Last week we learned that Amazon.co.uk has bowed to pressure to stop selling a book by a former senior Irish Scientologist. The Complex: An Insider Exposes the Covert World of the Church of Scientology (Merlin Publishing, Dublin) describes John Duignan's 21 years in the religion, not all of it a happy tale. According to Amazon, "Unfortunately, we have had to withdraw The Complex by John Duignan in the UK because we received a specific allegation that a passage in the book ...

A controversial drug rehab program on Albuquerque's West Side may be on the verge of losing its state funding. Second Chance has been ridiculed for its expensive carrot juice and sauna approach to cleaning up addicts and now, some people are questioning whether it's a good use of taxpayer dollars. "Lets put that money, especially right now, when were on real hard economic times, lets put that money where we know it has a proven successful track record," said Bernalillo County ...

A. Rhodes Wilson wants to use his single-family home on Easton Road as a mission for the Church of Scientology. Looking for approval from the Plumstead Township Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Wilson, represented by Doylestown attorney Robert Gundlach, testified he intends to keep the house exactly as it is but convert its use to a place of worship. Wilson is the church's Bucks County mission's director and would lease the home to the church. He does not there. Gundlach presented ...

The young cast of the Valley’s newest holiday pageant is all atwitter. Opening night is only a week away, and for the first time, the pre-teen actors are getting a glimpse of their costumes. The young cast of the Valley’s newest holiday pageant is all atwitter. Opening night is only a week away, and for the first time, the pre-teen actors are getting a glimpse of their costumes. But something is profoundly askew at Tempe’s Stray Cat Theatre. Where one might ...

PROSPECTIVE purchasers and commercial real estate agents were left standing at the altar again this week, after the Church of Scientology abandoned the sale of its city headquarters, just hours before a scheduled auction. The Church blamed planning delays, and other issues concerning the development of its new headquarters, as the reason it cannot vacate its 4-level Melbourne home of almost 30 years. This excuse was cold comfort for the dozens of investors who had shown an interest in the 42 ...

The Complex: An Insider Exposes the Covert World of The Church of Scientology by John Duignan with Nicola Tallant, Merlin Publishing, Dublin. The Scientologists have been doing their damnedest to stop the international publication of John Duignan’s memoir The Complex. Following legal representations, it is no longer possible to buy the book, published in Ireland by Merlin, from Amazon.co.uk. That made me curious, so I had a copy sent direct from Dublin. Here’s my review. In places, Duignan – a former ...

PROSPECTIVE purchasers and commercial real estate agents were left standing at the altar again this week, after the Church of Scientology abandoned the sale of its city headquarters, just hours before a scheduled auction. The church blamed planning delays, and other issues concerning the development of its new headquarters, as the reason it cannot vacate its four- level Melbourne home of almost 30 years. This excuse was cold comfort for the dozens of investors who had shown an interest in the ...

A man shot and killed Sunday in front of a Scientology building in Los Angeles was a Florence resident who was on probation for stalking a Lane County judge. Also, he recently had served time in a Florence jail for threatening a tow truck driver. A security guard shot Mario Majorski, 48, after Majorski threatened guests and another security guard with samurai swords at the Scientology Celebrity Centre in Hollywood, Los Angeles police said. Majorski, who had numerous addresses in Los ...

When he was a UCLA student 15 years ago, Mario Majorski was a committed enough Scientologist that he helped file a federal lawsuit against a professor who called the church a cult. On Sunday, Majorski stormed the church's Celebrity Centre in Hollywood with a sword in each hand. He was shot dead by a security guard who police say had every reason to fear for his life and the lives of hundreds of others gathered on the property. The reasons for ...

The Church of Scientology's concerns about protesters outside their Gilman Hot Springs base led Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone to seek and gain approval Tuesday for county restrictions on picketing in residential neighborhoods. Only Supervisor Bob Buster voted against the ordinance, which forbids demonstrators from coming within 300 feet of a home they are targeting in unincorporated Riverside County. Buster said a 300-foot buffer would effectively quash demonstrations outside residences. He said the ordinance threatens free-speech rights. Stone said that protesters ...

