HOLLYWOOD (Special) — The U.S. National Dyslexia Foundation is unhappy with a recent statement by Tom Cruise that Scientology has cured the movie star of the reading impairment affliction, columnist Marilyn Beck reports. Joyce Bulifant, executive vice-president, says "Dyslexia is not a disease that can be cured. Research at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Hospital has shown that the dyslexic brain is shaped differently and perceives things differently. Building self- confidence is extraordinarily important for a dyslexic, and if Scientology ...

Tom Cruise hits the accelerator and slides onto a deserted stretch of Sunset Boulevard behind the wheel of a car so hot, so space-age sleek, that you can't find one anywhere — not in a Porsche showroom, not in the Malibu Colony, not in the hippest Hollywood parking lot. [...] If anyone has a good theory about the source of Cruise's steely determination, it's Kidman. They're a yin-yang couple, with her playful, relaxed manner contrasting with her husband's earnest intensity. "I ...

In the summer of 1973, dedicated Scientologist Bryan Levman left the yacht of church founder L. Ron Hubbard with a new title and a mandate he believed allowed him to infiltrate police agencies and steal government files. For three years, Levman oversaw a series of covert intelligence operations as deputy guardian for Canada, aimed at attacking the "enemies" of Scientology, founded by Hubbard in the mid-1950s. Levman left the church in 1976 in some disillusionment — "it didn't deliver what it ...

Scientologists emerge as creators of mystery-shrouded movie firm Is it just a movie company, this one owned and run by members of a controversial church? Or is it a front? Future Films, the mysterious movie company that arrived in Burbank and in Garland, Texas, last month with ambitious goals and a huge marketing splash, is financed and managed by a small group of high-level members of the Church of Scientology. Critics of the church, who label the religion a cult and ...

The Church of Scientology has launched an unusually large-scale media attack against Time magazine in retribution for an unflattering cover story on the worldwide organization earlier this month. The church, founded by the late L. Ron Hubbard, took out a four-color, full-page ad yesterday in Gannett Co.'s USA Today with the headline "What magazine gets it wrong in 1991. . .the same one that was wrong in 1936. Time magazine." The ad, using quotes from W.A. Swanberg's "Luce and His Empire," ...

ST. PETERBURG, FLA, - It was like something out of a science fiction script - but L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, claimed it was fact. "Xenu," he called the central character. Xenu ruled the 90-planet Galactic Confederation 75-million years ago, when overpopulation was a problem. So Xenu solved the problem: He trapped selected beings and flew them to volcanoes on Earth, then called Teegeeach. He then dropped powerful H-bombs on the volcanoes. The beings were destroyed in a wall ...

L. Ron Hubbard was portrayed yesterday in court as a devious cult leader who believed he'd gone to heaven — twice — and was ruthless in his treatment of those perceived as enemies of the church he founded. Hubbard, who died last year, advised his followers to use the courts to "harass and discourage" critics, lawyers for Key Porter Books argued in Federal Court. They said a court bid to stop publication of a biography of Hubbard is a thinly disguised ...

Description of video is in italics. VO=VOICEOVER shot of Church of Scientology, Los Angeles; apparently group of ex-members VOICEOVER: The Church of Scientology, one of the largest and richest new religious movements, is being sued for a billion dollars by former members for fraud and breach of trust. They regard Scientology as a dangerous cult. group of Scientologists VO: Yet the church goes on expanding, making converts and claiming it is "The Road to Total Freedom". ''"Panorama" opening credits; while music ...

Therapy as Religion Though the Berendo Street headquarters is the hub of Scientology activity in Los Angeles, the church's showplace is its Celebrity Center at Franklin and Bronson. A grand gothic chateau built for William Randolph Hearst in the 1920s, this complex of Scientology offices and apartments has retained much of its charm, replete with garden grounds and flowing fountains The idyllic setting is reinforced as you enter the mansion's foyer. The walls are lined with original art, and music from ...

