Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction writer and fleeting Aleister Crowley subordinate L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986) founded in 1952 as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics. Hubbard characterized Scientology as a religion, and in 1953 incorporated the Church of Scientology in New Jersey. Scientologists believe that anyone who disagrees with their teachings is infected, whether knowingly or not, by evil aliens known as Marcabians. This belief system or “tech” inspires a high ...

CLEARWATER - The city of Clearwater is so strapped for cash that leaders have eliminated 86 jobs, cut library hours, and raised the property tax rate. Parks and recreation workers even stopped flying the American flag for a few days over 13 city landmarks to save a couple of bucks. But one step the city staff has not taken to help make ends meet is forcing city code violators, including the Church of Scientology, to pay the $3.4 million in fines ...

The night after Lisa McPherson died, the leader of the Church of Scientology sent word for one of his top lieutenants to wait by a pay phone at the Holiday Inn Surfside on Clearwater Beach. When Marty Rathbun answered the ringing phone in the lobby, David Miscavige let him have it: Why aren’t you all over this mess? The police are poking around. Do something. "Yes sir," Rathbun said. McPherson, a 36-year-old parishioner in apparent good health, had spent 17 days ...

Part ONE of THREE The leader of the Church of Scientology strode into the room with a boom box and an announcement: Time for a game of musical chairs. David Miscavige had kept more than 30 members of his church's executive staff cooped up for weeks in a small office building outside Los Angeles, not letting them leave except to grab a shower. They slept on the floor, their food carted in. Their assignment was to develop strategic plans for the ...

£5,000 to find council chief’s undefined self A council chief executive is attending a £5,000 self-awareness training course in Germany and Florida to learn to become “more likeable and able to like herself”. Last Updated: 12:12PM BST 23 Aug 2008 Dr Allison Fraser, who is in charge of Sandwell Council, signed up to attend the Avatar Professional Course. The Avatar website claims the course teaches people how to become “more real, authentic”, to “protect themselves against the abrasions of the world” ...

I had never been this close to a real cobra before. As it rose up and spread its hood, I could feel my hackles raise and a primordial fear tickle some primitive level of my brain. The handler said we were perfectly safe, but even so, I didn’t want to get too close to the thing. [...]

Scientology’s International Base is located on the sloping foothills at the north end of California’s San Jacinto Valley, about ninety miles east of Los Angeles. When I first moved there in 1989, the valley was still mostly a rural farming community – sheep still grazed on fields near the Base. But the area was being rapidly taken over by LA’s "Inland Empire" suburbs, spreading out east from Riverside like a virus. Nearby Moreno Valley had already achieved the dubious status of ...

"You wanted to see me, Sir?" I poked my head into the office of the new Commanding Officer of the Planetary Dissemination Organization, Ronnie Miscavige. "Yes, come in Jeff." He indicated the chair across the desk from his deputy, Bill Dendiu, and I sat down. They both looked very serious. [...]

It was well after midnight and the Tampa airport terminal was almost empty. Just a few late-night travelers sitting on the benches, reading, trying to sleep or, like me, watching the movie on the screen hanging above the waiting area. They were showing Pancho Villa, the 1972 Eugenio Martin film with Telly Savalas as Villa. I was identifying with Villa – his betrayal and imprisonment, his escape, his revolt against his enemy, Huerta. I could feel Villa’s hot outrage. ''¡Viva la ...

The controversial group has been labeled secretive, inspirational, dangerous and misunderstood. The Church of Scientology? [Picture]Disguised members of an internet-based group called Anonymous protest near buildings associated with the Church of Scientology on Saturday, March 15, 2008, in Los Angeles. (Chris Weeks/AP Photo) No, it's a mysterious group of masked men and computer hackers called Anonymous who say are committed to dismantling the powerful religious organization renowned for its celebrity members such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta. Over the past ...

[Picture]'All lies': Cruise is considering a lawsuit Star's fury over claims by Diana author Andrew Morton: • Daughter by Katie Holmes "conceived like Rosemary's Baby" • Nicole Kidman "feared blackmail" over sex tapes made with Scientologists • Scientologists "planted meadown of flowers for Tom and Nicole to run through" • Cruise's next mission is to recruit David Beckham Tom Cruise has become the de-facto second in command of the Church of Scientology, according to a new biography - which makes an ...