SHOCK and grief turned to horror when Joe Higgins helped pull the body of his brother and fellow firefighter, Tim, from the rubble of the World Trade Center. "We found him about three weeks after Sept. 11, and later, there was a bunch of us on the pile one night and I looked up," Joe was saying. "I saw this haze of dust was like a rainbow - red, blue, yellow tiny particles - and I said to the guys, 'You ...

In response to this, Religious Freedom Watch (RFW), universally regarded as a front group for the Church of Scientology, has posted a rundown (pun intended) of the supposed crimes against journalism that I committed in the writing of my piece on the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Program. "Methinks you doth protest too much DeSio. Or do you find Touretzky’s racist comments so normal, and your defense of his bigoted statements so necessary to support your own deep hatred, ...

Religious Freedom Watch (RFW) has just put up an item on its website charging that in my New York Detox piece Scientology critic Dave Touretzky (left) could not defend himself from charges that he is a racist, but simply stated that the charges are untrue because they cannot be found via a Lexis-Nexis search. The RFW item can be found here. RFW is almost universally regarded as a front group for the Church of Scientology and devotes a considerable amount of ...

Here's a little source material for you all regarding my piece on the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project. In it, I mention a particularly strongly worded letter sent by Queens City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. to Rev. John Carmichael, president of the New York branch of the Church of Scientology. The letter was sent to Carmichael in response to Vallone's strong words about Scientology, which can be found here and here. Carmichael requested a meeting with Vallone, but that ain't ...

Apparently, I’m a hate-filled bigot. That would have to be the conclusion you would draw if you follow the dealings of the Church of Scientology, particularly the organization known as Religious Freedom Watch (RFW), which is almost universally recognized as a Scientology front group. In response to last week’s cover story on the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, the controversial alternative health clinic based on the writings of Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard, RFW has bared its teeth. Evidently lacking ...

“I'm not here converting these men and women to Scientology. And I've got to tell you something—I've been a Scientologist 20 years. In Sacramento I, more than any other Scientologist, got new people into Scientology, me personally. I'm very good at converting people, if I want to.” Jim Woodworth is the director of the New York Rescue Workers' Detoxification Project, and he is bristling at the suggestion that his program is an arm of the Church of Scientology. He insists that ...

As Chad Bloom can attest from firsthand experience, the Narconon rehab program can bring ‘ice’ addicts back to live a productive, drug-free life Lari Zelinsky-Bloom is proud of her recent graduate. No ceremony or lei hail his achievement, but thanks to celebrities Kelly Preston and John Travolta, there will be many others to follow in the footsteps of her son, 21-year-old Chad Bloom. Chad just graduated from Narconon, a drug rehabilitation center. After a harrowing nightmare suffering the effects of ice ...

When 9/11 firefighter Joe Montaperto won a free bicycle at the start of last year's Five Boro Bike Tour, he vowed he'd improve his breathing problems in time to ride it in this year's event — and on Sunday, he'll make good on his promise. "I want to finish it in one piece and not need EMS to pick me up," quipped the rugged former Marine and semiprofessional football player. "The other day, I rode 14 miles just to see where ...

Two City Council members who attended Tom Cruise's fund-raiser for a controversial 9/11 "detoxification project" didn't pay the $6,250-a-ticket entry fee, but officials said they acted within the ethics rules. City Council members Joe Addabbo (D-Queens) and Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens) both turned up at the glitzy Manhattan affair Thursday night for the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, co-founded by Cruise and linked to Scientology. Addabbo is chairman of the council's Civil Service and Labor Committee. Emergency responders who underwent the ...

Tom Cruise rolled into Manhattan under extraordinary security last night for a Hollywood-style fund-raiser to benefit his controversial project to help 9/11 responders. The diminutive Scientologist, accompanied by his wife, Katie Holmes, pressed the flesh with supporters inside a $6,250-a-ticket benefit in Chelsea. Reporters were barred from the West 18th Street fund-raiser, which resembled a Hollywood premiere, with scores of security men and paparazzi. "He said how grateful he was to everyone for supporting the project," said Pat Bahnken, a party ...

