and actress Juliette Lewis.



"The Celebrity Centre is one of eleven such centers worldwide including

New York, Paris, Nashville, Las Vegas, Vienna and London. From the

beginning of Scientology in the mid-1950s, Hubbard made the recruitment of

celebrities a high priority, because they could help in recruiting the

public and gave credibility to his teachings. The use of celebrities to

endorse the church is a marketing tool, especially for reaching young

people (another Scientology target group), in a world where celebrity is a

very powerful commodity."



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Renate Hartwig



Suedwestpresse reported on August 10th that German critic Renate Hartwig

has released a new book about other critics of Scientology.



"For eleven years Renate Hartwig was regarded as the most competent

Scientology expert there was, who not only warned people about

Scientology, but could prove what she said. All that was over yesterday as

she presented her new book in Berlin, 'Die Schattenspieler.' Renate

Hartwig did not write about Scientology in her book, but about critics,

who she said misused Scientology to further their own interests. She this

was done by taking advantage of the public's vague fear of Scientology,

and the people she pointed the finger at included Constitutional Security,

officially known as the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. She

said after the fall of the Wall, Constitutional Security merely

substituted Scientology for the former East Block for job security. She

said she was tired of the self-appointed judges, juries and executioners

of libel and no longer wanted to be a part of it.



"She accused all the cult critics of having a vested interest, those of

the churches, those in government, and those in the political parties. She

said that nothing was more profitable than vague threats. She wrote about

companies that would not have been afraid of Scientology if it were not

for the fact that they had hired high-priced, self-appointed experts to

make sure that their company had no contact with Scientology.



"Renate Hartwig said she uncovered a business scheme by US millionaire

Robert S. Minton who she said paid German cult commissioners to help win

an 80-million dollar lawsuit against Scientology in America. She said

Ursula Caberta got $75,000 of that and was subsequently charged

accordingly by the state attorney. Hartwig's harshest words were for

Constitutional Security, who she said not only knew about the insufferable

critics, but engaged in activity of the same kind by having a

Constitutional Security agent pretend to be a Scientologist on the

Internet who told everyone that Scientology had forced him to behave in a

criminal manner."



Message-ID: Pine.LNX.3.96.1020810143313.110A-100000@darkstar.zippy





Ireland



The Irish Times reported on August 10th that Scientology participated in a

fair on Bull Island, Ireland.



"The car-free day, organised jointly by Dublin City Council and

Coastwatch, transformed the beach from a sandy motorway to a seaside oasis

only minutes away from the city centre. 'It's going to be hard to convince

people to change the habits of a lifetime,' said the Lord Mayor of Dublin,

Cllr Dermot Lacey, who is in favour of an outright ban on cars on the

beach.



"In their bright yellow T-shirts, the Church of Scientology Litter Patrol

milled around adding a splash of colour to the scene. 'We have been coming

here for two years every third Saturday,' said Ms Siobhan Ryan, from

Swords. 'We are trying to establish a blue flag beach here. The job is

getting easier each time and it is wonderful to see no cars here today.'"



Message-ID: rKs59.1808$V62.123041@news2.voicenet.com





New Zealand



The Press newspaper from Christchurch, New Zealand reported on August 3rd

that a plastics factory is owned in part by Scientologists.



"Key players in the controversial Hokitika plastics factory proposal are

devotees of the Church of Scientology. Wayne Byrne, of Sydney, and Soren

Kierkegaard, of Tauranga, are the two principals of FT Manufacturing

(Westland) Ltd, which has received a $500,000 loan from the Westland

District Council, along with a council commitment to build the factory for

a further $2.2 million.



"An online testimonial from Mr. Byrne, an accountant, said his discovery

of Hubbard's management and administration technology had changed his

approach to business. 'This technology is admirably workable in every

organisation, and I apply it with success each working day,' he wrote. He

said most of what he had learned at university and within his profession

was 'quite useless' in the management of any kind of business venture. 'In

particular, accounting is a very poor management tool for understanding

what is really happening.'



"Mr. Kierkegaard, a New Zealander who has returned after 30 years

overseas, changed his name by deed poll to that of the 19th-century

existentialist philosopher. He and his Sydney-based company, Technology

Group Management Ltd, are named as members of the World Institute of

Scientology Enterprises. The three directors of Technology Group

Management, which is handling the Sydney side of the plastics project, are

Mr. Byrne, and Mr. Kierkegaard and his wife, Sue. Mrs. Kierkegaard is a

Scientologist.



