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Why Ireland won’t ‘ban’ Louis Theroux’s Scientology film
A speculative media story has suggested a new documentary ‘might’ be banned under Ireland’s blasphemy laws. It won’t

Tue, Sep 27, 2016, 16:00 Updated: Tue, Sep 27, 2016, 16:06
by Donald Clarke

Louis Theroux, the mischievous British documentarian, tweeted: ‘Looks like My Sc’tology Movie won’t get an Irish release due to blasphemy laws’

A bizarre fog of rumour has clouded around the decision by Altitude Film Distribution not to release Louis Theroux’s My Scientology Movie in Irish cinemas. News organisations have suggested the distributor is concerned the documentary, which finds Theroux investigating that controversial “church”, may fall foul of the nation’s blasphemy laws. At least one newspaper argued that the film “could be banned in Ireland”.

In fact, any prosecution for blasphemy would be close to impossible. The Irish Film Classification Office has not refused certification on a theatrical release – the closest thing to a ban under the current legislation – in more than a decade and has not yet considered My Scientology Movie.

“It’s a non-issue for us. Because it hasn’t been submitted to us,” Ger Connolly, the Director of Film Classification, told The Irish Times. “This notion of being ‘banned’ in abstentia is ludicrous.”

Is blasphemy a consideration when issuing a certificate? “The opening line on our website states we believe the public should, within the law, be free to view what they choose,” Connolly says. “It would be wrong of me to say that we don’t consider it. It would be accurate to say it hasn’t arisen yet.”

The story says more about the dynamics of modern media than the state’s unsettled business with blasphemy law. ...

http://linkis.com/www.irishtimes.com/c/IyI3y
 
I'm just out of Louis Theroux's "My Scientology Movie" at the cinema, including the billed live audience Q&A satellite narrowcast link afterwards. It was being shown (and beamed) all over the UK and RoI tonight Mon 10 Oct 2016.

I liked it, but before I post any comments about it (including some that'll be entirely-unexpected....if they weren't made by me) I'd like to hear what some other members of the forum thought of the movie.

I make the broad assumption that a few others here must've seen it, tonight.

(And I'll relate a tale of some rather-strange coincidences experienced tonight, on the most appropriate thread).
 
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http://dangerousminds.net/comments/..._a_1994_scientology_handbook_that_will_numb_y


The enormous 871-page hardcover 1994 Scientology Handbook features over 700 insane and strangely haunting illustrations that promise positive effects in today’s turbulent society. The ultra-saturated photographs use vivid, heightened colours in a traditional comic book format to help navigate the reader through a world rampant with conflict, drugs, illiteracy, crime, terrorism, immorality… the list seems endless. “To have any decent future at all, you need to know this manual for living and use it.” The actors and sets were photographed in the early ‘90s on full-sized sound stages belonging to Golden Era Productions in Riverside County, California. Next door to the sound stages lies a computer facility with an uninterruptable power supply so when the rapture happens you will still be able to get onto America Online and check your email.
 
I liked it, but before I post any comments about it (including some that'll be entirely-unexpected....if they weren't made by me) I'd like to hear what some other members of the forum thought of the movie.

Any takers?

I'd be so pleased, especially if an FTMB member was actually at the South Bank on Monday night. But, having been in attendance at one of the many venues across the British Isles is also good.

Or are you all secretly in the Sea Org?
 
Any takers?

I'd be so pleased, especially if an FTMB member was actually at the South Bank on Monday night. But, having been in attendance at one of the many venues across the British Isles is also good.

Or are you all secretly in the Sea Org?

I haven't even seen Going Clear yet, though I did read the book. It's supposed to be superior to Louis pulling the tiger's tail.
 
Finally, the Battlefield Earth sequel is moving forward.

Can something be seen as a sequel if the original has never been seen? So far as I know, no fan of Battlefield Earth has ever claimed to have seen the film except as blurry b&w stills in a book --- most long ago discredited by researchers.
 
I haven't even seen Going Clear yet, though I did read the book. It's supposed to be superior to Louis pulling the tiger's tail.
I will definitely have to see Going Clear.

And I think both Louis and (?) Simon (the producer) conceded a no-contest between their effort, and that production.

Louis did his 'thing' very well. And that's partly why I want to get some soundings from others on this board that've seen 'My Scientology Movie', before I start pontificating about it (do I really pontify? Perhaps I do...)