Movie star John Travolta, looking tired, tousled and in need of a shave, arrived shortly after midnight Monday in Portland to defend the Church of Scientology and back the growing protest of the $39 million judgment handed down against it last week by a Multnomah County jury. "It's simple," Travolta said after walking into a small conference room on the third floor of the Hilton Hotel and taking a long drink from the water glass placed in front of him. "I've ...

At first glance, the double-page ad in Daily Variety looks much like all the other congratulatory messages that routinely appear Hollywood's trade press. "Our Dear Friend Has Done Again!" the headline proclaims. Then "He has given us another incredible reason to make a fuss over him!" It's on second glance — on recognizing "our dear friend" 's name and face — that you realize how different this ad is. Instead of praising the latest effort of some show-biz functionary, this one ...

Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard told his followers early on that they should use civil litigation to harass, silence or even to destroy opponents. From the defamation suits filed four years ago by Scientology's Calgary, Edmonton and Old Strathcona Missions, however, seven weary but very determined Albertans last week emerged unsilenced and undestroyed. The $100,000 lawsuits against them (the figure, incidentally, specifically recommended by scientologist Hubbard) were thrown out of court without coming to trial. Even so, lawyers say, ...

A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO WHEN I landed at Heathrow Airport in London, I wasn't quite sure what was going to take place. I had read some pretty wild tales about the Scientologists, but only a couple of weeks before that I had read some even wilder tales about the British Immigration people and their attitude and actions toward the Scientologists in Omar Garrison's new book titled "The Hidden Story of Scientology." I didn't know for sure that I would be ...

"Scientology is a religion which deals with the increase of awareness of the spirit and the achievement of higher spiritual standards." The Reverend Mrs Helen Pickett, of the Church of Scientology, April, 1974. "Scientology is evil; its techniques evil; its practice a serious threat to the community medically, morally and socially; and its adherents sadly deluded and often mentally ill." The Victorian Anderson Report on scientology, October, 1965. "How many shoes do you have on your feet?" '''Scientology worker at George ...

It was more than eight years ago, here in Washington, on Jan. 4, 1963. that a group of Baltimore longshoremen who had been deputized by officials of the Federal Food and Drug Administration staged one of the most bizarre raids in American history. The contingent, escorted by motorcycle policemen, entered a church on 19th Street NW and the residences of its ministers and began grabbing the church's scriptures, confessional aids and documents, loading them into two waiting vans. Some of the ...

At one time the slender young man was an expert at stealing food and cigarettes from grocery stores, including supermarkets on the Westside. He was cornpletely hooked on Heroin. His bigger, athletic-looking friend – they met later – was pushing enough LSD to support a $150 a month apartment. He managed to keep high on LSD, himself. Both had the clutch experience of ultimate, nerve shattering, being set up by "Narcs," successfully; they were arrested, in separate incidents, and sentenced to ...

A former mayor and police commissioner, Scientology representatives, and former inmates will be participating in a special awards event at the Arizona State Prison on May 22. The event is sponsored by NARCONON, Scientology-based rehabilitation program, which is also active in California and Illinois. The awards will be presented to prison officials by NARCONON's nationwide supervisor, Arthur J.Maren. Recipients of the awards will be the Assistant Superintendent of Custody, Dale F. Brandfas, and John Russell, Construction Foreman, NARCONON's first sponsor. "The ...

Is your child a doper? How can you tell? These questions were put to Dr. George Stavros, medical doctor working with CODAC, community organization formed to combat drug abuse, during a panel discussion at Starlight Park School last week. "The telltale signs are sometimes obvious, some-times subtle. But most of the time they will be there. The young people will do something, leave something. It's almost a plea to be discovered," Dr. Stavros told an audience of some 60 people. Drugs ...

[Transcription of the meaningful parts of the 1023 form as submitted by the Church of Scientology International to the IRS. For the complete document, see PDFs] [Coming soon]