"Scientology is based on a psychotherapy technique that is supposed to let

people free themselves from their unhappiness, but the organisation has

been involved internationally in several court cases, high-profile

disputes over alleged tax evasion, and claims that it exploits its

adherents.  Westland Mayor John Drylie would not comment on the

Scientology link, or any other aspect of the Hokitika project."



Message-ID: pxG39.1627$V62.103627@news2.voicenet.com





Protest Summary



Keith Henson reported a protest at the Toronto, Canada org on August 10th.



"I watched the org for a long time from the coffee shop and there was next

to no activity, unlike last time when they had Sea Orgers all over the

place. Eventually S. Putnik (who has picketed with us before) showed up.

We wondered back to the car where we collected signs and flyers and

started walking back to the org.  Some guys hanging out on the grass in

the little park we walk through saw our signs and asked for flyers.  As we

started off he asked if he could join us. We had extras so I got another

sign out and we all went over to the org.  During the entire picket only

one person went in.



"In about 15 minutes a guy who said he was a 30 year scn vet come up and

start taping them and trying to pump them for their identities.  He

pretended just to be an interested person, joined in listening to S.

Putnik talk about a certain refugee from California, and the cult being

convicted of spying in three countries.  Camera guy jumped in and wanted

to know S's name. S gave him Fred Flintstone, the guy said 'That's not

your real name, will you give that?' And S said 'no, I am not going to

make it too easy, you have to work for it.' Camera guy then accused S of

not being a 'legitimate' picker because he would not give out his name.



"The two scns seem to be highly concerned about the long conversations

pedestrians were having with the picketers. Taking pictures of those who

stopped just verified what the picketers said about the ugly nature of

scn.  I gave away the rest of my 'Parsonage?' flyers about the tax scam

and maybe 60 Xenu flyers. S and Nex gave out about 150."



Message-ID: 3d55c5c6.256891962@news2.lightlink.com





Lee Konitz



Down Beat magazine profiled Lee Konitz, winner of their Saxophonist of the

Year award, in the August 1st issue.



"Lee Konitz sits atop a bar stool centerstage at Manhattan's Blue Note.

Ears cocked and eyes darting, the patriarch of 'cool jazz' embarks on a

round of spontaneous composition with pianist Paul Bley and bassist Marc

Johnson.  Konitz, 74, sat in the living room of his Upper West Side

apartment, where Proust and Dostoevsky novels hold a place with a healthy

collection of classical and jazz CDs. 'So many talented people are obliged

to learn many different kinds of musics to function as professionals. I

was never really obliged to do that. I just want to play 'All The Things

You Are' in all the keys.'



"Konitz began to wean himself from marijuana during a long, sporadic

involvement with Scientology that began around 1973. 'It seemed to me that

I would have a chance, step-by-step, to look at my life and things around

me, and try to make some sense out of it,' Konitz says. 'It provided me

with the opportunity to continue studying, a discipline that I had stopped

when I left high school. I left the Jewish thing early on, and had never

been part of a religious group too much. Besides the business part, which

I objected to strongly, it was clean. And whatever was hokey about it, I

just accepted the part that felt it was to our benefit.'



"Free and clear of marijuana, Tristano and L. Ron Hubbard since 1990,

Konitz relies on his ears and intuition 'to communicate with the people

I'm playing with, not just somehow register what they're doing, and

continue to do what I do.'"



Message-ID: bjaclu07lr6v1njmgb5hnub8dgs4nn0tbj@4ax.com





Switzerland



Scientology working to improve its image



Tages-Anzeiger reported on August 5th that Scientology is attempting to

improve its image in Switzerland.



"Scientology's headquarters in Zurich used to receive praise on a regular

basis from its American parent organization for sending a steady flow of

euro-dollars from Zurich in the direction of the USA. Then the

world-famous psycho-cult began making headlines. A number of adherents

were caught in con games and Scientology business people were declaring

bankruptcy. The big Scientology center had to move from the prestigious

Badener Strasse to the edge of town. Scientology's image took a beating,

and this was reflected in its membership figures.  Scientology boss Juerg

Stettler is seeing to it that his people no longer squeeze their customers

like they used to. Customers are no longer counseled to take out loans for

tens or hundreds of thousands of franks. The loans were often given by

Scientologists themselves backed by banks, and financial losses in the

millions occurred.



