Because she lived only a block from Ground Zero, Jodi Bettis wasn't allowed to return to her apartment until the end of October, about six weeks after 9/11. On her window ledge, she found six inches of dust and soot, embedded with grim souvenirs of people who had worked in the Twin Towers - an earring, the scrap of a photograph, popcorn. Her apartment assaulted her with a variety of smells - all of them repellent. "It smelled like heavy dust," ...

[Picture / Caption: Joe O'Sullivan, 42, of Queens, and his wife Helena, 33, talk with Jim Woodworth (right), the detox project's president, during a consultation. Joe O'Sullivan's has had health problems since 9/11. The framed towel had been used by patient Tom Bulger.] It's become something of a medical mystery: This detox program shouldn't work, but it seems to. Nobody - from convention doctors to the patients - can explain why, but those suffering severe symptoms after exposure to debris kicked ...

[Picture: "Tom Bulger on the roof of Stuyvesant High School in New York. To the left of his shoulder is the rebuilt 7 World Trade Center building (the tallest glass building in the background). Bulger was the first person through the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, a Manhattan clinic that follows a protocol pioneered by L. Ron Hubbard, controversial (and late) founder of the Church of Scientology."] Tom Bulger heard the sound of a jet flying low, gunning its engines. ...

Posted at 03:46 on 05 October, 2007 UTC Samoa’s acting police commissioner says he welcomes the goodwill visit by scientology volunteers who will train police officers in disaster management. Scientology volunteers have put up tents in front of the government building in Apia for their disaster management training over the next two weeks. The goodwill visit has sparked protests among Christians from various congregations who warn about the possible negative impact. The government has expressed its support for the training, and ...

Posted at 06:14 on 04 October, 2007 UTC Hundreds of Christian believers in Samoa from Pentecostal churches and ministries have marched in protest against the government’s support of the Scientology religion. They marched to the front of the government building in Apia where Scientology tents have been put up as the main venue for its disaster training and seminars over the next two weeks. The protesters have called on the government to reconsider its stance to allow the Scientology members into ...

Samoa’s Minister of Police, Tole’afoa Apulu Fa’afisi, says a goodwill visit by Scientology volunteer ministers is crucial for the country as their mission is to provide disaster seminars and training for everyone. The minister, who opened the Scientology training programme yesterday was responding to more than a hundred Christian protesters from various denominations who marched to show their disapproval of the Scientologists visit. Tole’afoa says the government’s support for the Scientology volunteers is for the important training they are providing which ...

Posted at 22:50 on 02 October, 2007 UTC The chairman of the Council of Churches in Samoa, the Reverend Oka Fau’olo, has dismissed reports saying the Curch Concil is supporting a goodwill visit by Scientology representatives currently in the country. The chairman says there is no need for Scientology ministers to come through the council in order to provide disaster training and seminars for the public because there are other suitable organizations such as the local medical association. Reverend Fau’olo’s comments ...

CLEARWATER — The Church of Scientology is in announcement mode again, this time saying it will spend $20-million on a major upgrade of its iconic Fort Harrison Hotel. But what church officials aren't saying is exactly when the work will start. So, expect some eye rolls. That's because across the street from the Fort Harrison is Scientology's seven-story Super Power building. Stuccoed, trimmed and painted on the outside, the huge building is unfinished and vacant on the inside. And, remarkably, it's ...

Hollywood star Tom Cruise is planning to build a bunker at his Colorado home to protect his family in the event of an intergalactic alien attack, according to new reports. The Mission Impossible actor, who is a dedicated follower of Scientology, is reportedly fearful that deposed galactic ruler 'Xenu' is plotting an evil revenge attack on Earth. According to American magazine Star, a source said: "Tom is planning to build a US$10 million bunker under his Telluride estate." "It's a self-contained ...

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit against Dr. James Orrington, DDS, alleging religious and sexual harassment. The suit, filed on behalf of ten employees — 9 women and 1 man? 10 women? — claims the South Side dentist required employees to recite passages from Scientology literature before he'd give them their checks. Three employees were fired after they lodged a complaint with the EEOC in 2005, and another two were fired after they complained about the harassment. According ...

For those interested in learning more about Scientology off the job, the church is expanding its Chicago presence. The Church of Scientology is setting up shop at the former Artcraft Building in the South Loop, at 650 S. Clark. When the flagship center opens next summer there will be activities, social services and, presumably, auditing. The building’s previous tenants, ACORN and the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, moved out because the space and crumbling façade needed attention that the previous owners weren’t willing ...

A SYDNEY woman charged with stabbing her father and sister to death in their suburban home is seeking to be released to a hospital for patients with mental illnesses. The 25-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was diagnosed with a psychotic illness last year but was allegedly denied treatment by her parents because of their belief in Scientology. In a brief hearing at Burwood Local Court in Sydney's inner-west yesterday, the woman's barrister, John Stratton SC, said he would ...