NEW YORK (CBS) — Some call it a cult concoction while silver screen celebrity Tom Cruise swears by it – a Scientology program called the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project. City Councilman Hiram Monserrate said the program worked for him. "The fact is that this is a program that has helped over 700 rescue workers," Monserrate said. "A program that I have personally visited, participated in and spoken to dozens of rescue workers that today feel better. "Shame on anyone ...

Movie star Tom Cruise has won the support of hundreds of emergency workers in New York, after he hosted a $6,250-a-ticket benefit in the city Thursday night to raise funds for his controversial Sept. 11 detoxification program. The New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, which was co-founded by Cruise, is based on principals developed by Scientology leader L. Ron Hubbard. The free treatment involves large doses of vitamins, dietary adjustments and stints in a sauna. Among attendees at the high-profile event ...

LAST night another religious wack job came to attack Ground Zero: Tom bin Cruise. The warden of the Katie Holmes Correctional Facility zoomed in to do a "benefit" for his Scientology group, the "New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project." Only Cruise would hold a benefit for himself. Ground Zero crews are in for the Brooke Shields treatment: Cruise believes all ills are curable via the same Cartoon Network regimen of feeding people cooking oil and making them sweat. Cruise thinks he's ...

[Picture]Tom Cruise and his wife Katie Holmes arrive at the Altman Building for his Detox Center Benefit. [Picture]Michael Pena and his girlfriend, Breen Schaefer, were among the attendees at the Detox Center Benefit. Superstar actor and Scientology pusher Tom Cruise headlined a Chelsea soiree with all the excitement of a movie premiere last night to raise money for his controversial effort to "detox" Ground Zero workers. "It is an injustice that after six years people who were down there are still ...

Yesterday, I caught up with Councilman Hiram Monserrate, who has come under fire for supporting a Sept. 11 first-responder detoxification program associated with the Church of Scientology. Scientology's most famous booster, Tom Cruise, held a fund-raiser last night for the program. Monserrate, a former cop, told me he spoke with Sept. 11 rescue workers who have benefited from the program, and said that critics are motivated by their own agendas. "The bottom line is the program provided a better quality of ...

As could be expected, Scientologists are none too happy with Mayor Mike Bloomberg and City Councilman Peter Vallone for questioning the scientific validity of their "sweat and vitamins" detox project for 9/11 rescue workers. And at least one California-based follower of the ways of L. Ron hubbard is speaking out, sending an open letter to a variety of elected officials, newspapers and others praising the scientific validity of the New York Rescue Workers Detox Project. The full letter is after the ...

(New York - WABC, April 20, 2007) (WABC) – Tom Cruise appeared at a private dinner fundraiser on Thursday night for the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, a program he co-founded in 2002. The Scientology-based program offers free treatment to emergency workers who suffer breathing difficulties and other health problems stemming from exposure to toxins at ground zero after 9/11 terror attacks. "Nearly six years later, many are still paying a price for their heroic service at the World Trade ...

April 19, 2007 — Scientology nut Tom Cruise is in New York to solicit more cash for his controversial venture to 'detox' the heroes of September 11. As reported by the Post on April 6, Cruise, 44, will appear at a private gala on Manhattan's West 18th Street tonight to raise funds for the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, a program he co-founded in 2002. His wife, Katie Holmes, is also expected to be at the dinner, starting at 6 ...

SCIENTOLOGY fanatic Tom Cruise is in New York to solicit more cash for his controversial venture to 'detox' the heroes of September 11. Cruise, 44, will appear at a private gala on Manhattan's West 18th Street tonight to raise funds for the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, a program he co-founded in 2002. His wife, Katie Holmes, is also expected to be at the dinner. Guests are paying as much as US$100,000 for a table for eight. "Nearly six years ...

Tom Cruise comes to New York on Thursday night, hoping to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for Scientology. He’s doing it under the guise of a detox program for members of the New York Fire Department who participated in the 9/11 clean-up. There’s only problem: No one from the hierarchy of the FDNY endorses this program. The people I’ve talked to are furious with Cruise, and want the rank and file of firemen in New York to stay away from ...

