Scientology's 'Mission: Global Implosion' Continues [videos]

examiner.com ~ Following accusations by Sydney's Nick Xenophon of "false imprisonment, coerced abortions, embezzlement of church funds, physical violence, blackmail and the widespread deliberate abuse of information obtained by the organization," Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is the latest leader to express concern over allegations of "a worldwide pattern of abuse and criminality" by the Church of Scientology, and is contemplating a parliamentary inquiry.

The organization is under police investigation, and yesterday angry ex-Scientologists and Anonymous members, spurred on by the claims, converged on its Australian headquarters calling for its tax-exempt status to be revoked.

ACA9: Xenophon Calls For Investigation into Scientology



Coast To Coast: Behind the Iron Curtain of the Church of Scientology
Listen to the 'Coast to Coast interview with author Marc Headley' playlist on YouTube [12 parts].

A new book called Blown for Good: Behind the Iron Curtain of the Church of Scientology by Marc Headley, an employee of the church's Los Angeles headquarters for 15 years, details allegations of systematic abuse and bizarre episodes, such as the three weeks Headley claims he spent under instruction from Tom Cruise in how to move bottles and other objects by concentrating on them.

Headley's book follows a year in which Scientology has been plagued by unwelcome revelations from high-profile defectors and fresh media investigation into its practices.

France24: French Court Convicts Church of Scientology of Fraud
The so-called "church" was recently convicted of widespread fraud in France, where it is considered a cult and is currently embroiled in a criminal investigation within the borders of Belgium.


Paul Haggis Renounces Scientology In Blistering Letter
HuffPo ~ The 56-year-old Haggis, who won an Oscar in 2005 for co-writing "Crash," said he was quitting the Church of Scientology after 35 years. "I could not, in good conscience, be a member of an organization where gay-bashing was tolerated," Haggis wrote.

Haggis wrote a letter addressed to Tommy Davis, the head of Scientology's Celebrity Centre. In it, Haggis said he was disappointed by the church's tacit denial of gay rights in the debate over California's gay marriage ban.


Jason Beghe Leaves The Cult of Scientology
American actor Jason Beghe (Filmography) was the first of Scientology's celebrity followers – for whom the church maintains a "Celebrity Centre" in L.A. – to break with it, after giving the church more than $1 million in donations over 12 years.

Beghe warns that the church is "destructive and a rip-off". He claims that since his renunciation of Scientology he has been pursued to seminars in Europe – held to speak of its dangers – by private investigators employed by Scientology and "disconnected" from former friends who remain within it.


In The Beginning, Let There Be 'Crazy'
The church faced global ridicule after an internal videotape by Cruise, the church's most high-profile member, was leaked and went viral on the Internet. It showed a rambling Cruise laughing inexplicably while saying that Scientologists were uniquely equipped with the knowledge necessary to cure most of the world's ills, including crime, drugs, mental health problems and violence.



The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power
Scientology has attempted, unsuccessfully, to sue the media, including U.S. mainstays the Washington Post and Time magazine. The repeated attempts to use the courts to silence critics have been criticized in the judgments that have been upheld against Scientology, including one in 1996 that described its "documented history of vexatious behavior" and abuse of "the [US] federal court system ... to destroy their opponents, rather than to resolve an actual dispute over trademark law or any other legal matter".

The decision of Beghe and Haggis to quit Scientology appears to have caused the movement its greatest recent PR difficulties, not least because of its dependence on Hollywood figures as both a source of revenue for its most expensive courses, and an advertisement for the religion. The involvement of such high-profile figures as Haggis, Cruise and John Travolta has acted as a reassurance for potential recruits against the allegations of its critics.

If Cruise's church was planning a mission to go out in a spectacular crash and burn implosion, then I'd say their project is right on schedule. That's a wrap! Lunch, everybody!

Scientology,Poisoning the Universe,One Planet At A Time

In a flooded Cumbrian village that has no water, Scientology is boasting of volunteers padding the streets in high vis rigout on the off chance that lost souls might still need saving from the rain or flood that some have called biblical.

But in the meantime, their cruise ship, the Freewinds, home of the Church of Scientology Flag Ship Service Organization, has been busy poisoning the water tables of the island Bonaire [see map] for the past few years.

As a sidenote: The liner docks in Bonaire, Aruba, Curacao, and St. Kitts. It has been dubbed the Death Ship and the Failwinds due to the fact that is is laden with dangerous blue asbestos which was reported to Scientology’s upper management by Lawrence Woodcraft back in 1987 who oversaw the original renovation of the ship.

But back to the most ethical people on the planet and how they continue to pollute the ground water of Bonaire. Unfortunately Sean Paton, from Forum Antilles radio news program, has had little success in getting their government to address the destruction of the environment. Recent posts to youtube show how the waste products transported from the Scientology's cruise ship, Freewinds, are destroying the Bonaire's water supply.

Bonaire: State of Emergency Part 1
These two videos show the Freewinds dumping in the middle of the night. Tests are showing fecal pollution in the local wells. It is another crime against the planet by the cult of Scientology.


