There are currently a couple of lengthy threads about me and my web sites on ARS, fostered by my recent open letter to Andreas Heldal-Lund on OCMB asking him to activate my months-old account registration request so I could have my say on Don Carlo's threads about my websites.
In OCMB and on ARS people have made a few speculations as to who I really am. Some people thought that I was from Germany and others that my native language was Dutch
I post pseudonymously, for a variety of reasons, and did so as I started posting as an outright Scientology critic on ARS back in 1996.
There are, however, a few things that I let know about me over the years:
I am from Belgium and my native language is French.
I believe my command of Shakespeare's language is more than fair, but here and there, there may be some idioms or subtlety I may miss.
The latest example of this is my recent blog entry where I claimed that "What is Scientology Queries Tops Google search in 2008". In my mind this meant “among the top”, but, upon a remark in that ARS thread, I looked it up, and now realize that it really means “at the topmost”. I adapted the post title to reflect this.
If you have any more such comments or doubts or whatever, my comments section is open and I suggest you post them there or sent me email before setting off in wild accusation campaigns based on nothing more than a possible misunderstanding.
Though moderated, the comments section is open to every viewpoints, except for spam, off-topic posts, copyright violation, and invasion of privacy. Apart from this, I always post all comments, no matter how insulting, false or misguided (keep in mind, though, that this is a comment section only, not a public forum aimed at extensive debates). I also believe that aggressive comments tell more about those making them than it does about the target of their vindication.
For the rest, what I also made known, was that I was on local staff from 1975 to 1978, during which I went for a lengthy stage at the European HQ in Denmark, then started working for the SoCo bureau at GO WW where I stayed for an other half year before leaving the movement altogether in 1980. My Scientology stories are recounted here, here, and in more details here.
After I quit Scientology, I never had anything to do with it, and didn’t even join any Freezone groups as I simply stopped believing in the tech when it came to spiritual results, my one and prime interest.
I basically “fell” back on my previous spiritual path, that of Theosophy and Krishnamurti, and extended it with things like Alice Bailey (about whom I had a web page until representatives of that movement sent me copyright notice to put what I webbed down, and ignored my request to keep part of it as fair use). Nowadays I am a fan of Eckhart Tolle, which was tipped to me by a Scientology ex-member who was greatly helped by my web site.
After I left Scientology I was fascinated by the anti-cult movement and traveled quite extensively in the USA to personally understand what it was all about, and even had an extensive interview with the dreaded Ted Patrick as he was commuting between San Diego and Los Angeles (where he had to attend one of his numerous suits). My spiritual background, my Scientology experience, and my anti-cult-related researches are part of the reasons my web site and blog reflect a host of what I refer to as “alternative” viewpoints.
It’s funny to read from the ARS thread above (I do read ARS currently but try to avoid starting to post to it for now), that Piltdown Man thought my native language was German. I am not sure why he would think that. I do have a certain understanding of German but when it comes to speak that language, I am rather clumsy.
Piltdown Man is currently one of my favorite posters, even though we probably disagree on more issues than one. I appreciate his witty style and insights, but I have no idea who he could be, even though we both are from the same tiny country.
Most of my friends who were in the org at the same time as myself are now ex-members too (partly because of my own dissent), and all of them unanimously share my moderate viewpoint on Scientology (which leads me to believe from that sample and emails I receive that this is a very common situation when it comes to ex-members). I have heard through some of my friends that they know of someone in Belgium who is more radical or engaged than the lot of us but I really don’t know who it could be. Probably just as well.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
More Valkyrie Reviews
I reported about Fox News commenting on the freshly made reviews of Valkyrie but still wonder where these are. Nothing comes up as of now on Metacritics, while only four reviews (with a 2-2 split so far) are to be found on Rotten Tomatoes, while IMDB features a very positive comment.For his part, Alex Billington from FirstShowing.net loved the movie and gave it a wooping 9/10:
A film that I optimistically went into and walked out loving. It may not be exactly be flawless, but it's already high up on the list of my favorite WWII films, and that's admittedly a very hard list to get on to. The cast may be the weakest link in the end, but Valkyrie literally had my heart racing from start to finish, even though I already knew what that outcome would be.
