As we remember the victims of Hurricane Katrina, let us also remember those who gave of themselves to help the survivors. Nearly 1,000 Volunteer Ministers aided survivors of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, providing, among other things, food and water. Without them, the disaster would have been much, much worse.

Give me a Break

Who let the psychs into China!

Get a load of this:

"Mainland China has opened its first halfway house for Internet addicts, offering shell-shocked teenagers counselling, books -- and the use of computers."

Oh MY! I think I'm addicted

Capuccino

Capuccino was a wonderful invention.

Psychiatric and Pharma Colusion

The worst human rights violations extant today come from psychiatric pharma collusion.
Through clever PR and marketing campaigns they have managed to redefine life as a disorder.

Try reading through the psych diagnostic manual. You will find your life listed there as a disorder.

Their motto - life is a disease that can't be cured, but medication can put you into a state where you don't care.

And how many billions are they raking in with their chicanery?

Sometimes I feel like the last man standing in the Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

These drugs make people VIOLENT! They create KILLERS!

Boston Volunteer Ministers

The Church of Scientology of Boston has a very active Scientology Volunteer Ministers program. They have a communty center where they do tutoring and other programs.

Here is a story about them in the Scientology Volunteer Ministers web site:






SCIENTOLOGY VOLUNTEER MINISTERS GOODWILL TOUR
The Volunteer Ministers of the Church of Scientology of Boston
A Volunteer Minister goes over solutions developed by L. Ron Hubbard to help counter drug problems.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Boston have helped over 13,200 people this past year.
A year ago, after Hurricane Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast, the team pitched in to help care for the needs of those who were re-located to Boston. They have continued this work to this day, participating in weekly meetings of a group called "Coordination of the Caring," chaired by Senator Dianne Wilkerson and Representative Gloria Fox and formed to ensure the best possible treatment of evacuees of New Orleans.

The Boston Volunteer Ministers also operate a Scientology Volunteer Ministry in Dorchester to bring solutions to this crime-ridden area. Offering tutoring with study technology, developed by L. Ron Hubbard, and other programs to reduce violence, this ministry gives one-on-one help to people of the community.

The Boston Volunteer Ministers frequently set up their tent at the Boston Commons to make technology from the Scientology Handbook broadly available. They frequently hear comments such as this one from a woman who walked in to the tent a few weeks ago: "A friend of mine came in here yesterday and he said he felt a lot better afterwards. I want what he got!"
Volunteer Ministers from the Church of Scientology of Boston set up their tent to reach out to the community with effective solutions.

The Simpsons

Congratulations to The Simpsons for their early Emmy.

Good vs. Bad News

Stan Dubin's posting Stop Reading, Watching and Listening and See How You Feel is actually pretty clever.

I remember when the news went out of control. There was a newspaper strike in New York in 1955 or 1956 when I was a kid. We started watching the news instead of reading the paper. And the major networks obliged by adding in several new times when you could watch it.

Not long afterwards there was a young woman who was murdered in a neighborhood close to where I lived. What was worse, neighbors watched and did nothing. This was a huge scandal -- not just the fact that she was murdered but the fact that no one helped her.

I observed a real shift in the news after that with sensational harmful stories dominating far more than ever before.

Here's what I think. There is MUCH more good news going on than bad news. Every day people help each other. Every day mothers put their parents put their kids' safety ahead of their own and save their children's lives. Ever day teachers stay late to help kids or pay a visit to the parents of a failing student to help resolve the problem. I could go on. And I'm sure you've seen it too.

So how come a factory burning down and killing two in Topeka makes the national news?

Is it because they really think it will sell papers? Is it because they are bankrolled by pharmaceutical companies that profit from the depression the news brings on?

The idea of simply not reading the paper for a few weeks is a suggestion L. Ron Hubbard made in a tape I heard (can't remember what the name of the tape is).

Blog Bites

These are some excellent blogging tips which I found at website101.com

Top 10 Blog Writing Tips -- Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman

1. Write with the reader in mind. Remember WIIFM? It's marketing jargon for What's In It For Me? That's what you should be keeping in mind. Your reader will read your post looking for what's in it for them.

2. Make it valuable and worthwhile. Don't waste people's time. If you don't have anything to say, no problem, plenty other people do. So share their articles, do an interview, review a book.

3. Proof-read for typos and glaring grammatical errors. You wouldn't go out of the house with dirty hair or missing a sock, so why would you publish spelling mistakes? Respect your readers by polishing up your stuff.

4. Keep it short and simple, sweetie. (KISS). Most people are scanners. You may have a lot to say and think it interesting, and it may be. But people are reading online and out of time. Get to the point quickly. Publishing short posts more frequently is a better format than publishing lengthy articles every few weeks.

5. Keep it lively, make it snappy and snazzy. Even if you aren't a natural born writer, you can write for your blog. Just write like you're speaking to your friend.or to yourself! Remember though, get to the point quickly. Keep in mind the journalist's rule of 5 W's in the first paragraph: who, what, why, when and where.