Bonaire: State of Emergency Part 2



Recent News: Cruise-Line Dumping
To get a better idea of how much of a problem this is, here is a report by FOXnews that explains how this type of dumping is affecting our coastal environment.

...Raw sewage contains disease pathogens and toxins, impairs the respiratory functions in water life, and causes algae blooms. And cruise ships are dumping it just off shore, possibly washing up on the beach near where your family is vacationing.

Though most travelers don’t know about this practice, environmentalists tell Foxnews.com this kind of wastewater dumping is all too common for the cruise industry: Federal lawsuits have been filed against the cruise ship companies. The U.S. Coast Guard and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have cracked down on the firms. For years, legislators have tried to get a new bill passed which would reign in the hazardous practices.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the cruise industry has grown at double the rate of the rest of the travel industry. The average cruise ship has the capacity for as many as 7,000 passengers and crew members; the boats are floating cities, with restaurants, hair salons, dry cleaners and entertainment venues.

During a typical week, EPA says, a cruise ship with 3,000 passengers can generate 200,000 gallons of waste and sewage and 1 million gallons of gray water from showers and drains.

As the vessels leave port and turn back out to sea, the ship’s engineers dump tons of raw human waste, as well as all of the gray water accumulated during the week-long cruise. That water pollution kills fish and other marine life, and creates a massive algae bloom, despoiling the pristine waters...

ThanX to WWP for the tip.

Xenophon- Here to Chew Bubblegum and Kick Ass

...and he just ran out of bubblegum.

TheAge.au ~ Senator Nick Xenophon wants an inquiry into the Church of Scientology and, based on his record, he just may get it.

THERE are a couple of things to know about Nick Xenophon. The first is that the independent senator from Adelaide has a genius for publicity. He's a hustler par excellence. The second is he's rationing his tabloid impulses in Canberra. Xenophon's record to date suggests he's opting for strategy rather than sensation; picking his political fights, not going at everything like a bull at a gate.

But when he goes, he goes with his plaintiff lawyer's bastardry. He held the Rudd Government's $42 billion stimulus package to ransom until he delivered the maximum benefit for his constituents - the parched and peeved irrigators of South Australia who warmed to his iconoclastic schtick, and put him there.

Xenophon's controversial outing this week on Scientology underscores how the independent from Adelaide is honing his modus operandi in the capital - using his considerable talents for self-promotion not as a thing in itself but as a tool to get things done. With no party structure to support him, and with Senate balance of power being a variable tool (given the mercurial Steve Fielding and the chaotically bombastic Barnaby Joyce), the only predictable power lies in changing the conversation.

Fair or unfair, right or wrong - and let's be very clear from the outset that the church says he's dead wrong - Xenophon's comments on Scientology and its alleged practices weren't a gratuitous brain explosion under the cloak of privilege. There was a sharp point.

His aim is to achieve a parliamentary inquiry. Next week the Senate, in its collective wisdom, will decide whether or not he gets it. Kevin Rudd has not been definitive yet but he's given the Xenophon allegations oxygen - significant in a week where the Prime Minister seems to have lost the capacity to answer questions. The Coalition is less keen. Whatever the result, it's clear Xenophon's latest crusade won't end there. ''On this I'm going to be a persistent bastard,'' he told me cheerfully.

...And Enter Anonymous
Like Scientology, Anonymous knows no borders. Over at WWP, they've wasted no time in setting up global rally points to show support to Senator Xenophon's endeavor.

Carmel Underwood with other Aussies and Sen. Xenophon are asking if everyone could write a petition and get some signatures at the Global Rally on Sunday. It is urgent because there will be a vote on MONDAY in Parliament on investigating the cult.

And if you can't get to a local rally, they also have a international online petition you can sign.

Xenophon: Intergalactic Badass

...he'll get around to taking names later.
What started from a blog entry title at FunnyCrave.com has lead to labeling of Australian senator Nick Xenophon's internet persona. There are just too many ironic coincidences not to be bestowed the title.

The attack on the Church of Scientology as a ''criminal organisation'' by the South Australian senator Nick Xenophon this week has sent the anti-Scientology movement into a spin but not for the obvious reason.

Apart from celebrating the prospect of an Australian parliamentary inquiry into allegations of murder, rape and forced abortion by church members, anti-church activists in the US are relishing the similarities between the senator's surname, Xenophon, and the name of the ''galactic overlord'' said to be a central figure in Scientology scriptures, Xenu.

But this isn't some conquerer that showed up in DC-8 spacecraft. Nope. This is an elected official. FunnyCrave's riff continues with:

"...that means the people of Australia came together as a group in enough numbers to acknowledge they wanted Xenophon to get shit done on their behalf. They were all “Damn, all this Fosters and koala crap is weak. We need change.”

And then Xenophon appears and it seems like this man is taking guff from no one. He’s guffless. Not Paul Hogan, not Mel Gibson and sure as hell not Tom Cruise, because he’s fed up with Scientology.

Likely he intends to wait until he’s officially sanctioned by the government before he heads to the Australian HQ of Scientology and literally kicks the building to the ground. Literally. With his goddamn feet. Which will probably be bare because Nick Xenophon don’t need no damn shoes..."