"Scientology is today treading lightly in Zurich, nothing much about its

totalitarian indoctrination system has changed. The courses still cost an

arm and a leg - one hour at the highest level can cost 1,000 franks. And

the staff are at the grindstone for up to 70 hours a week. In return for

their services they get spending money.  The Zurich Scientologists are

also using new methods to lure in new members, like tele-marketing. They

check names off in the white pages whose numbers they dial to ask them,

for instance, what they would do to improve their lives. They try to draw

people into personal conversations and to sell them Scientology books. Not

everybody they talk to are aware they are speaking with Scientologists.



"Scientologists are discovering how to go from door to door like Mormons

and Jehovah's Witnesses.  One 17-year-old apprentice was taken in by the

Scientologists, although he had already heard about them. He had bought a

booklet and filled out the survey in back, which contained the 200

questions of Scientology's personality test. It wasn't until he was given

the evaluation for the test that he realized what he had gotten himself

into. 'Being caught like that by the Scientologists really burned me up,'

he said in retrospect, and further stated that his test showed him

negative in 9 of the 10 areas, with 7 points almost at the bottom. If he

would have taken the test seriously, he might have thought he was

anti-social, depressed, neurotic and unstable. Results like these are used

by the Scientologists to create anxiety in people about themselves, upon

which the cult's white knights will gallop in to save the day by offering

them Scientology courses.



"Recently the Scientologists have gotten a permit to operate a stand on

Bahnhof Strasse. They battled for this privilege through the court system

up to the federal level. To polish their tarnished image, the

Scientologists have also been organizing public relations events, such as

clean-the-parks campaigns. Besides that they have put up a big billboard

by the sidewalk where their new organization is with the seductive message

that the unemployed will immediately receive a job. To create good-will,

Scientologists sometimes pass out roses in the surrounding area. When

Scientology moved into the new quarters, they had promised not to solicit

for customers on the streets, but now residents are complaining about

getting Scientology advertisements in the mail, sometimes twice a week.

The Scientologists have also tried to get shopowners to put their books on

display in their businesses.



"Though they may find themselves in dire financial straights, the

Scientologists don't skimp on expenses when it comes to celebrating.

Recently the organization held a celebration in the Grand Hotel Dolder,

where Swiss Scientologists were to be honored by their American parent

organization for their services - meaning money. But those who thought

that the Americans wanted to reward their Zurich staff for their hard

labor don't know Scientology. Admission was 325 franks."



Message-ID: Pine.LNX.3.96.1020806105330.126A-100000@darkstar.zippy





Writers of the Future



New Jersey newspaper the Courier-Post reported on August 5th that a local

man is a finalist on Scientology's Writers of the Future contest.



"Drew Morby in the garden of his Cherry Hill home. He is a finalist in a

fiction writing contest. A Cherry Hill man with a penchant for science

fiction and fantasy is about to jet off to Los Angeles in search of a

jump-start to his career. As a second-quarter finalist in the annual L.

Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest, Drew Morby will attend a

workshop featuring some of the finest science fiction writers on the

planet.



"'My expectations are that my career will take off at this point,' said

Morby, 33, who lives in the Point of Woods section with his fiancee, Lisa

Salerno, 45, her daughter Danielle, 14, and a menagerie of two dogs, four

cats and three birds. 'The contest comes with a workshop, so at least I'll

be able to improve my craft.'



"Hubbard, the founder of Scientology and an accomplished science fiction

writer himself, started the contest in 1983 to promote good writing and

provide a career springboard to promising writers. Since the contest's

inception, says Beverly Widder, whose public relations firm in Marina Del

Rey, Calif., promotes it, nearly 300 winners have gone on to sell well

over 100 novels and more than 1,000 short stories. Well-known science

fiction writers Karen Joy Fowler, Nina Kiriki Hoffman and Dean Wesley

Smith head the list. As a second-quarter finalist, Morby received a $500

check and an invitation to the Aug. 17 awards ceremony.



"Morby's entry is published in this year's L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers

of the Future Anthology. Work from five or six finalists are included in

each year's anthology in addition to first-, second- and third- place

finishers each quarter, says Widder. The contest attracts between 2,000

and 3,000 entries each year.  Winners do not have to be Scientologists.

Like many aspiring writers, Morby, who is not a Scientologist, gets most

of his ideas from observing others. He watches them in shopping centers,

on walks, in restaurants - wherever people congregate. Ideas also jump out

at him from movies and books and while falling asleep at night."



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