A Successful Scientology Business
Tampabay.com reports on a successful enterprise using Scientology technology to boost business.PostcardMania, a direct-mail company that prints and ships postcard advertisements on behalf of businesses nationwide, is 10 years old with 160 employees and 31,000 customers. [...] A few years ago, PostcardMania cracked Inc.'s 500-fastest-growing list. In 2007, it still made the Inc. 5000 (No. 3,130) as sales more than doubled.Reading through the article you can see traces of quite a few Scientology techniques for business being applied:
- Rewards "upstats", slack the "downstats", and don't let external influence dictate too much what you do:
She's fighting the thought of layoffs. Reluctantly, she trimmed the annual Christmas party budget from $30,000 to $15,000. It won't be at the Don CeSar like last year, but the party will go on. "No way we can cancel it. Our staff worked too hard," she said. "We need it this year." [...]Helms said there has been no scrimping on salaries, with positions in various fields paying 20 percent above industry averages. [...]
Make sure your core workers are on the bandwagon to beat the slump. Get the eternal slackers slacking somewhere else.
- Outflow is inflow:
'Gendusa has flipped her marketing machine into overdrive. In mailing 120,000 self-promoting postcards to businesses every week, PostcardMania is its own biggest customer."You have to be even more aggressive on PR … on buying ads," suggests business consultant David Gerwitz, author of The Flexible Enterprise. "Many of the businesses that succeed during a downturn are ones that put money into marketing as opposed to pulling out." [...]
Gendusa became a marketing devotee during PostcardMania's early days. Orders were coming in, but for months the company was stuck at $20,000 a month in sales. Gendusa doubled mailings of marketing material and soon after sales doubled.
- Don't make credit except maybe for really big investments:
Be picky in taking on debt. As a rule, the company saves to have enough cash on hand before buying new furniture or adding amenities. The exception: taking out a $2.4-million industrial revenue bond for a printing plant and equipment that was later repackaged into a $5-million construction loan to finance new headquarters.
- And lastly, the controversial no open criticism and "good news" stance:
Keep morale up. Every week, employees gather to share kudos about fellow co-workers, with one compliment sparking another. No negative comments and no gossiping allowed.
Golden Globe Nominee Cruise Does Elvis
Tom Cruise on Jay Leno's Tonight Show did happen.
Interview part 1
Interview part 2 - with Jay Leno's funny Christmas song about killing Hitler... putting the finger on what may be a weak timing for the film opening, on Christmas day...
But first check this Cruise impersonation of Elvis as a teaser... Nice piece of work, coming after his Golden Globe nomination for his hilarious acting and dancing in Tropic Thunder (nomination about which even Brooke Shields is thrilled).
Interview part 1
Interview part 2 - with Jay Leno's funny Christmas song about killing Hitler... putting the finger on what may be a weak timing for the film opening, on Christmas day...
But first check this Cruise impersonation of Elvis as a teaser... Nice piece of work, coming after his Golden Globe nomination for his hilarious acting and dancing in Tropic Thunder (nomination about which even Brooke Shields is thrilled).
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Should Anonymous Unmask?
I recently made a blog entry entitled “Operation Drop the Masks”. I really did not mean that Anonymous should unmask during their protests, though I admit it really is not obvious through such a title.
What I meant to say was that if anons want to speak, on an individual basis, with Scientologists in an earnest desire to have some dialog going, as was developed in the page I was commenting on, then they should first drop the mask.
Would you like to speak in such a serious manner with an individual hiding behind a mask? I wouldn’t think so. Who would?
This brought me to think of the concept itself as the title of some operation, but I did not meant as something literal.
In reality, I don’t think Anonymous should unmask during their protests. One reason being that the mask now became the symbol of Anonymous itself, and it is even used by critics whose face and identity are already known.
In fact, I wrote about my initial fascination for this concept on my web page:
I also wrote about the witty choice of the V mask per se:
Of course, I did wander about “The Other Side of the Mask” but these were just thinking out loud. To this day, I have not made my mind about it yet one way or the other, but I still think it is a terrific idea, and an indelible symbol of Anonymous. So, no, I don’t think they should start protesting unmasked.
