A Las Vegas fundraiser earned $500,000 for soldiers and emergency responders who say chemicals sickened them and earned Utah’s attorney general coveted photographs posing with celebrities. Sandra Lucas, a Salt Lake City resident who recently became president of the nationwide Heroes Health Fund, said she and a board must decide how to split the proceeds, but Utah residents will see a share. Actor John Travolta was the headline speaker at the fundraiser Saturday at the Wynn Las Vegas. Utah Attorney General ...

Utah’s attorney general and a federal agent who busted drug labs in Utah County will be among the guests Saturday at a Las Vegas fundraiser with actor John Travolta. Travolta is helping generate money for what’s called the Heroes Health Fund, a nationwide program which provides treatment to soldiers and emergency responders who believe they were sickened by exposure to chemicals. The treatment — consisting largely of exercise, time in a sauna and a diet of antioxidants — has its roots ...

The Scientology-backed rehab promises addicts they can sweat out their demons in sweltering saunas. But critics charge that the organization is the devil itself. L. Ron Hubbard, the prolific science fiction author and founder of the Church of Scientology, may have been judged “a mental case” (according to the F.B.I.) and “a pathological liar” (according to a Los Angeles Supreme Court judge), but to tens of thousands of his eager followers worldwide, the man discovered an approach to recovery that outclasses ...

Over the weekend, notorious Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard celebrated what would have been his 100th birthday. The former science-fiction writer (born March 13, 1911) founded the religion Scientology in 1952 as a successor to his self-help series, 'Dianetics.' Since then, Scientology has gone mainstream with the aid of big-name celebrity believers like Tom Cruise and John Travolta. But while Scientology's association with movie stars has gained it publicity, it's also revealed outlandish, dangerous and cult-ish aspects that leave many wondering ...

Scientology adverts under investigation by ads watchdog Row over posters that claim sessions can tackle job insecurity as former member of church describes campaign as ‘misleading and offensive’ Gabrielle Monaghan. Sunday Times Published: 6 March 2011 [In print. Online subscrption only] Complaints have been filed with the country’s advertising watchdog over a Church of Scientology campaign, which claims its courses can help with job insecurity. The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI) is investigating claims that the ads, appearing in Dublin’s ...

Gawker.com, where the author is employed as a staff writer, declined to publish this story. Did the Church of Scientology use a Vanity Fair contributing editor to infiltrate and gather intelligence on the cult's enemies in the media? John Connolly is a well-known, and well-liked, character in New York media circles. He's a former NYPD detective and stock broker who landed a third career as an investigative reporter for Vanity Fair, where he is a contributing editor, Radar, the Daily Beast, ...

After John Le Carré, Oxford is blessed by L Ron Hubbard L Ron Hubbard has left Oxford University with something of a quandary after bequeathing his collected works to the Union. [photo of L.Ron Hubbard] By Tim Walker 6:30AM GMT 26 Feb 2011 Daily Telegraph John le Carré’s decision to donate his literary archive to Oxford University delighted the academic community this week because its value could not be disputed. There is, however, something of a question mark over the extent ...

On August 19, 2009, Tommy Davis, the chief spokesperson for the Church of Scientology International, received a letter from the film director and screenwriter Paul Haggis. “For ten months now I have been writing to ask you to make a public statement denouncing the actions of the Church of Scientology of San Diego,” Haggis wrote. Before the 2008 elections, a staff member at Scientology’s San Diego church had signed its name to an online petition supporting Proposition 8, which asserted that ...

Did you read that New Yorker piece on the Church of Scientology? You really have to. I know it's long, but it's worth it. If you're short on time, there are a lot of summaries. Along with some incredible new details, there are the previously reported stories of rampant physical abuse of underlings by church head David Miscavige, the church's "Sea Org" full of underage workers signed to "billion-year contracts" performing manual labor for little to no money, and the tales ...

People protesting at residential properties in unincorporated Riverside County soon will be able to get closer to their targets. The Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday to revise a measure that prohibits picketing within 30 feet of the property line of the targeted residence. Under the new proposal, protesters can get as close as three feet from the property. "I think it is a worthwhile compromise," Supervisor Jeff Stone said. Supervisors adopted the measure, known as Ordinance 884, in March 2009. Stone ...

MELBOURNE lord mayor Robert Doyle was a guest speaker at the opening of the Church of Scientology's multimillion-dollar headquarters in Ascot Vale yesterday, which drew more than 50 protesters. Mounted police supervised the private function in the Mount Alexander Road building as Mr Doyle and guests including Kate and Phil Ceberano were ferried in a back entrance. Senator Nick Xenophon, who has campaigned to have Scientology's tax-free status revoked, said he was surprised at Cr Doyle's decision. Cr Doyle said he ...

In 2009, a low-profile Pinellas County company drew unwelcome attention in a growing national controversy over home foreclosures. Employees of Nationwide Title Clearing, a leading processor of mortgage-related documents for banks, loan servicers and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., were under fire for signing paperwork as "vice president" of various banks although they actually worked for NTC. The assembly-line process in which workers scrawled their names or initials on hundreds of documents at a time — typically without reading them — ...

[Camelot Castle Hotel rip off: Ted Stourton, left, and John Mappin, right]

NEW ROUTE?: Commissioner says it’s not likely road will be closed to public. Riverside County Planning Commissioner John Petty said this week not to read too much into the recent approval of a Gilman Springs Road study, even if the Church of Scientology is billing it as the first step on the road to removing the route from the county’s general plan. The Church of Scientology owns the film-making studio Golden Era Productions, which sits on both sides of Gilman Springs ...