6. Link often. This builds credibility and positions you as an expert in your field. People don't have time to know what others are doing, you should tell them. Linking to other blogs and websites also helps you build a network of associates who will in turn link to your blog.

7. Use keywords often. This will help you stay on purpose, and the search engines will love your blog. Your rankings will go up. This is one of the reasons we have you write out your purpose statements before beginning your blog. The clearer you are about your purpose, the more consistently you will deliver messages that are on target. And the more often your keywords show up, the better your search engine results.

8. Write clearly (short sentences, only one concept per sentence). No double speak or jargon; no more than one idea in one sentence- don't make your readers have to think about your meaning. Spoon feed them. Use commas and dashes liberally.

9. Write like you talk. It's okay to use common expressions from speech. Examples: Go figure. Don't even go there. Now, I ask you. Gotta love it. (And, remember the age group of your readers.)

10. Use a clear headline, and don't be afraid to make bold statements (but don't mislead people either). Make it snazzy and use key words. Example: Ex-Techno-Weenie Masters HTML Code

Space dust?

Aerospace Bob has a great blog. Here's a recent thing he posted that I never know about.

Want to participate in a Space Mission? Stardust@home is a space science project in which volunteers from the general public help scientists locate particles from distant stars. The particles were captured by the spacecraft Stardust and are embedded in collector plates made of aerogel, which were carried by the spacecraft. The aerogel plates, and the particles within them, were returned to Earth in a sample return capsule on January 15, 2006. The purpose of Stardust@home is to find the particles within the aerogel plates. For more data, see this website.

Human Rights

Aerospace Bob says:

When human rights are not well known by people, abuses such as discrimination, intolerance, injustice, oppression and slavery can arise.

Born out of the atrocities and enormous loss of life during World War II, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created by the United Nations to provide a common understanding of what everyone’s rights are. It forms the basis for a world built on freedom, justice and peace.

I am passionate on the subject of human rights, myself, and feel that if there were one cause that could undercut all others it would be that.

So much of Scientology has to do with either putting the individual into a position where he/she can enjoy his own rights (such as helping the individual attain literacy, get off drugs, raise his moral standards to a level where he can be happy) or know them well enough that they can demand them.

Tax Prof Blog wrote:

Church of Scientology Wins Huge UK VAT Case
Interesting article in today's Telegraph: Scientology Tax Victory Could Cost Revenue Millions, by Harry Wallop:
The Church of Scientology has won a VAT ruling that tax experts say could cost HM Revenue & Customs "hundreds of millions of pounds." The VAT Tribunal has ruled that Revenue & Customs has to pay back the organisation at least £4.1m in past payments.

Tribunal chairman David Williams also issued an unprecedented rebuke to HMRC as part of his ruling, calling the VAT authority's handling of the case "frankly inadequate, if not inept".

The ruling is a victory for Scientology, whose members include film stars Tom Cruise and John Travolta. The tribunal ruled in favour of the Scientologists because of a crucial test case earlier this year involving Michael Fleming, an Aston Martin dealer and descendant of the James Bond author Ian Fleming.

His case forced the Government to abandon its position that people could take their VAT claims back only three years. This case is the first time that the scrapping of time limitations has been tested. Now, in theory, if you have overpaid VAT you can claim back right to when the tax was introduced in 1973.

My Favorite Food

My favorite foods are Oriental. I love Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Viet Namese. I ate at a Philippine restaurant once and that was great too.

But of all of them, I guess Chinese is top of my list.

Human Rights PSAs

I was watching the Youth for Human Rights PSAs yesterday and once again I was struck by what a totally professional product they are and how well they convey the concept of each of the in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

They really are magnificent.

Do You Remember?

Do you remember where you were 10 years ago?

Some dates really stand out. I was just thinking about "today in history" and remebered exactly what I was doing on August 10th 1988, and realized omygod that was 18 year ago!

I was in England studying at the Scientology headquarters there in East Grinstead. It's a lovely little town and up on a hill above it is Saint Hill. There's a beautiful manor where L. Ron Hubbard lived from the late 1950's till 1966 or '67. There's also an actual castle, designed by LRH, which is where the Scientology church, which is called Saint Hill is located.

Anyway I was there, and my mother was flying over to England that day along with a friend of hers. My mom had been widowed for just over a year and she was just getting used to being on her own and this was literally the first trip she'd ever taken without my dad.

So I met my mom and her friend in London. It was so great seeing her and we had a wonderful time together.

Funny how a simple thing like a date can bring back memories like that, isn't it?

South Africa - Fascinating!

Though I have never been to South Africa, I would very much like to. It holds great fascination and has amazing history.

I found an article giving some history of the founder of our religion when he was in Rhodesia. This is taken from an article that includes quotes from Mr. David Miscavige, the ecclesiastic leader of the Scientology religion.