However, if Anonymous wants to move to another stage of their protest, as was developed on the AnonymousHouston page, then yes, they should drop the mask – thus Operation Drop the Mask could be an option. But this should be done in a more subtle way than simply start to protest unmasked. I don’t know how. It’s just a cool idea, a food for thought. And also a witty title.
Blog entries in this series:
What I meant to say was that if anons want to speak, on an individual basis, with Scientologists in an earnest desire to have some dialog going, as was developed in the page I was commenting on, then they should first drop the mask.
Would you like to speak in such a serious manner with an individual hiding behind a mask? I wouldn’t think so. Who would?
This brought me to think of the concept itself as the title of some operation, but I did not meant as something literal.
In reality, I don’t think Anonymous should unmask during their protests. One reason being that the mask now became the symbol of Anonymous itself, and it is even used by critics whose face and identity are already known.
In fact, I wrote about my initial fascination for this concept on my web page:
"What I do find interesting about the protest, though, is the concept of wearing masks. A wall of masks advancing silently down the street in protest of oppression... Hordes of exploited victims of Scientology brainwashing and harassment walking silently. The mask can't speak. The mask has been reduced to silence (OK, they were chanting but I take the mask figuratively here). There's something of a poetic message in that and I predict that all future pickets will be mostly masked ones. Quite impressive..."
I also wrote about the witty choice of the V mask per se:
"You've got to admit that the Guy Fawkes mask is terrific, and it carries another message through its sarcastic smile (or however you want to interpret that smile). Indeed, Guy Fawkes was an Englishman who was sentenced to death in 1605 after he attempted to blow up the House of Lords with kegs of gunpowder. In 2005, the fictional movie "V for Vendetta" revived the event. The masks used by protestors are modeled after those worn in that film, in which a crowd of people wear identical masks to challenge a totalitarian government."
Of course, I did wander about “The Other Side of the Mask” but these were just thinking out loud. To this day, I have not made my mind about it yet one way or the other, but I still think it is a terrific idea, and an indelible symbol of Anonymous. So, no, I don’t think they should start protesting unmasked.
However, if Anonymous wants to move to another stage of their protest, as was developed on the AnonymousHouston page, then yes, they should drop the mask – thus Operation Drop the Mask could be an option. But this should be done in a more subtle way than simply start to protest unmasked. I don’t know how. It’s just a cool idea, a food for thought. And also a witty title.
Blog entries in this series:
Friday, December 12, 2008
The L. Ron Hubbard Museum
The L. Ron Hubbard Museum has been open as a museum for a few years. It is being hosted in Washington D.C., in the townhouse on 19th Street near Dupont Circle (a block away from the current D.C. Church of Scientology). It is there that LRH held his lectures and is therefore considered as the first-ever Church of Scientology.
Another Happy Scientology Kid
Another happy Scientology kid speaks out. What is interesting is that, though being born in a Scientology family, he nevertheless was a rebel to it until the age of 15, and his parents did not try to force it upon him. He eventually came to it basically like others outsiders - after being helped through a concrete incident. He has been a Scientologist for the next 25 years.
Valkyrie First Reviews
Fox News announces that the reviews of Tom Cruise as Col. Von Stauffenberg in "Valkyrie" are in (though I wonder where they are to be found currently).
The result, they say, is not that good, or so-so, as the commercial success of the film is predicted to be.
Well, that may be, as I wrote earlier, Valkyrie will indeed have a serious uphill walk to success if it ever reaches it. Nothing is done, though, until is done, as previous predictions of same have sometimes turned false.
The article ends by these words:
The result, they say, is not that good, or so-so, as the commercial success of the film is predicted to be.
Well, that may be, as I wrote earlier, Valkyrie will indeed have a serious uphill walk to success if it ever reaches it. Nothing is done, though, until is done, as previous predictions of same have sometimes turned false.