Riverside County planning commissioners support the idea of a study that will look at possibly realigning Gilman Springs Road north of San Jacinto where it bisects the Church of Scientology's Golden Era Productions. The commissioners' comments came during a meeting Wednesday in Riverside and will be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors, which could either order the review or find that the group's interest in amending the county's general land use plan is not appropriate at this time. Attorney Samuel C. ...

Camelot Castle’s owner John Mappin has enlisted the help of an ‘online reputation management company’ after his hotel received a series of bad reviews on TripAdvisor. The jewellery magnate, who has been a Scientologist for 20 years, claims he is the victim of a smear campaign by opponents of the controversial religion. [Picture / Caption: Talking point: Camelot Castle offers bed and breakfast accommodation on the Cornish coast] Mr Mappin, who counts fellow Scientologists Tom Cruise and John Travolta as his ...

DESPITE bombarding the BBC with letters in the weeks before transmission of John Sweeney's recent Panorama Special on Scientology, the lawyers for the self-styled "church" — the inevitable Messrs Carter-Fuck — have been strangely silent since it was broadcast. Ditto Phil Hall, the former Screws editor who now earns an honest crust as the Scientologists' PR man. The cult's followers, however, have been tirelessly hyperactive as ever. Zabrina Collins, an "ethics officer", emailed fellow Scientologists urging them to join a "counter ...

"YOU suck cock on Hollywood Boulevard." This is the word of the Church of Scientology, according to its former spokesman Mike Rinder, spilling the beans in John Sweeney’s BBC film this week. He was citing a text message from the office of the leader, David Miscavige, best man at Tom Cruise’s wedding to Katie Holmes. It was one of many bizarre obscenities quoted by Rinder who, after half a century inside the church, now says that it is a cult. ‘It ...

A COUNCILLOR hauled before a disciplinary hearing after calling the Church of Scientology “stupid” has been cleared of any wrongdoing. Cardiff council’s standards and ethics committee decided there was no evidence John Dixon had failed to comply with the its code of conduct. The executive member for health and social services was in London last May buying his wife-to-be a wedding ring, when he posted on website Twitter: “Didn’t know there was a Scientology ‘church’ on Tottenham Court Road. Just hurried ...

The Church of Scientology has received millions of pounds of business rates relief and tax breaks in Britain. The controversial organisation, which counts Hollywood celebrities among its high-profile members, boasts of having over 11 million square feet in property worldwide, but some ex-members call it a cult. The Church is not classed as a religion under Charity Law by the UK Charity Commission. In 1999, the Commission ruled that it did not pass the "public benefit" test required for advancing religion ...

[Excellent compendium regarding this Panorama Special: http://ocmb.xenu.net/ocmb/viewtopic.php?t=32865.]

[The Secrets of Scientology: A Panorama Special, BBC One, Tuesday, 28 September at 2100BST and then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer.] In 2007, while investigating the Church of Scientology for Panorama, reporter John Sweeney had a dramatic on-camera confrontation with a church spokesman named Tommy Davis. The church was accusing the reporter of bias and it attempted to stop the documentary from being broadcast - a campaign backed by Scientology A-lister John Travolta. Sweeney has returned to investigate ...

Two people accused of attempting to extort $25m (£16m) from John Travolta following the death of his son are to walk free after a judge in the Bahamas dismissed the case against them, apparently at the actor's request. A court in Nassau was about to begin the retrial of Tarino Lightbourne, a local ambulance driver, and Pleasant Bridgewater, his former lawyer and local politician, yesterday when prosecutors announced that Mr Travolta had contacted them saying he no longer wished to give ...

Sir Geoffrey Johnson Smith, who died yesterday aged 86, was a charismatic television reporter who switched to politics and enjoyed a 41-year career in the Commons. [...] Johnson Smith, who was later to launch a successful campaign on behalf of haemophiliacs who had been given infected blood, fought a long battle to curb the Church of Scientology, which had its headquarters near East Grinstead, in 1970 enduring a six-week libel case before a jury vindicated his stance. [...]

Helen Hunter recently jumped into the local roller-derby circuit. This is an appropriate footnote about the always-on-the-go Ocala firefighter. Hunter is pushing 40, and she smiles at the mere thought of derby competition. She embraces athletics, working out, fighting fires, health and the relationship between all of them. She will tell you with complete conviction the healthier she is, the better she can fight fires for the taxpayers who pay her salary. She is passionate about performing at her best, physically ...

The following is is a guest post from Lib Dem councillor, John Dixon, who was recently the subject of a complaint to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales for calling Scientology 'stupid' in a Twitter post. The views expressed below are John's personal opinion, and are not expressed in his capacity as a councillor; nor are they the official views of the Lib Dem Humanists & Secularists. I think I can safely say that I've come to the end of what ...

A Cardiff councillor who referred to Scientology as "stupid" on a social network site has been referred to an ethics committee. A Church of Scientology member complained about John Dixon's post on Twitter. The Public Services Ombudsman has ruled there is a case to answer under the councillors' code of conduct. Liberal Democrat Mr Dixon claimed he tweeted in a private capacity and his freedom of speech should be protected. The referral follows a trip by Mr Dixon to London last ...

Watchdog says Cardiff councillor John Dixon's Twitter message 'likely' to have breached code of conduct for local authority members A councillor is facing a disciplinary hearing after calling the Church of Scientology "stupid" on Twitter, it emerged today. The Welsh public standards watchdog investigated Cardiff councillor John Dixon's short message and decided it was "likely" to have breached the code of conduct for local authority members. News of the ombudsman's decision prompted a flood of messages of support on Twitter for ...