CCHR



The Patriot Ledger reported on September 25th that Scientology is

protesting the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, Massachusetts, a mental

health facility, claiming abuse of its patients.



"About a dozen protesters stood outside the Judge Rotenberg Center in

Canton yesterday, demonstrating against what it says are cruel treatment

programs at the facility. The private facility operates day and

residential programs for 145 adults and children with developmental

disabilities and behavioral problems. The children take classes and live

in residential facilities throughout Massachusetts, including Canton and

Stoughton. The center has been in Canton since 1996.



"'What makes this place stand out is their desire to stress aversives,

which means pain of many different sorts,' said Christopher Garrison,

Massachusetts director of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights. The

group, co-founded by the Church of Scientology in 1969, includes Canton

residents. Protesters stood along Route 138 in front of the center during

the evening rush-hour. They held a sign that declared, 'Patients tortured

here,' and had another sign listing treatments they find inhumane, such as

electric shock treatment.



"Inside the center, staff peeked out the windows at the protesters with

amused curiosity. They dismissed the group's claims by explaining aversion

therapy and showing videos of patients before and after receiving

treatment. 'We serve students with extremely severe behavioral problems,

including patients who mutilate themselves' said executive director

Matthew Israel.



"On the video, patients slammed their heads against walls, bit themselves

and shoved their hands down their own throats. Israel said that to

eradicate such behavior the center thrives on rewards and punishments.

Some of the rewards patients ask for and receive include hot fudge sundaes

and chocolate milk. The center has a large 'reward room,' with pinball

machines, a billiards table and a television. Punishments include

mechanical restraints and electrical shocks. Some patients wear a backpack

containing an electrical device.  If a patient acts aggressively, staff

members can activate the backpack by remote control, sending 12-volt,

2-second surges across the surface of the patient's skin. 'It's painful

but it's brief,' said Israel. 'It's a form of treatment that is lifesaving

for many patients.'"



From the Stoughton Journal on October 4th:



"The use of the Graduated Electric Decelerator appears to be the most

contentious practice that occurs at the Judge Rotenberg Center. The GED is

used at the JRC as part of the series of 'aversive therapies' many

students are made to undergo during their treatment time at the center.



"Von Heyn said the GED was developed because the device previously used,

SIBIS, was shown to be ineffective in treating students. That device

applied a shock of five milliamps for a duration of two-tenths of a

second. The GED applies a shock of 30 milliamps for a duration of two

seconds.



"Chris Garrison of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights: 'Yes, anyone

will break under pain, it's just like John McCain who was a POW during

Vietnam, all of those guys broke under pain. It drives them down,'

Garrison said. 'Their self-determinism is crushed, and that is viewed as a

cure. A cure in the field of mental health often times is something which

makes the person stop moving around or communicating,' he added.



"But, administrators at the JRC support the use of 'aversive therapy' and

specifically the need for a continued use of the GED device. 'Many of

these individuals were under going positive programming before coming here

and it was not shown to be successful,' von Heyn said. He added that the

aversive therapy should be continued because it has been successful in

more than 95 percent of the cases.



"Administrators from the Judge Rotenberg Center did meet briefly with

protesters last week outside and center and an invitation was given for

the group to come and visit the JRC according to a staff member at the

JRC."



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State Hornet



On October 2nd, a letter to the editor of the State Hornet, the newspaper

of the California State University Sacramento, protested the inclusion of

a recent Scientology advertising insert.



"This is the second time in two weeks that I've seen in the Hornet an

8-page promotion for Scientology/Dianetics with NO indication that it's a

paid advertisement. I am disgusted and angry and I don't want to see it

again. This week's edition printed its 'regret' on page A-6 that the paper

failed to indicate it was an advertisement last week, but that this week's

edition would be 'labeled correctly.' It isn't!



"Dianetics/Scientology is known to be an organization that thrives on

human gullibility. It's nothing more than a 'snake-oil' scheme for sucking

in foolish people and taking their money and it's highly successful at

doing so in manipulative and unscrupulous ways. Your unlabeled insert is

typical of their underhanded methods.