[EDIT]Surely somebody else here has seen Louis' movie?? Also: I'm still ploughing through the hundreds of posts in this thread, but as a reminder for those that're not as fired-up as me, have a look at the avowedly anti-ST site http://www.xenu.net for Operation Clambake etc

ps why the cross symbol for ST? An attempt to steal it from Christianity?
Scientology_Cross_Logo.png

[EDIT]Ah, right...it's a blatent legitimiser...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_cross [/EDIT][/EDIT]
 
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Can something be seen as a sequel if the original has never been seen? So far as I know, no fan of Battlefield Earth has ever claimed to have seen the film except as blurry b&w stills in a book --- most long ago discredited by researchers.

Not sure what you mean - the DVD is readily available, if you really want to see the film. I don't know whether I'm personally tempted, though, as there hasn't been a single review that even makes it seem "so bad that it's good"!
 
Not sure what you mean - the DVD is readily available, if you really want to see the film. I don't know whether I'm personally tempted, though, as there hasn't been a single review that even makes it seem "so bad that it's good"!

I'd say it was more exasperatingly idiotic than "so bad it's good".
 
I saw Going Clear and read the book.....enjoyed both....haven't seen the Theroux thing yet.
 
Not sure what you mean - the DVD is readily available, if you really want to see the film. I don't know whether I'm personally tempted, though, as there hasn't been a single review that even makes it seem "so bad that it's good"!
Though I cannot claim to speak for trefology, I've heard rumors of BE dvd sighting since the 1950s, but so far as I know none has ever been purchased or viewed
 
Uh...I think he was making some kind of clever remark about Battlefield Earth on dvd but it escapes me, and what the hell is 'trefology'...?
o_O
 
Scientology in Ireland: ‘a spy network setting honey traps’
The Church of Scientology is opening a ‘national affairs office’ on Merrion Square. A former member of the organisation warns that it may try to influence politicians and other public figures


Oscar Wilde’s remark that there is only one thing worse in the world than being talked about, and that is not being talked about, can perhaps comfort the organisation setting up shop in one of the buildings that face the writer’s statue in Dublin.

The Church of Scientology opens a national affairs office at 4 Merrion Square today, making Dublin only the second city in the world, after Washington, DC, to have such a presence.

The new office is said to house five permanent staff from the Sea Org, Scientology’s elite group, whose members sign billion-year contracts pledging future lifetimes to advancing their religion.

There will also be five permanent members of the Office of Special Affairs, which manages several of the church’s front groups but is perhaps best known for managing its intelligence-gathering and lobbying operations.

The Merrion Square premises was bought in June 2015 for a price believed to be close to €2 million. It will serve as “a PR base to host VIPs and government officials”, as Gerard Collins, an Irish Scientologist, announced on social media.

The role of the national-affairs office in the US capital is to try to “create a positive narrative about Scientology and keep down the critics”, says Jon Atack of the Open Minds Foundation, a UK organisation. ...

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/soci...d-a-spy-network-setting-honey-traps-1.2827288
 
Scientology’s latest drama in Russia: The mystery woman who infiltrated an org

Our thanks to Danil Tylevich for making us aware that numerous Russian media outlets are carrying stories about a woman named Darya Varnovskaya, who spent more than a year working at Scientology’s St. Petersburg org in order to secretly gather information about it.

Varnovskaya insists that when she joined the St. Petersburg org in April 2015 she was a journalist working on assignment to secretly film the church. But at least one news outlet there has characterized her as simply a member who became disgruntled and left the church after it was raided by law enforcement earlier this year.

Either way, she was there long enough that she was hired on staff as an ethics officer and later became a registrar, a person whose job it is to get people to sign up for more courses and to give more money. While doing that job she used her smartphone to capture quite a bit of footage. At one point, for example, she catches the supervising registrar as he tells her colleagues that they’ve only brought in 4 million rubles that week (about $64,000), but he expected 5 million rubles.

Perhaps the best footage that Darya managed to sneak out during her time was something that we’ve seen elsewhere, a bizarre ritual where cash is thrown in the air. ...

http://tonyortega.org/2016/10/15/sc...rg/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
 
Mayors ‘acted as stooges’ for Scientologists by Mark Tighe, The Sunday Times, October 9 2016
Posted on 9 October 2016 by dialogueireland

An article on the non religion business called Scientology. Here it is clear they are trying to gain influence in Ireland by hiding their identity. It is remarkable that they have been present in Ireland since 1956 and still haven’t gained charitable status. It is a sinister organisation which is corrupt and corrupting of anyone coming under their influence.

cchr.jpg



Irish mayors have been criticised for appearing in publicity photographs for a Scientology-backed anti-drug campaign that toured the country.

