scientology
oracknows | December 1, 2015When it comes to blogging, sometime's it's feast or famine. Some days there are more topics and stories that I'd like to blog about than I could ever get to, given that I generally only do one post per weekday, while other days I seriously think about skipping a day because there's just nothing out there that interests me. This is one of the former kinds of days.
Seriously, there was an embarrassment of riches last night, so much so that I had a hard time making up my mind what story to write about. The one that I ultimately chose only just edged out the second place choice, and then only at…
oracknows | November 3, 2015I hadn't planned on writing about this again today. (How many times have I started a post with that phrase? I forget, but a lot. Sadly, developments frequently make me change my plans about blogging.) Here's what made me change my plans It was a pair of Facebook posts on hip-hop and fashion mogul Russell Simmons' Facebook page.
Here's post #1:
And here's post #2:
This, of course, is the news report regurgitating antivaccine talking points broadcast in Atlanta late last week by Ben Swann, an all-purpose conspiracy theorist and, apparently, now antivaccinationist, who is anchor for the…
oracknows | June 18, 2015The saga of SB 277 just keeps getting stranger and stranger as its end game comes into view.
SB 277 is, of course, a big deal. If it's passed by the California Assembly and signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, it would eliminate nonmedical exemptions to school vaccine mandates, making the largest state in the union only the third state that only allows medical exemptions. Since its passage by the California Senate last month and its clearing the Assembly Health Committee last week on a 12-6 vote, SB 277 has taken on the air of inevitability. Sure, it could still stall or be hopelessly…
oracknows | December 24, 2012I certainly don't even try to keep secret my opinion of Andrew Wakefield, the British gastroenterologist who is almost single-handedly responsible for bringing the measles back to the UK, thanks to his bad science, for which he was well-paid by trial lawyers and his falsification of data and scientific fraud. Since 1998, when Wakefield first published his fraudulent (and now retracted) little case series in The Lancet, his work and his personality have dominated the antivaccine movement in the UK. After he moved to Texas to ply his antivaccine quackery here in the US, he soon became a…
grrlscientist | May 30, 2010tags: The Clearwater Beach Diet, Scientology, cults, diet, weight loss, satire, humor, funny, offbeat, streaming video
This satirical video offends two groups of people at the same time: Scientologists and people who are on "the diet fad of the week."
Unfortunately, Scientology does not help people: Kirstie Alley is still fat, and Lisa McPherson is still dead.
grrlscientist | May 23, 2010tags: Scientology, SeaOrg, cults, religion, mind control, offbeat, weird, L Ron Hubbard, A Look at Scientology's Secret Base, Twin Peaks, AnonOrange, Angry Gay Pope, streaming video
The Twin Peaks base houses a vault full of Scientology's precious scripture. It's also a place to hide if WWIII breaks out. And it's a place where celebrities can come and escape. But judging by all the high fences and UltraBarrier, it's also a prison camp. Protesters AnonOrange and the Angry Gay Pope pay them a visit, seeking missing cultists Shelly Miscavige and Heber Jentz. Instead, they meet cultists Sarah…
grrlscientist | May 22, 2010tags: Scientology, SeaOrg, cults, religion, mind control, offbeat, weird, L Ron Hubbard, Scarlett Hanna, Australian Broadcasting Company, streaming video
Scarlett Hanna, the daughter of the president of the Church of Scientology in Australia, speaks out against the organization in this eye-opening interview with the Australian Broadcasting Company.
grrlscientist | April 18, 2010tags: The Un-Funny TRUTH about Scientology, scientology, religion, cults, beliefs, L Ron Hubbard, television, Smoothmedia, streaming video
This astonishingly disturbing video is by Smooth media and is about cult of Scientology.
grrlscientist | April 17, 2010tags: What Is Scientology?, scientology, religion, cults, mind control, Thetan, silly, offbeat, beliefs, Xenu, L Ron Hubbard, television, Boston Legal, streaming video
James Spader explains Scientology in an episode of of the television program, Boston Legal.
grrlscientist | March 27, 2010tags: How to Spot a Cult, scientology, branch davidians, religion, cults, mind control, investigative news report, mind control, mental health, beliefs, streaming video
This Inside New Zealand investigative report is long but fascinating and very well-worth watching. It includes plenty of information on Scientology as well as other cults (Branch Davidians, etc) and gives a good overview of cult warning signs.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:
Part 5:
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Part 10:
grrlscientist | March 21, 2010tags: Tommy Davis, scientology, religion, cults, mind control, Thetan, silly, offbeat, beliefs, Xenu, L Ron Hubbard, television, Life after Scientology, ABC1, streaming video
ABC Australia's "Four Corners" investigate the realities and impact on members and ex members, of Scientology's overtly retributive doctrine. Includes rationale from Tommy Davis.