The article ends by these words:
"Will Cruise’s career be over? Oh no, not by a long shot. But the challenge to resuscitate will be that much more heightened as Cruise — if he’s to stay in the game of movie making — must choose his projects more carefully."I personally disagree. As I wrote earlier in the same article above, Cruise chose this script because he deeply felt for it, not because he wanted to make a big hit or "revive" his career. That alone makes it a winner, and I hope he will continue to give priority to heart-felt sentiments rather than how an unpredictable market would receive the film. Of course, making a less challenging film would indeed not be a bad idea.
Xenu About to Taze People
Interesting email sent to the whole Dianetics group on MSN and also posted in the group forums.The mail makes a parallel between the Godeka incident in 1996, in which a mad man shot and wounded four people in a Scientology church, and the recent Majorski episode where the guards shot Epic Sword Guy before he had time to harm anyone.
The writer also suggests that instead of fire arms (or in addition to them), guards protecting Scientology buildings should carry and use first tazers (stun guns).
Surely, this would contribute to make Scientology even more science-fiction like, but not in a bad way this time.
Anonymous 2.0 Redux
Recently I blogged about how a faction of Anonymous wants to distance themselves from their prankster reputation. In a subsequent article I pointed out the reaction of the original Anonymous to this trend. All the different factions want to find the real cause of the drop in numbers. Another faction of Anonymous decided that it was because Anonymous strayed from the lulz, as is visible through this post from an anti-anonymous website of the supposed Tom Newton (who is not the Tom Newton who posted to ARS).
This is nothing new. Anonymous already attempted this later after the Magoo debacle, something they called "The Return of the Lulz", and which changed absolutely nothing to the situation.
Things have evolved and January 2008 is not necessarily January 2009. The Cos did not crumble after the massive protests, some of the anons got better educated and decided they would have more fun playing Warlords and posting hentails than protesting the CoS which, after all, is not as bad as they thought, Tom Cruise got back some respectability, the novelty aspect of the masks and all that sort of things have now become old...
And therefore I don't think that anything Anonymous will try will bring back the numbers. The best they can do is to get more educated and go beyond the crude presentation made by the Old Guards, unless they want to turn as old as the Old Guards themselves.
Related blog entries:
This is nothing new. Anonymous already attempted this later after the Magoo debacle, something they called "The Return of the Lulz", and which changed absolutely nothing to the situation.
Things have evolved and January 2008 is not necessarily January 2009. The Cos did not crumble after the massive protests, some of the anons got better educated and decided they would have more fun playing Warlords and posting hentails than protesting the CoS which, after all, is not as bad as they thought, Tom Cruise got back some respectability, the novelty aspect of the masks and all that sort of things have now become old...
And therefore I don't think that anything Anonymous will try will bring back the numbers. The best they can do is to get more educated and go beyond the crude presentation made by the Old Guards, unless they want to turn as old as the Old Guards themselves.
Related blog entries:
- Jan 17: Is Close-in Pictures of Passer-By Legal?
- Jan 14: The Riverside County Ordinance Farce Continues
- Jan 13: Riverside Ordinance - New Information
- Jan 06: Riverside Ordinance Prevents Picketing
- Dec 18: Barbz Gets a Letter
- Dec 09: Anonymous 2.0
Critics Split Over Cruise's Nazi Role
Critics split over Cruise's Nazi role
"But not everyone in Germany was against the film. Some said the country should be pleased Hollywood was finally making a film about a “good German” that would show that not every German obediently followed Hitler."This well-written article gives an overview of the film in context of World War II and the various reactions to the film.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Tom Cruise on a BlitzKrieg
Tom Cruise is on BlitzKrieg, all out promoting his film.
He should attend Jay Leno's new moved to prime time show today (Thursday), he recently was featured in the 10 Most Fascinating people of 2008, gave a series of interview in Toronto, foreseen to appear on the cover of People Magazine Friday (tomorrow), already was featured with Katie on the New York Times T-Magazine, and is also scheduled to appear on the 'today' show next Monday (with Matt Lauer!).
Wow...
He should attend Jay Leno's new moved to prime time show today (Thursday), he recently was featured in the 10 Most Fascinating people of 2008, gave a series of interview in Toronto, foreseen to appear on the cover of People Magazine Friday (tomorrow), already was featured with Katie on the New York Times T-Magazine, and is also scheduled to appear on the 'today' show next Monday (with Matt Lauer!).