Publicity photos involving the officials were discovered on the social media pages of Scientologists last week by an American journalist who specialises in reports on the religious group. The pictures show Scientologists posing with the mayors of Limerick, Galway and Waterford in August. The politicians are all shown holding the Scientology-backed literature while wearing their chains of office.

The Drug-Free World campaign has been described as a recruitment front for Scientology, the US-based church led by David Miscavige that includes several Hollywood stars such as Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. The campaigners who travelled around Ireland were accompanied by the Jive Aces, a swing band from England who are Scientologists and say they get their energy and happiness from the religion.

The mayors said they were unaware the Drug-Free World campaign was a Scientologist movement. The anti-drug campaign has been criticised for its denouncement of psychology and psychiatry and many psychiatric medicines. ...

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.c...y-mark-tighe-the-sunday-times-october-9-2016/
 
"The new office is said to house five permanent staff from the Sea Org, Scientology’s elite group, whose members sign 'billion-year contracts' pledging future lifetimes to advancing their religion."


:rofl:
 
"The new office is said to house five permanent staff from the Sea Org, Scientology’s elite group, whose members sign 'billion-year contracts' pledging future lifetimes to advancing their religion."


:rofl:
I think they'd struggle to get a court to accept those contracts as legally binding.

Nut-jobs!
 
Trademark lawsuit against Scientology’s drug rehab network settles weeks before trial

What started out as a major lawsuit against 82 defendants connected with Scientology — including its leader, David Miscavige — has ended suddenly and will not be going to trial.

According to a document filed by its attorneys, the National Association of Forensic Counselors has reached a settlement with the parties it has been suing for trademark violations at Scientology’s drug rehab network, Narconon.

The document, filed by NAFC attorney Paul DeMuro last week, claimed to be a “joint” request for a stay in the case as details of the settlement are finalized in the next few days. Oklahoma Federal District Judge Ronald A. White issued an order asking the defendants’ attorneys to confirm by noon yesterday that it was, in fact, a joint decision by both sides. We decided to hold off on reporting the news of the settlement until we, like Judge White, received that confirmation from the Narconon side yesterday afternoon.

Narconon’s attorneys did notify the judge that the case was indeed settling, and just seven weeks before the lawsuit was scheduled to go to trial.

The settlement also comes after Judge White had refused to disqualify his magistrate judge, Steven Shreder, after Judge Shreder had ordered that the contents of NAFC CEO Karla Taylor’s personal hard drive be turned over to Narconon’s attorneys in a stunning ruling. It was not only surprisingly harsh, but then it turned out that Shreder’s wife works for one of the defendant law firms, as did Shreder in the past. Despite those connections, Judge White let Shreder’s ruling stand and did not disqualify him, which did not bode well for NAFC as trial approached.

We made multiple attempts to reach Karla Taylor and her attorneys and received no response. So we’ve turned to our federal court expert, Texas Lawyer, who has handled district and appellate federal cases.

After three years of the NAFC’s research and litigation, this looks to us like a plaintiff taking what they can get before things get worse. Is that a bad assumption? ...

http://tonyortega.org/2016/10/18/tr...nt/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
 
Trump supporter arrested for threatening to kill Muslims at L.A. Islamic center is a Scientologist

The Los Angeles Police Department revealed yesterday that it had arrested a 40-year-old man named Mark Lucian Feigin on October 19 for making two calls to the Islamic Center of Southern California and threatening to kill people there. A search at Feigin’s home turned up a large arsenal of rifles and ammunition, and police also released tweets and Facebook posts by Feigin that contained disturbing threats against Muslims.

But Feigin has another secret that the police and the media hasn’t talked about yet: He’s been a Scientologist since 2004.

We received tips from two readers, one of whom knows Feigin personally, that Mark Feigin is the same man who is listed in Scientology’s publications as taking courses in 2004, and who has posted online statements about his involvement in the church in the years since then.

We reached Feigin by text last night, but after we identified ourselves and asked about his criminal charges, he didn’t respond.

The LAPD said at a press conference yesterday that the first threatening phone call to the Islamic Center had been made on September 19 in the form of a voice mail. The next day, the same man called and spoke to someone who answered, threatening to kill people at the center.