As more ex members reveal the inside workings of a cult once banned [1960's] in three Australian states, authorities again prepare to re-examine Scientology's tax exempt religious status, granted in 1983.
This is a fascinating investigative…
grrlscientist | March 21, 2010tags: trololololo man, eduard khill, youtube meme, scientology, religion, cults, mind control, philosophy, parody, offbeat, beliefs, insanity, russian rickroll, streaming video
OMG, the evil cult of Scientology has been the victim of a Russian Rickroll!
grrlscientist | March 14, 2010tags: Tommy Davis, scientology, religion, cults, mind control, Thetan, silly, offbeat, beliefs, Xenu, L Ron Hubbard, television, BBC, CBS, streaming video
This is an interview with Tommy Davis, international Scientology spokesman, regarding the tragic death of Jett Travolta due to the medical neglect that their cult demands from its adherents, including Jett's parents. Davis is very scummy because he never gives a straight answer to any question asked. I also have embedded some other videos of Davis, where he reveals his less than angelic side.
Incidentally, Tommy Davis (the guy being…
grrlscientist | March 13, 2010tags: Sea Organization, Sea Org, Tommy Davis, scientology, religion, cults, mind control, Thetan, offbeat, beliefs, Xenu, L Ron Hubbard, television, Life after Scientology, ABC1, streaming video
Raised as Scientologists, Christie King Collbran and her husband, Chris, were recruited as teenagers to work for the elite corps of staff members who keep the Church of Scientology running, known as the Sea Organization, or Sea Org.
They signed a contract for a billion years -- in keeping with the church's belief that Scientologists are immortal. They worked seven days a week, often on little sleep,…
grrlscientist | March 7, 2010tags: scientology, religion, cults, mind control, Thetan, silly, offbeat, beliefs, Xenu, L Ron Hubbard, television, BBC, streaming video
Speaking of Mormonism and other cults .. erm, religions .. I thought I'd give you a peek at Scientology. In this television report, hidden cameras go inside the London Scientology Organization to expose their inner workings. It seems that even the Mormons could learn a few mind-control techniques from the Scientologists.
I find it really depressing to think that one Scientology survivor exchanged one form of mind control for another: after he escaped…
razib | March 6, 2010This is funny:
Raised as Scientologists, Christie King Collbran and her husband, Chris, were recruited as teenagers to work for the elite corps of staff members who keep the Church of Scientology running, known as the Sea Organization, or Sea Org.
They signed a contract for a billion years -- in keeping with the church's belief that Scientologists are immortal. They worked seven days a week, often on little sleep, for sporadic paychecks of $50 a week, at most.
Check this conclusion:
Ms. Collbran says she still believes in Scientology -- not in the church as it is now constituted, but in its…
oracknows | January 26, 2010Almost two years ago, I discovered something that disturbed me greatly. Basically, I learned the story of an Air Force officer named Col. Richard Niemtzow, MD, PhD. Col. Niemtzow is a radiation oncologist who has over the last decade fallen deeply into woo. Specifically, he has become known for a technique that he has dubbed "battlefield acupuncture," a technique that he has promoted energetically (word choice intentional) and ceaselessly, to the point where, sadly, the military is starting to take it seriously even though the evidence Col Niemtzow has presented in favor of the technique is…
emjohnson | July 22, 2009Earlier this week a classified Scientology contract was leaked (full pdf document here), revealing the paranoid nature of the Church. The document is entitled Application, Declaration and General Release Declaration of Religious Commitment and Application for Membership in a Scientology Religious Order and for Active Participation on Church Staff. This contract must be signed by anyone who wishes to engage in "active participation as a staff member within the Church of Scientology" as a Class V Org member.
Among the items they must agree to are:
8. I am not related to or connected with any…
palmd | March 18, 2009I often write about "cult medicine", that is, medical practices that share many characteristics of cults: they are based on faith, they follow charismatic leaders, they separate people from their money---you know, like The Church of Scientology. The COS has everything going for it---a religious arm, a health care arm (the Citizens Commission on Human Rights), and an educational arm. In fact, the more I learn about these wackos, the scarier (and funnier) they seem. You see, it turns out that these folks have a lot of front organizations. Unlike more traditional religions, that are happy to…
palmd | March 16, 2009Over at Neurotopia, Scicurious has been doing some terrific writing about depression. Mental illness is a topic I've written about many times, so I was inspired to look into the vault and see what kind of goodies I had back there. Well, since I truly loathe people who dole out dangerous medical lies, I figured it was time to dust off this little bit on Scientology and mental illness, rework them a bit, and share them with you again.
The problem
Depression, in the medical sense, is not a mood...it is a severe
disorder originating in the brain, and affecting the entire body. Major…