Have you ever been stopped on Dizengoff by a friendly, earnest young person inviting you to take a free personality lest? Did he or she mention the possibility of learning more about yourself at a special "college?" If the answer is yes, you may well have been stopped by one of Israel's Scientologists. "Osnat" and "Yaron" (not their real names) are two youngsters who did decide to take the test. Osnat, the daughter of an observant Jewish family, was 17 when ...

I ARRIVED FOR MY APPOINTMENT AT THE L. RON Hubbard Life Exhibition Hall a few minutes early. Unlike in other commemorative mausoleums, such as the Nixon Library and Birthplace, you're not allowed to walk around the Hubbard by yourself. Instead, you must sign up for an hour-and-a-half guided tour. Possibly they don't trust the unassisted viewer to fully reap the museum's rewards, though it might also be a matter of security. The presence of a young guard dressed in the Church ...

With regard to Paul Sullivan's May 8 Celebrity item about Demi Moore (" 'Ghost' film star taking close look at Scientology"): While I can't confirm or deny Moore's interest in the church Sullivan's article missed the mark about what the church is and does. Churches of Scientology are involved in dozens of community service programs that are improving conditions around the world and which have been acknowledged by community leaders, public officials and the media. Among other things, Scientology churches are ...

ANOTHER interesting connection between the Church of Scientology and the Vancouver Stock Exchange has surfaced on Howe Street, this time involving former B.C. superintendent of brokers Michael C. Ross. Two weeks ago, Time magazine alleged that two Scientologists, Michael Baybak and Kenneth Gerbino of Beverly Hills, Calif., have been raising money for church activities through the Vancouver Stock Exchange. The magazine said Bayback has promoted several controversial VSE issues, including Neti Technologies and Wall Street Ventures, and that both Baybak and ...

MEMBERS of the Church of Scientology, described as a thriving cult of greed and power in a recent Time magazine expose have been linked to Cyprus through offshore company Theta Management Limited, which deals in consultancy and investments. In a special report dated May 6, Time reporter Richard Behar said the Church, which claims to have eight million followers, squirreled away an estimated $400 million in bank accounts in Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Cyprus. Theta Management Ltd was created on 29.10.1984, on ...

Two American cult-busters recently flew to Australia to try to reclaim a young man from Scientology. JACQUI MACDONALD watched as they tried to unlock his mind, hour by hour, inch by inch. The names of the family and the cult-busters have been changed. FOR TWO days Peter Nolan has rehearsed how to greet his son. Peter and his wife Mary have planned how they will open the flywire front door and smile at the son they have not seen for several ...

CLEARWATER — No end is in sight in negotiations between Pinellas County and the Church of Scientology over the church's $5 million tax bill. Neither side would talk about the negotiations taking place in front of a court-appointed mediator. Mediator William Fleece adjourned the talks Monday, and the two sides may not meet again for months. "If we had reached something, obviously we wouldn't have adjourned," Pinellas Property Appraiser Jim Smith said. "I don't think we will lose anything by talking, ...

One source of funds for the Los Angeles-based church is the notorious, self- regulated stock exchange in Vancouver, British Columbia, often called the scam capital of the world. The exchange's 2,300 penny-stock listings account for $4 billion in annual trading. Local journalists and insiders claim the vast majority range from total washouts to outright frauds. Two Scientologists who operate there are Kenneth Gerbino and Michael Baybak, 20-year church veterans from Beverly Hills who are major donors to the cult. Gerbino, 45, ...

Strange things seem to happen to people who write about Scientology. Journalist Paulette Cooper wrote a critical book on the cult in 1971. This led to a Scientology plot (called Operation Freak-Out) whose goal, according to church documents, was "to get P.C. incarcerated in a mental institution or jail." It almost worked: by impersonating Cooper, Scientologists got her indicted in 1973 for threatening to bomb the church. Cooper, who also endured 19 lawsuits by the church, was finally exonerated in 1977 ...

By all appearances, Noah Lottick of Kingston, Pa., had been a normal, happy 24-year-old who was looking for his place in the world. On the day last June when his parents drove to New York City to claim his body, they were nearly catatonic with grief. The young Russian-studies scholar had jumped from a 10th-floor window of the Milford Plaza Hotel and bounced off the hood of a stretch limousine. When the police arrived, his fingers were still clutching $171 in ...

Originally printed in "The Southern California Psychiatrist," May 1991, pp. 6-13. Dr. West has granted permission to upload this article to computer networks and bulletin boards In a previous article (SCPS Newsletter, July, 1990) I provided an historical account of the Church of Scientology. It is a pseudo-scientific healing cult that was formed in the 1950s, and has grown, with the help of extravagant lies and deliberate deception, into a multimillion dollar, international enterprise. Through its many publications, but especially through ...

On a 3,000-acre ranch in rural Humboldt County, devotees of Church of Scientology-founder L. Ron Hubbard are building a 375-foot-long underground vault. The vault is being built on the Sunset View Ranch in Petrolia, a small town located about 20 miles south of Ferndale, by the Church of Spiritual Technology (COST). COST is linked to the controversial Church of Scientology, whose operations, according to court documents, include a lack of financial records, public policy violations, deceptive practices and the maintenance of ...