“The male caller threatened to kill the person who answered the phone along with other members of the center because of the caller’s hatred for Muslims and his belief that Muslims will destroy the United States,” LAPD Commander Horace Frank said at the press conference. “The right to free speech is a hallmark of our society. But that right is not and cannot be unabated. Mr. Feigin broke the law when he threatened the lives of the individuals at the Islamic Center.”

Cmdr. Frank didn’t give details on how the LAPD had connected Feigin to the phone calls, but he did say that Feigin was picked up on a traffic stop on October 19. Feigin was arrested and charged with making criminal threats and with committing a hate crime, and the search of his Agoura Hills home turned up a large collection of firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition held in buckets. ...

http://tonyortega.org/2016/10/26/tr...st/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
 
A sad one this...

Shelly Duvall, star of The Shining and Popeye is suffering from an alarming mental illness in her recent Dr Phil appearence - with many accusing him of exploiting her.

http://www.drphil.com/shows/from-ho...solation-helping-the-shinings-shelley-duvall/

Step forward Vivian Kubrick with a Gofundme camnpaign, which so far has raised $15 grand:
Like many older movie stars, embarrassed finances is not uncommon. Showing your love and support for Shelley Duvall by making a donation can start her back on the road to independence and perhaps back to health and for her fans, more superb performances!
https://www.gofundme.com/shelley-duvall

However, horrorfreaknews.com are a little concerned:
The location listed on Vivian Kubrick’s Go Fund Me page for Duvall is Clearwater, FL. Neither Kubrick nor Duvall lives in Clearwater; it is, however, the location of The Church of Scientology’s business operations.

Kubrick has not had any contact with Duvall since filming wrapped on The Shining in 1979; they have not kept in touch over the years and were never close. Kubrick is not doing this at Duvall’s request, nor is she working with Duvall’s family.
http://horrorfreaknews.com/things-need-know-donating-vivian-kubricks-fund-shelley-duvall/13449

So, who knows... :(
 
I didn't read the book written by Ron Miscavige but I did read the one written by his granddaughter David Miscavige's neice. I can't remember her name. But the book detailed her life growing up in Scientology with both of her parents in the Sea Org. It detailed her abuses and relationship with her family and her leaving the Church. It was very touching and revealing.
Also, why has no one looked into Shelly Miscavige's disappearance? Several very famous people have remarked that no one has seen David Miscavige's wife in 10 years and there hasn't been any inquiry. Except I read somewhere a detective called and 'Shelley' talked to him. But no visuals in a decade.
 
Scientology Looms as Kubrick Daughter Scraps Shelley Duvall Crowdfunding Campaign
Vivian Kubrick disconnected from her director father and the rest of her family decades ago, according to relatives; now observers are questioning why she attempted to raise $100,000 to help the mentally ill actress when her religion forbids all forms of psychiatric treatment.

Jennifer Tilly gave $500, just one of 660 concerned fans who donated to a GoFundMe campaign that aimed to raise $100,000 for Shelley Duvall, the quirky, Minnie Mouse-voiced star of films like Stanley Kubrick's The Shining and Robert Altman's Nashville and Popeye. Now Tilly will be getting her donation back — and be left wondering, no doubt, exactly what happened.
But Kubrick abruptly pulled the plug Nov. 22. Many Twitter users and GoFundMe commenters are now questioning if Vivian's deep ties to the Church of Scientology, an organization that vilifies all forms of psychiatry and mental-health treatment, had something to do with it.

Kubrick released a statement of explanation on Twitter. "I spoke today with Shelley's mother Bobbie," she wrote, who "explained that after her discussion with SAG-AFTRA and the fact that Shelley is on government benefits, they can't afford to accept any large donations at this time."
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...s-shelley-duvall-crowdfunding-campaign-950012


Leah Remini on Her Battle With Scientology: "I'm Not Going to Allow the Church to Bully People"
The actress, who is starring in an upcoming A&E docuseries titled Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, appears on Ellen DeGeneres' show Wednesday, where she talks about feeling a responsibility to speak out on behalf of the church's "victims."

"I was watching high executives, former executives of the church leaving and speaking out about abuses and things that they've experienced while working for the church, and I saw how the church reacted," the actress said. "I felt I had a responsibility to say, 'I'm not going to allow you to bully these people who were very brave to come out and tell their stories.' And that's for executives, but there are just average parishioners like me who leave and speak out about what they've experienced, and they lose their family. And so the church goes after their family to shun their family, oftentimes. I'm very lucky that that didn't happen to me. My family chose me."
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/li...im-not-going-allow-church-bully-people-950152
 
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