[Picture / Caption: That's Mike Vitale. Guess the costume didn't work too well.] When Queens resident Mike Vitale was outed as a member of Anonymous by the Church of Scientology last month, he specifically asked Church members if they planned to prove his criticisms correct by declaring him “fair game” and subjecting him to the threats and intimidation that are said to be inherent in that Church policy. Would they threaten him or show up at his house? Well, they did—or, ...

Approximately 200 Washington homeowners who paid for a service they thought would help save their homes from foreclosure will receive partial refunds under a settlement announced yesterday by the Washington Attorney General’s Office. The homeowners each paid between $1,200.00 and $1,500.oo to Foreclosure Assistance Solutions LLC, of Clearwater, Florida. More than 70% of homeowners who signed up with Foreclosure Assistance Solutions ended up losing their homes anyway. The company went out of business in fall 2007. From Washington State’s Attorney General, ...

[Picture of Scientology stress-test table]STRESS-TESTES: Mange barn syns det er morsomt med stress-testen på Karl Johan. Kirken avviser at de forsøker å verve barna. - Vi lar dem prøve for moro skyld, sier pressetalsmann Matthias Fosse. Foto: Roar Dalmo Moltubak KARL JOHAN (VG Nett) Fra denne standen på Karl Johan i Oslo forsøker Scientologi-kirken å verve nye medlemmer med en egenkomponert stress-test. Lørdag formiddag stoppet et titalls forbipasserende, deriblant flere barn og unge, og tok plass på stolene foran standen for ...

La scientologie est une entreprise ultramoderne qui a aussi des activités séculières. Par exemple, en 1966, Ron Hubbard fondait avec un collègue Narconon une cure de désintoxication qui compte aujourd'hui plus d'une centaine de centres dans le monde, dont un à Trois-Rivières. En plus d'être une cure de désintoxication, Narconon s'est donné pour mission d'instruire les jeunes sur les méfaits de la drogue en donnant des conférences dans de nombreuses écoles de la province. L'atelier offert dans les écoles, appelé La ...

Many people are desperate for affordable housing in Los Angeles, so much so that there is often a long waiting list for government-issued Section 8 vouchers that help lower the rent for low-income tenants. Since they are so difficult to obtain, more than 250 people jumped at the chance to buy a voucher through a Compton nonprofit despite being charged as much as $1,500 apiece. Turns out those vouchers were fraudulent and those renters are out of luck, the Wave Newspapers ...

Highland Beach - A group that sent out thousands of unsolicited copies of a guidebook promoting Scientology precepts is ending the practice after receiving hundreds of complaints from elected officials. Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard wrote the 64-page, soft-cover book titled The Way to Happiness: A Common Sense Guide to Better Living. "The mailing is not going to be sent out like this again due to some complaints of recipients about 'using' their logo or photograph without consent," Joni Ginsberg, executive ...

L. Ron Hubbard, the pulp fiction writer who gave the world Battlefield Earth, as well as a nuisance known as Scientology, would have turned 97 years old this Thursday, March 13. Ron’s been worm food for more than a score of years now, so it probably won’t matter to him that the best birthday party being held in his name will take place a couple of days late. On Saturday, March 15, the surprisingly upstart, leaderless movement known as “Anonymous” will ...

HIGHLAND BEACH — "I'm very pleased to offer this book," says a note on the back of a booklet titled The Way to Happiness; about 20 were delivered recently to town hall. The note says more copies may be obtained from "Harold Hagelman, Town of Highland Beach," followed by the town hall address. The booklet front says it's "presented by" the mayor. What are these? "No, no, no, no. I didn't sponsor anything," Hagelmann - his name was misspelled on the ...

A new demand for transparency and justice from netzins... In late January, news media across the world picked up on a phenomenal development on the Internet. A virtual civil rights movement had arisen from a most unlikely source: Internet gamers. It all kicked off when an in-house video of Tom Cruise preaching to members of his faith, the controversial Church of Scientology, was leaked onto the Youtube internet video sharing site. Indeed, Cruise is a frightening spectacle and his incoherent rant ...

A young mother in Los Angeles was desperate. A rare form of cancer was ravaging her 5-month-old son. Their doctor said chemotherapy offered the best hope for survival, a 1-in-4 chance. Natalia Campos watched as her baby, Antonio, struggled in pain through the first few treatments. Then she learned of an alternative-therapy clinic that promised a cure, without pain, using a machine called a PAP-IMI. Twice a day at the Bio-Energy Services clinic, Campos held Antonio while the 260-pound machine pulsed ...