The Church of Scientology goes on trial here this morning, charged with stealing thousands of documents from government offices and law firms. It is the first time that a church has been put on trial in Canada. The trial is expected to be long and drawn-out. Various motions on legal technicalities must be dealt with first, a process that could take months. The trial is the result of eight years of legal wrangling. It began in 1983, when 110 police officers ...

Internal documents from the Church of Scientology, the parent organisation of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, indicate that behind the church's public battle to expose abuses of psychiatric patients lies a hidden plan of retribution. The documents contain evidence that some Australian Scientologists apparently have remained committed to a 30-year-old doctrine of revenge and intimidation against people the church describes as enemies. And while church members in Australia have been speaking out against psychiatric abuse, courts in the United States ...

Scientologists Claim Prozac Induces Murder or Suicide, Though Evidence Is Scant Campaign Dismays Doctors INDIANAPOLIS—L. Ron Hubbard, the late founder of the Church of Scientology, long harbored a profound and obsessive hatred for psychiatrists, who, he declared, were "chosen as a vehicle to undermine and destroy the West!" Five years after Mr. Hubbard's death, Scientologists are still waging war on psychiatry. The quasi-religious/ business/ paramilitary organization's latest target is Prozac, the nation's top-selling medicine for severe depression. The group is calling ...

A mother and daughter have slapped the Church of Scientology of Alberta with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit. The mother and daughter are each claiming millions of dollars in general and punitive damages as well as unspecified special damages. Also named in the lawsuit, filed Friday in Court of Queen's Bench , are church official Allan Buttnor and another man. The three are being sued jointly and individually. The defendants or through others "coerced and frightened" the girl into writing and publishing statements ...

TAMPA — Scientologists filed 11 federal lawsuits Wednesday against the Internal Revenue Service seeking information about agency audits of them. The group claims the IRS has ignored its requests to obtain the records filed under the federal Freedom of Information Act and is asking the court to force the agency to turn over the documents. Among the things the lawsuits are seeking are the IRS audits and any instructions, memorandums or directives by the agency relating to the treatment of Scientologists. ...

The Church of Scientology said it plans to tear down the Gray Moss Inn and build a six-story, $42-million religious training center in its place. The 170,000-square-foot building would be at 215 S Fort Harrison Ave., across the street from the Fort Harrison Hotel, which Scientologists use as an international retreat. Construction could start in May and last two years. The glass-covered building would feature a covered walkway above Fort Harrison Avenue, and a 65-foot-tall atrium in a lobby. A company ...

CRESTLINE — When the Church of Spiritual Technology needed a safe place to store its religious documents and materials, staff members looked high and low. The church, which serves as archivist for the documents of the Church of Scientology, founded by the late L. Ron Hubbard, decided to build underground vaults at the 5,200-foot elevation la the San Bernardino Mountains. The organization, which has a staff but do congregation, purchased 33 acres in the Arrowhead Highlands portion of Crestline. The vaults ...

A defunct Clearwater rare coin, bullion and currency exchange, along with three former employees, pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal money-laundering charges. The business, Bernstein, McCaffrey & Lee, was at 601 Cleveland St. in downtown Clearwater, but has been closed since authorities raided the office and confiscated inventory in December 1989. Ronald W. Bernstein, who founded the business, and former salesmen Grant Boshoff, 20, and Lawrence Spencer, 44, each face a maximum of 20 years in prison, but likely will receive much ...

Five companies are suing the Church of Scientology for more than $127,000, claiming that the organization has failed to pay its bills for construction work and equipment. Besides those lawsuits, the Scientologists have settled five others within the past two years from companies that claimed they were owed more than $39,000 for items ranging from travel services to construction materials. Scientology was founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, the author of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Scientologists ...

Efforts to license a Kay County substance abuse center operating without state approval were brought to a halt Thursday. The State Mental Health Board, scheduled to act Thursday on certifying the Narconon Chilocco New Life Center, found itself crippled by a court ruling. The ruling blocked the board from using material prepared by Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services staff on the 75-bed facility. Mental health department officials said it was the first time a court tossed out a ...

Saying the Internal Revenue Service harasses and discriminates against their members, Arizona followers of the Church of Scientology have gotten four of the state's congressmen and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to look into their allegations against the IRS. Scientologists have long waged a bitter battle with the IRS, which has challenged members' tax returns, saying they cannot claim charitable deductions on some money they pay for church-sponsored courses, materials and other costs associated with the 35-year-old organization founded by L Ron ...

The principal of a Sherman Oaks elementary school has canceled an assembly by an environmental group because of fears that parents would object to the organization's connection with the Church of Scientology. The Sherman Oaks School's 927 students were scheduled to watch skits and hear songs Monday performed by Cry Out, an environmental group affiliated with Scientology. The event, which was to include an appearance by child actor Vonni Ribisi, was to kick off a yearlong study of environmental issues such ...