"Lynda Young - CSUS Staff"



Message-ID: LxCm9.413$wZ4.64195@news2.voicenet.com





Iraq



The Oregonian reported on October 1st that a Scientology minister joined

Portland area religious leaders in opposition to U.S. plans to attack

Iraq.



"Two dozen faith leaders representing Christian denominations and Muslim,

Jewish, Buddhist, Unitarian and interfaith groups across the Portland area

joined Monday in declaring their opposition to a U.S. war on Iraq.

 The group included Quakers and others who oppose the use of force under

any circumstances. Joining them at a news conference, however, were

religious leaders who have supported military action in President Bush's

war on terrorism but who say his plans for Iraq are so far unjustified.



"Leaders who called the news conference were:  Gulzar Ahmed, Islamic

Society of Greater Portland; Warren Aney, Presbytery of the Cascades; the

Rev. Althena Boozer, St. Philip the Deacon Episcopal Church; Valerie

Chapman, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church; Angie DeRouchie, Church of

Scientology; Heidi Hoogstra, Portland Buddhist Peace Fellowship; the Rev.

Mark Knudsen, Augustana Lutheran Church; the Rev. Chris Laing, Portland

State University campus ministries; the Rev. Kerby Lauderdale, Peace

Church of the Brethren; the Rev. Arvin Luchs, First United Methodist

Church; Tina McMahon, Multnomah Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society

of Friends; John Munson, Reedwood Friends Church.  Bishop Edward Paup,

Oregon/Idaho Annual Conference, United Methodist Church; the Rev. Cecil

Prescod, Ainsworth United Church of Christ; the Rev. Eugene Ross, Central

Pacific Conference, United Church of Christ; the Rev. John Schweibert,

Metanoia Peace Community; the Rev. Wes Taylor, board president, Ecumenical

Ministries of Oregon; the Rev. Richard Toll, St. John's Episcopal Church;

Mary Jo Tully, chancellor, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland; the

Rev. Kris Voss-Rothmeier, Milwaukie Presbyterian Church; and Grace Young,

Spiritual City Club."



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Narconon



Community Press reported on October 4th that Scientology discussed plans

to open a Narconon facility in Marmora, Ontario at a town meeting.



"Penny Luthra of Narconon, a charitable organization, is in the process of

setting up a drug rehabilitation centre in the former Trelawney Motel on

Highway #7 west. Renovations are under way and there is currently one

student in residence enrolled in the eight-step program which begins with

drug-free withdrawal and progresses through training routines, a

detoxification program, and life improvement courses which are designed

to, 'put the individual back in control of his or her life.' Information

provided by Luthra indicated that the Narconon success rate of

approximately 70 per cent, was considerably higher than that of

traditional drug addiction treatment programs. Printed material suggested,

'This rehabilitation program is extremely complete. It addresses the real

reasons why a person has taken the drug in the first place. It handles the

real problem and provides the individual with the knowledge and certain

weapons to live a happy drug fee life.'



"Participants are referred to as students in keeping with the educational

process taking place. Several questions arose following the presentation

which Luthra and Al Buttnor, a representative of the Church of Scientology

answered thoughtfully and with candor. Cathie Jones who chaired the

meeting was told that workers at the centre would undergo specific

training and that there would be a ratio of two staff members for three

students. The Marmora facility is the first of its kind in Ontario,

although there are currently applications for licences in Toronto and

Niagara Falls.



"The cost to the students, who are there of their own volition through a

desire to free themselves of drugs and not by court order, is $15,000.

Luthra explained that students learn of the centre through such means as

the Internet and by word of mouth. In response to a question from Steve

Flynn, Luthra said that during the course of their treatment, students

would remain at the facility with the exception of the occasional time

later in treatment when they might take a supervised trip into town. She

also suggested that if there were a problem, such as a fight, the OPP

could be called, but Buttnor interjected saying that as far as he knew, at

the two large Narconon centres in Quebec, that only once had the police

been called.