Wow...
Operation Drop the Masks
I had a quick look to the web page Evolved Rationalist was so angry about.
The web page in fact is not so bad, and quite on the contrary is rather original and interesting, with a lot of good ideas.
I still have to agree with Evolved Rationalist on the opening line, though, because blaming the original anonymous for the failure of Anonymous is, to use a Scientology line, a "wrong target", and AnonymouseHouston indeed should remove or change the opening line of this page.
The real cause of failure, as I explained repeatedly on this blog and on my web site, is because Anonymous made the mistake to fall for the old OG line that proved of little use to counter Scientology over the years. The original Anonymous on the contrary brought in the lulz, the masks, the cake, a very different spirit in many ways. Had they combined this novel approach, springing from the Internet culture, with a different attitude than OG towards Scientology, they may have been much more successful.
In fact, I find that page about the "Operation Internet Love Machine" much better than anything else Anonymous attempted so far. And if they want to prove their non-beligerent approach to Scientologists, they should, as I said, protest when Scientologist are discriminated, in the same way as they protest the CoS. But anyway, they should come to that conclusion themselves, which I hope they will sometime.
This being said, though the intent is good and has many original aspects, I believe it will be almost impossible to achieve that Operation Internet Love Machine successfully, for a series of reasons, of which I can only think two for the moment:
Anyway, all this reminds me of an episode of my own history.
As I tried to enter the UK back when there was a ban against Scientologists, I was caught at the custom because I had a lot of Scientology literature in my luggage. I was subsequently sent back to Belgium.
However, as I was waiting in the UK custom office, an officer came to me with in his hand one of the writings of LRH (I think it was the Creed of Scientology or something like that). He told me "this is very beautiful", something that surprised me a lot coming from him. Then he said "Why doesn't Scientology apply it?".
This was a perfect approach, something that brought me to think and open up, rather than contract in defense. It was non-confrontational, not denigrating, but putting the focus on the actual application of Scientology's own aims without denigrating the belief itself. That's the whole point.
PS - I must say that my web site has been more instrumental in getting Scientologists to think and leave than radical web sites, precisely because I use many of the concepts found on the HoustonAnonymous page. See two examples here and here.
Also check what I webbed two days ago: the "DOs and DON"Ts on How to Help Cult Members", that goes very much in the same direction. (Of course, don't call Scientology a cult in front of Scientologist. Be imaginative, sensitive, moderate, knowledgeable, and most of all try to diversify your sources. Go deeper and beyond the old OG information and tactics. Go out of the OG box to resolve the conundrum Scientology criticism faces. That's what being a true revolutionary critic such as Anonymous is all about. IMHO.)
Blog entries in this series:
The web page in fact is not so bad, and quite on the contrary is rather original and interesting, with a lot of good ideas.
I still have to agree with Evolved Rationalist on the opening line, though, because blaming the original anonymous for the failure of Anonymous is, to use a Scientology line, a "wrong target", and AnonymouseHouston indeed should remove or change the opening line of this page.
The real cause of failure, as I explained repeatedly on this blog and on my web site, is because Anonymous made the mistake to fall for the old OG line that proved of little use to counter Scientology over the years. The original Anonymous on the contrary brought in the lulz, the masks, the cake, a very different spirit in many ways. Had they combined this novel approach, springing from the Internet culture, with a different attitude than OG towards Scientology, they may have been much more successful.
In fact, I find that page about the "Operation Internet Love Machine" much better than anything else Anonymous attempted so far. And if they want to prove their non-beligerent approach to Scientologists, they should, as I said, protest when Scientologist are discriminated, in the same way as they protest the CoS. But anyway, they should come to that conclusion themselves, which I hope they will sometime.
This being said, though the intent is good and has many original aspects, I believe it will be almost impossible to achieve that Operation Internet Love Machine successfully, for a series of reasons, of which I can only think two for the moment:
- If you want to speak in a friendly manner to a Scientologist in real life, you will have to drop the mask. "Operation drop the masks" may be a good idea.
- You can not successfully speak to a Scientologist in order to "deprogram" him, of sort, if you haven't yourself been a Scientologist, at least it just make it so much more difficult.