Yep. We're talking down under badass. Here are a couple more shoop-dee-dupes of the Aussie's newest galactic leader from WWP:

Nick Xenophon No.1 in Box S
Scientology just might have met it's greatest foe. A fearless politician with a sense of humor. And if it's one thing Scientology lacks and despises, is a sense of humor. [ding,ding]
Below is an example from his 15 sec TV ad "Send Nick to Canberra to fight for SA" 2007 Senate election campaign.

Today Tonight (AU): Scientology Under Fire [video]

Scientology faces allegations of torture (among other things) in Australia

Guardian: The Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, has said he would consider an inquiry into the Church of Scientology after a senator tabled allegations against the organisation including forced abortions, assault, torture, imprisonment, covering up sexual abuse, embezzlement of church funds and blackmail.

Senator Nick Xenophon tabled letters from former officials and staff of the Church of Scientology alleging criminal activity, and demanded a review of the organisation's tax exempt status.

"Scientology is not a religious organisation, it is a criminal organisation that hides behind its so-called religious beliefs," he told the senate.

Among the letters tabled was one written by Aaron Saxton, from Perth, who said he engaged in torture and blackmail while working for the church in Australia and at its American headquarters between 1989 and 1996.

Rudd said the allegations were "grave" and that he would consider an inquiry, but said the evidence needed to be looked at carefully. "Many people in Australia have real concerns about Scientology. I share some of those concerns. But let us proceed carefully, and look carefully at the material which he has provided, before we make a decision on further parliamentary action," Rudd said.

Today Tonight: Scientology Under Fire / Senator Nick Xenophon Pt 1



Today Tonight: Scientology Under Fire / Senator Nick Xenophon Pt 2



Tip of the 'ol 7 to WWP for the video links.

AU Senator Calls Scientology a Criminal Organisation [video]

Australia Joins France With Scientology Call-Out

watoday.com.au ~ Independent senator Nick Xenophon has accused the Church of Scientology of being a criminal organisation, calling for it to be investigated by police and the parliament.

Senator Xenophon on Tuesday used parliamentary privilege to attack the church, after being contacted by a number of former Scientologists who accused the organisation of "shocking" crimes.

"Scientology is not a religious organisation, it is a criminal organisation that hides behind its so-called religious beliefs," he told the Senate.

"... The letters received by me which were written by former followers in Australia contains extensive allegations of crimes and abuses that are truly shocking - crimes against them and crimes they say they were coerced into committing.

Senator Xenophon said their correspondence implicated the organisation in a range of crimes, including forced imprisonment, coerced abortions, embezzlement of church funds, physical violence, intimidation and blackmail.

From ParlInfo fragment: "...What we are seeing is a worldwide pattern of abuse and criminality. On the body of evidence this is not happening by accident; it is happening by design.

Scientology is not a religious organisation. It is a criminal organisation that hides behind its so-called religious beliefs. What you believe does not mean you are not accountable for how you behave."

The Church of Scientology released a statement last night accusing Senator Xenophon of an "outrageous" abuse of parliamentary privilege. The church's statement did not respond to any of the specific allegations made against it.

Australian Senator Nick Xenophon calls for senate inquiry into Scientology: PT 1



Australian Senator Nick Xenophon calls for senate inquiry into Scientology: PT 2



Props to WWP for links and video.

LasVegas Swat Gets Duped By Scientology Lawyers

Police Return Firearms To Anonymous Protester

Las Vegas Sun:~ Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Eric Goodman on Thursday ordered Metro Police to return everything they seized in a midnight raid last month at the Las Vegas home of anti-Scientologist Colby Schoolcraft. Lt. Kevin McMahill of Metro’s Counter Terrorism Section said police are disappointed that they have to return the weapons in the middle of the investigation. Police expect to decide whether to ask the district attorney to file charges against Schoolcraft within the next couple of weeks. Among the items SWAT officers and counterterrorism detectives took were several rifles, including a semi-automatic Yugoslavian AK-47, and numerous boxes and cases of ammunition.

Schoolcraft is a member of the Internet-fueled group Anonymous, which has embarked on a worldwide campaign to harass the celebrity-laden church. In court papers arguing for the return of the property, which also includes computers and anti-Scientology materials, Schoolcraft’s attorney, Chris Rasmussen, insisted Schoolcraft is just a gun enthusiast who is not planning to commit any acts of violence. “I don’t think it’s a blow to our case, but certainly we would have liked to keep those weapons and ammunition out of his hands at this point,” McMahill said. Rasmussen said his client’s Web posting was misinterpreted by police and the Scientology church, which the lawyer alleged has a history of trying to suppress the free speech rights of its critics.

Police arrested Schoolcraft, 23, during the raid for allegedly making threats against the Church of Scientology over the Internet, but the district attorney’s office has not filed a formal criminal complaint.

Top attorneys for the Los Angeles-area-based church had asked police to investigate Schoolcraft, a camera buff who has posted videos on YouTube of his group’s protests outside the Las Vegas Scientology church. Both the Web posting and the videos were put up under the screen name “cameranonymous.”

Tip of the 'ol barrel-sight to WWP.