The representative, Doug Bushwar, told police he arrived with a can of gas and found [Mario Jay Majorski] standing on the passenger side of his Toyota pickup, which had its flashers on. Behind the truck, there were "small kids' toys lined up in a row on the street," Bushwar told the officer. "He thought this looked very strange," the report said. When Bushwar approached, Majorski became upset and agitated, according to the report, yelling at Bushwar to stay where he was, ...

HOLLYWOOD (AP) ? Los Angeles police said a security guard at a Scientology building shot and killed a sword-wielding man Sunday. Detective Wendi Berndt said Monday that 48-year-old Mario Majorski of Oregon was shot once as he tried to attack guests with a pair of samurai swords. A Scientology spokesman said Majorski had been a Scientologist in the early 1990s but appeared to have left the church about 15 years ago. Berndt said Majorski was known to the security guards and ...

Potsdam — Germany is dropping its pursuit of a ban on Scientology after finding insufficient evidence of illegal activity, security officials said Friday. Domestic intelligence services will continue to monitor the group, officials said. The German branch of the Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology has been under observation by domestic intelligence services for more than a decade. Top security officials asked state governments in December to begin gathering information on whether they had sufficient grounds to seek a ban. The Church ...

Samara, November 20, Interfax – The Samara city court has banned work of Dianetics Center as its staff-members worked without license and practiced hypnotherapy and Ron Hubbard teaching. The Samara Region Prosecutor’s Office reported that staff-members of the Dianetics Center lectured at seminars and courses on dianetics and scientology without having special licenses. “These educational courses allegedly aimed at forming world outlook and life style based on priority of human values. They tried to reach it by applying philosophy of improving ...

MORE than 15,000 schoolies on an annual party invasion will be bombarded with safe sex and anti-drug messages. A drug information booklet sponsored by the Church of Scientology, and free condoms from a health provider will be available to school-leavers letting off steam when official celebrations start on Saturday. About 7000 Victorians will flock to the Gold Coast, at least 5000 will party at Lorne and Torquay, and up to 3000 teens are anticipated at Phillip Island after exams finish today. ...

Merlin, the Irish-based publisher of The Complex: An Insider Exposes the Covert World of the Church of Scientology, which was pulled from Amazon.co.uk for including "defamatory" content, has "emphatically denied" the allegations. Aoife Barrett, editorial director at Merlin, said the claim was "vexatious". Amazon.co.uk removed the title from sale last week. The online retailer said: "Unfortunately, we have had to withdraw The Complex by John Duignan in the UK because we received a specific allegation that a passage in the book ...

Author and former Scientologist John Duignan will be joining us to discuss his new book, The Complex: An Insider Exposes The Covert World Of The Church Of Scientology. John, a 20+ year veteran of the Church's super-secret sect, the Sea Organization, will discuss his life inside, how he got out and how the Church uses its power to oppress members and destroy its critics.

SANTA FE (KRQE) — A report presented to a legislative committee Monday suggests an Albuquerque drug-treatment program seeking more state money may not be as good as it claimed. Dr. Paul Guerin, who has been studying the program based on the teachings of the founder of Scientology, reported it does not have the success rate it has pointed to in the past. He delivered the results of his study in testimony to the Legislatures Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee meeting in ...

SAN MARCOS —- The Planning Commission will meet Monday to consider a private school's request to renew its operating permit. Applied Scholastics serves 65 kindergarten through third-grade students in the building formerly known as the Old Richland Schoolhouse at 134 Woodland Parkway. Delphi Academy, which runs the school, is seeking to serve students up through the eighth grade under a permit renewal. The school's maximum number of students would remain the same, even if the request is granted. An agenda for ...