Five years after Tom Cruise called Nicolas Sarkozy a “wonderful guy,” a French court convicted his church of fraud. Eric Pape on Scientology’s latest crisis. Scientology isn’t a religion, it’s a dangerous sect overseen by convicted criminals—at least as far as France is concerned. There is no doubt that the last week has brought a flurry of bad news for Scientology. There was the vocal defection of respected film director Paul Haggis, as well as fresh indications that John Travolta, one ...

En abril del 2008, el suntuoso buque de pasajeros 'Freewinds' estaba siendo sometido a refacciones en Curazao cuando se descubrió que contenía en su estructura asbesto azul, un peligrosísimo material, vetado en los países del mundo civilizado por ser causante de cáncer. De inmediato, las autoridades portuarias de la isla ordenaron detener las obras, ante el riesgo inminente que existía para 240 trabajadores polacos. Ya existían voces de alerta respecto al peligro que representaba el buque, utilizado como escuela itinerante por ...

Tom Cruise himself could show up to make the case that the Church of the Scientology be allowed to convert an office building in Sandy Springs into its Georgia — and Deep South — headquarters, and members of 15 neighborhood associations would be unmoved. Even Cruise, they say, wouldn’t have a place to park. “That property just doesn’t have enough parking for a church,” said Mark Sampl, a leader in one of the city’s largest coalitions of homeowners, the Sandy Springs ...

They are stepping forward — from Dallas and Denver, Portland, Las Vegas, Montana — talking about what happened, to them and their friends, during their years in the Church of Scientology. Jackie Wolff wept as she recalled the chaotic night she was ordered to stand at a microphone in the mess hall and confess her "crimes" in front of 300 fellow workers, many jeering and heckling her. Gary Morehead dredged up his recollection of Scientology leader David Miscavige punishing venerable church ...

Marty Rathbun Born: California Age: 52 Joined Scientology: at age 20, in 1977 Left Scientology: 2004 Family status: Divorced from Sea Org member Anne Rathbun. They had no children. Career highlights: A top lieutenant to Miscavige. Key player in legal affairs unit. Miscavige's "detail guy" during lengthy negotiations with IRS; among those who signed settlement agreement. Inspector general and board member of Religious Technology Center, church's top ecclesiastical authority. Known for his auditing skills. Audited Tom Cruise. Coached auditors working with ...

Pendant quinze ans, le pianiste belge Alain Stoffen a vécu sous l'emprise de la secte. Il raconte son "Voyage au coeur de la Scientologie" (Privé), qui l'a manipulé, ruiné et a détruit sa famille. Extraits exclusifs. "L'argent commence à manquer" [Avril 1986. Alain Stoffen vient d'arriver au centre de Copenhague de la Scientologie qui doit lui délivrer son "état de Clair", pour lequel il a déjà déboursé 45 511,29 francs.] -Serre les boîtes! Olivier, mon auditeur, vient de me poser dans ...

Four more Santa Clara County schools are closing because of concerns about possible swine flu infections, county health officials said today. They are not expected to open until Monday, May 11, according to county health officials. Among those closing is Rucker Elementary, a K-5 school near Gilroy. At least one child at the school, and possibly others, are being tested for swine flu, Gilroy Unified School District Superintendent Deborah Flores wrote in a message posted on the district's Web site. "In ...

(VG Nett) Helsedepartementet mener det er på tide at Scientologikirkens aktiviteter blir kontrollert opp mot norsk lov. Etter å ha besvart 200 spørsmål i Scientologikirkens personlighetstest på internett, gikk tre av VG Netts medarbeidere hver for seg til kirkens lokaler i Karl Johans gate i Oslo. Journalistene Stian Eisenträger og Marianne Vikås svarte ærlig på spørsmålene ut fra eget ståsted. Begge opplever seg selv som stabile, og fornøyd med livet. For å finne ut hvilke tilbakemeldinger depressive personer kan få, påtok ...

[...] The Church of Scientology is close to putting its building at 825 15th St. on the market to raise cash for its effort to convert the 58,000-square-foot Hotel Ramona building at J and 6th streets downtown into a new church and Northern California headquarters. The church in 2005 bought the 79-year-old Ramona, which had been converted to office use in the mid-1980s. It is a designated city landmark so there won’t be much change to the exterior, including the hotel ...

VG Netts journalister tok scientologi-test * - Deprimert, tilbaketrukket, uansvarlig * - På nivå med en gjenstand som ikke lever * - Undertrykkes av en eller flere personer * - Må velge mellom kurs eller kjemikalier * - Kan forbedre livet med 1000 prosent (VG Nett) Dette var blant tilbakemeldingene VG Netts tre journalister fikk da de tok den omstridte personlighetstesten til Scientologikirken. Det er denne testen Olav Gunnar Ballo (SV) mener var en utløsende årsak til at datteren Kaja tok ...

The Scientology organization has increasingly targeted poor countries such as Haiti in its recruitment efforts. Why would this money-hungry crime-cult be interested in one of the world’s poorest countries? The answer: Because they want to bring Haitians in to the USA on "religious worker" visas to serve as unpaid laborers. Quoting at length from Scientology-affiliated newspaper the Tampa Bay Informer: Haiti, with its 75% unemployment rate, $15-$20.00 average income per week, 70% illiteracy, 10,000+ homeless in the capital and thousands ...

Riverside County supervisors Tuesday fast-tracked and unanimously approved an ordinance that restricts picketing outside homes and a Church of Scientology base near Hemet. Supervisors deemed the restrictions urgent and voted to forgo regular statutory proceedings, which include a second hearing. The ordinance went into effect after its introduction Tuesday despite unresolved questions about exactly how rules will apply to the Scientology base. The new ordinance, backed by the church and Supervisor Jeff Stone, stipulates that pickets must remain at least 50 ...

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The Director of the Second Chance rehabilitation center is firing back after a News 13 report on Wednesday. Director Joy Westrum is angry after Albuquerque police claimed the facility snuck out 40 inmates ahead of a deadline to report them. The city made a mistake. Those 40 people bussed downtown on Wednesday were from the Albuquerque Rescue Mission which shares a building with Second Chance. However Albuquerque Public Safety Director Pete Dinelli said he's confirmed eight other people ...

Lance Hoskins joined the church in the 1970's, and then worked for the Sea Org - the church's management body in the US. (duration: 44?58?)

LAS CRUCES — The city of Las Cruces is ending an anti-drug program aimed at third-graders after learning it was backed by the Church of Scientology. The Drug-Free Marshal program started in late November. It had been presented to five schools, but was intended to be promoted eventually among all third-graders in the Las Cruces Public Schools. Mayor Ken Miyagishima says it wasn't his intention to promote the religion in the schools. The mayor says he was approached this summer by ...

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 ...