She was open-minded enough about Scientology, if a bit dubious about some aspects of the life of its founder L. Ron Hubbard. Imagine Carol Tobin's surprise, then, when her hopes of a private jet and a Hollywood career with Tom Cruise were dashed as its adherents appeared to reject her Is it just cynical old me or is Scientology a load of old cobblers or, as we would say here in Ringsend, a load of bullshit? Oh, I can hear the ...

Feds: Workers propositioned, forced to learn about Scientology A Southwest Side dentist sexually harassed female workers and forced them to recite Scientology formulas in order to get their paychecks, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Thursday. The EEOC sued Dr. James L. Orrington on behalf of 10 former female employees, including three who were fired by the doctor shortly after they lodged complaints with the commission, said Ann Henry, an EEOC lawyer. The dentist fired two others after they complained ...

The night clubs, shops and lunch spots of downtown Albuquerque are about to get a new neighbor. The Church of Scientology is in the process of purchasing the Gizmo's building at 410 Central SE near Fourth Street, says Gabriel Rivera, a redevelopment planner with City Planning. "From what I've heard, in other places and other cities, [Scientologists] usually locate in the Downtown areas," Rivera says. Local Scientologists confirmed the deal. Plans for the church are extensive, says Beth Akiyama, director of ...

Several volunteer ministers of the US-based Scientology religion are in Samoa to provide disaster response specialist courses for government representatives and local church councils. The Samoa government and the National Council of churches are the two major organisations supporting the training courses, scheduled to start next week. Numerous Hollywood stars such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta are members of the religion. The followers of Scientology are fighting problems such as disaster management, manmade, natural or personal disasters, communication problems, violence, ...

Attorney General Abbott Charges Foreclosure Rescue Firm With Operating Unlawful Scam Court freezes assets of Foreclosure Assistance Solutions HOUSTON – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today charged a business with operating an unlawful foreclosure rescue scam that targeted struggling Texas homeowners. As a result, the 408th District Court issued a temporary restraining order and froze assets belonging to three businessmen who organized the scheme. According to court documents, the defendants fraudulently advertised that they could save homeowners from imminent foreclosures. The ...

RICHMOND — The Virginia Board of Dentistry ruled Friday that a Harrisonburg dentist broke state regulations by allowing unlicensed assistants to sedate patients. The board put Dr. Kathryn Biery on indefinite probation, for at least two years, ordered her to take continuing education classes and fined her $24,000, according to Leigh Kiczales, of the Virginia Department of Health Professions Administrative Proceedings Division. The decision followed Biery’s admission on Thursday that she told unlicensed assistants to sedate children, sometimes calling the order ...

South Loop residents will soon have a new neighbor-the Church of Scientology. The church's new flagship center of Chicago will move next summer into the former Artcraft Building, 650 S. Clark, and become the hub of Scientology-related activities and social services. "It's going to be a beacon of life," said Allyne Rosenthal, president of the Church of Scientology of Illinois. The new center, which was bought by the church in February 2007 for an undisclosed amount, will include office space for ...

There are moments in life, coincidences, which have the potential to utterly change the direction and meaning of your existence. Of these I have had several; they have all marked me in various ways, but none more so than that fateful late afternoon in Stuttgart, Germany, when an attractive and rather aggressive young woman blocked my path and accosted me with the interrogative; "Do you have a good memory"? This story aims to serve a dual function: Enlighten those who may ...

In the pantheon of D.C. area weird religious places to go and gawk, you’ve got the George Washington Masonic Memorial, the Oz-like LDS Washington D.C. Temple Visitors’ Center and now L. Ron Hubbard’s house. A bold, swanky sign went up less than a week ago in front of 1812 19th Street NW in Dupont, site of the “founding church” of Scientology that Hubbard set up in 1955. The house belonged to the church until the mid-’70s, when it was sold and ...

Recently, the Church of Scientology announced that it was purchasing three buildings on East 125th Street for an estimated $10 million. Since 2003, the controversial religion had been running a mostly overlooked storefront on Third Avenue between 122nd and 123rd streets, but the new expansion marks a major move into Harlem. The buildings will be fully renovated and turned into not only a church, but a community center with the usual Scientology programs: job training, literacy and drug rehab. Media reports ...

The basic theological tenets of the Church of Scientology are well known: a fanatical hatred for psychiatry coupled with a creation myth that involves an evil alien ruler named Xenu and his sundry galactic allies. The basic tenets of its tax policy are somewhat less familiar. But Scientologists promulgated and, at one point, heavily promoted a proposal that would replace all federal income taxes with a national retail sales tax (NRST). And the theology and tax policy aren't entirely unrelated: Xenu ...