Mayor Bloomberg yesterday blasted official proclamations drafted by a city councilman honoring Tom Cruise and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard for their roles in promoting a detoxification program for 9/11 rescue workers. "I don't think it's appropriate to do that," said the mayor, reacting to a report in yesterday's Post. "I think that reputable scientists do not think Scientology has any basis in science. It may be a cult, it may be a religion, it may be beliefs. It's other things, ...

In a move that has outraged some officials, Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard has been honored by the City Council ahead of tomorrow night's Manhattan fund-raiser for a controversial 9/11 detox program, The Post has learned. Host Tom Cruise, the Scientology follower who co-founded the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, also will be honored with a proclamation at the fund-raiser. The project runs a downtown Manhattan clinic that has served more than 780 rescue workers since 2002. Cruise is headlining ...

Help is on the way for Utah police officers exposed to methamphetamine labs. "When Mark Shurtleff announced he was going to test out the New York 9/11 Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, to help the meth cops, Dr. (Jerry) Ross and I met with him," said Mike Phillips, a founder of Biocleansing Centers of America in Orem. "He looked at our program and said he wanted us to stay in business long enough to help those cops." The center, at 555 S. ...

A legislator hosting a gala fund-raising dinner for a controversial detoxification program for 9/11 rescue workers co-founded by Tom Cruise revealed yesterday he's undergone the procedure himself. "I will tell you I felt 100 times better after the program than I've felt in the last 15 years," said City Councilman Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens). The Post reported yesterday that Monserrate is one of the hosts of an April 19 fund-raiser for the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, where Cruise is appearing, ...

Relief may be on the way for police officers ailing because of exposure to methamphetamine labs. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff's initiative on behalf of scores of sick former narcotics officers will soon open an in-state treatment center offering the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Program. "Within 30 days, we hope to start sending cops through," Shurtleff said. A closed drug-detox facility in Orem will house the program, and a nonprofit corporation is being formed to run the center, he said. ...

Have you ever wanted to rub shoulders with Tom Cruise and learn about Scientology's detox treatment for 9/11 workers? Then you'll be excited to learn that the superstar will be in town for an April 19 fund-raiser. The Post reports that while the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project hasn't been approved by the NYPD or FDNY, some swear by it. However, even those involved with the fund-raiser are conflicted. The Post spoke to Sergeants Benevolent Association president Ed Mullins, who ...

Great scoop in The New York Post today: Tom Cruise is hosting a Scientology benefit on April 19 in New York for the group’s controversial detox program for 9/11 survivors. But here’s a flash. I wrote this story on December 22, 2006: The New York Fire Department does not support the program, and there is much hostile feeling toward Cruise. The latest public endorsement of Scientology and its programs — decried by experts as pure "hooey" — may be the last ...

Scientology superstar Tom Cruise is coming here to promote his controversial "detox" project to 9/11 workers, and will host a mega-fund-raising gala for it. Tickets for the April 19 fund-raiser, which will star Cruise and benefit the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, run as high as $100,000 for a table for eight. The downtown Manhattan clinic offers free Scientology-inspired treatments to firefighters, cops and other rescue workers exposed to high levels of toxins at Ground Zero. The program - which ...

***image2*** A new drug treatment center uses saunas, vitamins and, some say, Scientology to rehab inmates. Now they have state money to do it. Julio, a 30-year-old Clovis native with big brown eyes and close-cropped hair, used to be a paint sniffer. These days he sees himself differently. "You don't enter rehab because you're healthy and stable," he says. "And the last six months haven't been easy." Julio has spent the last six months at the Second Chance Center, a new ...

David E. Root, M.D, has traveled the world on a mission to rid its inhabitants of fat-soluble toxins. From Chernobyl to Ground Zero in New York City, Root has promoted a detoxification program that he claims has helped thousands suffering ailments like radiation poisoning and asbestos exposure. Many medical professionals have criticized the program he uses as ineffective and scientifically unsound, even dangerous. Critics point out that the program’s inventor, the late L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology, ...