------------------------------------------------------------------- F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. (Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network, Incorporated) a non-profit computer bulletin board and electronic library 601 16th St. #C-217 Golden, Colorado 80401 USA BBS 303 530-1942 FAX 303 530-2950 Office 303 473-0111 This document is part of an electronic lending library and preservational electronic archive. F.A.C.T.Net does not sell documents, it only lends them according to the terms of your library cardholder agreement with F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. ===================================================================== My review of the 6/18/94 meeting in LA. There were a lot of good ideas brought up at the meeting. Lawrence Wollersheim. These were his goals as I saw them; 1) form a looseknit alliance of those active in dealing with Scientology in order to provide for the common defense and to help in furthering communication between us all. 2) form a money pool to pay for legal actions, to support ex-members, and to finance other activities of the Alliance. 3) form a working group of attorneys dealing with Scientology in order to pool resources. 4) work toward a new strategy against Scientology. Build a foundation for criminal cases in the future and to revoke the IRS 501(c) status. 5) FACTNet will be used to provide a 501(c) status for the alliance, will manage global communication for the alliance, and will do project linking and consulting. All these ideas were well received on the whole. Dr. West's and Priscilla Coates' thought was "deja vu", having seen and been involved in previous attempts at such an alliance. Hana Whitfield remarked that she did not ever want to join a group again, and I believe this is the reaction of other ex-Scientologists who were there. This I think is an important point. Paradoxically, the more bureaucratic and organizational the Alliance becomes, the more distasteful it will be to many former Scientologists to be join. Dan Liepold suggested that we not deal with Scientology the monolith, but instead "nibble at the heels" by going after the hired guns the church uses, such as the attorneys and private investigators. Dr. West planned to get a grant to do research on cults. He also suggested using the media more effectively, for example putting out press releases every time a political candidate got support from Scientology. Bill Jordan wanted to go after the church's illegal financial ventures, especially in Vancouver stock exchange dealings And now my opinions. I think Lawrence's ideas are all good ones, but I don't know that they can all be done together as one big project. For instance, the law firm alliance to my mind could be a seperate venture than being a part of the larger alliance. A larger alliance would probably make fundraising easier, but it would also be more complex and would turn off more ex-Scientologists. I think fundraising for particular projects (such as the OCR and archiving project) should be the thrust of fundraising rather than the Alliance. I know you're probably thinking "complexity on complexity", and I agree a little. But more to my mind is, can these goals be broken down into components more efficiently than trying to form them into one whole? One thing I would like to know from Lawrence is more about what the advantage is for forming a large Alliance instead of just helping the attorneys form their Alliance, helping all the activists comm. better, etc. Why the desire for a big Alliance? Priscilla and others already have experience in attempting to form such alliances and in funding exiting members. These past alliances should be examined to see what succeeded and why they eventually failed (if this hasn't been done already). For my part, I think FACTNet can substantially aid in the major goals by linking the activists, researchers, attorneys, etc. and by providing them a valuable research tool and material. This activity alone would mold a sort of alliance all by itself, while maintaining the autonomy of the individual participants. So, I am sold on every idea presented at the meeting except the need to formally develop an Alliance of some sort. After the meeting I hung out at the Big Blue for awhile. It's amazing how many Scientologists smoke!!! It was sort of busy there, and they were handing out info. on a Sunday night party for the returning OTVIII's and the 6th anniversary of the Freewinds. ================================================================= If this is a copyrighted work, you are acknowledging by receipt of this document from FACTNet that on the basis of reasonable investigation, you have not been to obtain a copy elsewhere at a fair price, and that you are and will abide by the following copyright warning. WARNING CONCERNING COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS: The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photo copies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified by law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." 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