Ex-scientologists. OTOH, are not always good either, because, as I explained on my pages otherwise, they often fall in the opposite cultic mindset, that of the anti-cult movement (which by the way is also going through some sort of self-criticism in this respect).
What you need is a moderate ex-Scientologist, knowledgeable and intelligent enough to go around the many obstacles such an encounter would meet. And it will not be easy to find such a rare beast, because most of them have already been driven away through the OG attitude that aggressively attack moderate ex-members as "cult apologists.
Anyway, all this reminds me of an episode of my own history.
As I tried to enter the UK back when there was a ban against Scientologists, I was caught at the custom because I had a lot of Scientology literature in my luggage. I was subsequently sent back to Belgium.
However, as I was waiting in the UK custom office, an officer came to me with in his hand one of the writings of LRH (I think it was the Creed of Scientology or something like that). He told me "this is very beautiful", something that surprised me a lot coming from him. Then he said "Why doesn't Scientology apply it?".
This was a perfect approach, something that brought me to think and open up, rather than contract in defense. It was non-confrontational, not denigrating, but putting the focus on the actual application of Scientology's own aims without denigrating the belief itself. That's the whole point.
PS - I must say that my web site has been more instrumental in getting Scientologists to think and leave than radical web sites, precisely because I use many of the concepts found on the HoustonAnonymous page. See two examples here and here.
Also check what I webbed two days ago: the "DOs and DON"Ts on How to Help Cult Members", that goes very much in the same direction. (Of course, don't call Scientology a cult in front of Scientologist. Be imaginative, sensitive, moderate, knowledgeable, and most of all try to diversify your sources. Go deeper and beyond the old OG information and tactics. Go out of the OG box to resolve the conundrum Scientology criticism faces. That's what being a true revolutionary critic such as Anonymous is all about. IMHO.)
Blog entries in this series:
Where is the Lulz?
In a blog entry yesterday, I wrote:
Anonymous 2.0 may be more concerned with ethic, but they have become more like stratefied Old Guards, all the while having lost some of the revolutionary aspects that appeals to young people, like the systematic questioning of every established concepts.Now we have a blatant illustration of this, in an article written by Anonymous 1.0, and in which he states, among quite a few other things with which I personally agree:
As for the original Anonymous, it seems that they have taken some distance with the anti-Scientology protest, as is rather evident through the crashed protest statistics, and through the fact that they apparently DDOSed their former venues: enturbulation.org and WhyWeProtest.
Instead of becoming lulz you have become the anti-lulzAnonymous 2.0 does not seem indeed a real upgrade of Anonymous 1.0 - or, if you want, the "upgrade" is of the sort of that backup software (sorry I don't remember the name) years ago that dominated the market and that released a major upgrade with an "improved and modern" interface so bad that they could sell it out separately as a labyrinth game - and which lead them losing the market over night.
[...]
Fuck you, 'new Anonymous'. In more ways than one, you have become as bad as the dangerous cult of Scientology.
Top Search Terms for 2008 Include "What is Scientology"
Google has released its year-end list of the most popular terms searched on the Web site.
In the United States, Barack Obama came in at No. 1.
In search queries prefixed by the words "what is..", "What is love" tops the list, while Scientology is sixth.
I doubt the prank pulled out by Anonymous in July to put "Scientology is a cult" on top of the supposed search list had much an effect in this context, since the stats are drawn out of the whole year and, in this category, pre-fixed by "what is..". I blogged about this prank here and here.
PS - Metro.co.uk reports that top of the "how to" questions on Google this year is "how to draw", while web-users have also been typing "how to kiss" into their Google search boxes on a regular basis. The web site then proceeds to offer a titiling video of two girls embarking on a mammoth lesbian snogging session in order to teach watchers how to French kiss.
PS2 - Check also http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist2008/mind.html for a more detailed info about the top searches. I observe among other things that Isaac Hayes is 4th on the Fond Farewells category. Interestingly as well, Miley Cyrus is 5th on the Who Is category. I never heard of her until I learned she was the co-star of the new (doubling voice only) Travolta movie.
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