"Ted Bonter asked why that particular site had been chosen in view of the

fact it was a rather small property with no real room for expansion, with

a shortage of water and without adequate sewage capabilities. Buttnor

explained that Davinder Luthra, who is not a Scientologist, but had

learned of Narconon during a Toronto good works ceremony, had visited

several other locations and as a licensee had decided this was the one

that best suited his needs. He continued, 'It is very unusual for someone

who is not a Scientologist to take this much interest in Narconon. He came

up and found your community very accepting. It is a very lovely community

and he thought it would be an excellent location where somebody could

actually recover from a drug problem.'



"A date was set for an open meeting with Narconon representatives at the

town hall on the evening of October 28."



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St. Louis Org



The St. Louis Post Dispatch reported on October 5th that a man attacked

several Scientologists during a visit to demand his removal from their

mailing list.



"Lloyd Flemig, 49, of University City, was charged Friday with attacking

several Church of Scientology members.  Flemig went to a Scientology

church at 6901 Delmar Boulevard in University City on Thursday afternoon,

demanding to be removed from a mailing list, police said. Flemig

threatened to blow up the building, punched and kicked several people,

slapped a woman and bit a man, according to authorities.  Flemig, of the

7400 block of Olin Drive, was charged with five counts of third-degree

assault and unlawful use of a weapon."



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Tom Padgett



Arnie Lerma reported on October 3rd that Tom Padgett has been extradited

from Rhode Island to Kentucky, where he previous served jail time in a

child support dispute with his ex-wife, who may still be a Scientologist.



"Tom was released by RI authorities into the hands of two Kentucky

sheriffs about 2 pm yesterday. They flew him to Kentucky via Delta

Airlines from Green Airport RI to Nashville Tennessee and then he was

driven by car to Hopkins County Jail. He called his family about 3 am from

the Kentucky jail who knew nothing. Tom protested that he had a scheduled

extradition hearing the next day and that he wanted to talk to his lawyer.

He was told not to argue. The hearing was to decide if he wanted to fight

extradition or waive his right to fight it. Tom's RI lawyer has been

desperately trying to find a criminal lawyer for Tom in Kentucky. So far

no lawyer wants to take the case."



Message-ID: 3d9c6cec.129566935@news.verizon.net





Wayback Machine



The Times published an article on October 1st on the decision by the

operators of the Wayback Machine, an Internet archive site, to honor the

demands of Scientology in removing materials they claim are copyrighted.



"When it comes to the Internet's history, the real power-brokers are

proving to be the lawyers - and especially those employed by the Church of

Scientology. Last week the internet's biggest digital archive became that

much smaller after Scientology lawyers insisted that it remove pages

created by the organisation's critics. Those running the archive did so

with barely a murmur, proving yet again how effective the church's legal

threats can be in undermining free speech. The archive, known as the

Wayback Machine, keeps snapshots of millions of old web pages - a

remarkable resource available to anyone free of charge at web.archive.org.

But last week, researchers looking for pages taken from anti-Scientology

sites such as Xenu.net were told that they were no longer available 'per

the request of the site owner.' In fact, the demand had come from the

church alone, on the ground that copyrighted material contained within

these sites put them in breach of the controversial US Digital Millennium

Copyright Act.



"Under the Act, the church has 'asserted ownership' of work contained

within these sites. Yet the result has been to remove entire websites,

including pages that appear to be within the law. At Xenu.net, Andreas

Heldal-Lund, a long-time opponent of the church, suggests that copyright

law is merely a tool to censor critics. 'I'm the author, and I never asked

that (the site) be removed,' he says. Another victim, the respected

computer scientist Dave Touretzky, found all his research pages blocked

from the archive thanks to some anti-Scientology articles. 'I don't

exist,' he says. 'I've been erased from internet history. All because I

dared to have some Scientology material on my website.'



"Faced with the threat of litigation from the Scientologists, the archive

appears to have removed entire domains before taking detailed counsel of

its own. After all, no non-profit body likes to risk offending such a

determined litigator as the church. Even Google, the search engine,

removed links to Xenu.net and similar sites last March, faced with similar

wide-ranging copyright claims from the church's lawyers.



"In the Google case, the decision caused an outcry, and the company soon

unblocked the links. No lawsuit has followed. Yet the church continues to

put legal pressure on smaller websites, Internet service providers and

even online booksellers to suppress dissent. And each time one of its

targets succumbs, another blow is dealt to free debate."



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