The big news today came on Mike Rinder’s blog, where he relays a note from a contributor about the craziness around the requirement to upgrade to the super-duper all-new (except for the part about being in a warehouse for a decade) Mark VIII e-meter. The whole article is worth reading carefully, because it sure sounds like the cult is desperate to not only sell the new meter quickly, but to prevent it from falling into “the wrong hands” (i.e., independent Scientologists).
Mike says that some of the annual check-in is to reset a timer on the unit itself that keeps it working for another year. Apparently, you don’t have to send the unit back for “calibration” every year or two, but if I’m reading the post correctly, there’s a timer that expires every year, after which the meter can’t be used.
And apparently, you can’t pay for the new meter from money that you have on deposit for courses — you have to pony up new cash, immediately, or you won’t be able to be audited, and you won’t be able to continue any courses that are in progress.
Wow. Just… wow.
Tony Ortega’s Blog
Tony’s story today features the news that Russell Miller’s Bare Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard, originally published in 1987, will be back in print in February. It’ll be published by Silvertail Books, which published BBC reporter John Sweeney’s The Church of Fear earlier this year. Tony also posted a picture of Lisa McPherson to commemorate the anniversary of her death.
Selected comments:
- MaxSpaceman slogged through the court filings in yesterday’s story and found some juicy quotes in some of the declarations submitted.
- Vistaril put together a really nice commemorative picture.
- NOLAGirl pens a letter to those still in who knew about Lisa McPherson.
- Simi Valley credits Miller’s book for helping her to get completely out of the cult instead of remaining an “indie.”
- Victoria Pandora remembers being on something that might have been the Introspection Rundown that was the final blow for poor Lisa.
- “Mark” digs up a history of the legal actions to suppress Bare Faced Messiah when it was published the first time.
Mike Rinder’s Blog
As noted above, the cult is engaging in a Kafka-esque nightmare of obstruction, obfuscation and bullying, to get people to buy the new decade-old Mark VIII e-meter.
Forum Sites (WWP, ESMB, OCMB)
Thanks yet again to Aeger Primo for keeping an eye on things on these sites…
- At WhyWeProtest, BlackRob found Nelson Mandela’s picture on a Way to Happiness booklet. Utterly disgusting. Wonder if they got permission?
- More details of Hubbard’s WWII service appear.
- More pictures of Nelson Mandela in conjunction with The Way to Happiness.
General News
- The Independent runs an article about a UK lawsuit from a former member seeking refunds, and threatening to “blow the lid off” of Scientology in the UK. He’s claiming that the cult cost him his job and his girlfriend.