Mr. David Miscavige - a Most Special Guest

Saturday, November 2, 2003, the Church of Scientology of Johannesburg opened the doors of its new headquarters in Kensington, the hub of Scientology activity in South Africa. More then 1,400 guests and well-wishers — government and religious leaders, human rights champions, celebrities and professionals, church members and friends — came from all over Africa and from many countries to celebrate the landmark dedication.

The event was capped by the appearance of Mr. David Miscavige, Chairman of Religious Technology Center, custodian of the religious scriptures of Scientology.

Mr. David Miscavige’s presence to dedicate and open the new church was significant, both for him, personally, as a first-time visitor to the country, as well as for the parishioners of the 45-year-old Johannesburg church. “It is my honor to address you, to walk in a land where L. Ron Hubbard laid so many milestones, and on this, your milestone day,” he stated.


L. Ron Hubbard overlooking an African township where his educational tools would eventually mean so much.
The Chairman of the Board traced the history of Mr. Hubbard’s experience in South Africa, where, in characteristic style, he observed life by rubbing elbows with many Africans of all stations, befriending government ministers, entering the townships, attending tribal celebrations and seeing life as it really was in apartheid South Africa.

Beneath apartheid’s suppression “of virtually every indigenous people, perpetrated by the same psychiatric ideologies that laid six million to rest under the banner of eugenics during the second world war,” Mr. Hubbard found “an unbroken tradition of spiritualism extending back to the very dawn of man,” and “an indomitable human spirit that, although suppressed, no one could extinguish,“ said Mr. David Miscavige.

He spoke, as well, of Mr. Hubbard’s certainty that indeed Africa was “‘the cradle of civilization,’ possessing a spirit that, if sparked, could burn forth throughout the world,” echoing Mr. Hubbard’s prediction, “From South Africa will spring the next great civilization on this planet.”

For the full article go to www.uniquesouls.net

Los Angeles August

I'm so glad it's cooled off a bit. Man it was HOT last week. I couldn't get cool enough to sleep for days, despite the AC.

Summer in LA isn't as bad as summer in New York. And the worst summer I EVER spent was in Curacao when I was aboard the Scientology ship called the Apollo. No air conditioning then at all.

But it was still an unforgetable experience I'd never trade. LRH was still aboard the ship. Incredible to have seen him!

Scientology has come so far since then too. You can almost FEEL the expansion.

Travolta!

Okay. I couldn't resist this one. My very favorite - John Travolta - at the 37th Anniversary Gala of the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International.

Travolta attended the Scientology event with wife Kelly Preston

Travolta gets his groove on

11.01, Tue Aug 8 2006

John Travolta has been strutting his stuff and proving he still has all the right moves.

Last weekend saw the 37th Anniversary Gala Saturday, an event for the highest-profiled followers of Scientology - and John was making the most of the proceedings.

The former Grease star attended the event in Hollywood with wife Kelly Preston, although fellow Scientology followers Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were nowhere to be seen.

Soul diva Chaka Khan was providing the entertainment and belted out numerous classic tunes for the 1,100 invitees to boogie away the night.

John explained his attendance: "When I found Celebrity-Centre I found my life again.

"That's when I found Scientology and I found the truth and I found what works and so for me it is very important yearly to mark that celebration almost like an anniversary.

"There are a lot of people doing the same things I am but each year it gets even more impressive I think."

John's wife Kelly added: "I think artists have a special need, they are always out there, they are giving themselves.

"They are trying to create and trying to create freely and there are a lot of things that weigh you down or eat at you, whether it is drugs, alcohol, different people."

She continued: "Scientology can really give you tools to work in the workplace, to create freely and just be happier."

Drug Education is Drug Prevention

I posted an entry a little while back - it was pretty short so will put it here in italics for easy reference:

When I look in the news I am often appalled about the effect drugs are having on our society, especially on the children, who are our future. That is why I really like to see all the good work the Jive Aces are doing to promote the message to “Say No To Drugs, Say Yes To Life” with concerts all over the world to raise awareness of the dangers of drugs and solutions to the drug problem.

When asked about the band’s strong anti-drug stance, lead singer Ian Clarkson said, “People look up to musicians and see them taking drugs and think that they then have to use them to be a great artist. What they don’t realize is that without drugs they would be a lot happier, play a lot better and live a lot longer”.
For more info on the “Say No To Drugs, Say Yes To Life” campaign visit the Scientology anti-drug web site.

So, what I want to let people know about is that there is a new tool to help people let other people know about drugs - in other words something to help educate them. These are some new booklets I found out about from a friend of mine who was recently at the "Freewinds" ship attending the anniversary event that Mr. David Miscavige hosts each year. This is not a campaign just for the Scientology religion, it is for everyone.

I have started to read the booklets - they are fascinating and certainly give you the low down on drugs.
I think distributing these amongst young people is important and I believe info about them is posted on the sites I link to above.