Sunday night, Tom Cruise rewarded high-ranking members of the Church of Scientology with tickets to a private screening of his new movie, "Lions for Lambs." This is the provocative anti-war movie which he executive-produced for United Artists with partner Paula Wagner. I rather doubt that director Robert Redford, who's also a co-star, and Cruise's other co-star, Meryl Streep, had any idea that the screening room at the Museum of Modern Art and the cocktail party following was full of Scientologists, including ...

A religious booklet sent to his office makes it seem that Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz officially endorses the musings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Mayor Katz's image and the official City of Winnipeg logo appear on the back cover of the 68-page booklet, which implores readers to observe life lessons such as "do not take alcohol to excess," "don't be promiscuous," "preserve your teeth" and "don't do anything illegal." The booklet, called The Way to Happiness, purports to be "presented ...

Last month, the School Board sent a warning to parents about the “harmful effects” of drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Much of the flier’s information was taken from the Internet, including from a Web site run by a group founded by the Church of Scientology. This week, six national organizations and eight local groups sent a letter requesting that the School Board retract the flier and send a new one stating that ADHD is a disease that requires ...

A settlement has been reached between a local gun range and its members. The $8 million dollar deal ends the class action lawsuit against the Front Sight Firearms Training Institute. I-Team Reporter Colleen McCarty first broke the story about allegations of fraud and racketeering at the resort a few years ago. On Monday morning, in a California federal court, a judge approved the final settlement agreement. Under its terms, qualified Front Sight members will receive a full refund with the total ...

The smiling photo of Gavin Newsom and the city seal emblazoned on a booklet called "The Way to Happiness" sure make it seem as though San Francisco's mayor is heartily endorsing Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's writings. The booklet's back cover even shows a letter of support purportedly written by Newsom that echoes some of the mayor's favorite buzzwords: San Francisco is "a city of innovation" and is "the finest city in the world." But the giveaway is in the second ...

SAN FRANCISCO — The city of San Francisco has ordered a Scientology group to stop using a picture of Mayor Gavin Newsom on its promotional materials. A group called the Way to Happiness Foundation International sent a box full of booklets to Newsom's City Hall office describing some of Scientology's core principles. The pamphlets came emblazoned with the seal of the city of San Francisco and featured a picture of a smiling Newsom with a fictitious letter from him. The president ...

No, Mayor Tom Leppert hasn't made the leap from public servant to spiritual healer. And despite the claims of a booklet that landed on his desk at City Hall this week, he isn't endorsing The Way to Happiness. The booklet, so titled and featuring the writings of Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, was sent to the mayor's office complete with the city of Dallas seal and a ringing endorsement purportedly from Mr. Leppert. The front cover features a painting ...

Attorney General Abbott Charges Foreclosure Rescue Firm With Operating Unlawful Scam Court freezes assets of Foreclosure Assistance Solutions HOUSTON – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today charged a business with operating an unlawful foreclosure rescue scam that targeted struggling Texas homeowners. As a result, the 408th District Court issued a temporary restraining order and froze assets belonging to three businessmen who organized the scheme. According to court documents, the defendants fraudulently advertised that they could save homeowners from imminent foreclosures. The ...

A Belgian prosecutor recommended that the Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology stand trial on charges of fraud and extortion, after a 10-year investigation. The prosecutor, Jean-Claude Van Espen, said that up to 12 people from the church should face charges and that his inquiry had concluded that Scientology’s Brussels-based Europe office and its Belgian missions had conducted unlawful practices in medicine, violated privacy laws and used illegal business contracts. The Church of Scientology said it would fight the charges.

The Belgian authorities have indicted the Belgian chapter of the Church of Scientology, the European headquarters of the Church, as well as 12 of its leading members. According to the office of Public Prosecutor Jean-Claude Van Espen Scientology is a criminal organization which has committed several crimes including extortion, fraud, violations of the trade law, violations of the privacy law and the illegal practice of medicine. On 30 September 1999, 120 Belgian police officers raided 25 Scientology offices and seized tons ...

Hollywood, Tel Aviv is right behind you: Artists, businesspeople and middle-class seekers are filling the classrooms of local Scientology centers, hoping to rid themselves of excess spiritual baggage. Opera singer Gaby Sade used to have a very short fuse. If someone cut him off, he was capable of getting out of the car and giving the offending driver more than a piece of his mind. If if did not come to blows, he would at least tell him, in choice language, ...

A Fourth of July celebration at a weapons training facility near Pahrump ended with the death of a young father. According to the Nye County sheriff, the man — identified as Jesus Valencia — Martinez — was sliding down a zip-line as part of the ropes course at the facility. The rider before him had not cleared the hydraulic platform at the end of the line before Martinez began his run. As a result, Martinez collided with the platform. He died ...